WOW! Thank you so much for the support and love! I am overwhelmed with thankfulness and can't wait to keep continuing with the story. Last chapter really was a labor of love and ripped my heart out to write, but I am so thankful for art so we can tell stories and create outlets like this. I appreciate each and every one of you that shares in this experience! I have loved this journey and cannot wait to keep telling the stories in my head.
Another special thanks to LizziePaige for sharing my story with others!
I want to get this chapter out and really explore the relationship between Edward and Rosalie and Edward and Emmett in the next few chapters. I will return to Rosalie and Emmett centric chapters, but the next two will really help in connecting Edward and explaining his passionate reaction at dinner as well as the wedge between Rosalie and Edward/ Emmett and Edward in the first few chapters.
I know this is a little longer than what I usually write, I just had a lot to say! Thanks so much!
I'd love to hear any of your reactions and can't wait to read your reviews and thoughts!
xoxox!
All Comes Down - Kodaline
But why do I feel so old?
'Cause I'm still so young
It all comes down to you
If you see it
Why couldn't you do it
And you're so alone tonight
It's heartbreaking,
The road you choose and God wouldn't save you
Love is a battle oh
Everybody cries
Edward: Rosalie and Rosary
Present - September, The Morning After Dinner
"I'll get it." Bella said, taking another quick bite of her breakfast before hopping up from the table to grab the door.
It must be a package she didn't want me finding out about. She was terrible at surprising me, but her Amazon orders weren't exactly discreet.
I downed my coffee, scrolling through the New York Times app for highlights, but my mind was far from my screen.
It had taken a long time for Bella and I to wind down last night after such a tumultuous dinner, but even then, we were both restless the entire night. I'd watched Bella toss and turn as she mumbled in her sleep and it just broke my heart. She had cried in her sleep, and though she was mumbling unintelligible things, I knew she was strongly affected by the night's events.
Rosalie and Emmett had infected her like a cancer...
I don't know what I was thinking trying to force a relationship with Rosalie after all of this – after all we'd been through. I couldn't believe I'd been so optimistic and naïve to believe that she would remember she was my little sister and be happy for me and the girl that had changed everything for me. I wanted Rosalie to be a part of this family I'm starting. I wanted Emmett to be a part of this family, but it looked like it was just going to be Bella and me…
I knew this made Bella sad because she voiced her desire for a big family and a big support system often.
I laid in bed last night just watching the clock, the bruise under my eye throbbing with each tick of the clock.
Then right before dawn, Bella, my darling, Bella had shot up in bed from a nightmare.
She cried and I reached out to hold her. She opened up to me, exhaling her burdens onto me as she told me about how she always wanted to tell me about why her family fell apart and why it was so important to her.
Bella had opened her heart and revisited the painful memories of how her brother had died of a brain tumor when she was just seventeen. That's why she moved so far away for school. She wanted to get away from her disintegrating family…
Bella said the sickness changed his personality so much that when he died she felt guilty for seeing it as a sort of relief. He'd become violent, abrasive, vicious, and just plain mean. His sickness ripped her whole family apart.
She always tried to tell herself that it wasn't really him talking so she wouldn't ever take it personally or begin to hate him, but as the months went on and things only got worse, she found it harder and harder to believe that.
Bella said the worst part was that he didn't die before things got so bad that she forgot what he was like before… This arrangement of words seemed to shock her before she explained that her mind filled with more memories of him spewing hate and getting violent than she had of him as himself.
I held her as she cried on into the morning until I started to cry myself.
I didn't remember what Rosalie's laugh sounded like. I didn't remember the way she'd wrinkle her nose when she smiled too wide, or the way we'd talk and she'd rest her chin on her knees while she listened.
I tried to remember the moments where Rosalie was herself, but it was getting harder the further away they became.
As I scrolled through my phone, I heard Bella's surprised gasp from the other room.
"What are you doing here?" Bella's voice was more surprised than hostile, and I froze, trying to hear.
"Would you mind if I talked with you for a moment?" I heard Rosalie's voice from the door, soft and unsure.
I stood from the table protectively, but waited for Bella's response.
"No, no, come in." Bella's voice was too high pitched and awkward, so I felt my muscles tense up protectively.
I saw Bella's wide, terrified, and caught off guard eyes as she rounded the corner with Rosalie trailing behind, looking around at our apartment that she'd never come to see before now.
