Without Love

Alanya reached consciousness slowly the following morning. Her head was resting on Emmett’s chest and she could feel his arm around her. She suddenly became aware of something missing and jolted up in sitting position. She turned towards Emmett with a terrified expression.

“Oh my God, Emmett, are you okay?” She asked and breathed heavily.

Emmett blinked at her, not understanding. ”Of course I am. Why shouldn’t I?”

“Your heart!” She screamed and pointed to his bare chest. “It wasn’t beating!”

He chuckled nervously and got out of the bed. He pulled a shirt over his head and smiled at her. “You’re probably just too tired to hear.”

“No, I swear! I thought you died.”

“Alanya,” He said and cupped her face. “I’m fine. Let’s have breakfast.”

She stared at him in confusion but pulled her pants on and followed him downstairs till the kitchen. She felt like she was in a daze and was flabbergasted when she saw the beautiful boy in the kitchen. His hair was perfectly styled and matched his god like face. He stared at her when she entered with Emmett.

“Alanya, this is my brother Edward and his fiancé Bella,” Emmett introduced her.

A girl with long brown hair turned to face them. She was cooking something on the stove. “Nice to meet you Alanya,” Bella smiled sheepishly at her. “Hope you like eggs,” she said and nodded towards the stove.

“Yes, thanks,” Alanya said as she tried to piece together how a man so beautiful as Edward settled with such a normal girl.

“I didn’t know you were having a guest, Emmett,” Edward said and rose to his feet. He swiftly kissed the side of Bella’s head before he walked over and shook hands with Alanya.

“Alanya fought with her brother,” Emmett said and locked eyes with Edward, letting him in on the mess he’d gotten himself in.

“Oh! Who’s your brother?” Bella asked cheerily. “Maybe I know him.”

Alanya hesitated. “Embry Call. He lives on the rez.”

Bella spluttered the juice she just drank all over her sweater.

“You know him?” Alanya asked and raised her left eyebrow at the awkward girl.

“He is a friend of mine, and Jacob, used to be my best friend.”

Alanya remembered Jacob’s story. “So you are the girl…” She trailed off, unsure how to word herself. “He talks so much about,” She smiled falsely at her.

“Oh, I doubt that,” Bella said and turned crimson.

“I think I have to go home Emmett,” she turned to him with a smile.

“Already?” he raised a brow at her. “Edward doesn’t bite.”

Bella’s nervous giggling created pictures in Alanya’s head, picture’s she wished she didn’t have to see.

She shrugged. “I want to talk things out with Emmy. I hate fighting with him.”

“Then you should call him to pick you up.”

“You know what?” Bella said and stood from her chair. “I have been planning to visit Jacob for a time, I can take you.”

“Bella,” Edward said in a warning voice.

Alanya didn’t like the commanding tone in his voice. “If you are sure it’s no problem,” she smiled at Bella.

“Can I borrow your Volvo, Edward?”

>X<

Bella dropped Alanya off at her street half an hour later. Walked into the house and found her mother in the kitchen.

“Hey mom, I’m back.”

“Serena!” Tiffany hugged her daughter. “Not that I don’t like you making new friends I would have appreciated if you asked me first before you sleepover with anyone.”

“I won’t ask you if you keep calling me Serena,” Alanya snapped.

Tiffany sighed and closed her eyes for a second. “Embry said you were staying with the Cullen family. Dr. Cullen is such a lovely man, I work with him on the hospital. And Alice is such a great girl. I bet you two had fun.”

“Um, mom, I didn’t stay with Alice, I stayed with Emmett, his son,” she explained.

“Serena, you can’t just sleepover with a guy you just met!”

“That’s the drop, Tiff,” Alanya said and stalked out of the kitchen and down the hall till Embry’s room.

She barged into his room, but was taken aback when she saw him sleeping on his back, legs and arms spread wide and mouth hanging open. It took her back to the times she’d spent here. They used to sleep in the same room and talk about life. Embry was the only reason she kept coming back. He was like her other half sort of. She knew he’d always protect and support her.

