Disclaimer: We own nothing. All characters are property of Stephenie Meyer. And we do not get any sort of profit from this. I'd like to note that the big section in italics in Edward's POV came from page 294 from 'Twilight' and the italics section in Bella's POV came from pages 470-471 from 'Twilight.' They are more or less paraphrased, but the quotes are directly from the book and all credit goes to Stephenie Meyer.

A/N: We hope you enjoy it and please listen to the music in my profile as it really helps to set the mood. The first song may go over a bit. Don't wait till it's over, click the second song when you get to Bella's POV. OH and we're going back in and adding chapter titles now - just to add a bit more "pizzaz" LOL So, don't be alarmed if you get email alerts about Chapters 1, etc. being uploaded again. I know that's going to be a pain... sometimes I really hate this site's editing system... le sigh

So... ready to read this? Do you know what this update is about?? Let me give you a hint ;)

THIS IS THE UPDATE YOU ALL HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR!

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Chapter 11: Seeing is Believing

Edward's POV:

The rain continued to fall heavily over the green terrain. It soaked through my clothes, dripped down each tendril of my hair, and beaded over my skin. For what felt like years, I stood frozen in the woods across from Bella's home. She had been gone for almost an hour and it troubled me to think that she was spending that time with Jacob Black.

Through the darkened trunks of the forest, through the sheets of pouring rain, I could see her window. Even in the darkness, I could make out the outer edges of her bed; of the dresser that she would stand in front of in the morning. And if I flickered my gaze to the right of where her door would be, I could see the very edge of the rocker that I would sit in at night and watch her sleep.

My eyes closed involuntarily and her peaceful sleeping form entered my mind. How many nights I stayed in her room when she had first arrived in Forks. I watched her - hypnotized, listened to the sounds of her even breathing, to the words that she would mutter in her dream-like state. A small smile tugged at the corners of my lips. On those nights that I would lie beside of her, holding her in my arms, I would place my head over her heart. Its rhythm created a song so beautiful; such a melodious symphony that I would shake slightly from the power behind it; behind the source that gave her life.

I chuckled despite myself, still standing very much alone in the pouring rain. I would never forget Bella's reaction to my nightly appearances in her room while she slept.

She was so embarrassed by what she could have said, that I almost didn't want the lovely blush on her face to ever go away.

"You did say my name," I had admitted to her, knowing that this was the one thing she didn't want to hear.

"A lot?"

"How much do you mean by 'a lot,' exactly?" I watched with fascination as her face turned an even brighter, more brilliant shade of red.

"Oh no!" she wailed, hanging her head low.

"Don't be self-conscious," I whispered in her ear, bringing her close to my chest. "If I could dream at all, it would be about you. And I'm not ashamed of it."

She had felt so right in my arms, like they were meant to be around her always. Her scent was the oxygen that I didn't need, but craved. Her eyes were the windows into the soul of her being, the only way that I could ever read her mind. Her mouth was the chalice that I longed to drink from. She was mine. Over a hundred years I had waited for her.

If my heart were still alive, it would have clenched painfully. I found my face contorting in agony at the thought that all of this could be taken away – completely forgotten because of my inability to see Bella for whom she truly was. I had been so foolish to leave her, so damned stupid to not stay with her like she had asked. And now our chance for forever was being shot to hell by a mongrel that couldn't fathom the true meaning of the love that she and I shared.

That's when I heard the distinctive thoughts in my head.

She doesn't look good at all. "Bella talk to me." I could see the image of Bella sitting in the passenger seat of her truck while the dog drove her home. Her forehead rested against the window and she pinched the bridge of her nose as if in pain. Jacob reached out to touch her and she flinched. "Jake, please stop." Were those tears I heard in her voice? Had he hurt her? Jacob sighed audibly. I wish you could see how perfect we are for each other, Bells.

I saw the headlights brighten as they drove down the road. And I stood there waiting for them, waiting for the wolf to climb out of the truck so that he could see the darkened malice in my eyes before I attacked him.

They soon turned up the drive, the tires spraying gravel into the air as they went. I couldn't help the growl that escaped my lips and reverberated in the back of my throat. My feet began to move forward and I crouched low, stalking the line of the woods, ready to snap if he so much as tried to touch her again.

