A/N: Carlisle and Esme went to Volterra ahead of Bella and Alice. If at least one person likes this and reviews I will be happy :) Also I own nothing! Not even Carlisle...sadly ;)

The Woods

More often that not I found myself walking this same path on a daily basis. It was the path that Esme and I walked down on our first night in Forks, escaping the chaos at home with Jasper and Alice and Rosalie and Emmett fighting over which room they wanted. We thought it best to leave them to it.

I walked that old familiar path myself that night because my wife, my lover and my soul mate, my Esme, had been taken from me. The moment when she sealed her fate was vividly imprinted in my mind and not a day passed me by when I did not see her, running forward to stop Aro ending Edward's life. She failed. Both my wife and my son perished at the hand of my old friend. But his time would most assuredly come, for I do not forgive nor forget as easily as people might believe. When he least suspects it he will pay for what he did.

It was both painful and soothing to walk this old path. I felt my Esme close to me at all times but here, in what felt like our own private world, my memories flashed before me as clearly as though they were happening in real time.

Grief is a peculiar thing: it causes us to want to cling to our old memories yet we want to move on in order to be free of the agony. It is a fickle companion. I, however, was more than happy to live with my memories and never move on. Esme would always be alive in my heart and in my mind.

It was on a particularly miserable day, even by Fork's standards, that I met Isabella Swan. She had perched herself on a makeshift swing and was using her feet to gently rock back and forth. I took a step towards her and woke her from her reverie, her eyes shot up from the ground in shock at the intrusion. Upon seeing my figure approaching her she lowered her eyes again.

"Hey," she mumbled, more to her feet than to me.

"Good evening Isab…Bella." her glare was enough to remind me that she hated the name Isabella. I, however, found it quite beautiful.

The rain was pouring from the heavens so hard that the trees offered us no real shelter. Wearing only a hooded fleece and jeans, she was quickly becoming soaked to the skin. I shrugged off my black duffel coat ("It'll make you look more doctory" Alice assured me.) and draped it over her shoulders.

"Thanks," she whispered. A frown appeared as she said "What about you though?"

"Vampires don't have to worry about the cold or getting wet too much Bella." I flashed her my warmest smile, hoping to entice some conversation out of her. I wanted to know what on earth she was doing out on such a dreary late night.

"Bella…what are you…"

Knowing what I was going to say she cut across me.

"It's three years to the day tomorrow that… that he…they…it happened." Grief was blatant in every syllable, every word of the sentence pained her.

I made no reply. I knew full well the event that tomorrow marked.

Tears slowly began to fall down her soft, pale cheek as thunder roared overhead, the storm was beginning to unleash its fury.

I hated to see her upset but it was a common sight and had been for three years. She hardly ever came to see us anymore - too many memories I presumed- and when she did her eyes were filled with such sadness that I could hardly look at her. Nothing would have pleased me more than to be able to take that pain away from her, but it was a pain out with my medical capabilities. The only thing that could sooth her was gone.

"It's all my fault Carlisle" she whispered through her sobs " If it weren't for me you'd still have Esme and Edward. How can you even stand beside me? Why do you not hate me? I hate myself!"

"I could never hate you Bella." She looked at me with disbelief glistening in her eyes. As though my compassion was too much to take she got up and walked away. I would not let her leave believing that I hated or blamed her. I whirled around and grabbed her wrist using enough of my strength to prevent her from leaving but not enough to hurt her.

I made her face me but her eyes remained fixed on the ground.

"Bella, look at me." I said in a gentle tone but with enough bite for her to know it was an order, not a request.

"I do not hate you, I never have and I certainly never shall." My voice was laden with passion I thought had died with my dear wife. The air was thick with an indescribable tension as we stared at each other, neither daring to look away. The sincerity in my eyes seemed to finally reach her as her eyes softened and her tense body relaxed.

Before I knew what was happening she tilted her head and closed the gap between us. Our lips met with a tender kiss which sent a shiver through our bodies which had nothing to do with the rain or the cold. Her lips pressed against mine again and something with in me - my restraint? - snapped. I was lost in her as we kissed deeply and passionately, the rain cascading over us.

A soft moan escaped her lips as she pulled back to catch her breath. Reality came crashing down around us as her eyes widened in shock. I tore my hands away from her waist and she fled from me, never daring to look back.

I let her go.

I shook my head and sat on the swing Bella had previously occupied. The storm overhead continued to rage but patches of moonlight broke through the blackened clouds, setting patches of my skin aglow with sparking diamonds. I thought of Esme and of the times we had shared at this very spot, how her head fit so perfectly under my chin as I stroked her caramel coloured curls whilst watching the sunlight dance across her glittering skin. It was little moments of perfection like this that helped me cope without her. I missed her terribly. Vampires are the most loyal of all monsters yet here I was kissing my son's girlfriend on the evening before the anniversary of his death. What was wrong with me? I closed my eyes allowing thoughts of Esme to consume me. I was so lost that I was only vaguely aware of what followed.

A long screech of a car attempting to break. A loud THUD. Silence. More screeching of wheels.

My eyes flew open.

"Bella!"