˚ ◌ ｡˚ 𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙖 𝙡𝙚𝙩

✶༘ ⋆

𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣
˚₊· ➳❥͟͞ introducing...┆ ° ♡ • ➵ ✩ 💕°

. . . ⇢ ˗ˏˋ [ 𝚎𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚝 𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚗 ]

-ˋˏ LET DOWNˎˊ-

*💌༄ twilight // 2008 ˚◞🌸 ⃗

When I saw you first, it took every ounce of me not to kiss you.

When I saw you laugh,

it took every ounce of
me not to fall in love.

And when I saw your soulit

took every ounce of me.

- Atticus
 ˚ ◌༘'✦ ˑ ִֶ SYNOPSIS .ᐟ

˚જ⁀➴ FORKS, WASHINGTON. a small town about an hour west of port

angles. a town where nothing happens. the community is close, very tight
knit. neighbor looks out for their neighbor. and friends become family.

a town so small that when a family moved in from alaska it was all anyone
could talk about... for two years.

that is until two girls join the likes of the pale faces.

charlie swan, chief of police, has always been a simple man. all he really
needed was a beer, the game and his closest friends. and most importantly,
is two daughters.

but, for reasons he had yet to deduce, his oldest stopped visiting him when
she was twelve and he only really got an email every once in a while.

his youngest, though, loved her summers in forks. she loved her dad and
her friends and mostly, she loved that she didn't have to put up with the
heat of arizona.

so, when phil, the swan sisters' step-father, has to travel for his career
their mother desperately wants to go with him and the girls find a
solution... move to forks. while cori is simply estatic, bella just barely
manages a smile.

and neither girl is ready for the friends, the love, and the heartache that
awaits them in the rainy, little town of forks.

˚ ◌༘'✦ ˑ ִֶ MEET THE CAST .ᐟ

 .

♡ CORALINE SWAN ₊˚ ・₊✧

. ° ✧ ° . . ° ✧ °. ° ✧ ° :¨·.·¨:
╰┈➤ grace phipps

'i think it's so hot that

you read romance'

♡ EMMETT CULLEN ₊˚ 🌲・₊✧

. ° ✧ ° . . ° ✧ °. ° ✧ ° :¨·.·¨:
╰┈➤ kellan lutz
 'but i think you'd look even
better in one of my sweaters'

♡ TRAVIS CULLEN ₊˚ ☀ ・₊✧

. ° ✧ ° . . ° ✧ °. ° ✧ ° :¨·.·¨:
╰┈➤ chris wood

'she thinks we're cute'

additional cast !

kirsten stewart isablla swa

billy bruke charlie swan
alex meraz paul lahote
tanaya betty rachel black
nikki reed rosalie hale
ashely greene alice cullen
jackson rathbone jasper hale
peter facinelli carlisle cullen
elizabeth reader esme cullen
robert pattinson edward cullen twilight cast their characters
⚘ dedications┆ that_one_writer_chik argentsvogue Lucifer577

⚘ disclaimer┆i do not own twilight. i do not own the characters, the

dialogue or the plot. stephanie meyer does. i, however, do own cori swan
and travis cullen as well as any other oc that i may add in the future.

⚘ nova speaks┆cori's back!!!! i started the original version of this book,

the awkward swan series, years ago. i wanna say 2019 but it's been so long
that i can't remember. i do remember working on the old version and i
remember being super proud of it.

but, the writing was crap, the grammar was awful and the plot was
massively lacking.

so, here i rewrite it! this rewrite has been in the works for years and i think
i rewrote the first chapter three or four times until i finally got to a place
that i like and i am so very proud of this book and everything to come!

i love cori so much and i now understand her better and i think i can better
write her and i think i can better weave her into the story.

to those of you who were around when the original was still up, there are
gonna be a lot of differences.

and while the relationship between cori and emmett is the main plot of this
book, her plot will pick up more in the books to follow! i have a lot
planned for cori!! anyways, thanks for reading!
graphic gallery .ᐟ

LET DOWN

zero. graphic gallery

˚ ◌༘'✦ ˑ ִֶ COVERS .ᐟ ◞

๋࣭ ⭑ '# made by me !
◞ ๋࣭ ⭑ '# made by reirvival !
˚ ◌ '✦ ˑ ִֶ MOODBOARDS .ᐟ

◞ ๋࣭ ⭑ '# made by me !
 ˚ ◌༘'✦ ˑ ִֶ MANIPS .ᐟ

◞ ๋࣭ ⭑ '# made by @ravensshome_ !

⚘ nova speaks┆so, i had some gifs made and i really liked them but i think i
lost them when i reset my phone so that's sad. but i do plan to make more
eventually!

please feel free to make anything you want for this book/series! it would be
greatly appreciated!!

001┆chapter one

LET DOWN
 one. cactus

▬ CORI SWAN WAS SURE of two things as she lugged her suitcase out
of her house; one, that she'd miss her mom and her stepdad and two, she
wouldn't miss the heat.

It was no secret that Cori, who was extremely vocal about it, detested the
sheer heat of Phoenix. She would sit in front of the air conditioner for hours
reading, or she would hang half way into the fridge with the door open until
someone – usually Bella – told her to knock it off.

She couldn't help it. She didn't like to sweat, she hated it with every fiber of
her being. Complaining that it made her feel the need to shower several
times a day, which just wasn't feasible.

She huffed, squinting under her dark sunglasses at the sun as she started
down the driveway towards the car. Phil, her stepdad, stood by the trunk
rearranging her other suitcase and Bella's suitcase to make sure everything
was gonna fit properly.

Just as Phil looked up, ready to rush the girl, the wheel of her suitcase
jammed and when she turned, mid step, to see what the problem was she
tripped. The toe of her right shoe caught on her other shoe and she hit the
pavement, her suitcase following her down.

"Oh, shit." Phil rushed towards her. "Cori, you okay?" He helped her to her
feet the second he was close enough, her suitcase forgotten as he checked
her head for any injuries. "You took a pretty bad tumble."

"I meant to do that." She mumbled, her nose scrunched up in a wince when
she took a step.
"I'm sure you did, Slugger." He chuckled, lightly clapping her on the back.
"You gonna be alright?"

"Oh, Phillip, you sound like mom." She waved him off, the more she
walked on it the less it hurt. "Besides, it wouldn't be such a momentous
occasion if I didn't get at least one more bruise before the move."

"Momentous?" He questioned, clearly amused by the girl as he bent down

to retrieve her suitcase and her sunglasses.

"I'm leaving the desert."

"Not technically the desert."

"There's a cactus, it's the desert." She mumbled and he chuckled, shaking
his head as they made their way to the car. The young girl's blue eyes
traveled over to her older sister who stood with her eyes closed and a small
cactus in her hands. "Why is she holding a baby cactus?" She looked over at
Phil and he shrugged, but his eyes were completely focused on the trunk as
he played Tetris with the suitcases.

Cori slid into the car, laughing at Phil's victory shout when he finally got
the trunk to close properly.

"Come on, I love you both but we got a plane to catch!" He called out,
looking over at Reneé and Bella. "Even Cori's ready to go! And she's
always late."

"Hey!" She leaned out of the car, her eyes narrowed at him.

"You can't tell me I'm wrong." He grinned and she narrowed her eyes even
more before sliding back into the car, grumbling to herself and he laughed
at her annoyance with him being right.

"Mom, your husband is being mean to me."

"It's okay, honey." Reneé reached a hand out, smoothing her fingers over
Cori's hair before she leaned in and kissed the girl's forehead. "Phil, be
nice."

"Yeah, Phillip, be nice." Cori stuck her tongue out at him and he chuckled,
very amused with the girl's antics and Reneé shook her head at the two.

"Now who's holding us up?" Bella asked, looking between the three of them
as they laughed.

"At least I'm in the car." The youngest mumbled as she turned, sitting with
her legs in front of her as Phil pushed her door closed.

"Alright, everyone in the car." Phil waved Reneé into the car, shutting her
door when she was in her seat. Bella smiled at the two as she opened her
door and slid into the backseat beside her sister.

"So, what's with the cactus?" Cori asked, poking the small pot that the plant
sat in.

"Just wanted a cactus."

"And you guys say I'm the weird one." Cori rolled her eyes, settling into her
seat as Phil slid into the driver's seat. Bella rolled her eyes at the smaller
girl, using the palm of her hand to shove her forehead.

"We ready to roll?" He asked, looking from his wife to the two teenagers in
the backseat.

"Let's roll out!" Cori grinned, drumming her hands on the back of her
mom's seat, making everyone in the car laugh.

.
 .

▬ CORI GROANED TO HERSELF as she looked up at the screen, their

flight had been delayed by a little less than an hour. Which, in the grand
scheme of things wasn't that long, but she wanted to be gone. She wanted to
be out of the heat and in the nice cool weather of Forks.

"This is ridiculous." She huffed, plopping into the seat next to her sister,
who rolled her eyes at the girl's dramatics.

"Checking every five minutes isn't gonna make the time go by faster."

"One can hope." Cori slouched in her seat, moving her sunglasses down
over her eyes as she let out a rather aggressive breath. "You got the tickets,
right?" She tilted her head a little to look over at her older sister through her
dark shades.

"No, I left them on the counter." Bella stated sarcastically. "Guess we have
to stay." She shrugged, giving her sister a smile.

"You're not funny."

"I amuse myself." She hummed. "But, yes, I have them."

"I don't get why Mom doesn't think I can keep track of my own ticket. I'm
sixteen. I think I can-"

"You lost your ticket when we went to the movies last month, just on the
way from the counter to the guy scanning them. You lost the remote to the
TV so we had to get up to change the channel for two weeks. You lost your
key to the house... six times. Need I go on?"

"Well, when you put it like that." She muttered, sliding down in her seat
some more as she crossed her arms over her chest. "And I wouldn't say I
lost them, more like misplaced them."
"Same thing." Bella patted the top of her head and she grumbled as she
swatted at her sister's hand. "Want a water before we board?"

"If you're buying."

Bella chuckled quietly as she pushed herself up and made her way over to
the little store in the airport where she bought two bottles of water and a
bag of chips before she rejoined her sister, who was still complaining about
the delay.

Cori slouched down in her seat, stretching her leg out in front of her as her
sunglasses rested on the bridge of her nose. She filled her cheeks with air
and held it for a moment before the kid next to her giggled. The simple
sound made the teenager turn, a smile on her face as she looked over at the
kid.

So, she filled her cheeks with air again as she moved her sunglasses up into
her hair, then she poked her cheek letting out a little puff of air before
looking at the kid with wide eyes. The little boy just laughed, making her
laugh and the boy's mom just smiled at the two.

"You're a child." Bella chuckled, watching her sister interact with the boy.

"I'm making friends, Bella." Cori glared at her before turning back to the
kid. "You got a sister, kid?" He nodded. "They never are any fun, are they?"
She joked, making the kid laugh again. "You got a name?"

"Lucas."

"Hi, Lucas. I'm Cori." He held her hand out and he shook it.

"You can make friends with a seven year old but you can't make friends
with people your age." Bella mused.

"Ignore her, she didn't have breakfast. She's grumpy." She told the boy,
holding her hand up close to her mouth as if she were telling him a secret.
The rest of the wait to board the plane, Bella watched as Cori played tic-
tactoe, rock-paper-scissors, and a short game of go fish with the boy – she
had packed a deck of cards to keep her busy on the plane. And the time
went by rather quickly, then they were on the plane and taking off. Cori
smiled as she looked out the window, watching the ground get farther and
farther away.

>>>>> • <<<<<

▬ CORI HAD SPENT MOST of the flight reading, she was about halfway
done with the second book of The Vampire Academy series. A series she
picked up only because her one friend in Phoenix, a girl named Lola
Manchester, had placed the first book in her hand about a year before. She
begged her to read it, having just finished it and needing someone to talk to.

But she wanted Cori to understand it like she did, she wanted to have a
discussion about it.

Cori joked about starting a book club, Lola was not amused. And for the
next few weeks, five weeks exactly, Lola would ask Cori how far she had
gotten into the book. If she had finished the book. And who her favorite
character was.

Lola was impatient and Cori, well, when someone wanted her to do
something she took her sweet-ass time doing it. That is until she got hooked
on the book by week four and nearly devoured it whole.

Cori shifted in her seat, pulled her leg up and rested her foot on the edge of
her seat. Bella watched with pinched brows, wondering how Cori seemed to
have an insane amount of room in her seat. She has shifted several times,
moving her legs up into her seat, once sitting criss-cross but at an angle so
her knee wasn't in Bella's space, then she would move them back to the
small space between her and the seat in front of her. And while Bella's
knees were merely inches from the back of the seat before her, Cori seemed
to have no issues with the space.
Cori was just tiny. Her legs short and, something Bella was now aware of,
super flexible. She would almost describe the girl as a pretzel as she twisted
all kinds of ways in her seat, never finding a single position comfortable
enough to stick with for longer than a few minutes.

Her needless contortion act, as Bella liked to call it, was the main reason
Cori always got the window seat. She couldn't sit still for very long and
Bella knew if anyone else was subjected to the girl's constant shifting about,
they would go absolutely mental.

With just a few minutes left in the air, the seatbelt sign glowing bright
above them and the pilot's voice filling the otherwise quiet cabin to let them
know they would be landing in mere minutes, Cori marked her place and
shoved her book into her bag. She dropped her legs and pressed her back
into her seat, her head turned to look out the window as the ground grew
closer, all the buildings growing bigger the closer they got. And when the
plane finally hit the ground, Cori gripped Bella's hand as they were jostled
about a little. Landings made her stomach turn.

It took about fifteen minutes for the plane to stop at the gate and another
five before the Swan sisters were able to grab their things and make their
way off the giant, metal bird.

Bella kept a close eye on her sister as they followed the crowd, Cori's eyes
trained on the floor and the brass plated fish that had been pressed into the
floor as decoration. She loved that small little detail, it made this airport
different from all the others, which all felt eerily similar.

"Cori." Bella mumbled, yanking her sister by her sleeve and the short girl
let out a small yelp of surprise, drawing a few looks their way from the
people around them. The sixteen-year-old smiled awkwardly and waved,
her cheeks tinged pink. "You're like a five-year-old." Bella muttered,
keeping a good hold on her sister's sleeve so they didn't get separated by the
crowds of people that seemed to care little about sticking to one side or the
other no matter which way they were going.
"I like the fish." She shrugged, gripping the hard plastic handle of her
suitcase as her bookbag bounced lightly against her back with each step.
"It's a cute little detail."

"Dad's probably waiting for us."

"Calm down, Bells, don't get too excited." She muttered sarcastically,
seeing as Bella wasn't all that siked about seeing their father after so many
years. "If your smile gets any bigger, I think you may combust."

"She's a comedian."

"Eh, I assume myself." She shrugged, repeating what Bella had told her
when they were still waiting in the Phoenix airport.

⚘ nova speaks┆chapter one is officially up!!!! cori is back everyone!!!

i am so excited about this book and all that i have planned for cori! and it's
kind of surreal that i'm bringing he back after so many years.

i created cori, like, four years ago and now that i understand a little better
as a character i am happy to explore things i hadn't before. and my writing
is an million times better than it was back then lol

for anyone who had read the original version, thank you so much for loving
my characters as much as i do and coming back to see them. i really
appreciate it!!

and if you are a brand new reader, welcome! and I hope you come to love
cori at least half as much as i do! she really is my baby lol
 002┆chapter two

LET DOWN

two. the attic

▬ "I'M INNOCENT. I swear. You got the wrong guy." Cori mumbled,
shifting in the backseat of Charlie's police cruiser. Charlie's thick brows
pinched, a small smile tugging at his lips as he watched his youngest in the
rearview mirror.

"You put yourself back there." Bella stated, twisting in her seat to look back
at her sister. "I offered and you tackled me out of the way."

"Because I'm a criminal."

"So you're not innocent?" Charlie raised an eyebrow as he looked back at
the wet pavement in front of them and Cori's jaw fell open as her blue eyes
widened.

"You incriminated yourself."

"Damn it." She huffed, sinking into her seat a little as she adjusted her seat
belt so it wasn't digging into her neck.

"Weirdo." Bella chuckled and Cori's first and only response was to stick out
her tongue. It was a childish rebuttal but it got her point across. Charlie
chuckled at the two, glancing back at Cori, who now looked out the
window with a wide smile on her face. She had her nose pressed into glass,
her breath casting a sheen of fog in front of her. She giggled to herself as
she pulled back and started dragging her finger through it.

Then he looked over at Bella, who shook her head slightly as she turned
around in her seat, her dark eyes taking in the small town as they came to a
stop at a stop light.

"Your hair's longer." Charlie stated, motioning to Bella. His voice a low
mumble, like he wasn't sure quite what to say and that was all he could
think of.

She looked down, holding the ends of her hair between her fingers. "I cut it
since the last time I saw you." She mumbled back, still toying with her hair.

"Oh." He hummed, settling his eyes on the road ahead of them as a semi
crossed the intersection in front of them. "Guess it grew out again." He
internally groaned and pressed his foot against the gas when the light turned
green. An awkward silence filled the car, though the youngest Swan seemed
to be completely oblivious as she leaned towards the window and let out a
huff, her breath fogging up the glass once again before she drew a smiley
face with her finger.

"Cori, don't-"
"Don't ruin my fun." Cori held her hand up, stopping her sister from
continuing and Bella closed her mouth, turning back around in her seat.

"Glad to see you two haven't changed." Charlie smiled, he could remember
them having a similar conversation when Bella was eight and Cori was
seven.

They were visiting for Christmas break, one of the rare times Charlie got
the girl's for the holiday and Cori loved to doodle on the window in the
condensation. Bella, on the other hand, didn't and she scolded Cori for it
every time they got in the car that winter.

"I'll never change." Cori grinned, meeting his eyes in the rearview mirror
and he hummed, nodding his head. He hoped she never did. He hoped she
would never lose that child-like wonder she had. He hoped she would never
lose the way she saw the world, because she really did see the best of
everything. "Eyes on the ride, mister." She pointed a stern finger at him and
he chuckled, well, it was more of a gruff acknowledgement, but he listened
and the rest of the ride was mostly silent. Albeit Cori's humming or when
she would point out a familiar face, which then led to her rolling the
window down and shouting Hi! It's me, Cori! Which got more than a few
laughs as they waved back at the girl.

▬ CORI COULDN'T CONTAIN her smile as Charlie pulled up to the

house, on the front steps sat one of her favorite people in Forks. She was
out the door before Charlie even fully put the car in park, her converse
splashing in the mud, not that she cared, even as the rain-soaked-ground
stuck to her shoes and the water soaked through the flimsy cloth material,
her toes would be frozen soon but that was a problem for later.

The boy stood up, laughing at the way she barreled towards him and before
he was even up all the way she had jumped into him, arms and legs
wrapping around him like a koala. He stumbled backwards, but steadied
himself before he tipped over, his arms encircling the girl.

"What are you doing here?" The girl asked, her face tucked into his
shoulder, mostly because he gave off this insane amount of warmth but also
because she hadn't seen him in person for nearly two years.

"Charlie said you got in today, I waited." He told her, his thick arms
tightening around her small frame and she squeezed him harder, her smile
permanent. And she didn't mind that his body heat pushed away the chill
that raked over her when a rain-soaked breeze blew past them.

Charlie looked over at the two as he opened the trunk of his car, his thick
eyebrows pinched slightly but a small smile tugged at his lips. "Hey, Paul,
mind helping me take some of these bags in?"

The duo pulled back, Cori still very much wrapped around him as they
looked towards the car where Bella stood with a bag over her shoulder and
her tiny cactus in her hand.

"Of course not, Chief." He shook his head and moved to put Cori down, to
which she sighed and untangled her legs. Paul simply chuckled at the girl
before ruffling her hair, to which she swatted at his hands, her eyes
narrowed. "I missed you, Munchkin." He told her, his smile seemingly
permanent and all she could do was beam at him as she moved closer to
him and wrapped her arms around his torso as they continued towards the
car, passing Bella and Charlie.

When they got to the open trunk, he pulled out her back pack and slipped it
into his shoulder before grabbing the two other bags that laid on their sides.
She just watched him, her smile growing, and it was then she noticed the
subtle differences. Though she had known about the hair cut, him having
skyped her after he did it – she'd had a big reaction. She gasped and when
she finally found her voice she yelled, mostly because she loved his hair.
She loved that he let her braid it when they hung out, she loved how soft it
was and how neat he always kept it despite the fact that he played three
sports, spent most of his time on the beach, and worked on cars in his spare
time for a little extra cash here and there. She eventually got over it.

But seeing him in person, she noticed what skype had hidden. He was taller,
not by much, just an inch or two. His muscles were bigger, like he had lived
in a gym. And despite the fact that it was freezing – well, not freezing but
cold enough to turn the end of her nose red – he wore only a pair of cut offs,
a thin t-shirt and a pair of muddy shoes.

She didn't want to make comments about his muscles, she knew he'd give
her that smirk and make a comment that would leave her a blushing mess.
She didn't really want to mention his height, he'd just turn it around on her
and call her a short-stack of pancakes. So she settled for the hair, which
though she could admit looked good on him, still bugged her just the tiniest
bit.

"I still can't believe you cut your hair." She mumbled, slamming the trunk
closed and following him towards the house as she tugged her sweater
around her torso.

He laughed, glancing over his shoulder at her, not even struggling a little
with the bags he held and one of them was filled with books. "I thought we
were past this."

"I was." She nodded. "But seeing it in person is different. I'm still
processing."

"God, I missed you." He hummed and her cheeks flushed, turning a deep
shade of red. She ducked her head and moved in front of him to open the
door for him, keeping her head down and her hair hanging forward so he
didn't notice the effect he had on her. Especially since he had gushed many
times about his girlfriend, who just happened to be one of Cori's closet
friends. Despite feeling the slightest bit jealous, Cori was happy for them.
His smile as he talked about her, the way his eyes lit up, she knew that he
was in love with her. It had crushed all of her dreams of the two of them
ending up together, but she could get over her crush if he was happy and in
a loving relationship. Besides, two of her favorite people found love in each
other. How could she not be happy for them?

"Okay." Charlie clapped his hands and he made his way down the stairs,
meeting the two by the door and Cori pulled it closed, basking in the
warmth of the house. "You ready to see your room?" He asked, his eyes on
the blue-eyed girl as a smile tugged at his lips.

Her brows pinched, confusion written all over her face. "My room?" She
and Bella had shared a room when they were little and though Charlie
always talked about adding to the house so they could each have their own
space, when Bella stopped visiting it wasn't really necessary.

"You're gonna love it." Paul told her, his grin wide as he looked down at
her, still showing no sign of struggle with her bags.

"Come on." Charlie nodded his head and she made her way towards him,
still as confused as ever. "Need a hand with those?"

"No, I got it." Paul shook his head and Charlie simply nodded, though he
kept an eye on the boy as they made their way up the stairs. He knew Cori
was an over-packer, he also knew they were heavy. He had struggled
putting them into the trunk of his car at the airport when he picked the girls
up. But Paul seemed completely unfazed.

"All right." Charlie stopped at a door that looked like it had been painted
recently, it was a nice white color, the paint no longer chipping away. It was
a door Cori had been very familiar with. It was the one door the girls
weren't supposed to open, mostly because the attic was a mess and Charlie
was worried they'd get hurt with all the junk that had been stashed up there.

Cori broke that rule. A lot.

She would spend hours up in the attic, sitting in the window seat, her knees
pulled up to her chest as she read whatever book she had taken from Bella's
room or that she borrowed from Rachel Black.

"The attic?" Cori looked up at him, her eyebrows still creased but he just
smiled as he twisted the knob and pushed the door open. She was still
skeptical as she stepped through the doorway, the small set of stairs
creaking slightly under her weight and when she reached the top she
stopped. Charlie flipped the light on and her eyes grew wide.

The dust gone, the boxes gone, the other odds and ends gone. The walls
were painted white, one had pictures tacked to the wall – all of Cori's
family and friends. Another had some of her favorite movie posters in
frames – Grease, Dirty Dancing, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink,
Sixteen Candles. Against another wall a bed sat, the sheets light purple and
the comforter pastel blue. The pillows that sat on the bed matched the bed
spread. The nightstand was white, it matched the dresser on the other side
of the room and the desk that sat in the corner by the window and the
bookshelves, which were mostly bare, but soon to be filled. The window
seat had a new cushion and was stacked with mis-matched throw pillows.
And the floor was covered in a tan colored carpet, and in the center of the
room lay a purple shag rug.

"You did all this for me?" She turned, blue eyes still wide as she turned to
look up at her dad. She had expected that she and Bella would be sharing a
room and though she knew it wouldn't have been easy, she was willing to
make it work. But she hadn't expected this.

"You're growing up. You and Bella can't share a room forever." He told her
and Paul smiled at the two as he slipped past them and put her bags at the
foot of her bed. "You need-" He was cut off when she slammed into him,
her face tucking in his chest to hide her teary eyes and he chuckled as he
patted her back. "Do you like it?" He asked in an awkward mumble.

"I love it." She nodded against his chest. "Thank you." She squeezed him
harder and he did the same, leaning down to press a soft kiss to the top of
her head.
"Um, thank Paul." He added and the girl pulled back, her brows pinched
over teary eyes. "He, uh, helped. Got a few of his friends to help too. Didn't
think I'd get it done in time. They were a big help."

She pulled away from her father and turned to the boy, who looked
unusually sheepish as he scratched the back of his neck. "Really?"

He shrugged, letting his hand fall to his side. "He needed help. We had the
muscle."

"Thank you." She told him, moving towards him and wrapping her arms
around him once again.

"You're welcome, Munchkin." He squeezed her then she pulled back,

realization falling over her features as she looked up at him.

"This is why you were covered in paint last week. Not because you were
painting your room, you were painting my room."

"I couldn't tell you what I was actually doing, that would've ruined the
surprise." He ruffled her hair and she shook him off before wrapping her
arms around him again.

