First of all, I just thought I should inform everyone that Phantom of the Rocky Labyrinth nominated me for Fan fiction of the week on The Twilight Awards website! So that is wicked cool, and I am quite thankful. Just thought I should inform you, in case you were curious. If I win anything I will let you guys know.

Second, I know it took me longer to update than usual. Two days was just as painful for me as it may have been for you, I can assure you. But I hope this new plot encrusted, fluff covered chapter will make up for my lack of updates.

On with the story…

(Ps does anyone else feel like I need an announcer to be like, previously, on Loyalty and Love…)

The taxi pulled down a private drive. It was almost a mile long, separating the house from the rest of the world that didn't surprise me. Carlisle and Esme always went for a house they could get where we didn't have to watch every move we made. If we wanted to run we could run. If we wanted to go outside in the sun we didn't have to worry about small children asking their parents why we were all sparkling.

The drive was lined with tall thick trees that effectively blocked even this part of the yard from the public eye. It was a perfect setting. Then I saw the house. Its grandiose did not surprise me in the least bit. We had money and frankly, between Esme's housewarming instinct and Alice's unending urge to shop until there was nothing left to buy, we spent it. Not that our spending really meant much. When your sister could predict each and every rise and fall in stocks, causing a build up of so much money there was no way you could ever spend it all even if you lived forever…well, it may have seemed ostentatious to have house so big and grand but really, what else were we going to do with our money?

The imposing behemoth of a building had three stories. The front had large Roman style pillars holding up the grand entrance. I could see large windows on each of the upper floors and French doors leading to covered balconies. It was a large estate as well. The grounds rolled for almost six acres straight until it met the tree line where I was sure we owned much of the land as well. This was home now. I already knew what the inside looked like. In Alice's mind I had seen the layout and had memorized it as she mentally went through the house for my benefit.

I paid the cab driver as Bella stepped out onto the gravel drive. As the car pulled away I took a moment to simply admire this place.

"Welcome home," Bella whispered to me. "Carlisle is at work now but he should be home later. And I am sure Alice will be willing to start filling you in on the party plans as soon as we get inside. Take a deep breath, Edward, you never know what awaits you on the other side of that door."

I grinned. Truer words had never been spoken. In Volterra I knew I would never had gotten attacked with silly string as soon as I crossed the threshold of my own home. No one would pounce on me as I came out of the shower to try and get a naked picture of me to plaster all over the city. No one swung a tree at me when I didn't want to go wrestle with them. Certainly there would be no bad vampire karaoke. The thought of Emmett singing Gloria Gainer's "I will survive" always brought a smile to my face.

So we stepped into the house together, letting out a breath I hadn't realized we were holding as we closed the door behind us. Bella let out a slow sigh of relief as I gazed around the foyer. White marble floor led to a staircase that branched off into two separate winding sets of steps, each leading to a separate wing. I knew this place already. It was automatically comforting, like coming home even though I had not ever been there.

"Wow, I am surprised we went unnoticed," Bella muttered, "One time I got in the door and all of a sudden―"

"EDWARD!" Alice screamed from the top of the stairs. She was down them in less than a second and was giving me a firm hug, crushing what little air was left in my lungs.

"Oh I am so happy you are home! It was touch and go there for a while, things kept changing and I wasn't sure…but…Bella you really pulled through didn't you?"

She had finally stepped back, letting me take a breath. Bella nodded with a wicked smile as the rest of the family sans Carlisle came into the entrance hall via the stairs or the halls to our left and right.

There was excited chatter and thoughts racing fast and joyful. Bella let go of my hand gently and I turned to her, confused.

"Too much thinking going on in here. Its just too much for me right now," she confessed and I let it drop. I had learned to push away the thoughts of others when it as driving me crazy to have them in my head so I figured I could do the same for her. It seemed that even when I could keep them out it did not stop Bella from hearing them.

But even without the physical contact that I couldn't help but crave, being with my family was soothing. Knowing that I was here for good, that we were safe, that I had them and the woman I would love until the end of the world was such a comfort. It was so nice to finally feel at peace. After decades of solitude, I was given this gift just to have it taken back—twice. The months of despair that followed were only a taste of what could have been if it were not for Bella's insane attempts to recover me. She had managed to get to Volterra and get me back successfully, neither of us being dead or even injured in the process. I suppose this should not have surprised me. Bella was able to do just about anything she put her mind to.

