I appreciate all your reviews! Thanks so much for liking the story. I hope I still hold that excitement. This is in Edward's POV. It was hard but I hoped I managed it. Enjoy!

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Edward.

My concentration was suddenly broken by Alice's call. She was seated beside me in my Volvo. By her irritated voice, I realised she had been calling me a number of times already but my mind was drifting I hardly noticed her until now.

It had been a week now since I came back to Forks. My mind was on the red monster truck in front of me that a stubborn, brown-haired girl was driving. We were on the way to school and I was eyeing the road in case some danger presented itself to Bella.

She wouldn't let me pick her up at her house. She somehow had this idea to keep her distance from me as much as possible. Jasper told me he could feel her love still overwhelming for me, but he could also sense something else. Fear. Not to a monster. But fear that I would leave her again.

But I had already decided as soon as I received Alice's call that I would never, ever replay that mistake again. I told Bella a few months back that I would only stay as long as what was good for her, but I changed my mind. I would still stay regardless of any situation. Unless…unless she already found someone else for her. But until then, I would stick around no matter how much she refused.

There were many times though when I could see her wanting me there with her. She wasn't a good actress. Her mind might be blocked from me but her facial expressions were an open book.

I sighed to myself. What's another hundred years of waiting?

"Edward!" Alice hissed impatiently.

"What?!" I snapped.

My, my. What's with the temper?

"Because you're giving me a giant headache." I emphasised on the word giant.

She smiled impishly. "That's a metaphor, right? Coz we can't possibly –"

I shot her a warning look. Not being able to hold Bella in my arms while she slept was taking its toll on me every morning. The most that I could do was watch her sleep from the damn rocking chair!

She sighed sadly and glued her eyes on the truck as well.

"I told you –," she began.

"Don't say it," I cut her off.

I told you she would come to her senses one day. I promise.

I groaned. Sometimes I wished there was a switch off option for my skill. I would trade off my ability to read everybody's mind in exchange of hearing Bella's.

Then suddenly, I saw Victoria on a plane. She was on her way to Texas.

I jerked my head and questioned Alice with my eyes.

Alice nodded. She was finally elated. After all these days of waiting for a vision, it now appeared to her.

"When is this?" I asked her.

She closed her eyes and held her breath. "An hour from now. It's very clear."

A momentary glimpse of our despised enemy, but it gave us a small ray of hope of finally finding Charlie, and capturing her ultimately.

I heaved a sigh of relief. At least she wasn't anywhere near Forks at the moment.

I bore my gaze at Bella's brown hair again. I knew she had been glancing at us intermittently on her rear view mirror.

I'll make things right this time. I promise.

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I knew she blamed herself for it, but I was glad she agreed to work at Newton's. Consequently, I was thankful to Mike for asking her. If he hadn't, Victoria might have caught on Bella at the fishing trip.

But that didn't mean I forgave him for his aggressive thoughts about my Bella. I cursed silently. He was already planning to take Bella to dinner with his family before I magically stepped in after a long period of absence. He probably thought introducing Bella to the family would make her like him. Unfortunately, that strategy only worked with a coven. I smirked to myself.

I leaned at the wall behind me to hide myself. Bella's shift was over and she was on her way to her truck. She looked alert, looking around her first before opening the door.

Good. She's starting to be cautious for her own good.

But I had already checked and read the minds of the people milling around the street. As far as I knew, I was the only monster available and I was harmless.

She switched on the engine and backed out of the parking space. But on the middle of the street, she hit the brakes and opened her window.

She didn't raise her voice. She just spoke naturally. But from my distance, I heard her as if she was standing next to me.

"Edward, I know you're out there. Stop hiding and get in here."

If I wasn't too surprised, I would have laughed. She knew me too well. I loved her about it. She was the only one who knew me best.

In an instant, after checking that no human was looking, I fled to the passenger seat and grinned at her.

She didn't act surprised and just pressed the gas. Had she known all this time but she only invited me in today?

"Edward…" She was hesitating.

I knew that tone. My dead heart spiralled downwards. She didn't miss me like I'd thought. She wanted to ask me something.

"During lunch hour, I noticed you and Alice talking." She paused and glanced at me to confirm it.

My face didn't give away anything.

She continued, "I know because I saw your lips moving, but you two were obviously speaking too fast so I wouldn't understand."

She looked down at her lap shyly. I loved her modesty.

"Can you tell me about it?" She asked.

I sighed. It was hard keeping things from her perceptive eyes. And I knew she would keep on asking me about it until I relented.

"Alice saw Victoria."

She gasped.

"She's in Texas."

"And Charlie?"

I was careful with my words. "It's too early to say."

"It's been a week, Edward! Too early?!" Her voice rose.

"Alice and I believe he's still alive. But she doesn't have a vision of him yet. We don't want to jump to conclusions."

She sighed. Tears were threatening to fall again. I kissed her temple and took over the driving. I pressed on the gas and lifted her gently to the passenger seat. My eyes never took off the road.

When we were at her house, she went out of the car and busied herself with dinner right away. I noticed this was her way of taking her mind off unhappy thoughts.

"I'll be outside," I told her and ran out. I would be back again tonight when she was asleep.

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I watched her sleeping figure lay peacefully in the bed. She had no idea I came here every night. I was doing my best to keep my end of the bargain – to give her some space – but at my own terms which I preferred to keep silently to myself.

I would still act like a gentleman contrary to Emmett's so-called expert advice.

"If you want her back, here's a foolproof plan – seduce her," he had told me on the phone. Then he proceeded to tell me about the different ways he had wooed Rosalie to forgiving him.

I cringed just hearing them. I'd already seen them. No need to listen about them again.

"Bella's not the type to fall for that," I said, pointedly demarcating the huge contrast between Rosalie and Bella.

"Brother, don't you hear her heart racing whenever you kiss or merely touch her?! And after two months of absence, I'm sure the desert needs its rain," he said knowingly.

I put that thought back in my mind because I knew it wouldn't work in the first place. But I stupidly followed it when I saw Bella still not accepting me back with wide arms. Desperate was what I had been.

Suddenly, a different smell pulled me out of my thoughts. A wet dog. But its whiff was certainly not just your ordinary neighbourhood mutt.

I jumped out of the window and caught the trail. I ran and followed it into the forest. With my speed, I saw a russet-coloured wolfhound. But he wasn't just an animal. This was the Quileute shapeshifter.

"Jacob Black," I called out as I quickly attuned to the wolf's mind for more information.

My ability never failed. The wolf stopped his run and turned around. He was huge. I would only reach up to his shoulders if he stood on his hind feet – or paws.

He was wondering how I knew who he was.

"Tell me what you were doing outside Bella's house."

He was getting more confused.

"I can read minds."

He cursed and asked me questions like what number he was thinking or what time it was. I answered all correctly.

I guess you're not kidding.

"Do I look like I was? So what were you doing out there?"

He didn't answer and struggled to blank out his mind. But even the oldest vampires like my family couldn't even do it.

He was in love with my Bella.

This hidden thought in his mind wasn't clear to me before but it was there – his memory of Bella was too distinct, too focused, as if looking at a picture of many people but Bella's face stood out.

I felt my instincts overflowing within me. But it wasn't a primal instinct to kill or to quench my unending thirst. It was basic, yes, but it was too…human. It reminded me of how I had felt when Mike asked Bella to the dance. I was jealous.

I snarled at him and his muzzle wrinkled at the same time, showing his sharp teeth.