A/N: EPOV is difficult for me to write. I hope this will shed some light on why he was such an ass and the progress he's made in becoming better.

SM owns all things twilight. I'm just making my own story. ENJOY

(this one's for you m0t0b33. You're awesome)

Chapter. 9

EPOV

My body fell heavily onto the floor. The bottle of scotch tumbled out of my hand and spilled its contents all over my entry way. That was the least of my worries. My nose was bleeding. I could feel my eye beginning to swell and my head was starting to pound.

Who the fuck was on the other end of that fist? All I saw was a streak of blonde and a booming laugh following the punch. I know that laugh.

I raised myself into a sitting position, wiping the blood from my nose and rested my elbows on my bent knees. I squinted at the people standing in front of me. Emmett and a leggy blonde. She was shaking her hand. So that's where the punch came from.

Wiping my nose again, I glared at Em, "What the hell, man?"

He backed off with his hands held in surrender position, "Don't look at me, man. I'm only the driver and wanted to see the show."

The leggy blonde walked up to me, squatted down in front of me and stared at me with her cold eyes, "Em has nothing to do with this. That," she pointed to my face, "was all me."

I cowered under her cold stare, "And who are you? What did I ever do to you?"

"To me?" She started to laugh, "I couldn't care less about you. That was for my best friend. You know her better as 'fish lips.' You ass." She paused, "I'm Rose, by the way."

I hung my head in shame. So that was what the punch was for. Now I actually wanted her to punch me again. Not for the physical pain but for the emotional and mental pain.

"Yeah, her. He name is Bella." She paused and started to pace, "What the hell is wrong with you? What made you think getting her here for a fake interview and apologizing would make it all better?" She came to stand still in front of me and pointed her finger at me, "You terrorized her the entire time in high school so that it made her afraid to date because of one of your groupies thought it would be funny to play with her. And here you are, hot shot Hollywood, and you think just one apology will make 4 years of torture disappear?" Why did the thought of Bella dating someone give me shivers? She took a deep breath and looked at me with those icy blues, "Well?"

She wanted an answer. Would my answer appease her? Would she believe me? I glanced at Em. He had a serious expression on his face like he also wanted to know my reasoning.

I thought back to my accident. Lying there in my car, not knowing if I was gonna live or die. The thought alone made me shiver. Coming that close to death, made me rethink my life and how I had lived mine. I looked back at Rose and figured, why not be honest?

"Because I'm an ass. And only just recently realized that my stupid actions have consequences. That almost dying made me see the error of my way and that life is short and I wanna make the best of it." I paused and looked into her eyes, "I know she regrets pulling me from my car. Hadn't it been for her, I wouldn't be here. And yes, I forgot who she was over the years but recent discoveries had me reliving my entire high school memories and what a fucked up asshole I was to her." I cast my eyes downward to my shoes and whispered, "I wanna make it right. I wanna show her that I'm not that jackass anymore. My resume isn't that great, I know. I know it's gonna take a lot on my part but I'm willing to try." I fidgeted and looked down again.

Her eyes got big about half way through my speech. "What did you just say?"

I got up and made my way into the kitchen wanting to wash the blood off my face, "Didn't you hear me?"

She started following me, Em hot on her heels, "The part about Bella pulling you from your car? What are you talking about?"

I turned to look at her, "You don't know?" She shook her head. "Bella was the one that pulled me from my car. If she hadn't, I'd be dead." I wondered why Bella left that part out when telling this blonde Godzilla about me.

She turned to Em, since he was being very quiet, "You knew?" He nodded and before he could respond, she turned back to me, "And what you're doing with her now is some way to earn your redemption? To make yourself feel worthy? That just means all this comes back to you."

How she came up with all this, was beyond me. Em was smiling behind her and tapping her shoulder.

She turned to him, "What?"

"You forgot the fact that he likes her. Like really likes her. Not crush like but..."

I cut him off, "Em! What the hell?"

Blondie turned back to me and stared. I don't know what she was looking for. "You like her?" I nodded.

"Why now?" I didn't know the answer to that, so I just shrugged. "

What makes her special now?"

I took a deep breath, "I think I'm finally am seeing her for who she really is. A beautiful girl with a good heart that I crushed all those years ago."

"Ok, I think I'm seeing it. What I don't get is your reasoning as to why you tormented her in high school?"

I pinched the bridge of my nose, "I was stupid. Rich kid, no siblings and I wanted the attention. My dad was married to his work as was my mother and I took that frustration out on Bella. I was a fucking teenager with a huge ass ego to boost." I held up my hand, "Before you say anything, I know now that was wrong. I may be late in realizing as to what damage I did but I have now and I wanna make it right."

Em looked shocked, "Mama and Papa C?" He loved my parents. And they loved him like their own son. But that is now. He didn't know them back than.

"Yes, Em. It's a long story. They wanted another child and they couldn't conceive, so there was some tension for a while. It's all good now. They worked it out. Don't worry." He let out a breath of relief.

I turned back to Rose, "I have no good excuses for what I did and if I could go back to high school, I'd kick my own ass."

"Ok. I believe you. At least what your saying, I believe that. But getting her here for a fake interview, that's low. How are you planning on making that right? She's a hard nut, thanks to you, and it's gonna take some time to get her to warm up to you."

I knew I had my work cut out for me but I had no clue what or how I was gonna go about it. What I could do to convince her.

I shrugged and looked at her defeated, "I actually wanted to offer her the job but it never got to that. And I don't know yet how to go about making this right. Any suggestions?"

Em shook his head but Rose looked deep in thought. "I think I might know what to do."

A/N: So, what ya think? who thought Rose was gonna be the one delivering the punch? Are you any closer to forgiving him?