The materials and characters of this story are property of Stephanie Meyer. I have moved, changed and altered the characters and story for my own entertainment. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter Twenty-Eight :: Good-bye

Edward

I ran my hand through her thick hair, smiling in awe as I placed a long, gentle kiss on her forehead. She was still trembling in my arms, but when her weak hold on me let go I realized quickly that she had fallen asleep. Her arms slid off of me, dropping onto the pillows above her head on top of her thick curls that were fanned out around her. Her cheeks were flushed a bright red, and the thin sheen of sweat that covered her body made her scent intoxicating. I watched her, just hovering above her and admiring her for a long time. I knew nothing in time had ever been as beautiful as she was in my arms in that exact moment.

When I did momentarily let her go, only to turn off the lights so that she would sleep better, I saw her eyebrows quickly furrow as a small frown played on her sleeping face. I quickly slid back next to her, chuckling when her face immediately relaxed again. I slid my arms around my wife, pulling her on top of me as I lay back on the bed. She stretched out against my chest with a faint sigh, her head resting under my chin as her arms draped around my head. Her skin was hotter than fire against mine, keeping my body coursing with a steady, overwhelming current of electricity. I slid my hands slowly down her back and admired the view of her beautiful body on top of mine.

I was having a lot of difficulty comprehending the magnitude of joy I had felt in this one day. The moments just kept running around and around in my mind.

The image of her as she walked through that white curtain. I was frozen in awe when I saw her, not fully believing that she was real. Her dark, entrancing eyes and brilliant smile. Her dark hair was twisted artfully to one side with a silver rose, and cascaded down in thick curls over one shoulder almost down to her waist. Her smooth arms were completely bare, her dress curving perfectly to her chest in a white shimmering silk, and flowing out delicately around her to the ground. She truly was an angel, a goddess, some sort of holy being that had been left on this world and mistaken for a mere mortal. She was anything but.

The sound of her voice and devotion in her eyes as she reverently promised her love to me in front of my family. She had made it clear that she wasn't taking me for her life, but forever. That her love for me was so strong that it would it would last longer than her life.

The sound of her voice, and raw emotion on her face as she sang. I had been watching her happily, just admiring her when Jasper handed her my guitar. I happily offered to teach her something, but she shook her head, her lips turning up in a curious smile. I watched her carefully as her fingers easily took on a chord, and her finger tips danced softly against the strings. It looked like her fingers were just strumming at random strings for a moment, but her finger placements for the chords were exact and deliberate. I saw her eyes flicker to me for a moment, before she let out a small breath and her sound shifted. The chords changed into a different pattern as her plucking became a more solidified rhythm. The tune was familiar, and as she continued and her notes became a little louder I easily identified the song. I smiled at her, wondering if she would ever cease to surprise me like this. I knew she had moved the guitar, but I figured she had just looked at it. Never once had she ever mentioned that she could play before.

And then she began to sing. Her voice was quiet, soft at first, but it quickly changed. Her sound was strong, yet low and smooth, a slight rasp that moved deep inside my soul. She'd never sang in front of any of us before, never even joined my family when we sang Christmas carols. I could see why though; Isabella had one of those voices that you just wouldn't sing along with. It was a sound that would silence a crowd, just so that everyone would be able to listen to it. Hers was a voice that was so painfully beautiful that one couldn't help but watch and be moved. She lost herself to her music, and I knew the feeling perfectly, even though I had never seen it on someone else's face before. And it wasn't the intricate sound of the guitar that she lost herself to, it was her words. She was sharing her soul with me, with all of us, and anyone could see that this was her, this was something that she loved so much that she had never wanted to share it. But she shared it with us. With me. I could see how hard it had been for her to do it, she had hid it for almost three years from us all, and that made it just that much more meaningful.

And then there was this. I ran my fingers through her hair, and carefully started combing them through her knots while I wrapped my other arm around her. Her arms stretched out beside my head and her fingers slid lightly into my hair, making my smile grow even larger. I had been able to see in her eyes easily what she had wanted. I wanted it too, of course I had, but I had been terrified. She wasn't though, and her faith in me had given me courage. She had confidently guided me, and it had felt so natural, so right. Our bodies were made for each other, and the sound of her crying out my name, moving against me and giving herself to me completely as she lost herself to the pleasure I gave her sent a shiver of pride through me. There were no words capable of describing the feeling of being inside of her, no one had ever had a love like we did. Our connection was so real, so tangible that it seemed to manifest. The electricity that flowed between us had become an all-consuming, all-powerful force. It had been too easy to give myself to my own pleasure and listen to my body as it took over. It was pure bliss, the most amazing moment of my existence.

I just couldn't stop touching her. Even as she laid against my body, I wasn't close enough to her. Now I knew what true closeness was. I ran my hands down her back, then up her ribs as I kissed her hair. As my thumbs traveled over the soft skin on the sides of her breasts, she moved against me, sighing in her sleep. Her arms wrapped around my head, holding onto me in her sleep, as her legs parted and draped over either side of me. I smiled proudly, sliding my hands down her lower back, over her round bottom and down her legs. She shifted against me again, almost rubbing herself against me as a soft, quiet moan escaped her lips. I had to fight myself not to take her again right then.

But she was mine, my wife. She loved me, every part of me. She loved me unconditionally, I knew that now. We were different types of people though, and we expressed our love differently. I knew her now, learned more about her every day, and I knew that when she needed her personal space, or kept these little details of her secrets, it wasn't because she loved me any less. It was who she was, because that's what she had done to survive for so long. It was a respectable trait, protecting herself the way she did, and just made me admire her even more.

The sky began to lighten outside, casting shadows around the room. It was a very pale light, and I listened as the rain started to patter along the sides of the house. As I counted out the seconds before I could wake her, I thought the light was just playing tricks on my eyes. But as I watched the bruises slowly darken, turning blue and violet around her small waist, pure, raw fear and self-loathing washed over me. I slowly slid my hands down to her sides, and saw that the large bruises on either side of her waist were an exact copy of the shape of my hands. I quickly let go of her and slid her gently onto the bed. Her arms tightened around me, but it was easy to disentangle myself from her hold. I looked down at her, and carefully inspected the bruising that was much worse from this angle.

I quickly got up, and made two ice packs, wrapping them both in hand towels before placing them down on her stomach. My venom pricked painfully in my eyes as it felt like my throat was trying to constrict. It was one of the worst parts of being a vampire, not being able to let pain out through tears. I couldn't believe I had done this to her. I hurt her. I could have used my cool hands to try and bring down the bruising, but I was afraid to even touch her. It was hard when her face took on a gentle scowl and she reached out for me in her sleep. She kept rolling over though and the packs kept slipping off, and when she rolled over for the fifth time, I stayed completely still as she wrapped herself around me. After a little while she had worked herself back to where she had been before, lying across my chest, her hands resting on my shoulders.

She didn't seem like she was in pain, in fact she had a glowing smile on her face even as she slept. I knew her blood thinners would make her prone to bruising, but it didn't change the fact that I had done that to her. She had placed her trust in me completely, and I had done this to her. I fisted my hands in my hair, almost ripping it out in my anger with myself. I stayed frozen like that until I had to wake her up. I couldn't kiss her, I didn't deserve to touch her.

"Isabella," I said quietly. She didn't move. "Isabella?" I made my voice a little louder.

"Hmm." Her voice was barely a whisper.

"Isabella, you need to wake up," I said in a gentle voice.

"Mmm. Five more minutes," she said in a sleepy voice. She shifted on my body, wrapping her arms around my head. I would have laughed if I wasn't so preoccupied with despising myself.

"Nope, you need to eat breakfast," I said gently, and she groaned. She stretched out on top of me slowly, sliding her hands back down before propping herself up slightly. She was having a lot of difficulty opening her eyes, but her smile was immediate. When she did manage to get her eyes to stay open, her smile disappeared as she looked at me, her joy shifting into worry and fear in her eyes.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" She asked quickly, her eyes going wide.

"Tell me the truth Isabella," I pleaded seriously. "How much does it hurt? Are you okay?"

Her expression turned confused, and a little annoyed. "What are you talking about?"

I sat her up, and when she looked down at her stomach her eyes widened in surprise. I laid one hand gently over one of the bruises. She looked up at me sadly.

"It doesn't hurt at all Edward. I don't even feel them," she said gently, looking me straight in the eyes as she spoke. "You know I bruise easily, the blood thinners just made it worse. It's okay." She had taken my face in her hands while she spoke, and it was hard to doubt the sincerity in her eyes. I shook my head.

"It's not okay Isabella. I did this, I hurt you, I-"

"You did not hurt me Edward," she said sternly. I was halted by the strength in her voice as she pierced me with her burning gold and brown eyes. "Last night was the most amazing night of my life. I had never felt as good as you made me feel, and I wouldn't change a single second of it." Her strong exterior crumbled for a moment, and she looked down as her hands dropped, covering up her chest with her arms. "That's how it was for me though… Did you not, was it okay for you?"

"You're worried that I didn't enjoy myself?" I asked in disbelief. When she looked back up at me her eyes were watering, and my fear evaporated. I would not let my wife cry. I kissed her quickly. "Last night was the most amazing night of my existence, I had never known that pleasure that intense could actually be real," I told her seriously, and she gave me a small smile. "Please though, I don't want you to lie and protect me Isabella. I need to know if you're not okay."

She leaned into me, wrapping her arms around my neck. "I really am okay Edward. I wanted you to hold me tighter, and was very happy when you did. Everything about last night felt good, there was no pain." She smiled, and tilted her head as she kissed my neck. I shivered under her touch as her lips brushed below my ear. "And I am more than willing to practice so it doesn't happen again," she said in a seductive voice, before rolling off of me. She grabbed my shirt that was still on the bed, sliding her arms through the sleeves and doing up a couple of the buttons. She swayed when she stood up, gripping onto one of the posters of the bed. I quickly flashed to her side to support her.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" I asked urgently, holding her up carefully. Her face flushed red as she gave me an appreciative look, her eyes travelling over me slowly.

"Yes," she said in an amused. She patted my stomach gently, biting her lip. "I am very much okay," she said in a voice that made me twitch. She grinned, and let go of me as she made her way over to the washroom a little shakily and closed the door.

A slow smile spread over my lips as the phase "I could barely walk the next day," floated through my mind. And that look she gave me, I could swear that she wanted more.

I quickly slid on a pair of blue boxers, and decided not to put anything else on. I made the bed quickly so she wouldn't try to, and watched her as she walked out of the bathroom, grinned at me, then made her way over to the kitchen.

She looked amazing in my shirt, and I loved knowing that she wasn't wearing anything else underneath it. She had rolled up the long sleeves, and the shirt almost went down to her knees. It was an entrancing thing to watch. I turned on the radio as she took her medication and poured herself a bowl of cereal, and when she set it down, I slid it in front of me before pulling her onto my lap. She smiled happily at me, and I let her eat her cereal while I played with her hair. It was like any other perfect day. Waking up and sitting with her while she ate her breakfast at seven on the dot. But it was so different. I couldn't hide the proud smile on my face as I looked at the two silver rings on her finger. She was mine. My love, my life, my reason for existence, and now my wife. As soon as she put down her spoon, I turned her around in my lap and kissed her fiercely. I knew this was against her morning rules but I didn't care. I had to feel her lips on mine.

She took my face in her palms very gently, and I let her pull away after a moment. Her eyes were sparkling as she smiled up at me, and I grinned back in a daze. She gave me one last gentle kiss and I let her slide off of my lap. I couldn't take my eyes off of her as I watched her clean and put away her bowl and spoon, pause, and take out a container of disinfectant wipes and go over all of the marble counter tops. I almost laughed as she gave the kitchen an affirmative nod, smiled and walked over to the bedroom. She was as clean as a vampire, and I thought it was curious just how many similarities my human wife did have with my kind. Her impressive memory and attention to detail, her courage, the depths of her emotions, her pale, flawless skin and intimidating beauty…

It wasn't the first time that I had thought she was more than human, and there was something about that idea that tickled at my mind.

