EPOV

Ever since our second 'almost kiss' Bella had been thinking. She would sit watching something, but not seeing it. Her eyes looked pained whenever she saw one of us and I wondered if perhaps Rosalie had hurt her, or if one of the boys in school had said something to offend her. Her sleep was interrupted more frequently by her sleepwalking. She simply stood and paced around her room, waving her hands around as if she were having a silent argument with herself. After a few hours she would simply stop and I'd put her back to bed. Bella's face was becoming paler, more drawn, and her eyes began to almost blur out at times. I wished I could hear into her mind, if only to understand what could be distracting her.

She stayed close to me always, always touching my hand, my shoulder, my waist, and I returned the favour, letting my arm rest on hers, around her shoulders, gently on her neck... Whenever she fell I would catch her, whenever she got stuck on schoolwork I was there to help. I tried to be as close to her as possible, but something was still wrong. It was torturing me. Whatever had her mind occupied was slowly eating at me also. She wouldn't talk to any of us either.

I had to go hunting. Most of us did. Alice, Esme, Jasper, Emmett and myself were all going. I was worried about leaving Bella alone for that long, especially since she had only yesterday fallen down the stairs, but I was more of a danger to her if I stayed.

"Bella, love. We'll be home soon, that I promise you."

"It's alright. Angela just called and asked if I wanted to sleep over. I told her I'd be right there." It was Friday night and Angela was a responsible enough human to keep Bella relatively safe. I ran my hand across her cheekbone and her eyes half-closed in enjoyment. She blushed as I touched her of course, but that was what I loved about her.

"I'll see you soon." I leant in and, although my throat burst into flames, kissed her forehead. I pulled away slightly but she locked her arms around my neck. Her hands slid to my jaw and she pulled herself up, to kiss me on the edge of my lips.

"I'll miss you." She whispered to me. My breath hitched. We stood, with our faces inches apart, arms intertwined until my brothers called me.

"Rosalie, if anything happens to her, neither you nor Emmett will be able to stop me from ripping you to shreds."

I heard her growl at me from upstairs as we all got into the car and drove off. We were hunting quite far away, it would take three hours to get to our destination, even with our faster than average driving.

BPOV

I began to drive to Angela's when an overwhelming amount of emotion hit me. I stopped the car and got out, laying on the side of the road. I had to try and leave, let them know that I wanted them to move on. They could live an extremely happy life without me. They could be themselves, free of the stupid, slow, clumsy human. I did nothing but cause trouble and worry. Edward would have a chance at finding a mate worthy of him, his affections. I got back into the car and called Alice's cell phone, leaving a message.

"Alice, Esme, I love you both so much, and I can't begin to imagine repaying you for your kindness. Carlisle, Jasper, if you so much as make one of them stop smiling I trust Emmett and Edward will rip you to pieces. Emmett, never stop smiling okay? Rosalie, I'm sorry we didn't exactly hit it off, but if we ever meet again I hope it will be on better terms. Edward... I have no idea how to tell you how happy you've made me, how wonderful I felt when around you. You deserve better. You deserve someone who can equal you in intelligence, courtesy, looks and love. God I hope you find her Edward. I love you all and I don't want you to come find me. It's better like this. See you someday. Bella."

By the end of the message I was crying. I snapped shut the cell phone and drove as quickly as I could, away from my home town, to the closest airport. I called Angela and cancelled our plans, telling her that I was taking a vacation to somewhere tropical. If I found a sunny place to go it would be harder for them to find me, or at least, to find me publicly. When I got to the airport I opened the drawer under the passenger seat and took out the huge roll of cash Alice had stored there. There was also a passport, saying that I was twenty one, and a key to an emergency hotel room. I didn't take the key. That would be too obvious. In the airport, I was fortunate enough to get a ticket to a plane that was leaving in a half an hour. I sat waiting, looking over my shoulder, knowing that the instant I had begun to plan my escape, Alice would see and turn the car around. They had been gone for an hour before I'd even left for Angela's, so that gave me some time.

I continued watching for the inhumanly beautiful faces that would appear, but none came. The plane took off and I was half tempted to check the wings, I wouldn't put it past Alice to be so desperate as to hang onto the wings and try to get my attention. I fell into an uneasy sleep, dreaming of Edward and his musical laugh.

