Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Thanks to Ms. Ambrosia and Browns, as always.

I also want to send out a huge thank you to divineinspiration for letting me spoil her and run some plot issues by her. Thanks so much for your help, bb. I really appreciate it more than I can say. You're the best!

BPOV

My knee bounced up and down nervously as I sat in the waiting room of Dr. Whitlock's office. The room gave off a calming feel with its sky blue walls, light wooden beams across the ceiling and cushy leather furniture. The receptionist was a man who looked to be about my age, with longish blonde hair and striking blue eyes. He smiled at me gently when I gave him my name. His voice was kind as he handed me the insurance forms to fill out, and his demeanor helped put me at ease. It was almost as if he knew how difficult it was for me to be there, and that I needed some extra support.

Dr. Whitlock had called me back less than eight hours after I left him a message on his machine. He also returned the call himself, and scheduled an appointment with me for Thursday afternoon, after my office hours on campus were over. I texted Edward to let him know that I had made an appointment with the grief counselor recommended to me, and that my first appointment was later in the week.

When Edward called me back later that night, I didn't feel like discussing my upcoming appointment, only telling him that it was on Thursday evening. He asked me what made me decide to call, and I gave him a vague answer, telling him I thought about what he had said and decided I should talk to someone about the accident. I hadn't told him about my flashback or my subsequent illness because of it, not wanting to get into it over the phone. I had every intention of telling him about it when he arrived home on Wednesday, but we had gotten distracted easily. I was chomping at the bit to learn the exact details of his conversation with Tanya and when that was over, we had quite a bit of celebrating to do. Telling him about my flashback completely left my mind.

I was pulled out of the memories of our celebration when the man behind the desk spoke to me.

"First time?"

"Huh?" I was startled by the sound of his voice in the quiet room.

"You seem a bit nervous. First time at therapy or just nervous about the doc?"

The tone of his voice was light and there was something about it that helped ease my tension just a bit. My knee stopped bouncing and I gave him a small smile. "First time in therapy."

"Ah. Well, you don't have to worry about the doc. He's a nice guy. He's letting me work for him as I get my Master's Degree."

"What's your degree going to be in?" I couldn't believe I was having a conversation with a complete stranger – totally not my thing, usually – but it was a nice distraction.

"Psychology," he said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

I chuckled. "Of course. What better place for you to work then here?"

Laughing, he answered. "Exactly. I can't technically do my internship here with the doc, since he's my father, but doing the office stuff allows me to see another side of things. It's actually a pretty good deal."

"So you saying that he's a good guy, you're not biased or anything, are you?" I teased, feeling more and more comfortable as time went on. I had no idea where this talkative side of me was coming from, but I went with it. It felt better to be having a friendly conversation with a stranger than to be worrying about what was going to happen when I walked into his father's office.

He gave me a wink and a grin as he answered. "Well, maybe a bit." Sobering a bit, he continued. "The truth is though, he is that good. I wouldn't be following in his footsteps if he wasn't, nor would I be working here with him. I hope after I get my degree he'll take me on as a partner. He's a good guy and one of the few people in this world I know I can count on and trust – and not just because he's my dad. He's a genuinely good man."

I nodded. "Thank you for telling me that." While it sounded like he was just praising his father, it helped to put me at ease about what I was going to have to do.

"I hope he can help you with whatever it is you're here for." He gave me another gentle smile and I nodded. Before I could say anything further, Dr. Whitlock's office door opened.

The man that stood there reminded me of Santa Claus – albeit a much skinner version. He had twinkling blue eyes that I could see clearly behind his wire-rimmed glasses. He had a neatly trimmed beard and mustache. He was fairly tall, but at my own five foot four, everyone seemed tall to me.

"Bella?" he asked, taking a step further into the room.

I stood. "Yes, I'm Bella."

The smile he gave me was disarming in its sparkle factor. He managed to light up the room with one easy grin. Stepping forward again, he held out his hand for me to shake.

"It's nice to meet you, Bella. I'm Dr. Jasper Whitlock."

His grasp was both firm and gentle. Like his son, he immediately put me at ease. "Nice to meet you, too."

Releasing his hand from mine, he gestured toward his office. "Let's go talk, shall we?"

Giving him a small smile, I followed him inside.

I hadn't ever been to a therapist before so I had no idea what to expect after Dr. Whitlock had ushered me into his office. There was a desk, which seemed normal enough, but there were also two reclining armchairs and a couch. Not sure where to sit, I paused. Dr. Whitlock noticed my hesitation and smiled.

