Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or plot lines of the Twilight Saga and the following is a form of fiction based on the brilliance of Stephenie Meyer's work.
Author: ToryD
A/N Everyone send out a supper big thank you to Hannah who stepped in and got this chapter corrected in record time.
Beta: Hannah Writes R
Title: A Forbidden Forever
Chapter Seventeen
Jasper watched his wife closely as she sank down heavily upon the sofa with a look of such sorrow upon her pretty face that he instantly went to her side to place his arm protectively around her slumping shoulders. "Alice?" he asked with concern furrowing his pale brow.
"Oh…no. Bella…she," Alice's voice broke as she witnessed Bella's quick departure from Edward's office in her mind.
"What is it Alice," Esme asked as she grasped Carlisle's hand tightly, already fearing the worst for her beloved son Edward.
"She has left him," Alice responded simply as she looked up into her mother's worried eyes. "She couldn't accept the truth."
Esme turned to look into her husband's stunning face, seeing his immediate concern for their son echoing her own. "Oh Carlisle, what should we do?"
Pulling her gently into his arms to offer her some small measure of comfort, Carlisle wondered just what could be done for his son knowing that he had just lost the one and only love of his life. "I think I should probably go to Edward," he said solemnly, his unbeating heart breaking for the pain he knew his son must be enduring.
"Yes," Esme murmured into his strong chest, knowing that only Carlisle could offer any comfort to Edward now.
Kissing Esme softly, Carlisle released her from his embrace and made his way towards the back of the house to the garage.
"Alice," Esme called out gently as she walked over to take a seat beside her distraught daughter. "How is Edward?"
Alice couldn't stop the small whimper that escaped her lips as she brought up the vision of Edward in his office all alone, the fresh unbearable pain of losing Bella so very evident in his tortured golden eyes. "Oh Esme, he's in such pain," she said as she leaned into Jasper's chest as she tried to draw from his constant strength.
"Carlisle will be there soon," Jasper murmured soothingly as he caressed his wife's cheek lovingly.
"I really thought that Bella would be able to accept us," Esme wondered aloud as a bewildered look entered he topaz eyes. "I thought that she loved Edward so deeply that nothing would be able to break them apart."
"It is a lot for someone to accept," Jasper opined as he thought of what Bella must be going through.
"Just think how hard it was for us when we first were changed. It must be so hard for her to even believe what Edward has told her, let alone her accepting that she can have a place in his life. And then there are all of the misconceptions about us from movies and television. Maybe Edward wasn't able to explain how we have chosen to life our lives," he suggested as he too wondered just how Bella could turn her back on Edward after the deep love that he had witnessed between the two on Christmas.
"Maybe you should talk to her Esme," Alice said as she sat up straight to look at her mother's worried face. "Perhaps she needs to talk out her feelings with someone other than Edward right now."
"Perhaps," Esme repeated as she wondered if Bella would allow her an audience in order to plead Edward's case. "I think that I'll call her in the morning," she mused as she wanted to discuss the situation with Carlisle before she did anything that would only further Edward and Bella's pain.
Jasper sighed heavily as he struggled with his decision on whether or not he should bring up the nagging fear that had been plaguing him since he first heard of Edward's new found relationship with Bella.
"You might as well say it Jasper," Alice said as she shot him a look of slight annoyance as she had already seen his concern in a previous vision.
With a wiry grin gracing his handsome face at being called out once again by his beautiful wife, Jasper began to gently voice his concern. "I was just thinking that maybe we should prepare to leave Portland," he advised as he watched the twin looks of disappointment on both Esme's and Alice's faces. "I don't think that Bella would be the type of person to let our secret out, but we may as well err on the side of caution. Besides, I think that Edward would fare better in a place that didn't remind him of Bella."
Esme frowned as she pondered Jasper's suggestion, for in her heart she knew he was right, it would be better to leave Portland to ensure the safety of her family. But she didn't think that the change of scenery would do anything to dull Edward's pain, for in her heart she knew that he would never again find happiness, now that Bella had shut the door on any chance of a future for their love. "As much as I hate the thought of leaving, I think you may be right Jasper. Let's discuss it with Carlisle when he returns."
"I just wish things had turned out differently," Jasper sighed out with a sincere regret lacing through his words.
