"Well, hello stranger," Jake ground out while placing the heavy hand weights back in their positions. Isabella noticed that he still had his burned forearm dressed, but, other than that, he looked as sweaty, buff and fit as his usual personal trainer self.

She rolled her eyes and flung the closest towel in his direction.

"Hello, Mr Drippy."

Jake picked it up with a smirk and wiped his brow clean of his perspiration.

"Where's your workout gear?" he asked, taking note of her current attire – purple Converse, jeans and a sweater. It was pretty standard practice for Isabella to come visit Jake at his gym in her workout gear and he'd take her through a circuit as they chatted and caught up. This had been their routine since Jake had acquired the small private gym studio and the apartment above it.

"I didn't come to work out, Jake," Isabella replied, finding a seat on an exercise ball.

Jake didn't like the expression on Isabella's face and he could tell that something was weighing his friend down.

"You look like you could use one, Iz."

Isabella's eyes widened and her mouth hung agape.

"Thanks, Jake! That's what every girl wants to hear." Sarcasm rang through her every word.

A light bulb went off in his Jacob's head and he held up his hands defensively.

"Whoa, that's not what I meant! You know that, apart from Leah, you have the firmest ass in the gym…"

"Not helping, Jake," she grumbled, trying to navigate him away from conversations that people with a sibling kind of relationship shouldn't be having. Isabella thanked all that was good that there was nobody else in the gym hearing this conversation. She didn't need anyone to think that Jake had groped her ass. They'd just never had that type of a vibe. Isabella's glare was fierce, but Jake wasn't deterred from trying to further clarify his earlier statement.

"What I was trying to say is that you look like you need to let out some steam – let go of some tension and negative energy – because it's rolling off you in waves, Izzy."

Isabella knew that Jake was right. However, instead of really focusing and analysing what he'd said, she could only take one word away from the conversation. It once had sounded so right, but now it sort of sounded wrong.

Izzy… Is that still me?

Izzy sounded like the name of a child – the name of someone not standing on her own two feet. When she was called Bella, she felt like she was adult. When Edward spoke to her he made her feel mature. She didn't feel like a girl when she was with him. Even when his mood had shifted towards her, earlier that day, Isabella had still felt like a woman. Jake watched Isabella as she sat staring at the far wall. Something had definitely unsettled her and he could see her mind turning over and over again.

"Isabella Swan," he said, gaining her attention. "You can talk to me, you know."

"Talking to you is what pushed me into this tug-o-war of emotions," she thought. It was funny, she reasoned, how this whole shift in Edward's mood had been catalysed by a phone call – her phone call with Jake.

"Shit." The word escaped her as realisation dawned on her. She shook her head. "Surely, he didn't think that…" She looked to a confused Jacob and then back to her lap. "No, he couldn't have been…"

Isabella stood up with a determination to right, what she believed to be, some misconceptions.

Jacob could only watch, perplexed, as Isabella conversed with her inner self, and accepted her thanks as she collected her handbag and left.

Being a personal trainer, Jacob Black was accustomed to setting goals. His new goal, he decided as he moved to the bench press, was to press for information and find out the answer to the question of what exactly was screwing with his friend's behaviour.

"Shit," he thought, almost letting the weights fall onto his chest. "Could screwing be the answer?"

-()-()-()-

Isabella entered the very quiet hospital room cautiously upon noticing that Edward was asleep. A smile of contentment found its way onto her features momentarily, before it was squashed by the prospect of not being able to see the man before her – the prospect of Nurse Cope finding Edward's family and of her becoming an alien puzzle piece in his already perfectly put together life.

Sighing, she moved towards her chair and gently lowered herself, seeing that's Edward's head was tilted to the side, in her direction. Even in sleep, his brow was furrowed, just as it had been earlier today. She stared at his face, wondering if her suspicions about his change in demeanour were correct. Did Edward think that there was something going on between her and Jake? Did this upset him? Did she dare hope that Edward wanted her to belong in his life, too?

She crossed her legs in the chair and her eyes honed in on the notebook underneath Edward's hand that was still holding the pen in his strange way. Curiosity getting the better of her, Isabella gently extracted the notebook and, in the dim light of the room, tried to make out his flowing script.

Dear Bella,

I'm hopeful that you will get to read this at some point.

I behaved terribly towards you today and can only account for my actions with the following explanation: I was afraid of losing you.

It is ironic that these actions of mine may have made me lose you.

When you left the room today, I realised that, for the first time since I've known you, you never mentioned tomorrow. That scares me, Bella, more than you can imagine - the prospect of an empty tomorrow.

I realise that I've been extremely selfish and assuming. Just as the world expects the sun to come back each day, I've just blindly expected you to always return.

Please, come back to me, my Bella.

Isabella breathed deeply, trying to loosen her tight chest, as she felt the tears flow freely down her cheeks, purging her of her tension.

Even in his drowsiness, Edward felt her presence.

"Bella?" he breathed.

She swallowed and placed her hand on his, relishing the flow of energy through their connection.

"I'm here, Edward. I'm here."

Your thoughts? There's something nice about reading a letter, isn't there?

I hope that everything in your neck of the woods is going well.

Thanks for reading and reviewing,

Karry.