𝐟𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧

Waking up in a hospital room was anxiety inducing to say the least. The last time I'd been in the hospital, I woke up and was told my mom and Sarah were never coming back. The memories of the ballet studio came in weird flashes as consciousness came back to me. I remembered James cutting me, thinking I'd die. I remembered Bella's screams growing louder--was she okay?

I blinked open my eyes, wincing at the bright white lights, why did they make hospitals so white? I felt a hand holding my uninjured one, a cold touch that brought me immediate comfort. "Emmett?" I asked, my voice was groggy from sleep as I turned and looked at him with my still blurry eyes.

He let out an unnecessary breath of relief as he met my gaze, my vision clearing as I blinked away the fog. "Thank god you're awake," his shoulders sagged slightly and I could see his body relaxing.

"Where's Bella," I asked, looking around the room, we were the only ones in it, "is she okay?"

Emmett immediately nodded, "yeah, she's in another room with her parents and Edward." He sat forward and brushed my hair behind my ear, "are you okay? How are you feeling?"

I tried to sit up a bit and Emmett immediately helped me into a sitting position, using the bed controls to prop me up more. I could feel my ribs and back aching and my arm was weirdly numb beneath the bandage. "Sore." I swallowed, my mouth dry and my lips felt like they were cracking, "and thirsty."

Emmett jumped up and grabbed me a cup from a bedside table before bringing it back to me. "Here, drink this." The ice cold water soothed the dryness in my mouth and throat, I gulped down the entire cup in one go, letting out a breath once I was done.

Once he took the cup from me and sat back down beside me, I knew it was time to address the elephant in the room. I leaned back into the bed and took Em's hand in mine. "I'm sorry," I breathed, unsure if my words of apology would even be enough for him. "I know it doesn't excuse it but, I couldn't let Bella go alone. I tried to talk her out of it, Em, I really did. But James had her convinced her mom was going to die if she didn't go.

"And I couldn't leave her to die alone. But I texted you," I choked on my words slightly as tears flooded my eyes, suddenly the memories of the ballet studio were too much, the fear I felt was too much, "I was so scared, Emmett. I started to think you weren't going to come and-"

Emmett shushed me, he moved onto the bed beside me, taking up most of the room, and pulled me into his chest. I folded into his embrace, tears leaking from my eyes as I tried to not think about what just happened--what might've happened.

"It's okay, 'Livia. You're safe now," he placed a kiss to the top of my head and I relaxed into his hold. "I'm not going to lie and say I'm not upset you faced James on your own. But, none of that matters now. I'm just happy you're safe now."

I nodded against his chest, holding his shirt in my fist as I did. "I hate to do this, babe, but I have to go. Billy will be back soon and unless you want him to see us together and flip, I should get lost."

I wanted to protest, but sat up away from him anyways. "When will I see you again?" I asked, hating the thought of not being around him.

"Next time Billy leaves your room," he promised, standing from the bed. It was odd seeing him in the hospital room, he was huge and took up most of the space. It was almost comedic. "You're not leaving my sight ever again."

The story of what happened to me and Bella was an interesting one. Apparently we were walking down an side street where we were robbed. Bella got pushed down some stairs where she broke her leg and I got cut by a knife.

Very interesting.

Billy was pissed, said he was determined to find whoever did this to me. Charlie was on the same warpath as Billy, talking to the local sheriffs station to find out exactly who was responsible. But since Bella and I couldn't 'remember' our attacker, there were no leads.

Thankfully Bella and I were released after only one more night in the hospital. I hated the place and was more than happy to get back home. As soon as Billy and I pulled up to the house, I was filled with calm relief.

It only lasted a moment though, because as soon as I walked in the door I was bombarded with attention by basically everyone on the res. Sue Clearwater was making up some food in the kitchen while Harry sat at the table munching on a cookie, Seth was on the couch with Jake, Quill, and Embry playing some video games, and Paul was standing in the corner of my now very cramped living room, glaring at the door.

