Disclaimer: Thanks! Holy cow! You people have no idea how much I look forward to your reviews, mainly because they're just so gosh darned funny!! Thanks for the laughs and the much too big head. Kelly: I've... blinded you? Jeez, that's rough. Might I suggest a seeing eye dog. I have a cat, but... I don't think that would work as well. THANK YOU! Fairyflosscaitlyn: tehehe. Your penname made me giggle... but thanks! Gregobr8: Eesh, I addict people. I suppose that's a good thing, right? Flying vampire monk: Disastrous? Psh... whatever might give you that idea? I mean seriously, I only parade smeyer's characters around in a sick, twisted story, but honestly! I'm insulted. Translation: Thanks, I love you. ROBOT-x: muchos gracias amiga! I loved and greatly appreciated your kind words. Mrsedwardcullen: tehehe. Don't I wish it... ahhh... I get that a lot, haha. But I really hope it's not the real book. Kind of repetitve for me... MickeyandMinnie: Thank you! Yep, my mind runs a mile per minute and changes direction often... sort of like a tornado. So... Oh god! Singing munchins from the Wizard of Oz popped into my head. NOT AGAIN!! Jeez. Whatd I tell ya? Kungfucookies: as opposed to tai kuan do cookies? Anyway, hoping for it. Keep your fingers crossed. Haha. Well, you'll never know its me though. And I suppose that's rather maddening. I've always wondered if some fanfiction authors were famous authors who had some extra time and were bored. (shifty eyes) Romana!: The exclamation point greatly adds to the penname. Whoo! A Joysey girl. That's a new one to add to the list. Crazy how you people come from all over the place. Sorry I addicted you. I suppose this must be what cocaine feels like... But thanks for staying up just for lil' ole me! Don't love my muse! She's a crowbar bearing psycho maniac! Hasn't that been established yet? Bronzehairedfreak1901: Ah, I knew you'd come back. They always do for one reason or another. Nah, actually. Jk. I was surprised. I suppose though, that this cancels out your previous review, so yay! I'm not hated! That's always nice to know. SS: Yay! Someone's spreading the word! That's so kind of you. I'm forever in your debt. Seriously, anything you want... only... I have no idea who you are. Oh Crap! Now I have to go around doing anything ANYBODY wants just in CASE its you. Well, pshhh... there goes my spare time. Right out the window. Lol. But thanks! As to your other reviews, I'm getting there I promise! Stupid little thing called a life... The Musings of Artemis: No joke, right? Well, he's a boy. He had to mess up eventually. But, yeah... Alice is the greatest! If I could be one character, it'd be tough choosing between her and Bella... really, really tough. Bellaxx2: Ouch. Read the rest, just out of curiosity? Ok is better than suck completely though. Silly Ella: Proud for insanity? That's a new one. I'm beaming! At least someone is... (grumbles 'its about time') Oh, the postal service sent me a notice informing me that your feast was commandeered on its journey to your house, by wild tasmanian devils, and NO not the cartoon versions. So... Now I have to get Ihop to cater or something... hope you like pancakes. Nobodyparticular: Yep, the, um, stick aprt sounded really, really dirty. I just realized that. XXxElianexXx: Well, ya know, I try... haha. Thanks for the lovely words! They make my day every time. Minimeyer: hahahahahahaha. I giggled hard. If you couldn't tell... Well, not ALL THE WAYYY crazy at any rate. Don't want to inhibit your reading skills, now do I? Ms. Impatient: I think the penname said it all, really. So, you've been sitting at the screen for what now? Five days! I hope someone brought you food and water. And I really, REALLy hoped that you blinked... or had a lot of visine on your person... Dlmadlang: Strange. This is the only place where I am called genius. I suppose that's why I love it so much .Ahh, anyway. That's sad! I'm sorry. Maybe you can stop at a walmart on the way! Canada's a long drive, right? Oh, no control... Come up with something clever... like. Oh