This is an outtake from my story Elusively Yours that I wrote for the Fandom Against Domestic Violence Fundraiser: .com
It's a glance back in time to when Emmett first met his wife Rosalie in the mid-nineties. Thanks to BeckyBrit for pre-reading and to Mrs.P for beta'ing for me. Hope you enjoy!
~GemmaH
When Emmett met Rosalie
"Got another job for you here, Rosie," Royce told me as I answered the telephone.
"Oh, hi Royce, how nice of you to take the time to get in touch," I shot back sarcastically.
"Hey, don't be like that sweetie. Things are busy here, I haven't had a moment to myself in weeks," he whined. Really, the man was getting on my last nerve, but I needed the money from his sleazy jobs to get me through college. It was OK for the girls with the rich parents, or the ones who didn't want nice things, but me? I had a lifestyle to maintain and I was determined to do so.
"Oh? Well I guess the temp had it wrong the other day when I called and she said you'd taken Lara out to lunch and not to expect you back until late afternoon?"
I heard him growl quietly on the other end of the line and I knew that I had reached the end of my attitude allowance for the day.
"Fuck you, Rosalie. Do you want this job or not? Because I've got girls lining up for this shit. You know that."
"Just give me the Goddamned details, Royce. You know I want it," I snapped as I pulled my pink diary from my bag and uncapped a pen with my teeth.
"That's more like it," he purred. The man's mood swings really were giving me whiplash. "It's an eighteenth birthday, kid's name's Mike Newton. The address is…dammit, where's it gone? It's in Forks…" I could hear him shuffling paper.
"Forks? Holy shit, Royce."
"Aah, here it is." Royce rattled off an address and I wrote it below the date that he'd given me.
"I want extra for this, Royce. Forks is…" I shuddered involuntarily.
"Rosie, honey, you want extra dough? You know what you have to do, sweet-cheeks."
"Ugh. Goodbye, Royce." I slammed the handset down. There were times that he positively made my skin crawl, but I knew that if I wanted him to keep giving me the best jobs then I had to keep on his good side. It wasn't like I did extras on the job like some of the girls did, but striking up a relationship with Royce had definitely had its benefits. I wasn't stupid, though. I knew that I wasn't the only girl he was seeing; I was savvy enough to view our relationship as a business arrangement and refused to become one of the many who I'd seen slinking out of the office with mascara running down their faces, never to return again. Still, I knew he was lucky to have me; customers often asked for me specifically and because of that he could charge more for me. It pissed me off that he didn't feel it was worth putting a little more effort in for that fact alone. Still, in less than a year from now I'd be handing in my notice. It couldn't come soon enough.
~*~*EY*~*~
The closer I'd gotten to Forks, the louder a strange noise coming from the engine of my Mini Cooper grew. It didn't sound like anything too serious; certainly nothing that was going to convince me to pull over on a dark curving road at the edge of the forest, but I'd have to look at it before I set off home to Port Angeles after my booking.
I clicked the interior light on for a moment to glance at the directions I'd written down, before clicking it off again. I had a vague idea where I was going and it wasn't as though the place was that big anyway. With any luck I would be there in ten minutes and at home in bed by nine thirty.
Just as I'd thought, nine minutes and thirty eight seconds later I was pulling up outside a large detached house. Lights blazed in the windows, but it didn't look like any other eighteenth birthday party I'd ever been to. I double checked the address; it was definitely the one that Royce had given to me. I reached up, clicked the interior light on, pulled the sun visor down and uncovered the mirror. Pulling my purse over from the passenger seat I began to touch-up my make-up and brush my shiny blonde hair before pulling it up into a ponytail. It counted as something extra to 'reveal' and it was amazing how many guys loved it when you literally let your hair down for them.
I was finally satisfied and tucked my purse beneath the driver's seat. I never took it into a job with me. There was usually at least one person at most events for who I wasn't the biggest temptation.
