In the back lawn again, Emmett could be found there, scrolling through his phone. It was late afternoon and warm, as warm as a cloudy day in Washington could get anyways. His phone pinged and vibrated in his grip, signaling an incoming notification.

It was a text from Kaneki. At first, Emmett was excited. Perhaps Kaneki was confirming a date he was free. However, the toothy grin fell from Emmett's face when their message thread came up on the screen.

Kaneki (4:02 p.m.)

Hey

Sorry, I should have texted you earlier, but I got caught up with Hinami.

Emmett snickered but continued reading.

Kaneki (4:02 p.m.)

I can hang out and stuff

just...not as a date. I would prefer it just being as friends?

If you're okay with that.

Emmett blinked as he sat up from his lying-down position. What had changed? Had Emmett come on too strong? Kaneki had seemed really reluctant to agree to the date at first; that was clear. So was it cold feet, maybe?

He got to his feet and walked into the house, not even taking his eyes off his phone as he went upstairs to the old guest bedroom that had become his to grab the keys to his Jeep. He was walking by Carlisle's office when Carlisle's voice called him in.

Emmett poked his head in. Carlisle was seated behind his desk. "Yeah?"

Carlisle glanced up at him from his paperwork, about to say something, but paused, double-taking. Emmett reached up to touch his jaw, wondering what kind of expression Carlisle was seeing there. It seemed neutral to him.

"Everything okay?" Carlisle asked.

Emmett was more used to Edward and his mind-reading, which usually wasn't so annoying until recently. He would just nose his way through his head and find his answer, rather than just ask. Thankfully, the boy in question was out of the house. Emmett shook his head, glancing down at his phone again, then back up.

"Nothing I can't handle on my own."

Carlisle gave a firm nod, clearly deciding not to pursue the matter further, much to the larger man's relief. Emmett quickly sent Kaneki a responding text before he entered the office entirely.

Emmett (4:13 p.m.)

Can I ask what changed ur mind?

He stopped by the side of the large oak desk, leaning his hip against it as he let his eyes roam over the many papers on its surface and the open laptop. Among those papers were many missing persons' flyers and articles, all from Seattle and some surrounding towns. Smiling faces of both men and women, a teenager or two, looked up at him with descriptors, where they were last seen and what they were wearing, and contact information written below.

"What's all this?" He asked.

Carlisle pushed some of the papers to the side. "There have been a lot of disappearances going on. A few murders, but mostly disappearances," Carlisle stated. "I'm looking into things."

"Vampires?" Emmett frowned. The Cullen head wouldn't bother looking into it if it wasn't.

"Possibly. The main issue I'm having tying it to that verdict is that no bodies are being found. At least not enough to match up with the number of disappearances. Our kind doesn't typically care about hiding evidence, at least from what I've seen. There's no way to trace it back, so what's the point?"

Emmett nodded in understanding, picking up one of the flyers. It was a young male, late teens, who disappeared not too long ago. "Maybe it's just a human-caused issue."

"That's also a possibility. It would certainly explain the need to get rid of the bodies. A few could have just disappeared on their own will as well; there is that to consider too."

"Could be a mix of both."

"Maybe. But I do think it would be in our best interest to go to Seattle at some point. If it is vampires, I don't want to risk an altercation here in Forks. And with the wolves. There's our treaty to think about. Tensions are high with the Quilietes as is."

Emmett chuckled then, thinking back on the wolves. He had been there for the initial agreement with Ephraim Black and his two other shifters as if it were yesterday. A situation that had gone over surprisingly well, with Alpha Black actually trusting Carlisle's genuine offer. He'd been correct in doing so in the long run, but the mistrust from the others still held generations later.

When they'd returned to Forks two years ago, this time with the added Alice and Jasper, there had been an altercation with the tribe. Namely, Emmett, who had been too busy goofing off with his siblings to remember the treaty.

---

Racing and wrestling was a whole lot more fun with Jasper than it was with Edward, who could see your every move through your thoughts. Edward had always been the fastest of all of them anyways. Or Alice with her visions. Rosalie wasn't really interested in their games, neither was Carlisle and Esme. So it was refreshing to have a partner with no real way of cheating; Jasper's empath ability didn't truly count.

Emmett shoved Jasper to the side with his shoulder in an attempt to push him off balance as they sped through the woods. Rosalie, Edward, and Alice were following them, amused, at their own paces. Their parents were off in a different part of the woods nearby hunting, the main reason for their outing that night.

The rocking terrain of the slight cliff into a river below was spotted by Emmett up ahead, and he voiced to Jasper that the other side would be their finish line. Whoever touched the ground first.