crap, I just started my period. Let's go to walmart. Oh!! While I'm here, I'll just buy this book with the EXACT amount of money I happen to have in my pocket, and read it on the way. Unless that'd be too awkward... then, you're on your own. And believe me, if I have to huff, and puff, and blow the bookstore down, I'll get that book at midnight... (laughs sinisterly) Said dance: Sometimes, in moments like these, a wave of indescribable depression hits me over the knowledge that he isn't real. (sigh) Lovelywendy: I decided it was high time for some humor. So I'm glad you enjoyed it. TwiLight-fan 1207: OF COURSE A HORSE! Emmy: lol. Well, I'll bear that in mind. I do have favorite words, and I use them like favorite shirts: over and over again. So, yeah... I'll try to do better though. Promise. But if that's the only thing you found lacking, then I'm flattered. Lovablelozer: Well, I guess that summed up your opinion pretty well. THANK YOU! ThrushflightEdward'sStalker: I do so love the points. YOU have 2987 more for just sticking around! Seeing as this story is as long as... the great wall of china might be an appropriate end to that simile. Only you can't see it from space... I don't think. Cool, your dad's a dentist! Fallback career if the writing thing doesn't work out. No, but seriously. Make as much as a doctor without the blood and guts. Jalice14: fawesome again. I added that to my dictionary with a sharpee Ill have you know... right between fa-vor-i-tis-m and fawn. Goldeneyed vampire: School? Really? But it's July! Do you have that year-round crap? Thanks for the kind words and encouragment. Aliya Regatti: Wait no longer! Just scroll past all the bolded mindless dribble. And thanks. 4vr17Vi: No joke, right? Although, after her experiences with the ultimate, most hitlerish supervillians on the planet, I almost don't blame her. Wow! I'm speechless that you put a JK in after the I WILL TRACK YOU DOWN! Most people don't bother. :D ly Hypergiggles: HEHEHE! I greatly enjoyed your play by play of the reactions you underwent. It made me laugh for like an hour! I'll replace your cheeto I promise! They'reeee great! Oops, wrong tiger. Well hey! What about the five second rule? It always makes me feel better. Dazzle.me.darling: YAY! I've always wanted that award. I put in on my mantle with my ONLY other one... from a soccer tournalment in the 2nd grade! Yipee!! Aw!! I'm flattered that you compared me to her! Very much so! :D:D:D Adrirod: Yep, ultimately! That may be sooner than ya think! ;) Anon: haha! you're welcome! Kerssica: Well you should know all about my mind! You married it! Ya know what, like most of the things I say, I'm going to ignore how wrong that sounded and go on my merry way! K? Haha. That should be interesting. Wow, I can't say anything remotely interesting. I can't even be random anymore. I am nothing! I sincerely hope the kidney transplant goes well! Best wishes from Lily Turtle! Lyg Dijurdo: Cool. Cool. Dang im exhausted. Which is odd, because I'm an insomniac, (hence the writing of the fanfiction), and usually im BURSTING with energy in the wee hours of the morning. Luvnlivn: You and everyone else. Wow, I showed edward in a semibad light. Didn't know it could be done. Or should be done... one or the other. And thanks. Julia: Thanks friend. I ran out of creativity four seconds ago. Savannahx: Does this count as 'soon'? Tail writer: Go alice! Girl power all the way, babe! Vampirecat3: Vampire cats? Cool. I can deal with that. MeyaRose: OH my god! More than two words, meya, I am so proud of you! Even though those words were kind of depressing. Yep, it is sad. But all couples fight I suppose... Emberwillow: Well, anything else you need to know about... let's see... Jacob's going to come back one last time. I'm not so sure you need to brace yourself, just take deep breaths and follow what your anger managment instructor said... Dawnismyenemy: HAHAHAHA! If it weren't for the gutter, your mind would be homeless. Jkjk. OOOO, please remove sharp knife PRIOR to head bashing. Statisistics show that one-hundred