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(Edward POV)
I wring my fingers sitting outside Charlie's office. Every few minutes his voice raises as he argues over the phone with Officer Duke in the next town, Spoons. Fuck. I pull at my hair. Bella, why are you so damn ridiculous. Leave it to you, darlin' to just leave a party at night.
She could be anywhere. Forks is 80% forest. I called Angela a half hour ago and she said Bella didn't drink anything, but seemed really upset and acted uncomfortable. Angela cried the whole phone conversation, but I got the gist of it.
Bella never returned home.
What if something happened? What if some drunk loon...
Or if Newton followed her?
What if she got lost in the woods?
What if she fell?
What if she got hurt? Murdered?
No. I shake my head. No, no, no, no. Fucking no.
Give thy thoughts no tongue.
Like any Shakespeare quote could save me now. I bite my tongue as my eyes start to sting.
Bella...
"Bella, you have icing on your nose!" I exclaim as she takes another bite of her cupcake. It's Emmett's eighteenth birthday and sixteen year olds, Bella and I are celebrating over his birthday cupcakes.
"I do not." She laughs and smiles at me.
I lean forward as though I'm whispering something into her ear. She leans towards me, our faces inches apart waiting to hear what I have to say.
"Yes. You. Do." I smoosh the cupcake onto her face, most of the icing going all over her nose. She squeals against me and growls femininely when I pull back and take a bite of what's left of the cupcake. I smirk.
She narrows her eyes at me and leaps over to me. I dodge her hand with the cupcake as she tries to smear the icing onto my face. My reflexes are a bit too quick for her as I catch her wrists. "Pardon me?" I ask politely and innocently.
She pouts. "That's not fair."
I stare at her for a moment.
"You have icing on your nose." I repeat with a crooked grin.
"I know, it tickles." She replies with another pout. I laugh and lean into her, placing a kiss on the tip of her nose, getting the icing off. I think it's my just imagination, but I swear I feel her lean against me and press herself closer.
Charlie pops out of his office making me jump in my seat. "Fuck sakes." I hiss.
"Sorry," He doesn't sound sincere but I nod in somewhat appreciation. "Come on." Charlie tosses me my sweater.
"Where're we going?" I ask and slide my arms into the sleeves and zip myself up.
"Searchin' for her. On the local news, on the radio station, the next two is notified. We better get out there. Ten hours until twilight."
I follow Charlie out the door trying to stop wetness from swarming into my eyes.
...
I heave myself over another fallen over tree. A bug is trying to eat me I think. I shift my weight onto my right side as I swear I sprained my left foot earlier on some uneven ground. It's eleven at night, far past nightfall but half the town is still out looking for her. My sister, brother, and parents are behind me. Out of all the forests, only half are being searched tonight. I've been at this for the past twelve hours or so and there is no success. I'm the only one who isn't screaming her name or crying worthless tears.
I'm trying to stay strong.
What'll a damn tear do?
I don't know, but I guess it's how women cope. Even Charlie shed a few, but I won't. I refuse.
"Bella." Her name bubbles from my lips. Again, I'm thinking of the worst what ifs. This isn't good and everyone knows it. But we keep searching.
It's all we can do.
...
I spent the next week searching every forest, asking every person, and even beating the shit out of Newton to try and help find her. Newton said dick all, only that they fought over him apparently being an ass then she left. No one saw her leave, no one gave her a ride. She never asked. No one noticed anything else unusual that night. Mike Newton was being his usual asshole-self so it made sense for Bella to get pissy at him.
But it made no sense for her to never return home. Bella isn't like that. She wouldn't just leave. She wouldn't keep anyone. She wouldn't leave me. I know she shouldn't. We're bound together.
She's my other half; we just fit together, ya know?
And if I don't get her back...
I shake my head at the very thought.
The search team gets smaller and smaller with each passing day.
Three weeks later it's just my family and Bella's. Bella's family consisting of Charlie, her grandparents and her Aunt Rose. No one else.
Another week passes, making it a month. We still get a small ad in the papers and posters are on telephone poles. Everyone has heard the story, everyone has seen the poster. Even Charlie stops searching, instead he stays in his office all day and night looking for tips, putting out rewards.
Every night I walk the trail Bella and I would walk together since we became teenagers. Every night a new memory hits me.
"I don't know much," Bella admits. "The future kind of scares me."
I catch her before she stumbles over a twig buried within the ground. "Me too, I admit. I don't know what I want exactly."
"I want to stay with you." She smiles at me. "It just seems right."
I nod. It does seem right. Being together. Even a little bit of distance causes a rift. It physically hurts. No one'll believe us since we're only fifteen but it's true. We both know it.
"A brick out with a white picket fence and fresh cut grass. Flowers and barbecues, friendly neighbors. That's what I want." She jumps over another stump and walks to the stream's edge. "And you."
"Well I'm not going anywhere." I promise as I sit on the large rock beside a tree looking at the stream. Bella sits beside me and rests her shoulder on my head.
"Good."
"You won't leave me either, right?" I ask hopelessly.
"Never." She vows and pats my chest, right on my heart.
"But you did leave me." I whisper as I sit on the very same rock, except this time I'm alone.
And for the first time since she's disappeared, I hang my head and let myself cry.
A/N: Where are those goddamn tissues? *Sniff*
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