With the mood ruined, Edward and I leave together not long after Emmett. I'm not ready to go home yet, so we head to his cabin for a little while. He holds my hand during the drive, asking if I'm okay, and I don't really know how to respond. I never wanted to hurt Emmett, but he has to realize I'm not a child.

"He'll get over it," Edward says as we sit together on his couch and mindlessly watch a Christmas movie. "He can hate me, but he loves you more than anything."

I nod, knowing he's right but hating the idea of a rift between them. "I just wish he hadn't found out this way, but I think he would have reacted badly no matter what. I knew the age difference would upset him."

"Does it feel wrong to you?"

I shake my head quickly. "Of course not! I don't care how old you are. I'm in love with you."

He smiles gently and kisses me softly. "I'm in love with you too, beautiful girl. I should probably take you home soon though."

I check the clock, seeing it's past nine and nod with a sigh. "Yeah, I have to face him at some point."

We get up after a deep kiss, and then I grab my coat and slide into it with his help. He drives slowly, holding my hand as we savor the minutes together.

"We don't have to hide anymore," I say.

He looks over, smiling softly. "That's true, but we still need to be careful. The hospital can't find out, so I'll still have to act like just your doctor when you're there."

I figured as much, but at least, my family knows now—not how I wanted them to, but the end result is the same. I can stop hiding one of the best things that's ever happened to me.

Of course, I have to face Emmett first.

Alone.

Edward pulls into the driveway, and I can't bring myself to open the door yet.

"What if he's still furious?"

Edward squeezes my hand and shakes his head. "He's not furious with you. Like I said before, he loves you more than anything. He's upset because we lied and … my age is going to be an issue, but he will get over it. He'll want you to be happy."

I nod, hoping he's right as I look to the front door. "I'm going to go in."

He leans over, kissing me once more before I finally get out of the truck and head up the front steps. The house is quiet when I enter, and I wonder if Emmett is in his room before peeking into the living room and finding him on the couch.

He quickly looks up at me and sighs. "I was worried you weren't coming home," he says, standing up and coming to wrap his arms around him. "I'm so sorry, Bells."

I pull back, cocking my brow. "You're sorry? Em, I'm the one who should be sorry. I lied to you."

He shakes his head. "I understand why. I shouldn't have gone off like I did. I just … all I could think of was how much older he is than you, and to be honest, that'll be a hard thing for me to swallow, but it's not my place to judge. And then it hit me that he couldn't take care of you, and I lost it when he said he loved you. I need him to save you. Loving you stops that."

"It doesn't have to. Our plan is for him to give me a heart, and then step back from taking care of me. He's confident he can handle it, and I trust him. I can't imagine trying to trust someone else now."

"I'm not going to report him, but I'm not sure I can be in a room with him right now. He's been looking me in the eyes and lying to me."

"I've been lying to you too."

He smiles halfheartedly. "But you're my sister. I'll always forgive you. I just hope you can forgive me for how I acted. I ruined Christmas."

"We shouldn't have been kissing there, so it's my fault too. But I need you to forgive Edward too. It's not his fault I fell for him. I literally had a crush on him from the airplane ride, and we tried to resist, but it was impossible."

He nods. "I'll work on it. For now, I just need us to be okay. You don't need the stress of more fighting."

"We're okay, Em."

He hugs me again, telling me he loves me before we part. I'm utterly exhausted from the day and decide to head upstairs for the night. Hamilton needs to be fed anyway, and I want to call Edward—now that I can instead of texting.

Hammy's waiting patiently by his food bowl when I get into my room, and I smile, scratching under his chin. "Merry Christmas, buddy."

He meows, and I open his food before falling into bed and pulling my phone out. I have one missed text from Edward, asking if things are okay, so I call him.

"Hello, beautiful girl," he answers.

"Hey. Things are okay—at least, for me. He's going to work on forgiving you for lying, but he seems to understand we're together, and that's not changing."

"Good. I was worried about you. How do you feel?"

"Exhausted actually. I think I'm going to call it a night, but I wanted to hear your voice first. We can talk on the phone whenever we want to now at least."

"This is true. Get some rest, sweetheart. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Night. Love you."

"I love you too," he says before I hang up the phone.

While this all kind of sucked, I have to see the positive of it. We can come out of hiding and actually be together, and I never have to worry about someone finding out again.

I feel free at last.

Thanks to May, Nole, Fran, Brier, and Meg for prereading and Sally for Beta'ing.