LEGO HOUSE

seven.           it's human

▬▬ CORI BLINKED A FEW TIMES, groaning a little at the slight burning in her eyes because of her contacts. She hated them, she really did but she couldn't exactly walk into her house with gleaming red eyes.

That would be weird.

She took a breath, shaking her head a little and her curls bounced with the movement. In a quick move, she opened the front door and stepped into the house before she could talk herself out of it.

Charlie looked up, his eyes slightly wide as he looked at his youngest daughter. It had been a month and the most he had heard from her was a few calls and a handful of text messages.

"Hi, Daddy."

He was stunned as he pushed the leg rest of his recliner down before pushing himself to his feet. She looked different, at least he thought so. She stood a little taller, not that it made much of a difference — she was still short. Her cheeks lacked their usual color, and her eyes seemed to be a different shade of blue. But he didn't care.

"Cori." Her name left him with a breath of relief, then he moved across the room towards her and the second he was close enough he wrapped her tightly in his arms. She wanted to cry as she wrapped her arms around him but she didn't squeeze, she was worried about hurting him. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming home?"

"I wanted to surprise you." She mumbled. "Surprise."

"You can't do that to me." He mumbled, his eyes closed but he had yet to loosen his hold on her.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled but she knew it wasn't enough. "I'm sorry I acted like a brat. I wasn't mad, I promise. I just needed some space. And I-I know I deserved to be grounded. Hell, ground me for longer. I don't care. I'm so sorry."

He chuckled, still hugging her close then he kissed the top of her head. "You're not grounded." He sniffed a little. "Wanna watch the game with me?" He pulled back and wiped his nose with his wrist as he motioned to the Tv.

"Yeah." She nodded, a smile on her face as they started towards the couch.

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▬▬ CORI HUMMED LIGHTLY as she made her way into the Cullen house, she didn't even bother knocking — mostly because it had become something of a home for the new vampire.

"Esme! I got your text!" She called out walking into the living room but she stopped in the doorway when she saw the vampire she was looking for sitting next to Emmett. "You've got to be kidding me."

"No. Sit down." Esme stopped her from leaving, a kind but firm tone to her voice. Cori huffed but listened, she had a hard time saying no to Esme. "Good. Now, if we can... cooperate with the wolves then you two can work through whatever this is."

Emmett looked hopeful.

Cori did not.

"No, we can't."

"Cori-"

"I didn't want this. Why can't any of you wrap your heads around that?"

"Is the alternative better?" Esme asked, her voice still soft.

"I wouldn't be this, so yeah."

"You'd be dead." Emmett argued.

"I know."

"You can't real-"

Esme raised her hand, cutting the burly boy off. "You'd rather your sister, your dad, and your friends lose you?"

Cori let out a small, humorless chuckle as she leaned back into the couch. "I've known Jake since I was little and he looked at me like I was... a monster. Called me a leech. A boy that I've known my entire life looked at me like I wasn't me anymore. Do you have any idea what that feels like? And Paul, gosh, he's trying, he really is, but I'm the thing he hates most in the world.

"And I can't even tell Carter or Noah about any of this, I'm lying to them and I hate it. It kills me to look at them and not tell them everything. Especially Carter. But I don't want this for him, any of this. I don't even want him to know. And my own sister is scared to hug me because I tried to bite her once. And my dad, he forgave me but for weeks I didn't speak to him. I didn't even get to see him.

"So yes. I would rather be dead than this. Everyone would grieve and move on with their lives. That's what's supposed to happen. It's normal. It's life. It's human." She took a breath, her eyes on Emmett. "You knew I never wanted this, if you loved me at all you would have respected that."

"Cori, I-"

"I don't want your apologies." She cut him off. "But I do need time and space. And it really sucks that you had to drag Esme into this, this has nothing to do with her." She pushed herself up, her eyes on the woman. "I appreciate everything you've done for me, for the room, for the help, for taking care of me. But I'm gonna stay at home from now on. I'll hunt when I need to and if I need him, I'll call Jasper. But I can't be here anymore."

"I understand." She gave her a small smile. "You're still a part of this family, always."

Cori simply nodded then she was gone. Esme looked over at Emmett, who had his head in his hands.

"She hates me." He mumbled, his voice cracking just a little. "I wasn't thinking. I panicked. Her heartbeat was weak, I could hear it fading. I-I couldn't lose her." He looked up at his mother, and she gently rubbed his arm. "Why can't she feel it? I feel it. Why can't she? She's my... She's supposed to be my mate."

"Alice's vision." She hummed, recalling the day Alice had bounced into the living room with a wide smile proclaiming she'd had a vision of Emmett and his mate — a girl with dark hair, fair skin and the bluest of eyes.

"My what?" Emmett had asked, his eyes focused solely on the tv as he and Travis played Call of Duty.

"Your mate." She hummed as she perched on the back of the couch. "She's moving to town soon."

"Alice." He huffed, not wanting to believe her mostly because he knew her visions weren't always accurate.

"She smiles at you like you're the sun, her cheeks pink and her eyes bright. I can tell... she loves you." She explained as if the image were replaying in her head. "Or she will. Just you wait." She leaned over and poked his shoulder.

"Whatever you say." He hummed almost dejectedly but he was intrigued... only a little bit, though he'd never actually admit that to anyone but Edward, of course. Not that he had much of a choice in that matter.

"She's not wrong." Edward stated, not looking up from his book as he turned the page.

"What?" Emmett glanced in his direction and Travis cheered when he shot Emmett's character.

"The way she looks at you... if that's not love then what is?"

"I think..." Esme rubbed his back as she took a needless breath, trying to find the words. "She's mad right now. She isn't letting herself feel anything but anger and pain. She's trying to cope. It's only been a month. A month of her having to adapt to drinking blood, of her having to push her friends and family away. A month of lies. She killed a man, Emmett, and you know the toll that takes on someone.

"This is Cori, she feels everything to the extreme. And right now she's just trying to stay afloat in the sea of anger and sadness and pain and grief. Give her some time. It's there, I know it is. She just needs to get there for herself."

He nodded, not having thought about it like that and he hated himself. He had seen just how much she was struggling and still, he was more worried about himself. He knew he was being selfish and in that moment he vowed that he'd never be selfish when it came to her ever again.

"Thank you." He leaned over and kissed Esme's cheek. "Really."

"Of course." She gave a smile as she patted his back then he pushed himself up with new resolve.

He made his way up to his room and sat on the edge of his bed as he toyed with his phone in his hand. He wanted to call to let her know that he understood why she needed time and space. He wanted to tell her that he was sorry for everything. He wanted to tell her that he was done being selfish.

But he decided against it, she wanted space and he'd give her that. Even if it tore him apart.