*** Get your Yiruma song, River Flows in You, ready for the end of this chapter ***

Ch 10: My Music

EPOV

The sun was rising to a nearly cloudless sky. I stared out my window, loathing it.

This is where I feared my plan was doomed to fail. I could watch over her every night, I could follow her in school in person and through the eyes of others, but I could not risk exposure. It sickened me, because I always said I would do anything to protect Bella, anything at all, but I was not willing to sacrifice my family´s safety. Exposing myself meant exposing them too, forcing them to leave, or worse, sentencing them to death. I didn´t doubt the Volturi wouldn´t hesitate to kill them, Carlisle included, to keep the secret of the vampire world locked up tight. I couldn´t allow my feelings for Bella to be selfish. The lives of six others were at stake.

If I had to die for her, I would do it alone.

The family periodically separated to search within 200 miles in all directions for signs of either the Volturi or Victoria. Two days ago, Jasper came across her scent, and we sprang into action. My desire to stay by Bella´s side warred with the need to do away with her would-be murderer, but Alice volunteered to stay behind for me, to protect her. Our attempt had been in vain, and we returned to sunny weather. It was to be the second day when not any of us could be close to Bella. The only thing we could do was place ourselves around the town, in hopes that if anyone tried to enter, we would catch them.

It still made me uneasy, not to see her. I tried to occupy myself with music and books, but nothing held interest to me anymore. This love had surely encompassed everything about me. While I never lost my interests, Bella… her smiles… her safety was always at the forefront of my mind. For a vampire, I sure lacked the ability to focus.

Music was of little comfort nowadays. Now every song was a song of pain, longing, loss. Even cheerful songs seemed to be mocking me with false happiness, ridiculing me with a joy that I could never feel again, a feeling I once knew so well.

I touched the ivory keys of the grand piano again, longing to play, but every note I touched was a sound of agony. Esme´s thoughts whispered to me, she was watching me from the stairway, ´Will he play?´

Even she knew that I only played when I was happy, and I was certain that playing now would make it all too clear that I was a broken man. I danced my fingers across the keys but didn´t put any pressure on them, imagining what the notes should sound like, knowing that they wouldn´t in the end.

With a sigh I stood up again and put down the cover. Who knew how many times I sat down there, thinking I could manage, only to walk away defeated.

Esme´s thoughts of sorrow left me with a new ache in my heart. She was my mother, after all. My pain was her pain. I hoped she would understand that playing was impossible for me, no matter how much she wanted to hear it.

I could never keep away from Bella, even with the sun. Soon enough, just like yesterday, I drove to her school, parking a block away so my car wouldn´t be recognized by any students. The tinted windows blocked out the sun, and I was safe. I focused my mind, honing in only on the thoughts of her fellow classmates. I knew that watching over her was about more than just her safety. I also desperately wanted to see her face. I got to see what her face looked like when I wasn´t around. I even saw her smiling a few times. Little smiles, but they were enough to make me smile too. Mike Newton´s thoughts were the only wretched part of this ordeal. When he began undressing her with his eyes, I almost broke the steering wheel into multiple pieces. It was all I could to not to confront him now and punch him into the walls and through in the opposite side of the building.

Then I wondered if I would ever be satisfied with the men who wanted Bella, whether their intentions be good or not. Jacob´s love for Bella didn´t make it any harder for me to hate him. Perhaps there was no one in this world good enough for this woman, but at the very least, there had to be someone who would treat her with kindness and worship everything about her.

When school got out, I didn´t follow her home immediately. I had to keep my distance from her or she would know what I was up to. Eventually I abandoned by car to follow her on foot. I sighed in disgust. How often I had scorned the men who followed women around like they were property or prey, and here I was doing the same things. My intensions may be more pure, but I was disgusting none-the-less. Before I left, I had watched over her in the forest by the school, hiding high up in the trees. She had become flustered when looking over some Spanish verbs, and I knew she was remembering how I corrected her grammar in class the other day. I laughed, but it was foolish of me. She knew I was there, and when she called to me, I was too much of a coward to expose myself.

And here I was again, following her through the trees. I was curious as to what provoked her to go for a walk in the forest. Stubborn girl, I had told her before not to wander into the woods alone, that there were things out there more dangerous than me, but she took so little of what I said to heart, even how much I loved her. I was silent with every jump. The birds flew away from me, no doubt confused that I was there among them. I hoped she didn't notice their departure. When she came to the place we had said our final goodbyes, I was close to falling out. It was unusual for a vampire to feel weak, but that moment coming to mind had surely been my darkest hour. She didn´t stop to look around at this place. She either didn´t recognize it or didn´t care to remember it. Either way, she continued. I had no idea where she was going to, but I would follow her every step of the way. In this way I guess I was more like a vampire of human legends, like I was stalking my prey, hovering over her like some kind of blood-sucking bat.

