Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns everything in the Twiverse. I'm just playing around in New Moon with Rosalie.

Sorry for the delay... again. Lately my days are far busier than I anticipate, and this is the first time I've really sat down since I woke up this morning.

OH! And to the awesome guest reviewer who suggested I write a book, I actually have! It's a New Adult novel called Another 4.0, available on Amazon under my real name, Denise Leora Madre. It's the story of a college sophomore trying to balance boys and books and is loosely based on my own experiences as a student at Howard University. Whether you get the book or not, I am deeply flattered by your praise of my writing, so thank you, Guest!

[And next time, leave your name so I can thank you personally! :) ]

Anyway, let's check back in with our current favorite couple, one of whom reeeally needs a hug...


What Have We Done?

Chapter 28

As Emmett's anguish floods the phone line, I do my best to comfort him, whispering honeyed reassurances into his ear. I know it's not enough, but it makes me feel useful.

An utterly useless need in the face of such profound pain.

"Oh, Bella..." I imagine him wiping his face as his human self would have done. "My little sister..."

His gentle sobbing continues, and I hug myself, wishing we could trade arms.

"God above, Rosie." He sounds so much like Carlisle it hurts my heart. "How did this happen?"

"I don't know, Emmie."

"What did we do to her? What did... what did he do to her?"

I shake my head, not that he can see me. "This whole situation is just... it's beyond words."

"Yeah, it's..." He pauses, sniffling despite his tearlessness. "You know, don't you?"

"Know what?"

"What Edward did to her. Bella told you what happened, didn't she?"

"I, um..." I toe the freshly vacuumed carpet, nervous for some reason. "Yeah, she did."

"Wow, Rosie. That's... that's beautiful." His voice is all amber and awe. "You must have earned her trust."

"That's what she says."

I can almost see him frown. "What's wrong?"

"Emmett, did I... did I do this?"

"Do what?"

"Did I do this to Bella?" I swallow past the guilt threatening to cut off my words. "Is it my fault she's in this situation?"

"Rosie, only one person is to blame for what's happened to Bella, and that asshole's been in hiding for three months now."

"Yes, but... I mean, I know Edward is the one who left her, but what if she and I had been friends back then? What if Bella and I had been close enough for both of them—him and her—to see me as an ally? What if while he was contemplating this choice, I could have helped him see things in a different light because I was her friend and his sister as well?"

"Baby, Edward has a sister who not only was a friend to Bella but could literally show Edward the future, and he still chose to leave. So this is not your fault. Rosie, you... you are the only one of us who actually deserves Bella's friendship right now. I couldn't... I can't imagine ever facing her again after what I've done."

"What you've done? I'm the one who dismissed her as not worth my time, refused to help her when her life was on the line."

"You were scared, Rosie. We all understood that."

"Yes, I was scared of what the Volturi might do if they discovered that Bella knew the truth. But did that give me the right to demand her death? To dismiss her existence just because her nearness might have ruined our lives?"

"Ruined our lives?" His volume surprised me. "Babe, Alice said they would kill half our clan, enslave the other half, and do God knows what to Bella herself. That's a little worse than just ruining our lives."

"But it was more than fear, Emmett. I... I gave that girl hell every chance I got. A glare, a growl, anything to openly devalue her life while part of me still lamented the loss of mine." I shake my head. "With everything I've done, I can't believe Bella even talks to me."

"But that's my point. Bella knows better than anyone how your attitude made her feel, yet she's confiding in you. She could have asked you to call Esme or Alice or even Carlisle to trade places with you. But has she done that?"

"No."

"No." He lets the word linger between us. And if that's not a sign that she has forgiven you for the past, then I don't know what is."

"Even if you're right." I can't just get off that easily. "That only takes care of the past. I still have no idea what to do now, and I just... I cannot mess this up for her."

"I know, babe. I know." We sigh together. "Have you... have you talked to Alice?"

"I thought about it. I mean, she obviously knows enough to have told Esme to call me. But I don't think Bella would want Alice looking into her future. I just... I don't think she'd want that."

"Well, I know exactly what she'd want. And I would be honored to deliver it in the form of Edward getting the ass-kicking of his life."

I snort without humor. "That's the one thing you could do for Bella that she couldn't do for herself. Broken limbs for a broken heart seem like a fair trade to me."

"Then let me do this, Rosie." His voice drops to a menacing octave. "Let me hunt Edward down and beat shit down his leg until he begs me to stop. I promise not to kill him, but I will come close enough to make sure he hurts the way she's hurtin' right now."

The vengeful tingle returns to my fingertips, inspired by the seductive nature of Emmett's anger. I close my eyes, and a vision of Emmett taking his pound of frozen flesh for Bella dances deliciously behind my lids.

My man is magnificent, even in imaginary fury.

And as I smile in sadistic pleasure at the pain my husband aims to inflict upon my brother, another vision creeps into the foreground of my mind. A vision long ago lived but never quite forgotten.

And in the face of that vision and all that it represents, it becomes clear what Bella truly deserves, what she needs. And the more I think about what that is, the more I realize it is the only thing that could possibly fix what we have done...

... and the only thing I cannot actually do.


Gotta say I'm nervous about this one... and not just because I'm posting so late and left you with another cliffie, heh.

I just... see, this was around the point in the story where these characters stopped doing what I thought they'd do and decided to tell this story on their own terms. It's exciting in the sense that it proves these characters are real and know what they want for themselves. But it's also a maddening type of terrifying because it made me realize just how little control over this story I have... if I ever had any.

#WriterRantAboutWriterProblems

Sorry.

Anywaaaaay, thanks for reading. I'll see you Friday, ideally before sundown! XO