Disclaimer: I own everything but their names.
August 16, 2001 – Santa Cruz, California
Once we'd finally made it back to Edward's house after our night in the ER, both of us were absolutely exhausted, physically and emotionally. I knew it had taken a lot of our Edward to see his son like that, and the fighting with Makenna didn't help either of our states of mind.
Neither one of us could seem to sleep, though. I didn't know if it was the same for him, but my mind was going in a million different directions thinking about everything that had happened over the past few months. How we'd met, come together, and how, it seemed that while the two of us got closer, everything around us was unraveling slowly.
Even with Edward pressed close to me in his bed, my back to his front and his arm wrapped around my stomach, I felt a heavy weight on my chest.
His fingers moved softly against my skin, soothing my fraying nerves. "I'm sorry she said those things about you."
I sighed and snuggled closer to his warmth. "I'm…" I stopped and considered my words. I was afraid to tell him the truth after the night he'd had.
Simply put, I kind of felt bad for Makenna in the same way that I felt bad for Jasper. Both of them cared about one or both of us, and we'd hurt them by being dishonest about our relationship.
On the one hand, our deceptions had already driven a wedge between Edward and his brother; if it were to do the same and affect his relationship with Lisle's mother, and in turn, Lisle… I didn't know if I could handle being put in that position.
"I feel sorry for her," I finally whispered, choosing to be honest with him. I'd had enough not-talking for the previous month to last me a lifetime.
Edward took a deep breath, letting it out to sweep across my neck, and I knew if I could see him, his forehead would be scrunched in confusion. "How could you possibly feel sorry for her after the things she said?"
I shrugged. "People say things in the heat of the moment, especially when they're hurt or scared. I think she was hurt by seeing me there. I think… I think that if it were me, and I had done something stupid like letting you go, and then been brave enough to ask you to try again, that I would just… I don't know. I think it would crush me if I were in her position. And I feel sorry for her, because maybe before tonight she might have still believed there could have been a chance that you'd change your mind." I huffed. "I'm not really making sense, am I?"
"You make perfect sense," he murmured. "But I'm still sorry you had to be there for that."
"I'm not."
"She verbally attacked you more than once, Bella." His voice sounded incredulous.
"Yeah, but I wanted to be there for you. For Lisle. I will admit that I'm intimidated by her, by what she was to you… what she is to Lisle," I said, voicing my thoughts from the day when Makenna and I had first met. "But it doesn't matter what she thinks of me, really."
I felt him grin against my skin. "I was right."
"Right about what?" I turned my head so I could see his face.
He smiled. "You are amazing."
I smiled back, remembering all those weeks ago when he'd said those words to me on the beach just before fireworks went off in the sky.
A few quiet minutes passed, and I played with Edward's fingers as I thought about what I wanted to ask him next. I wasn't sure if either of us was in the right mood – or frame of mind – to have the discussion, but since it seemed we'd already been found out by two of the three people we were trying to keep it from, well…
"Edward?"
"Yeah, Babe?"
"You know, when the phone rang tonight, my first thought was… well, just— What would you have done if it had been my father on the phone tonight?"
I felt Edward stiffen and he pulled back, letting me lie against his arm so he could look down at me from above. "I honestly don't know."
"Do you think… maybe we did this wrong?" I asked, looking away from him as I twirled my fingers in the material of his shirt. "That maybe we should have told people before…"
"In hindsight? Probably," he agreed. "But we can't change the past."
He was right; we couldn't change what we'd already done wrong. But we could try to make it right for the future.
I knew my dad would be upset about the news of my relationship with Edward, but I didn't want to see him react the same way Jasper had. I didn't like the thought of my father ever looking at me the same way.
"Do you think he'll ever forgive us?"
"Who? Your dad?"
I shook my head. "No. Jasper."
"Jasper just needs a few days to cool down."
"I hope so." I missed my friend. I even missed his stupid nicknames and corny jokes. And I knew Edward did, too.
"Me, too."
Both of us became quiet again, thinking through what we'd discussed. If Edward were anything like me, he was imagining how it would go when we came face to face with Jasper again. Mostly I hoped there would be no more hitting.
I reached up and touched his bruised jaw softly. "Edward?" I said again.
He chuckled and looked down at me. "Yeah?"
I stared into his bright green eyes. "I want to tell my dad before he finds out the hard way."
"Okay."
"And Edward?"
"Yeah?"
"I want him to meet Lisle, too."
He grinned and then kissed me, happiness pouring out of him at the idea. "Okay."
And I smiled for what felt like the first time in days. We'd had our fair share of bumps, but it seemed like maybe we'd finally figured out how to start making things right.
Sleep came easily for both of us after that.
Let's just say I'm very glad my name is not Makenna. Ya'll are vicious… and I kinda love it. LOL! Thank you so much for reading and for being invested enough in these characters to be that mad at her. I shouldn't encourage the violence, but it kinda makes me happy.
I don't usually do this, but my good friend cosmogirl7481 has a new story that just posted today. You don't want to miss it, so go check her out. She has a nice rack.
Reviews are love.
Until tomorrow!
xx