Stephenie Meyer owns all TWILIGHT characters.

The Twilight Twenty-Five
thetwilight25[dot]com

Prompt: 22 – i42[dot]tinypic[dot]com/j7vxw4[dot]jpg
Pen name: IngenueFic
Characters: Bella, Edward
Rating: PG

All prompts can be found here:
www[dot]thetwilight25[dot]com/round-five/prompts/

I ran away because I wanted to be free. Now I'm wondering if that was the dumbest thing I could have done.

Edward writes the two sentences painstakingly slow on the front of the picture he found in a magazine. He thinks it's actually a picture for an anti-depressant but that part's not really important. What matters is that his words are legible and convey his every emotion as he's thinking about them. After he writes his secret, he runs his thumb over it.

I ran away because I wanted to be free. Now I'm wondering if that was the dumbest thing I could have ever done.

He glances around the store and makes sure no one is in the aisle with him. He takes the Post-Secret book off of the shelf and opens to a random page. Carefully, he slides his own secret between the pages and puts the book back on the shelf. He hopes someone will find it.

As an afterthought, he flips through the book and takes the picture out again. At the very bottom, where the grass looks almost minty green, he writes his e-mail address – the one he uses for mailings and junk-like mail. Maybe he'll be lucky and someone will contact him about the secret. Maybe it's just something stupid. After putting the secret back in the book and the book back on the shelf, Edward walks out of the store without a second thought.

Five weeks later, he's going through his e-mail account so he can delete the e-mails he doesn't want and print out the latest coupons for some of his favorite stores. He pauses when he sees a new e-mail from an unknown address. The subject line just says, "You're not dumb." Despite the fact that he thinks it might be another stupid spam thing, he clicks on it and hopes his MacBook stays virus-free.

If you felt the need to run away from something, then you did it for a reason. Whatever that reason was, it was something you needed to do. So no, you're not dumb for wanting to be free – of whatever it is that was holding you hostage.

The words are simple and succinct. This person, whoever he or she may be, understands what he was trying to say in that secret. He looks at the e-mail address but he can't figure out anything from the username and even though the person uses Gmail like him, he or she is just listed as "B."

He writes back quickly.

I didn't think anyone would find that secret. I'm glad you did, whoever you are, because you seem to understand what I meant. Thank you for taking the time to write me. It surprised me and made my day.

Edward sends it.

He gets a response one week later.

I'm glad I found the secret. Even in the midst of the secrets in the book, it felt heartfelt and honest. I hope you're still free.

For a moment, Edward feels a rush of happiness at the words on his screen. He doesn't care if the person on the other end is a guy or a girl, young or old. He writes back the next day, taking the time to decide what he wants to say and how he wants to say it. He wants to stay truthful but he doesn't want to scare the other person away.

I am. I'm free from the clutches of dishonesty and secrets and possessiveness. It feels right. I hope I can find the exact opposites of those traits in my lifetime.

It only takes five days to get a response.

You will. I know because I believe everyone will find what is right for them. It may not be easy and it may not be tomorrow, but you'll find it if that's what makes you happy and if you're willing to look for it.

When Edward reads the latest e-mail, he sits back and thinks over the words. His next e-mail says only one thing.

I'm willing but I never know where to start.

Within hours, there is an e-mail waiting for him.

Start at the very beginning, as one of my favorite songs tells me. What do you want? What do you love? What are you willing to risk? Think on that and you'll know where to start.

He ponders those questions for over a week. The more he thinks about them, the more confused he gets.

I want to meet someone who understands me or is willing to get to know me in order to understand. I love trying new things and I love doing the same things over and over again because they're comfortable. I'm willing to risk all material things in my life to find what makes me happy. Except maybe my apartment and car because I'd like to have a place to sleep and something to get me around.

For a few days, Edward checks his e-mail almost religiously but there is nothing new that he cares about. As he deletes more junk mail one day, a new message finally comes in.

Are you talking about love? A relationship? A friendship? One shouldn't have to give up everything unless he's been given everything without working for it. Is that you?

I'm talking about friendship first. Should a lady want more, I'd be willing to see where that goes but I feel as though some of my closest friends don't truly understand me. They don't understand why I like sitting at my piano in the dark or why I want to try that new Ethiopian restaurant. That's just me.

Another week goes by and Edward starts to miss getting new e-mails. One Saturday night when he's about to fall asleep from complete exhaustion after working overtime, he sees something new in the inbox he's kept open for quite some time now.

If it won't scare you off, I'll try to understand you. I'll read whatever you write to me and try not to analyze you too much. Oh, I'll have questions but you don't have to answer anything you don't want to.

I've come to find that it's sometimes easier to say things through the Internet with someone new. But if you don't want to because, well, because it's the Internet and I'm someone you don't know, then I won't write again.

Edward thinks about the offer for all of two minutes.

What kind of questions?

Not even five minutes later, there is a response.

I'll start with an easy one. What can I call you?

He can give his real name but he doesn't know how smart that might be. Then again, it's not like he has such a unique name that only four people in the world have it so he takes a chance.

Edward. You can call me Edward. Do I just call you B?

The message is barely sent when he receives a response.

Bella. You can call me Bella.

Due to a lack of time, this story has been posted without a beta. All mistakes are my own – my apologies.