A/N: This fanfic takes place after Edward has broken up with Bella in New Moon and shows where Edward ended up going. It's my first Twilight fanfic so any comments you guys have would be awesome! Thanks for reading and I hope that you enjoy :0)

Hunger

I had never understood love, and in my current situation, I couldn't grasp how someone would want to go through all of this. Love had too many emotions attached to it: anger, lust, joy, sorrow, anxiousness, and tenderness…heartbreak. Of course, I'd have to have a heart in order to have it broken, right?

I have a heart, just not a beating one. My heart hasn't beat in over eighty years. Four weeks ago, if I had had a heart, it would have made that day so much harder. It was bad enough to have to lie, but worst of all, having to stand there and watch her hurt…

Bella Swan is the most amazing person I have ever met. Within the ivory confines of her fragile body is the most strength and selflessness I had ever seen in a person; living or undead. The way she had been able to look at me, to be near to me and to touch me without fear was truly amazing. I loved her deeply, and I still do, but our separation was necessary.

Bella is human. I am not. It was a relationship that bloomed almost as fast as it had died. Our differences were too great for our relationship to be everlasting. I knew it and she was aware of it, but hell bent on fighting for us to survive.

Our love didn't consist of the kind of problems that normal relationships have. Like arguing over stupid things; material things. Our relationship wasn't normal. Instead, our love was dangerous. Yet -selfishly- I let it all happen. Why? Because, I loved her and wanted to be with her. I knew how fragile she was, but the attraction between us was so strong that I wasn't about to just let her go. So I took it upon myself to just deal with the dangers when they arrived. I could be her protector. It would work out.

That all changed with James.

The thought of that monster (he is NOTHING like me despite the fact of what we are) makes me sick with anger just thinking about it. The way he had looked at her in the clearing when he first arrived; the way he had flung her about like a rag doll in the ballet studio; and the fact that he bit her…

Seeing her lying there, blood oozing out of her body painting the light wooden floor crimson… I knew at that moment that I wouldn't be able to protect her. I couldn't.

When I was human, I had been courageous, fearless almost. My mother had always warned me about being overly confident.

"There's a fine line," my mother had told me, "between confidence and arrogance." I knew my mother was only trying to watch out for me, especially because she was worried about me.

I had enlisted to the military; I was only seventeen years old. But I was ready to fight for my country. To protect what I loved and to fight for what was right. I wonder how my mother would feel about what I've done now.

Looking across the vast plain before me, just as the sun was beginning to rise above the dark shadows of mountains, I realized that I hadn't moved from where I was sitting, beneath the shelter of a large tree. In fact, this was the third sunrise I had seen from this spot. All I remember –vaguely- is that I have been traveling for days on end. I knew where I was heading, but I just needed to rest.

Suddenly, everything was quiet. The silence was deafening. The birds that had been chirping to welcome the new dawn were now hushed. Even the cicada no longer buzzed. In normal circumstances, I would have leapt up at full attention. I couldn't even move my body, everything was just too heavy.

I blinked a few times; the sunlight was now shining directly in my eyes. I saw spots of color, red and green and purple, as I tried to focus my eyes on the dark silhouette that was now before me. Before I could speak, a warm hand touched my cheek, causing my skin to burn slightly, and I heard a voice mumble something. My eyelids began to flutter and suddenly, everything went black.

The aroma was so appealing that I could feel the venom in my mouth begin to secrete slowly, dropping onto my tongue and causing it to contract wildly with hunger. The fire in my throat was intense and every part of my body was aching with hunger. I growled menacingly as I snapped my eyes open and lunged toward my prey. I caught hold of my prey in my hands, using my sudden strength to incapacitate it.

"NO!" my prey screamed.

I felt a hard crush against my chest and then the back of my head cracked against a hard, jagged surface with a loud thud. I blinked, colors were swirling about me and the earth was spinning way too fast. I hadn't felt this dizzy in years. I tried to get up but was forced back down to the ground by some bizarre feeling, pushing hard on my shoulders. I rubbed the back of my head and my vision began to sharpen. I blinked once more and this time, my jaw dropped and a hot wave of guilt ran through me.

I cursed loudly and lowered my gaze in embarrassment. When I looked back at the young woman standing twenty feet away from me, I noticed she still had her left hand up, palm facing me. Her violet eyes were focused on me in annoyance. Not anger, annoyance.

"Chloe," I began slowly. How could I not have recognized her? The honey colored skin, the raven colored hair…her scent. I tried to get up again but the pressure on my shoulders forced me back down. "You want to cut that out now?" I said fighting against the pressure in vain.

Chloe raised a perfectly arched eyebrow. "So you do remember me?"

"How could I not?" I said, my voice still tight with embarrassment.

"Beats me," she answered casually. "You just tried to bite me."

A fresh wave of guilt ran through me and my eyes fixed onto a crescent moon shaped scar she had on her right shoulder. This would've been the second time…under different circumstances though.

"I'm sorry," I said looking her in the eyes.

She stared at me for a moment. The violet slowly faded from her eyes and her normal hazel color returned to them. She dropped her hand slowly and the pressure faded, sort of.

"Chloe, I'm not going to –"

"I'm just being cautious," she said as she opened a black backpack with her right hand and pulled out a blue thermos. "I wouldn't want you trying to feast on me again."

"I wouldn't do that."

"Of course you wouldn't; you wouldn't have a chance to." She tossed the thermos at me and the pressure fell away.

I opened the thermos and the scent was so delicious to me that I quickly gulped down the mountain lion blood. As I drank, I realized that she meant it. She would kill me if she had to. Chloe was a fighter and her survival instincts hadn't lost her a fight yet.

She watched as I drank from the thermos, her eyes excited but at the same time she shook her head at me.

"What?" I asked as I stood up and wiped my mouth with the back of my sleeve.

"One, you look like hell," she began, "and two, I have never seen your eyes that dark before. You really shouldn't skip meals, Edward."

I smiled at her. The blood was exactly what my body needed. Immediately I felt strength return to every fiber of my body and I felt relaxed as well as satisfied. It had been a week since I last hunted. I had been traveling so hard that finally the hunger just came at me all at once.

"Thanks," I said graciously. All of a sudden I fell back against the soft grass as her weight collided with me. I couldn't help but laugh slightly. "Chloe!"

She laughed melodically. "Sorry, I guess I'm just excited to see you." She smiled down at me, her nose almost touching mine.

"Are you going to let me up or are we camping out tonight?"

She smiled sheepishly. "Oh, right," she said as she got off of me and stood up, extending her hand to help me up.

"So how did you know where to find me?" I asked as I dusted myself off.

She rolled her eyes at me as if I had asked her an obvious question. In truth though, it was a stupid question. "How could I not find you?"