Opening the door I paused to listen for the sounds of a party. Nothing. I took what I needed from the car, and while still puzzling over the lack of noise I walked up the path and onto the porch, pressing my finger on the bell. I heard it ring out inside and a moment later an immaculate woman in her mid-forties pulled the door open.
"Yes dear, can I help you?" she asked me, a sickly sweet smile on her face. Before I could answer, a man appeared behind her, his eyes lighting up when he saw me.
"Yes, I've been booked for Mike Newton?" I said, still unconvinced I was in the right place. A few young male faces had begun to appear at the end of the hallway behind the couple, whispering to one another.
"Booked? I'm not sure I understand. Booked for what?"
Oh hell. I was going to have to take this back to basics.
"To strip." I held my small CD player up on one finger by the handle with my other hand I flicked my unbuttoned coat open and tucked it behind my hand on my hip. I was wearing a tiny red dress beneath my coat; the actual stripping wouldn't take long at all. The man's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. The woman looked mortified and pressed a hand over her heart.
"Young lady, it is my son's seventeenth birthday! Is that even legal?"
Seventeen? Huh.
"We were told by the person who made the booking that it was his eighteenth birthday."
"Well, I was there when he was born and I can assure you that he's only seventeen." The mortification was turning quickly to annoyance and I knew that anger would be next. At the end of the hall, the group of boys were still watching, two of them whispering to one another. I would put money on them being the ones who had made the booking. Oh, that was right, I didn't have any money because this job was not going to be happening. Damn kids.
"Relax, lady. I should have known it was a mistake coming to this God-forsaken hole of a town." I turned to walk away and then stopped and turned back. "Oh, one moment!" I lifted my dress up and pulled a business card from my stocking top and then handed it over to the man whose jaw was very nearly on the floor. "If you're ever looking to book a stripper in the future, give me a call." Smiling sweetly at the man and steadfastly ignoring his wife, I strutted away on my heels.
"Thanks…Rosalie." He'd obviously read my name from the card. I heard angry whispering from the woman, but didn't look back; I just stuck my hand in the air and waved.
~*~*~EY~*~*~
"Goddamn heap of shit!" I slammed my hand against the steering wheel as hard as I could. There was no way in the world I'd be in bed by nine thirty now that my stupid car was refusing to start. "I knew it," I said aloud to myself. "Forks is a bad place. Never again!" I reached down and popped the hood before grabbing the flashlight I always kept in the car and climbing out, buttoning my coat up quickly against the chill of the night air.
I was leaning in over the engine when I heard the front door of the Newton's house open and close again, and voices approaching. I risked a glance and saw a small group of teenage boys walking down the path.
"Great," I muttered under my breath. I was used to the comments I got when I was working on my cars in my overalls. Dressed as I was now I knew it was going to be a lot worse.
"Hey, honey, you need a man to give you a hand with that?" I straightened up.
"Firstly, honey, I know my way around underneath the hood of a car just fine, thanks. Secondly, even if I didn't, I don't see any men around here, only boys, so run along now. It must be nearly your bedtime."
"The lady has a point, asshole," one of the group spoke out. I hadn't noticed him before, but now I wondered how I'd missed him. He was huge, over six feet tall and wide too, as though he worked out. A lot. "Well, except for the bit about there being no men here, obviously." He raised his eyebrows and smiled at me and a dimple appeared on each of his cheeks. Well, hell. I was a real sucker for dimples on a guy. He turned to another of the group, a lanky boy with messy hair. "Edward, cover for me with Dad would you? I'm going to help the lady out."
I felt a slight stab of annoyance again.
"I said that I can manage, didn't I?" Even I could hear that my voice had lost the sharpness that it had contained when I berated the group the first time.
"Hey, relax." The bear of a guy came to stand next to me and gently took the flashlight from my hand. "I was only going to offer to hold the light while you work."
"Oh." I held back the smile that was dying to grace my lips. "Right. Thanks." I ducked my head back under the hood and bent forward. A series of appreciative whistles immediately escaped the mouths of the group still gathered on the sidewalk.
