This is a really short chapter so sorry for such a long wait for this but i hope you remained hooked.

Destiny

Chapter 20

She was panting slightly. Her arm still outstretched, her face dripping with tears. I wanted to hug her, wipe her tears away and wipe Jacob from her memory. I felt elated with joy. She had sent him away. He was gone. We could be together. At last!

Though something didn't see right. She was still crying. Shouldn't we be embracing by now? Shouldn't we be kissing? Shouldn't she be happy?

"Bella?" I whispered. I could feel the eerie calm surrounding us now. The swell of joy I'd felt was slowly deflating as she prolonged the silence. Her eyes were barely focused on me. The tears were streaming fast and thick down her face with no sign of stopping. Her body was still shaking.

I cautiously got up, careful not to startle her. Her eyes were distant but I could see she was registering me. I decided to explain everything before her mood could change again.

"Tanya and Jacob were kissing. I stopped them, I shouted at them. Tanya was doing it to get back at me and you while Jacob was doing it to get back at you alone. They are despicable people. Tanya proved that further by trying to kiss me. That's when you came along. I never wanted to go out with her. I may have tried to use her before and I was sorry for that but she knew I had no real feelings for her. She wanted you to die, Bella. She was actually willing to lose ou to hurt me. But I saved you, Jacob said he did but I saved you. It was me. And now you know everything. You know I saved you, you know Tanya tried to hurt you; you know Jacob lied to you. And you know I love you. "

I gently pulled her hand up to my face and kissed it tenderly. Her eyes widened slightly as she washed my lips brush the back of her hand.

She tugged at it slightly and I let go, unwillingly.

"You know I love you, don't you?" I said softly, my voice cracking slightly under the weight of just how much I loved her.

"Yes," She whispered, glancing down. She bit her lip as if she was struggling to say something. Or didn't want to say something...

She drew her eyes up slowly to meet mine. They were glistening with tears, each lash beaded with a perfect individual drop like a necklace of opals decorating the rims. The glint of sunlight brightened the colour dramatically and I wouldn't be surprised if there was a jade reflection on my face. The intensity of feeling in her eyes, her soul, made me need her to speak. I needed to hear her voice.

I'd never seen her look so vulnerable and so tired. And she'd never looked so beautiful.

"Bella," I pleaded, "You know I love you, don't you?"

I needed her to answer. I needed her to say she loved me too or I would forget how to breathe. I'd forget how to keep my heart beating. I'd forget how to live full stop.

"Yes," She repeated, her intense eyes boring into mine, "But I don't know who you are anymore."

She gave me an apologetic smile that didn't reach her eyes and she floated away silently, like a breeze.

Her words hung in the air and constricted around my throat, choking me. She was gone, around the corner, out of sight. Gone.

I staggered back into the wall and slumped to the ground. I was too hurt to cry, to much in love to be angry with her. I'd always known she was too good for me, so why did it hurt to much when she saw that too? How can it hurt me so much when she has my heart on her hand, in the shape of a kiss? I feel hollow and empty yet without the release of feeling numb too. The hope that had been released in me when she sent Jacob away now fled from me, too afraid to stay around so much pain and hurt. I felt like the opposite of Pandora's Box: instead of trapping hope inside, it was all the bad stuff that remained while hope abandoned me. I closed my eyes and prayed I would die; anything to escape this crushing despair. Anything to stop loving her so much it hurt.

She was the only one who had enough of me to break my heart.

Hope you enjoyed this, let me know what you think.

Ruth out x