Chapter 26

Hello all, 

Again, a million apologies for the delay in this chapter. But holy hell, what a month.

Thanks to everyone who has stood by me and left me reviews along the way. Your words mean more than you know. As always, mega thanks to luckiestar1012 and Snowball Sniper for the pre-reads and edits. 

This chapter needed a lot of work, and I'm still not happy with it, but I couldn't keep you guys waiting any longer. 


So, here it is. CH 26 and the outfits

Chapter 26 text

Wednesday July 28

What a day.

I woke up alone, Edward had to pull another 28 hour shift, and my class had been tedious. It was exceedingly hot in the classroom and the kids were stressed out with their final. On top of that, I couldn’t get Edward’s story about Tanya out of my head.

Even though it was hard to hear how he was in love with someone else, who he still incidentally saw, and hear how he still partly blamed himself for Kate’s death and Tanya’s attempted suicide, it was good to know that he was fallible. He opened up to me; let me see the raw Edward, faults and all. And, in a way, him telling me how he didn’t feel good enough for Tanya made me realize that he understood how I was feeling. When he said he loved me, he understood that it was hard for me to hear, but he knew that I needed to hear it anyway, because I was good enough for him, faults and all.

But ever since I got home from work, I had been warring with myself. I sat on the side of the bed, clutching Edward’s letter in my left hand and my phone in my right. I dropped the phone beside me and re-read the letter that was left on his pillow this morning.

Good morning, love,

I hate leaving you when you’re asleep, but I can’t bare to wake you up when you look so peaceful.  I don’t think I’ll ever get used to leaving you in the morning.

I’ll be home from work tomorrow around noon.

Thanks for listening to me yesterday.

I love you.

~E

I closed my eyes and let his words give me strength. Home. He said he’d be home after work. He thinks of my house as home. That simple thought gave me the strength I needed to pick the phone up again. I dialed the number without another thought and waited as the ringing began.

“Hello?”

The sound of this voice sent a shot of anger and trepidation through me. It I hadn’t spoken to Charlie in almost two weeks and I still wasn’t sure if I wanted to talk to him. After our last phone call, I didn’t know how long it would be before I’d be able to talk to Charlie him again. But after Edward’s story of Tanya, I realized that I shouldn’t hold stuff in anymore. If I had something to say, I should say it. And I most definitely had some things I needed to say to Charlie.

“Hi, Charlie.”

“Hi, Bells. What’s new?” I could hear the indifference in his voice, as well as the baseball game in the background, and it only reminded me further of the last conversation we had. “Well, come on Bella. SuperDoc sounds too good to be true. And let’s be honest, you don’t really have that much experience dating and haven’t really been attracting the attention of the opposite sex for quite a while. It’s just hard to believe that this amazing man would just pop into your life like that…”

Just the thought of what he had said that day made me want to scream at him, yell at him and tell him how much our last conversation had hurt me. But I decided to be more diplomatic and just be calm, but honest.

“Well, I wanted to talk to you about our last conver-“

“Oh, Bells! Do I have news for you!” Charlie interrupted me, as if I hadn’t been talking at all. “I was talking to Billy a couple of days ago and he told me that Jake’s getting married! Apparently, on Saturday night, he took Vanessa to First Beach and proposed at sunset.”

“Dad!” I interrupted as he continued to gush about Jacob. I tried to ignore the topic so that I could get what was on my mind out but I knew that as soon as I would be off the phone, it would come back and kick me in the butt.

Charlie stopped his diatribe and was silent on the other end.

“Dad, I need to tell you something.” I paused to take a much needed breath in order to try and calm my nerves before I continued. “What you said to me last time we talked really upset me.”

“Sorry, Bells, but I don’t know what you’re talking about. What did we talk about on Sunday?”

I couldn’t believe it. He didn’t even realize it had been over a week since we talked. He honestly thought that we had talked three days ago. If I ever needed a reminder of how unimportant I was to my own father, there it was.

“Charlie, we didn’t talk on Sunday. We haven’t spoke in a week and a half. Didn’t you wonder why I didn’t call you last week?”

