THIRTY-SIX
Thursday afternoon
(Three weeks later)
His palms are clammy, leaving marks of sweat atop the silver keyboard of his laptop. The video-call app on his desktop is foreboding, and he is hesitant to click it. He didn't know why he was worried – they had been emailing one another daily since the start of her admittance, so he knew she was doing well, even enjoying the facility in some aspects.
She regularly spoke of friends she had met, the kindness of the nurses; one of them had even taken to favouring Bella and they would share their morning coffee in the glistening sunrays, streaming through the windowpanes of the common room. She seemed better, healthier.
She told Edward in every email that she was happy to be clean, away from the drugs, the alcohol.
She wrote that she felt like her life was looking up.
He replied with the same phrase: I hope so, Bells. You deserve to be happy.
Hovering his mouse over the call button, the dial tone rang through his headphones for a brief moment before her face exploded onto his computer screen.
The worry that previously suffocated him began to melt away, and the breath in his lungs was finally comfortable, relaxed.
There she was.
She was sat in a brown leather armchair, with her legs pulled up to her chin, a mug between her hands. Steam spills over the top, and she blows the liquid once before taking a sip. The blonde in her hair is almost completely grown out, and the warmth of her familiar brunette waves makes her look young, innocent again. When she smiles at him, pixilated slightly by the unreliable internet, his heart lurches.
She looks just like she used to, back in sixth form, and he aches to hold her in his arms like before.
"Hey, you."
"Hey, stranger. I almost didn't recognise you there with your brown hair."
She smiles again, grasping a lock in her free hand. "Yeah, it looks nice, doesn't it? Muriel offered to dye it for me again, but I thought I would go back to my roots."
"You look amazing."
"Thanks, Edward."
He clears his throat. "How have things been? Is rehab as bad as you expected it would be?"
"No, it's really good. Thank God Charlie has money. I feel like I have a purpose again, you know, like my life is heading somewhere. You're probably sick and tired of me saying it, but I feel a bit lighter…if that makes sense."
"Yeah, it makes perfect sense. I am glad you chose to get some help, Bella."
"I was digging myself into a dark hole back there, Edward. I really wanted uni to be a turning point for me, so much, but I think I did too much too soon. I don't think I would have lasted as long as I did if you hadn't been there, though."
"That's what friends are for, isn't it?"
They both laugh.
"How have you been though?" Bella takes another sip of her drink. "Is King's a bit quieter without me there?"
"Yeah…it is," He feels an empty hole inside of him without her there. "It's sad to know you're not around here anymore. But, nothing else is much different. Still just writing essays and living most evenings in the library."
"Third year's really hitting you that hard? I heard it was pretty bad."
"Who did you hear that from?"
"Angela, she has been really good to me. She calls me weekly, like you do. It's nice, she's a good friend."
"What about your parents?"
"Yeah, I've been talking to them too, even Renee. I think I'm going to head back and see them for Christmas after my stay here has finished. It would be nice to go back with a fresher head, you know?"
"Yeah, I think that would do you some good."
"Are you going home for Christmas?"
"Yeah, I'll be there."
"Can I come and see you? It would be nice…to catch up in person."
"Of course, I think that would be really good for both of us."
A nice early morning update for you all! A little bit more positive today than the last one - sorry for breaking your hearts a little bit last time!
The end is in sight! Happy reading :D