"Me too honey," Esme responded sadly as she began to face the fact that Bella would never be a part of her family. Bella, whom she had come to love as one of her very own, was not only lost to Edward but the entire Cullen family as well. "Have you seen anything new on Edward sweetheart?" she asked Alice as she reached out to pat her daughter's knee reassuringly, knowing that she too was feeling Bella's loss.
Alice closed her eyes and began to focus her concentration on Edward. After a few minutes of silence she stiffened abruptly. "Wait," she called out with a strange expression crossing her pixie face. "Something is changing," she said with a look of wonder in her golden gaze.
"What it is Alice," Jasper asked with a new urgency as he reached out to take her cold hand within his.
"I don't know, but there is still some hope, Bella is fighting with herself. She is still undecided," Alice said as she looked to each of the other two vampires within the room.
"Let's hope that she is deciding that she loves Edward enough to accept what he is," Esme whispered with a small smile gracing her perfect lips.
Alice shared the same look of hope with her mother, knowing that whatever Bella decided would change the course of their family's lives forever.
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Bella leaned back heavily against the cold steel wall of the elevator as the doors slid ominously shut, as if they too were signaling an end to her and Edward's love. Her heart was still racing frantically at the news that her Edward was a vampire. Closing her eyes to fight back her tears, she drew in a shuttering breath as she allowed the truth of what Edward was to shroud her with its unrelenting destructive power. All of her dreams had been shattered beyond repair; all of her hopes for a future with the man she loved had been crushed with the cruel truth that they could never be together. Why did she always lose the ones she loved, first her parents, then Jacob for a time, and now Edward…whose loss she knew she would carry with her to the day she died.
"Oh, Edward," she cried out softly as she allowed the tears she had been fighting to fall heedlessly down her smooth cheeks. As the tone of the elevator's bell announced its arrival at the building's lobby, Bella quickly wiped away her tears as she knew that she needed to get past Charlie to exit the building. With her head bent downwards she quickly made her way across the marbled lobby floor towards the glass doors at the front of the building.
"Bella," she heard Charlie's friendly voice call out to her as she passed his security desk.
"Goodnight Charlie," Bella said without looking up, her voice so uncharacteristically gruff from the force of trying to keep her tears at bay.
"Hey Kid," Charlie called out as he rose from his warn leather chair to make his way towards an obviously upset Bella.
Pausing at the door, Bella turned to face Charlie as he approached her, knowing that to leave without a proper goodbye to her friend would be something she would come to regret. As she glanced up into his concerned fatherly face she couldn't help the fresh wave of tears that filled her pain laced eyes.
"Bella," Charlie whispered softly as he reached out and placed a supportive arm around her quivering shoulders to lead her towards a bench to the right of the building's entryway. "Sit down, honey," he said gently.
"I'm sorry," Bella whispered as she wiped at the tears that she couldn't seem to stop as Charlie slid onto the bench next to her.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked as he fished out the handkerchief that his wife always insisted he carry even though he thought it rather out of date in today's fashion.
Smiling her thanks, Bella took the offered handkerchief and began to wipe away her tears. "Thank you Charlie, but I don't think I want to talk."
Knowing that she and Mr. Cullen must have had a fight Charlie decided to offer his advice. "You know Bella; it's not always the easiest thing to love someone. I should know I loved the same woman for going on near Forty-two years now."
Bella smiled as she listened to the deep love in Charlie's voice as he spoke of his and Ruth's relationship.
"People today don't stay together like they did in my generation. Everyone seems to think that if they run into some problems that they need to go their separate ways. Divorce seems not to be such a taboo as it once was. It's almost too easy to divorce someone nowadays. I don't know why people don't fight to hang on to each other like they used too. I guess the times have changed since I was a young man, but I don't think that's always a good thing."
Knowing that Charlie was only trying to help Bella smiled gently. "I think your right Charlie, but sometimes even though the love is there, there are just too many differences to overcome," she said with such a saddened resignation that Charlie knew that something grave must have occurred to cause such a look of utter hopelessness in Bella's tear filled eyes.
"Oh honey," Charlie sighed deeply as he lifted his beefy arm to give her a gentle squeeze about her shoulders. "What would the world be like if we couldn't count on love to overcome all of our differences? What would be the point of anything without having the one person you were meant to be with by your side?"
