LEGO HOUSE

ten.          offended, but okay

▬▬ SHE WAS NERVOUS. More nervous than she had ever been to be in the Cullen house, and she couldn't shake the feeling as she maneuvered through the expanse house in search of one vampire in particular. She came to a stop in front of an all too familiar door, smiling a little at the small nick in the white paint from the time she and Emmett were dancing. She had kissed him, he lost his balance and braced himself on the door but the clasp of his bracelet scraped against the door and took some of the paint with it.

She reached up and gently ran her finger over the mark, her smile fading just a little because she was confused. More confused than ever. She took a small breath and raised her fist before knocking, and she bit the inside of her cheek as she waited. Then the door opened, revealing a shirtless Emmett in nothing but gray sweatpants. His hair was wet, as if he had just stepped out of the shower and his golden eyes were wide with surprise as his brows creased upon seeing her.

"Hey." He greeted, leaning against the door a little.

"Can we talk?" She asked, her fingers weaving together behind her back. And he was stunned, just looking at her with wide eyes and his jaw hanging slack. "Emmett?" She raised her eyebrow and he shook his head, seemingly coming back to his senses.

"Oh, yeah. Of course." He stepped back, holding the door open a little wider and she stepped into the room, her eyes glancing around as she made her way to his bed. And she smiled a little when she saw his bookshelf that was still organized the way she had left it. "What's up?" He tried to sound like he wasn't freaking out that she was in his room, sitting on his bed and looking as amazing as ever.

"I want to apologize...."

He squatted down in front of her, his hands finding hers. "You have nothing to apologize for. Everything you said or did, I deserved. I still do. You're mad, I get it. I just... I couldn't let you die."

"Why not?" Her, mostly golden, eyes met his.

"There's nothing more that I wanted then for you to be human because I knew how much you wanted it. And I was gonna do everything in my power to make sure you had that, a happy human life and I hoped that you'd come back to me in a few years. Because I hoped that you still loved me the way I love you. But when Alice had that vision of you, my heart dropped into my stomach. I got there too late, the car was upside down and you were unconscious.

"Carlisle knew you weren't gonna make it, your heartbeat was weak. Even if he ran you to the hospital, it would've been too late. And when he didn't even try, I lost it. I could hear it, your heartbeat fading into nothing and everything in me screamed. I panicked and I-I knew how much you would hate me, but I thought better to have you alive and hate me then dead. Carlisle tried to stop me, but I was gone and the only thing driving me was this desperate need to make sure you opened your eyes again. No matter what it meant." His hands tightened around hers, her skin just as pale as his - no trace of human blood in her veins to gave her that rosie, human glow.

She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat, but it made no move. She took a needless breath, letting her eyes fall closed as she dropped her head a little and her forehead rested against his. "I'm still mad at you."

He chuckled lightly. "I know." He nodded, his eyes taking in every inch of her face.

"But I never hated you."

"Know that, too." He hummed, his thumb moving over her knuckles. "I know it's gonna take some time, but all we have is time and I will spend every second of forever trying to earn your trust again."

She smiled small, keeping her eyes closed as she relished in the closeness. She felt whole again. Like he was the last puzzle piece and now the picture was finished, and it was beautiful. "I can't just jump back into this." She kept her voice to a whisper. "I still have a lot that I have to sort through, then there's graduation. And then leaving my dad and my friends."

"I'll wait." He blurted before she could continue, his own eyes falling closed as a smile tugged at his lips. "I'll wait as long as it takes. Years, decades, centuries even." She giggled a little, her hands tightening around his. "Because I..." He stopped for a moment, then a small smirk played on his lips. "I adore you, Shortcake."

"I adore you, Tree." It was small, but his chest squeezed and if his heart still beat, it would be pounding against his ribcage like a trapped animal trying to get out. "And I wanna be honest with you..." She started, opening her eyes and he opened his to meet her gaze. "Not because I feel like I have to explain myself, but because you deserve to know. And I'm lying to everyone else, I can't lie to you."

"If it's about Carter, I know." He told her, his voice quiet as if admitting it hurt. "I know that you two were..."

"Friends." She filled in where he left off. "Friends with benefits."

"Benefits." He repeated, not liking the word all that much or what it meant. Because he did know. He had asked Alice several times to check on her future and the last time he asked, he didn't like what his sister had seen - even Alice wished she had never seen Cori and the boy tangled in her sheets.

