|THE THINGS SHE SAYS|

"Her words revealed something else in the boy..."

When her feet were planted firmly on her apartment's floor, she dumped her bag by the door, along with her boots, hat, and mittens before finally her coat was tossed on its hanger. Emmett stood by her, watching her movements, maybe she did this every day, he wondered and watched as she beckoned him into her living room. He followed shortly after, tugging off his own boots, but he had no large coat like her but instead wore a garnet-colored hoodie that made his skin sparkle in a way that made her feel warm almost. "Come on and sit, I'm gonna toss on some jammies." With a short nod in response, she scurried down the hall to fetch on some more comfortable clothes, so he took this time to look around her abode.

The place was old, he could immediately tell from the flower wallpaper down the hallway to the chips on the ceiling. It made him smile at the sight before he crept around, looking at the photos on the wall and on the tables. A young Daniella could be seen in some and he snorted quietly to himself as he stumbled upon one with her face covered in cake and her tongue poking out of her mouth like she was a dog.

"Oh no." Daniella suddenly breathed as she saw him looking at an embarrassing photo of herself. Tugging on the strings of her shorts, she bounced over and gently pulled her friend away from the sight of her three-year-old-self. "Why must you look at the worst picture of me?"

He smiled silently and shook his head as she placed the picture to wear it was faced down and the photo couldn't be seen. "I still have a thing called memories, you know?" Daniella playfully rolled her eyes and wandered off to her kitchen but before her foot stepped on the tile, she halted and went to where her bag was. "Oh, I better place this where I can read later. But knowing Summer, she'll probably snag it first."

"Is your sister just like that?" He mused, watching as she grew a hint of a grin. "She lots of things, Cullen, " she retorted and made her way towards the couch, grabbing the remote and her friend along the way. "However, right now, I believe it is time for some Fresh Prince." And once she turned on the television, up popped up said show and she grinned. What a coincidence! Silencing her thoughts, she grabbed the throw blanket and laid it over her and Emmett's laps, though the stone-like man didn't need it. Still, he admired her ways and let it happen.

"What do you wanna talk about?" Daniella asked as a coat of silence covered the both of them. For a moment he thought of what to talk about; there were many things. Possibly he could tell her about how he lived the last few decades as an immortal or he could go on about his human life, but instead, he grabbed her hands and looked deeply at her. "Let's talk about you. I know the easy stuff about you, but what's hidden in you. You don't have to reveal your deepest, darkest secret, but tell me something you wouldn't normally tell an average man. I mean, I'm nowhere near average." This was true and a giggle escaped her lips.

"Something is hidden about me, huh? Well, um, ..." Suddenly her features fell and as he was about to question her, she answered. "This topic is on the more depressing side but I wanna talk about my mom and dad some more." Before, they talked about her parents, but it was very little and he knew she was holding back and he didn't beg her for more information but instead decided to wait as time passed to dive deeper into her life. "And you don't need to intervene and argue that I don't need to. I know it's a sensitive topic, Em, but it'll be fine. I'll be fine and you'll be fine, capisce?" With a grumble, he nodded and she smiled, her emotions being clear on her face. "Let's begin with the things they did, yeah? My mother was an elementary school art teacher and she adored the children and their creations and sometimes, they would let her keep them and she would hang them around her office and some of them are in this place, actually."

"My father, gosh was he a true gentleman, he was my own prince in shining armor. He was always there to bandage my wounds, my mother did too, but it seemed like Summer would snag her first. But back to my daddy, he was a dentist. They were an interesting pair and mom's creativity was brought into Summer's genes as she's a wonderful chef and baker." Daniella's smile quivered a bit as she looked up at her friend; her vampire friend. "There's more to tell about them, but I would end up being a crying mess like currently, I'm trying not to tear up." And as she said those final words, her voice cracked.

Emmett was quick to pull her into his chest, circling his large arms around her frame as she teared up with her face sneaking out from his arm. Her sniffles echoed the room as her tears left sprinkles of wet marks on his shirt. "Sorry to suddenly cry so soon after we got home," she whispered, her voice shaky and fragile.

"Don't be," he whispered, his voice severely soft. "Talking about a topic like that will cause a reaction just like that. I mean, I'm not able to cry anymore, but talking about my own folks makes me cry. I miss them every day, Dani, and looking at their graves kills me. Even if I'm already dead."

"In my eyes, you're still alive, Mr.Cullen," Daniella mumbled. His eyebrows fell forward in confusion then, however, her voice filled his ears once again. "B-Because if you were dead-" she sniffled, rubbing her upturned nose, "-you wouldn't be able to be in this room right now. You wouldn't be able to make me laugh and smile and tell you things that no average person would hear from me. You're my first friend, along with your whole family, Em, and if you were dead, who I am currently would never have happened. You did this to me, Emmett, you made me something that I'm damn proud of. So thank you and thank you for everything you did. But please, please, realize that this wouldn't have happened unless you were alive." Slowly, she escaped his hold on her and she starred at her him with warmth escaping her face, her eyes softening with bravery and a smile being graced her perfect lips. "Even if your heart doesn't beat anymore or you can't cry, you're still alive. You'll always be alive..."