I saw Jacob tense for the briefest of moments as he turned the engine off. My eyes sharpened as he quickly forced himself to relax and lean closer to Bella. I felt the dirt embed itself beneath my nails as I clawed the ground. "Do you need me to help you, Bells?"

His hand reached out to her, his fingertips ready to brush against her skin.

Another low snarl ripped through my throat. Touch her and I'll kill you, mongrel.

"Bella?"

I heard his confused call through the pouring rain. I saw the image of her face contort in agony as she clutched the door handle, her knuckles turning white. A soft wail escaped her lips as she stumbled out of the truck, almost falling to the ground. Jacob was at her side in an instant.

"Bella!" His hands wrapped around her waist in his attempt to make her stand.

"Jacob, just go!" She cried out, one hand still holding her forehead as she pushed herself away from him. "Please…" she pleaded.

I stared from my distance in the woods, my face now frozen in shock. Bella was in serious pain and I had no idea why. I couldn't do anything to help her and neither could Jacob, it seemed.

Her small frame took off towards the front porch of her home. I could hear the gravel shifting underneath her feet.

"Bella, wait!" Jacob called out, running after her. He reached for her hand, stopping her from opening the front door.

"What, Jake? What do you want?" I could hear the tears practically drenching her voice. Her face carried the weight and pain that only a broken heart could cause. "What?" she whispered softly.

Raindrops slipped down Jacob's face as he tentatively cupped her chin in his warm hand. His thumb slowly drew small circles over her skin, calming her as she took a step closer. And with each breath that she took, with each movement of her eyes gazing back into his, I felt my heart shatter into millions of pieces.

Somewhere during the moments of watching him caress her face, I saw his dark eyes flit to mine before instantly returning to my love. "I'm sorry, Bells," he said, as a vision of a heated kiss passed through his mind – though my mind. He seemed to focus on the way their tongues collided, how she tasted. At first I thought it was some ridiculous daydream that he had always had, meant to torment me as I watched them. It was then that an image of Bella's head pressed up against the window flashed before me. I could almost feel the warmth of her lips as Jacob kissed her back. His fingers dug into the sides of her hips, relishing in the smoothness of her skin. The raindrops that slid down her face pooling in the corners of their mouths glistened beneath the lightening that flashed overhead. It was with agonizing clarity, that I realized this was real. He had kissed her just as she had kissed him back.

I stumbled backwards, hardly feeling the sticks that tried to pierce my hardened skin. My breathing became erratic as I saw through Jacob's eyes, the slow but deliberate approach of her face, becoming painfully closer to his.

"I'm sorry," he whispered again; ready to brush his mouth against hers. The memory seemed to intensify in his mind and in that moment Bella cried out, stumbling away from him.

My eyes shot up to her frame, the only part of my body that was still capable of movement.

She hunched over, holding her head. "I'm sorry, Jake," she muttered. "You need to go."

A worried expression creased his forehead as he stepped closer to her. "Are you sure – "

"GO!" she screamed, her eyes blazing with a rage I had never seen before.

Jacob's fists clenched on either side of his body. "Not until I see that you are able to get inside alright, Bella," he told her, his voice strong and determined.

Setting her jaw, she shoved the key into the lock and pushed the door opened. She stepped in, whipping around to face him – her gaze bright, glowing in the dark. "There. I'm inside now. Please go." Her voice shook with anger and more tears that she loathed to release. "Go, Jake."

I watched as he turned on the spot, his face matching the anger and concern that my entire being felt. His gaze locked briefly on mine as he passed the outskirts of the woods. Not one thought could be heard as his black eyes attempted to penetrate the fog like haze that seemed to envelope my mind. The pain of the situation seemed to settle deep within my core, numbing my body to any feeling. I hardly registered the fact that Jacob had now phased into his animal form and was racing back to La Push.

Beads of rain dripped down my face as I sat on the muddied ground, listening to the quiet cadence of the storm that fell upon the Earth.

There was nothing left for me to do as I watched her shut the door to her home; watched as she moved to stand in front of the kitchen window, her hands gripping the sink. And soon she collapsed over in tears, her sobs piercing my heart, setting it on fire, as I remained motionless, replaying the kiss that I never wanted to see in my mind.

