[  me: I'm not gonna update for a few days.

also me: psych

and I think this is the last chapter before I start twilight movie chapters  ]

☽︎

WE'RE NOT PLAYING GAMES.

Paul didn't say much when Frankie came in on Saturday for her shift. And she wasn't dumb — she knew word spread that she went on a date with a Cullen. She wouldn't be surprised if everyone she knew who lived on the reservation gave her the cold shoulder for a little while.

So, Frankie let him pout and silently worked on Mrs. Warton's little VW Beetle. It was the quietest the shop had ever been when the two were working a shift together, and that made Frankie sad. Why did something as silly as a boy have to get in the way of her friendships?

It wasn't until Paul put up the schedule for the next few weeks on the bulletin board that Frankie angrily broke the silence. "Why do you only have me down for four shifts this month?" she asked, looking at Paul who was changing a tire on a motorcycle.

Paul just childishly shrugged. "Don't need you every day."

"Bullshit!" she cursed, studying him. "This is about fucking Emmett, isn't it? Dude, you can't just cut my hours because you don't like my boyfriend."

Frankie was glad no one was there to hear her call Emmett her boyfriend because technically, he never asked her to be his girlfriend.

"Really? 'Cause I'm in charge of the schedule, and that means you can only come in on Thursdays," Paul informed her, crossing his arms.

She gaped at him, unable to believe he was being so petty over some silly legend. Surely it had to be deeper than that even if she didn't understand. But the only thing that had changed about Paul recently was his two weeks of absence. "Is this because of the cult shit I'm not allowed to know about?" she finally asked, getting annoyed already before he even answered.

Sam was encouraging the cult lie because they couldn't tell Frankie about the pack until it was time. So, Paul had to bite back a smile and nod — technically, it wasn't a lie anyway. "Honesty, yeah. It's cult shit."

"Right," she scoffed while grabbing her things. "Well, you, Sam, and Jared can all go fuck yourselves."

"Frank," Paul tried. "Don't be mad—"

"What emotion did you think I'd be feeling?" she cut him off, rolling her eyes. She headed for the exit, figuring Paul could finish her job since she'd covered for him for two weeks. "I'm so over this. Grow up, Paul."

☽︎

Frankie's bad mood bled into Sunday, and Jasper could feel it as Emmett pulled up in his Jeep with her in the passenger side. Knowing it wasn't the ideal mood to meet the family officially, he slightly manipulated her emotions to put her into a better mood, which she was thankful for even if she didn't know it.

On the drive over, she hadn't clued Emmett into her bad mood, not wanting to ruin meeting his parents for the first time. So, when all the anger she was feeling toward Paul washed away once they stopped in front of the huge house, she let out a relieved sigh before actually studying the mansion.

"You live here?" she asked in disbelief. She knew the Cullens were massively wealthy, but this was almost too much. "Maybe I should consider becoming a doctor."

Emmett looked at her and she mirrored his doubtful expression, both knowing she didn't have the grades to get into any good med schools.

"C'mon, they're really excited to meet you," Emmett said before going around to help her out of the Jeep.

"All of them? Even Rosalie?" she asked skeptically, holding onto Emmett's larger hand.

He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "She's indifferent, which is better than hatred in my book."

"A win is a win," she nodded in agreement. Frankie knew she was going to win over Rosalie. She had to. Frankie was the kind of person that was friends with everyone she met. "So, is your mom really cooking?"

"She's been talking about it all week," Emmett admitted.

Esme loved to cook when she was a human and missed it greatly. Even now, if she was in the mood to use the kitchen, she'd make up some food and take it to local shelters so that it wouldn't go to waste. Besides, to keep up pretenses, she had to go to the grocery store every few weeks so people wouldn't catch onto their odd ways.

Frankie wasn't nervous about meeting Carlisle and Esme Cullen — all of her friends' parents thought she was a delight. Besides, Emmett didn't have her father's approval, so it wouldn't be the end of the world if she didn't have theirs.

As Emmett led her through the three-story house, Frankie marveled at the expensive decor and modern architecture. The walls were almost completely made of windows, making everything so open and light. It was a far cry from her cramped, poorly lit trailer. Because of that, she somewhat wondered if she was underdressed for meeting the parents in a pair of baggy jeans with a hole in one knee and a sweater — but Emmett was also in jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt, so she didn't feel too self-conscious.

