"Oh, for the love of God, Emmett, could you kindly shut the up," Edward said, annoyed, tapping his fingers against the piano keys.

"I second that," Jasper sighed. If he were human, he'd have a headache. He had the urge to rub his temples as if he did anyway.

The Cullen clan had thought that meeting his mate would calm Emmett down a bit. But it only seemed to make him worse. And being stuck in the house and away from town for the past few days didn't make it better. Sunny days were a rare sight for Forks, and the Sun decided to make itself known and come out.

"Sorry," Emmett muttered from his place, lounged out on the sofa. He knew his thoughts, as well as his emotions, were all out of whack lately. And amplified, if his brothers' frustrations had anything to say about it. The empathic and mind reader could sometimes have their powers overwhelmed.

During the occasionally sunny days, being in the house didn't usually bother him, but Emmett wanted to be with Kaneki. He had checked up on his mate at points throughout the days, restricted to the shadows of the woods, but he kept those visits short. He had no intentions of becoming a full-blown stalker, no matter how much Jasper joked that he already was.

"Oh, leave him be." Rosalie fell onto the sofa, sitting her weight on Emmett's legs. She smirked. "He was the exact same back when I first found him, and he joined the family. You remember, Edward."

"Unfortunately," Edward shuddered.

"I was not that bad." Emmett received four deadpanned stares. "You two weren't even here yet, so shut it!" Emmett snapped, pointing at Alice and Jasper.

Jasper snorted. "You say that like you too had chilled out even a little by the time we did show up. You didn't." A pillow was thrown at the empathic, which he simply dodged. Emmett laughed.

He and Rose had fallen into a "close friend" state of existence, pretty much the same they'd always been minus the romantic and ual aspects of it. He thought she'd want to get away for a while. But she seemed fine just where she was. She'd said something about making sure Kaneki was 'right' for him and that Emmett didn't up. Emmett caught an object that flew towards his face. A gaming controller. Looking up, Alice stood above him with the other controller. Immediately, Emmett began shaking his head.

"No, I'm not playing with you. You cheat."

"I do not! Besides, I'm tired of playing against Edward."

"I wonder why." Rolling his eyes, Emmett surrendered to playing a game of Cod against his pixie sister, which consisted of Alice predicting his every move. The split-screen gameplay already gave advantages, but he was no match for her visions.

After a few rather frustrating yet amusing rounds with his siblings, Emmett got up from the couch and left Rose playing against Edward.

He walked out onto the back porch and onto the grass where he sat and laid down in the sunlight, his arms crossed underneath his head. He wasn't out there long before he felt someone sit down beside him and a poke against his shoulder.

"Hey, you know we were just joking before."

Emmett glanced over at Edward, then over his shoulder through the living room windows to see that Jasper had taken his place on the gaming system. They were playing Mario Kart from the sound of it.

Emmett sighed. "No, it's fine. I forgot that you and Jasper's abilities can be overwhelmed easily."

And I'm positive me continually switching back and forth and my worrying is irritating, he thought.

"You're really conflicted about this, aren't you?"

Emmett chuckled. "How can you tell?"

"It's...It's not really about the situation as a whole, not anymore at least. I think I've pretty much gotten over the shock of it. That's not the issue."

"Then, what is?" Edward asked, blocking out Emmett's thoughts. He felt that digging for the answers wouldn't be welcomed right now.

Emmett stared upwards at the sky, trying to come up with the right words to try and explain what's going on in his head. "Clearly, this isn't going to work out the way it did with Rose and me, and I don't know how to go about this properly. I've never been with a man before; I doubt it's that different, but different still, I-" He ran his fingers through his hair. "He-He has scars too. Around his wrists. I thought it was poison ivy at first."

"He clearly has a past, trauma, and a lot of baggage. Rose had her issues, still does. I'm not trying to undermine her. But I feel like Kaneki's runs a lot deeper that from what I've seen, and I don't-"

Emmett let out a frustrated groan, glaring down. He watched his diamond-like glowing skin as he shifted his arm left and right before him in the sunlight. The light flashed in several directions, even in his eyes, but it didn't bother him. He felt his brother place a hand on his shoulder.

