oOo
At first Bella had cried. For one night, and one day.
Today, she was merely tired of crying.
Bella had learned one lesson rather early in life: no one, not your parents, not your boyfriend, no one, can save you if you don't want to be saved.
So it's up to you.
Whether you want to live or die, smile or cry… or just wallow in self-pity, like Edward.
Fuck him.
She'd had it.
She was done.
Furiously scrubbing her kitchen sink, Bella repeated this mantra.
It had been four days since she'd last heard from Edward. She considered them done.
She was done.
She'd worked for Jasper two times, and had even mentioned that she had stopped seeing Edward.
"I'm afraid you were right," she'd told him. "He's a jerk."
Instead of saying, "I told you so," Jasper had been a true friend and had hugged her.
Leah had come over last night. They'd had too much Bailey's and Bella had told her the whole story. Her friend, of course, agreed. She was better off without him.
She had also called her parents and told them that she wasn't bringing anyone for their Boxing Day party.
Today was Bella's cleaning day before Christmas. All her presents were ready and wrapped, the ingredients for her cookies were bought, and her flat was shiny and proper.
Edward's present was in her sock drawer. She couldn't bear to throw it away: it had taken so much time to make it.
Now, she was looking forward to a hot bath to clear the grime off herself, following it with her annual marathon of My Fair Lady, Mary Poppins and Hello, Dolly!
She was running her bath, humming "Wouldn't It Be Loverly" to herself, when a sound made her jump.
The doorbell.
Hmm.
She definitely wasn't expecting anyone, so she decided to ignore it. But it rang again, and again.
She turned the water tap off and went to the door.
"Yes? Who is it?"
"It's Edward."
Her heartbeat sped up immediately.
"Bella?"
"What can I do for you?"
"Can I see you? Just for a minute? Please?"
It reminded her of the first time he'd come over.
"Are you drunk?"
"No. No."
She bit her lip.
She wanted to see him, she wanted to believe that everything would be okay.
But she didn't want to be hurt again.
"Okay. For a minute."
She pressed the button that would let him in.
oOo
Happy new year!