"Hey!" The guy yelled at his friends. "Nothing to see here kids, now move along." I smiled to myself as they grumbled, but they did as he said. He seemed a little older than them and there was definitely something about him. "So…" he began.
"So…" I mimicked, not looking up.
"You're a stripper then?"
"Yep." I paused as I concentrated on what I was doing for a moment. "Well, when the person I'm supposed to be stripping for is over eighteen I am."
"Aah, man, you should have heard Newton's mom when you left!" he chuckled loudly, an infectious sound that brought a genuine smile to my own face.
"I take it that's why you all left so soon after I did?"
"Oh yeah." He laughed again. "She went apeshit! Newton had said that his parents would be out all night. A lie apparently."
"Evidently." I finished tightening each of the leads and straightened up. "Ok, I think that might be it, let me see." I walked to the driver's door and climbed inside, leaving the door open. I turned the key in the ignition and it roared to life. I grinned widely.
"Will you marry me?" I looked up, still smiling as the man leaned into the car, his forearms resting one on the roof and one on the frame of the open door. He had dark, curly hair, not long but not short enough to hide the fact that it was curly either. I noticed that he looked deadly serious.
"I beg your pardon?"
"I asked if you'd marry me." I raised an eyebrow and my hands still grasped the steering wheel.
"Uh, let me see. Oh yeah, I don't even know your name so I'm afraid I'm going to have to say no." I rolled my eyes as I looked away, but for some reason he had charm and I couldn't help smiling.
"Emmett Cullen. And you are?"
"Rosalie Hale." He extended his hand to me and I reached across my body with my right hand to shake it.
"Rosalie, you are my dream woman. Not only are you beautiful and sassy, but you know your way around a car too. Now please say you'll marry me." I sighed dramatically.
"I don't know, Emmett. Were you looking for a short engagement? Only I have to finish college—"
"I'm looking for whatever it is that makes you say yes, babe."
"On my terms?"
"One hundred and ten per cent."
"I may need a little time to think about this. I mean, it's not every day that I get a marriage proposal." He made a show of looking aghast.
"Now that is a travesty."
"Emmett, has anybody ever told you that you're a charmer?" He shrugged.
"Nobody that mattered."
"Well let's see if we can change that. Emmett Cullen, you're a charmer."
"Since your evening in Forks has been cut short, would you like to go someplace with me?" he asked. I smiled.
"It's really kind of you to ask, but I'm not sure that I'm really dressed appropriately for any place in Forks. Besides, I kind of wanted to be in bed early tonight."
Emmett grinned and the dimples were back.
"Well, I don't usually move that fast, but I'm sure we could come to some arrangement…"
"I meant in my own bed," I scolded him. "Alone."
"Sorry, I didn't mean I wanted to have sex with you..." I raised my eyebrows at him. "Shit, I mean, well obviously I would like to have sex with you…" I gave him another look. "Ok, I'm going to shut up now."
"Well, thank God for that, I don't think I could have stood to watch you trying to dig yourself out of that one any longer," I told him, laughing. He seemed a nice enough guy; sweet and funny, and he was right; my evening had been cut shorter than I had been expecting, so why not try and make the most of it? "Ok, close the hood for me and get in. You can show me what delights Forks has to offer."
Emmett grinned like a kid on Christmas morning as he closed my door for me and then all but ran to drop the hood and open the passenger door.
"Jeez, not a lot of room in here, is there?" he grumbled as he squeezed himself into the passenger seat. He fumbled beneath the seat for the adjusting lever, but it was already almost all the way back and he only gained a couple of inches of extra legroom.
"Yeah, it's a Mini, the clue's in the name," I told him, watching him squirming to try and get comfortable. Eventually he stopped, hands resting on his knees and then turned to look at me watching him.
"What?" he asked, a puzzled look on his face.
"Where are we going? You didn't say."
