It was well past 2 in the morning in Forks, Washington, the summer month of June bringing wet and slightly humid weather in its wake. The members of the Cullen household were going about their typical pastimes. The 'youngest' boy, Edward, was shut away in his bedroom, classical music flowing from his stereo speakers.
Carlisle, the head of the coven, sat with his wife, Esme, in the living room, reading through some medical files. Esme was curled up into his side with a book of her own. Alice and Rosalie sat a few feet away on the other couch. The last two, Emmett and Jasper, were out hunting in the Washington wilderness. Alice was playing with Rosalie's soft, blonde hair, running her fingers through the strands and braiding it.
It was expected to be a relatively quiet night. That was until Alice suddenly stiffened in her seat, her face blank, golden eyes glazing over and staring off into the distance. The strands of hair she was holding fell from her frozen fingers. Another vision, the others knew.
Edward wouldn't have bothered coming down at all had he not seen Alice's thoughts. That made him speed down from his room to the living room, where he focused entirely on Alice's vision. Rosalie looked over her shoulder at her, curious and concerned. Carlisle and Esme looked the same, both leaning forward, waiting.
"Alice, what is it?" Carlisle asked gently.
Alice flapped her hand at him, signaling them to shut up and wait. "It's…" She paused, tilting her head, then gasping quietly. "What...?"
Confusion and shock marked her face, and Edward was in a similar state. In the vision was a man, pale and just below average height. Looking to be of some Asian descent, the man stood beside their brother, Emmett, who practically towered over the man. He was holding Emmett's much larger hand, black painted fingers entwined with his. Emmett was running his free hand through the other's remarkable snow-white hair as he smiled fondly down at him. Their lips moved, speaking silent words unknown, and the man laughed, his shoulders shaking…then it went black.
Edward returned to the present, tuning Alice's thoughts out now that the vision was clearly over. The others were looking at him expectantly. Alice must not be telling them what they'd seen. This was confirmed when he glanced at her, watching her shake her head at him.
"Edward?"
Edward understood her silence. They needed to have Emmett here before they said anything. "We should wait for Emmett and Jasper to get back…" Edward finally said.
"Anything life-threatening?" Carlisle questioned patiently. He knew kids wouldn't hold back information like this without good reason.
"Not like that, no," Alice said. Life-changing was the term for it. A danger to a relationship they had seen grow over the years they had been together as a coven. The genuine concern was Rosalie's reaction. This was her husband, and she was the most territorial of the two.
Edward glanced briefly at the blonde in question and was met with a raised eyebrow. "What?" She asked, looking between him and Alice. "Does this have something to do with me? And Emmett?"
Both siblings cringed but didn't respond outside of that, remaining tight-lipped. Rosalie huffed at their determined silence, and they fell into a collective quiet until the other two eventually returned.
The five ended up waiting for another two hours for them, and Rosalie was now openly annoyed, impatience rolling off her in waves. If the vision had something to do with her and her husband, she had a damn right to know!
As Emmett and Jasper came from the tree line by the house's driveway, Rosalie was instantly on her feet and at the front door. The two blinked as the front door flew open in their faces, taking in the clearly agitated blonde.
"Took you long enough!" She snapped.
Emmett stared, startled. He wondered what had her so worked up. He tried to remember if he'd done anything to annoy her before he left, but he was drawing a blank. Jasper unsurely began projecting calming waves outwards as Rosalie ushered them into the living room, where the others hadn't moved an inch.
"What happened?" Jasper asked, taking a seat next to Alice.
"We're wondering the same thing," Rosalie grumbled, glaring at her sister. "They're back like you two wanted, so tell us what happened in the vision?"
"Calm down, Rose," Carlisle said. Emmett pulled Rosalie down to sit in his lap, running his hands up and down her arms in a soothing gesture.
Alice twiddled her thumbs in her lap, a nervous, human action she rarely did. She had no idea how to break this into the room without everything going nuts. This would have been much easier if Rosalie had chosen Edward as her mate…
Edward gave an uncomfortable, slightly disgusted cough from across the room.Get over yourself, Alice thought. Jasper placed a hand on her knee, and she realized she had been bouncing her leg up and down.
"What did you see?" Jasper asked, feeling the waves of anxiety and doubt rolling off his wife, emotions that she didn't often express. Not this openly, anyway. There was no danger with this vision; that was clear. Alice wouldn't risk the family like that. But it was important based on the state it put her in.
