A/N Hey there everyone This is my first story here and I hope you enjoy it, would love reviews and feedback they are like fresh cookies. I must thank my wonderful beta: Linsey, you have no idea the shit she has had to put up with! Thank you baby for putting up with my erratic behavior and me; you are wonderful.

Disclaimer: SM owns all.

Enjoy.

Song for this chapter: 'Grapevine Fires' Death Cab For Cutie

Prologue

I have 52 scars on my body.

I remember counting them, though strangely, not the day nor the reason. I can't help thinking it had something to do with boredom, or perhaps it was due to the fascination I once held for the raised, ragged lines that still crisscross my body at different and seemingly random points.

It is strange, I know, that this is what I decide to recall as I feel myself falling to earth. It seems rather trivial but all I can think is the fact that when my body hits the ground with the resounding 'thud' that I know will undoubtedly precede my contact with the stained cement I will now have 53 scars. What an odd thing to think at a time like this.

I hold my breath, waiting for the blinding agony to blossom, it seems hours have passed before it does arrive. I'm almost tranquil as I lie in the purgatory between shock and pain. That thought, however, is quickly forgotten as the pain crashes into me with the force of a freight train. Within milliseconds, my body goes from limp to rigid as I fight with all the willpower I currently contain not to cry out in a scream that will (in all likelihood) sound like my bloody murder, which I find rather fitting considering the circumstances.

It feels as though someone has shoved a white hot rod into my side; my nerve endings sizzle and betray me by carrying the liquid lava to singe its way around my shaking form. The pain continues to strengthen and I feel a sense of detachment drown my consciousness, my mind in its last effort to protect me severs all ties I have to that mortal shell below.

I breathe a mental sigh of relief as the pain lessens. It's short lived, however, as I remember the ties I cannot cut through, the ones that force a yearning for life to fight back against the fire battling through my veins. This time I have something, or rather someone to live for. But you know the saying: "be careful what you wish for?" Well that came around to bite me in the ass.

How long had I spent contemplating the ease with which I could end it all, the ease with which I could rid the world of my existence, merely a whisper on the wind, disturbing no one with my passing. How many times had I slipped, whether it be a subconscious decision or not, and thrown myself into a self-inflicted unconsciousness, and now. Ha! Now that I actually wanted to live, I lie here dying. Karma must be having a riot.

From somewhere outside of my head, I become aware of a scream and another sharp 'bang'. This one, however, was a lot quieter, muffled as though it was coming from underwater.

Silence.

Footsteps approach. Closer. Closer still, then they halt.

"Oh, Bella, I'm so sorry," I hear it, yet am not completely convinced I am comprehending it. "I was too late. Please, baby, please don't go. Forgive me, please."

I want to smile, because he is here, and that's more than I could have dared to wish for. I try to get my brain to coincide with my mouth, though I get the distinct feeling that if an expression does grace my face with its presence, it will not be a happy nor will it be a pretty one. I will my eyes to open so that I might behold the beauty I know is waiting in front of me. If nothing else, I think to myself, let me see him; let me say goodbye.

I can now slowly feel the awareness creeping back in along with the pinpricks of white-hot fire that seem to be burning through every atom of my being. I gasp, sucking air in through my teeth in a hiss.

"Bella, open your eyes for me, please. Please don't leave me. Please..."

I feel moisture running down my face, am I crying? I slowly force my eyelids to open, an action very much against my body's own wishes. It's dark around the edges of my vision, though it is not the usual cobwebs lingering now, merely an unnatural dusk looming around the corners.

As my eyes adjust to the ominous gloom I see his outline, his beauty a catalyst that forces some of the darkness to recede. His eyes are closed, his brow furrowed and it's then that I realize where the moisture is coming from. His eyelashes glisten with the tears that are now rolling down my own cheeks. He hasn't noticed the battle I've won over my eyelids. So, using the last of my strength, I bring my palm to his face, cupping his dampened cheek. His eyes suddenly shoot open and he is looking down at me disbelief evident in his moss-coloured eyes, eyes that never lie. I do my best to smile at him, stroking his cheek with my hand. He leans into my touch, nuzzling my palm and brings his own up to cover it.

I glance down at the wound that I know to be hiding deep within my left side. Turning the hand already applying what pressure it can apply to the wound I assess just how bad the damage is. I get my answer as the liquid gold that is my blood pools and seeps angrily from the jagged laceration in my side, coating my hand and clothes. My eyes dart to his ashe lets out a wounded sob.

"I lo…love y...you," I manage to choke out through my broken breaths and the deathly blood I detect in my mouth. The taste of rust and melancholies are strong as they gather upon my tongue and roll out of the corner of my lips. I feel him lift me up in his strong, inked arms to rock me back and forth before starting to shake with the silent cries falling from his mouth.

"I love you too, Bella. Fuck, I love you so much, from the first sarcastic remark you shot at me, I've always loved you," he chuckles through his tears in recollection.

I could now feel myself fading and regardless of my attempts to fight it, I knew it was a losing battle.

"Don't bl...blame yo...yourself for th...this," I cough up more congealed blood before closing my eyes and allowing my body to become limp.

"Don't you give up, don't you dare give up," I smile on the inside at the fight my boy held. He was so stubborn, so damn stubborn but I'll be damned if it was one of the reasons I loved him so much. I wanted to tell him that I was trying to fight, but I was too far gone.

My body had already begun to shut down, unable to cope with the pain I was drifting away, submerged beneath the waves of unconsciousness. My last thoughts are of the green-eyed beauty I'd left behind.

My beauty, my love: my Edward.

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