"Oh!" he grinned sheepishly. "Uh…how about a movie?"
"Does Forks even have a movie theatre?" The last I heard it definitely had very little in the way of entertainment.
"Well, not exactly. We have a screen at home though; I thought maybe we could go back there."
"Are your parents home?"
"No," he said as he smiled cheekily at me. "They're at a hospital fundraiser, my Dad's a doctor. My brother and I were supposed to join them later on." I rolled my eyes.
"Emmett, I don't think you realize that your parents not being home is not a good thing in this situation." He looked genuinely bemused.
"It's not?"
"No, it's not. I just met you and you've invited me back to your empty house. My self-preservation alarm is almost deafening me right now."
"Oh, yeah, I guess I can understand that." He sighed. "My fifteen year old sister is home if that helps?" I was silent as I tried to figure out what to do. I knew what I should do, but it was at odds with what I wanted to do. "I swear, I have no intention at all of attacking you. I'm not that guy." He seemed almost desperate now, and I couldn't help smiling at his words.
"I must be insane or something, but strangely I have a feeling that you're telling me the truth." Another moment and I'd decided. "Ok, I need my head examined. Let's go."
"Alright!"
"Yeah, uh, can we keep the fist pumps to a minimum while I'm trying to drive please? Mini…remember?"
"Oh…yeah, sorry!" He grinned widely and began to give me directions as I pulled away.
~*~*~EY~*~*~
"This is your house?" The place was vast. If I'd had any reservations as we drove down the pitch black driveway from the main road, they were doubled now that I'd seen how isolated this place was. The only thing comforting me was the light shining from the windows and the fact that the place looked homey and welcoming.
"Yeah, come on in." Emmett opened the door and squeezed out of the car, stretching his arms and legs and flexing his neck as he straightened up. I sat for a moment and then grabbed my purse, stuffing the canister of pepper spray I kept in my car inside it, and also climbed out. At the bottom of the porch steps Emmett reached his hand out to me. I looked up at him and he was smiling down at me. Encouraged I slipped my hand into his huge one and let him lead the way.
"It's only me!" he yelled out as we walked through the front door that led straight into the living room. "I'm just going to watch a movie."
The sound of small, fast footsteps on the stairs made me look up, just as a small, young looking girl with short dark hair came into view. Was she really fifteen? She certainly didn't look anything like I did at that age.
"Can I watch with you—Oh, hi!" She stopped suddenly half way down when she saw me standing with my hand in her brother's and walked steadily down the remainder of the steps. "I'm Alice." She stuck her hand out to me and I took it.
"Rosalie."
"Did you just come from Mike Newton's party?"
"Yeah, his parents were home. He said they'd be out just to get us all there," Emmett told her. I was glad he'd answered for us; I really didn't want to introduce myself to the girl as the neighbourhood stripper.
"Ugh." Alice wrinkled her nose. "What a sad-act."
"Yep. I knew there was a reason I don't usually go to seventeenth birthday parties."
I looked at him and tilted my head to the side.
"Then why did you go to this one?" I asked him. He grinned.
"Somebody told me there was going to be this really hot stripper there," he said, squeezing my hand.
"You know, I really don't understand what would drive a woman to want to take her clothes off and be ogled by lecherous men in this day and age. I mean, is this what the suffrage movement envisioned for women when they worked so hard for equality? I don't think so—"
I glanced worriedly at Emmett and he winked at me.
"Ok, Alice," he said, cutting her off. "Rosalie and I are going to watch a movie now." He began to walk away, pulling me along with him.
"I was planning an early night anyway," Alice replied quickly. "Nice to meet you, Rosalie." I turned and she was watching us leave, a blatantly fake smile on her face.
"Yeah, you too, Alice." She turned and headed back up the staircase while Emmett led me through the living room, into a hallway, and then through a door on the right.