Jasper accepted with a laugh, picking up speed.

"Emmett, Jasper! Wait!" The two barely registered the sound of Edward and Rosalie's voices at first. Jasper was stopped by arms wrapping around his waist and a hand on his shoulder, surprised by the sudden restrictions. As Edward quickly explained that they were about to cross over into wolf territory, Rosalie continued after her husband, who had not noticed the interruption to their game.

"Emmett! No!" Rosalie shouted after him, but she wasn't fast enough to get ahold of Emmett. He had already jumped, his body flying over the more significant gap and onto the other side. He landed, then straightened up, letting loose a noise of triumph when he saw that Jasper was not across yet.

Emmett spun around, a beaming smile on his face that quickly fell in confusion, the words he was about to say in good-hearted mocking dying on his lips at the sight of his family at the edge of the other side.

"Emmett, you're on Quileute land," Carlisle called urgently. He'd joined the group with Esme when they heard the yelling that didn't sound like the usual playful yells of his adopted children. "Get back over here!"

Realization dawns on him. "Ah, -"

Before he got the chance to move to go back across, a body-one much larger than his own-slammed into him, sending him tumbling down the rocky side and into the water below. He'd sure he would be at risk of hypothermia if he were human.

Thankfully, the action sent him back onto Cullen territory. Emmett resurfaced above the water, his dark hair clinging to his forehead, water droplets falling into his eyes as he looked up. A wolf with black fur and golden eyes that were darker than the Cullen topaz color, roughly the size of a full-grown horse, was glaring at him and his family.

Growls, deep and ferocious, rumbled from the wolf's chest, teeth bared. From the trees behind it came another wolf—this one shorter than the other, but just as big, with the brown color of fur. The two seemed to be communicating with each other silently.

Hands went under Emmett's arms, lifting him up from the water. This approach, from Jasper he realized, made the two wolves tense even more than they already were, leaning back on their hind legs as if ready to launch forward and attack, which they were no doubt thinking about doing. But they couldn't be that stupid, could they? They were clearly outnumbered, seven to two.

As Emmett and Jasper rose completely to their feet, they held out their hands, palms outward. Edward, in the meantime, was scanning through the two wolves' minds.

"The black one is Sam Uley, descendent of Levi Uley; one of the wolves there when the treaty was made," Edward said. "The other one is Jared Cameron."

Emmett fought a snort at the apparent dismissal of the second wolf. Jasper and Emmett took the opportunity to go back to where the rest of their family stood as Carlisle started speaking with-well, too-the two wolves, using Edward as a translator of sorts. The wolves were definitely not going to shift back to their human forms in their presence.

Emmett turned to the others as Carlisle and Edward tried to fix the situation caused by his negligence. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking, I-It completely slipped my mind." He glanced over his shoulder at the still growling wolves, rubbing the back of his still wet neck. Then the growling lowered into annoyed, rumbling huffs.

"This won't happen again," Carlisle was speaking. "We have been away for many years, and we have two more members than we did before, who were not there for the initial agreement. I sincerely apologize on their behalf."

The fact that Emmett wasn't one of the new members of the coven and that he had been there for the treaty-making went unspoken. It would only solidify the fact that there was no real excuse for the mistake.

The black wolf, Sam Uley, gave a short, harsh bark, and Edward responded in turn with a nod. This seemed to satisfy the wolves for the time being as they turned and disappeared into the trees. Though they knew the shapeshifters were still there, nearby, watching and waiting for the family to leave.

Carlisle gave an audible sigh before turning to face them. "That went well," he said. "I'm going to have to meet up on neutral grounds with the wolves and their council members of their tribe in the next few days to go back over the treaty."

"You need to be more careful, Emmett," Rosalie told him with a frown as Edward immediately spoke to Carlisle, "You're not going alone."

"Those mangy mutts would kill for any reason to take us out," she continued lowly. "Accident or not."

"I know, I know," Emmett groaned. "It's just been a while since we've had to worry about wolves and territories."

"Seems like our presence has triggered this generation of wolves' shifting," Edward said, sounding a mix of amused and frustrated. "The Uley kid has positioned himself as Alpha since he was the first of them to shift. The Jared kid shifted not long after him. A month or so apart, maybe."

"Are we supposed to care?" Rosalie asked cooley, rolling her eyes. She had never liked the wolves, neither had Edward. The rest, Emmett included, were more indifferent about it.

"Rose," Esme scolded. "It's useful information."