It was a little intimidating to walk into the kitchen and see Emmett's entire family given how big it was, but at least she knew those from school.

There was a smaller, kind-looking woman standing by the sink and chopping something up while a blonde man was stirring something that smelled delicious over the stove. Esme had a gorgeous face with perfect, movie-star hair. And of course, Frankie had heard of how hot Carlisle was from her friends, but she'd never seen him since her own father made her see a doctor on the reservation any time she was sick or got an injury from soccer. It was safe to say Jessica hadn't been exaggerating things.

As soon as Frankie was in her line of sight, Esme perked right up and set her cooking utensils down. "Frankie, we're so glad you could make it to lunch."

"Thank you for having me, Mrs. Cullen," she said with a small smile. "You have a beautiful home."

"Why thank you. And just Esme is fine, dear," she said. "I'm making tamales. Emmett's told me you have quite an appetite."

Frankie grinned, her mouth already watering. "I didn't hear anything past tamales," she joked. Then she looked to Carlisle, who was wiping his hands off. "You must be Dr. Cullen."

"Carlisle," he corrected while shaking her offered hand.

"It's nice to meet you both," she said. "I've really started to like some of your kids."

"She means me and Edward," Alice spoke up with a big grin. Jasper hadn't had much of a chance to get to know Frankie, and they all knew Rosalie and her got off on the wrong foot.

Jasper and Rosalie rolled their eyes while Emmett snickered. "But Rose was an integral part in us getting together," Emmett joked, knowing it wouldn't have happened so quickly if she hadn't warned Frankie off of him and it backfired.

"I'm eating in my room," Rosalie said, moving to leave.

"Sit," Esme stopped her, raising a pointed eyebrow. They'd all agreed to welcome Frankie with open arms. Of course, they weren't going to actually eat, but they were counting on Frankie just not noticing them pushing the food around their plates. Plus, they moved so fast she wouldn't see them as they slowly emptied their plates into a trashcan.

"Do you need help with anything?" Frankie then offered, not wanting to just stand around. It was an empty gesture, being as she couldn't cook for shit. There was also a chance she'd burn the house down. So, Edward quickly whispered at a volume she couldn't hear to not let her help.

"Oh, no. Don't you worry," Esme told her with a motherly smile. Jasper was laughing, and Alice had to pinch his side to get him to stop before Frankie heard. "We're almost done. But sit. We've been dying to get to know Emmett's new friend."

Frankie was so fucking glad that she didn't have to help as slid to sit on top of a barstool, Emmett taking the one next to her.

"So, you play soccer?" Carlisle asked, already knowing the answer but wanting to know more about it. He loved sports, along with Jasper and Emmett, but it was hard to play them given what they were. "We'll have to make it to a game sometime."

"I'd love that," she beamed. "And yes, Sir, I'm the captain of the varsity team. Been playing since I could run."

"She was really great at the last game," Alice complimented. Then she frowned. "A little aggressive for my taste. I don't think I'd ever watched a soccer game before that. I can't believe you don't wear pads."

Frankie smirked and looked at the smaller girl. "The more violent, the more fun. If you're not covered in bruises by the time it's over, then you didn't try your hardest."

"The other team feared her," Emmett told his parents. "It was so hot."

Frankie let out a snort, unable to believe he'd said that in front of his whole family. Then again, he'd never been embarrassed about getting caught making out with her on multiple occasions.

"I think Emmett cheered for every yellow card she got," Rosalie told them, rolling her eyes playfully.

"So did you," Emmett told her, grinning. "You came up off the bench when she tackled that girl."

Rosalie didn't want to admit that she enjoyed the soccer game, but truthfully, she missed doing human things. She missed making friends and spending quality time with girls that weren't Esme and Alice. She wanted shopping trips, concerts, and sleepovers. Rosalie wanted her life back — maybe that was why she was struggling to accept Frankie. Because she was jealous of the life she was unknowingly giving up.

"Well, sounds like you're quite the player, Frankie," Carlisle said with a small smirk. "Your family must be proud."

