A/N: So who else is singing "Reunited"? Here is post #2 and Bella shares a painful truth... ENJOY...
EPOV
I could admit I was being selfish with Bella. I had so little time with her and I needed to make it count. So I felt no shame in telling her we were leaving and weren't going to say good-bye to our friends. We both texted them before we left the storage room. I even checked to make sure it was clear before we snuck outside and hailed a cab.
Once inside the cab, I pulled Bella closer. I saw no need for us to be separated by even millimeters. I felt as if I couldn't get close enough to her.
"Talk to me. Tell me everything," I whispered. I had a fierce desire to become familiar with her once more. It saddened more than I ever thought possible that I missed out on so much of her life.
She chuckled into my chest. "That's a tall order. But I can give ya the cliff notes version and we can fill in the details as we go. How about that?"
I didn't care how it went; I just wanted to know everything. I nodded and squeezed her tighter as she started to talk.
"Renee still lives in Florida. She likes it there. I'm a business management junior at the U of M." She looked up at me and I saw sadness, fear, and a hint of betrayal.
"I'm so sorry I let you down. So fucking sorry. I hated myself. Hell, I still do for breaking that promise to you."
She shook her head, the subtle scent of vanilla and honey wafted in the small cab. "It's okay. Long ago I had resigned myself to the idea it wasn't going to happen. I mean, I held a smaller glimmer of hope you'd be there, but-"
I cut her off. "I had already broken one promise. I hated that Northwestern offered me something that I couldn't pass up. It tore me up inside, Bella." I closed my eyes as memories threatened to overwhelm me.
I hated that she seemed so quick to forgive me. I didn't deserve it. I wanted her to yell and scream at me. I wanted her to make me atone for my sins.
"Edward, look at me." Her cool hand at my face made me look at her. When I did, I saw such understanding and forgiveness that I wanted to puke. She smoothed my furrowed brow with her finger. "I understand and I forgive you." I shook my head. No, I had done nothing to earn it, it wasn't fair.
She placed her hands on my face. "Yes, Edward, I do. I broke promises as well. It was me that stopped answering your letters." Her whispered confession and pain filled eyes made my heart ache. There should have never been a reason for her to experience such pain.
"I had to," she continued, "I was so depressed. Renee was going crazy. I could see how upset it made her to see one of your letters in the mail. She knew that for a short while, I would be fine, happy even. But as soon as my reply was in the mail, I closed off."
Tears fell from her eyes and I couldn't wipe them away fast enough, so instead, I crushed her back to my chest.
"When she forced me to see a therapist, they determined that for the time being, I needed to stop replying. We had an epic fight. It was horrible. I still replied to you behind her back while I tried to act normal. I tried so hard, but nothing I did convinced her I was getting better. So I stopped hoping that I would get better."
With her confession done, she erupted into full body sobs. All I could do was hold her and forgive her with everything I possessed.
A/N: So know we now know it was Bella who stopped replying to Edward's letter... they both had a hand in the demise of their long distance relationsip. So... thoughts... let me here them!