I'm done with the heartache

I'm done with the demons

Can't wait to be normal

Right after this weekend

I'm done with the drama

I'm fixing my karma

~ Bebe Rexha, Last Hurrah

BPOV

Bars never really interested me. Not just because I had a nearly nonexistent tolerance for alcohol, but because the whole charade made me uncomfortable. The only bars I had ever really been to were college bars with Rosalie. I was already uneasy around men on a daily basis, but a bar full of drunk college boys really did nothing but make me miserable.

I could tell immediately that the place Alice had taken us to couldn't be compared to the bars of my college days. This place was warm mahogany walls and plush couches, not wobbly stools and walls covered in bodily fluids.

Alice walked right through the crowd, before plopping herself down on a couch situated in the back corner.

"It's reserved," I said, picking up the little black and white sign on the table in front of us.

"For us," Alice smiled. "Now, sit."

I did as I was told, sitting on the couch that was far too comfortable to be in the back of a bar as an unapproved smile covered my face. I didn't feel nervous or uncomfortable and I wasn't secretly planning my escape in the back of my head.

"So, what's the occasion?" Rosalie asked after Alice took it upon herself to order all of our drinks.

"Well, my plan is to be pregnant in the next few months, so I need to enjoy late nights and alcohol while I can," Alice said with a smile and a nod.

"Are you not, you know, kind of terrified of the whole pregnancy thing?" I asked before I could stop myself.

Two sets of eyes, wide and overly excited snapped to me. Alice was the first to recover. "Are you thinking about getting pregnant?"

"Oh, no," I stuttered, shaking my head. "No, no, no. No. I mean, in the future, maybe. But, also maybe not, you know? I just, the whole idea of having something growing inside of you and then having to push it out of you has always been kind of horrifying to me."

"Well, yeah. That part isn't going to be all that fun, but the rest will be," Alice smiled. "I get what you mean, though. I'm trying to mentally prepare myself as much as possible, even now. A friend of mine loaned me her birth video, but I haven't had the guts to watch it yet."

I took a large gulp of whatever pink drink Alice had ordered for me, not caring about the burn as it slid down my throat.

"You're both going to have adorable babies," Rosalie sighed happily.

"I never said I was having a baby."

"You will, and it'll be adorable. I've done the math. Your relationship moves about four times faster than the average persons, so I'll be Aunt Rosalie in no time."

I snorted, shaking my head as I took another sip of my drink and searched for a good change of topic.

"What do you get a man with unlimited resources for valentine's day?" I asked.

"Sex," Alice and Rosalie said simultaneously.

"Well… besides that."

Valentine's day was never on my radar before. But, I was assaulted by candy hearts and stuffed animals at the grocery store yesterday and realized it was in a couple weeks. And, considering I had no prior experience, I had no idea what to do for it. I knew enough to know that sex was kind of a given, though.

"Oh, watches. Edward has a thing for watches."

I cocked my head to the side. "Really?"

"Yeah. Do not get him started about using your phone as a watch. I've had that lecture a dozen times."

Watches. I could pick out a watch. I also had quite a salary that could go toward a nice watch, because I wasn't all that sure what to do with the money I was making.

The waitress interrupted us then, dropping what looked like another one of the pink drinks in my hand in front of me.

"Oh, I didn't order this," I told her. Excessive drinking wasn't really recommended with the medication I was on, but a drink every now and then was okay. Based on the burn as this one went down my throat, one of these would be enough.

"It's from the gentleman at the bar," she said with a smile before walking away.

I looked up, half expecting Edward to be standing at the bar. Instead, there was a man with dirty blonde hair smiling at me. As if on cue, a couple more waitresses were back with drinks for Rosalie and Alice as well.

"Oh, let's play a game," Alice squealed. "Whoever gets the most free drinks wins."

"Wins what?" Rosalie asked.

"The most free drinks," Alice shrugged.

I rolled my eyes with a chuckle. Even with the music and the crowd and the waitresses coming over every now and then with yet another drink none of us ordered, it was a good night. Fun, even. The more Alice drank the more she agreed with me that the process of having a baby was kind of terrifying. Rosalie got on board after a few more drinks, but admitted that she wanted about as many kids as humanly possible with Emmett.

I was the most sober out of the three of us after keeping to my one drink limit, but I still managed to lose track of time. Until I started to see nearly all of the women around us turn their heads toward the front. After a few people got out of my line of vision, I saw Edward making his way through the crowd.

