Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight… sadly

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight… sadly.

Author's Note: Wow, I received a lot of reviews/alerts/favorites yesterday… For that I am truly excited! I hope it continues… (Wink, wink)

Chapter Two:

The Awakening

I awoke to the sun streaming through my open window. I hadn't opened my eyes yet, but I could tell it was open because I could feel a light breeze coming in. When I opened my eyes, I immediately snapped them back shut. I must be dreaming, I thought to myself. There was no way I was awake, for, when I opened my eyes, I saw an angel; my angel.

It was not good for me to dream about him. When I wake up, it'll be harder for me to get through the day. I squeezed my eyes tight and then snapped them open, hoping I'd wake up.

"Oh!" He was still there.

"Good morning, Bella." I had gone too far, I really need to wake up.

"Could you do me a favor and not talk." I saw him slouch and his eyes clouded over. Even in my dreams, I felt the sudden urge to comfort him, so I amended my sentence. "When I wake up from this dream, it'll be hard enough to act natural without hearing your voice." With these words, understanding and relief colored he face.

"You are awake Bella; you aren't dreaming." He must have seen the shocked look on my face because he quickly continued. "I came back Bella… to beg for your forgiveness. I never should have left you, it was the biggest mistake of my life-"

I cut him off; I couldn't take it anymore. "Stop, please. I can't let this go on any further. When I wake up, it'll be too hard."

"Bella," he spoke with urgency now. "Listen to me, you are awake."

"That is… impossible." That's all I could think of to say.

"It's true. And I've come to beg you for your forgiveness. Bella, love you."

I was very confused; I didn't understand what he was saying. "But you said-" He cut me off by putting his hand over my mouth.

"Bella, just answer me one question. Do you still love me?" He looked down at me with anxious eyes.

How could he think that I'd ever stop loving him? "Of course I love you. That will never change."

"That's all I needed to hear." (A.N. That line is in New Moon.) He took my face in both of his hands and began kissing me. This kiss was different from others; it had less boundaries. I knew there were reasons I should stop him, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it; before long I was getting dizzy.

It felt so good, but I finally came to my senses; I couldn't let him continue. If Jacob found out… I shuddered at the though of what he would do. I had to pull away.

"Edward," I breathed; I was panting slightly. After I caught my breath, I began again. "Edward, we can't do this. I-" He didn't let me finish.

"Have you moved on?" He asked this calmly, but I could see the pain these words brought in his eyes. "It would be perfectly acceptable. I did leave-" It was my turn to cut him off.

"Of course I didn't move on. It's silly of you to think such a thing is even remotely possible. It's just that, while you were gone, I got into a bit of a… predicament."

He could hear the reluctance in my voice I poorly tried to hide. He knew there was something I wasn't telling him.

"Bella," he said sternly. "Please, tell me what's wrong."

"I… I can't." He looked at me skeptically so I continued. "There's nothing really to tell. It's just, well…" What are you doing Bella? I can't tell him anything without telling him everything. If I tell him everything, he'll go looking for Jacob. IF Edward gets hurt, it'll be my entire fault and I'll never be able to live with myself. "No, I can't tell you."

He was going to say something, but I cut him off, trying to change the subject. "What time is it?"

He looked at his watch. "10:30, but Bella, don't try to change the subject, I know-"

"10:30?!" Oh no! This is not good. Jacob expected me there at 9:00. "I… have to go. I'll see you later Edward. Come back tonight. My dad isn't here so, whenever is fine." I w spitting words out so fast I had to catch my breath. I knew I hadn't fooled Edward, but I really had to go.

I was half way out my bedroom door when tow cold, iron arms picked e up and set me back down on the bed.

"Bella, I'm not letting you leave until you tell me what's wrong." I was about to protest when he put his hand to my mouth. "Don't tell me nothing's wrong, I can see it in your eyes. There's something not right; something you're not telling me."

He looked at me then, eyes smoldering, and I couldn't hold it in anymore; I broke down crying.

Edward climbed into the bed with me. He rocked me back while I stained his shirt with my salty tears. When I could finally control the sobs, I tore away from him and looked him in the eyes.

"Edward, I can't tell you what's wrong. If I told you, you would go out looking for him. If you got hurt, I'd never be able to forgive myself." I could felt the tears building up, trying to spill over, so I stopped to take few deep breaths. But, before I could begin again, he spoke.

"I don't understand. What can't you tell me? Who's going to hurt me?"

I was going to answer him, but three loud knocks came from the front door. Edward scrunched up his nose like he smelled something distasteful and looked at me with horror struck eyes. I just yelped and buried my face in his shirt.

