Mending Hearts

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Dedication:
This chapter goes out to my family who won't ever (hopefully) leave me. Also, because they're letting me go to SSIF.

Chapter 10: Ultimatum

I didn't understand Edward's behaviour for the rest of the week. He alternated between really friendly, and incredibly distant. And his face always looked as if he was struggling with something, like there was something he wanted to say. I was extremely curious, but I knew Edward, and I knew he wouldn't say what was on his mind until he felt he was ready.

I also felt the strangest sense of déjà vu that took me a while to place. I finally remembered with a pang of unease—this was almost exactly how he was acting before he left Bella in New Moon. Did that mean he was going to leave me?

I took a deep breath. Bella didn't know it was coming, so she couldn't prepare for it. I could. So in response to his strange behaviour, I spent my newfound time avoiding Edward with my friends. I didn't walk with Edward very much; instead I visited my friends who took the bus. I talked with them more, and on Thursday I even ate lunch with them instead of Edward.

It was harder than it seems. I missed Edward every second, and his face was always in my mind; secretly though. I made sure to block myself so Edward couldn't read my mind. I thought about the rest of the Cullens too. I was really going to miss Alice and Rosalie.

If Edward was hurt by my exclusion of him, he didn't show it. I tried to not feel bad for him. After all, he was the one who was going to leave, and I was trying to build a life for myself for after he was gone.

Friday rolled around, and I didn't have plans. Becca had cancelled on me last minute, and so I had to walk home. I don't know how Edward found out so quickly, but he was waiting for me at my locker after school. We didn't speak as I gathered my books and left the school. He took my books from my arms then, and I stared determinedly at my shoes. The silence didn't feel comfortable, as our rare silences usually were. This one felt awkward and tense. I knew it was today. Today he would leave, and I was hoping I was ready.

"Erika," he said when we reached my house. I braced myself as he continued, "can I come over later?"

I wasn't sure if I wanted to say yes or no, so I stayed silent.

"Erika, we need to talk."

My mouth stayed shut, but inside I was scared, terrified. All I could hear in my blocked mind was, He's leaving, he's leaving, he's leaving. I think my mind might have been in shock, the full realization having just hit me. He's leaving.

"Please?" A final plea from the figure in front of me, I almost didn't notice.

I took a breath and whispered, "When?" It seemed a whisper was all I could manage.

"Later, after your parents are asleep. I don't think they should hear our conversation. It might mention something weird, like vampires." He was trying to be funny, but his voice was tense.

After a long moment watching his face grow more and more agitated, I nodded. "I'll leave the window open." I said, knowing his favourite way of entering houses.

* * *

The night was warm, and a gentle breeze was blowing through my window. I had pretended to get changed into my pyjamas for my parents, but as soon as they were asleep I changed back into daytime clothes. When I first planned on getting changed, I thought I would slip back into the same clothes I was wearing earlier, but a glance at my closet told me otherwise. There were shirts and skirts there from Alice that I hadn't worn yet, and might never, considering how many of them were inappropriate for school.

I chose a skirt that fell to just above my knees, glad that I had shaved that morning. It was black with a white lace trim at the bottom, and was fitted at the waist but flared out after that. On the right side in the front was a beautiful picture of the Eiffel tower. A plant stem covered in leaves circled the tower. The entire picture was white, like it like it was lit up against a night sky.

My shirt was a soft white, with the same pattern of leaves twisting over it, this time in a black colour. The vine meandered up my stomach and looped around my back before tracing the v-cut neckline above my chest and then disappearing. It was fitted to show off my waist, and the neck was cut low. I decided that it would look silly to have that much exposed at the neck without a necklace to accent it. I found another new necklace she bought me—a black butterfly with white speckles, about the size of the palm of my hand, with a black and white ribbon threaded through one of the wings. I had earrings to match, each with their own miniature butterfly, and put them on.

I was having fun now, so I decided to put on some makeup, just a bit; a little mascara, a little blush, checking my foundation and cover-up. I looked in the mirror attached to the back of my door, and liked what I saw. I didn't look half bad. I probably could wear this to school, though I would be terrified of spilling something on it.

I heard a quiet scrape behind me and whirled. Edward was sitting on my bed, having just put the screen back in my window and closing it. I walked out of my doorway, watching as a strange expression crossed Edward's face. It was gone before I could identify it, but it seemed… admiring? I sat carefully on the edge of the bed, not sure what to do. What were you supposed to do when your best friend… your crush, was going to leave you?

He was leaning against the pillows by my headboard. He scooted over to make room for me, and I slid in next to him. We stared across the room for a few moments. I felt uncomfortable sitting next to him right now; it was like he was a stranger. I wanted to move.