When we came to a clearing, I was momentarily distracted by the view. Forks was so seldom exposed to sunlight that sunsets were unheard of. The sky was a perfect yellowish orange, so the field looked more like fields in autumn than spring. There were horses in the distance, roaming about in the pastures. I saw barns up ahead but there were no human thoughts in the area.

Bella sat down against a tree to take in the sight. I could tell by the look on her face that she was just as awed by the sight. The ground remained wet and cold but it didn´t stop her from sitting. I felt an irrational urge to cover her, keep her warm, before I realized that my body had no warmth to give. I jumped into the tree, landing without a sound, then crept onto a sturdy branch. I sprawled myself over it much like a mountain lion would, folding my hands beneath my chin and gazing down at the love of my life. There was a new protective edge to how I looked at her now, like I really was a guardian angel or a noble animal watching over his mate, content to just watch. For a few precious moments, I let myself forget how repulsive I was for following her secretly, and let myself feel a hint of joy. The orange light sank into her hair, turning some of the lighter strands into gold, and her face looked so warm that I could guarantee the sun was envying her.

She shut her eyes, tilted her head back a little, and sighed. The movement of her chest drew my attention to the gentle curves of her body. I savagely missed the feel of her pressed against me, but in the worst way. I still craved her in dangerous ways, even while my heart was broken and our relationship shattered. I still imagined what it would be like if we were both human, what it would feel like to show her how passionately I loved her. Maybe then, she would have believed me… Just maybe…

She swallowed and my eyes followed the roll of her throat. The desire to sink my teeth into her was ever strong, though a part of me ached to kiss that moving flesh. A twig that I didn´t realize I was holding snapped in my fingers, and instantly I was airborne. I catapulted into another tree, scaring away the birds who were nesting nearby. Bella gasped and looked up, all around her, but to my everlasting relief she never saw me.

I kept still there, listening to her heart accelerate, and then I heard her speak, "I know you´re there, Edward."

Her voice was shaking. Did she know I had been following her all along? I hadn´t answered her before when I was watching over her near school, fearing that she would only yell at me again. But now the tenderness of her voice called to me, and I could not refuse her.

In one leap I dropped in front of her, but was shocked when she let out a yell. Strange… did she actually think I wasn´t here?

"Sorry," I said quickly, trying to calm her wild heart, "I didn´t mean to scare you."

She looked at me for the first time in days, and there was not yet a look of anger on her face. She looked like I did when I saved her from her car, shocked and confused. God, she was too beautiful for this world. I didn´t even care that I had stepped out into the sunlight. No one was around anyway, and I didn´t have a mind to be cautious anymore. She stared at me with such severity that I grew anxious, but in spite of the shimmer of my skin she still didn´t recoil. What was she preparing to say to me? Was she going to tell me to go away again?

I looked away. I didn´t want to tell her why I was following her around. I didn´t want her to be afraid of the monsters that hunted her.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

I didn´t answer. How could I? I was despicable for following her around like some love-sick puppy.

"You were following me." She knew all along. Her voice grew angry, "I´m sure Charlie would be more than willing to put out a restraining order."

The mere suggestion made my dead heart shrink. Of course, no human attempt could keep me away from her, whether she wanted me or not, but the idea that she would go so far as to legally prevent me from being with her… She must have wanted to get away from me so badly. I was sorry that I couldn´t oblige her that.

"I´m not forgiving you for dislocating Jacob´s shoulder."

Ah, yes… Her new boyfriend was no doubt completely healed by now, but I remembered with cruel clarity the anger on her face when I attacked him. She was a good person. She defended those she cared about even when she was the one who was weak. If she hadn´t stepped between us, I might have taken out his limbs.

"Aren´t you going to say something?"

Her voice was getting more and more frustrated, and I knew I couldn´t keep silent forever. "What do you want me to say?"

I would give her any words she wanted if it would make her feel better.

"Why are you still here?"

But could I give her this? She already knew about Victoria, or else the dogs wouldn´t have known, but certainly not the Volturi. She barely knew who they were, other than a brief mention on my part about being powerful killers, and a family whom all vampires feared.

