A/N: Thank you for everyone who has messaged me- I really appreciate your feedback!

This chapter is quite short- just a warning ;)


Chapter Three

Alice is uncharacteristically quiet on the way to the Cullen house. It makes me uneasy.

When we pull up to the house, Carlisle is standing outside to greet us.

"Bella." He smiles as we walk over to him.

"Hi." I try to return his smile. I think it comes out a bit crazed. I feel a little peculiar, as though I've lost touch with the world somehow. I'm numb in a totally new way than I have been for the last few months.

Carlisle leads the two of us inside, and I realise how quiet it is. There is normally someone around to say hello to or talk to, but the Cullen house is oddly deserted.

Carlisle notices me glancing around.

"They're upstairs," he tells me.

"Right."

Suddenly, I'm itching to climb the stairs and seek him out. Carlisle senses it too.

"We should talk," he murmurs lowly, and I feel Alice slip her cold hand in mine. Before I can protest, I am being escorted into the living room and sat on the sofa. Alice sits besides me, still holding my hand, while Carlisle paces.

"Edward has changed while he's been away," he begins, and Alice squeezes my fingers gently. "They are, predominantly, physical changes, and, as of yet, I have no idea how to solve them."

As I begin to wonder what Carlisle could possibly mean, there is a loud bang from upstairs. In any other house this would be normal. In a house full of vampires it is virtually unheard of.

"What was that?" I ask, interrupting Carlisle.

"That was-" A series of bumps sound upstairs. "-Edward."

I swivel my head to face Carlisle. Surely, I must have heard him wrong.

Then, from somewhere in the house, I hear him. It's not the same as before- his voice seems lower and not as musical, but I know deep in my bones it's him.

"Bella?"


A/N: Thanks for reading!