Edward POV

The forest was so green. Bella used to say that green was her favorite color. She never told me why for so many years, but finally Alice let it slip that she loved green because it was the color of my eyes. That made me the happiest. Now though, seeing the abundance of green only made me sad. It's been so long since she's been missing, and they have no idea where she could be. She might be suffering. She might be tortured. She might be… dead. I shook that last thought from my head. While it was a fear I thought of daily, I somehow knew she was still alive. If she wasn't I know something would just feel different. And i didn't feel different. I felt empty, yes, but i still felt her with me. If she was gone from this world then she would be gone from me. But she wasn't. So she is still out there somewhere. God, we have to find her.

"Edward!" Alice yelled as she burst into my room. I looked away from the dense forest outside my window and faced her.

"What Al?"

"He's been spotted!"

"Who?" I questioned.

"The kidnapper! The man that took Bella!" she said as she turned and ran away. I jumped up and followed her out, running downstairs to the living room. I saw Renee standing there with a bit of hope in her eyes, holding my mom's hand and smiling at Alice and Emmett.

"What's happened?" I asked. Renee turned to me.

"A woman said she was driving down a street two days ago as she was leaving town and she saw a guy. She said he was carrying something but she couldn't tell what it was. She figured he was just a guy out hunting and she thought nothing of it. But then earlier today she came back into town and saw an old flyer of Bella's kidnapper and she recognized him immediately. She told the police where she spotted him and they've been searching the area. Charlie is going crazy with how busy they've been. They haven't found anything but the point is they have an area. It's about an hour away, but it's still in state. She's been that close to us all this time! And if he was walking then the place he stays can't be that far!" She said, smiling. I beamed right back at her.

"Well what are we still here for? Let's go look!" I said, turning towards the door. Then, a hand grabbed mine and pulled me back around.

"Edward no it's too dangerous." My mom said.

"Oh come on we can't just sit here and do nothing!"

"We aren't doing nothing Edward." Renee reasoned. "Charlie has about 50 men from Forks and other surrounding towns searching the area. We would simply get in the way. The search parties know what they are doing, we have to trust that." I sighed at her words, knowing she was right, and fell down to the couch. All we could do now was wait, and hope that they find something.

Bella POV

"Claire? Claire wake up." I heard a soft voice say as something shook my shoulders. "Sweetheart, wake up!" It said again. I opened my eyes to find myself laying on James' bed, with him sitting next to me, looking down at me with a look of concern. "Oh my God thank goodness holy shit!" he said as he saw my eyes open. He grabbed me and pulled me toward him in a tight embrace. All I could smell was his God awful cologne, making my pounding head hurt more.

"Um?" I questioned, not knowing what to do. He pulled away to look at me in the face again.

"I thought I lost you! You left and I was scared and when I found you I was drunk and I'm so sorry I hurt you! But then I brought you here and you wouldn't wake up and I thought I lost you for real then I was so scared!" He exclaimed, brushing the hair from my face. I sighed. I hated the crazy abusive James. But I hated the loving James more.

"I'm fine." I said, scooting away from him and sitting up, grabbing my head to stop the pounding.

"Here, take these." he said, handing my aspirin and a glass of water. I looked from him to the pills then back at him.

"Is that really aspirin? Or is it something else?" I questioned. The last time James gave me pills telling me they were for my head they ended up being ecstacy. I did not want to relive that night.

"Yes." he sighed. I shrugged and took the pills, hoping that just this once I could trust him.

"Thank you." I said, knowing that if I just took something from him without acknowledging my thanks he would make me sorry later. After I swallowed both pills I sat there as he stared at me, wondering what to do now. We both sat there in silence for what seemed to be at least an hour before I finally spoke up again. "How long was I asleep?"

"Two days." he whispered in his rough voice, his eyes never leaving my face. I nodded. "Listen, Claire- I really am sorry." he said. I nodded.

"Okay."

"No it's not okay. I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry for all the times I hurt you, and for all the times I'm sure I'll hurt you again. I'm sorry fro taking you away from your family and friends. It was wrong but I needed to do it. I'm sorry that my life was so sad that I resorted to that as the only option. And I'm sorry it had to be you. You're really too nice for all the shit I put you through. You are just so gorgeous that I couldn't stop myself." He said. I stared at him in shock.

"Are you really saying all this or am I imagining it?" I questioned.

"I'm really saying it. I really am sorry I ruined your life. And I know I did. I wish I could let you go but I can't."

"Why not?" I whispered, hope blasting through my body, wondering if I could convince him to let me go.

"Because." he said, then finally looked away from my face to his hands. "Because I've fallen in love with you." he said. For some reason the words made my stomach flip. Yes He had told me he loved me before. But that was just something he said to throw me off. But this time he had said he had fallen in love with me. That was new. I stared at him in shock. Was it true? Did this man, my kidnapper, did he really love me? And why did him saying it give me butterflies? Did- did I love him too? I had heard of cases where victims of kidnapping came to love their captors. They came to believe that it was their own fault they were taken. No, I couldn't let myself be one of them. But did I?

"James.." I said, cautiously. He looked back up at me.

"Please say you love me too." He pleaded. I didn't respond, because I didn't know what to think. Then he leaned over, caressed my face, and kissed me more gently than he ever had before. At that second, all I could feel in my stomach were butterflies. I didn't know if it was infatuation or love, but I did feel something for him. And it was sick, and twisted, and wrong.