squealed across his skin.
The bear bellowed at the high-pitched noise.
Aw hell, Rose gave me this shirt!
Emmett roared back at the enraged animal.
I sighed and sat down on a convenient boulder. This might take awhile.
But Emmett was almost done. He let the bear try to take his head off with another swipe of the paw,
laughing as the blow bounced off and sent the bear staggering back.
The bear roared and Emmett roared again through his laughter. Then he launched himself at the animal,
who stood a head taller than him on its hind legs, and their bodies fell to the ground tangled up
together, taking a mature spruce tree down with them. The bear's growls cut off with a gurgle.
A few minutes later, Emmett jogged over to where I was waiting for him. His shirt was destroyed, torn
and bloodied, sticky with sap and covered in fur. His dark curly hair wasn't in much better shape. He had
a huge grin on his face.
"That was a strong one. I could almost feel it when he clawed me."
"You're such a child, Emmett."
He eyed my smooth, clean white button-down. "Weren't you able to track down that mountain lion,
then?"
"Of course I was. I just don't eat like a savage."
Emmett laughed his booming laugh. "I wish they were stronger. It would be more fun."
"No one said you had to fight your food."
"Yeah, but who else am I going to fight with? You and Alice cheat, Rose never wants to get her hair
messed up, and Esme gets mad if Jasper and I really go at it."
"Life is hard all around, isn't it?"
Emmett grinned at me, shifting his weight a bit so that he was suddenly poised to take a charge.
"C'mon Edward. Just turn it off for one minute and fight fair."
"It doesn't turn off," I reminded him.
"Wonder what that human girl does to keep you out?" Emmett mused. "Maybe she could give me some
pointers."
My good humor vanished. "Stay away from her," I growled through my teeth.
"Touchy, touchy."
I sighed. Emmett came to sit beside me on the rock.
"Sorry. I know you're going through a tough spot. I really am trying to not be too much of an insensitive
jerk, but, since that's sort of my natural state..."
He waited for me to laugh at his joke, and then made a face.
So serious all the time. What's bugging you now?
"Thinking about her. Well, worrying, really."
"What's there to worry about? You are here." He laughed loudly.
I ignored his joke again, but answered his question. "Have you ever thought about how fragile they all
are? How many bad things there are that can happen to a mortal?"
"Not really. I guess I see what you mean, though. I wasn't much match for a bear that first time around,
was I?"
"Bears," I muttered, adding a new fear to the pile. "That would be just her luck, wouldn't it? Stray bear
in town. Of course it would head straight for Bella."
Emmett chuckled. "You sound like a crazy person, do you know that?"
"Just imagine for one minute that Rosalie was human, Emmett. And she could run into a bear...or get hit
by a car...or lightening ...or fall down stairs...or get sick-get a disease!" The words burst from me
stormily. It was a relief to let them out-they'd been festering inside me all weekend. "Fires and
earthquakes and tornados! Ugh! When's the last time you watched the news? Have you seen the kinds
of things that happen to them? Burglaries and homicides..." My teeth clenched together, and I was
abruptly so infuriated by the idea of another human hurting her that I couldn't breathe.
"Whoa, whoa! Hold up, there, kid. She lives in Forks, remember? So she gets rained on." He shrugged.
"I think she has some serious bad luck, Emmett, I really do. Look at the evidence. Of all the places in the
world she could go, she ends up in a town where vampires make up a significant portion of the
population."
"Yeah, but we're vegetarians. So isn't that good luck, not bad?"
"With the way she smells? Definitely bad. And then, more bad luck, the way she smells to me." I
glowered at my hands, hating them again.
"Except that you have more self-control than just about anyone but Carlisle. Good luck again."
"The van?"
"That was just an accident."
"You should have seen it coming for her, Em, again and again. I swear, it was like she had some kind of
magnetic pull."
"But you were there. That was good luck."
"Was it? Isn't this the worst luck any human could ever possibly have-to have a vampire fall in love with
them?"
Emmett considered that quietly for a moment. He pictured the girl in his head, and found the image
uninteresting. Honestly, I can't really see the draw.
"Well, I can't really see Rosalie's allure, either," I said rudely. "Honestly, she seems like more work than