A/N: Hiya, awesome peeps! How's life treating you? I've got a LONG chappie here for you. So … check your seatbelts and we're a go! ;)


Chapter-7: Crazy, Stupid Love


After having seen to it that the little boy they had found in the ruins, Habib, is taken cared of and that Eleazar wasn't going to chew her head off for breaking ranks, I approached the tent assigned to our guest of honor, aka, Isabella Swan.

I raised my hand to knock but stopped midway when a memory from long ago rose to the surface of my mind.


Stepping on the brakes of my shiny red Ferrari, I jumped out of the car. The sight of a U-Haul stacked with boxes made me frown.

Bella didn't say she was to have visitors, I thought, wondering who might be visiting her mom as I approached the front porch.

I didn't have to wonder for long though. The moment I saw Bella hugging her mother, Reneé, tightly as the older woman cried earnestly, I just knew.

I knew that I was late … that our fight a few days back had not been a silly nightmare like I had hoped.

In the past few days Bella hadn't spoken to me, I had told myself that everything will be fine; that once her anger cooled down, my Bella will be back in my arms again.

Apparently, I had been dead wrong.

"Bella?" I asked. "What's this?"

At the sound of my voice, she let go of her mother and looked at me. The utter dejection in her eyes made me reach out for her. But she stepped away.

"Bella?"

She lifted a hand to wipe away the tears that had been ceaselessly trailing down her cheeks. Moving away from her mother, she approached me cautiously. "I am leaving, Edward."

Four words.

Four simple words was what brought my world crashing down.

"What?" I asked when I could speak again. "That doesn't make any sense."

"I took the job, Edward. I'm going to Seattle," she answered as if each word she spoke wasn't landing another blow on our suddenly very fragile relationship. "Once I settle in, I'll bring mom to me. So I guess this is goodbye."

"Goodbye?" I repeated dumbly. For a moment, I didn't speak and then, my anger exploded within myself. "Are you out of your fucking mind, Bella? What the hell do you think you're doing?"

She held up a hand as if to calm me down. "I'm pursuing my dreams," she answered. "Like I already told you."

"And what of us? Our dreams?" I challenged. "Or have you decided to throw them away just for your career? You say you love me, but look how easily you're leaving me!"

Suddenly, I felt like a little boy who had just lost his favorite toy.

Tears welled up in her eyes again. "I wanted you to come with me. I knew you could've found a good job there, but you didn't want to. You didn't want to leave the comfortable life at home to dream with me, Edward. All you wanted was to stay sheltered under your father's wings. I do love you … I'll always love you. And even though I love you, I can't be with someone who doesn't respect himself enough to want to be his own person. I want to fly, Edward, and I need someone who dares to fly with me."

She stepped forward to place a kiss on my cheek and then walked away to where Reneé stood, leaving me with a bleeding heart.


Anger, hurt and loss hit me anew as I forced the memory of the darkest moment of my life away from my mind. I started to turn away from her door, thinking she would want to be alone when a sniffle sounded from within.

The idea of Bella ... my Bella … crying made all those old hurt and insecurities go away in a flash, and before I knew it, I was knocking on her door. The door opened immediately to reveal an obviously crying Bella with red-rimmed eyes.

Reflexively, I held out my arms only to have her throw herself in them with her face hidden in my chest.

Her hands held me clutched to her as she cried in my arms; the sound of her sobs twisting my heart painfully. Placing a hand to cup her head, I asked softly, "Bella? What is it?"

She moved away to look into my eyes then. "That place ..." she said in between hiccups. "And that little boy ..."

I moved my hand to hold her cheek. "He's safe now. He's with Seth. He's eaten and the last time I checked, he was sleeping soundly," I tried to assure her.

"And what about you?"

Her question made me frown. "What about me?"

She reached behind me to grab the nape of my neck. "How can you stand it? I can't imagine my sweet boy in the middle of this bloodbath."

A sardonic laugh left me. "Is that concern I detect, Miss Swan? Don't worry about me. The boy you're talking about doesn't exist anymore."

I stepped back from her, wanting to get away from her before her tears brought me to my knees like they always did.

Apparently, she wasn't having any of that. "I don't believe that," she said, stepping forward to match my movement. "No matter how much of a hardened marine you pose as, you still are my Edward."

"No, I'm not ..." the words got stopped in my throat when I felt her lips on mine.

"Kiss me," she murmured against my shocked lips. "Kiss me, damn it!"

Her hands moved to tug on my hair, driving me crazy like they used to and making me snap out of it. As if out of their own volition, my hands went to her hips, pressing her body to mine as I kissed her hard.

The moment her fingers reached for my shirt, I stiffened, but she wrapped an arm around my waist then. "Don't stop, please," she whimpered. "Please, Edward ..."

I didn't. I let her pull off my shirt and then cupped her face in my hand. "Are you sure?" I asked, needing her answer before I went off the deep end.

"Yes," she breathed. "I love you, please. I've always loved you."

That was all it took for my control to snap. After making sure the entrance to her tent was secured, I pretty much attacked her. My hands seemed to have a mind of their own as they pulled and pushed at her clothes, needing to feel her skin on mine.

Bella wasn't helping the situation either. She grabbed my hand and pulled me with her to the bed sitting there looking very inviting all of a sudden.

The moment our skins touched, it felt like the smoldering embers of our feelings had been set on fire and we were both burning in that fiery passion.


A/N: So … thoughts?

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Thanks for reading.

Ohh and I'm donating the first eight chapters of my new flashfic, Escape My Love, to the Fandom Against Domestic Violence. I'd love for you to donate to this timeworthy initiative, if you can. The link for donating is here:

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See you later.

Stay safe.

Love,

Ann