"Heard your brothers were back in town the other day."

Just as the berry cobbler was served, Charlie Swan changed the subject from how the soccer team was doing to Veronica's brothers.

"Oh, yeah. I got to spend the weekend with them both, so it was nice," Veronica said, digging into the large dessert. "We ended up driving over to Oregon and visiting my Uncle Cas."

"Well, at least you got some quality time with your brothers. When'd they leave for the road again?"

"They left Monday after I got to school," she said, sparing the details of why they left so quickly. "I really hated that they left so soon. I know Dean would love the food here and then you could've met them."

"I'll catch 'em some other time," he said before taking a bite that was almost too big to fit in his mouth.

"So, have you heard from Isabella recently?"

Charlie frowned at the mention of his daughter. It was a touchy subject to bring up because he missed her terribly, but he also loved telling people about her. Eventually, he nodded. "Yup. Got an email the other day from her. Says that everything in Phoenix is good. That Phil guy her mom married has started traveling for baseball season though."

"That's cool that he travels, I guess," she muttered. Internally she wondered why Isabella had sent an email to her father. If Veronica had emailed Sam and Dean instead of having a real conversation on the phone, they'd be very annoyed with her. "We're having our first baseball game next week. My friend Mike is on the team and says that they're looking pretty good."

"Newton? Good kid. His father owns the sporting goods store down the road. Great price on fishing bait. Who else's kids have you made friends with?"

"Well, there's Jessica Stanley. She and her parents moved here when she was pretty young so you may not know them. Angela Weber's dad is a Minister. I don't know about Eric Yorkie and Tyler Crowley's parents."

"The Crowley kid is number 14 on the football team."

Veronica loved how invested he was in the sporting teams. His daughter didn't even go to Forks, but he made it to games when he could.

"I just started talking to the kids in the Cullen Family. They're all really nice."

"Well, their father's probably the best thing that's ever happened to this town. We're lucky his wife wanted to move somewhere small. Dr. Cullen's really turned our dinky hospital around. We were a little nervous down at the station when he came with all those adopted kids, but they've never given us any trouble."

"Yeah, they really keep to themselves."

There were a few nice moments of silence as they finished off their plates of cobbler before Charlie cleared his throat and awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. "I guess uh, with your brothers not being around... Uh, well, ah nevermind."

Veronica chuckled as he grew more and more uncomfortable. "What is it, Chief Swan?"

"I guess I feel like I should ask if there are any boys I need to know about," he said, his cheeks growing red. He again cleared his throat. "Just cause your folks aren't around and your brothers are always on the road. I want to make sure someone in town is looking out for you."

A grin spread out across her face. Perhaps he was just trying to parent her with his own daughter not being around, but nevertheless, she appreciated it. "Thanks. And, um, I've got a date with Emmett Cullen tomorrow night, actually."

Charlie frowned for a moment and thought to himself. "Is... is that the really big one."

Veronica snickered before nodding. "Yeah, that's the one."

Charlie glanced at her, no doubt comparing her small size to Emmett's large one. "Do I need to get you a pepper spray?"

Emmett had said he would pick Veronica up at six o'clock, which was quickly approaching, and he hadn't told her where they were going. He sounded quite confident when talking about it — Emmett referred to it as "super awesome" though Edward had made a comment about it only being just a normal amount of awesome just to tease him. Veronica had received no hints from his siblings except for from Alice, who had mentioned that they would be outside.

Alice had wanted to come and pick out Veronica's outfit, but Rosalie reminded her that Veronica had an amazing sense of fashion. Alice could get a good look at her closet at their sleepover on Sunday. Though she had insisted that Veronica send her a picture of her clothes since she wouldn't be able to see it in a vision. So, after snapping a photo and sending it to the cheerful vampire, Veronica studied herself in the mirror.

She looked good. Veronica knew that. But a small part of her — the human teenage girl part not the supernatural killer part — was nervous for the date. It was her first after all. Where would he take her? Would it be like in the movies? Was Emmett going to like how she looked? She shook off the ridiculous worries and leaned forward, applying another coat of the pink lip gloss Rosalie had told her Emmett loved so much.

