How do you like the series so far? Leave a review! I somewhat have the idea for the ending… but the ending is far away, I'm sorry! Also, I won't be posting as many chapters anymore. I'm gonna continue writing the series so I can go back to previous chapters and make a change when I run into a problem with earlier situations from the chapters and adjust them to fit the future chapters. I noticed this happens a lot to me when I'm writing. I am not Stephenie Meyer. All rights to the Twilight Saga go to her! (:

Chapter 36: Airport

I found myself huddled onto Bella's bed, cuddled against the strawberry scented fibers of the pillow as if I was a human looking for a comfortable position. But that was not the case, of course. I just wanted to ever so much breathe in her scent. For this scent lingered mostly of her shampoo, but the small hint of her floral scent was still apparent. I waited, waited for her to come home until I heard Charlie downstairs muttering on the phone.

"So, she is okay?" Charlie said, sighing in relief. "Okay, make sure she gets—oh she's staying there at your guys house, huh?... Mmm… I don't know Billy, I don't like the idea of her staying the night with a boy….. Yes, I know you'll be there, but you know teenagers these days… Are you sure?... Ha! You're gonna tell a teenage boy to stay on the couch all night while there is a girl sleeping in his bed?... Awh, Billy you don't have to break your back in your wheelchair all night to make sure… Yes, I think I can trust her…. Mmm… and what about school? She has school in the morning and she's only a couple months till graduation, she needs to go to all of her classes… Uh, huh… Alright, well she needs to come home next time. Make sure she knows that… are you sure she's okay? I thought she was doing better and her running out of the house like that, all glum looking just reminded me… yeah, I just hope she hasn't had contact with that Cullen boy again… if I ever see his ass around here again I'll make sure to throw him in handcuffs," Charlie then laughed at Billy's response through the phone, "Oh I'll find something that he's guilty of to do that, easy. Okay, thank you. Make sure Bella gives me a call in the morning before she gets to school. Well, actually can I talk to her right now?... Oh, she's in bed… good, good. Okay make sure she gets to school… alright Billy. Fishing trip this weekend again?... Yeah work has been shifting my schedule, so my weekend afternoons have been pretty clean… I don't know when that will shift again, but damn I sure am not complaining about it… alright you too old man. Thanks again, night." Charlie then hung up the phone.

So, Bella was not coming home, instead she was staying over at Jacob's house tonight. My mind panicked at the thought of Bella spending the night with him. While it was no longer my business of Bella and her time of giving away her virginity, I did always hope it would have been to me. Then again, the thought of defiling her while she was human was never something I wanted to do. It was dangerous and most likely lethal to a human for a vampire to fornicate with one. Intimacy to that extent was most likely an action that was not on the table. I could no longer interfere with that situation and no longer had to keep Bella away from the hungry interactions she had towards me. It was not my place, nor was it my place to keep her away from Jacob in that sort of situation. My place was to make sure she was safe, and right now I was not fulfilling that duty.

These thoughts in my head that lingered began to make me feel uncomfortable. I needed to call Alice to make sure when her exact arrival would be, along with what her plans for being here were.

"Edward, hello!" Alice said cheerfully, acting unaware of the conversation we were to have.

"Hey, Eddie," Jasper chuckled in the background. I could hear passengers boarding the plane and the flight attendant becoming annoyed with the passengers not knowing where to sit. Carryon bags were forcefully being crumbled into their overhead compartments and children were babbling to their parents who continued to hush them while they were taking their seats.

"When," I growled through my teeth.

"I told you, in a couple of days, Edward. We won't be there till late Thursday morning. These flights take time, including all the stops they have to make."

"Okay, then my next question to you is, why?"

"Why what, Edward?" I could hear her smug tone through the phone.
"Don't be coy with me, Alice. Why are you coming here? What is your plan?" I hissed.

"Well, to be honest, Edward. We don't necessarily have a plan. We just want to go to Forks to see you. Besides, we have to handle a small problem."

