Before you begin this chapter, I would like to say something. I have been accused of plagiarizing my previous chapter 'Monsters'. I've already spoken to the girl about it. It appears the chapter has been posted on another story. She hasn't been able to remember which story it was, but it would help me out a lot if you could all keep your eyes open for me. I am beyond angry that somebody would take my writing, and claim it as their own. But I promise you that everything I publish, is written by me. But if anybody finds the story with my work in it, will you please PM me and let me know? I would really appreciate it. Thanks! Now on to the chapter!

Edward.

After standing completely frozen as a statue for ten minutes, and listening to the comforting, yet painful thoughts of my family, I went upstairs. I drifted throughout the familiar long hallway, inhaling the scents that I have forgotten for the past few weeks. I stopped when I reached my door. I noticed the change before my hand even reached the doorknob. When I pushed it open, and stepped inside, my suspicions were confirmed. This was not my room anymore. It was Bella's.

Though she hadn't moved anything, including the massive bed, I could feel the difference in the air. Nothing had been touched. Nothing was added, nothing was missing, but I felt like a stranger standing here. Her natural floral perfume was lingering in the air, making my head spin out of control. How I had lived a day without this amazing aroma was beyond me.

Turning around, I lowered myself onto the leather couch that was still pushed against the wall. Alice had informed me that Bella had spent most of her time in this room, on this very couch. I allowed my eyes to close, as I tried to get a grip of myself. I had never been this torn in my entire existence. These feelings of complete emptiness, anger and idiocy were all new to me. This whole situation was one that I had desperately tried to avoid, but instead, I pushed it into happening faster.

Soft footsteps were padding against the hardwood floors, but I didn't move from my spot. The footsteps stopped abruptly at the door. I listened to the steady breathing on the other side, and waited for whoever it was to enter. I didn't open my eyes when I heard the door creak open, and then click shut. But I opened them when I smelt her freesia scent.

She was standing awkwardly by the entrance of the room, hands at her sides. Her fingers were shaking nervously as her eyes studied me. I rose from the couch, not stepping forward. She was biting on her bottom lip, and I watched as she occasionally sucked it in, before jutting it back out. It was a nervous habit she had as a human.

I stayed silent, waiting for her to speak. It seemed that she was ready to speak to me, and I wasn't about to ruin it with my words. Her mouth opened once, and she took a breath as if getting ready to talk, but closed it suddenly. The silence was driving me insane. I closed my eyes once more, lowering my head. I heard her inhale another sharp breath, before her beautiful, musical voice was finally heard.

"How are you?"

I fought the urge to smile. I knew her head was probably swimming with ideas of what to say, but her tongue got the better of her. I opened my eyes, and raised my chin, chuckling once without humor.

"I've been better. How are you?"

"I honestly don't know," she mumbled, her eyes falling to the floor. I sighed, and she continued.

"There are so many things I want to say to you, so many things I want to ask you. But I guess I'll begin with .. why?" she asked, her voice breaking on the last word. I raised my eyebrows, and gulped down my confusion. I mentally agreed with her. We both had a lot of things that we most likely needed to say. Well, at least I know I had a lot to say. This prolonged conversation that should've taken place before she was bitten, had been intensified to the point where it would take hours for us to express ourselves clearly. But I had time, and Bella deserved all of it.

"Pardon?"

"Why did you leave me? Why?" she demanded. Her voice was not the only thing that had grown cold with the question. Her black eyes narrowed, her pale arms crossed over her chest.

"I had to, Bella. You wouldn't understand," I answered softly, locking onto her bitter glare. Her nostrils flared, and I winced, bracing myself for her anger. She took a large step forward, her fingers curling into tight fists as they continued to shake at her side. Her breathing was heavy as she shifted her angry stare from the floor to my face, continuously.

"I wouldn't understand? I'm not an imbecile, Edward! But please, enlighten me on why I wouldn't understand!" she snarled. I was startled by her angry outburst, but I was even more startled by my own anger that was rising slowly. I tried to push it down. I shouldn't be angry. I shouldn't be angry at the love of my life, but for some reason .. I was.

"Fine," I snapped viciously. She winced, but I continued. "You wouldn't understand how it feels to have your wishes deliberately ignored and disobeyed. You wouldn't understand the pain I felt hearing you scream, knowing you were in agonizing pain. You wouldn't understand how horrible I feel knowing that your life is now gone. I couldn't stay here and deal with that!"

"Actually, I do understand how it feels to have your wishes deliberately ignored, because my only wish was to become a vampire, and you didn't care. You didn't want to give me the one thing I was asking for. I know my human life is gone, but god damnit, that's what I wanted! I wanted it more than anything in the world!" she bellowed. She was huffing, her chest rising and falling dramatically. I had to take my own deep breaths. My own anger surprised me, and I found that I was actually seething at her. I gritted my teeth together, trying to suppress the growl that threatened to escape.

"Wanted? Not want?"

She gulped, and her face fell a little, but she composed her angry stance, glaring at me once again.

"Yes," she argued loudly. "I wanted to spend the rest of forever with you. But that dream went out the window when you left, and decided that you didn't want me anymore!" she screamed. I gasped in surprise, my body relaxing. My anger dropped, but didn't disappear completely.

"Of course I still want you!"

