The Other Swan

6. Foxglove

The next month flew by. Bella and I didn't talk much. Things at home were uncomfortable after my outburst. I knew I had overreacted, but it was as if a switch inside me had flicked, unleashing a tidal wave of emotions that I had kept locked up in my own personal Pandora's box. Instead of chatting away after dinner about Edward, Bella chose to phone Jessica to complain. I wouldn't have minded too much if I hadn't been so lonely. Emmett hadn't been around for weeks, and work had been ramping up for Dad so he would often come home late, well past when Bella and I had eaten dinner in silence together. Still, we left him a plate of food in the microwave every night.

The beach trip I had been looking forward to before I got sick had been postponed due to bad weather. I wasn't even sure if I'd go anymore now that things between Bella and I were... tense. I was, admittedly, going a bit stir-crazy.

After dinner one night, before Dad got home, my cell phone started ringing. I answered with a curt "hey", knowing it was most definitely dad calling to say he was running late... again. Except it wasn't.

"Hi, Lucy?" a warm sounding voice asked on the other end.

"Uhm, Yeah? That me." I responded, confused. Who would be calling me if it wasn't Dad?

"It's Emmett. Emmett Cullen. I asked Bella for your number." I quietly ran upstairs and flopped down on my bed.

"Oh, hi Emmett. You sound... different over the phone. What's up?" I asked, trying to be smooth about it. The dreams I had off him were still an almost nightly occurrence, except they were different now. More tender. Before the running, falling, drowning, him and I would often be in the woods together, lying on the ground in each others' arms or leaning against a tree with his hand against my cheek. Never a kiss though. That was reserved for my daydreams.

"I was just wondering if you want to hang out?" he asked, not giving me a date or time.

"When?" I responded with a chuckle. He laughed at himself as well, realizing how silly that must've sounded.

"Actually, if you aren't busy right now I was just in the area."

I told him he could hang out at my house for a while. I just needed a few minutes to finish up some work. Of course, I wasn't actually working on anything at the moment. It just sounded a lot better than "I've been in my pajamas all day and need to get dressed."

A few minutes later I heard the doorbell and Bella yelling up the stairs.

"Lucy! Someone's here to see you!" She sang up to me. If I had been beside her I'm sure she would've winked at me and given me a knowing nudge in the side because, when I got down to the front door, Emmett was standing there with a small bouquet of wildflowers in his hand and the biggest, sun-shiniest grin on his handsome face. I could feel the heat of my own blood rushing into my cheeks.

Nobody, not even Mike Newton, had given me flowers before. They were these beautiful purple ones that grew in the area. Foxglove, if I remembered the name correctly. I quickly put them in a cup of water and led Emmett up to my room, away from the prying eyes of my sister.

I set the flowers down on my nightstand, next to my inhalers, and cleared the laundry off the end of my bed, shoving it in a laundry basket in the corner. Across from the bed was a small tv and my collection of video games. Emmett immediately looked intrigued. I had promised to show him my collection sometime.

"Do you play all these?" he asked me, impressed.

"No. I just keep them in my room and look at them." I said, sarcastically. He shook his head and began looking through every single title. Eventually he came across my collectors' editions. Among them were the original, complete in box, Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link for NES. He pulled them out, handling them carefully. He clearly knew the value of what he was holding.