Rosalie caught my gaze and her hand came to her mouth.
"Oh my God." Rosalie gasped, obviously in reference to my black eye.
"How did you get in the front door? We didn't buzz you in." I said, my tone more hostile than I'd anticipated.
"I just… Your eye… There was a woman downstairs that recognized me and-" Rosalie trailed off, her eyes falling down.
I noticed she had a rosary wrapped around her wrist, turning the crucifix over and over in her hand nervously.
I wasn't as oblivious as Rosalie's father so I eventually made the connection in retrospect that she'd started going to Mass after her trial all those years ago because she had a crush on Emmett and wanted a good excuse to spend more time around him. I mean, she even got his mom to sponsor her confirmation. But, then, Rosalie really did find her faith and a place to go to heal after she was assaulted and suffered through a grueling trial.
Even though I didn't understand Rosalie and Emmett's religious convictions completely, I knew it meant a lot to Rosalie to believe in a higher power after experiencing tragedy. However, after their most recent tragedy Emmett and Rosalie both all but lost their religion.
They had been perfect Catholics, going to Mass every time the doors were open, taking Communion, going to Confession, whatever else they were supposed to do, but when they lost their baby, their world had been thrown upside down so it was odd to see the rosary around her wrist now.
Something was different.
"Why are you here?" I asked, trying not to sound quite as aggressive, but it wasn't working.
Bella's face was bright red.
"I came to apologize." Rosalie gulped like she had a branding iron down her throat and she clutched the rosary tighter.
She never apologized for anything.
She must've come from confession or an emergency Mass.
I didn't say a word, my expression remaining harsh as I crossed my arms over my chest.
Bella was in too much shock to respond.
Rosalie took a deep breath.
"I am so sorry." Rosalie said tightly, but with a tinge of authenticity in her voice and remorse in her eyes as she looked between Bella and I.
This was torture for her.
I pursed my lips into a line.
"I was… needlessly nasty to you last night." Rosalie locked her eyes with Bella's and I put my arm around Bella in solidarity.
Bella's mouth hung open and her brow furrowed. She was as caught off guard as I was.
"I am sorry for the way I treated you both." Rosalie's eyes flashed up to mine.
"It was a terrible way of me to welcome you, Bella and celebrate one of the happiest moments of your lives together." Rosalie sounded rehearsed and I knew in that moment Emmett made her come.
He was probably waiting outside.
This sent me over the edge.
"He can make you do a lot of things but he can't force you into having remorse, Rosalie." I snapped and she immediately went on the defense.
"What are you talking about?" She breathed and Bella shot me a look.
"Emmett sent you with a script after he drug you to Mass." I said matter-of-factly, my blood boiling. "He tries to make you into a good person, but you're still just a spoiled brat."
"I can't believe him." I threw my hands up in surrender turning away. "Is he outside with cue cards?"
Rosalie did something she hadn't done in a long time. She started crying, and tears began to flow freely.
"No, I swear!" Her voice caught in her throat.
"Edward!" Bella shushed under her breath.
I stayed incredulously quiet, watching Rosalie cry.
She was serious.
I hadn't seen her cry in years, and even then it was never as freely as she cried now in front of us.
"I'm sorry, Bella and I don't want you to hate me." Rosalie sniffled. "Even though you have every right to. I was so horrible to you and…"
Bella threw her arms around Rosalie's shoulders, cutting her off with an embrace.
I winced; knowing that Rosalie hated affection.
But, Rosalie's arms softened, her hands trembling on Bella's back.
I was speechless.
"I don't hate you." Bella whispered, her eyes closing. "I've already forgotten all about it."
Rosalie finally recoiled from her embrace. Her muscles were awkwardly tensed, but her smile was warmer than I'd seen it in years.
Bella Swan, you miracle worker.
Rosalie's eyes danced to mine.
I couldn't bring myself to say that I didn't really mean it when I called her a brat.
I meant it.
She knew it too.
"I'm sorry." She mouthed.
I looked away.
Then, guilt rushed through me.
"I'm about to head to class. Would you want to walk with me?" I offered, my voice rough and sounding like I was already begrudging asking.
But, Rosalie quickly wiped her eyes and nodded enthusiastically.
"I have a car out front."
"I'm not taking your car." I responded, denying the privilege vehemently. "We're walking or nothing."
"Okay, we'll walk." She responded swiftly, tightening her grip on her rosary.
