I don't own Twilight or the characters. The parts that are in Italics are from the novel :)

Two

As night slowly approached, Bella laid peacefully in her bed, wrapped tightly in her blanket. A soft smile approached her face as she dreamed a happy memory from before.

"I don't scare you?" Edward asked playfully, but I could hear the real curiosity in his soft voice.

"No more than usual."

He smiled wider; his teeth flashed in the sun.

I inched closer, stretched out my whole hand now to trace the contours of his forearm with my fingertips. I saw that my fingers trembled, and knew it wouldn't escape his notice.

"Do you mind?" I asked, for he had closed his eyes again.

"No," he said without opening his eyes. "You can't imagine how that feels." He sighed.

I lightly trailed my hand over the perfect muscles of his arm, followed the faint pattern of bluish veins inside the crease at his elbow. With my other hand, I reached to turn his hand over. Realizing what I wished, he flipped his palm up in one of those blindingly fast, disconcerting movements of his. It startled me; my fingers froze on his arm for a brief second.

"Sorry," he murmured. I looked up in time to see his golden eyes close again. "It's too easy to be myself with you."

I lifted his hand, turning it this way and that as I watched the sun glitter on his palm. I held it closer to my face, trying to see the hidden facets in his skin.

"Tell me what you're thinking," he whispered. I looked to see his eyes watching me, suddenly intent. "It's still so strange for me, not knowing."

"You know, the rest of us feel that way all the time."

"It's a hard life." Did I imagine the hint of regret in his tone? "But you didn't tell me."

"I was wishing I could know what you were thinking..." I hesitated.

"And?"

"I was wishing that I could believe that you were real. And I was wishing that I wasn't afraid."

"I don't want you to be afraid." His voice was just as soft as a murmur.

I heard what he couldn't truthfully say, that I didn't need to be afraid, that there was nothing to fear.

"Well, that's not exactly the fear I meant, though that's certainly something to think about."

So quickly that I missed his movement, he was half sitting, propped up on his right arm, his left palm still in my hands. His angel's face was only a few inches from mine. I might have – should have – flinched away from his unexpected closeness, but I was unable to move. His golden eyes mesmerized me.

"What are you afraid of, then?" he whispered intently.

But I couldn't answer. As I had just that once before, I smelled his cool breath in my face. Sweet, delicious, the scent made my mouth water. It was unlike anything else. Instinctively, unthinkingly, I leaned closer, inhaling.

Bella eyes shot open and she quickly sat up in her bed, running a hand through her long hair. Rubbing her eyes, she threw her blanket aside and took a few deep, calming breaths. She had dreamt of Edward every night before they had come together and after when she had slept in his arms every night. Even now that he had left, her mind couldn't help but wonder back to him. As the memory she had just dreamt floated back to her, she smiled softly, remembering their words after he had pulled away from her in that moment.

"And for all that," he continued, "I'd have fared better is I had exposed us all at that first moment, than if now, here – with no witnesses and nothing to stop me – I were to hurt you."

I was human enough to have to ask. "Why?"

"Isabella." He pronounced my full name carefully, and then playfully ruffled my hair with his free hand. A shock ran through my body at his casual touch. "Bella, I couldn't live with myself if I ever hurt you. You don't know how it's tortured me."

He looked down, ashamed again.

"The thought of you, still, white, cold…to never see you blush scarlet again, to never see that flash of intuition in your eyes when you see through my pretenses...it would be unendurable." He lifted his glorious, agonized eyes to mine. "You are the most important thing to me now. The most important thing to me ever."

My head was spinning at the rapid change in direction our conversation had taken. From the cheerful topic of my impending demise, we were suddenly declaring ourselves. He waited, and even though I looked down to study our hands between us, I knew his golden eyes were on me.

"You already know how I feel, of course," I finally said. "I'm here...which, roughly translated, means I would rather die than stay away from you." I frowned. "I'm an idiot."

"You are an idiot," he agreed with a laugh.

Our eyes met and I laughed, too. We laughed together at the idiocy and sheer impossibility of such a moment.

"And so the lion fell in love with the lamb...," he murmured.

I looked away, hiding my eyes as I thrilled to the word.

"What a stupid lamb," I sighed.

"What a sick, masochistic lion." He stared into the shadowy forest for a long moment, and I wandered where his thoughts had taken him.

Bella smiled at the memory, of the time when they had declared their love for one another. Almost instantly, the memory faded away and a feeling of pain and emptiness entered her. He was gone. He had hurt her and left her in ruins without ever looking back. What she would give to go back in time.

