On a Second Thought

A/N: This is an epilogue written for my very old fic: I have loved you since I saw you. Honestly, I have lots of things to say - but I'm going to leave it at the end. Thank you so much for all the love - or hate - you've given my fic. I am grateful to every single one of you. Even if I didn't reply your reviews, do know I read every one of them.

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

NOTE: This is set some hundred years later after the death of both Alec and Bella. I had initially hesitated whether their names should be changed since the coincidence would be too uncanny, but in the end I decided to let it stay as they are.

Isabella Swan clucked her tongue as she walked past rows of shelves with the alphabets printed in bold on them. Why was it so hard to find two books? Walking down the 'K' column, she muttered under her breath how damned hard it was just to find books she really, really wanted to read.

Her fingers trailed over the leather book covers, eyes skimming over the titles as she tried to find the book she wanted.

"Ah," she gasped softly, pulling out The Girl Next Door from the shelf, "I found you!"

She had been dying to read the book ever since her friend recommended it to her - it was psychological, sick and absolutely twisted. Bella had heard of how humanity was portrayed in one of the darkest light ever; and it was based on a true story, to add to that. She had never read these genres before and she wanted to try something new - ever since she turned 17 and Pamela gifted her a tragic romance novel and where the couple died in the end, she was lured in by the sad beauty of it. These stories just tugged at her heartstrings and she could never understand how deeply attached she felt; it was as if she had experienced such loss before.

She stifled a chuckle; she was thinking too much. Ha-ha, perhaps she had died together with a lover in her previous life. Her gut twisted at that thought and she dropped the book she held in her hand at the sudden pang of queasiness. The 'thud' sounded thunderous in the quiet library and she winced, not daring to look at the surrounding tables where she could feel people glaring holes at her back.

Oh God, stop embarrassing yourself wherever you go, Bella.

"Miss, are you all right?"

The voice was baritone deep and sounded almost like a purr. She instinctively jerked in surprise, face still flaming red and turned to face the stranger - she sucked in a sharp intake of air; the curl of his lip she saw disappeared almost in a flash when her eyes met his.

His eyes had an entrancing quality about them; the deep, dark grey with specks of green, his hazelnut brown hair a casual jumble as he ran his long fingers through it, and his cheekbones were high, complementing his imperious nose and an angular jaw.

But somehow, his appearance wasn't the only thing that appealed to her. She felt her heart clench as she stared at him - did she know him? Why was her stomach somersaulting and twisting in such a familiar, yet foreign way? She could feel her throat constricting as her mouth opened and closed and her vision was started to blur. She reached up to rub them and was shocked to realize that she was tearing up.

"I - Do I know you?" She managed to choke out, her fingers trembling as she grasped the book he had held for more more moments than necessary.

His brows knitted together, and his eyes swept over her face for a moment. "I don't think so."

"Oh." She felt her cheeks heating up again. What the hell was she doing? What was with that reaction? Till now, she had never heard of people crying because of how gorgeous someone looked. "I - er, I'm sorry. Thanks." She waved the book in her hands and ducked her head with the intense urge to bury herself in a hole.

"Um, miss -"

"Excuse me!" Her voice was shrill and she almost winced when she heard it coming out from her lips. Hurriedly, she stumbled out of the library, almost forgetting to check her book out on the way.

"Oh God, stupid Bella!" She hissed to herself. She covered her face with her hands as she recounted the afternoon's events again. "God! I totally embarrassed myself - he's definitely thinking that I'm hitting on him!"

"Oh, hell no," she muttered. Oh no, she was going to have a hard time getting over this. But whatever she felt then was strange. It was as if she knew him... No, you don't! Will my delusional brain just shut up?

She cut through the alley as she quickened her pace; she had to get to Pamela's house for a sleepover and she would strangle her if she was late. A shortcut wouldn't kill her, of course. Her next step faltered when she heard boisterous laughter float around the corner, breaking the silence of the dark passageway. She felt an icy pang of fear.

Should she turn back?

"Ha! And the girl was trembling on the sheets, begging for release!"

Oh shit, oh shit, the voices sounded closer.

"Damn, you had a good fuck last night, didn't you?"

And the topic they were discussing definitely wasn't helping her situation. Biting on her lip, she turned and started to trace back her steps - it wasn't safe to stay in here any longer. Her footsteps quickened at that train of thought and she pulled out her phone from her pocket, punching in the numbers and readying herself to press 'call' just in case.

