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The Butterfly Effect.

Chapter 14: The talk and the surprise.

Bella had been monitoring the surroundings of Volterra, trying to guess when Edward would decide to make his appearance. She didn't know when Alice first called if she should have told Aro and the others, but as Alice said he wanted to speak with her, she assumed he wasn't coming to try and kill himself again. So she only told Felix. It was a risk she was willing to take. She was the only one Aro was not able to read. If he asked for Felix's hand, he would see Edward. But again, how many times did he actually touch people? He not only read what was passing in that person's mind at that moment but every thought they had ever had. It was too much information to keep for an eternity.

Felix kissed her cheek bringing her back to reality. He had informants around Volterra. Well, the Vulturi had those informants. He asked the ones he trusted the most to keep an eye out for him. They hadn't received anything in the two days that had passed since Alice made the call. It took one day and a half to come from America to Europe by plane. But Alice hadn't specified his means of transportation.

Bella smiled at her fiancé. He had been very supportive since the call. Jumping to action, making calls and making sure she wasn't freaking out. To his surprise and relief, she wasn't freaked out. She was surprisingly calmed. He asked her how was she so calm. Her answer made him laughed. She said she didn't know.

Bella's phone rang with an incoming message. She read it. It was Edward, he was in Volterra and wanted to talk to her. She showed the text to Felix.

"Would you mind if I drive you to wherever you decide to meet him?" He asked. He wasn't feeling threatened by her ex's presence in Volterra. He was concerned about her. Despite her calm, he wanted to make sure one hundred percent, that this was not a calm preceding a storm.

Bella kissed him chastely and nodded.

Two hours later, Bella was sitting next to Edward on a secluded bench in an abandoned park. It was creepy, and it gave her a weird sensation. She hugged her body closing her jacket more. Her life was so messy. Vampires trying to kill her for sport didn't' spook her. But an abandoned park creeped her out. She was absurd, as Alec often said.

Bella was playing nervously with her hands, twisting her ring over and over in her finger. The last time she had been this nervous was when she moved to Forks, the same year she met Edward and the Cullens. He followed the movement of her hands, gently putting one of his to stop the erratic movement. She subtly retired her hands, drawing attention to her ring. He was paying too much attention to her as to not notice.

"You're engaged," he said.

Bella smiled. "I am."

"Since when?"

"Two days ago. I was going to call the family when Alice called to warn me you were coming." She answered softly. She didn't want to get Alice in trouble.

"But he is the danger, Bella. Do you think that the minute you make a mistake they will pardon you? No, Bella! They will kill you." His outburst took her by surprise. However, Bella pondered his words. They were words that she had thought herself. Aro was not keen on forgiving everyone for sport. But he wasn't a cold-blooded murderer, as Edward seemed to believe.

"I cannot say that your words are not true. But if I make a mistake, I will be judged by the gravity of it and my intentions when executing that mistake. If death is the sentence, then I firmly believe, justice was served."

Edward was stunned at her words. He could attest to the changes in her. Physically they were very noticeable. Her hair was short, her cheeks had a permanent blush to it. She was skinnier but toned as if she had exercised a lot. She might have grown a few inches, but maybe it was just an illusion of her wardrobe. She usually wore many clothes due to the cold weather of Forks. But in Italy, she now wore a fall jacket, jeans, and timberland boots. A different style of clothes than the very worn clothes she sometimes wore.

The changes that were not physical were also evident when she spoke. She had grown in mind a lot. Matured. That growth had distanced herself from him further away.

"Why are you really here, Edward?" She asked after a short uncomfortable silence.

His gaze was sad. She took his hand on hers. Deciding to start the conversation herself. "I loved you so much, Edward. I barely died, a few times, for that love. But there was a point where I was no longer happy. It wasn't fair to either of us to continue with something that would have hurt us both deeply in the long run."

"That's why you decided to come and to stay." he thought out loud.

"Yes. I couldn't explain myself then. I wasn't in the right mind. I was jet-lagged. Tired. Frightened. Alone. I had sold myself for an unknown future. I wasn't ready to tell you then what I'm telling you now. But I thought that sliding the ring into your pocket was proof enough that we were over. With that, I told you what I wasn't ready to say out loud. My intention was never to hurt you. But that's what I would have done if I had continued with the engagement." She sighed. "Maybe it was unfair to you. Not giving you a real conversation to go with the ring. But you gave me the time I needed to figure everything out. I don't know what brought you here. I'm not sure I want to know. But this was a conversation long overdue."