⚘ nova speaks┆i can not express to you just how much i love cori! she's
simply my favorite and i can't explain to you why either lol

as you may have noticed, i don't have a set schedule, i'm pretty much
just gonna publish chapters when i can and emmett's gonna show up
soon!!

okay bye ❤
 003┆chapter three

LET DOWN

three. rachel

▬ CORI HUMMED HAPPILY as she sat on the floor in front of her new
bookshelves, she had several piles of books scattered around the floor – she
had them separated out by genre. Paul chuckled as he laid on her bed, she
hadn't said much to him since she started organizing her books and he didn't
really mind.

He had just missed her company. He had forgotten just how much he liked
having her around in the two years they hadn't actually seen each other,
other than skype. The past summer his dad had wrangled him a few college
tours, and he couldn't say no and even if he had been in town, Cori had
stayed with her mom and Bella. And the year before that, Cori had joined
Lola and her family on vacation. They had gone to California and spent
most of their time at the beach.

He rolled over and looked at the girl, who had pulled her hair up into a
ponytail and had her sleeves pushed up to her elbows. "You know,
Munchkin-" She looked up from the books in her hands, she was having
trouble deciding which genre they belonged to, her eyes meeting his. "It's
nice to have you back."

"It's good to be back." She smiled. "Now, shh, I'm busy." He laughed as she
went back to sorting through her books, but the silence didn't last long
when the door opened and the stairs creaked. They both looked up and a
panting Rachel stood there, her eyes moving from the boy on the bed, who
smiled at her, to the girl on the floor.

"Cori!"

"The books!" Cori shouted, her eyes wide, when Rachel started towards her.
"Rachel, the books!" She shouted again and though Rachel moved fast, she
missed each pile of books on her way towards the younger girl and when
she was close enough she nearly tackled the girl to the ground. They hit the
floor with an oof, but both laughed as they hugged each other.

"I think she missed you." Paul chuckled, his head propped in his hand as he
watched the two girls try to sit up before they knocked heads, both groaning
a little but it faded into giggles once they were both up and looking at each
other.

"Oh, my little Cori." Rachel wrapped the girl in her arms again and Cori
giggled, her smile wide. She loved hugs, she loved affection, and she loved
that all of her friends knew that. "It's been too long." She kissed the top of
her head.
"What are you doing here?" Cori asked, a chuckle behind her words and
Rachel finally let her go, both girls moving to get comfortable on the floor.

"Charlie bought a truck off my dad for Bella." She told her, pushing her hair
back from her face. "And Paul has been blowing up my phone about you
being back, so here I am." She grinned, holding her arms above her head
and Cori couldn't help but laugh at her before she registered what the older
girl had said.

"Wait, he bought her a truck from Billy?" She asked and Rachel nodded,
pulling her legs under her so she sat criss-cross. "Billy's here?" Rachel
nodded again. Cori pushed herself up and made her way out of her room
then down the hall. Rachel looked over at her boyfriend, a smile on her
face.

"She forgot her shoes." She told him and he chuckled as he pushed himself
up before pulling her up, placing a kiss to her lips before he grabbed Cori's
shoes and a coat for good measure. Then the couple followed after the girl,
Paul caught her at the door, his arm around her waist and she let out yelp,
drawing the attention of those in the driveway to them. Rachel grinned as
she waved at them, getting a confused look from Charlie but her dad
laughed as he shook his head.

"What-"

"Shoes." Paul dropped them in front of the girl. "You just got back, can't
have you freezing to death."

"Yeah, definitely not." Rachel agreed.

"Aww, you guys care." Cori gushed, quickly slipping her shoes on and she
started for the door only to have Rachel step in front of her but before she
could ask, Paul draped her coat over her shoulders.

"You're not in Arizona any more, Cor." He told her and she chuckled as she
slipped her arms into the sleeves, even though it wasn't that cold, she loved
that they cared enough to make sure she was bundled up.
"Can I go outside now?" She looked between them, like a child asking for
permission from her parents.

"Yes." Rachel nodded and Cori giggled as she made her way out the door,
she stopped on the porch, holding her arms above her head.

"Everyone can relax, I'm here!" She shouted before making her way down
the stairs, the couple that followed her simply laughed, their arms wrapped
around each other.

"Little Cori!" Jacob rushed towards her, scoping her off her feet and she
giggled as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, her feet dangling.
"Did you get smaller?"

"Oh, ha ha." She muttered as he put her on her feet, she shoved him to the
side and stepped around him, missing the glare Jacob sent the boy that
stood next to his sister. Paul ignored the look, he wasn't gonna let Jacob
ruin the fact that his best friend was back in town. He could see just how
happy she was to see everyone and he refused to be the reason that all
changed. "Uncle Billy." She reached the older man, smiling as she dropped
into his lap and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, he chuckled as he
wrapped his arms around her. His chair rolled back slightly, but Charlie
quickly put himself behind it, stopping it from moving.

"How's it going, Little Bit?" He asked as she pulled back, but she didn't
make a move to get up.

"It's great." She grinned. "All my favorite people are in the same place."

"I'm telling Becca." Rachel called out, knowing that despite the fact that her
twin, Rebecca, was off traveling with her husband, who was a pro surfer,
she knew that she loved Cori just as much as she did.

"Do it." Cori challenged, her eyes narrowed slightly, making everyone
around them laugh, well, Bella simply chuckled lightly, not really getting
the joke – Rebecca and Rachel often argued about which one was Cori's
favorite. She had missed years with her dad in Forks, years where Cori
visited him and made friends and had inside jokes that Bella wasn't a part
of. "So, this is the truck?" Cori asked, knocking lightly against the cold
metal as she pushed herself to her feet.

"Yep." Billy nodded, reaching over to pat the side of the truck, a certain
kind of affection in the gesture. "She's old but she's a beaut." "Can I
drive it?" Cori asked, turning towards Bella.

No hesitation. "No."

"But I have my license." She whined. "And I passed on my first try, unlike
some people."

"Hey, leave me out of this." Paul narrowed his eyes at her, getting a grin
from the girl and he rolled his eyes as Rachel rubbed his back.

"Still no." Bella shook her head.

"Please?" She asked as Bella turned away from her and climbed into the
truck, closing the door behind her.

"No."

"Pretty please." She hoisted herself up, the toes of her converse against the
cold metal as she held herself up with her arms, the window was open.
"With cherries on top?" Her feet slid, getting amused chuckles from Charlie
and Billy, and just when she was about to give up an arm wrapped around
her torso, holding her up, taking all the weight off of her arms but she kept
her hands on the door. She knew it was Paul.

"No."

"But Bella!" She whined childishly and Bella looked at her, her eyes
narrowed slightly. "I'll be really careful." She stuck her head into the
window, almost nose to nose with the older girl, not having to worry about
holding herself up anymore.

"Can I drive it first?" Bella asked, her eyebrow raised slightly.

"That's not a no. I'll take it." She grinned. "Onward, Pauly." She pointed
towards the house and the boy chuckled.

"Am I just supposed to carry you everywhere now?"

"Oh absolutely." She nodded and he shook his head, but carried her to the
house, Rachel laughed as she followed the two and Charlie gave Billy a
confused look.

"She's definitely unique." Billy mused and Charlie nodded then Bella turned
the key and the trunk rumbled to life.

▬ PAUL'S EYEBROWS PINCHED the second he reached the top landing

of the stairs leading up to Cori's new room, he had a few bags of chips, a
few cans of soda and a jar of salsa in his arms. "What are you two doing?"
He asked, eyes on his girlfriend and his best friend – Cori was on Rachel's
shoulders trying to reach the top of the bookshelf.

"Putting my books up." Cori shrugged, going back to the task at hand and
Rachel wobbled a little. "Stay still."

"I'm trying. You're getting heavy."

"Suck it up."

Paul sighed, putting the food on the nightstand before making his way over
to them. "Cori, fall backwards." He held his arms out and the girl turned to
look at him, throwing Rachel off balance but the boy was quick to steady
her. "Come on, Munchkin." He told her and she sighed and let herself fall
backwards, knowing he'd catch her. And when she was off her shoulders,
Rachel let out a grateful sigh.

"She's being dramatic. I'm not that heavy." Cori mumbled as Paul put her on
her feet and moved to rub his girlfriend's shoulders, lightly kissing the side
of her head. "Am I?"

"No, you're not." He told her.

"I need to work out more." Rachel muttered, her eyes closed for a moment
before she opened them and saw the snacks on the nightstand. "Oh, food."
She moved away from Paul, his hands falling to his sides as she made her
way over to the chips and ripped a bag open.

"It's break time." Paul lightly pushed Cori towards the bed. "And I'll put the
books on the top shelf."

"He's so helpful." Cori grinned as she sat next to Rachel, who nodded, her
mouth full of doritos.

After their break, Paul had done as promised and put the books on the top
shelf, but not without detailed instructions from Cori, who was a bit weird
about how her books were placed on the shelf.

By the end of the night, all of the books were placed on the shelf and the
three lay sprawled out on Cori's bed. The youngest had her eyes closed as
she held onto Rachel's arm, she was on her side between the two. Paul
chuckled a little when he looked over to see that Cori was curled up against
his girlfriend.

There was a knock on the door and Cori groaned in response, then Charlie
made his way up the stairs, stopping on the last step. "Uh, it's getting late.

Maybe you two should head out. Ya got school tomorrow."

"Yeah." Paul nodded as he sat up, running his hand down his face, looking
over at the two girls. "Just gotta wake them up."

"All right." Charlie nodded and descended the stairs, closing the door
behind him.

"Hey." Paul shook the two girls, his voice quiet so he didn't scare them.
"Come on, baby, we gotta go." He placed his hand on Rachel's shoulder and
she smiled as her eyes fluttered open. "It's late."

She nodded as she sat up, carefully untangling herself from Cori, but the
blue-eyed Swan stirred and sat up. "Are you leaving?"

"Yeah, it's late." Paul nodded and she nodded her head, rubbing her eyes.
"You go back to sleep, we'll see you later."

"Tomorrow?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "We'll even pick you up from school."

"Okay." She hummed, crawling across her bed until she face planted into
the pillows. Paul chuckled as he pulled the cover up over her and tucked it
around her. "Thank you." She mumbled, her eyes closed and he patted her
back before he stood up and took Rachel by the hand,

"Goodnight, Cori." Rachel called out over her shoulder, smiling at the girl
before she and her boyfriend left the room, Cori's soft snores filling the
otherwise quiet space.

⚘ nova speaks┆i just love the friendship

between cori, rachel and paul!!
 004┆chapter four

LET DOWN

four. travis

▬ CORI SAT UP IN HER BED, pulling her covers up over her shoulders
to shield her from the cold air. The heat was on but it was warmer under her
blanket and she very much did not want to leave the warmth of her bed. She
looked around her room and a smile pulled at her lips, she still couldn't
believe her dad had turned the attic into her room. Her eyes settled on the
bookshelf, it was packed full of books and she smiled as the day before
replayed in her head.
Paul and Rachel laughed as she tried to climb the shelf because Paul had
put a book in the wrong place but the boy stopped her before she hurt
herself. The pillow fight that was more just Cori and Rachal smacking Paul
with pillows because he made a comment about one of Cori's more spicy
books – a book she had gotten only because Rachel told her it was a good
read. And the breaks they took that consisted of loud music, dancing and
snacks. It had been a great day.

She eventually rolled out of bed and grabbed her towel before making her
way to the bathroom for a shower. It was her first day at Forks High School
and though she didn't expect many people to notice her, she wanted to look
nice. A small part of her wished she could have attended the school on the
rez because she had friends there, but since Charlie lived in the Forks
school district, it just wasn't possible.

After her shower, Cori made her way back to her room, her dirty pajamas
clutched to her chest as she held her towel in place and made her way to her
room, passing her sister on the way. She offered her a smile, which Bella
returned before she made her way into the bathroom and Cori made her
way up to her room.

Cori was dressed in five minutes, throwing on the warmest clothes she
could find. She had an obsession with long sleeved shirts, hoodies, and
fuzzy socks all of which if worn in Phoenix would boil you from the inside
out. But the weather in Forks was the perfect place for her love of thick
clothes. Sitting at her desk, which had a small mirror attached to it, she ran
a brush through her hair and decided she'd let it dry and do what she could
with it afterwards.

Thirty minutes later, with her favorite knit beanie pulled over her wild curls,
Cori bounded down the stairs where Bella was waiting by the door,

spinning her truck keys around her finger but she stopped when Cori
stopped in front of her. "Ready to go?"

"Yea-wait!" She shouted and turned making her way into the kitchen where
Charlie sat at the table, a cup of coffee in front of him as he looked over the
newspaper. "Bye, daddy." She wrapped her arms around his shoulders,
taking him by surprise before he patted her arm.

"Have a good day." He told her as she pulled away from him and waved
over her shoulder before following her sister out the door and to the truck
that sat in the driveway.

▬ SHE KNEW IT WOULD HAPPEN, she knew all eyes would be on her
and her sister. She knew because it always happened when there was a new
student. It happened just last school year in Phoenix. Maddie had just
moved to town with her family and the second her older brother dropped
her off, it was like all eyes were on her. All eyes but Cori's, she was too into
the book she was reading at the time but Lola had pulled her along to
introduce themselves. And though Maddie and Lola seemed to become
pretty decent friends, Cori always felt a little left out when it came to them
mostly because all she and Lola really shared was a love of books and
Maddie, though she read, wasn't obsessed like they were.

Cori swallowed hard, looking over at Bella who gave her a simple nod as
she pulled into the first empty spot she saw, the truck backfiring a little
before she turned it off. The sound only drew more attention to them and
Cori sank in her seat a little, getting a small chuckle from Bella.

"You're gonna be okay." She placed her hand on her sister's shoulder.
"You're better at making friends than I am."
"Wow, Bells, thanks for setting the bar so high." She mumbled sarcastically
and Bella shrugged a little.

"Let's go." She nodded her hand and Cori sighed as she heaved her door
open and slid out, her muddy boots hitting the wet pavement. She pushed
her door closed and met her sister near the front of the trunk, Cori wanted to
shrink into nothing as a group of teenagers leaning against a blue van
watched them.

"Nice ride." One of the boys nodded his head before biting into a twizzler.

"Thanks." Bella replied shortly, reaching her hand back and Cori gladly
latched into it. Bella knew contact, any form really, eased the girl's nerves.
"Breath, Cori."

"I am breathing." She huffed, following behind her sister, her eyes briefly
scanning the parking lot and stopping only for a moment when she saw a
group standing next to cars that were too fancy for Forks high school – a
red convertible, a silver jeep and a shiny Volvo.

But she didn't dwell, she just followed her sister. Unbeknownst to her, two
pairs of eyes rested on her back as she made her way up the stairs. She had
a tight grip on her sister's hand as she watched her feet to make sure she
didn't slip on the wet steps. If there was one thing she didn't want to happen
on her first day it was falling and busting her head open on the stairs.

The Swan sisters stuck together, managing to find the office to get their
schedules before wading back into the sea of teenagers that filled the halls
of Forks High School. Cori looked over the paper in her head, smiling a
little when she saw she had an art class at the end of the day. She wasn't
sure when she asked if it would actually happen, but she was glad it did.
She wasn't an amazing artist or anything, she just liked to draw and paint.

Bella looked up from her paper and glanced in front of them to make sure
they weren't gonna run into anyone before looking down at her sister. "Did
you get the art class you wanted?"
"Yeah." Cori nodded, looking up at her as they came to a stop. "I have gym
first, you?" She asked and Bella could see the hopeful glint in her eyes. She
knew Cori was uncomfortable around people she didn't know. She looked at
her schedule again before nodding her head, making Cori let out a relieved
breath as they started walking again.

"You're Isabella and Coraline Swan." They turned to see a boy approaching
them, a smile pulling at his lips. "The new girls." Cori shifted closer to
Bella. "Hi, I'm Eric, the eyes and ears of this place. Um, anything you need:
tour guide, lunch date, shoulder to cry on?"

"Did you just hit on both of us?" Cori asked, her eyebrows pinched in
confusion and he looked down at her. She had once again latched onto her
sister's hand and shifted on her feet beneath his gaze, almost regretting she
had said anything at all.

"No, no." He shook his head. "No. Just offering my services."

"Services?" Cori mumbled. "Sounds sketch to me."

"Cori." Bella nudged her and Eric looked between the two, a rising panic in
his eyes.

"Friendship?" He offered, sounding a little unsure.

"Um, I'm really kind of the more suffer-in-silence type." Bella told him
before Cori could say anything else.

"Good headline for the feature."

"Feature?" Cori squeaked, her voice raising an octave or two.

"I'm on the paper and you two are news." He nodded, seemingly oblivious
to Cori's wide eyes.

"No, we're not." Bella rushed out before stuttering, not really able to find
the right words. "Please don't...
"That's a hell no." Cori told him

"Whoa, whoa, chillax. No feature." He told them.

"Okay, thanks." Bella nodded, giving the boy a grateful smile as they
continued down the hall.

"Chillax?" Cori mumbled, mostly to herself. "Dude seems weird."

▬ CORI FELT SMALL as she stood in the gym, one half set up for
volleyball while the guys played basketball on the other side. She shifted on
her feet, her ponytail swaying side to side as she watched the ball fly back
and forth over the net. Then it came towards her and she hit it and another
girl jumped, sending it over the net and to the floor.

"I was helpful." She grinned as she turned back towards her sister and Bella
chuckled slightly, though it was clear she was uncomfortable on the court
and just when Cori turned around the ball flew right towards Bella and she
smacked it, sending it across the gym and right into the back of some dude's
head. "Jeez, Bells." Cori mused but she didn't follow her as another ball was
hit over the net and she jumped, spiking the ball back over. And she cheered
when the other team dove for it but missed, giving her team the point.
"Yes!"

"Nice spike." She turned away from the girls congratulating her, a few
patting her back, to see a boy standing there. He was tall, lean but not thin
and his t-shirt gave way to the muscles underneath. He held a basketball in
his hands and a smirk pulled at his lips. "You new?"

"First day." She nodded, lacing her fingers together behind her back so she
had something to hold onto as she shifted on her feet. She could feel eyes
on her again, she wasn't sure why, but she knew everyone in the gym had
stopped just to watch her. Shoes no longer squeaked, the basketballs no
longer bounced and almost everyone had gone silent.

"I'm-"

"Travis!" A voice boomed and they both turned to see a big guy watching
them, and though his voice sounded pissed Travis just chuckled.

"Ignore him." He turned back towards the girl and she met his eyes again,
they seemed copper almost, a very unusual color, but it was nice. "I'm
Travis." He held his hand out.

"Cori." She carefully took his hand and he shook it once before pulling
away.

"It's nice to meet you, Cori." He leaned a little closer to her, his smile still
intact. "Hope to be seeing more of you."

"Maybe." She nodded, giving him an uncertain smile before he turned and
walked away, dribbling the ball he had like they hadn't just stopped the
entire class. Cori blinked a few times, shaking her head as she turned, still
all eyes were on her and she gave an awkward wave before moving towards
her sister, wrapping her arm around her bicep. Eventually, everyone went
back to what they were doing and Bella pulled Cori over to the bleachers.
"People are still staring."

"No, they're not." Bella told her but when she looked around, one person
was still watching them, well, watching Cori and the moment he caught
Bella's gaze, he looked away.
 005┆chapter five

LET DOWN

five. strawberries

▬ TRAVIS WORE A SMIRK, his arm draped over his wife's shoulders as
they sat in history class, waiting for the rest of the students to arrive. Behind
them, his brother, Emmett, glared at the back of his head. The blonde under
his arm sighed and turned in her seat, leaning her elbow on Emmett's desk.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing." Travis answered.

"He talked to her." Emmett gritted out, his glare unmoving from the back of
his brother's head. "I told him not to."

"I complimented her spike." He shrugged like it wasn't a big deal.

"Who?" Rosalie asked, looking between the two.

"The girl Alice saw." Travis lowered his voice as more and more students
filed into the room before the bell. "Her name's Cori." He looked over his
shoulder at his brother.

Emmett reached out and smacked the side of his head, which led to Travis
turning in his seat and smacking him back then the two just glared at each
other.

"I wanted to make sure it was her before-"

"It was her." Travis argued. "You heard Alice this morning. She said That's
her. Can't get much clearer than that."

"Stop it." Rosalie huffed, shaking her head. "You're acting like-"

"Mister Cullen." Both boys turned towards the teacher. "Emmett." He

corrected and the older boy sat up a little straighter.

"Yes, Mister Rooney?"

Instead of answering he turned and that was the moment Emmett noticed
the girl that stood at the front of the class, her books cradled to her chest
and her bottom lip between her teeth. "You'll sit back there with Mister
Cullen."

"Okay." She hummed, taking the slip he signed, then she made her way
towards the back of the classroom, her hands tightening around her books
when people watched as she passed them.

"Cori." Travis grinned as she passed the table he sat at and he turned in his
seat as she sat down next to his brother. "I knew we'd see eachother again."
He mused and she just offered up an uncomfortable smile, which Rosalie
took note of.

"Stop." She lightly smacked her husband's arm. "You're making her
nervous."

"Oh, sorry." He rushed out. "Not my intention." His smile morphed into one
more comforting than the one he wore before.

"I-it's not you." Cori told him, her hands shaking a little, which Emmett
noticed and he wanted to help, to offer comfort but he wasn't sure how or if
she'd even accept it. He was a stranger. But he hadn't been able to take his
eyes off of her since he saw her at the front of the classroom.

She smelt sweet. Like strawberries.

"Then what is it?" Emmett asked, the first time he had spoken to her and
she turned to look up at him. He made his chair seem small, his shoulders
broad, his muscles big. He was huge. Cori felt like a little kid looking up at
a giant. She was mesmerized. He was handsome to say the least. His hair
dark, his skin pale, his eyes the color of gold. She blinked a few times,
mentally shaking herself a little.

She lowered her voice, leaning closer to him. "People are staring." She
glanced around the room and each of them did as well, all seeing that all
eyes were on them. They knew why. The Cullen family didn't exactly talk
to anyone outside their family. "I don't like it."

Emmett wasn't sure why, but that made his stomach churn and the need to
protect her grow, even from the stares of people that needed to learn to
mind their own business. But he couldn't do much other than glare at them,
which was enough for most of them to look away. He was big and looked
mean and that alone was enough to send anyone running.

"We got your back." Travis told her, giving her an award-winning smile and
she couldn't help but smile in return.

"Thank you." She hummed and he nodded.

"Oh, by the way, this is Rose. My w-girlfriend." He wrapped his arm
around her shoulders, pulling her into his side. "And Emmett, my brother."

"I hear you have a killer spike." Rosalie gave the girl a small smile, in
hopes of easing her nerves just a bit more. She didn't really like humans,
but she also didn't want the girl to feel uncomfortable. And it seemed that
her husband had taken a liking to the girl, so might as well get used to it.

"It was a lucky shot." She shrugged, her cheek flushing.

"Like hell it was." Travis waved off how she downplayed it. "She's so
small, I didn't expect it but she never touched the net. It was impressive.
Wasn't it, Em?"

"Yeah." He nodded and Cori blushed as she looked from Travis to the boy
beside her. "It was."

When the bell rang and the teacher started class, Emmett watched as Cori
sat up a little straighter before leaning from side to side, trying to get a
glimpse of the board as she squinted her eyes. He leaned a little closer to
her and she froze, turning her head slightly to look at him.

"You can copy my notes." He whispered, sliding his notebook towards her
the tiniest bit. It was the only time he was glad he had actually taken any
notes, he hated taking notes. But they all had to keep up appearances.

"Thank you." She gave him a wide smile and that was it, he was a goner.
He'd do anything to see that smile again. He slid his notebook towards her
and she glanced over his messy, but readable scribble.

"I'm a little ahead." He told her, reaching over to turn a few pages so she
was where she needed to be to follow along with the teacher. She smiled at
him again, a silent thanks, before reading over his notes and he just watched
her. His chin in his hand, his elbow on his desk.

As he watched her, he regretted not being the one to approach her first. It
should've been him and not his brother. He should've walked right up to her
the second he saw her in the parking lot that morning, introduced himself
and offered to show her around.

But he's an idiot, at least, that's what he'd tell you.

He was cautious about this girl before she even moved to Forks. The second
Alice had told him about her vision, about the girl that now sat beside him,
he was skeptical. Sometimes her visions didn't happen, sometimes they
changed.

So when he saw her sliding out of that beat up, red truck, he wanted to be
sure this was the girl. He wanted to be certain that Alice's vision was true
before he got close to the girl. For her safety and the safety of his family.

Now sitting beside her as she chewed on the cap of her pen, her eyes
moving from his notes to the teacher then to her own blank notebook, he
was certain this was her. This was the girl. With her crystal blue eye, her
ink-black curls, and that smile, that smile that would've stopped his heart if
it still beat.

There was no doubt. This was the girl for him.

▬ "YOU REALLY DON'T have to walk me to the cafeteria." Cori

mumbled, her fingers fumbling over the other as she trailed behind Travis
and Rosalie, Emmett to her left. "You've already walked me to all of my
classes."
"Can't leave you stranded now." Emmett gave her a smile and she returned
it as she looked up at him. Her head tilted back and she reached up to adjust
the beanie on her head. Travis had told her he knew a shortcut to the
cafeteria, through the courtyard, and it was cold so she had pulled her hat
back on over her messy hair.

"I would've found it eventually." She shrugged, her voice a mere mumble.
"I just don't wanna be any trouble."

"You're not." Emmett bumped her lightly with his elbow, something he had
done a few times throughout the first half of the day. He wanted to be closer
to her, to hold her hand, to bury his nose in her hair, but he'd settled for a
small graze here and there. He didn't want to overstep, she already seemed
uncomfortable with all the stares she was getting. And even though he knew
his family was the reason everyone was still so shocked, he couldn't bring
himself to leave her side unless absolutely necessary. "We're headed that
way. Just makes sense to take you with us."

"That, and we're friends now." Travis told her, looking over his shoulder at
her as they approached three people that seemed to be waiting for them.
"You're stuck with us." He grinned and Cori couldn't help the bubble of joy
that filled her chest.

She had friends. She'd made plenty in her years of visiting her dad, but this
felt different. She wasn't sure how she had managed to befriend the biggest
source of school gossip on her first day. She wasn't sure why Travis had
even talked to her in the first place.