Despite having a good fashion sense, it had taken Veronica a while to choose an outfit. After throwing countless outfits on her floor, she had settled for a nice dress. It was blue velvet, fell off her shoulders, and a tad bit shorter than the skirts she wore to school. Veronica wasn't quite immune to the cold like vampires, but she didn't have it as bad as normal humans. She opted for some thigh-high boots to keep her legs warm instead of tights or leggings.

Gold eyeshadow, rosy cheeks, and pink lips. Emmett would be a goner, she thought to herself with a smirk.

Emmett arrived exactly at six. Veronica had heard his tires pull into the driveway, but she stayed seated until he knocked on her door. She smoothed her dress down and checked herself in the mirror one last time before opening it. Her first thought was that he was handsome, as always. But the blue sweater he wore looked especially nice against his pale skin and even though she knew it was the correct size, it still pulled tight against his arms. For a moment, she wondered if Alice told him to wear blue to match her dress. Veronica had had a small smile on her face when she opened the door, but she grinned when she saw the bouquet of pink roses in his hands.

"Hey," she greeted, leaning against the doorframe.

"Hi," he breathed out, slowly looking her up and down. "You look just so beautiful. As always."

"You look pretty handsome too," she said, biting her lip.

"These are for you," he said, holding out the flowers. "I had asked Angela what your favorite flower was, and she said you didn't have one. Just that you liked pink ones. Esme helped me pick out the roses."

"They're beautiful. Let me put them in something then we can head out," Veronica said, grabbing the flowers and stepping into her kitchen. "Wait, so you talked to Ang about this?"

"Yeah," he admitted sheepishly. She walked back over and admired the goofy grin on his face. "Her and your other friend, Jessica, kind of helped me plan this."

"You talked to Jessica Stanley?"

"Yup."

"And she didn't spontaneously combust?"

Emmett laughed so loud that she was sure that her neighbors could hear him. "I told you that this was going to be a super awesome date. Your friends know you best, so who better to go to?"

"That's really sweet, Em," she admitted, smiling softly. He and his family had never spoken to anyone at Forks High, but he had made an effort to meet and talk to her friends for this date.

"Now, are you ready for your first date, my lady?" Veronica laughed as he offered her his arm to take, but she did so nonetheless and let him escort him to his red Jeep.

He had opened the door for her, and before she could even contemplate climbing into it, his cold hands were on her waist and lifting her into the high seat.

"I could've done that myself," she pointed out, playfully scoffing. Though she secretly appreciated it. Climbing up in such a huge jeep would've been a bit inconvenient in a dress as short as hers. "Or did you just want an excuse to put your hands on my waist?"

"Oh, definitely the waist thing," he admitted with a confident smirk. "Need help with the seatbelt too?"

Veronica was tempted to hit him with a snarky reply, but she glanced at the belt. It was clearly meant for off-roading, with lots of straps and extra buckles. It looked like it'd take her a good five minutes to figure it out, she only nodded and thanked him when he finished it in seconds.

"So what? Are you gonna drive me up a mountain?" she asked, jokingly tugging on one of the straps.

Emmett chuckled before running around to the driver's side and getting in. "Came with the car. Believe it or not, we vampires don't pay attention to inconvenient safety features when buying cars."

"Well, at least I'll be safe from your bad driving."

Emmett scoffed. "I'm a great driver. And this is your first time in a car with me, so you can't say that."

"You just pulled out of my driveway and started going sixty-five in a thirty, but okay, Big Guy."

"Maybe I'm just excited to get to the date."

"Which is where exactly?"

"Well, Jess and Ang—"

"Jess and Ang?" she repeated with a chuckle. "You're on a nickname basis with them now?"

He shrugged, grinning. "I'm a nickname guy."

"You've never called me a nickname," she said, fake pouting. "I call you Em and Big Guy."