percent of people who do that get cut. Crazy amount, I know. Socialdistortionist: Yipee! Girl power! Go Bella!!Alright, it's morning and I'm refreshed but im trying to hurry this up because i have to go to a pool party in a few. Darn that blasted fun! I didn't detect any mispellings. Then again Im not very good at that. TaylorxxTwihard: haha.. punk edward gives me a funny mental image... XXxbroken: Seems to be everyone's favorite. You should like this one though. Lots of humor to make up on, so... Wantingedwardcullen: haha. Im trying to hurry so you can read the next chapter, so... call me stephenie if you want. Call me priscilla! Love you. Supertoast and me arefrends, he shouldng get too angry. Ol2bob: tehehe. Of course you are! Yep. I wish he would. Lilazngurl821: Super glad you finally reviewed. Glad u think it's entertaining. Just glad about everything really. THANK YOU! Twilighter4life: haha. Me too actually. Im gonna cry when it ends. Lilazngurl821: Could have fooled me. You're good at that reviewing thing. Btw, you posted twice. Melodycullen and olivexedwardcullen: THANK YOU SO MUCH UNBELIEVABLY!!
Ah.
Sweet, sweet forgetfulness.
It comes easier than most people think.
For a moment, under the boughs of that old forest, I could completely forget about Charlie, with no guilt. I could forget that a sadistic fairy who didn't know how to be a good sport was out for my blood. I could even forget that the Volturi's deadline was fast approaching, there looming, right at the end of the lesser part of this week.
All of my focus, every gallon, liter, and bucketful, was aimed straight at Edward, and his at me.
We talked and talked and talked, and did…other…things.
I started shivering (although that probably had something to do with the fact that summer was ending and I had no clothing on whatsoever), and Edward insisted that we drive to our mansion.
Speaking of forgetting things, I completely forgot to fuss at him for buying me a house the size of a small country.
Ah well…
As it turned out, being in two separate cars for even the short trip up to our house was too much.
As soon as the car stopped, Edward had scooped me up and was carrying me through the door.
We didn't even make it up the stairs…
We were reacting simply as two mates, who needed one another more than anything else in the world.
XXX
Something was blinding me terribly, and there was a strange sort of pain in my abdomen and across the front of my torso. I squinted against the blinding daylight – that blasted sun again.
Snuggling into Edward, I groaned.
"Morning sunshine," he said.
"Sunshine," I moaned, "yuck."
"Sleep well?"
I meant to say something like 'yes, thank you', but it came out as a sort of garbled mush.
He chuckled.
I figured then that I might as well open my eyes. Obviously, I wasn't getting back to lovely unconsciousness any time soon.
I peeped one eye open and narrowed it to a slit. "Happy?" I bit.
"With you? Always," he said, "Now, does anything hurt?"
He had asked me this question every morning after without fail.
This time, something did hurt, just a dull throb near my stomach and around my chest, but I shook my head no. It was probably nothing anyway.
"Positive?" he double-checked.
"Yes," I sighed.
"Good. How about some breakfast then?"
I moved to get up, noticing that a. Edward must have put a cream colored, silky shift on me sometime in the night, and b. my stomach hurt a lot worse than I had originally anticipated.
In response to the latter point, I winced. Edward, with his life-saving, although albeit sometimes annoying super senses, of course caught that.
"Lay down," he commanded.
"Are you kidding me? It's probably nothing."
He sighed melodramatically, and repeated himself. "Lay down, please Bella."
Grumbling, I did as he said.
"Tell me when it hurts," he instructed me.
"Aye aye, Dr. Edward!"
One corner of his perfect, delicious lips tilted upward.
Then, his lithe, and as I well knew, very agile fingers began rubbing small circles into my lower stomach.
"This hurt?" he asked, changing the position of his hand slightly.
"No."
