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SPOV
Jasper is sitting next to me on the couch as I think. When I look up, I realize that he's watching me. "What?" I ask irritably.
He chuckles. "What are you freaking out about now?"
I sigh. "I can't keep it from her any longer. I just can't. It's been two months; she deserves to know the truth."
"So what's there to freak out about then?" he asks.
I shake my head at him. "You don't get it. Most normal people would find that harder to accept than the wolf thing. To other people it's…shameful. It's something they don't want to know about, and it changes the way they see you. And being a man makes it an even bigger deal because it's not something that happens to men. Whenever you say the word 'rape' everyone thinks about women. People believe that since men are stronger, it doesn't happen to them. And I don't know what I'll do if I tell her and she freaks out. I don't want her to think I'm…broken…and weak, but that's what most people think about people in my situation. What if she doesn't want to be with me anymore?"
Jasper stares at me for a moment. "Seth," he asks, "Do you consider yourself broken or weak?"
"No. I mean, maybe I was for a while, but I've gotten better. I got help, and I survived."
"Exactly!" he says. I stare at him, puzzled, and he sighs. "Seth, a weak person would never have been able to overcome something like what you went through. If you were weak, you'd have killed yourself like he wanted. And you're not broken. I've seen broken, and you're not. That's not a word that I ever want to hear connected with you." He says that last part with a bit more intensity than I expected, and I make a mental note to ask him about it later. He takes a breath, then continues. "I can't believe someone like her could ever think those things about you, and I seriously doubt that something like that will make her stop loving you. And she does love you, you know. I feel it all the time. You're meant to be together, and telling her the truth won't change that."
I nod slowly. "Do you think she'll be mad that I haven't told her yet?" I ask.
Just then, Edward and Emmett enter, Emmett taking a seat in front of the TV while Edward settles at the piano. "Of course she won't be," he says casually, his fingers lightly playing a tune. "How could she be, when she has things she hasn't told you?"
I turn and glare at him. "Do you know something I don't?"
He shrugs vaguely, and I'm a few seconds away from getting up to bother him until he tells me when Alice breezes into the room. "You should ask her to come over this afternoon and take her for a walk."
I look over at her. "You too? Does everyone know something about my girlfriend that I don't?!"
Emmett looks up from his video game. "I don't know! What is it?" Everyone ignores that, and he pouts. "I wanna know!"
Jasper chuckles. "Just call her, Seth. It'll be fine."
Lily and I have been walking in the woods for a while when she sits down on the bank of a river. We've talked about a lot of things, but she's seemed really distant, and it's starting to worry me. I sit down next to her, keeping her fingers locked with mine. "Something on your mind?" I ask.
She nods slowly, staring across the river. "You shared a lot of things with me, really important, secret things, and I haven't been brave enough to tell you my own secrets yet."
I squeeze her hand gently. "Don't feel bad. There's still a thing or two I've been avoiding telling you."
She looks over at me. "Should we just tell each other now and get them out of the way?"
"Sure. You can go first."
"Well, I…" she pauses. "I guess I have two. I guess the first one is a power of mine, like you have, but I don't know why I have it."
I nod slowly, intrigued. Can you show me?"
Lily nods, closing her eyes for a moment and holding out her palm, in which a golden glow starts to form. I watch curiously as the light travels until it surrounds her, at which point she opens her eyes hesitantly. "I know it's weird."
I grin. "Not any weirder than turning into a wolf. Does it…do anything?"
She laughs. "It sort of…heals things. Most things. I think. I don't know, it's not really an exact science. It just happened one day out of nowhere." She pauses, and the light disappears. "No one knows I can do that, not even my parents. You can't tell anyone. I don't even want to know what people would do to me if they found out."
Gently, I take her hand again. "I would never tell anybody, I promise."
She smiles. "Thank you." She hesitates for a moment, trying to find the words to say what she wants. "There's one more thing, but it's…kind of a long story. You see, my parents who I live with aren't my actual parents. My brother and I were taken away from them when we were little, but a couple of years ago they found us, and, um…kidnapped me, I guess. That's how I met Carlisle. When they found me, they had to take me to the hospital because of what they did. My, um, birth father I guess, did some things, and…I didn't want to live anymore. Carlisle found out, and he convinced me to give it a try. He told me it would get better, and it did. I don't think I'd still be around if he hadn't have talked to me." She pauses, looking up at me. "What about you? What's your secret?"
I hesitate, shifting closer to her. "Well…you know how I told you about how I was attacked?" She nods. "Well, the guy who did that wanted me dead because of this big prophecy thing. I was the one who was supposed to bring everyone together, and he saw that as a threat to them, so he came after me. Wolves heal really fast, and he wanted to make sure that if I did manage to heal, I'd kill myself, so he, um…well, I guess he did the same things to me that your father did to you."
Lily nods slowly, squeezing my hand. "What happened to him? And to his group?"
"Well, the rest of the pack found them, and I went to talk to them all. It turns out that he was the only one who wanted to hurt me. He kidnapped their families in order to get them to help him, so we freed them. As for him, I went to see him too. He bit Jasper, and he's dead now."
She nods thoughtfully. "Good." Suddenly she turns towards me, leaning in and kissing my cheek. "Well, I feel better," she says, smiling. "How about you?" I nod. "Ready to head back?" she asks. She stands, pulling me with her and wrapping her arms around my waist as we walk back to the house. We walk inside, finding Carlisle in the living room, engrossed in a book. Lily walks up to him, hugging him. "Thank you," she says.
Carlisle looks up, surprised. "Um…you're welcome," he replies. He grows even more confused when I hug him as well. "What'd I do?"
I smile. "Neither of us would be here without you. Thank you."
Carlisle smiles, understanding. "Oh. Well, you're welcome. I'm really glad you found each other. I think you'll be very good for each other."
Lily smiles, taking my hand again and pulling me upstairs to my room. We both sit on the bed, and she cuddles up to my side. "Hey Seth?" she murmurs.
"Hm?"
"I hope you know nothing has changed since you told me. I still love you."
I smile, kissing her cheek softly. "Nothing has changed with me either." We sit like that for a long time, enjoying the peace.
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Love,
TheSongSmith