So instead of dwelling on the horrible things that could have been, I focused on the happiness on Esme's face as she spoke to Bella. I listened to the joyous thoughts my siblings were having. Alice was ecstatic about the two of us being back. Even though she went out of her way to make sure I had absolutely no idea what she had seen that did not end in this happy reunion. I watched Bella's expressions and heard the intonation of her voice as she spoke easily to everyone. I forgot sometimes that she had already been here for months by now. Everyone knew her.

Has he shagged her yet? Ha ha, shagged. God I do love England.

I looked over to Emmett, the only one whose mind would automatically find it necessary to think such a thing. He returned my look and arched an eyebrow. He knew I had just heard the thought that passed through his mind. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't very well answer him out loud and I couldn't make a promise to answer him later without everyone else wondering what I was talking about. But I didn't exactly feel like airing that particular fact in front of my family, and I didn't know how embarrassed Bella would be if I were to make that information public.

However, to Emmett my lack or response was good enough. He grinned widely.

So?

To that I shook my head. He could know that it happened, I certainly was not sharing details. Just because he decided on telling everyone every detail of his romantic relationship with Rosalie did not mean that I felt particularly inclined to do the same. He shrugged.

"What are you boys talking about?" Bella purred softly into my ear. She was so perceptive. She knew just by the subtle gestures that there was something going on.

"Well actually, Bella, Edward was just about to share the details of―"

"EMMETT!"

"…Your heroic rescue. Weren't you, Edward?" he asked. Now I was the one embarrassed. Everyone looked at me, their faces and minds confused as to why I would not want him to reveal that bit of information. I glared at Emmett. Bella's face quirked and she took a hold of my hand covertly.

I just wanted to know if it was what you thought it would be! I mean is she at least—

Emmett did not finish his thought before Bella closed the two feet or so distance between us and clouted him. His head snapped back and then he turned and looked at her, very shocked.

"I heard that!" she said, her face contorted somewhere between anger and amusement. She held up our entwined hands. Emmett sighed heavily.

"So now I have to worry about both of you in my head? Where does it end, Bella? Where?" he asked, overplaying the dramatics of the situation. But Bella laughed. She was enjoying his drama-queen act. Clearly this was part of the bond they had built.

"I don't think it does, Emmett," she replied, just as theatrically. Emmett shot a grin her way. This easy banter, this playful mood that extended through everyone in the room lifted me.

The worry I had felt before, the anxiety that had been building ever since we left Italy was slowly dissipating. Maybe this was it. Maybe it was actually all over. No more threats, no more problems. Just some semblance of happiness for the rest of forever. What I wouldn't have given for that to be the truth.

Bella then detached us from the rest of the group and led me to the room she had been occupying. It was obviously our room now that I was home. I had not seen this room in Alice's mind, likely because she had no reason to document each and every one of the rooms in the whole house. The room was a serene blue. The large windows overlooked the back yard. There was a covered balcony coming off this room as there had been on some of the others I had seen as we drove up. It looked as any normal bedroom should look other than that. A queen-sized bed with a bed set to match the pain sat in the corner. A door to our private bathroom sat over to the right.

It was a very nice room. I could imagine spending a lot of time with her here. It was calming, like a soothing song for your senses. Then I thought of it. A song. My piano was still here!

Without warning I grabbed Bella by the hand and yanked her down the stairs. I raced past the family who were all sitting around in the main living room and went into the dining hall where I had seen my piano in Alice's mind. It took all my control to not clap my hands in excitement.

I had not played my piano in years. It was one of the many things I missed about home. Music was one of my passions. It was one of the few things that ever seemed to truly come close to filling the void in my life. Music was expression at its best. Through a song you could communicate every feeling you had with perfect tone and inflection. It could be beautiful and sad, or loud and angry. It could profess love in any number of ways or it could portray heartbreak. It made you feel as though at least one other person in all the word could truly understand what it felt like to be happy the way you were, or miserable or fed up or in love. Music was magical.

I let go of Bella's hand and went to my piano, pulling out the bench in front of it with something like awe. I sat down as Bella leaned against the wall behind me. She sighed with contentment. I had expected the keys to be covered with a fine coat of dust at least. No one played it but me and I had not exactly been here. I touched each key with reverence, feeling the cool ivory beneath my fingers, seeing not a single speck of dust upon them.

"I would sit here sometimes," Bella said from behind me. "When I missed you most I would just come sit here and pretend you were playing something for me. Alice said you used to play a lot. I just…it was nice to know just another one of those little Edward fun facts."