The mind reader had never seen his 'younger' brother like this before. He always put on the carefree persona, not really seeming like he care about much on the surface. So it was certainly not a sight Edward was used to seeing, his brother so unsure of his own actions and so nervous. It was so... un-Emmett-like.

But he could understand where the worry came from. This wasn't going to be a comfortable ride for him, not like it was with Rose. Not to say that Rose was an easy woman, not at all. But Kaneki and Rose were two different people from two different walks of life. The only reason it had come easy with Rosalie was that they'd both been turned at the time and under the assumption that they were mates.

Edward did wonder about that. Was this a common thing amongst their kind, or any other? There was the case of confusing one's singer as their mate, but that wouldn't be the case for his siblings. They both had been turned, at least they were when they'd actually met after Rose had brought Emmett to Carlisle. Perhaps it was just in general attraction? Not everyone came across their mates after all. Not if that mate was human. There's the possibility of that human dying before they got the chance to come across one another. But vampires still could end up with ones they love. Whether that be true mates or not.

And the love between Rosalie and Emmett had been there from the start, no doubt. Edward would have had to be blind to not see the obvious attraction the two had for each other throughout the years. They really had no shame.

Which was why he was still surprised at how calmly Rose was taking the entire situation. Maybe he wasn't meant to understand.

"I think you should just take it slow," Edward finally said. "It is a different territory than what you're used to, you're right. Just...don't get too ahead of yourself to the point you overwhelm yourself and Kaneki."

Emmett was silent for a moment. "Yeah, you're right. Thanks, Ed."

The two sat in silence, listening to the others continue their games inside.

"Ya know," Edward said, breaking that silence. "I might have a way that could help you a bit with Kaneki."

Emmett sat up. "What?"

Edward vanished into the house and was back in a second with a book in his hands. Emmett looked at him and the book skeptically. "Look, I get that Kaneki is most likely, like, super smart, but I don't think-"

Edward smacked the book against Emmett's head. "It's a book on the Japanese language, you idiot. I've been learning up on it because I believe his thoughts are hardwired to his native tongue. I've been doing a few online courses as well. It's not that hard to learn if you're determined. I thought maybe you'd like to learn a few things with me. Plus, it could show later down the line that you're interested enough in him to learn his language, and perhaps some of his culture, for him."

"I'm surprised you don't already know the language," said Emmett, taking the book from him.

"I never had a reason to," Edward shrugged. "The family always stuck to America and European countries, and I did the same when I was on my own for a bit..."

Edward trailed off as Alice internally bulldozed her way into his head. He looked behind him and caught the last seconds of glazed over eyes before she grinned and was in front of the windows. She disappeared behind the curtains as they were pulled closed.

Emmett was looking as well, confused, as soon all the curtains on the lower level of the house were closed one by one. "What's her problem?"

"Vision," Edward replied, and he smirked. "You're getting a chance. Don't it up."

Emmett's eyebrows shot up, and he followed Edward back into the house. He was about to ask what Edward had meant when he heard tires rolling up the driveway. He went over and peeked between the curtains, successfully avoiding the rays of light that came through, and watched as the vehicle parked and a white head popped out.

He heard Alice giggle behind him. He turned to her. "Won't the closed curtains look weird considering you only shut them down here?"

"It'll be fine," Alice said, waving her hand dismissively. "Besides, the usually gloomy clouds will be back soon and stay. We'll open the curtains back up then. Unless you didn't want to see Kaneki today..."

"Of course I do," he grumbled, letting the shade fall back into place.

"Well, at least we can officially meet him now," Rosalie said from her spot on the sofa. Emmett searched her face. For what exactly, he didn't know.

"You-You're not going to embarrass me, are you?" He asked uncertainly.

"We'll see."

"Rooooooossssseeee," Emmett whined, walking over to her with a pout on his face. He ignored the doorbell ringing and Esme coming downstairs to answer it. Carlisle was gone for a business trip or something like that.

"What?" Asked Rose in an innocent tone. Emmett rolled his eyes. He knew what she was doing, and he hoped she wouldn't be too aggressive. Rose did have a perfected resting face and usually come off as unapproachable. She never did anything to come off as otherwise, either.