Sighing, she got out of bed and moved towards her mirror. Staring at her reflection, she realized that she had become even thinner than before with small bags under her eyes. Glancing at the clock on her bed stand, she opened her door and moved towards the single bathroom. She had to put on a happy face since she was meeting Jacob in half an hour and the last thing she wanted was to fight with him over someone who had left her months ago.

After a few minutes of getting ready, Bella finally bid Charlie goodbye and began driving towards the only theater in town. As she drove down a road near the same forest, Edward's face reappeared in her mind. At first when she would see his face, she had tried her hardest to push it away. But as time went by, she realized that memories were all she had left of him and she desperately wanted to hold onto every moment.

Although she had been spending most of her days with Jacob, it was his face that never left her mind and his name that never left her heart. She would always be his, whether he wanted her or not.

Wanting to clear her mind before she met up with Jacob, she pulled off the side of the road and stopped in a café parking lot. Closing her eyes, she took a few deep breaths to relax the tense muscles in her body. She was suddenly startled when she reopened her eyes and noticed that the passenger seat was occupied.

"Alice?" she asked in surprise, blinking her eyes repeatedly in case it was a hallucination.

The petite brunette simply smiled at her as Bella slowly pulled away, her face and voice turning into ice.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"I wanted to see you," Alice replied.

"Oh, really?" Bella said in disbelief. "Now you want to see me after disappearing off the face of the Earth?"

Alice looked down at her hands in silence.

"You left," Bella snapped at her, unable to hold her anger in. "You all left!"

"I know you were hurt, Bella. I saw it," Alice said quietly, still not looking at her.

"So why are you here now? To apologize?" Bella snapped as the other girl's eyes finally found hers.

"I'm here to tell you a story," she stated, her words catching Bella by surprise and confusing her. "I know you don't owe me anything, but will you listen to my story?"

Although she wanted to scream at Alice to get out and leave her alone, another part of her, the part that missed her and the rest of the Cullens so deeply, sat back in her seat. Alice took the move as permission to begin.

"I love Carlisle, Esme, Rosie, Emmet and especially Jasper. But Edward will always have a special place in my heart. He's my brother and I love him dearly. I had to do right by him," Alice began as Bella flinched at the mention of his name. "Did he ever tell you about his past? Before he was turned?"

Bella shook her head no, unsure where any of this was going.

"He was born in 1901 and his father Steven was a Minister. When the Church realized that he wasn't a devout follower of the cloth, they kicked him out. This caused him to transform into someone who was angry and bitter all the time. He became someone who behaved like an animal at home," Alice explained, the story catching Bella's interest. "Edward's mother was a weak soul and she put up with everything. Edward was the oldest child but he had a younger brother Peter and a younger sister Jane."

Bella frowned at her words, having never heard the story before.

"After he was stripped of his position at the Church, Steven became the purest form of evil you can imagine...and that's a lot coming from a vampire," Alice began with a little laugh before shaking her head. "He would come home and…."

"What?" Bella found herself asking.

"Hurt them," she finished. "Jane and Peter were too young so he focused on Edward and his mother."

"What do you mean by 'hurt them'?" Bella asked.

Alice looked up and her eyes confirmed Bella's suspicions.

"He was an evil man and the beatings went on for years," she explained. "Finally, one day when Edward was fifteen, he fought back."

Bella looked away for a moment as sadness filled her eyes.

"When Steven was unconscious, the four of them quickly ran away. They had no money and no family so they ended up in the streets," she explained sadly. "He started stealing and pick-pocketing to make a couple dollars to feed his family. One day, this elderly couple took pity on them and let them stay in the third floor of their home."

"He never mentioned any of this," Bella said in a whisper.

"No he didn't and he never would have," Alice said in agreement. "He'd hate me for telling you this now, but I feel as if you need to know."

With that, Alice looked out of the front windshield for a moment, lost in her thoughts, before she turned back to Bella.

"Then he turned seventeen," she continued. "I don't know how he did it, but Steven found them. Their mother had gone to get some fruit from the street vendors when he showed up. He and Edward got into a fight, Steven knocked over some candles...and the whole place caught on fire. Jane and Peter were screaming from the other room, afraid as the flames grew stronger but he wouldn't let Edward go."

Bella sat up in her seat and watched the petite brunette intently.

"The fight moved towards the window and he pushed Edward out. He fell three stories down, hitting the concrete with his back. He was lucky that he wasn't paralyzed," Alice explained as tears began forming in Bella's eyes. "All he remembers is Peter and Jane screaming from upstairs, but he couldn't move. He couldn't do anything."

