DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the intellectual property to the respective author. The original characters and plot are the property of Stephenie Meyer (and Wicker Park). No copyright infringement is intended.

*All the mistakes are mine*

February 18, 2014

9:34 AM

North Kenmore, Chicago, Illinois

It was equivalent to waking up from a year long coma. The dream vivid and real, it stayed with me and caused a strong aching in my chest. I opened my eyes to bright white and thin cloth. The smell of Bella lingered on it. For a moment, I assumed the aftershock of the memory followed me to my waking hours. This was the way she would torture me night after night after she left, but it was too strong and too tangible now. Things only seemed to go from bad to worse when I pulled the sheet down away from my face and found a different pair of eyes staring back at me.

"Hi," this Bella said.

"Hi," I mumbled.

Oh, fuck, oh fuck. What did I do?

My mind searched the foggy parts of my brain to come up with why I was in bed with this woman. The headache pulsating behind my eyes told me there was a lot of whiskey involved. Shit—so many God damn shots. I only knew one thing from drinking: alcohol only led to poor judgment and irrevocable acts of depravity.

I didn't—no, I wouldn't do that to Kate…would I?

The uncomfortable silence continued. My thoughts racing, trying in vain to turn back time and change the part where I agreed to stay overnight. It wasn't working. I was still here in this bed wondering what the hell happened.

"Would you like a cup of coffee?" she asked.

"Um," my voice raspy and rough, "yeah, sure, thanks."

"Okay." She smiled and sat up in the bed.

The sheets slipped down and revealed her bare back. The rose tattoo on her shoulder caught my interest. It was a small bud, detailed and a faded red from years of wear. I couldn't stop myself from following her movements. It was my curiosity rearing its ugly head. Was she fully naked under there or…but all that was answered a second later when she grabbed her silk robe and stood up. The lower back dimples and ass were all there for me to see. I quickly glanced away and peeked under my side of the covers, and hoped to God, by some fucking miracle, I was fully clothed.

Not a chance. My shame had risen to the occasion and was staring up at me in mockery.

"Oh, fuck," I said under my breath.

She gathered her clothes from the floor and looked back at me. I put on a smile. It wasn't one of my best, but Bella didn't notice the difference and walked out of the room.

I scrambled from the bed and searched for my pants. My briefs were on a chair, but nothing else. The rest of my stuff was in the living room where I'd left them last night.

Out of everything, I remembered that much.

If I wanted to be dressed by the time she returned with the coffee, I needed to do some ninja shit and sneak out into the living room without her catching me.

Doing what I could to keep my footsteps silent, I crept into the hallway and caught of glimpse of her in the kitchen. The angle wasn't the best, but she looked flustered. The zip on her dress was down, and she kept pushing her bangs away from her face. She cursed a few times, opening and slamming cabinet doors with a loud bang.

She was momentarily distracted with…something.

This was my chance to gather my clothes and get the hell out of dodge. The thought crossed my mind. But my asshole tally was reaching its maximum limit and I believed in karma. And at the rate I was going, I would be coming back as Emmett's sweaty nut sack, without a doubt.

If that shit was even possible.

God knows I deserved it.

Back in her bedroom, I rushed to get dressed. It was chaotic. My hand and eye coordination sucked and I got my foot stuck in the pant leg a few times. Slowing myself down, I was able to put my slacks on without incident. And I was in the motion of putting my shirt on when Bella came back carrying a tray with two champagne flutes filled to the brim with coffee and a bowl of sugar cubes. She sat down on the bed beside me and put the tray between us.

There was something odd about her, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

"He broke all my cups," she explained.

"That's original."

It just came out, and she laughed, but it wasn't the same. It was awkward and uncomfortable and nothing like the truthful, hearty laugh my girl would give me in response to my lame jokes.

"Sugar?"

"Yeah, sure, thanks."

The spoon clanked against the glass as she stirred the cube around. I buttoned my shirt and kept my eyes locked on the picture in front of me. It was a black and white painting of ballet shoes stuffed into a box. Abstract art, I guess, but it sparked a memory. I've seen this before.

