A/N: Rosette's Chapter.

The morning hours passed in quiet solitude, distant birds chirping their songs gaily and the wind whistling through the trees. A small branch scraped at the window, as it had been for hours. But I couldn't find the heart to be annoyed by the screeching sound; instead it gently constructed a melody that rocked me into an even happier state of oblivion.

Edward and I had become tangled in the sheets, our bodies pressed together through the warm cotton and silk blankets surrounding us. His arm was slung lazily across my hip and his lips were in my hair, but his deep, even breathing gave away that he was napping quietly. His warm breath washed down my neck and when he stuttered a breath in his sleep I felt goose bumps rise on my arms.

The dress I'd spent the night in felt uncomfortable on my skin, but I tried to ignore it and instead enjoy the feeling of being home—home. The word floated in my mind and I couldn't completely grasp the concept, but it was a welcome confusion. I now had something to dote on—someone to dote on.

My eyes flickered up to Edward's sleeping face and I smiled to myself. Coming back was one of the most considerate decisions of my life. He had spent the night looking for me, regretting what he said. My hand lifted up as I thought this, my palm pressing to his warm apple cheek and stroking my thumb over the bottom of his eye. The light shadow from loss of sleep weighed heavily on my heart.

My thumb jerked suddenly and my middle knuckle throbbed painfully. The shock ran from my fingers to my wrist and stopped at the crease at my elbow. My knuckles were now a dark purple; not only that, but my fingers felt brittle and weak whenever I tried to grasp something.

Edward's eyes fluttered slowly and I saw a sliver of emerald peek through his long lashes. He yawned loudly into his pillow and the arm that was over my waist pulled me closer to his body.

"Tell me it was a dream," he muttered.

"Which part?"

"The part where you came back only to leave me again."

"Well," I pushed my face into his neck to lay a kiss on the column of his throat. "I did leave, but I could not find it in me to stay away from my friends here… and Alice… and maybe, just maybe, my insensitive, brooding master."

"Brooding?" His closed eyes squinted together as his eyebrows furrowed in thoughtfulness. He opened one eyes and looked down at me. "You think I'm brooding?"

"Very much so."

"Maybe a bit… introverted, but certainly not brooding."

"I believe sitting in front of the fire reading a volume with a look of resignation is enough to make you brooding. Not to mention the ire you cast upon anyone who should interrupt or intrude upon you."

He snorted a little and rolled his eyes closed. The hand on my hip fisted the material there and then smoothed it, repeating this circuit until it became a comfortable movement that could have lulled me to sleep.

"If I ambrooding," he said suddenly, "then you are a stubborn, insolent, emotional little girl."

I put a finger to my chin and looked up at him. "Maybe stubborn and emotional, but certainly not insolent. And I am not a little girl, either."

He let out a barking laugh, his head throwing itself back as the hand that was on my hip went to his stomach while he held himself together. All the while I sat there, my arms crossed and my mouth twitching in an effort not to turn upwards.

His face wasn't tight anymore. His jaw was loose, his eyes were a light green and his skin was flushed pink with his laughter. The sight was enough to break my heart. And then I ruined it.

"Tell me about Tanya," I blurted.

His laughing stopped abruptly and he turned his head to look at me, his eyes going from light to dark in a heartbeat. His throat tensed with the action of swallowing, and his shoulders hunched together.

"I—It's not an appropriate time, Isabella." He sat up and pushed his back against the large wooden headboard.

"I want to know, Edward. I need to know."

"From my understanding you were already given explicit details from that failed trial of a relationship. I would prefer never to think of that woman again."

"You see? This is the exact reason why you are brooding; you don't want to remember her, but you have done nothing to forget her, either."

"Isabella—"

"You may hate me afterwards, Edward, but I think it would be best for you to speak about it. If it's locked inside of you and never released, how will you let go of all the pain and heartbreak?"

We held each other's gaze while I pulled myself to my knees and sat before him. His face was unhappy, to say the least. I had ruined a light moment between us, but this confrontation was necessary, and something that was going to come about one way or another. Why delay the inevitable?

His eyes closed tightly and he sighed loudly.

"Fine, I'll tell you."

"Really?"

"Isn't that what you wanted?"

"Well, of course. I just hadn't expected you to give in without a fight."

"You may be right. It may be time I… tell someone. My mother was the only one who ever really understood me, but by the time she died I had just found out what Tanya had done. And I assure you I could not bring myself to hate you," he added.

I nodded and he motioned for me to come closer. As I did, he pulled my back to his chest and wrapped his arms around my shoulders.

"I suppose I should start off where I met her," he muttered to himself. "It was at a county fair. Of course, this was no average county fair; more like a ball or gala. She was dancing with a gentleman that was an associate of my father. At the time I was young and ignorant to the world, but I knew that she was beautiful and that any man would kill to have her on their arm."

"You included?" I asked.