She'd heard a few things about the Cullen family when she was in her
algebra class, it was the only class so far that she didn't share with Travis,
Emmett, or Rosalie.

And people talked.

Most whispered about why they had opened their ranks for the likes of the
new girl when they hadn't for anyone else in the past two years of attending
the school. And it wasn't like people didn't try, they did. Most striking up
conversations only to be shut down or ignored completely.

"Who's she?" One of the two boys that waited for them asked, his eyes
moving to the small girl that looked even smaller amongst her new peers.
His hair was copper and stood on end, his eyes the same golden as the
others. His frame was lanky and his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Guys, this is Cori." Emmett smiled, his hand gently pressed into her back
to bring her forward. "Cori, this is the rest of my family. Ignore Edward."
He pointed to the boy that still looked confused by her presence. "That's-"

"I'm Alice." The girl cut him off, springing forward, almost bouncing on her
toes as she extended her hand, which Cori shook. A warm smile on her face.
Her hair was chopped short, a whimsical look to it but it seemed fitting.
"You're in my algebra class."

Cori swallowed hard, her hands tightened together to keep herself

grounded. "Yeah." She nodded. "You gave me a pencil, before I even asked.
I have it, if you want-"

"Keep it." She waved her off with her hand before reaching back, her hand
grabbing the wrist of the boy behind her. "This is Jasper." She pulled the
blond forward, his face tight almost like he was in pain. His shoulders back,
his back straight. A complete contrast to the girl that stood at his side.

"Hello." He nodded his head, the word simple but she caught the faintest
hint of the southern accent he had.

"Are you sitting with us?" Alice asked, a hopeful look dancing in her eyes.

"Oh, I was gonna find my sister." The blue-eyed girl shifted on her feet.
"But maybe next time." She offered up, not wanting to disappoint the girl
despite having just met her.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Travis jumped in, his eyes moving from
Emmett, who had yet to look away from Cori, to his sister. "Alice, back off
a little." He mumbled, his voice so low that Cori missed it as her eyes
dropped to her boots. "Let's head inside. It's cold." Not that the cold
bothered him or his siblings, but he could see that Cori's nose had turned
pink and her cheeks weren't far behind.

Travis and Rosalie were the first ones through the door, Alice and Jasper
following and Edward was next.

"Need something to hold onto?" Emmett asked, offering his hand to Cori as
they followed his siblings. He had noticed that sometimes she gripped her
hands or whatever she was holding when she was nervous. He even saw her
grip the edge of her desk in history when she caught a couple of girls
glancing back at her in the middle of the lesson.

"Oh, no, I'm okay."

"I don't mind." He gave her a kind smile and despite having just met him,
she was comfortable with him. She slowly placed her hand in his, a small
gasp leaving her lips at the coolness of his skin. His hand was bigger than
hers by a lot but as he held the door open for her she gripped his fingers as
best as she could, knowing that all eyes would be on her.

She was right.

Everyone watched as she held onto Emmett's hand and he just smiled,
relishing in the feel of her small hand in his. But it faded when he heard the
next few words that came from Jessica Stanley's mouth.

"Who the hell is she?"

He tugged the girl closer to him, as though shielding her from the gossip
that was sure to ensue. And she let him, staying in step with him past the
table her sister sat at. "That's my sister."
 006┆chapter six

LET DOWN

six. tree

▬ "YOUR SISTER?" Angela, a girl Bella had met, asked. Her eyes were
wide as she looked over towards where the girl in question stood with the
biggest Cullen.

"Yeah." Bella nodded. "That's Cori."

"She's holding hands with Emmett Cullen." Jessica started slowly, still
trying to wrap her head around it.
"She likes physical contact." The older Swan shrugged, not getting why
both girls were completely shocked. She glanced back at her sister, there
was a small smile on Cori's lips as she looked up at Emmett, who stood in
front of her just a few steps from the table the rest of his siblings occupied.
Their fingers still intertwined.

Her eyes drifted from her sister to the boy with copper hair, his eyes on her
and his eyebrows creased. Bella turned in her chair, looking away from the
boy, her eyebrows pinched in confusion.

"Bells." Cori got her sister's attention as she neared the table she sat at with
a few other people. All eyes were on Cori, the two girls gaping and Eric
offered her a smile.

"Hey, Cor." Bella smiled. "And you were worried about not making
friends."

"How'd you do it?" The brunette asked and Cori looked over at her,
confusion contorting her soft features. "The Cullens? How'd you do it?"

"I'm gonna get food." Cori mumbled as she turned and made her way
towards the line, grabbing a tray.

"Ignore her."

She jumped a little, turning to see Emmett behind her.

"Sorry." He chuckled lightly. "Didn't mean to scare you."

"No, I just wasn't expecting you." She told him as she put a few things on
her tray, nothing really looked all that appetizing. "Is the food always this...
bleh?"

"That's why we usually bring our lunch." He nodded, lying through his
teeth but she just nodded her head. "Hey, let me know if anyone gives you a
hard time, okay?"
"Are you gonna defend my honor?" She asked, an amused smile tugging at
her lips and for one of the rare moments that day, she didn't care that most
of the student body was watching her. Each time it happened Emmett was
smiling at her, an emotion she couldn't quite read dancing in his eyes. It
made the tips of her ears turn pink.

"Hell yeah." He nodded, his smile growing. "A menacing look usually does
the trick."

"I'm sure it's only because of the look." She hummed sarcastically. "Has
nothing to do with the fact that you're built like a tree."

"Listen here, Shortcake." He stepped closer to her and she couldn't help it
when her smile grew. "I am not built like a tree."

"Wanna find a tree and compare?" She tilted her head to the side, a sense of
challenge rising in her, and he couldn't help but laugh. It was loud, echoing
around the room, silencing a few nearby tables and all she could do was
join him. His laugh was thick, swirling around her and she could drown in
that sound.

"Come sit with us." He told her once he sobered up. "I know you said you
were gonna sit with your sister, but you looked uncomfortable when Jessica
asked you about me and my family."

"Why is everyone so obsessed with the fact that you're talking to me?"

"They have nothing better to do?" He offered and she let out a breathy
chuckle as she shook her head. "I just want you to be comfortable, it's your
first day and people can be judgemental."

"Are you sure it's okay?" She asked, her voice low as her hands tightened
around the edge of her tray. "I don't think your brother likes me." "Travis?"

"No, Edward."

"Oh, he's just a bitch." Emmett waved it off. "Like I said, ignore him."
"Thank you."

"Stop thanking me." He gave her a soft smile and she returned it before he
placed his hand on the small of her back and led her right by the table Bella
sat at and to his family's table.

"Travis tells us you have a good spike." Alice smiled once Cori and Emmett
sat at the table, the latter keeping her chair close to his. He even draped his
arm over the back of her chair.

"It was-"

"It was not a lucky shot." Travis cut the girl off, his eyes narrowed slightly
but a playful smirk tugged at his lips.

"I played last season at my old school, it isn't really my sport though." She
shrugged, poking at the food on her tray.

"So what is?" Emmett asked.

"What?"

"Your sport."

"Um, well, I never played on a team or anything, but my stepdad, Philip.

He's a minor league baseball player and I've always liked playing with him
and I'm not terrible."

"Baseball." Emmett mused, nodded his head.

"You play any sports?" She asked him. "You're basically a tree, you look
like you'd be good at sports."

"I'm not a tree." He chuckled.

"You kinda are." Travis added, getting a laugh from Cori as she pointed at
him.
"He gets it. I like you." She hummed and his smile grew even wider as the
girl turned back to Emmett, who just smiled at her.

"No, I don't play any sports. At least, not for the school. Mostly just us
goofing off." He answered her question and she nodded, bringing her water
to her lips.

"Hmm." Edward hummed, his eyes on Cori and his brows pinched.

"What?" She asked, worried she'd done something wrong and panic flooded
through her veins.

"Ignore him." Emmett placed his hand on her back, nothing more than a
simple comfort. "He's weird." Cori relaxed a little, turning back to Emmett
with a small smile. He could still tell that she was confused and a little
worried so he looked over at Jasper, who gave a simple nod.

Cori let out a small breath, her worry fading little by little. Emmett gently
moved his thumb across her back and she gave him a smile. She wasn't sure
how, but he had seemed to pick up on the fact the physical contact calmed
her nerves but she appreciated it. She even leaned back into his hand just a
little.

▬ THE CLASS SHE had been waiting for all day finally arrived, and to
her surprise, Emmett didn't bid her goodbye like he had when he walked her
to every other class that day. He followed her into the room and plopped
down at one of the tables, grinning as he pulled the chair beside him out for
her.

"You're taking art?"

"Easy A." He shrugged as she sat next to him.

"Don't let him fool you, he's pretty good with a paint brush." Alice sat at the
table to Cori's left, a smile on her face.

"Really?" She grinned, turning back to the boy. He let his head hang
forward, a sheepish look taking over his face. "I can't wait to see."

"She's crazy." Emmett huffed. "Don't listen to her. What about you? You
any good?"

"I'm alright." She shrugged. "I mostly like to doodle, but I like painting. My
mom wouldn't let me paint in the house though, it got a bit messy. And it
was entirely too hot to paint outside."

"How are you liking the weather?" Alice asked, her chin in her hand. "Forks
is definitely not Arizona."

"I love it." She grinned. "I hate the heat. But I like the weather here. I also
like that I can wear my hoodies and my beanies and my fuzzy snowman
socks."

"Snowman socks?"

"Listen here, Tree, they're soft and warm." She poked his shoulder and he
chuckled as he held his hand up in mock surrender. Beside them, Alice just
smiled. It wasn't the first time she had seen this scene play out, but this was
better.

.
 .

▬ CORI HUMMED TO HERSELF as she made her way down the front
steps of the school, she had already turned in the slip she got signed by all
of her teachers and she was waiting on Bella. She had just reached the red
truck when she spotted a familiar black Chevy across the parking lot.

She grinned as she started towards it, the door opened and Paul slid out, a
wide smile on his face as the girl approached him.

Emmett, who had been making his way towards the girl the moment he saw
she was alone, stopped in his tracks. His entire family focused on one thing
and one thing only, the boy that now had his arms around Cori.

"How was your first day, Munchkin?" He asked, but she didn't untangle her
arms, she stayed pressed against him, making him chuckle as he rubbed her
back.

"It was good." She hummed. "I made friends."

"You're not replacing us, are you?"

"Never." She shook her head as she looked up at him, her chin against his
chest.

"Come on, it's cold!" Rachel shouted from the passenger seat and the two
laughed as they pulled apart, Cori making her way towards the side of the
truck the girl sat on as Paul made his way towards the driver's side. His
eyes, narrowed into a glare, briefly landed on the Cullens, who still watched
them. Every last one wore a similar glare.

"No, Cori, what are you-" Rachel mumbled as the girl climbed over her lap,
hitting her in the head with her backpack.
"Sorry." The younger girl mumbled before flopping into the middle seat, her
bag now at Rachel's feet.

"Really?"

"I wanna sit in the middle."

"There are easier ways that you could've done that."

"I like a challenge."

"Are you two situated?" Paul asked as he lifted himself into the truck.

"Aye, aye, Captain." Cori nodded, pulling the seat belt over her lap.

"Have I mentioned how much I missed you?" Rachel asked, wrapping her
arm around the girl's shoulder and all Cori could do was beam. Paul
chuckled at the two as he started the trunk, it was loud and a few people
looked their way as he pulled out of the parking space and the second he
was on the road, his arm was draped along the back of the seat. His hand
toying with the ends of Rachel's hair. And Cori sat happily between the two
as she poked at the radio.

▬ "WOLVES!" Emmett huffed, pacing the length of the living room

where Travis and Rosalie sat on the couch. "Fucking wolves!"
"She used to live here. She's bound to know a few of them." Travis
reasoned, despite the fact that he didn't like it either.

"Why didn't Alice mention that?"

"I can't see the wolves." Alice stated, joining the others, Jasper close behind
her. "I was curious why there were a few blank spots, but it makes sense
now."

"Blank spots?" Rosalie asked, her perfect eyebrows creased.

"I can see some of Cori's future, never all of it. Just bits and pieces. Pieces
of her and Emmett. But I can't see much other than that."

"Are you sure it's only because of the wolves?" Emmett asked, his worry
for the girl easily beating his anger. He knew that when Alice couldn't see
someone's future it meant they didn't have much of one.

"Cori's gonna be fine." She gave him a soft smile but Edward, who was
shoving things into his bag in his room, heard what she dare not speak.
Especially not to Emmett.

For now at least.

⚘ nova speaks┆i freaking love this book so much! cori owns my heart!!

thank you so much for 1k reads! i appreciate you all so much!! you have no
idea.

so, what do we think so far???? i'm always open to feedback but

please don't criticize my characters i hope everyone has a nice day!!
 007┆chapter seven

LET DOWN

seven. milkshakes

▬ "BE CAREFUL." Paul huffed, shaking his head a little at the two girls,
Rachel was on Cori's back as they made their way towards the diner – Cori
was meeting her dad and Bella.

Cori struggled a little under the weight but her tongue poked out the corner
of her mouth in concentration. She was determined to prove that she could,
in fact, carry Rachel. "I got this." She mumbled to herself, taking slow steps
towards the door of the diner.
"She's like the little engine that could." Rachel giggled, holding onto Cori's
shoulders.

"I say drop her." Paul stated, following behind them in case Cori fell over,
and Rachel turned towards him. Her eyes narrowed, her brows pinched and
her jaw hanging open. "You're, like, two feet off the ground. And I'd catch
you." He gave her a smile and through her lips pulled into a small smile,
she kept her eyes narrowed at him.

"You guys are so adorable." Cori mumbled then she stopped. "We're at the
door. Get off of me. I win. You owe me a milkshake." Rachel dropped to
her feet and Cori leaned against the door, getting a weird look from a guy
that looked like he was trying to leave but couldn't because she was
blocking the only exit.

"Cori, honey, you're in the way." Rachel gently pulled her back and the guy
pushed the door open, giving them three teenagers an amused look before
making his way to his car.

"Do I get a milkshake now?" Cori asked, looking up at the older girl.

"Yeah, come on." Rachel nodded, wrapping her arm around Cori's
shoulders. Paul held the door open and the two girls stepped in, the boy
staying close behind them as they made their way to the bar. "Two vanilla
milkshakes, please." Rachel grinned as soon as she locked eyes with Anna.
"Coming right up." The waitress nodded before disappearing into the back.

"So, tell us about your new friends." Paul lightly nudged Cori's shoulder
and Rachel leaned forward to see around him, wanting to hear all about the
girl's first day. What they didn't expect was the blush that covered the girl's
cheeks as she bit her lip to hide a smile. "Coraline Leigh Swan, did you
meet a boy?" He leaned closer, his face close to hers as a teasing smirk
pulled at his lips.

"Oh, he brought out the full name." Rachel chuckled, leaning around her
boyfriend to see Cori's cheeks turn an embarrassing shade of red before her
eyes.
"There may have- oh, milkshakes!" Cori grinned when Anna approached
them, placing two milkshakes on the bar. "Thank you."

"Of course." She smiled before walking away to help another customer and
Cori quickly pulled her milkshake towards her and sipped it through the
straw.

"We're not gonna let this go."

"Oh, look, my dad." She mumbled as she slid off of her stool, her milkshake
in hand, then she made her way over towards her dad, who had just sat at
the table by the door. "Hi, daddy." She greeted him with a smile.

"We're not finished!" Paul shouted after her and all eyes turned towards the
boy as Cori's cheeks became an even darker shade of red. She simply
ducked her head and slid into the chair next to Charlie, sipping on her
milkshake.

"What's that about?" Charlie asked, his thick brows pinched.

"Paul's an idiot."

"Hurtful, Munchkin, hurtful." Paul hummed as he neared their table, Rachel

under his arm – her milkshake in her hand – and his other hand held to his
chest.

"We have to head out." Rachel spoke up, nudging the boy with her elbow a
little. "We'll see you later, Cor."

"Thanks for picking me up and for the milkshake."

"Anytime." Paul nodded, ruffling her hair a little before he and Rachel bid
the two Swans goodbye and left the restaurant. Charlie looked over at Cori,
confusion contorting his features as she happily sipped on her milkshake.

"What?" The girl asked, looking up at her dad as he shook his head,
deciding against questioning her about it.
"Let me guess, steak?" Cora asked, an amused eyebrow raised at the Chief
of police.

"Of course." He nodded, smiling a little and she chuckled before looking
over at Cori.

"Wow, look at you." Cora mused, her eyes on the youngest Swan.

Cori smiled sheepishly around her straw as she looked up at the woman she
had known since she was little. "Is that in a good way or a bad way?"

"A good way." The waitress told her, making her smile grow. "What can I
get for you?"

"Do you still have the hangover burger?" She asked, putting her milkshake
on the table. "The one with the egg?"

"Of course we do."

"I'll take one of those, with onion rings please." She told her and Cora
quickly wrote it down. "Oh! And ranch!" "You got it." The waitress
chuckled.

"And a garden burger." Charlie told her before she could leave.

"I'll have that out soon." She smiled then she walked away from the table
and towards the kitchen.

"How was school?" Charlie asked, trying to fill the silence.

"It was good. Met a few people." She shrugged. "How was work? Arrest
anyone?"

"No, no, just a few local kids skipping school." He answered.

"Wow, must be exhausting to be a cop in a town where nothing happens."

"Oh, drink your milkshake." He mumbled, waving her off and she giggled
but pulled the drink closer to her and took a few sips.

▬ CORI HAD SPENT MOST of the time she and her dad waited for Bella
dodging questions about the kids she met at school. She knew he wouldn't
be all that thrilled to learn that one of the few people she had befriended
was a boy, a very hot boy at that. So when he'd ask she'd change the subject.

The more he asked, the weirder her subject changes got, the latest one being
about the fact that tomatoes are actually fruits and not vegetables like
everyone believed they were. And that led to her humming a few lines of
VeggieTales song. And that was when he gave up.

Luckily, Bella made her way through the door, joining them at the table.
And not long after, Cora was bringing the food out. Cori grinned when a
giant burger was placed on the table in front of her, her blue eyes slightly
wide. Lunch was subpar so she didn't really eat much, other than the bag of
chips Emmett had gotten from the vending machine and the gummy bears
Travis had shared with her in english.

"I just can't get over how grown up you are." Cora mused, putting Bella's
plate in front of her before handing Charlie his. "And so gorgeous. Both of
you." She added, glancing at Cori, who was already stuffing her burger in
her mouth. The waitress lightly chuckled at the girl.
"Hey, Bella, Cori." A balding man greeted as she neared the table, stopping
next to Cora with a smile on his face.

"Hey, Waylon." Cori mumbled, the bite she had just taken stuffed into the
right side of her mouth as she waved at the man. He gave her a smile,
chuckling a little as she went back to chewing her food before she
swallowed.

Waylon looked back at Bella, who looked confused, her eyes moving
Charlie for some help. "You remember me?" He asked, shifting a little on
his feet when it became clear that she didn't. "I played Santa one year." He
chuckled, hoping that would jog her memory.

"Yeah, Waylon, the girls haven't had a Christmas here since they were seven
and eight." Charlie told his friend, looking over at his oldest daughter, who
looked a little relieved he had said something. "I bet I made an impression,
though, didn't I?" "You always do." Charlie nodded.

"Butt-crack santa?" Cora chuckled a little and Waylon joined in.

"Hey, kids love those little bottles, though." He added as though in his
defense.

"All right, let the girls eat." The waitress turned him and lightly pushed him
away before turning back to the table. "As soon as you're done, I will bring
you your favorite. Berry cobbler, remember?"

"Awesome!" Cori cheered, she loved berry cobbler.

"Your dad still has it. Every Thursday."

"Thank you. That'd be great." Bella nodded, mostly just wanting the
waitress to leave her alone and when she was gone Bella reached for the
ketchup the same time Charlie did. He picked it up and handed it to her
while Cori took another bite of her burger. "So, you eat here every night?"

"Uh..." He nodded. "Better than doin' dishes."

"I can cook." Bella told him, picking at her food. "I used to do the cooking
at home, in Phoenix. Mom's not great in the kitchen." "I remember." He
nodded.

"Chocolate candles." The two stated, smiling a little but the awkwardness
was quick to fill the air again.

"Cori got mom's cooking skills." Bella added, trying to fill the silence.

"Hey!" Cori huffed.

"Don't talk with your mouth full." Bella chuckled at the girl, who
swallowed her food then washed it down with her water.

"I can cook."

"Chicken nuggets don't count."

"Rude." Cori mumbled, sinking into her chair a little as she picked up an
onion ring and took a bite.

"So, um... how's school?" Charlie asked when it got quiet again. "Meet
anybody?"

"Yeah, yeah." Bella nodded. "A couple of people." She looked over at Cori,
who had lifted the bun off her burger and started piling onion rings onto it.
"Do you know the Cullen family?"

Cori looked up, her eyes slightly wide at the mention of the Cullens. They
had been her tour guides all day and kept her company in her classes when
they just happened to share a class with her.

"Yeah, why? People talking about them again?" He asked, seeming a little
peeved that they were the talk of the town even after two years.

Bella looked across the table at Cori, their eyes meeting. "A little bit." The
older of the two nodded.
"It's only 'cause they're newcomers." He sighed a little, looking between the
two girls. "Listen, the Cullens, they've been nothing but nice ever since they
moved here. People around here, they should be happy to have a surgeon
like Dr. Cullen in our podunk hospital. Happy his wife wanted to move to a
small town. And his kids? Those kids give me no trouble. Not like the other
hellraisers around here."

"Wow, you don't have to get all worked up." Cori mumbled jokingly, getting
a little chuckle from Charlie.

"I just don't like narrow-mindness." He told her and she nodded, giving him
a soft smile.

"Me either." She hummed and he gave her a smile as they went back to
eating.

008┆chapter eight

LET DOWN

eight. study date

▬ CORI SMILED AS SHE spun around in her desk chair. She was
supposed to be doing her homework but that pretty much went out the
window the second she sat in the chair while music played from her record
player. She spun once more, her smile faded a little as her vision blurred
and her head spun, her stomach turning slightly.

"Oh, too much." She mumbled, squeezing her eyes closed as she took a
deep breath. "Okay." She mumbled, pulling herself closer to her desk,
where her books had been laid out. Next to her history book sat Emmett's
notebook, which he insisted she take so she had the notes she needed. The
simple reminder of the boy that had pretty much ditched his family most of
the day just for her made her smile, but she shook the thought and tried her
best to focus on algebra.

"Cori!" Bella called out, lightly knocking on the door before she pushed it
open.

"Oh, thank goodness." She mumbled to herself, letting out a relieved breath
– she was not ready for algebra homework and welcomed the distraction.
"Yeah?" She called out and she heard the stairs creak as her sister climbed
them.

"Mom's on the phone." She waved the device a little in the air and Cori's
smile grew wide as she jumped up, taking the phone from her sister and
plopping onto her bed.

"Mom!" Cori nearly shouted, getting a chuckle from the woman on the
other end as Bella sank to the mattress beside her.

"Hey, Cor." She smiled, she was glad that she seemed so happy. "Hey,
babies. So, listen," Her tone changed a little, taking on a more serious tone.
"-if spring training goes well, we could be moving to Florida."

"Gross." Cori mumbled, her brows furrowed and her lips pursed. "It's hot
there. But good for Phillip."

"Yeah, I'll tell him." Renee chuckled lightly.

"Please insert $1.25 for an additional three minutes." An automated voice
cut in before any one could say much else and the Swan sisters shared a
look.

"Mom, where's your cell?" Bella asked, leaning closer to Cori, who held the
phone between them.

"Okay. don't laugh. I didn't lose my power cord. It ran away." The girls
giggled a little, sharing a knowing look."Screaming. I literally repel
technology now."

"I miss you." Bella mumbled, her voice a little quiet.

"We both do." Cori added, quickly.

"Oh, babies, I miss you guys, too." She told them. "But tell me more about
your school. Now, what are the kids like?" Cori watched as Bella's
shoulders stiffened a little and her face lost any trace of the smile that was
once there. "Are there any cute guys?"

"Well, they're all very welcoming." Bella muttered, clearly not meaning a
word she said.

"Uh, oh. Tell me all about it."

"It doesn't even matter." She huffed and Cori gave her a confused look, the
last Cori had seen, Bella had made some friends and they seemed nice
enough.

"Well, I had a good day." Cori mumbled, trying to ease the tension a little.

"You were holding hands with a guy you just met." Bella stated, seemingly
taking her anger out on her sister.

"Really?" Renee questioned, shocked by the information.

"I-I was nervous and he offered." She mumbled, shrugging her shoulders a
little. "He was sweet." That only seemed to make Bella's bad mood worse.
"I have homework to do." She took the phone from Cori's hand. "Um, we'll
talk to you later."

"Okay. I love you."

"Love you, too." Bella told her.

"Ditto." Cori rushed out before Bella hung up and when she did Cori gave
her a confused look. "Are you mad at me for something?"

"No." She shook her head, pushing herself off the bed. "I just... I have
homework."

"Okay." Cori nodded, still slightly confused but she let her sister leave the
room before she looked over at her desk at her own pile of homework that
she really didn't want to do. She smiled a little when a thought popped into
her head and she reached across her bed to get her phone off of her
nightstand. She scrolled through her contacts, looking for Rachel. She knew
the Quileute girl would jump at the chance to help her in any way, but she
stopped when she saw a contact that hadn't been in her phone before.

With pinched eyebrows, she stared at the contact for a moment, trying to
figure out how it had gotten there and if the number belonged to who she
thought it did. So, she cautiously clicked it and held her phone to her ear as
it rang.

"Hello?"

"Travis?" Cori questioned, chewing lightly on her bottom lip, somehow she
still wasn't convinced that it was his number.

"Cori." He grinned, the mere name leaving his lips had Emmett looking
away from the tv. And since he was distracted, Jasper easily took the lead in
the game they had been playing. "I see you found my number." "When did
you even..." She trailed off, still confused.
"I'm sneaky." He hummed, his smile growing as Emmett narrowed his eyes
at him. "So, are you calling just to talk?"

