Raum

A Good Liar

Summary: "The first time the Grim Reaper visited Edward, it was in the form of the Spanish influenza. The second time, Death had the lovely face of Bella Swan."

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. But y'all already knew it.

Chapter 2: He Was Here

Bella's hand trembled as she flicked the switch, and light filled her room. She looked around frantically, air coming out from her in quick breaths.

"No..." a murmur died on her lips.

She was alone.

It wasn't a dream, she thought. It's him. Edward was here. But there was nothing in the room but her crushed hopes. She buried her face in her palms, as if she wanted to hide her tears from herself, too. I'm going crazy.

A shiver ran down her arms like an icy finger on her bare skin. She hugged herself and pulled the comforter around her shoulders. A glance to the alarm clock told her that she had some time if she wanted to rest, but sleeping was out of question.

It wasn't long before she heard sounds coming from Charlie's room. At the crack of dawn her father announced himself with a light knock on her door.

"Bells," he called quietly. He found her sitting on her bed, lost in her thoughts. Despite the heavy blanket, she was shivering.

"Morning, kiddo. Did you wake up early today? I'm going to fish with Billy and I'll be at home for dinner. You okay with that?"

"Sure," she mumbled. Until last evening, she would have enjoyed the opportunity to spend a day on her own. Now, she was aware that being alone would make thinking about Edward more difficult to avoid.

Charlie stared at her. She wanted to duck her head, trying to escape from his silent scrutiny. Instead, she forced herself to smile. Her father hadn't spent a moment with his friends since she had announced Edward's death. She didn't want to rob him of a day of leisure. "Enjoy your day and say hi to Billy for me, okay?"

A muffled noise caught her attention as Charlie closed the door behind himself and left. How is it possible...Bella kicked away the blanket and rose to her feet. She rushed toward the window. I'm not crazy.The window was slightly open, and a light breeze had shaken the frame and caused the noise.

It hadn't been a dream.

She leaned her hands on the windowsill; she caressed the frame, where his hands had been. His hands...she brought her cheek to the cold glass, as if Edward had left a caress for her there.

"Come back," she whispered into the milky morning light. If he was still around, he would hear her. "Please, come back to me."

But like a snake, fear crept through her thoughts. What if he'd had second thoughts, and after coming back had decided to leave her again? What if he...Bella stiffened as the consequences of her words – of her lie – became clear in her mind. She had blocked Edward not only out of her own life, but the lives of everyone they knew in Forks. Before he showed up in town, she had to tell him what she had done. She swallowed hard and shut her eyes, not wanting even to imagine what would happen if she were already too late.

Her legs were wobbling as she tugged on her jeans and a brown hoodie, but she managed not to stumble while getting dressed. In her haste, she didn't even finish lacing up her shoes, already anxious to leave and follow the road she had avoided since last September.

Only a few weeks ago she had considered a visit to the Cullen house. Maybe it would have given her a way to overcome the memory of her ill-fated birthday party. But then she had changed her mind. What could she have found there but an abandoned house? What had been a home for her was now just an empty building, left behind and forgotten. Just like her.

But today her visit had a purpose. If Edward was back, chances were that he was at his house. She would look for him and confess what she had done.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Bella didn't even try to stop the flood of memories that invaded her mind as she drove her truck out of the main part of town. She recalled the first time she had passed over the bridge at the Calawah River and headed northward.

Edward had been driving that time. Otherwise, she would never have been able to find the right way through the misty forest. They had taken an unpaved road which would have gone totally unnoticed among the ferns.

Over the past summer, the forest encroaching on both sides had become a familiar view for her. Images of Jasper and Emmett playing through the woods flickered through her mind. Those woods, now silent, had echoed with the laughter of the vampires she considered brothers.

Oddly enough, she, an only child, had found new siblings in people who were older than her grandparents. Maybe her mother was right when she had said that Bella was born thirty-five and was getting more middle-aged.

She pushed on the accelerator. Had the house always been so far away? The trees lining the road seemed to move faster as she increased the truck's speed. Memories of the runs she had enjoyed with Edward through those same woods didn't take long to show up.

Soon enough, the Cullens' front lawn was visible. Bella recognized the six ancient cedars that shaded an entire acre with their vast sweep of branches.

They were coming back from a walk on one of the last nice days they had spent together, just before her eighteenth birthday. Edward pointed to the cedars.

"Carlisle and Esme, Emmett and Rosalie, Jasper and Alice." He compared the trees to his family members.

She glanced at Edward. "What about you?"

He shrugged. A small smile appeared on his face but didn't reach his eyes.

She looked up at the trees. Through the decades, time was only going to add to the fragrant spread of their evergreen branches. Just as it would add wisdom and dignity to the Cullens. Didn't Edward consider himself a member of the family? Bella recalled when he had told her that he had always felt like an outcast – the seventh wheel.

Edward circled her shoulders with his arm. "One day we'll plant two trees." His gaze at her was so tender, yet so sad and uncertain. "Is a cedar okay with you, too?"

Bella had thought that maybe he was considering the possibility of making her immortal like himself. He had always refused to consider it, but she had hoped against hope that he might have begun to change his mind.

Alas, the day to plant the new trees had never arrived.

Bella stopped the engine of her car and took in the sight of the huge house in front of her. Only then did she let out a breath of relief. Had she been afraid that the house had disappeared, just like its owners?

In the small meadow in front of the building, the vegetation was so thick that it was almost unrecognizable. The flora hadn't waited long to reclaim any land that was left unguarded, and the grass was high and untrimmed. Tall ferns had infiltrated the meadow around the house, crowding against the trunks of the cedars.

