Morning all! Happy FRIDAY!! I've been waiting for this day all week!

Thanks to my team for everything and you for reading and reviewing!

"This isn't why I invited you to Thanksgiving, you know." Edward laughs, his chest heaving as he collapses next to me on his back. He turns his head to look over at me, his face flushed against white sheets and pillows. "Bringing you home to meet Esme wasn't part of some wild plan to seduce you."

"It wasn't?" I giggle breathlessly. "It worked, though."

"And I regret none of it," Edward jokes, loudly exhaling as we focus on getting our breathing back to normal.

We've spent the morning overexerting ourselves, but you won't hear any complaining from me. My muscles ache in the best ways possible, and I stretch one more time before settling against Edward's chest, my legs heavy as lead as I wrap them between his. His fingers find their way to my back, ghosting up and down my spine.

I sigh against his chest, closing my eyes. "She reminded me a lot of my mother. Very warm. Welcoming." I smile, thinking of both of them. "She loves you very much."

He nods. "I know. She always made sure I always knew that, no matter what shit my father did to us."

For a brief moment, I allow myself to imagine a life with not only my husband but with children of our own by my side. Would I be able to live with myself if anything happened to them because of him? Because of me?

"It's a dark place to be," I offer, pushing the dark thoughts away for now. Thinking of my life in Rhode Island only makes me angry and bitter, and those are two things I don't want to impede on this moment here with Edward. Remembering where I am, I kiss his chest and tighten my arms around him. "I never thought I'd be here. Anywhere. Away from him."

"Don't ever forget how brave you are," Edward says quietly, though the seriousness in his words can't be ignored. "For getting away. Leaving him. For taking a chance on me."

He kisses the top of my head as we lie in my bed, undisturbed, with nowhere to go.

"You're the best risk I've ever taken," I reply, moving my head so I can see him. His face is soft, though an amused, confused look peers down at me.

"Risk?" He asks, his fingers coming up to play with my wild hair.

"It wasn't easy to let you in," I respond truthfully. I think back to the first time I saw him across the way at his cabin and how annoyed I was at having someone around. "The last person I trusted before Rose was him, and look how that turned out."

He shifts us, so he's lying on his side, and I'm on my back. "He's as good as dead if he ever comes here, Bella. Know that."

I nod and laugh. "I do know that, thanks to you."

"And you," Edward pinches my side and then moves his hand to squeeze one of my biceps. "You're getting stronger and, more importantly, more accurate by the day."

A well-placed punch is all it takes, and Edward has me focusing on accuracy in our sessions rather than strength, even though I feel myself grow stronger every day. What's incredible about all of it is how much I've been enjoying myself while doing it.

I mention it to Edward while we're still lost in the blankets.

"I don't remember the last time I had an … I don't know, hobby?" My brow furrows as I try to think back. "I wasn't allowed to take any classes at a gym or anything. And if I liked to draw or paint or something like that, he'd never buy me the supplies or anything I needed. I was literally trapped every minute of the day inside the house. The only time I left was when he went with me somewhere. And it was only to places he needed or wanted to go to."

"I'll never understand him," Edward shakes his head and stiffens his jaw. "And I'm glad I don't."

Edward would never; they're too different for him to relate to on even a basic level. While my husband is an expert on manipulating emotions to get what he wants, Edward is trained on recognizing these character traits in people.

Edward could outsmart my husband any day.

"Looking back on it now, it's easier to see why he picked me." I shake my head at my younger self. "I was young and easily impressionable. I never spoke my mind and let him take control over everything, over every aspect of my life. The hardest part to look back on is not what he did to me but how long I let him do it."

Edward nods slowly, and I can tell by the look on his face that he understands what I'm saying but also won't let me put that burden on myself, either.

"My mom doesn't like to talk about it much," Edward offers, "but she knows she stayed with my dad a lot longer than she needed—than she should have. But I remember her saying it took her so long because she started to believe all the things he would say to her. Believed he was doing what he was doing because she was — "

"Worthless? Weak?" I interrupt him. He nods, and I sigh and continue. "Yeah, he made me believe I was those things, too."

And because he made me so reliant on him for everything, I easily believed him, as well.

"You do know how wrong he is, right? How wrong he always was?"

"I can see that now. I think I can feel it, too." I laugh at how ridiculous it sounds now that I'm saying it out loud. "Is that strange? I feel it every time we're training. Like I'm loosening his grip over me with each jab or punch or kick."

"Or flip?" Edward laughs and kisses my neck when I playfully shove him off me.

"Hey, I'm getting better," I say in defense of the one move I haven't mastered yet but refuse to give up on. I shimmy out of his grasp and point a finger at him. "I'll flip you one of these days."

He laughs and pulls me under him again, his expression growing serious as his eyes find mine and melt me with his gaze. "Haven't you already?"

He's no longer talking about self-defense. But he's right.

Both of us have completely and utterly been flipped upside down by the other.

And I think I love it.

I love getting into Edward's head, too. There's one more EPOV before we mark this story complete on September 29th. See you tomorrow!