A/N: I'd like to give a special shout-out to ktsgran for the wonderful review and of course, as always, to TriGemini. Thanks guys. Hope you enjoy. And as you know reviews are love. Even for itty bitty fics like this one.

Her sleep was an empty one and it was exactly what she needed. No waking up crying. No waking up with her heart nearly beating out of her chest because she'd had yet another dream of that day in the woods, reliving the panic she'd felt as he'd uttered those words that tore her in two, and turned away from her, leaving her there alone and broken.

Blessed silent simple sleep. Something people take for granted. Something denied her for months. Is this what love meant? It's true purpose? To rend our hearts and dampen our souls? These thoughts consumed her until she finally opened her eyes wondering what would happen were she to get up and look outside. Would he be there? Or would he be gone? A mere fragment of her imagination, her fragile and cracking mind. Or would he have simply realized once again that being with her was a mistake? A part of her always knew that he would come around to that conclusion, that it was all too good to be true.

So she stayed facing the wall, replaying the night over and over in her mind like a tortuous yet beautiful nightmare. The way he had smelled, the way he felt, the sound of his voice, and the memories proved too much. She began to cry softly realizing that it had to have been a dream or some hallucination brought about by the ritual. Her tiny fingers grasped the sheets tighter and she curled around herself like an infant. For a brief moment she looked through blurry eyes at her wrists, the thought of ending her life always dancing around the edges of her sanity.

"Bella, no." She heard Edward breathe out in a pained whisper.

She looked up and saw him standing above her and all of it crashed over her like a floodgate being opened. All of the love and grief and loss and terror washed through her and the best she could do was a weak whisper of his name in reply and then the sobbing took over. She had cried before, many, many times but this was different. It was like a purging, allowing herself to feel everything at once instead of compartmentalizing it all.

He was on the bed with her in no time, holding her close, trying to soothe her. She simply clawed at him, letting the emotions take over, keening and wailing. She hit him a few times, some of the anger that leaked out only hours before now returning. But eventually she weakened and curled into his side in defeat. She held onto his shirt in a death grip, staining it with her tears. Her eyes stung and her throat was hoarse from the ordeal. Did she feel better? No. Was this necessary? Yes. She needed to reconcile with the death of her former self; her body and the deepest parts of her being knew that even if she did not.

Edward pulled her closer, running his hand through her hair and kissing her forehead. Her breathing deepened and he could tell that she was heading back towards sleep so he pulled the covers back over her, thankful to be lying next to her. How stupid he had been, he thought to himself.

I did this to her. I broke her. I killed her. And why? Because I'm arrogant? Because I thought I knew better? She fought for us while I simply ran away like a dog with its tail between its legs. And yet by a thousand blessed suns here I am lying next to her. She could have easily spurned me away but she didn't and I will spend every second of my life trying to make this up to her. I'm so sorry Bella. So, so sorry.

He began to hum her lullaby, all of his old instincts at the ready as though there had never been a skipped beat between the days.

"No Edward, please." She begged in a faint voice. And it cut him like a knife to know that a simple act of love brought her pain. Had he been able to shed a tear he would have. He was the one that was terrified now. Could they really work things out? Would she have him? Or turn him away once the shock wore off? But for the moment she still clung to him while she faded into sleep and for that he felt lucky. He hummed her lullaby in his head, never shifting an iota over the next couple of hours while Bella slept.