EPOV

Carlisle drove quickly. As did I. We had taken two cars, simply because it was more comfortable. I was listening slightly to the conversation going on in the car, but thinking more of Bella and counting down the time until I would get to see her again. In another two hours we would be at our destination, five for a good hunt, then a three hour return trip. Emmet and Alice were fighting in the back of Carlisle's car. I was reading both of their minds and it was rather uninteresting. Alice and Emmett were also thinking about their 'other halves' making my longing that much stronger. Jasper and Esme were talking politely, but Jasper's mind was on Alice. Esme was more careful with her thoughts, but one or two 'Carlisle's slipped through.

Part of my mind wished that Bella could be like us, a vampire, so that she could hunt with us, fight with us, and that I could be with her. I tried to imagine her, how glorious she would look, hunting, tracking a lion, running quickly through the trees. I then banished the idea. Bella was a goddess. She was beautiful, kind, selfless, I loved when she blushed, fell over her own feet, her sleep talking and occasional sleep walking. And I could never see her go through that pain. Three days of unimaginable torture, when the body feels as though it is literally on fire. Every vein, every nerve, coursing in pain, unimaginable heat and no escape. Three days of purgatory, that I would never let Bella endure, let alone cause myself.

Dammit Edward. For a minute there, I saw Bella being changed a lot sooner than we had planned but now she's back to being twenty five.

"What?" I asked loudly. She must've read my lips through the glass of the car because she responded.

Esme and I were going to change Bella. Bella has been asking for it for a while. She is too much a part of our family for us to let her grow old and die. Do you really think Bella or us would be happy when she looks old enough to be my grandmother? Besides, it will be easier on your relationship. For a fraction of a second, she was changed now-ish. She looked damn good.

"Um... I don't think my nerves could take it, was all I said." Jasper repeated confusedly from the back. He had thought I was talking about their conversation. "What the hell has got you so mad?"

"Alice." To my surprise Esme laughed.

"She can do that."

Don't talk about me when I'm not there. Just becau- Bella was reaching under the seat of a car. She pulled out a large wad of cash and a passport. Her car swung around and she drove, far too quickly away. The vision blurred for a moment. Bella was sitting in an airplane. She kept looking towards the exit, afraid of something, like some creature was going to burst in and grab her. As the plane took off, she visibly relaxed and fell into a light sleep.

Alice's car made a sharp u-turn, a dangerous thing to do on a highway. Mine followed quickly.

"Wow, what are we doing?"

"Has something happened with Bella?" Esme asked, so smart and observant.

"She's about to go flying, where we don't know. But Alice hasn't seen us actually stop her yet.

Edward, is she alright? Unharmed? Carlisle.

We just burnt so much rubber in that turn. Carlisle can really drive. Emmett.

What is she doing? Damn. Next time, I bring my cell phone. Alice.

I reached instinctively for mine, then remembered that we had all left our cell phones back at the house. None of us really liked being disturbed while we hunted. I would never let mine out of my sight again. I would never let Bella out of my sight again. With her luck she'd down the plane. We drove back faster than we had drove on the way out. When we got to the house, Alice jumped out before Carlisle had even stopped the car. She grabbed her cell phone and brought it to us. I snapped it open, her face already looking sad, clearly she had seen the message.

"Alice, Esme, I love you both so much, and I can't begin to imagine repaying you for your kindness. Carlisle, Jasper, if you so much as make one of them stop smiling I trust Emmett and Edward will rip you to pieces. Emmett, never stop smiling okay? Rosalie, I'm sorry we didn't exactly hit it off, but if we ever meet again I hope it will be on better terms. Edward..." Her voice, slightly distorted by the cell phone, paused and I could almost imagine the look on her face as she struggled to find words.

"I have no idea how to tell you how happy you've made me, how wonderful I felt when around you." My heart leapt at the revelation. "You deserve better. You deserve someone who can equal you in intelligence, courtesy, looks and love. God I hope you find her Edward. I love you all and I don't want you to come find me. It's better like this. See you someday. Bella."