Emmett and Jasper were with him, but my focus was on Edward and the way his hair looked like he hadn't stopped tugging at it all night and the top couple buttons undone on his shirt. That tiny sliver of skin gave me a bigger buzz than my earlier drink.

"Hi," I squeaked out as he sat beside me. I saw Jasper and Emmett sit beside Alice and Rosalie, but they all drifted from my focus.

"Hi," Edward smiled, pressing a kiss to my neck. "You look like you've had a good night."

"It's much better now," I blurted out, feeling a familiar blush creep up my cheeks. "How was your night?"

Alice, ever the coordinator, had Jasper invite Edward and Emmett out for drinks tonight as well. She had forbidden them from having said drinks here, though.

"Much better now," he said with a lazy smile that told me he was a little drunk.

"Another one, ladies," our waitress, Rachel, said with a smile as she set yet another drink down on the table in front of me.

"Damnit," Rosalie groaned. "Bella won."

"Won what?" Edward asked.

"The most free drinks," Alice smiled. "We've only paid for three drinks all night."

Edward's eyes turned to me, the playful emeralds burning darker as he looked at me. "You had the most men sending you drinks all night?"

"I didn't drink any of them," I shrugged.

"But, they kept sending them."

I shrugged again, feeling my blush deepen as Edward's eyes drifted away from my mine until he had sufficiently eye-fucked me.

"Are you ready to go?"

I nodded quickly, barely having time to wave to Alice and Rosalie before Edward was pulling me through the crowded bar. He ushered me into a large, unfamiliar SUV.

"I'm drunk," he shrugged, before telling the driver to head home.

It was no Uber, because it smelled lovely and the seats were clean and the man driving us was in a suit. I rested my head on Edward's shoulder for the drive, letting the soothing circles he rubbed into my thigh nearly drift me off to sleep.

The rush Edward had been in to leave the bar seemed to be gone by the time we got home. He held my hand as we walked through the front door, Lady immediately jumping all over both of us as soon as we were inside.

I knelt down to pet her, smiling as she nudged her head underneath my palm. "Thanks for picking her up."

My original plan had been to go to my own home for the night, because of Lady. Then Edward offered to pick her up on his way home so she would already be at his place for the weekend.

"Anytime," he smiled, reaching down to rub her ear before he headed off to the kitchen.

He seemed suddenly gloomy, so I wandered after him. He slid a bottle of water across the island toward me when I walked in.

"I've never been a possessive man," he muttered quietly, taking a sip of water. "Christ, with the way the last sixteen years of my life have gone, how could I be?"

I nodded, spinning the water bottle in circles on the counter.

"But, now, I have you. And just the idea of men sending you drinks because they want to –" he stopped, shaking his head. "Is enough to make me fucking furious."

I walked over to his side slowly, slipping off my uncomfortable heels in the process. As soon as I was within his reach he had me sitting on the counter in front of him. My legs wrapped around his waist on their own accord.

"I know," he continued. "I know exactly what was going through their heads as they sent you those drinks… all of the things they wanted to do to you."

I sighed, my arms falling over his shoulders. While I might have thought he was overreaching on how interested any of the men were in me, I understood where he was coming from.

"So, why don't you do them to me instead?" I asked softly, my abdomen in knots as forest green eyes snapped to me.

He was quick to take action, his hands gripping my thighs as he pulled me from the counter and made quick work towards the stairs. His lips were on mine, firm and unyielding as he dropped me to my feet in his bedroom, my back flush against the locked door.

"You have no idea," he panted into my neck, his fingers snaking their way up my thigh. "How heartbreakingly beautiful you are."

I had no time to answer him, my head falling back against the wall with a thud as two fingers slid inside me. My mind was blissfully empty, focused on nothing other than his fingers and tongue as it traced patterns on my neck.

"I've had many dreams about you in this dress," he whispered against my skin, chuckling softly as I whimpered when he pulled his magical fingers away and led me toward the bed.

I frowned down at the dress. It was simple, black with a sheer layer of floral lace that continued down my arms. It was on the low-cut side, but most things Rosalie helped me pick out were.

Edward twisted me quickly, my back pressed against his front. Warm hands traced over my abdomen, thoughts about my dress quickly vanishing.

"It's the first dress I had the honor of peeling off of you," he clarified, fingers falling to the zipper at my back.

"You remember what dress I was wearing?" I asked quietly.

