My heart skipped a beat. I stared at him with wide eyes, not sure if I was breathing. I had no idea why these words brought on such fear. I wanted this didn't I? Wanted to be one of them, but somehow, knowing that the Volturi were coming for me sent a chill down my spine.

"Calm down Bella," Edward said, looking me straight in the eye. His hand caressed my cheek and his eyes were pleading "you need to relax, you need to breathe"

I took a deep breath then, realizing how lightheaded I was, and then – calm.

My brain had finally kicked into gear, he'll do it now, the thought echoed in my head, providing me with enough resolve to stop shaking.

"Its okay" I said with as much strength as I could muster.

Bella, "Edward was instantly on edge, "there are other ways"

I was beginning to get serious déjà vu and almost laughed, almost.

"Edward, we've talked about this," I began "it's going to happen anyway, why not now?"

He sighed, "I thought I would have more time to say goodbye to this –"he leaned in and kissed me gently, sending my heart into a frenzy. How odd it would be to not react to his touch.

"Me too," I answered, unexplainable tears welling in my eyes. "How?" I started. He put a finger to my lips to quiet me,

"What about your condition?" he asked, half amused, half pained, this made my heart stop, what about my condition? After all, it was the only human experience I wanted. I was torn between impending doom and the thing I wanted more than anything else in the world, him.

Edward lowered himself; half crouched, in front of me,

"I wont do this if you're not happy Bella, no matter who's coming" he reached a hand up to move a loose strand of hair that had fallen into my face and tucked it behind my ear.

"And your condition?" I whispered, looking closely at his eyes for any indecision.

"Don't worry, we have all the time in the world for that" Those words had more of a meaning now than they ever had before, all the time in the world meant just that.

This wasn't how I pictured things would go, that I would be urged into a decision by a visit from an impatient pack of vampires, but it wasn't a hard decision to make and I leaned forward to crush my lips to his.

There was a difference in the way he responded, a yearning, anticipation. He wrapped one hand around my back and the other found its way into my hair, fingers tangling forcefully as if that was their intention.

The smell of his breath intoxicated me. I shivered as his eyes snapped open to take me in. I wound my legs around his and pushed myself as close to him as possible.

I let myself fall backward onto the bed, pulling him toward me as I did so. He let me without any resistance and I almost expected him to pull away, instead he snaked his way even closer.

I was vividly aware of every breath in his body, every touch of his skin against mine. His lips moved down my neck, lingering at its base and letting his cool breath escape from a small opening in his lips, almost whistling.

My heart pounded so loudly that I thought it would explode out of my chest. I tried my best to be graceful though, as I started to unbutton my shirt. I fumbled miserably and soon found his hands gliding up to help me. His mouth traced its way up to my ear and whispered,

"You don't have to seduce me…I'm yours"

I blushed, and as we moved, there was no trace of the line, no hesitation, just us…

When the elation of the morning wore off, and I went about my normal routine, the gravity of what was going to happen started to set in.

"What am I going to tell Charlie?" I asked Edward while we were in the kitchen, I sat on the counter and he played with my hair absentmindedly.

"We can't come back here" he said matter of factlly, not looking from his work. I nodded.

"When are we leaving?"

He looked up then, deliberating.

"Late tonight" he said finally, perfect, no time to delay goodbye. "I'll pack your things while you talk to Charlie"

"Can't we just leave without saying anything" I begged, knowing even as I said it that I would never.

"You can't do that to him, to Renee" he said, echoing my thoughts.

I bowed my head and burrowed it in his chest. Amidst all this craziness I needed something real, stable, him. He stroked my hair, resting his cheek on the top of my head.

"It'll be okay love, I promise"

I sighed, "I know" and if he was there it would be, no matter where we were. I felt his gentle laugh,

"You amaze me" he said kissing the top of my head. I wrapped myself around his body and held myself there, breathing him in.

It was hard to believe that just a few hours ago I was terrified of the Volturi. With him next to me, this close, it was hard to worry about anything. Then suddenly he was prying my arms and legs away, moving a safe distance away. I was taken aback.

"I thought we got past all this" I said, bewildered

"Charlie," he explained, "I'll leave"

I slid from the counter and reached for his hand, standing on my toes to touch his lips. He smirked as we pulled apart and headed for the door.

"Tonight" he promised and I smiled. He was gone before I even had a chance to look away. I braced myself as Charlie walked through the door, not quite sure what my plan of attack was yet.

"Bella?" he questioned, in his customary way. The sound of it made tears prick in my eyes, knowing that this might very well be my last chance to answer,

"Yeah dad"