"At the time, I supposed that's what I looked for in a wife. Emmett had met Rosalie only a few weeks beforehand. And of course Alice and Jasper had been known to marry at their infancy. They'd taken a liking to each other the moment they met."

I gasped. "An arranged marriage?"

"No, Alice demanded they be married when they were toddlers." He chuckled. "You're distracting me, though. That night at the county fair I asked her name, and she asked to dance with me, and so it went on from there. We continued to meet on several other occasions. At different formal events she would come and be my date for the evening.

Tanya was… wild, to say the least. She loved to be in the spotlight, and she loved attention. I always strived to give her what I could, but my brother and I were constantly with my father, learning about taking over the family investments and running our own source of income. Tanya disapproved of this immediately. She would come along from time to time, but she was always… bored stiff and would complain about going out.

I suppose that was when I should have looked further into our relationship. Somehow I thought by roping her in with an expensive gifts and a promises of forever by my side would be enough. She accepted and soon we were engaged to be married."

His hands cupped mine and played with my fingers while he spoke. "And then there was an accident…"

"Your parents?" I whispered.

"Yes, my mother and father were away across the country. An illness swept through and ravaged the cities; just breathing it in was enough to contract it. My father contracted it first, and then my mother in the process of caring for him. News came after a week of their death.

My siblings and I were each left a generous amount, but any one of us would trade financial security for them to come back. Money is cold and lifeless, and having it makes the holder just the same. I found this out the hard way. Tanya didn't like my mourning; I wouldn't touch her or look at her, and the lack of attention made her ire strong. So she betrayed me; during the whole of the time I mourned my parents, those who brought me to this life, she was off with another man, someone who, on many occasions, tried to steal this very lot from us after my parent's death."

"How did you find out?"

"The dolt escorted her in a carriage marked with his family crest." He laughed bitterly. "Tanya came out looking flustered as ever and it didn't take much to imagine what had happened. I forgave her, but only because I was afraid to be alone in my despair."

"But, I quickly discovered she hadn't stopped seeing him, and one night while she was on her way to see the bastard, she was killed. I didn't feel a lick of remourse when I heard of her death. In all honesty, I was relieved. How disgusting does that sound?"

"Not very," I answered honestly. "She hurt you while you were already deeply wounded, she thought only of herself, and though her death was regrettable…"

Edward sighed. "You see? You cannot even bring yourself to say it. It is horrible to feel nothing in the wake of someone's death."

Edward's arms receded from me and he leaned backwards. He moved to the other side of the bed, his back facing me and his feet set on the floor. I moved behind him, my hands on his shoulders so I could rub out the building tension that made him stiff.

"It's alright," I whispered.

"How is it alright, Isabella? I have treated you like the whore who has crossed me not once, but twice."

"Time will heal your trust. I am more than willing to wait, Edward."

"Enough," he ordered, turning back to face me. "No more talk of depressing matters about the past. There is a time and there is a place, and now is neither."

"Then what would you prefer to talk about?" I asked.

"I would like to know what was running through your head when you left me last night. I was prepared to apologize and admit my fault. And after all this time you just leave me!"

"I—I just… it made sense to me, at the time. What you said hurt, and matters atop of it, what Rosalie—"

"Rosalie?" A frown etched his features and he sighed. "Tell me what the offensive creature has done this time."

"She took the situation and turned it around on me." I mumbled. "I allowed my emotions to make sense of what she was telling me even though I realized what she was trying to do."

"And what was that?"

"She wanted to be rid of me… so that, er, you wouldn't inherit the fortune," I mumbled, looking down at the bedding. My cheeks flushed and Edward sat very still for a moment, before his body jumped in recognition.

"She meant to send you away in order to maintain her position as heiress to my parents' fortune?"

"Yes,"

"And that is why you left me?"

"Rosalie bribed me with my freedom." I explained, looking up at his wide, calculating eyes. "She paid me my worth—which I have in that satchel over there—and had me escape through the servant's hall during the dinner hour."

"And your return?" He asked. His emerald eyes gazed down at me, brighter than I had ever seen before.

"I—I finally realized that of all the places I have been, and of all the places I will ever go, this is the place where I feel at home. I have been treated harshly at times, but I would take the pain a thousand times over just to have a place to call my home."

"Is that all?" He asked, his eyebrows dropped over his eyes and it seemed as though he were pushing me to speak.

Could I tell him?

Should I tell him?

It seemed too soon, and I was sure he couldn't feel the same. I had only just returned to his stead, and I could not risk destroying the trust he had just given me.

I swallowed softly and I tried to control my voice.

"That is all," I whispered.

His shoulders tensed minutely but he smiled down at me. "For what it's worth, I am glad that you have returned to me. I promise to not be so… brooding any more, but you must forgive my slips."

"I wouldn't have you any other way," I smiled.

A/N: Prepare yourselves for the upcoming levels of awesome.