I turned to her face, seeing the expression on it caught in reverie like remembering a moment in time long since past. Her face came back to mine after a moment and she smiled a soft, sad smile.

"Would you like me to play something for you now?" I asked her. She nodded, the smile on her face losing the sadness. I looked back to the keys and inhaled deeply. I wanted to play something beautiful for her—something wonderful that would uplift her, take her away from the sadness that had taken her for that brief moment.

So I settled myself to play a lullaby I had heard years and years before, something sweet and biting. It struck me to my core every time I played it. If I had been able to cry this would have been a song that would have brought tears to my eyes. As the melody drifted and the minor chords shifted, giving way to brighter, lovelier sounds I heard Bella gasp almost inaudibly behind me.

My love for music, my passion for melody blended with my passion for Bella. To enchant her so with this song was wonderful. She enchanted me so often and on so many levels of my being I only wanted to be able to return the favor occasionally. When the song was finished I left my hands on the ivory for a few moments, feeling the wonder of finally being able to return to one of the things I loved with no penalty.

I felt as though I owed the universe something for what I now had. As I had been before I left I was damned, a loathsome creature, a monster. But at least then I could not claim happiness as I did now. At that time I had my family to help fill the cavity inside of me, but I was not whole. But now I had everything I could ever want from this existence. If I were to die that very moment I would have only regretted not being able to have more time with Bella. But now I had this euphoria. Surely there was some price to pay? Could I really be this disgusting thing and be so wonderfully happy with no repercussions?

The rest of my family seemed to do so. But they had never struggled with our damnation the same way I had. Adjusting to this new life was hard enough right after I was changed. But my adjustment had never seemed to end. I struggled each and every day that I continued to exist with what I was, the needs inside me that claimed so much of my life. It disgusted me, chilled me, made me ache and burn for some sort of greater understanding that my siblings and parents seemed to posses. How was it they were able to come to terms with this living hell, the disgrace we were and not wallow in miserable self-loathing? It was while pondering this very question I came to the answer to myself.

Love. Love was the answer. It was this…force that drove them to do so many strange things. I knew the thoughts that came with love. It could make them swell with admiration. It could leave them completely unable to think at all in awe. It could make them irrational and aggravated. But on the whole it seemed to make them so happy. I wanted that happiness. I wanted that sort of enjoyment from my life. But I could not find the love I needed in them. I had held such hopes that I could use the love I had for my whole family and the love they had for me as a sort of substitute for what they had for their significant other. But it was not enough.

I felt selfish and a little foolish as I told Carlisle that I needed to try and find what I was missing. Who was I to disregard the blessings I had been given? Was a loving family not enough for a beast such as myself? But as much as the creature inside me screamed that it could be enough if I would only let it, the human that still held a tiny bit of my mind and heart craved affection such as I saw in my family. They knew joys beyond what I had ever discovered, even though I was among the oldest in the family. Such joys I had discovered in Bella after so long away from the others in this world I cared for most. And now I had them all and we were together. Surely there was a cost for such a blessed existence?

"It was lovely," Bella said, pulling me from my musings. I felt her step closer to me and then rest her cheek on top of my head. I wished to turn my face and touch my lips to her soft cheek. Instead I settled on inhaling the intoxicating scent of her hair that fell into my face. She moved suddenly so she was sitting beside me, leaning her body against mine. It felt so right, so natural, to have her close to me. She fit perfectly in all my spaces, taking up all the holes I had in me. When Carlisle said she completed me I don't think he knew how right he was.

I turned my face to lay a kiss on her forehead. She anticipated my movements and tilted her own face up to meet my lips with hers. I smiled into her sweet kiss. This was what my life was going to be like evermore. An eternity of sweet kisses. Forever filled with music and laughter and this incredible love he could not possibly hope to understand. It filled the depths of me, this overwhelming joy that was impossible to describe. I wanted only for Bella to feel this too. I wanted her to know what this sensation was, to experience it for herself.

"Edward?"

"Yes, love?"

"Promise me that this is what forever will feel like," she said simply. It as not a question but a request—a demand almost—that I swear to her she could have this for eternity. I assured her swiftly, covering her face with light kisses, promising her with each and every one that I would never let anything come between is and this joy I was feeling ever again. No Volturi, no arrangements or trades or any other nonsense. I looked into her eyes and spoke the promise for her once more, telling her with every fiber of my body I would never do anything but love her. I was a powerful creature. I could accomplish things that human physics deemed impossible. I could do so much with so little effort. But around Bella I found myself completely at her mercy. She could tell me to lick her shoes clean and if she did it with the right look and the right voice I would happily oblige her, no questions asked.