I didn't hear any doors close, but I heard the shower turn on. I listened to the audible click as the glass door to the shower closed. My body moved of its own accord, pulling me into the bedroom and stopping just outside the doorway into the bathroom. I could see her perfectly, her eyes closed under the water pouring down on her. Her long hair looked almost black as it flowed with the water over her body, coming close to touching her hips. She was smiling, and I was entranced as she took some shampoo in her hands and started massaging it into her scalp. As she turned around and started rinsing it out, I had a perfect view of her glistening breasts as she leaned her head back. The dark bruises were still a painful thing to look at, but I believed she was okay and now the sight of her over powered the sight of them. I walked over to her at a human pace, and kicked off my boxers as she opened her eyes and looked up at me. She didn't look away, but stood still under the flow of water as I opened the door to the large square shower.

She watched me with a faint smile as I closed the door behind me, and I just looked down at her for a moment, enjoying the complete, full image of her in front of me. Then I stepped forward, and the corner of her mouth pulled up a little higher as she placed her hands on my chest. I slid my hand through her wet hair, cupping the back of her head and letting the electricity build inside of me before leaning down and kissing her.

Her fingers traced over each one of the muscles on my stomach gently as her hands traveled up my chest. She leaned up against me, burning me, as she reached up on her toes to wrap her arms around my neck. Very slowly, I slid my hands down her ribs, her hips, leaning down as I cupped the backs of her thighs and lifted her up. Her legs wrapped around me automatically, and she was able tighten her hold around my neck. I released her lips to let her breathe, and tasted the skin along her jaw and down her throat. Her fingers knotted into my hair as I lifted her a little higher, sliding one arm under her bottom and supporting her back with my other hand as I leaned her back and covered her breasts in gentle kisses, and then traced around her stiff peaks with the tip of my tongue. God, she tasted so good. I leaned her gently against the tiled wall of the shower, loving the feel of the water pouring over us as I held her. With my hand now free, I slid it down her back, over the back of her thigh before slipping in between her folds. She let out a soft moan, and I kissed her quickly before easily lifting her over my head, resting her on my shoulders, and dipped my tongue inside of her. She gasped, and clutched at my hair as I circled her with my tongue before dipping a finger in side of her again.

"Oh god," she gasped and I felt her squirm in my arms. Her thighs trembled against my shoulders as she pulled on my hair, her breathing coming out in sharp gasps. "Edward, please," she whimpered, almost pleading. I didn't need any more encouragement as I lowered her down, kissing her as I easily guided myself inside of her. Her body shivered against mine, and her insides clenched around me as I slowly entered her. She cried out, but it was a sound of pleasure as she clung to me tightly. I moved very slowly, not letting myself completely lose control. My hold on her hips was secure yet gentle as I slowly moved her up and down on top of me. She moved with me, supporting herself easily and un-shyly with my shoulders. Her nails scraped across my skin as I gradually increased my pace, and started pushing deeper inside of her. She climaxed quickly, and I started kissing her neck urgently as she continued to cling to me. She cried out my name again and again as she gave herself to me to reach myself. There was just too much sensation, and when I released inside of her I held her like that under the warm water for a few minutes, feeling her muscles tremble against me as her body started to relax in my arms.

But she kept clenching around me, and my pleasure didn't fade. She whimpered and clung to me tightly as I started to move inside her again, and I growled loudly as she held onto my shoulders, bracing her legs against my hips as she started to rotate her hips around me. The sounds that we made were more animalistic then anything. I was more than happy to let her use me as she wished, engrossed with how open she was about what she wanted. When her muscles weakened I supported and guided her again, and this time we climaxed together. It was like the universe had shifted around us, time, space, emotion, all of their meanings seemed to change. We kissed each other urgently as I swiped away the tears that were streaming down her face, and then just held her for a long time under the warm water. When her heart rate slowed down and her breathing became more calm, I set her down in front of me. I caught her quickly when it became apparent that her legs just couldn't hold her up any more, and she bit onto her bottom lip as she grinned at me. The way she looked up at me, an almost desperate sort of happiness in her eyes, was life altering. I smiled adoringly at her, and gave her a gentle kiss before taking her loufa, covering it in some of her strawberry-scented body wash, and started gently rubbing it over her body while I supported her with one hand. She let me support her, twisting back her hair as I explored her body. When I finished, I traced over every inch of her skin with my hands and lips as I rinsed the bubbles off of her. I tuned off the water and carried her out of the shower, and after we dried each other off I carried her back to the bed, laying her down and wrapping my arms around her. She was still shaking slightly, and I smiled when she asked if I could get her a bottle of water. I jumped out of the bed, and was back in two seconds. I slid under the blankets with her, and she drank the entire bottle before setting it down on her nightstand and sliding into my arms. She looked completely exhausted, and I didn't think she would last very long. She seemed happy when I pulled her on top of me, by far my favourite way to watch her sleep. And she was unabashed as her legs straddled my stomach, propping herself up on me on her elbows and kissing me fiercely.

"I love you Edward. More than anything in the world," she said in a clear, strong voice. I wrapped my arms around her, leaning up to meet her lips again.

"I love too. You make me the happiest man in the universe," I told her gently. Her eyes watered a little before she kissed me, then shifted again as she rested her head on my chest, her hands resting delicately on my shoulders. Her breathing pattern shifted as she drifted off to sleep again, and I pulled the blanket a little higher over her bare shoulders. I draped one arm gently over her back on top of the blanket, and combed the knots out of her wet hair with my fingers, watching it dry in soft waves as she slept.

I smiled brightly when three hours later she laughed. She was still asleep, her body completely limp and relaxed against mine. I'd only seen her do that twice before, and I loved it. There was just something about seeing her so happy even in her dreams that delighted me.

"What's so funny?" I asked in a smooth whisper.

"Your face, when I caught you lurking in my woods," she breathed. I chuckled, smiling at the memory.

"Even then I loved you. You're the only woman I've ever loved, and when I found you I just couldn't stay away. I was so surprised when you called me out, you were always surprising me, the only person who ever has."

She moved, and my eyes went wide as she propped herself up on her elbows, looking down at me and smiling. I could have sworn she was asleep. "I was so annoyed, you were always waking me up in the middle of the night." I watched her in shock for a moment, and she lifted a delicate eye brown, then her smile turned into more of a smirk. "You've been talking to me in my sleep, haven't you?"

I looked up at her nervously. Why was it that she could read me so easily? She just shook her head, and I relaxed as she leaned over and kissed me. Her sweet-smelling hair created a curtain around us, and when she pulled away she smiled sweetly down at me. "I thought you might have been. Sometimes when I dream of you, it really feels like I'm talking to you. And we've been living together for so long now that I thought it was strange you hadn't mentioned anything about my sleep talking."

"You're not mad?" I asked disbelievingly. The smile on her face was genuine.

She just gave me a little shrug. "Nothing I can do about it. I'm not going to go back to wearing a mouth guard when I sleep just to blur out the words."

I laughed loudly. "That's why you wore that thing?"

"I thought it was a pretty clever idea, I couldn't go blowing my cover in my sleep," she said seriously. I had to agree. "So, did you learn anything interesting?" She asked a little nervously.

I brushed some of her hair away from her face, smiling up at her. "The first time you told me you loved me was in your sleep. It was one of the best nights of my life." She gave me a sad smile.

"Last night was the best night of my life," she whispered, not breaking eye contact with me.

"Mine too," I told her reverently, taking her face in my hands and kissing her tenderly. When I released her and looked up at her, I knew that life didn't get better than this. Seeing her constantly smiling, I wanted to make sure that never stopped. I would make her smile every day for the rest of her life because it was the only thing that mattered. She yawned, and gave me an apologetic look. "You can go back to sleep," I told her reassuringly.

"But I've been trapping you here for so long. It's okay, I can-"

"No, go back to sleep. I just want to hold you, I don't ever want to stop holding you."

Her eyes sparkled with unshed tears before she kissed me again. It was a long, gentle kiss, and I felt like I could taste her happiness in the electricity that flowed out of her. I wrapped my arms around her gently, and she shifted down my torso, resting her head on my chest, her legs still open over my stomach. When I rested my arms down on the bed, my hands resting on her ribs, her small hands slid up my arms, resting on my biceps. I closed my eyes, just savouring this, and she fell asleep again within minutes.

. . . . . . . . . .

It was such an amazing feeling. Her heart sat directly above where mine used to beat, but as hers beat against my chest it almost felt like mine was too. I grinned as her stomach rumbled gently and she shifted against me.

At first I had worried as usual that she would get cold sleeping directly against my skin, but underneath this blanket with her I felt like I was being baked in an oven. I slid my hands under the blanket, sliding them down her back, and she shifted against me again, almost a wiggle. My body automatically responded, and she was so close that as I rose I felt myself pressing against the inside of her thigh. I shut my eyes tightly, trying to gain control of my body again, but she rubbed up against me and let out a small whimper. Her hands slid up my arms as she started to stir. My body was frozen for a moment, but then she whispered my name.

I rolled us over, and hovered above her. This opened her legs to me completely, but I held myself close enough away that I didn't touch her and leaned forward to kiss her. Her lips responded quickly to mine as the last bits of sleep fell away from her. Her fingers slid into my hair and I automatically leaned forward. She hummed against my lips as I pressed up against her wet heat. I debated, her kiss drowning out my thoughts but not sure if I was being too forward. But her arms became tight around my neck as she pulled me closer and moved against me. I pulled away slightly, and her eyes were bright, filled with desire as she stared back at me. The corner of my mouth pulled up into a grin as I leant forward on one arm, kissing her gently as I guided myself with my other hand. I rubbed my tip in circles around her bud and her lips became more urgent. I pulled away slightly, and looked into her eyes as I slid down her folds, and very slowly slid my full length into her. She closed her eyes, moaning softly, and she clenched around me tightly while I slid my hand slowly up her thigh then under her back, lifting her hips slightly. Her hands slid into the sheets, clutching at them tightly as I slowly moved my full length in and out of her. I tried to keep it slow, to be tender, but as she pulled herself into my body, I let her roll me over when she tried.

She looked down at me, a sensual smile on her face, and rocked against me. I moaned, and she lifted herself up on her knees and lowered herself down on me again quickly before rotating her hips. I watched her, entranced as she lifted herself up and down on top of me, her firm breasts bouncing with the movement and her hair falling around her body in thick, soft waves. I watched myself as she pulled me into her, and let my hands travels down to her hips before slipping a finger in between her folds. She moaned when I circled over her, and her movement became quicker and she leaned back slightly, giving me an even better view. As soon as her legs started to tremble again, I flipped her back over. Feeling close, I kept circling around her as I started to pump into her faster, and harder. She cried out seconds before I came, and I relaxed against her after slipping out of her. She was breathing heavily, holding onto me tightly. I covered her body in kisses until her heart slowed down and her breathing evened out, and I lay down next to her on the bed while she smiled at me lovingly.

"What time is it?" She asked quietly after a few minutes.

"Almost six," I told her easily. Her eyes went wide for a minute before relaxing into a smile again. She gave me a gentle kiss, before grabbing the throw off of the bed, wrapping herself in it and walking a little unsteadily over to the washroom. I was in the same spot, still half under the blankets when she came out, but she quickly walked over to the closet and turned on the light. I made sure to keep the frown off of my face, I couldn't keep her trapped and naked in our bedroom for the rest of her life. Luckily she didn't come out wearing any more than a small pair of shorts and a tank top. She hopped up onto the bed, and leaned over me to give me a quick kiss.

