"Leah!" Bella yells through the door and pounds on the wood like a battering ram.
"I'm up!" Leah bolts upright and immediately covers herself with the comforter, blinking at the sunlight filling the room.
"Come on, lazy bones." Bella continues to talk through the door, while Leah hurriedly scans the room for signs of Edward and realizes she's alone. "I'm making your favorite. Blueberry pancakes."
The sound of Bella singing through the door, combined with the fact that Leah is naked and still damp from her stepsister's husband is making it hard to breathe. Leah scrambles to find her clothes and dresses quickly. She checks herself in the mirror above the vanity and spots a small bite mark on her collarbone. The sight of the bruised skin sends a shiver through her, and her stomach immediately twists. Leah quickly finds her jacket and zips it up all the way to cover the bite mark.
After a few more minutes she works up enough courage to leave the guest room, stained bed sheets wadded up in her arms, and she rushes down stairs. She makes it to the basement door before Bella stops her. Leah stands rigid with the sheets in her arms, the smell of sex and Edward clogging up her nose.
"You don't have to do that," Bella sighs, holding out a piece of bacon for Leah to eat.
"I don't mind," Leah says, snatching the bacon with her teeth, and heads down to the basement.
Leah crams the sheets into the washer, pours in what is sure to be too much soap, and starts the wash cycle. She's sweating, nauseous, and so not ready to face Bella again. She breathes some more, checks her cell phone for messages, but finds none. Where the fuck is Edward? she wonders, finally forcing herself to walk back up the stairs.
"Sit down and eat before it gets cold," Bella insists, waving toward the table and taking her own seat.
"It looks delicious." Leah forces out the half-hearted compliment and begins to shovel food into her mouth mechanically.
Bella carefully cuts up her food and dips each piece into syrup before putting it into her mouth. Leah watches in fascination and wonders if she should feel different. Her fantasy has been fulfilled, but all she feels is tired, achy and kind of horrible.
"Did you two have fun last night?" Bella asks, stabbing a piece of bacon with her fork and smiles at Leah.
"What?" Leah coughs a little, and quickly takes a drink of her orange juice.
"Don't play innocent with me," Bella smirks, rolling her eyes. "I found the pot when I put the cover on the hot tub this morning. You two are like a couple of teenagers when you get together."
"Oh, that," Leah laughs out of relief and gives Bella a genuine smile. "We were just blowing off some steam, you know. It was a hard week at work."
"Yeah," Bella remarks, looking suddenly awkward, and pushes her food around her plate with her fork. "Leah, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure." Leah tries to not show the tension in her face, but she's gripping her fork so tight her hand is starting to ache.
"It's about Edward," Bella says, looking even more nervous, and bites her lip. "I…I think…he's very upset with me."
It's like a slow motion car crash headed right toward Leah, and she can't do anything to stop it. Before she can do anything Bella breaks down into tears, covers her face with a thin paper napkin, and starts to apologize to Leah.
"Don't apologize, Bella," Leah says, trying to calm Bella down without actually touching her, which would just make this whole situation weirder and more uncomfortable. "I'm sure he's not mad at you."
"No, he is," Bella insists, shaking her head, and blows her nose into the napkin. "We had a fight, and he was so upset I don't even think he stayed here last night. I have no idea where he is right now."
"Maybe he had some stuff to do," Leah says, feeling lame and even more disgusted with herself than ever. "I'm sure things are fine; you guys always work things out."
"You don't understand," Bella argues and moves her chair closer to Leah. "It's all my fault. I was drunk and all worked up about this promotion. I want it so bad. You know how hard I've worked to get where I am at HP, and this promotion…well, it means the world to me."
"Of course it does," Leah replies, patting Bella's hand and wishing she could figure a way out of this conversation.
"Looking back now, I could have explained everything more clearly to him." Bella continues to talk and wipes at her eyes. "I should a have eased him into the idea of moving. Discussed it with him when we were both sober. I was just so excited, and he was so…angry."
Leah didn't hear anything after Bella said moving, her brain stuck on the word and the idea. Edward and Bella were moving. It clanks around in her head, like a loose piece of metal scrapping every surface it touches, and leave her ears ringing.
"Then I said something stupid and silly about you," Bella sighs, waving her hand in the air, and covers her face.
