Hello! Here's the new chapter! I'm so so sorry. I suck.

It's not the longest chapter, but the next chapter will make up for it. There's only a few chapters left after this, so things are going to start closing up soon.

Reminder: I have no Beta.

SM owns Twilight.

The rehearsal was pretty much what I expected it to be. Alice and Jasper looked about ready to burst in their happiness. Edward and I kept stealing glances at each other from across the church, each blushing and looking away when we were caught.

When the rehearsal is finished, Edward shuffles over to me nervously, his hands shoved deep down into his pockets.

"Would you like to ride over to the dinner with me? So we can talk for a few minutes?" he asks, looking me in the eyes apprehensively.

"Sure," I say. It would be better to have a few minutes alone, I figure, instead of trying to have any semblance of a private conversation during the rehearsal dinner.

I look over at Jasper and Alice, who are caught up in a conversation with Jasper's parents. But Jasper has one of his best friend telepathy moments and looks over at me. I nod at Edward and he nods once at me, giving me a half smile.

Good luck, he mouths at me.

I smile back at him and follow Edward outside, where he's talking to Kate.

"Okay, I'll head back to the hotel," she says. "Watch yourself, Cullen."

"I will," he says. "I'm not messing this up."

I clear my throat to announce my presence and they both turn to look at me. Kate smiles her million dollar smile at me and reaches her hand out.

"Bella Swan. Nice to meet you. I'm Kate," she says, giving me a firm hand shake.

"Nice to meet you, Kate," I reply.

"You two have fun, but not too much fun. Got it, Cullen?"

Despite her teasing tone, I can hear how serious she is, and I like her already. She's taking care of Edward, something I failed at so atrociously. I'm happy that he has someone like her looking out for him.

Edward leads me to his rental car, a silver Mazda. I don't know much about cars, but I know this is a nice car. He opens the door for me and I get in, blushing as he closes the door and runs around to his side. He gets in and starts up the car without a word, but doesn't put it in gear. He looks over at me first and smiles.

"I know this is going to be awkward," he says quickly. "But let's just get it out of the way so we can move on. Sound good?"

I nod, slightly surprised at how direct he's being. He seems to read my thoughts and smiles.

"If there's one thing I learned in rehab, it's that beating around the bush never works," he says, putting the car into reverse.

There's a long moment of silence where neither of us say anything. So I finally take a deep breath and look down at my hands.

"I'm sorry," I begin. "I was unfair to you. I took out all my anger and hurt about my mom on you, and that was wrong. I think I thought that if I couldn't help my mom, I could at least help someone else I love, and I expected too much. I was…terrible."

"Bella, I was terrible," he say. "I was addicted to coke and didn't want to admit it and I took it all out on you," he said. "I should have gone with you that day, to see your mom. But I didn't want to see her, because I didn't want to see myself in her."

"You may have had the addiction, Edward, but I wasn't any more stable than you," I say. "I've been in therapy, working through my anger at my mom. I didn't realize how much of my life it was consuming. When I saw you that day, it was the first time I saw my mom since she got clean."

"About that day," he says, taking a turn. The rehearsal dinner was being held at a restaurant between Forks and Port Angeles, so we had a good amount of time to talk. "I'm sorry I ran. I was just…so surprised to see you there, of all places. I panicked. Truth be told, I wasn't ready to see you yet. I wasn't ready to be what you deserved."

My heart pounds at that, wondering if he spent our separation thinking about me the way I thought about him.

"I was hurt, but I think you're right," I say. "I thought I was ready, but I wasn't."

He looks over at me, making me nervous because his eyes should be on the road, and smiles. "You're different," he says, his eyes flicking back to the road. "A good different."

I smile back at him. "So are you," I say. And, in a moment of bravery, I say, "And I'm truly happy to see you again, Edward. I missed you."

He reaches over and squeezes my hand. "I missed you too. Quite a lot actually."

We have a moment of quiet, our hands clasped together, both processing everything. I think we both know that if our relationship continues, we're going to have more to discuss. We've both really changed, and we don't really know each other anymore. But as we sit together, just being for the moment, I decide it would be worth it.

He squeezes my hand once more before releasing me, putting his hand back on the wheel.

"So how are you? Really?" I ask, looking at him seriously.

He sighs. "I'm good. There are some bad days, but I'm clean and sober and I plan to stay that way. I've worked hard to get where I am, and I'm not going to screw that up."

I smile, proud of him, and try to lighten the mood a bit. "I don't think Kate would let you live if you did."

He laughs. "She's a ball-buster, but she's been great. She keeps me on my toes. Actually, she couldn't wait to meet you this weekend."

I raise an eyebrow. "Why?"

He grins at me. "She wanted to meet the girl who managed to kick my ass into gear," he says with a laugh. "She said she has to admire any woman who can handle me after what she has had to deal with."

The conversation remains light after that until we get to the restaurant. When we arrive, Alice and Jasper are already there-I'm not really sure how they beat us the way Edward drives. We are quickly seated at the "head table" for the evening, which basically consists of me, Jasper, Alice, Rosalie, Emmett, Edward and both sets of parents.

I can't help but stare at Edward while he talks to Jasper's parents, transfixed as always by the graceful way he carries himself. And the longer I stare at him, my heart starts to hurt.

I know now, despite everything we've been through and our tricky past, I want to be with him. I want Edward Cullen in my life in any way I can.

But the question is, will he want me?

I'll have the next chapter up in the next few days.

Thank you guys for sticking with this story. I'm so thankful for all your support.

Read and review!

Lots of love,

Emilia Elliot