Wenatchee, Washington
Rosalie Hale had not been happy in a long time.
That wasn't saying much, as she had never been a particularly happy person.
However, today, she was ecstatic.
After over five years of searching, she found her.
She watched from across the street as a laughing Bella Swan dove into a bookstore to get out of the rain.
Bella and her beautiful wife.
Angela Weber...or Swan now.
How did she know they were married?
Social media.
"She looks happy," Emmett said quietly from the passenger seat.
"Are you sure about this?"
Rosalie closed her eyes, feeling the ever present ache of longing throb within her chest. An ache she could never relieve, no matter what she did.
She was certain it would drive her insane eventually. Maybe it already had.
"Yes."
Emmett nodded, knowing there was nothing he could say to change her mind.
The next day, the pair arrived at a medium sized white house. It was quaint, but very reasonable for a small family.
Or just Bella and Angela.
They had followed her the day prior, upon the blonde's insistence. Her stalking was so extreme that she knew Angela would be at work all day today.
Emmett parked the jeep on the street and stopped his wife from hastily exiting.
"What," Rosalie groaned, impatiently.
"You do realize that this might not go how you planned, right?"
The blonde's jaw clenched.
He was reminding her of Alice right now.
The sister she hadn't spoken to in five years.
The one who did not tell her about Bella's plan.
She did not want to think about the possibilities. She only wanted to think about having Bella back in her arms again for eternity.
That was the only outcome she could envision.
Emmett sighed and followed her as she exited the vehicle. By the time he caught up, she was at the door. They could hear Bella laughing at something on the television.
Steeling her nerves, she knocked.
They heard her curse, wondering who it could be.
It seemed like an eternity as she stumbled over obstacles and even stubbed her toe on her way to the door.
When it finally opened, Bella looked like she'd seen a ghost.
For the most part, she had.
"W-What the fuck," she stuttered, looking between the blonde and the unfamiliar man beside her.
"What are you doing here? How do you know where I live?"
Rosalie Hale was speechless for the first time.
Seeing her mate up close, seeing the changes in her face, she could hardly comprehend the relief she was experiencing through the bond.
That ache dissipated into thin air.
"I know that you might not want to see me, but I was hoping we could talk. It's been so long since I've seen you and I've missed you so much," Rosalie said, feeling tears well in her eyes.
The sheer agony that came over Bella's face broke the vampire's heart. It was apparent that the human had missed her as well. Rosalie was not the only one being haunted by longing.
Still, Bella almost shut the door in her face.
She'd spent the past five years getting over her, and here she was to ruin her progress.
Figures.
In the end, the pair found themselves sitting in her living room.
"I need something to drink," Bella sighed. "I assume you two don't want any, right?"
They both nodded and she smirked knowingly.
"Of course not."
While Bella went to make herself a glass of tea, Rosalie took the chance to investigate her home.
Dozens of framed photos covered the walls.
Many of Bella's family.
Her eyes lingered on the ones with Bella and her beautiful wife engaged in various different kinds of extreme sports. White water rafting, hiking, biking, and climbing.
She took particular interest in the photo taken at their wedding. The way they smiled at each other so brightly was beautiful to her.
They looked happy together.
Rosalie found herself smiling faintly.
Instead of the usual resentment she often felt when she thought about Angela, she was beginning to feel another emotion.
Something much less negative.
When Bella came back, she sat down in her favorite recliner and looked at them both with an unreadable expression.
The tension in the room was so thick that they could almost smell it.
Her eyes lingered on Emmett.
"You must be the husband," Bella said, pursing her lips. "Did you help her stalk me?"
He nodded and swallowed back venom. He was beginning to feel quite bashful under her critical gaze. She wasn't happy to see him, and he knew she wouldn't be.
However, Rosalie insisted that he come.
"It's nice to finally meet you, Bella. Rose has been talking about you for years," he said, trying to give her pleasant smile.
Bella hummed and glanced at her old flame.
"I'm sure she has."