•°•°•

The mortal's breathing made him so concentrated as she slept opposite to him. It had been an hour since they had talked and her words, those words filled with such emotion, were still stuck in his head. From the way she was determined to make him believe it all and the way, her eyes were lit with a never-dying flame. It was all stuck in his head. He admired her and her ways with how she exposed things and this was one of the ones he cherished.

It left him in shock after she said all those things and even after, when her eyes were focused on the television and her hand was barely brushing his freezing one, he was still in his shock-induced state. No one and he meant no one had ever said something so meaningful to him, even in his human life. Sure, his parents would say things that stuck with him today, but this was something different entirely. She made his problem more clearly and when she did, she fixed it just as fast as she made it clear. Clearer than a pair of cleaned glasses.

He decided to leave the depths of her room to locate a phone - he needed to call Alice, he was hungry. The ringing fell into his ear as he leaned against the side table, his bottom on the wooden floors and his head tilted to his side so he can pay attention to the hallway. "Hello, dear Emmett." A smirk instantly fell on his lips.

"Why hello there Alice, I need a favor." The woman made a small noise from the back of her throat, wanting him to continue. "Do you think you can watch, Dani? My throat is burning and uh, I gotta find some decent sized animals to eat." Suddenly, she squealed in a mix of delight and exhilaration. "I'm guessing that's a bold yes?" On the other line, Alice Cullen was nodding frantically, biting her lip in a pure thrill. A night with Daniella sounded wonderful in her ears, even if the blond was fast asleep under her covers.

"Obviously," she exclaimed with a large grin on her dark painted lips. Gathering her materials for a small reading fest in Daniella's home, she slammed the phone down and dashed the find her materials to busy herself with. Emmett furrowed his brows and pulled the cerulean-blue colored phone away from his ears but shrugged away. It was a casual thing for the enthusiastic Alice Cullen. When he rose to his feet, to stand at his full height, he gathered his shoes and slipped them on but before he left, he slipped into his mate's room and checked on her. Still, she slept away with her soft snores still being heard and quietly, he closed the door and smiled to himself.

Yet, he jumped when he found Alice down the hall, grinning brightly that made her flawless skin crinkle away that made her glee exposed. "You know, this reminds me of an elephant being scared of the small and innocent mouse," Alice noted and pulled out her items, laying them on the table in the living room. The male in the room snorted, "Yeah. But this mouse is more creepy - not innocent." Frowning, she shook her head and clicked her tongue.

"Don't know if I should appreciate that or despise it. Anyway, where's the sleeping angel."

"She's not a baby," Emmett laughed softly as Alice rolled her amber eyes. "Stop calling her an angel as if she's three, woman."

"Go on and eat," Alice didn't look at him and pointed her dainty finger out the door while her eyes were focused on which novel, to begin with. With her having the abilities that a vampire was gifted with, reading a whole book that had more than three-hundred books would take her at least ten minutes, so it was common for her to pack many, many books. She listened as the door closed silently, his boots racing against the ground as he left to find his meal - she listened to it with her eyes finding one book in particular. She grabbed her things and placed them where she liked them on the table and walked off into the hall and took a seat next to Daniella's door and as she heard her sleep, the corners of her lips tweaked upwards.

In her ears, it sounded quite adorable for how the mortal slept.

The wooden floors were somewhat comfortable as her skirt-clad bottom took a seat, she peeled open her book then and begun her trip in diving into the story that involved a beautiful maiden and a beast. It strangely reminded her of Daniella Morgan and her adoptive brother, well by appearances. The cheeky vampire was no hurtful beast, but instead a gentle giant, but then for Daniella, she matched perfectly with the beauty. With a pure heart and bravery twisting in her bones, she was one special woman.

It made the whole family shocked, but also proud of how the girl cracked them after knowing them for less than a month. Maybe it was due to the visible curiosity that leaked through her eyes or the way she studied them like an open diary since well, they kept many things hidden, but she did it. She did something remarkable and Alice wondered if the girl would discover more things, deep things that would create a monstrous reaction.

And she hoped, with all her dead heart could produce, that Daniella wouldn't allow herself to discover more secrets about the more stranger parts of the world. There were witches and wolves and things that were uncommon to the world. They were either kindhearted, showing positivity to the world, but them some held something else. Some beings in this world held a grudge and wanted to treat the world with pure disgust - causing damage against the beauty of the planet.

Biting her lips as thoughts about Daniella discovering more things bloomed in her mind like a rose, she silently prayed. She prayed that they would protect her because once she saw a glimpse of more of the supernatural world, she feared that she would never turn back.