AN: This here is an outtake that I wrote for the Fandom4Tsunami compilation last year. Huge thanks to Beckishere for creating a really great banner for this. It's up on Rabbit Heart's Blog as we speak. rabbitheart(.)blogspot(.)com
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Playin' a new game,
Laughing and a running hey, hey
Skipping and a jumping
In the misty morning fog with
Our hearts a thumpin' and you
My brown eyed girl
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"Nu-uh!"
"Uh-huh!"
"Nu-uh!"
"Uh-huh!"
"Stop being a poopie head, Shaggy!"
"Then stop being a stupid girl, Scrappy!"
The little girl folded her arms and glared at the older boy, who in return, had his fists clenched in anger.
"I am not a stupid girl! You take that back, you big jerk!"
"No! You're a stupid girl and I don't want to play with you anymore!"
In a very rash moment, the boy shoved the little girl down and stalked away. Her bottom lip quivered as she watched her best friend in the world walk away, two other boys cackling along beside him. She grasped her shirt sleeve between her palm and thumb, wiping her nose and the tears from her cheeks.
If Emmett wanted to play with those idiotic boys instead of her, well then fine, she didn't need him. Bella sighed and felt a sharp tug in her chest. Panicking, she clutched her heart and jumped to her feet, running non-stop all the way home. Out of breath, she gasped and moaned, falling at her father's feet in their living room.
Charlie Swan looked down at his daughter and raised his eyebrows.
"What are you doing, Bells? I thought you and Emmett were playing at the park?"
"Daddy," she gasped, still clutching her chest. "I'm having a heart attack, please don't let me die!" she wailed as a torrent of tears washed down her face.
His eyes widened and he reached down for her, gently pulling her into his lap. After checking her over carefully for injuries, he laid her head against his chest, rubbing her back lightly.
"Shh, baby, tell Daddy what happened to make you feel this way."
As he listened to his little girl sob and carry on, he had mixed emotions. On one hand, he was angry at Emmett for treating Bella that way. But on the other, he remembered what it had been like to be a ten year old boy. Kids were cruel and having a girl as a best friend had to be hard on him.
Charlie sighed. "Baby girl, you're not having a heart attack. You're going to be fine."
Bella turned her chocolate brown eyes up to meet his own. "But then why does my heart hurt, Daddy?"
He cupped her cheeks and used his thumbs to wipe her tears away.
"Because Emmett hurt you, sweetheart. Sometimes when we're hurt emotionally, it manifests itself in a physical way."
She blinked several times, cocking her head to the side.
"Huh?"
He chuckled. "It means that your heart hurts inside, not on the outside. Like, when you get scared and it makes you shiver? That's called a reaction. While I know that a heart ache hurts real bad, it'll also heal. You and Emmett will be friends again once he realizes that his new friends aren't as much fun as you."
She sniffled and curled up against his chest. "But what if that never happens, Daddy?" she asked, her voice full of sadness.
Charlie took a deep breath in through his nose and let it out slowly. "I don't think that will happen, but if it does, we'll get through it together. I'll always be there for you, baby."
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Between Bella's heartbreak and his workload at the station, Charlie had been too busy to call his best friend, who was also Emmett's father. Unloading his fishing gear onto the dock, he saw the two of them walking over. He couldn't help but smirk when he noticed Emmett fidgeting nervously.
Damn right, you should be nervous, boy. You hurt my baby girl, Charlie thought to himself.
Emmett swallowed nervously and greeted the older man. "Hey, Chief."
"Em," Charlie replied gruffly.
Robert McCarty cocked an eyebrow at his best friend, noticing his cold demeanor. "Everything okay, Charlie?"
"Not really, no," he replied, tossing his gear into the boat. "I'm sure we'll be able to work it all out, though. Right, Emmett?"
Emmett folded his skinny arms, shrugging his shoulders.
Mac's brow furrowed in confusion. "Why do I feel out of the loop? What's going on?"
"Well, it seems that your boy here is too good to be friends with a girl, so he decided breaking his best friend's heart was the right choice."