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Bella's POV:

The sobs escaped my lips like a damn breaking free, bursting to life from being pent up for so long. I felt my knees begin to quiver as my fingers curled around the cold metal of the sink, clinging to it desperately as if it was the only thing that kept me alive. And in a way… it was. The cold, smooth hardness of the metal beneath my fingers, reminded me so much of Edward – of the way his skin felt under my touch. I needed him. I craved him more than I had in my entire existence.

His voice drifted in and out of my mind, haunting me. I couldn't escape him and with a sickening feeling, I realized that I didn't want to. I'd rather live the rest of my life hearing his voice even if it meant that it was all an illusion – that I was really some nut job. I'd rather feel the pain and joy of hearing his lilting tones that would penetrate my mind. I wanted to be reminded of the words he spoke, how he would talk to me as if from another century.

A vision of stark walls and the smell of chlorine filtered through my mind. I was looking up into his pained face; tubes sticking out of my arms as if I were some science experiment and he were the cause of it. I could remember trying to ease him, to tell him that what James did to me wasn't his fault as we spoke quietly in the hospital.

"I would stay in Forks, Bella. Or somewhere like it," he explained, countering my suggestion of him coming to Florida with me. "Someplace where I couldn't hurt you anymore."

I felt my heart jump in my throat – the tears threatening behind my eyes. Several things seemed to happen in between the passing silence that echoed among us. I vaguely remembered a nurse coming in at one point.

My mind only began to clear when I felt his cool hands on either side of my face. "Shh, Bella, calm down."

"Don't leave me," I begged, my voice breaking as I clung to his wrists, fighting the feelings of hysteria that seemed to overtake me.

"I won't," he promised me, his eyes wide and earnest.

He had promised me he would never leave me. I shook my head and let my grip loosen from the sink, releasing the cold that I desperately wanted to cling to. My knees gave way and I slowly slipped to the ground, pressing my forehead against the wooden cabinets as a loud sob ripped through my throat.

I couldn't have been more thankful that Charlie wasn't here as I found myself whispering Edward's name as if it were a prayer – that if I said it enough, he would appear before me.

How horribly wrong I was.

"Please…" I whimpered, falling to the floor as my body curled tightly into a fetal position. "What's wrong with me?" I sobbed. Just hours ago, I was kissing Jacob – someone I promised myself to never fall for. I didn't even love Jacob. I only used him to see if there was any way that he could save me from the empty chasm that Edward had cast me in. But I knew… I knew alI too well that I could never be with anyone else. Even when he was away from me, never to return, Edward still had my heart. It would always be his.

And I hated that he made me feel this way. I wanted to believe that I could get over him – that I could request his wish and move on with my life. But I couldn't.

He was gone – out of my life for good. The pain in my head throbbed relentlessly and I wished with all my heart that it would go away and with it the pain of loosing the one man I loved. I had no idea what was happening to me and now when I needed him the most… he wasn't here. He wouldn't pick me up when I fell. He wouldn't kiss away the tears that now pooled onto the kitchen floor.

For what felt like hours, I laid there, relishing in the cool linoleum that pressed into my cheek. My tears eventually dried, my mind inevitably became numb and for all that I knew I had turned to stone – motionless, hard and cold.

My heart tightened at that realization. I was as still as he had been so many times around me.

The tears began to crawl their way back up my throat, but I forced them down. I couldn't risk having Charlie find me this way, not after everything I had put him through. The undeniable fear in his eyes when he found my catatonic form lying across the scattered articles of clothing never left my mind.

Somehow, a small miniscule strength surged through the muscles in my arms and I found myself pushing my body up into a sitting position. I sniffled once… twice… and glanced up to the counter. Slowly, my hands gripped onto the edge and I pulled myself up, leaning against the sink once more for support.

Lightening flickered across the sky and I stared out into the woods, not really expecting anything but only wishing that I might see him standing there… watching me with bright, tawny eyes.