“Sorry, Bells. I guess I didn’t notice with all the wedding news and all. Jake is so excited. He and Vanessa want to get married before the summer’s over. Billy asked if I could help because Vanessa’s family is from Chicago and her parents can’t come down to help plan everything. I think they’re wanting to get married this soon because there might be a little Jacob on the way…” I could hear the smile in Charlie’s voice as he carried on, sounding like a proud father.

“Listen, Charlie.” I interrupted him, forcing myself to tell him why I called before I once again hung up on him. It looked like this was going to be the final straw.  I would have to stop checking in every week if this is what the conversations were going to be like.

“I called to tell you how upset our last conversation made me and ironically, this conversation isn’t going any better. I just wanted to tell you that although you might not believe that I found someone and that I’m happy…” I had to pause because it was the first time in a long time that I actually was happy. “Edward and I are happy together, Dad. I’m sorry that you have no faith in me and don’t believe that someone would want to be with me, but I love him and he loves me.”

I was getting angrier and more flustered. I had never stood up to Charlie before and I was speaking without thinking. I was getting off topic. I had to end this call before I said someone I couldn’t take back.

“I just wanted to call and tell you that I was really hurt that you dismissed me with everything that I had told you, and choose to gush over Jake instead. And if today’s call is any indication of further conversations, then this will be my last weekly call to you. Tell Jake congratulations. It’s too bad you’re not as happy for your own child, as you are of someone else’s.”

And with that, I hung up the phone and threw it on my bed. I was fighting back tears, but refused to let them fall. I had finally stood up to my father and it felt like a weight had been lifted off my chest.

But, as with everything, with good came the bad. Jacob was engaged. The man who told me that I was the only person he could see himself spending the rest of his life with, was getting married to a girl he’d known for only three months.

My heart was breaking and although I loved Edward, a part of me still clung to Jake. I didn’t know if it was because I was never good enough for him and was still seeking his approval, or if it was because you never forget you first love. Whatever the reason, I couldn’t stop the tears from welling up in my eyes. I could, however, stop them from ruining my day.

Instead of letting myself get emotional and sad over Jake’s engagement, I got angry. I was angry with myself for allowing him to still have this hold over me. We weren’t even talking or living in the same town, but somehow, he still managed to affect me.

Without further thought, I picked my phone back up and made my way downstairs. I grabbed my flip-flops, my purse and keys and left the house. I got in my truck and just started to drive.

I ended up at Alice’s house, gathered her mail, and let myself in. This time, the presents around the house didn’t make me sad, they infuriated me. I watered her plants and left before I took my anger out on her gifts. I was so livid that I had no control over my own emotions. And it was in that moment that I realized that I was looking forward to Friday, my first appointment with James. Hopefully, with his help, I would regain control over myself.

I left Alice’s place and continued to drive aimlessly, finally ending up at an unknown destination.

I put my truck in park, kicked off my sandals and walked along the grass at Madison Beach. It was where Edward had taken me the day after the initial dreaded conversation with Charlie. I sat on the grass, regretting not changing out of my white pants after work, and just stared out onto the water.

Jacob was getting married.

The thought kept running through my head until, ultimately, a single tear trickled down my cheek. It was the only tear I let myself cry for my old self. I wasn’t with Jacob anymore, he didn’t love me. I was with Edward, and he did love me. I need to focus on that. I was happy, although I was still broken. I needed to focus on that. Jacob was the one who broke me while Edward was the one trying to put me back together. I owed it to Edward to forget about Jake and move on, to love him with me whole heart. It wasn’t fair to him to be broken up over my ex’s engagement. I needed to move forward and leave Jake behind.

I sat at the beach for about an hour before my phone rang, bringing me out of my thoughts.

“Hello?” I answered without even looking at the caller ID.

“Hello, love.” I could hear the smile in Edward’s voice and it immediately brought a smile to my face for the first time that day. “How’s your day going?”

 “Things are okay. I called Charlie today to tell him how upset I was about out last conversation. Needless to say, he didn’t even remember the last time I called or what we talked about. I realized that talking to Charlie is just making me upset and frustrated, so I don’t think I’ll be calling him anymore.” I felt horrible about it but I had to lie to Edward. I didn’t tell him about the whole Jake situation and the truth about why I was so angry with Charlie.

