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Chapter 31

Long Night 2

Edward

Saying goodbye to Bella after that day caused me physical pain, but it had to be done. This night would be worse than the last. Maybe as bad as the first ones after I left Forks. No. It wouldn't be like that again, I smiled away this apprehension.

I walked slowly home through the forest.

I had time, after all. Almost eleven hours, that I had to hold out, somehow. In the process, I thought about the past few hours.

This time it wasn't only Bella who turned my head, the thoughts of Leah and Jake didn't let me go either.

When I arrived home, Emmett was already waiting for me.

"I'm no expert at this sort of thing, but I always thought chocolate belonged in the cake!" he teased me grinning, when he saw me.

I should probably shower and change as soon as possible, otherwise I would get to hear that a few more times!

My secret seemed to be the topic of conversation in our house and everyone was just confused by now. Everyone except Carlisle, of course.

First: I tried to protect the wolves. Based on Carlisle's explanation, most likely to avoid my annihilation. Em and Rose had experienced for themselves today how serious I was about this when I asked them to look after the two of them. What was a new car for Em and a trip to 'Tiffany's with my credit card for Rose if I could protect the kids?

Second: I was flirting with Lisa since yesterday, which I hadn't even done in this form with Bella at that time. Samantha's thoughts about it were too delicious to stop. Lisa was really a nice girl and I could understand very well how she belonged in the twins' inner circle of friends, but she didn't interest me at all otherwise.

Third: I had spent the last three days with Jake and Leah's mother. That this was not true was unlikely, since it coincided with Carlisle's words and otherwise the lady on the phone earlier would also have contradicted it. That she was special could have been a lie for my family to influence the wolves through the mother.

Fourth: The latter did not necessarily mean that there was not another woman involved. Being with the mother of the wolves and with them myself every day did not necessarily mean that I spent all my free time there.

Fifth: Alice did not watch me constantly, but when she tried, she did not see me. No one could explain that, and it possibly called into question the whole theory about a new woman. Maybe I just roamed haphazardly through the night without making any decisions, because only those produced Alice's visions without her conscious attention. But that possibility was the most improbable of all them.

To that extent, Emmett was now 'demanding' information about Jake's mother.

Jasper had not mouthed the word love, but he had hinted at it.

Em was just curious, but he had concerns about Rosalie. Back with Bella, she had allied herself with Jazz and demanded Bella's death because she knew too much about us. Em apologized to me that he had probably talked a little too much after our phone call and only then did he realize that Rose might come up with this idea again. But Rose had mentioned nothing of the sort so far. Emmett hoped that because of the past years, Rose would now have a different attitude about things and would let me grant whatever I thought to do. Emmett's chatter had given my family the idea that I might be hiding a woman - whoever she really was - for that reason.

I said nothing to that, which Em no doubt saw as confirmation.

Then I went to take a shower and get dressed.

Indecisive, I stood there not knowing what to do for another nine hours.

I couldn't get on my family's nerves two nights in a row. I didn't need to hunt yet, my house was clean and tidy, all my homework was done, all the books I owned were read ... I could sneak to Bella, but that would not be very gallant ...

Without further ado, I did something I hadn't done in nineteen years.

The large black concert grand piano intimidated me somewhat as I entered my living room.

So often I had passed it by without giving it a gaze. A piece of furniture, that's all it had been.

But now I walked up to it and sat down on the small bench. I had expected it to feel strange, but there was still something familiar about it. Carefully, I placed my fingers on the keys and drove reverently over the surface.

Whether I could still do it?

A shy trying out of individual keys.

That didn't feel so bad.

I became bolder and closed my eyes when the first notes sounded. I remembered the sound.

Yes, I could still do it. My hands flew over the keys by themselves and they chose the song just as independently. Bella's lullaby. Of course, I smiled to myself. (Bella's Lullaby Official Piano Only! Composed by Carter Burwell, played by Stan Whitmire)

When the last sound died away, I rested my folded arms on the top of the piano and let my head sink on it.

I had a new melody in my head, but only in small parts, and thought about that. It took some time until I started to play again with closed eyes.

The melody described our story. It began like a wail for the last few years, hopeful after we saw each other again on Wednesday, cheerful when I did her chores yesterday under her stern gaze, melancholy when I confessed about Samantha, cheerful when we went shopping today and got everything ready, dreamy and loving when we lay on the floor, and profound when I heard what her children wanted to see in me. But the song was not yet finished composing. Just as the story between Bella and me by no means had an inevitable happy ending yet.