"How about I call you Angel?"

"It's funny. I can hear Rosalie groaning from how horrible that line was," she said, laughing.

"So that's a no on Angel?"

Veronica hummed while watching the trees pass by. If she had a dollar for every time some guy or demon had hit on her by calling her "Angel," she and her brothers wouldn't have to run credit card scams. But it wasn't as if Emmett were catcalling her or teasing her because of her species — well, maybe a little bit of teasing, but not to get on her nerves.

"Try it out a few times. I'll let you know how it feels."

On the rest of the ride, they made a little bit of small talk. Veronica still couldn't believe that he had had a normal conversation with Jessica and Angela. Apparently, they had freaked out for a minute, but once they found out they were helping him plan a date, they quickly jumped in with all kinds of ideas.

"So, who had the winning idea?"

"Technically Jessica, but I told Angela I would use one of her ideas for our second date."

"Second date, huh?" Veronica mused. In response, he only shot her a charming smirk. Veronica felt like his teeth should have sparkled like when a Disney Prince smiles. She'd never admit it, but she was glad she was sitting down because that smile made her knees weak. She tried to convince herself it was because of his vampire charms, but deep down she knew it was more than that.

After a few more minutes of driving that had Veronica wondering how many times Emmett had been pulled over for speeding, they arrived at one of the last places that had crossed her mind.

"Mini golf?" she asked, not able to hide her grin. "You've been going on and on for two days about mini golf?"

"No judging yet," he said before getting out and running around to open her door for her. "It's gonna be super awesome."

"I've never played mini-golf before," she said as he helped her with the seatbelt before again placing his hands on her waist and helping her down.

"You said you want normal human experiences, right?" he asked, smiling down at her, his hands still on her waist. "Mini golf is as normal human as you can get."

The parking lot was completely empty, telling Veronica that either the mini-golf place was horrible or that Emmett had done something outlandish like renting out the whole venue.

"Are we the only ones here?" she asked, looking around as they entered the small building where you got tickets and equipment.

"Yup," he said, grinning. He grabbed two golf clubs and held them out. She chose a pink one. "Just me and you. But first, we eat. Well, you eat."

"I didn't know they had food here."

"They don't," he said before offering her his hand. He led her outside and instead of heading to the start of the course, he veered off to the left. Around the corner, he had a little picnic set up, complete with the plaid blanket, basket, and candles.

"I was going to take you to a restaurant at first, but then I remembered how much you eat out. So, tonight I have for you Esme's homecooked quesadillas."

"I love quesadillas," Veronica said excitedly. She and Emmett sat down on the blanket and he started unloading the basket. "And she made another pie!"

"You're giving my mother an excuse to use the kitchen. She was excited when I asked," he admitted. "So, how am I doing so far?"

Veronica smiled as he poured her a cup of water. "You've already put in more effort than any other guy that's wanted to date me. This is so cute."

"Thanks, but if at the end of the date you don't say it was super awesome then Nick gets to throw me across the backyard so I really gotta knock your socks off."

"Hmm, I kind of want to see him throw you across the backyard now."

"Oh, I'm sure you'll see it at some point. That's our standard wager."

"Something to look forward to," she said, taking a bite of one of the best quesadillas she had ever had. "Well, since you don't eat, why don't you tell me about yourself? Can't very well walk around school talking about how you're a million years old, so I don't know much about you."

"I am not a million," he said, chuckling. "I was turned in 1935. Actually, I'm the last one that was turned."

"Shut up. You're the baby?" she interrupted with a teasing tone. "Little baby Emmett Cullen. So, how old is everyone else?"

"Well, Carlisle was born in the fifteenth century. Eddy got turned in 1918, Esme in 1921, Rose in 1933. Carlisle turned all of us. Jasper some time during the Civil War. We don't really know about Alice for sure, but I'm sure she'll want to tell you about her past some time. They came to us on their own in the fifties. Then we found Nicholas in the eighties and Rose converted him to our diet with her womanly charms. He's like two hundred though."

