I'm enjoying writing this story, even if I can't update as often as I'd like. Thanks for reading along, and here's hoping you enjoy it half as much as I enjoy writing it.

CHAPTER 3:

EPOV

I could hear her breathing changing before she even stirred. My eyes focused for the first time in hours, and I quickly stood. Still outside her doorway, I could hear her moving around in her bed, stretching, no doubt.

She yawned quietly and grew still again. I decided it would be a good time to move out of view, as she would certainly be getting out of bed at any moment.

Just as I was about to take my first silent step towards the next room, I froze at the sound of her voice.

"I know you're here."

I stayed perfectly still, furrowing my eyebrows. Was she talking to me? Perhaps her grandmother – sometimes she spoke to her as if she were still alive.

"I didn't cover up myself last night. I know you're here; I can feel you."

I silently cursed myself for the impulsive move last night, placing a throw over her in the chair like that. I knew better. Now that she was here, I was already getting careless.

I stayed silent and quietly slipped away into the next room. I would give her privacy to bathe and dress, even though I wanted more than anything to simply walk into the next room and allow her to finally see me: the voice who has never left her side for years, the one she couldn't wait to go to sleep just to hear me.

Last night she would have heard nothing. I had not spoken to her after she'd went back to sleep last night. It was the first night I'd denied her my presence.

Well-hidden in the next room, I could hear the whoosh of the covers being thrown back, no doubt in frustration.

I could hear the sounds of her rummaging around in her dresser, and then the water coming on. Then, she switched on some music and began singing along, her voice the sweetest sound I'd ever heard.

"You are not alone tonight, imagine me there by your side

It's so hard to be here so far away from you

I'm counting the days till I'm finally done

I'm counting them down, yeah one by one

It feels like forever till I return to you

But it helps me on those lonely nights

It's that one thing that keeps me alive

Knowing that you wait for me

Ever so patiently

No one else knows the feeling inside

We hang up the phone without saying goodnight

Because it's the sound of your voice that brings me home

It's never been easy to say

But it's easier when I've gone away

Knowing that you wait for me

Ever so patiently

You're everything I've ever dreamed of having

And it's everything I need from you just knowing

That you wait for me

What I'd give, what I'd do, knowing I'm not there for you

Makes it so hard to leave

What I'd give, what I'd do, anything to get me home to you

This time I'll stay.....

And you wait for me

Ever so patiently

You're everything I've ever dreamed of having

And it's everything I need from you just knowing

That you wait for me."

As the music came to an end, another song began to play. She didn't sing this one, however, but instead, it was quiet save for the occasional splashing of water.

The words she'd sang swam through my head, intoxicating me. She'd been waiting for me, and comforting herself, sure that I was waiting for her as well.

For the first time, I'd heard her speak what I'd felt from her all along: she wanted me...the voice she knew, the comforting presence, the one she couldn't wait to get to sleep to feel near to...me.

I could be old, wrinkly, and a complete ogre. Still, she wanted whoever I was, whoever was behind the voice, the feeling...she wanted.

The wheels quickly started turning in my head as I finally knew the answer to my dilemma that I'd struggled with for what seemed like eternity; I would come to her.

I would no longer hold back, so that she wouldn't fear me.

I would no longer hold back, to protect her from what I am.

I would no longer hold back, out of cowardice.

She needed me, wanted me. I needed her, wanted her, so badly.

Nothing would take her from me, ever.

I had much thinking to do. Satisfied with the sounds of the bathwater still sloshing around in the tub, I quietly stepped out of the adjacent room and silently made my way to the wine cellar. It was a separate phone line, one that no one knew about but myself and Marie, Isabella's grandmother.

Alice would know how this could be done. She would see.

BPOV

My first conscious thought was not one that pleased me, at all. When I'd left the study and came to bed for the night, he did not visit me as he always did.

Yet, I feel him stronger than ever, though I am awake. Instead of reeling from the loss of his voice last night in my sleep, there was only frustration.

I felt him all around me here. I'd felt it the minute I'd gotten on that plane to come over here and begin my new life.

I stared at the ceiling and decided that today I would begin to speak to him, as if he were listening. I knew he was real. I knew it just as one knows the wind is real; though it can't be touched or seen, one could feel it.

"I know you're here." I listened carefully, barely breathing so I could hear the tiniest of sounds.

There was nothing. I tried again.

"I didn't cover up myself last night. I know you're here; I can feel you."

Still, there was no sound, except the wind lightly blustering outside. Fitting, I told myself. I can hear the wind today, but not my mystery voice.

I threw the covers back and decided to get my bath and dress. Today I would explore the castle a bit more to see if anything had changed downstairs.

I grabbed my iPod and dock, along with my clothes, and ran my bathwater. Singing along to a song that had gotten my through many an impatient day waiting for my beloved night time with him, I relaxed and sang my frustrations away.

EPOV

Alice had confirmed that this was meant to be, yet again, as she reminded me. She'd politely told me that if I didn't introduce myself to Isabella, she would drag herself up here and introduce herself first.

That had been the last little nudge I'd needed to shore up my resolve. Alice had sworn that it would only be time lost with Isabella, every day that I waited. She assured me that I just needed to man up and do it, sooner than later.

I listened for her whereabouts, and found her heartbeat in the direction of the kitchen. I made my way upstairs quietly, and in the shadows.

I could hear her chewing something, and smiled to myself as I pictured me sitting across from her at the kitchen table each morning.

It was once again almost impossible to keep my feet planted firmly in place, telling myself there was a time and a place to do this. While she was chewing her breakfast was certainly not it. She'd probably choke to death on her food, being startled by me at a most inopportune time.

