It's Been a Lifetime Waiting

A few more days passed, and today was Friday, the day that Emmett had promised to take Veronica up into the mountains. There were only so many photos she could take of animals in the forest, so she wanted to go somewhere else. Esme wasn’t happy about the danger Veronica could be put in, but she agreed once Alice reassured her everything would be fine. Today was also very sunny, so Veronica would get to see the Cullens true form, seeing as Emmett, Alice and Jasper were accompanying her.

“If only I could’ve gotten days off school for the sun being out,” Veronica mused, sitting in one of three front seats in Jasper’s Jeep

“The kids at school think we’re hiking junkies. 8 days off this semester already? In Winter? Kinda weird really,” Alice giggled, sitting next to her

Jasper slid into the driver’s seat, Emmett standing up on the back of the car.

“Why is he outside?” Veronica frowned, raising an eyebrow

“He thinks he’s cool,” Jasper snickered

“I heard that,” Emmett said dryly

Veronica chuckled, adjusting her camera around her neck. Her plan for the day? Find some grizzly bears and take photos. Hopefully Emmett wouldn’t be too overprotective. He hadn’t seen her work around bears yet, so this would be interesting.

[1 hour later]

Jasper pulled the car into a sheltered area at the bottom of Lazy Mountain, cutting the engine. Emmett jumped off the back of the Jeep as Veronica unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the car door for her.

“What a gentleman,” Veronica teased

“I try,” Emmett grinned

When she was out of the car, Emmett pecked her lips and linked their hands together.

“Have you seen Emmett run yet, Roni?” Jasper smiled, locking the car

“No, why?” Veronica mused

“You’ll see,” Jasper chuckled

“Emmett, take your shirt off,” Alice said suddenly, pursing her lips together

That wasn’t a good purse of lips either.

“Why?” Emmett frowned

“Just do it,” Alice sighed

Emmett raised an eyebrow but pulled his t-shirt off, revealing his pale sculpted chest. Veronica’s eyes went wide at how...perfect his torso was.

“Let’s get going before Roni passes out,” Emmett snickered

Veronica blushed but climbed onto Emmett’s back as he leant down, wrapping her arms and legs firmly round his bare upper body.

“Hold onto your camera,” Emmett grinned

Veronica just did so. She squeaked as Emmett zoomed forwards, resting her head on his shoulder as the mountain passed by in a blur. She couldn’t help but giggle at the feeling of the wind streaming past her, a feeling of freedom rushing through her body. After a couple of minutes, Emmett slowed to a stop on a flat plain about half-way up the mountain, Jasper and Alice joining them almost immediately.

“That was incredible!” Veronica grinned

“Well thank you,” Emmett said with a goofy smile

“Normally I would’ve taken a day or so to walk up and camp on the mountain, depending on what time I got there, so you guys save a lot of time,” Veronica laughed

“Glad to be of service,” Jasper chuckled, tipping an imaginary cowboy hat

“Let’s get you some bears!” Alice said excitedly

[30 minutes later]

There he was. Veronica’s perfect bear. Emmett had been ruining her fun by not letting her get as close as she usually does, but Alice was distracting him purposely for her right now. So Veronica turned her camera on and quietly crawled along the dirt to hide behind a big rock. She froze as the bear came towards her, but smiled to herself as it stopped. Wow, that was definitely the closest any bear had ever been to her. She couldn’t afford to miss this opportunity. Veronica lifted the camera to her face, snapping a silent stream of pictures. There, that was the shot.

“Roni?! What the fuck!” Emmett yelled

Veronica cursed and ducked as the bear turned and looked at her, growling.

“Idiot,” Veronica hissed, knowing her boyfriend would be able to hear that

She knew she couldn’t move, because the bear would just outrun her. So she stayed as still as she could, hoping it would get bored. But that wasn’t to be the case, as the bear rose on its back legs, letting out an angry roar. Whimpering, Veronica closed her eyes, holding her camera tight to her body. But her eyes snapped open as a rush of wind passed her, and she gasped as she realised Emmett had lunged at the bear. Alice ran over to Veronica and picked her up, using her vampire speed to get them as far away as possible but still able to see.

“T-That was close,” Veronica stammered

“Why do you think I told Emmett to take his shirt off?” Alice chuckled

Veronica frowned but returned her attention to Emmett, gasping as the bear swung at his chest. Alice was right, that would’ve torn his shirt, making it impossible for them to ride back to Anchorage without being questioned. Then Emmett sank his teeth into the bear’s neck, making Veronica pale slightly.

“Jasper’s staying down there to keep Emmett away from you until his animal instincts fade,” Alice commented, waving to her mate

“He’s not going to be happy with me, is he?” Veronica sighed

“More like me, actually. Emmett’s just worried about you. You could’ve been killed,” Alice pointed out

“I’ve been in situations like this before, y’know. 3 years of taking pictures of animals that are dangerous can do that to a girl. I flew to Nepal with one of my co-workers last year, and we climbed up part of Mount Everest, and took photos of snow leopards fighting,” Veronica said proudly

“If Emmett’s heart was still beating you’d give him a heart attack,” Alice giggled

About 15 minutes later Jasper and Emmett joined the girls, Emmett wearing an unimpressed expression. Alice and Jasper walked away from Veronica, allowing the new couple to sit down in the dirt and snow together.

“Don’t ever do that to me again,” Emmett said fiercely, connecting his eyes with hers

“I’ve been in worse situations,” Veronica said with a weak smile

“I don’t care. You could’ve been killed, Roni!” Emmett frowned

“Well I wasn’t, so everything’s fine,” Veronica reassured, “I got a great photo too!”

