Chapter Ten

"Tell me how it happened."

Alice picked me up just after lunchtime and brought me to the Cullen's. I had wanted to bring the Chevy, but she wouldn't let me.

"I'm not entirely sure," he replies. He was awake when I arrived but still in pyjamas. I found myself laughing at the thought of Edward sleeping.

"Well." I think of a new question. "Why did you leave my bedroom that night?"

We are sitting on his newly installed bed. It looks a little cramped in his room, but I guess it is out necessity now rather than design.

"I needed to hunt," he tells me, and I nod. It makes sense. He had starved himself in Volterra to make himself weak, and he had still been recovering.

He falls silent, and I realise he plans on saying nothing else.

"Go on."

"I was in the woods, and I met someone."

"Who?"

"A woman."

"Human or vampire?"

"Vampire. She told me she could give me what I wanted if I went with her."

I bite my lip.

"You ran off with some woman in the night? That's why you left?" I ask. I feel rage bubble in my stomach.

"I didn't run off with her," Edward begins.

"You so did!" I get up from the bed and walk away from him.

"Bella, you're being ridiculous," he scoffs as he starts to follow me across the room. I turn to face him sharply.

"I don't think I am. You tell me you left me because a mysterious woman promised you something you really wanted. What am I supposed to think?" I ask.

"Why don't you trust me?" He shakes his head, irritated now.

"You walked out on me." I emphasise each word, wondering why he can't understand what is so wrong with this.

"I never wanted to. I always planned on coming back," he replies softly. I laugh in his face.

"There was really no need- don't feel obliged to stay with me. You can run off with your lady of the night if you would like."

I am being spiteful, but I don't care. I hurt.

"I would never be unfaithful to you," he admonishes me. I can see I have offended him, but I am so angry I find I can't regret what I said.

"How would she know what you want anyway?" I ask sulkily.

He rushes over to me in his clunky, human way and presses a warm hand to my cheek.

"I told her," he murmurs. I step back from him and raise an eyebrow. "I told her I wanted to spend the rest of your life with you as the lover you deserve."

"And then?" I try to ignore the prick in my eyes.

"She turned me back." He shrugs.

"But how?"

"I don't know!" He shrugs and shakes his head. "I'm sorry- I just want to love you like I did before. It will always be you, Bella- always."

He steps forward and lifts my chin with his fingers to kiss me gently. It's weird. His lips are hot and yielding- so far removed from the marble I loved. Yet it's still Edward's kiss, and my heart still skips a beat.

He wants to be mortal. I assume that is what he's saying. He changed for me, so I wouldn't have to die for him. I break our kiss. I see a great injustice in this.

We are meant to be a team- him and me, together forever –and yet he didn't talk to me first. What did that say about us?

What about me too? What if I wanted to die for him? I wanted to be a vampire so much, and now I couldn't. It was unfair and unjust.

I second guess myself. Is this really about being immortal? Had it always been?

I steal a quick breath trying to banish my thoughts. I look up to his eyes and feel a tug in my heart, and for one horrifying second the question I never thought I would think runs through my head.

What if my love for Edward isn't enough?

A/N: This chapter was quite wordy, wasn't it? What do you think?