A/N: It's another short one. I didn't mean to drag it out like this, but when I sat down to write, this is what came out.

Chapter 14 - Forks

BPOV

Minutes blurred into hours and suddenly I found myself back in Forks, the place I had intensely disliked all those years ago for being so green and dreary and not… home. Funny how I never saw it as home until I left for college. Now the entire town had a thick, permeating blanket of despair covering it, casting a dark shadow over every one and every thing.

The numbness had set in hours before I saw the 'Welcome To Forks' sign, with only a few small things filtering through. Like Edward's touch and smile, and Angela's hug before she was dropped off at her parents home, and the fact that at some point I had been on a plane.

And had Edward really stayed with me the entire night last night? Had I really woken up in his arms or was it all a dream that I had wished into existence?

My mind was too foggy to know what happened and what I wish had happened. Because I fervently wished this was all a dream. I would wake up soon and find it was Friday morning. I was no longer able to discern between what was real and what was not.

Oh, god. We're turning onto Charlie's street.

It wasn't my street. It hadn't been that in years. It would always be Charlie's.

His street, his house, his town.

Nothing here was mine. Nor did I want any of it.

The house looked the same. It seemed wrong to me that it would appear exactly the same as it did two months, which was the last time I had visited Charlie. This house should reflect his absence. It should be falling apart, sunken in, in dire need of reconstructing.

That's what it should look like.

I got angry at the house. Seething angry at it for not showing everyone who looked upon it that its owner was no longer on this earth.

How dare it stand here, erect and whole!

It should be in rubble around my feet.

How dare it!

"Bella?" I heard the soft, velvety voice that haunted my dreams say. I turned to my left and saw Edward coming up beside me in the front hallway, carrying the two suitcases Alice had packed for me last night in his hands. "Are you tired after the trip? Do you want to lie down before your mom gets here?"

The anger vanished at the mention of my mother, replaced with an urgent need for her like none I had ever felt before. If ever there was a time for a girl to need her mother, this was it.

My mom! Renee!

She was going to be here.

Thank God.

I felt suddenly bone-weary tired and nodded at Edward. He put the suitcases down at the foot of the staircase and took my hand, leading me up the stairs.

"Which one was yours, love?" he asked softly. I pointed at my old room and he opened the door, pulling me inside. Charlie had never gotten rid of anything I had left behind, even though I told him it was fine to convert the room into something else.

But he was adamant that I always have my own place in his house. So I always had somewhere to go.

That was my dad – sweet and caring to the end.

My eyes watered again, but no tears fell this time. I was all cried out.

Edward dropped my hand and pulled me into a hug. "Try to get some sleep. I'll be downstairs if you need me."

He stepped back and I had a strong urge to stop him, the first strong feeling since last night, so I did. I reached out and grabbed his arm before he left. He twisted back around, surprise evident on his face.

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. Why had I stopped him? I wanted something from him, but I couldn't voice it.

What did I want?

What did I want from him?

No, not from him. I wanted him.

I wanted Edward.

I found my voice. "Stay with me. Please," I whispered, almost pleading.

A corner of his mouth lifted. "Always."

After removing our shoes, Edward held me in his arms on my twin-sized bed. Everything seemed better in his arms.

Maybe he could hold me forever.

That was my last thought before sleep took me under.

The mattress moved, bringing me out of unconsciousness, but I kept my eyes closed, reluctant to come back to the pain-filled world. Edward got up, quietly opening and closing the door.

Where was he going?

I opened my eyes when I heard the knocking on the front door downstairs. Someone was at the door.

Mom? Was she here?

Energy poured back into my limps and body and I ran out of my room, hurrying down the stairs even faster when I heard a woman's voice.

And then there she was.

"Mom!" I cried out in relief, throwing my arms around her neck and hugging her tightly.

"Bella. Oh, my sweet girl. I love you, honey. I love you so much. I've missed you."

"I love you too, Mom," I said, burying my face in her neck, happy to see her. The reason for our reunion was momentarily forgotten. She smelled like she always did since moving to Florida, like the beach and sunshine.

It seemed so out of place in dreary, green Forks.