Mac glanced at his son in surprise. "Emmett Dale," he chided, "did you really?"
The boy shrugged again. "Whatever, she's just a girl."
Charlie sighed and stepped onto the boat, not eager to deal with the childish drama.
Mac was still beside himself at the news. He'd always secretly dreamed that his son and Isabella would fall in love and get married one day. They reminded him so much of himself and Charlie when they were their age, best friends who stood up for each other no matter what. He followed his friend and sat next to him, shaking his head.
Emmett stood stubbornly on the dock, annoyed at the Chief for ratting him out to his dad.
"Come on, boy, get in the damn boat. We're wasting daylight," Charlie called out.
Reluctantly, Emmett sat across from his father and stared at his feet. After a few minutes of tense silence, while Mac maneuvered the vessel towards the center of the lake, Charlie cleared his throat.
"Seriously, Em, why would you do that to her? She's your best friend."
Emmett sighed. "I'm sorry, Chief. I didn't mean to hurt her. Mike and Eric were teasing me about being friends with a girl and I got embarrassed. I didn't want them to think I was a pansy, so I pushed her and went to play with them."
Mac glared at the boy. "Emmett Dale McCarty," he growled. "You never, ever put your hands on a girl like that. Have I taught you nothing?"
Emmett cowered, never having seen his father this angry. "I'm sorry, Dad," he whispered. "I didn't mean to, she just made me so mad when she yelled at me."
His father sighed. "Emmett, you're not always going to get your own way. You can't just fight your way out of situations that you don't like. Hurting Bella was something you really shouldn't have done and you need to apologize to her."
"Fine," the boy muttered, "but I'm still not going to be her friend anymore. You can't make me."
Charlie chuckled. "Of course not, boy. You're free to choose your own friends, but don't be mad if she moves on and decides you're not worth it when you come crawling back."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Emmett shot back in annoyance.
Charlie leaned forward, his imposing figure intimidating the boy. "What I mean is that those boys aren't your real friends, they're opportunistic. True friends stand by you and protect you, not shove you down when you get in the way. You're going to realize that sooner or later and it may be too late."
Emmett felt tears sting his eyes so he glanced away. He really didn't want to hurt Bella, he loved her, but he also didn't want to get picked on by the guys. Charlie was getting on his nerves, he really didn't want to think about Bella's feelings right now.
The rest of their trip passed by in quiet contemplation on Emmett's part and talk of sports between the two men. After the boat was docked and their gear stowed away, the three of them set off to the diner, for their usual dinner together. Emmett wasn't looking forward to it, knowing Bella would be there waiting for them with Miss Cora. He had no idea how to act around her now that they weren't friends anymore. That was solved easily enough when they walked inside and he noticed Mike, Tyler and Eric at a booth in the back. They waved him over and he turned to his father, who eyed the interaction speculatively.
"Can I go over, Dad?" he begged.
Mac glanced over at Bella, sitting alone at the counter watching them. Emmett followed his father's gaze and his eyes widened when they met her sad ones. She blinked, breaking their connection and looked down, letting her hair hide her face. Something tugged at him, pulling him in her direction, but he stamped it down.
"If that's what you want, Em," Mac replied warily.
Emmett grinned and set off toward the guys, determined to forget all about little Bella Swan.
Mac shook his head and watched Charlie from the corner of his eye. It was clear that his best friend was heartbroken for his daughter, but there was nothing they could do. It was Emmett's choice and all he could do was pray that everything would work out just fine.
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Standing in the sunlight laughing,
Hiding behind a rainbow's wall,
Slipping and sliding
All along the waterfall, with you
My brown eyed girl
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The next few weeks went by slowly for Bella. She spent most of her time indoors reading, instead of going out to play. One day, Charlie had enough of her moping and talked her into playing with Angela Weber next door. They were in the same class, but Angela was terribly shy and never really spoke to anyone.
Both girls spent the day quietly in Angela's bedroom, each reading from a different book. A few days later, Bella showed up on the Weber's front porch and asked Angela if she'd like to go to watch the Little League baseball game with her and her dad. Angela pushed her glass up her nose, a bewildered look upon her face.
