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"The University of Alaska?" I turned to my sister curiously. We were still sitting in the school gym. She and Edward were sitting on the bleachers filling out college applications and I watched them carefully as they did so. I was perched on Emmett's back as he did push-ups. My legs were crossed and my hands clung tightly to his shirt, as I tried not to fall. "I thought you were considering going to Florida?"
"That was before." She sent me a pointed look. I nodded and she looked to her boyfriend beside her. "Edward and I chose the same school, though he is trying to send me somewhere else."
"Where?" I turned to Edward.
"Dartmouth." He replied without looking up from his applications.
"That's a good school, I think you should consider it Bella." I shrugged and climbed off of Emmett's back as he stopped. "If you can get in. You missed so much school already I'm pretty sure your GPA dropped."
"Have you thought of where you're going to go?" Bella asked me.
"I have actually." My words surprised them.
"Where babe?" Emmett hugged me from behind.
"I've sent my applications early and I've gotten accepted to a couple of them." I shrugged. "I only applied to those that had an early acceptance program for freshmen."
"Have you picked one?"
"No, not yet." I shook my head. I lied. I had already chosen a school. One that was many, many, many miles away from Forks. I had already told Dad of my decision and he completely supported me. It was informing my other family and friends that I was afraid. New York University was across the country and I was sure that it wasn't a distance I was ready to put between myself and everyone.
"Well wherever you decide to go, I'll follow you." Emmett smiled at me. I beamed up at him and mentally sighed in relief. Emmett's support was one I valued most, and having him with me will make everything easier.
"Absolutely not," Edward spoke harshly all of a sudden. I turned my attention away from Emmett and eyed Edward curiously.
"It's one of Charlie's conditions." Bella tried to reason with him. "I have to."
"Bella, no. I will not let you be around one of them unprotected. I'm glad Charlie has given you another chance but going down to La Push is out of the question." Edward glared at my sister who just sat there watching him quietly.
"Edward, relax. I go to La Push all the time, Bella will be safe." I tried to reassure him.
"Clary it's fine." Bella sent me a pointed look. I shrugged and let my sister deal with her overprotective boyfriend. Emmett took my hand and dragged me across the gym until we stopped at the other bleachers. We sat down and I leaned up against his shoulder.
"Do you think he'll let her go?" I asked Emmett after a moment.
"If he had it his way, no. But because it's one of your Dad's rules, he will."
"I don't see why he's making such a big deal out of it. Jake and Bella hung out every day after he left. They were practically inseparable." I sighed. "Having him around kept her sane, although she jumped off of a cliff."
"How close were they?" Emmett brought me closer to him and I snuggled up to him.
"Very. Jake is Bella's best friend. She loves him but not like she loves Edward. Jake is special to her and she can't just forget him because somebody tells her to."
"Did they kiss or something?" Emmett eyed my sister curiously.
"Not that I know of, no." I shook my head. "Bella seemed to grasp her pain and never let go of it. She held onto it tightly, unlike me."
"I'll never forgive myself for leaving you and I never want to do it again, but answer me this. Were you happy with him?" He wouldn't look at me and without him saying a name, even though he didn't know it, I knew who he was talking about.
"Not as happy as I am with you," I answered truthfully. "I was happy with him once, but that was way before I met you. I'll admit, he distracted me from my pain but in the end, I still only wanted you."
"I don't like hearing you say what you just did, you know about being happy with someone else, but I am glad that you weren't as miserable as Bella." Emmett finally turned to me and smiled warmly. "I'm glad I came back."
"Me too." I smiled and kissed his cheek. "You know, while you were gone, I swore to myself that I wasn't going to let you back in so easily." He chuckled and shook his head. "I was going to make you beg for my forgiveness. I mean I sort of did make you do that but I didn't hold out for as long as I had planned to."
"What changed?" He was amused.
"Believe it or not, Aro helped me." His eyes widened with shock. "I know, I was surprised too but he did. He gave me some advice and I took it. When I saw you at the airport, I knew I couldn't go another day without you. So I ran to you and well, you know the rest."
"Remind me next time to thank Aro." He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tightly.
"Yeah, let's not let there be a next time." I laughed. "Seeing the vampire version of the Addams family once was enough for me."
"Deal." He laughed and kissed my forehead.
"Are we ever going to discuss why you went to them?" I asked him quietly. I felt him tense up before he answered.
"Not right now. Let's not ruin the moment." His voice was hard and I shivered involuntarily at his tone.
"Okay," I spoke softly. "But you have to know that no matter what happens, changing who you are is never the answer."
"I know." I felt him nod. "It was just hard. Being without you, knowing that I couldn't have you beside me."
"Well, you don't have to worry about that anymore. I don't plan on going anywhere." I kissed his chest through his shirt.
"Good because I don't plan on letting you." He brought me to his lap and smiled softly. "Forever."
"And always." I smiled and kissed him softly. Our lips had barely touched when Bella shouted at us.
"Get a room!" She squealed.
"Are you sure you want us to do that?" I teased her. She gagged and hid her face in Edward's chest. "Didn't think so!"
"She doesn't like it when we kiss, does she?" Emmett laughed.
"Hates it," I confirmed with a smirk.
"Well, then she's not going to like this." He smirked back and kissed me roughly.
"That's gross you guys!" That was all we heard but neither of us pulled away or bothered to care.