I heard him take a breath, but I didn't look at him, instead I looked down and played with the trim of my skirt. I couldn't see the way he was watching me play with the little ruffle, and how much of my legs were exposed, and the way the leaves travelled up my shirt.

"Erika, we need to talk."

"I know. You said that already." I said. It felt like I was choking, a lump in my throat. I tried to swallow, but it didn't work. I resorted to taking deeper breaths.

"We need to talk about… us."

I took another deep breath instead of answering.

He seemed to notice my strange behaviour then, and asked curiously, "Are you okay?"

I lost it then. "Why on earth would I be okay, Edward?" I shot out, working to keep my voice quiet so my parents wouldn't wake up. I was looking at his face now, so I saw the bewilderment on his face.

"What do you mean?"

I took another deep breath, the anger leaving me. My voice sounded almost dead when I responded.

"Because you're going to… to," another breath, "you're going to leave."

He simply stared for a moment, and to my absolute horror, I felt my eyes starting to water. I looked down, trying to get a grip on myself.

Edward's hand reached over, and he used one of his fingers to lift my chin so I would look at him. I knew I couldn't fight, so I simply tried to not fall into his golden eyes like I knew I wanted to.

"Erika, Erika, I'm not leaving you!" His voice was disbelieving, like he couldn't figure out how I came to that conclusion.

I almost felt mean for bringing her up, but I did anyway. "You were acting just like you did before you left Bella."

"Is that why you've been avoiding me all week?"

"If you're going to leave, I want some other friends to fall back on. I'm not going to end up like her."

My mentions of Bella didn't even make him flinch. "Erika, you're not listening. I'm not going to leave you, ever." I tried looking away from him, wishing that tears weren't spilling down my cheeks. He didn't let me look away, instead moving his hand so it rested against the side of my face and leaning closer. I could smell his breath, like a summer day.

"Erika, I love you."

Every single thought in my head stopped for a few moments. A resounding negative started to build in my brain, before bursting out of me.

"No!" I protested, moving away from him, and this time he let me. "It's not supposed to be like this! Bella! Bella is who you belong with. She's your true love. I can't ever replace that! I don't want to!"

"You're not replacing Bella, Erika." Edward said, his eyes blazing intensely.

"This can't happen. She was your true love, the other have of the puzzle. You can't love me when she was made for you!"

He sighed patiently. "You want to use a puzzle analogy? Fine. "He looked deep into my eyes, and I couldn't think, let alone look away.

"Bella was the other half of my puzzle, a perfect match. It's true that nobody on earth now, or whoever has existed in the past, or who will be born in the future will ever fit me as well as she did. But when she died, part of me died with her. Parts of me broke off and were lost with her. The edges of my puzzle are jagged now.

"But then you came, and the strangest thing happened. I felt more content, happier, when I was around you. I… I fell in love, which I thought was impossible. I couldn't be in love like this, not after Bella broke me. I was incomplete forever.

"Erika, the edges of my puzzle changed their shape when Bella died, and now you fit it. There will always be holes, and jagged edges that will never be filled, but you are my other half now. I became a new person, a new shape when Bella died, and she can no longer be my true love. Only you complete me now. Only you, Erika.

"The words aren't near… powerful enough to describe how I feel about you, but they're the only words in my head right now." He paused in his speech for a moment to look into my eyes again. Sometime during this speech I had looked down, but I looked up now, and held his gaze, his eyes deeper than an ocean.

"I love you, Erika. You and only you. Forever."

My breath was caught, and I fought to breathe. I pulled away, not yet sure how to respond.

"I don't know, Edward…" It would be a huge step to take, to accept his affections and relinquish my ideals of him and Bella. I didn't know what to think.

"It's okay. I wanted to make sure you knew how I felt. We can go on as we usually do, of course, if you don't… agree. I will always be here for you though, if you change your mind." He said, and I looked up, I caught the look that crossed his face this time. It was pain, and worry, and anguish mixed into one.

I knew he would always be near me, because he truly loved me, and no matter how much I hurt him, he would stay. He didn't like the thought of it, a rejection, but he was ready for one. His face had relaxed, and he had resigned himself to his fate, but I could still see the pain in his eyes.

He loved me. That thought kept on creeping back up into my brain. He loved me. I loved him too, I had always known that. I loved him and he loved me. Why was I hesitating? My rejection was causing him pain. I couldn't think of a good enough excuse. I couldn't think much of anything.

Then something clicked. I loved him and he loved me, and there was no problem with us being together. And my indecision, and the possibility of my rejection was causing him pain. Pain I had worked so hard to erase. What was I doing?

