You guys will never believe what happened… So, my mother-in-law recovered well enough to go home but then—get this—two days before she's to be released, her husband had a stroke! I know, right? When will this family get a break? It's been about two weeks now and he's doing alright, considering, and hopefully will get to come home within the next month or so. *sighs* SO! Needless to say, its been a crazy busy past couple of weeks, what with one parent coming home from the hospital and the other going in... On a happier note (sorta…its complicated) my boyfriend's brother came home from the military which means no more boring babysitting for me! *does a happy dance* The boyfriend was off last week so I didn't get a chance to write, but hopefully things will be going back to more or less normal and I'll get a chance to write to my heart's content! :)
Disclaimer: Twilight and its characters are owned by Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended with the posting of this story.
Chapter 10: Patience and Bravery
::Bella::
"Just do it, Bella, it won't be so bad."
"He said if you ever needed anything to feel free to ask."
"Yeah, he wants you to call, I can just feel it!"
"Think about it: Your own place! You could even get a pet!"
"Like a cat! Or a dog!"
"Or a fish!"
"A fish, Jackie? Seriously?"
"What? Fish are cool!"
It's been a week since my fight with Edward and I'm sitting in Alice and Jackie's bright living room, clutching Charlie's business card in my hand. My knee is bouncing so violently out of nerves that the whole couch is shaking with the vibration. I was finally breaking down and calling Charlie to ask about that room he offered me but I had been so afraid of how to go about asking that I had tried to dial his number half a dozen times only to hang up before pressing the final number. In the end, I hurried over to see Alice and Jackie, desperate for their advice.
"What are you so scared about?" Alice asked, ending her argument with Jackie over fish as pets.
"What if he's changed his mind?" I complained for the fifth time.
"He hasn't, I'm sure of it," Alice said confidently, holding out her bright pink cordless phone to me again. When I didn't take it, she pressed it into my trembling fingers. "Just do it just like we talked about, okay?"
I slowly dialed Charlie's number, looking up at the girls after ever beep. They both smiled at me reassuringly, Jackie bobbing her head encouragingly. When I had finished, I pressed the phone to my cheek, my heart beating so loudly that it felt like it was going to pump right out of my chest.
The phone rang once…twice… I started to consider just hanging up but, as though sensing my skittishness, Alice placed her hand over mine, holding the phone in place.
Then, in the middle of the third ring, Charlie picked up.
"Hello, this is Charlie Swan," he said in his deep voice.
I shot a panicked look at Alice, trying to tug my hand out from under hers, but she only held it tighter.
"Hello?" Charlie said, confused.
"H-hi, Charlie?" I stuttered in barely more than a whisper. "It's…It's Bella."
There was a slight pause, making me think that maybe he didn't remember me, or that I had just imagined the whole conversation we had had. But then I felt the stiff cardboard between my fingers and clutched them tighter, feeling the concrete detail that yes, it had happened.
"Oh! Bella, hi!" Charlie said nervously and I could practically hear him running his hand over his face uneasily. "How's it, uh… How's it going?"
"Not bad," I said timidly, taking a deep breath. "I know-I know its, uh… Its been a while, but I was just…j-just wondering, if-if…"
I trailed off, biting my lip worriedly. Alice gave her hand holding mine a little shake, urging me to continue.
"Wondering what?" Charlie asked slowly, apprehensively.
"I-I-I was wondering," I stuttered, taking another shaky breath. "If your offer is still open."
"My offer?" Charlie questioned.
My eyes shot up to Alice's, no idea what to do next. Had he really forgotten?
Go on, Alice mouthed, smiling and nodding. Over her shoulder, Jackie crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue. I gave a small, breathless laugh.
"Your offer to lend me an apartment," I finally said, as firmly as I could.
I held my breath, waiting for his answer. I counted to ten in my head before Charlie answered, sounding as startled as if a light had suddenly flicked on in his head.
"Oh! Oh, the apartment! Yes, of course! Yes, it's all yours! When would you like to come see it?"
I let out a long breath, smiling hugely. Alice let go of my hand and clapped her own together, bouncing up and down. Jackie copied her, making quiet squealing noises.
"Whenever you're free," I said in a slightly high-pitched voice, feeling a little light-headed.
"I'm free now, do you need a ride?"
"No, no, just give me the address and I'll be right there."