"This?"
"No."
He moved his hands again, over my right hip bone, and I hissed.
Gently, he began pulling the shift upward, maintaining eye contact with me all the while. For some reason, in moments like these, I think he reverted back to the etiquette of 1918, what with always asking my permission all the time and going about things so slowly. Only when he had the lacy hem of the shift pulled up over my hips did he look down. He gasped and got a pained look in his eyes.
I remembered that look. It was his guilty look.
For his sake, I hoped the damage wasn't too bad.
I sat up on my elbows and looked down.
Alright, granted, it looked like the front of me had been used as a human punching bag. Mixed in with the scratches and red marks from my experiences at the morgue, there were big blue bruises on both of my hips. I pulled the nightgown up over my stomach and higher.
More bruises.
As in, the normal white color of my skin was a minority. As in, would you like some skin with that bruise?
I pulled the shift back down and tried to locate Edward. I had to calm him down before he blew a gasket.
He had retreated, as I knew he would, off the luxurious bed coverings, to stand just beyond the footboard. One of his pale hands was gripping the bedpost so tightly; I began worrying for the bed. He tended to have an uncanny habit of breaking furniture…
I knew what I would find written in his face before I looked: guilt, horror, self-hatred, a look that, were anyone else to walk in the room, would make that person duck under the nearest flame retardant object because surely the world was coming to an end.
And when I did glance at his face, I wasn't disappointed. Well, I was, greatly so, but as far as what I was expecting, no. I nailed that prediction.
I crawled to the end of the bed and reached for him, but he stepped back so that he was some distance away from my grasp.
Hurt flashed across my face, and I desperately wished, for his sake, that my bruises would just disappear. I myself didn't mind them so much.
Hell. This was nothing in comparison to my mile long list of other injuries.
"It doesn't hur…"
He cut me off. "It looks like I beat you!"
So he'd noticed…
"It really isn't that bad…"
Edward backed up another step, the deep mahogany hardwood boards creaking under his strangely timid feet.
"Of course it's that bad, Bella."
I bit my lip for a second, not sure how to proceed. Edward was the frightened dog, and I was the dog catcher, trying not to spook him too much.
"It was worth it," I tried. And I really believed that.
"Nothing, Bella! And I mean absolutely nothing is worth your pain!" The emotions on his face were making me sick with concern, fear, and grief. I hated it when he suffered like this. I'd give the world to see him unremittingly happy.
No guilt. No pain. No carrying the burdens of everyone on his shoulders.
Like Atlas, I thought dimly. Doomed to carry the globe on his shoulders for forever. That had been one story I'd remembered from Mythology, if only because it reminded me so much of Edward.
"Edward, please… things happen. It's okay!" I cried.
Trying to make him listen to reason was a ridiculous notion on my part of course. I should've known.
He shook his head. Anger had clenched his hands into strained fists at his side. "Would it be okay if Jacob would've done that? Hurt you like that! Or Mike! No, Bella, it wouldn't. You'd be angry with them. You'd kick them out the door, and it'd be no less than they deserved," he ranted. "No less than I deserve."
How Mike Newton ended up in the conversation, I had no idea, but his name was the straw that broke the camel's back.
"No! It wouldn't be okay if it was them. You know why? Because they wouldn't be here right now. Because I don't love them! Because I love you Edward Anthony Masen Cullen!"
He looked up at my mention of his full name.
I pressed onward. "You walk out that door, and I'll… I'll…" I struggled to find a threat that would be in any way threatening. "You don't leave this room or else…" I corrected.
In a classic Edwardian mood swing, his countenance shifted, mouth smirking, eyebrow quirking. "Or else?" he questioned.
I crossed my arms. "Yep."
"Well, now that you've completely terrified me with those witty threats of yours…"
I glared at him, before getting off the bed and leaving, going down into the kitchen to get some breakfast… or lunch, as would have been a more appropriate term.