"Here." Bella pushed the tray towards me and it hit my thigh.

"Thank you," I said, and without looking, I picked up the scorching hot flute and gulped the coffee down. It burned, but I didn't give a shit. I needed the caffeine.

"To us…" She held out her glass to mine.

Shit, I thought, quickly pulling it away from my mouth and clinking with hers. She smiled and turned away. I didn't say anything back. But what did we just toast to?

To us…

Those words repeated themselves in my head.

To us. To us...TO US?

What did that mean? Did she really think we were a couple now? I was a creepy guy who broke into her apartment last night. She didn't know me. We had sex, sure, but that was a drunken mistake. She had to know that, right? Damn it, I couldn't think here. I needed to get out—and fast.

We sipped on our coffee in an awkward silence and kept all eye contact to a minimum. I was trying to figure out how to leave without sounding like an asshole. This wasn't like me to sleep with a random stranger, especially when I was committed to someone else, with no interest of ever seeing them again. I didn't do one night stands. I wasn't a cheater.

Fuck!

What do other guys say? What would Emmett say? I wish I could call him and ask, but I didn't even want him to know that I was capable of such a horrible thing. I couldn't believe I had done it. But it was done, and I had to deal with it.

If only I could keep this discretion between Bella and me, I could go to China and then come back home to Kate. I would marry her and vow to be the man I promised her from the beginning. We could be happy together.

And then maybe after some time and passing years, this regrettable shame of mine would fade out like a bad dream.

Or so I hoped.

Bella set down her glass and got up from the bed. I watched her put on her boots and zip them up.

"Leaving?" I asked.

"Yeah, I've got work." She reached for her red coat and yellow scarf. "I'm due at the hospital in an hour."

"That's right," I glanced down at my well bandaged hand and smiled, "you're a nurse."

"For about eight years now." She walked towards me and stopped a foot away. There was an obvious unease in her stance. "You should stay."

I bit my tongue and shrugged a bit, glancing around as if I was considering it, but didn't say a thing. She didn't need to know that the moment she leaves, I was gone. If I'm lucky, I can get a flight out of here this afternoon. Not sure how everything was going to pan out. It was already Tuesday and I missed my Monday flight. My meeting was set for tomorrow at nine in the morning. That didn't leave me much of a leeway to get there, but I was Mr. Cutting-it-short, and being on time for me had always happened on accident.

"You have a key?" She took another step, and the closer and closer she got to me the more I felt suffocated by her.

It was somewhere in my coat pocket.

"Yeah," I croaked out as barely intelligible response.

"Well, I should be back by ten…" Then she asked the one thing I dreaded hearing. "Will I see you later?"

If I was sly, I would feed her some bullshit to make her feel better.

But I wasn't that guy.

If I was truthful, I would explain to her whatever happened between us last night didn't mean what she wanted it to. It was a mistake. I wasn't her boyfriend, nor will I ever be. It would be better to go our separate ways and forget about it. I was in love with another girl and about to get married to another girl named Kate.

But I wasn't that big of dick. All I was trying to do at this point was muddle through an awkward situation with some dignity intact.

"Maybe."

This Bella saw through my words, I could see the rejection written all over her face, but she didn't call me on it.

She took the last and final step into me, placing a light kiss on my cheek. I flinched, but didn't turn my head towards her to reciprocate. She pulled back and gave me a forced, yet sad smile. "Bye."

"Bye."

I stayed on my spot on the bed and listened to the sounds as she left the apartment. The pressure of being a liar was released in one long exhale. My hands flew to my hair and I yanked at it. It hurt, but the physical pain was a distraction and a punishment. How could I be so stupid and careless? How could I allow shit to go this far? This obsession ruled every aspect of life and I did things that were unforgivable. Was this the Edward Kate knew? Have I lost myself completely?

Even now as I stood up and looked into the mirror, I didn't recognize the man with such heavy sadness staring back at me.