Alice jumped up and scrambled to the kitchen, returning with a bright pink Post-It note and a purple pen. I raised my eyebrow at her, curious if there wasn't anything in the house that wasn't a bright, girly color. Alice shrugged and I shook my head, baffled as to how Emmett lived in such an Easter egg colored house.
I scribbled down the address Charlie gave me and agreed to meet him in ten minutes. When I hung up, Jackie and Alice both starting jumping up and down, squealing shrilly. I covered my ears, laughing. Once they calmed down, Alice hauled me off the couch and shoved me out the front door. Jackie bounced after us, chattering non-stop at such a high speed that I couldn't make out much more than the gist of it. It sounded like she was coming up with decoration ideas.
Alice snatched the slip of paper with the address out of my hand and steered me towards the shiny Mustang parked in the driveway. Jackie climbed into the backseat and I plopped down in the front.
The scenery passed by in a blur, making me feel as if I was in a dream. I leaned my head back against the plush leather seats and heaved a deep, satisfied sigh.
But then we passed by Edward's apartment and the smile slipped off my face. My heart, which had been beating excitedly, plummeted to rest somewhere around my bellybutton, making me feel like a large rock was dragging me down.
I shifted in my seat so that I could turn my face to the window, hoping to hide the fact that a few tears had slid down my cheek. Though my ankle had healed completely, my heard was still aching for one person in particular.
It wasn't that I wasn't happy to share this moment with my two newest friends but I had hoped to share it with someone else. Despite what Edward thought, I had given a lot of consideration into moving out of Tess's house. I had been too scared to admit it that day we had fought but I had hoped that Edward would ask me to move in with him, that he would realize that living with someone like Jacob was pulling us apart and that he would do better without him.
I had also been too afraid to move out on my own but I knew that was stupid. I practically lived alone as it was; it just so happened that I cleaned up after three others. I was the housekeeper that could have lived in the garden shed out back for all it mattered to Tess and the boys. I wasn't a member of the family, I wasn't a roommate—Hell, I wasn't even a welcome guest. I was hired-help with the benefit of not having to shell out any money.
"Bella?"
Alice's voice cut through my musing and I quickly wiped my face and turned to her, attempting to smile happily. Judging by the frowns on both her and Jackie's faces, I hadn't hidden my sadness at all.
"You don't have to do this, Bella," she said softly.
"Yes I do," I whispered, brushing at my face again, trying to erase the tears that had escaped.
"You could come live with us," Jackie said hopefully, giving me a small smile.
"No," I shook my head fiercely, closing my eyes and breathing deeply. "No, I need to do this. It's the only way."
I opened my eyes as Alice stopped the car. She turned off the engine and turned in her seat. She picked up both my hands with her tiny ones, squeezing tightly.
"Anything you need, ever, no matter the time," she said firmly. "Do not—I repeat! Do not—hesitate to ask. You got that?"
Alice narrowed her heavily lined eyes at me; it was strange to see this little pixie looking so frightening. I nodded my head quickly and she snapped a smile back into place.
"Good!" she said brightly. "We're here!"
We all climbed out of the car, looking around curiously. We were in the nicer part of the low-income part of town, standing in front of a tall, tan building that was shaped like a U. I counted four floors and though I know it wasn't much, I was still momentarily stunned by how large of a complex was actually in our tiny town, but then I realized we were on the edge of town where most of the older and partially forgotten buildings were.
The small patches of grass outside of the complex were neatly trimmed and there was a small lemon tree in front of the door marked Office. Set in the U shape of the building was a flight of stairs that twisted and turned to reach every level, breaking off into platforms outside each hallway leading to the individual apartments.
Alice clasped her hand with mine and Jackie linked her arm with my free one and the two of them marched me, big smiles on their faces, to the Office.
When we reached the door, the girls stood back a step from me and Jackie let go of my arm. I raised it, noticing that it barely trembled, and knocked on the door three times.
The door opened almost immediately and there stood Charlie, looking almost exactly as the last time I had seen him. He was in a blue flannel shirt, his suspenders off his shoulders and dangling down the sides of his paint-flecked jeans. He grinned when he saw me and gestured the three of us into his tiny office.
Alice and I perched ourselves on the two chairs in front of Charlie's cluttered desk and Jackie stood behind Alice, her hands resting on the back of the chair. Charlie settled himself behind his desk again but jumped up almost at once, offering us coffee. Alice and I accepted and Charlie quickly poured some into two Styrofoam cups from an old, white coffee maker covered in bent and crinkled sticky notes.