"No, I was actually looking for my friend's contact when I saw yours. I was
gonna ask if she could help me with my homework." She glanced at the plie
again, it seemed bigger somehow. "But I saw your name and I was curious."

"What do you need help with?"

"I win." Jasper stated, his drawl thick and Cori's eyebrows pinched a little.

"I was distracted." Emmett huffed, tossing the controller to the side and
making his way towards Travis.

"Are-are you busy?" Cori asked, feeling terrible for interrupting.

"No, not at all." He shook his head. "We were just playing a game. Well,
Emmett and Jasper were, I was just watching. Now, about this homework..."

"Oh, um, I'm just a little behind is all and I'm not very good at algebra. But
I'll call Rachel, she loves this kind of stuff."

"Or I can help you." He offered but before she could say anything there was
shuffling on the other end of the line followed by muffled arguments, then
there was silence.

"Or I could."

Her cheeks went a bright shade of pink as she brought her thumb up and
nibbled at the nail. "Emmett?"

"Hey, Shortcake." He smiled a little, shoving a pillow into Travis' face when
he puckered his lips, teasing the older boy. "I can totally help you, if you
want. Um, I could come over if you're dad's okay with it."

"Um, yeah." She nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat. "Jus-just let
me go ask him real quick." She pushed herself up and made her way
through her room, down the stairs and into the hall. She knocked lightly on
Charlie's door and waited for a response.

"Yeah?"

She carefully pushed the door open, stepping into the room with her phone
still pressed to her ear but she ignored what sounded like whispered threats
on the other end. "Um, is it alright if a friend comes over? I need help with
my homework."

"Paul? He was over here late last night."

Emmett didn't like the sound of that, but he made no sound to indicate his
dislike.

"No, a friend from school. Emmett. Emmett Cullen." She shifted on her
feet.

"Me too!" Travis nearly shouted only to have Emmett shove him
backwards.

"Ignore him." Emmett told the girl and she giggled a little, her eyes
dropping to the floor for a moment.

"Is that him on the phone?" Charlie raised an eyebrow and the girl nodded.

"I really need help. We'll stay in the living room. And you said so yourself,
they're good kids."

He hated that she was using his words against him, but he sighed as he
nodded. "Only for a couple of hours. You both have school tomorrow. And I
will be checking in."

Her smile grew wide. "Thanks, daddy." She quickly hugged him before
putting the phone back to her ear and leaving his room. "That's a yes. But
you can't stay long."
"I'll be there soon." He told her and she smiled as she hung up. She made
her way to her room and gathered all of her homework before shoving it
into her bag and making her way down the stairs, only after stopping her
record player and putting the vinyl back into its sleeve.

▬ EMMETT SMILED AT THE girl that sat to his left, she had her hair
pulled up into a high ponytail, her blue eyes narrowed slightly at the math
problem in front of her, and the eraser of her pencil between her teeth. He
tipped his Mtn. Dew up, taking a sip even if it tasted like sandpaper. When
he had arrived she had set out a couple of drinks as well as a few snacks
and he couldn't bring himself to turn her down. She looked too adorable and
even a bit nervous as she led him to the coffee table before sinking to the
floor. So, he managed to get a few chips down, and even a few sandwiches
she had made.

"Who looked at math and thought let's add letters. That seems like a good
idea? Cause I hate them." She muttered, resting her forehead against the
table.

"Come on." He sighed a little, placing his hand on the small of her back.
"You got this."

"Can you just do my homework for me?" She asked, lifting her head to look
up at him. Her eyes wide and pleading and he was seconds from agreeing,
seconds from pulling her notebook towards him and filling in all the
answers. But before he could, Charlie walked in.
"How's the homework?" He asked, looking between the two as he stood in
the doorway and Emmett moved his hand so it no longer rested on the girl's
back, but on the floor behind her.

"Terrible." Cori answered.

"We just have algebra left." Emmett told him, glancing at the clock on the
wall before looking back at the Chief of Police.

"Algebra is stupid." Cori huffed, dropping her pencil onto the table before
pushing a few loose strands of hair back. "Can I be homeschooled?"

"You'd still have to do algebra." Emmett chuckled and the girl huffed.
Charlie looked between the two, he had seen that same look on Emmett's
face every time he made his way down the stairs for a drink or a snack and
he couldn't stop himself when he asked the boy a question.

"So, Emmett, you're a senior?" He asked, leaning against the doorframe.

"Yes, sir."

"And, uh, what are your plans for college?"

"Dad." Cori groaned a little.

"Well, I have a few plans, nothing solid yet. But I'm looking at colleges in
Alaska."

"That's where you moved from?"

"Yes, sir." He nodded and Charlie hummed lightly. "I visited the campus
with my dad when we still lived up there. It was a nice place. And I like the
cold."

"Dad, please, no more questions." Cori cut in before Charlie could ask
anything invasive or even embarrassing. "I really need his help with this or
I'm gonna flunk out and be forced to live in a cardboard box in Port
Angeles. And I'll have to sell my hair just to support my drug habit."
"Specific." Charlie mused.

"Please?" She nearly begged and he sighed, waving her off.

"I'm going." He turned and made his way back up the stairs and Cori let out
a relieved breath once he was gone.

"Sorry about my dad, he-"

"It's all right." He gave her a smile, his hand resting against her back once
again. "He cares about you, it's sweet."

"Yeah, I guess." She hummed, giving him a smile. "Okay, now back to the
torture."

He couldn't help the loud laugh that left his chest and it brought an even
wider smile to her face. "It's not torture."

"I beg to differ." She shook her head a little and he shifted closer to her,
keeping his hand on her back.

"Just use the formula I showed you."

"The formula is also stupid." She muttered, leaning her head against him.
She didn't reach his shoulder, so her head rested against his chest but
neither moved as he explained the problem to her, using his free hand to
point at the parts of the equation as he went over it.
 009┆chapter nine

LET DOWN

nine. squirrels

▬ EMMETT CULLEN was sure of two things as he shoved food into a

little lunchbox; one, Cori Swan was absolutely meant to be his and two, she
liked food. He had seen how she basically scarfed down three sandwiches,
almost an entire bag of chips and a cookie, or three, during their little study
session the night before. So, he wanted to make sure she had food because
if her disinterest in the cafeteria food was any indication, she wouldn't be
eating much at school.

"What are you doing?" Esme asked, an amused smile pulling at her lips as
she stood in the kitchen, watching the boy shove what he could into the
lunchbox that sat on the counter. "That's going to the food bank."

"Um, well, I met her."

"Who?" She tilted her head a little, a motherly smile pulling at her lips and
his smile grew.
"Cori. The girl Alice saw."

She couldn't help that her own smile grew, just seeing the sheer joy on his
face was enough to have her completely in his corner, still she asked; "And
you need all this food because?"

"She likes to eat." He shrugged. "And the food at school isn't really that
good, well, it doesn't look that good. Yesterday, she ate a few grapes and a
piece of bread. I just want to make sure she's eating enough."

"That's sweet of you." She hummed and he shrugged, if he could blush his
cheeks would be a bright shade of red. "Well, take as much as you'd like.
But, please, leave some for the food bank."

"Will do." He rounded the counter then leaned down and lightly kissed her
cheek. "Thanks, Esme." She chuckled a little, watching as he made his way
back towards the pantry where he grabbed a few more things, mostly little
snack items, before closing it and shoving it all in the lunchbox. But when
he tried to zip it up it wouldn't close all the way. "Gonna need a bigger
lunchbox." He muttered, tugging on the zipper again, this time it broke and
he sighed. "Yeah, definitely gonna need another one."

Esme chuckled, walking out of the kitchen. She had never seen him so
happy. Sure, she had seen him smile and he never seemed like he wasn't
anything but content, but seeing that smile and how giddy he got just from
filling up a bag with food, she knew that, now, he was undeniably happy.
And that was all she wanted for her kids.

.
 .

▬ "SEE? I'M A GOOD DRIVER." Cori stated as she put the truck in
park, they were next to a blue van and the group of people Bella had met
the day before milled around it, all laughing as they enjoyed the last few
minutes before school actually started.

"I never said you weren't a good driver."

"You implied it." Cori hummed before opening the door and sliding out, her
boots hitting the cold pavement. She pushed the door closed, having to use
more force than should be necessary, before she rounded the truck, holding
the keys out towards her sister. "We made it in one piece, and you even got
coffee out of it. Stop sulking."

"I'm not sulking, twerp." She huffed, taking her keys. "I'm slightly annoyed
that you woke me up just to beg to drive today, but I'm not sulking."

"Okay." Cori just gave her a closed mouth smile to which Bella rolled her
eyes, but before either could say anything else a boy approached them.

"Hey, I'm Mike." He held his hand out towards the shorter girl as another
guy followed, smiling at the blue-eyed girl.

"Hi?" She seemed confused but reluctantly shook his hand, which just felt
awkward. She pulled her hand back and looked up at Bella.

"I nailed him in the head with a volleyball yesterday. And that's Tyler."
Bella told her, moving to her sister's side, her hand held out to her and Cori
wrapped her fingers around Bella's palm. "Um, Mike, Tyler, this is Cori.
My little sister."

"You're eleven months older than me." Cori mumbled.

"Still my little sister."

"Yes, but saying this is my little sister makes me sound like I'm a five-
yearold or something." Cori argued, then something caught her attention
and she turned her head a little to see Travis waving at her, his smile wide.
Her own smile grew and she let out a small chuckle when Emmett smacked
the back of his brother's head. And it looked as though he was gonna
retaliate but Rosalie stepped between the two, pushing her boyfriend back.
"See ya in gym." She mumbled, dropping her sister's hand and glancing
both ways before she crossed the parking lot towards the Cullens. Not
caring that Mike was in the middle of saying something.

"Hey, it's Cori!" Travis grinned, his glare from moments ago gone as he
made his way towards the girl, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and
pulling her into his side. Emmett narrowed his eyes a little, but Travis just
smirked. "So, how was your study date last night?" He looked from his
brother to the girl under his arm.

"It wasn't-"

"It was okay." Cori spoke, cutting Emmett off and he smiled. She didn't try
and correct the boy for calling it a date and that, as small as it may have
been, would've made his heart squeeze a little in the best way if it still beat.
"Still think algebra is stupid though." She added. "And I want a straight
answer, when the hell did you put your number in my phone?"

"Oh, that." He chuckled, letting his arm fall back to his side. "You dropped
it when we left history and it started as a joke, but Rose told me no and I-"
"He's a child." Rosalie cut him off. "You tell him no and he just has to do
it."

"Yeah, pretty much." He agreed. "But she loves me." He pulled the blonde
into his arms and pressed a kiss to her lips. Cori smiled at the two, she had
seen a few high school relationships but never one as real as theirs seemed
to be.

"You guys are cute." She mused.

"She thinks we're cute." Travis grinned, looking down at his wife and she
rolled her eyes, but couldn't stop the chuckle that left her lips.
Emmett made his way towards the girl, stopping next to her. "I hope it was
okay that I carried you up to your room."

"You did?" She looked up at him, her brows pinched.

"Yeah. You fell asleep when you said you needed a break before your brain
exploded." He chuckled. "I knew you'd be out the second you laid on the
couch."

"Oh." She ducked her head a little, she felt bad. He had dropped his plans
just to help her with her homework and she fell asleep. And that meant that
after he had carried her to her room, he had cleaned up her books and even
the snacks she had put out for him. "I'm sorry-" "Don't be." He nudged her
a little bit.

"You didn't have to carry me to my room, or clean up my mess."

"I know." He nodded. "But I did. It's done now, nothing you can do about
it." He shrugged.

"Thanks." She hummed, nudging his much bigger arm with hers and that
alone brought a huge smile to his face.

Alice smiled as she watched them, her arms around Jasper as they stood
near the front of Emmett's jeep. She was excited that Cori seemed
comfortable with them, but she wanted to make sure. So when Cori walked
over she asked Jasper to read her emotions and it was easier for him to have
at least a little distance between them.

"So?" She looked up at the blond, her smile almost permanent.

"She's content." He told her, his voice low but the other three were
listening, they all wanted to know. "She does get a little flustered when
Emmett is close to her, though." But he didn't need to be an empath to
figure that out.

"Good." Alice hummed, choosing then to make her way towards the four,
who were laughing as Cori recapped how her ride to school went - she may
have exaggerated how Bella reacted to a turn she had taken a little too fast.
Well, the two boys were laughing and Rosalie was watching the girl, she
wore a smile but she was still cautious. "Shall we head inside?" She asked,
tugging Jasper with her.

"Yeah, I'm cold." Cori mumbled, making Emmett chuckle a little as they
started towards the steps. They passed a few people, who still seemed
obsessed with the fact that the Cullens had taken the new girl into their
group. Cori reached out, her pinky wrapping around Emmett's, which drew
his attention to her. "Sorry, reflex."

"No." He stopped her from pulling her hand back. "I don't mind. Really.
Whenever you need a hand to hold, you can hold mine."

"Okay." She hummed, fighting off a blush but it was a losing battle. Her
cheeks flushed and even the tips of her ears had turned red. And all he could
do was smile at the girl as she adjusted her pinky around his.

▬ TWO WEEKS HAD COME and gone. Cori, though she hated school,
was glad to finally be caught up. And the only reason she had gotten to such
a point was because Emmett had collected all of his siblings notes for
various subjects and spent hours every day going over everything with her.

They had little study sessions at lunch, moving to a table just to the left of
the table his siblings occupied. They spent time before school going over
history and english. After school, they sat in the parking lot working on
algebra until Paul came to pick her up or Bella was ready to leave. They
even talked on the phone, him helping her with her homework as best as he
could. Needless to say, Emmett had spent almost all of his free time with
Cori. And though he would have preferred it be because of anything other
than school, he didn't complain.

He just wanted to spend time with her. And by a shocking turn of events, for
her at least, she wanted to spend time with him.

Cori hummed as she followed Bella out of the house, pulling the door
closed behind her before she tugged her beanie down a little to better cover
her ears. She smiled when she saw her dad pull up in Bella's truck but
before she could greet him, Bella slid and Cori tried to catch her.

Both girls ended up on the cold, icy pavement.

"You all right?" Charlie asked, helping the two girls up.

"Yeah, I'm good." Bella nodded.

"I'm not." Cori mumbled, rubbing her wrist a little. "I think you broke it."

"It's not broken." Charlie held his hand out and she held it out to him, he
gently felt the bone. "Probably just gonna be sore for a day or two."
"Thank you, doctor dad." She hummed and he chuckled a little.

"Sorry, Cor. Ice doesn't really help the uncoordinated."

"At least you know." The blue-eyed girl mumbled, still rubbing her wrist.

"Yeah." Charlie nodded as the two girls started towards the truck. "That's
why I had some new tires put on the truck. Old ones were gettin' pretty
bald." He lightly kicked the tire with his boot.

"Thanks." Bella hummed.

"Can I stay home? My wrist hurts."

"No." Charlie shook his head. "Nice try though." The girl shrugged a little
as she rounded the truck and opened the door. "Well, probably gonna be late
for dinner. I gotta head down to Mason County. Security guard at Grisham
Mill got killed by an animal." He told the two as he started towards his
police cruiser as Bella opened her door.

"An animal?" Bella questioned.

"You're not in Phoenix anymore, girls. Anyway, I figured I'd lend a hand."

"Be careful." Cori leaned out the driver's side door, she was already in the
truck.

"Always am." He nodded then he slid into his car and Bella lifted herself
into the truck.

"What kind of animal do you think it was?"

"I'm gonna go with squirrels."

"Just because you were attacked by a squirrel when you were nine doesn't
mean all squirrels are evil." Bella sighed.

"I think it does." She mumbled childishly, turning away from her sister as
she started the truck. And all Bella could do was shake her head as she
pulled out of the driveway.

010┆chapter ten
 LET DOWN

ten. basketball

▬ CORI WALKED PAST Emmett, right up to the blond boy that stood
straight and still next to Alice. She wore a smile and even he couldn't fight
back the smile that tugged on the corner of his lips.

"You, my friend, are a lifesaver." She held out a stack of index cards.

"Keep 'em."

"Really?" She asked, her eyes going slightly wide, the stack of cards still
held out towards him.

"They're history flashcards." Emmett mumbled, confused as to why she

seemed so shocked he'd give them away so easily. Unlike Cori, he knew
that Jasper had only made them when he asked for help in getting Cori
caught up. And though Emmett wasn't expecting a stack of very detailed
flashcards, he was grateful for his brother the moment he handed them to
the human girl and she grinned like he had given her a box of cookies.
"Oh, no, they are wisdom on paper." She turned to him, the cards now
hugged to her chest. "And his penmanship is tremendous."

"Oh, big word." Travis mused. "Acing english." He raised his hand for a
high five and Cori simply looked at it, knowing she couldn't reach it if she
tried. But to her surprise, a pair of hands rested on her waist and lifted her
up. She giggled a little as they slapped palms, maybe a little too hard. Her
skin stung a little and her wrist ached.

"You high five too hard." She muttered as Emmett lowered her to the
ground and she rubbed her wrist a little.

"Oh, shit. Sorry." His smile quickly faded.

"Let me see." Emmett held his hand out and she placed her hand in his,
flushing a little at the contact. Her blush only deepened when he tugged the
sleeve of her hoodie a little to get a better look at her wrist. It had turned red
and he could tell that it would probably bruise. He gently placed his hand
around her tiny wrist and she let out a small sigh, the coolness of his touch
brought a small sense of relief.

"Did I do that?" Travis asked, any trace of his usual amusement gone from
his voice.

"No. Um, Bella slid on some ice this morning and I tried to catch her. We
both fell and I think I landed on it." She told him, but he still looked like he
felt guilty. "I'm okay, really." She gave him a smile, holding out her free
hand and he gently grasped her fingers. "I'm okay."

"Good." He gave her a small smile but still he looked worried as he pulled
his hand back.

"Maybe I should take you to the nurse, get you some ice or something."
Emmett told her, keeping his hand around her sore skin.

She smiled a little as she looked up at him. "Or you can keep holding it." He
couldn't stop the smile from taking over his face.
"Sounds like a plan." He mused and for a moment they just looked at each
other.

"This is still happening?"

Cori turned, her eyebrows pinched, anger contorting her features as she
looked over at Edward. He had been gone for two weeks, two weeks in
which Bella seemed obsessed with his absence. She'd even started asking
Cori if the rest of the Cullens had mentioned his sudden disappearance,
which they hadn't because she didn't ask.

"You're back?" She questioned, the same amount of distaste coating her
words making Emmett and Travis laugh. Even Rosalie couldn't stop herself
from chuckling a little. Jasper raised an amused eyebrow, looking towards
the human, who was radiating the same amount of irritation as Edward was.

The two just looked at each other, both glaring. Cori's glare wasn't nearly as
menacing but it got her point across. Emmett couldn't help but smile at her,
his hand still wrapped around her wrist, her hair blowing lightly in the cold
breeze, and her eyes narrowed at his brother. She looked absolutely
adorable and all he wanted was to pull her closer to him.

"All right. Let's get you inside." Emmett chuckled lightly, letting his hand
fall from her wrist and she looked up at him, her brows creased and a slight
pout pulled at her lips but that faded the second he wrapped his arm around
her and led her towards the steps of the school. "I still think you should let
me take you to the nurse."

"I'm fine." She chuckled a little, elbowing him in the ribs lightly but he
made a show of it hurting. He groaned a little, holding his side and all she
could do was laugh.

.
 .

▬ CORI ROCKED BACK on her heels as she stood in gym class, her little
shorts and t-shirt doing nothing to keep her warm even if the heat was on.
Her eyes were on Emmett as he stood to the left of the coach and on the
other side was Travis. The younger boy gave Emmett a smirk as the coach
flipped a coin in the air.

"Heads." Travis called, never taking his eyes off his brother. Emmett just
rolled his eyes, letting his eyes settle on Cori as she stood in front of the
group of awaiting students. Her hair was pulled up into a ponytail and her
eyes on the coin. She looked over, her smile growing when she caught his
gaze, her cheeks flushed and she ducked her head, wishing her hair was
down to hide her pink cheeks.

"Trails." The coach called out. "First pick." He pointed to Emmett before
leaving the gym floor so they could pick teams and start the basketball
game.

Emmett scanned the group of students, most looked hopeful that they would
pick him, some of the girls smiled, batting their eyelashes and the guys
puffed up their chests to seem bigger. Everyone wanted to be on Emmett's
team, they had all seen how competitive he got and how much he wanted to
win.

"Cori." Everyone looked a little surprised, even the girl herself. She looked
up at him, her blue eyes wide. "Yeah, you." He nodded and she moved, her
sneakers squeaking against the floor then she stopped at his side.

"Tyler." Travis called out, glancing over at the two, clearly upset he had lost
the coin toss and hadn't been able to pick Cori. He really only wanted to
bug Emmett and he had come to learn that the fastest way to get on
Emmett's nerves was to somehow keep him and Cori apart.
In history, Travis had moved seats, putting himself next to Cori. Rosalie
shook her head, but couldn't help the laugh that left her when she saw
Emmett's face. At lunch, he made sure he and Rosalie sat between them, not
that it lasted long. Emmett always pulled Cori's chair closer to his, even
with the girl in it, no matter how much noise it made.

It had easily become his favorite pastime.

Once the teams had been picked, they started the game. Bella stood
awkwardly in the middle of the court as Emmett led Cori to her position, he
even patted her head before taking the center spot, right across from his
brother. The coach blew his whistle, tossing the ball up and they both
jumped, Emmett smacked the ball back and Mike got it, quickly dribbling
as the other team closed in. Cori watched the ball, making her way down
the court, trying to shake Jessica, who had been guarding her. She
eventually got around her and the ball somehow ended up in her hands. And
she took the shot from the three point line.

"Yes!" Emmett cheered when it hit the rim and fell into the hoop. "I knew
you'd be good at this." He mused when he neared the girl, the game still
going as the other team got the ball.

"I didn't." She mumbled and he laughed before moving across the court,
putting himself in front of Travis.

"I don't get it." Jessica huffed, staying close to Cori as the ball was passed
among her teammates. "I tried, like, really tried and nothing. And you just
show up-" The ball was passed to Jess but Cori knocked it from her hands
and dribbled back towards the other side of the court, taking Jess by
surprise. She was gonna try for another three, but Travis was faster.

"Aren't you supposed to be guarding Emmett?" She asked him.

"Don't listen to her." He told her, his voice low.

"Why does she care so much?"

"She's jealous." He shrugged.

"Of me?" She questioned and his brows pinched, his body going still and
she used that as her moment to pass the ball to Mike and make her way
around the still slightly stunned Cullen. When she got close to the hoop
Mike had passed the ball back since she was the only one open and she
looked up, her height, or lack thereof, becoming very apparent. That is until
she was lifted off the ground and she dunked the ball. Cheers and groans
echoed around the gym, but the girl just laughed as she gripped Emmett's
wrists as he put her back on her feet, keeping his hands on her waist as she
turned to face him.

"Yes, she's jealous of you." He mumbled, tugging her a step closer to him
and her cheek flushed. "How's your wrist?"

"It's okay." She told him, looking down as she held it out. He had taken her
to the nurse, he was worried and he wouldn't stop bringing it up, it was
wrapped in an ace bandage and she was supposed to be taking it easy. But
as it turns out, she was just as competitive as Emmett.

"Hey, we're in the middle of a game." Travis called out, his eyes on the two.

"Don't get your panties in a twist." Emmett huffed, looking over at his
brother before looking back at Cori. "Just checking on my team. Are you
sure you're okay?"

"Absolutely." She nodded, her smile growing. She liked that he worried
about her, that he cared enough to stop mid-game just to make sure she was
fine. "Now, let's go kick some ass."

"That's my girl." He grinned, the words slipping out before he could stop
them. Her cheeks flushed, but she simply giggled as she turned away from
him. The game started up again, and for a while the score stayed close.
Emmett and Travis both being the main source of baskets made, though
Cori got a few – most with Emmett's assistance.

By the time the game was over Cori slumped on the bleachers and Travis
laughed as he sat next to her, she instantly leaned her head against his
bicep. "You okay, Shorty?"
"Yeah." She nodded, her eyes closed. "Forgot how exhausting actually
participating in gym can be."

"Listen, what you said earlier." He started, his voice low. "Why wouldn't
she be jealous of you?"

She shrugged, sitting up, her eyes on Jess as she talked to Bella across the
gym. "Look at her."

He did. "All I see is the town gossip who thinks she's hot shit." He looked at
the girl to his right. "She's insecure. And clearly sees others as competition
rather than actual friends."

"That's a little harsh, don't you think?"

"All I'm saying is, she has plenty to be jealous of. You're pretty great." He
told her and she gave him a wide smile.

"Thanks, Travis." She hummed, leaning against him. "I get it now."

"What?" He chuckled a little, his eyes on his brother across the gym.
Emmett was watching them, listening and as much as he wanted to go over
and plop himself down between them so Cori could lean against him, he
didn't.

"What Rose sees in you."

"Ouch." He muttered, laughing a little. "You've wounded me." He held his

hand to his chest.

She giggled, slapping his arm. "No, I meant, she seems so serious and you
just aren't. But you can be really sweet and kind. And that's all any girl
wants. Plus you're hot. You're, like, fictional boyfriend material."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"Good, 'cause it is." She hummed. "Emmett is too, but don't tell him that."
"Never." He told her and she smiled, her eyes closed once again. He looked
across the gym to see his brother with a soft smile on his lips, his eyes on
the floor, he knew he had heard. He also knew that if they could blush,
Emmett would be the shade of a tomato.
 011┆chapter eleven

LET DOWN

eleven. concussion

▬ "HEY." Cori greeted as she neared Bella in the parking lot, her beanie
pulled over her hair and a thick coat wrapped around her torso.

"Hey?" Bella gave her sister a weird look as she pulled her earbuds from
her ears.

"Just wanted to let you know that Paul and Rachel are gonna pick me up,
we're going to the rez." She told her, shoving her hands into her pockets.
"So, um, I'll see you later."
"You and dad are both bailing on me?" Bella half-ass joked and Cori
shrugged her shoulders, a smile tugging at her lips.