And I loved her all the more for it.

"Bella, introduce me to your friend," Renee urged lightly.

I stepped away and glanced back at Edward. "Mom, this is Edward. He's, uh" – I paused, looking for the right word – "my boyfriend?"

It came out as a question, because I wasn't sure exactly what we were. I mean, sure I was willing to give up my virginity to the guy, but we hadn't had 'the talk' yet.

Was he my boyfriend?

It didn't seem like enough at the moment. He was more like my lifeline. Necessary to my survival.

But I couldn't tell Renee that. Not yet, anyway.

Edward smiled and shook my mom's hand. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs.Dwyer."

"You too, Edward." Renee smiled brightly, looking from me, to Edward, and back again, like she was trying to solve a puzzle. Probably trying to figure out how in the world I got him to agree to date me, since he was so obviously out of my league.

I wondered the same thing almost every day.

And it hit me that Charlie would never meet him. I had talked about him to Charlie before, but there would never be that moment in my life where I introduced the love of my life to my father.

I would never be given away at my wedding.

He was gone. Truly gone.

I gasped at the abrupt onslaught of grief that slammed into me, making both Edward and my mother stare at me, worry creasing their foreheads.

"What is it, sweetie?" Renee asked, rubbing my arm.

I blinked back tears, shaking my head to dismiss her worry. "Nothing. It just hits me at random times."

I didn't have to voice what 'it' was. They both knew. Renee nodded in understanding, continuing to rub my arm soothingly.

I shook my head again and cleared my throat, focusing on my mother. "Where's Phil? Did he come up here too?"

"Yes, dear. He's back at our hotel room. He didn't want to intrude on our time together."

"Oh," I said, disappointed. I'd missed him. "Wait. Hotel room? You're not staying here?"

"No… we're not. It doesn't feel right, you know?"

I nodded absently. She was right, of course. This wasn't her house anymore than it was mine. It would always be Charlie's.

We stood in the hallway for a couple seconds before Edward broke the silence.

"Well, I'll let you two catch up. I'm going to find a hotel room of my own. Mrs. Dwyer, it was a pleasure to meet you." He reached up and tucked some hair behind my ear, and then leaned in to chastely kiss my cheek. "I'll call you when I get checked in."

Wait, what? A hotel room? Checked in?

I was bewildered. He was leaving me? Didn't I just ask him to stay with me? He had said 'always', hadn't he?

And now he was leaving.

No! He couldn't leave. I couldn't let him go.

By the time I realized all of this, he was already outside, walking to the rental car. Renee gave me a knowing look and pointed behind her to the door.

"Go get him, Bella," she advised firmly before breezing past me to the living room.

I took her advice.

"Wait!" I yelled, running out the door and down the driveway. He didn't hear me over the car's engine, but he did see me running toward him.

The driver's side window rolled down and he stuck his head out. "What's wrong? Did I forget something?"

I skidded to a stop by the window. "You said you would stay with me, always. And now you're leaving! That happened, didn't it? I didn't dream it?"

It was the most I had spoken since yesterday, add to that the fact that I was getting angry again, and that probably explained his jaw falling down and the stunned look on his face.

"Uh, I – I'm sorry?" he said tentatively.

"Damn right, you're sorry. I'm not staying here by myself. I'll go mad." The anger was quickly giving way to panic. I took a couple of deep breaths to calm myself down. I didn't need a panic attack on top of the grief right now. There was only so much a person can take before they completely fall apart.

Edward turned the car off and got out, wrapping his arms securely around me. "I'm sorry I thought you would be okay here by yourself. I figured you wanted some time alone. I said I would stay with you, and I meant it."

"Never figure that I want you to leave," I said quietly, my words muffled slightly by his chest.

"I never will again. I promise."

I breathed a sigh of relief and melted against his chest, letting all the anxiety and fear leave me until I was comforted and relaxed. Edward pulled back and smiled my favorite lop-sided smile. "Let's go back inside."

I nodded my consent and followed him back in, gripping his hand for all I was worth. He wasn't leaving my side again. Not if I had anything to say about it.