LEGO HOUSE

nineteen.           goodbyes

▬▬ IF THERE WAS ONE THING Cori hated more than just about everything, it was saying goodbye. Goodbyes sucked. They were sad and she got emotional very easily. So Emmett was expecting it when his girlfriend whined and refused to let Carter or Noah out of her grip - though she was careful not to hurt them.

"You can't hold them forever." Lola chuckled from her place next to Emmett on the front steps of the Swan house.

"Yes I can." The girl mumbled, her cheek squished against Carter's shoulder. "You don't get to leave me."

"They might need air." Emmett added, an amused smile resting on his lips.

"We talked about this," Carter started as he rubbed her back and Noah patted the top of her head. "-you'll come visit us. And we can all meet back here for the Holidays."

"Yeah, you have the next seven Christmas' planned out." Noah told her. "It's not like you'll never see us again."

"I know." She sighed, but still she kept a hold on them.

"I love you, Pipsqueak, but I kind of need my arm. Can't lose my Scholarship." He chuckled and her eyes went wide as she stepped back, letting them go and they both took in deep breaths.

"Sorry." She mumbled, rubbing his shoulder a little. "I just hate goodbyes."

"It's not goodbye." Carter pulled her into his side. "It's see ya later."

"Yeah, I know." She mumbled, her face tucked into his side. "I'm gonna miss you guys."

"We're gonna miss you, too." He leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

"And you still have Lola." Noah added. "Which sucks for me."

"She had me first." Lola told him with a simple shrug of her shoulders and Noah's smile faded as she looked over at the blonde and Cori just laughed. "Sorry, babe, but it's true."

"She loves me more." Cori told him, poking his chest.

"We'll see about that." His eyes stayed on the blonde, he just smirked as he took a step towards her. Then she pushed herself up and took off across the yard, the boy simply laughed before chasing after her.

"I like the gold, by the way." Carter stated, his eyes following Lola and Noah around the yard. "But I stand by the fact that the blue suits you better."

"Yeah, uh, contacts." She mumbled and he chuckled as he looked down at her, she was still under his arm. "What?" Her brows creased, a pout pulling at her bottom lip.

"I know." He told her.

"Know what?" She took a step away from him, her eyes jumping to Emmett for a moment, who had sat up a little straighter.

"Lola got drunk at the graduation party and let it slip." He shrugged. "And it kind of makes sense. You look a little different, you're always ice cold, you don't eat anymore - that was the most obvious change."

"What exactly did she say?" She shifted on her feet, her nerves growing.

"Word for word?" He raised an eyebrow, a small smile playing on his lips. "Cori's a vampire. But not the bad kind. She's good. Yeah, she's good. Then she told me not to tell myself."

"Really?"

He nodded. "Yeah, she was wasted."

"Not that, you idiot." She huffed, lightly smacking his arm and he chuckled.

"It's kind of hard to forget someone telling you that your best friend is a vampire. I just wish you had told me. But I get why you didn't."

"You knowing puts you at risk. Lola knowing puts her at risk." She told him, her nerves getting the best of her.

"I won't say anything if you won't." Emmett shrugged and Cori turned to look at him, her eyes wide. "Everyone knows that Lola knows, but we don't have to say anything about Carter. No one has to know but us."

"And the psycho, of course." She muttered and he hummed. "But you'd really not tell anyone for me?" She asked as she made her way over to him.

"I'd do anything for you." He grinned as he placed his hands on her hips, pulling her closer to him. "Literally anything."

"Even go see Foamhenge?" She raised an eyebrow, a wide smile pulling at her lips.

"I think you mean Stonehenge." Carter stated, clearly confused.

"She does not." Emmett looked over at the boy as Cori giggled. "There's this full-scale replica of Stonehenge made out of styrofoam in Virginia. And she's weird."

"Why not go see the actual Stonehenge?" The human boy asked, sitting on the steps next to the couple.

"Oh, we're going to." Cori nodded as she leaned against Emmett. "But I want to see Foamhenge first."

"You are a strange one."

"Yeah, she is." Emmett all but gushed as he leaned forward and lightly kissed her cheek. And Carter smiled at the two, he was happy that she was happy.

And Cori was beyond elated that Carter and Emmett seemed to get along, even if it was a bit awkward at first.

"Hey, where'd Lola and Noah go?" Carter started as he looked around, not seeing or hearing the couple.

"Noah caught her a couple minutes again, now they're making out against the house." Cori told him, not even looking towards the yard.

