I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING IN THE TWILIGHT SERIES, OR ANY OF THESE CHARACTERS, MUCH AS I WISH DIFFERENTLY.

(Thank you all for the reviews!! I haven't mentioned this, but this is actually my first fanfic. You guys are seriously the best people ever. I want to give you a big thank you, so Edward just gave a big hug & kiss to: atiqa-silver, bellard, Miss Apple Pie,BellaxEdwardforever95, Irish Froggy, LostInLove84, ms.silverdusk, Gaara's girl Kirei, Alice Missamore, humaax3, Xx-InuKat-xX, and Twilightfever. Thanks again, and keep reading! I'll be updating a lot... be expecting lots of them! P.S I'm sorry to everyone who decided that they hated the story because everyone turned against Edward. The story is still in progress, and everything will be cleared up soon, though if you've stopped reading, you're probs not reading this. LOL. Anyway, back to the story, sorry for making my message so long!)

Edward had run back into the house, breaking down the front door. Everything happened very quickly then.

Every one of the Cullens had run downstairs. Rosalie, Alice, and Esme stood in front of me, snarling at Edward. Carlisle and Emmett were trying to push Edward back out of the door, and Jasper stood at the foot of the stairs, his eyes closed. Suddenly, everyone relaxed, though Emmett still had a firm grasp on Edward, not letting him move an inch closer to me.

All of a sudden, everything came back to me. Those few moments that felt like hours when Edward had hurt me for the first time. And as I saw Edwards face for the first time in months, I realized my family was right; he was a monster.

"What the hell is going on?" I shrieked.

"Alice! Rosalie screamed. "How could you not see this coming!?"

"It was a spur- of - the- moment decision, " Alice explained, a look of disgust on her face. "By the time I saw him coming for a visit, he was already right outside the front door."

"Everyone needs to calm down. Sit, everyone, and let's talk about this," Carlisle said, though he didn't look disappointed when everyone sat but Edward, who still wasn't welcome, and Emmett, who was holding him back.

Edward, however, wasn't even struggling against his older 'brother'. He was looking at the ground, his eyes full of sorrow. He looked up slowly. His dark onyx eyes smoldered as they locked on mine.

"Bella, " he said, in a sweet velvet voice. "My sweet Bella."

So much for thinking he was a monster. Of course, my heart completely melted at his words. Well, if I had a working heart, it would have. In fact, if I had a heartbeat, it would probably be beating so quickly right now they'd take me to a hospital. I wish I could hate him.

"Edward, what do you think you're doing here?" Carlisle said calmly, but with a hint of acid in his voice.

"Please... let me explain. I... I understand if you want me to leave again. But hear me out, and I will gladly do so." He looked at me again. "Well, not gladly, exactly...but without a fight, anyway."

"Fine," said Alice, coldly. "Explain to us why you were going to...well, what you were about to do to Bella."

Edward cringed as she said this, but he composed himself before he spoke again. "When I left, I rain into the forest. Jacob... he hadn't quite left yet, I suppose. He was in the forest, and I listened to his thoughts before he noticed I'd arrived.

" He was in wolf form, and I could hear him telling the rest of the pack about the new addition to our-" he looked up, his face in pain. "Or, your family. I... I couldn't bear he was telling them. 'They've sucked her soul out. They've violated the treaty. I know, I think I'd rather see her-' I couldn't listen for another minute to what he was saying about you, Bella. I couldn't just stand by and let him continue saying that. So I... I snuck up on him. I'm so sorry, Bella. I knew he was your best friend-"

"Ha!" I snorted. "Are you talking about Jacob Black? The one who came over here and declared war? The one who said he'd rather see me dead-" Edward flinched slightly as I said this- "than a vampire? Well, that Jacob Black is no friend of mine."

But I still couldn't shut up the curious nagging voice in my head. I wish I didn't care. Well, then again, I also wish that I could go back in time and change everything. But unfortunately, neither was going to happen.

"Edward..." I asked, probably too casually, "What uh... what happened to Jacob?"

Edward's face didn't change. "Let's just say it's a good thing he heals quickly."

Normally I would have laughed, but I couldn't bring myself to do so right now.

"Anyway... Jacob was able to get up after... after I thought he was unconscious. As soon as I read his thoughts again and turned to fight him, he had already bit me..." as he said this, I automatically walked toward him to look at the damage. No one objected to this, but Edward put his hand out toward me, and I stopped on the spot.

Wordlessly, he turned around. He lifted off his thin white cotton shirt, revealing two long, dragging marks down his back. It looked exactly as if Jacob had scraped his back with his teeth.

I gasped as I realized this, and I was just close enough that I could graze the scrapes with my pale fingertips. The entire family tensed up as I did this, and Edward went completely rigid. I pulled away quickly, and everyone calmed down.

"As I was saying... since I knew what he was doing a split second before he did, I was able to turn around in time and push him to the ground. He was already weak, so he went down without a fight. I was so angry then. I turned around, trying to find Jasper. I knew he had come looking for me, but he was too far away to calm me down in time.

" 'Hey parasite', Jacob had called out weakly, and I saw that he had returned to his human state, 'I heard everything. I guess your 'beloved' would rather die than spend another minute with you-' I had cut him off there as I went... completely out of control. I look back and wonder how I could have let that mongrel get to me. But when he mentioned Bella... I couldn't bear it. I beat him to an inch of death before I heard Bella calling me. I rushed back, glad that I had something to distract me.

"But then I heard you say 'I'll explain the reason for my decision.' That meant you hadn't changed your mind. It meant that you still wanted to end your life...and I was stupid enough to believe that dog and think it was because of me. I saw you... and suddenly I was filled with rage again. The kind that made me lose all control. And then, Jacob's words still running through my mind, I reached out for you..."

His eyes had glazed over by then. He appeared to be looking not at me, but at something right behind me. "I had heard Carlisle and Alice's thoughts by then. I knew they were coming, as I saw you on the ground, fearing for your life, I snapped out of it.

"All of a sudden, I was on the ground. I didn't understand the look on your face for a second. Then, as I went over it in my mind... I realized that it was me. I was the one who caused you that emotional and physical pain. And for that," he said, his eyes directly looking to mine now, "I will never be able to forgive myself. And then you tried to apologize to me, saying you still loved me! That just made me feel worse! And when you said you were going back to Jacob... that just made me believe what he was saying even more. You can do so much better than me, Bella. I don't think you understand that."

"Well, that very well may be, Edward," I said quietly, though I knew he could hear, "and you don't know how much I wish I could get over you. I wish you could have just left and I could find someone else.

"I tried, Edward, I tried. For months I tried to convince myself to get out of bed, that I needed to find someone else, anyone other than you. But every time I would uncurl from my ball, I felt like I was falling apart all over again. You were all I could think about. Every second of every day, I couldn't get you out of my head.

"I may hate you with every fibre of my being. I may wish you would leave and never come back, and I could go on with my life. But I can't. That's the problem, I just can't! I am in love with you, Edward Cullen, and I can't live without you!"

I looked around the room, and realized I had probably been talking to loudly. I was out of breath, and everyone was staring at me.

Suddenly, Edward was walking toward me, and for a fraction of a second I thought he was going to hurt me again. But that thought instantly left my mind as he knotted his fingers in my hair and pulled my lips to his.

Suddenly, I felt whole again. I felt like the emptiness inside of me was filling up with every second that he kissed me. He only pulled away to whisper three words, but they were the words that sent my heart flying:

"I love you."