"Oh, I remember everything about that night."

My dress fell to the floor, Edward's hands returning to my abdomen before sliding into the waistband of my final scrap of clothing and sliding it down my legs.

"I remember how good your skin tasted for the first time," he muttered, fingers returning to their earlier ministrations and forcing me to work harder to focus on his words. "I remember the way you moaned my name as you came on my tongue. I remember knowing one night was never going to be enough."

I wasn't sure whether I pulled him on the bed or he tackled me, either way I ended up underneath him on the cool comforter, trying desperately to even out the clothing situation. I only managed to get his shirt tossed to the side before he moved, lips quickly wrapping around one nipple while his other hand paid ample attention to the other.

"You're mine," he groaned, switching to torment my other breast. "Ever since that night, you've been mine."

I nodded, tugging at his hair. "I'm yours."

He pulled away quickly, standing at the end of the bed and unbuckling his belt as slow as fucking possible.

"Please," I whined.

"Turn over," he grunted, finally getting rid of the rest of his clothing.

As soon as I did as he said, he grabbed me by the ankle and pulled me to the edge of the bed. My feet hit the floor, my upper body pressing into the mattress under the weight of Edward leaning over me.

"I love you," he sighed softly against my shoulder.

I smiled, craning my neck toward him for a kiss. "I love you, too."

The gentle moment passed quickly, his hands taking a firm grip on my hips before he entered me in one quick thrust.

My nails dug into the comforter, my eyes squeezed shut. The only cognitive thought that my mind was capable of was more. I needed more of his hands on me and more of his grunts of pleasure and more of him inside me.

"More," I moaned. "Please."

His hands tightened on my hips and his thrusts got sharper and my orgasm washed over me, wave after wave until my legs gave out on me and the only thing keeping me from sliding off of the bed was Edward's firm grip on my hips.

He flipped me over quickly, taking himself in his own hand and coming in four long spurts over my abdomen and chest.

I laid there, completely spent, flinching in surprise when a warm wash cloth wiped over my stomach. Edward pulled me to my feet, keeping a firm grip on my waist as I wobbled unsteadily.

I smiled up at him, reaching up on my toes for a kiss. I went in looking for a soft, sweet kiss but ended up back on the bed underneath him, feeling his length hardening again against my thigh.

"More," he moaned against my neck, switching our positions with ease until I was straddling his waist. Both of his hands slid along my abdomen until they cupped my breasts.

I was spent. Couldn't think straight and was pretty sure if I tried to stand up I'd topple right over, but there was no hesitation when Edward lined himself up and I sank down on top of him. I let out an involuntary whimper, spurred on by the firm grip Edward had on my hips to move me however he wanted.

My eyes fell to his. Behind the lust-filled haze darkening the pretty emeralds I loved so much, I saw all of the insecurities and doubt his marriage had left behind in him. I knew the reason he got, sometimes overly, jealous whenever a man looked at me or bought me a drink was because he spent seven years in a marriage where his wife was with another man and he was all alone.

I had a hundred different doubts about our relationship floating through my mind at any given time, ranging from my own physical inadequacies to all of the emotional baggage I constantly carried. It was silly to think Edward didn't have the same kind of thoughts, at least every once in a while.

I pulled at his shoulder until we were chest to chest. My arms wrapped around him, fingers buried in his hair.

"I'm yours," I repeated, eyes locked on his as I continued to move over him. The words fell out of my mouth over and over again until we collapsed into the bed, a mess of limbs and sheets.

After I caught my breath, I took a couple extra minutes to lie on top of him and listen to his own heart rate start to slow underneath me. Just because I understood where his insecurity came from, didn't mean I liked it.

"Edward?" I mumbled softly, turning to rest my chin on his chest so I could see him.

"Hmm?"

"I've never wanted anyone but you." He couldn't say the same, and while that was the cause of some of my own issues, that wasn't the point right now. "I don't see that ever changing."

He pressed his lips together, one of his hands coming up and gently cupping my cheek. His voice was quiet, a little gruff, when he spoke. "I love you."

I smiled up at him, stretching up to press a kiss to his jaw. "I love you, too. I'm happy to help you work out your frustration on the subject any time… but I just thought you should know."

Edward let out a loud chuckle, his somber mood seeming to be gone for good as he ushered me toward the shower.