"And you can just hear them?"

"Yep."

He hummed, nodding his head a little before he checked his watch, letting out a small sigh. "Well, I should go. My mom wants to have dinner before I have to head to the airport."

"Do you really have to go?" Cori pouted.

"Yeah, I'm meeting my dad and he's gonna show me around." He nodded. "I'm actually looking forward to it. I haven't seen him since they got the divorce finalized."

"And everything's good with them?" She asked as the boy pushed himself up.

"Yeah, they actually talk now. No yelling involved. Mom's doing really well at work, got a few new clients and my dad has his own realtor company in Boston - he's excited about it."

"That's good." She hummed.

"Yeah." He took a breath and looked around. "I never thought I'd say this, but I'm gonna miss Forks."

"Yeah, this place grows on ya." Emmett nodded, it was the reason he and family came back so often.

"Like mold." Cori added, getting a weird look from both boys.

"I'm gonna miss you, ya dork." Carter chuckled and she beamed as she made her towards him - Emmett letting his arms fall from her waist. "Come visit me, yeah?" He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed and she did the same, though she was very careful.

"All the time." She hummed and he kissed the top of her head, squeezing her just a little more before he finally let go.

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▬▬ "HOW EXACTLY DID YOU break the window?" Lola asked as she, Alice, Rosalie and Cori sat around the latter's room - Rose sat in the desk chair, Alice was perched on the bench below the broken window, and the other two were on the bed.

"Are you sure you want that answer?" Rosalie asked as she looked up from the book in her hands and Lola thought for a moment before shaking her head.

"I really don't."

"I wanna know." Travis raised his hand.

"Fix the rail." Cori pointed at him and he huffed before moving down the steps a little to make sure the handrail was put up properly.

"We're all curious." Jasper drawled, a smirk pulling at his lips as he pushed down on the shelf he fixed to make sure it was stable.

"Stop." Cori mumbled, hiding her face behind her hands.

"We could show you."

"Gross, Emmett." Rosalie threw the book she held at him but he caught it and added it to the stack of books to his left - he had been tasked with organizing the books and he was little worried about it. Because he knew that Cori was a little odd when it came to her books. "No one wants to see that."

"You guys asked." He shrugged and Cori laid back, pulling a pillow over her head, which made Lola laugh.

"Aww, Cori." The human girl tugged on the pillow but Cori kept a tight grip on it.

"Leave the girl alone." Alice waved them off, making her way over to bed. "It's okay." She patted her knee.

"Hey, Chief." Travis greeted and they all looked over to see Charlie making his way up the stairs, his thick brows creased.

"What's going on here?"

Cori sat up, holding her pillow to her chest as she pulled her legs under herself. "They're fixing my room, you know because..."

"There was a tornado." Lola blurted, getting a wide eyed look from Cori and a suspicious eyebrow from the girl's dad.

"A tornado?" He asked, though it was clear he didn't buy it for a second, his eyes even moved towards Emmett for a moment before looking at the two girls that sat on the bed. "Just in here?"

"Yep." The blonde nodded and he hummed as he nodded his head a little, but his dark eyes moved over to Emmett, who was surrounded by Cori's books as he sat on the floor - each pile perfectly organized.

"So, Emmet-" Charlie started, and everyone watched. Travis smirked at the worried look on his brother's face, Rosalie simply raised an amused brow. Alice snickered a little behind her hand, and Jasper glanced over at Cori - he could feel the dread flooding through her, just as it did Emmett. And Lola watched with wide eyes, waiting to see what Charlie was gonna ask. "-college didn't work out?"

"Oh." The burly vampire let out a slightly relieved breath. "Um, not really. I actually spent most of last year traveling with my family. And this year, I'm tagging along with Cori. She wants to see the world."

"Hmm." The human simply nodded, bringing his coffee mug up to his lips. "Got a plan for college?"

"Dad." Cori groaned and his eyes met hers, he was still getting used to the gold - though he didn't understand why she wore contacts. "I told you about this."

"Yeah, but I want to hear it from him." He told her, settling his eyes on the boy once more and Emmett visibly gulped. "Still looking at college in Alaska?"

"Yes sir." He nodded. "And if Cori wants to go anywhere else, we'll figure it out. I'm not asking her to plan her life around me, if that's what you're worried about." And that was true. It was actually the opposite. He was planning his life around her, whatever she wanted to do, he would make happen.

