It was only a matter of time.

Charlie would soon come to terms with the fact that he hadn't heard from his daughter since her honeymoon. Jacob would soon come looking for her, his mind set on war when he saw her as a vampire. That was to be expected, I knew, but what about when he realized that she no longer remembered him? How would Jacob or Charlie react then?

So many problems were looming ever-nearer in our future, yet all we cared about was helping Bella. My family took turns telling Bella stories about her visits to the Cullen house when she was a human, doing everything they could to jog her memories back into place. Jasper did his best to conceal her feelings from me as he knew her fear and confusion would torment me. He also did the best he could to make Bella feel as comfortable as possible, but we knew she still felt out of place.

Emmett described in detail all of the times he had beat her at video games.

Alice told vivid stories of all of their shopping trips together.

Carlisle told her about our histories again, hoping desperately that she would suddenly get a case of déjà vu and realize that she had heard all of this before.

Rose listened patiently to every story, but never offered any of her own.

"Rose, even if she miraculously does remember her past, she will never forget the present. You've more than made up for your prior behavior, I'm sure." I had tried to convince her one evening.

I know. Was her only response before she returned to thinking through the different things she could say to help Bella remember.

It was obvious after a while that none of their stories were helping. I was the only real hope left, and we all knew it. Still, she shied away from me. I had hoped that after hunting we would be past the awkward stage, but it seems that it had only been put on pause momentarily. In all of the stories from the rest of the family, it was hard to conceal that I had been her boyfriend and we had been in love. I think that that was what scared her the most. All of the little details were things that she could accept easily, but to forget so completely a love of that magnitude was not a slight detail. Jasper's momentarily unconcealed mind had shown me her true emotions. Guilt. Fear. Anxiety. Not a trace of love. Not a trace of attraction. Nothing that would help me win back my only reason to survive.

I would have to be patient. I would have to make her accept me again.

Except this time would be much more difficult than the first.

My first subtle attempt at helping her to remember happened three days after hunting. I had given her distance, letting her approach me, but to no avail. She was not unfriendly, but she did avoid any unnecessary dialogue or interaction with me. At that moment, she had been sitting patiently in the living room listening to Alice tell her about the plane ride to Italy. Just at the stories conclusion, I situated myself at the Grand Piano at the other end of the room and began to very softly play her lullaby.

Without turning around, I watched her reaction from Alice's mind. As soon as the first note captured her attention, she turned with exaggerated slowness to stare at me. Confusion and frustration swam in her deep red eyes as she watched my fingers flow with practiced precision over the ivory keys. She watched patiently until I concluded the song. I stood up to leave, but her voice stopped me.

"Edward?"

Yes.

My mind raced through the most optimistic conclusions I could imagine. I had a fleeting vision from my own mind of me turning to respond and find her flying across the room and into my arms as the memories suddenly flooded through the gap that the notes had torn in her mental barrier. My dead heart flew at the sound of her speaking my name and I turned, maybe a little too anxiously to reply.

"Yes?"

… a pause. Then, "That was really pretty."

A compliment had never cut so deep. I fought to keep the disappointment and pain off of my face as I thanked her as kindly as I could and hurried out of the room.

Carlisle clapped me gently on the back as I passed him in a futile recognition of my attempt. His eyes were sad and his thoughts were sympathetic as he watched me battle my emotions and flee from the watchful eyes of my family. It was much easier to think in the cool afternoon air. It was overcast, of course, but the air wasn't as muggy as it normally was. I breathed a deep, unneeded breath and began to wander aimlessly through the yard until I found myself sitting near the creek on the old wooden porch swing that had been here decades ago.

Bella and I used to sit here all the time.

I sucked in another deep breath and forced myself to keep it together. I had to resist so much lately. I resisted my longing to touch Bella every moment of the day. I resisted the urges to break things and scream in frustration. I resisted yelling at Alice for not being able to see anything regarding Bella clearly. I resisted yelling at Jasper and Rosalie, whose thoughts made it quite clear that they had no faith that Bella's memory would ever return.

Instead of acting on my rash impulses, I just sat there. I let the grief and pain wash out of me in thick waves, glad that Jasper was away hunting at the moment.

I missed Bella. I missed holding her, touching her, kissing her.

"Do you mind if I join you?"

Her voice startled me. I had been so wrapped up in thinking about her, I hadn't even notice her approach.

"Umm, sure, that's… fine." I stammered, immediately ashamed of how badly my vocabulary suffered around her.

Why was I so nervous?

She took a seat on the swing beside me, careful to maintain at least a foot of distance at all times.