While Emmett was distracted by Rose, Esme came through with Kaneki, who was hesitantly following her. He held the folded clothes he'd been lent in his arms. He spotted Jasper and held them out to him; Esme had mentioned that they had been his.

"Thank you," Jasper said, taking them from the smaller man. Emmett's hoodie sat on top, which he threw at Emmett, hitting him in the back of the head, snapping him out of his bickering, and looking up.

Kaneki still stood in the room's archway, much like he did the night they found him. He wore a gray, somewhat baggy shirt, brown khaki pants, and sneakers. He gave a small hesitant wave. "I came to bring back the clothes you let me borrow."

Before Emmett could respond, Esme asked, "Would you like anything? Water? Something to eat?"

Kaneki's face twitched, almost a look of disgust, as he shifted awkwardly on his feet. "No, I'm alright. I just came to bring back the clothes..."

"I insist," said Esme. "Besides, I don't think you got the chance to meet my daughters yet."

"Um, no, I haven't."

Alice was no longer able to contain herself, it seemed, and she approached Kaneki cautiously, but still with her usual enthusiasm. "Hi, I'm Alice. It's nice to finally meet you; we've heard so much about you."

She held out a hand for him to shake, which he took. "Kaneki."

Alice gestured over to the blonde woman. "And that's Rosalie."

"Hello."

Rose nodded at him in response, and Emmett gave a small wave, breathing it a bit easier because of Rosalie's reaction. Perhaps she wasn't going to be as tricky about this as he first thought.

"Um, again, thank you for your help and generosity. I really appreciate it. But I should really get going," Kaneki said.

"Really? We don't get newcomers here often. The last new family to move in was us. We'd love to get to know you more and your family." Alice was pouting. Emmett could practically see Kaneki melt on the spot from the look he was getting. It was hard to deny Alice, especially those from outside the family, as they had little experience with her and how to ignore her.

Kaneki finally lamented. "Alright."

Alice grinned and, making sure Kaneki saw her movements, grabbed onto his arm and pulled him further into the living room, pushing him down onto the smaller couch that Emmett had occupied.

"Subtle," Emmett said under his breath. Alice stuck her tongue out at him.

"Are you sure you don't want anything, dear?" Esme asked again.

"Uh, coffee, if you have it."

Most likely, they did. They didn't usually keep food in the house. No one was able to eat it, so it would just go to waste. But Esme had taken it upon herself to stock the kitchen for Kaneki and his family's sake. But mostly because of Kaneki. Esme smiled, and with an "of course," she went off towards the kitchen.

How much food did she even stock up on for one human? Emmett thought towards Edward.

"Let's just say that Alice had to stop her from going overboard," whispered Edward. "We could barely keep Alice from going on a shopping spree out of town for him the other day."

Cullen women are insane.

"So," Rosalie said. "What made you decide to move to Forks of all places?"

Kaneki, who'd been sitting picking at black paint nails, looked up at the blonde. "A change in scenery, I guess. My family was ready to settle someplace."

"From Japan?" Alice asked. She smiled sheepishly when Kaneki blinked at her. "As I said, we've heard a lot about you. Emmett here wouldn't shut up about it."

Kaneki glanced at the mentioned man, a red tint appearing on his face, while Emmett gave a slightly embarrassed grunt as he glared at the pixie. Kaneki nodded slowly in acknowledgment of her previous question. Esme returned to the living room then, carrying a steaming mug of coffee.

"This must be a very different experience for you then," She said as she placed the mug on the coffee table in front of the white-haired man. "I didn't know how you usually drank your coffee, so I only added some french vanilla and sugar."

"Thank you," he said. "And yes, we mostly stuck to cities until now. It's certainly quieter."

"We moved here ourselves about a year ago for my husband's job."

Kaneki hummed. "Are you staying here long as well?"

Emmett's eyes snapped to his mother and flicking between his family members' faces. They hadn't brought up the fact that they'd eventually have to move on from Forks. But if Kaneki planned on staying, Emmett wasn't exactly inclined to leave when the rest of the family had to. Emmett cursed his immortality right then and waited for an answer to the question.

Esme pondered for a moment. "Well, we definitely are staying put until the kids have graduated at the very least. But something has come up recently that has perhaps prolonged our stay."