"A small problem?" I asked. I figured she meant about Victoria and Seattle considering our earlier conversation.

"She hasn't made a mess or anything like that. Her decisions continue to change and it kind of seems like she's playing me or something. Like she knows that I am watching her... But many decisions put her back in Seattle. They change again and again, but the most frequent decision is Seattle."

"Well, why is that?"

"I don't know, Edward. That's what we are going to find out."

"Find out? So, is this threatening to Bella in some sort of ways?"

"Possibly, I'm not sure."

"Well, be sure, Alice. I do not plan to leave here, leave Bella behind in danger just to go to Seattle for no reason. Victoria came to Forks a while back you know."

"I know that Edward, that's why we are coming to you."

"Hmm?" I asked, confused. Her plan is what I needed to hear.

"Well, we knew you wouldn't leave Bella unattended, so…" Her voice broke off. "Edward, I have to go. The flight attendant is signaling for our phones to be turned off. I'll call you when we land at our first stop."

"Goodbye, Eddie," Jasper said signaling the end of the conversation with a monotone voice. Clearly the number of passengers occupying the plane were commencing a problem for him. His control has gotten better throughout the months, but it was still tricky, especially when in large crowds. I always felt glad for him to have found Alice to help him through these situations. I do not know what would have come for his future without her, but I necessarily had a good idea. The phone call had ended.

I wandered over the complication that Alice had with tracking Victoria and why she would change her decisions abruptly. It made me conscious of the idea that Laurent may have had something to do with that. Laurent was active with the Denali coven for quite some time and had contact with Victoria. I am not actively sure it is completely connected, but I theorized that our cousins may have had given Laurent some input on the matter of Alice's powers which then he was given the opportunity to tell Victoria about. This idea made sense, and I would not put it past him that he did such a thing. He did come to Forks to harm Bella, and for what agenda? Why did he come to hurt her instead of Victoria? Victoria on the other hand had also made an appearance here, so possibly they were working together to hurt Bella, but what was the reason for Laurent to do so? These were some theories I would have to contemplate, but it would have to wait for when I had more answers.

I was slightly parched from my last hunt I had commenced on Saturday. It had only been a couple of days, but I had only drained one buck that night. I did not care to go for a hunt tonight, and it would have to wait until the morning when I could first see Bella again. That was very important for me; to see her.

For the rest of the night till early morning I had continued to lie in her bed, encasing my face into her pillow, while I lay on top of her comforter. I knew I would have to wash these items to rid my scent of them when Charlie leaves to go to work. Charlie decided to pay a visit to her room this morning while I fled into her closet to hide. He walked in, looking around the room with a dulled expression across his face. He sighed as he entered the doorway and slowly walked his tracks around. He leaned over at the desk that contained a picture of young Bella and her mother years before. He held it up, running his thumb over Bella's youthful face. He grunted at it, reeling small chuckles through his throat from whimsical memories of her at that age.

Baby… sweet… innocent…

Only a few words crossed his closed mind. Each word that displayed what the image was encasing. Bella at a young age, his own child who was sweet, full of laughter and wonder of the world around her. Her innocence as a child, and the innocence that could be taken from her, or that she would one day give away to someone else. The days that his only worry in the world was whether she was hungry or ill. He truly missed those days, especially missing the many years he had spent mostly absent of when she was growing up while she was with her mother.

It was interesting looking in the mind of a father, even if it was vague when it came to his own thoughts. Something I would never witness or feel. These thoughts that I would never be able to hope to encounter one day. Sure, my options were open for interpretation, just like Rosalie's were. There were options such as adoption or possible fostering. For Rosalie, that meant watching her child grow old one day and dying. Having to live through the pain of watching your own child die before you while you stayed ageless. Changing the child when it came of proper age was an option, as well, but the treaty had stated that we shall not bite or turn another human, even if we were not in Forks. It applied to anywhere in the world. And it only applied to us.

