Author : KitsuShel
Title : Brown Eyed Girl ~ A Rabbit Heart Outtake
Pairing : Bella & Emmett
Rating : K+

Banner credit: Becksishere

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Playin' a new game,

Laughing and a running hey, hey

Skipping and a jumping

In the misty morning fog with

Our hearts a thumpin' and you

My brown eyed girl

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“Nu-uh!”

“Uh-huh!”

“Nu-uh!”

“Uh-huh!”

“Stop being a poopie head, Shaggy!”

“Then stop being a stupid girl, Scrappy!”

The little girl folded her arms and glared at the older boy, who in return, had his fists
clenched in anger.

“I am not a stupid girl! You take that back, you big jerk!”

“No! You’re a stupid girl and I don’t want to play with you anymore!”

In a very rash moment, the boy shoved the little girl down and stalked away. Her bottom
lip quivered as she watched her best friend in the world walk away, two other boys
cackling along beside him. She grasped her shirt sleeve between her palm and thumb,
wiping her nose and the tears from her cheeks.

If Emmett wanted to play with those idiotic boys instead of her, well then fine, she didn’t
need him. Bella sighed and felt a sharp tug in her chest. Panicking, she clutched her heart
and jumped to her feet, running non-stop all the way home. Out of breath, she gasped
and moaned, falling at her father’s feet in their living room.

Charlie Swan looked down at his daughter and raised his eyebrows.

“What are you doing, Bells? I thought you and Emmett were playing at the park?”

“Daddy,” she gasped, still clutching her chest. “I’m having a heart attack, please don’t let
me die!” she wailed as a torrent of tears washed down her face.

His eyes widened and he reached down for her, gently pulling her into his lap. After
checking her over carefully for injuries, he laid her head against his chest, rubbing her
back lightly.

“Shh, baby, tell Daddy what happened to make you feel this way.”

As he listened to his little girl sob and carry on, he had mixed emotions. On one hand, he
was angry at Emmett for treating Bella that way. But on the other, he remembered what
it had been like to be a ten year old boy. Kids were cruel and having a girl as a best
friend had to be hard on him.

Charlie sighed. “Baby girl, you’re not having a heart attack. You’re going to be fine.”

Bella turned her chocolate brown eyes up to meet his own. “But then why does my heart
hurt, Daddy?”

He cupped her cheeks and used his thumbs to wipe her tears away.

“Because Emmett hurt you, sweetheart. Sometimes when we’re hurt emotionally, it
manifests itself in a physical way.”

She blinked several times, cocking her head to the side.

“Huh?”

He chuckled. “It means that your heart hurts inside, not on the outside. Like, when you
get scared and it makes you shiver? That’s called a reaction. While I know that a heart
ache hurts real bad, it’ll also heal. You and Emmett will be friends again once he realizes
that his new friends aren’t as much fun as you.”

She sniffled and curled up against his chest. “But what if that never happens, Daddy?”
she asked, her voice full of sadness.

Charlie took a deep breath in through his nose and let it out slowly. “I don’t think that will
happen, but if it does, we’ll get through it together. I’ll always be there for you, baby.”

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Between Bella’s heartbreak and his workload at the station, Charlie had been too busy to
call his best friend, who was also Emmett’s father. Unloading his fishing gear onto the
dock, he saw the two of them walking over. He couldn’t help but smirk when he noticed
Emmett fidgeting nervously.

Damn right, you should be nervous, boy. You hurt my baby girl, Charlie thought to
himself.

Emmett swallowed nervously and greeted the older man. “Hey, Chief.”

“Em,” Charlie replied gruffly.

Robert McCarty cocked an eyebrow at his best friend, noticing his cold demeanor.
“Everything okay, Charlie?”

“Not really, no,” he replied, tossing his gear into the boat. “I’m sure we’ll be able to work
it all out, though. Right, Emmett?”

Emmett folded his skinny arms, shrugging his shoulders.

Mac’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Why do I feel out of the loop? What’s going on?”

“Well, it seems that your boy here is too good to be friends with a girl, so he decided
breaking his best friend’s heart was the right choice.”