“Bella, I’m sorry. I know that you don’t talk to your mom and Charlie is the only real family you have. But I’m proud of you. It must have taken a lot of guts to call Charlie and stand up to him.”

“Ya, it felt good to stand up to him, but at the same time, if I hadn’t said anything, I might still have a relationship with my father.”

“Bella, you still have a relationship with your father. Just because it’s a shitty relationship, doesn’t mean he’s not still your dad.”

“I know.” I realized that Edward’s words were true, that although I didn’t want to talk to Charlie anymore, didn’t mean that he wasn’t still my father. “But enough about me, how’s your day going?”

There was a pause before Edward tentatively spoke.

“My day’s been really good actually, but I don’t want to rub my happiness in your face. We can talk about it later.”

“Edward, please. I’ll take your good news over my sullied phone call. What made it so good?”

“Well…” I could hear the smile return to Edward’s voice before he continued. “I didn’t want to tell you just in case it didn’t pull through, but Marcus called me into his office today. We had been talking a bit when I got back from the conference about my position at the hospital. He was impressed by what I learned at the conference and my work in the therapy department and he tentatively offered me a full time position. We were waiting to hear from Aro, who’s the Chief of Staff, to give his okay and we got the word today. As of Monday, I’ll be full time in the musical therapy department. That means no more jumping back and forth when each unit needed me, no more dealing with life and death in the ER, no more working ungodly shifts, and no more leaving you in the middle of the night to go to work.  As of Monday, I’m an 8-6, Monday to Friday guy.”

The joy and excitement in Edward’s voice literally brought me to my feet. I was so excited that I’d have my Edward full time that I got in my truck and headed to the hospital, still on the phone and still without shoes on.

“Edward.” I breathed out on a sigh of relief. “I’m so happy for you. This is huge.”

“I know.” Edward let out a small laugh. I had never heard him so giddy. He sounded like a kid who found out he’s going to Disneyworld. “We have to celebrate.”

“Well,” I hedged, “are you on a break?”

“There’s no real breaks in the ER, love. But yes, I guess. It’s been slow today so they pulled me into the meeting with Aro and Marcus and I’m just having a short lunch before I head back to check on some of the patients. Why?”

“Because I’m on my way to the hospital as we speak.”

Edward and I were all smiles as we planned on where to meet. He stayed on the phone with me until I was at the hospital, directing me through the halls until I got to the ER unit where he was waiting for me at the nurses station. Once we saw each other, we ended the call to each other and literally ran into each other’s arms.

“I’m so proud of you.” I whispered into his neck and Edward’s arms encircled me tightly to his chest. He pulled back and planted a deep and meaningful kiss on my lips, right in the middle of the hallway, in front of the doctors, nurses and patients.

Although today had been filled with sadness, anger and pain, it was the first day in years where I could openly say that I was happy. And it was all thanks to Edward.

CH 26 teaser

Hello all, 

I can't believe people are still reading this story. I am sooo sorry for the constant delays in updating. It looks like I'm posting about once a month and I HATE that. I just don't have the time or the brain power to post sooner. So sorry. As an apology, here's 2 teasers for the next chapter. 

~~~

Ever since I got home from work, I had been warring with myself. I sat on the side of the bed, clutching Edward’s letter in my left hand and my phone in my right. I dropped the phone beside me and re-read the letter that was left on his pillow this morning.

Good morning, Love,

I hate leaving you when you’re asleep, but I can’t bare to wake you up when you look so peaceful.  I don’t think I’ll ever get used to leaving you in the morning.

I’ll be home from work tomorrow around noon.

Thanks for listening to me yesterday.

I love you.

~E

I closed my eyes and let his words give me strength. Home. He said he’d be home after work. He thinks of my house as home. That simple thought gave me the strength I needed to pick the phone back up. I dialed the number without any thought and waiting as the ringing began.

“Hello?”

~~~

I put my truck in park, kicked off my sandals and walked along the grass at Madison Beach. It was where Edward had taken me the day after the initial dreaded conversation with Charlie. I sat on the grass, regretting not changing out of my white pants after work, and just stared out onto the water.

Jacob was getting married.