"You can sit wherever you're comfortable, Bella."

I decided to take one of the recliners, which was, conveniently enough, situated across from the other only a few feet apart in front of windows that looked over the Seattle skyline.

After we were seated and settled, Dr. Whitlock explained that he just wanted to give me an idea of how he operated and what he expected from the patients he worked with.

"I focus on holistic healing, Bella. I want to make sure you're not just mentally and emotionally healthy, but also physically and spiritually healthy as well. It takes some time to develop trust in a patient/therapist relationship and I hope that you'll give me that time. It may take a few sessions before you can decide if I'm truly the therapist for you, and I hope you'll agree to making at least four appointments with me before you make a decision on whether or not my approach is what you're looking for. Does this sound okay to you?"

I nodded. While four appointments sounded like a lot, I knew that if I was going to make this work, I needed to give it time.

Dr. Whitlock gave a short nod before smiling at me. "So, Bella, why don't we start with you telling me why you're here."

The hour I spent with Dr. Whitlock had been draining, and I left feeling exhausted. We hadn't even gotten into anything deep, other than the reason why I made my appointment with him. I explained about my mother's and Phil's death due to the accident and my resulting injuries. We then moved on to speak in general terms about my life now – my job, my friends and family, and some of my likes and dislikes. Before I left, Dr. Whitlock had assigned me 'homework' to complete before my next appointment. He asked me to journal each night and write about how I was feeling, what I was thinking and any worries, concerns or hopes I had that day. He told me to focus on all aspects of my life and in all areas – physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. He explained that the journal would be for my eyes only and that I was not required to share it with anyone, including him. It was just a way to express my hopes, worries, dreams and fears.

The whole thing seemed pretty informal for a therapy appointment, but having no point of reference, what did I know? The truth of the matter was that I might have been exhausted, but I was comfortable talking to Dr. Whitlock. It no longer seemed like it would be so hard to show up for four appointments. It would be difficult, but not impossible.

When I left, I said goodbye to Dr. Whitlock's son, who I learned was also named Jasper, but went by Jazz. He scheduled my next appointment for Tuesday after my class.

The drive home went by slowly as I hit the evening rush hour. The longer I sat in traffic, the more anxious I felt. My frustration grew when I opened the door to the apartment and heard Alice and Edward arguing over the TV.

"Edward! Give. Me. Back. The. Remote." Alice's voice was loud and shrill and it intensified the pounding that began behind my eyes on the trip home.

"Shut it, Shorty. I'm watching this." I could hear the teasing in Edward's voice, and groaned inwardly knowing Alice hated that nickname.

"Then go to your own apartment to watch ESPN and leave me in peace!" Alice's voice grew in volume. I sighed, knowing what I was walking into was not something I really wanted to be dealing with.

"Good evening, children." I trudged into the living room to find Alice crawling over Edward, trying to reach the remote control he held out of her reach. The minute he saw me, he moved Alice off of him and dropped the remote in her lap. He stood and crossed the room toward me.

"Hi, baby. How was your day? How was therapy?" He leaned down and gave me a soft kiss before pulling back and smiling at me.

"It was good. Long day. I'm beat."

A worried look crossed Edward's face. "Are you okay?"

I rolled my eyes at his concern. "I'm fine, really. Just…tired."

I looked around him to see Alice sitting on the couch, flipping through the channels. "Hey Ali."

"Hey! Thanks for taking my annoying brother off my hands. Now I can watch last night's American Idol in peace."

Both Edward and I groaned. Shaking his head, Edward wrapped an arm around my waist. "Are you hungry? I made dinner for you guys."

Walking toward to where he had pointed to the covered dish on the cabinet, I said, "How was your day?"

Edward followed me over to the counter and stood next to me. "It was fine. I slept late, went to the gym, had lunch with Emmett, paid some bills, did some laundry and then decided to come over here to make dinner."

I lifted the lid off a casserole dish to find…mush.

"What is this?" I tried to keep my disgust out of my voice, but I don't think Edward bought it.

"Goulash."

I looked back at the food in front of me. "This doesn't look like any goulash I've ever seen…"

Edward laughed. "It's Esme's recipe. Ground beef, elbow macaroni and cottage cheese."

I tried not to gag. "Oh." Putting the lid back on the dish, I turned away. "I don't think I'm that hungry, actually." And after seeing that, I really wasn't.

"Are you sure? You should try it, it's good."

