I imagined many different scenarios of our reunion. There was one where he knelt down and begged me to come back. Or the one where he saved me from a gang of hoodlums in one swift movement then carried me away in his arms towards the sunset. My favourite was the one where he barged right into my bedroom, took me to his arms and kissed me feverishly.

Yeah, those were my brief fantasies when I allowed myself to be masochistic once in a while.

But never had I envisioned this.

Edward's hair fell out of place as if he just got out of bed. His wet shirt had brown stains on it and his pants also look beat. Nevertheless, his tight-lipped face was still as white as ever and despite some touch of dirt, there was no question about the elegant features he possessed.

I saw everything except his eyes. I never ventured there for fear that I would see what I saw in them when he left me.

"Bella," he repeated in his scratchy voice.

I couldn't answer again. This was real. No daydreaming. No trap from my nightmares.

I looked down and ignored his demanding tone.

When I felt myself brave enough, I snatched a glance at his eyes. I had expected them to be my favourite topaz but I was surprised to see that they were coal black. Underneath them are purplish bruises that marred his ivory skin.

I was about to open my mouth to ask him what had happened when suddenly, a gust of wind fanned my hair from where Jasper was standing. I cast a double look because everything had happened too fast. He disappeared from my right and before I could even grasp what was going on, he had pinned down Edward to the ground.

Jasper's face was calm and determined, but the deception ended there. His look was unrelenting as he clasped Edward's shirt and joggled him on the ground. Loud thuds erupted and I feared Jasper was going to break Edward's neck off.

"Stop! Stop!" I yelled at Jasper. "What are you doing?!"

Jasper didn't look at me but he stared at Edward's face. I knew then that he was communicating something to Edward. I didn't know what it was about but Edward closed his eyes and pursed his lips. He wasn't moving. He didn't even fight back against Jasper to let himself loose when I knew he could have.

"Let go! Why are you hurting him?" I shouted again at Jasper.

Still not letting go of Edward's shirt, he grinned at me.

I returned a confused look. What was funny about this?

"Just updating my brother about the goings on during his absence," he stressed the final word. "Believe me. I'm just trying to help." After that, he sped away into the darkness.

I ran to where Edward was lying. I knew he was physically fine but I would feel better if I checked the back of his head for – I was about to say blood – for anything. I massaged it and felt the coldness that was so familiar to me.

He stopped me and enclosed my hand with his own. He still hadn't moved himself upright. He seemed to have grown attached to the earth below him. He didn't speak again. He looked so worn out I wondered where he had been.

I rested my head on his chest where his heart would have been. I sighed in contentment. He combed the length of my hair with his fingers like he always did before. We stayed like this for who knew how long and suddenly he spoke.

"Would you never speak to me again?" His voice was anguished.

I lifted my head and not knowing where to stare, I rested my gaze on our hands. He was clinging to mine as tightly as he could. I didn't mind the bruises in the morning.

He sat up effortlessly so we were now facing each other. "Bella, don't do this. Please," he begged softly. "I need you to understand why I did what I did."

I nodded my hand slowly. To let him know that it was fine between us.

"Bella, I can't read your mind," he reminded me as if I had forgotten.

"I understand, Edward," I finally replied.

"Then why won't you look at me?" He insisted.

"Because I've been through a lot today."

He embraced me in his arms and kissed my hair. "I won't let you be alone again. Just say that you still want me in your life and I'll be at your feet."

I was supposed to feel happy with those words. But after experiencing too much pain for one day, I guarded myself, not wanting to be carried away.

"And then?" I asked. And then you'd leave me again?

He removed his arms from around me and lifted my chin up. He looked confused. "You don't believe me, don't you?" He sighed upwardly. "Then allow me to prove it to you."

I simply nodded my head. I wanted to believe his words. I sincerely did. But I already realized something this evening. People come and go. No matter how we loved them, they would leave us one day. It was just a matter of time. How we could cope, that depended on our ability to accept that people are not permanent.

"Where have you been?" I asked. "You seemed...different." I hoped he didn't notice my casual change of topic.

"I've been here and there," he said simply. "But until recently, I was in Denali to visit Tanya's coven."

Pain gaped another monstrous hole in my bullet-ridden heart.

"I wasn't there to visit Tanya. That's the least thing you need to worry about, love. I went there to see familiar faces other than my own family." He paused. "I couldn't bear to see my family yet."

"But why? Esme would be upset!" A picture of beautiful Esme without her complete family would be depressing.

He gave a sarcastic smile. "Weren't you a witness of Jasper's welcome to me? I hadn't known he was here until I received a call from Alice telling me about Charlie. Only Alice knew that he's here. And I owe him my eternity of gratitude." He said with a hint of sadness.

"I came here as fast as I could. Alice couldn't say which part of the woods you were at, but good thing my sense of smell was as fine-tuned as ever."

"You're thirsty, Edward. You should be hunting," I advised him. I knew how it must have hurt for him to be near me in that condition.

"You're already satiating my thirst, silly Bella. Just having you here, seeing you again. The thirst is but an annoying jab on my throat." He smiled crookedly.

"Still, I don't want you messing with your self-control," I told him, scolding myself silently for my own uncontrolled blushing.

"Can blood be as sweet as this?"

Then he brought my chin up to his searching lips. I expected our lips to touch right away but he let our breaths mingle first. I opened my eyes to see what he was waiting for and saw him looking back at me with his tormented eyes. His smiles earlier were just half-hearted, I noticed. He was silently waiting for me, asking for my permission. I couldn't stand it any more so I crossed the air separating us and kissed him with all my pent-up fervour.

He matched my pace and gathered me on his lap. I should be surprised at his boldness but I didn't care. This was our moment.

I would deal with reality later.