Before any other words were spoken Alice came to the door, silently telling me Carlisle was home. I felt Bella sit up straight as the thoughts passed through her mind as well. The smile on her face was glorious. I would do whatever it took to make her smile that way each and every day for the rest of time without end. She tugged on my hand like an inpatient child as her eyes filled with an entreaty to please come see Carlisle. Of course I agreed with my own silence as I stood.

Seeing my father's face as I walked into the living room was almost as unbelievably refreshing as seeing Bella. There was relief in those ocher eyes, betraying even before his thoughts did how worried he had been that Bella would surely fail at trying to take me away from Volterra.

Without words he embraced me, welcoming me back home to the family, to the shelter love we created for each other here. We could not change what we were, but we could make this existence more bearable and ease the loneliness that plagued even the strongest of us. I knew the depths of this lonesomeness, and I understood how wonderful it was to finally know the ache could subside to give way to sincere contentment.

"It is quite good to see you," he said, I smiled.

"You have no idea," I replied.

We exchanged many more pleasantries over the next few days. Mostly we sat together as a family, talking and laughing and enjoying each other's company. Years of life I had not been privy to were explained to me, embarrassing experiences were recounted to me, made only better because I could see what actually happened during each of these moments. I shared this with Bella, who would burst into hysterical laughter as I did. And other times we would just listen to the stories were told. After a while we ended up closer to the present time. Bella would chime in with stories sometimes, explaining something that happened while I was away.

It made me feel so wonderful to know that my family loved her as much as I did. Even Rosalie, who had been by far the most reluctant to admit a new member to our close ranks, felt a sort of mild affection for her. She thought she was naïve and young, and she was in many ways, but she also thought she was sort of cute, in a little sister sort of way.

After almost three days of doing little else but sitting with each other we finally broke apart. Carlisle had taken time off of work so he could spend it with us while we all got used to my being back. He and Esme went out to go get supplies for the garden Esme was determined to start this week. Alice and Jasper went on to try and finish the chess game they had been playing for almost two months now. Rosalie went with Emmett to do things I did not want to know about. Bella made a disgusted face as I pushed the thoughts away rapidly. She dropped my hand and pulled away to avoid any more of the thoughts they were having of each other until they had gone away a little. I was happy to simply sit with Bella, having her near me was enough to satisfy my greatest needs.

She sighed gently beside me. She reached out tentatively and touched the skin on my arm. Clearly finding that Emmett and Rose's thoughts were muffled enough for her liking at the moment she scooted closer to me, filling the empty spaces once again.

"One day you will have to teach me some sort of control over this," she told me, nestling her face against my shoulder.

"Over your gift or mine?" I asked lazily.

"Both. Either. I don't care, as long as I can try and block out some of the things people are thinking when I touch you, I will be happy. I don't know how you handle it all the time, I really don't. It would drive me up the wall."

"Well I cant try and teach you now if you would like," I offered. I felt her shake her head even though I could not see her. I had closed my eyes, relinquishing my sight in exchange for giving myself to all my other senses. Her scent seemed to intensify with each breath. The softness of her skin as she traced circles on the back of my hand ran tiny bolts of electricity though every inch of my skin in a pulsing, rhythmic pattern. The sound of her voice was like a song I had never learned but longed to play.

"No, don't bother. It is okay for now. I don't want to waste this moment," she said quietly. I knew exactly what she meant. I don't know exactly how long it was that we sat there together, doing nothing but holding the other. In my mind I was thinking of a song, something bittersweet and chillingly beautiful. It was Bella if she could be translated into music, or more aptly it was one of the many facets of Bella I wished I could capture. This song was like our first meeting. The feelings I got when I first saw her were almost perfectly transcribed in the delicate melody of this tune.

This song could not describe her strength or determination. It did not portray her love, nor her caring, gentle demeanor. That was for another song. This one was only for the first moment I saw her. Perhaps through music I could show her everything she no longer remembered. If music was magic, maybe this could be a way for her to experience everything all over again, if only to understand what she was to me.

"Bella," I murmured. She opened her eyes and looked into mine. She looked as though she had been sleeping. When her lids finally lifted her eyes were like pitch. She was hungry, or would be feeling the pangs of the thirst very soon.

"Yes?"

"You need to hunt," I told her. She nodded.

