Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns everything

Chapter 10

Present- Age 20

Bella's POV

I have no idea what my face looked like as I stared at the burns on Edward's body. All I know was in that moment all I felt was shock. Edward must have seen that on my face and interpreted it differently because his face hardened and he turned away.

I still couldn't move or fathom what I had just seen. I was completely speechless.

I stood there as I watched him lift his shirt over his head and pull it back down over his body. He turned slightly towards me but my eyes stayed on his chest still seeing the scars in my mind.

He didn't look at me, his eyes stayed on the floor.

"Ed..."I started to say but he interrupted me.

"You can just leave...I won't think badly of you, I won't try...." his voice trailed off and he sat on the bed with his hands covering his eyes.

I didn't understand what he meant. He wanted me to leave? Why would he show me this and then want me to leave.

I walked towards him slowly "Why do you want me to leave?" I asked in confusion.

He lifted his head up. His eyes were rimmed in red.

"Did you not see my scars? You should be disgusted. There disgusting" he yelled.

"I'm disgusting" he whispered quietly placing his head back in his hands.

"Edward...Edward no, you're not..."

"Yes I am" he whispered and lay back on the bed still covering his face.

I still didn't know what the hell had happened to him but I had to convince him he was still as beautiful as ever.

I kneeled next to him on the bed and slowly reached my hand out and pulled the hem of his shirt up. At first he tried to pull away but I held strong and pulled it up to reveal his stomach and then his chest. I sucked in a breath when I once again came face to face with his burns.

I heard Edward sob quietly and I knew what I had to do. What he had once done for me.

I leaned over and pressed my lips against one of the burns on his stomach. I pulled away and kissed the one next to it.

Edward reached a hand down and tried to push me away "No" he sobbed "Bella please..."

But I had to do this.

I kissed up his stomach until I reached his chest. "Beautiful" I mumbled against his skin.

He stopped fighting me and let me finish kissing each scar until I reached his lips and kissed them too.

I wiped the tears from his tear stained face.

"Edward I don't care about the scars nothing could ever make you not beautiful to me" I said stroking his cheek gently.

He stared up at me with his beautiful eyes and didn't say anything.

"Please tell me what happened" I said urgently. Not knowing was killing me.

He looked at me for a long moment before he started to speak.

"There was a fire" he said softly.

I nodded at him to encourage him to continue.

"A couple of months after I left. I...I... lit a fire in the fireplace one cold night and I left it for my aunt for when she got home so...so she wouldn't be cold you know?" he said as his tears started again.

I gripped his hand tightly in mine and brought it up slowly and kissed it softly.

"I fell asleep and I don't know what happened but when I woke up there was smoke and fire everywhere and I ran to my aunt's room but before I could get inside a fire fighter stopped me and carried me out" he wiped at the tears in his eyes "I didn't even notice that I was on fire"

He covered his face with his hands once again and sobbed loudly.

"Edward what happened to your aunt" I asked quietly.

"I was too late" he sobbed "I was too late and it was all my fault"

I pulled his hands away from his face "Edward how was it your fault?"

"I lit the fire...I should've put it out before I went to bed I should've..."

"Edward there's nothing you could have done...there's no possible way you could've known what would happen" I said loudly trying to convince him of my words and ease his guilt.

"Everyone I care about always dies and I cant...I can't lose anyone again...I can't..." he said trailing off.

It suddenly dawned on me the reason he had broken up with me.

"Is that why? Is that why you broke up with me?" I asked quietly.

He looked away.

"You were scared that you'd lose me to?" I asked "Edward everyone dies you can't just cut yourself off from everyone just because you're scared of losing them"

He nodded but he still didn't meet my eyes. "There's more isn't there?" I asked.

"I was scared how...how you would react to my scars" he mumbled.

I felt a surge of anger inside me "Did you think I would be that shallow?"

"I don't know...I was scared you would be disgusted and...and I had to go through so many surgeries and I didn't want to put you through that and yeah I was scared of losing you like I lost my parents and my aunt" he said tearfully.

"So you pushed me away" I whispered.