I didn't say anything; I just leaned over a little bit, towards him. He leaned in eagerly, his lips meeting mine, and any trace of doubts I might have had vanished. It seemed so right, so perfect, just like this. Like the world had stopped turning, time had stopped passing, and it was only me and Edward.

He rolled over so he was hovering over me, his lips never leaving mine. My arms went around his neck and his held me close to him at my waist. I could feel his cool touch on my waist, and I shivered in delight. His lips pulled back a moment, but I whispered, "No," and brought my lips back to his.

I don't know how long we kissed, though it felt like hundreds of years and five minutes all rolled into one. I felt his hands tracing over my body, down my spine, following the leaves on my shirt, while I traced the muscles on his chest, feeling his cool skin against my fingers.

He moved his lips across my chin to my ear, and then down to my neck. I moaned in pleasure as his lips traced back up to mine, noticing that my shirt had pulled up a little in our movement and now his hands were directly on my skin of my waist. He moved them along my stomach and I gasped. He smiled and started kissing my neck again, letting me catch my breath. I noticed his hands started tracing along my legs, very near to the hem of my skirt. I could feel one of his hands rest on my thigh, and the other on my back.

Suddenly he rolled over, using my leg to pull me with him. I was lying on top of him, and we were staring into each other's eyes, both our breathing erratic.

"That was different than I expected." I finally managed to gasp, and he chuckled.

"What did you expect?"

"Well, I figured you would pull away quickly, thinking we had risked my life too much or something, like you did with Bella." It seemed to be okay to say her name now. "That was…" I was at a loss for words to describe what just happened. My brain still felt like mush, and I was surprised that I was forming coherent sentences.

He laughed again. "I'm not sure I expected that either."

"You're okay though, right?" I said, not wanting him to die at his hands in a moment of weakness.

"No, I'm fine. It's different with you." He saw the confusion on my face. "First of all, and most importantly, your blood isn't potent like Bella's was. Second, I'm not new to this. I know what my limits are, and how much I can take. I also know how fragile humans are… even more now," he added, and I'm pretty sure he was thinking of an accident that happened long ago. "So I know how much you can take."

I smiled. "I'm not complaining." I said, and we both laughed, and our lips met again.

I'm not sure how much sleep I got that night. When I finally did drift off, it was in Edward's arms, and my dreams were filled with him, memories mostly. Dancing in my green dress, watching him watching me. Sitting in the tree, watching the sunset, his arm around me. The first time he ate lunch with me, how he leaned his face close to reassure me, and how his breath smelled wonderful. All the times in between, when I would catch him staring at me, and wondered why.

He was gone when I woke up, but there was a note on my bedside table.

I didn't think you'd want your parents finding me here. I'll pick you up later today; I have a surprise for you. I love you.

The three little words at the end of the note made my heart thump erratically in my chest. I was glad I usually sleep late, because it meant that I wouldn't have to wait long to see him again.

I passed about an hour slowly eating breakfast. Shockingly, someone in my house had gone shopping and there were bagels. I spread some cream cheese on one and took it over to the table. Our kitchen table was in front of a window, and I watched the cars going by as I ate. I lived downtown, and I could see the road from my house. Afterwards, to waste more time, I washed the dishes I used and wiped the crumbs off the counter.

It took me another little while to decide what to wear. I finally decided on white jeans and a forest green halter that Alice had bought for me. I wore my gold hoops today. They had little charms hanging off them, and I always got a lot of compliments when I wore them.

I didn't quite know how late he was going to come, so I decided to do something with my hair. I found some pretty butterfly-shaped clips for my hair, and I pinned it back from my face. I took extra care with my makeup; I had just finished applying the last of my mascara when I heard a knock at the door. I ran downstairs as fast as I could, nearly tripping over the shoes by the door. It was Edward of course, and as soon as he saw me he kissed my forehead.

"Ready to go?" he asked me.

"Yep! I just have to put my shoes on."

It was quiet in the car, but it was a comfortable silence. We were both smiling and we kept sneaking little glances at each other. I still couldn't believe that he wanted me. I couldn't imagine how I was different from any other girl.

"Do I get to know what the surprise is?" I asked him after a little bit.

He laughed, "It wouldn't be a surprise then!"

"So?" I said, but I knew he wouldn't tell me.

"We're almost there, just 5 more minutes," he said, still chuckling.

"Oh-kay…" I said, trying to sound dejected. I'm pretty sure the smile of my face gave me away though.

When we got to the house, Edward hurried me inside. He looked like he was trying to avoid someone, and as he walked into the house I could see why. The minute I walked inside I was intercepted by his family.

"I told you so, Erika! I told you!" Alice was exclaiming as she hugged me. I could see Esme and Carlisle across the room, smiling so wide I'm surprised their faces didn't split in half.