"Yeah." She hummed, though she knew he wasn't really asking. "We can't lie to each other, ever."

"I promise." He pulled his hand from hers and raised his pinkie between them. "No lies."

She smiled as she reached up and wrapped her pinkie around his. "No lies." She repeated and he leaned up, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. "One more thing..." she mumbled, and his eyebrows creased just a little as he met her eyes. "I'm sorry for all the times you ate lunch with me." She rushed out and he chuckled, shaking his head a little. "And for all the sandwiches I made for you. I didn't know how awful eating food actually was, and I'm so sorry."

"I couldn't tell you no."

"You could have." She nodded quickly.

He gently caressed her cheek, his thumb delicately sliding over her cheek bone. "No, Shortcake, I couldn't. You were so proud of your little sandwiches and there was no way in hell that I was gonna refuse anything you made for me. No matter how awful it was."

"Still." She mumbled, her voice quiet and his shoulders shook with a quiet laugh as he kissed her forehead once again, almost like he couldn't stop himself.

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▬▬ IN THE CULLEN'S LIVING ROOM, Cori sat between Carlise and Jasper, her head on the latter's shoulder and her hand toying with his sleeve - though he didn't seem to care all that much. He knew it was a nervous tick of sorts.

Emmett glanced from the blonde woman on the screen to the raven-haired girl that sat next to his brother from where he sat on the back of the couch. Since their talk, she had been at the house a lot more and she didn't keep her usual amount of distance between them. But she stayed closer to Jasper, mostly because for the last month or so, he had been her main source of comfort - even if it was mostly because of his gift.

"Seattle is in a state of terror." The reporter spoke as blue and red flashed behind her. "Police are baffled by the escalating murders and disappearances. Theories range from a vicious new gang to a wildly active serial killer."

Cori's leg bounded a little, her teeth digging deeper into her lip as she focused on the woman on the screen. Jasper simply reached over, taking her hand in his and she let out a small breath as a wave of calm washed over her. She let her eyes fall closed, but she could smell Bella before she and Edward even stepped into the room. And she hated to admit it, but she smelt good.

"It's getting worse." Carlisle sighed as he turned the tv off. "We're going to have to do something."

"It takes more than one of our kind to cause the kind of damage they're reporting. Quite a few more." Jasper stated, his drawl thick, and he tightened his hold on Cori's hand as he felt her nerves bubble up again. "And they're undisciplined, conspicuous."

"It's newborns." Edward agreed, after having read his brother's thoughts.

"What, like new vampires? Like Cori?" Bella asked, her eyes meeting her sister's wide eyes - she was still getting used to the gold.

"In the first few months after the change..."

"That when we're at our most uncontrollable. Vicious." Jasper filled in where Edward trailed off.

"Offended, but okay." Cori mumbled, she knew it was true. She was only holding it together so well because of the vampire holding her hand.

"Insane with thirst." He continued, his voice low.

"Oh, yeah, that's true." Cori nodded. "I can't get this burning in my throat to go away."

"I told you we could find you a bear." Emmett told her, a smirk pulling at his lips. He was very much intrigued by the idea of her taking down a bear that was three times her size.

"I might take you up on that." She told him, meeting his gaze. "But for now, we have to figure this out." She gave him a look and his smirk grew a little as he rubbed his hands together.

"If you two are done..." Jasper raised an eyebrow at the two and Cori nodded as she turned back towards him. "No one's trained these newborns, but this isn't random."

"Someone's creating an army." Carlisle nodded, meeting his son's eyes.

Emmett pushed himself to his feet. "Well, now we're definitely going to Seattle." He jumped off the couch, putting himself in front of Bella and Edward.

"An army of vampires?" Bella questioned.

"And they've been created to fight someone." Jasper met her eyes.

"We're the only clan even close to Seattle."

"Regardless of why they were made, if we don't put a stop to it the Volturi will. I'm surprised they let it go on this long." Carlisle stated, looking around the room.

"Maybe they're behind it." Edward suggested. "In Italy, I read Aro's mind. He wants me and Alice to join him but he knows we'll never choose him as long as our family's still alive."

"An army could solve that for him." Jasper mused.

"Just what we need. More vampires." Cori mumbled under her breath as she leaned back into the couch, pulling her hand from Jasper's as she pushed her hair out of her face.

"Come on, let's go get you a bear." Emmett held his hand out, and much to the confusion of Bella, Cori hid a smile as she pushed herself up and latched onto his hand before the two disappeared from the house.