"Okay, let me grab my backpack." I mumbled, before tapping her on the top of the head like I used to when we were younger.
She knew the sibling-like gesture from years past with ancient familiarity and a radiant smile expanded on her face.
I couldn't tell her I forgave her, agreed with her, or accepted her, but I could tell her I remembered a time when we loved each other and were thick as thieves.
She was my one and only baby sister.
Bella grabbed my arm, following me as I left the room.
"Please be nice." She encouraged under her breath.
I just nodded.
"I can't believe…" Bella started, but didn't finish her thought because she didn't have to.
She couldn't believe that the person in front of her today was the person that sat across the table from her last night.
I couldn't either.
Rosalie wasn't exactly one to apologize, get overwhelmed with emotion, or even care about anyone's feelings...
"Edward, listen to me." Bella put her hand on my chest, her eyes serious as she made me pause before grabbing my backpack.
"What is it?" I asked, kissing her forehead.
"Just… Just that, I don't know your sister or Emmett that well, but I just think…" Bella started, tucking her hair behind her ears. "I just think that… that you have to remember they're sick too, just like my brother was. I just want you to hold on to what it was like to really know her because I think that's the best help in her remembering who she was. I guess I'm trying to say that if she sees who she was in your eyes, she'll recognize herself eventually."
I kissed Bella quickly, but passionately, in disbelief that she was so wise.
"I love you." I told her and she still made me smile when she said it back.
I tossed my backpack on my shoulder, heavy with law books and emerged to find Rosalie looking at a frame with a photo of Bella and I in it at a concert a few months ago.
My arms were around Bella's shoulders and I was kissing her on the cheek. Bella smiled a gorgeous, full smile, her dark brown hair a cloud around her face.
As she heard me approach, Rosalie looked up with a soft smile.
"That's a lovely photograph of you two." Rosalie said softly and I just nodded, the corner of my mouth turning up slightly and politely.
"We'll have to walk fast. I need to finish an outline before my first class." I said and Bella shot me a look, insisting I show some compassion.
I subtly sighed before I opened the front door and Rosalie glided out behind me.
"Rosalie, it means a lot that you stopped by. I'd love for you to come over one day so we can get to know each other better." Bella was friendly and kind. "When you're ready…"
She was an angel.
"I'd love that." Rosalie smiled removed but courteously and nodded before the door closed behind us.
I wasn't about to start conversation, so we took the stairs in silence.
As we emerged into the crisp fall air, I walked a few paces ahead of her, insisting on walking fast even though I'd lied. I had already finished that outline and Emmett had already given me all of his notes.
"Edward, wait up." Rosalie complained and I groaned dramatically before slowing my pace.
"Do you hate me?" She asked, a bounce in her step as she tried to keep up.
She was a tall girl with long legs but she still walked so slow for a native New Yorker.
It was a small thing to be frustrated with, but frustrated I was nonetheless.
"I am not allowed to hate you, Rosalie." I sighed exasperatedly.
"I wasn't very pleasant last night, and… and you have every right to be angry with me." She responded.
"Well, good, I am angry with you." I said shortly.
She didn't know how to respond to this and it made the silence that followed extremely thick.
"I just don't recognize you anymore." I said simply.
Rosalie's face was stoic and she crossed her arms over her chest, her chin low.
"I know." She responded. "I'm… trying."
Her voice sounded so sad and defeated that it had an effect on me.
"I'm sure you are." I said coldly.
"Edward, please don't treat me this way." Rosalie seemed to beg.
I was silent.
I was the only person as stubborn as Rosalie…
This was not going to end until one of us bent. And for the first time, she was doing the bending.
"Fine. You can be angry at me, but what's going on with you and Emmett?" She asked, her eyes curious. "It breaks my heart."
Her heart? Her frozen, icy heart?
An ambulance passed so I had some time to collect my thoughts before it was quiet enough to talk again.
"Nothing's going on with us." I insisted, rolling my eyes.
She wasn't satisfied with that, but she didn't say a word.
I finally huffed as we stopped at a street corner, waiting for the light to turn.
She angled herself so I had to look at her.
"You used to be as close as brothers." Rosalie observed.
I didn't respond.
"What happened?" She pressed.
This seemed like the first time she'd been awake in over a year because I thought it was blatantly obvious that Emmett and I had an estranged relationship especially compared with how close we were before.
She was just now noticing it. All it took was a sucker punch.