"I'll take your word for it." I left the kitchen and made my way to my bedroom, sensing Edward's presence behind me. I didn't wait for him to come in and close the door before I started stripping off my work clothes. I wanted my yoga pants and a comfy t-shirt, stat.

Edward sat on the bed, watching me silently. His demeanor was making me tense and I found myself snapping at him. "What?"

He raised his eyebrows at me. "Um, nothing."

"Then why are you staring at me?" I slipped my t-shirt over my head and turned to him. "I'm fine, Edward. Just tired. It was a long day and you were snoring last night."

It was an outright lie since never once had I heard Edward snore, but I just needed to get him off my back for a minute. It wasn't that I wasn't glad he was there, waiting for me when I came home, but I needed a minute to decompress and debrief from my appointment. Even though the subject matter for my first session had stayed light, I knew it would only be a matter of time before we started delving into things I had spent months avoiding. I was afraid of what the journaling might bring up for me and I was terrified of having another flashback.

These were things I knew without a doubt I could share with Edward, and probably should share with him, but I needed the time and space to get it clear in my own head, first.

Edward just stared at me before slowly getting to his feet. "All right. Sorry you felt I was bugging you. I'll just go watch TV with Ali for a while. Let me know when you're ready for bed…or if you'd rather, I'll just go back to my place."

Without giving me a chance to respond, he left the room, shutting the door quietly, but firmly, behind him. I sighed and sat down on the bed with a thump. On top of feeling tired and a bit overwhelmed, I felt like a crappy girlfriend. He had been overly concerned lately, constantly questioning me on how I felt and if I was okay. It seemed my confession about the nightmares had lighted something in him that made him want to constantly check-in with me to make sure I was fine. It had only gotten worse in the last few days now that he was no longer consumed with the drama Tanya had caused. Since he no longer had that weighing on his mind, he had all the time in the world to worry about me and how I was doing.

Along with my guilt came frustration. Who was he to start questioning me the minute I walked in the door? Was it completely unreasonable to ask that he understood that I just needed a bit of time and space before getting into everything with him?

No, he doesn't, because you didn't tell him. Instead you accuse him of staring and keeping you up all night with his non-existent snoring.

I groaned, knowing that he had every right to be upset with me, because I hadn't communicated with him what was happening with me. I didn't understand what my problem was. When everything was going on with Tanya, we were able to discuss the situation like two rational adults. I had even been able to open up a bit and tell him things I had never told anyone. However, faced with truly doing something about my problems, I clamed up, refusing to let him in. What was wrong with me?

I lay back on the bed, throwing my arm over my eyes. If I was honest with myself, I knew part of the issue was I didn't know how to allow anyone to be there for me. With my parents, I had been the adult in my relationships with them, making sure my mom paid the bills on time and that Charlie had a home cooked meal every night I lived with him. Even after I moved out and went to college, I still called home at least three times a week, making sure they were both okay and handling my absence without a problem.

When it came to my relationship with Joe, I hadn't been able to let go and allow him to help me – not that he tried very hard. If I had a bad day at work and needed someone to vent to, he let me talk, but I'm not sure how much he had actually listened to me. His head always seemed to be stuck in the newspaper or focused on a computer screen. I would receive the occasional "uh huh" or "wow," but I was never sure how much of that was just a canned response to what I was telling him.

Jake and Alice had been there when I needed them, but in retrospect, how often had I really called them and used their shoulders for a good cry? Times were few and far between, as I had always just handled things on my own. If I told them of my troubles, it was usually well after they were over and dealt with.

So here was Edward, trying to be there for me and support me as any good boyfriend should do, and I was doing nothing but keeping him at arms length. I seemed to only let him in so far, stalling when I should've been confiding in him the most.

It was hard wrapping my head around what I wanted – and needed – to do. Talking to Edward might make me feel better, but I didn't see how laying all my fears at his feet was going to make a difference. There was nothing that he could do for me that he wasn't already doing. He couldn't change the past; he couldn't make me feel better about the accident or my role in it. He certainly couldn't change the fact that I had found him and fallen in love because of it. He couldn't control my fear of opening up to Dr. Whitlock and allowing him to help me.

And if I was honest with myself, that was the crux of the issue.

There was no way I would ever be the same Bella I was before the accident. That Bella had…died…right along with my mother and Phil. The only thing I knew now was how to be this Bella.

