Emmett's point of view three days later:
Three long days, that's how long it had been since the last time I'd seen Rosalie. Since I messed up and did, God knows what, wrong to make her leave. Ever since that night left, I ran through our night, thinking of every single thing I said and did to figure out what I'd done wrong. She had called and taken three days off of work, leaving me alone each night and I missed her terribly. As much as the kids enjoyed staying with their grandmother, I knew they must've missed her too. I pulled on my shoes, jumping up as I heard the garage door open. I flew down the stairs, and stopped when I reached the kitchen.
"Rose," I breathed as she stepped into the door. "I was worried; are you ... are you feeling better?"
She nodded as I tried to make eye contact with her, but she avoided looking at me.
"Are you okay," I whispered. "Are we okay?"
"Yes … I just …" she trailed off, biting her lip. "I have … I have something to tell you," she started but stopped and swallowed as she stared at her feet.
After waiting for a few moments without her continuing, I said, "Rosalie …" I broke off when Jordan started to cry.
"I'd better go get the kids," she said slowly backing away from me. "I'll see you when you get home," she said. My heart crumpled as I watched her walk up the stairs.
Next thing I knew, I was at work, confused and hurt by Rosalie ignoring me again. I'd never been ignored by her over the last month we'd been dating. If she wasn't at our house and me at work, we were always texting or calling each other, and not once she hadn't texted or called me since she left me. I sat at my desk at the end of the day, a mountain of paper work in front of me. I'd gotten through another day of work, not really paying attention to anything. A knock on the door made me jump.
"Hey, man," Edward said, stepping into the room. "You okay?"
"I'm fine," I muttered as my brother sat across from me.
"How is she?" he asked.
"How'd you know?" I asked my eyebrows furrowed.
Edward cleared his throat. "I uh, heard part of their conversation the night she came home," he admitted and I sat up.
"What's she say?" I asked, leaning forward. I felt wrong about invading Rosalie's privacy, but I had to know what was going on with her, what I'd done wrong.
"She was upset, and crying in her room with Bella …" he hesitated and stopped talking.
"And?" I asked impatiently with a wave of my hand.
"It sounded like she couldn't be with you," Edward said.
"It sounded like?" I asked leaning forward. "What did she say, Edward?"
"That should couldn't go past kissing you. Normally, I wouldn't bring it up to; it's none of my business, but she was acting so out of character, and I don't want to see you get hurt after Emily," Edward said as I opened my mouth.
"That doesn't make sense," I said slowly. "She couldn't keep kissing me?"
"That's what I heard, man," he said, holding up his hands. "I've seen how much this is tearing at you, so I hope you don't mind me being honest with you."
I ran my hand over my face. "No. I appreciated it, Edward." I sighed, dropping my hand. "What would you do in my shoes?"
"I can't tell you that," Edward said, shaking his head.
"Should I talk to her?" I asked.
"Would you be afraid of what could happen if you confront her?"
"It couldn't be as bad as it's been," I told him.
"That bad?" he asked, and I nodded. "Man, I'm sorry. She was pretty torn up when she came home the other night."
I sighed and leaned back. "I guess I'll talk to her," I muttered.
"Let me know if you need anything?" he asked.
"Of course."
"Do … do know what you're going to say?"
"I have no idea, but I have to make this work. I think I'm falling in love with her, Edward." I swallowed before I whispered, "I think I'm already in love with her."
"I hope you can make this work, man," Edward said, looking guilty.
"I'll make it work. I have to," I replied. "I can lose her like Emily."
Edward nodded in agreement. "I'd better go; I have a huge amount of paper work to do. Call if you need anything. I can take the kids if you need it on Saturday. I know Bella wouldn't mind watching them."
"I will," I replied. "Thanks for telling me Edward."
After Edward left my office, I made myself do paper work even though I was super distracted. In the back of my mind, I thought of what I'd say to her, how to confront her. Worry clawed my chest as I drove home and got stuck in traffic; a part of me wish I was there already to get this done and over with. As I pulled into the garage, my heart beat out of my chest, and I numbly walked into the house.
The house was silent as I walked through the house, where I found Rosalie putting away an array of pictures as she sat on the living room floor. The baby monitor sat next to her.
"Rosalie?" I asked quietly, and she jumped out of her skin as she looked up at me with wide eyes.
"Sorry. Can I talk to you for a moment?" I asked as I took a few steps toward her. She nodded slowly as I lowered myself to the ground. "You left pretty upset the other night. After we kissed … you left, and Edward heard what you said to Bella."
Her face went white and her eyes widened. "He heard me?" she asked, her eyes filling with tears. "He heard me? Oh gosh." Her head lowered and her shoulders shook.
"Rosalie … what's going on?" I asked frozen in my spot. Why was she crying? I thought bewildered.
She shook her head as she cried. "He heard me tell Bella about … about …" she trailed off as she looked at me as tears streamed down her face. "I didn't want you to find out this way, Emmett. What you must think about me."
"I get if you don't want us to go further," I said, and she looked up at me, surprised. "I know you didn't like being with me like that, and I'm sorry if I went too far."
"What did Edward tell you?" she asked, her eyebrows furrowing together.
"He heard you tell Bella that you didn't want to be with me," I said slowly. "Isn't that what you told her?"
"He misunderstood, Emmett," she said gently.
"What the problem then?" I asked as her face crumpled as she put her face in her hands and started to rock back and forth. "Rosalie, you're scaring me."
I wanted to take her in my arms, but it seemed to not be a good idea. I reached out for her hand instead. "You'll leave … so dirty," she cried as I she let me hold her hand, but didn't return the gesture as her hand lay limply in mine.