Rosalie huffed but backed down anyway. She leaned back against Emmett's chest, not seeming to care much about his soaked clothing, and pulled his arms to wrap around her shoulders.

"You okay?" She asked him softly, turning her head to the side to look at him.

Emmett nodded. "He just took me off guard, is all. No damage done." He smiled, leaning down to plant a kiss on the side of her neck.

Rosalie giggled, then stiffened, wrinkling her nose up in sudden disgust. She broke out of Emmett's hold, leaving Emmett blinking rapidly in confusion, only to appear a few feet away from him.

"What?"

"You smell like a dog. A wet one at that."

"Oh, come on, babe!" Emmett whined, taking a step towards her. Rosalie simply took a step back in response. "He barely touched me."

She shook her head, turning away from her husband with a smirk. "Don't care. The smell is still there, and I don't want you near me until you've showered. Twice."

The others chuckled at their antics, Alice giving the suggestion of burning the clothes Emmett was wearing once they returned home.

"Roooooooossssseee~"

---

Emmett shook himself from the memory as Carlisle continued speaking. "We don't want the Volturi involved either. I doubt they will, but..."

"Don't want to take the chance," Emmett finished when Carlisle trailed off. Emmett definitely agreed with him there. The Volturi in Forks was no good, especially with Kaneki and his family being here now and still humans. He didn't want Aro to know of them, which he no doubt would with his mind-reading touch. It went beyond the simple scanning of thoughts that was Edward's gift. From what he heard from Carlisle and stories of his time with the Italian law, Aro could dive deeper, deeper into past memories, thoughts from long ago.

Edward's gift was irritating at best, but at least it wasn't that.

Just then, his phone started to ring. Emmett froze up for a second before looking down at the screen, the issue that had brought him upstairs in the first place coming to the forefront of his mind.

There was no caller photo, not yet at least, but Kaneki's name was flashing. Frustration ran through his body, more at the situation and not Kaneki himself.

Why did Kaneki change his mind? Of course, he had every right to, and he had said that he was still down to hang out in general, as friends, so that was something at least. But why not make that clear from the beginning? Emmett had told the other that he could take a no.

Kaneki was probably calling now due to Emmett's lack of response to his text if the unopened notification told him anything.

"I gotta take this," Emmett told Carlisle before hitting the answer button and pushing himself away from the desk. "Hello?"

"Hey, Emmett, it's Kaneki."

"Tell Kaneki I said hello," Carlisle called in an amused tone as Emmett walked towards the door. Emmett chuckled, putting the phone on speaker for a moment. "Hey, what's up? My dad says hi."

There was a pause. "Hello, Mr. Cullen."

"It's Carlisle. Hope you and your family are doing well?"

"Yes, we're fine. Thank you for asking. Emmett?"

Emmett took the phone off speaker, stepping out into the hallway and shutting the office door behind him. "Yeah?"

"Sorry for calling out of the blue, but you didn't respond to my message, and I was worried that I made you mad or something..."

Emmett stepped into the garage where his Jeep was parked, hitting the button to open up the door. Once the loud rattling sound stopped, he responded. "No, you're fine. I don't mind you calling. At any time, really. I was just with my dad, as you can tell, and I didn't see your message."

"Oh. I'm sorry if I interrupted-"

Emmett cut him off. "Stop apologizing." He hopped into the driver's side of the Jeep and was heading out of the driveway the next second. "Now, what did your message say? I'm not mad, just curious. And a bit confused, not gonna lie."

There was a shuffling sound on Kaneki's end, then a door shutting. "One second, I share a room with Yoma."

He frowned slightly before eventually shaking his head. It was most likely a roommate situation. Chill out. Emmett heard a bell ring, telling him that Kaneki had walked out the cafe's front door. Kaneki apologized again.

"You really have a thing for apologizing for things that don't need it," Emmett commented, amused.

Kaneki gave a laugh of his own, a noise that sent a warm feeling through Emmett's body. It was a really nice sound, and Emmett almost asked him to do it again, despite how weird the request would be.

"I've been told that before," Kaneki replied. "I think it's just a habit at this point."

Emmett leaned back, one hand on the steering wheel as he cruised down the road. "I hope you'll learn to break that habit. At least with me."

Kaneki fell silent, and Emmett feared that he may have overstepped again.

"Maybe," Kaneki finally responded, in a tone that Emmett couldn't really decipher. "Anyways, you wanted to know what-why I changed my mind?"

Emmett hummed in confirmation. "If it wouldn't be too much to ask."

"It's not. I understand. Um, I-I've thought about it for a while after our conversation, and I don't think I'm really ready for a relationship just yet, or like, dating in general."

