Author's Note: I'm baaaaack! So sorry the update took a long time. Schoolwork sucks my very soul from me.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, settings, etc. of the book Twilight/New Moon. Theoriginal characters and plot are the property of the brilliant Stephenie Meyer.

Bella was in a daze throughout the morning, barely paying attention to what her teachers were lecturing about.

She was anxious to see Edward. She had to make sure that things were okay between them. The way he left

things last night was so... not like Edward.

Time.

That's what he needed, Bella decided. Time to relax. Yes, everything would be fine given enough time.

The last school bell of the day buzzed, and Bella nearly jumped out of her chair. She gathered her belongings

and walked vigorously to her truck. She groaned out loud when she felt droplets of rain fall on her face. She

jumped in her truck and headed home, cursing the weather the entire time.

When she pulled into the driveway, she was both thrilled and nervous to see Edward's silver Volvo parked on

the side of the street. She quickly ran her fingers through her damp hair in vain. She jumped out of the truck,

narrowly missing her head on the car's frame, and trekked up the slippery driveway.

The rain was pouring down now, and she figured Edward was inside waiting for her. She unlocked the front

door and saw him sitting at the kitchen table. He stood up quickly when she came in.

"I'm not staying," he said.

"Hello, to you too," she replied impassively.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, leaning against the table.

She threw her bag on the floor and took off her jacket.

"How are you?" He asked, in a cold tone, avoiding her eyes.

Bella didn't like this one bit. She had never seen Edward like this before. He was tense and his questions

seemed as if they'd been rehearsed. They stood at opposite ends of the room for what seemed like hours.

"Is everything okay, Edward?" Bella finally spoke.

"No," he said in a perfunctory tone.

Bella's mouth went dry.

"I'm leaving." He finally said. "I'm leaving Forks."

Her heart hammered in her chest. 'Stupid heart. Shut up!' She thought, distracted for a brief second.

"Oh," was the only sound that came out of her mouth. It was more of an exhale than an actual sound.

"Edward, if this is about last night, I'm sorry. I told you, I knew better. It's my fault, not yours, " She cried,

finding her voice again.

"Bella, I can't do this anymore. I can't pretend anymore. The very thought of you and I-- It's ridiculous. It's

laughable." Edward hissed.

"Why are you saying these things?" Bella asked, helplessly.

"It's the truth," he said.

Tears began to well up behind her eyes. 'Don't you dare cry. Don't you dare,' her own voice in her head

threatened.

"You don't want me," she said as a statement rather than a question.

"No," Edward whispered. "I don't."

"Well, that changes things," She said ardently.

She was horrified by the things he had told her, yet there was a very powerful part of her that wanted to run into

his arms and crush her lips against his, forcing him to forget everything he'd just said to her.

Edward tried to look as though he didn't care one way or another, but it was so very difficult. It took everything

he had in him not to try to comfort her and hold her. He didn't want to end his relationship with Bella this way.

The last thing he wanted was to see her in pain.

A clean break. He convinced himself. It was the only way his plan would work.

"Don't worry," he said. "Soon, you'll forget I even existed."

'But I don't want to!' the same voice in her head yelled.

She nodded faintly. "If that's what you want," she murmured.

He walked past her hurriedly towards the front door.

"There is one thing I need you to do, though," he said turning around to face her, his hand on the doorknob.

"Anything," she whispered far too quickly than she should have.

He paused for a moment then looked at her with icy, emotionless eyes.

"Stay away from Alice and the rest of my family," he said.

Bella stared at him, confused.

"There's no reason for you to bother them with your presence anymore," he told her.

Bother. The word echoed in her head. Had she been bothering his family this whole time, but they were just

too polite to say anything?

Edward leaned close to Bella, and she thought she might languish from his proximity and mesmeric essence.

"You're not one of us," he whispered harshly in her ear.

She closed her eyes tightly, trying to pretend that this was all a nightmare. When she opened them, he was gone.

Bella couldn't stop the tears from breaking free and cascading down her cheeks. She balled her hands into fists

and pounded once on the front door before letting herself fall into a heap of wreckage.

She didn't know how long she had been lying there on the floor. It could have been minutes or hours. When she

heard Charlie's car pull into the driveway, she quickly sat up and tried wiping the tears from her face. It was no

use.

"Bella! My God, what happened?" Charlie cried, rushing over to her. Bella looked up at him and shook her

head.

"Bella, what is it?" He shouted, shaking her shoulders.

"He's gone," she whispered.

Okay, please R & R. I'm going to try my best to update sooner than last time, but I have a big end of term project coming up, so hopefully everything will work out.