Previously:

I walk over to him and grab his arm, pulling him up to his old room with me. He doesn't fight me at all, coming willingly.

"Listen Edward," I say after I shut the door and sit down next to him on the couch, keeping a bit of distance between us. "We need to talk."

Chapter 3

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked Edward softly, hoping that my minimal patience will last.

"Bella, when I realized that I liked you more than I liked any of the other unimportant girls and that I wanted to be with you longer, I convinced myself that it would be better for you if I left. Once I had left, I knew for sure that I loved you." He said slowly, obviously choosing his words carefully. He didn't move any closer or force me to touch him, which I was thankful for.

"So you didn't think you loved me before?"

"I knew I liked you very much, and that I wanted you to like me. I acted to you how I acted around the other girls because I really wanted to impress you. The other girls were just a game to me, a form of entertainment, but you were something more than that. I just didn't know what yet."

"That doesn't explain to me why you didn't tell me." I said, trying to comprehend what he was saying.

"I was getting to that," he explained. "So, once I realized that I loved you, I tried to convince myself that staying away from you would be the best option. When I heard that you had died, I felt like a part of me had died along with you. I also felt guilty because I thought that my charming you and being selfish by doing so may have led to your death."

"So you tried to kill yourself because you loved me, AND because you felt guilty?!" I said slowly getting louder and standing up. He had always told me that it was because he couldn't live without me. I had thought that it was probably guilt that led him to try and commit suicide, but then he told me that it was because he loved me.

"I thought that if I hadn't tried to charm you that you wouldn't have killed yourself! Even if I didn't feel guilty, I still wouldn't have been able to live without you." He tried to reach for me, but I moved away. I eventually sat back down again next to him, still keeping some distance between us.

"Okay. Keep going." I said once I was sure that I had calmed down.

"So, I felt like I couldn't live without you but I also felt a bit guilty and responsible for what I thought happened. I hadn't told you before about the other girls because I thought that you wouldn't like me if you did, and I was trying really hard to impress you. After you saved me, I was so relieved and happy, that I didn't want to drive you away from me so soon." As he spoke, he looked at me so intensely, hoping that I will believe him.

"That's when I heard about Victoria, and that she was after you, and I knew that I couldn't burden you with the news while that was happening. Then I got so caught up in trying to convince you to marry me that it slipped my mind. When you agreed to marry me, I didn't want to tell you until after the wedding because you were already stressed enough about that." He reached out to take my hand, and I reluctantly let him. He held it in his lap and rubbed soothing circles on it with his thumb.

"After the wedding, I guess that I was just trying to find the right time to tell you. I was scared of your reaction and I was too happy with how things turned out to want to risk losing that. I realized that I should have told you way before I left and just gotten it over and done with, but it was too late."

"I think I understand why you didn't tell me, but I'm curious, what exactly did you do with the other girls that you were so scared of telling me?" I turned in my seat so I was facing him more and gestured for him to explain.

"Like I said before," he explained, "it was a game for me. I would try finding a quiet or shy girl and try to get them to trust me. I would become friends with them, and then I would ask them out. If they agreed, I would take them to a restaurant or the movies. While we were there, I would tell them that if they wanted to be with me, that they needed to know what they were agreeing to. If they weren't thinking of telling anyone, I would tell them I was a vampire, if they were thinking of telling someone than I would make something up instead. I had to be careful about telling you that I was a vampire because I couldn't know for sure that you weren't going to tell anyone. I felt that I could trust you though so I did."

"What did you do after that?" I wondered what he did with those girls after he told them what he was, before he moved on to the next one.

"Well, I would just be in a relationship with them until we had to move. Then I would tell them that I wished we could stay together, but I had to leave and after that it would be like we disappeared off the face of the Earth. They would not have any reminders because I would get rid of them all. The relationship was pretty much hanging out at school and going on occasional dates. I have never done more than kiss any of them."

"What did your family think of all this?"

"Esme and Carlisle were a bit disappointed with me, but they didn't mind too much because they realized how lonely I was being the only one without a mate. Alice, Jasper and Emmett thought that it was a bit rude, but they found the reactions from the girls funny so they didn't say anything. Rosalie hated me for it. It's one of the reasons why she is so hostile to you, because she decided long ago that she found all those human girls to be very gullible and annoying.

"I really am sorry that I didn't tell you all this before.'' He said, pleading for me to forgive him.

"I appreciate you explaining all this to me, and I believe that that is what you did. But I still find it difficult completely trusting you. You kept something that huge from me all through our relationship AND for a year after we got married! And even then you didn't actually tell me." I got steadily angrier when explaining this to him, but in a calmer voice, I said, "I wouldn't have judged you too hard on what you did in the past if you had just told me. I understand that you have changed and you aren't that person anymore, but that doesn't give you the right to keep something like this from me for so long." I stood up and walked towards the door.

"Please, Bella. Forgive me!" He pleaded, coming over to me and embracing me.

I stayed in his embrace for a little while longer, before pulling away. "I just need some more time, to think about everything. Please let me go."

"As you wish," he managed to get out. He looked so heartbroken standing there before me that I couldn't resist giving him a kiss on the forehead.

"I still love you, this doesn't change that, but I just need a break. Goodbye Edward." I said before stepping outside of his room and closing the door behind me.

A.N: I hope that you guys can understand what I was trying to say. It was hard to make sure that their reactions were what I thought were true to their character. Please let me know what you think or if there are any mistakes with anything and I will change them! [Hint: I love constructive criticism ;) ]