Kaneki paused, and his eyebrows shot up. He'd just started to lean forward for the mug, but he leaned back, looking at all the younger Cullens. "You're all still in high school?" His gaze flicked to Emmett, then quickly away. Emmett caught the look of something on his face but couldn't identify it.

"Yeah," Jasper said, understanding dawning on him. Jasper mouthed to Emmett while Kaneki wasn't looking. 'He thought we were all around the same age as him.'

Emmett's eyes widened in realization. Kaneki, if he was genuinely attracted to Emmett, must be thinking he was creeping on some minor, an underaged kid, now. The utter look of mortification that fell on his face confirmed that.

Emmett was quick to try and explain, at least explain, without revealing him and his family. He couldn't exactly say what his actual age is. And he didn't want to give his physical age of 20. What twenty years old was still in high school? He didn't wish Kaneki, who was clearly a knowledgeable man, to think he was too stupid to graduate highschool. He wasn't; he'd graduated many times before. But he couldn't exactly tell him that, can he?

So he'd stick with the original story his family always went with. He'd tell Kaneki the truth eventually. He just hoped all this lying wouldn't come back to bite him down the road. "Edward, Alice, and Jasper are going to be juniors this coming school year. Rose and I are seniors."

This did little to get that look off Kaneki's face, and he gave a nervous laugh, running a hand over his face. His fingers went underneath the eyepatch over his eye. Emmett wondered if it would be rude to ask about it.

"And here I thought all of you were adults."

"Well, Em and I are, technically. He turned 18 back in March, and I just turned about a month ago," Rosalie said.

Kaneki put down his hand with another breathy laugh. "In Japan, they don't legally consider you an adult until you're 20."

He finally leaned forward and grabbed the mug. The back of his shirt pulled up a bit from the movement revealing the small of his back and a black material-it looked like a form-fitting leather-that started at the middle of the small of his back and disappeared underneath the pants. It also started again at his side and looked like it went around the front of his body.

Emmett's mind went blank, then erupted, much to his brothers' exasperation and amusement.

Bodysuit bodysuit bodysuitbodysuit. He wears bodysuits-

Kaneki leaned back to his original position with the mug in his hands, long fingers wrapped around the sides, completely unaware of the inner spiral he'd just send the largest Cullen into.

Kaneki took a sip of the warm coffee. It was store-bought, Kaneki could tell. It wasn't bad, just not as good as what they usually had at Anteiku. Maybe he was slightly biased.

Emmett was a teenager. He'd been thinking about a child, like a ing creep. Well, not technically a child. He was 18, going on 19 next March. But compared to Kaneki's 24, soon to be 25, he couldn't help but see him as such. Then again, was it wrong of him to do that? He knew he had hated it himself when he was that age, but he couldn't exactly argue against that point at the time. At least before Rize. After that, though still naive, he'd seen too much. He'd always been mature for his age, though Kaneki had come to realize that that was a fancy way of saying 'traumatized.'

It took all of Kaneki's strength not to bury his face in his hands. Emmett did seem...mature beneath the comfortable air he produced. Kind of like Kaneki, but amplified. Like he'd lived several adult lifetimes. Speaking of Emmett, Kaneki could feel the man's gaze on him like a beacon light.

A choking sound came from Edward across from them, and Jasper groaned under his breath. "Emmett." His voice was muffled behind the hand that was covering his face. Kaneki felt like he was missing something. Emmett shifted beside him, a guilty expression on his face, and the girls giggled. Okay, he definitely must have missed something. Maybe it was an inside family joke or something?

"Sorry," Emmett grunted.

"Honestly, Em, you're so hopeless," Edward smirked.

Jasper gave a matching one. "Thank God, he'll be out of the house and graduated by the time anything happens. It'll spare our ears and minds."

Kaneki blinked in bewilderment. Then a pillow went sailing across the room, which was caught and thrown back. Before he knew it, Kaneki was witnessing Emmett and Edward on the ground. Emmett clearly had the upper hand in strength with this sudden wrestling match before Jasper joined in, teaming up with Edward against Emmett.