"Why would I want to do that?" she asked.
"Because it's fun? Emmett is playing third base this year."
Angela scrunched up her face in confusion. "Why would you want to watch Emmett play? I thought you were mad at him."
Bella shrugged. "I'm not really mad at him anymore. I kinda miss him."
Angela rolled her eyes. "He's only going to be mean to you again."
Bella nodded. "Probably, but I still want to watch him play, even if he doesn't talk to me."
"Okay, then have fun, Bella. Don't come crying to me when he's a jerk," Angela huffed.
Bella's hands clenched into fists. "Fine, be like that, Angie." She turned and stalked back to her house, seething in childish anger.
She ran into her house and upstairs, throwing herself onto her bed and cried her eyes out. She missed her best friend and nothing felt right without him. A little while later, she sat up and dried her eyes, not wanting her dad to know she'd been upset. If Charlie realized that something was amiss, he never said a word. They ate dinner quietly and then piled into his cruiser.
When they arrived at the baseball field, they walked over and sat with Mac. Even though they weren't friends anymore, Bella watched the game, proud that Emmett was playing well. After the game, Charlie gave her some money to buy some popcorn while he and Mac talked about an upcoming fishing trip.
She was walking back with her snack when two boys stepped in her path. She looked up and saw Eric and Tyler smirking at her.
"Get out my way, doofus."
"How about you make us, Swan?" Eric teased.
"What? Not so tough without Em by your side?" Tyler chimed in.
She held her head high and glared. "My dad is waiting for me, so get out of my way."
Eric ripped the bag of popcorn from her hand, spilling some of it onto the ground.
"Hey!" she yelled. "Give that back!"
The boy held it over her head and laughed.
"Give it back," a voice growled from behind her.
Bella didn't need to see him to know it was Emmett.
Tyler cocked his head to the side. "Lighten up, McCarty. We're just having some fun."
"No, you're being mean to her for no reason. Give her the popcorn back."
Eric sneered and upturned the bag, emptying its contents on the grass. Bella felt tears spring to her eyes, anger welling up in her chest. She shoved Eric hard, knocking him to the ground. When Tyler made a move to hit her, Emmett tackled him to the ground. Eric jumped to his feet and back away quickly, looking around nervously to make sure that no one saw a girl knock him down.
"You'll regret that, McCarty," Tyler jeered, turning to follow Eric.
Emmett turned to Bella and smiled hesitantly. "Are you okay, Scrappy?"
She blinked before bursting into tears and dropping to her knees. Emmett's face fell and he was immediately by his best friend's side, his arm around her shoulders.
"Hey now, don't cry. It's okay, they're gone," he attempted to soothe her.
She snorted and shook her head. "I'm not scared of them," she replied with a hiccup, trying to make herself stop crying.
"Then why are you crying?" he asked, perplexed.
"I missed you," she replied sincerely, her wide eyes sad and red-rimmed.
Emmett smiled down at her. "I missed you, too. I'm sorry I was an ass."
Bella giggled a little. "You said ass."
His cheeks blushed. "My dad called me that when he found out what happened."
She sniffled and frowned, before turning to him and wiping her nose on the shoulder of his shirt. His eyes widened and he jumped away in disgust.
"GROSS!" he yelled. "Why did you just do that?"
She shrugged. "I'm wearing short sleeves and I needed to wipe my nose. You were there. Plus, you deserved it for being a jerk."
He raised an eyebrow. "Does that mean you forgive me?"
She thought for a moment, before nodding. "Yes, but the next time you're mean, I'm going to beat you up. Then wipe my nose on you. Deal?"
Emmett spit on his hand and stuck it out for her to shake. She copied his actions and they held their hands together tightly.
"It's a deal, Scrappy. Best friends forever."
She nodded. "Best friends forever, Shaggy."
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AN: In all honesty, I almost forgot all about this outtake. But after reading through it once more, it's totally inspired more plot bunnies. I'd love to write another outtake in Emmett's POV when Renee took Bella away, or maybe a Mac POV. You never know what may pop into my head at some point. =)