Edward woke up confused. He was standing in the middle of a hallway, with white walls on all corners and the hallway extending in an endless straight line that not even his vampire eyes could see the end.

Was this the afterlife? He didn't think so… he wasn't dead… well, at least in the sense that he was still a vampire, and he wasn't sure if the afterlife is even true for his kind.

He started walking slowly, trying to find some bearing to his surroundings but everything was just unfamiliar to him.

Edward kept walking, unsure where to go until he heard a shuffle behind him. He immediately turn around to see someone leaning on the wall in a familiar set of clothes, looking at him curiously.

"You." Edward finally spoke as he hesitated to take a step towards his doppelganger.

The other Edward straightened up to face him as he finally decided to approach him in a slow human pace and as they stood a few feet from each other, Edward felt like looking in a mirror. Except, the other image was wearing different clothes and was not mirroring his movements.

"I didn't think that we would be able to meet." Edward said.

"I didn't think so too."

"This feels weird."

"I know… It's not every day you get to talk to yourself and hear yourself respond at the same time." The other Edward chuckled.

"Where are we?" he asked curiously but the other merely shrugged.

"My consciousness, maybe? Who knows."

"Huh"

Both of them fell silent for a while before the past Edward finally broke the silence.

"I owe you an apology."

"For what?" the other Edward frowned in confusion.

"For hijacking your body and… you know, ruining your moment with Alice…" he looked down, unable to look at his counterpart in the eye.

"Oh that…" he laughed carefreely and ran his hand through his hair. "That's okay… you didn't know. I'm just going to have to find a way to make it up to my Alice, maybe another honeymoon in the Alps is in order." He thought aloud and Edward stared at him in awe.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing… it's just, now that I've finally met you… I can understand why your family can really see the difference between us."

He smiled at Edward. "Bella told me about you, and I got to say… she gave me a lecture about the things that I didn't even do! Can you believe it?!" He shared animatedly. Edward could picture Bella indeed doing it but could not picture himself interacting the way the other Edward was doing now… he was so… lively and just full of positive energy… like a toned-down version of Emmett.

"But I understand though…" the other Edward continued. "I've been there too, you know… but.. what can I say? My turning point started much, much earlier than you, so I had a lot of time to slowly let go of all the emotional baggage that I was carrying. It's not like you're not going to get there." He said in an encouraging tone.

Edward sighed. "I wish I knew what it was for you."

"Would you like to?" he suddenly asked out of the blue.

Edward stared at him in surprise. Did he?

The other Edward reached out his hand for him to shake and he was reluctant to take it.

"If you want to know my side of the story, then shake my hand. I'm curious to see your world in your point of view as well. We could learn a lot from each other. Of course, it's going to be up to you."

Edward studied his outstretched hand, still unsure of what to do next. Would it do him any good to see a life of another Edward Cullen whose life wasn't as complicated as his? Or would he feel bitter that another Edward Cullen had it easier?

Then he realized was, the point was to learn and to prove that he can do it. He can make that change. That he wasn't just this seventeen-year-old boy that always resented what he has become to the point that he almost destroyed the one chance of finding his true happiness with his mate.

It was the same as what the alternate Bella did in his world. She told him a story, one that will teach him a lesson and change his perspective, see things differently so he wouldn't have to hurt himself and the those around him.

With his mind already made up, he took the hand that was offered to him and as the two Edward Cullen made contact, they were engulfed in a bright white light, and both became witnesses to different lifetimes and two different stories.

Bella brushed a stray hair from Edward's face. It's been three days and he was supposed to be waking up that day. Caleb had assured her that.

Although he couldn't stay after he sent Edward to another world because Helena just changed, and he didn't want to be away from her a long time in her newborn stage, he promised that he was going to call to check up on them and to see how Bella was doing with her pregnancy.

Bella was trying her best to be strong, for the family, for Edward, for the baby's sake. She knew how worried everyone was with her condition. This wasn't a normal delivery and even with Carlisle's experience as a doctor, this was all new to them and that was why they were hoping that in another world, they would be able to find answers.

She could feel herself getting weaker while the baby inside her, getting stronger but she kept showing a brave face. Everyone was doing their best to help her, so she needed to be strong enough so that others can do their part in helping her.

Bella looked at Edwards face. His eyes were closed, and he was laid on the couch, as if he was asleep, except, there was no rise and fall of his chest, no indication that he was alive or not, because he was already technically dead.

The only thing that would tell them that Edward was back, is if he opened his eyes and as if she willed it to happen, Edward's eyes opened, and his gaze immediately landed on his wife.

"Edward"

Bella's voice was full of relief, and she was sure that the moment that his eyes opened, the whole family would gather around them. She could already hear them in the background. They were talking almost all at once, albeit curious at how Edward's journey to the other world went. She was curious too. After all, he went there to find answers for her but at that moment, she just wanted to look into her husband's eyes and know that he was okay, that he was really, truly there with here because it felt different.

The moment that Edward's soul… essence, or whatever Caleb called it, left his body three days prior, she felt his absence almost immediately. His body was there with here, just a few inches away from her but she felt… empty inside. She dreaded the feeling for the last three days and she had tried to keep it for herself because everybody was already dealing with a lot of things because of her pregnancy. They didn't want them to worry.

Except for Jasper. She knew it was fruitless to try to hide her feelings from an empath that was why she was grateful then that he didn't say anything to the family and instead, he had been keeping her emotions in check and silently helping her keep herself together.

That was why, the relief she felt when he woke up was instantaneous and she was sure that Edward felt the way she did too because he was looking at her the same way. For now, the others, the pregnancy, even the pain that she was feeling were taking a back seat. Just for a second, she just wanted to forget everything and only focus on Edward and then… after… they can worry about her situation together.

She tuned out the noise from her family. Edward would have been able to gather all the question that they were asking even those from their thoughts because of his vampiric nature but she was just human, so she wasn't able to catch up with all the things that they were asking her husband all at once. Anyway, she was too busy studying his face, looking for any signs that his trip to another world showed any changes in him physically.

There wasn't. What she saw, however was something that she wasn't sure that she had seen in him ever since they were together. Against his golden eyes that was slowly turning into a darker shade, there was a sense of inner peace that she didn't think she would ever see in him.

For once, beneath the fear that still lingered in his eyes, she saw traces of an Edward that she had not met before, someone more confident and surprisingly, more hopeful.

Somehow, the surroundings quieted, and she realized that the rest of the family had left to give the two of them some privacy. Edward took that moment to move closer to where she was sitting. He gently took her hand and his gaze turned towards her belly, where he smiled at it fondly.

She had never seen Edward directly address her pregnancy before. Even though he accepted her choice of keeping the child, his fear was so obvious to her and how he was keeping his distance and was focusing on just her but now, seeing Edward looking at her pregnant belly like it was truly a miracle for both of them, she didn't believe that she could be this happier.

"Edward?" She slowly inquired and he finally met her gaze with that lopsided and confident smile that she loved so much.

His positivity was infectious, and he couldn't help but smile in return.

She didn't know what happened to Edward in that other world and future but whatever it was, she was thankful for it.

"Bella… I'm here now. For you… for both of you.

You're going to be okay."