A/N: in this chapter we learn a little about Bella and Edward from before. You'll learn more in the next chapter. Andd im thinking that the next chapter is the chapter that Bella meets her former fiance for the 'first' time. Poor Edward. dont we bleed for him? so VAWLA! enjoy this chapter of Sell a Shadow.

Chapter Two

Edward

I unlocked her door, and though it may be a bit stalkerish- I still owned a key. It wasn't as if I was barraging in and demanding she remember me, no, it was for times like this; it was for the times she would need me, but never know it. I set her down gently on the couch she brought from her old apartment- the couch her late grandmother gave to her.

Bella shifted, restless. Her head was shaking back and forth as if she were trying to say something, as if her dreams took a turn for the worst. I backed up, taking my hands off of her body that I knew so well. A small moan escaped her mouth, and her eyebrows furrowed. Concerned, I placed a couch cushion under her head, cradling her in my hands.

"Please," she whispered, her hand reaching out to me, clasping my shirt tightly. I gulped down the wad in my throat at seeing her like this. For the past month I've wondered if leaving her was the right thing to do. My family insisted it was. But now I wasn't so sure. I left her alone. I knew she had no family, knew she hadn't had any friends since she moved here. Forks small, yes, and the only people she had communicated with over the last year in friendly manners were my family. Our family, Bella was a part of the family, as I thought of it. it was just so much safer for her to be out of our lives- for her.

I took my hands and placed it over her smaller one, gripping on to me. I couldn't stay the night, couldn't be here when she woke up. A stranger in her home would surely scare the living day lights out of her. And I just couldn't come out and say I knew her, it would destroy the safety her amnesia had given her. I gently pried her hands off of my shirt, the movement stabbing me in the heart. I quickly covered her with a blanket and left before I could change my mind.

Once home I undid my tie and collapsed in my arm chair. I may have been twenty three, but at that moment I felt ancient. I just missed the woman I loved. I closed my eyes and remembered the night we met.

I was outside the airport, waiting for Esme to get out to the pick up area. We were supposed to go to the restaurant in a half an hour. It took about twenty minutes to drive there. I didn't know how I got stuck being mom's chauffer, but I suppose it didn't matter now. I was driving Alice's old shit kicker that looked more like a cab in rehab than a real car. I bought her a brand new Porsche just for this very reason.

Not willing to stand in the frigid Washington air, I sat in the drivers seat and waited, blasting the heat. Suddenly the back door swung open, and woman's head peeked in. I looked back at her, surprised, but she just smiled and climbed in. Shocked, I couldn't say a word. Though the fact that she randomly got into my car crossed my mind, I was too busy being blind sighted by her…eyes. They were brown, like warm coco on a winters night. Her hair was deep mahogany, silky strands curling around her shoulders. Her face was flushed from the cold, her smile dropping when she realized I wasn't responding to what she was saying.

"Excuse me?" she asked, her voice timid, "You are a cab, right?" This knocked me out of my trance. I shook my head and she stared at me.

"I'm afraid not." I said seriously, "But that's fine. I get it all the time." She laughed along with me at the cars expense, not hers.

"I'm really sorry," she said, moving to get out, "I didn't realize…"

"No, wait!" I called before I thought twice, "Its fine, really. I'm just waiting for my mom, Esme. Where are you headed, maybe I could drop you? I'm heading into town anyway." She smiled at me, and I could see the rejection forming on her cute mouth.

"Before you say no," I said, glancing out the car window, "There's my mother. She'd want to say hello." I knew my mother would never let the girl go back out into the cold when we were just as capable of transportaion. Esme opened the door and beamed into the car.

"Hello Edward," she said, then turned to the back seat, startled, "And who's your friend?"

"Hey mom." I said, remembering I never got her name, "This is…"

"Bella Swan." The girl jumped in. My mother smiled and shook Bella's hand, introducing herself and climbing in to the front passenger seat.

"So, Eddy, you didn't tell me you had a girlfriend!" my mother exclaimed, ecstatic. I opened my mouth to tell her the real story, but Bella go to it first.

"Oh," she said, "I'm sorry Mrs. Cullen I climbed into your son's car thinking he was a cab. If you just drop me off here I'll get one and get on my way" My mother 'humphed' and Bella flushed nicely.

"Nonsense," my mother, bless her soul, said lightly, "Edward will drive you where you are needed. So please, where are you going?"

Bella flashed a grateful smile, "The Three Flores Restaurant, I have to meet a business colleague there before I settle into my hotel." I heard my mother's gears working.

"What a coincidence!" she beamed, "We are headed there, also. Would you care to join me and my family for dinner?"

"Oh no," Bella squeaked, "I couldn't!" My mother waved a manicured hand through the air.

"Nonsense. There's no intrusion."

I saw Bella's flustered face and knew she lost the battle. "Very well." She said, catching my eye with a small, shy smile.

I remembered that night was the night I asked to see her again, one thing led to another and we were soon dating. After about eight months of that, I proposed. She was the one I wanted to spend my life with. We decided to get married on our one year anniversary, and one week before the wedding… well, let's say the wedding was cancelled.

Bella

I woke up feeling like cotton was stuffed into my mouth. I slowly lifted myself, looking around for my phone.

5:32 pm, Tuesday. Holy crap. I slept the day away after work yesterday…? I felt like I was forgetting something important, but my life consisted of those feelings now, so it wasn't unusual. I was still dressed in my uniform for work, so naturally it was wrinkled beyond belief. Groaning, I made my way to the shower.

Was this who I am now? Who was I before? This seemed like a shell of who I really was, it didn't seem important- it was shallow and unconventional. The mystery around my amnesia was strange, as if the doctors hadn't known what happened to me either. No one would tell me, as if it was erased from their database. What happened to me?

I let the water run down my body, timidly closing my eyes. I hoped that this would be the time they disappeared. I hoped this would be the time it would all go away. But as soon as my eyes closed and the water surrounded me, they came back.

Rushing water, small laughs, evil laughs. Muscles that seemed to be sore and unusable. Lungs that couldn't expand, contracting, contracting. . Bubbles and blood. So much blood. Blood…

I opened my eyes, letting the silent tears fall- mixing with the water of my shower. I was suddenly filled with a type of resolve.

I would find out about myself. No more skating by, barely there- half real and half fictional character. My past is my right to know.

A/N: ok, so what do you think?? i felt like i could have done more, but i just want to move this story along, you know? get to the point! woooo.

so. REVIEW. and please check out my other story, Kill the Lights. it may be about Jacob, but i swear its at least better and more action packed than this one. pleeeease? jacob needs some lovin too, people. so just check it out. for me?? haha. yeah. bribery. it works.