Like a Skyscraper

The next day Kaelyn actually went to school. She’s already missed enough classes and didn’t want to not be able to graduate just because she had too many absences. Jasper was in her first period, but she ignored him as best as she could and took her seat so she could begin her classwork.

There were only a few weeks left before graduation so the teachers were handing out busy work to keep things moving along, but it only made the school day that much more boring. But it helped Kaelyn keep her mind off more depressing thoughts. One month.

The bell rang and pulled Kaelyn from her thoughts. She moved along through the halls not really talking to anyone or paying much attention. She just wanted to go through the motions of school and get back home or go see Paul. It was lunch before she knew it, but she didn’t plan on sitting with the Cullens or Hales like she had before.

Kaelyn grabbed her lunch and headed outside like she’s been doing since Emmett told her everything was a mistake. She sat at the base of one of the trees in the courtyard and closed her eyes.

“Hey,” A voice startled her, but she quickly recovered.

“Emmett.”

“Can I uh sit and talk to you for a minute?” Kaelyn merely nodded because her voice decided it didn’t know how to work at that moment. Emmett settled down next to her and sighed.

“Will Rosalie be upset with you talking to me?” Kaelyn asked softly. Emmett tried to hold back a snort and shook his head.

“Rosalie can suck it up. She doesn’t control my life,” Emmett grumbled.

“Sure seems like it,” Kaelyn said under her breath not thinking Emmett would hear, but his sensitive ears picked up every word. He frowned but didn’t comment that he heard her. He was finally taking Esme’s advice and was going to say goodbye to Kaelyn. He didn’t want to risk her safety by being with her, and this has gone on long enough.

“Kaelyn, I’m sorry for everything that I’ve done to you… I didn’t mean to hurt you the way that I did.”

“Emmett—“

“No, let me finish. I didn’t lead you on only to get you into bed with me. I do have feelings for you, but things are so complicated now. I never thought I would be in this kind of situation, but I am, and I’ve dragged you into it with me. And I’m sorry for how Rosalie has treated you. She took her anger for me out on you, and you didn’t deserve any of that,” Emmett apologized.

Kaelyn stared at him, not in anger like before, but in acceptance. She was slowly coming to terms with many things in her life and forgiving Emmett was something she wanted to do before it was too late.

“I forgive you Emmett.”

“You probably hate me—What?” He asked confused.

“I forgive you. You and I both made mistakes, but that’s in the past. It’s time to move on and things ended for the best. You and Rosalie need to rebuild your relationship, and I’ll be moving away after graduation. It’s all for the best.”

“You’re moving?” Emmett couldn’t keep the disappointment out of his voice. He hadn’t expected her to move, but then again he couldn’t blame her. He put her through shit.

“I’ll be going to college back in Florida so it’ll be goodbye soon. That’s why it’s good that nothing serious happened between us,” Kaelyn tried to keep her voice steady. It hurt her heart to lie to him. Even though Emmett broke her heart, she still had feelings for him. She’s moving past him, but they will always be there. She had been so close to falling for him. The feelings she felt back in Strawberry Bay popped back up in her mind, but she shut them away again.

“I guess you’re right… thank you for forgiving me,” Emmett whispered before standing up and heading back inside to rejoin his family. Kaelyn’s eyes stung with unshed tears, but she managed to hold them back and finish her lunch.

The rest of the day passed by quickly and the two didn’t even look at each other in art class. Now that Kaelyn was sitting elsewhere, it was easier for her to not pay attention to the man who she was trying to forget about. Little did she know Emmett was trying as well not to stare at her.

~*~

“Edward, I need to talk to you,” Emmett said as he walked next to his brother. Edward nodded and led him over to his Volvo.

“What is it?” Edward asked, but he had already seen glimpses of Kaelyn in Emmett’s thoughts and the conversation they had during lunch.

“So she forgave you? Is that the end of things? It’s over now?” Edward asked, his arms crossed over his chest. Emmett ran a hand through his hair and shook his head.

“I thought it would make me feel better, but it didn’t. I meant to give her back her dad’s dog tags, but I chickened out and kept them. She told me she was leaving to move back to Florida, and I didn’t want to lose what little I have left of her,” Emmett grumbled, feeling like a creepy stalker. Edward grimaced, knowing she wasn’t actually going back to Florida. She would be dying within the next month and was coming up with ways to say goodbye to people forever without them asking any questions.

“Emmett, maybe you shouldn’t say goodbye. I think you deserve to be happy. With Kaelyn. Don’t let what Rosalie says stop you from doing what will make you happy. I could see how different you were with Kaelyn. You don’t get that more than once in a lifetime,” Edward tried to convince him to go back to Kaelyn without revealing her well kept secret.

“I can’t hurt her anymore, Edward. What if Rosalie goes behind our backs and hurts her? I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if that happened. I just needed to tell someone and get this off my chest, but it won’t change anything. Kaelyn and I are through and she’s leaving,” Emmett said, but the hurt in his voice told Edward it wasn’t going to get any easier for him.

~*~

“Do you need me to get you anything? Are you thirsty? Hungry?” Paul asked once Kaelyn was sitting in his kitchen. Kaelyn laughed and shook her head.

“Paul, I’m not that fragile. Just treat me normally, okay?” She said, trying to make him relax. He was currently hovering over her like an overprotective mother hen. She had wanted to talk to him ever since her encounter with Emmett that afternoon.

“I know, but it’s just hard… Enough with that. You told me you wanted to talk about something that happened today at school. What is it?” Paul asked as he joined her at the kitchen table with two water bottles.

“Emmett and I talked.” Paul raised his eyebrows but didn’t stop her from continuing.

“He apologized for everything and said I never deserved any of it. I forgave him and we basically said goodbye to each other. He thinks I’m going to Florida and that’s the end of that,” Kaelyn explained.

“And you’re okay with that? With him thinking you’re moving away. I don’t like the guy because of what he did to you, but I know that you had feelings for him at one point,” Paul said, trying not to insult the guy who slept with his best friend.

“It’s better this way. He needs to fix his relationship with Rosalie, and I don’t need any extra drama right now. I’m slowly accepting everything, and I don’t want to get upset over something that can’t be changed,” She replied and moved into the living room. Paul sat beside her on the couch and grabbed the remote.

“I know something that will cheer you up,” He grinned and went to his DVR.

“Oh yeah? What’s that?” Kaelyn asked with a grin spreading across her face.

“I recorded a few older Batman movies. The one with Mr. Freeze—“

“Really?! What are you waiting for? Hit play!” Kaelyn exclaimed. She loved anything Batman, and Paul learned this pretty early on. He obeyed the smaller blonde and hit play so they could watch the movie together.