"I'm just going to make something to eat," she told me before kissing me again. She swayed slightly when she stood up again and I caught her, and she gave me an adorable, embarrassed smile before walking out of the room. I threw on a pair of jeans in three seconds, catching up to her before she made it across the living room. I sat down on one of the stools, and she turned up the radio before opening the fridge and leaning on the door while she stood in front of it. She was smiling, and didn't seem annoyed to have me sitting here watching her. She put a pan on the stove and put some oil in it while she cut up things out of the fridge, and they sizzled dangerously when she threw them in.

"What are you making?" I asked curiously. She grinned as she went back to the fridge and started pulling out different bottles.

"Stir fry," she said in an amused voice.

"It looks complicated. Why aren't you measuring anything?" She laughed.

"It's not really. And I don't need to measure, things don't need to be exact when cooking this sort of thing." She never made fun of me when I asked these sorts of questions. The thought that passed through my mind made me feel sad. If she had continued on with school and gone through with the career that she had wanted to, I know she would have made an amazing teacher.

"Do you like Chinese food?" I asked, thinking of that last day of school that we had had.

"I love Chinese food," she said happily. I watched as she mixed some rice from a Tupperware container into her frying pan, stirring it again. "I think this might be considered Chinese food actually," she said in a thoughtful voice.

I smiled, making a note to buy it for her sometime, and went and turned on the television as she started pulling out a plate and pouring a glass of water. She turned off the radio, and I heard her start washing her dishes before she even started eating. I wonder if she was aware that she was a little obsessive compulsive when it came to things like cleanliness. I watched as she came and sat next to me, setting her glass and two pills down on the coffee table. At first, when we had been in New Brunswick, I had thought that she was living like a guest in her own home. Her behaviour hadn't changed much besides the fact that me making the bed didn't give her panic attacks anymore, but I realized that it may have been something so deeply ingrained in her that it was a permanent part of who she was.

She caught me watching her, and gave me a suspicious smile. "What?"

"I love you," I told her simply. She smiled.

"And I love you," she said easily, and took another bite of her food. "You're not seriously going to make me watch jersey shore are you?"

I looked over at the television, forgetting I had even turned it on, and laughed as I switched it over to the weather network. Isabella finished her dinner really quickly, and after she got up and washed her plate she came back, walking with a cookie in her mouth and a small pile of them on a napkin in her hand. She grinned up at me, pulling the cookie out of her mouth and sat down next to me again. I smiled as she leaned against my arm, laughing while we watched some bad horror movie. As the night got later, she wrapped herself in a blanket before sliding into my lap, and I held her securely while she fell asleep in my arms.

. . . . . . . . . . .

"I have a present for you," I told her excitedly when I heard the water in the shower turn off. She opened the door, wrapped in her white robe as she looked over at me suspiciously.

"Why?" She asked. I grinned at her.

"Since I couldn't take you away on a honeymoon for a wedding present, I wanted to get you something else." She rolled her eyes and walked back into the bathroom. I followed her back in, needing to make sure that she wasn't actually angry.

"You didn't need to get me anything Edward," she said in a sad voice. She was staring down at the silent blow dryer in her hands. No, I had managed to keep her smiling for the last week while I had her hidden away in our cabin, I wasn't going to let that end now.

"I know that Isabella, but I swear this is something that you're going to like. It doesn't even come in a box."

"I didn't get you anything," she whispered, and there were actual tears in her eyes. I kissed her quickly, lifting her up and setting her on the bathroom counter.

"And I don't want anything," I assured her in a deep whisper. "Besides, this is as much for me as it is for you," I said in a reassuring tone. She looked up at me curiously. An idea came to my mind though, and I quickly went with it. "Although…"

"What?" She asked quickly.

"There is one thing you could do for me," I said hopefully. Her answer was immediate.

"Anything," she swore.

I smiled brightly at her. "You could sing for me again." Her eyes widened, her face flushing before she smiled at me.

"Okay," she whispered. Well, that was much easier than I thought it would be.

"We have to leave the house for it though," I said begrudgingly. I never wanted to leave this house again. Her face went curious again, but she nodded.

"Can I dry my hair first?" I kissed her, and told her to take as much time as she wanted. I went and got dressed, pulling on a pair of dark jeans and a white t-shirt, then sat down in the living room to read while she got ready.

An hour later she came and dropped down on the couch beside me. She was wearing a denim skirt with a white lace shirt that I could see her white bra through. She had a purple sweater zipped up on top of her though, and her hair was hanging in a long braid over one shoulder. I immediately dropped my book, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her on top of me. She giggled, and lightly pushed me away after my lips moved from her mouth down her throat. I looked up at her, almost pouting which made her laugh again. She leaned into me, and I wanted to rip that sweater off of her.

"You know if we start that we'll never leave," she whispered, her eyes sparkling as she smiled. I could see that she wouldn't have minded if that were to happen.

I really wanted to give her my present though, and the sooner we left the more she would be able to enjoy it. I sighed, standing up and setting her down on her feet.

"Do I need to bring anything?" She asked, skipping over to the closet and sitting down on the chair in the corner of our room as she slipped on a pair of tanned, leather ankle boots.

"No," I said, watching her as she stood up a couple inches taller than she usually did. She walked over to me gracefully, smiling and wrapping her arms around me. I didn't have to lean over as far as usual to kiss her. She smiled when I didn't pull away, and I held her a little more tightly. I sighed again, and put her down before taking her hand and leading her out to the garage. She didn't question me when I held the door open to my car, but slid into the seat and did up her belt with an easy smile. I was in my seat in another second, and she leaned up and hit the switch on the fold-down mirror to open the garage door for me.

It was a little strange to be out of the house, and even though she was sitting right next to me it felt wrong not having her in my arms. Like she had been reading my mind, she reached over and rested her hand on my thigh gently, since my hand was busy shifting gears. I relaxed slightly under her touch.

I smiled as we pulled into the large, empty parking lot of the nursery.

"It's says they're closed today Edward," she said lightly.

"I know," I said with a smile, and parked my car right in front of the main entrance.

"What are we doing?"

"Picking out everything that you want for the yard," I told her happily.

She smiled at me. "That's sweet, but I'm pretty sure they're closed," she said again with a bit of a laugh. I took the keys out of the ignition, and walked over to her door at a human pace since the owner was watching us. I opened it for her, and took her hand as I led her out. I took her face gently in my hands.

"I paid them to close for the day so you would have it all to yourself. No crowds, no headaches." I waved the owner over without looking at him. "You will pick out everything that you want, and they will load it up and bring it over to the house tomorrow."

Her eyes went huge as she stared at me in shock. They started to shimmer, and her voice came out as a whisper when she spoke. "Thank you Edward."

I smiled at her brilliantly. "I'd do anything and everything to make you happy Isabella." She smiled up at me as a tear rolled out of the corner of her eye, and I kissed her quickly. The store owner waited patiently until I was done.

"Good morning Mr. and Mrs. Cullen. We're all ready for you," he said politely. My hold on my wife tightened a little as his eyes traveled over her. I think she noticed also, because she pulled up the zipper on her sweater to cover herself more. I glared at him, and he quickly paled. If I wasn't so adamant about doing this for her, I would have brought my business elsewhere.

Shit, pull it together Adam. God it looks like he's going to kill me. I can't lose out on this business. "Please, come on in," he gestured, and I gave him one more warning glance before smiling at Isabella and leading her inside. She was practically glowing.

She was a little nervous at first, timid almost as we browsed through the aisles. "Do you have any ideas of what you'd like to do? We have plenty of time, this is yours for the entire day," I reassured her.

"I have a couple ideas," she said shyly. I pulled her over to the empty service counter. I had told the manager that I wanted absolutely no one here. Unfortunately that left us with only him, but he was giving us plenty of space. She watched me as I grabbed a clip board and pencil comfortably off of the desk, then pulled her into my lap as I sat down on a bench. I rested my chin on her shoulder as I quickly sketched out an exact aerial view of our property on her lap.

"Show me," I said gently. She smiled before kissing my cheek, and took the pencil out of my hand. She drew out a winding path that she wanted to do in stone right down to the beach. She wanted to keep all of the large trees that were scattered around the yard, and make large circular gardens around each of them, and then more gardens around the front and back porches and along the sides of the house. She drew in a gazebo too that would look over the lake.

"What do you think?" She asked tentatively.

"I think it will look beautiful," I told her. "Want to look at stones first?"

"Sure," she said happily. "And then we'll need dirt, lots of it, crushed stone for laying out the walkway, and a lot of flowers."

"Excellent." I stood up and kissed her as I set her down, then led her over to their large selections of walkway stones. I was easily able to do the math in my mind for how much we needed, and the owner listened carefully and took down notes as I listed to him what she wanted. After she chose her stones, I had the store owner running back and forth with wagon after wagon of plants that Isabella picked out. I told her not to hold back, and was pleased when she listened. I didn't feel guilty when I saw that the man was almost sweating, I paid very good money for his services and he had a lot of work to do to get into my good books after the way he had looked at my wife. She was obviously enjoying herself though, and that made it all worthwhile.

"Okay, I think we have enough," she said with a laugh.

"Are you sure? It's a pretty big yard." She nodded happily at me, and I heard her stomach rumble slightly. "Shall we go pick up something for dinner?" I asked, the manager still hovering close to us. She nodded happily, and I kissed her before sitting her down on a bench while I went to take care of the bill. As we walked over to his office, we passed a plant that Isabella must have missed, because I knew she would love the large, vibrant purple flowers on it. I picked it up, carrying it with me over to his office. It took him awhile to do the math, and I waited impatiently, peeking around the corner at Isabella while she swung her feet lightly beneath her. She smiled brightly when a green dragon fly landed next to her, and leaned over to inspect it closely without touching it. I let out a happy sigh as I watched her, and felt like she had actually heard me because she looked up at me and smiled.

"It must be frustrating waiting for him to add all those up, I bet it only took you seconds to do it in your mind," she said quietly. Even from this distance I could hear her perfectly, though the man next to me had no idea. I grinned and nodded at her. When he finally finished, I paid quickly and practically ran back to her side.

"What would you like to eat?" I asked, wrapping my arm around her as I walked her back to the car. She was still debating her answer as I closed her door and walked over to mine.

"I think pizza," she said. She gave me the name of the restaurant and I made my way over to it easily. We got out of the car and walked across the parking lot, but she stopped halfway through, cringing. "Actually, I think I'd rather just make something at home tonight," she said, turning around without looking up at me. I looked at her worriedly, and could hear the thoughts of about thirty people inside.

"I can order for you, and you can sit in the car if you want," I asked her gently, cupping her face in my hands. She looked at me nervously. "You don't have to hide with me Isabella. It's okay if you don't want to go inside, but I really don't mind going in for you," I reassured her. I saw her relax a little and smiled. "What would you like on it?"

She didn't answer me, instead leaning up and pulling my face down to hers to kiss me. I held her gently until she leaned away from me again, and smiled down at her. I walked her back over to the car, and kissed her again before walking back and ordering for her.

I was still grinning to myself as I waited for the order, even with the annoying, loud buzz of thoughts that were running through my mind. It was deafening after spending an entire week alone with no one but Isabella. It would have been nice to be able to hear her thoughts though, just so I could see what she was doing.

So when I saw her face in his mind, it shocked me for a moment. He started walking to her across the parking lot quickly. The coincidence, because that was all it was, of that vile man living in this town still bothered me immensely. That he would move here for work after his wife left him just two years before we did was angering, but we hadn't run into him again in this large town since we moved here. I went to go outside, but as soon as I reached the door they called out my number. By the time I had gotten the pizza he had already reached her, and I forced myself to walk out of the crowded building at a human pace. I could hear his voice as soon as I stepped outside.

"You cost me a client," he growled down at her. She looked up at him with a gaze so powerful, so dark and cold that it made him flinch back a little.

"You cost yourself a client, George," she hissed, crossing her arms and casually leaning back against the car. There wasn't a trace of fear in her voice, and I smiled over at my incredible wife. She didn't need me to protect her, but I wanted to anyways. I crushed one end of the cardboard box in my hand when he reached forward and grabbed her arm.

