I own nothing at all. Its all belongs to S Meyer.

This chapter and the next will be in Edwards point of view, hope you like it. Please review x x x

Chapter Ten: Coming Home (Edwards POV)

Three years had passed. Three long, torturous, years, since the day I had left my very reason for living. It had almost destroyed me to leave her. The only thing that kept me going was the knowledge that she would be better of without me, safer. I had left to protect her from myself, from the inherent danger of the world I belonged to. I had spent the past three years thinking of her, remembering every word she had said to me, every look she had given. Playing my memories over and over in my head, I was fighting everyday to stop myself from running back to her. But it was a losing battle.

Everyday I inched closer to her. I had roamed across the Americas, had gone as far as Japan. When I left I had decided to track down Victoria and make her pay for her part in hurting my Bella. I had chased Victoria half way across the world, but had lost her trail in Europe. I was no tracker and after accepting the trail had gone cold I travelled to Canada. I could feel the pull of Forks as though I were being physically dragged towards it. I had confined myself to a Log Cabin as far north as possible, desperately trying to convince myself to stay away. But I knew I could be in Forks again in a matter of hours and I knew I couldn't fight it any longer. So I decided to head for home.

For the first time in months I had turned on my phone and was shocked to see dozens of missed calls from Alice. I never had a missed call from Alice, she would always know when my phone was on and whether or not I would answer her call. I had felt an unease settle on me, she must have been extremely frustrated to have called my phone so many times, knowing I would not answer.

Barely a second later my phone had buzzed. I had looked at the caller ID, already knowing who it would be. Alice.

"Alice?" I had answered.

"EDWARD! I have been trying to get hold of you for weeks!" Alice had practically yelled at me down the phone. Before she could say another word I saw the reasons she was calling. I saw the visions she had of Bella. My beautiful Bella. I was frozen as I watched.

I saw Bella and felt a jolt of pain at seeing her face through Alice's mind, but I drank in the images of her. The vision shifted and I watched as she walked alone down a deserted street. I felt a knot growing in my stomach as the vision showed someone following her. The vision shifted and blurred as sickening fear gripped me. When the image cleared I saw Bella crumpled on the concrete of a parking lot her lips were blue and her blood stained her torn clothes a dark crimson. I saw the human monster stand up away from Bella's lifeless body, he was buttoning up his trousers a malicious smile on his lips. Rage filled me then and I growled aloud in fury and pain. I would hunt the bastard down and I would tear him apart slowly.

I remembered the missed phone calls and terror gripped me, what if... had this already happened? I fell to my knees as the world started to fall apart, the thought I was too late, the thought she was dead. Gone. I couldn't even begin to describe my desolation.

"Is she... Alice... is. Has...oh god" I tried to speak but I couldn't stop the image of her lying dead from replaying in my head, the thought made me incoherent.

"Edward she's ok" Alice's gentle voice soothed "as soon as I had the first vision we all moved back to Forks. Emmett and I have been watching her. Jasper stay's away, he is so afraid he could hurt her. Carlisle and Esme take over when we need to hunt. Rose even helps keep an eye out. But the visions haven't stopped Edward and I'm so afraid for her" Alice whispered those last few words, her voice breaking into a sob.

"I'm coming home." I had told her then. I hung up and shoved my phone into my pocket. I left my car knowing I could run to Forks faster than I could drive the distance.

I ran as fast as I could and made it to Forks in just few hours. Alice was waiting outside the house for me. I knew they were all there. I heard their thoughts.

'Oh! my Edward, you look terrible... I...' was Alice's first thought when she saw me. I could see myself through her eyes. My eyes were black and the shadows under them were almost as dark. I hadn't fed for a while.

Alice seemed to know, she took my hand and led me back into the forest. I knew from her thoughts that Emmett and Rose were watching Bella. I had to hunt, I had been away from the temptation of Bella's blood for so long I had to take every precaution possible.

Alice and I had hunted together in silence, Alice kept her mind blank at first but soon let her thoughts flow freely showing me everything I had missed. Showing me how much my family had missed me. I felt humbled and wholely undeserving of their patience and love.

When I finally arrived back at the house my family were waiting. My mother and father's thoughts were loving and concerned. They had truly missed me and I was ashamed of the hurt I had caused them. Jasper had kept his distance at first, he still blamed himself for me leaving. I could hear his quiet remorse and guilt. I knew I had to reasure him, it was not his fault, not entirely anyway. Emmett was excited that I was back we had always been close, brothers in everyway but one. But it was Rose's thoughts that captured my attention fully.

She was angry with me. Well that was nothing new, but this felt different.

'Foolish boy, see how you have hurt them all. They missed you...'(a silent sigh) but her next thought shocked me. 'If you love her this much how can it be so wrong for her to be in your life? You need each other Edward. The sooner you get that the better for all of us. I am tired of seeing this family hurting. You annoy me and sometimes I really don't like you...but I still love you, you are if nothing else, my brother.' I had heard something warm in her last words and knew they were sincere. I smiled softly at her, silently acknowledging her thoughts without letting the others know what had passed.

I waited with my family for a couple of hours then on Alice's command I headed over to Seattle. Alice had told me it would rain for most of the day and that Bella would be sitting in a cafe in the city centre.

