Chapter Five: My mother's eyes.

Rose's POV

I don't think anybody quite understands mine and Edward's relationship. Yes, we all hang out, and everyone knows that we are friends. But honestly, it goes deeper than that. Edward is honestly my best friend in this entire world (Don't tell Alice!). I will never forget the first time I ever lay eyes on that boy. I mean seriously, is it weird to think a boy is smoking hot at 5 years old? Well I did, and I was smitten. I took one look into those green eyes and ladies and gents I was a goner. Edward helped me through everything. When we first started school I was bullied. Shocking I know! Just as I was about to burst into tears one afternoon, along came my shining knight Edward. He walked me home that day, holding my hand the entire time. After that day, it sort of became an unspoken understanding. We took care of each other. Then when I was 7, my parents split up. To this day there hasn't been anything that's happened to me that has tore me apart as much as that did. I didn't leave my room for a week. It would have been a lot longer than that if one day I hadn't heard a tiny knock on my window. Sure enough, there was Edward, sitting in the tree house right outside my window. I climbed over to the tree house and found myself instantly wrapped in his arms. We sat there for hours, me crying my heart out, and Edward just silently comforting me. Even at only 7 years old, he knew exactly what I needed in that moment. I shared my first kiss with Edward Cullen that day. Now most people probably wonder why the Hell am I with Emmett? Well, as Edward and I grew older, we realized that the love we felt for each other was something a lot more special than most couples have. We were never meant to be together, but we were always meant to be in each other's lives. Taking care of each other. So that's what we did. The day Edward changed, I honestly felt my heart shatter. I realized that everyone is upset by it, but I honestly think it affected me the most. I lost him. I lost a piece of me. And I would do anything to get MY Edward back. So when he asked me to talk after his hockey practice, I accepted without any hesitation. We drove to our meadow, the place we hung out everyday when we were younger, and sat right in the centre of it side by side. He was hesitating, and he seemed nervous, but most of all, he looked defeated.

"Eddie, what's going on? You know you can tell me anything." I said softly.

He grabbed my hand and laced his fingers with mine, "I know that Rosie, but I need you to promise me something before I tell you." he spoke in almost a whisper and turned his face towards me. There were tears already forming in his eyes.

"I'll promise you anything you want Edward, just please talk to me."

"I can't lose you Rose, please don't leave me. Don't treat me any different than you always have. Can you promise me that?"

"I promise."

"Last summer, I was getting ready to head to Seattle for the weekend with a couple of friends, but I needed some cash first. Nobody was home so I figured I could just grab some from one of my parents and let them know later. So I went into my dad's office and lifted his wallet up from his desk. Underneath it was a letter addressed to him. I honestly didn't mean to read it, but as my eyes skimmed over it I noticed my name in it so I had to. It was from a woman named Elizabeth Mason. She had become pregnant when she was just 16, from a one night stand to never be heard from again, and Carlisle was her doctor. She wanted to thank him. The day she went into labour was the same day my mom did. Carlisle wanted so bad to be in the room with my mom, but he had to do his job. So they compromised and put my mother and Elizabeth in the same room. Elizabeth had her baby first. She described him in the letter as the most beautiful thing she had ever laid eyes on which had made her decision so much harder. Later that night when my father had went home and my mother was asleep, she snuck out of the hospital to never be heard from again. The shocking part was, she left her baby in his cradle right beside my mother's bed with a note attached to it. She explained how she would never be able to provide her child with the life he deserved and she knew leaving him was the best option for him. She said how she saw the love Carlisle and Esme had for their children and asked if they could find it in their heart to take in one more. She left the baby's birth certificate with him, with no name on it, and no signatures for either parent. It was blank. A baby for anyone to claim."

I sat there in complete stunned silence. I could feel tears falling down my face, and Edward was full on crying by this point. I had a feeling I knew where this story was going, but a small part of me was praying I was wrong.

"Rose, what's my name?" he asked.

"Edward…" I replied, confused as to why he would ask that.

"No, what's my FULL name?"

As I thought his name in my head, I let out a choked sob and covered my mouth with my hands.

"Rose, what is my name?" he asked again slowly.

"Edward Mason Cullen." I finally whispered.

"Exactly." he sighed. "The baby in that letter is me Rose. And Elizabeth Mason is my mother."

Edward's POV

So I told Rose.

I had to. I had to tell someone. Holding everything in was slowly driving me insane. I thought a lot about who I would tell. Alice and Emmett were definitely out, that I didn't even need to consider. I barely knew Bella so she was out as well. It came down to Jasper and Rosalie. Honestly, I could have chosen either of them without regretting it. Jasper is one of my best friends and I consider him a brother to me. He's also a very calm and wise person. I knew he would keep his cool about it and would probably have some pretty good advice for me. But when it came down to it, I knew I was going to need someone to comfort me. Someone who knew me better than anyone else in this world. And that person is without a doubt Rose. I decided to tell her after Bella and I had our talk in the kitchen. She said I didn't need to tell them everything about my life, they just wanted to be a part of it. That's when I decided I was going to stop shutting out my family. Sure, I had some trust issues that I need to deal with, but you're supposed to be able to trust your family always right? When Rose offered to drive me to practice I figured that it would be as good a time as any to talk to her about it. Practice was good for me. It helped take out some of my stress and as weird as it sounds, playing hockey is calming for me. Everything makes sense when I'm out on that ice. I can forget all the shit that's happening in my life and just enjoy playing the game I love. I want nothing more in life than to play professional hockey. Of course, Carlisle wasn't as enthusiastic about that dream as I was, but he would support me no matter what. He always told me growing up to follow your heart and dreams because they will lead you to where you will be truly happy.