"Please tell me what this is about," I whispered as she looked up at me with red eyes. "Please, Rosalie. You're scaring me."
"My … my ex, he," she stopped talking for a moment, looking at me with tears in her eyes and she swallowed. "A year and a half ago, he b-beat, beat me and raped me." I stiffened as I held her hand. Shock flooded my system as I watched her, my mouth fell open slightly. "He left then, and I got pregnant, so Bella and I moved. He found me again when I was four months and he beat me again, and I lost my baby. I'm dirty. I'm so, so dirty, Emmett. You'll leave me."
"No, Rosalie," I said, grasping her hand tighter.
She cried for the longest time, muttering things like 'You'll leave me,' and 'So dirty.' I stayed silent, desperately wanting to take her in my arms, but I couldn't. When she got done crying, I said, "I'm so sorry, Rosalie. I wish you told me sooner."
"I wasn't ready," she whispered. "I … I wasn't ready."
"Gosh, the other night, Rose," I replied. "I'm so sorry."
"It's not your fault. It's mine; I'm the dirty one," she whispered, and I noticed a few tears falling down her cheeks.
"You're not dirty, Rose," I said, cupping her cheeks. "I went too far, honey. I should've know and waited."
"You don't think I'm damaged?" she whispered.
"No, and I couldn't. It was your vial, disgusting ex that's to blame," I said. "Did you press charges?"
"Not the first time, but after I lost my baby …" She trailed off with tears running down her face. "I had to. He has a restraining order."
"Oh, babe," I'm so sorry. "I wish I had known."
"I couldn't tell you, Emmett," she whispered. "You would've broken up with me and I'd have to find a new job, and I love working with the kids … and I don't want to end things with you."
I cupped her cheeks. "And you have no idea how much you mean to me. To the whole family, really. You aren't going to lose me at all, honey. I want you still; you have to know that."
Her face crumpled, and I wanted to take her in my arms again, but I didn't want to push things with her. My heart ached as she sobbed into her hands before she calmed herself down.
"Are you alright now?" I asked, and she shrugged, so I waited for her to respond.
"I'm having a hard time," she replied softly after a long time. "Sometimes I have flashbacks that make it hard to … to forget. I've had quite a few since that night, and I've had to take my anxiety medications. I was sick the last few days."
"Oh Rosalie," I said. "God, I'm such a jerk."
"You?" she said, raising her head.
"The other night when you left. I scared you when we…," I said. "As your boyfriend, I shouldn't do that."
"I'm the one who's a mess," she said.
"But I have to take care of you. You and our kids are all I have and I scared you. You should be able to trust me, Rosalie, and you ran away," I said, and by the time I got done talking, tears were running down her face. "I want to take care of you, the way you deserve. You know that right?"
She shook her head. "I feel like I don't deserve you."
"We deserve you, and you deserve so much, Rose." She shook her head, her lip quivering. I cupped her cheek, forcing her to look up at me. "You do, Rosalie. More than me. Please try to remember this."
"I'll work on it," she said honestly.
"And if you ever feel like I go too far, I want you to tell me right away, Rosey," I told her. "Please promise you'll do that for me."
She studied my face and bit her lip. "I … I will," she whispered after a moment. "And th-thank you for being so understanding."
"I want to make things work with you, Rosalie," I told her as I took both of her hands. "I care for you very, very much, and I want to fight for this."
"I do too," she replied as tears filled her eyes again. "Thank you, Emmett, for being so understanding."
"You're welcome," I replied, giving her hands a squeeze.
Trust mingled with fear as she looked at me. I gave her a smile, but both of our eyes looked toward the monitor as Hannah started to cry.
"I'll get the bottles," I said, lifting Rosalie by the hands. "You can … go home if you want," I said without wanting to say it, wishing and hoping she'd stay.
"I'll help, Emmett," she said. "I'll start the bottles and wash my face."
"Okay," I told her. Numbly, I went to grab the kids from the play crib. Both of them were awake, Hannah's cries became louder.
I slowly went into the kitchen, where Rosalie was blotting her face with a paper towel. My heart clenched at the site of her red and swollen eyes. She's been through so much, I thought. She'd been through so much more than me-we'd both lost our best friends, but she had to endure abuse so close after that ….
"I got out baby food instead of the bottles," she said, gesturing toward the baby jars on the counter. "I needed to do something … normal I think tonight."
"I'd like that," I replied as I handed her Jordan. "May I order us pizza? I'd like to spend time with you. I've missed your company."
"I'd like that too, and …" she sighed and placed Jordan into his highchair. "It would be a good distraction."
I nodded as I took the jars and handed one to Rosalie. After opening the jar, I took the baby spoon and scooped up the food.
"Are you ready to try to the baby food, Hannah?" I asked my little girl. "Rosalie made this for you."
She reflexively opened her mouth to take the food. "I think Jordan likes his food," Rosalie said with slight amusement. A hint of a smile played on her face. I smiled as I glanced at my son- he ate Rosalie's next bite of food and smiled as he swallowed. Jordan held his mouth open eagerly for another bite.
"He's my boy for sure," I replied.
"I'll dread it when he's a teen; our food bill for him will be huge," Rosalie said in a teasing tone. My heart ached that the light didn't feel her eyes.
"Probably," I said.
I watched Rosalie feed another bite to Jordan, his face lighting up as she fed him. My heart burned at what she'd been put through as my head still struggled to wrap itself around her past.
Let me know what you think! Hope you enjoyed it.