"I know. But I was so happy to finally get to just sit with you. We were always rushed. We had to hurry before Aro demanded I was changed. We had to hurry before you were taken away. We had to hurry before we were discovered and you sent me away. We had to hurry before we were forced to leave Volterra or be killed. I hated being so rushed but we had no choice in the matter. Now I can sit here with you and no one bothers us for days. I didn't want to get up from one of the only things I have wanted for so long."

"What number was that on your list?" I asked, remembering her telling me of a list she made of things she wanted to do after her change.

"That was number five," she said. I knotted my brow. The first three had been kisses. Number five was what we had just done.

"What was number four?" I inquired.

"Oh, we already took care of number four," she told me, that same playful smirk in her eyes I was becoming accustomed to. I gaped at her.

"And you accused me of being a sexual deviant! While you were changing you were thinking about that? Isabella Marie, I cant believe you!" I said in disbelief. She laughed.

"Are you complaining?" she asked, her voice suddenly low and serious. I shook my head. Her smile widened.

"I didn't think so," she whispered as she leaned in for a kiss. I indulged her, giving in with no fight whatsoever. As the kiss began to become more passionate and less sweet I heard the distinct sound of steps and Alice's polite little cough. I broke from Bella, breathing in as deeply as I could manage.

"Bella, we should probably take you hunting. You haven't eaten in a few days," Alice said. Bella scowled.

"When will I be able to go as long as you do without feeding?" she asked with a pout. Clearly she did not like the idea of leaving.

"The first year is the hardest. I am surprised you can control yourself as well as you do. You usually feed every other day. I know you broke from that schedule to go to Italy, but we should get you back on it as son as possible."

Bella sighed and lifted herself from the couch gracefully.

"Stay here, Edward. I get sort of gross while hunting and while I am sure you won't care, I can pretend to have some shred of dignity for my own piece of mind. I will be back shortly," she told me. I nodded, reluctant to let her go. She leaned down and graced me with one more kiss before scampering out the door with Alice, talking about inane things that meant so little and so much to just hear her speak.

I went back to my piano, trying to piece together the song I had been imagining earlier. The softness of the chords, the striking sound of the notes as they rang out together was as close as I could come to capturing that first moment. I wanted it to be done for when she came home. I wanted her to hear this song and suddenly remember. I knew she wouldn't, but I wanted it.

So I perfected the progressions and notes that danced lightly along the keys. My fingers moved nimbly as I closed my eyes attempting to absorb the music completely as I my mind took me back to the frozen image of a girl I had not known I would grow to love so fiercely. Finally the pitch matched the moment. The dynamics were flowing to compliment the tune correctly. It was done, complete. Or at least as complete as a first attempt could be. I was sure later I would play it again and rearrange something or rewrite it completely. I took a leap of faith and looked inside the bench I was sitting on. There was a pad of blank sheet music and a few pens still in there, begging to scribe this melody so it could not be forgotten, not that I would.

I penned this newest creation and set it on the shelf. I waited. It had been a few hours since Alice and Bella left. It was not unusual for it to take this long, even longer depending on the trip. But I was still anxious for them to come home.

Almost an hour after I had finished writing the song—during which time I played it countless times and changed things around to fit it more completely—I heard the hushed, nervous words of Alice as she walked into the house.

"…I know I have to but I am just so afraid of what he will say," she confessed.

"I know, but you cant not tell him," Jasper replied. I was surprised. I had assumed she was talking to Bella. What did she have to tell someone? I resisted the urge to delve into their thoughts, trying to avoid invading their privacy. But without warning, Alice's mind pushed into mine.

She is gone, Edward.

"WHAT?" I demanded. I rose to standing, seeing both she and Jasper standing in the doorway. Alice was supposed to look after her while they went hunting. She was supposed to take care of her because Bella insisted I not come along. Why hadn't I just gone anyway? Oh I knew it, I knew there was no way things could be that good for long. I didn't deserve such happiness and now even though I didn't even know what was happening I could feel the euphoric feeling drain from me completely.

"One moment she was there and off hunting. I didn't need to hunt so I took to just sticking around to supervise. And now I can't…find her. I looked for almost an hour but she is just gone."

"Taken?" I asked, desperate. She shrugged. I saw Jasper wince as my emotions flared. Anger was only beaten by the sadness that had crept into me. I clenched my fists, trying to ride it out. I remembered Bella doing something similar during her change. She had tried so hard to just ride it out, like it would be over soon. Three agonizing days that felt like forever. I would not have even bothered with forever if she were gone. I would gladly die and find her in whatever came after this life, be it Hell or otherwise, if she was dead.