Mac glanced at his son in surprise. “Emmett Dale,” he chided, “did you really?”

The boy shrugged again. “Whatever, she’s just a girl.”

Charlie sighed and stepped onto the boat, not eager to deal with the childish drama.
Mac was still beside himself at the news. He’d always secretly dreamed that his son and
Isabella would fall in love and get married one day. They reminded him so much of
himself and Charlie when they were their age, best friends who stood up for each other
no matter what. He followed his friend and sat next to him, shaking his head.

Emmett stood stubbornly on the dock, annoyed at the Chief for ratting him out to his dad.

“Come on, boy, get in the damn boat. We’re wasting daylight,” Charlie called out.

Reluctantly, Emmett sat across from his father and stared at his feet. After a few minutes
of tense silence, while Mac maneuvered the vessel towards the center of the lake, Charlie
cleared his throat.

“Seriously, Em, why would you do that to her? She’s your best friend.”

Emmett sighed. “I’m sorry, Chief. I didn’t mean to hurt her. Mike and Eric were teasing
me about being friends with a girl and I got embarrassed. I didn’t want them to think I
was a pansy, so I pushed her and went to play with them.”

Mac glared at the boy. “Emmett Dale McCarty,” he growled. “You never, ever put your
hands on a girl like that. Have I taught you nothing?”

Emmett cowered, never having seen his father this angry. “I’m sorry, Dad,” he
whispered. “I didn’t mean to, she just made me so mad when she yelled at me.”

His father sighed. “Emmett, you’re not always going to get your own way. You can’t just
fight your way out of situations that you don’t like. Hurting Bella was something you
really shouldn’t have done and you need to apologize to her.”

“Fine,” the boy muttered, “but I’m still not going to be her friend anymore. You can’t
make me.”

Charlie chuckled. “Of course not, boy. You’re free to choose your own friends, but don’t
be mad if she moves on and decides you’re not worth it when you come crawling back.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Emmett shot back in annoyance.

Charlie leaned forward, his imposing figure intimidating the boy. “What I mean is that
those boys aren’t your real friends, they’re opportunistic. True friends stand by you and
protect you, not shove you down when you get in the way. You’re going to realize that
sooner or later and it may be too late.”

Emmett felt tears sting his eyes so he glanced away. He really didn’t want to hurt Bella,
he loved her, but he also didn’t want to get picked on by the guys. Charlie was getting on
his nerves, he really didn’t want to think about Bella’s feelings right now.

The rest of their trip passed by in quiet contemplation on Emmett’s part and talk of sports
between the two men. After the boat was docked and their gear stowed away, the three
of them set off to the diner, for their usual dinner together. Emmett wasn’t looking
forward to it, knowing Bella would be there waiting for them with Miss Cora. He had no
idea how to act around her now that they weren’t friends anymore. That was solved
easily enough when they walked inside and he noticed Mike, Tyler and Eric at a booth in
the back. They waved him over and he turned to his father, who eyed the interaction
speculatively.

“Can I go over, Dad?” he begged.

Mac glanced over at Bella, sitting alone at the counter watching them. Emmett followed
his father’s gaze and his eyes widened when they met her sad ones. She blinked,
breaking their connection and looked down, letting her hair hide her face. Something
tugged at him, pulling him in her direction, but he stamped it down.

“If that’s what you want, Em,” Mac replied warily.

Emmett grinned and set off toward the guys, determined to forget all about little Bella
Swan.

Mac shook his head and watched Charlie from the corner of his eye. It was clear that his
best friend was heartbroken for his daughter, but there was nothing they could do. It was
Emmett’s choice and all he could do was pray that everything would work out just fine.

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Standing in the sunlight laughing,

Hiding behind a rainbow's wall,

Slipping and sliding

All along the water fall, with you

My brown eyed girl

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The next few weeks went by slowly for Bella. She spent most of her time indoors reading,
instead of going out to play. One day, Charlie had enough of her moping and talked her
into playing with Angela Weber next door. They were in the same class, but Angela was
terribly shy and never really spoke to anyone.

