I wish I had a Twilight royalty check but SM keeps them all! *set to Oscar meyer song*

Edward

"So I take it that Alice convinced you to come here?" Of course she had. Alice could be very persuasive. She must have talked Bella into tracking me down, knowing that seeing her would be the only thing that would bring me home. The joy that I felt at seeing Bella again was tarnished by the thought that she had only come here at someone else's urging. But as I sat contemplating this, Bella surprised me with her answer.

"No, I told you that I had already decided to find you." Her voice rang with her sincerity. "All Alice did was point me in the right direction. I didn't know where you were or how to find you and she did."

So it really had been her decision after all. She really did want to be with me, despite everything that had happened. I still couldn't believe it.

"So if it wasn't Alice, what really propelled you to find me? You said it was the accident"- I had a hard time saying the word; it conjured up too many images of Bella lying broken and bleeding-"but how did that make you finally decide to come here after all this time?"

She blushed and looked away for a moment. She seemed embarrassed. I couldn't find anything in this situation that could be embarrassing but then, I had never understood the workings of Bella's mind.

She was quiet for a few moments. I was about to beg her to tell me what she was thinking when she took a deep breath and spoke.

"Well, it is kind of embarrassing really, "she said, looking down at her hands. She was twisting them together again. "While I was unconscious I had a strange dream, or vision I guess you could call it." Her cheeks burned pink again. "It was a replay of all of our time together. I saw every moment that we'd had together and watching it I knew I had to find you again. I knew that with my horrible luck that any moment might be my last and that I wanted to spend every moment I had with you. We have not had enough time with each other; time may cease to exist before we have had enough of it."

I could not speak for a long moment; I was astounded. She was right. Her life was ruled by some mean-spirited fate that wanted to end her life. She was so terribly unlucky that bad things kept happening to her and so terribly lucky that none of them had succeeded yet in killing her And she was right about something else; we had not had enough time together. I wanted to spend every moment with her, hearing her laugh, seeing her smile, watching her beautiful eyes sparkle with mischief.

"You're right, we haven't had enough time, there is no such thing as enough time." I felt her heartbeat pick up in response to my words. "I was the biggest kind of fool, leaving you, thinking that was what was best for you. And it only ended up hurting us both."

I could not believe how stupid I had been, thinking I could live without her. The world had been a cold dark place when she was gone; now it seemed like the sun was shining once more, warming me again.

"Is that why you left, you thought it was what was best for me?" Her voice was incredulous and I could hear the anger.

"Bella, just being around me is dangerous enough for you, especially as potent as your scent is to me. But when I saw the danger you were in from others of my kind-James, Victoria, even Jasper for a moment-I knew I could not allow you to be hurt by what I am."

"But-in the forest-you said…you said you were leaving because you didn't want me. That I wasn't good enough for you." Her voice was clogged with pain and repressed tears. I was filled with remorse and anguish at the pain that I had caused her.

"My love, I had to tell you those things. I could see that there was no way you were going to give in, to let me leave without you. I knew I had to convince you that I didn't want you anymore, to make you believe that I was moving on. It was the only way I could think of to make sure you went on with your life after I had gone. But every word of what I said to you was a lie. When I told you I didn't want you," I shook my head sadly, "I can't believe I was even able to say it. The words were choking me, tormenting me the entire time. But I knew I had to say them, I had to make sure you were safe, that you had the chance to have a full and happy life."

"Edward, the only time I can be happy is when I am with you. All the time you have been gone I have been drowning, sinking farther and farther below the surface, into despair. Thinking of you, of seeing your face again, it is the only thing that pulled me up out of it, back into my life again. Whatever danger I might be in from your company can never be as bad as the emptiness when I am not with you."

My leaving had hurt her so much. More even than I had thought it would. I had hoped she would move on. NO! My heart cried. No, if I was honest with myself I knew that was a lie. I never wanted her to forget me as I would never forget her. But I hadn't wanted her to suffer either. And she had. She loved me so much and I had crushed her; I could see that now. I had underestimated her feelings for me. I could not forgive myself for wounding her so badly. I would work everyday to make amends.

I pulled her too me and cradled her against my chest. "I love you Bella." I felt her gasp and begin to tremble. "I told you that you were not good enough for me but the truth is, I can never be good enough to deserve you. I will try every day of my existence to be the man that you deserve." I put my hand under her chin and pulled her face up to mine. She was smiling; tears were brimming in her eyes and spilling down her cheeks. I gently brushed them away with my thumb and kissed her tear-wet lips. I pulled away and stared into her face, the most beautiful face in the world, the face of the woman I would love for the rest of eternity and felt true joy and happiness for the first time in months.