"I loved you so much...I still love you so much and it would kill me if anything ever happened to you" he said holding my hand tightly.

"Edward what happened with your aunt wasn't your fault...and if something ever did happen to me that wouldn't be either. You just have to have faith that everything will be okay" I said pulling him into my arms.

He leaned forward and pressed his lips against mine. He kissed me deeply and with more passion then I could think possible. We kissed and touched just as we had years ago and it was just the same but somehow even more.

We tugged at each other's clothes until there was nothing between us. Edward stared into my eyes with his eyes filled with so much emotion. The emotion that I saw most was love.

The love was still there after those past couple of years and I now knew that it had never left him.

The love we shared was still the same. Although some things were different, I could feel the rough skin of his scars against my body but to me they didn't matter, he was still the teenage boy I had fallen in love with. Although now he was the man I knew I would love for the rest of my life. Because the love we shared could never die.

As he pushed into me and our breathing deepened and I felt the pleasure rush through my body I stared up into his deep green eyes and knew that he would never leave me again.

Age 17

Edward Cullen had just finished reading a letter from his girlfriend. His mouth turned up at the sides as he read her words of love. Once he had finished the letter he placed it beside him and closed his eyes. He was tired. It was winter and the house had been freezing so he had lit a fire in his aunt's fireplace and sat in front of it, allowing its heat to warm his frozen body. Once he had warmed up he had headed upstairs to read the letter once again, leaving the fire blazing for his aunt when she arrived home from work.

When his aunt arrived home late from work she cuddled up in a big blanket close to the fire. When she had warmed up she left the blanket on the floor. Not realising how close the blanket was to the fire. While Edward and his aunt slept the blanket slowly caught fire, before spreading throughout the room. Furniture, papers, books and old photographs burned, erasing many memories that would now be forgotten forever.

The fire spread and too late Edward awoke. The smoke was choking him as he ran downstairs to his aunt's room where the door was already ablaze. He slammed his body against the door. Warm tears splashed down his face as he slammed harder, ignoring the burning of the fire against his skin. He finally got the door open and was greeted by a wall of flames.

He pressed his t-shirt over his mouth trying to keep out the smoke but it was no use. He choked and splattered trying with all his strength to breathe.

His back felt prickly and hot. He moved to walk into the room when he was suddenly struck hard in the back. He fell to the ground. He looked up and saw a fireman standing over him. The man covered Edward's body with his own trying to extinguish the flames which Edward was just noticing.

Once the fire that was on his shirt was put out the fireman threw Edward over his shoulder and made towards the door.

"N...Noo" Edward choked out pointing towards his aunts bedroom.

"I'm sorry son" the man said sadly "It's too late"

Those were the last words Edward heard before he slipped into unconsciousness.

The only thing he thought about was the beautiful brown eyes and heart shaped face of his angel.

Edward endured months and months of physical therapy and operations. His whole torso was covered in burns. The nurses said he was lucky not to have burnt his face but Edward just stared at them. There was nothing lucky about this situation. Edward could handle the therapy and the skin grafts what he couldn't handle the pain and guilt he felt inside. The what if's practically killed him. What if he hadn't lit the fire that night? What if he hadn't fallen asleep so early? What if he hadn't been so tired? What if he had woken up just 5 minutes earlier? Would his aunt still be alive? Would he not be lying in the hospital in unimaginable pain?

He had lost his parents and now the only family he had left. He couldn't stand this pain. The pain of being left behind. Was it his fault that the people around him were dying? It seemed everything he touched got ruined.

As he looked in the mirror, with his shirt off, he eyed the mess of burns on his chest. He felt disgusted. But he felt like he deserved it. He had lit the fire that killed his aunt and this was his punishment. He never wanted Bella to see what he'd become.

And he'd be damned if anything ever happened to Bella and that's why one day with tears running down his cheeks he wrote her an email to end this. So she wouldn't end up like his family so he wouldn't have to ever lose her.

When she rang to find out if his words in the email were true he almost broke down but he held firm and in a dead voice he told her it was over.

AN: Please review!!