"Nothing." I lied, pinpointing the exact moment we became on the outs.
He all but gave up on Rosalie, sending her off to Paris indefinitely… He didn't even go get her.
I had to go get her…
I'd never forgive him for that.
"Well, he said you made lunch plans with Irina Denali." She looked over with an accusatory glance and I got defensive. "I didn't know you wanted to defend criminals."
She narrowed her eyes. This was personal and I knew it. It was her attacker's attorney.
"Does he keep tabs on me?" I asked venomously, ignoring her investment in the argument.
I honestly just wanted to prove I could get a big job without his help. That's why I took the lunch. I didn't actually want to work with Irina Denali.
"No. But people talk." Rosalie started. "He was convinced you were going to come work with he and Carlisle."
"I'm keeping my options open." I mumbled.
"Since when?" She had alarm in her voice.
"Since I don't want to feel like I owe him for anything!" I snapped.
Rosalie took a step back at my harsh tone, her eyes wide.
"I don't want to always be in debt to him for getting me my job." I rephrased.
Rosalie paused as we crossed the street and my mind began to race.
"Do you remember when you were 15, you would get so angry when everyone used to tease you about how you'd never kissed a boy?" I began, redirecting.
"I used to tell you that you were going to join a convent because you wouldn't even go on a date with any of those poor, stupid guys that knocked on our door or sent you flowers. You were so naïve…"
Rosalie's lips were pressed into a straight line, but she nodded.
"But… I couldn't protect you from… from what happened to you. I'm your older brother and I couldn't protect you." I said.
Rosalie looked up at me with big violet eyes.
"But, Emmett could. Even when you were just a stranger to him." I said. "Watching him that day in the courtroom, Rosalie… That's what made me want to quit my job and go back to school to be an attorney. I saw what he did for you and… and I want to do that for people."
Rosalie let out a shaky exhale, not wanting to revisit those memories.
"He saved you, Rosalie." I said and she nodded.
"I know." She breathed.
"But now, he's killing you." I said boldly.
"What?!" She practically choked on her words and I put my arm out in front of her so she wouldn't keep walking into oncoming traffic.
"I just think… I just think he's been pushing you to have a baby and you don't really want that. I think you feel a debt to him for saving you, so you'll do anything he asks."
Rosalie's mouth opened disbelievingly, and she took a step out into the street, continuing to walk once there was a calm space in traffic.
"I don't want to feel the same obligation you do to repay him." I trailed behind her this time, waiting for her response.
An angry cab driver honked and I skittered the rest of the way out of the street.
"How could you say that?" She hissed, her eyes hostile.
Rosalie brushed her hair back from her face with both hands and I noticed as her sleeves fell up to her elbows that finger shaped bruises wound up her wrists.
The throbbing of the bruise on my own eye beat in time with my racing heart and I felt my nostrils flare.
"Did he grab you last night, Rosalie?" I was breathless, my heart beating out of my chest as I snatched her hand.
I was seeing red.
"What?! No." She shrieked, hushing me with the low volume of her voice. "He would never do that."
She followed my eyes to the bruises on her wrists and tugged her sleeves down.
I could kill him.
"Well. Yes. But, I bruise easily." She said defensively as if it was going to help the matter.
I turned around, not knowing where I was going, but I was going to find him and kill him.
"Edward!" She shrieked.
"He hurt you, Rosalie!" I roared.
"No, no. He didn't." She hushed me, grabbing onto my arm and trying to pull me back to the path.
I couldn't even breathe I was so angry.
"Edward, he was trying to protect me from hurting myself when he grabbed me. I was fighting him pretty hard." She said with darkness in her violet eyes.
"Are you telling me the truth?" I growled. "You're not protecting him are you? You can't do that, Rosalie. You know that no one should ever put their hands on you, right?"
She didn't. She didn't exactly know any better.
"He knows what it would mean if he hit me. He would never do that." Her eyes flashed with something that sent my stomach to my knees and so I stopped and listened to her.
"I would've burnt our entire apartment complex and all of Central Park down if he hadn't stopped me." Rosalie said, her face going dark. "I set fire to our entire storage closet last night."
She chuckled darkly and humorlessly.
"Rosalie… Why?…" I said softly, but began to see she was telling me the truth.
"I don't know why I lost our baby, Edward." She finally said with a ghostly voice. "I thought I did everything right."