On coming back up the grand staircase, a glass of orange juice in one hand and a granola bar in the other, I found Edward haphazardly lounging on the bed where I'd left him. I smiled a little. My threat was effective.
"I'll make you a deal," he said, a far-off expression coating his features. It was the way he looked when he was mulling something over
"Okay," I started. "Shoot." I peeled down the shiny, mirror-like paper on the granola bar, and took a big, healthy bite out of it.
"I won't go berserk or call Carlisle, as long as we don't… you know… again. At least until you're changed." I was glad he said the last word without even a wince.
My eyes scanned his body. He was wearing dark denim jeans. Their waistband was slung loosely around his hips. He was, of all the maddening things, shirtless.
Adonis was wearing snug jeans and no shirt, lying on my bed, politely asking me to refrain from jumping him. What's a girl to do?
Swallowing a large hunk of granola, I frowned.
"It's too… risky," Edward continued.
My gaze darted back over his form. "Pity," I mumbled.
He threw his head back and laughed. I walked over to the chest of drawers and set the glass of orange juice on top. I rummaged through the drawers until I found what I wanted, one of Edward's T-shirts. I dug a little deeper.
Better get one with long sleeves. Those muscular arms drove me wild. I reached down to the bottom of the drawer. That's when my palm brushed over a bundle of thicker fabric. I pulled it up through the rest of the material.
The bundle was a hoodie. Perfect. PennState was printed in archaic decals across the front. That had been the university where Edward had gotten a medical degree. Not the medical degree. A.
I threw the article of clothing at him, and his lightning reflexes snatched it.
"You could at least attempt to help," I said.
"So could you," he retorted, giving me and my scant nightgown ensemble a once-over.
I grinned at him, before sauntering over to the dormer window, where I stretched myself out on the cushions in a very, shall we say, risqué manner. "I think not."
XXX
In short, I was given the ultimatum of either putting on clothes myself, or having Edward put them on me. I stayed my ground till the very end, assuming that he would never do it.
Well… yes. Yes he would.
His excuse? My blush was just soooo adorable.
So, here we were, looking ready to go skiing in our multiple and highly unnecessary layers, sitting on opposite ends of the couch making sorry attempts to watch television. He and I both were fidgeting out of impatience.
"Can't we just sit by one another?" I asked.
He huffed, and began moving towards the middle. I did the same, until we were sitting side by side.
That lasted another commercial break or so, and then his arm awkwardly tried to drape itself across my back. I slowly bent my head down till it rested on his shoulder.
His big, strong, muscular shoulder.
I remembered trailing kisses across it, feeling the sheer power there twitching under my lips.
I stopped myself, compelling my mind to let itself be drawn into the mindless dribble coming out of the plasma screen in front of us. Let's see… it was a movie. A murder mystery.
Someone died? Who? I thought it was some guy named Tim. He got murdered with an axe. Or was it a chisel?
Chisel… chiseled… like Edward's chest. My hands tingled with the memory of sliding down its smooth planes. NO! No more.
I had to focus on Tim! Poor, poor Tim, who was murdered with an axe, not a chisel, and whose murderer was now on the run, whipping through the forest like a bullet.
Before I could draw parallels, I grabbed the remote and switched the channel.
Infomercials had to be safe territory. Inside Edward's chest was a rumble. He was chortling at me.
"Want one?" he asked, gesturing to the product.
I glanced at the advert to see what the TV was selling. It happened to be a spiffy kind of vacuum cleaner that could clean anything, anywhere. The maternal looking lady on the screen was beaming with drawn on lips and too white teeth, gracefully sliding the vacuum up and down a wall.
Who vacuumed walls anyhow?
I blushed and sunk deeper into the hood of my own hoodie Edward had so graciously shoved over my unwilling head.
That was when the whispers started up again. Here I thought I had escaped them…
I tried to continue like I wasn't hearing voices inside my head that no one else could. I really did.
