Jasper calls me a few minutes after the interview ends, partially to ask if I'm okay and partially to tell me that Alice said yes to his proposal. Even though I'm utterly confused about everything that has happened today, I'm still extremely excited for my best friend. I've never heard him sound so happy, and when Alice jacks the phone away from him, I can hear the same excitement in her voice…just a few pitches higher.

After a few minutes of talking to her, Jasper steals the phone back and asks what I thought of the interview.

"I honestly don't know what to think," I say. "You know how I felt…how I feel. I just don't know what to do."

Jasper sighs into the phone. "Well either way, you're going to have to see him."

My stomach rolls. "When? Why?"

"The wedding," he says and I can hear the eye roll in his voice. "He's Alice's brother so he'll be there. And you're going to be my best man, so you have no choice."

I smile and can't help the tears the flood into my eyes. "Really?"

"I wouldn't want anyone else to stand with me on my wedding day but you," he says. "You'll do it?"

"Of course! I'd be honored, Jasper."

We talk for a few minutes after that and by the time we finish up, my mom has already made her way up to bed. So I curl up on the couch with a pillow and a sheet and flip on "Friends."

The last thing I hear before I fall asleep is Joey saying "How you doin?"

~O~

The next morning, I wake to the smell of fresh coffee and waffles. My stomach rumbles and I roll over to see a spread on the coffee table in front of me.

"Morning, Bella," my mom says as she breezes back into the room. She puts some sugar and milk on the table and sits down in her plush chair next to the couch.

"How'd you sleep?" she asks before she sips her cup of coffee.

I reach for my own cup and rip open a pack of sugar. "Really well, surprisingly. After the crazy day yesterday, I didn't think I'd sleep at all."

"Well we can just take it easy today," Renee says. "We can get better acquainted with each other again."

And that's exactly what we do. Compared to yesterday, it is extremely difficult. With the actual reunion out of the way, we talk about my childhood after she left. At times, I get extremely angry and have to stop talking for a minute. I recount the times where I really could have used a mother's advice, like when I had my first real crush in middle school and he ended up trying to have sex with me. Even the memories I don't say out loud make me angry. When I think about how difficult it was for me when I got my period the first time (thank GOD for Jasper's mom or else I wouldn't have had a clue what to do), I find myself wanting to lash out at her.

She seems to get that. Whenever I stop talking or stand up to go get a drink from the kitchen, she doesn't follow me. She sits and waits for me to get my head together. The Renee I saw in Seattle a year ago wouldn't have understood, but this Renee got it. She knew her mistakes took a toll on me and she gave me the time I needed to collect myself.

When dinnertime came around, we decided to go out to a local pizza place. I got a regular coke while my mom orders a glass of water. She tells me she limits her caffeine intake to once a day, with her cup of coffee in the morning.

"I'm already kicking a heroin addiction," she says. "I don't need to tack on a caffeine addiction, too."

The next morning when I wake up, Renee is on the phone in the kitchen. I listen in, not really intending to eavesdrop, but wondering whom my mom could be talking to. She hadn't mentioned anyone else to me.

"That sounds good," she says in a quiet voice. "Will everyone be bringing their families?"

There's a pause as the other person speaks.

"I'll see if she wants to go then," Renee says. "Thanks for letting me know, Paul. I'll talk to you soon."

She hangs up the phone and I hear her start moving around the kitchen. After a few moments, I start to smell fresh coffee. I stretch and push my hair out of my face and after a few minutes, Renee walks in, carrying a cup of coffee.

"Morning, Bella!" she sings as she sets the cup down. "I have something I want to run past you."

I grab the cup and take a sip of the black coffee, too lazy to go into the kitchen and grab sugar.

"What's up?"

"Well my counselor, Paul, just called," she begins, staring at me tentatively. "There's going to be an…open house of sorts at my rehab facility."

I raise an eyebrow at her. "Doesn't that break some sort of confidentiality code or something?"

She shakes her head. "The rehab facility I went to has two locations. One of them is the hospital you stay at when you begin your recovery. The second facility is where you go after for your appointments. The day after tomorrow, there's going to be an open house, just for patients and their families. It's voluntary, so unless you sign up you don't have to go. But I thought it might be nice for us to try out."

I look at her. "What would I have to do?"

She shrugs. "We'll go to a few little lectures, I guess. There's going to be a few guest speakers, specialists on addiction and a few old patients to tell success stories. There will be a few group sessions happening, but we don't have to join in unless you feel comfortable."