"Good." He nodded his head once, a small smile pulling up his lips. "Now, do you guys need any help?"

"No, I think we got it." Travis told him, making his way up the stairs. "I spent a few months on a construction crew, I kind of know what I'm doing."

"Okay." He nodded. "If you need me, I'm here."

"Thanks, Dad." Cori grinned and he simply waved his hand before leaving, stopping on the stairs to give the rail a tug. He hummed, satisfied with the work then he left without another word.

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▬▬"YOU READY FOR THIS?" Cori narrowed her eyes, a smirk pulling at her lips as she stared Jasper down. The blond vampire simply copied her smirk, a small chuckle leaving his lips. "I've been practicing."

"She's getting cocky." Travis mused, his voice a low whisper and Rosalie chuckled, shaking her head. But she, too, was invested in the scene before them.

"I like the look in her eyes." Alice commented. "Confidence with a hint of revenge."

"This again?" Carlisle raised an amused eyebrow as she stopped near the back of the couch. "Really?"

"Yep." Cori nodded, breaking the staring contest to look up at the doctor. "And I'm going to win."

They all turned when Esme entered the room, a smile on her face as she held a poster board to her chest but all they could see was the back.

"What's with the poster?" Bella asked and Edward chuckled, shaking his a little.

"Showing my support." She shrugged, her smile wide as she turned it around. Cori let out a delighted giggle as she read the huge bubble letters: KICK HIS ASS, CORI!

"This is why I love you." Cori told the woman, who just nodded her head a little, her smile growing.

"Are we doing this or not?" Jasper huffed, slightly irritated that everyone, including his wife, seemed to be routing for Cori.

"Hell yeah." She nodded, glancing over at Emmett, who hadn't said a word. He just watched the girl with a dopey look in his eyes, and a lazy smile on his lips. He nodded his head a little and she grinned - they had spent many nights training, as Cori liked to call it. And he knew that she could beat his brother with no issue.

"Don't get your hopes up." Jasper drawled, adjusting his hold on his controller.

"You're mean, anyone ever tell you that?" She mused as she readied her own controller then he hit start and they both focused solely on the screen as the countdown started and Cori got the little boost at the start of the race, putting herself ahead of the blond.

And by the end of the four races, Cori had beaten him by one point. She cheered as she jumped to her feet, jumping on the coffee table. "Bow to me peasant!"

"Peasant?" He raised a brow at her and she shrugged, making everyone around them laugh as Emmett stood up, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her to him.

"I told you could beat him." He told her and she beamed as she kissed his nose.

"Celebratory hunting party?" She raised an eyebrow as she looked around the room. "And, yes, Jaz, I will hold this over you forever."

"I'd expect nothing less." He simply nodded his head, deciding that it was better not to argue that it was a mere point she had beaten him by. "Am I invited to this hunting party?" He tossed the controller onto the couch as Emmett put Cori on her feet.

"Of course." She nodded. "I can't rub it in your face if you're not there."

"Figured as much." He nodded as he stood up. "Well, let's go."

"Psycho?" Cori raised her eyebrow, looking over at him and her sister as the others got ready to go.

"I'm good."

"Alrighty." She smiled as they started out of the house. "So, how's it feel to be dating a winner?" She asked, lacing her fingers through Emmett's.

"Pretty damn good." He nodded, leaning down and pressing his lips against hers. "I adore you, Shortcake." He wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her to him - the others had already made their way out into the woods, Travis bugging Jasper about his loss as the others laughed at the two.

"I adore you, Tree." She stood on her toes, wrapping her arms around his neck as he pressed his lips to hers again.

"They're making out again." Travis nearly groaned and Cori raised her middle finger, not pulling away from her boyfriend as he lifted her off her feet.

"Coraline." Esme scolded and Cori's eyes went wide as she pulled away from Emmett, her hand falling to his shoulder as she looked over at the woman.

"Sorry, Esme." She mumbled then she looked up at Emmett again. "You can put me down."

"Nope." He shook his head and hoisted her up a little higher, she giggled as she wrapped her legs around his torso. "I'm never putting you down."

"Never is a long time." She hummed, leaning against him as her fingers toyed with his hair.

"So?" He merely shrugged and she giggled as she pecked his lips. "Now, let's go get you a bear."

⚘‎ nova speaks┆and we've reached the end of book three!!

book four will be out soon!! be on the look out for the fourth book on the adore you series...
I WOULDN'T MIND

:)