LEGO HOUSE

eleven.           bear

▬▬ EMMETT'S EYES STAYED glued to Cori, a smile on his lips. The girl sat on the ground with a huge grizzly at her side and a trail of blood dripping down her chin, and he couldn't look away. She looked up at him, her brows pinched at the look of utter adoration on his face, but there was something else. Something more... something a little darker.

"What?" She tilted her head to the side just a little, wiping her hands on her jean-clad thighs.

He cleared his throat, his eyes dropping to his shoes for a moment before meeting her gaze again. "Nothing, I just..." he trailed off, shaking his head a little and her eyebrows pinched slightly.

She had never seen him... flustered before.

"This does it for you?" She asked, motioning to herself and the bear at her side, her eyebrows raised. "Really? Man, guys are weird. I mean, to each his own, but still." She mumbled, mostly to herself.

He chuckled, but didn't disagree. He did very much enjoy the scene in front of him, a lot more than he liked just the idea of it. And he wanted her to know why he liked it so much, why it had that kind of effect on him. "We never talked about how I turned."

"Random." She mumbled as she jumped to her feet, making her way towards him as she wiped her hands on her jeans again, trying to brush away the small bits of dirt that clung to her fingers.

"You got, um..." he reached over and wiped at the blood on her chin with his thumb. "There."

"Thanks." She mumbled as his eyes locked on hers again and if she could blush, her cheeks would be bright red. "Now, tell me. I'm curious."

"I was hunting – trying to keep my family fed. Travis was with me."

"So he's actually your brother? That makes so much sense."

"Yeah." He let out a breathy chuckle. "We usually took turns, but we decided to go out together. And he's annoying, begged to tag along. Our mom thought it would be faster and we'd be able to bring back more game. Instead, we got mauled by a bear." He watched as her eyes grew wide. "I tried to save him but he's an idiot, I told him to run and he didn't. And I can still remember watching him try to fight back as I bled out. I thought we were gonna die."

"Oh God." She mumbled, her voice barely audible as her fingers curled around his palm. He simply smiled at the action and gripped her hand.

"Rose found us, and you'd have to ask her why she decided to save two idiots that got attacked by a bear. But she took us to Carlisle. He turned us. And then we left."

She chuckled softly as she shuffled closer to him, her thumb brushing over his knuckles lightly. "I'm sorry that happened to you. And it couldn't have been easy to leave them – your family."

"It wasn't, but it was for the best. And now, I have you." He tugged her closer to him and locked his arms around her waist. She smiled as she rested her hands on his chest, her golden eyes on his. "So, to answer your question, yes. Seeing you take down a bear... that does it for me. It was hot." He leaned down and bushed his nose against hers, nothing more than a playful gesture.

She rolled her eyes and shoved on his chest, but he kept his grip tight, holding her in place against him, because he wasn't ready to let go. "I'm still thirsty." She mumbled, not sure how to respond, and he chuckled.

"Wanna find another bear?" He raised an eyebrow at her, a smirk playing on his lips.

"Yeah." She nodded. "And this time, I'll share." She patted his chest then stepped away from him and he let his arms fall from around her.

>>>>> • <<<<<

▬▬ CORI HATED YELLOW. And sitting in her yellow cap and gown made her hate the color even more, and she hated that all of her pictures were gonna be of her in the yellow monstrosity. She let out a small huff then leaned forward, her chin on Carter's shoulder.

"You okay?" He asked, turning to look at her while dodging the corner of her cap.

"Yeah." She sighed. "Just gonna miss you guys, ya know? You're going to Harvard, Noah's going to Stanford. And I'm..."

"You're gonna become this amazing world traveler." He moved his shoulder a little, a smile on his face. "And you're gonna love every second of it. Besides, we'll stay in touch. And you could even come visit us."

She giggled, wrapping her arm around his shoulder, her palm on his chest – she could feel his heart beating. "I will definitely visit. That way I can tell people I went to Harvard." She nodded and he grinned as he turned and kissed the side of her head.

"You're insane." He mumbled and she shrugged a little. "But I love you."

She simply hummed and let her head rest against his, pushing her cap off to the side a little. "You're coming to the party, right?"

"Yeah, Noah is basically dragging me, but I'll be there."

"Good. It'll be nice to hang out like we used to."

"Yeah. I just wish Paul and Jared would come. Noah asked and they disagreed very firmly." He told her. "Don't know what that's about."