I swallowed, a lump building in my throat. There was nothing I could say.
"I did do everything right." She confirmed for herself and for me. "I just… I can't understand why…"
"Why do you even want a baby, Rosalie?" I asked genuinely.
She furrowed her brow, but she didn't even need to think.
"Because, I want to be a mom." She responded easily like that was obvious. "I didn't exactly have one growing up, but now I have three and I just… I can't process it. I feel like I've been shown every single way to be a mom, and so I know exactly what kind of mother I'd want to be… I want that chance so badly."
She referred to her mom and now two step-moms.
"I just want to do it right, to make things better, to show up… But, more than anything really – I just want to be tied to Em in that way. God, I love him so much it hurts, Edward, but somehow he still loves me more... He's the best person I know, and I just want something in this world to exist that's half me and half him more than I've wanted anything in my life. "
Rosalie clenched her fingers and her muscles so her fists were in front of her shoulders as she closed her eyes.
I hadn't seen her like this in a long, long time.
"I know." I said honestly.
I did know.
She exhaled to relax.
"I just… I want a baby and I want to stay home with her and make her life perfect and easy and lovely…" Rosalie went on talking dreamily. "Em would kiss me when he came home. I'd have the baby dressed in beautiful pink frills and he'd pick her up out of my arms and she'd smile up at him with dimples just like his…"
"But, I couldn't do it…" She swallowed, cutting herself off from her fantasy.
"It's not your fault." I told her, stopping in my tracks, my voice intense as I looked into her eyes.
"Emmett's been so good at keeping me numb, and last night it all rushed in." She said in a low voice, looking away from me.
I began to see their want for a family wasn't one-sided. Rosalie's eyes were full of desperation and desire.
"We have everything we could ever want." Rosalie breathed. "We're young, rich, in love…"
She cleared her throat softly.
"But that's all we'll ever be."
The air was somber and serious and her eyes exuded so much hopelessness that I could almost taste it.
"Don't say that." I tried to encourage, but my voice was still melancholy.
She shook her head.
"I acted so selfishly last night in your regard." She redirected. "I want a family more than almost anything, but I can't destroy the one I already have."
She exhaled shakily.
"You're my brother, Edward." Rosalie looked at me with big violet eyes and I knew something was changing between us. "You are my family."
Something was changing in her.
Something in her eyes was different - wiser, but also more vulnerable than I'd seen her in a very long time. That vulnerability made her seem younger and greener, but with the wisdom in her eyes, it made me respect her and her experiences.
I hadn't seen her behind her eyes in quite some time. She no longer looked like a stranger to me.
"And… I am so happy for you." She breathed, tears starting to appear in her eyes again. "I want you to know that."
She wasn't one for intense emotional experience or vulnerability, but that was the best she could do and I appreciated it.
"I don't really have to be in class early. Emmett gave me his notes ages ago."
"I figured as much." Rosalie smirked.
I wrapped my arm around her shoulder ducking my cheek to press into her hair as she hugged to my side.
"I've missed you, Rosalie." I finally exhaled.
"I've missed you too." She said swiftly, turning to keep walking.
"Rosalie… wait…" I said to stop her.
She turned around.
"What is it?" She asked.
"Thank you for apologizing to Bella. It meant a lot to me." I said with a nod.
Rosalie half-smiled.
"I really needed to after that display last night." She snorted.
"Yeah, but… still." I said awkwardly still diverting. "I'm sorry for what I said to you too. I'm just really… protective of her."
"I think you've learned your lesson." Rosalie raised an eyebrow as she focused on my black eye.
I winced thinking about it. I'd almost forgotten about the throbbing pain until she brought it up.
"Yeah, I don't recommend the experience." I snorted. "He's got a mean left hook."
"I'm sorry, and I know he is too." Rosalie said with a sour expression, squeezing the crucifix in her hand.
"There's one more thing though, Rosalie." I said, beginning easily.
She waited.
"It's about Paris."
Rosalie clenched her jaw, her skin turning paler by the second.
"When you left for Paris, things were really bad here. Awful." I said, the words heavy on my tongue.
Again, she waited but I noticed her eyes flash with the memory.
"Listen, you know, I'm going to always be honest with you." I said and her eyes came back to me in huge violet orbs.
"I know." She breathed, her voice shaking a little.
"With you gone, there was no reason for Emmett to try and keep it together." I spoke carefully but candidly and was nervous about her response.