"You were always ungrateful, after everything we did for-"

"You didn't do anything for me. And if you don't let go of me right now I'm pretty sure my husband is going to kill you." She tried to pull her arm away from him, but he held on tighter and she winced, staggering slightly. He didn't hear me as I walked up behind him, grabbed the back of his collar and ripped him back away from her, lifting him off the ground as I brought him up to my eye level and glared at him. His face paled, and I saw his fear.

"What? You only feel confident picking fights with women that are half your size?" I asked in a dark growl. He didn't say anything, but his heart rate was dangerously high. This was the normal reaction that humans had with my kind. "Apologize to my wife," I ordered, dropping him back onto the ground. He went to run, but my vision was tinged red, and I pushed him back onto the ground. I felt Isabella's hand rest on my arm, and I relaxed slightly under her touch.

"We're not alone Edward," she whispered quietly. I quickly searched in my mind and realized that there were a few people in the parking lot watching us curiously.

"He's not leaving until he apologizes to you," I told her. His eyes flickered back over to her then back at me, and when I took another step closer he flinched.

"I'm sorry!" He shouted, and Isabella restrained my arm as he got up and ran. I watched him darkly as he disappeared into his car and drove away.

Isabella let go of me, and I watched as she walked over and picked up the box I had dropped on the ground. She walked over and stepped into the car without looking at me. I felt my body go cold when I realized what I had just done in front of her. I quickly walked over to my door and slid inside.

"I'm sorry," we both said at the exact same time. She looked up at me a little surprised.

"Why are you apologizing?" I asked curiously.

"For bringing all of this stupid drama into your life," she said in exasperation, watching my face worriedly. "You're always saving me."

"It is not your fault that you had the misfortune of meeting him," I told her seriously. It was mine, actually, but I knew what she would say if I told her that. We had been over that already, and she wasn't one to have the patience to go over the same conversation twice. She watched me for a long moment before doing up her seat belt and rubbing her forehead. I quickly started up my car and pulled out of the parking lot. She relaxed and smiled again once we went past the edge of town.

"Are you mad at me?" I asked her quietly. She looked over and watched me for a minute before answering.

"No."

"Well, I'm still sorry for losing my temper like that," I told her. She smiled up at me, placing her hand on my thigh.

"It's okay."

"Is your arm okay?"

She hesitated for a moment. "It kind of stings, but it's not too bad," she said quietly. I gripped onto the steering wheel a little tighter.

"I'll make an ice pack for you as soon as we get home," I told her. She nodded, and inhaled the smell of her food deeply, then looked over at me before cracking the window. God she was amazing.

I got us home quickly, driving much faster than I usually did. Isabella quickly walked into the kitchen to take her pills, but flinched when she reached up for the cupboard. I stopped her, and unzipped her sweater before sliding it off her shoulders. She stood still, and let me inspect her arm.

"You shouldn't be bruising this quickly," I said, forcing my voice to be calm. I sighed, and reached up for her blood thinners, then handed her one.

"Why not two?" She asked curiously.

"It should help with the bruising," I told her, my heart wedged into my throat with my fear.

"I don't care about the bruises Edward," she said, and took the bottle out of my hand.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," she said sternly, swallowing her pills and taking her plate over to the living room. I let out a small sigh, and sat down next to her. She had turned on the television, but handed me the remote when I sat down and started eating. She seemed a little frustrated for a few minutes, but after she ate she was a little more relaxed. I tentatively draped an arm around her shoulders, and let out a breath that I hadn't realized I had been holding when she leaned into me. I slid my hand gently over the bruise that was starting to form on her arm. She flinched at first, but relaxed under my cool hand.

"Is this okay?"

She nodded, and rested her head against me. "It feels nice," she whispered. "So when are they going to bring our stuff over tomorrow?"

"Not until around noon. What do you want to start doing first?"

"The walk way and the walls around the trees," she said quickly. I nodded, and took a steadying breath.

"Would you mind if maybe Esme and I take care of that part?" I asked her hesitantly. Her face was a perfect, calm mask, but she didn't speak for a moment.

"Okay," she said in a steady voice, but she didn't look up at me. I was about to ask her if she was sure that she didn't mind, but as I saw her hands ball up in fists as she gripped onto the small pillow that was on her lap I knew that she did. She minded a lot, but she was agreeing anyways.

"Thank you," I told her, and her hands seemed to relax. She was silent for a little while, but after a couple minutes she moved a little closer, resting her head against my arm and closing her eyes tightly. My body seemed to relax from the contact, and I hadn't realized that I hadn't been breathing.

As usual, it was hard not to just stare at her while she sat there with her eyes closed, made even worse by my worry about her. I felt like her breathing was a little too even, and her body didn't seem to actually relax. She was still for so long though, hours. I had expected her to maybe fall asleep like that, to anyone who didn't know her as well as I did she probably looked like she was asleep, but I knew she wasn't.

And I was right. Around eleven thirty she sat back up, kissing my cheek before getting up and walking over to the bedroom. I heard her turn on the light inside our closet before closing the door, and opening a drawer. After turning off the television and the light I kicked off my jeans then shirt habitually before flipping back the blankets and sitting up in our bed.

She was taking a long time to get changed, and I hadn't even heard her move for a while, but just as I started to lean forward to go check on her she turned off the light and came out. She gave me a small smile as she walked over in a small, dark grey silk nightgown. I was sort of frozen watching her easily walk around the bed in the dark, the sight of her smooth legs, and the lace on her hip as she crawled into bed next to me almost making me shake. The only thing that stopped me from ripping the blankets back off of her was how tired she looked.

But I had to be touching her. She was still smiling at me, and before she settled I slid closer to her, my right arm folding underneath her pillow. She rolled over onto her side as I wrapped my other arm around her waist, leaning her back against my chest as she closed her eyes. With my face buried in her thick hair, there was no other scent in the world besides her and the smell of her strawberry shampoo.

It could be a little distracting sometimes, just being enveloped in the life-altering, powerful scent of her, hearing nothing but her heartbeat and even breathing. It took me much too long to realize that she still hadn't fallen asleep.

What was even more worrying was the fact that I believed she was trying to pretend she was asleep. It was very convincing, and the effort it must be taking, timing her breathing and how completely still she was, frightened me. Something was really wrong, so wrong that she would rather feign sleeping for so many hours than talk to me.

By five in the morning she wasn't able to hide the tremors in her body from the effort anymore, and I couldn't bear another second of it. I pulled away slightly and easily rolled her body to face mine. After lightly smoothing my thumb over one of the dark circles under her eyes, she took in a slightly shaking breath, and opened her eyes to look at me. Pain shot through my body as I easily saw the suffering in her deep eyes, and as though she actually saw it she cringed, clenching her eyes shut while her body stiffened. My hold on her automatically tightened and she started shaking even more, her heart rate going up slightly while her breath caught in her throat. I took her face in my hands gently, titling her head to face mine as I kissed her. I started to panic when she went rigid, then moved to pull away from me.

"I'm sorry, I swear we can find a safe way for you to work with the stones. I'm so sorry, I know how much you-"

She silenced me with a gentle kiss, her body still shaking from exhaustion. The smile she gave me broke my heart. It was so gentle, so loving and concerned, but her exhaustion from trying to conceal the pain she was in was drowning. "No Edward, I really don't mind at all. You were right, last time I did stone work I hurt myself like five times a day, and as much as I had liked it I don't want to risk doing that. I think you and Esme would do a much nicer job too," she said, complete honesty in her eyes.

"Then what's wrong?" I whispered, brushing her hair behind her ear as I held her a little closer. It had been obvious before the flash of worry that went through her eyes that she didn't want to talk about it though. "Please Isabella, talk to me. Let me help you," I begged.

She shut her eyes again, and I forced myself to be patient while she struggled to force herself to speak. My fear continued to rise with every passing second.

What if she's changed her mind, wants me to change her, and is just too afraid to talk about it? Maybe she just needs a little-

"I need to leave for a little while," she said in a painful whisper. I forced myself not to panic. Isabella, I couldn't deny that she was the stronger of the two of us in many ways, my tiny, young, human wife. She was the one who was always trying to be strong for me. Now she needed it though, and I kissed her gently on her forehead.

"Where do you have to go?"

It was three and a half minutes before she spoke. "I have to go back to La Push."

I needed to stay calm. She said she only needed to leave for a little while, she wasn't leaving me. The painful realization hit me; she wanted to go to say goodbye to her family. She was afraid of what it would do to me though, she didn't want to hurt me.

But I would do anything for her. I needed to make her happy, and this was something I could give her. "It's a forty hour drive, so maybe a three day drive one way if we stop at hotels, or we could take Esme's truck and I could drive through the night."

"Edward, I would never ask you to do that," she said quickly, her voice close to terrified.

"I really don't mind, and I don't want you to deal with that by yourself," I told her, begging her with my eyes just not to leave without me. I could see that she really didn't want to leave me though.

"What if someone recognizes you?"

"Tinted windows, and I won't go into any public places. I can easily scan any minds around us and know if it's anyone I've met before," I told her quickly. She had been expecting me to say that though, she was stalling from saying her true fears, and it clicked. "Are you afraid of them knowing that you're married to a vampire?"

"No, I would never hide my love for you, from anyone. I'm proud to be married to you," she told me fiercely, there wasn't a hint of lie in her eyes.

"Then why don't you want me to come with you?"

She watched me for another long moment, and closed her eyes in resignation before she spoke. "Because the pack shares a mind. They know everything about everyone's lives, every thought, every secret, even the private ones." She opened her eyes, and they were brimming with tears as they met mine. "I don't want you to have to see me with another man through their minds."

My eyes went wide as that sunk in. Yes, I knew about the relationship that she had had with Jacob, but actually having to see it…

I couldn't let her leave without me though. Not just because I couldn't stand the thought of being away from her for even a few hours, but because she was sick. I had to be with her, I had to keep her safe. "It's okay Isabella. I know you love me, just as much as I love you, and nothing will ever change that. Please let me come with you. I swear I'll be okay, I need to be with you, and I know you don't want to be without me."

Tears were streaming down her cheeks as her arms wrapped around my neck, hugging onto me tightly. I held her gently, protectively, and braced myself to argue, plead, and beg her not to leave me. Nothing could be as painful as that, and I knew she wouldn't be able to hurt me like that. She needed me too, but her instincts were always to protect me.

Even the first time I had ever talked to her, sneaking into her room in the middle of the night and staring at her. Even with her obvious dislike of me, a stranger, she had still been worried that I wasn't okay.

But she nodded. I sighed in relief, holding her a little more tightly. "Thank you Isabella, thank you."

"I'm sorry," she whispered, barely louder than a breath. I shook my head though, swiping away at her tears and I covered her face with soft, grateful kisses.

"When do you want to leave?" I asked her carefully. "I can easily have Esme come handle the delivery this afternoon." I wanted to do this as soon as possible, before she got worse, and before it could start to eat away at her. She needed to do this. We had watched her carefully in the beginning, she had been from a place where we had lived before and we needed to be cautious. She had only written one letter, Alice had seen her do it. It was to her friend Angela, and it was a goodbye, saying that she couldn't come back. But on the end, she had asked her to tell another woman, someone none of us knew, only saying that she wasn't able to contact her herself. She had told me herself that she had meant to go back, and I understood why she couldn't after she lost her baby. She loved them so much, and had never even gotten to say goodbye, or explain what had happened.

Because she was worried about their safety, because of us.

"Could we leave tomorrow? I need some time to pack," she said, her tone still flooded with guilt.

"Of course, do you need to go into town for anything before we leave?"

She thought about it for a moment. "Just the bank," she said.

"Okay," I told her, leaning in and kissing her forehead.

The room had begun to brighten as the sun started to near the horizon, and Isabella rolled back to look at the clock when she noticed. She rolled back over, and looked at me for a long moment before leaning in and kissing me.