"Yeah, Dad really is," she said, smiling. "He was captain of his team growing up in Texas."

"Ooh, Jasper's from Texas," Alice said brightly.

"Really, where from?"

"Houston," Jasper told her, leaving out what years he'd grown up there. "Don't have any family around there anymore though."

"Neither does Dad — at least the kind of family he'd want me to meet. He's from El Paso," she told him. "But my mom was on a college tour over there. Didn't decide to go. She stayed here, but they met on the tour, spent a week together, and then she just asked him to come to Washington with her. They say it was romantic — I think it was insane."

"Well, love can make you do crazy things," Esme said with a little smile. "We'd love to meet them."

"Oh, um, it's just me and my dad now. Mom died when I was seven," she explained, not as bothered by it anymore. The house fire was nearly ten years ago. "And, um, not to, like, make him sound bad, but I don't think he'd want to meet you. I'm technically part of the Quileute tribe."

"We understand," Carlisle told her cordially. After all, they'd already met Raylan, Frankie just didn't know that. They were just grateful she didn't seem to buy into the legends — though she'd be in for a rude awakening one day.

"But I was really excited when Emmett invited me over," Frankie said, trying to move on from the awkward tension.

"She's mostly just excited about the tamales," Emmett joked.

"He's not lying," she laughed while eyeing the food. Esme and Carlisle were finishing up. "I know you have a big family, but I can assure you there will be no leftovers."

☽︎

Okay, there were some leftovers, but that was because the vampires didn't eat. Esme was kind enough to pack them up for Frankie to take home while Emmett was giving her a tour of the house.

They were currently headed up to Emmett's room on the top floor but stopped at the huge picture frame full of over a hundred graduation caps. Frankie was looking at it with a grimace. Sure, it was artistic, but god, she fucking hated school. She wouldn't want to be reminded of it when she was home.

"You can tell I didn't have a say in interior decorating," Emmett said, thinking along the same lines. Then again, a fifth of the graduation caps belonged to him, unfortunately.

"Oh, I'm picturing Casa de Emmett with LED lights and a bitchin' game setup and a mattress on the floor with the ugliest, plain blue sheets from the Walmart."

Emmett peered at her and crossed his arms. "Are you sure you've never been here before?"

Frankie rolled her eyes and began pushing him up the stairs, not getting him very far at all until he started moving on his own. Emmett grabbed her hand once they reached the top and led her down the hall, pointing to various closed doors as they passed, letting her know where each of his siblings lived.

His room was closest to Jaspers at the very end of the hallway, and when he opened the door, Frankie wasn't that far off from her earlier description. Of course, she was totally off on the size of the room. It was spacious and made her own room feel like a shoe box all of a sudden.

Like the rest of the house, he had a huge window with doors that led out to a small balcony, which led into the vast woods surrounding their house. There was a mattress on the floor and pointed right at a huge TV that was mounted on the wall. Bookshelves were lined with games and movie cases, a central hub of entertainment. Various posters for sports teams were hanging up, some vintage that he must've found online.

The room was surprisingly clean. Maybe it was her projecting, but Frankie expected it to be as messy as her own with clothes all over the floor. Then again, Emmett didn't have nearly as many extracurricular activities that kept her from having the time to tidy up.

Well, she might have time now that she wasn't working as much.

"What do you think?" Emmett asked as she slowly took in the one place he could always be himself. He was staying close to the wall in case the sun came out and through the window.

"I love it," she said, smiling back at him. "It's very Emmett."

"Is that a good thing?" he asked, coming a little closer.

"It's a great thing," she told him, moving to stand on her toes and wrap her arms around his neck. "Thank you for having me over. I've never really done the whole meet the family thing."

"You were perfect," Emmett said, grinning proudly down at her. "They loved you."

Frankie giggled, glad to know she'd passed the test. "Well, I'm very lovable, Cullen."

"That you are, Roman," he murmured, eyes sliding down to her lips. "My plan was to play Sonic Riders, but now that I've got you all to myself, I'm rethinking that."

"Oh," she said, stepping back, "I'd much rather be playing your GameCube."

Emmett gaped at her as she sauntered over to his gaming systems, beginning to peruse the titles. She grinned and looked at him over her shoulder, seeing the pout on his face. "Tell you what. If you beat me, we can do whatever you want."