As soon as I walked in I was showered in hugs by everyone. Sue was fussing over me, telling me to go lay down and she'll bring me a plate. The boys were trying to get me to tell them who did this to me so they could 'find them'. And Paul was just watching me, looking at me like I was a ghost.

"Okay, enough," Billy shouted as he wheeled himself in between me and the hoard of visitors. "Olivia needs to get some rest, Paul why don't you help her up to bed?"

Everyone quickly dispersed away from me and I started walking toward the stairs, limping slightly as my back was still sore. Paul met me half way and offered me a hand up the stairs to my room.

"You lied to me," Paul said once we were alone in my room. I let out a breath, I knew this conversation was coming eventually. "You were with the blood suckers the whole time you were gone, weren't you?"

I sat down on my bed while Paul sat down on my vanity chair. He didn't look as angry as he usually did when we talked about the Cullen's. No this time he looked like a kicked puppy--no pun intended.

"Not exactly," I weakly defended. "Look, the other day I went to this baseball game with Bella and the Cullen's. Then this other vampire clan showed up and went all crazy when they found out Bella and I were human. Emmett and Edward got us away but one of the guys--James--is a hunter.

"Apparently he wanted to kill me and Bella, and he would hurt anyone who got in his way. So, Bella had to leave home so Charlie wouldn't get hurt and I had to leave because I didn't want Billy and Jake to get hurt--" I held up a hand to stop Paul from interrupting me, "I know you can kill a leech, Paul, but I didn't want to risk it.

"The Cullen's were going to kill James so that we'd be safe while Alice and Jasper took us to Phoenix. But somehow James go away. He tricked Bella and I into meeting up with him and then he tried to kill us. But the Cullen's saved us before he could." I let out a breath after I finished explaining everything.

"So the Cullen's put your life in danger?" Paul scoffed, "and you seriously don't see the problem with you involving yourself with them?"

I rolled my eyes at his dramatics, "No, I don't. Because it wasn't their fault, okay? They saved me. They had no idea there were other vampires in town, at least not that they'd be a threat to me and Bella. Emmett has only tried to protect me, he'd never do anything to hurt me, Paul."

"What?" Paul stood up from the stool, shaking his head in confusion, "so are you and Cullen like a thing now?"

His eyes were begging me to deny it, but I couldn't. I hated lying, I stood up from the bed and shrugged, "Yes, we are. And there's nothing you can do to stop it, Paul. So you can either accept that I'm dating Emmett, that I'm happy, and we can move on.

"Or, you can go downstairs and tell Billy. But if you do that," I took a step closer to the shifter in front of me who was hanging onto my every word. "I will never forgive you."

Paul looked at me uneasily, like he wasn't sure if I was joking or not, "you honestly can't expect me to be okay with you hooking up with some blood sucker, can you?"

"No, I don't," I sighed, "I know it's in your blood to hate them, Paul, and I don't blame you for that. But as my friend, I expect you to allow me to be happy and make my own choices. Without interference."

He took a breath, contemplating for a moment, "what if he hurts you?"

"He won't."

Paul scoffed, "yeah right, they're literally designed to kill humans like you, Liv."

I let out an angry breath, "he. Won't. Hurt me." I said the words slowly, ensuring I enunciated enough for him to understand them.

We stood there in silence for a moment, our eyes locked in a silent battle of wills and I wasn't backing down. Paul had a choice to make, he either supported me or he went against me. I won't lie and say it wouldn't hurt to have Paul betray me, that it wouldn't kill me to have to hold a grudge against him. My bond with Paul was a confusing one. He brought me comfort and safety, I always felt at ease with him, safe. 

But I would do anything to protect my bond with Emmett--my soulmate.

Finally Paul relented, he looked away with a groan, "I don't like this." 

My shoulders sagged in relief. "You don't have to."

"If he so much as looks at you the wrong way, I'll kill him," Paul threatened and by the look in his eye I knew he was telling the truth.

But I didn't worry about that, Emmett was my mate. He told me himself that he physically couldn't stand to do anything to hurt me. So it wasn't like Paul's threat held any real merit. "That's fine. He won't." I was sure of it.