When I opened my eyes again, my entire family was standing around the grand piano.

I had gotten so lost in the music that I hadn't noticed any of them.

Immediately, her thoughts rained down on me again.

There is only one other song of his that has so much feeling. Jasper

The woman must have really done it to him! Emmett

How nice that his music is finally back. He must be at peace with himself again that he dares to play again. And then such a wonderful melody. Esmé

'Whoever she is that brings you back to the piano, I will hate her!' Alice

I grinned.

What's wrong with him? How can he so easily compose a new and beautiful song out of his head? He must be in love. And happy. Rosalie

So then he can actually play the piano. Samantha

'Bella will be delighted when you play it for her! If the ending will sound as happily as it has already sounded, at times.' Carlisle

"I really hope so," I just answered my father and he nodded.

Esmé asked me to play her song, which of course I did. (Twilight- Esme's favorite)

As it faded away, she made a wish in thoughts.

She didn't ask directly, for fear of hurting me, but I had understood her. She loved this melody and I fulfilled her silent wish and played Bella's song yet again.

Little by little, my family left me alone again.

This time I noticed it, even though I was playing with my eyes closed again. Only Samantha was still here, sitting next to me on the small bench. With the greatest possible distance between us, I was amazed to discover.

"You're in love!" she stated, deep in thought.

"For nineteen and a half years," I answered dryly.

"What happened that you can suddenly play again? I really thought you were lying to me about it ... Does it have something to do with those wolf children?" she asked cautiously.

Samantha wanted to talk to me? Without turning me on? A slap in the face would surprise me no less! Had she possibly understood, finally, what Bella meant to me? Because of the melody she had now heard for the first time? Music could do a lot to a person. It could make one happy, encourage one, push one on, or move one to tears. And this is what Samantha looked like just now ... All right. I'm gonna give you a chance, Samantha. Show me there's more to you than the cunning beast I think you are!

"Yes, it has something to do with them. In the broadest sense, at least ... They make me think about my own life," I therefore admitted.

A non-threatening piece of information. Everyone knew that I felt obligated to look out for Jake and Leah, perhaps just to keep my own life. Carlisle had confirmed this opinion to our family. Of course, only because he knew my true motives. In addition, because of Emmett's gossip, the possibility was generally considered here that the mother of the two had done it to me.

"What about Bella?" asked Samantha directly now.

"What about her? ... Wherever she is, I hope she is leading a life she's happy with!" I said sadly.

"You don't know where she is? Then Bella has nothing to do with this apparently new song?" asked Samantha skeptically.

"No, I don't know where she is. How would I know. It's none of my business anymore," I lied. Well. Actually, I really didn't know where she was right now. In the living room. In the kitchen. On the terrace. The house wasn't exactly tiny. It was even bigger than mine. "I was merely thinking about her, feeling like I had to play her song ... It's her birthday today," I continued, sighing sadly. I had been dreading today. How Bella would react to me being there. Maybe the sight of me would only have reminded her of her eighteenth birthday.

"You miss her," Samantha stated sympathetically.

She really surprised me with that. She had never wanted to hear anything about Bella. Not that I would have liked to tell her before. But I heard her honest interest, what had really happened at that time. From my point of view, how I had experienced it.

"Of course, I miss her. Always," I said therefore. And was truly honest with it. I also missed Bella now.

We talked for a moment more and I was pleasantly amazed by what was going on in Samantha's head.

She thought about my history in a very sensitive way, showed compassion and understanding. Together with the consideration of whether this would also happen to her and how long she would have to wait for her soul mate.

As she left the house, there were a few things going through her mind that she wanted to think about first.

Somewhat in disbelief I looked at her.

Maybe I really had been wrong about Samantha.

11:58 p.m.

Still a good six and a half hours until I would have to turn on the coffee maker.

I went into my bedroom, lay down on my bed, and thought about Bella and her children.

I smirked.

I was actually lying on my bed for the first time.

Not an hour had passed when my cell phone distracted me from my thoughts.

Too bad. I had just gotten to the point where I had lied to Bella. Knowingly and intentionally. Her children had not ordered coffee from me. I had merely heard how they had arranged a time among themselves to get up and had talked about my service that morning. Perhaps it could be interpreted as an order, however, because of my gift.

"Is Samantha with you?" Carlisle immediately asked as I took the call.

"No. Why?"

"She looked confused when she came back from you. But now it's like she has fallen off the face off the earth," he explained.

I had already jumped up from the bed, grabbed Bella's front door key that I had swiped from the dresser and started running.

