Author's Note: Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

Chapter 26

Edward's Point of View

Bella was scaring me. I'd never seen her more determined and set on something. She was stubborn. When she wanted something, she never backed down.

Why was she so desperate to get away from me? Why couldn't our love have been easy? Why was it always me that had to live life the hard way? Didn't anything want to be on my side anymore?

At her words, I couldn't help but recoil slightly. I watched helplessly as she disappeared into the guest room and made sure to shut the door.

She didn't want me. She'd never wanted me. All this time, I'd been fooling myself, trying to fantasize about the life I'd wanted to have with Bella. Everything was so complicated now.

Why now? Why couldn't we have gotten through this before? Maybe she should've just refused to marry me altogether, instead of giving me a taste of what our marriage life could've been before dropping this bomb on me.

I hated myself, knowing that I was the reason she was crying. I knew I was being extremely selfish, but what was I supposed to do? I loved Isabella Swan. I couldn't let her go. I knew that if I agreed to sign those papers, I would be making the biggest mistake of my life.

Bella's Point of View

I stared into space, hugging my knees to my chest. I knew I should face him. But it hurt. It hurt so much that I couldn't face him. Knowing that it was me who was making him suffer. Knowing that I'd wasted five years of his patience and love.

I shouldn't even exist. What was the purpose of this? My existence was only causing the people I loved to suffer.

My phone was vibrating. It had been vibrating nonstop all evening. I knew it was from Alice or maybe Renee. My mother would've already heard the news from Charlie.

I knew I should answer. But I couldn't find the will, the strength to even look at my phone. I was losing it.

I closed my eyes. I should undress and go to bed. But my pajamas were in our bedroom, and I didn't want to face Edward. If I did, I would just burst into tears all over again.

I was committing sin against him. I loved him, but it just wasn't the right kind of love. Why did it had to be this kind of love? Was fate trying to ruin me, destroy me?

I woke up with a jolt, some time later, it seemed. But one look at the clock, and I knew that it was already six in the morning.

I rolled over, trying to go back to sleep. I didn't want to face him any earlier than I had to. I was being childish and selfish, yes, but it was the way I felt right now.

There was the suffocation again. The need to break out. The need to get away.

I realized that my head was too filled with miserable thoughts to go back to sleep. A shower was I needed.

I crept out of bed quietly and reluctantly slipped into our bedroom. Edward was still asleep on his side of the bed.

My heart melted slightly at the sight. He, too, had fallen asleep in his clothes, and he looked uncomfortable but weary. Swallowing, I closed the bathroom door quietly and took a quick shower.

When I came out, wearing nothing but a bathrobe, he was still sleeping. He stirred when I began tiptoeing toward our walk-in closet, and I froze.

But Edward merely rolled over toward my side of the bed, and his arm rested there, as though he was hugging me in his sleep, like he usually did. The sight brought tears to my eyes as I was once again reminded of how much of a hard time I was giving him. Did he do that even when I was out in Hollywood too? Did he miss me that much? Always?

The agony was in my chest again, and I made myself rethink it for the hundredth time since last night. Must I really do this? Must I really break out, even if it means I was scarring Edward, possibly forever?

I had no intentions on going out today, so I kept my clothes simple. Sweats and a camisole. I threw a light gray sweater over me to block out the cold and came back out, this time heading for my makeup table.

I rubbed lotion on my skin and brushed my wild, damp hair. As I was putting the brush back in its place, a pair of strong, muscular arms snaked their way around my narrow waist. I tensed immediately.

"I'm sorry," I said stiffly. "I didn't mean to wake you."

He was fully awake, as though it had been a while since he'd woken up. He'd probably been watching me the entire time.

I avoided his gaze in the mirror in front of us. But his grip on me tightened, and he rested his chin on my shoulder lightly. "Look at the mirror, Bella. What do you see?"

I hesitated before obliging. "I see you. I see me."

"You know what I see?" Edward murmured. "I see a married couple. They're quite stubborn. At least…the wife is being stubborn."

I sighed. "You are too."

He looked sad. His normally bright green eyes seemed to have lost its life, its meaning. "Bella, please. You're being unreasonable. Think it through carefully. I'll do whatever you want. Anything, except this."

But I knew that it wasn't about Edward giving me more to make this marriage work. It had to be me. I had to be the one to work harder to try to succeed. But I was refusing to.

I shook my head. "Let me go, Edward. You're going to be late for work if I don't make you breakfast."

"I'm not going to work," Edward replied. "I'm taking a few weeks off, as long as you're here. I told them I was coming back to work when you left for Hollywood."

"What?"

"You heard me." His eyes were fierce now. "I won't let you out of my sight anymore. I have to be here to change your mind about this. It's absolutely ridiculous."

I pursed my lips. "I don't know how long I'm staying, really. You should go to work, Edward."

"No," he whispered. "I want to stay with you. Please, Bella. Won't you reconsider?" His lips brushed against the nape of my neck lightly as he inhaled my scent.

I just stared at our reflection blankly. "Won't you let me go?"

His eyes flashed. "I told you already. My answer won't change."

