Like a Skyscraper

Jasper and Alice were talking on her bed about graduation and how close it was. Only about a month away.

“We definitely need to throw a party,” Alice grinned. Jasper chuckled at his wife and smiled.

“You want to throw a party for everything.”

“I kn—“ Alice zoned out, Jasper knew right away that it was a vision. He patiently waited for her to come out of the trance. Alice’s face grew panicked and she flew out of the room as fast as she could. Jasper’s eyes widened before he ran after her.

“Carlisle, is it true?” Alice asked her father as he walked in the door. Carlisle sighed and looked around. It was only Jasper, Alice, Esme and Edward. Rosalie was shopping and Emmett was out hunting.

“Yes…” he answered softly.

“What's going on?” Esme asked as she walked into the room. She could hear her husband being bombarded all the way from her bedroom.

“Kaelyn is sick,” Alice mumbled.

“It’s more than that. Kaelyn is dying,” Carlisle told them. Esme gasped quietly and walked closer to wrap her arm around Alice who was clearly upset even if she couldn’t cry.

“I knew that she would have to go to the hospital, but I didn’t ever see her die…” Alice whispered.

“Kaelyn has had leukemia for almost 7 years now. It’s become terminal and there’s nothing else we can do for her. Her doctor said she has a little less than 6 months left,” Carlisle explained. Edward leaned against the door frame and frowned.

“We need to tell Emmett,” he mumbled. Everyone turned to him.

“No.”

“Alice, he needs to know—“

“No, Edward. In all of my visions, it has been clear that Kaelyn has no intention of telling anyone about this. If she doesn’t want Emmett to know, then we have no right to tell him…” she trailed off.

“How would you feel if Jasper suddenly got sick and no one told you?” Edward lashed out.

“That’s different. We’re vampires—“

“Bullshit! You would want to know if something happened to him. Emmett would want to know too!”

“What would I want to know?” Everyone whipped around to face said vampire. They were all too preoccupied to sense him coming back.

“It’s nothing…” Alice said before Edward could reply. The copper haired vampire glared at his sister and left the room swiftly.

“Woah… what did I miss?” Emmett asked looking confused.

“Nothing!” Alice snapped and left as well with Jasper on her heels.

“Did I say something?” Emmett grumbled and looked to his parents. Carlisle shook his head and sighed.

“Those two got into a little argument. They’ll have it settled before tomorrow,” Carlisle said before leaving with Esme. Emmett stood all alone in the living room looking hopelessly lost.

“What the hell just happened…?”

~*~

Kaelyn put her textbook in her school bag and zipped it up. Her mom watched her carefully as if she was expecting her daughter to collapse at any moment.

“You don’t have to go to school you know…” her mom voiced softly.

“I have one month until I graduate. At least let me enjoy it!” Kaelyn snapped and instantly regretted it.

“Mom, I didn’t mean it like that… It’s just a lot to take in, but I still want to do a lot of things before…” she didn’t finish, but they both knew what she was going to say. Lila nodded and took a deep breath to keep herself from crying.

“I know… I just don’t want to lose you so soon,” she whispered. Kaelyn smiled softly at her mom before pulling her into a tight hug.

“You still have me, and we still have time together. But for now, I need to go to school. I’ll come home right after.” Lila nodded and kissed her daughter’s forehead before seeing her out the door.

~*~

Emmett got to the lunch room early and sat down at the usual table. Kaelyn was absent yesterday and he hadn’t seen her since their day together on Saturday. To say he was anxious was an understatement. Slowly, the rest of his family filed in along with Bella but no Kaelyn.

“She’s skipping lunch to finish some make up work she missed yesterday,” Edward filled him in after reading his mind. Emmett slouched down and nodded. At least he would get to see her next period. Lunch was boring and Rosalie kept putting her hand on his thigh. That simple gesture used to drive him crazy with want, but now it just felt uncomfortable and awkward.

He was out the door and rushing to art as soon as the bell rang to end lunch. He walked in the room and saw Kaelyn already sitting down at their table. He grinned and sat down next to her.

“Hey there stranger,” he beamed. Kaelyn tucked some of her blonde hair behind her ear and smiled up at him.

“Hey.” Her blue eyes sparkled and left him speechless. Finding his words, he managed to keep the conversation going.

“So, you weren’t at school yesterday. Are you okay?” he asked thinking back to how she almost fainted on the docks.

“Huh, oh yeah. No, I'm fine. My mom wanted me to go get a check up and the doctor said that I probably had low blood pressure over the weekend. Nothing serious, but my mom didn’t want to take any chances,” she lied through her teeth. Emmett believed her and moved on to another topic.

“So I heard you’ve been hanging out at La Push. Did you get a boyfriend?” he asked trying to play it off like he didn’t care much.

“Boyfriend? No, but I met some really nice people. I go hang out with his guy named Paul. He’s one of my best friends.”

“I think I know him. Tall, tan with dark hair and pretty muscular?” he asked. Kaelyn laughed and nodded.

“You just described half of the guys from La Push, but yes, he fits the description,” she answered.

“How are you and Rosalie?” she asked. Emmett sighed and ran a hand through his messy hair.

“We’re pretty shaky right now… She picks a fight with me over every little thing. I feel suffocated…” Kaelyn frowned at his answer. Deep down, she knew that she had feelings for Emmett, but it still didn’t make her happy that he was fighting with his girlfriend.

“Have you guys tried talking it out?” she asked.

“I try talking to her, but she gets so emotional over everything. I can't get a word in before she bites my head off,” he grumbled. Kaelyn forced a small smile and placed one of her hands over one of his that was resting on the table.

“Everything happens for a reason and things will work out in the end,” she told him. Emmett smiled at their hands before meeting her gaze.

“I hope so,” he said, but in the back of his mind, he wanted things to work out in a different way.