A sense of concern filled Kaneki's chest as their bodies bumped roughly against surrounding furniture. Thankful that he had picked up his coffee when he did as a knee slammed into the coffee table. But the others of the family present did not share his concern. They didn't even bat an eye at the three fighting boys, besides Mrs. Cullen speaking in a raised voice that if they broke anything, they'd have hell to pay.

"Don't worry," Alice laughed. "They're always like this."

"They aren't going to hurt each other?" Kaneki questioned, lifting his leg in time to avoid the arm swinging in his direction.

"Yeah," Rosalie said. The blonde sat down in the place Emmett had once occupied, keeping a little space in between them. "But they know each other's limits. Very rarely do they hurt each other."

Kaneki snorted, turning his gaze back to the boys still on the ground. Edward and Jasper were winning, by the looks of it. It reminded him of Hide a bit. Hide had never been afraid to get physical with Kaneki. Kaneki could remember Hide engaging him in their own wrestling match if you could call them that. It was mostly just Kaneki being pinned to the ground by Hide. He never caused him any harm, of course; he only did it to , especially for being able to be manhandled so easily.

Even when he became half-ghoul and becoming more physically robust than most humans and his childhood friend, he still allowed Hide to wine during these moments. Partly because Hide looked like he enjoyed it, and the other part was Kaneki still being afraid of hurting him.

Alice wandered over to the windows suddenly and opened the curtains. The sunlight that had been shining the past few days had finally been covered by a thick layer of clouds. Kaneki wondered if it would rain. Rose, when she noticed that Emmett was losing, smirked. "Alice, I don't think it's fair that your boyfriend jumped in something between Edward and Em."

"You just don't like the fact that he's losing." came a reply from the pixie as she finished opening the curtains and sat back down. "He's fine."

Kaneki's eyebrows furrowed. "Boyfriend?"

He thought they were all siblings. Kaneki took no notice of the fight stopping abruptly. Emmett, sprawled out underneath the weights of his two brothers, stared at Kaneki in a panic.

"We're all adopted," Alice explained slowly, seeing the confusion. "Rosalie and Jasper are twin brother and sister; Hales. Edward, Emmett, and I are Cullens."

Alice got up from where she'd been seated with Esme and walked over to the trio, grabbing Jasper's hand and pulling him up. She wrapped her skinny arms around his middle. "Jasper and I are dating."

"Edward needs to go get him someone," Emmett mumbled, bucking his upwards, but Edward stayed unmoving on his back. "Maybe getting laid would finally get that sick from up his ."

"Emmett," scolded Esme.

"I said what I said," Emmett shrugged. He smirked up at his brother, rearing up again. "You know I'm right, Eddie boy. How about you hit up that blonde girl, Tanya? She seems more than willing-"

Edward, with perhaps more force than necessary, pushed Emmett's face into the rug. "Shut up."

"So, are you and Emmett dating then?" Kaneki asked out of the process of elimination. Kaneki was pretty sure that this wasn't exactly...legal. He'd never been around adoptive families or their situations before, but Kaneki was somewhat confident in this thought. Maybe things worked differently in America? It wouldn't be the first difference he'd discovered in his time here. The twins were under a different last name, so does it not count?

"Um..." Rose and Emmett exchanged a look, and after receiving a brief nod from Emmett, she turned back to Kaneki. "We used to," she admitted. "But we broke up."

"Is that legal?" The blunt question flew from Kaneki's mouth before he could stop it. Slapping a hand over his mouth, Kaneki raised his other hand in front of him. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's none of my business. That was really rude of me."

Emmett didn't know whether to panic over them, admitting that Rose and he used to be together or the abrupt question that just left his mate's mouth. Edward got off of him as apologies flew from Kaneki's lips. "No, no, it's fine!" Emmett said quickly, getting off the floor himself. "It was just unexpected!"

They'd never really had to explain themselves before.

"Jasper and Alice were dating before he and Rose were adopted. So were Rose and I, so we weren't really raised as siblings together, if-if that makes any sort of sense."

They all stood in anxious stillness as they watch Kaneki, who looked to be mulling over the information he'd just been given.