I sigh and look into my coffee cup to contemplate for a moment. This could be good, I finally decide. This could be just what we need.

"I'm in."

~O~

The day of, my mom and I both wake up pretty early to get ready. I put on the only skirt I bought, a knee length white and black stripped skirt with a light pink tank top. Renee wears a simple brown dress with small brown heels.

I stick with my flip-flops. Today was going to be long enough without the stress of heels.

The facility is really nice. When we walk in the front doors, the homey feel surprises me. I don't feel like I'm in a hospital. The colors are all light and neutral and everything feels strangely relaxed, which I guess is the point.

A tall man with a buzz cut walks over to my mom and gives her a hug.

"Renee," he says in greeting.

"Paul," she says with a smile. "I'd like you to meet my daughter, Bella."

He turns his bright smile to me and shakes my hand. "It's a pleasure, Bella. I've heard a lot about you."

"It's nice to meet you," I say back.

"Why don't you walk around and check out the facility, Bella," Paul says. "I just want to discuss a few things with your mom before hand."

I look at my mom and she nods at me with a smile, so I walk towards the other side of the room where there's a few groups of people milling about. There are a few tables set up. One is topped with different types of cookies and drinks. Another one has a few brochures and pictures of the place with patients milling about along with an itinerary for the days events. I start reading it over to scope out what Renee and I might do, when I feel a tap on my shoulder.

"Excuse me," a teenage girl says. "Are you Bella Swan?"

I raise an eyebrow at her, confused. "Uhm…yes. Can I help you?"

She beams at me and grabs my hand. "Oh my God, I can't believe it's you!" she squeals. "What's Edward like? I'm, like, so thankful that you got him back on track. Can you believe he's-"

"Michelle!"

She stops babbling and turns towards the man who yelled her name.

"I'm sorry about my daughter," he says. "She gets over excited."

I just nod as the girl groans at her father while he pulls her away. That was probably the weirdest experience of my life, and I feel super awkward. I slip away, back towards Renee who smiles when she sees me.

She takes the itinerary out of my hand and glances at it. "Why don't we check out the first lecture with the primary doctor here? Then we'll see what's going on after that."

"Sounds good," I say, my mind still on Michelle.

She knows who I am, and I know that's just the tip of the iceberg.

~O~

The first couple of lectures are informative. I learn a lot about what it's like to live with an addiction and, in the process, I learn a lot about my mother. For the first time, I can really sympathize with her. Even though I'll never understand why she turned to drugs in the first place, I'm beginning to see why she couldn't stay away from them.

Her main doctor, Dr. Graham, talked a lot about the actual mechanics of an addiction. He showed pictures of the brain and how different drugs stimulate it and talked about what causes the addiction to become so strong. The next doctor, Dr. Baker, spoke about his wife, who was an addict and, sadly, died from her addiction. He was able to talk about both the clinical and emotional side effects of the drugs, having witnessed it all first hand with someone he knew well.

After a brief session with Paul, where I offered very little and allowed everyone else to do the talking, Renee led me to a room I assumed was normally some sort of cafeteria for the workers, where several rows of folding chairs were lined up in front of a podium.

"What's this?" I ask as we take a seat in the back.

She smiles. "A success story seminar. They've lined up a few patients with success stories to show addicts that we can get back to a normal life."

I nod and look around, only to see Michelle staring at me. She smiles widely and waves and I give her a small smile and wave back.

After about five minutes, I get my phone out to send a few quick messages to Charlie, Jasper and Heidi, just to let them know everything is going well. When I look back up, the seats are all filled and there's a few people milling around towards the back. The microphone squeaks and everyone looks forward.

"Welcome," Dr. Graham says into the microphone. "And thank you all for joining us here today. All of you are here today because you want to get back to your life. You want to beat down the addiction and start living your life again instead of letting your addictions live it for you. We've asked a few guest speakers to come in today to show you that life after an addiction is possible. So let's welcome our guests. First, we have Lena Martin, a former patient who dealt with an alcohol addiction."

Lena stands up from the front row and waves as everyone applauds.

"Second, we have Jason Briggs, a well known sports journalist, who dealt with an addiction to pain killers."

He stands up and gives everyone a small smile as they applaud for him.

"Last, we are very honored to welcome the man who recently made headlines for fighting back against his addiction to cocaine. Let's give a warm welcome to Edward Cullen."

I sit up straight in my chair, eyes wide and heart racing, as Edward Cullen stands up.