After adding our requested amounts of sugar packets and tiny creamers, Charlie handed Alice and I our cups and sat back down. He folded his hands on the desk.
"So, uh… Oh!" Charlie began rifling through his piles of paper, dropping a few on the floor and knocking over a jar of paperclips. He kept digging until he found what he wanted. He grabbed a pen and started marking and signing things. "So, this is just a formality. It's an agreement to pay rent and utilities on time, to kept he place in shape, you know, notify me of any repairs needed. It also says that you won't have more than a dozen people over at a time—you know, like for parties and whatnot…"
Charlie placed the paper in front of me and smiled. I took the pen hesitantly, looking at Alice in confusion.
"What did you mean a formality?" I asked quietly.
"Well, I don't expect you to pay rent," Charlie said with a frown.
"You…you didn't?" I choked out, completely taken aback.
"Of course not!" Charlie said with a chuckle. "You're m-my daughter! I didn't expect… Didn't think that… Is that…. Okay?"
Charlie rubbed his neck nervously, looking at Alice and Jackie helplessly, as though silently asking for help. They looked just as baffled as I did.
"That'd be just… amazing, Charlie," I said breathlessly, looking incredulously from Alice to Jackie; they both smiled at me in a kind of bemused way. I signed the paper and handed it back to Charlie.
"Oh… good!" Charlie said, a hint of uncertainty in his voice. He rubbed his neck nervously again. "Well, that's about it. Would you like to come see the place?"
"Yes, please!" I said; Alice and I stood up quickly. Charlie looked up at us, looking a little baffled himself, but he recovered quickly and stood too.
Charlie leaned over an over-flowing file cabinet, plucked a key off a hook on a corkboard full of keys—the only organized space in the entire office—and led us out of the room.
We walked up to the top floor, turned right and went to the very end of the hall, stopping in front of a door with a brass number 40 hanging on it.
After unlocking the door, Charlie waved us in.
Alice and Jackie followed me into a fairly spacious living room. There was a dark brown couch and chair set in the center of the room, facing a small table against the wall that obviously was supposed to hold a TV. There was a bookshelf to the right of the front door and when I took a few steps farther in, I could see a small kitchen hidden behind a partial wall.
"The bathroom is just down the hall," Charlie said, gesturing just past the kitchen. "And so is the bedroom. There's a bed in there with a brand new mattress, but you'll need sheets. Oh, and I dresser! It isn't very big but there's a decent sized closet in there as well…"
I set my empty coffee cup down on the bookshelf and walked towards the living room. The carpet felt springy under my sneakers and was an odd beige color but it didn't bother me; it matched the furniture perfectly. The walls were off-white and boring; behind me I could hear Alice and Jackie discussing decorating with different pictures and paintings.
I kept walking to where there was a window on the opposite side of the room. There was an iron curtain rod but no curtains and the sill looked just big enough for me to sit on. I perched myself on the edge of it and looked out.
My apartment was set just high enough that I could see over the tops of the trees and houses. I strained my eyes and noticed that I could just barely see to Edward's place. My heart gave a strange leap and suddenly I knew that this was just the right place for me.
"…color, we need to discuss color!" I could hear Alice saying. "Bella, what do you think? Bella?"
I heard footsteps cross the room and then felt Jackie's hand on my shoulder but I didn't turn.
"Bella, are you alright?" Jackie asked quietly. When I nodded she asked, "Do you like the apartment?"
"Its perfect," I whispered as one lone tear streaked down my cheek.
My eyes didn't leave the window as I watched a white EMT van pull away from the curb in front of Edward's apartment.
::Edward::
I leaned my head against the back of the seat, feeling utterly exhausted. Just like the last time Bella and I were apart, I was having a hard time sleeping. The dreams had at least calmed down but they were still fucking depressing. In every single one of them, I watched helplessly as Bella simply walked away from me. It broke my heart every time.
I really wanted someone to talk about it with but I knew Emmett would just laugh his ass off and say I just needed to get laid or something; Jasper would just tell me ways to forget about her in overly-helpful kind of way; and Alice…
Come to think of it, where the Hell was Alice? Two weeks after Bella had left and I had barely seen her at all. When I did, it was at Jasper's bar and she was always too busy to do more than make me a drink.