She sat down on the chair in the corner and watched him sleep with brimming eyes. She hadn’t cried in years. She just sometimes hated her life and all her battling feelings.

“Embry,” she whispered, but he didn’t respond.

“Embry,” she said louder and wiped away the evidence of her tears.

“EMBRY!” she yelled and plopped down on his chest.

He jumped and made her fall on the ground. “What the hell are you doing?” he asked her grumpily.

Alanya broke down in a fit of laughter by seeing his pissed of tired expression.

And then it seemed like he snapped out of his sleep and woke. “Alanya! You are alive!” He said and hugged her too tight.

“’Course I am,” she said and gently pushed him away. “I just wanted to know that we are friends.”

Embry narrowed his eyes at her. “Are you planning to spend more time with that… dude?”

She crossed her arms at him. “Yeah, I am. Emmett’s a cool guy, I like him.”

“Alanya, please, he’s no good!”

“Emmy, please, I don’t care!” She mocked his voice. “Come on bro, I’ll stay out of your business if you stay out of mine.”

“What do you mean?”

“I won’t fool around with anyone else of your friends,” she said and crossed her fingers behind her back. “If you stop bugging me about being me. I like having sex, Embry, that’s the deal.”

“Ew, please stop. I don’t accept, but I’ll keep my mouth shut.”

“And that is why you are my favorite brother,” she kissed his cheek and skipped out of the room.

“I’ll be at the beach,” she told her mother after she’d change to a denim shorts and a short tube top.

>X<

She walked near the water; her feet were washed over with each wave. She loved the feeling even though the water was freezing. She couldn’t help but smile a little bit; not because she made friends with Embry, or her evening with Emmett, bur the sight of Paul the night before.

The jealousy had been radiating off him when he stood in the doorway behind Embry, and the anger almost possible to touch. His shirtless chest ad almost made her pick up on Embry’s offer to rater stay with Paul.

Alanya could practically feel him there before she saw him. Paul sat on a rock a little further down the beach. She grinned and jogged towards him.

“Isn’t it Paul the Angry one?” she said jokingly and plopped down beside him.

“What do you want, Alanya?” he asked without looking at her.

She draped her arm around his neck. “Just wondering how you were doin’. You seemed pretty upset last night. Care to tell me why?”

Paul glanced at her before he shook his head. “You wouldn’t get it,” he said and started to walk away from her.

“Oh, come on Paul. The thing between us was just and accident. You don’t have the right to get angry ‘cause I sex with other guys!” she said and walked after him.

Paul spun around and faced her. He grabbed her wrist and turned her arms to check them, then he brushed her hair away and stared at her neck before he slowly let his finger trace down her chest to her exposed belly button.

Alanya got goose bumps all over and tried to step away from him, but Paul stopped her by putting his hands on her hips.

“You didn’t have sex with him.”

“What do you know?” she stubbornly crossed her arms.

Because you are still alive. “You have no marks,” he shrugged his shoulders.

“As if that proves anything.”

“You can’t get me out of your mind Alanya,” he whispered against the soft skin under her ear.

“Stop it,” she said.

“You don’t mean that, do you?”

Alanya leaned her body against his and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I promised Embry not to fool around with you,” she said to him.

“I’m not fooling, Alanya,” Paul said and gave her a irresistible smile. “We aren’t fooling around.”

“One time thing, Paul,” she mumbled, getting weaker against him by the second.

“You keep saying that, but you still seek me out.”

“Hey,” she said and stepped back to look at him. “I’m not the weak one here; you were the one reeking of jealousy last night.”

“That’s because I’m head over heels for you,” he cocks an eyebrow at her.

And just there and then, she realized that’s why he got power over her; he admitted his love to her.

Paul kissed her forehead. “Go home; I’ll pick you up in an hour. And take a shower - you reek of him.”

He walked away from her and left her stunned.