Pushing down the instinct to cover my ears and cringe, I kept my gaze level, watching the infomercial woman demonstrate how, not only would the vacuum suck up all the dirt on your walls, but it would turn that same dirt into fertilizer for your garden.
But I had to infer that much. I couldn't hear her voice over the malignant murmurs.
They became louder though, and louder. 'Revenge' they all said. I couldn't make out many words because they all overlapped one another, but I did hear that one. It was said frequently, and with more menace than the rest.
They were too deafening now, and my head was swimming. I couldn't help it. I whimpered and shrunk into Edward.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Can you hear them?"
"Bella, who? Hear what?"
"Them!" I cried.
They were so loud, right beside me now, and above me, and below me. Everywhere.
"They want revenge," I said, knowing good and well I sounded crazy.
Thankfully, they were starting to dissipate now, starting to disperse back into silence. The familiar droning of the lady on TV replaced them, but I felt Edward stiffen and tense.
"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I'm not crazy."
"Of course you're not," he said, but he didn't sound too convinced.
"I think he did something. Findabhair, I mean."
"Bella," he said, turning me around to face him in his arms, my legs lying on his lap, his arm cradling my back. "What happened in the morgue?"
"You don't know?"
He shook his head. "I only know what I saw. I only know that he did… that terrible thing to your father."
My eyes welled up with tears. "He didn't do that."
Edward looked confused.
"I did."
XXX
Now came the horrendous moment of truth.
Or, as it turned out, the horrendous half-hour of truth.
I explained, to the best of my ability, what happened at the hospital, that brief and yet life changing blurb with the fates. I told him about the vial with a liquid that shone like rubies, about how I thought it contained humanity.
All the while, in the telling of this, I didn't once glance at his face, afraid of what I'd find there. He patiently stroked my back, yet I had a strange feeling that soon he was the one who needed comforting.
Then, I skipped ahead to the bit with the visions, and how I thought I could bring Charlie back from the dead. And then… about how wrong that was. I told him how Findabhair could shape-shift, and make me see things that weren't there; trying to explain the way I had acted (was it only yesterday?).
He listened with the patience of someone who has to be patient, someone with over one-hundred years practice at it. I censored some, trying to avoid sending him into a spiral of self-destructive panic, but he must have guessed from my scratches and punctures what had happened. It didn't take a brain surgeon, and Edward was much, much, much smarter than that.
And last, but not least, I told him that every so often, I would hear whispers, and I didn't know why.
Still, I didn't peer into his sure to be overly concerned orbs.
"I'm sick of it," I finally said, after several uncomfortable minutes of silent.
Edward shifted.
"I'm sick of something always getting in the way of your happiness."
It took me a minute, but finally the realization that it was me sunk in. I stood in the way of his seamless life. For a few flickering instances, I understood what he'd been feeling when he left me, that powerful and secret remorse that comes with knowing that you are the obstacle, and not the bridge.
But I needed him. And for some unfathomable reason, I let myself believe that he really did need me too.
"Say something…"
I heard a quick intake of breath, like he was preparing himself for some long speech, but then it was let back out again in a whoosh.
It was a lot to absorb. I had thought I'd had humanity, and I didn't discuss it with him when I had the chance. I'd told him about the vision with Essie. I really wanted to know what he thought about that. With a start, I noticed that this was the couch from my vision, and that we were in a similar position. Essie wasn't here, though.
And with a small sigh of longing, I realized she never would be. I would never see Edward holding our child, or playing with her. He would have made the best father.
Right then, it was like something died for me, some dream I hadn't realized I'd ever harbored. Essie died.
Full-fledged understanding of what Rosalie had meant that night dawned, and tears escaped despite my efforts.
But still, that life would only be possible outside of Edward, and outside of Edward, I had no life at all. That life, the one with a picket fence, a golden retriever, and 2.5 kids was my sacrifice, my price, and I'd pay it in a heartbeat, not because Edward demanded it, quite the contrary actually. But because he didn't.