As we entered the room, my eyes opened widely. It was a game room. Holy shit, how much money did these people have? Emmett dropped my hand to peel off his jacket. He crossed to the pool table, flung his jacket down on top of it and then reaching underneath, flicked the lever that put it up on wheels. Singlehandedly he wheeled it across the dark wooden floor and into a space against the wall and then grabbed an end of the leather couch next to it and maneuvered it into the space that the pool table had just vacated.
"You need a hand?" I asked, still marvelling at how effortless he made it look.
"Nope, I'm good," he replied grinning at me. My eyes were drawn to his biceps as his muscles flexed and my stomach flipped. There was so much about him that screamed out 'protector' to me. That was something I'd never really had. Not that I'd ever particularly yearned to be protected, I was more than capable of standing up for myself. But now that it was tantalizingly in reach in front of me, I found myself strangely attracted by the idea.
"Here, let me take your coat," Emmett said, holding his hand out for it.
"I…uh…" I tried to come up with an excuse when all I really wanted to say was 'No way. Do you have any idea how uncomfortable we will both be once you see what I'm wearing underneath it?'
Emmett was still standing with his arm outstretched towards me, and he raised eyebrows expectantly at me when I continued to pause.
"Ok," I said quietly as I began to unbutton my raincoat. His face remained neutral until the last button was undone and I shrugged it from my shoulders to reveal the red, low cut Jessica rabbit-esque dress that I was wearing. At that point Emmett's eyes bugged out of his head so far that I worried I may have actually caused him some permanent damage. Now I was the one with my arm out, trying to hand him my coat while he stood frozen.
"Emmett? Are you ok?" I was beginning to get concerned when he recovered his power of speech.
"You are incredible. I mean, you look…" he shook his head, unable to find the word that he wanted. I blushed at his words. Me, Rosalie Hale, professional stripper, actually blushed. It wasn't as though I was not used to men paying me compliments; I heard all of the time how hot they thought I was, but somehow, coming from Emmett Cullen, it mattered to me.
"Thank you. You've got quite the body yourself, Emmett," I told him, hoping it didn't sound tacky. If it did he didn't seem to notice. He just smiled at me as he took my coat from me.
"Ok, what do you want to watch?" he asked, putting my coat with his own and then crossing to a series of shelves lined with video cassettes.
"Really, you choose. If you pick anything from the last two years I doubt I'll have seen it. I've not been to the movies in a long time."
"Ok…" He ran his hand over the cases and on the second shelf down he paused and pulled one out. "What about this?" Emmett removed the cassette from the case, which he handed to me to look at, and then crossed to the VCR and slotted it in.
"Interview with the Vampire? I've heard good things about this movie." I told him as I turned it over to read the back. "Plus, vampires are hot." He raised an eyebrow at me as he took my hand and led me to the couch. As we sat down, he pointed a remote control and a screen lowered from the ceiling. With another pushed button the lights dimmed, and another lit up the screen as a projector came to life. Emmett shifted closer to me and leaned down a little.
"I hope you're not easily scared," he said quietly.
"Emmett, with the amount of bachelor parties I've been to, trust me. There is very little that scares me." He turned and grinned at me as he placed his arm along the back of the couch behind me.
"I love a girl with balls," he said, turning his attention back to the screen. I knew exactly what he'd meant by the statement, but he was also obviously unaware of how else the words could be interpreted. I snorted a little as I tried unsuccessfully to hold in my laughter.
"I'm sorry, Emmett, but if that's the case then you could find yourself disappointed. Beneath this dress I'm all woman." I watched his face as my words sunk in and he realized what he'd said.
"Hell no! I didn't mean I'm into chicks with dicks!" He looked horrified for a moment before he frowned. "And please don't talk about what's beneath your dress, it's hard enough sitting next to you in the dress without thinking about what's under it." He let out a small groan and I smiled again. He looked at me. "It's not funny!" There was a genuine look of distress in his face which made me want to laugh again.
"I'm sorry, it's just…" I dissolved into giggles.
"What?"
"You're just so entirely unaware of the sexual innuendos you keep making. It's kind of sweet."
