A/N:

Hi you guys, I'm back! Sorry this one is delayed... I have so few days where I feel well enough to do anything, let alone sit down and write, but the other day I was feeling good so I worked on this one for you all.

It seems like you all really enjoyed the last one, which made me super happy :) I hope you love this just as much and it leaves you with as much anticipation as the last.

There aren't any visuals for this chapter, as well, but I will leave a reference link at the bottom that might help with this chapter.

Please be an amazing human being and leave a review! It would certainly brighten these sick days :):):)

Hope you like it.

xx,

S

Angus POV

"Jesus shut that thing off." Chelsea, the hot fan I picked up at my show last night, groans into the pillow next to me in bed.

Her name was Chelsea, right? Maybe Hannah. Shit.

My senses awaken when I realize the phone ringing in my dream is actually my own phone buzzing on the bedside table.

"Fuck off." I yell into my own pillow at the person who thinks it's appropriate to be calling at 6am when I went to bed two hours earlier.

I shoot my hand out and blindly move it around until I feel the smooth leather of my buzzing phone case.

The buzzing stops finally since I missed the bastard calling this early and I rub my eyes, letting them adjust to the light, before seeing whose call I missed.

Edward Cullen
Missed Call (37)

Edward Cullen
iMessage (16)

Rose Swan-Hale
Missed Call (14)

Emmett Hale
iMessage (28)

My heart drops to my stomach. These are all the people with Bella. I practically fall out of bed, scrambling to find my pants on top of the house plant in the corner next to this chick's bra.

"Where are you going" She's propped up on her elbows, sex hair and all, looking very different than when I saw her after a few beers last night.

"Gotta go. Uh, um, there's food in the fridge. Make yourself at home."

I don't even stick around to hear her response and bolt out the door, hitting the call button next to Edward as I am practically sprinting to my car.

"Angus, I swear to god, it took all of us 40 phone calls to reach you?" The harsh voice of Rose booms into my ear.

"I'm sorry, it's 6am here. What the fuck is going on? Why are you on Edward's phone?"

"It's Bella. She disappeared last night and her phone's off or dead. Edward's a mess. I swear to god, Angus, if something fucking happened to her-" Rose chokes out a sob and I feel my heart crack at the news and Rose's sadness.

Bella is okay. Bella is okay.

I keep repeating this mantra, convincing myself that it's true and scramble to figure out how to calm Rose down.

Since I was a baby, I always was the peacemaker and the person who always was in charge and levelheaded during a crisis. I'm trying really hard to be that person right now, but to be honest I'm scared out of my mind.

"Okay, Rose, breathe. I'm getting in the car right now and driving to Mum and Dad's. I need you to focus really hard right now with Emmett and Edward and think about any place she could be. It could be a place she always escapes to when she's stressed, her favorite place, a place where something meaningful happened."

"Um, shit, okay. Did you guys hear that?" Rose asks to Emmett and Edward who are listening in on speakerphone.

"Edward, I swear to god now is not the time to be sulking. We need to think." I hear Emmett say on the other end.

The other line is silent for a minute or two while they think.

"Angus, I'm sorry, we got nothing. What should we do? Should we call the cops?" Rose asks, panicky.

In all honestly, I didn't know what the fuck to do. I puzzle trying to think of solution and begin to bullshit one before I hear Edward's voice cut me off.

"Wait,"

"What? Did she text you?" I say in a panicked, anxious tone.

"You idiot!" I hear Edward yell to who I assume is himself. I hear what sounds like the phone being passed off and am struck with a voice that I recognize as Edward's. "Angus, we'll call you back when we get there. I know where Bella is."

With that, the line went dead.

EPOV

I was a complete, utter idiot. Bella's been missing for a total of four hours and I didn't realize what was right smack in front of me.

If Bella wasn't taken, which we decided probably isn't the case, she must've ran somewhere for some unknown reason. The one thing we do know, as Angus pointed out, is that she most likely ran to a place she felt as an escape, a place of solace for her.

Bella huffs once again as I feel her hands on my shoulders as she spins me around.

And there it is.

You can see miles and miles of yellow, purple, orange, and white twinkling lights that perfectly mirror the sky above us. There are skyscrapers, highways, houses, avenues, parkways and I never imagined that these industrial structures could be so beautiful.

"Amazing, right?" I look to my left and see Bella standing next to me with the same look of awe on her face as me.

I can't even answer her because my brain can't leave the gorgeous sight in front of me.

It was the hill she brought me to at 4 am with after filming Scarlet when I was first beginning to have feelings for her; she spoke about it as a place where she found comfort and escaped to. That night was the night she told me about being a war photographer, played twenty questions, and ate Chinese food until sunrise, just the two of us.