"But sometimes love just isn't enough," Bella choked out in a barely there whisper as pain assaulted her heart with its merciless agony.
"If that were the truth then life just isn't worth living, Bella," Charlie said with a new firmness to his tone that attested to resolve that love could win out over any circumstance. "The greatest thing in life is to know that you can always count on one person to love you no matter what you've done. To know that no matter what failure or pain that you may have caused that at the end of the day that the person who truly loves you will be there. My Ruth loves me that way, as I do her… flaws and all," he said with a knowing amused smile.
Bella felt her heart stop at the truth to Charlie's words, for there wasn't anything more important than finding someone who will love you no matter what occurs. And she knew in her heart beyond any doubt that Edward was that one person who she was meant to be with. No matter what he was, together they would find a way to overcome it. Drawing in a deep breath, Bella stood and handed Charlie back his handkerchief. "Thank you," she said softly as she leaned down to kiss his weathered cheek.
"Don't mention it," he said with a wide grin, clearly please that he had been able help her. As he rose slowly from the bench he watched as Bella retraced her steps to the elevator, knowing that whatever had caused her tears was not as important as the love she obviously held within her heart for Edward. He knew that the kind of love that he had found with Ruth was a rare gift that needed to be nurtured and appreciated each day. Smiling a little smugly as he returned to his desk he knew that Bella had found that same unending love with Edward, and how wonderful it was that he had helped her decide that she was now going to fight to keep it.
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Edward sat stone still as the excruciating pain of losing Bella radiated throughout his body. Even though he had been prepared for her rejection, nothing could have predicted the utter devastation he was now experiencing at losing the only woman he would ever love. For what was left for him now that he couldn't share his life with Bella. Without her by his side what was the point to anything anymore, he thought with the agony of unparallel despair bearing down relentlessly on his very soul.
He knew that he would always love her even if he had to love her from afar. He would take all measures within his power to ensure that she had a safe and happy life and in doing so he would take some small measure of comfort in the fact that even if he couldn't be with her he would in his small way still show his unending love for her until the day she died. A sharp pain pierced his unbeating heart at the thought of her death, for he knew with unfailing certainty that he would have to find some way to end his own tortured existence when she no longer inhabited this plane of existence.
Running an unsteady hand through his thick bronze hair, Edward felt the thoughts of his family sweep over him as he read the empathy that they each held for him. Knowing that they must be worried he wondered how long he had until Carlisle arrived, for he could already sense his father's pending arrival. With a resigned sigh, Edward stood and made his way towards the office door, knowing that he would never return to this place, a place where he had first met Bella, the very place where he had found and lost his love.
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Bella jabbed at the button to Edward's floor repeatedly as if to speed up the acceleration of the elevator's accent. What a fool she was, she chastised herself silently. What she had almost thrown away, a love so precious that it should be treasured unquestioningly for the supreme gift that it was. Edward had proven himself to her on countless occasions; securing Jacob's freedom, allowing her time to heal from the pain of her past, finding the lost photographs of her family, and how did she repay his kindness? She silently asked herself as tears of self recrimination filled her eyes. She had carelessly turned her back on him and ran; ran away from any chance that they could overcome the obstacle that somehow didn't seem all that important when compared with the thought of never seeing Edward's sweet face again.
How she would ever be able to make it up to Edward she did not know, but she would spend the rest of her life trying if he would only give her the chance she thought to herself as the oppressive guilt of her weakness weighed heavily down upon her for the complete failure of her faith in their love's power to overcome what Edward was. As the bell finally rang out signaling the elevator's arrival Bella tensed as she began to shake with a very real fear that Edward wouldn't be able to forgive her for her lack of acceptance.
Edward stood with his shoulders slumping, standing in sharp contrast to his normally self assured posture; the look in his golden eyes creating an unveiled window to the obvious pain he was feeling. As the elevator doors began to slide open he instantly saw that Bella was inside. "Bella?" he asked as he took in the look of pain etched so ruthlessly into her beautiful features.
"Edward," Bella cried out as she launched herself into his arms while she began to sob uncontrollably against his cold marbled chest.