I felt her eyes on me, but I didn't return the gaze. I stared forward into the steady current of the creek taking more deep breaths, soaking in as much of her scent as I could. When I finally did turn to look at her, she was not looking at me. Instead, her gaze lingered just past me, heavy lines creased her forehead in a sign of frustration and concentration. I followed her gaze and turned my head to the right.

Oh.

There, carved into the wood of the swing were the words…

I am nothing without you.
Bella & Edward,
May 1st

I had forgotten about that night.

"It was right after Prom." I supplied, turning back to face her.

She started as if she had been too lost in her thoughts to remember my presence and then nodded for me to continue.

"I wanted to bring you back to your house, but you didn't want me to…

The moonlight was perfect that night. I will never forget the way it glinted off of Bella's perfect hair and skin, radiating her beauty like a thousand fireflies. Her hair was loose from the pinned up curls that Alice had spent so much time on and a few stray strands of hair hung around her cheeks, accentuating the brown of her eyes intensely. Her cheeks were flushed and her hand clung to mine contentedly as I helped her out of the car. I began to lead her towards the house, but she smiled and shook her head. I smiled back as she slipped off her shoe and tossed it to the side before clumsily prancing across the yard, inviting me to follow her. I laughed and darted after her, sweeping her into my arms and spinning her in circles for a moment before pressing my lips to hers gently. Before I could stop, Bella's arms weaved up over my shoulders and her fingers laced into my hair, securing my face to hers. I let the kiss escalate as much as I could before I had to stop. Before she could complain, I spun her again and lifted her legs, one of them in a bulky cast, cradling her to my chest. She sighed, exhaling her sweet perfume into the atmosphere and making my head spin with desire.

"I love you." I whispered as I sat down on the old wooden swing, still cradling her body to mine.

"Promise?" She whispered back.

"I promise." I responded with a grin.

"I love you too." She said gently, "Forever and ever."

…Then I found a sharp rock and carved that into the wood. By the time I was done, you were fast asleep on my lap." I concluded with a shrug, looking back up at her.

She had pulled her knees up to her chest at some interval during my story and was now staring at me through her long eyelashes with her cheek resting on her knees. She was biting her bottom lip again, a dead giveaway that she was deep in thought.

No flash of intuition told me that she had remembered any of my story, she just stared aimlessly at the wood with frustration creasing her forehead.

"I want so badly to remember." She whispered. "It must be so terrible for you…"

I couldn't think of any words to respond with, so I just nodded stupidly.

"I'm sorry. You really did love me, didn't you…"

"I still love you, Bella. I always will." I regretted the proclamation as soon as I said it. I didn't consider how odd it must be to have a near-stranger tell you how much they love you. None of this could be very easy for her.

She blinked and looked down again. "I'm sorry." She repeated.

"No, don't apologize… least of all for that." I whispered.

I stared at her troubled expression for another long moment, resisting again the urge to lift her chin and wash away the hurt with my affection. It was so hard not show her, let alone tell her, how much I loved her.

Edward, where's Bella?

"Alice is looking for you." I sighed.

"Oh." Her eyes widened, "That's right… I'm going hunting with her." She stood up and began to walk away before stopping and turning back to me. "Do you want to come?"

I did want to go, but I didn't want to intrude. I needed some time to come up with other ways to remind her of how much she used to love me.

"No thank you, I'll go with Carlisle later."

"Oh, okay." She started to turn again, but turned back after a moment of hesitation.

"Edward?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you… for being so nice about all of this.." She gestured aimlessly with her hand.

"Of course." I nodded.

She chanced a quick smile at me before sprinting with uncharacteristic grace across the yard towards the house.

Her smile left me disoriented for a moment. My vision clouded and I shook my head to get my thoughts back in order. Her beauty and perfection stunned me and left me craving more of her company.

I chuckled as I encountered a whirlwind of memories, headed with the evening that I rescued Bella in Port Angeles.

"You really shouldn't do that to people," She criticized lightly, "It's hardly fair."

"Do what?" I frowned.

"Dazzle them like that - she's probably hyperventilating in the kitchen right now." She smiled, gesturing towards the direction our waitress had just exited.

I raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Oh come on," She groaned, "You have to know the effect you have on people."

I tilted my head to the side, smirking at her lightly. "I dazzle people?"

"You haven't noticed?" She raised her eyebrows in disbelief, "Do you think everybody gets their way so easily?"

I ignored her question, my curiosity getting the better of me. "Do I dazzle you?"

"Frequently." She admitted without hesitation.

How ironic. Now it was Bella who unknowingly dazzled me.

As if this situation wasn't hard enough already.

Despite the deep ache in my chest that the memory had caused, I couldn't help but smile at the human Bella that I had spent so many hours trying to comprehend.

God, I love her.

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