AN: Hello again! I decided I might as well post both chapters at once, because this one is short.

This is the hard stuff; hang in there.

Dsiclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

September 2 – Monday

New year, but everything's the same. I have huge déjà vu.

Bella and I are starting class in a week. Until then we're spending every minute together. We act like we're on borrowed time somehow.

When she counts down the days till school starts, it feels like code or something, a hidden message I can't decipher.

Since she came back from her trip, with a new scar she wouldn't tell me about and a darkness in her eyes that feels both brand new and older than time itself, she's been eerily quiet. No more French, no more songs, no more snark. There's not that much talking going on.

Scratch that. There's not that much going on, period.

She even stopped diving.

oOo

September 3 – Tuesday

"Edward."

"Yeah?"

"I think… I don't think this is gonna last much longer."

"Yes it is. You'll grow old, B. Like real old."

"I don't think I will."

oOo

September 4 – Wednesday

"Edward, I don't want you to be hurt. I really don't."

"Then don't hurt me." Begging. "You're the only one that could."

"I can't… I can't not." Pleading. "I don't know how to live. I haven't for a long time now."

oOo

September 5 – Thursday

"You just keep going. It can't be that hard."

"I don't know how." Crying. "I don't know how to power through. I'm not that strong. Never have been."

oOo

September 6 – Friday

"Edward, I love you."

"Don't you dare, Bella. Don't you dare use this as a segue for a goodbye. That's just cruel. And if you say that, say it because it's true, not just because you want me to hear it. I won't have it like this."

A beat. Quiet sobs.

"I love you too."

She's destroying me.

oOo

September 7 – Saturday

"Goodbye, Edward."

"Bella."

"Edward."

"Bella."

"I'm sorry."

Not enough.

oOo

September 8 – Sunday

A crumpled goodbye on a yellow sticky note. And, hastily scribbled in tiny letters in the corner, it says I love you.

I don't pick up when Charles Swan calls.

AN: So. Yeah. This is where this ends.

I am so, so, so excessively grateful to each and every one of you for reading this short story. It was my first shot at anything I'd actually commit to, and I can't express how amazed I am that I was actually read. Thank you squared to those of you who reviewed, for I cherish each one of your words, and a special, huge, teary thank you to Fran S. Flower, who rec'd me and reviewed so many times.

Thank you all for sticking with me through my terrible update schedule and weird English, and thank you for liking Bella. I was really nervous about showing her to people, because there is so much of me in her, of her in me. But you were all supportive and made my day so many times. I am excessively thankful.

I will, I believe, be back with something new soon, because I'm already playing with a couple ideas, but nothing certain for now.

On an off note, this is your last chance ever to review this story. Wouldn't want to miss that now would we?

I love you all so much. Stay safe, and see you soon.

Lyra