A/N Wow, 11 reviews last chapter. That's the most i've gotten ever in life! Well, I finally got around to writing this one. Sorry it took so long, I just wasn't really motivated enough. Well, as per request, this chapter now contains shorter paragraphs.

EPOV

Werewolves?! What was my Bella thinking? Alice had called me and told me about the new company my love was keeping. I was furious. Alice should have never gone to visit Bella in the first place. Now that I knew, I would have to keep an eye on Bella. To make sure she was safe. I was going to see Bella just to protect her, I had to.

Each step I took grew in anticipation as I ran towards Forks. I couldn't keep my promise to stay away from her, situations change. I hated myself for doing it, but I kept telling myself that it was for Bella's sake I was returning, not just my own. Was I being selfish?

It's been too long. Part of me hoped she would be miserable, just like I was. I wanted us to be together, I wanted to hold her and I wanted to hear her tell me how much she loves me.

I stopped running to contemplate my actions for the 20th time that day and debated whether or not my going to see her was a good idea. If she was happy I would keep away, watching her from a distance just to make sure no harm came to her. That would be enough for me. Knowing she was happy and seeing her live a normal life. But if she was miserable...I prayed to any deities that may have been watching over me that I would have the strength to endure.

If I found that Bella needed me just as much as I needed her...I would go back to her. I would beg for her forgiveness and spend eternity making up for every second of loneliness I caused her.

I decided to cross that bridge after I saw her and how she was doing. I continued running, speeding up as I started to recognize the landscape around me. I neared Bella's house and I smelled her. God! How I missed her smell.

I closed my eyes imagining her in my arms. Her arms were wrapped around my neck and I was inhaling deeply as I buried my nose in her hair. It was heavenly. I breathed in even harder, but then I found myself gagging as reality began to sink back in.

'Werewolf'

His scent was all over her. She wasn't safe. I crept in closer from the surrounding woods I was in. I kept myself hidden looking for where the source of their smell came from.

I saw my angel standing in front of her house. She looked tired, yet she was so beautiful. I longed to reach out to her. Smelling her and seeing her was almost too much to handle at once. At that moment I wondered how I ever even manged to leave. I watched carefully, analyzing the dog to make sure that Bella was in no immediate danger. My eyes never really left the love of my existence though.

They were walking to his car, and I noticed they were holding each others' hands. A wave of jealousy engulfed me. How could she do that to me? Had she really forgotten me so quickly? I brushed away the thought knowing that this was what I had wanted. But with a wolf? This was not how things were supposed to go for my Bella. If I had known that I would be giving her up to a dangerous mutt, I never would have left.

As they neared the car, Bella leaned in to him. I gripped the tree tightly for support, but still fell to my knees. I couldn't handle the torture. She was happy and I hated myself for not being happy for her. She was supposed to be happy with me.

'Don't go...' I thought desperately as I realized that Bella wasn't just walking him to his car. She was going with him.

A gust of wind blew past me and I noticed the dog sniff up into the air. Oddly, my Bella did the same. What were these dogs doing to her?

I cursed to myself and ran back into the woods. Damn It! I wouldn't even be able to get near her. He would know it every time I came close. I had came to terms that if she were happy, I would continue watching over her, but now...would I even be denied that?

I never should have come back. I was doing...not fine, but I was doing. Now, I would never be able to leave here again. I will respect her new life, no matter how much it hurts. She was no better off with a werewolf than she was with me, but I lost my chance to be with her. Who ever said "it's better to have loved and lost than to have never even loved at all" had obviously never felt the what I was feeling now.

I ran away and took out my frustrations on some animals. I hunted for hours until I lost track of time. The hunger in me was sated rather early on, but it wasn't my appetite that I was trying to make feel better. I had hoped that each kill would help fill in the emptiness inside me, but I was fooling myself.

After clearing out my 8th den of wolves, I went back to our old home feeling no better than when I had started hunting. I found Alice and Jasper there waiting for me in the living room.

"You never should have come here. You gave me your word," I said to Alice.

"If you think for one second that I could stand idly by while three people who I love suffer for one person's mistake, then you're even more pigheaded than I thought Edward Cullen." Alice's voice was filled with malice. I was the one supposed to be angry, but I was only miserable.

"You shouldn't have come, Alice. She's happy." I couldn't look her in the eye as I spoke.

"She still loves you. You know that right?"

"She's happy Alice, that's all that matters to me. It's not my place anymore to get involved."

"You're an idiot," Jasper suddenly spoke. "You already know why we came...but why did you? If you're not even going to try to speak with her, don't get mad at Alice because you're here too. If we want to be a part of Bella's life, then it's like you said. It's not your place to get involved."

I was surprised by the sharpness of Jasper's words. I was completely confused of what I was going to do. I knew what I wanted, but it wasn't about me. It could never be about me.

"She'll be going home tonight. I just thought you should know that." Alice grabbed Jasper's arm leading him up the stairs and leaving me alone, something I never stopped being in the first place.

I knew what I needed to do. I needed to know how she felt about me. Did she still care about me? Did she still love me? All possibilities swam through my head and I got the courage to confront her about them.

