Chapter 2
Bella was here, and I felt whole again. The misery in my cold heart melted.
Gazing down at her, my lips stretched into a wider smile. She was even more radiant than she had ever been to me. Heaven had captured her beauty, and I was stunned into silence. She was my angel now, and we could be together for eternity.
I had found love once again though I never deserved her in the first place.
I squeezed my eyes tight, and I wrapped my arms around her, moving her closer to me. She felt frantic in my arms, desperate for me to hold her.
"Edward," she said, out of breath. Her eyes were red-rimmed though they shined brightly up at me, as if she were seeing me for the first time. She was scared and amused all at once.
"You've got to get back into the shadows! You have to move!" She said, gasping for air.
My poor Bella, she had been tortured so much to the point that it stabbed me inside.
Wait a moment. The shadows? Was Bella frightened of this new place? I stared down at her in awe, wanting so much to kiss her and tell her that she was safe now, and nothing would ever hurt her again. Not even me.
I gently touched her cheek, soothing her in a comforting motion.
"I can't believe how quick it was. I didn't feel a thing. They're very good," I whispered to her, a bit concerned for her expression was painful to look at. She was horrified. I wondered at that moment what I must look like to her.
She was trembling and I could still hear her heartbeats, as quick as they were. Her heart was pounding. Bella still left me completely breathless as well. Her stunning scent hit me again, and I realized I still thirsted for her. Heaven was as glorious as I had imagined it.
The love of my life was with me. Forever.
I sighed, searching her warm brown eyes. That little crease between her eyes was still there, due to her stress.
She had endured such a traumatizing transition to heaven. I didn't even want to think about how she had died. I shook off that impulse and soaked in her serene presence. It did me well. I felt complete, and well…as if nothing had ever come between us.
Until death do us part…I thought to myself. I smiled down at her. Not even death could tear apart such a love as ours.
I closed my eyes and inhaled her rich, floral scent, nuzzling my lips into her sweet hair. I said softly, "Death that hath sucked the honey of thy breath, hath had no power upon thy beauty."
I tenderly stroked her silky skin. She was my heaven.
I shook with reverent joy, as a clock chimed once again. I ignored it, so wrapped up in this union with Bella Swan. I swore to myself that she would never leave my arms.
I pressed my mouth closer to her, my nose in her hair now. "You smell just exactly the same as always." I paused, as she relaxed in my embrace. "So maybe this is hell. I don't care, I'll take it."
"I'm not dead, and neither are you!" Bella replied, surprising me.
I was perplexed for I knew that she had jumped off the cliff. Rosalie had told me so. I knew I had decided to end my own life the moment that I had called Charlie's home and was told by Jacob Black that her father was at her funeral.
How could she not be dead?