"We were speaking about Bella," I said, trying to explain a little of Samantha's confusion. "Up until now, Samantha didn't really seem to care about how I experienced Bella back then, and after I played her song, Samantha became curious in a sad and compassionate way," I was still saying, ending the call as I had just stepped through his front door and was standing in front of him.

Jasper was also there.

"Your feelings I still have just witnessed. There was a lot going on inside her. The predominant feeling at last was curiosity," Jasper said worriedly and I ran off.

As fast as I could, I ran through the forest.

I had a bad premonition.

Curiosity! After Emmett said a word or two too much this afternoon about a woman who I possibly thought of as very special. After I told Samantha something about Bella. After I played Bella's song.

I wasn't sure which direction I was running.

Sure, I knew the direction itself. But was I following Samantha or running to Bella? It was also meaningless. It was obviously the same way. Samantha followed my trail and it would inevitably lead her to Bella.

And Carlisle followed me after instructing Jasper to stay behind. But my fear for Bella drove me on. I would arrive long before Carlisle.

Soon I heard Samantha's thoughts and saw Bella through her mind.

My angel. She showed herself confident, unimpressed by Samantha. But I recognized the fear in her eyes. Samantha, however, did not. Samantha was confused and didn't seem to know what she had expected. Or what she thought to do with this fact now. Sam's thoughts were chaotic, hardly any idea was tangible for me. Bella encouraged Samantha to keep talking, which was only beneficial while she was still thinking of what to do.

But I wasn't far away anymore. I could already see the house between the many trees and heard the thoughts of the children running right behind me. They had already picked up Samantha's trail and were following her purposefully. Neither Leah nor Jake believed in a courtesy visit.

"I should break every single one of your bones and rip you out of this life so they'll finally stop comparing me to you," Samantha purred, and she was now enjoying seeing the fear in Bella's eyes.

This thought had manifested itself abruptly in Samantha and sent a panicked shiver through my body. She was absolutely serious and she was already planning how she could best torture Bella. She would not bite Bella and would avoid any bloodshed, but - exactly as she said - she wanted to break every bone in her body. One after the other.

I ran faster, hardly paying attention to the surroundings, and with one leap I had reached the lawn behind Bella's house.

Samantha's eyes widened as she recognized me - looking past Bella - but it only took her a split second to regain her composure.

She turned Bella in my direction and pulled her towards herself. From the quick movement, Bella almost lost her balance, but Samantha's grip around her was too tight for Bella to have a chance to really fall.

It was a grotesque picture. Two time Bella. One as a teenager, as I once fell in love with her. One as a grown woman, how she stole my mind today.

"Edward!" whispered Bella fearfully.

I stopped instantly as Samantha put a hand on Bella's neck and looked at me menacingly.

My angel trembled, looked at me seeking help, and tried to tug Samantha's hand away from her.

With my hands raised defensively, I stood there.

I wasn't allowed to frighten Samantha. The danger of a short-circuit reaction that could end Bella's life before Bella would even realize was too great.

"Samantha ... let go of Bella ... You don't want to hurt her!" I said soothingly.

"How would you know?" she snapped back.

"What would you get out of it? ... Except maybe a little fun ... But then what?" I continued noncommittally.

Samantha narrowed her eyes guilefully.

I heard that she didn't trust me to touch her. That I would never destroy a member of my family. She believed herself to be under Carlisle's protection, who had expressly forbidden anyone to lay a hand on her.

She became somewhat inattentive in her self-confidence and did not notice that I had slowly come closer and closer.

Carefully, I put my hands on Samantha's.

Samantha's gaze changed and her thoughts were unfathomable to me.

I touched Samantha, not Bella. A hope sprouted in her. Through this direct comparison between them, perhaps I would have understood that Samantha was the only logical choice for me.

Her thoughts disgusted me, but I controlled my facial features. I nodded affirmatively to Samantha and smiled charmingly, a fraction of a second before the wolves came up behind me.

I had expected them. Samantha's reaction to the wolves was just as I had suspected. She had only ever heard us talk about them, but never seen any herself. Samantha had never imagined in her wildest dreams how big and scary they really were. In this respect, she flinched as soon as Jake and Leah were visible.

I had been waiting for this exact moment for forty-eight seconds.

Lightning fast, I whirled Samantha around by her hands in the direction of the wolves so that I stood protectively in front of Bella.