So I stayed with what she already knew. "There have been a few… complications… that have come to my attention."

She crossed her arms, clearly not believing me, "What kind of complications?"

It was hard to get the words out. I feared her reaction. "You remember Victoria, I trust."

Her knees and lips started shaking. My fears were warranted. I wanted to hold her legs steady with my own hands, soothe her lips with mine…

"You… you know about her?"

"Alice´s thoughts clued me in on it, and how the werewolves have been trying to track her down." I said, "Well, I couldn´t possibly let her do what she will with you. She has quite a few tricks up her sleeve. My family and I decided that we would hunt her as well."

I tried to say that without any emotion to my voice. The last thing I needed was for her to realize that the one she now hated was still desperately in love with her, and willing to die if it came down to it. Seeing her face so full of fear was enough reason to die for her, and there was a distinct possibility that I would be doing just that. I was struck be another painful thought. Would she care if I died? Would she weep for me? Would she have wanted to say goodbye?

"Why should you have to do anything? This isn´t any of your business," she growled loudly.

I smiled sadly. "Call it a debt of honor. I know I haven´t done right by you Bella, but I won´t let you die because of me. Victoria wouldn´t even be after you if it weren´t for me."

Everything that had gone wrong in her life was because of me. I should have disappeared the moment we had met. I shouldn´t have given in to the overpowering need to be by her side. My selfishness put her in danger every moment. Even now, the things I wanted for myself were wholly unfair. She had given me a little taste of what it really meant to live. Knowing that at one point she loved me back had made it so much harder to leave her the second time, yet know that idea that she no longer loved me was like a death-sentence. As though I was fighting to stay alive, I pined for her even when I was with her. I would have to resist and resign myself to death.

"You don´t need to…" She said softly.

How desperately I wanted to read her mind now, to see what she was thinking of me. "I know," He said simply, "I want to."

"So why are you back at school?"

I needed to be closer to her, even if it could never be close enough. I walked towards her but realized half way that I could not approach her as I did when she was mine, so I lowered to the ground some feet away from her, crouching. "It´s clear, isn´t it? Someone needs to keep an eye on you at all times. We can´t trust Alice´s visions to let us know in time what´s going to happen. I believe you've already been informed about Alice´s inability to look into their futures."

"So you have been following me around all this time?"

"Not all this time. I thought we had a lead a few days ago, but nothing came up."

"Let me guess… Alice stayed behind to babysit me."

Her voice was bitter, and I flinched against the sound, "You make it sound like we´re stalking you."

"Well, yes, I think that would be the term," I said as coldly as I could.

I looked away from her, towards the fields at the running horses. So she knew just as well as I did that what I was doing was despicable. Back when she had loved me, she didn´t care that I followed her around, even coming up to her room at night. Any other girl would have been repulsed. She didn´t… until now. I wanted to yell at her, defend myself, at the very least so I wouldn´t hurt so much. She wouldn´t last a day in the world without protection. Surely she could see that. I was fighting the world and myself to keep her alive and well.

My voice was stern, "Would you rather I just leave you to die?"

"I expect you to stay out of my life! You have no business following me around, especially after you´ve attacked my boyfriend!"

Her use of the word ´boyfriend´ twisted my stomach into knots. She never referred to me as her ´boyfriend´. She was even uncomfortable with me being introduced to her father as such. Now she said it in reference to Jacob with such ease…

I couldn´t fight with her. I didn´t have the emotional strength. The gap between us was growing and growing every day. I was farther apart from her than I was in South America. "I´m very sorry you feel that way." I told her, defeated, "More than you´ll ever know."

The smell of salt on the wind drew my attention away from the scenery.

Agony… She was crying.

There were few things that produced instinctive reactions within me. The ones I had were related to survival, to hunt and drink blood, to fight and retreat. The first moment I had had an instinct that felt purely human was that day at school, seeing a van sliding on the ice towards the woman who had become by everything. For the first time, the awe-inspiring need to protect had driven me to her side. I didn´t even understand then why I needed her so much, but my whole body had been screaming, desperate, awake. Nothing else had mattered but saving her. Then, day by day, new instincts rose to the surface. The instinct to touch… kiss… breathe. Looking for her everywhere without knowing it. The most crushing of all was seeing her cry.