The blonde withered under her stare now.
"Why are you in my home right now? The home I share with my wife. The home I moved to in order to get away from you. Are you not ashamed to bring your husband to meet your mistress?"
"Bella, you weren't a mistress."
"Don't, Rose," she snapped.
Rosalie watched her mate's lip tremble as she struggled to keep her emotions at bay. The knowledge that her very presence caused her pain was hard to come to terms with.
She had been so certain that the human would be overjoyed to see her.
"I was hoping we could reconnect," Rosalie began, now hesitant in her presence. "I've had a change of heart about telling you what I am, and I was hoping that if I told you and showed you that Emmett approves..."
The look Bella was giving her made her trail off into stunned silence.
"Seriously, Rose?"
The biggest grin she'd ever seen spread across her mate's face and then she began to laugh.
Rosalie's heart broke into a thousand pieces as the woman she loved found amusement in her desire to rekindle their relationship.
"You can't be serious," Bella said, her eyes watering. "Tell me you're joking."
The hysterical laughter slowly turned into sobs as Bella became overwhelmed by emotion. She quickly descended into a complete mental breakdown.
Emmett grabbed Rosalie's arm as she moved to comfort her, shaking his head. That was the last thing the human needed.
The blonde obeyed for once.
When Bella spoke again, her voice did not waver at all.
"After five years, you tracked me down with the help of your husband to tell me that you finally want to explain what you are and be in an actual relationship. It took you five...fucking...years to end up doing only one of the things I begged you to do for eight precious years of my life," she said, incredulous to the point of anger.
"I am thirty-one years old, Rosalie Hale. You may have an eternity of time for this foolishness, but I do not. When are you going to realize that everything does not revolve around you?"
Both vampires were stunned into silence.
Bella picked up a picture of her and Angela that sat on the table beside her. She showed it to her old lover and pointed at her wife with a smile.
"She's pregnant," Bella said, chuckling quietly. "We just found out last week."
Rosalie's eyes closed and her body stiffened at this unexpected news. Emmett rubbed her thigh gently to comfort her.
"What?"
She couldn't believe what she had just heard.
"We found out last year that I can't...um...yeah. So, Angela agreed to try. It worked."
Another blow to the chest.
To hear that Bella was actually incapable of baring children, one of the main reasons the vampire wouldn't tell her the truth, brought Rosalie even more shame over her previous mindset.
However, despite her own pain, she was happy for her.
For both of them.
"Congratulations," Rosalie said, her eyes filled with genuine tears of joy. "Truly. I mean it."
Bella searched her face for any sign of deceit, and found none. She smiled at the blonde for the first time since she arrived.
"I think you will be the best mother any child could ever ask for."
Bella hesitated, feeling vulnerable.
"Do you...really think so?"
The insecurity as well as the excitement were clear as day on her face.
In a matter of moments, Rosalie's purpose for coming here became a distant memory as she reached over to grab her mate's hands.
"Oh, I know so," she said adamantly. "You're one of the most loving and patient people I know. You're going to be the perfect mother."
Bella blushed profusely.
"Angela says the same thing, but I'm worried about it. I've been seeing a therapist because, well...you know how my mom is. I'm afraid I'll wind up like her."
Rosalie scoffed, shaking her head fondly.
"First off, you're seeing a therapist. That right there is proof that you're nothing like Renee."
Emmett watched with a smile as the two woman descended into amicable conversation.
Neither of them noticed when he left.
After around thirty solid minutes of discussing parenthood, they settled into a comfortable silence.
Both women regarded each other with a certain unspoken understanding.
Rosalie's reason for being here was null and void.
Any hopes of them getting back together had flown out of the window and she knew it.
The blonde closed her eyes, feeling the familiar warmth of her mate's hand in her own. She reveled in it, knowing she would never feel it again after today.
For the millionth time in her undead life, she cursed her inability to cry.
"You love her very much, don't you?"
Bella nodded, smiling to herself.
"And she loves you," she asked quietly.