…Closure…

I was never clumsy. According to my parents I was the klutz of the century, but that was a rant to go on to Doctor Stanley. In my day to day life, I could handle most tasks with grace. I could walk up and down the stairs without falling and I could run on a treadmill without landing on my ass. Usually.

Today, I was a klutz. Today I had stepped on Lady four times. I managed to burn both of my ears and a thumb as I curled my hair. I dropped my shampoo twice in the shower and very nearly ended up on my ass as I tried to get out of it.

"I said I was sorry," I groaned, seeing Lady in the mirror glaring at me from the bath tub behind me. I could hardly blame her for avoiding me now.

I double checked that the curling iron was unplugged and turned toward her. She begrudgingly accepted my ear scratches and I got a very tentative lick on my wrist that I took to mean I was forgiven.

The doorbell rang as I got dressed, making me nearly topple over. I grumbled to myself over my outfit as I went downstairs. At my meeting with Jenks a few days ago, I was given a literal list of dos and don'ts when choosing my outfit for the day. Because the world was seeping with sexism and if I wore a skirt to court the entire situation would be my fault, apparently. I was in a pair of black cropped pants that I had never once worn and a simple, cream blouse. On the average day I wouldn't have hated it, but being told I had to wear it made me despise the whole thing.

After nearly slipping on the last step, unfortunately right in front of Edward's annoyingly glass front door, I opened it for Jasper.

"Hi," I squeaked out, surprised. I had expected there to be a package on the doorstep, not an actual person.

"Hey," he said, very obviously doing his best not to laugh in my face at my near fall.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," he said, a calm smile on his face. I stood back, letting him inside and closing the door behind him. "Edward called Alice the other day. He didn't go into specifics at first, just that there was something you had to do, and you didn't want him going with you. I get it. Any one of the family can cause a commotion if the right person is waiting with a cell phone. So, I volunteered. I'm much less conspicuous than the rest of them, I promise."

I was quiet for a minute. Edward had asked more times than I could count if I wanted him to come with me today. I did, but I told him no. Because then a photo would leak of him walking into a courthouse and a hundred different theories about why he was doing that would appear online and it would be a giant web of gossip that could have easily been avoided.

As much as my instincts told me to tell Jasper I was fine and attempt to tough it out alone, I felt much calmer than I had all morning now that he was here.

I wouldn't necessarily call Jasper and I friends. I saw him at family dinners or events but we weren't texting each other on the weekends. We got close on the trip to the Maldives, though. He and Carlisle taught me how to play chess. I lost miserably every time, but it was still fun.

He was always very calm. Serene. Probably an excellent mentality for an orthopedic surgeon. I couldn't see him ever losing his composure in an emergency. He brought with him an undeniable sense of peace. So much so that I didn't think twice about accepting his offer.

"Thanks," I sighed. "I just need to grab my bag."

He nodded, a hint of a smile cracking his calm exterior. "Be careful."

We were both quiet on the drive over. I was doing my best not to overthink the whole situation and back out completely. Jenks had waited until our meeting a few days ago to tell me I would have to testify in front of the judge. Answer a few questions under oath at the very least.

As much as I didn't want to do it, I'd had this feeling that last few days that I was on the edge of… something. Feeling better. Feeling safer. Feeling happier. Something good. And I knew the catalyst was going to be finally having that flimsy piece of paper that said Tyler Dwyer wasn't legally allowed within a hundred yards of me.

I repeated that to myself over and over until Jasper parked his car in front of the courthouse. I saw Jenks already standing on the steps, waiting. Jasper walked with me, grabbing my elbow when I nearly tripped over a curb.

"Bella," Jenks greeted with a smile, giving my hand a firm shake before turning toward Jasper. "Doctor Whitlock."

The two of them made pleasant conversation for a minute before Jenks turned to me. "Ready?"

No. "Yes."

"I'll wait for you out here," Jasper added softly. "Good luck."

I gave him as much of a smile as I could muster and followed Jenks inside. We went through a metal detector before actually making it inside.

"You should turn your phone off, if you have it on you."

I nodded, fishing it out of my bag as I followed him through the building. I had one unread message from Edward flashing on the screen.

I'm really proud of you for doing this. Love you.

…Closure…

For a long time, the only way I knew how to deal with my life was to repress most of it. It took Rosalie months to get to know the simplest things about me because I didn't want to think about myself at all. I wanted the first eighteen years of my life to disappear. Sometimes I wanted to disappear.

