Chapter III: Returned Gift

As soon as I got home, I went straight to my room to put away my outfit for tonight. When I opened my bedroom door, I was surrounded by flowers. They were everywhere - in vases on my desk, in baskets on my bed and on the ground, and in Edward's hand. He walked toward me, holding out a bouquet of red, white, and pink roses - my favourite flower.

"Happy Anniversary," he said, handing me the roses as I dropped my bag on the floor. I smelled them, naturally, but found that they didn't just smell like roses, they smelled like Edward, too. I smiled, and Edward walked right up to me, wrapped his cold, strong arms around my waist, and kissed my forehead. "I love you," he whispered in my ear.

"I love you, too." I whispered, and buried my face into his chest. I wish he'd let me get him something, but he claimed I was all he needed, and refused to accept any gifts.

After a minute, he pulled back to look at my face, and played with my hair as he spoke. "I have something for you." I looked at him, my eyes full of curiosity, and he smiled. He walked over to my bed and picked up a small, silver box that had been hidden behind a basket of flowers. He handed it to me. I set the roses down on my bed as I opened the small box. Inside was a set of keys. My jaw dropped, and I looked up at him. He seemed amused at my expression. He took my hand and led me to my window. There, parked right below my window, was a shiny, black Mercedes Guardian. "Do you want to test drive it?" he asked me.

I looked up at him. "Yes! Of course!" I said excitedly.

He smiled. "Where do you want to go?"

I thought for a second, then said, "To meet someone." He was going to meet Ruby.

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"Where are we going?" Edward asked once I'd turned on the engine to my new car.

"To Seattle," I replied. "I met someone today who'd like to meet you." It wasn't really where I would have wanted to go, but something, maybe the way Ruby said she'd like to meet Edward, was calling me back to the little store. I shook my head. I was being ridiculous, but I still felt that I needed to introduce them.

Once we were in Seattle, I easily found the small store. When we walked in, it sounded like Ruby was cleaning up in the back.

"Hey! I'm back, and I brought a friend this time!" I called out.

As soon as Ruby walked out of the back room, both Ruby and Edward froze in place.

"E-Edward?" Ruby stuttered.

"Ruby? Is . . . is that . . . you?" Edward stammered.

"Oh my gosh, Edward!"

Ruby walked forward and hugged Edward, who remained in a state of shock.

"You two know each other?" I asked, puzzled.

"Yeah," Ruby pulled back to look at me. "We, uh, kinda had . . . a thing. It was a while back."

Edward finally snapped out of it. "That was almost a hundred years ago."

Ruby glared at him, then turned back to me and laughed nervously. "He's over exaggerating, of course."

I ignored her, and gasped instead. "You're . . . a vampire, too?" I whispered.

She turned back to Edward. "How does she . . . ? D-did you . . . ?"

"She figured me out by herself, so she's been on the inside ever since. But she's not one of us . . . yet." He explained.

"Oh. Well, I didn't know that you . . . –"

"I didn't know about you, either . . . "

We stood there in silence for a moment, as everyone thought hard, taking everything in. Edward was the first to speak.

"Hey, Bella, didn't you want to get a book while you were here?" He hinted.

"Oh . . . yeah. I'll just . . . go do that now. Bye." I kissed Edward, and left the awkwardness behind me as I headed for the bookstore.

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Edward's POV

"Oh. Well, I didn't know that you . . . –" Ruby told me.

"I didn't know about you, either . . . " I replied.

All three of us went quiet for a minute. I was listening to Ruby's thoughts.

'I can't believe he's really here! He's really a vampire! Oh, he's so much more beautiful than I remember . . . His eyes! He's like me! That's good . . . Otherwise Bella probably wouldn't be here. That would be okay though; I wish I could talk to him alone.'

"Hey, Bella," I blurted out, as if in response to Ruby's thoughts. "Didn't you want to get a book while you were here?" I couldn't believe I was hinting her to leave . . . on our Anniversary too!

"Oh . . . yeah. I'll just . . . go do that now." She said, taking my hint. "Bye." She kissed me and left.

"Hey that's perfect." Ruby came up to me and put her arms on my shoulders. "Now we're all alone."

'I wish he'd put his arms around my waist,' she thought.

And I did. What was happening? My mind panicked, but my body was perfectly relaxed. I pulled her body close to mine.

'Hmm . . . ' she thought. 'I wish he'd bring me into the back room.'

I did as she thought. My mind was focused on Bella. Why was I doing this to her?

Ruby's face was curious. 'Kiss me,' she thought. I hesitated. 'Kiss me!' she commanded through her thoughts. I leaned closer, then stopped myself. "C'mon, Edward," she said out loud. "I know you can hear me. Kiss me!" she said firmly. Before I had time to think, my lips touched hers. After a moment, I had her on the couch. If I could cry, there would have been tears streaming down my face. I had no control over my body.

A ding! came from the front room as someone walked into the shop.

"The bookstore was closed." Bella called out. "Edward?"

'Ignore her.' Ruby thought.

"Edward?" Bella called out again.

I started to pull away, but Ruby's thoughts interrupted my attempt at escaping. 'Don't. Leave. Yet.'

"Edward?" Bella was at the doorway now, and suddenly the lights turned on. Both Ruby and I looked over at her that second. Bella's jaw dropped and her expression was horrified. Tears were rolling down her cheeks.

"Bella, I –" I started to say.

"Don't." She held her hand out to stop me. "I can tell that this 'thing' you had is more important than I am." She looked at Ruby, then back at me. "You can walk home." She left, sobbing now.

When I got home, Bella's new car was parked in the driveway, keys in the ignition, and filled with flowers. On the dashboard, amongst the flowers, was her engagement ring.

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A/N: Tell me what you think about this chapter! I hope you liked it! If you're wondering why Edward cheated on Bella, you'll find out in latter chapters, so don't freak. Edward isn't the bad guy here...But if not, then who is? Hmm...

Please let me know if there are any mistakes, or if something seems like it should be changed. If you want more, fast, review! I will try to post chapters faster if I'm getting feedback!