Emmett groaned, resting his head on her shoulder.

“You are such a pain in the ass,” he grumbled, pulling her to lie down on top of him

“I’m your pain in the ass though,” Veronica grinned, tracing his lips with her fingertips

Veronica giggled as he kissed her fingertips one-by-one.

“Damn right,” Emmett grunted

“Aww I don’t kiss boys that sulk,” Veronica teased

Emmett rolled his eyes and rolled them over, so she was pinned to the ground, his body weight resting on his forearms.

“You don’t have a choice,” Emmett smirked

Veronica didn’t have chance to retort, because Emmett pressed his lips firmly to hers. Veronica knew she couldn’t push him too far seeing as he’d just hunted, but she was content to run her fingers through his short hair as their lips moved in a slow fluency. Then she felt sunbeams warming her hands and broke the kiss, smiling excitedly up at Emmett. He laughed and rolled off her onto his back, letting the sun wash over his body.

“Wow,” Veronica breathed, sitting upright

She was in awe. Utter awe. Emmett’s bare torso, arms and face sparkled like thousands of tiny diamonds. He looked absolutely angelic. After seeing this, there was no way that Veronica would ever be able to see him as a monster. Never. She trailed her hands over his glittering skin, earning deep chuckles.

“So now you know why we stay out of the sun. People would know we were different,” Emmett mused, sitting upright

“You’re beautiful,” Veronica said softly, looking at him shyly

“I could never compare to you,” Emmett said with a goofy grin, pecking her lips in a kiss

Veronica giggled, rolling her eyes. Bullshit. Jasper and Alice rejoined them, and Veronica marvelled at the way their faces sparkled in the sun.

“Fuck, you guys are making me feel inadequate. Let’s go find more bears,” Veronica grumbled

“Only if you stay by my side and don’t use Alice as a decoy to sneak off again,” Emmett compromised

“Deal,” Veronica grinned

*

It was dark by the time the four of them had arrived back at the Cullen house that evening.

“Didn’t you think that Roni might get hungry?” Esme scolded, helping Roni out of her snow-covered coat, gloves and scarf as Jasper shut the door

“Babe, I’m so sorry,” Emmett immediately apologised

“It’s okay, I was having too much fun to notice,” Veronica shrugged, taking her hiking boots off

“Why aren’t you wearing a shirt?” Carlisle frowned at Emmett

“Tell how much of a fool you are,” Alice giggled

“Alice had told me to take the t-shirt off before we went up the mountain and it’s good she did because Roni was taking a picture of a bear close-up without me realising, I shouted and the bear noticed her, the bear rose up to attack her so I took it out first. The bear swiped at my chest a few times and we would’ve been questioned on our way home if I’d had a ripped shirt on,” Emmett explained

He linked his hand with Veronica’s, squeezing her hand gently to show he was sorry. He’d been doing that all day.

“You almost got attacked? Are you okay?” Esme panicked, cupping Veronica’s face

“I’m fine!” Veronica giggled

“Think next time,” Esme warned her burly son, letting the human girl go

“Ooh, what did you do to make Esme go ape?” Lucas taunted, poking his head out of the living room

Edward appeared next to him and looked at Roni for a second, before snorting.

“Almost got her killed by a bear,” Edward chuckled

“It’s no laughing matter!” Emmett protested

“Cool it,” Lucas laughed

“There’s a pizza on its way for you, Roni,” Edward added

“Awesome,” Veronica grinned

“Now haul ass in here, the playoffs are starting,” Lucas said excitedly

“The NBA playoffs? Shit!” Veronica gasped

She let go of Emmett’s hand and ran into the living room, earning laughter. Veronica jumped down on a vacant sofa, Emmett wasting no time in sitting next to her

“I’m off then!” Rosalie snorted, getting up off the other sofa

“Me too,” Bella smiled

“Looks like it’s a guys night then,” Edward chuckled, sitting down in the seat his mate had just left

Veronica cleared her throat.

“And girl,” Carlisle added, sitting in the armchair

“Who’s playing first?” Veronica asked, curling her feet up underneath her

“It’s Boston Celtics versus New Jersey Jets,” Lucas announced

“No way, that’s my home team! Boston, Massachusetts!” Veronica said excitedly

“The Jets will beat them,” Jasper snorted

“Are you kidding me? Ever since Jason Kidd and Vince Carter got traded, the Jets have been pretty shit!” Veronica chuckled

“16 straight losses,” Emmett added

“The Celtics have got Kevin Garnett injured though, he’s one of their best,” Carlisle pointed out

“Maybe so, but we’ve got Shelden Williams and Marquis Daniels now, so we’ve got a better ratio of great players. And besides, the Celtics have been on a winning streak,” Veronica said confidently

“Damn, you really know your stuff, huh?” Lucas said, impressed

“I like my sports,” Veronica admitted, smiling widely

“I still reckon the Jets will win,” Jasper shrugged, laughing

“It’s on,” Veronica giggled

“I’ll know if you visit Alice at half-time to ask,” Edward chuckled, looking at the both of them

Veronica smiled and leant into Emmett’s shoulder, Emmett sliding his arm round her shoulders.

“Nothing made me happier than seeing you shoot them down like that. Sports knowledge is sexy,” Emmett growled softly in her ear, almost incomprehensible

“You’re so full of it! Now ssh and let me watch,” Veronica murmured

Emmett just chuckled and kissed the side of her head. Veronica truly was one of a kind.