Alice took an unneeded breath, though it did seem to calm her a bit. "We aren't in danger or anything. Um, there is someone that's going to be arriving here in Forks. I'm not sure when, but I assume it will be in the next few weeks or so."
She rarely got visions that were more than a few months away. The others, aside from Edward, exchanged glances. Was that it? Sure, it wasn't typical for the small town to gain new residents. Hell, the Cullens themselves were the most recent "newcomers" in some time, at least to the human populous. But that shouldn't have garnered a reaction like this.
"Are they human?" Esme asked.
"I'm pretty sure, yeah. He's not one of us, and he can't be a wolf either since I could see him and Emmett in the first place?"
"Hold on," Emmett spoke up, eyebrows furrowed, his hands pausing. "I was in it?"
Edward and Alice glanced at each other. "Em, have you ever met a man with white hair before? Asian, with gray eyes?" Edward asked slowly. Perhaps the two already knew each other, and that could just be how they interacted together. Emmett was very tactile with everyone, not just Rosalie. Sometimes, people could see that tactile nature in a romantic light when it wasn't. But even Edward would have a hard time arguing that the way the two had looked at each other, touched each other, in the vision was platonic.
"Doesn't ring a bell," Emmett said after a moment of thought. The man sounded cool, honestly. Emmett certainly would remember someone like that with the distinct features he apparently had. But then again, Emmett had encountered many people in his many years as a vampire.
Edward sighed and explained what was seen in the vision, Alice providing any other details that he may have missed, which was practically nothing. The vision was clear but didn't give much context beyond the visual. Jasper's grip on Alice's knee tightened as so many emotions simultaneously heightened. Rosalie's reaction was the only instant vocal one, growling deep within her chest, eyes narrowed into slits.
Emmet's arms locked around her waist, both to keep her there and also as a response to the news. His own eyes widened as they flicked between Edward, Alice, and his growling wife. "But—But why? How? I wouldnever—"
"We don't know," Alice interrupted him. "We don't know the context behind it either."
"We all know you wouldn't cheat on Rose, Em," Edward added softly. Loyalty was always an important aspect to Emmett, so Edward wanted to reassure his brother. But clearly, it wasn't working very well.
"I wouldn't leave her like that either," Emmett snapped. He looked at Rosalie. "I wouldn't, I swear."
Rosalie absentmindedly patted Emmett's arm. "I know. Could it be another singer situation?" She asked the others. "He's had them before."
"That wouldn't explain the closeness," Carlisle said. He leaned back in his seat, feeling conflicted. Emmett had no qualms about killing humans, as was seen in the past with the singers Rosalie mentioned. Though he'd been sorry that the family would have to be uprooted anytime it happened and Emmett fell into that temptation of human blood, he had never been sorry for taking the life itself. And the vision hadn't shown Emmett killing this man.
"It could be that this man, whoever he is, is Emmett's true mate," Carlisle suggested.
"You mean like what Marcus Volturi had?" Edward asked. "That's why he is the way he is now; he lost his, didn't he?"
Carlisle nodded.
"Does Anyone want to explain what the fuck that means, please?"
"Language," The blonde doctor sighed. "Vampires can have a romantic connection or mate with whoever you choose. However, there are what we call 'true mates,' or you can call them soulmates. It's almost like the wolves' form of imprinting."
Carlisle ignored Rosalie, scrunching up her nose in disgust at the comparison to the wolves. "No one knows whethereveryvampire has a true mate since so many things can happen. They may never cross paths; the earth is a big place with many people. Or one of them can die before they meet.
"As Edward said, Marcus Volturi once had his true mate at his side, but he lost them; at least that's what the rumors say. The aftermath can be…devastating. I'm surprised that Marcus is still in existence based on how drastic that kind of loss can be," Carlisle muttered that last bit, primarily to himself.
"It's more likely that Aro won't let him take the dive," Edward said bluntly.
"My point is that it's possible," Carlisle continued, sending Edward a look. "Just based on the vision and that Emmett wouldn't cheat on Rose or leave her for nothing. It's just a suggestion."
Everyone eyed the couple. Rosalie was like a statue in Emmett's lap, her growling having stopped a while ago. Her silence now was almost eerie, her face blank as she stared off at nothing. After the initial reactions calmed down, Jasper could focus his gift solely on Rosalie and Emmett. He got what he'd expected: the shock, confusion, denial. They were all messy and all over the place. It was a little hard to keep up. He would have gotten a migraine if Jasper had been human.