"Bella," came a loud, booming voice from outside. "Why do I smell leech"-he sneered the word-" in this house? If you're not down here in three seconds, I'm coming in!"

Before I knew what was happening, Edward had me in his arms and was running to Charlie's room to jump out of the window. I was going to ask why he didn't jump out of mine, but then I realized my window led to the front yard where Jacob was surely waiting.

We entered the woods at full speed ad Edward headed towards his house. While running, I was going to ask him what was wrong, but thought better of it when I s wow livid he looked.

We reached his house in what I was sure was record time. When we got in, he shut the door and set me down. He bolted over to the button on the wall that made the metal shades cover the windows. Before they had even started coming down, he had me scooped up and was running towards his bedroom. When we got there, he set me down on the couch. He looked at me with expectant eyes, but I petulantly refused to even meet his gaze.

This obviously made him angry. Tell me. Now." He was trying to keep his anger in check around me, but the rage never left his eyes.

"From the beginning?" Was all I managed to choke out.

All he could do was nod.

"When you left, I had really hard time coping. For about four months, I was an emotional shell." At these words, Edward's jaw locked and his eyes clouded over; I quickly moved on." Anyways, one day, my dad threatened to send me home to Jacksonville because he was fed up with the way I acted…" I continued to tell him about the night with Jessica, the voices, and then the motorcycles. The more stories I told him, the harder his expression became. When I got to Jacob, I slowed and he could sense my hesitancy. I paused, not knowing if I could continue, and if I could, how to word it.

"Bella, please, tell me what you're thinking."

"I broke down once more and, once again, he consoled me. When my sobs quieted and my tears slowed, he looked at me with expectant eyes.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself; it came out a bit shaky. "Edward, before I continue, you have to promise to not leave my side; to not go looking for him. I need you here."

"I promise." I knew this was hard for him to do , but after I got this out, I would once again be balling. "Please, continue."

I took another shaky breath, and continued. "One day, Jake invited me over to his house, telling me he wanted to work on the bikes. I quickly agreed, happy to get out of the house. When I got there, Billy was leaving to go fishing. This made me happier because, when he was gone, Jake and I didn't have to worry about discrepancy. Little did I know, that was a very bad thing." My voice was becoming hysteric; I had to take a bit of a break.

I knew Edward was beginning to think I wasn't going to continue, so I stuck up my index finger, signaling him to be patient. When I was sure that I could hold back the tears long enough, I kept going.

"When I couldn't find him in his garage, I thought maybe he went back to bed, so I went to his bedroom." Edward's body stiffened. It was, also, only a matter of time before I broke down crying; I needed to get this out quickly.

"I-I went into his bedroom an-and"-by now I was talking through sobs-"he locked the door. The only thing I remember is him telling me it was time to get over you." I had to take a breath to compose myself. I would have liked to take a long pause, but I could tell something wasn't right with Edward, so I kept going.

"He said that I couldn't tell anyone, or he'd hurt Charlie. He enforced the threat by telling me he was a werewolf. Ever since… that day, he's been telling people we're a couple." I couldn't take it anymore; I broke down into what seemed like uncontrollable sobs. This made me happy Edward stayed. I needed a shoulder to cry on.

I knew this was hard for him to hear. I also knew that after hearing it, it was hard for him to stay here and do nothing.

His body was rigid with anger. That's why, when his body became ever stiffer, I panicked.

I looked up at his face and, once again, his nose was wrinkled in disgust. I was going to ask him what was wrong, but he beat me to the punch.

"Jacob and two of his werewolf cronies tracked our scent," he hissed. " They are about two miles away and Jacob is not happy with either one of us." I could tell that he was using all of his control to stay here with me.

"What do we do?" My voice was full of panic; Edward noticed.

He looked down at me with soft eyes, trying to comfort me. "First, love, we don't panic. There's no need; I'm right here. I promised I wouldn't leave you." He looked down at me, waiting to see if I understood. I nodded my head so he would continue. "Second, I think it's time to go to Denali. My family's there and you can stay with them." I didn't miss the fact that he said you and not we, but now is not the time to discuss it.

"When are we leaving?"

"Well, seeing how they're about to barge in through the front door, now should suffice." He flashed me a smile that didn't reach his eyes; his eyes were still full of unheard of guilt and rage.

When he was finished speaking, he scooped me up into his arms. "Are you ready?"

My words came out shaky, but I could tell he understood. "As ready as I'll ever be."

And with that, we were off. Even though a lot of bad things have happened to me as of late, I couldn't help but be happy that I was, once again, in Edward's arms, and that I was on my way to see the family I thought I had lost.

Author's Note: Sorry I posted this so late... I lost track of time. Hope you enjoyed. Review!