𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙨. emmett cullen

twenty four

"Ready?" I turned to Bella. She was standing in front of my mirror looking at her reflection nervously. She kept fiddling with the layers of her blue dress anxiously as I curled the last piece of her brown hair. "You look beautiful Bells, don't think differently." I smiled at her. She returned my smile and opened my bedroom door. "I'll be down in a minute." She nodded and exited my room, closing the door behind her.

To say I was nervous would be an understatement. Sure, I looked great - my lavender dress fit me nicely, the end of it brushing my knees. My blonde hair was curled into small ringlets and my make-up was done perfectly, but I didn't feel as confident as I usually did. My self-esteem dropped every time I glanced at the moon-shaped scar on the side of my neck, just underneath my ear.

I could no longer wear my hair up or someone would notice it and If I did, I had to apply foundation just to cover it. I hated it and Emmett knew. He made sure that I knew that I was still beautiful with my "battle scar" but it still bothered me immensely.

I finally took a deep breath and looked myself over one more time. My dress was a soft lavender color and the straps were as thin as my pinky finger. It hugged my torso tightly but flared out after it reached my waistline. I matched it with a pair of nude pumps Alice lent me - along with some jewelry from Rosalie - and I felt ready for my first dance with Emmett. I opened my bedroom door and felt a sudden burst of confidence as I descended the stairs.

And I'm glad I did. They were standing by the front door with Dad by his side was my boyfriend. He wore a white dress shirt with black dress pants and a tie that matched the color of my dress. His eyes widened as he saw me and it was at that moment that I felt beautiful. I finally realized that Emmett hadn't loved me any less now that I had a scar- in his eyes, I was still beautiful.

The next few minutes kind of blurred by. I was vaguely aware of Dad threatening Emmett in his overly protective way, us getting into Carlisle's car, and then the drive to the dance. But the one thing I kept noticing was Emmett reminding me of how amazing I looked.

We walked under the archway that lead into the dance and smiled as a photographer took our picture. Emmett held me close as we entered the building and people turned to smile at us. Everyone we knew was there. His siblings were dancing in the middle of the dance floor looking polished and elegant. Bella's friends were standing on the stage fiddling with the DJ booth, and mine were dancing crazily in a corner as Asher did his version of the sprinkler.

Emmett grabbed my hand and led me outside and I smiled as we passed Bella and Edward dancing under a gazebo decorated with fairy lights. He guided me towards a small rose garden that was lit with fairy lights and sat us down on a wooden bench.

"I'm kind of glad I was the only one to sign this." He smiled as he rubbed my white cast. After that day in the hospital, Emmett rushed to find a marker so he could be the first one to sign it, and so far he's been the only one to. I had to wear it on my wrist until it was fully healed but it was worth it because every time I looked at it, Emmett's name was the only thing I saw.

"Me too," I answered honestly. He held my uninjured hand tightly in both of his and I rested my head on his bicep as we looked at the starry sky. "This reminds me of our first date."

"Our only date." He laughed. "Remind me to take you on another one."

"Okay." I giggled. He placed a kiss on my head and I blushed as he did. Whenever he kissed the top of my hair or my forehead, I couldn't help the blush that spread across my cheeks. Those kisses were more endearing and I craved them. They were my favorite types of kisses than he could ever give me.

"I love you." He said.

"I love you too." I looked up at him and his hand moved to the back of my head and he brought his lips to mine. We kissed slowly but passionately and I loved it.

"You know," He said after we pulled away. "Edward said that Bella is trying to get him to change her into one of us."

"She mentioned it a few times to me." I nodded.

"Do you feel the same way as her?" He had a certain hope in his eyes but I couldn't determine if he wanted me to say yes or no.

"I do," I confessed. "But I want to finish high school first."

"I can live with that." He nodded. "I don't want you to miss out on anything. Yeah, when you turn you'll have all the time in the world to be a teenager but I want you to experience everything as humanly as possible."

"That's what I want." I agreed with him. He pecked my lips once again before standing up and pulling me up with him.

"Let's go dance." I beamed up at him and he led us inside once again. He directed me to the middle of the dance floor as a slow song began to play. His hands rested on my waist as I wrapped mine around his shoulders. He was still inches taller than me even though I was wearing heels and he laughed softly as I couldn't reach his neck. He bent forward and placed his forehead against mine as we swayed to the music.

"I love you," I whispered to him.

"I love you too." He whispered back. I closed my eyes and just enjoyed the moment we had together. I felt someone staring at me and as I opened my eyes I saw Bella dancing with Edward beside us. We exchanged a secret smile before turning back to our boyfriends and swaying to the music that surrounded us.

Forks had changed our lives. Tremendously. We both now had boyfriends, crescent moon scars gracing our skin, and new friends to exchange gossip with. We may have had a rocky start but everything worked itself out in the end. And as Emmett whispered sweet words into my ear, I knew that he would be by my side for as long as I wanted him there.

"I may have a frozen heart but you make my frozen heart, beat."

Oh yeah, he was never leaving my side.

end of part one