The shock I saw on Rose's face wasn't that surprising. Believe me I was shocked as well when I found out. But then she did exactly what I needed from her, she wrapped her arms around me and comforted me while I cried my heart out. We sat in that meadow for over an hour, both of us just holding on to the other and crying. I suddenly wondered why I was so afraid to tell her in the first place. Of course she wouldn't treat me any different, she was Rose. She was there for me through everything and I knew she would be there for me this time too. All Hell broke loose as soon as we entered my house. When they all had calmed down enough for Rose and I to actually speak, I simply told them that I had explained to Rose what was going on and why I had been acting like an ass the past year. Of course, that wasn't enough for all of them.

"I'm sorry what? You told Rose? You told ROSE?" Alice screeched. "I mean no offence Rosie I love you, but Edward, I'm your twin, I'm your family! Why the Hell did you feel that you couldn't tell me?" she asked as tears formed in her eyes.

"I just can't Allie. I'm sorry. You know I love you so much, but I just can't tell you. Listen, I promise I won't be douchward anymore, but I can't tell you guys. I needed someone to talk to so I told Rose ok?" I pleaded just hoping that she would understand.

As she stomped away and I heard her freaking out on her phone I figured she hadn't accepted what I said.

"Listen Ed, I don't need to know. If you feel that you can't tell us then that's fine, it's your decision to make. I'm just happy that your going to work on being the real you again and if that means you need to confide in my sister and the rest of us back off then that's what we'll do." Jasper said as he placed his hand on my shoulder and squeezed it in reassurance.

The only person left was Emmett. I honestly wasn't sure how he would take this. Not only was I not confiding in him, my brother, but I had chose to confide in his girlfriend.

"Now Emmett, before you say anything let me make this clear, I will not tell you what he told me. His secret is safe with me and I will take it to the grave if he asks me to. You love your brother with all your heart, and he needs you. I know I can't say what he told me, but I can say that it honestly breaks my heart, and he needs all of us. Understood?" Rose came to stand right beside me and gave Emmett 'the look' as I like to call it, aka, the 'don't you dare try to disagree with me' look.

"Understood." he said, then walked over to me and wrapped his giant arms around me. "I'll always be here for you little bro, anything you need." he whispered to me. The four of us went downstairs and put a movie in, none of us saying another word about it. Rose sat down beside me and snuggled into my side and Emmett just sat on the floor between our feet while Jasper took the recliner. That's the one thing I loved about Em, there I was snuggling up on the couch with his girlfriend and it doesn't even faze him. He knows that Rose and I are close and he has never once tried to get in the middle of it.

About 20 minutes into the movie I heard the doorbell ring and then Alice's frantic voice going a mile a minute.

"Who do you think that is?" Emmett asked while looking towards the stairs.

"Ten bucks says the pixie called Bella." Rose smirked as she too turned towards the stairs.

Sure enough, less than a minute later Alice came down the stairs followed by a confused looking Bella.

"Hey Bella." Jasper, Rose, Em and myself all said in unison.

Freaky. We hang out too much clearly.

"Hey." Bella replied with a little wave.

"Now listen, Bella, I don't know all what Alice has filled you in on, but while she was off having her little freak out the three of us made a decision. Yes, Ed told Rosie what's been bothering him and no, he isn't going to tell us. And Em and I have decided to respect that. If he wants us to know then he will tell us, if not, well we are just glad to have our Eddie back." Jasper said as he threw a pillow at me.

Alice's face looked like she literally may explode at any given moment so Jasper quickly jumped up from the couch and led her back upstairs to hopefully calm her down a bit. I felt bad about keeping things from Alice but if she couldn't respect the fact that I didn't want to talk about it we were going to have problems. Bella said nothing and just walked over and sat down in the arm chair and we all watched a movie.

Once the movie was over it was around 10 and everyone was heading home as it was a school night. I said bye to Jasper and Rose, Emmett walked them out while Alice stomped her way up to her room. Bella stopped on her way out the door and turned to me.

"So you decided to tell someone huh?"

"Yeah, you were right. Keeping it all to myself was driving me crazy, and I trust Rose with my life." I saw something flash in her eyes as I said this but just as quickly it was gone and she gave me a small smile.

"Well I'm glad you have someone to talk with about it now, and your family seems happy by this too."

"Yeah, everyone except Alice." I muttered.

"She'll come around. I honestly don't think she's upset that you chose to tell Rose, she's just frustrated that she doesn't know. She doesn't like to be out of the loop."

"Well who knows, maybe in time she will know."

Bella gave me a small smile and walked out to her truck. I watched as the two cars disappeared down our long tree-covered drive way.

As I lay in my bed that night I couldn't help but wonder if things would start to go back to normal. I had told the one person in my life that I feel the closest connection to and she hadn't run away. She was still looking at me the same way she always had. Maybe I would be able to tell the others in time. As I drifted off to sleep, my mind wandered to the one part of the story I hadn't told Rose and I wasn't sure if I would. The reason Elizabeth had wrote to Carlisle, was to ask him for a favour. She had been diagnosed with cancer and was dying, and she had one last wish before she went, to meet me.