Aghhhhh. I can't wait for my editors. It's getting frustrating. Grace's computer still isn't working.... So she can't help me with editing. I finished this last night but I couldn't keep it to myself for too much longer!!!!

Disclaimer: Edward- "Elyse, the two of us should be together forever..."

Me- "Oh, Edward. We belong together..."

Edward- "Forever." ............ And then I woke up. I don't own Twilight or any of the characters... Stephenie Meyer does. But I wouldn't mind if Edward decided to change that status....

"'My lover has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to browse the gardens and to gather lilies. I am my lover's and my lover is mine; he browses among the lilies.' 'You are beautiful, my darling, as Tirzah, lovely as Jerusalem, majestic as troops with banners..." -- Song of Songs 6:2-4

Chapter Three: The Meadow

Morning came very quickly. I woke up semi-early and took a quick shower. The hot water streamed down my body, and the warmth helped to wake me up. After stepping out of the shower, I felt the butterflies beginning to attack my insides. What was I going to wear?! I raced to blow dry my hair and brush my teeth, then tore off to my room.

I ripped open my closet. Should I wear jeans or shorts? Long-sleeved shirt, T-shirt, or just a tank top? What color should I wear? Red would be too slutty. Grey would be boring. Blue would be repetitive. I was eventually standing in my room, wearing only jeans and staring at a lime green t-shirt and a yellow one.

Before I could actually decide which to wear, a quiet knock came from downstairs. I slipped on whichever one was in my left hand, and ran down the stairs to the door. I answered it, and there he stood, looking like a dream-come-true wearing a yellow shirt and black jeans. He was breath taking. Oh, my breath really was being taken from me. I inhaled deeply then grabbed my rain jacket, just in case, and walked out the door with him.

"Nice shirt." He laughed. I glanced down at my shirt. I was wearing almost the same shade of yellow as he was. I blushed then laughed, too. He looks a lot better than I did. I sighed. I can't compare.

"So," I broke out of my awkward silence. "Where is this meadow? I'm excited to see it."

He smiled and opened my door for me. "You'll see, Bella."

He drove fairly quickly, but he drove with such precision that I couldn't help but feel safe in his presence. After about 20 minutes of small talk, he pulled off to a dirt road and parked his car at the edge of the woods. He turned off the car and took out a compass. He studied it for a few seconds, and then began walking--ignoring the trail that I was heading toward--into the forest toward the West.

I followed him, frowning at the trees. They were sure to embarrass me, because evidently they thought I couldn't do so on my own. Great. I'm going to trip over some roots, and fall and break my arm, then we are going to get lost in the rush to get to the hospital, and Edward will never want to be around me ever again because he will know that I could endanger his life, too. I grimaced.

Edward was walking very fast, but when he realized how far behind I was, he stopped, waited for me, then took my hand to better keep pace with me.

"It's a very nice day today. Hardly any rain." he commented.

"Yeah, the only way it could be better is if the sun were actually out."

He smiled. "Yes, that's true. The sun would make today more perfect."

"More perfect?" I raised an eyebrow. "So does that mean today is already perfect for you?"

"Of course," he chuckled as though I were missing the obvious. "Of course today is perfect, I'm spending the day with you."

I blushed, but didn't say anything else. He was getting the situation backwards. Today was perfect because I was with him.

Silence ruled the time we spent walking. After about 30 minutes of walking in a perfectly straight line, there was a subtle thinning of trees.

"Is that it?" I pointed to the spot.

"Yes, we're almost there." he was also excited.

I wrenched my hand free from his and sprinted toward the clearing. I fell once on the way there, but I didn't let it bother me, I just kept running. Edward sensed my excitement and easily ran past me, laughing... He only got past me because I fell though, if I hadn't fallen, I would've dominated that race.

He stopped at the edge of the clearing, held out his hand for me, and we walked through the last of the trees into the meadow.