"Old legends, is all." She told him as the principal called Jessica to the stage to give her valedictorian speech. "Shh, her speech is supposed to be amazing. I wanna hear it." She mumbled and he chuckled, but she didn't sit back in her seat. She moved a little and wrapped her other arm around his shoulder, her hands locked over his heart and he moved his hand up to rest on her wrist.

Jess smiled as she stood behind the podium, her eyes scanning her classmates and the people that had come to celebrate with them. She took a small breath and started, "When we were five, they asked us what we wanted to be when we grew up. Our answers were things like, Astronaut, President or in my case, a Princess. When we were ten, they asked again. We answered rock star, cowboy or in my case, a gold medalist. But now that we've grown up, they want a serious answer.

"Well, how about this — who the hell knows? This isn't the time to make hard and fast decisions, this is the time to make mistakes. Take the wrong train and get stuck somewhere. Fall in love — a lot. Major in Philosophy because there is no way to make a career out of that. Change your mind and change it again because nothing's permanent." Cori's smile faded, because for her that was true. Nothing around her was permanent, not her family, not her friends, but she was. And that was something she still hadn't fully grasped. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, then regretting it as her throat burned. "So make as many mistakes as you can. That way someday when they ask what we wanna be, we won't have to guess — we'll know."

The young vampire's eyes snapped open and a rush of panic filled her but before it got too much worse a wave of calm washed over her. She let out a breath and turned, catching Jasper's gaze. He offered a simple nod and she gave him a small smile.

"You okay?" Carter asked, rubbing the girl's forearm.

"Yeah, just thinking." She mumbled as she picked her head up, before the urge to bite him welled up again. "I should let you go." She chuckled as the people in his row stood up, she let her arms fall from him as she leaned back and he laughed as he stood up. He reached over and lightly thumped her cap before following the others.

Cori watched and waited, only standing to her feet when Noah crossed the stage and once he got his diploma he turned to the crowd and threw his closed fist into the air. Cori laughed as she cheered, but another voice caught her attention and she turned to see Lola on her feet, her hands cupped around her mouth.

"That's my man!" She shouted, getting a few chuckles from the crowd. She grinned as she let her hands fall, then she locked eyes with Cori. She wiggled her friends, giggling at the wide eyed look on her best friend's face. It was almost like Cori couldn't believe that she was there.

The two settled back into their chairs, but when Carter's name was called, Cori was on her feet again. This time she let out a loud whistle, successfully making the boy grin as he got his diploma.

Before too long Cori's row stood up and made their way towards the stage. Cori glanced back at her sister, getting a smile and a small squeeze on the hand, a simple but appreciated gesture. "Coraline Leigh Swan." The principal announced, and the small girl made her way to the stage. She got her diploma and shook the teacher's hand before turning to the audience. Charlie was on his feet, nothing but pride in his dark eyes. Lola was next to him, on her feet as she cheered for the girl.

On the other side of the room, Emmett stood, his large hands smacking together to make the loudest sound possible as he and Travis cheered for the girl. She smiled at them, her eyes meeting Emmett's and her unbeating heart swelled in her chest.

"I adore you." He mouthed and she simply sent him a wink as she left the stage and the teacher called Bella's name. Cori made her way back to her seat and just as she sat down, Carter turned with a smirk on his lips and teasing glint in his eyes.

"What?"

"So are you guys back together?" He asked, his arms closed over the back of his chair.

"Back together with who? Emmett?" Noah asked, plopping down next to Carter – having asked people to trade seats with him until someone agreed.

"Oh, God, you guys." She groaned, letting her head hang forward.

"I'm not hearing a no." Carter poked her shoulder.

"It's complicated."

"That means yes." Noah mused. "Lola was right."

"You've talked to Lola about this?" Cori's brows pinched as she looked over at the boy.

A wide grin pulled at his lips as he nodded. "We talk about everything."

"I don't look that dopey when I talk about Emmett, do I?"

"No, he's extra dopey." Carter told her as he patted the other boy's shoulder.

"I should be offended, but I'm not." Noah mumbled as he turned back around in his chair, making the other two laugh.

⚘‎ nova speaks┆this is gonna be the last update for the next couple of weeks. i'm moving this weekend. i'll be driving cross country and when i get to where i'm going i'll spend some time getting my apartment furnished and getting everything set up!

thank you for reading this series! i'm so happy that all of you seem to enjoy it this series as much as i do!

and i appreciate all the comments and the votes! it's really heartwarming to see all of you interacting with the story! it literally makes my day!