I looked Edward straight on; his stare was glued to mine. "Y-you don't…. want me?" His lips parted revealing that he was currently at war with himself; fighting over what to say next. But my stupid hormonal teenage brain was too young to recognize that- it was something I didn't realize until years later. "No," he finally forced himself to say.

Now, looking back my reaction upon hearing this was… overly dramatic to say the least. I was an eighteen-year-old girl who hadn't dated anyone besides Edward Cullen. I was willing to toss my life away to be with him- literally. Without comprehending how young and innocent I was, how much of the world I hadn't seen yet, I thought that I was acting perfectly rational when I said "that changes things- a lot". But it didn't change things; not at that moment. I would look back at this time of my life and cringe- no one looks back at their late teens and thinks "yeah, I had everything sorted out".

Still, I knew Edward didn't believe me; he knew that this changed nothing- at least not yet. His face gave the slightest hint of a cringe. "But if it's not too much to ask, can you… promise me something," I watched in mild disgust at his audacity to ask me a favor after all this. I guess he felt it right to continue once I gave a little huff. "Don't do anything reckless, for Charlie's sake." For Charlie's sake… For friken Charlie's sake? "And I'll promise something in return. This is the last time you'll ever see me; I won't come back. And you can go on with your life without any interference from me. It'll be like I never existed, I promise."

And he kept that promise.

Ten Years Later- Edinburgh, Scotland:

I sat nervously as my potential supervisor quietly reviewed my proposal for what felt like the millionth time. We had been working on it since June and now was the moment of truth. My heart felt like it leapt out of my chest when she set it down, glancing up at me with a promising twinkle in her eye. "Well, Miss Swan, let me be the first to congratulate you on your acceptance into our PhD programme." You could hear my cheer from outside the building.

The first thing I did upon exiting the History department building was yank out my phone to call the most important man in my life. "Hello?" A gruff, masculine voice answered within seconds. "I got in! I got in, Daddy! I'm going to be a doctor!" "Well that's just swell, kiddo!" Daddy's proud tone sent an unconscious smile across my lips. He had been my number one supporter all the way through grad school, including my year abroad in undergrad and masters in the UK. Though he didn't show it when I told him, he was tickled pink when I said I was applying for my PhD; I'll be the first-born Swan female family member to get a doctorate. I'll say one thing about Edward dumping me back in high school; the lack of boys from there on out made it a hell of a lot easier to focus on my studies.

This was obviously a very special day and seeing as I had the rest of it off, I wanted to just have some fun. Now fun for me at this age was museums and MacDonald's for dinner; I was an adult now but still flat broke. And seeing that I'm now a PhD candidate, that likely wasn't going to change anytime soon. I spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the Scottish National Museum before getting my deluxe chicken nugget meal to go. Dinner was consumed in front of a bunch of old Disney cartoons; my mind was too tired for anything more….. complicated. Yes, despite everything that happened, life was pretty sweet. And that's when the fire nation attacked! Haha, bit of Avatar humor there- but seriously, I had no clue as to what was going to happen literally that night.

After finishing up my nuggets and fries, I decided to go for a walk along the seawall. It wasn't light out anymore, but it wasn't exactly dark out either; just light enough for me to feel safe. But then, I always felt safe in Edinburgh. The evening air was perfect- not too cool or dry, just right. With my head turned towards the calm water, my eyes gently shut as I drew in a deep, long breath. Ah, yes; this was living- truly living. I'll become a doctor of history and teach at a university somewhere in Europe; anywhere so long as I was in Europe. I discovered my love for the continent when I came over for the first time when I was twenty-three. That trip changed everything, including me. I found a previously hidden passion for history and desire to read as much as I could get my hands onto. And I did- and here I am. My lips parted slightly as I sucked in the sea air again. Here I am….

With the upmost cinematic timing, my eyes reopened to see this tall figure standing out ahead of me on the path. The next few seconds are hard to describe; it all seemed too surreal. But I will try. There, right in front of me, was this entity- this man. Only… I knew it wasn't a man; I knew that with one single glance. He was something I hadn't seen in ten years; something I hadn't even thought of, remembered in such a long time. It was like he had reawaken this consciousness inside of me; a series of facts I've known but buried deep down inside of myself. This man…. this beautiful, beautiful man- he was a vampire. I knew; I took one look at him and I knew. What's more, he knew that I knew.

This solitary fact dominated everything else about him, though the extra elements started to slowly slip into my mind. He was tall, slender, and extraordinarily handsome. I don't think "hot" is the right way to define it. He was so much more than any English words could accurately depict. Imagine looking at a lovely old oil painting while listening to soft piano music; he was that kind of feeling you experience in such a scenario. That's what he was- an experience. I wasn't looking at him; I was experiencing him, his presence. The way his dark clothes fit tightly on his figure, how his thin yet seemingly strong hands rested by his side…. The way his eyes were piercing mine. Why he was staring, or rather gawking at me with such intensity, I had no clue. All I knew in that moment was that he was a vampire; a being I hadn't encountered or even seen in ten years.

All what I just described- that whole thought process took like ten seconds in reality. I went from watching him with the widest eyes to continuing on my walk; in the opposite direction of course. So what if he's a vampire? He's not Edward, and even if he was, I'd still walk away. I was too old to get involved in any of that supernatural stuff; not with PhD just in my reach. That's why I felt a hard thump in my chest when something with an ice-cold grip grabbed hold of my upper arm. I didn't have enough time to scream, instantly spinning my head around to see the vampire holding onto me- very firmly, I might add. While my face was panicked, his was solemn and serious.

"Don't scream," the vampire ordered in his deep, very masculine tone. He must have read my facial expression as my mouth instinctively shot open, ready to shriek my lungs out. Oh, hell no! This is not going to happen to me- not today! I'm done with vampires; I'm so done with all of that. Unfortunately for me, my plan was interrupted as his grip tightened on my arm. "I said don't scream." "O-ow! You're hurting me!" My eyes winced a little as I began to struggle for escape. It was clear that he wasn't letting me go anywhere anytime soon. Instead, he elected to treat me like a child and scan around while I continued to futilely toss and turn my arm. "It's not safe out here. We have to get you home."

You can't picture how large my eyes grew as this powerful vampire proceeded to scoop me up into his arms princess-style. Ok, that's when enough was enough. I had to get out of here and it wasn't going to be anywhere with him. I began thrashing about- again, in vain. His eyes rolled like he was dealing with a disobedient child- also again. Which I might add, felt extremely insulting. I had a masters and was a PhD candidate, and here I was being handled with such annoyance. Well sorry kidnapping me wasn't so easy, creep! "Let go! Put me down! Put me down now!"

Oh my god, I felt like screaming in anger when he dared to sigh exasperated. "Just relax. I'm taking you back home." "What?! No! No, I'm not going anywhere with you! Put me down!" "I will, when you're safe inside. Now be quiet; I don't want to draw anymore unnecessary attention to us, or should I say you." "What?" This caught my undivided attention. But instead of saying anything more, the handsome yet abducting vampire checked around again. Seeing it was safe, he leapt upwards, heading rapidly towards my apartment building. I was so scared that I didn't hesitate to bury my face into his chest, and the next time I opened them, we were both situated in the middle of my living room floor.