"What can I say? People like us." She hummed, teasingly and Bella rolled
her eyes. "Anyways, I'm probably gonna have dinner-" The sudden honk of
a horn cut her off and both girls turned to see Tyler's van skidding towards
them. Bella quickly grabbed Cori's coat and shoved her to the side,
knocking the girl off balance. She hit the pavement, the side of her head
colliding with the cold concrete.

"Cori!" She faintly heard her name, but her eyelids drooped and darkness
took over.

She came too, groaning a little as her eyes fluttered open. She was still
laying in the parking lot, something soft under her head and a warm hand
on the side of her face.

"Hey, Munchkin." Paul smiled, keeping his hand pressed to the side of her
head. There was a small gash just under her hairline and he held a piece of
his shirt against it, the rest of his shirt was under her head.

"Paul?"

"You bumped your head." He told her, his voice soft.

"I did?" She mumbled and something to her right caught her attention.
"Rachel?"

"You're gonna be okay." The older girl told her, gripping her hand, tears
filling her eyes. "There's an ambulance coming. You'll be at the hospital
soon."

"Okay." She mumbled, letting her eyes fall closed again as she leaned into
Paul's hand.

The next time she opened her eyes she was in a hospital bed, a curtain
acting as a wall between her and the person on the other side. She groaned a
little, squinting at the fluorescent lights beating down into her eyes. She
looked around, hoping to see Paul and Rachel, but to her surprise Emmett
was at her bedside.

"Em?"

"Hey, Shortcake." He smiled as he leaned towards her. "You need me to get

you anything?"

"Drugs. Lots of drugs." She mumbled and he chuckled a little as he shifted

in his chair. "It hurts."

"I know." He reached out and gently laid his hand against the side of her
head, she flinched and he stopped then she let out a sigh. His hand felt like
an ice pack and she leaned into it. "You scared the hell out of me."

"Why? What did I do?" She asked, her brows creased as she looked up at
him.

"It wasn't what you did-"

"Did I fall or something?" She asked. "And where's Paul?"

He took a needless breath, trying not to let the fact that she asked for the
wolf bother him. "No, Cor, you didn't fall. You don't remember?" She
thought for a minute before shaking her head. "Okay, that's okay." He told
her, lightly moving his thumb over the bandaid that rested just under her
hairline. He could smell the blood but his worry for her was bigger than his
thirst.

"Coraline." The curtain was pulled back a little and a pale man stepped
closer to the bed, a clipboard in his hand. "Seems you took quite the spill."

"She doesn't remember." Emmett told him, his worry for the girl growing
by the second.

"Emmett, who's that?" Cori whispered, leaning closer to the boy at her side.
"I'm Dr. Cullen."
"Cullen." She repeated before looking at Emmett. "Hey, that's your name."

Emmett gave her a small smile. "Yeah, it is."

"Wait. Is he your dad?"

"Yeah."

"Coraline, can you sit up for me?" Carlisle asked and the girl nodded, she
moved to sit up and Emmett stood. Once she was sitting, he sat next to her
and wrapped his arm around her, keeping his hand against the small of her
back. Carlisle reached in his pocket and pulled out a small light, shining it
into her eyes and she flinched, groaning as she turned away from him.
"Let's have a look at your head." He gave her a kind smile as he tucked the
light into his pocket and she turned back to him, he reached up and pushed
her hair back. His fingers were just as cold as Emmett's.

Is my dad here?" She asked, leaning into Emmett's side, her hand grasping
for his free hand and the moment she found it she curled her fingers around
his.

"He's with your sister." He nodded, pulling the curtain back and she
squinted a little as the lights seemed to get brighter. Then she saw her dad
and her sister, they had been on the other side of the curtain.

"What happened to Bella? Did she fall, too?" She asked, looking from her
sister to the boy beside her.

"You don't remember the accident?" Bella asked, her brows pinched.

"It's temporary." Carlisle nodded, looking between Charlie and Bella.

"Hey, Cor." Charlie made his way over to her.

"Hi, Daddy." She hummed, still leaning against Emmett.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Emmett asked, clearly worried for the girl. And
Charlie couldn't help but narrow his eyes at the boy that sat next to Cori,
their fingers laced together in her lap.

"There's gonna be a bump. Some swelling. And you will be in a lot of pain."
His eyes moved to the girl again. "You do have a mild concussion but that
should subside with a couple days of rest. Your memory will also return."

"I'm so sorry." Bella told her, her brown eyes filled with worry. "I-I-I just
reacted."

"Sorry for what?" Cori asked, her eyebrows pinched. Bella's lips parted but
she wasn't sure what to say so she simply closed her mouth.

"You ready to go home?" Charlie asked.

"Can Emmett come?" She asked, keeping a tight grip on the boy's hand.

"Yeah, I don't see why not." He sighed, though he wanted to say no.

"Thank you, sir." Emmett gave him a nod, he wasn't ready to let her out of
his sight. Especially since he couldn't be the first one to her aid. He wanted
to be, he had even started across the parking lot but the second the smell of
her blood filled the air he stopped, he didn't want to hurt her even worse.
And it didn't help that the second she hit the cold pavement, the boy
Emmett had come to despise, for reasons other than the fact that he turned
into a wolf, jumped out of his truck.

His anger boiled to an all time high and he knew that it was best to stay
away, because he probably could've handled the blood. But no way in hell
could he fight off the bloodlust and the anger that just seeing Paul near Cori
filled him with.

.
 .

▬ EMMETT SMILED AT THE girl that laid across his chest. Her hair
pulled back into a low messy bun, her eyes closed, her cheek squished
against his hard chest. She shifted a little, pulling herself closer to him and
draping her leg over his. If she moved any more she'd be in his lap and he
wouldn't complain.

She was exceptionally clingy and, oh man, did he ever relish in that simple
fact.

Though they were alone in her room, the door was open and Charlie
occasionally made his way up the small flight of stairs to check on them.
He still wasn't completely comfortable with the fact that Cori, his youngest
daughter, had a boy in her room. Much less an older boy. Granted, he didn't
know just how much older.

"Cori." Emmett whispered, not wanting to startle her... again.

"Mmm?"

"You're tired, maybe I should-"

"No." She snuggled closer to him, like she was trying to hold him in place.
"Stay."

He chuckled a little, rubbing her back. "I don't think your dad would like
that very much."

"But I would like that very much." She mumbled, clearly half asleep.

"I would too."

"Then stay."
"Cori-"

"Please?" Her voice became a soft whine. "I don't want you to go."

He was torn. He could say yes and stay with her, hold her, comfort her, but
Charlie would probably chase him out of the house with a rifle. Or even
though it would take everything in him, he could leave. He could go home
and keep the fact that Charlie actually liked him intact. Because he knew
that one day, he'd need to be on Charlie's good side. He'd need to get the
blessing to date Cori, was it necessary? No. But he wanted it so badly.

"I know, Shortcake." He squeezed her a little, pressing a kiss to her

forehead – the first time his lips met her skin. "But I have to. Your dad
would kill me if I stayed and I very much want to be alive."

She was quiet for a few moments, thinking it over. She knew he was right.
She knew that if Charlie had found them cuddled up, he'd simply go grab
his gun that he kept locked in a safe in his room, and he'd threaten the boy
all the way from Cori's bed to the city limit sign and then some.

"Okay." She muttered, clearly not happy. He chuckled lightly, pressing

another kiss to her forehead. "I like it when you do that."

"Really?" He hummed and she nodded. "I'll keep that in mind." He kissed
her forehead once more and she smiled, letting out a soft hum. He moved to
get up, making sure the girl was comfortable in her bed as he tugged the
cover up over her. "I'll see you tomorrow, Shortcake."

"Goodnight, Tree." She murmured and he gave her one last kiss on the
forehead before he made his way out of the room. He pulled the door closed
and turned to see Charlie a few feet away.

"She's asleep. Just remember to check on her every few hours, the
concussion and all."

"Thank you, Emmett." Charlie held his hand out and the boy quickly shook
it. "I'm, uh, glad she has you."
Emmett couldn't help but smile. "Me too." He mumbled, leaving Charlie
slightly confused as he pulled his hand back. "Well, uh, it's late. I should
head home." Charlie simply nodded and the boy made his way down the
stairs and out of the house towards his Jeep. He glanced up at the window
that he knew led to Cori's room, a smile painted on his lips as he twirled his
keys around his finger.

the way this book has taken over my life is hilarious! for years i wanted to
work on it but i couldn't. i always got blocked or invested in other fics but i
am so happy that i can work on this series once again because cori means
everything to me.

i wanna say cori was my second oc that i ever created and she has such a
special place in my heart and always will. and i am so happy to be
writing this now that i better understand her as a character and can
better write her. let me know your thoughts!!

012┆chapter twelve
 LET DOWN

twelve. they're not people

▬ CORI PULLED HER KNEES up to her chest, pulling her hoodie over
her legs as she sat on the beach. It was overcast, the sky dark and the ocean
was the most beautiful deep blue color that she had ever seen. But her
attention didn't stay on the water for long as Rachel sat next to her,
wrapping her arm around her shoulders and pulling her into her side. She
rested her head on the older girl's shoulder, a soft smile pulling at her lips.

"How you feelin'?"

"Same as I felt when you asked five seconds ago." Cori chuckled a little,
turning her body a little so she was more comfortable against Rachel's side.

"Indulge me." The Quileute girl huffed. "I saw your head hit concrete. I'm a
little traumatized."

"That's fair."

"How are you not? You could've died."

"I don't remember it." She shrugged, her eyes closed. "At least not all of it. I
vaguely remember someone honking their horn. The next thing I know, you
and Paul are hanging over me."

"My little Cori." Rachel mumbled, wrapping her other arm around the girl
and pulling her closer to her before lightly kissing the top of her head, being
careful about where she had kissed her.

"I'm fine." The blue-eyed girl chuckled lightly. "Doc says I should get my
memory back, just gotta wait for the noggin to get back to normal."

"I thought we were meeting at my house."

The two girls turned to see Paul making his way down the beach, a simple
t-shirt and shorts on while both of them were bundled up in hoodies,
beanies and scarfs – though the scarf around Cori's neck was completely
Rachel's doing.

"That's just your excuse for being late." Cori told him, her eyes slightly
narrowed. He was late often, which is why she and Emmett had so much
time to study after school the past couple of weeks.

"I cut school for you." The boy pointed his finger at her. "I'd be nice to me."
"Like you need me to make you cut school."

"She's got you there, babe." Rachel chuckled, looking up at her boyfriend as
he rolled his eyes before sitting next to her. Rachel grinned, leaning over
and placing a quick kiss to his lips, which then brought a smile to his face.

"Get a room." Cori mumbled jokingly, shoving Rachel's shoulder and

pushing her into Paul a little.

"Aww, is my little munchkin bitter?" Paul teased.

"No." She hummed, her cheeks going slightly pink as she settled her eyes
on the water.

"You're blushing." Rachel stated. "Why are you blushing?"

"I'm not. It's cold."

"Coraline Swan! Is there a guy?" Paul asked, his eyes going wide as his
smile grew.

"No." She ducked her head down, hoping her hair would hide her, now, red
cheeks. "I've only been here for a few weeks, how would there be a guy?"

"There's a guy." Rachel nodded. "Who is it? Is it the same guy you wouldn't
tell us about at Carvers'?"

"There isn't-"

"Cori, honey, your face gives you away." The older girl sighed, patting her
back. "So just tell us."

Cori sighed, letting her eyes fall closed for a moment. She knew they
wouldn't drop it, they were incessant little parrots when they wanted to
know something. So much so that she'd always cave and tell them what
they wanted to know. And her head hurt too much to listen to the same three
questions over and over again. "I'm not even sure if he likes me. But I think
I like him. It's only been a few weeks, but he's so sweet and hot." "Ooh!"
Rachel nearly squealed, excited at the prospect of her best friend finally
having a boyfriend, and a hot boyfriend at that.

"Excuse me?" Paul leaned forward, his eyebrows raised at his girlfriend and
all she had to do was lightly peck his cheek and a smile pulled at his lips.

"Tell me everything." Rachel reached for Cori's hands and squeezed,

making the younger girl giggle a little.

"He's a senior, but he's in a few of my classes and he spent the past two
weeks helping me get caught up, he even gave me his notes."

"Boring." Paul rolled his eyes then he groaned a little when his girlfriend
threw her elbow back into his chest.

"I think it's cute." Rachel smiled at the girl.

"He even picked me to be on his team in gym, like, I was his first pick."

Paul's brows creased a little as he rested his chin on Rachel's shoulder.

"Then he definitely likes you. No guy throws away his first pick like that
unless he likes a girl."

"Hey, I got, like, seven points for our team and we won." Cori defended,
pointing her finger at him.

The boy simply raised his hands as if to surrender.

"Don't listen to him, he's a boy. Boys are stupid."

"Ouch."

Rachel waved him off. "So, who is this guy?"

"You don't even know anyone I go to school with." Cori chuckled a little,
though both of her friends knew she was stalling.

"I know a few people."

"Look, Munchkin, you don't have to tell us." Paul told her, getting a wide
eyed look from Rachel. "As long as it isn't one of those Cullens-" The name
left his lips like venom, taking the girl by surprise. And Rachel watched as
Cori's smile faded, her eyes going wide with confusion. "I'm sure
whoever-"

"It's a Cullen?" Rachel cut the boy off and Cori swallowed the lump in her
throat.

"You're kidding me?" Paul huffed, all amusement leaving his face and his
hands tightened into fists in the sand. "You've got to be fucking kidding
me." He turned, his jaw cleaned and his eyes squeezed closed and Rachel
quickly turned, her hands on his cheeks.
"Hey, breathe." She mumbled, her eyes wide. She was scared he was gonna
phase right there in front of Cori, that he could possibly hurt Cori and that
was the last thing she wanted.

"What? I don't get why everyone on the reservation hates them." Cori
argued, fighting back her tears. Paul had never once reacted like that and
she wasn't sure how to respond. "They've been nothing but nice to me.
They're literally the only people who have talked to me at school since I
moved here."

"People." Paul scoffed. "You have to stay away from them, Cori." His angry
eyes landed on her as Rachel held onto him, she was the only thing keeping
him grounded.

"No." She shook her head and Paul's entire body tensed.

"Take her to your car." He mumbled, his voice so low only Rachel heard
him.

"They're my friends."

"Cori, let's go." Rachel pushed herself up before pulling the girl up. "To the
car." She pushed her a little, rushing her across the beach but Cori resisted.
"No, I wanna know why he's so pissed off." She huffed before looking at
Paul, her feet planted in the sand. "Please explain to me what's so wrong
with me having friends. They're nice to me. They actually like me. Emmett
even sat with me at the hospital when you left me!"

The boy shoved himself to his feet before stomping down the beach.

"Cori."

"Hey, get back here!" She shouted, shoving against Rachel. "Don't walk
away! Talk to me!"

"Cori, stop." Rachel warned.

"No, they're good people."

"They're not people!" Paul shouted, turning back towards the girls, his body
trembled as his hands balled into fists.

"Cori, let's go."

"No!" She shook her head. "This is bullshit! You don't know anything
about-" Her words trailed off as Paul thrashed a little, his limbs contorting
before changing entirely. Cori went still, her eyes going wide as huge paws
landed in the sand. Her blue eyes watered, fear taking over her very being
as a snarling wolf now took up the space Paul once had. "Wha-"

"Paul." Rachel started towards him, keeping Cori behind her. "Calm down."
She tried but the wolf let out a low growl, his eyes narrowed on the
blueeyed Swan before he turned and ran down the beach.

Cori took a few steps back before stumbling. She fell, her butt hitting the
sand as her eyes watered. Had she really just seen her best friend turn into a
wolf and run away? Had she been the reason he had turned into a wolf?
And why the hell wasn't Rachel as freaked out as she was?

▬ CORI HAD CONVINCED herself it was a dream due to her concussion.

No matter how much the nagging feeling in her gut told her that it wasn't,
she told herself it was. She needed it to be a dream.

What made it more real was the fact that she hadn't heard from Paul in two
days. She had heard from Rachel, but it wasn't anything more than a text to
see how she was doing. She never once mentioned the wolf and Cori didn't
ask, she didn't even reply to the text.

Her head hurt and her body was a little sore, a few bruises had formed on
her side, she assumed it was because of how she hit the pavement but that
was simple speculation on Bella's part.

She still had little to no memory of the accident, she barely remembered
why she wanted to talk to Bella in the first place. She could remember
everything else about that day, but after school let out it all got kinda...
fuzzy.

Fuzzy was how she explained it to Charlie when he asked for the hundredth
time in the span of three days – he was worried and he hoped that her
memory would return. He wasn't a doctor, but three days seemed like a long
time when his youngest couldn't remember how she had ended up with a
concussion. He was in hell for those three days, but he assumed she had it
worse.

▬ CORI GROANED AS SHE pressed her fingers to her temples, her head
hung forward as she was jostled about in the cab of Bella's truck. It would
be her first day back at school, though she hadn't missed much because
Emmett had enlisted his siblings in taking impeccable notes in any class
they shared with the young Swan and every night he'd bring them to her
with a wide smile and a snack. Each night he brought a different snack, one
night it was cookies, the next powdered donuts, and last night, a burger the
size of his hand – he had big hands.

"When did this road get so bumpy?"

"It's been like this forever, I assume."

"Make it stop." Cori grumbled, she had been complaining since they left the
house that morning. It was too cold, the truck was too tall, the music too
loud, the truck sounded like an angry gremlin who had smoked twelve
packs a day for seven years – her exact words.

"We're almost there." Bella sighed, reaching over and patting her sister's
shoulder, she felt bad. She had been the one to throw her to the ground,
granted it possibly saved her life, but she was the reason Cori had a
concussion. "Just breathe."

"I am breathing."

"Don't be so grumpy." Bella muttered, pulling into the school parking lot
and Cori sighed a little bit, it wasn't completely smooth but it was better
than the road. "I'm going on a field trip, you gonna be okay without me?"

"No. I think I may just die without you."

"You're pleasant today."

"Dr. Cullen cleared me for school and dad didn't want me to miss any more.
That doesn't mean I'm happy to be here."

"Okay." Bella mumbled as she parked the trunk and Cori quickly slid out,
looking both ways before she crossed the parking lot.

"She's alive!" Travis grinned and the other Cullens turned to see the small
girl approaching them. And she couldn't, for a second, understand why Paul
was so pissed just because she was friends with them – she quickly
reminded herself that it was a dream and that her best friend hadn't turned
into a wolf.
Edward quickly looked up at the girl, he was leaning against his car, his
arms crossed over his chest and his brows creased. He could hear the war
inside her brain, whether she had dreamt it or not. But he knew that, deep
down, she knew it wasn't a dream no matter how many times she told
herself it was.

"Hey, Shortcake." Emmett gave her a soft smile, his hands lazily shoved
into the pockets of his jeans. A small smile tugged at her lips, as it did every
night he dropped by her house just to give her that day's notes. "You feelin'
alright?"

"Not really." She shrugged, moving closer to him. She slipped her arms
around him and, though he was taken by surprise, he quickly wrapped his
arms around her. "This helps." She closed her eyes, her head against his
chest as he rubbed her back.

Edward quickly gave Emmett a wide eyed look, trying to convey what he
had seen in Cori's head but that was a lot to say with just a look. So he
walked away, lightly tapping his ear as he went and when he was sure no
one else but his siblings could hear him, he told them what Cori had seen,
what she didn't want to believe. "She knows about the wolves."

013┆chapter thirteen
 LET DOWN

thirteen. shapeshifters

▬ EMMETT HAD A HABIT of watching Cori, his eyes always somehow

found her and he just didn't want to look away. Usually, there was adoration
dancing in his eyes, and an insurmountable amount of happiness.

But there was worry in his eyes. She'd complained about a headache three
or four times, she had to sit out in gym, and she couldn't really focus in
history class. And she had taken a nap in English, using Travis' jacket as a
pillow as she held onto his hand. Though her nap seemed to be plagued
with nightmares, which is why he reached for her hand in the first place.

At lunch, Cori sat with her head on her arms, her eyes closed and Travis'
jacket pulled over her like a blanket. She really wished she had insisted that
she wasn't ready to go back to school yet. That she just wasn't up for it no
matter what Dr. Cullen said. She just wanted to be at home, in bed sleeping.
And the thought of Emmett being with her did cross her mind, but it had
been just a few weeks, she couldn't possibly like him that much.
Sure, she liked being around him and he made her smile. He offered her his
hand to hold when she got nervous. He helped her study for classes he
wasn't even in when she was behind. And most of all, he made her feel
seen.

Still, she knew it was too soon to like him that much.

"Hey, maybe you should go to the nurse." Emmett leaned forward, his hand
on the table and his chin on the back of his hand, his voice a mere whisper.

"I've been three times." Her voice was muffled slightly, but he could make
out what she was saying. "She keeps giving me ibuprofen and sending me
back to class."

"I can call Carlisle."

"Uh-uh." She shook her head without picking it up. "He's the reason I'm
here." She grumbled, getting a soft chuckle from the boy on her right.

"Do you want me to call the school pretending to be Chief Swan? I'll tell
them you're leaving school early." Travis offered.

"My dad would be so pissed if he found out." She sighed before lifting her
head up, her eyes squinted against the fluorescent lights as she turned
towards Emmett. "Can I have your hand?"

"Always." He held his hand out, expecting her to wedge her fingers
between his like she had so many times before, but she simply grabbed his
wrist and moved his hand so his palm rested against the side of her head.
She sighed a little, his hand felt like a permanent ice pack.

"That's better." She hummed, leaning into his palm and all he could do was
smile as Travis and Rosalie chuckled at the interaction.

"Cori, are you sure you should stay?" Rosalie asked, she was worried for
the girl, though she'd never openly admit it. "If you're in this much pain..."

"My dad thinks I've missed too much school."

"I brought you all the notes." Emmett told her, lightly moving his thumb
against her forehead.

"He said seat time matters." She huffed. "Whatever the hell that means. And
when your dad called this morning, giving me the all clear to return to
school, he got the green light to send me off."

"Why don't you skip the next few classes, take a nap. I'll take notes for
you."

"That's sweet, Em, it really is. But you're not in my next two classes. And
my last class is art."

"So?"

"This may be the concussion talking, but I think they'd be able to tell the
difference between me and you."

"Really? How?" He hummed, clearly amused.

"Oh, for starters, you're a freaking tree."

"Even when she's concussed, she's hilarious." Travis mused.

"I try." She hummed before closing her eyes again but she jumped a little
when her phone buzzed.

"You okay?" Emmett asked and she gave him a smile as she pulled it from
her pocket. But her smile faded as she looked at the caller id, her face even
paled slightly. "Cori? Do you need-" She quickly declined the call and
turned her phone off before slipping back into her pocket.

"Who was that?" Travis asked, all three Cullens found her behavior very
un-Cori-like and it was a bit unnerving.

"Just Paul. I'll, uh, I'll call him back later." She shrugged. "Now let me
sleep. I have, like, thirty minutes left." She laid her head down, Emmett
keeping his hand against her head as he and his siblings shared a look.
They had all been worried since Edward had told them what he had seen in
Cori's head. Emmett was worried about what it might do to her friendship
with the wolf, even if he didn't like the shapeshifter he knew that Cori
cherished his friendship and losing that would absolutely crush her. Travis
was worried about how it would affect her emotionally, seeing something
that like that out of the blue had to have some kind of effect. And Rosalie
was worried that now that she knew about the wolves, she might learn the
secret she and her family had been keeping.

▬ CORI SAT ON THE HOOD of Emmett's jeep, the owner of said jeep
stood in front of her - her knees on either side of his torso. He was leaning
against the car, his back to her and his head against her stomach as she
toyed with his hair. A giggle left her lips as Travis caught her up on the
school gossip she had missed, not that there was much. All that really
happened was that Bella was incessantly questioning Edward only to get
vague non-answers in return, though that hadn't stopped the older Swan
from asking.

"Your sister is relentless."

"Yeah." She hummed. "She can be. And she won't stop. I don't like your
brother all that much, but I kinda feel sorry for him."

Emmett chuckled, wrapping his arm around her calf, his hand lightly
moving up and down her leg. "Don't be. He's a pain in the ass."
"What is his problem any-" She trailed off when she saw a familiar black
truck pull into the parking lot. Her entire body went stiff, her hands
tightening in Emmett's hair as they shook slightly.

"Cori?" Emmett titled his head back, looking up at her. "You okay?" He
asked but she didn't answer and all three Cullens followed her line of sight
right to a black truck as a shirtless boy pushed the door closed. "Damn." He
sighed, his hand tightening around her leg a little, as nothing more than a
comfort.

Cori swallowed hard, forcing her hands to let go of the boy's hair then
Paul's eyes landed on her. He had his hands shoved into his pockets, his
head down a little and, more than anything, he looked sorry. She watched as
he took a breath before starting towards them, all three Cullens straightened
up, Emmett untangling himself from the small Swan as he stood to his full
height, putting himself in front of her as the wolf stopped a few feet away
from them.

"Cori, can we talk?" He asked, ignoring the Cullens, his eyes solely on the
girl, who had her head down, her hair covering her face and her beanie
pulled over her head. He could see that some parts of her face were a dark
shade of purple with tints of blue from where she hit the pavement. It
looked worse than it had the day everything went wrong. "Please."

"Okay." She mumbled. "Em." She lightly rested her hand on his shoulder
and he turned towards her, his hand on her waist as he lifted her up before
putting her on her feet.

"Cori-"

"I need to talk to him." She told him, gripping his hand for a moment.

"I know." He nodded, though he didn't want her anywhere near the boy. But
he knew he didn't have the right to stop her.

She gave him a soft smile before she made her way over to Paul, who gave
her a small frown - she'd never seen him frown before and it didn't look
right on his face.
"What?"

"Um, can we go somewhere a little more private." He asked, glancing up at

the Cullens, who had yet to take their eyes off of them.

So, they sat in his truck, Cori was as close to the door as possible, leaving a
huge space between her and the boy she had never once imagined she'd
ever be scared of.

"Please look at me, Munchkin." He sighed, his shoulders hanging low, his
head down. He looked absolutely defeated.

So she took a breath as she looked up at him. "Did that actually happen or
was it a concussion induced nightmare?"