Emmett climbed into the van finally. I swear he takes longer than a fucking girl to get ready for work.
"What's up, Ed?" he asked nonchalantly, buckling his seat belt.
"Where the Hell has Alice been?" I asked bluntly, not even bothering to remind him that I fucking hated when he called me Ed.
"Fuck if I know," Emmett shrugged.
I frowned and started the van. The rain was light today, meaning there shouldn't be much going on, but it didn't matter how busy I was, I still couldn't get her out of my head.
I thought about calling Bella at least ten times a day. She still had my cell phone but I wasn't about to ask for it back, even if she didn't use it to call me. I was waiting on her, hoping like Hell that she'd at least let me know if she was done with me for good. It would be so much easier than leaving me hanging.
At that thought, I suddenly felt sick to my stomach. What if she did drop my sorry ass? What if she did finally come to her senses and give up on me? What if she had already moved on to some other asshole that I didn't stand a chance against?
"Edward, dude, red light!" Emmett yelled.
"Shit!" I slammed on the brakes, skidding to a stop halfway through the cross walk at the stoplight. I ran my hands roughly through my hair, pulling on the strands.
"Dude… are you okay?" Emmett asked, sounding more concerned than I had ever heard him. I must really be freaking him out.
"I don't know," I groaned, gripping my hair so tight my scalp tingled with pain.
"Why don't you just fucking call her or something?" Emmett suggested. "Doesn't she still have your phone?"
"She told me not to follow," I mumbled, leaning forward so that my forehead rested against the steering wheel.
"Didn't that just mean when she left the apartment?" Emmett asked in a patronizing tone.
I snorted and lifted my head just in time to see the light turn green.
"You're lucky you're considered good-looking," I said, shaking my head.
We went about our rounds, like usual, and nothing happened except Emmett insisting us getting ice cream like we were fucking five year olds again. Finally, nine-o'clock rolled around and we were done and Em did the smartest thing all day and suggested we go out for a drink.
I knew it was a stupid move to drink without having eaten something but I just wasn't hungry all day. I figured I'd eat some peanuts from the bar or something.
It was the middle of the week so only a few regulars were hanging around. Em and I slid onto some stools at the bar and Alice sauntered over in a black ballerina skirt and lacy top, her hair in neat little curls. She leaned over the bar and looked at my face intently.
"When was the last time you slept?" she asked over the clinking of glasses and laughter of the other patrons.
I shrugged and she frowned, pulling out a bowl of peanuts from under the bar and setting it down in front of me. She raised an eyebrow, silently asking what I wanted.
"Just a beer tonight," I told her, popping a few peanuts in my mouth.
"Same here, sis," Emmett said, grabbing a handful of peanuts that pretty much emptied the bowl. I scowled at him but he just gave me a toothy grin as he chewed.
I drank my beer slowly, not really wanting to get drunk but hoping to at least fucking unwind a bit. I'd felt like shit the past couple of weeks, barely sleeping, hardly eating and spending a lot of time just feeling sorry for myself. Emmett suggested going on a few pity dates, just getting a few kicks out of my system, but it wasn't what I wanted. I only wanted one person and fuck if I knew if she wanted me anymore.
I sighed heavily and set my drink down too hard. It made a noisy clunk sound and spilled a bit onto the bar. Alice heard the noise and came over with a rag.
"What is going on with you?" she complained, mopping up the spill.
"Sorry, Alice," I mumbled, rubbing my face wearily.
"I know, I know," she said softly. "You miss her."
"Is it that obvious?" I groaned, pressing my fingertips onto my closed lids.
"Only to someone that knows you well," she said, and I opened my eyes to see her leaning over the bar again. "Everyone else would just see asshole Edward in a worse mood than usual."
I gave a dry laugh, draining the last of my beer. I looked around for Emmett and saw that he was hanging all over that blonde, Rosalie, over at the pool table. He was bending her over the table, showing her how to properly aim the stick. I rolled my eyes as I saw her stick her ass out a little further.
Suddenly, I heard rushing footsteps coming down the stairs behind the bar. Jackie appeared, her face lit up in a huge grin. I was about to make some stupid joke about minors in the bar but she didn't even notice me and started gabbing to Alice.
"Alice, guess what, guess what!" she cried, hopping on the spot.
"You finally finished your history paper?" Alice said sternly, crossing her arms across her chest and quirking an eyebrow.