"I didn't see anything else around us. My visions of her are always fuzzy, if I have them at all, because of her immunity and all. I just…I don't know what happened. I am so sorry. I know I…I should have…"

Alice collapsed back against Jasper, barely able to keep herself standing. She was miserable. She was so guilt ridden it was almost sickening. She was thinking over and over again that it was her fault. She was replaying in her mind over and over the last moment she saw Bella. She had just smiled at Alice before running off to find something to satiate the thirst. And then she was gone for a long time—too long. So Alice went to find her. But Bella didn't answer her calls, nor did Alice stumble upon her.

"I…Alice it isn't your fault. Please tell Carlisle and Esme I am going to look for her," I said, hearing the hollow sound of my voice as I brushed past her and Jasper. I was out the door at a slow jog and then running through the yard. I was in the woods at a full sprint before I even knew what was happening. I didn't know this area at all. It wasn't that I was afraid of getting lost; I just had no idea where to look. So I made my search systematic. I traipsed through every inch of the large forest. I traveled miles in a few short hours, searching with frantic desperation.

Alice called me to apologize once more and tell me that she had called Demitri and he said the Volturi had not come after Bella or I. She was not taken by one of them. Perhaps she was not taken at all. What if she had just gone?

That thought stopped me in my tracks. What if Bella had simply left me? What if she decided while on this little hunt she wanted to see the world without me? What my love was not enough, I was not enough to make her stay?

I felt a sob tear through me. I had to stop. I had to take a moment to control the pain that ripped my body apart. I prayed that could not be it. She said she loved me, she told me in so many ways. She risked the Volturi for me. She almost died for me. She defended me. She did things that disgusted her because she knew it was the only way to make sure we could be together. She gave herself to me without supplication on my part. Were those things someone did when they were not in love? I told myself that no, she would not have been willing to risk and give so much if only to decide she did not love me.

So after assuring myself a few times I continued on with my search. Carlisle called me a few hours later to see if I had found her. I hadn't. The only thing I had to make me believe I was going in the right direction was the faintest presence of her scent. I swore it was her fragrance I was following and not my imagination as I made my way through towns and countryside, tracing her scent like a bloodhound. I kept going. I needed to find her. She was everything. She was the only thing that mattered.

And then as I neared the edge of a fresh patch of woods her scent picked up. I was over by the coast now. I could smell the tang of the sea and hear the waves crashing with a distant rhythm. This did not soothe me as her smell became stronger. I was coming near to where she was. But was she alive? Was she alone? Could there be another?

I quickly disqualified that possibility. I would have known. She would have smelled like them. I would have been able to tell. Even if in the time I had seen her she had not seen them would one of the others not noticed that she was covered in another's scent? Would they not have seen the clear difference in her demeanor or her behavior? I would have hoped so, and then I would have hoped they would have told me, or I would have heard their thoughts of it upon my return.

Which left me with the option that she was dead or dying or injured and so far away from home. Why was she here? What had driven her to run? Or was she taken here in the hopes that no one would find her?

I continued to run, a little slower now, to try and pick up the exact location instead of a general direction. I could feel her getting closer as my body picked up her presence the same way it was picking up her smell. I came to a set of bluffs and looked frantically for the woman I loved so much. Down almost a mile I could see a tiny figure. It had to be Bella. So I sprinted as fast as I could, running with all the strength and speed I had in me. I ran as though it was my life that depended on my swiftness, not hers. And it might as well have been. Bella was entwined with me so intricately now I didn't know if I could find a way to separate us. If I was running to save her life, mine was just as much at stake.

I slowed as I neared the figure that I now knew to be Bella. The scent was unmistakable. The shape of her body, even as she was turned away from me was hers. She was looking out over the sea as if she was searching for something.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. Her voice was full of pain and fear and what sounded almost like anger. I approached her slowly, afraid of what was happening. I wished for what seemed like the millionth time I could simply read her mind and know what this was about.

"Bella?"

"Kill me, Edward. Just…kill me."

I could not form words to respond to that sentence. How could she ask that of me? Before I could regain my composure and eloquence she turned to me. The first thing I noticed was that her face was twisted in unimaginable agony. The second was that her eyes were no longer the beautiful butterscotch I expected them to be after a hunt, neither were they a flat black as they had been before they left the house.

The solid crimson of her irises stared back at me.