Bella wondered if the ferns had also covered the clearing where Esme took care of her flowers. She wasn't brave enough to go there and see. When she closed her eyes, they prickled with unshed tears as she recalled a memory from last August.

It was a warm summer afternoon. Edward was with Rosalie, fixing a car in the garage. Bella had watched them working at vampire speed until her head was almost spinning. She had gone out to enjoy the sun and have a short walk.

Esme was crouched in the backyard, her fingers holding a creamy white flower in its full bloom. It resembled a rose, but its petals were thicker. Her gaze trailed over the blossom, and a proud smile spread on her face.

The sun caressed both Esme and her flowers, embracing them with its golden heat, and Bella stilled, amazed by the vision of the shimmering vampire. The finest porcelain couldn't have reproduced the elegance of Esme's features as the sunlight brought them out. The soft caramel waves of her hair, basking in the rays, were like a golden halo around her serene face and the fair column of her neck. Her light clothes – a simple cotton sheath dress with a bateau neckline – hugged her slender body. She lifted her head, aware of the presence of the girl she considered her youngest daughter. Esme's smile didn't fade; she was at ease in front of Bella's human eyes, even in the moment when she most revealed her inhumanity.

"Are they roses?" Bella asked quietly.

"Gardenias, actually," Esme explained. "They are similar in shape to a rose but live well without extreme heat. Light shade works well for them." She motioned toward Bella, inviting her closer. The sun had slightly warmed her skin, so it wasn't too icy when she enclosed the girl in the strong, affectionate refuge of her hug.

That evening, Bella recalled the scene of 'The Little Prince' where he was taming his fox, and the fox was taming him.

"First you will sit down at a little distance from me – like that – in the grass," the fox said. "I shall look at you out of the corner of my eye, and you will say nothing. Words are the source of misunderstandings. But you will sit a little closer to me, every day..."

Hadn't it been this way with Edward and the Cullens?

The first time Edward had touched her face, brushing the back of his cool hand from her temple to her jaw, he had been so guarded.

But the time came when she could hug him as tightly as she wanted, and his stone body would mold around her.

The fascinating lion had been tamed by his lamb. Or so she had believed.

Bella couldn't resolve herself to open her car door. No other car was in sight, but Edward could have left his in the garage. If he was actually back. If he hadn't already left...again.

She leaned her head on the steering wheel. She had been so eager to arrive, and now she wished that the drive had lasted longer. Fear upon fear began to pile up in her mind. She looked over at the house, and though nothing had changed on the outside, it now looked like a fitting haunt for vampires. Or for ghosts – what her words had made Edward become in Forks.

Edward showed up in her mind exactly as she remembered him during the last time they had talked. He had appeared inhuman then – not because of his stony features or the speed with which he had rushed away, leaving her in the woods – but because only a supernatural creature could have the ability to hurt a human so deeply and yet leave her alive.

Alive? She was nothing but a hollow shell, filled every day with a new wave of longing.

Her fingers reached the car keys, wondering if she ought to set the car in motion and take her leave. She had envisioned herself telling Edward about her lie. What if he had wanted to come back, not to her, but to Forks? It was one of the few places where he could go outside in the day, and she had taken it from him. Facing his anger would be too much. And the explanation...she would have to admit that she still loved him. But he...

"I can't," she said aloud, shaking her head. She couldn't face his rejection. Not again.

Yet if he were back...hadn't she wished for it for months?

"Be brave," she told herself. She let go of the keys and opened the car door. Her steps made the gravel crunch as she began to cross the driveway and walk onto the lawn. If she could see him again, only for a moment...the desire made her move faster toward the house.

Bella stopped midway between her truck and the building. Eyes shut, she focused on the sounds around her. Nothing unusual. Pressing two fingers on the hollow of her throat, she checked her pulse. Every beat of her heart – fast and strong, she could almost hear it pounding – confirmed her fears. If Edward had been at home, he would have heard her by now. If he wanted to see her, he would have reached her already in the lawn. Slowly, Bella stepped toward the front door. She tried a single knock, already turning back toward her truck.

She got no answer.

Had it been just a dream? She recalled what she had done the previous evening. A light drizzle was falling, and she had added another blanket to the bed. Her room window had been closed; there were no doubts about it.

She hurried to her truck, nearly running. She didn't need to leave a message, and she wouldn't come again. Her scent would scream that she had been here. While disappearing from her life hadn't been an issue for Edward, she didn't have any way to hide from the enhanced senses of a vampire.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The sound of the truck's engine lulled her on her way home. She should have paid more attention to the road but couldn't convince herself to do so. After all, it's not quite the busy road, she scoffed, pushing on the accelerator. The sooner she could distance herself from the house, the better. Only when she arrived at the main junction did she give the traffic more than a distracted glance.

Her eyes met a familiar face. Someone was waiting for her.

Thanks for reading! Who's waiting for Bella? Let me know your theories!

Notes

Thank you! to my wonderful friends Camilla10, Miaokuancha, Marlena580, and Jmolly.

In New Moon, Bella visits the empty Cullen house in January. Here, the visit in January didn't happen – although she considered it – so it's the first time she returns since the Cullens' departure.

The next chapter of A Good Liar is due to be posted in two weeks, while An Italian Winter is due to be updated next Friday. If you haven't read my first multichapter story, De Immortalitate, why don't you give it a chance? The story is complete.

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