Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No copyright infringement is intended.

Author's note:

I'm sorry this took a while. I've been absolutely engrossed in Harry Potter fics. : They've been my guilty pleasure for a while now, but recently I just keep on finding these ones I can't ignore for a minute... oops! And, to those of you whom write fics that I regularly read and since your last update I haven't read or reviewed...I'm terribly sorry. This HP madness is going to my head, and on top of that my schoolwork is all over the place. I'll be back on the ball soon, promise!

&In a general note, 'Come What May' from the Moulin Rouge Soundtrack won Luxuria's song. I'll be putting the Avaritia poll up soon; I'll let you all know when it goes up!

Such fragile, broken things

He was standing there.

Just there, looking at me pitifully with his dark eyes.

"You came," he murmured, stepping towards me and reaching his arm out towards me.

"Don't." I said, flinching away.

He lowered it. "But it's okay, now, Bella!" He said happily. "Alice is coming back!"

"She is?!" I asked, momentarily shocked.

"Yes!" He smiled beautifully. "And she and Jasper can get married again, and you and I can be together again, and Flynn will be happy to have Alice happy, and then we can all be happy again, and go back to normal and be happy again!"

He looked so hopeful, so sure of all of this, as 'happy' flew from his lips repeatedly, that I hated myself more than ever for letting the next words slip through my pink lips.

"I can't be with you, Edward." I said solemnly, lowering my eyes to the ground, feeling terrible.

"Why!?" He cried, dropping to his knees in front of me.

"Because it's too late." I said sadly. "You've broken my heart too many times, and now I love Jasper. And I can't help it, and I didn't want to - I never asked to!" I sobbed, feeling tears of venom leaking from my eyes. "But I do. And there is no going back because you have hurt me too badly, you've killed me too many times. How many times will it happen again, if I take you back?"

"Never! Oh, my Bella, I never did any of it intentionally-"

"I'm not your Bella, not any more." I said firmly. "I am Jasper's."

"You can't live without me!" Edward hissed, taking the offensive. "You can't! You fell apart when I left before, and look at you now – you're falling apart!"

"Only because you came back!" I retorted. "I've been happy! And then you have to come along, dragging up all these stupid fucking memories that I don't want to remember!"

"You need me." He said, trying to convince himself while convincing me. "You can't live without me. Ultimately, you will need me with you, you will have to have me back!"

"No, Edward!" I sobbed, shaking my head vigorously. "I love Jasper. He's all I want!"

"No, he's not! He's not, you love ME!"

"How can you do this, Edward?" I asked, my lip quivering.

"Bella, one day, you'll need me! And I'm always going to be here, I always am! I won't ever leave you, not even if you tell me to!"

"What happened to you, Edward?" I sighed, realising that I wasn't talking to my Edward any more. "When did you become this person?"

"I've never changed, love, I never did. I'll love you forever!"

"No, Edward. You used to say you'd be here as long as I wanted you. I don't want you any more."

"You're just doing this for my safety, aren't you?" He said, sounding a little deranged. "That's what I said to you, and I was leaving to keep you safe, you're trying to keep me away because you love me!"

"No, Edward." I sobbed, dropping to my knees by him. "No."

"You do." He said forcefully, grabbing me by the arms. "You do!"

He kissed me, but I pushed him away.

"No, Edward. No. Just leave me."

"You love me, Bella! I know, that somewhere, under all of this, you love me! You've got my heart, and I know I have yours!"

"You don't, any more, Edward. And I'm giving your heart back!"

"I don't want it!" He screamed. "You can throw it into the fire, take it to the pits of hell! I don't want it if I can't have you!" He clung to me again, his heavy arms holding me down. He seemed abnormally strong – stronger than he'd ever been before

I thought him away from me, and my telekinesis - with unusual difficulty - moved him slowly away from me.

"You can't have me, Edward. I'm giving you your heart BACK." I said more forcefully.

I held my bracelet up to the moonlight, and I carefully unclasped the diamond heart he'd given me so long ago.

"No!" He roared. "You can't!"

I put it carefully in his open palm – he struggled to pull his hand away or to close it until I had the charm in his hand and his fingers wrapped around it thanks to my will.

"Goodbye, Edward." I whispered. "Be happy, for me."

I pressed my lips softly to his forehead, and released his bonds, walking away as I did.

"No!" He shouted, and I whipped back around to face him. He crushed the diamond in his hand. "See, it's gone, now! And you can have me anyway! Forget about my heart, it has always been silent, since before I met you! It does not matter!"

"It mattered, Edward." I sobbed. "Oh, Edward."

"You still don't want me." He whispered. "Do you?"

"No." I whimpered, feeling ultimately vulnerable, and yet the most vicious thing on the planet.

"Okay. You don't want me."

"I'm so sorry, Edward." I sobbed, knowing how I had felt back when I had been whispering those same words.

"It's okay. You don't want me." His voice was firm, even in pain. Everything about him seemed stronger – his grip, his voice, his presence. I wasn't sure what this meant – was it that, in his despair, he was stronger than before? Or had something happened while he'd been away from his wife?

"Be happy, Edward." I cried, my face twisting into a grimace and my eyes squinting as tears clouded my vision.

"I cannot, Isabella." He whispered, tearing off into the night.

I sunk down onto my knees.