LET DOWN

sixteen.           naive

▬ BELLA WAS UNUSUALLY QUITE the next morning, ignoring all of Cori's questions and statements. It's true that Bella was never much of a talker, but the ride to school for the Swan sisters was never that quiet.

The blue-eyed Swan watched as Bella's hands tightened around the steering wheel, her knuckles had turned white, but she kept her eyes hyper focused on the road.

"You're freaking me out." Cori poked her sister's arm and that made Bella glance in her direction for a moment, like it had pulled her from her thoughts.

"Do you think the Cullens are... strange?"

"No." Cori shrugged. "And it's not nice to gossip."

"Have you noticed anything weird about them? About Emmett?" She glanced at her sister again to see confusion contourt her features.

"Bella-"

"Cold hands. Strange eye color. Ridiculously fast. And they never eat."

"You're not making any sense." Cori huffed, pushing her hair out of her face. "And they do eat, Emmett and I always share lunch. And he told me that he really likes the sandwiches I make when we have study dates." Bella's eye brows creased, had she really gotten it wrong? "And the only reason they have cold hands is because we live in Forks. It's cold here, Bella."

"Okay, what about their eyes?"

"Contacts." She shrugged, her eyes on the blur of trees.

"You are so naive." Bella huffed, shaking her head as she turned into the school parking lot.

Cori's brows pinched, as she looked over at her sister, hurt clearly etched on her soft features as the older girl put the trunk in park. "And you're a bitch. So what if they're a little different? They're interesting and really nice. I mean, I'm pretty sure Travis is my best friend. And even if Rose doesn't always seem to like me, she always asks if I'm okay and she keeps making sure that my concussion doesn't get worse.

"And Alice, she's a ball of energy and I'm not exactly sure how, I never see her drinking any coffee. Jasper helped me make flashcards for all of my classes and he's only in my health class. And Emmett, gosh Emmett is so amazing. He's sweet and kind an-and he lets me hold his hand when I get nervous and, yes, I do use him as an ice pack when I have a headache because his hands are always cold – again, I reiterate, we live in Forks. It's cold here.

"They have been my only friends since we started here, granted, Angela has been super nice and Mike tried to talk time a few times but he ran away when Emmett showed up. And for you to try and start shit where it doesn't need to be is so unbelievable. You have your friends, let me have mine." She turned and opened the door, sliding out of the truck, leaving a speechless Bella behind the steering wheel as her boots hit the cold pavement.

Cori wiped her cheeks and her nose, trying to get rid of the tears that had sprung to her eyes during her rant. She used the sleeve of the sweater she wore – one of the many sweaters Alice had bought for her – then she shook her head a little before she sniffled.

She slowly crossed the parking lot, her arms wrapped around her stomach to fight off the wave of nausea that always settled in her gut when she and Bella fought – she didn't like fighting with her sister. She looked both ways and when it was clear she finally made her way towards the Cullens, with the expectation of Edward.

And to her surprise, Rosalie was the first to reach her, pushing past Travis, Alice and even Emmett. "You okay?" Her cold hands rested in the human's cheeks, tilting her head up a little and Cori couldn't stop the rush of tears that filled her eyes with the simple question.

Cori leaned forward, wrapping her arms around the blonde, taking her by surprise. She slowly wrapped her arms around the girl, lightly patting her back as she looked over at Emmett. She wasn't entirely sure what to do.

Emmett moved towards them before he bent down just a little, his hand landing on the small of Cori's back as she sniffled. She was trying to stop crying, but she couldn't.

"Shortcake?" His voice was soft as he moved his thumb across her back and she turned her head to look up at him, her eyes red-rimmed and puffy, her cheeks wet with her tears. The sight killed him. "What's wrong?" He asked despite having heard the argument she'd had with Bella. "Who do I have to beat up?" He asked, his lips pulling into a small smile in hopes of making her feel better.

"Y-You-" she hiccuped. "You could beat up Travis." She mumbled, wiping her nose with the back of her hand, keeping her other arm around Rosalie.

"What?" The boy gapped at the tiny human.

His smile grew. "Yeah? Would that make you feel better?"

"It might."

"What the hell did I do?" Travis asked, his eyebrows pinched as he looked from his brother to his wife then to the human, who giggled a little.

"She rather enjoys the thought of you being beaten to a pulp." Jasper mused, a smirk pulling at his lips as he looked over at Travis, who still looked confused.

"I'm hurt, Shorty." He turned back to the girl, his hand held to his chest.

"Sorry, dude." Emmett stood up, shrugging a little as he looked over at his brother and Travis let out a long breath, shaking his head. "Gotta make my girl happy, you understand?" He tugged his sleeves up his forearms a little, the thin material stretching slightly.