The phone exploded. My hand had clenched it so tightly that it shattered into a thousand sharp fragments, all of which fell to the ground.

"Hey!"

But I was too angry at Bella's words. Better? There was no equal to her, in all of my years, I had never seen someone so kind, so pure. She only lied to help others, never herself, and not very convincingly. She was the purest soul I had ever seen, filled with love, courtesy and her sharp wit was unmatched. Not only that, she was beautiful and I could never imagine someone looking as heavenly as she did. But she believed that she wasn't good enough for me. She wanted me to find the perfect woman. Well I found her, and she was swiftly leaving me.

She was leaving me. As soon as my mind thought the words, physical pain shot through my body. I collapsed to the ground, to be caught by Alice and Carlisle.

"Edward?"

My insides were so painfully contorted I could barely stand straight.

"We have to find her."

"The plane has already left. I still can't see where she's going, it's night when they land, and foggy. She didn't use a credit card, she used cash. Untraceable. I have to wait for another vision, else I have no idea where she is." Alice whispered, she was still holding me up.

"So the twerp's gone. Deal with it." Rosalie said, walking out calmly. I would've ripped her to shreds, had her thoughts been what her mouth was saying.

Edward. If you tell anyone that I'm worried about her, it will be the last thing you ever do. I don't love her like you do, hell I don't even like her. But I do love you, and you love her, so I'm kind of stuck caring about her. Oh, growl or something, you'd never let that one fly without some kind of warning.

I growled at her words, but my eyes thanked her for her thoughts. Rosalie was a very complicated person. I stood up and ran inside. Pacing about the floor, my insides still turning with pain, I waited. Alice sat, cross-legged in the middle of the kitchen table, her eyes closed, her thoughts elsewhere, trying to pick up on Bella. Jasper was in pain also, feeling what I was feeling. He sat beside Alice, holding her hand. It helped some of his ache go away, but seeing the action only made mine stronger.

Carlisle and Esme sat next to each other, on the couch. She was extremely worried and kept opening and closing her mouth, about to speak and deciding against it. Her hand gripped the arm of the chair, until the wood under the fabric began to complain. Carlisle moved in front of her and carefully lifted her hand away from the chair, letting it rest in his. He looked straight into her eyes, radiating nothing but comfort, reassurance and determination. Esme quickly calmed down as she continued to stare at him. You didn't have to have Jasper's gift to calm someone.

Jasper was still trying to close his gift down somehow, trying to relieve himself of the pain he was feeling from me. Rosalie and Emmett were watching us. I had never seen Emmett look so vulnerable. Despite being as large as a trailer when it came to muscular size, he looked very small at the moment. He had never before worried about losing a sibling, and that was exactly what Bella was to him, a frail sister. Rosalie was more trying to comfort Emmett, but I could hear her mind wondering about Bella.

"Um guys? You do remember she said she doesn't want us to go and find her? If we do, who's to say she won't just try to run away again?"Rosalie voiced. My eyes flicked up to her as the realisation of her message sunk in. She didn't want us to find her. I collapsed to the ground once again, tucking my knees to my chest. Jasper cringed also at the fresh wave of agony he received.

In my ninety years as a vampire, I had never felt so much pain as I did now. I had once been in a fight, where my opponent had managed to rip my arm off. I had finished dismembering him, despite the pain and had reattached my arm, waiting for the wound to seal itself. That had hurt a lot, but it was not a candle to this fire. My transformation from human to vampire was the only pain I could even compare to how I felt now. The ache wasn't all over my body, but centered around my chest, my lungs, my unbeating heart, and my mind. It took all of my strength to try and focus. My breathing was harsh and irregular and I knew that Carlisle was worried about me.

Rosalie had never tried to leave Emmett, nor had he tried to leave her, and I could only assume that they would feel the same. Carlisle and Jasper had never had their other halves, until now, and I wondered strongly if they would feel the same. I had to run, out of Jasper's range, but still in mine. It wasn't fair to put him in so much pain. As soon as I was far enough away I heard him.

Wow. Much better. Thanks Edward. I'm so sorry I can't do anything. I was trying, but it didn't seem to help.

I didn't care. The pain was worse now, and I broke into tearless, soundless sobs.