I was at her side in an instant, kneeling before her like a man about to propose. Oh, were I so lucky… But she was already getting up. I rose along with her, franticly trying to keep this closeness, and she opened her eyes. They were so bright and wet with tears. My insides crumbled again. I shut my eyes, trying to hold myself together, searching for the words I could say without frightening her away for good. I found nothing that would do her any justice without committing some kind of blasphemy or doing just the opposite and admitting my undying love. I looked at her and felt like we were as we had always been, not a vampire and a human, but a man and a woman. My cold hand burned as I reached out for her, unable to stop myself. Only her touch would soothe this ache. I ran my hands over her forehead, the stress-induced wrinkles that were there, then let them flutter over her temple and her cheek, tracing the line of her tears and catching them on their descent. It was the most intimate touch we had had in months, and letting my hand fall left it burning even hotter than before.

"Bella…" The words poured out of me like a dam had been broken, "Don´t cry, okay? I hate to see you cry."

My hands were held up still, as though I was about to surrender in a battle. I didn´t know how close I was to dropping on my knees and begging her to take me back.

"Why do you care?" She murmured pitifully

He smiled sadly. That which was clear to me was never clear to her, was it? "It´s just that. I… care about you… a great deal, Bella. That isn´t going to change. Didn´t I tell you that?"

It was the most I could give her. If I couldn´t tell her right now how much I loved her, I could tell her that I cared about her. That had to count for something. No matter how she felt about me, she had to know that I needed to keep her safe.

Could I be her friend? Did I dare for that tiny luxury?

I barely could see it coming, but suddenly Bella was pressed against me, her arms around me, her face at my neck, and then I was only a man being stripped of every sin. In a fraction of a second, my ice met her flame and was overcome. Months of loneliness and longing fell away as though she had plucked them off my weary body. The winds picked up, twirled leaves around us, whispering a call to rejoice, for the world was right again. Somehow, an angel embraced a demon, and the world was right. I shuddered as I reached out for her. My fingers traced her back until my arms came full circle. I pressed her body against mine and my cheek against her hair, and I cried. I had no tears to provide as evidence of my pain, but were she to look up she would see a tormented man, conflicted by eternal absolute pain and sudden absolute joy. I nuzzled her hair with my nose, inhaling both the intoxicating scent of her blood and the scent of her hair, and unbeknownst to her, crying like the day I was born. Even as I burned, I was soaring.

There were so many ways for a man and woman to come together. One sees another across the way, smiles at them; they slip away into the night hand in hand. A friend introduces two people, coaxing their acquaintance into friendship and then into love. Two colleagues spend day after day by each other´s side until it is clear that one cannot exist without the other… A woman is betrothed to a man she doesn´t know, and she can either fall into love or into despair, where she will remain for the rest of her days… Driven by loneliness, a soul reaches out to whoever will take them, maddened by the idea of dying alone…

A man, who is not a man but a monster, suddenly leaps out to save a mortal girl from being crushed, only to doom her with his presence. A demon, fated to kill the angel, somehow falls in love.

And then there was us as we were now, two people, once in love, holding each other by the setting sun. The love is unreciprocated but I have enough love for the both of us and some to spare. Our ending was empty, but this connection between she and I would never fade. The moment she held me, I knew that all the pain I suffered both in the past and now was worth it. If an angel could purge the devil of sin, then what more evil could be in this world? Was she not healing all evil everywhere at the same time?

The sound of her gasping broke through my stupor. I realized I was holding her too tight. I let her go instantly and she panted for breath. "Sorry," I muttered.

She smiled lightly. I knew she was thinking the same thing I was. It had been so long that I had forgotten how to control my strength. She wiped away her remaining tears, "I´m sorry I´ve been so rude to you… You were right. I shouldn´t have been so reckless with my life."

I wasn´t going to deny that, but I had my own crimes to apologize for. "I´m sorry for breaking Jacob´s shoulder," Though I doubted I would ever apologize to Jacob personally, "And for making your life so difficult."

"You don´t… You really don´t…" She whispered shakily.

I could feel light sinking into my skin, all the way to the bones. It had been so long since I had been this happy it almost felt new.

"I want to do right by you, Bella," I said, a little too passionately, "I promise you I´ll protect you."

She started crying again, but she was smiling, and I was glad. "Thank you," she whispered.

The seams of my heart were being pulled back together. "What do you say?" I smiled, "Friends?"

She faltered when I said that. I wondered if it was really too hard to be friends with an ex-boyfriend. Humans always said that it was impossible, that their past would get in the way of the purity of friendship. It didn´t seem so impossible to me. I would be content to love her for the rest of my life in silence, even as she did things that broke my heart. All that mattered now was that she cared about me still and even the tiniest pit of affection on her part was enough for me.