I anxiously fumble through the keys before I find the one to my car and throw them to Emmett. I jump in the passenger's side and kick into high gear, giving him precise directions as to how to get there. I never thought I could remember how to get to a dirt path I was at weeks ago, but the adrenaline kicked my memory into high gear and I was spitting out directions I didn't even know I knew. It was only two miles from the venue of the wrap party where she went missing, so it made sense that she would be there.

She had to be.

I shout at Emmett when I see the tiny path through the trees and the car screeches to a halt. Before the car even comes to a full stop, I jump out and bolt for the path. Emmett and Rose follow, and I'm running up this hill as fast as I can. My eyes are up, earning to see the peak of the hill and a brunette sitting on top of it. The hill feels like miles long and I'm running and running, but it feels like the top will never come.

Finally, the slope begins to decrease and my heart jumps out of my body when I see the back of Bella's head in the black dress she was wearing.

"BELLA" I shout, and my legs move faster than I ever thought they could.

She doesn't turn around for a moment, so I continue shouting her name until she slowly turns around to see me running towards her. She breaks out of shock and her eyes widen, realizing that it's really me. I don't stop until I get to her and scoop her onto my lap, burying my face in her.

The best way to describe this feeling is the feeling like you're drowning and right before you feel like you can hold on any longer, you see the surface of the water. This was like getting that first breath of air after being trapped underwater, drowning.

"Edward-I-I'm-I'm so sorry" She chokes out, breaking my heart into two and wetting my shoulder with her tears.

"Shh… I know, baby. I'm here now. Nothing can hurt you. I'm here. Shh…" I continue whispering these words to her, reminding her that whatever happened can be fixed and that I'm here.

"Bella" I hear Emmett's booming voice and see Rose and Emmett running towards us.

"Bella, oh thank god." Rosalie and Emmett run over and wraps their arms around us as she continues to sob while I rub circles around her back.

"Bella, I know it's hard right now, but you have to tell us why you ran away like that." Emmett pleads softly.

Bella pulls herself away and I get my first glimpse of her face. She looked heartbroken, tired, scared, anxious… She looked truly broken. And right then I broke for her.

She takes a deep breath and wipes the tears under her eyes.

"Edward, you know how much I love you with all my being, but I need to talk to Rosalie before I do anything. The same for you too, Emmett. You know how important you both are to me, and I will explain everything, but I need to talk to Rose right now because this concerns her."

What the fuck is she thinking? I am madly in love with her and we have accepted each other as life partners and I don't deserve to know why she disappeared in the middle of the night?

"This concerns Rose?" Emmett's tone is slightly elevated. "Bella, if this concerns Rose then I have a right to know. Don't pull this on me."

"Emmett-" Rose snaps.

"I know this is all confusing right now but you have to understand that with the situation I need to speak to Rose only right now."

"Come on," I say calmly, touching Emmett's shoulder. I had to admit I'm still pissed that Bella said she couldn't speak about this to me yet, but I am beginning to understand that she knows what's best for her now.

Emmett contemplates arguing for a second, but instead surrenders and follows me back down the hill.

We walk down the hill in silence, Emmett slightly ahead of me with anxiety clearly in his step. Emmett and I both reach the bottom of the hill and I sit on the hood of our car, taking a breath and burying my head in my arms.

What the fuck was going on? My body so clearly doesn't know how to react; as anxious as I am right now, I can't be as worried as I think I should feel because I have no idea what I should be worried about. As far as I know, Bella could be talking about Rose about how she thinks there's a zombie apocalypse happening.

"Do you have any clue what's going on?" Emmett asks, the look of worry on his face matching mine.

"I really wish I did."

For the first time since we've met, Emmett and I sit in silence together. Our normal conversations of sports, music, and just our lives in general feel so off in the distance. Both Emmett and I can't focus on anything but Bella and what the fuck happened tonight. How did she even end up here? My heart seizes when I think of the possibilities of what happened tonight.

After what feels like a decade, but really was only twenty minutes, I see a glimpse of blonde and brown as Rose and Bella emerge from the path. Bella looked awful, to be honest. She looked like she was so stressed her hair was coming out, her face was plagued with fear, and her aura of joyfulness, light, and solace that slapped me in the face the first time I was in the same room with her was gone. The light within her that was strong enough to brighten the darkest of days was put out.

And it was my job to turn it back on.

"What's going on?" Emmett says determinedly.

"Just drive us to our place and we'll explain as much as we can." Rose responds, looking like she was consumed by the thoughts of whatever Bella told her.

I turn around in the passenger seat to look back at Bella. Her eyes meet mine and she gives me a smile that I'm sure was to reassure me, but nothing can at this point. I was worried sick.

The drive to Emmett and Rose's place was dead silent. Nobody could even begin to think about speaking because we were so stuck in our own minds, stressing, worrying, and trying to figure out what the hell is going on.

