Edward POV
I close my eyes, and listen for her heartbeat.
Thmp-thmp
Thmp-thmp
Thmp-...
Her heart stops as she sees my car in her Dad's spot.
I smile to myself, and sigh.
I'm going to miss this part of Bella when I leave.
Bella POV
Something has changed, something will change, and something is changing.
And I don't like it.
Ever since my birthday and the incident with Jasper, I could sense it.
But I just don't get it. I lived through 10 days in hospital after nearly dying in the hands of James and the wounds he inflicted...
Edward's leaving me.
Forever.
I'm no Alice, but this much I can tell by his body language, and withdrawal. Anyway, Alice's gone, and I'm never going to see her again.
I stop the truck outside my home, and I re-seal my heart away for the second time in 6 months.
I try to put it somewhere safe.
Somewhere where he can't get at it.
Edward POV
I don't want to do this to her, but I must. My family's lives must come before mine.
Anyway, with Jasper's either guilt, or thirst overshadowing any visit to my house, our relationship will be bound to become tense.
And I can't do that to her.
She climbs-no-falls out of her truck; and I read her face like it's an open book.
...For some reason, she's not confused. She's calm, but seems to be holding herself back. Her brown eyes usually let me glimpse at her angelic soul, but today, I can't see it.
She calmly saunters up to the door of my expensive car, and taps politely on the window.
"Hey, you are allowed to come in; you know."
I smile. Listening to her voice is like pure Belgium chocolate to a chocaholic - it flows like a river, gently, calmly, with the potential to swell and swirl if rained on.
And I'm going to rain on her parade.
"Come for a walk with me." I suggest with an unemotional voice; as I take her hand.
Please refuse. Please refuse.
"..."
*Sigh* I guess that I'm going to have to do this sooner or later. In that case, there's no point putting it off any longer.
I grab her hand with extreme kindness and gentleness, and walk at her pace into the woods. I stop only a few steps into the trees. I can still see the house.
Some walk.
"Ok, let's talk."
She sounds brave, but her voice and face crack under the pressure at the end of the sentence.
I take a deep breath, and remember a millisecond too late that this would torture my senses. Instead of resisting, I savour the flavour, the want, the burn, the urge to bite, to drink. I remind myself that I only have a limited time left with her.
"Bella, we're leaving."
It's her turn to inhale deeply, and she then calmly says;
"Why now? Another year-"
"Bella, it's time. How much longer could we stay in forks, after all? Carlisle can barely pass for thirty, and he's claiming thirty-three now, we'd have to leave and start over again soon regardless."
She looks at me, all traces of calm wiped off her face and it its place, and there is confusion.
I force myself to stare at her coldly, and she looks ill for a second as she says-
"When you say we …"
"I mean myself and my family."
I say the words distinctly and separately and she shakes her head back and forth mechanically.
"Bella, "I say, "I don't want you to come with me."
My head is a furious fire tornado of emotions, but my face is a façade of coldness.
I can't read her mind, but I can read her face. I know what she's going to say before she says it. I muster my strength for the final shake of my head.
She opens her mouth, and I brace myself.
"You…don't…want…me…?"
I shake my head, and run like the chicken I am.
In the distance I can hear the scuffle of leafs as she falls onto the woodland floor. I hear her desperate sobs, and I can only summon one thought into my numb brain.
What have I done?
(A/N. Hi guys. How's life. I know exactly what you're thinking. You're thinking that this is just another of those boring stories where Edward leaves Bella, and she get's changed. It's not one of those. This story will be mostly Twilight, but will also have elements of the Hunger Games in it as well. Feel free to review and tell me how incredibly amazing I am. As always, keep calm, and read Twilight.
twilightfan159)
