ENTRY 13
ILLUMINATED

"Bella! Bella! Would you just wait a minute?"

I don't slow down. I keep running along the dark shore, using my smaller size to slip through the crowds more efficiently than my pursuer can manage, given his broad shoulders and tall frame.

Three fucking years to the day since I've seen him, the night my heart was shattered at this very same event. The same night I split town before I had to face him.

July 4th fireworks over the lake. My favorite thing about Forks, and he knew that.

I shouldn't be here tonight. But it's been three years. It's dark. It's crowded. What are the odds I would even see him, much less end up face-to-face with him, shooting my mouth off and causing a scene?

Edward Cullen. The unbelievably beautiful boy I'd dreamed might propose that night, until Lauren tearfully confessed what they'd just done. Now he's the even more unbelievably gorgeous man I just very publicly called a cheater, who's now chasing me.

"Excuse me...excuse me… Fuck! Out of the way, damn it! Bella!"

His voice is closer now, and also more desperate. I can't face him. The sky lights up in vivid red-and-blue flashes, punctuated by ear-splitting booms. Under the brief cover of darkness between explosions, I throw myself down behind somebody's abandoned beach umbrella, left over from the day's earlier festivities.

The sky illuminates again, and I know I shouldn't peek. But I can't hear his voice anymore, so I risk a glance.

He's there, not 15 feet away, turning in circles and desperately searching the crowd for me. If I stay right where I am, he'll just give up. Or so I think.

His strong voice suddenly yells over the crowd, the fireworks, and my own thudding heart. He intends to address my long-overdue accusation, and he doesn't care who's staring.

"I never cheated on you! Not once! I have no idea why you think I did! Will you please just talk to me?"

My traitorous, trembling legs stand without my permission. He spots me instantly, darkness falling just as he does. When the sky next lights up, I'm looking right into emerald-green eyes that always took my breath away, so very close. I almost run again. My back is to the brilliant fireworks, but they're more breathtaking reflected in his eyes.

"God, Bella." His voice is hoarse. "Three years. You just left without a word. Was that why? You believe I cheated?"

"Lauren said..." I manage to whisper. That's all I get out before his hand is firmly around my own.

"Lauren lied. She told me you left town with Jacob Black."

I gape at him, shaking my head. "No."

His hand tightens around mine. "Stay. Please. Just come with me somewhere. Anywhere."

The hope in his eyes when I slowly nod is more dazzling than even the lights dancing in all that green. For the first time in three years, I think maybe my fireworks aren't over after all.

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