I have missed this story. Way overdue for a reread.

I admit I had some issues in the middle, yet I still neded up liking this story a lot. Underneath the surface, there are a lot to think about, how people see themselves, the power of a biased view and urealistic expectations. How destructive one can be for themselves and people around them. Some were handled in a better way than the others, yet it's still greatthat the fic touched on so many elements of life. I would also like to congratulate you on presenting a theme such as this without going overboard, at the beginning. It could go wrong in many ways. In fact, I've seen it going wrong in other fics (with similar themes) and immediately dropped them. But you clearly had an idea where you wanted to take it (at least that's how it seems to me), so I never felt the need to drop it. I simply trusted the story to present a solution whenever I felt uncomfortable. And it didn't disappoint, despite the bumps in the road.

Thank you for the story.

For my own selfish reasons, I'm choosing not to think about a couple of chapters at all.

So, this was wonderful. Thank you.

Esme makes everything better.

Seriously. Not only she provided a much needed perspective on Edward, she also showed great insight in not only herself and her marriage, but also in Bella and how that whole drama made people feel.

Granted, I still don't like the drama, and a part of me will always roll its eyes whenever dRaMa rears its head in such fics, but it's good that someone is able to see things with a more realistic perspective, at least. I loved how you wrote Esme (and Carlisle).

Geez, Edward, get over yourself.

Also, the more I read about this, the more I think I would've liked a story about Calisle and Esme. They don't seem as ridiculous as our lead couple, at least.

I'm not gonna lie, the first part of their conversation after the kiss didn't really work for me. There were many reasons why their relationship failed the last time, but it wasn't because Bella didn't really love Edward. At least, I didn't get that impression. And Edward stating that, and Bella accepting it so readily, is kind of killing my hopes of seeing a more balanced Edward later on (and in the companion story). Is Edward really *that* perfect that his only failing in the breakup was his misguided hope to change Bella through love, that it would've been enough? And did he really mature so much, in relationship department, even though he showed signs of such maturity earlier in the story yet his later naive behavior kinda negated it?

I'm not saying Bella didn't fucked up. She did, big time. But the resolution didn't come as cohorent as the set up of their relationship at the beginning of the story, I think, and it threw me off a bit. And, I guess, I don't like it when it's so apparent that only one side is at fault.

Again, don't get me wrong, I don't really like Bella or what he did, but Edward isn't really much better either, even though the narrative suggests he *is*.

I hope I didn't sound too negative, but that is honestly how I feel at the moment. I thought the first half of this story was brilliant. Hints about Bella's past, her image of herself and how he viewed Edward were nicely placed, without overplaying it at all. And Edward didn't come across as perfect as the later chapters suggested. (If anything, a part of me thinks he was more mature at the beginning.) It's almost like Bella could finally realize how perfect Edward really was now that her image of herself wasn't warped. Which is a valid take, and works for many readers I'm sure, but I don't like such imbalance between characters in fiction.

In any case, thanks for the story.

I would've expected Bella to note that he kind of validated her expectations of what he would be missing out if they were together, but still.

I'm also having a bit of a trouble between connecting the "too mature for his age" Edward and the person who would show his penis to a group of people. I know "maturity" isn't exactly an indicator of manners, at least not in this context, but still.

It might sound strange, but I'm kind of annoyed by Bella and Edward both, on how they handled things during the breakup. At least with what we know so far. And even stranger is that I wouldn't be annoyed at all if they weren't slowly getting back together. It would've been natural behavior for two separated people. But now there are so many drama-inducing things between them, practivally for no reason at all.

I don't know if that makes sense, but that's what popped into my mind after finishing the chapter. (In case it wasn't noticed... I kind of write whatever is on my mind rather than trying to come up with an actual assessment of all the chapters before when I write reviews. Apologies if offended.)

I really, really like this chapter. I don't know why.

Don't really have anything I would like to say either, other than a great job.

Bella went to "getting Edward back" mindplace too quickly, I think.

Maybe it's partly because some weeks went past only in words and we didn't got to see the progress actually in motion, were just told about it.

I also realized that I'm starting to dislike Bella. Not because what is going on with Edward, but because of her relationships with everyone else. I have to admit, I don't really care for this "for his own good" breakup or Bella's rather confusing emotions regarding Edward at the moment, because they change too quickly and it's hard to make sense or feel understanding. But, her reactions to others bother me a bit.

I'm still aware that she's in therapy and she's working on herself, and is making progress. I guess I was misled by the earlier chapters and didn't expect Bella to go out of control like this. Goes to show I shouldn't assume things.

I don't really care for the Angela subplot either, and I hope it doesn't lead to more unnecessary drama, but I'm curious how Edward thinks about the current events. Which, I assume, I will read in the other story.

Boy, that escalated quickly.

I mean, I expected something like that to happen, but I guess not quite like that.

I wish the medium in which we see Bella distancing herself from Edward in her misguided need to give Edward everything he deserves and her low opinion of herself wasn't through not being at the campus.

I'm not sure why it stands out to me so much. I mean, I know Bella has issues and Edward wasn't exactly wrong to call her out, but the breaking point of the argument didn't seem like a valid thing, if that makes sense? If they were two emotionally mature people, they would have realized it was not okay to force people into positions they weren't comfortable. Which, I guess, is the point.

Will be interesting to see how it is resolved.

I wonder if this chapter if a foreshadowing about some future problems regarding Edward and Bella. Obviously, nothing they wouldn't work on fixing and get ğast eventually, but still. It just seemed that Edward was being too pushy about Bella's discomfort at being on the campus, which is really normal for many people even without emotional issues. I assume it was a narrative way to introduce a subplot involving Bella and her new therapist, but it came across Bella accepting Edward's words at face value too quickly because she has a low opinion of herself. Which could be true, of course, but I would hope that they would both grow as individuals and we would get to see Edward face his possible failures, rather than hearing about his concerns about him changing.

I know this is all Bella's POV and there's a companion fic in Edward's POV, which I'm going to read next by the way. But I think I just fear this Edward will turn out to be just *that* perfect like in so many other stories, and we will only get to see Bella in such a negative outlook.

I know things took a bit of a negative turn towards the end there, but it's not because I'm not enjoying the story. Far from it, actually. It was not what I expected when I started this, in a good way. The story managed to give a great perspective on characters and it's been mostly realistic, so I might have been a little afraid that the spell will be broken later, based n the other experiences I had with other stories. And now I realize it's a little like Bella's problem here, and maybe that's why it stood out to me so much that I felt I needed to comment now, instead of after finishing the story.

In any case, I also wats to say this story manages to hold up great even after so many years. The same can't be said for many. I love what I've read so far, and can't wait to finish the journey later on. It's 9 years late, maybe, but thanks for writing it.

So good

Wow. Out of all the stories I've ever read this is only the second story I've found that makes me dislike Alice. Maybe it will change in later chapter's but she just sounded truly ignorant and judgemental! She has no "relationship experience" outside of Jasper and to judge Rose & Emmett, her "friends" was disgusting. I know it won't happen but right now I wish Jasper would leave her at the alter. lol

I liked all the story, I postponed the reading because the subject is taboo for me because the age really is very important to me. Don't get me wrong I understand that Edward was different from others boys but I think is weird choose a boy but the story change a little my perceptions, not all of them. I hated Bella's behavior.
Thanks for your time
Regards
LQUEZ

What an amazing story, sad it’s over but it was beautifully done. Thank you for sharing.