"I'm going to jump in the shower," she said softly, sitting up and pushing back the blankets. One of the delicate straps of her night gown was hanging off her shoulder, distracting me slightly as she hung her feet off the side of the bed and rubbed her eyes. She swayed when she stood up, losing her balance, but I easily caught her before she could hit the floor. "Sorry," she said, looking kind of disoriented. When her hands touched my chest though, her eyes went wide, and that alluring shade of pink spread across her cheeks.

"Are you okay?" I asked, steadying her on her feet and carefully holding onto her waist. Her heat was burning me through the thin silk of her shirt.

"Yeah, just a little head rush," she said, not pulling away. Her fingertips slid down my stomach slowly, and my body instinctively held her a little more tightly.

The look in her eyes made me twitch against her stomach, and her heart rate picked up as she pushed herself against me.

Everything else in the world faded away as my hands slid down her sides, easily lifting her up to my lips. Her hands were trembling as she took my face in them, but her kiss was very soft, tender. I carried her into the bathroom without breaking the kiss, turning on the shower before setting her down, and sliding her shirt over her head. She was still trembling, her body tired from the lack of sleep, but it wasn't enough to deter her as she quickly pulled down my boxers and backed me into the warm water of the shower and she took me in her hand. I sucked in a sharp breath from the sudden directness of her heat against my skin, and the look of the pleased smiled on her face drove me insane. I took her wrists in my hands, pinning them against the wall as I kissed her quickly. I pushed my knee in between hers, spreading her legs, and felt my chest vibrate with my growl of lust as she rubbed herself against me.

I don't know how I had thought I was living before this. I lived for the sight of watching her like this, the way she so obviously enjoyed being with me, the way she melted under my fingers and responded to my every touch, how perfect our bodies were together.

I transferred both of her wrists to one of my hands easily, holding them behind her back as my lips quickly traveled down her throat, her breasts and her soft stomach before I hitched one of her legs over my shoulder and knelt in front of her. She wiggled wantonly in my grasp as I parted her with my fingers, tasting her with slow long strokes of my tongue. She whimpered as my free hand slid back up her stomach, and twisted from of her firm nipples gently with my fingers. She flinched, and I held her in place while my tongue lapped at her hungrily, feeling myself throb almost painfully as I watched her squirm in undisguised pleasure as she neared her climax. As soon as she peaked, I flashed to my feat, lifting her up and kissing her as I thrust inside of her.

She cried out, gripping onto my shoulders tightly as her legs wrapped around me. I smiled at my goddess as she gasped against my lips, enjoying the sensation of her clenching around me as I filled her. She moved herself against me, her whole body shuddering against mine. It was an almost violent shudder, and I worried for a moment that I might have hurt her.

"Do you want me to stop?' I asked her gently. Her eyes shot open, and she smiled hungrily at me.

"I don't want you to ever stop," she said thickly, moving herself against me. I growled again, and thrust into her hard. Her gasp was almost a scream, but she begged me to keep going.

I didn't need any more encouragement to oblige.

. . . . . . . . . .

She had practically passed out eating her breakfast, and fell asleep in my arms when she finished while I was carrying her over to the bed. I took advantage of the time by texting Alice and Carlisle, telling them what we were doing while I asked Carlisle to bring home a few things from work for me.

Just a few emergency supplies.

Just in case.

They were both worried of course, but I told them that it was something that she needed to do.

I would have preferred to let her sleep the entire day, and deliberated what to do when I felt the men from the nursery approach the turnoff for our driveway. As soon as they turned onto our drive though, her face scrunched slightly, before she rubbed at her eyes and sat up.

"Are those the guys from the nursery?" She asked sleepily.

"Yeah, I can go take care of them for you if you want though."

She smiled up at me and gave me a light kiss. "No, that's okay. Certain plants need to be left in certain lights, and I want to make sure they unload them properly." I grinned back at her, scooping her up in my arms and flashing to the closet so we could put on some clothes.

I hated watching her putting on clothes, but there was no way I'd ever share the sight of her.

I watched with an amused smile as Isabella comfortably ordered around the movers, inspecting each of the plants they unloaded and telling them which walls of the house to leave them beside. I quickly realized that each side of the house had different amounts of sunlight throughout the day, and was impressed but not surprised by her knowledge. I noticed when she found the purple flower that I picked out. She looked at it curiously, and picked it up herself before carrying it over to me.

"Did you pick out this one?" She asked curiously. I was a little surprised that she had noticed so quickly, she had gotten a lot of plants.

I smiled at her and nodded, and she gave me a curious smile before looking back down at it tenderly. "Don't you like it?"

"Oh, I think hyacinths are beautiful," she told me reassuringly. The oddness of the look she had given me was still nagging at me.

"Then what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," she said quickly. "It's just that purple hyacinth symbolizes sorrow." My eyes went a little wide for a moment. I knew that certain flowers were supposed to represent different things, but I really had never been interested enough in that sort of thing to look into it. Of course that would be something Isabella would know though. There was so much random knowledge floating around in her silent mind. "I really do love them though. Not only are they beautiful, but it's good to have balance."

"What do you mean?" I asked, intrigued. I so badly wanted to know what was going on in that silent mind of hers.

She looked up at me for a minute, debating her words, before giving me a small smile. "Without emotion man would be nothing but a biological computer. Love, joy, sorrow, fear, anger, apprehension, satisfaction and discontent provide the meaning for human existence," she quoted.

"Arnold M. Ludwig," I said, recognizing the quote. I had gone over it while taking a psychology course. She smiled while nodding.

"Though I think it goes far beyond a human existence. It's what the entire universe is made of. Nothing is ever on one complete end of the spectrum, everything in the world needs balance. And really, could someone ever really appreciate true happiness if they hadn't experienced sadness?" She watched me for a moment, and I couldn't put a name to the intense expression in her eyes. It disappeared quickly though, and she smiled up at me before taking her flowers and walking to set them on the west side of the house. She came back and sat on the front steps with me as the men finished unloading the stone from the truck, resting her head against my arm and smiling. It took them a while to finish, and she had gone inside and come out with a leftover piece of pizza from yesterday. "Do you think Esme would mind taking care of the plants while we're gone?" She asked worriedly. I smiled at the tender tone in her voice once again as she referred to the plants.

"I'm certain that she won't mind in the slightest," I told her, leaning in and kissing the side of her head. She relaxed against me, but jumped to her feet and ran over when one of the men was apparently carrying a shrub wrong. He had almost rolled his eyes at her, but when I stood up in warning his face paled, and I grinned as he apologized quickly to her and didn't say another word.

They finished pretty quickly when I walked up to them and started supervising more closely. I still thought it was funny, how these two large males could be intimidated, frightened almost by my presence, while my little wife walked up to me with a delighted smiled, wrapping her arms around my waist.

As soon as they finished, I watched her happily as she watered all of her new plants, before grabbing her purse and walking over to the garage to leave. She was feeling a little too tired to drive, but still wanted to take the Ferrari. I smiled, remembering when she had said that she wouldn't be able to forgive me if I had bought her a Ferrari. She adored it. It had taken a few years, but it made me happy that she didn't get so upset when I got her things anymore. It always made me so happy, being able to put a smile on her face with something so small. That she was letting herself be happy.

We went to the bank first, and I waited with her in the car until I couldn't hear more than a few people inside. She still seemed nervous though, and I was relieved when she said I could come in with her. It was painful to watch as she had me listed as a beneficiary on her account, and then took out a hundred-thousand dollars. I waited until we got in the car before asking what she was doing with all that money.

"Jacob had taken care of Billy alone after his sisters left. Paul imprinted on his sister, so I'm sure that she stayed, but I just want to make sure that he's taken care of." It was still strange, hearing her talk about her life before I met her. It was a rarity, so much so that it made it easy to forget that I had really only been in her life for a few years, and she had had an entire different one before that. A few of them, actually. I reached over and took her hand, bringing it up to my lips and placing a kiss in her palm. The small smile that she gave me looked so painful.

Esme was waiting for us with dinner for Isabella when we got home, and pulled her into a hug as soon as she saw her.

I left the bag from Carlisle on your desk upstairs, she thought, sitting Isabella down on the couch and rushing to fix her plate.

"Thank you," I whispered, too low for Isabella to hear. She didn't need to know, and I knew that the knowledge of that bag would stress her. Isabella asked her guiltily if she could take care of her plants for her for the week, and went out to show her them to her excitedly when she finished eating. I walked with them, still finding the obvious affection she had for all of the little plants moving, and loving the excited look on her face as she explained her plans to Esme.

It was quite warm out, and as they were walking around Isabella shrugged off her sweater, throwing it over her arm as she walked around, outlining the walls around the large trees that she wanted to put up for the gardens. Esme froze when she saw the large, black and blue bruise wrapping around her upper arm, peeking below the sleeve of her t-shirt. Her eyes shot accusingly at me, and I flinched.

"She ran into that Realtor, George, yesterday when we were picking up dinner. He grabbed her while I was inside," I explained, and her face turned horrified.

Edward, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-

"No, it's okay," I told her sadly. Her distrust for me hurt, but I couldn't really hold it against her. She couldn't see the larger bruises wrapping around her waist. Isabella hadn't heard our exchange, but like she could just sense my pain, she moved closer to me, smiling up at me lovingly while her arm slid around my back. Seeing Isabella's obvious love for me in that one little movement amplified Esme's guilt, and she gave us both a hug before leaving. We went back inside, and started packing before Isabella fell asleep. After she was tucked safely into our bed, I quickly put my things into the truck Esme dropped off for us, and curled up behind her, wishing I didn't deserve the distrust my family had for me, sharing this bed with my wife.

. . . . . . . . . .

She was a ball of stress the next day, waking up hours before I usually woke her. She hopped in the shower as soon as she woke up, and I loaded her things into Esme's truck while she ate breakfast. We were on the road at five after seven, and I couldn't take more than five minutes of the obvious guilt she had over bringing me with her. I unfastened her seat belt before pulling her into my side along the long bench, and felt my body relax when hers did.

I drove through the first night, but we stopped on the second when we reached Seattle. I hated letting her sleep the night in a moving vehicle, no matter how comfortable she looked, though I was enjoying buying her meals and not having her cook. I could tell that the headaches were already getting to her, and was thankful to the higher powers that my presence seemed to ease some of the pain for her. It was a really curious thing, how we seemed to do that for each other. Her electricity quieted the voices in my head, had silenced them all together sometimes, and it seemed to blur out the shadows in her mind too, so she'd told me. Like we'd been given this gift so we could help each other. She curled up against me, her hot, tingling hands resting against my bare chest, and her body relaxed as she let out a soft sigh. I held her a little more closely, and watched as she smiled slightly.

"Have you thought about what you're going to say to them?" I asked hesitantly, watching her carefully. She opened her eyes, but was looking at her hands on my chest, not at my face.

"I have, but I still don't know," she said quietly. "It's been three years, I'm not sure how they're going to feel about me showing up."

I didn't know these people, what they had been like with her, and had no way of offering her an opinion about their reaction. I would find some way to help her through this though. "What do you want to say to them?"

She only paused a few seconds before answering me honestly. "That I'm sorry for never coming back, and for what I put them through. And that I never stopped loving them," she said, trembling slightly in my arms. She looked up at me pleadingly. "I didn't know what else to do Edward." There was a sort of fear in her voice, and I saw in her eyes that she thought I might look down on her for what she had done to them.

"You left because you loved them, and were trying to protect them. It's what you do, you protect people, and it's a noble quality. It's so much a part of you that you've manifested an actual shield around you Isabella. And I know just how painful it was for you to do it, I saw it before I even knew why. You didn't take the easy route, you chose them over yourself because you loved them. And I love you for it, not in spite of it."

"I don't deserve you," she whispered painfully, tears brimming in her eyes.

"I was made for you," I whispered back kissing her softly before holding her tightly against myself. I didn't let her go, I held her, and she held me, until she relaxed in my arms and eventually fell into an uneasy sleep.