I ran back to her house, but no one was home yet. I went up to her window, and found that it was open. A part of me was ecstatic. Maybe she had left it open...for me.

When I got inside her room, it was like being in a trance. Everything had her scent. I breathed in heavily. I looked through the room and noticed that not much had changed.

I lied down on her bed. It flooded memories of those nights I would just watch her sleep. I sighed contentedly.

I stayed on the bed for hours, just thinking of Bella, and what I would say.

"Bella, I love you. I'm sorry. Bella, I'm sorry, I love you. Bella...marry me."

I practiced out loud to myself what I would say when she came. No words seemed to capture my feelings for her. Nothing was good enough.

I jumped out of the bed when I heard Charlie arrive. Bella wasn't with him and I felt both relieved and disappointed. I sunk myself into the rocking chair in the corner after I heard Charlie retire into his room.

Another hour passed and I began to worry. Alice said she would be coming home tonight, but Charlie was already sleeping. What if she decided to stay with the wolves? I rocked myself back and forth until I heard it.

KPOK!!!

Bella was here. I felt myself get even more nervous. She took forever to come in the room. I couldn't move. The door slowly opened and closed. She didn't even bother to turn on the lights.

I saw her so clearly. She was stunning. I couldn't move. I wanted to just hold her, but I realized that as I was busy gawking at her...everything, she couldn't even see me in the darkness.

I thought frantically of what to say. I didn't want to scare her off. I thought of the window. Maybe she kept it open waiting for the day I would return. Maybe she never lost hope. I broke the silence, expressing in a few words, the hope which I still held in my heart.

"Your window was open..."

She froze in her place.

I got up from the chair and stepped into the center of her room. I was standing in front of her window so that the moonlight revealed myself to her. Now she would be able to see me. Her eyes never left me, but I couldn't read her expression. This was one of the moments where I wished so desperately that I could read her mind.

'Say something Bella. Please, say anything!!' Her silence was killing me.

"What-Why are you here?" Her voice was weak, but her tone was still guarded, not revealing much.

"Bella...I had to see you. I can't do this on my own. I thought I could, but I can't." My words were ragged. My breathing was erratic as I tried to let out air while I spoke.

She didn't utter a word. A full minute passed and she was still looking at me with that same guarded expression.

"I'm sorry Bella. I never would have come. I made Alice promise to stay away but she didn't listen! I had to come back because she did. Alice was a fool. I came-"

WHAP!!!

Right when I was about to tell her how I felt she slapped me. It hurt, not physically, but nothing physical could have hurt me as much as what she did to me.

I was so used to being around her, even while she slept, I made myself become sensitive in her presence. When she shifted in her sleep, I would reactively shift as well to accommodate her. I made every part of me soften around her because I wanted to be more than just a statue to her. It was second nature to loosen every muscle when I was around her.

When she slapped me, my head spun along with the contact of her hand. I was glad that I didn't hurt her, which I could have done if I wasn't so sensitive to her touch. I grabbed the part of my face that she slapped feeling like I would break down right there in front of her. I barely felt it, but she caused me more damage than she could ever know.

"Don't you dare say bad things about Alice," she growled at me. "She came here for me. She actually cared. I can't say the same about you." There was nothing but anger in her voice.

She was holding the hand she slapped me with in her other. I felt the throbbing in it and it was red. She did hurt herself. Not as much as she would have if I hadn't moved though.

Not thinking I grabbed her hand in mine. I rubbed my palms over it, trying to sooth her pain. She tried to yank her hands away, but I wouldn't let go. Even now, her touch sent tingles everywhere, and for a moment I felt happy.

I looked at her and noticed that her face still held some contempt. That wasn't all. I still couldn't fully read her emotions. She would not speak, and her face didn't give much away.

I looked into her eyes trying to get what I could out of them. Bella's eyes would never lie to me. Staring into her eyes made me feel as if I did have a soul. And as I became lost into her deep brown pools, I bore mine into them.

"Bella...I love you. Please...Please say you forgive me," I gripped her hand tightly, but let it go after I felt her tug at it once more.

She started to soften her gaze on me, but there was still a hint of defiance in her face.

"I..." She was talking too slow, and each moment that passed by held me in suspense.

"I love you," I finished for her in my head. It's just those three words I longed to hear from her. I needed to know that she still loved me. Then I would be able to make it up to her, and we would spend the rest of our days together.

Bella still hadn't finished what I justknew she was going to say. I stood before her anticipating.

Her facial expression started wavering and it was as if she was struggling to get at the words. We never stopped staring into each others' eyes and I felt that she was just about ready to confess her true feelings for me.

"I hate you."

A/N Well, there ya go. The next chapter might also seem familiar to you. Hmmm...I need more writing music. For the first couple of chapters I was listening to Evanescence, now I'm using Plus 44 as my audio entertainment.

Here's a question, should I make Bella learn about Jacob being a werewolf? I already know how I'm going to resolve the love triangle, but I have this other scene I want to do. I thought I should probably decide now whether or not the wolves should be exposed now.