Alice looked away again with a sadness in her voice that Bella understood.

"When he woke up in the hospital, Carlisle, who had become his doctor, told him that his father had escaped but his brother and sister had burned to death in the fire," she stated quietly.

"Oh my God," Bella gasped, clasping her hands over her mouth as the first tear streamed down her cheek.

"He's never forgiven himself for their deaths. Even though it wasn't his fault, he's always blamed himself. He still hears their screams sometimes," Alice explained.

Bella looked away, desperately wanting to leave her truck and stop listening, but she was glued to her seat and unable to move.

"Carlisle's heart went out to him and he loved Edward like a son from the first moment he saw him," Alice continued. "Barely three months passed before his mother and he both got the Spanish flu. After she passed away, Carlisle turned Edward. A part of Carlisle hates himself for doing it because he ripped away Edward's chance of finding peace. But now he's immortal and forever haunted with the memories and voices that refuse to leave. I think it's because he heard the voices of his brother and sister so vividly after their deaths that he produced the ability to read minds."

Bella looked away sadly as her heart began breaking.

"After Edward was turned, he hunted his father down and eventually caught up with him. He was the only human Edward ever killed," Alice stated before sighing. "He left you to protect you, Bella."

Bella looked up at this part and frowned. She was about to speak when Alice held up her hand and quieted her.

"He loves you so much, Bella. He always has but he'd rather live the rest of eternity in pain then have you hurt because of him. After James and then the incident with Jasper, he just couldn't do it anymore," she explained before smiling sadly. "He's miserable and he's never stopped loving you, not even for a second. But after everything that happened, it was ultimately the guilt he carries over the deaths of his brother and sister that pushed him into leaving you."

More tears streamed down Bella's cheeks as she listened.

"He always said living forever with his guilt was his punishment and Carlisle hates himself for this," Alice continued. "Edward thought that his punishment was to go through eternity alone but then he met you and he fell in love. As vampires, we're very strong and gifted but it's always mixed with danger. He would never forgive himself if something happened to you, so he left. But his heart never left this place. His heart never left you."

Bella looked away as her tears refused to end. "Why are you telling me this? Why are you doing this to me?"

She closed her eyes in an effort to stop the tears, but it was useless.

"Why?" she cried. "Are you trying to hurt me more than I already am? Give me more reasons why I can't have him?"

"No," Alice said softly as Bella opened her eyes and faced her. "I wanted you to understand him and why he left. Why we all left. I wanted you to understand who he is and that he loves you more than anything in the world, but his need to protect you was intertwined with the guilt he feels over not protecting them."

Bella looked down at her nervous hands, trying to comprehend everything she had just heard.

"We're moving back to Forks tomorrow," Alice said as her words made Bella's head shoot up. "We convinced him to return with us for our sake, but it was mostly for his. He swore he'd stay away from town so you wouldn't have to see him, but I know how much he desperately misses you."

Bella's eyes held the shock as Alice sighed.

"Did he send you here to speak with me?" Bella suddenly asked.

When Alice shook her head no, Bella felt a tang of disappointment tug at her heart. Before she could say anything, she felt Alice lean in towards her.

"Forgive him, Bella," she pleaded softly. "I know he hurt you badly, but he never believed that he deserved you or your love. Please forgive him."

With that, Alice stepped out of the truck and disappeared into the night, leaving Bella alone to her thoughts. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. Her heart broke once more as she remembered Alice's words and the pain and guilt Edward had carried with him all these years. Her heart then soared at the thought of seeing him again, especially now that she knew he really did love her as she loved him and had only left to protect her. But could she forgive him so easily? She had been so hurt the past few months and had simply gotten better at hiding it from everyone else. Could she forgive him?

Her mind was plagued with dozens of thoughts and questions as she pulled back onto the road and turned her truck around. Within ten minutes, she was parked in her driveway and closing the door to her house behind her.

"Hey, you're back already?" Charlie asked from his seat in front of the television, but she hardly heard his words.

"I'm tired," she managed to say. "I'm going to go to bed."

Before he could ask her anything further, Bella ran up the stairs, closed her bedroom door and collapsed on her bed. They were coming back tomorrow. He was coming back tomorrow. Everything she had learned about him tonight shed light to his protectiveness towards her. But could she forgive him?

Edward, she sighed before closing her eyes and letting sleep wash over her.

As her breathing slowed and memories of their time together crept back into her dreams, all thoughts of her planned evening with Jacob faded away.