Those dreams were hopeless for Rosalie, but those dreams were not something I cared to encounter. I did not think of those dreams until this moment watching and listening to Charlie stare at the picture of a young Bella. They were unrealistic and not worth thinking about.

Charlie had left the room and drove off to work in his cruiser. I did what I needed to do. I stripped her comforter and pillowcases from her mattress along with taking the clothing off the hangers in her closet that I had touched or came near to. Practically I removed anything with a fiber that I had touched and took them downstairs to the washing machine. It was imperative that I make sure my scent was not noticeable to Jacob if he were to come back to her room. When the clothing along with the bedding was finished drying, I grabbed some of Charlie's work gloves that were on the ground in his backyard and I neatly put the items back. I made sure the bed was not left completely made like Bella previously had it so it would not be noticed that her room was touched or tampered with.

After the morning was accomplished with de-scenting Bella's room, I decided to leave to make sure I did not further contaminate anything else.

It was an almost ordinary day where Bella had gone to school and had then left to go work at Mike Newtons. I decided to watch her through the glass doors of the store while she stacked the shelves. Poor Bella for having to deal with Mike Newton who would glance over at her figure whenever she would bend over to pick up boxes, or whenever her shirt lifted from her waist exposing her torso when she would reach up for things. He was not very discreet when it came to stare at her, and it seemed adamantly obvious that she had to have noticed, as well. I'm sure it had made her uncomfortable.

I followed her truck home after her shift, and I decided this time to lurk near the side of her house, listening in on Bella instead of loitering in her bedroom. The bedroom that I had already cleaned my scent from. If I were to come back to her room, it would have to be when she had fallen asleep so I could stand motionless; not touching anything.

When Bella walked inside, the phone in the kitchen chimed, but Bella did not seem too eager to answer it. Instead she went upstairs to her room. The phone would continue to ring several times that night and Charlie would answer it.

"Chief Swan, hello. It's—"

"Jacob Black, I know. You called earlier, kid."

"Yeah, ha. Is she home? I really need to talk to her…"

"She is, but I don't think she's interested in taking phone calls right now. She might have had a long day at work today. She hasn't even started dinner. Thinking I'm going to have to get a takeout or something."

"Oh! I can bring over some BLTs that I made for Billy. I can come by right now if you're hungry." Jacob said desperately.

"Nice try, Jacob. Bella will call you when she calls you," Charlie said snickering.

"Yes, sir. Can you remind her that I called? It's important."

"Want me to leave a message?"

"Not really, just tell her to call, Thanks."

"Will do, kid." Charlie hung up the phone and dragged his fingers down his jaw in frustration. How does a father deal with a hopeless boy that cared too much for his daughter? I could not blame Jacob or hate him. Yes, he is naturally my mortal enemy, but he cared for Bella. He cared about her wellbeing and he may even love her. How could I hate someone who cares for the reason of my existence?

Charlie grudged himself up the staircase to Bella's door. He knocked on it until she had given him permission to come in.

"Bells, are you avoiding Jacob?"

"Uh—uh… no, why?"

"He's been calling all day and you have been dodging his calls. The kid even offered to bring me a B-L-T just to come over to see you."

"Oh, yeah?" Bella chuckled nervously. "Are you hungry or something?"

"Dinner wouldn't be so bad right now," Charlie mumbled. "Not the point, Bella. Do I need to keep telling him that you cannot come to the phone… or?"

"If you wouldn't mind," She replied softly.

"Should I ask?"

"No. Definitely not…" Bella paused. "I think I have chicken pulled out in the fridge right now. I could make us some quesadillas?"

Charlie huffed at her response and they both headed downstairs. Bella started preparing the meal for the both while Charlie sat on the couch making small conversation with her about work and asked how the Newton's were doing. Bella didn't have very constructive replies to his questions so instead he discontinued from asking them. It was interesting that Bella did not want to talk to Jacob, and I had no idea why. Last night she stayed over at his house, and it compels me to question what he had said or done to her to make her not want to speak to him. The idea behind this had bothered me a little and made me question my response to my thoughts earlier if I really do have a reason to dislike him.