Edward could sense the truth in her words, but his love for her was greater than everything. Surely, she could see that. They could have been happy. Bella shook her head. She needn't be a mind reader to know what was crossing in Edward's mind.

"My love for you was the purest thing I ever felt. I gave you my all. Even after that suicide trip, you took here. I forgave you because I loved you because the hurt that your partying left disappeared as soon as I was in your arms again. But everything had changed. My time was not solely to you anymore. Regardless of your reasons, you could not bear the fact that I had another life. That I continued living without you. And I can understand that Edward. But your ways put me in danger many times. I am responsible for my own actions of course. It is not fair to blame you for my recklessness or for any stupid decision I made. I should have faced you and told you to your face what I was thinking. But I couldn't. For some reason, in the back of my mind, there was always the doubt of what would you do with that information. Would you leave again? Would you allow me to be free and myself? Would you be hurt?" Bella wiped the tears off her face. Only Felix knew the extent of her feelings. Edward just looked at her stunned. This woman in front of him had the face of his truest love, but she was changed. For good.

"Do you understand that's not how it's supposed to work? You should have trusted me to make my own decisions. To make my own mistakes. Your job was not to parent me, Edward, but to walk by my side. Help me, guide me, but let me be my own person. I couldn't stay with you. I wasn't happy. I felt trapped. In retrospect, I was going to tell you after the newborn fight was over. When I accepted your proposal, I genuinely meant it. But you also never gave my opinion on the matter true consideration. This is my time. You abide by these rules. I understand you have your own belief system, but to try and impose it…" she shook her head. "And I couldn't bring myself to be honest with you. And that's not fair either. " Edward nodded. "However wonderful and loving you were, it wasn't enough this time for me. I had changed and I feel as if you didn't like those changes, you wanted the old Bella. Whoever that was. That's what made me come." Apart from the reason that this way she could protect Charlie, one hundred percent. A loophole in her life. A safe line she didn't know she needed or wanted until she had it. "But it wasn't all your fault Edward. I changed, yes. But I also had a lot of conflicted feelings, and I was never one hundred percent truthful to you. I should have been. I blame myself too for this relationship not working as we both expected." She finished wiping a few more tears.

She chastised herself a lot when thinking of how many times she wasn't truthful to Edward. How many times he asked her something and she changed the subject or answered with a half-truth. She regretted those actions so much. When Felix and she decided to pursue a relationship she promised herself not to commit the same mistakes. If the truth hurt, at least it was the truth.

Edward sat there in silence for a few minutes. "I am so incredibly sorry I did all that Bella. I swear I didn't do it consciously or to control you. I was genuinely concerned for your safety. Although, I admit I was also very jealous. You had this deep connection with another guy, who you were eager to spend time with. You never spoke of him after, I didn't know if your feelings were confused. I understand that was your decision to make, not mine. I really wish you all the happiness you deserve." He smiled sadly. "I will be truthful. It hurts it's not with me. But a blind can see that your reaction to this engagement is so different from my proposal. He makes you happy. That's all I ask for you."

Bella smiled at his words. She didn't' miss the fact that he didn't comment on her part of the blame. But she respected his reasons not to do it. She hugged him tightly. She was indeed physically stronger. "I don't need you to apologize Edward, but I accept your apologies. I don't know if this would be sinking the knife deeper, but the invitations will be on the mail a few days from now. I hope to see you all here. You are my family, Edward. You gave me a second family that I could never thank you enough for."

Edward smiled sadly. "I'm sure the rest will be very happy to attend, but I don't make any promises on my regard."

Bella understood his decision. She didn't like it, but she accepted it. She knew if she ever had to see Felix marrying another girl, she would have made the same decision. It must be hard seeing the person you love the most, drift apart from you and fall in love with someone else.

"Why are you crying? You should be happy. My intentions coming here were never to upset you, Bella."