. . . . . . . . . .

"I can't bring you onto the reservation, but if we park at the treaty line someone will come," she said quietly. She was wearing her calm mask once again, but I knew it wasn't for me. It was instinctual for her, trying to brace herself for the pain she was expecting. I nodded, knowing exactly where it was. It had been made for my family, after all. When I came up to it, I pulled over onto the side of the road. "Would you mind waiting in here? I'm just going to stand outside so they can smell me."

She had been in my world much longer than I'd been in hers, the ease in which she said those types of things still surprised me. I nodded to her, seeing in her eyes that she wouldn't be able to handle me kissing her right now. She unbuckled her seat belt, stepped out, and walked around to lean against the front of the truck.

I watched, her back to me as her long hair blew around her in the wind, while I listened. Even though I could smell them, it was five minutes before I heard them. Isabella's head turned automatically when she approached the treeline, and she stared over at the long-haired, silver-grey wolf calmly.

"Hey Leah," she said quietly.

Belle? Oh my god, its BELLE! She shouted through her mental link. The line ended before I heard anyone else as she phased, pulling on an old white sundress covered in sunflowers that she'd had tied to her leg, and running through the tree line. She pulled Isabella into her arms, lifting her off the ground as they hugged each other tightly. "I can't believe you're actually here, I never thought we'd see you again, what-" What the hell? She sniffed her, putting her down and taking a quick step back. "Belle, why do you smell like a leech?" Her eyes quickly shifted over, seeing me sitting in the truck for the first time. Doctor Masen?

I nodded once, and the woman, Leah, looked between Isabella and me. She took a minute to inspect the changes of time on Isabella. Slightly taller, thinner, longer hair… and my ring on Isabella's left hand. I got out of the car when I saw her skin vibrate as anger rolled over her. Two more wolves came through the trees as I moved closer to Isabella, prepared to pull her away at any second.

"Leah, it's not-"

"What the fuck is going on Belle? That's not Jake's ring, what are you doing with him?" She immediately noted the matching silver ring on my left hand, and her face paled. No… How could she do this? After everything… The images flowed through her mind.

Isabella screaming next to Charlie's dead body, the vampire stalking towards her in anticipation, and the fear in his face as they chased him all the way into the ocean.

Isabella shrieking, clutching at the dead body of Jacob Black as they carried him towards her. How Leah had to hold her while Isabella watched him burn, fighting to get away. It had been obvious in her strangled cries that she wanted nothing more than to burn and leave the world with him.

Weeks going by, hiding away so she couldn't be taken back into the system. How for those weeks she hadn't spoke, hadn't looked a single person in the eye. She couldn't stay still anymore, constantly cleaning, sitting obediently and eating when she was reminded to do so.

The two large wolves, both different shades of an almost sandy brown, growled as they stalked towards me. I stayed completely still, watching carefully.

"Seth, Quil, stop. Leah, please just give me a second to explain," she begged, but the woman was looking at me now. Glaring at me. I don't care that he saved Dad, what is he doing with her? This must be why she said she couldn't contact us.

"Move out of the way Belle," she growled, but Isabella stepped in front of the vibrating woman, un-afraid though she had to know how close she was to phasing.

"No, I will not move out of your way. Edward is under my protection, and none of you are going to touch him," Isabella practically growled. I realized in her movements then she wasn't treating me like her husband.

She was protecting me like her mate.

I wasn't the only one who saw this, and the thought pushed the woman over the edge. I pulled Isabella towards me seconds before she phased. My sudden movement caused the three wolves to lunge at me at once.

"NO!" Isabella shouted, the power of her voice crackling through the air, and all three of them were hit back by the invisible wall of her shield. It wasn't enough to hurt them, but it stopped them all in their tracks.

Then Isabella collapsed.

"No! Isabella!" I caught her easily, kneeling down on the ground with her. "No no no, you're okay, you're okay… Love? Please, wake up," I said. I took her pulse carefully, watching her breathing and ignoring the voices of the wolves as they surged back on in my mind. There were six of them now, watching us in stunned silence. Just like with James, it seemed the exertion had caused her to pass out. Her heartrate and breathing were both stable.

A very large, naked man knelt down next to me. I recognized him immediately, he had not aged a day since the last time I had seen him. Sam Uley, once again the Alpha of the wolf pack.

"What's wrong with her? Is she okay?"

"That's not an easy question to answer," I told him, gently shifting her in my arms and standing up. I held her protectively against my chest, stepping back from the pack instinctually.

God, it was not easy to concentrate around the lot of them. All of their mental voices filled with the voices of the others, individual thoughts echoing simultaneously from different minds. It was like being in a crowd of thirty people, not six.

"What do you mean?" He watched me suspiciously. He knew from the yellow of my eyes that I was still in accordance with the treaty, and easily saw that I was in love with my wife.

After all these years, they all still saw her as their sister, the mate of their alpha. They couldn't hate her, they were all just relieved that she was here, alive. Even if she was with me.

Isabella would forgive me for this, I didn't want her to deal with the stress of this conversation herself anyways.

"Isabella…. Has a unique gift."

"The shield? Did she figure out what it was?"

I only faltered for a moment, seeing the image of her, wrapped in Jacob Black's arms as she told them about what had transpired with Elijah.

"Yes, somewhat. She has the ability to block the mental gifts of other vampires, and… you witnessed what she just did to three of your wolves. Some sort of physical shield."

"So what's wrong with her?" His five wolves were watching me expectantly, unmoving.

"We think it caused her to get ill. She has a large tumor in her brain, it's too severe for treatment." I had to ignore their thoughts, this was too hard.

"Are you saying that, she's…"

"She'll be lucky if she makes it to the end of the year," I forced myself to say painfully. I winced as my agony was reflected back to me through six other minds. I took a steadying breath, wrinkling my nose from the smell of wet dog. "I brought her here because she wanted to say goodbye to you. For years she's been torturing herself about not being able to come back. We didn't think she was going to survive when she lost her child in the accident. She's convinced herself that she's cursed, and didn't come back because she felt that she needed to protect you from herself. She left because she loved you. This stress is too much for her though, I can't let her stay here. The repercussions of what she just did, it could have worsened her condition, and I can't take the chance. But now you know."

I opened up the door to the truck, laying her down on the bench very gently.

"Wait," he said, holding my door open. I watched him suspiciously for a moment as he warred with himself in his mind. "Would you… As Alpha of the pack, I'm granting you temporary permission to come onto our land. Please, just… don't leave yet." No, we finally got her back, we didn't even get to speak with her. "Would you be willing to come to my house?"

No, I did not want to do that, but Isabella… she needed this. And I needed to make her happy.

"Okay, but if she-"

"That won't happen again. I don't believe you intend our sister any harm, and my pack will not touch you." I nodded, hearing his sincerity in his mind. Another of the wolves phased, and he quickly pulled on a pair of worn, cut-off jeans.

"Hey, I'm Seth," the man said, holding out his hand awkwardly to shake mine. His gaze kept flickering to Isabella though. An image of her, laughing happily as Jacob ran into the water with her over his shoulder. The brilliant smile on her face as she wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him as his arms wrapped around her delicate waist in the water. "I can drive over with you guys if you want."

"Okay," I said, fighting the urge to ball my hands into fists and break the steering wheel. He ran around to the other side of the truck as the wolves ran back into the forest, and he delicately lifted Isabella's head, placing it in his lap as he started directing me.

It was a small house, and I felt an odd twinge in my stomach when I realized that it reminded me of our house, and Isabella's house in New Brunswick before that. Quiet, surrounded by thick forests, gardens, a small and cozy interior. Is that what she had been looking for? A replacement for the home she wished she was in? I carried her inside easily, and felt very much out of place as I laid her down on the couch in his living room. The wolves filed into the house, taking seats around the room quietly as they watched her.

"The last time this happened, she slept for ten hours. It might be a while before she wakes up," I told them.

"Why did she do it before?" Leah asked me with a glare. God, I can't stand that smell...

"A vampire crossed our path a while back, almost a year ago. He lunged at my sister trying to get to her, and she hit him with her shield." A couple of them started to shake again. "We destroyed him quickly. I have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to her safety." It was bothering me the way they looked at me. I could protect her best, and I wanted them to know that.

I was surprised seeing Leah smile. "I can see that, she's always been a tough one," she said lovingly, folding herself on the floor next to the couch and brushing Isabella's hair off of her face.

"Jacob's biased. They barely touched me Leah, and I pretty much kicked both of their asses, as hard as that may be to believe. I think you would have been proud of me if you'd been there."

"I would have killed them if I had been there, and I would have done it without breaking my hand." Isabella punched her in the arm with her cast, flinching before laughing.

"What was that? Why did she have a cast on her arm?" I asked her, enraged. I realized my slip too late.

"What?" What the hell? Did he…

"I'm telepathic. I can read your minds, all of them, all at the same time. It's not something I can turn off. Why did she have the cast on her arm?"

She was too enraged to speak, the man named Seth was the one to answer me. "She was shopping with a friend in Seattle. They got cornered by two guys in an alley. Isabella broke her hand when she punched one of them in the face."

"What happened to the men?" I asked darkly, the urge I had had to crush David's skull flared to life inside of me again.

"Nothing, never found them. Belle kicked one in the sack, and emptied a container of pepper spray into the other's face before punching him, and they ran."

I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration. I had asked if Isabella had been the one to empty the container of pepper spray, and she said no.

No, actually. She hadn't told me she hadn't emptied it, all she said was that I worried too much. All these people here…. They knew her for nine months, whereas my family had known her for three years, but I felt like they knew more about her than I did.

The door flew open, and a woman with brutal scars running down the side of her face ran past me, dropping to her knees in front of Isabella as tears rolled out of her eyes. She was at least eight months pregnant, the wife of the alpha. He had called her and told her what had happened. It was a long time before she looked up at me. I stood out drastically with my pale skin in this group of overgrown young men.

"Thank you for staying, for not leaving with her," she said. She knew what I was, and what I didn't eat, but she was still uncomfortable around me. Her mate seemed to sense as much, walking up and putting a comforting arm around her. I nodded at her, not knowing what else to do. "You're welcome in our home as long as you'd like."

"Thank you."

She glanced at the ring on my finger, then back over to Isabella with a pained smile. I flinched, seeing Isabella scream out in pain as she collapsed in this Emily's mind. It took me a minute to understand. She had actually felt it when Jacob had died. That was… I didn't know what to think about that. The imprint didn't work both ways like that, it was unique for her to have felt it.

When seven rolled around, I got a needle to inject her blood thinners. She still hadn't stirred yet. The wolves watched me carefully as I pushed up her sleeve and injected her very carefully.

"What are you giving her?" Leah asked. She still didn't trust me.

"Blood thinners. They're supposed to help prevent blood clots," I told her easily.

"Does it make her sick? She doesn't do well with medication, or needles," she said worriedly.

I was struck again by how well they knew her. "No. She normally takes them as pills, but she needs to take them every twelve hours. She's been on them for almost a month now, since we found out."

"She married you," the pregnant human stated, though it was in all of their minds. They had a hard time believing she would have been able to do it, her love for Jacob had destroyed her when he died.

"Yes. It was just a couple weeks ago," I told them, watching my wife's sleeping face longingly. I wanted to slide onto the old couch with her and hold her, it felt so wrong to see her sleeping not in my arms.

"Do you love her?"

"More than anything in the world," I answered immediately.

"Then why didn't you make her into one of you?" The wolves around her froze at the idea of me changing her, but they couldn't help wondering the same.

"Because she doesn't want me to," I said painfully. She nodded, and it was only seconds before they all understood.

The memory of her protecting me from them, only two hours ago flashed through Leah's mind. Yes, she obviously cares for him. She'll always love Jacob, there's no way she could become a leech after what they did to Charlie and him. Maybe she only married him because she knew she was dying, she would do anything to make someone she cared about happy…

I stiffened again, not even breathing as her words floated through my mind. She hadn't wanted to at first because she thought I was proposing out of guilt. Did she agree because of her own guilt?