"You know, Erika, I have the perfect nail polish to go with that halter. I bet Edward would love it!" Rose said, also smiling. They were all smiling, even Jasper. That could be because everyone was happy though, and he was enjoying the emotional climate.

I could hear Emmett in the background, singing, "Edward and Erika, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I—hey!" and then a thud as the singing cut off, like something was thrown at him.

Edward managed to keep a hold of me, just barely. Alice and Rose were both trying to get him to let go so they could steal me away for some sort of beautification plot. I'm not actually sure how we escaped them, but I might have made promises I'll regret later. Like another shopping trip with Alice.

We ran up the stairs in our escape, and ended up at Edward's bedroom door.

"Well, that wasn't scary at all," I said sarcastically.

"Sorry," Edward sounded a bit sheepish. "There was really no way to avoid that. Anyway, your surprise is just behind this door."

"In your room?"

"I do believe that is what's behind this door."

I rolled my eyes, pushed the door open, and walked in. I had to stop in shock a few steps in though. His room seemed completely different than the last time I saw it.

"What happened?" I asked, still staring around the room in wonderment.

"You don't like it?" Edward asked, his voice worried. He closed the door behind us. It was likely an attempt to stop his family from listening in.

"No, I love it!" I said quickly, reassuring him. "Just… why?"

Edward pulled me over to the bed and took my hands in his. Leaning in, he whispered in my ear, "I told you, Erika. Bella… isn't for me anymore. Now it's you. It would be wrong to try to hold onto something that isn't there anymore."

Edward had painted his room, and now it matched my shirt. It was a forest green, with silver accents. The comforter on the bed had silver stitching. It was completely different from the light blue and white motif.

"Why green and silver?" I asked, though I was pretty sure I knew the answer.

"Last weekend, when we were dancing, your dress was green, and you jewellery was silver. You were stunning. That was the night I discovered that I loved you. Before that I was… confused still. Dancing with you that night though, that made the decision. I knew then that I couldn't live without you."

I could feel my eyes misting up a little. Sometimes, those kinds of speeches would sound corny in real life. Edward though, he made it sound so magnificent, poetic. I leaned over and gave him a soft kiss on the lips.

"It's beautiful. Thank you." I whispered, and kissed him again. This kiss lasted longer, but it stayed sweet, not bursting with the passion of the night before.

Suddenly I heard a thump from downstairs, and Emmett yelled, "Stop it Jasper!"

"It's not my fault they're so in love and everything, "Jasper said, faking innocence. I broke away from Edward, wondering what they were talking about. I noticed Edward was trying to suppress laughter.

"You're the one spreading it around!" Emmett shouted back at Jasper.

I glanced at Edward curiously, and he chuckled, "Jasper decided that Emmett had lost that loving feeling, so he decided to give some to him. Rose isn't really in the mood though…"

"I can't help it!" Jasper said, unconvincingly. "It's their fault!"

"Jasper!" Emmett yelled. "Edward, stop making out with your girlfriend! Jasper won't leave me alone!"

I frowned in the direction of Edward's door. "Go away then," I muttered, and turned back to Edward. I ignored the ensuing crashes from downstairs.

Eventually, Emmett decided to haul us out of the house himself, so Edward figured it would be a good time to leave. He carried me to our tree, and we stared out at the sky again, kissing every few minutes.

We decided to take it slower than we had last night. At the time, it was amazing, but it was still kind of freaky. I had never been in a relationship like this before, and I didn't want to mess it up. Passion can't be the only thing in a relationship.

If I was in a book, this would be the greatest part, maybe the climax. I was incredibly happy, and I thought nothing could go wrong. It was only Edward and I again. I wished time would stop, so I could stay like this forever.

If I was in a book, something bad would happen to me soon. After the big part when the guy and the girl get together, there's always some kind of drama to test their love; some obstacle to overcome, which can determine love or hate, together or apart, life… or death.

It's a good thing I'm not in a book.

Fun ending!

I can't believe I'm posting chapter 10 already! It seems only so recently that I posted my first chapter. It even feels like I just had the dream yesterday, even though it was months ago. Like, last year, in October! Time really flies.

Actually, the part of this chapter from when Edward first says 'I love you' to the part where he says he loves me forever I had written down on a scrap of paper late one night. I still have it. There's a date on the paper, so I know it's from November. That part didn't change much at all. It's amazing to see what I wrote in the middle of the night half a year ago show up online, and have people read it. I never knew I'd get this far.

I certainly didn't expect the support of so many fans! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, and to everyone who will in the future!

Thank you Little Annie for pointing out a typo on the last chapter. Last posting will be on Saturday, June 20th.

Make sure to check out my profile for a dramatic sneak preview!

Stay Vamptastic!
~Moql