Author's Note: Thanks to Softfrost, for pointing out the source of confusion. In this story, Edward never came back in New Moon.
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, or Peter Pan.
She turned in her bed, moving to face the window as she did every night. Despite her knowledge – her understanding that he was gone – she would always look to the window. She would always look for him.
Bella did not expect him to come back; if she was honest with herself, she'd admit that if he ever did return it would cause more trouble. She would have to explain to Jacob and her children that while she loved them, she pined for something else. She missed the family she'd had before, the beautiful boy who would never change. Like the story she read to her grandchildren, Peter Pan, there would always be another life that she wished for. Another boy that kept a place in her heart.
Edward, quite literally, was the boy that could never grow up. And his world, the vampire world that she was never truly allowed to enter, was Never-land. But in her story, she was never given a choice to stay. In her tale, Peter told Wendy to go home and grow up. Peter didn't want Wendy in Never-land. And, for him, she left. She grew up, grew old, and started a family.
And now, on lonely nights like these when the rest of the world was asleep, she prayed her story would end differently. She didn't want to live until his return, only to watch him fall in love with her granddaughter. She did not want him to see her this way, not even a shadow of what she once was. And the little part of her inside that still cried for him after Jacob fell asleep, the part that made her look to the window every night, that part was afraid. Not of him, but of the reaction he might cause in her. She had been the calm one, the collected one, for so many years that she was afraid to feel that strongly again. It wasn't that she loved her family less than she loved Edward; she simply loved them differently. Nothing she had ever felt compared to the addiction she had felt for her Peter Pan. And even though she missed him, missed loving him, she didn't know if she could handle such violent emotion anymore. If she was honest with herself, she would have to admit that she was dying. Her body was old and tired, and she knew it was almost time.
She looked to the window again, and it was open. Across the room, she could see a figure backed against the wall. To her surprise, he only reaction was logical.
"You have to go," she said. "If Jacob hears you he'll come in here and it will cause trouble. And I'm not having my grandchildren turning into werewolves now; you have to leave."
But he didn't move. He stared at her, whispered her name.
"Please go," she whispered. She felt tears well in her eyes, her mask begin to break.
"I'll always love you, Bella," he murmured, just loud enough for her ears.
That did it. She broke down, sobbing, and collapsed into his arms. For hours, it seemed, he cradled her until she was calm. And finally, he hummed her lullaby to get her to sleep. Before she drifted off, she whispered, "I always loved you, and always will. Goodbye, Edward. I'm sorry I couldn't go to Neverland with you."
And as he finished her lullaby, Bella's heart stopped beating.