It was only foolish hope that made me feel this way. My gaze cast down towards my fingers as they curled and uncurled around the edge of the sink. I needed air… I needed room to breathe…

Hardly realizing it, I found myself walking towards the back of the house where once again, a long thick passage of forest stared back at me.

Another bolt of lightening streaked across the sky, and it was then, that I felt it. I sensed that feeling of being watched.

How many times had I felt this and been disappointed? How many times did I have to endure the pain of not seeing him again? And still, I found myself opening the back door and stepping out onto the back porch.

The rain pounded the earth, matching the fast paced rhythm of my heart. I could hardly see through the thick veil of the storm, but still I stepped down from the steps and began to walk towards the edge of the forest.

My body shivered from the cold as the water seemed to not only drench my clothes but my skin as well. I didn't care. I couldn't seem to care even if I wanted too. All that I could do was keep moving forward and allow my feet to take me to places that I knew I wouldn't allow myself to go… if my mind was actually thinking that is.

Within a few minutes, I found myself standing in the middle of the backyard, staring into the trees as if I would see someone staring back. The feeling that I wasn't alone was so strong that I knew I couldn't be only imagining it. But somehow, I wasn't afraid. Whatever – and dare I think whoever – it was out there, I knew it wouldn't hurt me. My heart fluttered at the thought that I may catch a pair of amber eyes glowing within the shadows. I had never felt so sure since he had left me – that he was here now. He had to be.

Again, lightening flashed into the sky… and there… standing in all his glory was a figure… a figure with bronze hair, pale skin and… Another bolt struck far above me, shaking the earth. I sucked in a sharp breath, my eyes still trained on the one spot in the woods where I saw him. But he was now no longer there.

A choked sob escaped my lips as my eyes frantically searched the outskirts of the forest. "No…" I whimpered. "N-No…" It was the only thing that I could say. I knew that I saw him. It wasn't some figment of my imagination.

"Edward!" Thunder growled ominously, echoing around me and casting his name into the wind.

Still… there was nothing. No sign of him, no trace at all. It was as if he had been a ghost.

My shoulders shook as the tears leaked down my face. "Dammit!" I screamed, wishing the rain would pound me into the ground so that I could never feel this pain ever again. "Why do you do this to me?" I shouted out, not really knowing why I did so. "Is it fun for you? To see me this way?" My fingers threaded through my hair, pulling at the roots as if it would pull out the suffering I had endured for so long. "What's wrong with me?" I sobbed. "Why won't you leave me alone?" The words left my lips in a whisper and suddenly I found myself retreating back to the house and away from the torment that awaited me out here in the pouring rain.

I was going to get over him. I had to. For my own sanity, I had to do this. Shaking my head, to rid the image of him from my mind, I stepped up onto the first step.

It was bound to happen sooner or later. How I could think that running out here in the rain without slipping was a stupid thing to overlook. My foot slid out from underneath me and my arms flew wildly out in front my face. It only took a mere second for me to realize that my head would crash into the corner of the cement stairs. And it only took another second for me to feel my body being lifted from the ground. I saw the stone steps retreating from my gaze and soon there was nothing but the night sky as raindrops danced over my skin. I blinked rapidly, wondering if maybe I had passed over and had never felt the excruciating pain that surely awaited me.

I felt cold, as if I was surrounded by ice. But there was something else… almost as if a body was pressed to my side. No… I was pressed into someone else's body. Everything seemed to sharpen as I felt the imprint of a hand hooked beneath my knees and another one cradling my head as if it would break.

My gaze shifted to the right and I sucked in a sharp breath.

There was nothing. No sound… no words… no feeling to me at all. For I was lost… lost in the golden eyes of my rescuer who now stared down at me as if he had finally found his reason for living.

One word floated through my mind, a word that I had longed to hear from his voice, that I had dreamt about, that had haunted me ever since he left. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think. He said my name as if his existence depended on me. It was so beautiful that I let the tears flow freely down my face as he held me close.

"Bella."

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A/N #2: Did you all like it? I hope so... I tried to do my best with writing this one ;) My co-writer will be writing the next update and we'll do our best to update ASAP for you all! Thank you again so much for your reviews. We don't have time to respond to everyone, but know that we appreciate all your kind words. I guess you could say that this update was our big thank you! :D