I ran to Seattle, it only took ten minutes or so. I soon found the cafe Alice had seen, I soon saw her through the steamed up windows. If my heart had been beating it would have stopped at that moment when my eyes found her face, she looked so different and yet exactly the same. She was more beautiful than ever, but her eyes seemed empty, lifeless. I burned in agony not knowing what made her look so sad. I could not go to her, I could not ask her. She could not know I was here. It had to be enough for me just to keep her safe nothing more. I did not deserve her, I could not justify stepping back into her life. She might not even want me, perhaps she had moved on, I hated that thought. Hated that she could be someone else's love. I still needed her and my will power was all that stopped me going to her. But I knew I was fighting a losing battle, fighting to stay away I couldn't do it much longer.

I had watched her as she sipped at her drink, just seeing her made me feel almost whole again. It began to rain and very quickly became a down pour. She left the cafe after another few minutes and ran through the rain, across the street and into another shop. She turned round just before she went into the shop and for a second her eyes found mine. I gasped and threw myself out of sight round the side of a building. I chanced a look after a couple of seconds, she was shaking her head as she disappeared into the shop. And so I waited for her out of sight.

When she finally emerged a while later she seemed annoyed. I'd felt myself smile at her expression and a flood of memories played through my head. Again the urge to run to her and capture her in my arms almost won. I watched her pack her things into her car a frown darkened her face, I'd chuckled silently to myself, then she'd driven out of the car park. Once she was on the main road I followed as best I could. As soon as she was on the highway I ran through the trees that flanked the road and followed her to her house.

I settled in the trees to the rear of her house and watched. I heard her make plans on the phone with a friend, 'Jacob', and listened as she got ready to go out. It was wrong and I had no right but I felt so jealous of her friends. I wanted to talk to her like they could, listen to her laughter and see her smile at me. But I had forsaken any right to her friendship, her love when I left her.

I'd watched her when she answered the door to her friend. She was so beautiful that I was stunned. I wanted to kill her friend Jacob as I heard his thoughts. He loved her but the things he was imagining really bugged me. I caught a strange scent then, I stared hard at Jacob. It couldn't be. I was certain I could smell a 'wet dog' scent. I would run that by my family later. I then watched as Bella got in the car with her friends and drove off.

I ran home then to check in with my family. I told them about the scent I had caught and Carlisle then told me that Jacob Black had become a werewolf along with a few others in the Quiluete tribe. Carlisle then told me that it had been the Wolf pack who had destroyed Victoria when she had returned intent on killing Bella.

I walked out when he told me. I had failed Bella again, I should have protected her from Victoria, and she should never have had to put her life in someone else's hands. It was my job to protect her and I had failed. I had left her unprotected, I left her in danger. Never again. I would protect her from now on, even if she never knows I'm there.

I ran back to Bella's house and as I arrived I saw a man break in to the house through the back door. I followed slowly, I would take him out before Bella got back. But as I moved into the hallway, Bella arrived home. I shot into the living room as the front door opened and Bella stepped in. I gasped and immediately her scent burned through my nose and down my throat. venom filled my mouth. The familiar burning thirst felt so good and I was surprised how easy it was to ignore the pull of Bella's blood. It meant she was alive and well. I would suffer any pain to just know that.

I pulled myself together, though Bella couldn't see me I could see her. I heard the intruder move upstairs and by the way that Bella was frozen in the hallway, I knew she had heard it too. Bella moved slowly and deliberately towards a cupboard at the bottom of the stairs. I was shocked when she pulled out a gun. What the hell did she have a gun for! I moved towards her unthinkingly. She saw my movement and took a step towards me. I bolted past her and flew up the stairs. I couldn't let her tackle the intruder she could get hurt. I heard a gasp as I ran into the intruder, in the same moment I threw him to the floor and he knocked into a table. I saw a glass vase topple of the table but it missed him. Bella was running up the stairs so I quickly opened the window and then ran back out to the hallway and into another room.

I realised I was in her bedroom as her scent was stronger in here. I slid silently into her closet as I heard her flick on a light switch. I breathed in deeply and tasted her scent over and over. Each time it became less painful, until I was left with the normal dull thirst aching at the back of my throat. I listened intently, I could hear her heart beat race as she headed back downstairs. I hoped she would call the cops. She did. I listened to her announce who she was to the female voice on the other end of the phone. DCI Swan. DCI? What. Was. She. Thinking. Bella was a policewoman! I nearly lost it then and almost ran down the stairs to demand to know why she would choose such a dangerous career. I held myself together and tried to concentrate on her conversation. Bella didn't tell them about me, she claimed that she had tackled a burglar.

Her colleagues, I didn't think I would cope with this, were there in minutes. They seemed genuinely fond of Bella and I was grateful to them for their kindness. They took the burglar away and I heard Bella's soft footfalls re-enter the house. She seemed to be checking the whole house. I heard the clink of glass and decided she must be cleaning up the broken vase. I heard her sharp intake of breath followed by her complain "Ow, Shoot". As I quickly stepped out of the closet I heard a thump. I ran to the other bedroom and saw Bella slumped on the floor, blood pooling in her left hand. I'd sighed and moved towards her, gently I'd wound my arms around her and inhaled deeply.

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