After they were finished eating, Bella decided to go upstairs to take a shower and head to her room to do some homework. I now moved my position over to her window, perched in her tree while keeping my mind open for possible thoughts from the pack coming nearby. I had to make sure that I escaped before they came too close. Keeping out of their sight along with any other passersby. When she finished with her studies, she continued to sit on her bed, hunched overlooking down at her hands where she looked to be in deep thought.

How I wish I could read her mind in certain moments of her life, especially at this moment. I wished I could understand her or know what was troubling her mind to make her sit there motionless. For it must have been about Jacob considering she did not want to speak to him for some sort of reason. After a few minutes, she finally had repositioned herself, and then leaned over to the CD player on her nightstand that still contained the CD I made for her. She pressed the play button and waited for the music to begin and then turned it down to a low volume that would not escape the walls. She then stood up and walked over to her dresser pulling out the bottom drawer that she never used which contained the box of stuff that I had left to her. She pushed the plane tickets away and then grabbed onto the pictures of us. She set the box back down on the dresser top and then walked back over to her bed, still holding onto one of the pictures. She sat back down and heaved a sigh from her chest. She ran her thumb across the picture and a small tear rolled down her face. She leaned over onto her side and reached over towards her lamp to turn it off and then rolled over facing the wall nearest to the window.

She held the photo close to her face and rubbed her wrist over her cheek as she pushed a tear away from her cheek.

"I know…" she whispered to herself. "I feel so dumb even talking to a photo of you… but I know I was never good enough for you. I realize that. You were this perfect being who had lived and experienced so many things, while I'm just ordinary boring Bella." She sighed again pulling the comforter up to her face. "I can't be mad at you… I would have left me too…" She choked on her words. "And it sucks so much more… because I keep letting other people like Jake down… because I—I'm still in love with you." She began to deeply breathe as she said those last few words. "I keep hurting him and I don't want to. I really don't—but you—you keep making your way back into my thoughts… I keep hearing your voice…" her eyebrows furrowed, and she squinted her eyes as the tears kept flowing through. "You left me… you left me here in pieces…and you took Alice from me, and the rest of my family. You took them all… and you left me here. I knew it would happen one day because… how could you love me? How could you have possibly loved me? I knew you wouldn't stay… I loved you too much and I pushed you away… with my stupid human baggage… I wanted you to change me… to be one of you… but you didn't love me enough to be with me forever…"

She choked up on the last sentence more and hid her face into her pillow. She set the photo down on the pillow next to her and drifted off to sleep.

I lifted her window open and climbed in. I stood there, motionless. I did not know how to feel anything other than complete misery for the words she had spoken.

Bella, if I could tell you my feelings for you. I would tell you that you were always enough; nay, you were more than enough. There was nothing that I could have given you or been for you to be enough for you, Miss Swan. You deserved more than this life you were living. For you, my love, to ever feel these emotions because of the words I had said to you was completely unfathomable. And for Alice and the rest of the family that I brought you into, I am remorseful for taking them away from your life. I had hoped doing so would one day make the memory of me and them just a memory, or even an afterthought. As if we were never real or had ever existed in your life. I am so sorry my dear, Bella. I feel so much regret for leaving you here. I feel so much regret for leaving you unable to move on in your life because you deserved to move on. You deserved to find a love that I could not give you for I could not grow old with you. Forgive me, Bella.

The next day carried on normally according to Bella's schedule. She went to school, left for work, came home, cooked dinner, ignored Jacob's phone calls, and went to bed. This was a routine for her. Last night while she slept, she said my name multiple times, and whimpered afterwards, clutching onto her pillow tightly. I had wondered what the dreams were of. Of course, they were nightmares, though. A monster like myself had no place in blissfulness. It was now early on a Thursday morning. Today Alice and Jasper were prepared to land at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport where it was my job to await their arrival in a car. We did not have any cars at the Forks home for they were away with the rest of the family, nor would I want to use one. It would be suspicious to see a car that we had used many times throughout the moments we were here in Forks.