Both girls spent the day quietly in Angela’s bedroom, each reading from a different book.
A few days later, Bella showed up on the Weber’s front porch and asked Angela if she’d
like to go to watch the Little League baseball game with her and her dad. Angela pushed
her glass up her nose, a bewildered look upon her face.

“Why would I want to do that?” she asked.

“Because it’s fun? Emmett is playing third base this year.”

Angela scrunched up her face in confusion. “Why would you want to watch Emmett play?
I thought you were mad at him.”

Bella shrugged. “I’m not really mad at him anymore. I kinda miss him.”

Angela rolled her eyes. “He’s only going to be mean to you again.”

Bella nodded. “Probably, but I still want to watch him play, even if he doesn’t talk to me.”

“Okay, then have fun, Bella. Don’t come crying to me when he’s a jerk,” Angela huffed.

Bella’s hands clenched into fists. “Fine, be like that, Angie.” She turned and stalked back
to her house, seething in childish anger.

She ran into her house and upstairs, throwing herself onto her bed and cried her eyes
out. She missed her best friend and nothing felt right without him. A little while later, she
sat up and dried her eyes, not wanting her dad to know she’d been upset. If Charlie
realized that something was amiss, he never said a word. They ate dinner quietly and
then piled into his cruiser.

When they arrived at the baseball field, they walked over and sat with Mac. Even though
they weren’t friends anymore, Bella watched the game, proud that Emmett was playing
well. After the game, Charlie gave her some money to buy some popcorn while he and
Mac talked about an upcoming fishing trip.

She was walking back with her snack when two boys stepped in her path. She looked up
and saw Eric and Tyler smirking at her.

“Get out my way, doofus.”

“How about you make us, Swan?” Eric teased.

“What? Not so tough without Em by your side?” Tyler chimed in.

She held her head high and glared. “My dad is waiting for me, so get out of my way.”

Eric ripped the bag of popcorn from her hand, spilling some of it onto the ground.

“Hey!” she yelled. “Give that back!”

The boy held it over her head and laughed.

“Give it back,” a voice growled from behind her.

Bella didn’t need to see him to know it was Emmett.

Tyler cocked his head to the side. “Lighten up, McCarty. We’re just having some fun.”

“No, you’re being mean to her for no reason. Give her the popcorn back.”

Eric sneered and upturned the bag, emptying its contents on the grass. Bella felt tears
spring to her eyes, anger welling up in her chest. She shoved Eric hard, knocking him to
the ground. When Tyler made a move to hit her, Emmett tackled him to the ground. Eric
jumped to his feet and back away quickly, looking around nervously to make sure that no
one saw a girl knock him down.

“You’ll regret that, McCarty,” Tyler jeered, turning to follow Eric.

Emmett turned to Bella and smiled hesitantly. “Are you okay, Scrappy?”

She blinked before bursting into tears and dropping to her knees. Emmett’s face fell and
he was immediately by his best friend’s side, his arm around her shoulders.

“Hey now, don’t cry. It’s okay, they’re gone,” he attempted to soothe her.

She snorted and shook her head. “I’m not scared of them,” she replied with a hiccup,
trying to make herself stop crying.

“Then why are you crying?” he asked, perplexed.

“I missed you,” she replied sincerely, her wide eyes sad and red-rimmed.

Emmett smiled down at her. “I missed you, too. I’m sorry I was an ass.”

Bella giggled a little. “You said ass.”

His cheeks blushed. “My dad called me that when he found out what happened.”

She sniffled and frowned, before turning to him and wiping her nose on the shoulder of his
shirt. His eyes widened and he jumped away in disgust.

“GROSS!” he yelled. “Why did you just do that?!”

She shrugged. “I’m wearing short sleeves and I needed to wipe my nose. You were there.
Plus, you deserved it for being a jerk.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Does that mean you forgive me?”

She thought for a moment, before nodding. “Yes, but the next time you’re mean, I’m going
to beat you up. Then wipe my nose on you. Deal?”

Emmett spit on his hand and stuck it out for her to shake. She copied his actions and they
held their hands together tightly.

“It’s a deal, Scrappy. Best friends forever.”

She nodded. “Best friends forever, Shaggy.”

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