Did she really want to marry me? Or was she just trying to make me happy?

She was always trying to make me happy.

But I knew for certain that she loved me, she showed me every minute, every day. She wouldn't even take off her ring in facing her old family, and it would have been much easier to deal with them if I hadn't been here with her.

Even with the late hour, the wolves didn't sleep. Two of them had left to resume their patrols, but the others sat around, forcing their eyes to stay open as they waited for Isabella to wake up. The pregnant one had fallen asleep in the arms of her mate though, and I noticed the sounds of someone sleeping in a back room. The absence of two of the wolves provided me with space to sit on the floor by her head, and I smiled softly as Isabella's eyebrows furrowed as she reached out in her sleep, her face relaxing quickly when I took her hand gently.

The wolves didn't say anything out loud, but they couldn't disguise their unease in their minds. They all watched the two of us worriedly, but I couldn't bring myself to look away from her.

My heart leapt when she started to stir around five in the morning. Leah was the only other one still awake, sitting beside me on the floor begrudgingly. She smelt just as bad to me as I did to her, but neither of us said anything. Aloud. It was worth it to be close to her. Her eyes fluttered open slowly, and she looked around at her surroundings in confusion. When she saw Leah, her eyes shot open, and I held her down gently before she could sit up too quickly.

"Shh, slowly," I told her in a gentle voice. She looked at me, her worry clear in her eyes, but I gave her a reassuring smile before I helped her slowly sit up. The wolf took the seat next to her before I could.

"Belle, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay Leah, I'm sorry for hitting you with my shield, but I couldn't-"

"Hey, it's okay. It's nice knowing you can hit someone without breaking your hand," she told her in a teasing voice. Her head knowingly swerved around to look at me, worried again about me finding out about that. I gave her another small smile, her heart was beating too fast, trying to absorb so much so shortly after waking up.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I-"

"It's okay, I know why," I told her gently. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay," she told me easily, but I knew she wouldn't say anything other than that surrounded by so many people. The others were starting to wake up as they talked. The two girls looked at each other again for a long minute, before hugging each other tightly.

"I missed you so much," Leah told her.

"I missed you too Leah."

Isabella was then crowded by the room, and I backed out of the way as they all converged on her, hugging her all at once. Isabella started to shake, closing her eyes tightly to fight her tears, but she couldn't stop a few of them from escaping. They held her like that for a long time, reveling in the fact that she was actually here, the sister they thought they lost. She would be lost soon though, they all understood that this would be the last time any of them would get to see her.

I stood back, watching and waiting patiently until they let her go.

"There's something I need to tell you guys. I'm so sorry for just barging back into your lives like this, but I had to… I-" She took in a trembling breath, but Leah pulled her into her arms.

"He already told us Belle, it's okay. We understand, and we're just glad that you came."

Isabella looked at me in shock, but the anger I had been expecting didn't come. "I'm sorry," she said instead. I knew she was talking to me, but the she-wolf holding her thought the words were directed to her.

"It's okay. No matter what, you will always be a part of our family. That never changed, and we never stopped loving you." Isabella held her a little more tightly as she closed her eyes. When Leah let her go, she moved aside so the pregnant woman could sit next to her, and Isabella's eyes went wide.

"Emily! You're huge!" She exclaimed, her smile seemed to brighten the entire room as the pack relaxed from seeing it.

"Don't I know it," she said wistfully, rubbing her hand over her stomach. "Eight months, though it feels like years."

No one else saw the painful twinge in Isabella's eyes, she hid it too quickly. "Congratulations, I'm so happy for you two. You're going to make such an amazing mother," she said, her smile glowing. The two women hugged each other tightly.

"I got your note, Angela came by when she got your letter. What happened, you said there was an accident? Why didn't you call us to come get you?"

Her eyes flicked over to me again worriedly, but I gave her an encouraging nod. I didn't want her to feel like she needed to protect me, I understood this part of her well.

"I was on the other side of the continent first off," she said, trying to force some humor into her tone. It didn't work. "I was looking for a hotel for the night, it was really late, and a car swerved in front of my truck. My tire caught on the edge of the road and flipped." She smiled sadly at me. "Edward's sister had been close, and she got me to the hospital before I bled out." Her hand went over her flat stomach sadly. "They told me that I had a giant triangle of glass protruding from my stomach when she brought me in. It killed my baby, and damaged a lot of my muscles and organs. I broke a lot of things. It was almost six months before I was released from the hospital." She looked at Emily pleadingly. "I couldn't come back here, I didn't want to hurt you. I didn't think it was safe to contact you. It was there that I met the Cullens, and I was worried of what would happen if they knew that I knew what they were. I couldn't take the chance of something happening to you, and then... Then I was just afraid I'd hurt you too. I'm so sorry, I just didn't know what else to do."

Both women were crying, Emily telling her how sorry she was that she had to go through that alone, but that she understood, and didn't hold it against her. Isabella jumped back from her suddenly, but I saw in Emily's mind when she felt the baby move. She smiled brightly at her, and Emily took her hand to place it on her stomach. They both laughed.

"He's probably getting hungry," she said, standing up as she stretched her stiff back. Isabella jumped to her feet when Emily started walking to the kitchen.

"You shouldn't be on your feet Emily," she said, rushing to her side. The woman smiled with a bit of a laugh.

"You know how useless these wolves are in the kitchen," she said in an amused tone. Her husband slumped his head in guilt. I thought it was just, with her size she really shouldn't be on her feet. Isabella's laugh rang through the house, and she guided Emily back to the couch.

"But I'm not. The usual?"

"Yeah, the others should be back soon," she said. I was surprised by how easily she gave up the task. We had just gotten here, Isabella just woke up from her collapse, and they were letting her cook for all of them? The woman seemed to catch onto my mood. "Have you ever tried arguing with Belle? It's completely useless. When she decides to do something, no one can change her mind. This is better than pissing her off, especially this early in the day," she said knowingly.

"Damn straight," Isabella said easily, walking around the kitchen with obvious familiarity. How many times had she cooked here? She started pulling pans, bowls, utensils and other things out of the fridge and cupboards. I watched as she dashed around with a happy smile, baking giant muffins, cooking enough bacon for an army, and dicing up vegetables and whisking them into a giant bowl of eggs. She pulled out plates, cutlery, glasses, and put everything into giant bowls just as the other two wolves ran back inside.

"I knew I could smell Isabella's cooking," one of the large men said, dashing over to the kitchen. She smacked his hand with a wooden spoon as she reached for the pile of muffins.

"Let Emily make her plate first Paul," she said with a smirk, and he smiled at her before lifting her up into a hug.

No wonder she had never been nervous around us before, she was very comfortable bossing around these giant men that were three times her size. Most of them were bigger than Emmett. Emily got up, kissing Isabella's cheek and thanking her with a knowing smile as she loaded up her plate. I leaned to look over into their hallway curiously when I heard someone come out of the back room.

The child looked about five, and had the same black hair and rich, warm skin as the rest of the tribe. Isabella froze when she saw her, her hands covering her mouth.

The girl looked at her in confusion, but after a minute a blurry memory passed through her head.

"Did you make this?" Isabella asked excitedly, smiling as she pulled her into her lap. She was looking at the card with loving eyes. I recognized it, she still had the card hanging on the board above her desk. "I love it Claire, thank you so much."

"Auntie Izzy, what happened to your hand?"

She smiled conspiritively at her. "A boy was being mean to me, so I punched him in the face."

She could never forget the sparkle in her eyes, or the brightness of her smile.

"Aunt Izzy?"

"Oh, Claire, you've gotten so big," Isabella said with a bright smile, tears streaming out of her eyes.

"Aunt Izzy!" The girl shouted, her joy dazzling as she ran across the room and jumped into Isabella's arms. Isabella held her tightly, shaking with her tears.

This stress wasn't good for her, I hated seeing her cry even though I knew they were happy tears. I wanted to take her home. I wanted to kiss her, and hold her in my arms. But I didn't dare do that in present company. Isabella made herself a plate after Emily did, then walked straight over to me. She took my hand, and pulled me to sit next to her on the couch. I took her bottle of pills out of my pocket, and handed her two. She swallowed them quickly.

"Are you okay?" She asked quietly.

"I'm fine," I told her, trying to be as convincing as possible. I could tell she didn't believe it though. "Don't worry about me Isabella, please. I just want you to have this."

"Thank you," she said. She looked like she was going to lean in and kiss me for a moment, but stopped herself when she felt the room watching us.

"Who's he?" The child asked as she walked up to me with a scowl.

"Claire, this is my husband, Edward."

"I thought Uncle Jake was your husband," she said, still looking at me accusingly. She did not like me sitting so close to her aunt, and she definitely didn't trust me.

"Uncle Jake is gone," Isabella said in a painful whisper.

"So were you," she said.

Oh no, another tantrum, Emily thought, putting down her plate and walking over to the girl. "Claire, what you're saying is very hurtful. Uncle Jacob is dead, and Aunt Belle deserves to be happy," she said in a stern voice.

"Sorry," she said, looking down at her feet.

"It's okay sweetie," Isabella said quietly. She started to slowly pick at her breakfast.

"You're cooking is still amazing," Seth said, shoveling food into his mouth. His words made her smile.

"Thanks Seth," she said quietly.

It seemed that she really enjoyed cooking for them, smiling as she watched them inhale her food. This was something she couldn't do anymore, always surrounded by a bunch of vampires.

I felt so out of place here, sitting in Isabella's past, surrounded by all these people who knew her and loved her.

A pit started to settle in my stomach, seeing her love for them easily in her eyes. What if she didn't want to come home?

"How long are you staying?" Leah asked her.

"Just for today." Leah went to argue, but was cut off by Isabella's apology. "I'm sorry, it's just… I have these constant migraines from the tumour, and it makes it painful to be away from home for too long." She looked at her apologetically, and Leah fought back the tears fighting to escape her eyes.

"No, it's okay. We understand."

"I just… I had to tell you what happened, and apologize. I'm so sorry, I-" Her words caught into her throat, and the sound was so painful that I couldn't stay away any longer. I wrapped my arms around her, and sighed in relief when she leaned into me.

As they watched me, I felt their minds shift. Even though I was a vampire, their sister loved me… and they wanted her to be happy. They thought she was in safe hands, married to a doctor. I could take care of her best.

She needed me, and they couldn't hold that against either of us.

"It's okay Isabella. We were never angry with you, only worried. You don't need to apologize for anything."

She swiped at her tears furiously, the friction turning her cheeks a bright red. "I want to see Billy while I'm here though, how is he doing?"

I froze when I heard it in their minds. "No, please don't tell her that, she'll-"

"We don't lie in our family," Leah said, looking at me seriously, but speaking too quietly for Isabella to hear also. "Belle… Billy passed away last summer."

She stiffened, sitting up straight as she pulled away from me. She watched her for a long time before she could speak. "What happened?"

"He had a stroke. It was very quick, he didn't suffer." She closed her eyes tightly, trembling next to me while she nodded. "I can still take you to see him if you want, he's on the beach, right next to Jacob." She flinched, but agreed quickly.

"I'm so sorry to ask this, but will you be okay here for a little while?"

I knew this was something that she needed to do without me, and I had to give it to her no matter how much it hurt. "Of course." I smiled at her gently. "Want me to grab your suitcase so you can get changed?"

"Thank you," she whispered with a worried look. Everyone in the room watched me as I walked out to the truck at a human pace. The child didn't know about their secret. Isabella got changed, throwing on a clean pair of jeans and plain black cotton shirt, and gave me a hug before leaving with Leah and Emily.

"She'll be fine, Leah has always been very protective of her," Sam said, catching my worried glances at the door. I didn't really know what to say, and just nodded. Can you really hear my thoughts?