This is it, Emmett deemed after a moment. We've weirded him out. He's disgusted with us, of me. And I've only known him for a few days! Wow...new record...at least he got to know him a little, it'd been a nice-

"That...makes sense." Kaneki's voice brought Emmett out of his thoughts. He was taking a sip of his coffee. "I'm sorry if I seemed judgemental; I wasn't trying to. I've just never come across a family such as yours."

Emmett let out a hushed breath of relief, and the others relaxed as well from the tense state they didn't know they had entered.

It wasn't his life, nor did he know of theirs, Kaneki thought. It wasn't his place to judge the way they chose to live it. Besides, why should he care to begin with?

"What about you?" Edward asked.

"Me?"

"Yes, you," he spoke with a chuckle. He looked over at Emmett swiftly before he continued; Kaneki almost didn't catch it. "Any significant other? You mentioned someone named Touka before."

Edward disregarded Emmett's glare and him telling him to shut up in his thoughts. These are questions that needed to be asked, after all. Nothing wrong with asking. Thankfully for Emmett, Kaneki shook his head. "No, Touka is just a friend." He smiled softly. "There may have been something there in the past, a potential for more, but not anymore. It grew into more of a sibling relationship than anything else. I don't know what I'd do without her."

Kaneki downed the last of the coffee and glanced at the watch on his wrist. "I really should get back. Touka and Hinami wanted to go around Port Angeles later on, so they need the car."

Alice suddenly stood in front of him, wide-eyed and leaning over him slightly. Was it sad that the small girl intimidated him a bit?

"Shopping?"

"Um, I think so? Hinami likes to on occasion."

"Could I come along?" Alice proposed eagerly. "I've only ever really shopped with Rose, but she isn't as into it as I am. I'd love to meet your family anyway."

"I-I don't know..." Kaneki looked anywhere but Alice's wide eyes. The puppy dog look and the molten gold was a strange yet effective combination.

"We could call them and ask," she suggested.

"I don't have a phone, so I can't..."

"You really weren't kidding about that?" Alice asked Emmett in disbelief. Kaneki made a face-definitely not pouting! He had a feeling he was being made fun of here.

"I've never had a reason to have one," he said defensively, standing to his feet and crossing his arms over his chest. He didn't appreciate the amused looks he was receiving right now. The nerve of these people!

"Well, now, you do!"

Kaneki raised an eyebrow. Another reminder of Hide flashed through his mind. Much like Hide, Alice had a persistent nature to her. He took a slight step to the side, only to bump into something hard. The 'something' was Emmett if the body tingles hadn't given him away. Emmett immediately moved back out of Kaneki's bubble, which he was grateful for. One person in his space was enough at the moment. Emmett gave a smile, rubbing the back of his neck. For some reason, Kaneki could feel his cheeks grow warm, and his stomach do a weird flip at the sight.

"Don't gang up on him like that, Alice," he said to his sister. "Sorry, but she rarely takes no for an answer. Best just go along with it."

Kaneki sighed, feeling overwhelmed with now two golden puppy dog eyes staring him down. "I guess it wouldn't hurt for you to come by and ask..."

He barely had gotten the sentence out when Alice let out a sound of joy before running upstairs and soon reentering with her shoes on.

"Alright, let's go!" She exclaimed, latching on to Kaneki's arm carefully like before and pulling him towards the door. He barely had time to put the mug back on the coffee table.

"Wait," Emmett called, following his sister and his mate into the front hall. "What about me?"

Alice stepped in his way. "You had your chance to spend time with him already," she hissed.

"Barely," Emmett hissed back.

"You don't even like shopping!"

"Perhaps I'm ready to try new things! And you know that's not why-"

"Um, I really should be heading back," Kaneki said, a hand over his lips, trying to stifle his laughter.

"Sorry," Emmett said. Seems like he'd been apologizing a lot lately. "Alice, I-"

"See you later!" And Alice was out the door with Kaneki, pulling him towards the vehicle, Kaneki stumbling a bit to keep up with the hyperactive girl. Emmett stood in the hall for a few moments in disbelief as the car pulled out of the driveway.

"Ugh, I can not ing believe her!"

"Emmett, language!"

---

A/N: This is a link to a picture I used for describing the bit about Kaneki's bodysuit (which is actually just his battle suit he still wears under his clothes lol): https://www.pinterest.com/pin/563018682543920/