"Do you really think Carlisle could still hold ME back if you so much as bent a hair on Bella's head?" I hissed angrily at Samantha now, who no longer had any way of reaching Bella due to my fierce grip.

A menacing growl coming from deep within me punctuated my words so emphatically that even Jake and Leah flinched momentarily.

Bella's small warm shaky hands settled against my back.

I calmed down a bit.

Samantha was defeated and no longer had a chance. Even if she still took me by surprise, Jake and Leah stood ready.

"I've warned you often enough, Samantha!" I stated firmly, and Samantha's eyes widened in horror. She had laid hands on my life's purpose. For this I knew only one punishment! "To even touch Bella is your death sentence!" I said clearly and the two wolves howled in confirmation.

I paid attention to Leah's and Jake's thoughts.

For one thing, I saw Bella through their eyes. She had clawed her way into my shirt, squeezed her eyes shut anxiously and forced herself to breathe evenly. On the other hand, the children were eager to destroy Samantha themselves, however they had not yet had the opportunity to meet the likes of us.

Growling, they stood behind Samantha and bared their teeth.

Leah planned to grab Samantha's legs and Jake wanted her head.

I nodded and saw that the twins had noticed.

They strode back a few steps. I pushed Samantha a little away from me and turned to Bella in a flash. I pulled her tightly against me and put my arms around her head so that she wouldn't notice more than could be avoided.

Bella's hands were cramped into anxious fists in my shirt at my chest, as Samantha let out her last strangled scream before being ripped into a million pieces.

Samantha was destroyed and my angel was safe.

Bella's heart hammered wildly, she fainted.

Jake and Leah phased back behind my back.

They were naked, of course, but that didn't interest either of them. Or me either.

"Mom?" the two of them murmured, deeply concerned, and then stood by my side as I still held Bella in my arms.

They feared that Samantha might have gotten to her somehow.

"She's just fainted," I spoke soothingly, looking into the face of my lifeless seeming angel.

She looked so peaceful, but she was already stirring again.

I lifted Bella properly in my arms and carried her into the house, with Jake holding the patio door open for me and Leah scrambling to make room on the couch.

"Burn her," I instructed as I carefully placed Bella on the sofa.

"She's dead!" Jake tried to clarify, not wanting to leave his mother's side.

Of course, she was dead. I had no doubt of that.

"I feel more comfortable watching Samantha go up in red smoke!" I admitted.

Jake nodded, but I motioned for him to stay with Bella.

I saw a box of matches and settled it myself. For a moment I had looked contentedly at the smoke, really just waiting for Carlisle.

In the shelter of the forest, he stood still and interpreted for himself the red smoke.

In thoughts, he asked how Bella and the children were doing.

I nodded as a sign that they were fine.

He nodded back in understanding and disappeared. He didn't want to upset Bella more after her run-in with Samantha by suddenly appearing unannounced.

I went back into the house and had already noticed before I entered that Bella had woken up and was pulling her children tightly into her arms. Isolated tears ran down her cheeks.

A reaction to fear. A quite normal human reaction, I wondered a little.

As the door slammed shut behind me, Bella looked up and I stood still. We looked at each other for an eternal moment.

So much was reflected on her face for two seconds. Fear, hope, gratitude, relief and the last thing I thought I saw, I hardly dared to think: love.

She jumped up from the sofa and ran into my arms, with which I was only too happy to catch her.

She had overestimated her circulation. She staggered the last step, but remained conscious. So, we lay there for a while, half lying on the floor, and I pulled Bella tightly against me while the children tactfully - and unclothed - withdrew.

"Your little heart is fluttering like the wings of a hummingbird," I whispered after her heart had calmed down to some extent. "Is that because of the situation ... or because of me?" I continued to ask after a moment, after she said nothing.

She raised her enchanting gaze to me.

Shy. A little afraid.

Gently I stroked her cheek and shoved a strand of hair out of her face.

Blood colored her cheeks impressively. How adorable she looked. But she didn't seem to want to answer, I thought a little offended. She was in my arms, not backing away from me a bit, smiling hesitantly, her eyes clouding my mind. Now would be a moment to tell her the truth, it flashed through my mind. The truth of why I was here. That she was my life and I was not willing to do without her for even one day. But it was the wrong moment. In the middle of the night, right after her life was threatened and still marked and stirred by fear.

"You should go to bed slowly. It's already after one," I said, remembering that the twins wanted to get up at seven.

"Yes. I suppose I should," Bella confirmed.