She sniffed. "I never wanted to hurt you." She sobbed. Edward chuckled softly and hugged her. She buried her head in his chest as she used to do. She found comfort in his embrace.

"Bella. You are incapable of hurting anyone on purpose. It's not on your nature. Do not worry over me. If I were human, things might have taken the same path, and we would have had the same conversation." She nodded. "Be happy, Bella. You deserve it." He kissed her forehead and she rose to her former sitting position. He wanted to caress her cheek, but that was not appropriate. He gave her one last smile and left.

Bella sat there for a few more minutes thinking of everything that had transpired. She felt herself smile. At first, she felt as if Edward was not understanding that she had continued changing, that that was the human thing to do. And relationships change when people grow. But one of his greatest virtues is his patience. When he truly wanted to listen, he was the best listener out there. But as he said, she should be happy. And she was. So incredibly happy. She looked at her ring and smiled widely. She texted Felix telling him the meeting was over. He texted back letting her know he was at the same spot where he dropped her off. She rose to her feet and rushed back to the car, eager to get back to her fiancé.

…

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…

"So, he took it well, then." He concluded after Bella told him everything she had discussed with Edward.

"He did. He said he's not sure if he'll come to the wedding, though."

"This will make me sound like an ass, but I'm not sure I want him here." Bella understood why. The two encounters Bella had witnessed between them weren't pleasant. Felix had a deep dislike for Edward that went beyond his initial doubts about her relationship with him. She couldn't quite comprehend why, but she didn't need to know. So she never asked.

They still had a lot of wedding-related talks, but they postponed it for another moment.

"I thought it was polite to ask." He was part of the Cullen clan, but did she really have an obligation towards him as an ex-boyfriend to invite him to anything family related? She didn't want to drive a breach between him and his family, but she also was sure she didn't want to see him every time she wanted to visit the Cullens or vise-versa.

Felix laughed. He kissed her with all the passion he could conjure at the moment.

…

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…

Felix was anxious. Bella could see it. For the first time in two months, he lied to her. For a good reason. He could tell she noticed and that it hurt her a little. But he couldn't tell her the truth. It would ruin his surprise. One more day and he could retract from his lie.

He sent her a quick text asking where she was. He hadn't seen her all day. He had a busy day training some new addition to the ranks and catching up with some reports. Those who did not feel comfortable facing the guard had agreed to send a monthly report containing any anomaly that they notice.

"Shopping with Heidi." She answered a few minutes later.

He sighed disappointedly. She wasn't' in the castle. Her shopping trips weren't unusual. Even though Bella didn't particularly like to shop, she enjoyed Heidi's company and her occasional girl's night out.

"Have fun." He texted back taking his clothes off and going to the bathroom to shower. After he would maybe watch a movie or a tv series. Whatever he was in the mood for.

Bella couldn't believe she had bought sexy underwear. She had never done that. But she felt brave with Felix like she was able to face everything and be her truest self. With all that that entailed.

…

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The next day Bella was woken up very early by an eager Felix. It was seven in the morning. She groaned, cussed at him and buried her head back in the pillows.

"If you want to see your surprise you must wake up now." He tempted her.

She ignored him, blissfully falling asleep again. But Felix was not negotiating. He carried her bridal style, definitely waking her up. He put her in the shower and opened the hot and cold water. Bella was officially up.

"Asshole." She complained undressing. He left the bathroom giving her privacy and smiling happily.

…

…

Bella was quiet all the way to the airport. She ate the sandwich that Felix made her with enthusiasm but didn't speak to him. Instead of being mad, he found the whole situation hilarious.

"Are you seriously ignoring me?" He asked amusedly.

"I'm not ignoring you. I'm quiet." She said. He laughed, poking slightly one of her sides. She squirmed away trying to fight a smile but failed. "You woke me up at an ungodly hour and threw me into the shower with my clothes still on."

"I had to wake you somehow." He said taking her hand and guiding her through the crowded airport.

"Are you going to tell me why are we at the airport?" She asked once they were inside in the arrival section.

"I will. In a few minutes." He answered cryptically.

Before Bella had a chance to answer she spotted him. She saw Felix and he nodded smiling at her reaction. Bella started crying and running towards her dad.

"Dad!" she sobbed into his embrace while he chuckled surprise at her demonstration.