I would wait for her to be in the study again. That would be the sign I would wait for. When she sat down in the chair by the fire again, as last night, I would come to her.

BPOV

Maddening....it was maddening. There was so much food in this place, that I would surely need nothing for days, if not a couple of weeks or more.

As I sat at the kitchen table alone, eating a banana, I thought of the day a few weeks ago when we'd gotten the letter from the British solicitor representing my grandmother's estate.

My parents and I hadn't even known she was to inherit anything from the Cullen family. She'd been with them for many years, keeping the castle for the family. They did not live on the estate, but entrusted her with its care.

My mother had literally hit the floor when she'd opened the notarized letter that afternoon. My father had taken her to the hospital, where she'd been given a nice little prescription of Xanax, and sent home.

They'd shown me the letter over dinner, and we'd discussed what everyone already knew I would do about it.

I'd made no secret about going to England after I graduated high school, even after my grandmother passed away. I'd either stay with Rose and Jasper, or get my own place and enroll in courses.

My father had tried to forbid it, my mother had attempted to guilt-trip me with another trip to the hospital, but by the end of the week, they knew I was serious.

The castle had been willed specifically to Marie Swan's granddaughter, Isabella Marie Swan, myself. The will had stated that if anything had happened to me before my 18th birthday, as in, if I'd croaked, it was to remain in the Cullen family.

No one could figure out why it had skipped over from my mother to myself. It was assumed that since I'd spent every summer there visiting since I was little, that the Cullen family had wished me to live there when I was of age, since I loved it there so much.

It was a thinly veiled explanation for what we all knew was an unbelievably generous gift from the family, the family that I had never even met personally.

But it was all legitimate, in writing, and waiting for me personally to just turn 18 and accept it.

I couldn't figure out how it all tied in to him, except for that it had all began in the castle on a summer visit.

A noise startled me out of my thoughts, and as I turned to my right and looked into the hallway, I couldn't help but fawn over the sight that was strolling over to me.

"Sherlock!" I scooped the old cat up and draped him over my shoulder, stroking his soft fur as he purred loudly.

"How old are you now, anyways? Eight? You're an old man now, mister."

He was a gift to me by the family one summer when I was turning ten. I had asked my parents for a cat too many times to count, but my mom was allergic.

One morning in my bed upstairs, my grandmother had came in to wake me for the day, and we were both surprised to find a kitten snuggled on the bed with me.

She smiled, and said that the family had mentioned that every little girl needed a kitten to love. She'd had tears in her eyes as she'd watched me carefully pet him and adore him.

"Isabella, you are loved" she'd said, before wiping her eyes and leaving me and Sherlock to get to know one another. I'd not known what to make of it, but now something about Sherlock seemed to be more than meets the eye.

I scooped him off my shoulder and set him back on the floor, standing and looking down at him thoughtfully.

"You were a gift from the family, huh Sherlock? This castle was a gift from the family too. Coincidence much?"

I threw my banana peel away and looked around in the pantry for cat food, which I easily came across.

Filling him up a bowl, and not having a clue where his real bowl was at the moment, I patted him on the head and left him to his informal breakfast.

I was going to do some exploring today since the weather was turning colder already. It looked like snow was coming with the gray skies approaching.

Heading down the stairs to the tunnels leading to the cellars and outside to the gardens, my eyes took in everything along the way, hoping for a clue about the Cullens. I needed to know more.

After wandering around for a few minutes, it became apparent that I wouldn't find what I was looking for down here.

Then, the thought crossed my mind that perhaps there would be something in the master bedroom that would help. I had never entered that room before, and was suddenly curious as to what I would find.

EPOV

Shit. Shit, shit, shit. She's already thinking about the cat. Sherlock had been a gift from me, of course. Marie had known who it was from, and it had touched her, I think, that I had given Isabella what she so badly wanted.

Of course I would give her what her heart desired, even if it was not what I wanted. I'd always hope for the best.

But the furry little old beast had to come wandering in there while she sat, lost in thought, meowing and welcoming her. He'd made her think even harder about something, and then she'd just taken off downstairs like she was on a mission.

I'd stayed on the main floor while she disappeared downstairs, out of sight. She's reappeared shortly after, only to go straight upstairs with a mischievous grin on her face.

I followed, curious as to what had her in such a state of activity. When I realized she was in my room, I panicked. I'd kept my things out of sight when she returned, but it wouldn't take much for her to find them, if she began opening drawers and doors.

Of course, she had always been a curious girl; it was only a matter of time before she found something.

I heard her footsteps on the wooden floor as she made her way through the room. I didn't hear anything opening, but I did hear her...on my bed.

I risked a glance from across the hall into my room, and saw my beautiful girl sitting on my four post bed.

I want.

As my arousal became painfully evident, seeing her on my bed, she did the unthinkable; she lay back and sighed.

I ran my hand through my unruly hair and gripped a handful in frustration. How easy it would be to take the few steps closer to my heart's desire.

I didn't, remembering that I had a plan. I would stick to the plan. The plan. The plan. The plan.

As I chanted silently to myself, willing myself to stay put, she rolled onto her side, and inhaled my pillows.

Oh, the breathtaking smile she wore on her face in that moment, at what must be my scent. She did the same to the blanket I'd placed over her last night.

I stepped back into the shadows, calming myself with my mantra. The plan. The plan.

I laid my head against the stone walls and inwardly prayed to someone, anyone, that she would come to the study again tonight, as she always does each evening to read by the fire. Even as a little girl, she never missed reading by the fire each night.

Please, let her come tonight.

I could scarcely wait until then.