"The Quileutes have this legend. Our ancestors had this gift, it was meant to
protect our land and our people. They could transform into wolves. They're
called the spirit warriors."

"So you're telling me that not only are werewolves real, but you are one?"

"Not a werewolf." He shook his head. "A shapeshifter. We're not bound by
the moon."

"We?" She questioned. "There are more?"

"Me, Jared and Sam." He nodded, his hands tight on the steering wheel this
was something he never thought he'd be able to tell her. There was a gag
order in place and every time he tried to talk to her about it before, the
words got caught in his throat and his mouth would go dry. Then he'd end
up stuttering like an idiot until he thought of something to say that wasn't
that he could change into a wolf.

The only reason he could tell her now was that after the incident at the
beach, he had told Sam about what happened. And the alpha gave him the
go ahead to explain himself and what she had seen. He knew that it was a
lot and to have that sprung on her like that couldn't have been easy.
"The Cult." She mumbled, weaving her fingers in and out of each other.

"Not too far off actually." He halfheartedly joked to ease the tension but she
didn't even chuckle. "Look, Munchkin, it's a lot. I know. But I'm still me. I
just turn into a wolf when I get mad."

"And the fact that I'm friends with the Cullens made you so mad that you
turned into a wolf?"

He watched her, confusion written all over her face and he knew that she
had no idea what the Cullens were and he didn't want to be the one to break
the news. "The Cullen family's ancestors and our ancestors didn't exactly
get along. Years ago, like, a lot of years ago. They were found hunting on
our land and when the elders found them they made a deal. They would stay
off our land and we would leave them be."

"Just because they were hunting?"

"People were weird about land back then." He shrugged, trying to brush it
off. There wasn't really a good way to explain it without spilling the beans
about the Cullens. "Look, it won't happen again. I-"

"I'm not gonna stop hanging out with them." She told him, her fingers
weaving in and out of each other. "They're my friends. My only friends
here. Everyone else, all they do is gossip about me. And the only reason
anyone talks to me is to ask how I got them to let me into their circle." His
hand tightened around the steering wheel. "And I'll have to learn to be okay
with that. But it's gonna be hard."

"Thank you." She hummed. "For explaining. I'm still confused about a lot
and I don't think any of this will ever make sense. But, uh, I do think some
distance is what I need, for now at least."

"Munchkin-"

"I just found out that my best friend turns into a wolf and my other best
friend knew about it. A little bit of time isn't that big of an ask."
"Okay." He nodded. "Um, so, do you need a ride home?"

"No, I'm waiting for Bella." She shook her head. "Um, I'll see you in a few
days, I guess." She mumbled as she reached for the handle and opened the
door before sliding out, her shoes hit the wet pavement and she closed the
door. Paul watched as she rounded the front of his truck before crossing the
parking lot. He noticed how a few students turned just to watch her, all
whispering about her. When she reached the Cullens, she made her way
towards Emmett and leaned against his chest, her arms still at her sides as
he wrapped his arms around her.

014┆chapter fourteen

LET DOWN

fourteen. i adore you

▬ "NOT THAT I MIND, but is this our thing now?" Emmett asked, an
amused smile on his lips as he watched Cori pick at the lunch he had
packed for her – he packed her a lunch everyday – his hand against her
head. It had been nearly two weeks since the accident and she had done the
same thing almost everyday.

"I have a headache." She shrugged, biting into a muffin.

"And this helps, how?" Travis asked, his eyebrows pinched slightly, his arm
draped over the back of the chair Rosalie occupied.

"He's a freaking ice pack." She told him. "And, also, I like contact." She
shrugged, her voice going quiet.

"Weird."

"Listen here, Psycho." She huffed as she turned towards Edward. "I am not
weird. You're just insanely boring."

"Psycho?" He echoed, his eyebrows creased.

"Yep." She nodded, giving him a sarcastic smile. "Now, shut up and leave
me alone." She reached up and moved Emmett's hand a little so it rested
closer to her forehead and the cut that was hidden by her hair. And all
Emmett could do was laugh, he loved that she seemed to hate Edward, or at
the very least dislike him.

"So, Shorty, how's the noggin?" Travis asked, trying to fill the silence.

"Still sore. Still have a hard time focusing in class, but at least one of you is
in all my classes. And I really do appreciate all the help. And the notes.
Especially you." She motioned to Jasper with her muffin. "Would you mind
helping me with more flashcards? It's for Spanish class, but your
penmanship is... I don't even have the words."

"Happy to help." He gave her a small nod, a smile pulling at his lips and her
own smile grew.
"Nerd." Emmett mumbled, jokingly.

"Shut up, Tree." She huffed, narrowing her eyes at him and he chuckled.
Even though she was trying to be intimidating, she was completely
adorable. It didn't help that his hand was still resting on her head or the fact
that his hand was almost as big as her head.

"I can help you study for algebra, if you need it." Alice offered up. "I
noticed that you had a really hard time during class, you seemed frustrated
today."

"Really?" Emmett questioned, getting slightly worried.

"Yeah, I'm not great with math to begin with. And with my lack of focus
and all the numbers and letters..." she shook her head a little, just thinking
about it hurt. "And I can never remember the formulas."

"We can study after school, maybe even over the weekend. If you're feeling
up to it." The girl almost bounced in her seat, a wide smile pulling at her
lips. "You can come to our house."

"I would really appreciate that." Cori nodded, her own smile wide but it
faded when Emmett moved his hand. "Why'd you move your hand?" She
almost pouted and he stopped, his arm slightly raised.

"My shoulder got stiff." He told her, rolling his shoulders a little bit.
"Sorry."

"I gotcha." Travis stood up and leaned across the table, placing his hand on
her head and she giggled. "I didn't think this through." He muttered.

"You hardly ever do." Rosalie patted his back, a small chuckle leaving her
lips and he let his head hang forward a little.

"Sit down, dummy." Cori told him, her smile still intact and he pulled his
hand back as he sat down again. "I appreciate the effort though." She told
him, getting a nod in return, then she turned towards Emmett. "And if it
hurts your arm, you don't have to. I didn't even think about it being
uncomfortable for you, I'm sorry."

"No, I really don't mind." He gave her a smile. "Just staying in one position
for so long..."

"I totally get that." She nodded. "I can't sit still for very long."

"We've noticed." Edward hummed and she turned towards him, her eyes
narrowed. "What now?" He sighed, but he could clearly hear the angry
comments rolling around in her head. Though he didn't need to read her
mind to know that she didn't like him very much, she wore her emotions on
her sleeve.

"I'm not very fond of you."

And she said what she thought.

His eyebrows pinched a little as he looked at her, but something across the
room caught his attention. He pushed himself up without another word and
walked away.

"Finally, he's gone." She mumbled. "Let's talk shit about him." The others at
the table laughed, even Jasper, who she had never seen laugh before. Well,
it wasn't really a laugh, more like the start of a chuckle he tried to keep in
but he failed miserably.

Emmett leaned towards her and lightly kissed her cheek, he wanted to do
more but he'd settle for now. "I adore you, Shortcake."

Her cheeks went pink, even the tips of her ears had changed color, but her
smile was as big as ever as she looked up at him. She couldn't wrap her
head around the way he made her feel. All she knew was that she had never
felt it before and she didn't want it to stop.

"I also adore you, Tree." She told him, her voice quiet and his smile grew
even wider, nearly splitting his face in two. He leaned in again and pressed
about a dozen kisses to her cheeks before lightly pecking her nose and all
she could do was giggle.

▬ CORI SAT WITH HER LEGS crossed, her back against Alice's bed, her
math book laid on the floor in front of her with her notebook in her lap.
Alice laid on her back, her head hanging off the bed and her hair standing
on end.

"X equals five, according to the last equation."

"Correct." Alice hummed, not moving from her spot as she looked up at the
ceiling.

"And I just put five into this one where there's an x then y equals..." she
scribbled out the math on her notebook. "175?" She turned, looking at the
upside down girl to her left.

"Also correct." She nodded and Cori smiled.

"Can I just quit school and have you homeschool me?" She mumbled,
laying her notebook on the floor as she leaned her head back against the
girl's bed. Alice giggled, turning to look at the human girl.

"Whenever you need help, just ask."

"Thank you." Cori gave her a smile before her eyebrows creased slightly.
"How are you not lightheaded? You've been upside down for a while."
"It's a gift." She shrugged and Cori just nodded, her head hurt too much to
question it. "Is your head okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She nodded. "It's just really bright-" Alice flipped
backwards off the bed, somehow managing to land gracefully before she
basically hopped her way towards the light switch and flipped it off. The
room dimmed, but it wasn't dark. Some light still covered the room from
outside, but it was overcast so the sun wasn't beating down into the room.

"Better?" She raised an eyebrow, tilting her head slightly.

"Yes, thank you." Cori gave her a smile and Alice returned it before sitting
on the floor next to the girl.

"We're finished with that." She pushed the books to the side. "Anything else
you wanna do today? Maybe something not school related?"

"Um, not really." She shrugged. "Bella's at the beach and my dad is
working."

"Have you been into town?" Alice asked. "They have some cute shops that I
think you would like. It's all beanies and coats. Oh! I saw a sweater that you
would love."

"I don't really have a lot of money." Cori gave her a small smile, and Alice
could see the hint of embarrassment in her eyes. How could she not? She
was sitting in a room that was bigger than her living room and the house, it
was huge. It had floor-to-ceiling windows, the fanciest – yet somehow most
comfortable – couches. The artwork was impeccable. It was a nice house,
but that was to be expected. Carlisle was a very renowned doctor and
surgeon.

"Oh, I'm paying." Alice waved her off before jumping to her feet and
pulling the girl up next to her. "Don't even worry about it."

.
 .

▬ EMMETT HELD HIS ARMS out as Alice piled shirts, sweaters,

jackets, and even dresses on him. Even still, all he could do was smile
because of the way Cori's eyes lit up every time Alice showed her
something before telling her that she was, in fact, trying it on.

He didn't like shopping, at all, but the second he heard that Alice was taking
Cori out after they had been studying all morning he asked if he could join.
He just wanted to spend time with Cori, which he hadn't gotten to do when
she arrived at the Cullen house – Bella had dropped her off – because Alice
whisked her away and up to her room.

Now, he sat in a chair that was too small for him and even if it hadn't been,
it wasn't cushioned enough to be comfortable. He slouched forward a little,
his elbows on his knees as he twiddled his thumbs, he had been all but
abandoned as the two girls disappeared into the dressing rooms.

"Okay." He looked up as the door opened and Cori stepped out, she wore a
large sweater that hung down past her thighs, a pair of thick black leggings
covered her legs and on her feet were her fuzzy snowman socks. She pulled
her hair over her left shoulder, a wide smile on her face as she held her arms
out to the side a little. "What do you think?" "Wow." He simply breathed
out.

"Yeah?" She asked, looking down at the outfit. "It isn't too simple?"

"No, you look adorable." He pushed himself up and made his way towards
her, a smile on his lips. "But I think you'd look even better in one of my
sweaters." He lowered his voice a little and her cheeks flushed, she let the
sleeves hang down past her hands and she clenched her fist around the extra
fabric.
"Stop saying stuff like that." She lightly hit his chest with the side of her
fist, not meeting his eyes.

"Why?"

"Because I-I never know how to respond." She mumbled. "My brain
shortcircuits and I have to stop myself from kissing you."

A smirk pulled at his lips. "You wanna kiss me?"

"Only, like, all the time." She muttered, toying with the buttons on his shirt.
"But I-" He leaned down and pressed his lips against hers, catching her
completely off guard as he wrapped his arm around her waist and tugged
her up a little. She quickly moved her lips against his, her hands sliding up
his torso until they locked behind his neck as she pushed up onto her toes,
still the reach was tough. She pulled back, falling back to her heels as she
looked around.

"I'm sorry." He rushed out as she made her way over to the chair he had
been sitting in. "I couldn't-" She grabbed his wrist and tugged him with her
as she stepped up into the chair. "Cori, what are you doing?"

"I can reach you now." She mumbled, tucking her hair behind her ear and
he grinned, stepping closer to her and she wrapped her arms around his
shoulders as he leaned in again. This time kissing her just a little slower,
less impatiently, like he was savoring it. She smiled into the kiss, slipping
her hands into his hair as he wrapped his arms tightly around her waist,
tugging her against him.

"I adore you." He mumbled against her lips before trailing kisses down her
neck. It was still too early to utter the l-word even if he so desperately
wanted to say it.

She was breathless, trying to take in as much air as possible as she squeezed
her eyes closed. All she could manage to get out was a soft moan, the words
getting caught in her throat as he kissed the spot where her collarbones met,
and that only made the boy smile against her skin before pressing his lips
against hers again.
"Finally!" Alice cheered, bouncing a little when she saw the two as she
stepped out of the dressing room and they pulled apart, keeping their arms
locked around the other. "Took you long enough."

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! 🎄 ☃
also, they had their first kiss!!!
 015┆chapter fifteen

LET DOWN

fifteen. stay behind me

▬ CORI'S LACK OF FRIENDS became apparent when the Cullens didn't

show up at school – the sun was out and the sky clear. It was unusually
warm and that alone had made the little raven-haired Swan a bit upset.

In every class, she didn't have anyone to talk to. She didn't have Alice to
help her when she got lost in algebra, she didn't have Rosalie to wake her
up when she dozed off in Spanish class. She didn't have Jasper to offer his
notes when she got behind in health class – a class she hated. She didn't
have Travis to make jokes and keep her laughing at Emmett's expense. And
most of all, she didn't have Emmett. He wasn't there to hold onto when she
needed the contact and he wasn't there to pull her chair closer to his in
history.

He had texted, wishing her a good morning and during every class he texted
her about staying focused – which may have backfired. And he told her he'd
be back the next day, his family had all gone hiking for the day since the
weather was so nice.

When lunch rolled around, the young Swan wasn't sure where to sit. Most
of the student body had occupied the courtyard, soaking up the sunshine
they had been deprived of, so she joined them. Somehow, Emmett had
managed to leave a packed lunchbox in her locker with a note taped to the
front – Sorry I'm not there. I packed your lunch. Don't starve while I'm
gone. - Tree

That brought a smile to her lips, especially that he had signed it Tree.

She made her way through the students playing hacky sack, then she
dodged a frisbee that was flung to someone on the other side of her. Finally,
she reached the table Bella sat at.

Jessica sat on the table top, leaning back on her arms as she soaked up the
sun, her head tilted back and her eyes closed.

"Bells, can I sit with you?" She asked, her hand toying with the handle of
the lunchbox she held.

"Yeah, of course." Bella slid over, pushing her tray to the side, giving her
sister room to sit down. "What's with the lunchbox?"

"Oh, uh, Emmett dropped it off this morning before school." She lied as she
laid it on the table, joining her sister at the picnic table. She wasn't quite
sure how to explain that it was in her locker when she got to school that
morning.

"Emmett packs your lunch for you?" Jessica asked, glancing at the younger
girl.
"Yeah." She shrugged, pulling out a green apple – she preferred green
apples over red apples and Emmett knew that. Of course he knew that.
"He's sweet." Her cheeks flushed a little, just at the mention of the boy.

"Seriously, how?" Jessica huffed, shaking her head a little and Cori
frowned.

"How what?"

"The Cullens haven't talked to anyone for two years and you show up and-"

"I don't know." She cut her off. "But maybe, just maybe, it has something to
do with the fact that I actually talk to them and not about them." Jessica
looked appalled, shocked the girl had said such a thing to her. But before
she could respond Angela joined them at their table.

"Guys, I'm going to prom with Eric. I just asked him. I took control." She
smiled.

"I told you that would happen." Bella smiled, giving the girl a quick hug.

"Are you sure you have to go out of town?"

"Oh, yeah, little family thing." Bella nodded.

"Wait, we're going out of town?" Cori asked, looking over at her sister.
"Why does no one tell me these things?" She huffed. "And I was actually
looking forward to prom."

"I thought I told you."

"You didn't."

"I think I did, you just don't listen."

"Okay," Jessica cut in. "We should go dress shopping in Port Angeles before
all the good dresses get cleaned out." The bell rang, signaling the end of
lunch and Cori zipped up her lunchbox, which was still full of little snacks.
"Oh, Port Angeles? Mind if I come?" Bella asked before looking over at her
sister. "And Cori?"

"Yeah, I need your opinion." Angela nodded, her tone ringing with an
unsaid duh. "And it'd be nice to get to know Cori a little better."
"Really?" The blue-eyed Swan turned, looking up at the girl.

"Yeah, of course." She smiled, making Cori smile.

"Okay." She hummed. "Sounds fun."

▬ DRESS SHOPPING WITH Angela and Jessica wasn't nearly as fun as

shopping with Alice and Emmett. So, she wandered the dress shop, her
phone in her hand as she typed on the keyboard. It was opened to the group
chat Alice had made that consisted of Cori, Emmett, Travis and herself.

ALLY you're shopping

without me??

TREE
I wanna go shopping again ;)

She giggled at her phone, she knew he didn't really mean shopping. He
meant the make out session they had, then the two other times they had
made out in two separate stores. It was like once they started, they couldn't
stop. And it wasn't just him. Cori was all for making out in the middle of
the store as Alice pulled clothes off the rack.

TRAVI Is shopping code for

something

COR
I Maybe it is
;)

TRAVI Do i
wanna know?

TREE I miss you,

shortcake

CORI
I miss you too, tree
wish you were here

ROSIE
Slightly offended I wasn't in the group chat to begin with but Esme wants
everyone off their phones it's family bonding time

also, hi Cori

COR
I
HI!
!

but you guys go. I have to at least pretend i'm having a good time

TREE See you later,

shortcake.

COR
I bye
bye
Cori
shoved
her
phone
back
into
her
pocket,
a smile
on her
lips as
she
looked
at the
dresses
on the
rack
closest
to her.
She
flipped
throug
h them
before
glancin
g over
to see
the
others,
Bella
was
sitting
on a
little
stool
by the
windo
w as
the two
other
girls
stood
in front
of the
mirror
–
Jessica
in a
pink
dress
and
Angela
in a
lilac
dress.
She
wasn't
entirel
y sure
why
Bella
had
asked
for her
to join
them,
then
insiste
d again
later
that
day.
She
wasn't
really
comfor
table
with
the two
girls. It
wasn't
that
she
didn't
like
them,
Angela
was
nice
and
always
tried to
include
her.
Jessica
,
though
she
wasn't
outwar
dly
mean,
kept
giving
the
shorter
girl
 weird
looks –
looks
Cori
didn't
appreci
ate.

She turned back to the dresses and pulled a blue one off the rack, smiling a
little – it was a shorter dress with a sweetheart neckline and the skirt was
nothing but tulle.

"Hey, come with me." Bella stopped next to her sister, who looked up at her
as she put the dress back.

"Where?"

"There's this book store I-"

"Book store?" Cori grinned and Bella nodded. "Let's go." She started
towards the door and Bella chuckled lightly as she followed after her.

▬ IT WAS WELL AFTER dark by the time the Swan sisters had left the
bookstore, while Bella had easily tracked down the book she wanted, Cori
browsed the shelves, looking for a new read – even if there were books on
her shelf she had yet to touch. She grabbed a few books, one about a love
triangle between a woman and two hockey players and the other was a book
that sounded similar to the story Paul had told her – it was fiction but she
couldn't seem to get what he had told her out of her head.

"Why is this book so important that we crossed the entire city for it?" Cori
asked, shoving her hands into her pockets, her books having been stashed in
Bella's bag.

"Just something I saw online. It looked interesting." She shrugged. "And

you're the one who spent nearly an hour and a half in there."

"You knew this would happen when you mentioned a book store." Cori
pointed at her as they turned down an alley that led to a sidewalk but Bella
stopped, her hand on Cori's wrist when she saw two guys stop and turn
towards them.

"Come on." She mumbled, turning around and keeping her sister close to
her as the guys followed them.

"Bella?" Cori mumbled, glancing over her shoulder at them.

"Just keep walking." She muttered, turning to the right, her hand still tight
around Cori's wrist but they had nowhere else to go as three others neared
them from the other direction.

"What now?"

"Saw you in the dress store." One of the guys called out, his voice slurred,
clearly drunk.

"Bella?" Cori shook, her hand gripping the back of her sister's coat.

"Stay behind me."

"Hey, where you runnin' to?" Another asked.

"Look who it is. It's my girl." One smirked, looking from the taller girl to
Cori. "Hey, baby." He nodded his head before looking at the two guys that
were following behind the girls. "How you guys doing?"

"Look who we found."

Bella pulled Cori closer to her and tried to slip by them, but they quickly
stood in her way. "Hey, whoa, whoa, where you going?"

"Come get a drink with us." They had the two surrounded and Cori buried
her face in her sister's back, hiding the unshed tears in her eyes.

"Yeah, you should hang out with us."

"You're pretty." One reached out and brushed Cori's hair to the side, his
finger grazing her skin.

"Don't touch her!" Bella snapped, turning to put herself between the guy
and her sister which only resulted in another guy getting his hands around
Cori's waist. She squirmed in his hold, trying to grip onto Bella but he
pulled her back, squeezing her to hold her in place. She knew he'd leave a
mark.

"No! Let me go!" She cried, trying to pry his hand off of her but he just
wrapped his arm around her, holding her back to his chest.

"Don't touch her!" Bella shouted, this time louder as she shoved her
backpack into one of the guy's stomach, making him groan, as she lunged
towards the one that held her sister. But he took a step back as the other
circled around Bella.

"You're a lot nicer than your friend." The one that held Cori whispered close
to her ear and she flinched, her entire body shaking as she tried to get away
from him and the smell of alcohol on his breath. "You should-"

He was cut off by the screech of tires and they all turned to see a silver
Volvo skidding around the corner, the headlights bright in front of them as
they squinted. Then two figures emerged, one bigger than the other. And
most of the guys took off.

Emmett was quick in making his way over towards the guy that still held
Cori, though his grip had loosened a little as he approached them.

Cori let out a relieved breath at the sight of him, though she had never seen
anger on his face before. And before she could even think, his hand was
around the guy's throat, squeezing as he easily lifted him off the ground.
His arms loosened and Cori quickly scurried away from him and over to her
sister, who pulled her into her chest, her face tucked into her coat.

"Get in the car." Edward told them, giving Bella a stern look and she pulled
Cori with her, opening the back door.

"Cori, in the car. Come on." She rushed her and she listened, her body still
shaking as she looked out the windshield. She could see Edward standing
behind Emmett, his hand on his shoulder and the guy still dangling above
the ground. His hands clawed at the hand around his throat to no avail.
Bella closed the door and watched, only furthering her belief that the
Cullens weren't human.

She slid into the passenger seat and closed the door, turning to offer her
hand to Cori, who took it with no hesitation.

"We're okay." She told her, getting a small nod before Cori's eyes moved
back to the two Cullen boys.

"Emmett, let go." Edward repeated, still getting no reply from the boy other
than the murderous thoughts rumbling about in his head. "Emmett."

"He deserves it." He squeezed, watching as the life slowly drained from his
eyes. "And worse."

"Cori can see you." He told him, knowing it was the only way to stop him.
"She needs you right now." Emmett reluctantly took a breath, his hand
loosening until the guy hit the cold pavement, coughing as he moved his
hands to his throat.

Emmett, finally coming back to his senses, turned and made his way
towards the car, Edward behind him, and he opened the back door. Cori just
looked up at him, tears running down her face and her hand still clasped
around Bella's.

"Hey, Shortcake." He tried to smile but the look of fear in her eyes made it
hard. "Can you slide over for me?" She let go of Bella's hand and moved
across the seat as he slid into the car, making the backseat seem smaller
than it really was – he didn't exactly fit in the back of a volvo.

Once he was in and the door closed, Edward put the car in reverse and flung
it around, throwing Cori around in the backseat a little. Emmett was quick
to hold her to him before she hit her head.

"Are you okay?" He asked, his hands moving to her cheeks once Edward
made it onto the main road, weaving in and out of traffic. "Did they hurt
you?" He moved his thumb across her cheek.

"No." She shook her head. "Not really." She shifted closer to him, not
caring that his hand – the hand that was so gentle against her – had nearly
taken a man's life.

"No or not really?" He asked softly. "There's a difference, Shortcake." She

leaned back and tugged her sweater up, showing him the red handprint on
her side that she was sure would bruise.

"He grabbed me." Her bottom lip shook, tears spilling out of her eyes again.
His jaw clenched, his eyes darkening and she swallowed hard as she let her
sweater fall back into place.

He was speechless. He was angry, but he knew that didn't do him or Cori
any good. So he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him,
burying his face in her hair as she wrapped her arms around him – he made
sure to be gentle.
"Let me take you home." He mumbled against her and she nodded, she
knew her voice would crack if she tried to talk again. So they stayed like
that until Edward parked the car outside of a restaurant called The Bloated
Toad. Emmett climbed out of the car, offering his hand to help her out and
once the door was closed, he wrapped his arm around her and they started
towards his car.

It was a bit of a walk to his jeep and he was extra vigilant as he watched
their surroundings as the girl clung to him. Her arms around him and her
face pressed into his side, the cold air making the path her tears left cold but
she didn't care enough to wipe at them. She didn't want to let go of Emmett.

▬ EMMETT SAT ON CORI'S BED, his back against the headboard as

she laid next to him. She laid across his chest, her leg pulled up over his and
her hand toying with the buttons near the collar of his shirt. Neither had
said much of anything since they left Bella and Edward, she was sure she'd
cry the minute she opened her mouth and he knew that anything she told
him would piss him off to no end.

So, they laid there in silence. Just holding each other for a while.

But she was curious. "Were you really going to hurt him?" She asked, her
voice quiet and scratchy.
"Yes." He answered simply. "Probably even worse." She closed her eyes
and took a breath. "I'm sorry you had to see that. I was just so angry that he
touched you." His arm tightened around her just a little. "You're mine."

"I am?"

He nodded. "And I'm yours."

"Really?"

"Shortcake, I've been yours since the moment you smiled at me."

She gave him a small smile as she leaned up, pressing a kiss to his lips and
when she pulled away, he just reconnected their lips, pulling her into his lap
so her legs were on either side of his hips. One hand cupped her cheek, the
other rested on her hip, holding her in place as her hands slid up his chest
before resting behind his neck.