"Bella," Edward whispered as he held her tightly against his stone hard frame. "Sweetheart," he called to her as she began to tremble within his embrace.
"Just hold me, Edward," she cried out brokenly as she tightened her hold around his neck as if she was afraid that he would push her away. "Promise me you'll never let me go."
Edward felt his heart sing at her words. "I promise, Bella," he whispered reverently into her ear as he forced the words past the lump of indescribable emotion that had taken up residence in his throat.
After several minutes Bella's tears slowly began to recede. The strength of Edward's arms giving her courage to finally release her hold enough to look up into his gentle eyes. "I'm so sorry," she said with her voice wavering with the sorrow that she felt at her unforgivable actions.
"Sorry?" Edward echoed, clearly surprised that she was apologizing to him. "Bella, it's I who needs to apologize to you," he intoned with a sincerity that caused Bella's eye to once again fill with tears.
"Oh Edward, I was the one who ran away," she choked out with a self loathing so very evident in her tone. "I was the one who couldn't see that you were still the same loving and gentle man that I have come to love over the last five weeks. Please say you will forgive me," she begged as her body began to shake at the thought that he wouldn't be able to get past her unpardonable behavior.
Edward reached up and tenderly wiped away her tears with a soft caress of his thumb, his heart overjoyed that she somehow had come to accept him as he was. "There is nothing to forgive, my beautiful Bella. I love you," he whispered as he leaned down to brush her lips in a sweet, gentle kiss that conveyed all of the love he still held deep within his heart for her.
Bella gave herself up to Edward's kiss in blissful relief that he had somehow found it in his heart to still love her in spite of her earlier rejection. "I promise that I will never again take for granted your love," she vowed as she pulled back from his kiss.
"I'm going to hold you to that Ms. Swan," Edward answered as he smiled down at her with his undeniable love alighting deep within his eyes. With a laugh of pure elation, Edward lifted her in his arms and began to swing her around the room as he reveled in the simple pleasure of holding her within his arms.
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"Jasper!" Alice called out with a wide smile gracing her pretty face.
Running up the stairs in less than a half second, Jasper quickly made his way towards Alice as she danced about their bedroom. "What?" he asked urgently as he stood watching her from the doors threshold.
"She came back to him, Jasper! She came back and she loves him! It's okay!" she all but shouted as she launched herself across the room into his arms.
Jasper pulled her into his strong embrace, finding her true unfettered joy contagious. "Have I told you how much I love you today Mrs. Hale?" he asked as he leaned down to take her lips in a passionate kiss.
Alice smiled as she pushed him back slightly. "Not now, Jasper," she said as she raced back towards a large stack of fashion magazines.
Seeing that his wife had that all too recognizable mischievous look in her eyes, Jasper leaned heavily against the doorjamb as he wondered just what she planning in her pretty little head. "What are you up to now?" he asked with a shrewd look entering into his topaz eyes.
"I've got a wedding to prepare for, Jasper!" Alice announced as if he should have already uncovered that fact for himself earlier.
"Wedding?" Jasper echoed as he wondered what Edward was going to do once he found out that Alice had him already walking down the aisle into marital bliss.
Seeing a skeptical look in her Jasper's eyes, Alice placed her hands upon her hips and shot him an annoyed scowl. "It's going to happen Jasper!"
Smiling at the picture his gorgeous wife was making, Jasper sprang across the room in one graceful leap and pulled her resisting form into his arms. "I don't doubt that for a minute. But I don't think that you need to plan Edward and Bella's wedding just this minute." Leaning down he swept her up into his arms to carry her to their bed. "In fact Mrs. Hale, I think that you should get plenty of rest if you're going to be taking on such a task," he said with a wicked grin crossing his handsome face as he began to kiss his way down her neck.
Moaning softly, Alice smiled as she gave herself up to her husband's kisses and resigned herself to the knowledge that she would just have to put in some extra hours tomorrow on finding the perfect wedding dress for Bella.
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A/N Yea! She accepted him! As if anyone could turn him away! Okay so on to the next chapter…Bella will spend time discovering the truth about Edward's way of life, and poor Edward will be spending his time trying to reign in a very eager wedding planner by the name of Alice. Please take a minute and shoot me a review. Thanks for reading!