Chapter 3

Confusion

"I am glad to be home." I said to Emmett as we walked up the stairs to our room. My head was on his shoulder as we walked at an unnatural human pace. I knew that I had not bypassed Esme. But I wasn't going to go looking for her at the moment either. I had no doubt about what she wanted. It was the same thing everyone else wanted. I would deal with it later.

When we got in the room I went to the mirror to make sure my hair was okay, after our weekend in the woods.

"Um … Rose," Emmett sounded hesitant all of the sudden. I turned to look at him.

"Yes?" I asked him picking up my brush to fix my hair.

"So, I was talking to Alice." He started, still hesitant. What was the big deal? So he talked to Alice. He talked to her all the time.

"What is the matter Emmett?"

"We were talking and we think that a girls outing would be nice. Especially after all that has been going on." What was so hard about asking that? I asked myself. I went on shopping trips with Alice all the time. I didn't understand. Emmett was acting like there was something else he wanted to say. I probed lightly.

"Alice knows that I am always up for a shopping trip. What does Alice need now? A new prom dress? Or, perhaps, a new graduation outfit?"

"I meant all of the girls." He said softly, yet pointedly. I seamed to be missing something obvious. What was he really saying to me? "You know," he continued "You, Alice, Esme, and Bella." He shifted his sight to the window quickly.

"So this was yours and Alice's idea, was it?" I knew this was all Alice. I thought as I paused for a moment. "She has got to realize that this is going to take me some time." I stopped again. Emmett had a determined look on his face. "I really don't have a problem with her."

Emmett quickly interrupted me. "You can't even say Bella. You never say her name. Just how fine can you be?" I bypassed his question and continued with my interrupted thought. "I can't really explain it Emmett. But Edward gets it. So why can't the rest of you?"

"Edward gets a lot of things the rest of don't." Emmett snapped back sharply. "Why can't you explain it to me Rose?" He sounded so hurt now. He walked over to me and pulled me up from my vanity. "Rose" Emmett whispered as he held me tightly to himself. "I love you. You know that. Why can't you see that the same is true for Bella?" Once again I was lost in the comprehension he expected from me. Why was he lumping them together?

"Why is it that you can't see why I have no aversion to her? We are the same. Bella and I." he looked deep into my eyes. I could see the love there. But the hurt and confusion confused me. "why don't you think about that for a while?" He leaned down to kiss me. "Now you should go see what Esme needs to talk to you about."

He let me go and I looked into his honey eyes once more. He closed his eyes quickly, with a small smile on his lips. I couldn't help but smile too. He obviously thought that I was trying to use them as mirrors again. But when he opened them I was still staring straight into them.

"I love you." I said to him warmly. "I am so sorry, but, I never thought of it that way before." And I still didn't know how I could. How were they the same? "You …" I trailed off with a low sigh. Not really knowing how to phrase what I was trying to say. Emmett smiled at me, and I was able to find my lost words. "I know that I am sometimes hard to handle." His smile widened "But, it seems that that is something you like about me. I truly do not think that I would have been able to get through this life without you."

"Rose!" Emmett cut me off again. I could only hope that the pain of admitting this weakness didn't show in my face or voice. "We can talk about this later. I think you should go find Esme. You know that she knows that we are home. And you know that she will wait for you as long as she needs to. But, really, why should she?" He kissed me again. I smiled at him as we pulled apart from each other.