"Oh, it's on," Emmett said, determined to make out with her before having to take her home. He didn't care if everyone in the house had super hearing. They could fucking leave for all he cared. "Before I forget though, Esme wants to know if you'd want to come over tomorrow night for dinner too."

"I can't, but maybe Tuesday," she told him while finding the case she was searching for. "Mike is taking me to a surprise birthday dinner that he ruined the surprise for weeks ago."

Emmett seemed to freeze, it taking a moment for his brain to catch up to what she'd said. "Birthday dinner? Like, Mike's birthday?"

"No, mine," she said simply while sitting on the edge of the mattress to load the game in.

"Your birthday is tomorrow?" he asked, his eyes wide. "I didn't know your birthday?"

Frankie just giggled up at him. "Emmett, I don't know your birthday either," she reminded him. "We've only known each other a month, and I don't make a big deal out of it. Don't feel bad."

"I do feel bad!" he insisted, sitting next to her. "I've gotta get you a present."

She rolled her eyes playfully before leaving the game alone and facing him. "Em," she said, putting her hands on his broad shoulders, "I'm gonna ask something, and your answer can be my gift."

"Anything," Emmett said, her having no idea how serious he was about it.

"Be my boyfriend?"

His face split into a dazzling smile that had her heart skipping a beat. Goddamn, he was too beautiful for his own good, and to know she was the one making him smile made her feel warm inside.

"Hell yeah."

Then Emmett leaned down to kiss her, cupping her cheeks to pull her in close. Frankie was starting to like how cold he ran, as it calmed her burning cheeks down — a part of her had been worried he'd say no, which was ridiculous, she knew, because he was openly obsessed with her.

As they kissed, Emmett slowly laid her back until she was fully on the mattress underneath him, her gripping the front of his shirt tightly as she brought him with her. She forgot all about Sonic the Hedgehog as he slipped his tongue into her mouth, letting out a happy moan that he swallowed.

When Frankie felt his hips pinning her to the mattress, she raised her thigh to rub between his parted legs, earning a low groan from him that was music to her ears.

"Fuck, babe," he muttered against her mouth.

Then he pulled back and began kissing along her jaw, biting and sucking as he went. It was her turn to let out a whine as his teeth grazed her neck right over her pulse point. Emmett took in a deep, needless breath, her scent washing over him so much so that it was overwhelming — the blood pumping in her veins, the protectiveness her scent woke up in him, the desire he could smell coming off of her.

Before he knew it, his teeth were bared, ready to bite her with more than just the intent to leave a bruise. It didn't help that she just cluelessly moaned, spurring him on.

"Hey, can we play games with you guys?" Alice asked loudly while throwing the door to Emmett's room open. Jasper was behind her, again tasked with calming the couple down, unfortunately.

Yet again, Alice got a vision of Emmett biting Frankie and had no idea what the outcome was, so she quickly got in the way, much to Emmett's annoyance.

"We're not playing games right now," Emmett huffed, helping Frankie sit up, who smoothed her hair down.

"Perfect!" Alice said brightly, dragging Jasper into the room. "That means we can join you."

Frankie looked at the two in disbelief as Jasper pointedly sat between her and Emmett, just smirking at her.

"Sorry," Jasper murmured, not looking all that sorry. "And I call Knuckles."

"No way!" Frankie said, quickly getting over what happened with Emmett as Jasper controlled her mood. "I'll fight you for Knuckles."

☽︎

On the morning of her seventeenth birthday, Frankie woke up to a text from Paul, wishing her a happy birthday. Even if he was annoyed by her dating Emmett, they were still family, just like Sam and Jared, who'd also sent her messages to wake up to along with all her other friends.

After getting dressed in a nice, blue sweater vest that Angela gave her, she left her room, expecting the silent treatment from her father, which she'd been getting since that date with Emmett. Much to her delight, though, her father was waiting at the small dining table with a plate full of cupcakes in front of him. Maybe he was mad at her, but he wasn't such an asshole that he'd ignore her birthday.

"Happy Birthday, Frankie," he greeted her, smiling.

