A/N Yay, about two more chapters to go! Maybe three. There might be a sequel, but I'll talk to you guys about that later. I liked writing this chapter. More or less, it was typed closely to what I planned out in my mind. It's weird. There is a lot of detail in this chapter and a lot of the big things in this chapter are based on elements of the story that I haven't planned out at all.

When I heard his velvety voice I raised my head up to look at him. I wasn't as surprised as I should have been. He was gazing at me with kind eyes and I couldn't believe he was there. I reached up to touch his face and I felt him shudder at my finger tips.

"What are you doing here?" I whispered.

"I'll always be here for you Bella."

"You're left me," I said, not being able to look into his eyes.

He placed his cold fingers under my chin and lifted my head back up to look at him and I couldn't break away.

"Bella, I didn't. Me leaving you again would be impossible. I know it was wrong, but I lied. I lied Bella," he said almost happily. "I was never going to leave you, I had always planned to watch over you.

"I was going to let you live your life out happily with Jacob Black, but I wanted to be able to see you still. I had to make you think I wasn't around because I didn't want you to be burdened by my presence."

I let his words pass by me. They weren't important at the moment. I had found the truth after finding those pictures, the reason behind it all.

I scooted myself back near my bed and away from Edward. He made no move to stop me, but he watched me like I was moving hundreds of miles away instead of a few feet.

"That wasn't what I was talking about." I said, my voice stern.

He froze instantly and the look of utter sadness returned to his face. We were returning to the conversation that we never really had a chance to finish the first time he came back.

"Bella, it was a mistake. I wish I could take it back. But you have to understand why I did it. I had so save you from myself."

"I understand why you did it, Edward," He looked at me seriously, he knew that my one slightly positive declaration foreshadowed something worse.

I was slowly starting to lose control and the desperation was becoming evident in my voice. "I understandwhy," I repeated. "What I don't understand is how."

He looked as if he were trying decipher just what I was getting at. I almost felt bad. I was letting my grief for Jacob spill into my own for Edward, but I had to get it out.

"I don't understand how you could say those things to me Edward...That I was just a distraction... That you never loved me..." he flinched and balled up his hands into fists as he listened to what I said.

"You meant everything to me. You had to have known that. You knew that I had always thought that I was never good enough for you. I still do. And you took it all away from me. You took it all when you left," I spoke without raising my voice. I doubt I would have been able to speak any louder than I did without my voice cracking.

"All lies! Bella I always loved you! " he cried out in anguish.

"Yet you still left me," I stared at my knees, avoiding his eyes. "I loved you Edward. I loved you so much, but you still left. Was it not enough?"

"Stop it," he pleaded at me clearly hurt.

I looked up at him and he was in worse shape than me. It was not something I could bear seeing, so I focused my eyes on the heavy movements of his chest rising and falling and listening to his unnecessary, but rough breathing.

"Stop what?" I asked.

"Stop talking in past tense! 'You meant everything to me.'. 'I loved you.'

"What hurts more than you slapping me, or even you telling me you hate me, is you telling me that you have stopped loving me altogether."

"I never said that."

"Then tell me you love me again."

"No." I barely go out.

"Why?"

"Because I gave you my heart, and you rejected it. I gave it to Jake and now he's gone too..." the sob escaped from my chest and my voice rose sharply as I said the word 'too'.

Edward looked at me unsurprised at what I had said about Jacob, he looked like all he wanted to do was hold me and make it all better, but I wouldn't let him.

"I can't do it anymore."

"Bella, you can't stop yourself from loving. Love is something special and beautiful. It's what I feel when I think of you. It's what I experience when I see you. It's what makes my life worth living.

"You did the exact same thing," I scoffed.

"Bella I left because of my love for you. You're too precious to me," his voice softened.

"This was never about me Edward Cullen! This was always about you and some masochistic notion that you don't deserve to be happy. I thought I made you happy. We were happy."

"Bella, how can I show you how much you mean to me? How can I prove to you that I love you?"

"I want you to say to me what you said to me earlier. I wish I could hear that you were never really gone the whole time. That you loved me too much to stay away. That you were watching over me the entire time."

"If I had caught even a single glimpse of you Bella, do you honestly believe that I would have been able to stay away?

"I'm here now, Bella. Is it too late? Please, did I not make it back it time?"

I clutched my hands tightly and realized that I was still holding the picture of Edward in my hands. I looked down at it once more and back to Edward. The difference was almost frightening. How had it come to this? I stared at the picture for a while, brushing my fingers across the image of Edward's face. I whispered his name into the picture and let it fall to the floor. That was it.

As soon as the picture left my hands, I felt myself crashing. Edward had moved closer to me and was kneeling in front of me. He grabbed my hands in his.

"Bella..." I looked up at him for the first time in what felt like a long time. His eyes were a smoldering onyx.

He leaned in closer to me. I knew he was going to kiss me. I didn't move. I was too caught up in his eyes. He was closing the gap between us, moving at an excruciatingly slow speed to allow me to pull away if I wanted to. He moved in inch by inch. Centimeter by centimeter. I wanted to let him kiss me. I wanted to to want him to kiss me, but it felt wrong.

He had kissed me before and everyone had felt perfect. This kiss we were about to share involved too much thinking on my part. It wasn't right. And then my mind flashed to Jake.

I tore my eyes from his and placed my hands on his shoulders to push him away.

"Edward I can't. It hurts too much. I don't want it to hurt anymore. I don't want to hurt," I cried.

He looked at me without saying a word.

"Please, just take it away. Take it all away," I spoke quietly and shut my eyes, letting the last tears fall from my face. I knew that vampire hearing would allow me to be heard from anywhere in the house. Edward looked at me confused wondering what to do, but I wasn't counting on him to do anything. "Please Jasper. Just take it all away."

And then I felt it. The pain, gone. The tears, gone. Everything was starting to numb off and die. And I couldn't have been happier.

A/N I know I don't really add much detail, but it's because I try to focus on getting out those key moments and feelings first. If I don't then I forget hehe. Okay, it will be much easier for me to write from now on. I am now done with the angst. Well..there is a kicker at the end, but that won't be so bothersome for me. It has to do with the gift...if you guys still remember about it.