Travis' eyes moved to Rosalie for a moment and she met his gaze, a knowing smirk pulling at her lips. "Yeah." He nodded, letting out a small sigh. "Fine, just nothing too bad."

"No." Cori giggled, her hand landing on Emmett's bicep as she pulled away from Rose. "I was kidding. I didn't think you'd actually agree."

"Oh, thank God." Travis mumbled, letting out a relieved breath as his head hung forward. "You are an evil little girl."

"Yeah." She gave him a smile and he chuckled, shaking his head.

"You okay now?" Alice asked, giving the girl a concerned smile.

"Yeah. I just... Bella and I got into an argument and she called me naive." She mumbled, her hand tugging at Emmett's sleeve a little as he wrapped his other arm around her. "Which I'm not." She added quickly, tilting her head back to look up at him.

"I know, Shortcake." He gave her a smile before leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead and the action alone brought a smile to her lips as she closed her eyes and leaned against him.

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▬ CORI SAT IN THE HOOD of Emmett's jeep, the owner of said jeep between her knees, his hands on her hips as he pulled her towards him, his lips pressed against hers. She wove her fingers into his hair, gripping by the fistful. Neither cared that they were in the school parking lot, neither cared that people would gawk and whisper about them. They were in their own little blissful bubble.

The girl wrapped her legs around him, pulling him impossibly closer to her as he nibbled lightly on her bottom lip, then she locked her ankles. She really wasn't one for pda, but there was a part of her that wanted everyone to know that he was hers and that she was his. It helped that she couldn't think straight when he kissed her, so she didn't care much for the eyes that landed upon them.

She pulled back a little. "Need-" He reconnected their lips and she let out a helpless whimper, but she pulled back again. "-to breathe." She panted and he let out a chuckle, leaning forward to press a kiss to the corner of her mouth. "You-" She took a breath but he pressed his lips against her neck. "-seem to forget... that we need air. You know, to live." She chuckled, letting her hands fall from his disheveled hair to his shoulders.

He kissed her collarbone before pulling back. "What can I say, Shortcake-" He grinned, seemingly having no trouble breathing at all as he leaned closer and pecked her lips again. "-I really like your sweater."

She giggled. It was the sweater she was wearing the first time they had kissed, she even wore the same black leggings only this time her snowman socks were concealed but her Doc Martens – also something Alice had bought for her despite her protests.

He leaned up and pressed his lips against her lips again then the end of her nose. "So, I was thinking..." She slid forward a little, keeping her arms and legs around him as she rested in the edge of the hood of the jeep. "Go to prom with me."

"Is that a statement or a question?" She raised an eyebrow, tilting her head slightly.

"Do you want to go to prom with me?" He rephrased. "It's not really my thing, but an opportunity to see you in a really nice dress is too tempting to pass up."

"I would love to." She hummed. "But, apparently, Bella and I are going to Jacksonville to see our mom. At least, that's what Bella's telling people. I haven't heard anything from my mom and she's a little chatty."

"You're saying no?" He pouted as a red convertible pulled into that spot next to them.

"No. I'm saying, there's a possibility that Bella is lying because she's a lying bitch. So, my answer to you, my sweet, sweet boyfriend, is yes." She told him and his frown morphed, growing into a wide smile again as he reconnected their lips, making the girl giggle.

"They're attached." Travis stated. "I knew leaving ten minutes after them wasn't enough time." He huffed a little, rather annoyed that anytime Cori and Emmett were close to each other, their lips ended up locked and their arms tangled around the other. "You can stop now." He glanced at the two, simply getting two raised middle fingers from the couple.

The couple didn't even pull apart when Edward's Volvo came to a stop and the boy got out before rounding the car, and when he opened the passenger door, the oldest Swan sister stepped out. That alone nearly gave the entire student body a massive shock.

"You guys are missing it." Travis called out and the couple huffed, pulling apart as they looked up, Emmett having to turn his head a little.

"I don't get her." Cori mumbled. "Just the other day she was asking a million different questions and calling you guys weird. Which I defended because you're not weird, you're different and I like that. I like you."

"Oh, Shortcake, you sweet talker." Emmett mumbled before reconnecting their lips and she giggled a little before moving her lips with his.

"Here they go again." Travis mumbled, rolling his eyes. "You know, she's my best friend. Maybe I wanna talk to her, maybe Alice wants to talk to her. Jasper probably has another stack of flashcards in his pocket that he can't give to her because you two are-"

Cori pulled away from Emmett. "Travis?"

"Yes, best friend?" He grinned.

"Shut the hell up." She gave him a smile as his faded, then she reconnected their lips again.