"Well, not quite," Jackie said with only a hint of bashfulness before she was babbling away again. "No! It's not that! She finally called and everything is all ready! She just moved the last of her stuff into her car so she just has to take it over! But she said she'll need a table, the one we found at the thrift store is too big for her apartment, but that she doesn't need it right away. Oh and I forgot to tell you! Bella found the perfect arm chair to sit by her new window and—"
"Wait, Bella is moving?" I interrupted, standing up so fast that I knocked my stool over. Both my shout and my chair falling scared Jackie so bad that she jumped back in shock, her hands flying to her chest.
"Crap, Edward, you scared me!" she said breathlessly.
"What's going on?" I demanded.
Jackie and Alice exchanged looks and then looked back at me. Both of them looked scared and unsure. I folded my arms across my chest and lifted an eyebrow, waiting for the answer.
"Tell me, Alice," I growled. "You've been keeping something from me and you damn well better tell me and tell me now!"
I stood there, huffing angrily. Alice had never lied to me; in all the years we had been friends, she had never once withheld anything from me. Hell, she even told me things that I didn't want to hear.
"Well… Bella decided to…move out," Jackie said in a small voice, looking at Alice again; she sighed and nodded.
"And why didn't anyone tell me?" I half shouted, positively fuming. "I was the first one to tell her to move away from that bitch!"
"She wanted to tell you herself," Alice said loudly.
"Wait, what?" I said, completely taken aback, my anger suddenly disappearing. "She wanted to… she still wants… to talk to me?"
"Of course she does," Alice said in a patient voice, giving a small smile.
I stepped over to another stool, ignoring the one I knocked over, and buried my head in my hands.
"This is ridiculous, just fucking ridiculous," I complained into my hands. "I don't know what to fucking do, Alice. Shit…How could one girl do this to me?"
"It means you really care, Edward. It means you're not as screwed up as you like to think."
"What am I supposed to do, Alice?" I groaned. "This waiting is driving me fucking crazy!"
"You have to be patient with her," Alice said soothingly. "She's making a big change right now and it's scary for her."
"Why can't I help her?" I whined, lifting my head. "I could be doing all this moving shit for her! She wouldn't even have to lift a fucking finger!"
"Oh, Edward," Jackie sighed, lifting the opening in the bar and slipping through. She climbed onto my lap and threw her arms around my neck. "She's doing this for you."
When I sat there looking at her blankly, she sighed again.
"Edward, were you guys really working out before?" After a short pause, I shook my head and she continued. "Didn't you both agree that things would be better, would be easier, if at least one of you didn't live where you did?"
"Well, both of us needed to get out, but neither of us really had any fucking choice in the matter but—"
"But she did," Jackie said in an impatient voice. "She did but she was too afraid to act on it. Think about it, Edward… When did she move in with Tess?"
"When her parents died," I said quietly.
"Exactly. If given her choice, she would give up just about anything to be back with them. But she can't so she had to take the only home she was given. But then, Charlie showed up and things were so confusing—she was just meeting you and trying to sort out her feelings, she was trying to get over the incident at the convenience store—that she didn't know what to make of his offer."
And suddenly it dawned on me.
That fight we had changed everything. She knew she wouldn't be able to change my stubborn ass and get me to move out so she decided to. She decided to make the smart move. But if I were around, it wouldn't have changed her life the way she needed it to. I would have made all the decisions, I would have done all the work, and she wouldn't have been able to grow.
I looked at Jackie and she was smiling hugely. I turned to Alice and she was looking a bit smug.
"Caught on, have you?" she said with a smirk. "Took you long enough."
"Well, now what?" I asked eagerly, feeling my heart swell. She wanted me back after all, she just needed to get her life together, and so did I. "What do I do?"
"Nothing yet, doofus," Jackie laughed, tugging on my hair. "Just be ready for her when she's ready for you."
My heart was beating wildly and I couldn't wipe the idiot grin off my face. I just couldn't believe it—all this worry over nothing. My heart fucking broke the day she walked out of my place and felt like it'd never be able to be put back together again. But I had been wrong…
"Jackie, I am taking you out for the biggest fucking sundae you've ever had," I said, leaning forward and kissing her on the cheek. "I mean it! All the toppings and shit you want on it, it's yours!"
"What did I do?" she asked in a bemused voice, giggling.