"Thank you for my lunch today." She mumbled as she pulled back to take a
breath, her thumbs moving delicately along the back of his neck.

"Couldn't let you eat cafeteria food." He hummed, swiping his thumb across
her cheek to get rid of any remaining tears that may have lingered. "What
kind of boyfriend would it be if I did?"

"Boyfriend?" She quirked an eyebrow, though her lips pulled into a wide
smile.

"Yeah, boyfriend." He nodded. "I mean, if you want me to be your

boyfriend."

She sat back a little, letting her hands slide down to his chest. "This is
Emmett, my boyfriend." She mumbled, simply trying out the word and he
laughed.

"What are you-"

"I like how that sounds." She cut him off, leaning forward so her chest was
against his.

"Me too." He hummed, capturing her lips in another kiss and she softly
moaned into the kiss, which made his smile grow.

"Can you stay?" She asked, her voice quiet, then she pecked his lips again.
"There's no way in hell that I'm leaving you." He kissed her again, his hand
fisting in her hair. "Possibly ever." She giggled against his lips as she pulled
back.

"Good." She hummed as she laid her head on his chest and he wrapped his
arms around her waist, holding her to him, then he kissed the top of her
head.

⚘ nova speaks┆so this week has been hectic, great but hectic. i finally got
the chance to fly back home and see my family after nearly a year since i
moved away. it was great seeing everyone, especially all the kids that i feel
like have grown up so much in the time i've been gone.

but being here also reminded me of why i left in the first place. don't get me
wrong, i love my family but they are... a lot.

i know i did the right thing for me and i will continue to do the right thing
for me. even if i'm not entirely what that is at the moment.

and, i sorry this has kind of turned into a little inspirational speech of sorts,
but if there's something you want to do for you, for your physical and
mental health do it. and don't let anyone talk you out of it, not your friends,
not your family, and definitely not yourself. and yes, change is hard but it's
worth it.

anyways, thank you so much for reading my book and loving my characters
as much as i do! i appreciate every single one you so much!!
 016┆chapter sixteen

LET DOWN

sixteen. naive

▬ BELLA WAS UNUSUALLY QUITE the next morning, ignoring all of

Cori's questions and statements. It's true that Bella was never much of a
talker, but the ride to school for the Swan sisters was never that quiet.

The blue-eyed Swan watched as Bella's hands tightened around the steering
wheel, her knuckles had turned white, but she kept her eyes hyper focused
on the road.

"You're freaking me out." Cori poked her sister's arm and that made Bella
glance in her direction for a moment, like it had pulled her from her
thoughts.
"Do you think the Cullens are... strange?"

"No." Cori shrugged. "And it's not nice to gossip."

"Have you noticed anything weird about them? About Emmett?" She
glanced at her sister again to see confusion contourt her features.

"Bella-"

"Cold hands. Strange eye color. Ridiculously fast. And they never eat."

"You're not making any sense." Cori huffed, pushing her hair out of her
face. "And they do eat, Emmett and I always share lunch. And he told me
that he really likes the sandwiches I make when we have study dates."
Bella's eye brows creased, had she really gotten it wrong? "And the only
reason they have cold hands is because we live in Forks. It's cold here,
Bella."

"Okay, what about their eyes?"

"Contacts." She shrugged, her eyes on the blur of trees.

"You are so naive." Bella huffed, shaking her head as she turned into the
school parking lot.

Cori's brows pinched, as she looked over at her sister, hurt clearly etched on
her soft features as the older girl put the trunk in park. "And you're a bitch.
So what if they're a little different? They're interesting and really nice. I
mean, I'm pretty sure Travis is my best friend. And even if Rose doesn't
always seem to like me, she always asks if I'm okay and she keeps making
sure that my concussion doesn't get worse.

"And Alice, she's a ball of energy and I'm not exactly sure how, I never see
her drinking any coffee. Jasper helped me make flashcards for all of my
classes and he's only in my health class. And Emmett, gosh Emmett is so
amazing. He's sweet and kind an-and he lets me hold his hand when I get
nervous and, yes, I do use him as an ice pack when I have a headache
because his hands are always cold – again, I reiterate, we live in Forks. It's
cold here.

"They have been my only friends since we started here, granted, Angela has
been super nice and Mike tried to talk time a few times but he ran away
when Emmett showed up. And for you to try and start shit where it doesn't
need to be is so unbelievable. You have your friends, let me have mine."
She turned and opened the door, sliding out of the truck, leaving a
speechless Bella behind the steering wheel as her boots hit the cold
pavement.

Cori wiped her cheeks and her nose, trying to get rid of the tears that had
sprung to her eyes during her rant. She used the sleeve of the sweater she
wore – one of the many sweaters Alice had bought for her – then she shook
her head a little before she sniffled.

She slowly crossed the parking lot, her arms wrapped around her stomach
to fight off the wave of nausea that always settled in her gut when she and
Bella fought – she didn't like fighting with her sister. She looked both ways
and when it was clear she finally made her way towards the Cullens, with
the expectation of Edward.

And to her surprise, Rosalie was the first to reach her, pushing past Travis,
Alice and even Emmett. "You okay?" Her cold hands rested in the human's
cheeks, tilting her head up a little and Cori couldn't stop the rush of tears
that filled her eyes with the simple question.

Cori leaned forward, wrapping her arms around the blonde, taking her by
surprise. She slowly wrapped her arms around the girl, lightly patting her
back as she looked over at Emmett. She wasn't entirely sure what to do.

Emmett moved towards them before he bent down just a little, his hand
landing on the small of Cori's back as she sniffled. She was trying to stop
crying, but she couldn't.

"Shortcake?" His voice was soft as he moved his thumb across her back and
she turned her head to look up at him, her eyes red-rimmed and puffy, her
cheeks wet with her tears. The sight killed him. "What's wrong?" He asked
despite having heard the argument she'd had with Bella. "Who do I have to
beat up?" He asked, his lips pulling into a small smile in hopes of making
her feel better.

"Y-You-" she hiccuped. "You could beat up Travis." She mumbled, wiping
her nose with the back of her hand, keeping her other arm around Rosalie.

"What?" The boy gapped at the tiny human.

His smile grew. "Yeah? Would that make you feel better?"

"It might."

"What the hell did I do?" Travis asked, his eyebrows pinched as he looked
from his brother to his wife then to the human, who giggled a little.

"She rather enjoys the thought of you being beaten to a pulp." Jasper
mused, a smirk pulling at his lips as he looked over at Travis, who still
looked confused.

"I'm hurt, Shorty." He turned back to the girl, his hand held to his chest.

"Sorry, dude." Emmett stood up, shrugging a little as he looked over at his
brother and Travis let out a long breath, shaking his head. "Gotta make my
girl happy, you understand?" He tugged his sleeves up his forearms a little,
the thin material stretching slightly.

Travis' eyes moved to Rosalie for a moment and she met his gaze, a
knowing smirk pulling at her lips. "Yeah." He nodded, letting out a small
sigh. "Fine, just nothing too bad."

"No." Cori giggled, her hand landing on Emmett's bicep as she pulled away
from Rose. "I was kidding. I didn't think you'd actually agree."

"Oh, thank God." Travis mumbled, letting out a relieved breath as his head
hung forward. "You are an evil little girl."

"Yeah." She gave him a smile and he chuckled, shaking his head.
"You okay now?" Alice asked, giving the girl a concerned smile.

"Yeah. I just... Bella and I got into an argument and she called me naive."
She mumbled, her hand tugging at Emmett's sleeve a little as he wrapped
his other arm around her. "Which I'm not." She added quickly, tilting her
head back to look up at him.

"I know, Shortcake." He gave her a smile before leaning down to press a
kiss to her forehead and the action alone brought a smile to her lips as she
closed her eyes and leaned against him.

▬ CORI SAT IN THE HOOD of Emmett's jeep, the owner of said jeep
between her knees, his hands on her hips as he pulled her towards him, his
lips pressed against hers. She wove her fingers into his hair, gripping by the
fistful. Neither cared that they were in the school parking lot, neither cared
that people would gawk and whisper about them. They were in their own
little blissful bubble.

The girl wrapped her legs around him, pulling him impossibly closer to her
as he nibbled lightly on her bottom lip, then she locked her ankles. She
really wasn't one for pda, but there was a part of her that wanted everyone
to know that he was hers and that she was his. It helped that she couldn't
think straight when he kissed her, so she didn't care much for the eyes that
landed upon them.
She pulled back a little. "Need-" He reconnected their lips and she let out a
helpless whimper, but she pulled back again. "-to breathe." She panted and
he let out a chuckle, leaning forward to press a kiss to the corner of her
mouth. "You-" She took a breath but he pressed his lips against her neck.
"seem to forget... that we need air. You know, to live." She chuckled, letting
her hands fall from his disheveled hair to his shoulders.

He kissed her collarbone before pulling back. "What can I say, Shortcake-"
He grinned, seemingly having no trouble breathing at all as he leaned closer
and pecked her lips again. "-I really like your sweater."

She giggled. It was the sweater she was wearing the first time they had
kissed, she even wore the same black leggings only this time her snowman
socks were concealed but her Doc Martens – also something Alice had
bought for her despite her protests.

He leaned up and pressed his lips against her lips again then the end of her
nose. "So, I was thinking..." She slid forward a little, keeping her arms and
legs around him as she rested in the edge of the hood of the jeep. "Go to
prom with me."

"Is that a statement or a question?" She raised an eyebrow, tilting her head
slightly.

"Do you want to go to prom with me?" He rephrased. "It's not really my
thing, but an opportunity to see you in a really nice dress is too tempting to
pass up."

"I would love to." She hummed. "But, apparently, Bella and I are going to
Jacksonville to see our mom. At least, that's what Bella's telling people. I
haven't heard anything from my mom and she's a little chatty."

"You're saying no?" He pouted as a red convertible pulled into that spot
next to them.

"No. I'm saying, there's a possibility that Bella is lying because she's a lying
bitch. So, my answer to you, my sweet, sweet boyfriend, is yes." She told
him and his frown morphed, growing into a wide smile again as he
reconnected their lips, making the girl giggle.

"They're attached." Travis stated. "I knew leaving ten minutes after them
wasn't enough time." He huffed a little, rather annoyed that anytime Cori
and Emmett were close to each other, their lips ended up locked and their
arms tangled around the other. "You can stop now." He glanced at the two,
simply getting two raised middle fingers from the couple.

The couple didn't even pull apart when Edward's Volvo came to a stop and
the boy got out before rounding the car, and when he opened the passenger
door, the oldest Swan sister stepped out. That alone nearly gave the entire
student body a massive shock.

"You guys are missing it." Travis called out and the couple huffed, pulling
apart as they looked up, Emmett having to turn his head a little.

"I don't get her." Cori mumbled. "Just the other day she was asking a
million different questions and calling you guys weird. Which I defended
because you're not weird, you're different and I like that. I like you."

"Oh, Shortcake, you sweet talker." Emmett mumbled before reconnecting

their lips and she giggled a little before moving her lips with his.

"Here they go again." Travis mumbled, rolling his eyes. "You know, she's
my best friend. Maybe I wanna talk to her, maybe Alice wants to talk to her.
Jasper probably has another stack of flashcards in his pocket that he can't
give to her because you two are-" Cori pulled away from Emmett. "Travis?"
"Yes, best friend?" He grinned.

"Shut the hell up." She gave him a smile as his faded, then she reconnected
their lips again.
 017┆chapter seventeen

LET DOWN

seventeen. vampires

▬ "YOU SUCK!" Cori shouted, throwing a pillow at Jasper, who simply

leaned to the side to dodge it before smirking at the girl. "How do you
always win?"

"I'm amazing." He stated like it was a simple fact of life.

"Shortcake, it's Mario Kart, you don't have to get this worked-" He trailed
off the moment her glare turned towards him.
"I don't understand why you keep playing with him if you know the
outcome." Rosalie shifted on the couch, leaning against her husband's chest
as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"Because I will win one day and it will be the greatest day of my life." She
declared, raising her fist in the air dramatically, which made Travis and
Emmett laugh.

"Wanna go again?" Jasper asked, a teasing smirk pulling at the corner of his
lips as the girl turned towards him, her eyes narrowed. He could feel the
frustration rolling off of her in waves, the longer they played, the angrier
she got and the more sloppily she played. It was entertaining.

"No." Esme stepped into the room, her smile kind and warm as always.
"You're helping me with dinner. Bella's coming over."

Cori shifted a little, letting her head hang forward. She and her sister hadn't
really talked since their argument. Bella was always with Edward and Cori
was usually attached to Emmett's lips. But even at home, Cori wasn't sure
how to approach her sister, especially now that she was confused. One
minute she was calling them weird and asking questions and the next she
and Edward were an item.

Emmett placed his hand on the small of her back, leaning forward to press a
kiss to her temple which made her smile as she turned towards him. "Wanna
be the taste-tester?"

Her smile grew wide as she sat up a little straighter. "Always." He chuckled
as she pushed herself up, her hand out towards him and when he took it she
tugged but he didn't budge until he pushed himself up. He wrapped his arms
around her shoulders, his legs wide as they walked haphazardly down the
hall, both laughing.

It wasn't long before they were in the kitchen, the human sat on the counter
next to Emmett as he chopped up some peppers. Esme was to his left
grating cheese while Carlisle worked the stove. Travis and Rosalie put
together the salad. And Alice had dragged Jasper with her to pick some
flowers, though it was more like he followed her helplessly and less like she
was forcing him.

Cori giggled a little when Emmett held up a small piece of a green pepper
then she leaned forward and took it from his hand, her teeth lightly grazing
his cold fingers. He took a needless breath, his pupils going wide as he
looked at the girl, seemingly unable to look away from her.

"Watch what you're doing." She pointed at the knife in his hands and he
looked down, letting out another breath as he went back to chopping. "So,
what's with the creepy ass doll in the window?" She asked, pointing
towards the doll that had on a white bonnet and matching dress.

"It's an antique." Carlisle chuckled, looking over his shoulder for a brief
moment.

"It's watching me." Cori mumbled, leaning side to side to see if the eyes
followed her.

"You're adorable." Emmett hummed, drawing her attention from the doll
and she smiled as she met his gaze, her cheeks a light pink. "And I was
right." Her eyebrows creased a little. "You do look really good in my
sweater."

Her cheeks darkened. "Emmett, not in front of your family." She muttered,
clearly embarrassed, especially since he didn't even try to whisper.

"It's true." He insisted, leaning forward to capture her lips in a quick kiss.
Esme smiled at the couple before going back to grating cheese, Carlisle
glanced at the two, a smile also pulling at his lips. They were both happy to
see Emmett so happy, and the house had never been so full of laughter
before Cori came around.

"Is she even Italian?" Rosalie huffed, seemingly annoyed that Bella was
joining them.

"Her name is Bella." Emmett stated.

"And my name is Coraline, what does that tell you?"

"That you're gorgeous." He smirked and she rolled her eyes, swinging her
feet out a little as a smile pulled at her lips, but he could tell it was forced.
"Hey, wanna go upstairs with me?" He asked, his voice hushed a little as he
put the knife down and placed his hands on either side of her.

"Okay." She hummed and he pressed a kiss to her cheek before grabbing
her waist and lifting her off the counter. He put her on her feet and she laced
her fingers through his before they left the room, the girl waving as they
went.

Not even an hour later, the two were still in Emmett's room avoiding Bella
and Edward. "Enjoying yourself?" He asked from his spot on the edge of
his bed, his eyes on the girl that sat on the floor, her legs crossed as she
went through a few of his books.

"Your organization system is all wrong." She shook her head, laying a book
on the stack to her right. "You got mystery with science-fiction and the
horror mixed into the romance – I think it's so hot that you read romance.
Anyways, it's a disaster."

"And how do you organize your books?" He asked, his eyebrow raised. He
had seen her bookshelves a few times and he even browsed through them a
little but he was curious as to why they were placed the way they were.

"By genre." She mumbled. "Then by size. And after size it's by favorite. For
the ones I haven't read, I put them at the end of the genre – if the size allows
– and put a little pink star on the spine."

"You're a freak." He laughed, leaning back, his palms flat against his
mattress.

"I am not. I just have a system." She shrugged, but all he could do was
laugh and she couldn't help it when she joined him. "Shut up." She huffed,
still laughing lightly with him. "I like my books to be organized. Is that so
bad?"
"Bad? No. Odd? Definitely." He nodded and she tossed the closet book at
him – a thick copy of all of Edger Allen Poe's works – but he caught it, still
very amused as she sat there reorganizing his books.

▬ CORI SAT AT HER DESK, her legs crossed under her in her desk chair.
She chewed on her lip as she looked over the Spanish flashcards Jasper had
written up for her. He had even written out different ways for her to
remember what the word meant in English, sometimes drawing small
pictures. She really appreciated him – when he wasn't crushing her at
Mario Kart.

She jumped a little when a knock came at her door. "Come in!" She called
out, looking up from the little drawing of a flower in the corner of the
flashcard. She heard the stairs creak and she turned to see Bella standing
there, her hands behind her back.

"Can we talk?"

"Yeah, of course." She dropped her legs and laid the cards down before
turning towards her older sister as she made her way farther into the room
before sitting on the bed. "What's up?"

"I wanted to apologize for the other day. The fight we had. Um, I know you
were just protecting their secret."

"What secret?" Cori's eyebrows pinched.

"It's okay, Cor, I know that they're vampires." Bella told her, thinking her
confusion was all an act. "Edward told me. Err, well, I figured it out and
when I confronted him, he told me everything. I know they don't feed on
people, they feed on animals. They're vegetarian vampires." She chuckled a
little, shaking her head.

"This isn't funny, Bella." Cori huffed. "What the hell is this? A sick joke?
That psycho put you up to it?"

"Come on, Cor." Bella huffed, not getting why she was still playing dumb.
"I know. It's okay. We can talk about it. I don't know how you kept it from
me for so-"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Cori pushed herself up. "Vampires?
But that's not... they aren't..." She stopped, everything running through her
brain at a pace she could barely understand.

"You didn't know." Bella stated, her face falling upon the realization that
she had just told her everything.

"I don't even-" She was cut off by a knock on the front door, but neither
made a move.

"Emmett." They heard Charlie greet the boy and Cori looked at her sister
once again, her face pale and her breathing out of time.

They heard rushed mumbles before Charlie agreed to let the boy up, then
heavy footsteps echoed through the house before Emmett stood right in
front of the two Swans. His eyes frantically jumped from Bella to Cori, but
she wouldn't look at him.

"I-I-I'm sorry." Bella rushed out, pushing herself onto her feet. "I thought
she knew." When Emmett didn't respond, she left the room, closing the door
behind her.

"Cori."
"What the hell is she talking about?" She asked, her voice shaky.
"Vampires? I don't..."

"It's true. We're vampires. Me and my family." He told her, keeping his
voice calm and she shook her head. "It's true. That's how Edward stopped
the van from crushing Bella. That's why we don't eat at school. That's why
we don't come to school when the sun is out." She shook her head, tears
filling her eyes. "Why we're always cold to the touch. Why we don't usually
socialize outside of the family."

"Stop."

"Shortcake-"

"No." She looked up at him, tears running down her cheeks and it
absolutely killed him. "Vampires aren't real." Without even thinking he
moved so he was closer to her, using his speed to do so, and she gasped as
she jumped back, putting distance between them.

"It's true." He repeated, taking a step but she took another step back and he
stopped. "We would never hurt you. I would never hurt you."

"You shouldn't exist."

"The wolves exist." He stated and her eyes went wide.

"Y-You know about-"

"Yes."

"Oh, God. Paul. He was- He knew. He warned me about you. All of you.
And I... I didn't listen. I defended you!"

"Cori, please-"

"I lost my best friend because of you!" She cried, pushing her hair out of
her face. "Because I chose you. I-I-I told him you were nice people."

"We are."
"No, Emmett, you're vampires." She shook her head, wiping her nose with
the back of her hand.

He wasn't sure what to say. He couldn't help the fact that he was a vampire.
He didn't choose this for himself, he didn't exactly hate it either, but he
didn't make the choice.

"You lied to me. For months."

"I wanted to tell you but-"

"But what?" She asked, sniffling a little. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I wasn't sure how you'd react. And after you found out about the wolves, I
knew it wasn't gonna be easy."

She stopped, her brows creased a little as tears still rolled down her cheeks.
"How'd you know when I found out about Paul?"

"Edward. He can read minds. He knew the day you came back to school
after the accident." He told her. "Look, Shortcake-"

"Don't call me that."

"I'm still me." He took a step, holding his hand to his chest as his heart
broke – he hated that she was scared of him. "We're still the same people-"

"You're not people."

He sighed, getting slightly frustrated. "Cori, let me talk. Please."

She stopped for a moment, her head down and tears falling from her eyes
onto the carpet. It was all too much. She couldn't wrap her head around it,
not entirely.

She did grasp two things completely though: one, he was a vampire. And
two, he had lied to her.
"No." She told him, her voice small. The next words were gonna hurt, she
knew that because even if it hadn't been very long since they met, she loved
him. She loved every moment they spent together, even if it was a lie. "Go."
"What?" The word sounded broken.

"Please, leave." Her voice cracked a little with a sob. "I... I never want to
see you again." He took a step back, the words hitting him like an anvil,
right in his chest.

"Cori, please." He begged, unshed tears filling his eyes.

"Go!" She shouted, looking up at him, tears rolling down her cheeks and an
anger he had never seen before taking over her blue iris. And he nodded his
head. "And tell the others... I don't wanna... see them either. Any of them."
He nodded his head again before leaving, though he was reluctant as he did
so. The moment he closed her bedroom door he heard her break down in
uncontrollable sobs. Then he heard a thud as she fell to the floor, her legs
giving out underneath her.

"I really thought she knew." Bella mumbled once she saw him and he just
looked at her, she had never seen him look so hollow before. He just looked
at her for a moment, no readable emotion on his face, before he left her
standing in the hallway as he made his way down the stairs and out of the
house.

018┆chapter eighteen
 LET DOWN

eighteen. i'm sorry

▬ CHARLIE WATCHED WITH furrowed brows as Cori trudged down

the stairs, her beanie pulled down low and her coat zipped up to her chin.
She looked absolutely miserable. Usually, she'd be bouncing down the
stairs, yelling at Bella to hurry up and wearing a smile that was entirely too
bright so early in the morning.

"Cori?"

She turned towards him, managing the smallest of forced smiles. "Yeah?"

"You okay?" He shoved himself to his feet as she nodded her head, forcing
her smile to grow even wider.

"Yeah, I just, uh, didn't sleep great."

"What happened with Emmett? He usually stays a while, but he pretty

much ran out of the house last night."

"Uh, yeah, we broke up."

His thick eyebrows raised in shock. "You did?" She nodded, giving him a
sad smile as she twirled Bella's keys around her finger to give her hands
something to do. "I-I thought you liked him." He scratched the back of his
neck, not really sure how to do girl talk, atleast he assumed this was girl
talk.
"I did." She mumbled. "But, um, it didn't work out." She shrugged and
Bella made her way down the stairs, her brown eyes on the back of her
sister's head.

"Cori-"

"Um, I'm gonna go." She mumbled as she turned towards the door. "Have a
good day at work." She gave Charlie a smile and he nodded before she left
the house, closing the door behind her.

"You know what happened there?" He asked, looking at his oldest as they
both stared at the door.

"No." She lied then they heard the trunk rumble to life and leave before a
horn sounded from outside. "Gotta go." She mumbled and he nodded his
head as he watched her leave before raising his coffee mug to his lips.

▬ CORI SAT IN BELLA'S TRUCK, her phone in her hands and her
thumb hovering over Paul's contact. It was so easy. She could click the
green button and she knew he'd pick up, he had texted a few times asking if
she was alright. But she wasn't sure she was ready to talk, especially now
knowing what the Cullens were – which she still hadn't wrapped her head
around.

Vampires were real.

Shapeshifters were real.

It was a lot.

She let out a small huff, shoving her phone into her bag before she pulled
the keys from the ignition and jumped out of the truck. She tugged her
beanie down a little as she crossed the parking lot and instead of heading
for the Cullens, like she normally would, she walked right by them. She
didn't even spare them a glance.

And thus, the whispers began again. She was used to them by now. She had
pretty much been the talk of the town since she arrived, so she didn't pay
them much attention. Even when they got worse.

In gym, she sat on the bleachers with a book, telling the coach that she had
a massive headache and the nurse told her to sit out any physical activity. In
history, she told the teacher she had lost her contacts and could no longer
see the board – she didn't wear contacts. He let her take a seat at the front of
the classroom. In algebra, she ignored Alice. Not sparing her a glance as she
followed along with the teacher.

And by the time lunch rolled around, Cori had successfully not spoken a
word to almost anyone. A smile never even graced her lips, which was odd
for the young Swan. The girl was usually all smiles.

She didn't bother getting lunch, not having much of an appetite, then she sat
at a table that was empty. Once she got comfortable, her earbuds went into
her ears and her eyes were trained on the words before her. She loved that
she could so easily get lost in whatever book she was reading now more
than ever.

Emmett leaned forward, his elbow on the table and his chin in his hand as
he watched the girl. His heart ached and his eyes held a sadness none of his
siblings had ever seen before.

He didn't want to go to school that morning, but he knew it was the only
way he'd see Cori and he needed to know if she was okay... he didn't like
the answer.
"She's doing everything possible to avoid us." He huffed. "She moved seats,
she sat out in gym. She won't even look at me."

"She's hurt." Jasper told him, he had been checking in on her emotions
throughout the day. He was worried about her, she didn't look like herself.
"Heartbroken."

"So am I." Emmett mumbled.

"What's she thinking about?" Travis asked, looking over at Edward, who sat
next to Bella at their table.

He turned and looked over at the small human, a small smile tugged at her
lips as she read the book in her hands, and Edward's eyebrows creased a
little.

"What?" Bella asked.

"What kind of books does she read?" He asked, shaking his head a little as
if trying to shake the image from his mind.

"Why?" Travis asked, his eyebrows pinched.

"Um, let's just say, it's not pg13. More like rated r."