It was absolutely beautiful. Wildflowers were scattered in small patches throughout the entire meadow. Honeybees chased each other around, and stopped down to gently kiss the flowers before carrying the nectar back to wherever their hives were. The trees cast off the perfect amount of shade so it wasn't too overwhelming. The sun peaked out from the clouds for only a few seconds, but I was able to see the change for a brief moment. The sunshine made the colors become so vibrant, it was hard to really fathom the beauty. We stood there, at the edge of the meadow for a few minutes, staring into the most beautiful scenery imaginable. I closed my eyes to listen after a while. I heard birds chirping in the trees. I faintly heard running water; a river must be nearby. I opened my eyes and turned to Edward.

"It's beautiful."

He stroked my cheek with his free hand and walked to the middle of the meadow and sat in a patch of grass. I put my jacket on the ground so my clothes wouldn't get wet, and sat next to him. I sighed, looking and listening to the meadow.

We both stretched backwards and laid on our backs, gazing out of the opening in the trees to the sky. The clouds were a silvery color, just barely able to emanate a soft mist to the ground.

I closed my eyes again to absorb the perfect moment. It was absolutely perfect now. Even the sun was determined to be my friend today. I smiled as I felt warmth on my cheek. I opened my eyes, expecting to see the sun making another reappearance to play with the colors around me, but instead, I saw Edward. He was stroking my cheek lightly again, so lightly in fact, I assumed it was the sun giving me the warmth.

"I think you're beautiful." he whispered. I smiled at him. My heart was inflating, feeling like it was about to burst from pleasure.

He wrapped his arm underneath my neck and I held his free hand. Life is good.

"Bella? Are you asleep?" Edward's voice came after several minutes.

I opened my eyes and turned my body to face him. "No."

"I wanted to tell you something..." he flushed lightly.

I smiled at him. The light pink tone of his skin only added to his beauty.

"I know I've only known you for a few days... But I've never really felt this... free before. I really, really like you."

"I like you, too, Edward." When I said it, my heart began pumping blood and also happiness throughout my body. He watched my face for a few minutes and leaned closer to my face. I closed my eyes as I felt his lips press gently into mine. I pulled away quickly. I wasn't ready to close my eyes yet.

We stared at each other, the look in his eyes made me smile, and I'm sure the look in mine made him do the same. The mist swirled around us. We didn't care or notice. I was content being in his arms, and having him in mine. He began playing with my hair while he watched me, twisting the strands between his fingers.

We didn't need to talk. Our eyes spoke exactly how our hearts were feeling. We laid in the tall grass for hours, not moving, not talking, only watching.

-

-

From that day in the meadow, Edward and I were inseparable during the day. At night, we talked on the phone for hours, revealing all our secrets and sharing stories from our childhood. Every day I felt myself falling deeper and deeper in love with him.

Eventually, the summer had to come to an end, though. Soon, too soon, our final day together came. Of course we spent it together, and we went to our favorite spot. The meadow.

We walked together, hand in hand the entire way, only pausing when I stumbled over the rough terrain. We walked through the clearing and laid back down in the spots that were practically impressed into the ground from the numerous times we were in the same spots.

"I love you, Bella. With every component of my being, I truly love you." His voice ached with the passion from this statement.

"I love you, too," my eyes began to tear. "I don't want to leave tomorrow."

He kissed the tears away from my cheeks. "I don't want that either. But for right now, it's only you and me. I love you. I love your heart. There is nothing about you that I don't love." He stroked my hair away from my face, and brushed his lips gently against mine. I tangled my fingers in his hair as I kissed him back. He moved his lips from mine, but kissed my cheeks, my forehead, my ears, my throat. I didn't want to give this up.

After we broke apart, we watched each other again. Our eyes we both sad from the knowledge of what was coming tomorrow, the unbearable pain that would come when we both left Forks. He would go back to his home, and I would go to mine.