She listened intently, craning her neck forward.
"And, so he didn't."
She nodded, furrowing her brow.
"What do you mean?" Rosalie finally questioned.
"One day right before I came to get you…" My soul felt heavy at the memory, and Rosalie looked away with an icy expression.
I tried to ignore the melancholy in the air so I could finish.
"He was making a speech at Columbia." I went on. "It was a train wreck, and… And, I said a lot of very terrible things to him because I was angry. I was so angry what a mess he was without you, but that he never went to get you and bring you home..."
Rosalie looked at me with inquisitive eyes.
I swallowed my desire to give in to my emotion and continued.
"I thought Emmett gave up on you when he let you go to Paris and let you stay in Paris." I redirected.
Rosalie's eyes were soft.
"But, he wasn't giving up on you… That look in his eye that day, Rosalie… God..." I choked up a bit, but cleared my throat. "It terrified me because… Well, because I'd seen it before. I'd seen it in my father's eyes… Before. Before he…"
Rosalie put her hand on my shoulder, stopping in her tracks to look up at me with urgent concern. I never talked about my father this openly.
"Emmett gave up on himself." I clarified, looking away. "Not you."
Rosalie's brow furrowed and I felt her gaze heavy on my face.
"When I showed up in Paris last year, I came for you, but… I went for Emmett." I sighed. "I couldn't lose him like that… Like my father... So I needed you to come home so badly. He was my best friend, Rosalie. Emmett was my best friend and I was just so angry at both of you because I lost you both and… and I couldn't bear it."
Rosalie's bottom lip trembled and she wrapped her arms around me tightly.
I felt her inhale shakily and I closed my eyes.
"I'm so sorry. Thank you." She breathed with abundant thanksgiving in her quivering voice.
I swallowed.
"God, I love him so much, Edward… I don't know what I'd do if he…" She pulled away to wipe her eyes and sniffle as tears raced down her cheeks.
"I know how much you love him now." I expanded. "But, does he?"
"I don't know," Rosalie breathed.
"Don't let him forget." I swallowed. "It's a wonderful thing to be loved by you."
Her eyes met mine, darting over my face in search. Her mouth was open slightly, as if she was incredulous at what I'd said to her.
"Have you forgotten?" She began in a tiny, unsure voice.
I paused, knowing she would elaborate.
"That I love you?" She looked at me straight in the eyes now and I couldn't look away.
I could count on one hand the amount of times Rosalie had told me she loved me. Once when she was eleven and it was Christmas, once at her wedding, once when she'd told me she was having a baby and once now.
I was taken aback. I didn't know what to say. Rosalie was never one to express her love in traditional ways, but she'd begun to hold back in all of her ways so that she wasn't showing love at all. I began to doubt if she possessed any love at all anymore.
Before, I could look into her eyes and even when she wasn't saying anything, I could see that there was love in there. Even when she didn't show it, I could see it, but recently… I hadn't seen anything behind her eyes.
"It's taken a long time, but… but I forgive you for Paris." She said sincerely.
My heart began to race and I had to look away. I knew she saw shame in my expression, but I was still holding back…
I did something terrible in Paris - something I swore I would never do and something I'd never done since. It was something that haunted me every single day, something that followed me like a ghost and was waiting in the shadows to rear its ugly head…
I thought it was going to take a long time to separate me from that, but Rosalie telling me she forgave me was like she had cut the iron tether for good. She released me from being that person, freed me from that past, unbound me from that terrible burden…
"Did you hear me?" Rosalie pressed.
I nodded. I was still processing.
"Did you ever tell Emmett?" I asked.
I wondered what he would do when he found out if he didn't already. I'd have a lot more than a black eye…
"Are you still the person you were in Paris?" Rosalie asked in a riddle.
I shook my head.
"No. I'm not." I said.
I'd done a lot of thinking, a lot of trying to separate myself from that man…
"Then I don't think he has to know." Rosalie said matter-of-factly. "Unless you feel like you need to tell him to heal yourself."
I swallowed. I didn't know…
"I don't want to be the person I was in Paris either, or the person I've been this past year." She said with a nod. "I don't want to just forget about it though. I want to move on."
"I'm trying to move on." She repeated with a deep sigh, tracing her fingers over the beads in her rosary over and over.
"So Edward, I want you to forgive me too." She eventually said in a tone like molten lava as she looked back up to me. "When you're ready."