The further I got from my past, physically and time-wise, the easier things got. Especially with the distraction of school. I lived distraction to distraction, used Rosalie's sample work-out plans as a way to let myself get rid of my anger without actually feeling it in the first place. I thought I had won. Gotten myself out of the shitty situation and moved on.

They had won, though. For a long time. Because I was barely surviving back then. I was nearly as miserable as I had been as a teenager, constantly on edge and worried and scared whenever I wasn't studying.

Today, I won. I answered the few questions I needed to without letting them get to me and within the hour the judge ruled that Tyler wasn't allowed within a hundred yards of me for the next five years.

Jenks had shaken my hand, given me a kind smile and talked to me for a few minutes afterwards. I didn't remember a single thing he said. My ears were ringing as I left the courthouse, Jenks getting pulled aside by a colleague before he could make it out with me.

The fresh air hit my lungs as I took a deep breath outside, the sun warm and nearly blinding after the dark courthouse, but I didn't care. I sat on the stone steps, ignoring the frowns I got from people as they walked around me, breathing in the fresh air like I had just narrowly escaped being pulled under the rough current of the ocean.

It was true, kind of. I felt like I could breathe for the first time in fifteen years and it was magnificent.

"Everything okay?"

My eyes snapped to Jasper, now sitting beside me. My verbal filter was gone, the random thoughts floating through my head coming out without a second thought. "Yeah. I… I let them hold me back for a long time. I never enjoyed anything because I was always scared or working to distract myself from being scared. And it's finally over. Kind of, at least."

I knew my blissful clarity over the situation would be fleeting. I had a lot of other things I could worry about. Restraining orders were easily broken, but it was a level of protection against Tyler and my entire childhood that I had never had before.

"I don't really know what to do with myself now," I admitted. "Now that I can do whatever I want and… enjoy it."

Jasper's eyes softened as he looked at me. "You never had much of a childhood, did you?"

I shrugged, figuring his questions stemmed from him and Alice trying to have a baby of their own. "I had one. It just wasn't all that enjoyable."

His eyes lit up a minute later, before he nudged my knee and hopped up. "I know what we need to do. Come on."

I had no time to ask questions before Jasper was taking the steps two at a time. Even when we were in the car, he didn't answer any questions. I took the quiet drive to send Edward a quick text to let him know what happened, because I knew he was probably in the middle of a rehearsal. I went through a few emails before Jasper parked the car, a big smile on his face as he hopped out.

The sign was hard to miss, bright and flashing and arched right in front of us.

"The Santa Monica Pier?" I asked, confused.

"Yeah," he nodded. "I took Alice here on our first date. She said carnival games were fun whether you were four or forty. I'm pretty sure you can relive all of the best parts about being a kid here."

A smile tugged at my lips. Spending the day at the pier would never have been on my to-do list after a day like today. But, at the same time, it kind of seemed like the best day to do it.

My nose caught a whiff of greasy goodness, my head turning in the direction of a pretzel stand.

"I could really go for a giant, salty pretzel," I admitted.

…Closure…

Jasper held the front door open for me, grabbing stuffed animals as they fell in my wake. There were various cars in Edward's driveway, a few of which I recognized, so I wasn't surprised to see Carlisle, Esme, and Alice in the kitchen with Edward.

"Hi," I smiled, dropping my pile of toys on the empty counter. I grabbed one I had already decided was safe enough for Lady and tossed it across the room for her to run after.

"Hey," Edward gasped, staring wide eyed at me from across the island. "Where have you been?"

"Jasper took me to the Santa Monica Pier," I said, plopping myself down in one of the stools. "And I won every game. Well, probably not every game. But a lot. This one is for you," I smiled, grabbing the plush bear that was holding a Be Mine heart and handing it to him.

Edward gave me a sweet if not surprised smile, accepting the bear as Alice sat next to me.

"Then, this guy told us about an axe throwing place across the street."

His sweet smile disappeared, turning into a worried frown. "Axe throwing?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "You throw axes at a wall. I don't know why I waste so much money on therapy when that exists," I joked. My own chuckle disappeared and a frown covered my face when no one else laughed.

The room was very tense, I realized. Carlisle and Esme were in the corner, arms crossed but small smiles on their faces at they looked in my direction. Alice was distractedly picking through the stuffed animals on the counter, Jasper standing behind her as oblivious to the elephant in the room as I was. Edward leaned over the counter, eyes on the bear in his hands.

