A/N: This is my last chapter of the 2008 year! Happy holidays.
(BPOV)
"Nessie, what's wrong? What happened?" I looked over at Edward who held me tighter against him.
"Could you come and get me?" she gasped between sobs.
"Of course, where are you?"
"Mom, please don't bring Daddy, please"
I felt Edward stiffen next to me, but knew that I had to say yes. He wouldn't like it, but if it would get Reneesme home I didn't seen how either of us could argue. As soon as I had assured her that I would come alone and she gave me directions I hung up the phone and directed my attention to Edward. I took his hand and squeezed it, hoping that he wouldn't be too hurt by the fact that he was excluded.
"I'll be back soon" I whispered, getting in the car and then added, "She'll be okay"
He nodded, "and so will you"
I sped away from the school and in the direction where she told me she would be. On the way my mind ran through the possibilities of what could have happened. She had sounded so heartbroken, bringing back a vague memory of a dark time I often wished I couldn't remember. Whatever it was, she had called me, and I would help her through it, I would help her figure it out.
(RPOV)
I sat down on the grass a safe distance away from his house and tried to get a hold of what I was feeling. Anger definitely flared within me, but it was more than that, disappointment. The nagging feeling in my head was that what had happened wasn't Julian's fault. It had been my stupid mistake to think that he loved me, to assume… he couldn't help what he felt. And then there was the deep aching cold that kept creeping up, that overshadowed all else. It made me want to cry and never come up for air, to stop where I was and just wait there until the whole world went away. Had anyone felt this way before?
I had to blame him, because if I didn't the cold would be too much. At least the anger was warm, something to cling to when the rest of the world didn't make any sense anymore. Fury would always make sense though, and if nothing else could comfort me, that at least would be something. My fingers picked absently at the blades of grass beneath me, not seeing them, not feeling them. I registered vaguely that it was raining, but I didn't feel much of that either, just the cold struggling with the anger.
I wasn't used to this, the most dominant emotion in my life up until this point had been love. Ridiculously, head over heals, soul mate love, but maybe that didn't exist with normal people, or maybe just not with me. Maybe I was only meant to have the love of my family, but that couldn't be. I had known when I saw him, known what I felt. If I couldn't feel that again…
I put my hands over my eyes, pressing my palms hard against them. I was still like that when I heard my mom pull up. Her door swung open and then I was in her arms. She was kneeling in front of me, pressing my head into her shoulder and already trying to soothe me. So typical of her, she didn't even know what was wrong yet, and she was already trying to fix it. She led me to the car, away from the assault of raindrops, but I still didn't speak. She got into the drivers side and looked at me for a long time, her fingers combing through my hair and her eyes scorching with concern.
"Mom" I started, and paused, wondering what to say. The specifics weren't important, only one bit of information mattered to me, "he didn't love me" my voice broke, and then I was crying again.
She took me in her arms again without a word. It took a while for me to stop, but she seemed to sense that I didn't want to stay there anymore, and started to drive. I watched as the scene faded away, a place I never wanted to come to again. I felt Mom's hand on mine, but didn't look over at her. I knew she would have that sympathetic look in her eye, and I didn't think I could stand it. Still, I felt the need to explain myself.
"I slept with him Mom" I said it so quietly that I was sure no normal person would be able to hear, but of course she could. "And then he said he didn't love me"
Her grip tightened a little on my arm, but otherwise she made no other acknowledgements. I was glad; I wasn't sure what anything could be said to make this better, not even by my mom. She was better at that than the rest of my family, soothing without using words. Sometimes things were better left that way. I knew that too soon though I would have to deal with the rest of them, their eyes that never rested.
(BPOV)
I drove around for a while, letting her fall asleep before we came to the house. I knew that an explanation was the last thing she wanted to go through, she had enough guilt for the day. The apologies could come later. There was no point in pushing the subject now, no way to turn back the clock.
It was getting dark by the time I pulled into the driveway. The clouds were mostly gone, and only a light mist fell around us. All the same I pulled my jacket around her before carrying her inside. She didn't fit there as well as she used to, but she was still light in my arms. The door was unlocked. I opened it with my shoulder and was immediately met by my family, first and foremost Edward. I shifted Reneesme in my arms and put a finger to my lips. Edward followed me to her room, but didn't speak until I had closed the door.
"Is she alright?"
"Physically yes, emotionally I think she'll take some time"
"What happened? Her thoughts are so…" he trailed off listening to them.
I took a deep breath, knowing I couldn't keep it from him forever, "she slept with Julian"
He stopped breathing.
A/N: Please please please review!!! Thanks so much for reading and have a great new year.