A/N: Both the previous chapter and this chapter were unbelievably sad to write. I decided to post the last chapter in Edward's POV, even though the poll barely had votes in it, but I just didn't want to keep y'all waiting for long (even though I'm still sick lol) :) Thank you all so so much for reading and reviewing! Keep on telling me what you like and what you don't, I love your feedback! BTW, nice guesses.

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, or poor Bella and Edward.



Chapter 28: No Choice.

Edward's POV:

Once Bella had left after our night together, I decided to sit down with my grand piano and do some work. I was always the most inspired after spending time with her. We might not have been together for so long, but what I felt for her was beyond description, and you don't deny this kind of feelings – you just can't.

I was so engaged with my playing, that I never noticed the time go by so quickly. It was already 11:30am, and I had promised Bella to call. As I got up from the piano bench, and before I could turn around, I suddenly felt something cold and hard against the back of my head. My entire body froze in place.

"Don't move unless I tell you to," the man with the gun spoke from behind me. I hadn't locked the door after Bella left, not even considering the option of someone entering my home mid-day, while I was here.

"Take whatever you want," I said, trying to stay calm.

"Oh, you're going to give me exactly what I fucking want," I heard him laugh. "Now turn around, Edward Masen."

My breath hitched. This wasn't some terrible chance of fate, a burglar that had stumbled upon my open door, this was very deliberate. So when I turned around, I wasn't surprised to recognize the person holding a gun to my head.

"James Jackson," I said. Both the sight of him and his name made me feel sick to my stomach. I could feel my blood boiling in anger.

"Long time no see," he half smirked. "Well, actually, I've seen quite a bit of you lately."

I guess when you testify against a man and send him to 10 years of jail time, he might feel the need to track you down once he's out.

"Ten years weren't enough for you, so you came to finish me off as well?" I asked with an arsenic voice, trying to fight off the flashbacks I was getting from that one night, ten years ago.

He laughed out. "A little bit dramatic, are we?" he started pacing from side to side, just pointing the gun in my general direction. "No, I'm not here to kill you."

"Then what do you want?" I spat out. He stopped pacing and got in my face, pressing his fun under my chin.

"I want to make you suffer, just like I did," he whispered, enraged. I didn't move a muscle, although all I wanted to do was rip him apart.

"You suffered? You killed my parents," I tried to strain my voice.

"Now, now, just the one," he smirked at me. I could feel his breath on my face, making me sick.

"You know," he said as he backed away and kept pacing. "I was engaged at the time." I let him tell his little story without interrupting. "Her name was Victoria… she was the love of my life," he snarled.

"When you put me in jail," he waved his gun, agitated, "she killed herself. She was only twenty two," he yelled out the last two words.

Then he started laughing bitterly, clearly unstable. I wanted to make some sort of leap towards him, but I was trapped between the bench and the piano.

"Of course, at first I didn't know how to go about it. Until -" he stopped to pull something out of his back pocket and threw it at me. I caught the item and stared at it, my heartbeat becoming frantic. "Until I saw you with your pretty little girlfriend," he smiled contently.

He's been inside her apartment. I held Bella's small sleep shirt in my hands, trying to calm myself down. The thought of this mental creep going anywhere near Bella made me want to kill him with my bare hands.

"And what a lovely couple, you and Bella are," he said, his lips curling up at the ends. "Bella, such a beautiful name."

"You stay the fuck away from her," I growled.

"Now we're getting to the point. At first I thought, kill her. Now, that would make you suffer, but it would just send my right back to jail, right?" he said, and I squeezed the shirt between my hands, trying to contain the fury I felt when he said those words. He would die before he could lay one finger on her.

"But then, it hit me. I will keep my distance from your delicate little Isabella, on one condition," he stopped in front of my face again. "You must leave her, and never comeback. Never see her again, and she'll be safe," he said slowly. "Go near her, or tell anyone about this, and I'll make her sorry for the day she met you."

I stared at him in shock. This can't be happening... this isn't real. I haven't been scared on many occasions in my life, but I've never felt as frightened and worried about anything as I felt now for Bella. Could I really do it? Could I really step away from the woman I love more than my own life? From the only woman I will ever love this way? If this was for her own safety, then my answer was yes.

"I'll do it," I said quietly, the words painful. "I'll leave her."

"Good boy," James smiled and tapped the barrel of the gun on my cheek a few times. "Do it today, and do it outside, so I can make sure you won't be pulling any kind of stunt." I nodded.

Then he backed away towards the door, with a last warning. "I'll be watching."

When he left, I sat back down on my piano bench. I couldn't believe this was happening to me. Earlier this morning everything was perfect. I felt like my life had been taken away from me in a split second. I covered my face with my hands, trying to fight back the memory of my mother's death, but it wouldn't work. It didn't exactly happen the way I told Bella. I couldn't tell Bella the truth – that it was my fault. That I had caused my mother's death, by being a coward.

I woke up in the middle of the night. Strange noises were coming from my parents' bedroom. I got up and slowly walked towards the room, thinking it's probably just my mom, having trouble sleeping.

"Mom?" I called in the unconfident voice of a fifteen year old, as I opened the slightly ajar door. Shock coursed through my body, when I saw her in her nightgown, in front of a tall, blonde man with a gun.

"Edward, I need you to go back to your room," she said slowly. I didn't know what to do in that kind of situation. I tried to think of what I could do, but he was the man with the gun, and I was just the teenager.

"Hey kid, just go to your room, and no one will get hurt. And if you even think about calling the cops, I just might change my mind," the burglar said, holding the gun to my mother's head.

"Edward, please!" she begged. "Just do what he says!"