Finally, she nodded. "Friends."

It should have been hard to take that word when it fell from her lips, but I was too happy to mind it.

Shadows fell over us. The sun had set. "Edward," she spoke up, "If you don´t mind… Would you take me to see your family? I haven´t gotten to see them since Saturday."

Could I deny her anything at this moment? After all, she was just as much a part of the family as I was, whether she knew it or not. "Of course."

Grabbing her before she had time to react, suddenly we were airborne. I maneuvered her onto my back and leapt from tree to tree. Her giggles echoed in my ears like chimes and I ran faster and faster and faster, like a caged animal being set free. Elated by the feel of her, I forgot about my car until we passed it. For now, I could only fly. But she shivered in my arms and I gave in. We circled back to the car.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

I lost track of the minutes that passed as I watched Bella with my family, playing Jenga and card games like she was with regular humans. She looked so much like she belonged there. Emmett, Alice, Esme, and Carlisle laughed along with her. I looked on from the doorway. At one point, Emmett picked her up, threw her over his shoulder and twirled her around, and I swore I had never heard her laugh so loudly. It was so reminiscent of a Christmas tale, of family members gathered together by the fireplace, talking and laughing and just being together. For all I knew, this could have been happening for years, for it came so naturally.

Jasper´s thoughts caught me by surprise. He was looking up at me from the corner, marveling over the smile on my face. The sight of my own face did intrigue me. I looked just as happy as I did months ago. The thought of that made me smile more.

She was my family. Whether we were together or not, she would always be a part of me, and I hoped I would always be part of her. The future would be difficult to endure, but I could do it so long as I could see her smile every now and then.

Bella squealed when Emmett tackled her again. Emmett was very strong but even when he wrestled with her he was gentle, not that he had to try very hard to keep her down.

Rosalie snorted in the kitchen, ´She´s even got Emmett worshipping the ground she walks on.´

Hm, this was interesting? Was Rosalie worried that Emmett favored Bella? I knew, of course, that he didn´t. He loved Rosalie very much, but I couldn´t blame him for wanting to hang out with Bella a bit more than Rosalie. Her attitude really was too much to bear.

Bella laughed as she was tickled by him, "Stop! Stop! Stop! Have mercy!" She screamed, but underneath it she was happy.

Esme looked up at me, "Edward… Would you like to join in?"

I shook my head. I much preferred to watch this scene. I went to sit at the piano bench to get a closer look. Bella´s laughter did strange things to my mind. I could hear music again, flowing with the beat of a heart that didn´t even exist inside my chest, flowing like breath.

It got late and the others retired to the privacy of their own rooms. Thoughts of intimacy were on their minds, unfortunately, but I had grown accustomed to tuning them out. Bella dosed on the couch with a blanket around her, right next to the fireplace, and looked up at me with glowing eyes. "I suppose you won´t mind if I kidnap your brother, would you?"

I smiled, "No, I wouldn´t. Rosalie might, though. You´ll have to fight her for him."

She made a playful frown, "Damn… No luck there."

"Don´t worry," I said, making a little white lie, "Rosalie doesn´t consider you a threat. You´ll be safe."

She shut her eyes and breathed in deep. I was infatuated with the flush on her cheeks, partially from wrestling around with Emmett and partially from the heat of the fire.

"Tell me about South America," She said suddenly, catching me by surprise. "What have you been up to?"

It was all too hard to keep that smile on my face. The memories of loneliness flooded me in an instant, but I had to hold on to the vision of her, with me right now. But I couldn´t tell her the torment I had gone through.

"Not much, really. Just the usual."

"Oh, come on. I bet you have some interesting details. Tell me what it´s like."

Her eyes were drooping. I knew she wouldn´t last long. I took in her beauty and the words flowed out of me, "It´s very beautiful… and very warm… But so delicate and I am afraid it will break."

"Maybe you should go and save the rainforest." She said. Her eyes were all the way closed now, and her voice was getting heavy.

"Perhaps… I have more important things to save right now."

Perhaps she was too tired to understand the meaning behind those words. Nothing on this planet was more important to me than her life.

"You can do it," she said, "You can do anything…"

"Bella…" I whispered, and it echoed back to me.

She was already gone, out like a light. I sighed. So many things I wanted to say and couldn´t say. Was there any way I could express to her just how much she meant to me?

