Chapter 7
"Wait, wait, wait. Hold up." I'm interrupted by the familiar voice I've become very fond of over the years.
"What?" I ask, casually sipping my beer and placing it back on the table. I watch as she flips her blond hair over her shoulder, then jiggles Lily on her leg.
"You have two guys after you at once? That's like a godsend. Lucky girl." She smirks.
"Rose," I shake my head, chuckling, "that's not exactly how I would explain it. I mean, I only reciprocated the feelings to one of the guys. Hearts were bound to be broken."
"Still," she sighs, "you had to have at least been flattered for split second."
I think about it a moment, "yeah, I was." Rose tilts her head back and laughs. Lily giggles at the sound. I looked at my best friend for a moment. Rosalie Hale was unlike any person I've ever met. She's strong, kind, caring and a coldhearted bitch, but only when she wants to be. That's why I love her. We met our junior year of college, and I don't know, we just sort of clicked. She was born in New York and moved to Florida to finish her last two years of college three years ago. In fact we are still cleaning up her 23rd birthday party from three weeks ago. Anyways, her ex-fiancée, Royce King, a real jack ass, raped her three years ago, hence the move to Florida. The only good thing, she's always telling me, that came out of such a horrible moment in her life is her daughter, Lily. She's the spitting image of Rose, same blond hair, same piercing blue eyes, even the same laugh. It was adorable, really, seeing them together.
I did one semester at Dartmouth, with Alice, Edward and Emmett, just as planned. But it was hard, really, really hard without Jasper there. I'm not sure what happened to us, to be honest, something went wrong along the way. Back at Dartmouth though, the more I was around the people who befriended him when I did, it was like they were unintentionally making it harder for me to move on. Edward and I were always relatively close, but during the first semester the more time I spent with him the more of Jasper I saw in him, the way he walked, the way he smiled, even the way he ran his fingers through his hair. I knew that it was just me imagining it, but it felt real. Too real. Even Emmett, the most polar opposite of Jasper, was bringing back memories of him. Not to mention that fact that I was showing, and that was a can of worms I did not want opened. It got to the point where I couldn't take it anymore. So I left.
I transferred to a small school about an hour away from my mom and Phil. They were insanely helpful, and I couldn't be anymore grateful for everything they did. Even Charlie helped when he could. Slowly, very slowly, as time passed I was able to live the life I need to live. I'd be lying to say that Jasper doesn't still linger in my thoughts, but what's done is done. And that's that. Florida was a good choice for me, I reconnected with Jacob Black, crazy I know. We even tried our hand at dating. It wasn't bad, per se, after a few months though, we realized that the love we felt for each other was strictly platonic. He's about to celebrate his first wedding anniversary with Vanessa next week.
I know what you're thinking, Rose and I have been best friends for three years now and here we were, sitting in our apartment and I'm only just telling her about my past. Truthfully, ever since Jasper left, and I lost contact with Edward, Alice and Emmett I've found it extremely hard to trust people. To let them in. But I promised Rose that I would, and I don't break my promises. Rose's phone vibrates on the table and she picks up quickly, a smile already on her face.
"Ah, yes. This must be the mystery man I have yet to meet." I roll my eyes.
She shoots a glare at me, "for your information, you're gonna meet him sooner than you think."
"Well, be still my heart, I hope we have enough room for the poster." I tease her. She sticks her tongue out at me, and pushes my arm.
"Actually, Bella dear, he's coming over. For dinner. And to meet you. Obviously." She smirks. "He better not be bringing a friend." I mumble. She laughs.
"Although his friends are here, some sort of family thing," Rose shrugs, "it's just him."
"Lucky me." I say, finishing off my beer. I glance at the clock on the wall. "When's Prince Charming getting here?"
"Soon. He said he was leaving the house now. You two will get along, I just know it."
"Yeah, that's what you said that last two times, look where that got us. Does he know about," I don't bother finishing that sentence, I know Rose knows what I'm hinting at. She nods. "Does he know about-" I gesture towards the now sleeping Lily.
"No. I mean, not yet." Her cheeks flush.
"Should I leave the door open, I mean, we usually know how this little surprise ends." I'm not saying it to be mean, Rose knows that, I'm just saying it to be realistic. She has a tendency to like guys who are kid free. "This is different, Bells, he's different."
I nod. Hoping to god that she's right about this one.
An hour later, Rose is still upstairs getting ready when the doorbell rings. "So it begins." I say bitterly.
"Bells! Could you get that?" Rose hollers from upstairs. I grunt as an agreement and head towards the door. I turn the doorknob and pull the door open.
"Bella?"
Oh shit.