I couldn't deny that part of my fear was that Dr. Whitlock was going to change me into someone new yet again. I would have to let go of the Bella I became in order to survive. How could I…Would I even like the new me?

Would Edward?

Part of my brain told me how irrational I was being, but I couldn't seem to help myself. All I knew was this after accident reality. The fact that Dr. Whitlock would likely focus on helping me get over my fears and neuroses, worries and nightmares actually scared me. Most people would probably have been thrilled to let those things go, and here I was afraid to lose them.

I was scared to find out who I was without them.

For the last seven months, I had only known the person who felt these emotions, who dealt with the constant physical, and then emotional, pain. Those two things had become my security blanket, what I wrapped myself in when everything around me seemed cold and unfamiliar. I may have hated the pain, but after a while it reminded me that I was still alive and if I could count on nothing else, I could count on the pain.

I knew that it was time to let it go of it all, but I had no idea how. I had no idea where I was supposed to go from here and what I would do when I got through the other side. I was confused, frightened and totally unaware of how to look at the man I loved and ask him to help me.

How could he help me when I wasn't really sure if I wanted help at all?

I knew working through my issues and problems was what was best for me, and would allow me to have a happy, healthy life. I knew that I had done the right thing when I made that phone call to Dr. Whitlock.

It didn't change the fact, however, that knowing and doing were two completely different things.

Part of me wanted to get better.

Part of me was terrified of more change.

Part of me wanted to reach for Edward and rely on him to get me through this.

Part of me was afraid to let him.

Despite all my worries, I knew one thing for sure; I would be pushing Edward away and probably dooming our relationship if I didn't let him in and allow him to help me through this. No matter what my fears were, I wasn't willing to risk losing him. I loved and needed him far too much. I may have wanted to stand on my own, but I didn't want to do it without Edward by my side.

Standing up, I walked to the bedroom door and opened it. Listening, I heard the TV, but nothing else. Moving forward, I stopped in the archway between the hallway and the living room. Edward and Alice were sitting next to each other on the couch, watching American Idol.

"Edward," I said quietly.

He glanced up and looked at me and I could still see the hurt in his eyes, although his expression was impassive. "Yes?"

"Can…can we talk?" I bit my lip, somewhat afraid that he'd deny me after the way I treated him earlier.

He nodded and stood. Alice glanced back over her shoulder and gave me a wink and a grin, lending her unwavering support – as usual.

I walked back to my room as Edward followed behind me. He shut the door once he was inside and I sat on the bed.

"I'm sorry." I wasn't sure where to start, but an apology seemed to be the best place.

He said nothing, his face still blank.

I sighed. "Instead of snapping at you, I should've told you I just needed some time and space to decompress from my appointment. I just needed to get it sorted in my own head first before I talked to you about it."

Edward ran a hand through his hair before crossing the room to sit next to me on the bed. He took my hand in his before speaking. "I wish you had told me, but I should've recognized you may have needed some time alone, too. I'm sorry I didn't give you space; I was just so worried about you."

I leaned over until my head was resting against his shoulder. "I know…I just…I shouldn't have snapped at you. It's not that I didn't – and don't – want you here because I loved the fact that you were waiting for me when I came home. I just needed a chance to relax a minute before getting into it, you know? Kind of sort out how I felt before I told you?"

He kissed the top of my head. "I get it. You'll tell me when you're ready. I just want to make sure you're okay."

I squeezed his hand. "I'm fine. I'm still nervous about what's to come, but for a first session, it wasn't too bad. He seems like a good guy; straightforward, but kind. He made me promise to give him and therapy a chance, so I had to agree to show up for at least four sessions. As I left this one, I realized it wasn't going to be a problem. He made me feel comfortable, so that's a good thing, right?"

"Yeah. I'm so proud of you, sweetheart." Edward kissed the top of my head and I felt some of the tension I'd been carrying around leave my body. I knew talking to him would be good for me; I just had to wrap my own head around things first.

"He focuses on holistic healing – body, mind and soul, I guess you could call it. But he didn't push this session, just asked how I was feeling overall and learning about me, why I was there, the people in my life, that kind of thing. I found it very easy to talk to him."

"That's…great, Bella. I'm glad it looks like this is going to work out for you." There was something in the tone of his voice that caused me to turn and look up at him. There was tension around his mouth and his eyes were tight.

"Are you okay?" I asked, staring at him and willing him to look at me.

"I'm fine." He smiled at me, but it didn't reach his eyes. "What did you say this doctor's name was again?"

