Chapter 3
Mrs. Meyer owns Twilight and New Moon characters.
It seemed to take forever for the sun to rise. I almost thought that maybe the sun had been extinguished. I began to wish it had. When it finally did rise, I rose from the couch. I quickly got ready and walked at a human pace to the door. My family was gathered in the living room. They all thought thoughts of goodbyes. I nodded once and left. Before beginning my run, I stared out into the sun. I was actually going to see her. Bella. My Bella. The girl who has never once left my mind, no matter how long we'd been separated. I wondered what she was doing right now. I laughed at the thought. Sleeping, of course. I wondered what she dreamed of. I wondered if her dreams told her I was coming. Maybe she'd expect me.
I took a deep breath and began to run. I could not focus on anything but my meeting with her. I imagined many different scenarios. Each ended with her in my arms again. But, somewhere in my gut, I knew that that would never happen. She probably had a family. She probably was happy. Would my visit make her unhappy? I almost turned around at the thought. If only I knew what Alice had seen.
My journey back to Forks took no more than a few hours. It was midday when I reached the town. I stopped when I reached the outer limits. I suddenly froze. What if Bella had moved? Alice would have told me...or was that what she was keeping from me? Only one way I could find out. I started walking, but my walking turned into a run, and before I knew it, the world was speeding past me. I slowed when I saw the downtown area and instantly spotted a phone booth.
Once securely inside the booth, I reached for the phone book. If she was married, it wouldn't show as Swan, but I had to try. S...Smith...Sven...Swan, Isabella. There was her name. Just seeing it made me excited. And she was still living in her father's house. Maybe she was waiting...I pushed the thought away. Getting my hopes up would do me no good. I quickly skipped out of the phone booth and down a back alley, so I could continue running without causing a fright.
What would I say to her? Hi, Bella. I just wanted to...what did I want to do? Visit...no, that didn't seem right.
I played with different greetings, until I saw it. There stood Charlie's house. It looked just as it always had in my memories. It stood like a reminder. As I looked it all over, I remembered all of our memories. Every conversation. If I could have cried, there was no doubt in my mind that I would have. It was so long ago...
It didn't feel right to just go up and knock on her door. So, I waited in a tree. I tried to see any movement from windows, but I couldn't. The cars were parked in the driveway, so they had to have been home. I smiled as I spotted the old red truck. It was rusting, but I knew Bella. She was always too stubborn to give it up, even years later. The other car was a convertible, it was blue and looked rusty, but not as much as the truck did. I wondered who that belonged to.
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It was dark before I saw any movement in the house. A few lights turned on downstairs. I had no idea of the time. I guessed it was about seven o'clock, judging from the position of the moon. I jumped down from the canopy of trees I was hiding in and crept my way over to the porch. It was time. I couldn't avoid the meeting any longer. It was like she was waiting for me. I saw her outline from the window, facing away from me.
She was still small, and she had cut her long hair to being just below her shoulders. It had a little wave to it, now. She still looked beautiful. I left the window and walked to the door. I took in a breath and slowly eased my hand up to the door. Just a soft little knock. I composed myself and forced my hand to tap on the door. I heard her shout "coming", though it sounded a bit different than what I remembered. My breath came in short puffs. I raced through my mind, searching for what to say. When I heard her hand on the door, everything stopped. I watched as she eased it open. I saw her face, it looked as though it had been altered a little. Her thin nose had become a round ball at the tip, and her cheeks weren't as prominent. Her chin was now round, and her widows peak was gone, but none of that kept me from seeing my Bella.
"Bella," I whispered.
"Um...can I help you?" Bella asked. Did she really not know it was me?
"It's me...Edward?" I tried to probe her memory.
"Are you a friend of my mom's?" Bella looked at me funny. Why would she ask if I was friend with Renee?
"Do you remember?" I took a step forward and she took a step back.
"Stay back," She cautioned.
"Bella?" That triggered something. She grabbed a broom from behind the door and tried to swat me with it, but missed.
"Go...away!" She swung again, I held up my hands.
"If you really want me to," My voice broke. I didn't know that she would forget me completely.
"Leave! Now!" She screamed.
"What's going on down here?" A tired voice asked. I looked over towards the stairwell.
A woman, who looked much like Bella, only with a short, dark bob, graying slightly, and a wrinkle here and there. Faint, but noticeable to a vampire. I knew it wasn't Renee. But, it confused me to a fault. How could Bella stay so youthful all these years? She didn't have red or gold in her eyes...so she couldn't be a vampire...
The tired woman looked at me and gasped. She slowly made her way from the staircase over to me. She grabbed her face, and looked into my eyes.
"Edward," She whispered.
I looked at her. How did she know my...
"It's me, Bella," I don't know what my expression was, but it was enough to make her eyes fill with tears.
"Mom?" The girl still held the broom, but slowly placed it on the ground.
Bella ignored her. Her eyes never left mine.
"Why...how...?" She held a questioning look.
"I had to see you one last time," I said quietly.
She unexpectedly wrapped her arms around me. She had only grown a few inches, I still toward over her.
"I'm glad you did," And I hugged her back.