Author's Note: I wrote this story six years ago, and I have not edited it since.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Twilight!
I thought it would kill me to say my next words, but I knew I had to. "Shut your window if you want me to stay away tonight. I'll understand," I whispered to her.
She slammed the truck door. She then marched inside and slammed that door too. I went to wait for her decision under her window.
I was too nervous to listen to her conversation with Charlie. I had always given her choices, with the one exception. I cringed, remembering the biggest mistake of my life. I would never leave her again. It would be her choice—not mine—if it happened again.
Her decision tonight, however, was the matter at hand. I knew I would suffer dearly if I could not be with her tonight, but I also knew that it was her choice, always her choice.
So, it was with butterflies in my stomach (or as close as vampires could get to that) and the remnants of pain from not so long ago that I waited until she made her choice.
I heard her slam her bedroom door. She went to the window…Slam! Agony washed through me as I heard the fourth "slam" this evening.
Deep down I knew she would forgive me, and her window would not be closed to me forever. All the closed window meant was that I would be staying in my room tonight, not hers. Still, I couldn't prevent myself from thinking that this was the end. The feeling I had at the moment was far too familiar, more familiar than it should have been. I stopped thinking then. I wouldn't think of that time.
I turned toward my house after what felt like hours of standing there. In reality, it had only been a few seconds; the glass of her window was still trembling.
As I picked up my foot to move, I heard a beautiful sound: the sound of a window opening. I turned back around and looked up. My Bella had changed her mind. Her window was open as wide as it would go.
I smiled slightly. It faded quickly for I now had a decision to make. Should I give her some time alone or join her now? Giving her time could make her more upset. On the other hand, joining her now could have the same effect. My mind went back and forth: time, now, time, now, time, now. Sometime during my contemplations, I had heard her go to bed. I thought that she would be asleep by now, and since she wouldn't know the difference, I went to join her now, allowing my selfish side to win.
As I climbed through her window, I looking toward what I thought would be her sleeping form. Instead, I saw my dearest Bella trembling. It was then that I smelled the tears—her tears.
Why was my Bella crying? Then it came to me. She probably thought that I hadn't heard her window re-open.
I quickly crawled into her bed next to her. I wrapped my arms around her. "Shhhhh. I'm here. It's alright."
"I thought you weren't coming back."
For once, I hated being right. "You silly girl, I'll always come back to you."
She sighed, "I'm sorry."
"What do you have to be sorry for?"
"For shutting my window."
"You opened it, though."
"I know, but I shouldn't let my anger take over. I know you were only doing what you thought was right."
I had done what I thought was right when I left her, too. And we both know what a mistake that was. Why did she have to go and say that? What if I had made a mistake by keeping her from La Push? No, I did do the right thing. Werewolves are unpredictable, and Alice can't see them. I wouldn't be able to know if something happened to her.
"Edward, what are you thinking?"
Bella's voice pulled me back to reality once again. "That you need to go to sleep. It's late," I lied. I began to hum her lullaby, and Bella was asleep in seconds.