Onto one of my favorite chapters.

Thanks to Fran for her amazing beta skills and my prereaders for listening to all my babbling.

"Hurry. We don't have a lot of time."

I wish I did. Have the time. Seeing Rose and being in her house reminds me of how much I love her and miss her. It reminds me of all the years wasted on him, chasing a love that never fulfilled me the way I wanted.

Rose was the love I always needed. She was the sister that raised me after our parents died, the sister who was always one step ahead of me, the sister who had to climb mountains behind me when I fell for someone who had fooled us both.

Everyone, really. He fooled everyone with his smile and devastatingly good looks, kindness seeping from his soul and spreading into those around him.

It really was incredible to watch his transformation.

Was.

I'm already speaking of him, thinking of him, like he's part of the past. And the way Rose is flying around her house, throwing random things into a duffel bag for me to take with me, makes me wonder about my future.

I think Rose knows more about my future than I do.

"All I needed was one more week," she mutters as she paces her kitchen, throwing things she thinks I may need into a pile. She says she has the important items I'll need already packed, but since this escape wasn't exactly planned, she's definitely a little frazzled.

Between her pacing and the stress of the day, I'm having trouble keeping up with her. The way I keep looking out the window for any signs of him also makes me so on edge that all concentration is gone.

Sighing, I nod in apology. "I know. I just had to go."

Rose shakes her head, stopping her pacing to lean against the refrigerator. "It's fine, Bella. I just wanted to put a few more things in place for you."

"You've done enough," I argue. "Too much."

"Never enough." She sighs and closes the distance between us when she wraps me in her arms. She stands above me as I sit in a chair at her kitchen table, and just like before with Alice, I melt into her hug like I've been missing it my whole life. Sometimes it feels like it.

When we part, Rose wipes her eyes with the back of her hand. "I wanted more time with you. I was going to go with you, you know. At least for a few days to get you settled in."

"Do I even know where I'm going? Have I ever been there?"

"No," she answers and starts pacing again as if she remembers time is not on our side. I need to leave town before he finds out I've left the house. "Never."

"Okay."

"That's a good thing," she breathes. "He'll search all the places you've been."

"And where am I going?"

"Forks, Washington."

I've never heard of it, so maybe she's right. Maybe it is a good thing.

Then I realize how insane this actually is. "How am I supposed to go from here to there? It's on the other side of the country!"

"Well, I was working on that before you decided to pull a jailbreak today. I have a car at Emmett's garage waiting for you. I wanted you to ditch the car at some point on your drive, but I don't have time to arrange for any of that to happen."

"Emmett?"

Rose pauses.

"Yeah."

I sigh, my expression changing when I catch the look on her face she's trying to hide. "He must be special if he's willing to do this for you. For me."

"He is. He's.." She trails off, and I let her. I don't push it. She'll tell me about him when she's ready. "Incredible."

"I'm happy for you, Rose. Really."

Just because I picked the wrong guy doesn't mean she's destined to do the same thing.

She smiles for a brief second before shaking her head back to the matter at hand. "I've been getting some things together for you. It's not much, but enough for now. To start."

"Rose, I -"

"Emmett's great grandmother has a cabin in Forks. His family has been looking for a tenant, so it's yours."

"Mine?"

"Well, technically, it's Emmett's cousins. I didn't want your name traceable for any reason."

I nod slowly, accepting these conditions because I have no other choice. There are no other options. These are the little things I would never think of in my haste towards freedom, but of course, Rose would have it covered.

Another clap of thunder brings us back to reality, and the truth of the matter is that we've run out of time. With the storm raging outside, making the streets empty until it subsides, now is our time to go.

We grab the bag she's packed, making sure to fill it with water and snacks to hold me over until I'm far enough away to grab a meal somewhere. She's filled it to the brim with simple clothes, toothbrushes, deodorant. Little things to make me feel human when I'm barely hanging on.

When we slip into her car, the seriousness of it all crashes down on me, and I can't stop the tears that finally fall.

She lets me let it out, years of hiding and hurtful words and even angrier bruises presenting themselves as hot, thick tears. She rubs my back when I bring my knees up to my chest, the sobs I take robbing me of my breath.

"I don't think I can do this," I manage to get out. "I have no money. No job. No food. I can't. I need to go home!"

My home already feels worlds away, even though we're only a handful of miles away from the house I had lived in, filled with pure terror.

"Hey. Hey, look at me." She stops the car in the middle of the road, knowing we're the only crazy ones to be out during a storm like this.

She makes me look her in the eye and asks, "How long have you been planning this? A few weeks?" I nod, sniffling into the car against the pounding rain. "I've been planning this for a few years. Ever since I saw the first bruise you were trying to hide. I just had to wait until you were ready."

I lean my head back on the seat, looking at my sister through exhausted lids.

"You'll never stop, will you? Looking out for me?"

She smiles, the same one she had when we were kids, and starts to drive again. "Never."

"I don't know if I can do this," I say softly, years of poor self-confidence pouring out of me. All because of him, though he'd never admit it. "I've never been alone. On my own."

"If you can survive living with him for all this time, there's nothing you can't do." We pull into the parking lot of what I assume is Emmett's garage, and she reaches into her purse to hand me a sealed envelope, never taking her eyes off the road. "Here."

I fumble the envelope in my hand, peering inside one of the loose flaps to see what looks like an amount of cash I shouldn't be carrying around.

"What's this?"

"Enough for now. Only get a job when you're on the last of it." Rose exhales before continuing. "I paid your first year's rent at the cabin already, so you should be good for a while if you spend it wisely."

"Rose!" My voice rises. "You paid a year in advance!?"

"Look, I told you I was planning on this for a long time now. And besides, it wasn't my money."

I close my eyes, sighing and feeling a familiar pang in my chest at the thought of them. "Mom and Dad."

Rose nods. "I'm not the only one looking out for you."

"I love you," I cry, pulling her into another hug. "So much."

When she pulls away, she's sniffling and wiping her eyes just like I am. "There's a burner phone in the duffel. The number is written in the notebook I put in there. Call me only if necessary on the number I wrote down."

"Okay."

"And Bella?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you, too."

See you tomorrow!