And then I did something I regretted for the rest of my life – I went back to my room, closed the door, and sat on the carpet at the foot of the bed. I innocently thought that at least she'd be alive, that he wouldn't kill her if I did what he said. I didn't expect to hear a gunshot a few minutes later.

I sprinted to my parents' room, noticing that the man was already on his way out of the house, and found her there, bleeding to death. He shot her in the head. I called 911, but they didn't make it on time, they couldn't.

It was my fault. I should never have left and gone to my room like she asked me to. I should've been braver, smarter. I should've done something. None of my regrets could bring my mother back.

Bella called me twice later that day, but I couldn't bring myself to answer. What was I going to tell her? I obviously couldn't do this over the phone, and there's no way I would've sounded like my normal self right then. I knew I had to go see her, but I tried to postpone the moment as much as I possibly could. This wasn't fair. I wasn't ready to let her go yet. I wasn't ready to let her go at all.

Eventually, I went to see her, took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Edward!" She called. She looked so beautiful, radiant and smiling. How can I do this?

"Hey," I said, feeling as if I was trapped in a bad dream.

"What's wrong?" she asked. I should've known my clever, insightful woman would immediately notice something was wrong.

"Come for a walk with me," I asked. I was going to take her somewhere nearby her house, where James could see me do it, and where she wouldn't have a problem going straight home.

"Okay, let me just get my coat," she said. She suspected something was wrong, but she wouldn't expect this. I hated that she would have to be in pain, especially the kind that hits you by surprise.

I couldn't bring myself to speak until we sat down. I was trying to brace myself to do this, for Bella's sake. For her own safety.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on now?" she asked. I could feel her eyes on me, but I couldn't look at her, for two reasons. One reason was that I couldn't bare to see the anxiety in her eyes, and surely not the pain that I was destined to see in them once I've told her. The second reason was, I feared that if I looked at her too much, her astounding features would mesmerize me and I wouldn't be able to do what I had to.

"I'm sorry, Bella," I barely choked out. I'm really doing this, aren't I?

"You're forgiven. About what?" she asked.

"This is serious," I said. She wouldn't forgive me for this, not ever. She will think I'm the biggest jerk on the planet for acting like everything was fine and a moment later breaking up with her, with no warning.

"Look, whatever it is that you think you may have done, it's okay. Just tell me."

God, this is going to hurt. For both of us.

"It's not about something I've done," I corrected her. "It's about what I'm going to do."

"What?" she asked, confused. She was starting to realize what's about to happen.

"Edward," she put her warm hand on mine, and all I could think about was that I didn't want to lose that heavenly touch of hers, ever. "You're scaring me. What is it?"

This was it. I had to do it now. For Bella's safety, I reminded myself again. To keep her alive.

"We can't see each other anymore," I said, feeling myself nearing heart attack. I think my heart shattered at that moment, and it was more painful than anything else.

"We… what?" she asked again. I couldn't look at her, and see what I've done. It didn't matter that I had no choice, this was absolutely my fault. If it were someone else and not me, she wouldn't have to be in pain right now.

"We have to break up," I repeated, trying to keep myself from breaking apart. That was the least I could do since I couldn't keep a better façade.

"Why are you doing this?" she said weakly. Why can't she tell that every word she says is killing me?

"Because… I don't have a choice," I said truthfully.

"I don't understand, Edward," she shook her head. She was too smart to just accept it for what it was. Of course she would think I'm being weird.

"I just need to move on," I said, trying to make her think I was being selfish. "Be on my own for a while."

"Was it not you this morning telling me that you love me? Was it not you last night cooking me dinner, and then…" her voice broke, and I could tell she was trying her mightiest not to cry. I couldn't stand the thought of that being our last night together. The last time I could feel Bella's soft skin underneath me, her sweet lips on mine while I was taking in her amazing flowery scent.

"I'm sorry, Bella. I'm so sorry. Of course I love you, I always will, in a way. But this isn't about love," I said. And she had no idea how much I loved her. I might have to hurt her in the worst way possible to make her believe this is over. A chill went through my spine at the thought of Bella, suffering.

"Then what is it about?" she asked. How can I do this to her?

"It's about what's right," I answered to both her and myself. This wasn't about me, this was about Bella's life. And it wouldn't be right if something happened to her because of my inability to leave her. I finally got the strength to look at her, knowing that doing this was the only thing that was fair towards Bella. The expression on her face made me want to literally die. "I can't be with you."

"Can't? Why can't you?" she asked. She won't let it go, until I give her a reason that she couldn't argue with. I hated doing this, but I had to.

"I don't want to be with you anymore, Bella, okay?" I said, nearly groaning out in pain.

"Edward, don't do this. Please don't," she asked. This isn't fair. I love her too much, I need her. I would die without her.

She suddenly pressed her soft lips against mine, setting my heart on fire. I pulled her closer to me in every way I could, wanting to feel her close for one more time. I kissed her vigorously, like an animal untamed, feeling the uncontrollable need that every part of me had for her. I felt her tears on my cheek, and I never hated myself more for existing. I relished in her intoxicating taste, wishing I could keep it with me forever. I couldn't.

I pulled away, knowing James was watching our goodbye kiss, and wiped her tears away. She'll get over me. She'll find someone who deserves her, and can take care of her instead of put her at risk. She'll be happy one day, and that's all I care about.

"You'll be fine, Bella," I said and kissed her forehead lovingly. She held onto my shoulders, and I wished she knew how much it ached to let myself free of her grip.

"I'm sorry," I said as I got up to leave. "So sorry." Sorry that by being the person that I am, I had caused you so much harm. With that, I left and didn't look back, fearing I wouldn't be able to control myself any longer. The only thing I could take comfort in was that she was safe. But I was going to watch her, from a distance, just to make sure that she would be safe. And she would keep my heart safe with her, even if she didn't know it.