I touched his eyes, and closed them with my fingers, the agony in them was too much. I traced his face, memorizing every inch so I would never forget the perfection. I kissed his eyelids, and he smiled.

"I love you so much." I whispered.

He held me closer. "I love you more."

We went back and forth until the sun set, squabbling like children about who loved who more. We decided it was a moot point, and that we both loved each other desperately.

The sky eventually darkened and faded to black, but neither of us made any move to leave. We stayed on our backs, watching the stars above, and glancing at each other occasionally, then laughing when we caught the other looking. The sky was clear for once of all clouds, and the moon made a perfect spotlight for us.

"Meeting you was pure destiny, you and I were meant to be. Maybe not now," Edward stroked my cheek. "But someday soon, we'll meet not under the sun, but beneath the moon. We'll watch the stars 'till they fade away, but we won't fade. Together we'll always stay. This is the day I'm waiting for, from that day I'll love you more and more. I can't wait to watch the sun set with you, every sunset from that day 'till the rest of our lives." His eyes sparkled with the depth of his passion.

"That was beautiful," I didn't realize I was crying again until my voice cracked. I quickly wiped the tears away. "Did you write that?"

He laughed and shook his head. "No, I read it in a book of poetry..." (A/N: The poem is called "Every Sunset" and it is written by Jessica Voyles. I had to include it in here.)

I hugged myself closer to him. "Thank you for the best summer I've ever spent. I'm glad you're my first love."

"No, Bella. Thank you for being perfect for me in every way imaginable. I promise I will see you again. I'll always love you."

We fell asleep eventually, in each other's arms. I woke up in the morning, still in Edward's arms, but he was carrying me through the forest, back to his car. He hadn't noticed that I was awake yet, and part of me wished that I wasn't awake and that last night could have just lasted forever, so this morning wouldn't have had to come to introduce me to misery. Before I could control myself, I began crying. The least I could do was cry silently so Edward wouldn't have to see the tears. I turned my head slightly into his chest to hide my face. I kept my face smooth as the tears rolled down.

Eventually, though, I began to slightly hyperventilate as I felt him beginning to slow down as he approached the car. He knew I was awake now, and he set me down in front of him, and hugged me into his chest.

"I l-love you, Ed...ward. I'm not r-read to l-l-leave you ye-yet." I hugged him tighter.

I could feel his chest shaking against my face, and at first I thought he was laughing at me, but when I looked up to his face, I watched as tears began rolling down his face, too. I wiped mine away, my sadness forgotten as I saw the pain in his eyes. He was obviously trying to hold all this in during the night. I stood on my tip-toes and kissed him.

His voice was stronger than mine was. "You mean the world to me. I feel like I'm losing my entire being by losing you. You have my heart in the palm of your hand, and you're taking it away with you. I want it to belong to you, forever." He sat on the hood of his car, and pulled me to sit in his lap. We sat there and watched the sun rise and the colors slowly go from purple to orange to pink and finally into blue.

"Are you going home today, too?" I asked quietly.

He nodded. "We packed up everything from the beach house last night. The only reason we stayed there so long is because we spent so much time on the beach there." He sighed.

The drive home, we both sat in silence. When we pulled into my driveway, I still wasn't ready for the eminent goodbye we would soon utter. I squeezed his hand.

"I love you." The words rang with their farewell.

"I love you, too." His voice was so forlorn. It killed me to do it, but I had to... I opened the door and walked up the porch to the door. I turned back to the car, and the calm mask he wore was slowly fading around the edges, I could tell he was about to cry again. I waved to him, and he drove off, the tears rolling down both of our faces now.

"I'll never forget you." I whispered to the sight of his car turning the corner back to the main road.

I was ready to get out of Forks now. With Edward gone, nothing was appealing anymore. It was just like my first few days here before I met him. Forks was uninteresting, plain, and boring. Nothing was special. Nothing was interesting. Nothing would help ease this pain. Nothing.