"Oh? What do we have here?" Someone taunted, the question echoing in the narrow passage.

Fuck. She was too slow.

"Another kitten, I think." The men laughed.

She could hear the group of men advancing slowly behind her and even from a distance, the putrid smell of alcohol along with the smell of tobacco was making her nose wrinkle. Her hands clenched around her phone in front of her and she took a deep breath as they stumbled even closer -

and ran.

Her legs were pushing against the concrete floor, panic gripping her as she dashed possibly the fastest she ever had in her life, her heart was slamming against her ribs as she gasped and panted for air, but she didn't stop. Her instinct of survival was overwhelming her lack of athletic ability - she had to make it out of this. She could hear them yelling obscene curses at her as they chased her, their steps clumsy but never faltering.

A streak of line around the corner -

A calloused hand gripped her arm and pulled her back. Her fingers pressed on the 'call' button, praying that help would arrive in time. He was dragging her back into the blackness. She screamed, flailing and struggling against the hold, squeezing her eyes shut. "Help! Somebody! Help!"

A sweaty, greasy hand clamped over her mouth and nose and she tried screaming against it, but only made it muffled. His hand was disgusting and vile against her lips and she had a strong urge to vomit. Oh, God, someone...

"Alec," she whimpered, her head swimming as the hold tightened, seeming to be uncaring of how he was cutting off her oxygen supply. Her eyes managed to open and she could see a sneer curling on the man's lips. There were three other men behind him, all dressed in casual tees and jeans, but it was obvious that they were high with their bloodshot eyes.

She pushed against his hand but was slammed back against the ground, her head hitting against the stone hard surface with a loud impact. A flash of white burst before her eyes. Shit, that hurt. Her strength was nothing against his. Her eyes were starting to burn and black dots were appearing in her vision. She gasped for air, but the hand was obscuring her to; she could taste the dirt on his hand and some cheap alcohol was bitter on her tongue. She heard herself say something as she struggled for air.

"Oi, Flint, let go of her."

He did, though with some grumbles. She gasped for air, hand going up to her throat as she glared up at the grinning men. "What do you want?"

"Oh, she sounds feisty," one said, rubbing his hands together gleefully. She spat on his feet. He growled, jumping back from her. "Fuck you! Fucking whore!"

"No, fuck you," she snarled. "Let go of me!"

"Damn right." The voice was bitingly cold. "Let go of her."

Her head jerked to the left. Other than the pair of black sneakers she could glimpse with the man beside her blocking her view, she could see nothing else. But the voice sent chills down to her spine - he sounded pissed. The men's eyes all darted to focus on the source of the voice.

"Who the fuck are you?"

"Didn't you hear me?" He snarled, and she could see that he was moving towards them. "Move away. Now."

Her heart was thudding hard, and she didn't know whether she should caution the stranger or let him help her. However, before she could make up her mind, the group of men turned and glared at her, and then they were off.

She blinked. What the hell? What did the stranger do?

She felt someone knelt down beside her. She realized that she was still slumped against the wall and straightened up, and almost fell back when a pang of dizziness hit her. Her hands pressed against the ground to steady herself and she took in a deep breath to calm herself down, opening her eyes as wide as she could, then blinked in an attempt to clear the dots that were clouding her vision.

"Are you okay? Did you hit your head?" His voice was now considerably kinder.

"T- Thanks," she managed to murmur, turning to face her savior. Her eyes widened in recognition and her heart skipped a beat. The man from before! "You - "

A small tilt of his lips. "I suppose we meet again, though not under pleasant circumstances."

"Oh." She blinked.

"Can you stand?"

She nodded, blinking when the landscape seemed to tilt the more she tried to stand, and she felt as if her skull was about to crack. She winced as she gripped the back of her head. Immediately, an arm was around her waist and she shook her head and tried to tell him she was fine, pushing his help away weakly. He chuckled.

"You look like you need help, miss," he said, "let's get you to the hospital."

She hated hospitals. She - oh God, was the world spinning? She felt bile raising up her throat. Frantic, she scrambled away from his hold, dropping to her knees and feeling an acidic bitter taste on her tongue, she squeezed her eyes shut and oh..

Vomit splattered over the ground and the putrid stench filled the air. Her eyes burned and watered as she gripped the bricks of the wall and another rush of nausea hit her. She felt him stand behind her.