I helped her up from the floor, continued to hold one of her hands, and escorted her to the stairs to say farewell. She stood on the bottom step of the stairs, at eye level with me, and I had to concentrate so as not to sink back into those chocolate-colored eyes.

The fear stood written clearly on Bella's face. I didn't want to leave her alone, but what reason did I already have to stay? I just couldn't think of a sensible argument to stay with her. There was no more danger.

"I hope my heart doesn't stop completely tonight," she murmured, barely comprehensible, without looking at me.

I paused in my movement.

No. This could only be a dream!

Gently I raised her gaze.

"Do you want me to watch over your heart tonight?" I inquired. I could not have understood it correctly.

"For purely medical reasons, that might be advisable," Bella murmured shyly.

My silent heart leapt as if it were beginning to live again.

She wanted me to stay.

Incessantly Bella looked at me as I lifted her in my arms and carried her to the front of her bathroom so she could attend to her human needs.

I dwelled on my thoughts as I waited patiently for my angel.

I would stay with her. Watch her sleep. Listen to her heart. Watch her peaceful face during her dreams. Eavesdrop on her nightly monologue. Enjoy her closeness and not let her go all night. For the first time in nineteen years. For exactly nineteen years and one day. The last time I had experienced it completely liberated had been the night before her eighteenth birthday. For the next three nights, I had snuck out at night to help my family prepare for our departure. Actually, I wasn't sure exactly what Bella expected from me. Maybe she was really ONLY scared and just wanted me to be close by. She had already been attacked by vampires two times? Three times, if you counted Victoria, even if she hadn't seen them herself afterwards. I considered sitting down on her armchair to keep an eye on her.

But I had forgotten this thought when the door opened again and she stood in front of me in her pajamas.

Enchanting.

Another word had not occurred to me to this sight already last evening.

Slowly I walked up to Bella, lifted her into my arms and gingerly placed her into her pillows. Wrapped in a blanket, I pulled her close to me and she leaned with her head on my shoulder. She freed her hand from the blanket and placed it on my cold heart.

As before.

"Good night," I whispered and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Good night, Edward," she breathed back to me.

"I missed you so much, Bella," I said softly after a moment.

"I ... you too," she replied when she was already almost asleep.

That's how we were lying there.

For a long time. I paid attention to the heartbeat of the children and I feasted on this closeness to my Bella.

My angel. My goddess. The melody of her heart, the regularity of her breathing, the perfect and equanimous face that almost smiled, the small movements in response to her dreams, until finally her monologue began, for which I had waited impatiently for so long.

"Edward," she sighed, but it sounded alert.

"What do you want?" she continued to ask.

"No," she protested loudly after a little while, squirming out of my arm.

She crouched together and pulled her legs tightly against her body.

A nightmare. And it was about me. In the past, I had sometimes been able to lead her out of such bad dreams when I spoke to her.

"Bella?" I asked quietly. I didn't want to wake her up.

I bent over her a little so that I could continue to see her face.

"Leave me alone! Get out of here!" she grumbled at me.

"Bella, please," I pleaded quietly.

"You hurt me," she replied after a moment, sounding very distressed.

"I know, Bella, and I'm so sorry. I will never do it again. I will never leave you again," I whispered sincerely.

She seemed to consider my words in her dream. It quivered under her closed eyes.

"Do you promise?"

"Yes, Bella. I promise I will never leave you alone," I continued speaking, gently stroking her face with my fingertips and her expression relaxed.

She turned back in my direction and now pulled me close to her with both arms, having freed herself somewhat from the blanket.

I had no reason to fight back. More yet. I cheered inwardly, even if it was only a dream to which I owed this.

Firmly I enclosed her in my arms, hiding my face in her hair and my lips were right at her carotid artery.

I felt the blood coursing through her veins. Felt the throbbing of her heart, which pulsed through my body. But her blood did not excite me at all. It smelled better than in my memories, but nothing in me longed to taste it. What would she say if she woke up in my arms like this? Surely it would be unpleasant for her, because we had never laid so closely together before. My too strict rules had never allowed this and I had always fought back against her dreamy 'importunities' without her knowledge.

I could have stayed lying with her like this for eternities. With every fiber of my body, I enjoyed her closeness.

But the children made me take notice.

They slept, but restlessly. Sometimes I wished I could also hear people's dreams. This was such a moment again. For the children spoke like their mother in her sleep. Although they were not so long and clear soliloquies, but individual words were quite understandable.

Leah was apparently dreaming about me, while Jake was dreaming about Samantha.

He seemed to be tossing and turning, his heart was racing and his breathing was frantic.