I walked inside, ready to go pack the few bags I had brought, when Charlie stopped me.

"Young lady! Where were you last night? You told me you were going out with Edward one last time before you left... And then you don't come home until early in the morning. You could have at least called! You could have--" He froze when he saw the tears streaming down my face. He pulled me into a hug, and I hugged him back, though I desperately wished for another pair of arms to be holding me. "It's okay, Bells. I know how much you like it here." Too bad he didn't know why I liked it here so much... Emphasis on the past-tense. I only nodded. "Your mother and I talked the other night... We talked it over, and we both decided that you can stay here and go to school here. Would you like that? I already bought that truck from Billy so you can keep it, and I have you registered to go to Forks High School. I know it will be tough for a while, but you'll make friends soon enough! It'll be me and you, Bells. Now we can always hang out together like a real family." The emotion and happiness was overpowering. How could I be so cruel as to tell him that I didn't want to be in Forks anymore? I couldn't walk out on him after he went through all the trouble to buy me the truck permanently... I couldn't break his heart through my selfishness. He was right; I would eventually make friends... Hopefully.

"Yeah, Dad. That would be really great." I attempted a smile and prayed that the tears still in my voice would mask over the lie. I couldn't stand to be doing nothing anymore. I had to distract myself before I could think too much about being stuck in Forks, while Edward was on his way back to his home, somewhere far, far away from here.

I tried to go outside to read, but the green trees that loomed overhead screamed "Edward!" I went back inside and wasted time by cleaning the kitchen, then moved on to clean the living room. I doubt I missed one speck of dust as I made my way through the downstairs. Dinner was simple. Homemade Macaroni and Cheese. It did taste good, but it wasn't enough to distract me.

When I went up to my bedroom, my eyes weren't ready to close. They stared ahead, waiting to become heavy enough to sleep. Heaviness came, but not a tired heavy; my eyes became overwhelmed with the tears I had composed all day for Charlie's sake. I cried all night, I couldn't sleep. I didn't want to sleep. I only wanted Edward.

Morning was too bright. The sun wasn't my friend anymore. It was like an obsessed stalker, determined to make the world's unhappiest person happy. It was trying to please a girl who was unable to be pleased. What a waste of time to even be shining today. I thought miserably to the sun. It peeked through my window as if it was checking on me. I glared back at it and shut my curtains over the window. The sunshine was taunting me.

I felt empty at breakfast. I wasn't even hungry, so I didn't eat. Charlie was already gone to work, which I was glad for because today would be filled with moping.

I had cleaned every inch of the small house, organized all the videos and DVDs into alphabetical order, did all the laundry, and I even cleaned all the baseboards around the house by the time Charlie got home. Anything to preoccupy me, I guess...

I made dinner again for Charlie. Tonight was lasagna and salad. I purposefully got myself a small portion of each, so Charlie wouldn't question my lack of appetite. I wonder if he would have noticed anyway, he got seconds and then thirds. Finally, he ate his last bite.

"That was really good, Bells; you sure can cook." He smiled at me.

"Thanks Dad."

The next week before school went similarly. I did whatever I could around the house, always in motion, only thinking about Edward when darkness overtook the sky. I cried myself to sleep. Edward had given me his heart, but he had taken mine in the process. I clutched my arms closer to my chest, imagining I was cradling his heart and putting it next to the empty hole in my heart. It made me feel a little better that wherever Edward was, he was looking after my heart as I looked after his.

I hope he is doing better than I was, though. I would hate to imagine him being anywhere near as miserable as I was. I couldn't handle that.

Before I could hardly realize it, Monday morning came, rearing its ugly head, and it was time to start school at Forks High School…

PLEASE REVIEW!!! I really want to get some more reviews, it will make me happyyyy. Pleaseee? Also, leave me any suggestions you have or any criticism.
Next chapter is about Bella's first day at Forks. :) I started writing it during school. I couldn't focus on any of my actual classes hardly!