"Then why .. why punish me for giving us both what we want?"

"Because it wasn't just your decision to make!" I argued back. She laughed, throwing her head back as she howled without humor. She took another threatening step toward me, and her vicious attitude quickly returned.

"It my was my life. Not yours, not Rosalie's, mine. Who else had any say in the matter?"

"Me, and the rest of the family. We had just as much say in the decision as you did!" She shook her head, biting her lip once more. I noticed that her knuckles were more relaxed, and I silently hoped that we were closing this argument soon. I wanted compromise. I wanted to work everything out with her. Because despite both of our anger toward this situation, I knew our love was still just as strong. We couldn't go back and change what had happened, but we could move forward and begin the rest of our immortal lives together.

"Yes, you did. And five out of seven voted yes! So, you had no right to go back on your word. I was only doing what I thought was the best solution. I was taking charge. What is the problem with that?" she snapped, her voice breaking once more. My mouth opened, and before I could think of a straight answer, I heard myself talking.

"The problem is that it's too complicated and dangerous for you to be here! And the problem is that my family and I were automatically obligated to take care of you!" I hissed angrily. But the second the words escaped my lips, I wished I could take them right back. I didn't mean to use the word obligated, and my only hope now was that Bella wasn't so observant as to recognize the word. But one look at her fallen face confirmed that she had.

"Obligated?" she asked. Her voice resembled that of a whisper. I reached a hand out, instinctively taking a step forward to make things better, but she jumped back. Her fists were unraveled, her fingers hanging limp at her sides once more. Her entire body trembled, including her bottom lip.

"Bella, I-"

"I know I hurt you by going against your word. I apologize for that. But you went against your word as well. And I- I didn't know that you felt this way about my vampirism. If you would've just told me that you didn't want to deal with me as a newborn, I wouldn't have asked Matilda to bite me. If you would've told me that your feelings were going to change, I would've gladly stayed human. I was under the impression that it would be easier if I were a vampire, but ever since I made that god damned decision, I've been through hell. But you're not obligated to do anything, Edward. I will leave if it's a problem. I just don't want you to be unhappy," she rambled, her anger finally gone. I was shocked. My eyes were wide as I stared at her in complete astonishment.

"I don't want you to leave," I whispered, moving closer to her. For a few moments, it was silent. I was gazing at her, but her eyes were on the wall behind me. The tension between us was excruciating.

"What happened to us, Edward?" she whispered, her eyes softening, the black color diminishing greatly. I gulped, and moved closer to her again. To my relief, she didn't back away.

"We both made some pretty dumb decisions." She nodded in agreement, still not catching my gaze. I could hear movement from downstairs, and I knew my family was creeping toward the staircase. Our voices were so low that it had probably become harder for them to eavesdrop from their places down below. I knew Bella could hear them as well, because her eyes flickered to the door for a moment, before they returned to the wall.

"It's hard for me. It's going to take some time .."

"I understand. But please take into consideration that it's the same for me as well," I replied. The hurt was apparent on her face, but she straightened her shoulders, and lowered her head, nodding as it dropped.

"What happens now?"

I extended my arm, and grasped her hand. I marveled at the contact of her skin on mine. It was something I had missed very dearly. My thumb rubbed circles against her cool palm. She stared up at me in curiosity.

"We'll fix this, Bella. We're too strong to fall apart," I whispered. I dropped her hand, and took a deep breath, before stepping around her and exiting the room. I closed the door behind me, and was not surprised to see my family huddled up by the top of the staircase. I smiled softly at them. They were confused.

What is going on, Edward?

"I'll let you know when I figure it out myself."

Bella.

I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.

They were the three words that I ached to announce so much. I had considered blurting them out several times during our little argument, but my pride always got in the way. The conversation, argument, disagreement .. whatever you'd call it, hadn't gone the way I had wanted.

I thought that by the time our words were spoken, I'd be in his arms. I'd be kissing his perfect lips, and molding myself into his perfect chest. I thought everything would be right again. Though he hadn't left in an angry rage, he hadn't left happily either.

And even after hearing him assure me that we'd be okay, I wasn't happy as well. I didn't feel as bitter, broken and betrayed as before, but I didn't feel complete either. To be honest, I didn't know what was going on. I didn't know where he was going when he left the room, but I knew that he wasn't going far. I glanced down at the ground, but my eyes caught on the shining gleam of the crest around my neck.

I raised my fingers, and touched it delicately. I was a part of this family. With or without Edward, I was figuratively a Cullen. I had a family. I had Edward back. Things should be better already.

But they weren't. Edward was right when he had said we had both made dumb decisions. I betrayed him, and he betrayed me. We were both just as bad. But he had come back, and I couldn't ignore the little voice in the back of my head. He came back for you. He had come back for me, to set things right. And what have I done?

Nothing. I've ran away, and screamed at him. I've done nothing but cry. This is something I would've expected of myself as a human. But I wasn't human anymore. I was a vampire. I was supposed to be sophisticated, beautiful, and strong. I was supposed to be strong.

It's about time I started acting like it.

There you go! It seems like half of you are split up into Team Edward, and the other Team Bella, haha. As fun as that seems, I don't plan on turning this story into a full-blown hate fest. But I'm not going to make this easy for the lovely couple either. Like always, tell me what you think! And thank you so much for the reviews!