"Was I too pushy?" Emmett asked.

"No, it's not you," Kaneki paused, then chuckled. "I guess the phrase, 'it's not you, it's me' would be appropriate here, no matter how cliche and lame. But it fits...a lot of things have happened to me in my life, stuff that I'm still dealing with now. I'm not completely used to the...normalcy my life has become, I guess? Trusting people, stuff like that... I hope you can understand."

Flashes of the night they met went through Emmett's mind. Particularly the drive back to the cafe. The scars on Kaneki's wrists, his mannerisms in the forest, and even after that.

What exactly had his mate been put through?

Emmett spoke carefully here. "Perhaps, in the future, you can explain it further. Or whenever you're comfortable. If I can help in any way, be it your doubts or anything else, I will." He made sure that it was clear that he would want to know everything eventually though he didn't say it. "But yeah, we can still hang out as friends until you state otherwise."

"...you're...you're okay with this?" Kaneki asked slowly, disbelief clear in his voice. The hesitation and doubtfulness made Emmett want to reach through the phone and hold him. Shield him against anything and everything. Mind made up, his foot pressed a bit harder on the gas pedal.

"I can wait," Emmett said firmly and simply. "Pretty good at it, actually, especially considering nothing is holding me back from pursuing this; us. But you do. So you call the shots, whatever makes you comfortable."

Silence again, then a quiet, "thank you."

"There's no need to thank me for anything."

"But there is," Kaneki retorted. "Not a lot of people would be this understanding and willing to compromise. Even when we barely know each other. Just...thanks."

I would do anything for you...

"Well, I'm hoping to change that last part," Emmett said. "You just lead the way, Captain! We'll go at your pace. Now, what's the plan, cause I'm down the street."

"Alright-Wait, plan? Down the street? Emmett, you ca-"

Emmett hung up the phone with a booming laugh, not giving Kaneki the chance to finish his stuttering. Seconds later, he pulled the Jeep into the cafe's parking lot.

Kaneki was standing in front of the entrance, the phone still up to his ear, in shock that he'd be so abruptly hung up on. He wore a pair of black baggy sweats and a t-shirt, sneakers that were slipped on halfway, the heels of his feet sitting outside. His snowy hair was messy, sticking up in some places as if he'd just rolled out of bed.

Emmett liked the look on him. Less near, not as put together as the other male seemed to be usually.

He parked the Jeep in one of the spaces and stood up, still in the vehicle, and rested his arm on the roof, a grin prominent on his face.

"Hop in!" He called.

"Emmett, what do you think you're doing?" Kaneki walked up, stopping in front of him and looking up. He raised an eyebrow.

Emmett tapped the roof with his knuckles before jumping down to the ground. "Let's go do something. Anything."

Kaneki stared at him, slowly shaking his head. In exasperation? "I'm not really dressed to be going out."

"Shut up, you look fine. Gorgeous even. No, warning, I'm gonna pick you up."

"You're what? Hey!" Emmett wrapped his arms around Kaneki's torso, not giving him the chance to think so much, though the blush that was spread across his face told him it was too late. Not that Emmett minded. He meant his compliments and wanted Kaneki to know it.

The white-haired man's body still tensed up, but he didn't struggle as Emmett went around to the passengers' side and dropped him into the seat. He handed Kaneki his sneakers that had slipped off in the pre-warned assault and went to back off. But he found himself freezing as Kaneki's face was suddenly close to his, gray eyes staring him down.

"Is you manhandling me like that going to be a thing that I should just accept when it comes to you?" Kaneki deadpanned.

"I..well.."

Kaneki grinned slightly, the corners of his eyes crinkling a bit, and he backed his head away. He began pulling his sneakers on, correctly this time, and tying the laces as he spoke. "It's fine. I'll have to get used to being touched anyways. Not just by you."

He hesitated before continuing. "It's...not all bad, though." He finished tying his shoes and leaned back against the seat with a sigh, looking uncertain when he turned his head to look at Emmett. "It's like a tingling sensation. If not a bit cold."

Emmett's eyes widened. Tingling sensation. He'd heard of it. It was one of the many signifiers. Kaneki's body was recognizing Emmett, the pull. Even if Kaneki didn't realize what that was, nor what it meant.

Before Emmett could find the words to respond with, Kaneki chuckled humorlessly. "It's probably nothing. Ignore me."

He reached a hand out for the seat belt, taking his eyes of Emmett's still form to buckle himself in. Once he was done, gray met gold again, looking at him expectantly.

"So, where are we heading?"