It was the grimmest sort of gift I could give.
But I'd do it for his love. Hell, I'd do it to just hold on to purely my own love for him – unrequited or no. To remain in love with Edward, I'd offer up my soul.
And according to him, that was exactly what I was doing.
"Please say something," I entreated him again.
I looked up into his face. A strange and ironic concoction of emotions marinated there: bewilderment, anger, surprise, sorrow, relief… too many.
He was stressed. I threw my arms around him.
"I'm sorry that I didn't talk about the vial with you first, but…" I reconsidered when I thought about what that would have caused, "No I'm not. I just… I don't know what I am. I just want to hold onto you."
I wanted to be lost in him again. If it weren't for his stupid ban…
"I don't know what to say," he said.
"Then don't say anything."
He didn't for a while, and we just held each other tightly on the leather sofa. Rain had started falling sometime in my tale, and was now drilling the shingled roof in an utterly narcotic way, but I didn't give into sleep.
"I wasn't there for you," he murmured quietly.
"No!" I hissed. "This isn't your fault. I was an idiot for being so naïve and gullible. You had nothing to do with it, and my choices were what got me into that mess in the first place."
"If we hadn't been involved in that war, he wouldn't have come looking for revenge. He was trying to use you to get to me, since we banned him from attacking another being." He took a slow steadying breath. "But when that didn't work, he decided he'd punish me by taking you away, and he nearly succeeded."
Impatient, I grabbed the cold skin on either side of his face. "This is not your fault. Say it with me: This is not my fault."
Okay, I sounded like a self-help tape, a seriously pissed off self-help tape, but he was going to get the message if I had to implant it into his overly thick head.
A small smile touched his lips. His fingertips reached up to skim the side of my face. "You always take the fall for mistakes I made."
"You call defeating those sadistic creatures a mistake?" I demanded. "They can't kill anymore, Edward! That's a good thing! So what if I get a little banged up because of it? This isn't your fault. In fact, almost nothing that you think is your fault is actually your fault! Things just happen! You saved my life in the morgue, a situation that had absolutely nothing to do with you. You save my life all the time! Please!" I begged, "Don't be sad."
It seemed to me that I had had enough of these little chats with him over the last few days.
"Please be happy!" I tried again, tugging at his hoodie.
"I am happy, Bella. As long as you are. I just… I hate it when you get hurt."
"Then change me already."
He twisted me till I was lying on my back, him hovering over me.
Worry must have flashed in my face, because he asked me if I was.
"About you."
Confusion pulled his brows together.
"I don't know, Edward," I said. "I just… while it's happening, I see you hating yourself for it, and regretting it."
"I won't ever regret loving you, or giving you what you want. And though I know I'll try very hard, I could never hate myself for being selfish enough to want to spend eternity with you."
His sweet breath bathed my senses. His proximity was like the best kind of drug.
Cold lips found a hollow under my ear, making their way down to the pulse point of my neck. So we were going to do this the classic way…
"Try to ignore me, okay?" I asked. I knew that at some points, I'd be begging him to stop it.
"Impossible," he whispered. His voice was low and husky in my ear, before he moved his lips, and with them, his razor sharp teeth, back down to my neck.
I closed my eyes and waited to be assaulted with three whole days of agonizing pain.
AN: I'm TRYING to get to the other reviews, honestly. I just have no time. No time at all. And, well, I got into this C2 called best of the best: 1000 plus reviews. Subscribe if you have the time kindly. But, please, please, please read Listen to the Music, my newly published fic and review. It is, by my standards, the best and most heartstring tugging thing I've ever strung together. Please, please, please, if you love me. And then, I promise. I PROMISE to have the last chapter of this come out before Breaking Dawn. Right before, so I held you over right up till its release. :D Please!! It would mean so much to me.