A/N: Hi! I'm so sorry for the late update. I feel like an ass leaving you guys with a cliffhanger :( When I started posting this story, I was off from work due to Covid, but now I've been called back. My schedule is a bit crazy atm, so I won't be able to update as often as before, but I'm still aiming for a couple of chapters a week. This story WILL be completed! Thanks for sticking around :)

Huge thanks to creaatingmadness for her amazing help with the next three chapters that should hopefully all be posted today!

Since it's been some time and these next chapters are important, I recommend refreshing your memory and just quickly re-reading last chapter (it's short!) so that the next few make complete sense. Thanks for sticking around and enjoy :)

~The darkness that surrounds us cannot hurt us. It is the darkness in your own heart you should fear~

Edward killed his ex.

'No, you guys are all wrong. A couple of his ex-girlfriends went missing, and he was a suspect. But his rich daddy paid a lot of money to clear his name on the condition that his entire family moved to another state.'

The rumor I heard on the first day I saw Edward rang in my mind. I guess it was somewhat true then. I remember being bothered by the outrageous gossip, thinking there was no way it could be true, and I didn't even know him yet. Now the truth is worse than the rumor. I could have handled missing, but—

A girl lost her life because of Edward.

Holy fuck. This is my worst nightmare.

There is nothing more terrible he could have told me; nothing worse than the boy I love more than anything in this world telling me he killed someone. I thought I could handle anything he gave me, but can I actually?

Maybe I should have listened to everyone's warnings. Perhaps if I did, I wouldn't be in this mess; because I'm too far gone, too in love with him to run like I should.

He even warned me to stay away, but no—I had to be the girl that loved the temptation of danger. The one that wanted something forbidden even more if I knew it wasn't good for me.

I'm so stupid. I like my fair share of 'living on the edge,' but this is too much. My mind goes into overdrive of how many times I trusted him with my life, and he could've ended it—just like that.

The first time I followed him into the woods; the knife. What the fuck was I thinking?

Is the one person that I felt safe with and I thought would protect me really the one I needed protection from?

I feel so sick and nauseous, like I'm about to throw up, like I don't even know the boy sitting next to me; the one I've shared every piece of myself to, the one I let into my heart and loved like no one else. The one still holding on to me tight, never wanting to let me go, because he knows the second he does, I'll run.

My stomach is twisted in knots, bile rising in my throat. I don't know if I should run as far as I can, maybe even go to the police or…

Should I hear him out?

I hope I'm not being that naive, lovesick girl that's going to get herself killed. Or maybe I am that lovesick fool, and that's why I'm not running. Why, after hearing that my boyfriend just killed his ex-girlfriend, am I still here to listen to him. Maybe that just shows how fucked up I am.

No.

No, I would never do that. Never leave him like that. Never even think of snitching and destroying his life.

No matter what he does.

I need to get these messed-up thoughts out of my head.

This is Edward, for God's sake. Maybe I should be terrified that I could be next, and maybe he really is a psychopath—but deep in my heart, I just know it's not true. Even though he's been keeping this secret from me, I know Edward. There has to be more to the story.

Maybe the danger and mystery of him appealed to me initially, but it was so much more than that. He wasn't just a bad boy that gave me a thrill and a way to rebel. He was so much more. Every layer of him I unraveled made me fall harder than I ever could've imagined.

I fell for every part of him. The gentle side that would wake me up with kisses when he slept over. The one that protected me even if it meant risking his own life. The one with ultimate love and devotion in his eyes; that looked at me like I hung the moon. The sugary sweet words I never thought I would crave so much. The part of him that would do anything to make me happy, even if it meant sacrificing his own. The soft side of him that I just want to cuddle up with and hide from the cruelty of the world.

Because he had both sides to him, and I was madly in love with both. The boy who will pour his heart out to me and not be afraid to expose his vulnerability, keep me safe but also the man with darkness to him who will dominate me, play rough, bring me to the edge, and make me experience a high and rush like no other.

He's not a ruthless, sociopathic, heartless murderer. I've seen the love in his eyes, felt the warmth in his touch, and the beat of his heart—and he's not a monster. Every part of my soul that is connected to his knows he's not evil.

I swallow the lump in my throat, playing with a frayed thread on my shirt. It takes me a while to work up the courage to look at him, and when I do, it makes something wrench in my chest.

The expression he's wearing isn't a guy who killed his girlfriend in cold blood. He looks destroyed, eyes soaked and rimmed red, agony etched on his features. He can't even look at me.

He didn't do it on purpose. He couldn't have.

All the rational thoughts I've been trying to reason myself with escape my mind, fury suddenly consuming me at his lies. Why did he keep this a secret for so long? Edward could've told me when I found her photo. Why would he make me fall so madly in love with him over six months of dating and never tell me? Every time he touched me or made a promise of our future, he hid this secret from me.

Oh my god, the necklace.

The necklace I held in my hands with her blood was from the day he killed her.

I need a minute, I feel the room closing in on me, and I can't breathe. I don't want to run, but I need some space before I do or say something I regret. This is too much to handle, especially with everything that went down tonight. My emotions and adrenaline are all over the place, and the alcohol is still thumping through my veins; my thoughts are irrational and impulsive.

Is he enough? Can I look past his faults and stay with him no matter what he says to me?

When I'm around him, I only think with my heart—not my mind.

Who am I kidding?

I need him like the air I breathe, no matter the consequences.

A/N: Next chapter will be posted soon! :)