And my heart already knew. I turned towards the opened keys of the piano. Who had opened them? It was like they were waiting for me. My fingers rose and gently touched the ivory. I shut my eyes, let the flurry of my thoughts consume me. I looked at Bella, her face peaceful in sleep, her mouth turned up in a little smile.

Without turning my gaze away from her, my fingers began to play.

I never took my eyes off of her. It was a song that my very fingers knew by heart, the song that could express my feelings more than words ever could.

I paused, letting the feelings dominate my every fiber. Time stilled, the silence of the room was deafening. I played the next phrase, and paused again, gathering strength, and still there wasn´t a sound. Even the thoughts upstairs had hushed in sudden shock. And then nothing could stop the music from pouring into my fingertips. It came like a storm over me, engulfing me, pulling me under, and as delicate as it was I couldn´t breathe in the passing winds. I touched the piano as tenderly as I wanted to touch her, dropping over her skin, caressing her softness, coming back again and again only for the simple joy of making her heartbeat spring to life beneath. I could feel her warmth around me, every touch, every kiss, even every glance. The past and future meant nothing to me now. I was looking at my precious Bella, sleeping in my home, and I was more in love with her every day that passed. I was touching her soul with my music. It was the only way I had to show her the passion I felt whenever she was near. She would never come to know how deeply these feelings flowed through me, but my heart would always be hers, as would this song.

Vaguely, I heard the awe of my family. Interrupted from their passions, they came out, lingering on the stairwell, the emotion in them so staggering I almost lost my grip. I saw what I looked like to them, my face filled with joy and adoration, the pain still underneath but for the moment, dominated by feelings much more powerful.

The music was like a sigh. I breathed with every rise and fall. She snuggled closer in her blankets, her smile widening, and I let out a gasp of both desperate and agonizing elation. God, how could anyone love another as much as this? How could such a small body as my own be filled with so much emotion? She sighed along with the music, as though she could feel it too, as though somehow she could understand the feelings I could only put into music. The storm was suddenly a hurricane. I played louder, the feelings in me were too great to keep quiet, and they were so strong that it was all I could not to let the feelings tear through me. It was all I could do not to break the keys. My lips were shaking and I felt the burn in my eyes that told me I was crying again. It was a strange feeling to have, to be so happy and yet so heartbroken at the same time, but somehow in spite of the latter it was a joy I wouldn´t trade away for any other. Every cord I played was me reaching out to hold her, every trill a kiss on her lips, the crescendo was what my heart would have done were it alive, every tiny decrescendo was a rush of calm I needed in order to not combust. All the things I desperately wanted to give her but couldn´t. In this world of music, I could make magic. I could compose for her a world where only the two of us mattered. I could love her in every way I could think of and there would be no worries, we would fade away into the end of time. I could conjure eternity for us with a flick of a wrist. There would be no death, no pain, no aging. She would be my Bella forever.

My song slowed, eternity fading away with it. Just as it was when I first composed it, it drew to that inevitable conclusion, no change, for this sleeping girl was perfect just the way she was. My fingers slowed, growing numb from the bombardment of feelings, like I had just survived a battle rather than a song. They played their final note, as light as a feather, as light as my touch on her delicate skin.

Silence filled the house, even in the thoughts of my family, every last one of them. But I could feel their awe, their speechlessness. Even their minds couldn´t form words to express what they were feeling. Perhaps they did understand just how very much I loved Bella. Alice´s thoughts were the first to hit my mind, but in her shock it was just my name, ´Edward...´

Then Esme was crying softly, but it wasn´t of unhappiness. I scooped Bella into my arms, blankets and all, before their thoughts would intrude on this little piece of heaven. I shielded her face from the wind as I brought her out to the car. She didn´t stir when I put her inside, letting her stretch out with her head on the seat. Bella´s head nudged my thigh and I allowed myself to run my thumb along a little crease in her hair.

I got in and slowly pulled out of the driveway. The world was still silent to me, but my music, my love, continued to play…

To be continued…

I was crying so hard when I wrote the last part, but it was a good kind of crying. Sometimes I just get carried away with romantics. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Again, Yiruma´s song was a constant inspiration, and I recommend you listen to it for this chapter.

Well, I´m finally done with finals, but I´m not caught up on writing, so I can´t say when I´ll be back, but it certainly won´t be another 10 days. I was sooooo happy at how many reviews I got last time! It made me so happy! Thanks to everyone for their continued input and support!

Take care! xoxoxo