"What did you say about me?" Leah immediately jumps then quickly worries that she may have just stepped in an entirely new pile of shit.
"Oh, it was so silly, and I was drunk," Bella mutters and starts fiddling with her snot soaked napkin. "It's just…sometimes I get jealous of how close you two are."
Leah can feel her face transform into a mask of guilt and shakes her head, but Bella quickly leans forward to take hold of her hand. "I know it's silly and ridiculous, but sometimes I feel like a third wheel. Anyway, I made a stupid remark about how he would be more likely to move if you were going with us. It was the champagne talking, I promise."
Each time Bella pats Leah's hand, it feels like someone's hammering a ten-inch spike into her chest. The tears in Bella's face seem to tug at the ones that have been hiding behind Leah's eyes, and they spill in a sudden rush of shame. Leah isn't sure if she could hate herself more in this moment, then Bella hugs her, and she drowns in disgust.
"I'm so sorry, Bells," Leah whispers into Bella's hair, but she can't bring herself to hug Bella back.
"Oh, Lee Lee, it isn't your fault," Bella says, giving Leah a squeeze, and pulls back to grab them both fresh napkins. "Honestly, if there's anyone to blame it's me. I've been so wrapped up in my career and what I want, I haven't really thought about what Edward would want."
She looks thoughtful for a moment, while she carefully folds the edges of her napkin and sighs. "How horrible is that for me to say?"
"You're not horrible," Leah insists, wiping at her face with her napkin. "Trust me."
"Oh, don't be so sure," Bella says, shaking her head. "You might be surprised by how bad I can be."
Leah doesn't want to hear this. She doesn't want to be here, and she wishes that she could find a way to escape. She keeps wiping at her face and avoids meeting Bella's gaze. Bella seems to pick up on the tension and the growing silence.
"But enough about that," she says with a dismissive wave of her hand and brushes her hair out of her face. "We should get started on breakfast before it gets cold."
"Actually, I should go," Leah blurts out, standing up from the table abruptly. "I've got to meet some of the girls from the daycare to plan a field trip. I'm sorry."
It's a lie, a weak one at that, but Leah will take anything she can cling to. She needs to get away from Bella's sad expression and the smell of her husband that is still clinging to Leah's skin. If she doesn't get out now, she is sure she is going to go insane.
"Oh, okay," Bella says, her face crumpling a little more, and gets up to pull Leah into a hug. "Thank you for listening to my blubbering. I know you're not really comfortable with this kind of thing, but it I think it really helped."
"Sure, no problem," Leah replies with an awkward pat on Bella's back and gently pulls free.
"Bye," Bella calls after Leah but only gets a short wave before her stepsister disappears out the door.
Leah practically runs back to her apartment, her duffle bag slapping against her body and threatening to topple her over. She makes it to her building and flies up the stairs. Her keys are out and in the lock before she notices the envelope hanging from the number on the door. It has her name handwritten on the front. She knows that handwriting, and the sight of his careful script makes her stomach drop even as her pulse races.
She unlocks the door and grabs the envelope before going inside. Leah drops her bags and tears open the envelope, unable to wait another second before reading it. The paper feels so thin and feather-light in her hand, but the envelope still tugs heavily at her fingers. She ignores it in favor of the clean, neat lines of Edward's handwriting. Far too neat for a doctor's handwriting, she used to tease him.
As she reads the first few sentences the tears that she's been fighting back since she left his house resurface ten fold. Leah tries to take a step forward, thinking if she gets to her couch it will be easier to process the contents of the letter, but she trips over her bag and stumbles to the floor.
There's a dull clink of something hitting the floor, and she drags her eyes away from the letter to see Edward's spare key laying on the scratched surface of her hardwood floor. Leah crumples the paper in her hand, and tosses it into a far corner of the room. Fury burns through her, making her pound the floor with her fist, but even as her knuckles turn bloody she isn't sure with whom she's more angry, Edward or herself.
As the pain overtakes her rage, and good sense slowly kicks in, she stops. She has to stop this and face the truth. It is as much her fault as anyone. No matter how much it hurts to have Edward walk away, she knows it is the right thing to do. She needs to follow his example and let go.
After a few minutes of staring at the streaks of blood on her floor, she stands up and wipes her eyes. No sense crying over what should never have been in the first place. It's time to move on, time to grow up, and pray that their mistake doesn't tear apart the family.