Carefully - and also a little disappointed - I freed myself from Bella's arms and breathed a kiss on her temple.

"I'll be right back, my angel," I whispered as she continued to hold onto my shirt.

Only reluctantly did she seem to let me leave.

Quietly, I crept to Jake's room and entered spontaneously.

He was drenched in sweat and his face appeared as tense as the rest of his body.

"Jake ... Wake up," I tried to wake him up as gently as possible.

"Mom!" he almost screamed, suddenly sitting upright in bed with his eyes widened in terror and staring toward me. It took him a brief moment to realize that it was just a nightmare. "Thanks for waking me up," he soon said, taking off his almost soaking wet T-shirt and wiping with it yet over his torso.

"Was it very bad?" I asked cautiously. Maybe it helped him to talk about it. But maybe he also just wanted to go back to sleep.

He nodded.

"Samantha's guest appearance, but without you ... We would have been too late," he ruffled his hair, with which he wanted to get these truly cruel images of his dream out of his head, which I now saw in it.

"You don't know that, Jake. It's no use thinking about what could have happened. With such considerations you'll only drive yourself crazy and it doesn't matter ... Samantha doesn't exist anymore. Leah and you destroyed her," I said in a soothing voice.

It worked.

"How's Mom?" he now asked anxiously.

"She's obviously not dreaming about Samantha, but I guess it wasn't pretty. Seems to be over, though. She sleeps quietly and looks relaxed," I explained.

"And Leah?"

I eavesdropped more attentively for a moment.

"Becoming more restless ... I'll keep watching her and also wake her up if necessary, if I feel she's lost in a nightmare," I promised.

But Jake had other plans.

"No need," he said, standing up from the bed. "With Leah, I know what helps," he smiled slightly at me and left the room with me.

He went to his sister, lay down with her and took her in his arms. Leah immediately became calmer.

Twins! I thought to myself and went back to Bella.

4:29 a.m.

As I stood in front of the bed again, I had to smirk.

Bella appeared frustrated. Downright offended.

This time I took off my shoes and put down my shirt, which I wore over a T-shirt. I was not yet lying properly when Bella already snuggled up to me again and her expression clearly relaxed.

Life was beautiful.

In time, however, I stood up again.

No one had prepared the coffee machine, but I had been paying attention.

While the coffee was running through, I went to get rolls.

This procedure had what it took to become my new all-morning ritual.

I took only two cups, did not forget the sugar for Leah and went up.

They were still asleep, yet I entered quietly. I put the cups down, sat on the edge of the bed and first switched off the alarm clock, which would otherwise ring rattling loudly in two minutes. I looked at the two of them for a moment.

They lay together arm in arm. Peacefully and quietly. I would have liked to let them sleep more. I had heard that they had not gone to bed immediately, but had talked for some time yet. Five hours of sleep was too little at their age and in light of yesterday's events. In addition, Jake had also woken up again. Indeed because of me, however, that was better in my eyes than this nightmare. But they wanted it so, which also did not surprise me. After all, today was the big trip.

"Good morning, you two!" I said quietly, putting a cool hand to Leah's cheek and the other to Jake's forearm.

They stirred. With difficulty, they opened their eyes and straightened up.

"Morning," Jake mumbled, asking for his coffee.

I smirked. He leaned against the wall in bed, Leah against her headboard, and at least thanked me for the coffee.

"Have you been here all night?" asked Leah, remembering Samantha.

She had also dreamed of this, I now realized. She had said my name in her dream, when she apparently wanted to tell me that herself had come too late to protect Bella. Leah quickly shook these images from her mind. She found it somehow comforting to know that I had been watching over her sleep.

Jake smirked, knowing the answer to her question.

I nodded.

Leah was satisfied.

"Do you want to wake Mom up, too?" asked Jake.

"No. Not yet. It's not like she has to leave," I said, and the kids commented with smiles of approval.

"We'll let you know when breakfast is ready," Leah indicated to me and stood up.

She seemed to have no problem with the fact that she was half naked in front of me. Only in a pair of underwear and a too big T-shirt, which probably belonged to Ben.

I quickly left the room and went back to Bella.

Today I closed the door behind me so that Bella would not wake up yet. She was still lying there just as I had left her twenty-four minutes ago. Again, without shoes and shirt, I carefully climbed back into bed and Bella immediately pulled me close to her. I straightened the blanket over us a little, hoping that would even out my temperature a bit. I smiled happily.

Her heart betrayed her once again.

Thanks for reading!