"Go away," she croaked out, embarrassed that a stranger was seeing this. "Go away."

Her stomach tightened and another rush of disgusting white liquid spewed out from between her lips. She felt like crying. His hand was on her back, patting her soothingly, albeit a little awkwardly - scratch that, she was crying. Streams of tears were trailing down her cheeks and the tightening of her gut were finally beginning to loosen up. "It's fine. Just go."

"I can't leave you here," he said, "you're sick."

She straightened with as much dignity she could and got up from the ground. The bitter taste of acid was still filling her nostrils and mouth. She winced as she wiped her lips against the sleeve of her shirt, not caring how the stranger viewed her anymore. Rather than being disgusted, his lips quirked up to an amused smirk.

"Come, miss, let's get you to the hospital."

She squeezed her eyes shut, groaning as the light shone glaringly brightly. "Shit." She flipped over in the bed and buried her face in the pillow.

"Morning, Isabella."

The amused drawl was enough to make her cheeks heat up in a split second. Sitting up on the bed in a flash, her hair in a tousled mess and her eyes wide, she saw the stranger sitting on the armchair beside her, a smirk playing on his lips.

"You - you!" Her mouth was opening and closing and she had no idea what to say. What the hell was he doing here? She knew he was the one who brought her to the hospital and saved her big time, but why did he stay?

"Not a very polite greeting, darling," he said, a twinkle in his eye as he sat on her bed beside her. Her heart started slamming against her ribs. "I helped you last night, if you don't remember. And endured your bouts of revolting vomit."

She felt a scowl twisting on her face, "I told you to leave!"

"I'm too much of a gentleman."

Her eyes narrowed. "You want money? I don't have much."

His brows furrowed, then he chuckled; though it wasn't humorous in the slightest. "Isabella," he started, she flinched back how hard and cold his eyes were, "I helped you not for the money. I have it."

She swallowed: damn, he was offended by her conclusion.

"Now, mind telling me how you know my name?"

She looked at him. "Excuse me?"

"You called out my name. I heard it."

A dent formed between her brows as she tried to recollect what happened last night. Slowly, she shook her head. "No, I - I don't remember." What an egoistical jerk! Why would she call his name when she didn't even know who he was? Damn, it must be because of the afternoon. Opening her mouth to correct him, "I - "

Her eyes widened, and the words were trapped.

He was leaning towards her, head tilted to the side as he studied her face. Her eyes flickered to his full lips for a moment before meeting his gaze again; her gut clenched, though not uncomfortably like the night before. His eyes were a startling dark shade of grey, and the predatory glint in them knocked her breath away. Her throat was parched and dry and she was afraid to blink - her heart was going on an overdrive as his hands slowly reached up to the curve of her face.

His finger pressed on her lips and she realized that she had been biting on her bottom lip unconsciously. He pulled , she released it, and he brushed his thumb against her slightly-open lips. A thrill ran down her body to her center and she pressed her thighs together. She could see his pupils dilating from the close distance, his minty breath washing over her heated face,

"On a second thought, Isabella," he whispered, voice low and husky as her name rolled off his tongue smoothly, beautifully, "I may just know you."

A/N: I read my old fic and cringed. Cringed as in, really, really badly. I don't know how much my writing had improved, but I do hope it's better now. My friend who happens to be on this site (MugglebornWY - do check out her profile if you're interested) suggested for me to do an epilogue and so I'm here. After three, four years? I don't know if there's still anyone reading this, but if there is, I hope you enjoyed this epilogue.

I'm still overwhelmed by the amount of reviews, favorites and alerts people gave to this fic. I really feel flattered. It was the best welcome I could ever hope to receive with my first FF account. I'm sorry if my immature self a few years ago had made you cringe, and if my fic had brought you even the slightest joy, do know that as a writer, I'm honored and probably ten, hundred, times happier.

This is a huge tribute to everyone who supported my younger self and those who bothered to leave constructive criticisms (I really do hope I didn't reply anything scathing because I can see how much help I needed and that it would be awfully childish of me to do so). Writing this fic had allowed me to learn the joy of writing and because of all of your support, I continued on. Despite 'those stupid notes' (I'm quoting this from a review - I was quite amused) I had at the end of the chapters for this fic, I was really touched by how so many people accepted and even - enjoyed it! I really cannot help but thank you all dear, faithful readers again.

This is really, really, a huge tribute to you guys. Words can't express my gratitude.

Much love,

luvnovels123