I needed to find a number for a car rental place, so I went back to our home. I lifted the sheet that hung over the bookshelf and searched through it. It usually contained any paperback or hardcover book in the house, so I skimmed through the titles until I had found the Yellow Pages. I needed a fast car so I could not be too bothered by the slow speed that this town usually paces itself at. I had called the number listed for the nearest car rental shop that would have something of my interests. Unfortunately, the closest one that would have a car that I would particularly be satisfied with was an hour away by car.

"Hello? Yes, this is Edward Cullen." I realized I had not used my real name to introduce myself to others in quite some time. This would not be too risky considering we have not rented a car here before, and it was the only name I had on a driver's license that had my age to be of twenty-two years old.

"Yeah, what can I do for you today?"

"I just need to rent a car for about two days if that would not be a problem. Do you have anything particularly fast?"

"We sure do, can I know your destination you will be driving in? I need to charge you by the miles that you use, along with how many days you use it."

"I need to drive to the Seattle airport to pick up a few family members, then I will be driving it to Forks and then back to you in a couple of days."

"Alright, let me just look through the paperwork here… Ah yes, fast? Well the fastest car we have for rental on the lot would be a Ford Mustang GT of 2005. Will that be fine?" It was a car that would be fast enough to not bore me, and it had back seats.

"Yes, that should be fine."

"Okay, when can I expect you?"

"I will arrive in about an hour"

"Will be looking forward to seeing you, Mr. Cullen." I ended the call.

I put the Yellow Pages back onto the bookshelf, grabbed sunglasses, the hat that I had bought previously at the airport when I was leaving Rio De Janeiro, and the long sleeve jacket and exited the door. I began to run through the tree line down the road keeping my distance from the treaty line that passed on the left. This part of the woods had no treaty binding it, for it was free for either of our families to roam. I had passed the lounge that I found myself participating in conversation at the other night. Olivia was her name, and I had wondered where she resided.

It was not too long until I arrived at the car rental location. I walked inside and looked around for someone to speak to. A gentleman came through a door that was mounted behind the desk. He looked at me, raising his eyebrow at my direction. He was confused by my youthful appearance and did not have a clue for my being here.

"Hello, can I help you?" The man asked. He was balding near his scalp and was notably heavy set.

"Yes, thank you. I am Edward Cullen. I called earlier about renting the 2005 Ford Mustang GT for the next couple of days."

"Huh… can I see a valid driver's license?" He said slowly. I smiled at his response as I pulled my wallet out of my pocket and took out my forged license. He took it from me, looking at me and back at the picture on it. Then he scanned the birth date and year. He nodded; rubbing his tongue against the inside of his cheek. "Mhmm... can you fill out this paperwork before I give you these keys? Shouldn't take too long," He said, handing me a small stack of paperwork and a pen.

I nodded at him taking the papers and leaned against the desk filling out the necessary lines on it. I then handed it back to him shortly after. He handed me the keys to the car and I left out the doors.

I got in the vehicle which had darkly tinted windows on all sides and turned the keys as it purred to life. I smirked at it a little bit for it had been a long time since I had driven a car with such a high horsepower. I pulled out of the parking lot and headed to Seattle. I was driving around ninety miles per hour through the long roads and had to slow down to forty-five where there was light traffic. I was weaving my way around each car, listening for any cops that were close by that could possibly pull me over until I had finally arrived at the airport. I pulled into the pickup lane, parking the car and adjusted the cap on my head to block the sun from reaching my face and pulled the collar of the long sleeve jacket more snug around my neck, and then pulled the sleeves down to cover the back of my hands.