Jasper looked at Edward, wanting to ask what was happening in their heads. He had the emotions but not the thoughts to know the reason behind them. Then Rosalie sighed, leaning back in Emmett's arms. She managed to look wholly drained by the situation.
"Rose?" Emmett mumbled in question.
"We won't know for sure until this man gets here," Rosalie said, her voice almost robotic as she forced the words out and kept her tone leveled. "Carlisle, do you have any more information on this 'true mate' stuff? Books, maybe?"
A sad, pained smile ghosted across Edward's face as he scanned Rosalie's thoughts while Carlisle, looking a bit dumbfounded like the others at Rosalie's calm behavior, said he'd look and see if he had anything.
Alice cautiously spoke. "You're taking this well…?" It was more of a question rather than an actual statement.
Rosalie grimaced. "I'm not," she admitted. "Nowhere near that. This is my husband, and this whole thing is…" She exhaled slowly, running her hand through her hair, unraveling the braid that Alice had done earlier. "But let's not make any hasty decisions when we don't have all the facts. The more information we have, the better we can deal with this."
"Wow," Edward said with a huffing laugh. "That's actually mature and realistic of you."
"Edward," Esme chided. "Not the time."
"Just trying to lighten the mood." Edward raised his hands up at the glares he received. Shaking her head in annoyance, Rosalie stood and took Emmett's hand, who was possibly going to be her ex-husband, ex-mate. She hated the idea.
The rest of the family watched as the two headed up the stairs without any further words. No doubt they wanted to speak in private, or whatever you could call private, in a household of all hearing vampires, one of which could read minds.
"Edward, I know you can't help what you hear in people's minds, but please try and tune them out," Esme said. She pointed to Alice and Jasper. "You two as well. This is hard enough for them as it is without us eavesdropping."
Carlisle wrapped an arm around Esme's shoulders. "It'll work out," he tried reassuring them. "I know it will."
Upstairs, Rosalie and Emmett lay in silence for a while across the bed in their bedroom. Long limbs tangled together as the two held each other; the lights were off, the only light coming from the window. Cuddling like this wasn't typical for them outside of when they were intimate. There was, in general, hand holding, and just simply sitting together, and things like that that satisfied Emmett's tactile nature.
"I don't know how to feel about this," Emmett whispered. His mind was at war. The idea of a true mate wouldn't have bothered him if he wasn't with Rose. He loved her so much, and he was happy with his marriage. They had been together for so long… that's not something he would throw away. How could he?
"Neither do I," Rosalie whispered back. "There are too many unknowns right now."
There wasn't much else that could be said now, not without repeating past words. They would have to wait and see. Rosalie squeezed the back of Emmett's neck gently. She met his gaze, gold on gold, and Rosalie had a passing thought of Emmett's old eye color from when he'd been human; such a rich, deep brown was the first thing that caught her interest. She'd have loved for him to have been able to keep them through the change.
This man she had come across all those years ago when he was in a losing fight with a grizzly bear. She couldn't abandon him to die. He didn't deserve a death like that. That was true, but that wasn't the only truth. Rosalie was selfish, she could admit. She'd been lucky, too. Emmett could have easily, and rightfully so, resented her for having him changed. She had been with Carlisle for years; she still felt that resentment to this day sometimes, just on a lesser scale since Emmett came into her life. Rosalie loved Emmett. There was no doubt about that.
"If this true mate's stuff is true, don't hold yourself back."
"What—" Emmett's eyebrows furrowed, and he pulled back a bit to look at his wife more closely. But Rosalie was shaking her head at him.
"No, Em, listen, please. I love you more than anyone. I do hope that you know that to be true in your heart. But…" She bit her lip. "Your happiness, at the end of the day, is all I want. And if this man turns out to be able to give you that, I can't stand in the way of that. I won't do that."
"But I am happy. You make me happy."
"I know," Rosalie responded, smiling fondly, her voice soft. Emmett was always so attentive to her; that was another thing she loved about him. "Believe me, I know. But the way this is sounding, if it's true, the feelings you will get from it, that kind ofhappiness…it's completely different. It's another level."
She paused for a moment, squeezing Emmett's hand. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm still going to be here, no matter what happens, no matter what you choose."