( when the stars forget us! ) ↳chapter thirty-two ↲
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━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ❝ YOUBELONG WITH ME. WHEREVER THAT IS. ❞ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
TALIA SAT ON THE EDGE of her bed, still holding the camera like it was the only thing tethering her to the ground. The room around her blurred, her breath caught somewhere between her chest and her throat. She could still feel the sting of Bella's words ricocheting through her—"Get out."
Talia gripped the fabric of Embry's shirt against her ribs, her mind spiraling. Someone was already on their way to pick her up. Her duffel bag was already on the bed waiting to be packed. But her legs wouldn't move. Her heart was too full of noise.
She'd betrayed her. She'd lied—maybe not out of malice, but it didn't matter. She had been the one person Bella leaned on during the chaos of her breakup with Edward, her feelings for Jacob, and learning more about the supernatural. And Talia had been keeping the truth tucked in her back pocket like a grenade with the pin still in.
A soft knock broke the silence.
Then the door creaked open.
Bella stood there, a shell of her usual self—eyes rimmed red, her bottom lip trembling despite how tightly she pressed it together. She looked at Talia like she wasn't sure if she was allowed to be there. Like she'd ruined something and didn't know how to begin to piece it back together.
Talia looked up, and neither of them spoke for a long moment.
"I didn't mean it," Bella said finally, her voice hollow. "What I said. Throwing you out. I—I was angry and I wanted to hurt you back. And I did. I know I did."
Talia swallowed. "You did."
Bella flinched, but she nodded. "You were my safest place, Talia. You were the one thing I never had to question. And when I found out you'd been lying—" her voice broke, and she pressed a hand over her heart like she could stop it from splitting wider— "it felt like I lost you all at once."
"I didn't lie to hurt you," Talia whispered. "I lied because I was afraid if I told you everything, I'd lose you anyway."
Tears streamed silently down Bella's face as she crossed into the room, standing a few feet away like she didn't quite know if she was welcome. "I thought I knew how to deal with betrayal," she said quietly. "But nothing prepared me for it coming from you."
Talia looked at her then—really looked. Past the messy hair and the clenched fists. Past the hurt. And she saw it. The history between them. All the sleepovers where they whispered about their crushes. The nights they cried in each other's arms after fights with their families. The shared dreams. The silly dances. The silent knowing.
