Stephenie Meyer owns the characters . . .

Chapter 10 – Comfort

The scene at the house in the morning exceeded my worst fears. Bella was more than upset by my family's pending departure. I would have classified her reaction as hysterical if I thought it was possible for a vampire to be in such a state.

I could hear Alice and Esme upstairs trying to reassure Bella and calm her down. Edward will take care of you, dear, everything is going to be all right. I will call you Bella. Don't worry, it's just for a little while – we'll be back. I stayed downstairs and walked around on eggshells. Terror was now obscuring the pain. It was funny, really, only I couldn't laugh. I was afraid of my own wife.

Preparing to leave, my family came downstairs with fearful eyes. Alice kissed me on the cheek and left with, it will be fine Edward. Call me if you need me. Esme hugged me and wished me luck. Jasper and Emmett both looked sad and uncomfortable. Rosalie just looked amused at my discomfiture. Before saying good-bye, Carlisle sent me his farewell thoughts. I believe I said everything last night that I could to help. You'll do fine. Call me anytime if you need me. The door closed, and I was alone in the house with Bella.

I had no idea what to do. She had calmed down some, but it sounded as if she were still upset. I opted for discretion, cowardice in truth, and decided to wait a little while before approaching her.

An hour or two after my family's departure, I made my way slowly up the stairs and knocked on the door of what was now Bella's room. "Bella," I softly called, "its Edward. May I come in?"

"Go away," she immediately responded, hurt lacing her voice. My heart contracted again.

Well, at least she had spoken to me for the first time in days. "Bella, I will be down the hall in my room," meaning that hateful guest room. "Please let me know if you need anything or just want to talk." No response was forthcoming.

I trudged down the hallway and sat on the floor where I could see the door to our former room. I had to admit, I was anxious. But at the same time I was quite excited. We were alone in the house and I was hopeful that at some point Bella would have to turn to me, even if it was in desperation.

I tried to keep my thoughts productive. I started considering the suggestions Carlisle had offered last night. I knew many of Bella's favorite books, although she was always in dire need of new ones. Certainly we could start with Jane Austen and move on to the other classics from there. That would keep us busy for a while. And I wanted to play for her as soon as possible. I was eager to see whether she would react to her lullaby. I was thankful I had spent two full days shortly after we met grilling her like the Spanish inquisition. I knew many of her favorite things and looked forward to re-introducing them to her. Would she still love white roses? I would order some for her. Maybe I could take her shopping on-line and let her buy some books or clothes. Perhaps she wouldn't remember how much she hated me spending money on her – that would be a plus.

When it came to places to take her, my thoughts were not as encouraging. It was difficult coming up with one place that wouldn't have some negative experience associated with it. I couldn't take her to La Push, even if all her memories were happy, and I knew they were not. I certainly wasn't taking her anywhere near that damn cliff. Although we had our first "date" in Port Angeles, it had only been after Bella was almost assaulted there. I didn't want to dredge that memory up for either of our sakes. School could very well remind her of the many months she endured it without me by her side, or perhaps even of our first day sitting together in biology, which would be another disaster. The baseball field was where James and the others had shown up, not to mention our fight with the newborns.

The only place left was our meadow. But even our favorite place wasn't completely untainted. I had learned that the meadow was where Bella was almost attacked by Laurent, although I never did hear the whole story. I wasn't terribly sure why she went there alone to begin with, but I had a feeling it wasn't good. It was truly distressing when you toted up the number of dangers and near-disasters to which Bella had been exposed. In the end, I decided that, given the chance, I would take her to our meadow and hopefully some of the wonderful memories of that place would emerge. I knew I would never forget one word or a single touch that had occurred there.

I had been so caught up in my musing I only just noticed that the sun was setting. I decided to make another attempt at speaking with Bella. I knocked softly on her door and asked again, "Bella, are you all right? May I come in?" There was no response at all this time. I sighed and went back to the guest room.

The days followed a pattern after that. Every morning and every evening I would knock on Bella's door and request admittance. My voice became more pleading every time, and I wondered how long it would be before I was down on my knees literally begging her. I would gladly do it without hesitation. I would do anything.

Towards evening on the third or fourth day – the tedium had caused me to lose count - I was lying on the guest room bed, my hands supporting my head, absorbed in my ever darkening thoughts. I had missed the noise of her passage down the hall, if she had made any, so I was taken aback when Bella appeared in the doorway. I started, but then cautioned myself to stay perfectly still, moving only my head to look in her direction. I smiled at her in genuine delight and relief.

I was afraid that if I spoke she would bolt like a wild animal, so I held my tongue. Bella didn't speak either. After a time, it seemed like hours, she began walking towards the bed, very slowly. Her face was guarded and her body was tense. I suppressed my astonishment when she slid onto the bed and, perhaps even more gradually, began crawling towards me. I held my breath and followed her movements with hopeful eyes. She paused for one seemingly interminable moment, and then suddenly lowered herself down on the bed, putting her head on my shoulder and snuggling into my side. More carefully than perhaps I had ever moved before, I lifted my arm and curved it around Bella's back, my hand coming to rest lightly on her shoulder. And although I realized that this was just the act of a frightened and lonely creature seeking whatever comfort there was to be found, I still sighed in perfect happiness.

I glanced out the window and noticed it was twilight.