( when the stars forget us! ) ↳chapter thirty-five ↲
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━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ❝ YOU WILLBEG ME FOR WHAT I OFFER. ❞ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
THE AIR IN ITALY felt different. The moment Talia stepped off the plane, the cobblestone streets and distant church bells could've felt like some dream vacation postcard—but instead, it felt like she'd walked into someone else's nightmare. She trailed close behind Bella and Alice through the crowded airport, her stomach knotted so tightly she thought she might be sick.
She hadn't said much since they landed. Couldn't. Every word caught on the lump in her throat, every step pulled her farther from La Push, from Embry, from the memory of him standing in the doorway begging her not to go. She tried not to think about it, but guilt clung to her ribs like barbed wire.
What the hell am I doing here?
What if I don't make it back?
"Stay here," Alice said briskly, striding ahead and vanishing through the airport doors with that unshakable, almost inhuman confidence.
Bella and Talia followed until they spilled out onto the curb, the warm Tuscan air wrapping around them like a suffocating blanket. Alice disappeared into the crowd, leaving them alone in the chaos of cars, honking horns, and shouting drivers.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Bella finally broke the silence, her voice tentative. "Embry's probably very worried, isn't he?"
Talia's throat tightened. Images flashed—Embry's hands gripping her arms, his voice raw as he begged her not to go, the way his whole body shook trying to hold her there. She blinked fast, but it didn't stop the sting in her eyes.
"Devastated. And I didn't even..." Her voice wavered, softer now. "I didn't even say goodbye to anyone. Not him. Not my mom. Not—" She cut herself off, pressing her lips together before the panic spilled out.
Bella's guilt was written all over her face. "Talia—again, thank you. For coming. I don't know if I could've done this without you."
But Talia shook her head sharply, her chest rising and falling too fast. "Stop thanking me. Embry's gonna hate me when I come back. If I come back."
The words hit like a stone in her own stomach the moment she said them. She meant them.
Neither girl knew what to say after that.
Then a sharp squeal of tires broke the silence. A flash of yellow streaked into view as Alice pulled up to the curb in a sports car, sleek and gleaming like it had just been plucked out of a showroom. She rolled the window down with a look that dared anyone to stop her.
