Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight. No copyright infringement is intended.

It's been awhile, I know...

Chapter 2

Edward

One year later

I have to go to Forks.

I can't get her out of my head.

She is my reason for existing.

It has been a long twelve months.

I never wanted to leave her but Alice had a vision that showed that if we would have stayed in Forks, things would not have ended too well for Bella. We would have been happy for a little while but eventually the Volturi, our vampire leaders, would have come to 'punish' us. The punishment for Bella knowing about our secret was too great.

We would have had to die or serve in the guard and since only gifted vampires served the Volturi guard, most of my family would have died, including Bella, while Alice, Jasper and I would have been taken and forced to serve them. The only thing to do was to leave her to have a human life.

I want to go to Forks and see for myself that she was doing that. I don't trust myself to go alone. By myself, I would probably take Bella somewhere no one could find us. I'd thought about doing that so many times but was always stopped by Alice, who saw that it wouldn't work.

All scenarios ended the same…with Bella's death sometimes even by my hands. I could not subject her to that kind of danger.

This time I will not be dissuaded. I set out for Forks but I took Jasper and Emmett with me. What I found when I got there was totally unexpected. My brothers and I were standing outside Bella's kitchen window and we heard her talking to someone.

"Bells, how long will you mourn him? He left you. I will never leave you like that….."

"Jake, I'm sorry but I loved him and yes he left me but that doesn't change anything. I still love him." Just as Jake was about to leave, she grabbed his arm. "Jake, wait. That came out wrong."

"What do you mean?" he asked

"I mean, I love you and I cannot lose you too, Jacob…."

"I know you love me as a friend" Jacob said sarcastically.

"It started out that way but over this last year it has grown. I love you, Jake." Before she could finish speaking, Jake was kissing her. This was the best day of his life. Bella was finally ready to start a relationship with him.

"Oh, Bella. I love you so much"

"I love you, too Jake"

Bella was in love with a dog. I was outraged, jealous and scared all at the same time. It took Jasper's mind altering ability and Emmett's super-strength to restrain me as I watched my Bella declare herself to a werewolf. I just turned for the trees and took off running. We had to run far away before I calmed down.

"A werewolf? How could she love a werewolf?" I yelled my frustrations out and downed some trees in the forested area we were standing in. Jasper and Emmett just stood there and let me vent.

Jasper had never seen Edward like this before and he knew that he needed to get it all out of his system because there was more that he needed to tell Edward.

"Edward, she loves him. I felt it" Jasper said. "It is not as strong as what she feels for you but it is there and it is real."

"How can I let her be with a werewolf? They are dangerous creatures. This is not living a normal life." I ranted.

Emmett was outraged. It was enough that they had to pick up and leave Bella, a girl he thought of as his little sister, for her 'own good' but now Edward wanted to continue to run her life.

"Dude, what do you mean 'let her'? We left her. We made this decision without her and I know that it has been hard for you, Bro, but you have to let her live her life. You wanted her to move on and she has, so we have to let her be. Dude that could be Mike Newton in that kitchen with Bella but no matter who it is you have got to let her go." Emmett said to me.

"But…" I tried to find an excuse but I knew that Emmett was right.

"No, Edward. You don't get to decide this one. Jake is a werewolf, I know, but he loves her." Jasper was trying to be the voice of reason. Edward was determined to go back to Forks and stop Bella and Jacob from being together and Emmett was just as determined to stop Edward from doing that.

I was about to run off when my phone rang. Upon looking at the caller id, I saw that it was Alice. She began to tell me how she had been 'seeing' Bella for months after we left Forks. She always looked when I was not at home. She told me how Bella was not coping at first but that she had befriended Jacob who made her much better. She told me that a few months ago, Bella disappeared from her visions and that could only mean one thing. That Bella's life was tied in with a wolf and Alice couldn't see the wolves so that's why she couldn't see Bella anymore.

"How do you know that the reason you can't see her is because he will kill her? They are very volatile creatures" I asked, still grasping at straws.

Alice could not answer that question but Carlisle could. "Edward, the reason Alice cannot see Bella anymore is because Jacob must have imprinted on her" Carlisle started to explain. Imprinting was the way that wolves found their soul mates.

"No!" I yelled out and crushed my phone as I took off in a sprint back to Forks.

Jasper and Emmett knew that they could not catch him but they had to try before Edward did something that would start a war. The Cullens had a treaty with the Wolves and they did not want to break it. They caught up with Edward where they were before, outside of Bella's kitchen window listening to Jacob and Bella still having the same conversation.

"Bella, are you sure?" Jacob was asking. He had to know if she really loved him or if she was just doing this because she knew that it was what he wanted. "I'll still be your friend, no matter what"

"Jacob, listen to me. These last twelve months have been the hardest of my life. There is one thing that keeps me going and that's you. I love you, Jake. Do I still love Edward? I won't even lie to you and say no. He will always have a place in my heart. He was my first love but we both realized that we were not meant to be together and we ended things. It has taken me a long time to get over him and to want to trust my heart with anyone else. But now that I am ready I cannot think of a better person than you."

"Bella, I promise you that you won't regret this. I am so in love with you. I will never hurt you."

After hearing these words, I realized that Bella was destined to live in the supernatural world. I wish that she could have lived in that world with me but I have to be okay with her being with Jacob. At least, he could protect her. I was just turning to leave with Jasper and Emmett when we smelled a scent that was familiar.

Thanx for reading.