When I walked inside, the airport was filled with people exiting their flights with their children pulling their small luggage behind them. I walked over to the departure doors and leaned against the wall. Faces glanced at me while they walked by, but I had ignored them. I was not too amused to be here particularly. I did want to see Alice, but I rather she had not planned to have come to Forks.

"Edward!" A loud squeal echoed in my direction that came from my petite sister. Alice was skipping over to me with a shawl covering her head and wide sunglasses covering half of her face. Jasper was walking behind her carrying her luggage as she held his other hand dragging him down the wide area, pushing past other departures. A warm feeling suddenly came over me where I could not help but express a sly smile when seeing her. Of course, that was Jasper's doing. I walked over towards her direction where she then let go of Jasper's hand and leaped into my chest; clinging onto me. She repeatedly kissed the top of my head where I then had to pry her off.

"Missed you too, Alice," I smiled at her, setting her back down on her feet. "Jasper," I nodded at him. He returned the nod with a wry smile.

"So, back to protecting Bella?" Jasper said, chuckling. I peeled my eyes at him, scrunching my mouth.

"Jasper… no that is Edward's job. We are here to…" Alice paused turning her face away.

"Here to what, exactly?" I asked her, raising my eyebrow in her direction.

"To share your company, of course," she replied cheerfully. Alice's mind was then translating the Battle Hymn of the Republic into Arabic. I rolled my eyes at her as she was clearly hiding something from me that would not be worth discussing until later. I leaned over to Jasper as he was carrying multiple bags in one arm and took a few from him to keep passersby eyes at ease.

"So… how's Bella?" Alice skipped in front of me, twirling around.

"Keeping herself in danger with wolves, I hear," Jasper added with a chuckle. I grinded my teeth a bit at the response. Jasper was not wrong, but it was buffoonery of Alice to ask such a question. I then gestured them outside of the airport over to the rental car where Jasper and I had helped put the luggage in the trunk and partially in the backseat where Jasper would be sitting. We quickly climbed into the car to escape the beams of light that were inching closer to us as the shadows from the overhang were narrowing. I then immediately put the Mustang into gear and drove away from the airport departure lot.

"Oh, I'm so excited to be back, aren't you Jasper? Half of our family is together again," Alice gleamed clasping her hands together.

"Temporarily. Do you not have things to do in Milan?" I said sharply to her. I then felt a wave of calmness rush over me.

"Oh, Milan can wait. That's why you hire assistants, and that's also the reason for the invention of cellphones," She said, smirking.

"Well, how long are you staying for then?"

"Just until it's time to leave…" She said looking down at her hands. Her mind then flitted away from reciting the Battle Hymn where she then began imagining Bella and I back together again.

"Do not get your hopes up, Alice," I said firmly to her.

"I'm sorry, Edward but there is no way that you and Bella do not end up together!" She shouted.

"Alice…" Jasper hissed at her, holding his palm on her shoulder gently.

"Do not Alice me. You two are perfect together. Well, will be perfect..."

Perfect was a word that I would not use for Bella's and my relationship. Bella was much too perfect, and I was not. I thought back to Tuesday night when Bella went to bed, grasping the photo of me and her in her hand. How she thought so ill of herself when it came to our relationship. How she presumed I was perfect, and she was much too ordinary for me. It was an incredibly flawed thought. If she only knew the real thoughts that had floated through my mind about her, maybe then she would resume more confidence in herself.

"Tell me, Alice. You used to see Bella becoming one of us. Do you still see that?" This was not a question I wanted to ask because I knew the answer. And that answer pained me.

"Ugh, Edward! No, I don't see that anymore but that's only because she's running around with those mutts! You aren't around so she can't make that choice for herself to be with you." She replied. While this answer meant that Bella did not make the choice to be with me anymore, and it had pained me to hear the confirmation of that, it also meant that her future was no longer damned. That she would grow up and live her human life. I hid my face from Alice while looking at the road and veered a half smile towards the window. My Bella's life was restored.