"Without a shadow of a doubt."
The blonde nodded, taking a deep breath.
What she was about to do was going to be the hardest thing she had ever done in her entire life, but it had to be done.
Bella was right.
Everything did not revolve around her.
Rosalie sat up straight, taking both of her mate's hands in her own. She looked into her beautiful, brown eyes and smiled the best she could.
She committed her face to memory.
Every wrinkle under her eyes, every freckle, and every fleck of gold in her irises became immortalized in her brain.
"Bella, my love, I let go of my claim on you," Rosalie said, stopping to catch her breath as sadness stole it away.
"I let you go, so that you may find peace in the love you share with the one you have chosen, instead of bondage in the love that was forced upon you."
Bella squeezed her hands, seeing the pain in her expression. She knew that pain intimately.
"I wish you nothing but happiness, and a long life with your wife and child. I wish your growing family health and prosperity," she continued, holding back her sobs with much effort.
"Most of all, I wish for your trust in the knowledge that I truly mean everything I just said."
"Oh, Rose. I believe you. I do."
Without hesitation, Bella pulled the vampire into a tight hug. She rubbed her back as she began to sob quietly into her neck.
"You're going to be okay," she whispered, her own tears welling up. "We're both going to be okay."
When Rosalie eventually calmed down, she mustered what little strength she had left to stand up.
She knew if she didn't leave now, she never would.
"It was great to see you again, Bella," she said tiredly. "I promise I won't show up like this again."
Bella stood up as well, holding in the sadness that surfaced at her words.
"It was great to see you again as well. Please tell Emmett I'm sorry about being rude to him. There were just a lot of emotions..."
"I will."
Rosalie gripped the door knob in her hand, wondering why it burned her flesh, as she took in the visage of her mate for the last time.
She was a grown, successful woman with a happy, exciting life and a loving wife by her side.
Soon...she would be a doting mother.
This was exactly what she had wanted, and now she was ready to accept it.
This was not the end of the world.
It was just the beginning of Bella's and maybe her own as well.
Just as she found the strength to turn the door knob, Bella spoke quietly.
"Hey Rose?"
The blonde turned around to see her softly smiling face. The pain that marred her beautiful features just an hour before was gone, and replaced with sympathy and a newfound respect.
"I wish you happiness," Bella murmured. "and I wish you peace in the knowledge that you did the right thing."
After a moment of silence, she continued.
"Thank you for those eight years and for loving me enough to let me go."
Rosalie opened her mouth to speak, but halted, knowing she would only break down again.
Instead, she nodded solemnly and left without uttering another word.
That front door seemed unusually loud now.
It echoed in her mind as it closed and locked, never to open for her again.
When she rejoined Emmett in the vehicle, he could tell that she did not want to talk.
He grabbed her hand in his own and she squeezed it tightly, not letting it go.
Her grip was painful, but he allowed it.
"Bella was right. You did the right thing, Rosie."
She was silent for a long time, just holding his hand as she remembered Bella's parting words.
"Thank you, Emmett," she whispered, closing her eyes. "I love you."
"I love you too."
As they drove away from that quaint little house on the edge of Wenatchee, Washington, Rosalie Hale waited for that ever present ache to return.
She waited all the way home and for weeks after that.
"Hey, Alice?"
The pixie turned around, smirking expectantly.
"Thank you for not intervening," Rosalie muttered.
Alice was suddenly wrapping her in a hug so tight it nearly caused her skin to crack.
She didn't mind.
"Took you long enough."
Months passed.
One year came and went.
"Is she happy," Rosalie asked reluctantly.
Alice gave her a look, silently warning her not to start this again.
Nevertheless, she nodded.
Some days, when she was particularly happy, she would forget that she was ever waiting for anything at all.
Only to remember and then wait some more.
After two years, she accepted that the ache would never come back to haunt her again.
Finally at peace with her undead life, Rosalie Hale sighed in relief and allowed the wait to end.
Only because, by some miracle, she knew that Bella was free from it too.