Going into the living room, I grabbed my jacket from the couch and went to the window Bella was standing at last night. It showed a clear view of North Kenmore Street below. It'd snowed four to six inches, but the morning sun and constant traffic had turned it into slush.

Bella came rushing out of the apartment building and ran across the street. She got into her car, but I didn't stick around to watch her drive away. Besides, I needed to leave.

It was already close to ten in the morning and I had a list of things to do. A ticket for China needed to be booked and all my bags were still over at Emmett's. It was going to be a two to three hour ordeal. That was assuming I could get a flight out of here on such short notice.

I went back into the bedroom and sat down on the edge of the bed. I'm not sure why, but there was something about this place that felt like my Bella. All the paintings and knick-knacks were so fucking familiar. I'd seen them before, but it wasn't just that. There were the shoes, the black and red ones with the broken heel and undeniable size of eight in a half.

Scrubbing my face with my hands, I tried to dispel Bella from my head. I decided to stop torturing myself. This was crazy. I needed to stop making connections where they didn't exist. Bella didn't live here. She left me three years ago without the intention of ever returning.

China and Kate were my future now.

End of story.

February 18, 2014

12:45 PM

Chicago O'Hare Airport

Bessie Coleman Drive, Chicago, Illinois

After waiting in line for over an hour, I was finally at the counter, but my progress of getting out of Chicago wasn't any better. The ticketing cashier was searching for a flight for me, but words like 'tomorrow' and 'Friday' kept popping up. My headache was worse with its relentless pounding. It'd fucked up my vision and I'd rubbed my eyes to counteract the blur. But now they were raw and tearing.

I could only imagine how I looked.

"No," I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed. "It has to be tonight."

"Well," she glanced up from her computer, "I would say the 10:15 flight to Los Angeles would be your best bet. Then you can take the flight to Shanghai from there, but there are only coach seats available and your tickets were for first class."

I smiled and shrugged. "That's all right. I don't mind."

Her tense posture relaxed, shoulders easing back down, and an unusual look came over her. I'm not sure what she expected from me. But from what I could tell, she gets a lot of rich assholes who were entitled to the world that came through here. Any other man in a suit would've yelled at her. I wasn't that guy.

"I'll tell you what," she said. "I think I can get you an upgrade. Why don't you come back in a few hours—around four? Something should pop up by then."

Maybe she pitied me or something, I looked like hell, but I was grateful for her generosity.

"Okay." I put my credit card back into my wallet. "Thank you. I'll see you at four."

Walking out of the airport, I decided to hail a cab back to Emmett's. I needed a hot shower and clean clothes. The suit and tie combo I'd been sporting since Saturday was wrinkled and smelled of bad decisions.

Speaking of which…

Taking the key out of my pocket, I looked at it for the last time. It amazed me how heavy it felt between my fingers. Yesterday it had been the answer to everything. It got me one step closer to finding her. I was a hopeful and naïve man. That one thing I'd ever wanted was within my grasp and it drove me crazy. I didn't look before I jumped and the landing had been hard. It flattened me, changing who I was and how I saw the world around me. My vision of Bella was skewed for the first time and her image was slowly fading away.

I felt hollow, and this silver thing in my hand was just another key to some apartment in Wicker Park.

It represented nothing. I had no use for it. Hanging on to it was like holding on to the past, or a distant memory of a better, happier life. Those things weren't real. They never were. It was an illusion. Bella was dream, something I'd imagined into perfection.

But I was awake now and wanted nothing more than just to forget everything about her.

Stopping by a sidewalk crate, I crouched down and tossed the key into the drain.

And that's that.

A/N: This chapter had another scene to it, but I was passed my word limit. We'll catch up next week. So Edward is going to China. A lot of readers thinking he should have done it days ago, and I would agree to an extent. The poor guy never got closer. Bella abandoned him. He got a little desperate. Anyway, thank you for reading. See you next week.

To my bestie, Brina, I heart you like crazy and miss you terribly. Sorry we don't talk more. It sucks. Let's fix it.