"Sexual innuendos? I really don't think I—" I leaned up and pressed my lips to his, cutting him off. I had no idea why I did it because it was really not the kind of thing I usually did, but for some reason it felt like the right thing to do.
I moved away and found Emmett looking completely shell-shocked.
"I…I'm sorry. I don't know what happened, I just…" I trailed off, feeling strangely embarrassed again and looking down.
"No! Please don't apologize. It's fine. I mean, it was nice." He gently placed his hand under my chin and raised my face. "Can I?" He looked down at my mouth and his tongue ran along his own lips.
"I'm going to be pretty mad at you now if you don't," I whispered.
My heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest as his mouth touched mine. His lips were soft and moulded perfectly to my own where we touched. We both pulled back slightly, looked searchingly into each other's eyes and then kissed again, this time opening our mouths slightly so that our tongues could search each other out. Emmett was an amazing kisser. He was gentle yet firm, teasing and then forthright. In short he was blowing my mind; this wasn't like it had been with any other man that I had ever been this close to. My stomach was moving, but it wasn't the lurching that it did when I kissed Royce; this was excitement and a fluttering of anticipation.
We made out for a while but Emmett didn't push his luck at all and it never went beyond kissing. I got a little frustrated at times; the effect he was having on me was leaving me more than a little turned on. He was playing the perfect gentleman though, something that had never appeared in my life before, so I decided to indulge myself. Eventually we separated and snuggled into one another to watch the movie. I'd never felt the level of familiarity and comfort before that I felt with this man; it was beyond strange. I'd been pretty cynical for years now, but he almost made me believe in soul mates.
~*~*~EY~*~*~
I moved groggily, trying to figure out where I was. The rhythmic sound of breathing filled the space and I was aware of a large, warm bulkiness next to me. As I forced my eyes open the memory flooded my brain. I was in the game room at Emmett's house. We had obviously fallen asleep during the movie because the screen and the room were both in darkness, except for a low glow from a lamp in the corner of the room. I'd been having the strangest dream that Emmett and I were vampires. We'd been racing through the forest with Emmett's family, trying to catch another vampire who was some kind of threat to us. I awoke just as Emmett got into a fight with a giant wolf that was chasing her too. I shook my head to clear the image. Damn weird dreams; I didn't usually remember them.
I thought about sneaking out, but I was unsure what time it was and I guessed that there was probably an alarm system on the house. If I was going to meet Emmett's parents anytime, I would much rather it wasn't as I sneaked out of their house in the middle of the night dressed as a stripper.
"Emmett," I whispered. Nothing. "Emmett!" I shook him as I said his name and he stirred. "Emmett, we fell asleep. I need to leave!"
"Naw, stay," he grumbled sleepily, hooking his arm around me and smooshing me to him.
"Really, I can't. I have to go." I tried to push away from him but barely managed to gain an inch. "Emmett!" I shook him again and he yawned, followed quickly by a sigh.
"Ok, ok. You really have to go, huh?" He sat up, rubbing first one eye and then the other with his hand.
"I really do," I told him sadly.
"Can I see you again?"
"Does it mean I have to come to Forks again?" I asked cautiously, only half joking.
"Not if you don't want to; I can visit you." The guy didn't even know where I lived.
"I live in Port Angeles," I told him, not even knowing if he had a car.
"Baby, I'd come to New York if that was where you were." My heart melted a little at his words.
"You want to exchange numbers?" I said as he scrambled from the couch and started hunting for a pen and paper.
"I think we better since we have a wedding to organize," he said smiling cheekily.
"Emmett." I walked over and grabbed his arm, turning him around to face me. "If the way you've made me feel in the last few hours is anything to go by, then I can't wait to become Mrs. Cullen."
"Trust me, Rosie. This is only the start of how I'm going to make you feel." He kissed me and I knew he was speaking the truth.
A/N I love these two! Hope you enjoyed it, leave a review and let me know!