I sat up straighter and pulled back from him a bit more. "I…didn't."

Edward raised his eyebrows at me. "Okay, so what's his name?"

I stood and walked toward my dresser, my back to Edward. Straightening some of the bottles of lotion and perfume – both rarely used – that were sitting there, I answered him. "Um, I'd rather not say." I braced myself, knowing my answer would not please him.

"I don't understand…why not?" His tone was confused.

I sighed. "It's probably going to seem silly to you, but I kind of want to figure out how I feel about him on my own. I already have a good feeling about him and I don't want it to be tainted by anything you might know or find out about him. I want to decide if he's a good doctor and the right doctor for me without any input from you."

It came out harsher than I meant it to, though I did my best to keep my tone light. I knew my words were a bit stronger than I planned on using, but I knew this would come up and I was worried about it. I had tried to practice what I would say to him when he asked this very question, but when the time came, it came across much worse than I had meant.

"Wait. What are you saying? You're afraid I'll interfere somehow?"

Great, he's hurt.

Turning, I looked at him. "Edward, it's not that I think you'll interfere. But between you and your father, I know you have a lot of contacts and ways of finding out things about other doctors in the area. I just want to be able to try this without any outside knowledge or opinions. It's hard enough to go there and pour my heart out to him; I don't want my brain filled with outside information. I just want to be able to go there and try to get better and I don't want a voice in the back of my head saying, 'Edward heard a few people were unhappy with his methods' or something."

I paused, trying to gauge the reaction on his face. "Please understand where I'm coming from. It has nothing to do with me wanting to keep anything from you, but I'm really trying to do this on my own. I've been relying on all of you so much that I just…I need to know I can do this by myself."

"Bella, that's… How would me just knowing his name lead to all that? Why won't you let me help you through this?" His head dropped and his shoulders slumped. "I just don't understand…"

I could feel the tears spring to my eyes, but I did my best to blink them back. Edward and I should be able to have a difference of opinion without me getting so upset it made me cry.

"I just…I want to see how things go for awhile before I get specific, okay? I want to make up my own mind, have my own opinions on how things are going and if he's the right therapist for me before I involve you in it. I don't want to be swayed by something you heard from a colleague or even something that you think he should be doing. I want to give him the four sessions he asked for with only my own impressions and feelings deciding if he's someone I want to continue seeing. Does that make any sense?"

Inside, I was begging Edward to see where I was coming from. I didn't want this to turn into a fight or something we spent hours discussing. I just wanted him to accept it and for us to move on.

Edward sighed and was silent for a few moments. Finally, he answered me. "I still don't understand, but if that's what you want, then okay. You'll tell me what you want me to know, when you want me to know it." He looked defeated, and hurt.

"Edward, please don't do that. It's not that I want to keep you out on purpose…I just…do you know how hard this is for me? Do you know how difficult it was for me to dial his number and make that appointment? To show up there today and explain to him why I was there and what I hoped to get out of my sessions with him?" The tears spilled over without my consent.

"I just need some time to figure out how this is going to make me feel, how I'm going to deal with it. I'm not trying to keep anything from you; I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to go to therapy and then come home and tell you everything I talked about. Do you know that means reliving everything twice? I don't know if I can do that, Edward. I don't know if I'm strong enough for that right now. All I'm asking for is some time to figure out how to get help from him without shutting you out, but still protecting my state of mind. Do you understand?"

Edward stood, crossing the room and taking me in his arms. I buried my face in his chest as my arms came up to wrap around his waist. He said nothing, just held me while I continued.

"I'm sorry. I'm not handling this right. I don't want to shut you out. I do want you here with me and I do want your help. I just…let me figure out this therapy thing first, okay? That's all I'm asking for…just a couple of sessions to figure out how it's going to affect me and what kind of support I'm going to need."

His arms tightened around me and he sighed. "Okay. I don't completely understand, but I'm getting there. You just tell me what you need and I'll do my best to give it to you. I just…I want you to know that you are not alone in this and I'm here for you, however and whenever you need me. I don't want you to feel like I don't care or that, now that you're meeting with someone, I'm ignoring you. I just want to help you, baby. I want you to be happy and healthy. I'll do anything I can to make that happen and if it means backing off and letting you do this on your own…then I'll suck it up and do it. I won't like it, and it goes against everything I have inside of me, but if it's what you need, then I'll do it."

I removed my hands from around his waist and reached up to grasp his face with my hands. Pulling his face down to mine, I kissed him gently. "Thank you."