Veronica snorted at the comment about Rosalie. "So, why did Carlisle turn you all, if you don't mind me asking? It's fine if not. Just the hunter in me snooping."

"It's alright," he said, softly shaking his head. "Uh, Carlisle only turned us because we were all dying. He hates what we are. That's why he became a doctor so that he could help people to try and make up for what we are. He didn't really want to seal anyone's fate like his, but I think he might've just been getting lonely."

"How did you die?"

"Before I was Emmett Cullen, I was Emmett McCarty. Born and raised in Gatlinburg, Tennessee in 1915." Veronica smiled as he added a slight southern accent that he had managed to lose over the years. "I was kind of wild. Liked to gamble and drink. And I had quite the reputation for ruining reputations if you know what I mean?"

"I worked on the railroad and did all the hunting for my family. Had two older brothers and a younger sister." He didn't sound particularly sad when talking about his family, but it was clear that he had missed them. He had just had almost a hundred years to move on. "I was out hunting for them when it happened. Got mauled by a bear." He continued with his story but was a little amused at the gasp that left Veronica's lips. "Rose came upon me and took me to Carlisle to change me. She didn't think she could've controlled herself enough to stop if she had done it. I still can't believe she had the strength to carry me all the way there without the blood getting to her. I think everyone thought we'd end up together after I woke up, but it never happened. Good thing too, cause she and Nick are head over heels for each other now. They've gotten married like five times cause she loves the attention and he loves her too much to say no."

"Were you upset when you woke up? About being a vampire?"

Emmett thought for a moment and shook his head. "They thought I might be. It was hard at first, knowing that I couldn't go back to my family. I visited once without them seeing me — got Edward to fix a bag of money and I dropped it off to make sure they would be taken care of."

"It's sweet that you thought of them."

Emmett shrugged the compliment off. "Was the least I could do."

"So, Emmett McCarty," she said, finishing off a slice of pie. She would take the rest back home. He smiled at the use of his human name. "Are you still a reputation-ruiner?"

"That depends," he said, leaning closer and flashing that Disney Prince smile again, dimples and all. "You looking to have yours ruined?"

"I think it was ruined the moment I first looked at you," she admitted, looking down then glancing at him again through her lashes.

Emmett smiled, and probably wanted to hit her with some cocky or flirty comment but held back. "Did you like your dinner?"

"It was amazing. You'd never guess that Esme doesn't eat human food with how great her food is."

"Well, she likes to cook food and donate it to homeless shelters and food banks and stuff," he explained. "She's got to go grocery shopping every now and then to keep up human appearances, especially in such a small down. Then she just donates it or cooks and gives it away. The nurses at the hospital love it when she brings in her chocolate croissants."

"Emmett," Veronica said, bringing a hand to her chest. "The words "chocolate croissants" are literally the biggest turn on for someone like me."

Emmett laughed before getting to his feet. He then helped her to stand as well. "I'll keep that in mind. Now, for your first ever game of mini-golf."

She nodded but first grabbed her tube of lip gloss out of her purse to reapply it after eating. Once it was on, she tossed her stuff back on the blanket, knowing nothing would happen in the abandoned spot.

"I like that lip gloss," he stated, watching as she rubbed her lips together to evenly coat it.

"Yeah?" she asked with a smirk. "How come?"

"Smells like strawberries. I like the little bits of glitter in it too," he admitted, taking a step closer. "Makes it really hard not to kiss you."

"Oh, I didn't know it was so distracting. I can stop wearing it if you'd like," she said, smirking as his hands touched her waist. She finally decided after him doing it several times that she liked the feeling.

"No, I wouldn't like."

"Well, then it's settled. Lip gloss stays. So how about that game of golf?" She spun away with an evil smirk and grabbed her golf club. She heard him audibly sigh before following her.

"Look, don't get too broke up when I completely destroy you," Emmett said, swinging his club around. "I don't mind giving you any pointers either."