"Thanks, Dad," she said, walking around to give him a hug. Then she sniffed the air, able to tell that underneath the purple icing was blueberry cupcakes, her favorite. "Oh, hell yeah, best breakfast ever."

"Well, just be careful today, especially going into the city with your friends," Raylan told her. The restaurant they were taking her to was in Port Angeles.

"Oh, Ty and I will be sure to protect Mike and Eric and the girls if anything happens," she joked.

Raylan snorted, already picturing what a fight would look like with that group of people. Even without her full wolf strength yet, Frankie would come out on top against most anyone so long as she wasn't outnumbered. "Jess is pretty aggressive in her volleyball games. I think she could step in and help."

"Most definitely," she agreed, grabbing another cupcake to eat. Then they heard a honk from outside. "Mike's here. Love you. Have a good day at work."

"You too," he said as she leaned down to kiss his cheek, getting a little icing on his beard.

Frankie had a skip in her step as she left the trailer, only to stop on the cinderblock steps, seeing Emmett's Jeep instead of Mike's Honda. But after a second, she recovered from her shock and went to meet him. Emmett leaned over and opened the passenger side door for her, greeting her with a smile.

"Happy Birthday," he said as she climbed inside, also taking her backpack from her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, glancing at her home to make sure her father wasn't leaving early.

"Told Newton to let me pick you up today," he told her. "Got every right to drive my girlfriend to school."

She couldn't help but grin as he called her his girlfriend. A month ago, if someone told Frankie that she and Emmett Cullen would be dating, she'd have laughed in their face. But there she was, as happy as ever and freshly seventeen, sitting in his Jeep with his hand on her thigh as he pulled out onto the main road.

"Okay, I know we said the dating thing is a gift, but—"

"Emmett, I hate getting big expensive gifts, so please tell me you didn't," she said with a frown. Even her friends knew to keep gifts small, and if they did get her something, she liked useful things. Just taking her to dinner was enough for her.

"It is not big or expensive, mainly because I didn't have a long enough warning to go shopping," he informed her in an almost smug tone. He then reached behind his seat and pulled out a small, green gift bag. "And technically, Rose helped me."

Frankie eyed the bag like it was some suspicious thing before huffing and accepting it. She dug through the tissue paper before pulling out a package of hair ties in bright colors.

"She heard you complaining in your math class about your hair being too thick and breaking all your hair ties," he explained. "She said these are really good for hair like yours. I know it's not much—"

"It's perfect," Frankie cut him off, unable to hide the touched smile on her face. "Literally, so perfect. I'll have to thank Rosalie too. It was sweet of her to pay attention."

"She's not always a bitch, I'll have you know," he joked.

"I don't think she's a bitch. I think she's your best friend and really protective," she admitted. "Had you walked up and kissed me out of nowhere in the cafeteria without permission, Mike and Tyler would've tried to kick your ass. They'd fail, but still."

"You have no faith in them?"

"Em, look at your arms," she said pointedly.

Emmett smirked and flexed his right arm, the material of his long-sleeved henley shirt straining greatly from it. And she eyed his muscles shamelessly, wondering when she'd finally get him shirtless without his family interrupting them.

That would be a real present in her opinion.

☽

"It's almost time for you."

"What does that mean?" Frankie asked her mother.

They were in the woods, right on the treaty line even though Frankie didn't know it.

"Just another year for you."

Frankie cut her eyes to her mother, seeing her long hair braided back. "I don't remember you being this cryptic when you were alive."

"You were seven. You weren't smart enough for me to be cryptic."

"Guess you can't see my grade point average from wherever you are," she joked, staring at the trees. Then Frankie tensed up, seeing a black wolf in the tree line, just silently watching them. It was one of the ones that attacked Paul in her very first dream. He didn't look violent this time though. "What is that?"

"The alpha. He's just waiting," Elena said calmly.

"Waiting for what?" she asked, deciding against asking what the hell an alpha was.

"For you to join them," she answered. "He will lead, but you will protect them."

"Protect who?" she questioned, just getting more confused as always. Frankie's head was starting to hurt, which she'd learned meant she was about to wake up. "How could I protect anyone?"

"Bigger, faster, stronger — you'll protect them all, even the ones they don't want you to."