"What's with the doom and gloom?" I asked. "It's never a good sign when I'm the chipper one in the room."

I was still in a weirdly good mood. Maybe it was a sugar high or the fresh air or the two hours spent throwing an axe at the wall, but I felt pretty good compared to how I did at the beginning of the day. Right on cue, I heard footsteps to my right and watched as Irina sauntered down the hallway toward the kitchen.

I let out a deep sigh, nodding. "I get it now."

"Lucy's almost ready," she said, walking over to stand next to Edward.

Lucy. There was some valentine's dance at their school tonight. I had known Alice would be over to drop off Lucy's dress, and that Carlisle and Esme wanted to come by and see her off, too. Irina being here was not part of the plan I was told, though. My jaw clenched as I looked at her and Edward, side by side. Alice, thankfully, pulled my attention away from them.

"I love this super chipper version of you," she said with a smile. "But… I have to ask about the outfit."

My eyes fell down to my clothes. My court attire hadn't been all that comfortable for a day at the pier, so Jasper and I found a little tourist store and I picked out the best options there, which happened to be a pair of cut off jeans shorts that were probably an inch too short and a tie-dye I Heart LA t-shirt.

"I was in boring court clothes and I hated them. This was the best I could find."

"Ah," Alice nodded.

"Oh," I sighed, ruffling through the stuffed animals until I saw the tiny little stuffed fairy. "Jasper won this one for you."

A bright smile covered her face as she turned toward Jasper. Unfortunately, Alice's attention diverting to her husband meant mine went back to Edward and Irina.

"I want weekly dinners, or maybe even weekends – " Irina started, but was quickly cut off by Edward.

"No."

I tried not to take any joy in the shocked and slightly hurt look on her face. "No?"

"I told you, if they want time with you, they can have it. I'm not forcing them to have dinner with you or spend the weekend with you. They asked to live here permanently. It's their choice."

"They're teenagers, Edward. They're never going to ask to spend time with me."

"Lucy asked for you today."

"So, my children get to spend more time with her," she spat out, eyes glaring in my direction just for a minute before turning her wrath back toward Edward. "Than they do me?"

I could see Edward's jaw tense. "You don't need to constantly bring Bella into it, Irina. This isn't on her."

"Part of it is," Irina grunted. "She's been a pain in my ass since the day I met her."

Ditto, I thought to myself, only to realize the word must have popped out of my mouth based on the smirks I got from everyone except Irina.

Lucy's excited call from the stairs changed the mood immediately. Smiles quickly replaced every frown in the room as she walked around the corner. "I'm ready!"

I stayed in my chair and watched the commotion from afar. I knew getting anywhere near Lucy while Irina was around was a bad idea, and I didn't have the energy to deal with her again.

"You okay?" I turned, seeing Carlisle leaning on the counter beside me.

"Yeah," I shrugged. "I'm very okay with everything today. Don't know why. I'm sure it'll wear off soon."

We were both quiet for a few minutes, but it was a comfortable silence. Not the kind where you're frantically looking for something to say to fill it because it's so awkward.

"You're a very impressive woman, Bella," Carlisle said quietly.

I kept my eyes down, not really sure how to respond to him. I knew why he was saying it, knew they all knew what I had done today. For as fine as I had felt, I still wasn't sure what to say to that.

"Do you want a lion?" I asked, holding up a small stuffed animal.

Carlisle smiled and gratefully accepted the toy before Esme called for him. I followed him, opting to stay off to the side as I watched Ethan come in, as well as another girl I had never seen. Lucy and Ethan and Masen and the new girl took a couple dozen pictures, Alice and Esme arranging everything while Edward spent most of the time looking like he was trying to turn back time. Irina was still there, taking pictures of her own. Lucy caught my eyes at one point, giving me a big smile and a wave. I caught Irina glaring at me a minute later.

Even with the fights and the insults and the drama that I knew would always be waiting around the corner with Irina around, I was still happy. There was still this overwhelming sense of relief coursing through me, so her glares and snide looks did nothing to me.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Edward appeared in front of me, gently running the backs of his fingers over my cheek.

"Yeah," I smiled.

Edward hesitated. "You seem… different."

"Might be the outfit."

He chuckled, but shook his head.

"I just… I'm not so scared anymore," I admitted.

I watched an array of emotions play over his face, everything from frustration to sadness until he landed on a small, comforting smile as he wrapped his arms tightly around me.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this one – see you next time!