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It turns out that once you notify governments that there are terrorist organizations hidden within their borders, they take it very seriously. Especially when they arrive to find guns. And bombs. And shit they don't even know what to call.

We keep an eye on the news, and slowly but surely these smaller sections of the Faction start to disappear.

This is when we decide to go home.

I didn't think I'd ever feel homesick, but I do. I miss walking the streets I've known all my life, I miss going to the library. It strikes me that Alice has definitely had her baby by now and I hope she's happy and healthy and that I'll get to see her again someday.

I know Edward is happy to see Rose again–he'd been trying to contact her as little as possible, not wanting to draw any unnecessary attention to her or us.

Our last hideout is in Mazatlán, a Mexican resort town on the Pacific coast, and we treat it (finally) like a vacation. We let ourselves stay at an actual hotel this time, still under a fake name, but it's nice to be pampered after spending so much time on the run. We have dinners at sunset while we get drunk on tequila and we swim in the blue waters of the Pacific. We make love and fuck hard and enjoy each other's company–finally, finally letting ourselves be happy.

I've never felt like this before–this contentment, this lightness. When Edward kisses me, it feels like the first time in his living room so many months ago.

It makes me feel whole.

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Rose is waiting for us when we get through baggage claim, tears in her eyes as she throws herself into his arms. She reaches for me, too, grasping my arm and whispering thank you thank you thank you.

Edward's townhouse is full of dust and stale air when we return to it, Rose apologizing for not keeping it in better shape while we were away. Edward waves her off, unconcerned. Even though it's cold out, we open all of the windows and I get to work cleaning up as much as I can while Edward and Rose discuss work–mostly what he's missed. I wonder if he's going to go back to being CEO, and start to think of a plan for myself. I'm sure that my position has been filled–and I hope Jessica has someone competent at the desk next to hers now.

That night, while we're both in bed and snuggled close, I ask about what's next–for him, for me, for us.

"I don't know," he says. "I might go back to work in some capacity, but I don't think I want to be CEO anymore. It just doesn't feel important now, you know? And Rose is doing such a fantastic job."

I nod, urging him to continue.

"As for you–you can do anything you want. If you want to work, then work. But you know that what's mine is yours–that includes money. I don't want you to ever feel like you have to do anything you don't want to do."

"And us?"

"My only thought is that we stay together, always."

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The hardest part about being home is the media attention. Edward is a major public figure and he just vanished for like, a year. Then, he reappears suddenly and everyone loses their collective shit. Photos of us at the airport are the first to emerge, and for the first time in my life, I am the center of attention.

From that point on, we are always seen together, and no one–not bloggers or reporters or Facebook stalkers–can figure out who the fuck I am. Someone blabs my name and that I used to work at Cullen Industries, but that's all. I go with Edward to galas and dinner parties and everywhere else he has to go and I dread every single event–because I know that people are whispering about me behind my back.

I hate the scrutiny, the comments about my appearance, the wonderings about how someone like me managed to land someone like Edward Cullen.

The whole thing is totally mortifying.

I only leave the townhouse if I have to.

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I find myself on the roof of the Cullen building on a humid, summer evening. The sun is just now starting to dip below the horizon and the sky is fading to purple. I've been coming up here every so often to think–to get out of the house when Edward is busy and no one is looking for me.

Tonight, I'm thinking about my mom–and I'm still trying to figure out if her death was really my fault. If she'd been hurting herself to protect me. I still have a lot of learning to do, and with Edward's money, I've been ordering rare, ancient looking tomes about Real Ones and the Darkness and anything else I can think of that might give me answers.

Sometimes I worry that I'll never know. I'm still trying to make peace with that.

I'm so lost in my own head that I don't notice Edward until he's next to me, sighing at the sky.

"This feels familiar," he murmurs, and I can see the small smile forming on his face out of the corner of my eye.

I feel more settled when he's near, the uncertainty and discomfort I'd been working through dissipates and I let myself relax into his touch as he grabs my hand.

"How'd you know I was here?"

"I didn't," he says. "I finished that meeting with the board and just felt like this was where I should be."

It makes me laugh–that we're still running into each other and still acting like it's an accident.

Our finding each other is inevitable. It's fate.

"I know things have been hard lately," he sighs, his voice sad. "I hate seeing you so…contained. So…unhappy."

Am I unhappy?

No–with his hand in mine, I feel right. I just…

"I don't know where I fit anymore," I tell him. "I'm still trying to figure that out."

"You will," he says, his voice strong and certain. "There will always be space for you–even if you have to make it."

I turn and kiss him then, his lips soft against mine, slow and sure. I can't help but think that for now–for now, this is enough. There will be time for the rest.

We break apart at the sound of sirens–police cars making their way across the streets below us. Edward hesitates, but I grin.

"Looks like trouble," I say. He smirks.

"We should do something about that."

This time when we jump, we jump together.

The end.

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Thank you all SO MUCH for sticking with me through this little…drabble? Mess? I've got some other things I've been working on, so I'm sure I'll be back soon.