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

Sorry about yesterday! RL got in the way—but in a great way—and I ran out of time/steam.

Y'all... this story reached 3,000 reviews last week. I am just FLABBERGASTED by your support for my Rose-Bella friendship story! So touched, so excited, so thankful for your reviews, recs, and reactions on Facebook. Your love for this story is the reason why I'm totally good with laying down my writing career for a while. Because if I've still got fic, then I've got the best part of writing—engaging with those who are engaged with my stories.

THANK YOU FOR THAT.

All righty. Let's jump right in.


What Have We Done?

Chapter 51

I take my time making my way back upstairs. The news of my family's return to Forks is somehow less shocking than their reasons for doing so, and though my poker face is better than most, I fear Bella will be able to see right through me.

And I'm not sure she'll be able to handle the view.

There is no way on God's green earth I will tell Bella I even spoke to Alice, let alone that the family is returning to Forks. I know Alice means well, that they all do, and I believe they really think they'll be able to stay away from her until she's ready to see them.

But that's because they think it's a question of when she'll make that decision, not if.

And I don't share their confidence.

Do I think Bella will eventually want to see the family?

Yes.

Do I think it will be a happy reunion?

Not at first.

Or second. Or third. Or even fifth.

Ironically I'm the only person to whom she probably wouldn't have responded negatively even had I not made the decision to come to Forks first. For as foolish as I once believed she was, I know Bella had no illusions about my feelings for her back then and did not expect my fidelity. So my level of betrayal for leaving her would have been the least in the family by a long country mile.

And the bond we have forged in the past two days—which is insane to say on so many levels—has only widened the gap between her and my family. Alice seems to realize at least in part that Bella might feel abandoned by the family, but believing that and actually seeing Bella's pain up close and personal are two different experiences.

And I don't know if the family is prepared for that.

But what do I know? As I head back upstairs to Bella's room, I am pleased to hear the laughter has stopped, and I no longer sense her tears. But I have no idea what state she is in after having few moments to sit with the knowledge that Edward stole her precious things and hid them under the floorboard. I don't know how I feel about it, and I never even loved the bum.

So I lay my hand against her bedroom door and pray for the best.

(Yes, I pray. Let's not make a big deal out of it.)

I enter her room to find Bella on the floor with an array of photos strewn around her. I notice the plane tickets on her bed beside a CD case, but she is holding the busted stereo.

Well, staring at it, really.

"He took this out of my truck," she murmurs without looking up. "It was there when I pulled up to the house, right before our little walk in the forest, and when I tried to go to school two days later, it was gone.

"That's why I had to skip school that day—not because I didn't want to go without Edward or because I was too sick after falling asleep on the damp forest floor, but because I couldn't believe that while I was chasing him through the forest and losing my mind at the thought of him leaving, he actually took the time to double back to my house and do this.

"I mean, breaking my heart was stupid and immature and just as bad for him as it has been for me. But when I climbed into the truck that morning, I just sat there... staring at the space where my stereo used to be. Everything he'd said was bad enough, but this?" She turns the stereo this way and that, studying its lines. "It wasn't his to take, you know?"

"I know." I drag folded hands down my face. "I am so sorry, Bella."

She looks up, somewhat surprised. "For what?"

"For this." I indicate the mess on the floor with the wave of a hand. "For him, for all of it."

"You don't owe me an apology, Rosalie." She sets the stereo aside. "Not for this or anything else."

I sink onto her bed, my brain cramped in confusion. "But I have to apologize because I don't know what to do with this either."

"I do."

"You... you do?"

"Yes. Well, no, not really." She half-chuckles. "But I am starting to understand some things a little better. At least, I think I am."

"Oh." I can't quite make out her expression. "Well, that's good, right?"

She nods, tucking a hair behind her ear. "Because now that I can see things more clearly, I think... I think I know what needs to happen next."

"Bella, that's great news!"

She blushes. "You think so?"

"Yes." I slide off the bed and join her on the floor. "I'm really happy to hear this."

"And I am so glad you feel that way." Bella rests her hand atop mine and looks up. "Because I think it's time for you to go."


Yeah... I'm just gonna pretend she didn't just say that.

(And I know that Bella ripped out her own stereo in canon. But I didn't like that idea, so in this story, Edward did it. #AUWritersPrerogative)

Thanks for reading—see you next time!