"Yes," I told him. I couldn't bring myself to lie to someone Isabella loved so much. The years hadn't diminished her love for them, her family. That… that made them my family too.

Belle… she's always put on a brave mask, not only because she needs to protect the people she loves, but because it's what she has always had to do to survive. You must know that. If she had agreed to marry you, she must really love you. That means more than it usually does when it's from someone like Belle.

"Yes, I know. She kept her knowledge of our identity from us for an entire year, and even then, it was because our act had fallen apart, not hers. She's good at hiding, but I'm confident in saying that I know her well. She's my entire life."

Then, how is she doing, really? How was she? That baby… it was the only thing keeping her alive. What was her life like? Was she happy?

His questions were almost desperate, and I saw that for the last three years he had lived not only with his own fear for her, but shared in the minds of his five pack members. They hadn't only lost their brother and leader, but his mate, their sister and friend. He felt like he had failed his dead brother in protecting her. He couldn't force her to stay though, not in the place she had lost her father and mate.

"She's terrified, but she won't show it. Not so much for herself, she's accepted it, but she's afraid of the pain it will cause the people she loves. I had to bring her here, I need to do everything I can to make sure she's happy. It's all I have left."

And before?

It was a strange sort of relief, talking about something real with someone who wasn't a part of my family. He deserved to know, he loved her too. "It was horrible. She was out for a few weeks, but when she did wake up… she was screaming, refusing to let anyone touch her at first, and then… she just shut down. She didn't acknowledge anyone, except for when Carlisle tried to put her back on the morphine drip. For weeks, she didn't eat, sleep, drink or talk. She just stared out the window."

"What changed then?"

"It was slow. My sister… well, it's kind of long to explain. When she saved Isabella, it was because she had a vision of her." I quickly explained his questioning thoughts. "She can see the future."

"Seriously?" His eyes went wide.

"Yes, though her visions with Isabella were different. Her shield, like I said, affects my kind's gifts. She couldn't see her very well at first, but she already knew she loved her. It was because of her that we stayed, because Alice wouldn't leave her. She waited patiently every day by her side that she was in the hospital. Isabella completely ignored her for weeks, until something changed. One day, she looked at her, and spoke. Alice had been watching her things for her, and she wanted something."

"What?"

"We didn't know what it was at first, just a black tin tied in fabric. It wasn't for a couple years that I found out it was where she had kept Jacob's ashes, and her pictures of him. After that, we saw little changes. She would try to pay attention to Alice when she visited her, though it was obviously difficult. She hadn't slept more than a few minutes at a time for an entire month, still couldn't eat or talk. But she watched. Until Alice brought my mother to see her. She has a talent, for loving people. It's immediate when you meet her, she loves everyone that she meets, and it's impossible not to feel it, and not to love her back. It was different with Isabella though. Esme had lost a child too, just before she was changed. He was two days old, and when he died, she threw herself off a cliff. Carlisle changed her when they brought her directly to the morgue. She knew the pain Isabella was in too well, and it was with her that Isabella finally opened up.

"You know how Isabella tries so hard to please the people that she likes. I'm not ashamed in saying that we used her feelings for Esme to guilt her into eating again." He smiled, nodding while thinking it was a smart move. "It was still slow, but she started drinking a little, forcing herself to eat a few bites of the meals Esme kept bringing her. She still refused to take any medication though, and her insomnia was keeping her sick and preventing her body from healing. So one day, they brought my brother in to see her."

"Let me guess, you all have some sort of super power?" I nodded with a bit of a smile. He caught on almost as quickly as Isabella, saying it just like she did also. "What was his?"

"He can affect other people's emotions."

"Why didn't you just bring him in in the first place?" He asked angrily.

"That's what he said, but his mate, my sister Alice, was afraid to bring him there. She was hoping to help her without his assistance, because a hospital is a painful environment for an empath to be in. He doesn't just affect their emotions, he feels them just as much as they do. But he met her, and within minutes of taking away her pain, she fell asleep. She slept solidly for an entire day. That was what changed things. She wouldn't let Jasper help her anymore after that, not wanting him to live through her pain with her. But that one day of sleep changed everything. She started thinking more clearly, and I later found out that she wasn't going to let herself die, because she didn't want Charlie and Jacob's deaths to be in vain. Eventually she even let us give her pain medication so that she could sleep. She started forcing herself to eat more, she talked to us when we visited her. She started healing. Once she started her rehabilitation she poured everything inside of her into that training. She pushed herself past her breaking points, never once complaining or giving up. She excelled, and was released. Alice asked her to stay, and she did. She got a job at a Library, bought a house. She never stopped moving, she couldn't stand being unoccupied. She couldn't stand being inside her own mind, so she buried herself in hobbies. She completely tore apart her house and rebuilt it, same with her yard. She has an amazing talent for it really, a talent she shares with my mother. She had her work too, hiking and kayaking by herself, working on her truck, she bought a gun and spent a lot of timing with it on the firing ranges. She's an amazing shot. She started getting a little better when she started doing yoga, it really seemed to calm her, though she was very prone to anxiety attacks on days where she didn't get to do it. But she just kept going. She's the strongest person I've ever met."

I heard his agreement with me in his mind. He had seen through Jacob how she had managed to push through her life before Forks. Her mother's death, her abusive father, pushing through her foster homes and her time at the orphanage. He remembered what she had been like at first. Careful, timid. She wore a strong, calm mask, but she had been terrified. The way she would flinch away from people if they touched her, the sound of her heart rate picking up while she tensed if someone approached her. Her fear and constant apologies when she worried that she might have upset someone.

But it changed with Jacob. They were drawn to each other like gravity, and she let him in. She fell in love. She was so, so much in love. The pictures of them flashed through his mind, the way they always had to be touching each other, how they always started into each other's' eyes with adoring smiles no matter where they were. Jacob's actual memories, ones that he couldn't keep hidden from their bond. The feeling of her kissing him, touching him, the feeling of her skin as his hands slid over her body-

"Please, stop," I pleaded desperately, cringing my eyes painfully at the image.

"Shit, I'm sorry, I didn't-" spider man, spider man, does whatever a spider can- Damn I still have to take care of that wasps nest, Emily is going to flip if she still sees it there. I should probably pick up more ice cream too, just to be on the safe side…

I laughed, relaxing slightly while also getting the annoying theme song stuck in my head. "Where's the nest? I can take care of it for you."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, wasps aren't too big on stinging vampires. Doesn't really work." I tapped my arm with my fist, and he grinned slightly at the odd, hard sound it made.

"Thanks man, it's just on the back of the house. I'll bring you around."

It was a pretty big nest, and I smiled at his reluctance to get close to it. He knew he would heal in a second, but hated the feeling. "What do you want me to do with it?"

"Oh, just a sec." He ran back inside, and came out with a large white pail with a lid.

"Perfect." I took the container, and in a movement no long than two seconds, I jumped up, knocking the football sized nest into the bucket, and snapping the lid shut before a single one could escape. I set it down on the ground, and made sure the lid was secure. "You might want to make sure no one opens that, it wouldn't be pretty. That many wasps could really hurt someone and it will take a few days for the lack of oxygen to kill them."

"Thanks Doctor Masen," he said with a genuine smile. "I'm eternally grateful."

"Please, just call me Edward."

He got a roll of duct tape from inside, and secured the lid thoroughly before leading me back in. He gestured for me to have a seat, and sat down too before turning on the small television in the room. I was thankful that he concentrated so hard on the football game, not letting his thoughts wander too much.

We both listened carefully as the women walked back, and I shut my eyes painfully at the image of Isabella on her knees in the sand, crying in front of the two piles of stones set to mark the places where their ashes had been laid to rest. She opened up the truck, and handed the small black duffel bag to Emily.

"This was to help take care of Billy," she whispered, closing Emily's hand around the handle of the bag. "Use it to take care of the pack, please." She went to open it curiously, but Isabella stopped her. "Look at it later, I don't want to argue with you," she said in a tone that left no room for questioning.

"Thank you," she whispered.

They wanted to ask her to stay, to beg her to stay, but they knew that she would if they did, and they could see how much she was suffering. It was like time had stood still for her here, and they needed to let her go just like before.

I put her bags back in the truck, but she waited until the pack came back to say good bye. She trembled as she hugged each one of them tightly, her breath catching in her throat constantly, but she didn't cry. I gave her a gentle hand into the truck when she came over to it.

"I love every single one of you, and I always will," she said with a staggering strength, her pain leaking out in her voice.

"And we will always love you," Leah said, tears streaming out of her eyes while she held Emily.

Take care of her Edward, Sam thought.

"I will," I told him seriously, stepping up into the truck. I froze when I started it up.

As Alpha of the pack I am making you a deal. If she changes her mind, if she gives you permission, our treaty will still remain intact if you change her. I stared at him for a long moment, and he gave me a confirming nod. If anyone deserves a second chance at life, a chance to be happy, it's her.

I nodded back to him once, and then pulled out of the driveway and onto the road. I watched her out of the corner of my eye as I drove, and she just blankly stared out the window. She asked me to pull over when we passed the cemetery in Forks. I held her hand as she slowly led me over to her Father's grave. She took a small, round, white rock out of her pocket, and rested it against his headstone. I stood with her silently as she stared at it for twenty minutes, unmoving, and then turned to walk back to the truck.

As soon as we passed the sign leaving Forks, she broke. She crumpled in on herself, choking on her sobs as the tears streamed out of her eyes. As soon as I undid her seat belt, she slid into my side, gripping onto my shirt tightly as she cried. I couldn't stop driving, because she wanted to leave, so I wrapped my arm around her and held her while I drove back to the hotel we had stayed at in Seattle. I got a room quickly, the receptionist watched my wife worriedly as she clung to my side, silently crying, but said nothing. She couldn't swallow down her pills, and actually asked me to give her an injection instead while forcing herself to choke down a bottle of juice.

"Are you sure you want to leave?" I asked her. I couldn't see how taking her away from them was going to help her as I watched her drown. She still clung desperately to my shirt as I lay next to her on the bed, my arms wrapped tightly around her. She couldn't speak, and just nodded against me. I just kept holding her tightly in the dark silence of our room, until she cried herself to sleep in the early hours of the morning.

. . . . . . . . . .

"Can you take the four-o'-five?" she asked me quietly. I nodded quickly, signalling for the turn-off without question. I noticed the sign quickly when we came off the highway into Newcastle.

"Is this why you came out into Newcastle in New Brunswick? Because of the name?"

She nodded before telling me the name of the next street to take. I pulled over in front of another cemetery.

She led me over to the gate. It was locked, but the chain was loose and she easily slid through it. She paused to watch me for a moment, and frowned before coming back out. I wasn't nearly as small as her, and it felt like a sin to damage the gate of a cemetery. She pulled a bobby pin out of her hair, and easily picked the lock on the gate before opening it. She smiled as I watched her curiously.

"I've been picking that lock for twelve years," she said with a small smile, reaching out to take my hand. Another little mystery solved. She led me to the back corner of the lot, completely ignoring her father's headstone as she knelt down in front of her mother's. She pulled another small, white stone out of her pocket, and I noticed that there were all sorts of tiny stones ringing around the head stone. She immediately started straightening them, then polished the dirt and dried water off of the front of the black granite with her sleeve until it shined.

"Edward, I'd like you to meet my Mom," she said with a smile. "Mom, this is my husband, Edward." She stood up and leaned against my arm. It was strange, she actually seemed… happy, talking to her mother like this.

But she had done this for most of her life, it must feel normal for her.

"She would have loved you," she told me happily. I waited for her to cry as she watched the stone silently. But she didn't. I had the feeling that she was talking to her in her mind, though I obviously couldn't hear anything.

Until I did, but it wasn't Isabella.

Thank you.

I looked around quickly, but the breath of a thought seemed to come from nothing. There was no one here.

"Let's go home," she said quietly, and I looked around the cemetery one last time as we walked back to the truck.

Thanks for reading!