Sun streamed through the window and awoke Bella bright and early the next morning. Edward was not beside her and for a moment Bella was relieved until she heard something stir on the other side of her room. "Did you sleep well?" Edward asked from his seat in his chair.
"Like a baby."
"Good." Though Edward was trying to act normal, Bella knew there was something up.
"Good except…" She rose from the bed and began to pick out clothes for the day.
"It's not that big of a deal, I was just wondering about something you said."
"Something I said?" Bella refused to look at him.
"In your sleep. You said 'I'm sorry Edward' and I was just wondering what it was about."
"I don't know. I don't remember any of my dreams." Bella did of course remember the dream, vividly. In it, she had finally told Edward the truth and she and Emmett had run off together. If only dreams could influence reality. "Now if you don't mind, I have to be at work in thirty minutes and my car doesn't do so well with high speeds, so I need to be out of here like now."
"I can take a hint." Gracefully, Edward stood up from the chair and crossed the room to stand behind Bella. "And there's nothing that you should be sorry about?" Bella shook her head once. "That's all the reassurance I need. Have a good day. I'll see you tonight." He kissed her on the cheek and was almost out the window when she called to him.
"Edward!" He ducked back in. "Maybe it would be best if you…if you didn't come back tonight. I haven't been sleeping all that well knowing that you're watching me."
"What happened to sleeping like a baby?" Something in his tone seemed accusing.
"I just think it would be best." He gave a nod and then jumped from her window. Bella walked to the window and watched him until he had disappeared into the forest. Then, she got ready for the day with a lot to think about.
"Bella is something up?" Mike asked her, genuinely concerned. 'Yes something's up', she wanted to scream. 'I have to choose between the affections of two vampires knowing full well that whichever one I don't choose will kill the other.'
"No nothing's wrong."
"It's just that you seem kind of out of it today. You don't seem to know what you're doing."
"It's camping stuff. I don't know what I'm doing." Mike nodded and then walked away, leaving Bella to sulk.
It had been a long day at the store filled with images of vampire slayings and attempted comfort from Mike and Bella was more than ready for bed. Without even changing clothes, Bella flung herself onto her bed and fell into a world where she and Emmett could be together with no consequences.
"Wake up! Wake up dammit! I want to know who he is!" Bella opened her eyes to see Edward right in her face. Quickly, she looked out the window. It was pitch black so it must be the middle of the night.
"What are you doing here?" Bella was still a bit groggy from sleep.
"I want to know who he is!" Edward was clearly furious.
"Who who is?"
"The guy that you're seeing."
"What are you talking about? Better question, what the hell are you doing in my house when I told you that I didn't want you here?" Bella threw her covers off and padded to the other side of the room.
"Well I came in after you fell asleep and it's a good thing too. I come in here and hear you mumbling about how sorry you are and then you said 'I'm sorry, Edward, I'm with him now'. So I'll ask you again, who is he?" This was Bella's chance to tell Edward the truth. She inhaled deeply, prepared to tell the whole story and then an image sprang to mind; Edward and Emmett fighting and then Emmett died. Bella chickened out.
"It's called a dream for a reason. It's not real."
"That's not true."
"What happened to 'that's all the reassurance I need'?"
"That went out the window when I found out you were cheating on me." Bella knew what she had to do, she walked towards Edward and put her hands in his.
"There's no one else for me." Edward pulled his hands back.
"I need some time to cool off." With one swift movement he leaped from her window and was gone.