"I love you, Bella. I'll do whatever I can to make you happy." His lips caressed mine in a soft whisper.

"I love you, too." We stood there for a few minutes, wrapped up in each other and letting the tension melt away. Eventually, Edward pulled back, his hands clasped behind my back.

"Are you hungry?" He placed a small kiss on my forehead and my eyes slid shut.

I wasn't hungry at all, but I knew this was some small way he felt he could care for me and after what I just put him through, I couldn't deny him it. "Yeah, I could eat."

He let me go, only to take my hand as we walked to the kitchen. Alice was still in the living room, but had moved on from American Idol to something that looked and sounded like a Lifetime movie.

Edward opened the casserole dish with the goulash in it as I sat on one of the island stools. Seeing it, and smelling it, again made me sick to my stomach and I quickly said, "No" as he went to go scoop some into a dish.

Edward looked up at me, questioning. "It really is good…I promise."

I nodded. "I'm sorry, I'm sure it is, but it just does not look appetizing to me right now."

Edward put the cover back on the dish. "Okay, what else can I get for you?"

"I just want something light; maybe soup or something?"

Edward nodded and walked over to the cabinet to pull out a box of chicken noodle soup. He held it out to me. "Is this what you had in mind?"

"Perfect." I tried to take the soup from him, giving him a grin in thanks. He kept it out of my reach, insisting I go join Alice on the couch while he got my dinner ready.

I laughed at Alice's choice of movie, since it was one of those corny Lifetime ones staring Tori Spelling, but by the time the soup was ready, I was immersed in it. Edward rolled his eyes and left me to the soup and the movie, saying he was going to try to catch a basketball game on the TV in my room.

The movie wrapped up about two hours later and I joined Edward in the bedroom, where he was already undressed and in bed. I was glad to feel that there seemed no leftover animosity between us from earlier in the evening and that we were back to normal. I quickly went through my nighttime routine, washing my face and changing into my normal tank and shorts for bed.

"I'm going to go check the locks, make sure the lights are off and stuff. Be right back."

His response was an "hmmmm" since he was already engrossed in the highlight reel on ESPN.

Walking back up the hallway, I turned off the light by the couch in the living room before going to the foyer to make sure our door was locked. Once I was satisfied it was, I turned and a blinking light caught my eye. On the table in the foyer was our apartment phone and answering machine, which was what was blinking. It struck me as odd, since no one I knew ever called the house phone, preferring to get Alice and me on our cell phones.

Hitting the button, I listened.

"Ms. Swan? This is Dr. Reilly's office. We're calling to remind you about your appointment tomorrow. We'll see you at four o'clock. Thank you."

There was a beep and a second message played. "Ms. Swan, Dr. Reilly's office. We are calling about your missed appointment today. Please call us back at your earliest convenience. Thank you."

I groaned as I heard the message. Crap.

"What's wrong?" Edward sat up in bed as I walked back in the bedroom, grumbling.

"I missed my gynecology appointment today. It completely slipped my mind with everything that happened this week." I slid into bed next to Edward. "Gah. This Swiss cheese for brains I have sometimes is killing me."

Edward pulled me into his arms and I settled against his chest. He kissed the top of my head and said, "Do you want me to call them back, smooth things over and make you another appointment?"

"No, I'll call them tomorrow. Hopefully they'll still see me, but if not, I'll find someone else." I huffed out a breath. "I feel like an idiot forgetting something like that."

Edward's chest vibrated as he chuckled underneath me. "Sweetheart, you've had some interesting developments happen this week, so your mind's been somewhere else. It's okay."

There was a churning in my gut as I remembered my flashback and realized that Edward still didn't know about it. He had no idea just how much had been on my mind. I opened my mouth to tell him about it, but before I could, he spoke again. "Are you sure you don't want me to call them for you?"

"No, I'll call them. Thanks though."

Pulling my chin up so he could reach my lips, he kissed me gently in response. Getting caught up in the moment, everything else left my brain.

An hour later, as I drifted off to sleep, I had forgotten all about what I wanted to tell him.

A/N:

Huge apologies for this chapter being so late. My muse apparently took a vacation for the holidays and didn't return until after the New Year. Good news? I have a decent chunk of Chapter 24 written, although I'm still working through some plot issues/challenges. As I told Ms Divine this week, I want to give anyone who reads this story the best story I can. Sometimes it takes longer than I like, so I hope you'll forgive me and stick with me.

Thanks everyone for reading.

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