"No way." Rosalie chuckled, looking over at Cori, who gave away no
indication that she was reading anything other than just a normal book.
"Cori reads spice."

"I'm sorry, what?" Emmett asked, his eyes wide.

Rosalie nodded, a smirk pulling at her lips. "It's always the innocent ones."
She hummed.

Cori felt eyes on her, she had all day, but she knew who was looking at her.
It had been the same pair of golden eyes all day. The same pair of eyes she
had avoided all day. She simply pushed her hair back over her shoulder and
shifted a little in her chair, leaning forward so her elbows rested on the table
but she never looked away from her book.

"Oh, God." Edward mumbled, his eyes squeezed close. "Never again." He
shook his head and steered away from her thoughts, not wanting to see
anymore than what he already had. "I am never reading her mind again."

"Damn, how bad is it?" Travis asked, if it had made Edward want nothing to
do with her thoughts then it had to be something really spicy.

Jasper chuckled a little, his golden eyes still on Cori as he read her
emotions, drawing everyone's attention to him. "I think it got interesting."
He mused, his drawl thick, and they all turned to see the young Swan lay
the book down and take a breath as she leaned back in her seat.

"Is she not eating?" Alice asked, seeing no food in front of the girl. "Maybe
you should take her some food." She looked over at Bella.

"Uh..." Bella looked at her tray, there was nothing on it that Cori would eat.

"Here." Emmett pushed his lunchbox across the table. "I still packed it."

"Alright." Bella gave him a smile as she stood up, taking the lunchbox with
her as she crossed the cafeteria. "Cori." She looked up at her sister, her
smile gone and her face blank as she pulled her earbuds from her ears.

"What?" Bella simply held up the lunchbox. "Not hungry. Take it back to
Emmett." She turned back in her seat, her eyes on her book but she couldn't
bring herself to focus on it.

"Come on, Cor, you gotta eat." She sat down. Cori ignored her. "Cori."

"I told you, I'm not hungry." She huffed. "Just leave me alone, Bella."

"Okay." Bella nodded as she stood up, but left the lunchbox before she
walked away. Cori looked at the lunchbox, her heart swelled a little. He had
still packed her lunch, but she wasn't gonna fall back into that. She pushed
herself up, leaving it on the table as she made her way into the hall. And
Emmett deflated into his chair with a sigh.

▬ CORI WASN'T SURE WHERE else to go. She wasn't sure if this was
even the best idea, all she knew was that she needed her best friend even if
they weren't exactly on speaking terms. So, she raised her fist and knocked
on the wooden door in front of her, then she waited.

Terrence smiled when he opened the door and there stood the youngest
Swan, her blue eyes as bright as he remembered. "Well, it's been a while,
stranger." He chuckled and she managed a small smile as she looked up at
him. It was so obvious that he was Paul's dad, they had the same smile, the
same nose, and the same eyes.

"Um, is Paul here? I really need to talk to him?"

"No, uh, he's out. Um, you can check at Sam Uley's. He's been hanging out
with him a lot recently. Though I can't complain too much, his grades
improved some and he even does his own laundry." He chuckled lightly and
she managed a smile.

"Thanks." She hummed before she turned, but she stopped and looked over
her shoulder. "It's good to see you again, Terry."

"You too, kiddo. Come around anytime." He gave her a warm smile and she
nodded before making her way down the steps and towards Bella's truck.
Cori had spent hours looking, checking everywhere the boy might be but
she couldn't find him. Upset, cold, and more than a little tired, she sat on the
beach, her knees pulled up to her chest. She couldn't stop the rush of tears
that welled up behind her eyes, it had only been a few days and the break
up was still very fresh.

And her chest still ached. And most of all, she couldn't fathom how she had
missed it, how she had let them all lie so easily... how she believed it.

It didn't help that everyone at school was talking about it. It had even
knocked Bella and Edward from the top spot of school gossip. She had
overheard one girl saying that Emmett had finally come to his senses
because she just wasn't good enough for him. It was hell. Absolute hell.
Even more so to watch her sister fall more in love with Edward with each
passing day.

"Munchkin?"

She looked up, her teary eyes landing on Paul then she scrambled to her feet
and rushed towards him. She quickly wrapped her arms around him, her
face buried in his chest. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She repeated as he
wrapped his arm around her and rubbed her back, glancing back at Sam and
Jared, who were with him getting ready for a small soccer game. He nodded
his head, letting them know to start without him.

"For what?" He asked, his voice soft. "You don't have anything to apologize
for."

"You tried to warn me. I didn't listen." She hiccuped. "You tried to warn me
about them." She squeezed him, her arms as tight as they would go. "I'm
sorry."

He knew she was talking about the Cullens and his first thought was that
they hurt her, but he didn't smell any blood and she seemed fine, other than
being in hysterics.
"What happened?" He asked, pulling back a little before he squatted down
so they were closer to eye level. "Did they try to hurt you?" She shook her
head. "Talk to me, Munchkin, please."

"I know what they are." She whispered. "They lied to me. He lied to me. It
was all a lie." She sobbed and he saw it, the broken heart behind her eyes.
He wasn't sure what to do or say so he simply wrapped his arms around her
and held her close to him, lightly kissing the side of her head.

"I'm sorry, Munchkin." He smoothed his hand over her hair. "I'm so sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" She sniffled, still holding onto him.

He shrugged. "A lot of things. How everything went that day. And I hate
seeing you like this. I don't like seeing you in this much pain. I wish there
was something I could do."

"Can you make me forget?" She mumbled against his bare shoulder as she
leaned into him a little more, letting his heat radiate into her. "I wanna
forget he ever existed. I wanna forget everything."

"I wish I could." He mumbled and she hummed, using her sleeve to wipe
her nose, but she never pulled away from the boy. "Hey, do you wanna meet
some people?"

"Okay." She nodded, though she didn't feel up to it, she knew she needed to
do something other than wallow in her self-pity.

"Alright." He gave her a reassuring smile as he pulled back and stood to his
full height. "Want my hand?" He held his out and she latched onto it, giving
him a soft smile as she followed him down the beach towards a small group
of people; three girls and two guys. And her smile grew a little when she
saw Rachel, but she never released Paul's hand as she leaned her head
against him.
 019┆chapter nineteen

LET DOWN

nineteen. just bait

▬ CORI WAS PERCHED upon the window seat in her room, her legs
pulled up to her chest, a book in her hands and a blanket draped over her.
She looked up when she saw a car stop at the end of the driveway, her
breath hitched a little when she saw a silver jeep.

She shifted a little to get a better look, a small part of her hoped it was
Emmett because despite everything... she missed him. She deflated a little
when Edward slid out of the car and started towards the house. "Just the
psycho." She mumbled, settling back into her seat, her eyes on her book.
She wasn't sure why she had wanted it to be Emmett. She had broken up
with him. She had told him she never wanted to see him again, though
when she had said that she had completely forgotten that they shared three
classes. But when she saw that jeep, she wanted it to be him. She wanted to
see him, even if she didn't know why.

The young Swan spent most of the day reading, until her laptop dinged. Her
eyebrows pinched as she pushed herself up, her book discarded on the
window seat as she made her way towards her desk.

A smile pulled at her lips when she saw a picture of her and Lola on the
screen and she quickly answered the Skype call. "Lola!"

"Caroline Swan." She scolded, her eyes narrowed but a smile played on her
lips. "It's been ages."

"It's been two months." Cori chucked, pulling her legs up to her chest.

"Almost three."

"So not ages." She hummed, resting her chin on her knee. Lola's eyebrows
pinched as she tilted her head to the side, her hazel eyes squinted slightly.
"What are you looking at, weirdo?"

"You seem different." She mumbled. "What happened?" Cori sighed, she
couldn't even hide it on Skype.

"There was this guy-"

"Was?"

Cori nodded, her hands locked together around her shins. "We broke up."
"I'm sorry, babe." The blonde gave her a small, sad smile. "Wait, when did
you even get a boyfriend? And why didn't you tell me? Is it Paul? You talk
about him a lot and he's so hot."

Cori giggled a little. "No, it's not Paul. He's with Rachel."
"Right, right." She mumbled. "Now, explain!"

So, Cori spent the rest of the night confiding in her best friend. Telling her
all about Emmett and his family and how they made her feel welcome. She
told her everything, leaving out the fact that shapeshifters and vampires
were in fact real. She cried and Lola repeatedly told her she wished she
could hug her.

After hanging up with her friend, Cori laid in bed, her eyes on the ceiling as
she tried to force herself into sleep. She had no such luck and it only got
harder to sleep when Bella got home. She was yelling, slamming doors,
packing her bag in a not so quiet manner then she made her way into Cori's
room.

Cori sat up, her eyebrows pinched as Bella dropped her bag at her feet.
"You're leaving?"

"Yeah." Bella nodded. "I-I need to get out. I need to..." she trailed off, not
having the words.

"Why?" Cori pushed herself to her feet and crossed the room.

The older girl reached up, tucking her hair behind her ear as she shook her
head. "I just can't stay here anymore."

"Bella?"

Bella opened her mouth before closing it and pulled Cori into a quick hug.
"I'll call you." She mumbled into her hair, squeezing her tightly and Cori
wrapped her arms around her. "I gotta go." She pulled back and grabbed her
bag before leaving in a hurry, leaving a confused Cori to watch her leave.

Cori eventually made her way back to her bed, pulling her cover over her
torso as she started up at the ceiling. She was confused more than anything,
but she knew one thing; she didn't want to leave Forks even if it meant that
she let her sister go off on her own. But the longer she laid there, the more
her mind raced, the more she wondered what had set her off and just as she
sat up a hand was placed over her mouth and nose.
"You'll do." He hummed and she could feel his breath against her cheek
before the lack of oxygen made her eyelids heavy and she passed out.

▬ "SHE'S AWAKE."

Cori sat up, shoving herself back with her hands and feet to get away from
the unfamiliar man in front of her. He wore a sickly sweet smile as he took
a step towards her, his feet bare, same as his chest – all he wore was a pair
of jeans and a leather jacket. His blonde hair was pulled back into a low
ponytail and his eyes... his eyes were red.

"Vampire." She breathed out.

"And bingo was his name-o." He hummed, leaning closer to her, too close
for her comfort. "You smell sweet." He mumbled, his nose close to her
collarbone and she flinched. "I bet you're delicious." He pushed her dark
hair back and she squirmed, pushing herself back into the wall as she turned
her head, her eyes squeezed closed as tears welled up."I could just-" He
snapped his teeth in her direction and she jumped, moving away from him
again as she cried. But all he did was chuckle, it was low, evil. Like he was
enjoying watching her squirm.

"Wha-what do you want?" She asked, forcing her voice to come out steady
despite the fear that coursed through her veins. "Where am I?"
"Home." He answered her second question and her eyebrows pinched.
"Phoenix." He whispered, leaning closer to her again and she looked
around. The room was dark, small and she couldn't see much other than him
and a few posters on the wall. "You know what would be fun?" He asked as
he stood up straight. "We should make a movie." He held up a small
camcorder. "Wanna be the star?"

"Why are you doing this?"

"It's fun." He shrugged, turning the camera on as he pointed it at her. "Now,

I wanna see your fear." He held the camera closer to her face and she
shifted away from him. "I wanna feel what you're feeling. Action!"

"Stop." She cried, shaking her head, pushing herself harder against the wall
as she pulled her legs up – she was still in her pajama shorts and tank top.
"Please." More tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Now, we're getting somewhere." He mused before he stood up again. "But

it's not quite right." He tapped his chin as if he was thinking it over. "You
have a sister, right?" He grinned, seeing the panic wash over her face.

Her eyes went wide as she shook her head. "N-No, I-I-I-"

He chuckled before shushing her, his finger against her lips. "It's cute." He
smoothed his hand over her hair and she flinched, turning her head to the
side, he didn't stop. "Trying to protect her. But this movie just... it needs
more. We should give her a call."

"No!" She shouted but he held her phone up, waving it teasingly in the air
and she reached for it only to have him move it out of reach.

"I'm on the phone." He tsked, shaking his head a little as he held the phone
to his ear and wiggled his finger a little as if he was talking to a small child.

"Cori? What are you-"

"You're sister's a real peach." He cut her off, his voice low as a smirk tugged
at his lips.
"No! Please!"

He chuckled. "We're having a grand 'ol time. Aren't we, Cori?" He held the
phone to her ear as she sobbed.

"Bella-"

"Cori! I'm sorry."

"Bella, I'm scared." She sniffled, wiping her nose. "What's happening?"

"I'm sorry, I-"

"Sweet, little Cori." He mused, the phone pressed to his ear again as he
smoothed his hand over Cori's hair and she moved as far away from him as
she could. Not that she could go far, the room was small and she hit another
wall before she even got a foot away from him.

"Don't touch her!" Bella shouted. "Don't-"

"Please, stop." Cori begged, hugging her knees to her chest as she gripped
her hands. She was trying to find comfort in any form, but she couldn't. The
room was too small and the vampire that stood before her was clearly
unhinged. She didn't see herself making it out alive, and she just wasn't
ready to die. She wasn't even seventeen yet. There were still things she
wanted to do.

She wanted to go skydiving, she and Lola had talked about it a few times
and even though the idea scared her she wanted to try it. She wanted to go
to Alaska to see the northern lights. She wanted to throw a massive party,
even if she wasn't sure if anyone would show up. She wanted to go to prom
with a boy she liked, she had pictured Emmett with her. But that was
before.

Most of all, she wanted to live.

"Please." She knew begging would do no good, but she had to try. "Please."
"You can still save her." He leaned against the wall, his eyes on Cori as she
cried and curled in on herself. "But you're gonna have to get away from
your friends. Can you handle that?"

"Where should I meet you?"

Cori watched as he smiled, her blue eyes overflowing with tears. "How
about your old ballet studio? And I'll know if you bring anyone along. Poor
Cori would pay the price for that mistake. And we wouldn't want that."

After getting an answer that he liked, he hung up and slipped the phone into
his pocket before squatting down in front of Cori, the camera inches from
her face.

"How does it feel?"

"Wha-what?" She hiccuped, trying to get her breathing under control.

"To know that you're just bait?" He tilted his head to the side. "A means to
an end?" He stroked her hair again and she turned her head, moving away
but he didn't seem to care. "Need I go on?"

"G-Go to Hell."

He chuckled, a smile on his lips. "You really are adorable. Maybe I won't
kill you. I could turn you." He mused, holding her chin with his thumb and
forefinger. "Keep you around forever. Like a little pet. Always wanted a
pet."

She shook his off. "I-I'm not a p-pet." She sniffled, keeping herself in the
corner, her teary eyes narrowed and her vision blurred just a little.

He hummed. "Not yet. But soon."

 020┆chapter twenty

LET DOWN

twenty. i forgive you

▬ CORI SHIFTED ON HER FEET, her arms wrapped around her torso
as she stood in the middle of the ballet studio, tears streaming down her
cheeks, even if she had managed to keep her sobs at bay. She looked
around, her blue eyes darting to every dark corner but she couldn't see him.

She knew he was there, lurking in the shadows and she knew he had that
damned camera raised and pointed right at her.

She knew he was enjoying it.

Cori inhaled sharply when she heard the heavy wooden door close then she
took quick steps when she saw her sister. "Cori." Bella sighed upon seeing
her unharmed and she made her way towards her, only to have James
intercept. A smirk on his face as he looked down at Bella then over his
shoulder at Cori, who had stopped just before running right into his back.
"I'm here. Let her go."

"Let me think... no." He shook his head a little. "Now that I have both of
you..." he reached back, wrapping his arm around Cori's shoulders and
pulling her to him. "...let's make that movie, huh?" He looked down at Cori
as she squirmed in his hold, but he just held her tighter as he raised the
camera towards Bella, the younger of the two choked back a sob. "Shall
we?"

Bella looked from the camera to her sister, she had never seen such fear in
Cori's eyes and she hated it with every fiber of her being. "Let her go."
Bella tried, shifting on her feet, looking up at the vampire. She tried to look
unafraid, but that only seemed to spur him on. Probably because he knew it
was all false bravado.

He smirked and it all crumbled away. "No." Bella shifted again, taking a
breath as she looked away from him, fear clear on her face as she met her
sister's gaze. Cori could see the wheels turning behind her sister's eyes,
though she couldn't tell what she was thinking.

"Oh, that'll break Edward's heart." He mumbled, clearly enjoying himself.

"Edward has nothing to do with this!" Bella shouted, moving closer to the
vampire, trying to figure out a way to get Cori from him. Trying to get them
out of this alive. Or at least, get Cori out alive.

"But he does." He chuckled. "His rage will make for a more interesting
sport than his feeble attempt to protect you. And continue." He mumbled,
the camera once again raised as he leaned down closer to Cori, his nose
close to her neck. "She's not really capturing the fear like-" he was cut off
when Bella pepper sprayed him and ran. But her attempt to get away merely
made the vampire angry.
"Just a moment." He muttered, inhaling Cori's sweet scent once more before
he shoved her to the side and she hit the hardwood floor, knocking the wind
out of her as he went after Bella. The blue eyed Swan groaned, wheezing a
little as she pushed herself up onto her hands and knees, coughing up blood
from the impact, just as the vampire threw Bella to the ground. She slid
right into the base of one of the mirrors, her head hitting the corner and she
groaned, holding her hand to the back of her head.

"Beautiful. Very visually dynamic. I chose my stage well." He mused,

moving closer to her. His attention solely on the older Swan. Cori pushed
herself up, her legs shaking a little, her arms wrapped around her torso
when her ribs ached, and she wanted to run. She wanted to get the hell out
of there but even if Bella had tried to abandon her – at least that's what it
looked like – she couldn't do the same. "Too bad he didn't have the strength
to turn you." He mumbled, holding her hand close to his nose – her blood
stained her hand. He let out a hungry groan, his eyes rolling into the back of
his head a little.

"Stop." Cori spoke, her legs shaking as she neared them and he looked up at
her, amusement playing in his eyes. It was clear that he was very much
intrigued by the young Swan. Even more so with her blood now staining
her chin.

"I don't think I will." He put his hand on Bella's shin and simply pushed,
snapping her leg and she screamed, making Cori flinch. "Tell Edward how
much it hurts." The camera was in her face again, capturing all of her pain
as her screams echoed around the room, bouncing off of the mirrors and the
walls. It sounded as if it was coming from every direction.

"Stop!" Cori screamed, rushing towards them and throwing herself into his
side. He was momentarily knocked off balance, but he was on his feet in
seconds, his hand around Cori's throat as he lifted her off the ground with
ease.

"You shouldn't have done that." He tsked as she clawed at his hand, kicking
her feet a little but he just tilted his head to the side as a sadistic smile
tugged at his lips as he watched her struggle in his hold. "Really, you
should've just left it alone." He sounded almost disappointed.

"Please." She gasped, fighting for air.

"I love it when you beg." He nearly purred, pulling her in close as he
pressed his nose against her cheek. He still couldn't get over how sweet she
smelled. It was different from the intoxicating scent of her sister, but he was
still entrapped by it... by her. He moved his nose towards her chin, taking in
a deep breath before he sighed, then he licked just a little bit of her blood
from her face. He let out an animalistic groan of appreciation. His nearly
black eyes met hers and an even deeper fear coursed through her. "But, no."
He gave her a sick smile before he tossed her to the side like she was
nothing more than a ragdoll and she groaned as she rolled across the
hardwood floor, her head hitting the hard surface. She tried to push herself
up but she was in too much pain. Her head alone ached and her torso felt as
if he had taken a baseball to her. She squinted her eyes, but everything was
blurry.

She sat up, her back against a mirror, tears spilled from her eyes and her
eyelids grew heavy as she slumped down. She could hear their voices,
though they sounded muffled and far away. She shook her head, but she
couldn't form any words. The last thing she heard before everything went
black, the pain encompassing her, was her sister screaming in agony.

▬ BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

Did heaven beep? Was it, like, a way of keeping track of all the angles?
Maybe it was an evil detector and that was how they decided if you went up
or down.

Whatever that annoying sound was, it was driving Cori insane as she peeled
her eyes open. She saw a bright light and she was sure she was dead then
the pain set in and the rest of the room came into focus as a soft groan left
her lips.

"Cori." She turned her head, her neck stiff, to see Charlie. He let out a
relieved breath running his hand down his tired face as a smile tugged at his
lips. "You're awake." He reached for her hand and her eyebrows pinched as
she looked around the room.

"Wha-" her throat was sore and scratchy. "Water."

"Oh." He mumbled, quickly reaching for the cup on the table beside her
hospital bed. "Here." He raised it to her lips and she took a few small sips
before she laid her head against the pillow again.

"What happened?"

"You don't..." he trailed off, remembering what the doctor had told him.
She'd hit her head again and her memory may not be all that great. "Bella
left, you snuck out after her." She knew that wasn't true, she was kidnapped.
"Well, uh, Edward and his dad came to try and get you and Bella to come
back home, back to Forks. Um, there was something about falling down the
stairs." He shook his head. "I was so worried, I only heard half of it." He
wrapped his hand around hers again. "You hit your head again. And cracked
a rib."

"Really?" She held her hand to her torso, winching a little as she pushed too
hard. She could feel the bandage around her ribs through the thin hospital
gown she wore.

"Yeah." He nodded. "But you don't have a concussion this time, just a
bump."
"Remind me never to walk down stairs with Bella again." She mumbled,
shifting to get comfortable and he chuckled a little, glad she could make a
joke even in her condition.

"I'll do that." He nodded, then a knock came at the door. "Yeah?" He turned
to see Emmett step into the room and he looked from the boy to Cori, who
nodded her head. "I'll, uh, let you two talk." Charlie stood up, squeezing
Cori's hand then he left the room, closing the door behind him.

"You're okay." Emmett mumbled, staying away from the bed the girl laid
upon.

"Sure." She nodded. "If you call feeling like I got hit by a bus, that then
reversed back over me okay, then yeah. I'm okay." He hated how rough her
voice sounded, how low she spoke. And he hated even more the bruise he
could see on her throat poking out from under her hospital gown.

"Cori-"

"Who the hell was that? And how the hell did he know to use me to get to
Bella?"

"James. He was a tracker." He answered. His hands clenched at his sides

before unclenching. "He's gone now."

"Gone as in left or-"

"Dead." He nodded his head. "Ripped him to pieces. Travis and Alice
helped."

She closed her eyes and shook her head, then she let out a soft groan as she
shifted in her bed, she hurt pretty much everywhere. "This is insane." Even
talking hurt. Hell, breathing hurt.

"I'm so sorry." He rushed out, moving towards the bed. "It's my fault. I
should've told you about us sooner, I should've been there to protect you."
"I should've stayed in Phoenix." She mumbled, though she knew she didn't
mean it. She liked living in Forks, she liked her friends there, she liked the
weather. And even if it did suck and her chest still ached, she knew that she
didn't want to erase what she had with Emmett in their short time together.

"Cori." He sighed, running his hand down his face as he sat in the chair
Charlie had once occupied. "Can you forgive me? Can we go back to how
things used to be, just me and you?" His cold hand found hers.

"No." She shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes as she pulled her
hand back. "We can't. Too much has happened. You kept this huge part of
yourself from me, a-and I..." she closed her eyes and took a breath. "-I need
time and space. To process everything."

"Cori, please." Tears wanted to form in his eyes, though they would never
fall. "I'll do anything. Please."

"I forgive you." She told him, wiping at her cheeks, winching a little as she
raised her arm. "But I can't be with you. I'm sorry."

"I get it." He nodded, a sad smile pulling at his lips. "I don't like it, but I get
it." He pushed himself up and she watched him. "Get some rest, you need
it." He gave her a soft smile before leaning down and pressing a slow,
lingering kiss to her forehead. Then he started for the door.

"Emmett," She stopped him and he turned, his chest filled with hope. "I
don't blame you for what happened. It wasn't your fault. Don't blame
yourself, please."

He let out a sigh, a small weight lifting off his shoulders. "I adore you, Cori
Swan." He mumbled and she gave him a small smile, but it didn't reach her
leaking eyes. "Always will." With that he left, pulling the door closed
behind him before he leaned against it. He closed his eyes and took a
needless breath as he heard her sniffle before a choked sob escaped her. He
knew this was breaking her heart just as much as it was his. And that tore
him to pieces.

.
 .

▬ CORI SAT ON THE COUCH, her phone in her hands as she texted
Rachel and Paul – both of whom were worried about the girl and wanted
almost hourly updates. She looked up from the small screen when she heard
Bella coming down the stairs, she chose to ignore the fact that Edward
stood stiffly beside her dad near the door.

"Alice lent me the dress. The cast is..." she let out a breathy laugh.

"You're perfect." Edward told her and she gave him a smile, to which Cori
rolled her eyes and went back to texting, ignoring the rest of the interaction
until the couple started for the door.

"Have fun." She called out after her sister. "Bye, Psycho." She muttered
under her breath and Edward couldn't help the snort that left his lips as he
and Bella left the Swan house and Bella gave him a confused look, to which
he simply shook his head.

Charlie sat next to his youngest and she gave him a smile as she looked up
from her phone, winching slightly as she shifted on the couch. "You know,
out of the two of you, I thought you'd be the one to go to prom."

"How the turns have tabled." She hummed, getting a confused look from
her dad. But she just grinned.

"Gonna chalk that one up to the head injury." He mumbled, not wanting to
correct her or dissect it. "You hungry?"

"Always." She nodded and he chuckled as he pushed himself up, extending

his hand out to her. She groaned a little as he pulled her up and he
absolutely hated it, but she didn't complain.
"You gonna change?" He asked and she looked down at her black and white
plaid pajama pants and her black sweatshirt.

"No." She shook her head and he just nodded as they started towards the
door, the younger of the two sliding her feet into her shoes. "Can Rachel
and Paul come with us?"

"Yeah, of course." He nodded and she smiled as she quickly typed up a

message on her phone as they neared the truck that sat in the driveway.
And she knew she would be okay.

⚘ nova speaks┆and that's a wrap on let down!! let me know what

you think, give me feedback — but don't be rude about it!

book two is coming soon!! be on the look out for

the second installment of the ADORE YOU
SERIES... COLD WATER!!