"You saved me, Jackie," I said quietly. "You told me what was going on. I was going fucking nuts!"
We both laughed and Jackie looked at Alice out of the corner of her eye. I looked too and saw Alice looking damn near close to tears. I felt like a fucking jackass; she never meant to hurt me by not telling me, she was doing as Bella asked. And I'd do anything for that girl.
"Alice, I'm sorry," I said, beckoning her to come onto the other side of the bar. "I was a jackass, I shouldn't have shouted—"
"You were just being you," she said, lifting up the hinged part of the bar and standing next to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulder.
"Doesn't matter," I said with a shake of my head. "Fucking ice cream for you too."
::Bella::
I paced across the living room, waiting for Alice and Jackie to show up. I had no idea what was taking them so long; I had called Jackie over an hour ago. I had asked them to show up around ten and it was passed that.
Jackie's plan had been too simple. We were just going to move all my stuff out of my room, piece by piece, when Tess wasn't around, setting up the apartment as we went. And then, when everything was moved, we were going to just tell Tess I was leaving.
I knew it was going to be harder than it sounded but there was no other way. But this way, Tess couldn't stop me. Everything was already gone, she couldn't change that. So now, the hardest part was saying… goodbye.
I had no idea what her reaction would be. I assumed she'd be angry, maybe a little hurt—she had been making an honest effort with me, or at least seemed to be—but this was for the best. I needed to get away from her.
I heard the bathroom door open and out came Tess, a towel wrapped around her head and already dressed in her silk pajamas. She stopped and stared at me, her brows knitted in confusion.
"What are you doing?" she asked suspiciously.
"Um, I uh… I j-just…" I stuttered, lost as to what to say.
Luckily, I was literally saved by the bell—the doorbell, to be exact. Tess looked at the door in confusion and moved around me to answer it. I knew who it was and it didn't bother me; this was part of the plan.
Tess opened the door to see Alice and Jackie standing there. Alice had clearly just finished with work—she was still wearing a cute little black ballerina skirt with a thick jacket thrown on. Jackie had her hair pulled back into a messy ponytail and was smiling broadly.
"Hello, we're here to pick up Bella," she said in a loud clear voice.
"Excuse me?" Tess said crossly, putting her hands on her hips.
"You heard her," Alice said sweetly. "We're here to get Bella. She's moving out tonight."
Tess gave a hollow laugh, looking back at me and then back to the girls.
"You're kidding me, right?" she said.
"No, we're not," Alice said, slowly and clearly. "Just check the basement. Everything that belongs to Bella is gone."
Alice and Jackie smiled as Tess sputtered incoherently for a few moments. She turned to me angrily and I squared my shoulders, preparing myself to take action.
"Care to explain yourself?" she demanded.
"Nope," I said simply, lifting my chin slightly. "I'm old enough to move out, and so I am. My father offered me a place… and I'm taking it."
With that, I grabbed my purse and strode out the door without looking back. Alice and Jackie trailed behind me, Jackie snickering quietly.
"You can't do this!" Tess suddenly shouted when I reached my car.
I turned around and saw her standing on the porch, shaking with anger. Her nostrils were flared and her face was beat red. I smiled vindictively—anger I could work with easily.
"Sorry, your free maid is off duty," I said triumphantly, unlocking my car and stepping in. Jackie was waiting in the passenger seat.
I looked in my review mirror as I drove away. Tess was still standing on the porch with her mouth hanging open.
"I hope she can recover," Jackie snickered, turning around in her seat to look back at Tess. "You gave her quite a shock."
"Oh darn," I said sarcastically. "Whatever will she do without me?"
Jackie laughed loudly and starting talking at top speed, as usual, telling me about all the different decorations she and Alice had put up for me. I was barely listening, merely nodding every once in a while to make it seem like I was. I was thinking about when—and how—I would tell Edward…
After a few minutes, we pulled up to Charlie's complex. I parked on the street and looked up at the building. Most of the lights were off but I could see, at the very end, my window and it was lit with a short lamp set on a side table I had placed there.
"Welcome home," Jackie said happily.
I'm so very sorry if I gave anyone whiplash with my changing of POVs! It wasn't intentional. But I do hope it worked out okay. Leave me some lovin' and I'll try to get the next chapter up soon! Like I said, I finally have some free time to myself coming up!
Oh and a special shout-out to my SoulMate Ecee! How'd you like THAT Edward interaction? ;)
