The Differences Between Fantasy and Reality Sneak Peek

A teaser of Chapter 24 - Impasse:

Over a month had passed since I'd been shot. A month where Edward coddled me from a safe distance. He was always there whenever I needed anything and he'd won over my dad in a way that I'd never thought I'd see. For that first week after we got home, Edward was always there with my pain meds when I needed it, with my food, and more.

He'd always be waiting outside of whatever class I was taking when it was done and would walk me to the next class. He also continuously tried to help me with my homework. He was doting and concerned and treated me like glass.

In essence, Edward was the perfect boyfriend. But I didn't want perfect – I wanted normal. I wanted equality. I wanted to believe that he actually loved me, not just the idea of me... but as every day passed, it got harder and harder for me to believe it.

When winter break arrived, Charlie and I were supposed to go to the reservation for Christmas and spend the day with the Blacks, but then Carlisle and Esme invited us to their place for Christmas and we ended up going there instead – the first time we'd spent Christmas with someone other than the Blacks.

The day with the Cullens was fun. I watched as the Cullens each opened numerous gifts and found it amusing as they had to eat the meal they had prepared to keep Charlie from getting suspicious. They ended up giving Charlie and me a gift of a week long fishing trip to Whitefish Bay Camp in Ontario for the coming summer.

It was a trip that my dad had been wanting to go on for years but it had never been something we could budget out and I was almost a hundred percent certain Edward must have picked it out of my dad's head. I was gracious about the gift – happy on a personal level even – but it was hard for me to swallow as I knew exactly how much that trip cost.

It made the angel ornament I'd given to Esme, the leather bound notebook I'd give to Jasper, the vintage baseball I'd given to Emmett, the vinyl record of Debussy for Edward, the print of a picture of a Chicago hospital back in 1918 that I'd spent hours scouring the web for so another piece of their family history could be recorded on Carlisle's wall of pictures, the delicate crystal rose I'd gotten for Rosalie, and even the free flowing blue pure silk shirt in Alice's exact size all pale in comparison. My gifts had been from the heart, but they looked like foolish jokes in comparison to the fishing trip costing in the five digits.

By the time I went home that night, I felt so low that I closed and locked the window with the lock I'd had my dad install a few week prior. I knew it wouldn't really stop Edward if he wanted in my room, but I had hoped he would respect my need for privacy. I cried myself to sleep that night.

When I woke up the next morning, the window was no longer locked and Edward's scent in my room was stronger than ever.