Emmett puts the car in park once we pull into the driveway and as I step out of the car, Bella walks over to wrap her arms around my waist. The strong girl I fell in love with had left and was replaced with this tiny, fragile creature crying out for help. I wrap my arms around her as tightly as I can as she sobs quietly into my chest. I now see out of the corner of my eye that Rose and Emmett have gone inside, leaving Bella and I alone.

"Edward…" My heart gets stabbed when Bella chokes after saying my name, crying harder.

"Bella, shh…" I soothe her softly, encouraging her to let it out.

"Edward- I'm so sorry." She pulls her face away from my chest to wipe her tears, but I pull her right back to me.

"I'm so sorry for running, I'm sorry for leaving you when I should've turned to you, I'm sorry for getting you involved in my fucked up life, I'm sorry for not being able to tell you everything at this point, I'm sorry for being an idiot, but most of all, I'm sorry for not being the determined, level-headed girl who doesn't take shit from anybody that you love."

"Bells, are you crazy?" Her eyes are glued to the ground, so I get to my knees in her line of sight. "I will admit that I'm human and yes, it was a stab in the chest when you pushed me away and said you only wanted to speak to Rose. But I took a minute to understand that you know what's best and my own ego shouldn't get in the way of this. And yes, I was furious when you chose to run away instead of coming to me like you promised you would. And yes, it made me feel insignificant and unwanted,"

Bella gasps painfully, cutting me off. "Oh God, Edward, I'm so sorry. I'm an idiot because you have no idea how much you are needed and loved to me but I just made it look like I didn't. I now know I shouldn't have ran, but I think once I tell you everything you will realize why I felt it was my only option."

"I know, love, which is why I'm here. I'm only here to listen and to help you. But Bella, we're not perfect at all and trust is something we have to work on, you have to learn how to trust that I'll be there for you and that you don't need to run for me and I need to work on trying to remove my ego from this relationship. All that matters is that I truly love you and I'm here."

"But how?" Bella quips frustratingly, beginning to cry again. "God, Edward…" tears are streaming down her face and she's looking up at the sky. "How could you ever love me like this? It took me awhile, but I finally came to the point where I accepted that you really loved the Bella you've gotten to know these past months. And I have also accepted that that Bella does deserved to be loved, too. But this? How could you love this Bella now that you've seen her? I'm broken, irrational, insensitive, and I can be an asshole who puts my own feelings before others. I mean, look at how I left you there to worry about whether I was alive or not all tonight-"

"GODDAMNIT, BELLA," at this point I was on my feet, pinching the bridge of my nose. How could she be so goddamn blind?

"Have you not listened to every word I've spoken to you, Bella?" I take a breath and regain my sanity before continuing in a softer voice. "I love you for all of you, Bella, not just the determined, level-headed girl who doesn't take shit from anybody. And although you can't see it right now, which is incredibly infuriating to be honest, I love you for how you are now, and this side of you that you describe as irrational and broken deserves to be loved just as much as the other side of you. This Bella is so incredibly open, honest, and willing to be vulnerable, and that's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen in somebody. I love every aspect of you, Bella, and you need to see that. We have dimensions and as humans we don't have just have one personality or mindset we stick to. When I say I love you, I mean all of you, Bella. I love the Bella who dances on tables, and I love the Bella who never gets out of bed on Sundays. I love the Bella who curses like a sailor, and I love the Bella who's so dainty and graceful. I love all of you, Bella; I love all each end of the spectrum and everything in between. How could you not see that?" By now, I realize that my face is covered in my own tears.

At this point, Bella's hands are cupping her face and she's just breathing, crying so quietly to herself and listening to my words, and I'm praying that she's understanding.

"How could I have found someone like you?" She uncovers her face and looks me right in the eyes, the now-red whites of her eyes contrasting from the bright green of her eyes making them glimmer.

I pull her to place a light kiss on her lips, feeling complete in her arms once again, as our tears mix with our faces pressed together. Bella's pain was my pain, and my pain was Bella's pain. Our tears were tied.

"God, I love you. Every single part." She whispers against my lips.

"I love you too, my Bells." I whisper back.

We sit there for awhile just in each others arms.

"I can't imagine how exhausted you are, you can tell me everything first thing in the morning after you get some rest." I whisper after a few moments, working on pulling my ego out of the relationship like I promised I would. I was proud of myself because I'm finally putting aside my own desire to know what happened at this instant and realizing that this conversation was exhausting and Bella might not be up to it, no matter what I want.

"No, Edward. And believe me, I appreciate that despite how anxious you must be to know, you even offered to let this wait. But it's time, Edward. It's time you know everything."

A/N: I'm an ass, I know.

I hope this is keeping you all engaged and I will be posting again as soon as I am able too.

For those of you who want a refresher, the chapter about the hill where Edward and Bella go is Chapter 11: Midnight, Car Lights (pt. 2). All the visuals for the hill are there as well if you would like to be reminded of what it looks like :)

I'll talk to you all as soon as I can and I am so thankful for your patience.

Onward and Upward,

S