A/N: Whew! Finally got a new chapter out! Sorry about the wait. I was kind of drawing up a blank on what to write for this chapter. I mean, I have the plot of the story clear but I wasn't too sure about writing out this chapter. Hopefully I can continue on with this without delay. Until then, Enjoy! Please read and review
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Twilight
Chapter 8: Apologies
It felt like an eternity for the Cullens but the next day came. Since Bella left, no one spoke up or did anything. They just sat in the lounge each one of them wrapped up in their own thoughts, everyone consumed with shock and guilt with the new information. No one knew what to do next.
When the sun came up, Carlisle decided to get up and go for work. That seemed to jolt the rest of the Cullens, except for Edward who was still in his room, and they got up and prepared for the day. Alice, Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper were ready for school while Esme was considering renovations for their house.
"Edward! Hurry up or we're going to be late for school!" Emmett yelled as the four of them waited downstairs for their brother who has yet to come out of his room.
"Don't bother, Emmett. I've seen it in my visions he's going to stay there the whole day, maybe even longer." Alice informed.
"His mood hasn't changed since our talk with Bella." Jasper noted.
"No." Rose said suddenly, to the confusion of the others. She walked upstairs, ignoring the calls from her husband and her siblings and marched straight to Edwards' room. She didn't even hesitate to kick open the door. "Get ready now, Edward. We're leaving for school."
"I'm not going, Rose. There's really no point." Edward said, not bothering to look at his sister. He was just lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling.
"No, Edward. You don't get to do this. You have been isolating yourself and moping around for forty-five years ever since we left Bella. You don't get to this anymore. You shouldn't be doing this at all! You were the one who decided this and you were the one who fought for this. Now you have to get up and face the repercussions of your decision. No more hiding. So either you get up and get ready by yourself or I will drag you by your ankles and take you straight to the car. I will get Emmett to help me if I have to." Rosalie threatened. "You have until the count of three. One, two…"
Giving out a sigh of defeat, Edward got up and went to the bathroom, slamming the door.
"And don't even think about running away! I will find you and drag you back here kicking and screaming!" Rosalie called, knowing her brother would hear her. She went downstairs to join the others. "As soon as Edward gets here, we'll leave."
"Why are you coming with us? You're suspended for a week." Alice said.
"I need to find Desiree and Lillian and apologize for yesterday." Rosalie answered.
"You know that it won't be easy to get them to listen to you, especially if you're apologizing to Lillian." Jasper pointed out.
"Even if they refuse to listen, at least I tried making amends instead of hiding, unlike some people." Rose said, clearly referring to Edward and knowing well that he would hear that.
Edward silently walked downstairs and went straight to his car without any eye contact with any of his family members.
No one said anything as Edward walked by. Went he got inside his car, Rosalie turned to the others. "Okay this has to stop today. After school and after Carlisle comes back, we need to have a family meeting. Seriously, enough is enough."
The others nodded in agreement and walked to their cars. It was a quiet drive to school. Alice was trying to see the future, but her visions were all blurry. She made a mental note to talk to Carlisle about it later on. Rosalie, Jasper and Emmett had their minds filled with questions about Bella, her children and about Amelia. Edward mindlessly stared out of the car window, ignoring everyone's thoughts.
Finally, they arrived at school. Alice, Jasper and Edward immediately went inside. Emmett gave Rosalie a kiss before joining the others. Rosalie scanned the crowd trying to find either Desiree or Lillian. When her sight landed on the two girls together with Allison and Anthony, she made a beeline for them.
It was Allison who spotted her first. She nudged the others and jerked her chin in Rosalie's direction. As soon as he saw her, Anthony wrapped his arm around Des, holding her close while Lillian huffed in annoyance.
"Isn't she supposed to be suspended?" She sneered.
"I guess it doesn't apply to vampires." Allison said
"Whatever, let's go before she starts another fight with us." Lillian said, before she started walking away.
"No arguments there." Anthony said, as he Allie and Des joined her.
Rosalie notice that they were walking away from her and quickened her pace to catch up with them. "Hey, wait!" The four of them just ignored her and kept walking. "Wait! I just want to apologize!"
That made Lilly, Ally, Des and AJ stopped and turned to her, looking at her with caution. Rosalie quickly caught up to them and got straight to the point. "I never should have attacked you, Desiree. I was out of line and it was wrong of me to do so. And Lillian I never should have fought you. I am serious when I say I'm sorry to both of you."
Lilly and Des were silent, unsure of how to respond to that. They definitely were not expecting that. From what Bella told them about Rosalie, they didn't think she was the type to apologize so willingly.
It was Des who spoke up, though a little bit unsure. "O-oh w-ell I guess apology accepted-"
AJ then cut in, glaring at Rosalie. "No apology not accepted! What makes you think you have a right to grab someone and threaten them? Just because they can't fight back? Do you realize that if Lilly didn't intervene, you could have seriously injured Des?!"
Rose flinched, both at the sharpness of his tone and at the truth behind his words. "I didn't think about that at the time." She answered truthfully, deciding that honesty was the best way to settle this. "All I could think about was that there was a human who knew about vampires and she could be a threat to my family's existence."
Allison scoffed. "More like the other way round. For your information, Des has known about us since freshmen year and she's been with AJ during the same time. If she wanted to expose our secret, she would have done it a long time ago."
"Des is a part of our family and has been for a long time now." Lillian said firmly. "Mess with her and you mess with us. And you guys are already on our bad side."
"Trust me, I can see that and I am truly sorry for yesterday, like I said. I hope you guys can forgive for that." Rosalie pleaded.
Lillian crossed her arms and continued to glare at her. Allie and AJ said nothing. Des looked at Lillian. "Come on, Lilly. She is making an effort to apologize."
Lillian sighed in annoyance. "Fine. If it means you'll leave us alone than I forgive you for yesterday." She made sure to make the last two words clear to Rosalie.
Rosalie nodded and was about to leave when Lillian stopped her. "Just tell me this. When Edward told you guys to leave our mom forty-five years ago, were you for or against the idea?"
Rosalie said nothing, not looking at any one of them in the eye. That was all Lilly needed. "Just as I thought." She said before she and the others walked away.
The Cullen girl watched as the other kids walked away. She then went to her own car just as the bell rang, mentally wondering who she blamed more for this; Edward or herself.
What none of them noticed was that Renesmee witnessed the whole exchange from a distance with a sad expression. It was clear that thanks to her enhanced hearing, she overheard everything. Looking towards the entrance of the school, she decided that skipping a day in school wasn't going to hurt her. She made her way to the forest, her cell phone already out and dialing Jacobs' number.
Not even an hour of school passed and Edward was suddenly out the doors and into his car, driving off. Alice, who knows exactly where he's going, sighs and looks out the window, hoping Edward made a good decision for once.