I exhaled in resignation. I reached up to free myself from his arms and turned for the door. "Come down in ten minutes for breakfast."

"Bella."

I paused at the door, my hand on the doorknob, but refused to turn around.

His voice was strong and possessive for the first time. "You're mine. You'll always be mine."

For the first time, I felt fear. It was a tone I'd never heard from him in my entire life. I knew the meaning behind it: I'll do anything to make you mine.

I repressed a shudder and quickly exited, not looking back. I hurried down the stairs as fast as I could, feeling the fear grow in my heart as every second passed.

When I reached the kitchen, I grasped at the counter firmly, gasping for breath. Edward Cullen was never going to let me go.

Breakfast was a quiet affair. Halfway through the meal, Edward got a call from his sister. He spoke exactly one word, "Yes," before hanging up.

A few minutes later, we heard the front door burst open, and Alice flounced in, alone this time. Edward looked confused at her arrival, but I ignored her as she began chattering noisily, as though she didn't feel the tense atmosphere.

"So, Bella," Alice said conversationally. "Are you still insisting on that ridiculous idea about divorcing Edward?"

"Alice," Edward warned dangerously. "That's none of your business. Let us handle-"

"Handle what?" Alice snorted. "You two need professional help. And I've got just the thing for you!"

I looked up from my plate to see her sliding a business card in front of Edward. I raised my eyebrow. I was pretty sure the black bold letters on the card said: Marriage Counselor, Dr. Harrison Webster.

Edward picked it up, scowling. "Marriage counselor? Alice, we don't nee-"

"Look, before you say anything, this is not my idea," Alice interrupted. "Hard to believe, I know. But Mom is getting kind of…paranoid. She made me come give this to you, so you can't blame this on me. But I have to agree, it's an okay idea. Maybe counseling will help you understand each other better!"

An hour later, I was sitting in Dr. Webster's office with Edward. I was sure we both looked uncomfortable, looking out of place in the light room.

Dr. Webster was a small, bald man with round glasses on the tip of his pointy nose. He made me wonder why the hell I'd let Alice drag us here. We didn't need marriage counseling, we needed space from each other. Or, at least, I did.

Dr. Webster didn't seem to care about the fact that his new clients were a famous and well-known married couple, an actress and a businessman. Or maybe he just didn't watch TV or read the newspaper.

"How long have you two been married?"

"Five," Edward answered automatically.

"Almost six," I added.

"Look, we really don't need to be here," Edward said uncomfortably. "Can we…leave?"

Dr. Webster ignored the question. "On a scale of one to ten, how happy is your marriage?"

"Seven," Edward answered automatically again.

"Wait, wait," I said, holding up my hand. "Ten being the happiest, or…"

The man shrugged. "Just answer instinctively."

I sighed. I really didn't want to do this. It was pointless and silly. "Alright. Ready?"

"Yeah," Edward said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

"Seven," we said together.

"And why did you decide you needed a divorce?" Dr. Webster asked. "Seven is a pretty good number."

I fought the urge to reach over and slap him. "Because I can't handle the pressure anymore. There are a number of people expecting me to fulfill my duties as Edward's wife by giving birth to his heir. Do you know how stressful that is? Imagine being placed in my shoes, Dr. Webster. Do you think you'd like people to tell you to give birth when you can't?"

I heard Alice groaning outside when she heard my answer. We'd never told her to wait for us. She could've just gone home while we dealt with this clearly insane marriage counselor.

Edward looked perfectly fine, finding my question logical. Or maybe he'd been married for so long to me. Five years was plenty of time for my characteristics to rub off on him.

Dr. Webster gave me a weird look. "No, Mrs. Cullen. Believe it or not, I'm quite happy to be a man when it comes to babies and birth. I don't want to go through all that trouble."

"So you do agree that it's a logical reason for wanting a divorce, right?" I asked.

I heard Alice groan again and mutter profanities. Edward looked bothered by my question. "No. That's not a logical reason, Bella."

Before I could argue, Dr. Webster interrupted, "Based on the subject of babies, how often do you have sex?"

I stared at him. Edward sighed slowly, looking up at the ceiling, looking quite bored.

"Wait, I'm confused," I said, shaking my head. "Is this the one to ten scale thing?"

Dr. Webster cocked his head. "I guess."

"'Cause technically, one shouldn't be no sex at all, zero should be," I pointed out helpfully. "That's how the logic goes."

Alice seemed to lose her head out in the waiting room as she groaned out my name for the third time in embarrassment.

"Fine, then," Dr. Webster said calmly, patient. "On a scale of zero to ten."

"Five," Edward replied automatically.

"Wait," I said, frowning. "I'm not home that often. That should be taken into consideration."

"Exactly," Edward said. "I did."

"Oh," I said, nodding. "Ready?"

"Yeah."

Together, we answered, "Five," making Alice groan for the fourth time already, begging us to come out of the office and go back home.

AN: Did you enjoy that session with Dr. Webster? In case any of you thought the conversation was funny and quite familiar, I'm just going to say that I took the idea from the movie, Mr. and Mrs. Smith. That's a good movie. Go watch it if you haven't. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt...quite sexy, both of them. Leave reviews!