After an impressive period of time, this fanfic is back. And so...

Disclaimer: In the time that I was away, I didn't manage to take possession of Stephanie Meyer's belongings. Therefore, the 'Twilight' franchise still belongs to her. I just like to mess with the characters.

The ground made little noise as I walked, bits of earth and rotten leaves trying to cling onto me, mere mimics of Bella. Instead of clinging, she reaches with clawed and clutching hands, an inescapable monster with her perfectly perfect ideals, her perfectly obsessed love. Even now, away from the weeping Renesme and the adoring Bella, she was stuck in my thoughts, her whining voice and cold vampiric touch lingering, her face visible in the corner of my eye.

Disgusting.

A twig snapped, not under my feet, but elsewhere in the forest. Had I really been too absorbed in thoughts of her that I had failed to notice another's approach? My golden eyes darted in the direction of the mind, even as I climbed up a nearby tree. It was unnecessary, of course. I already knew whose mind it was, could practically feel the heat radiating off one of the only warm bodies close to the house, almost overpowering.

I sat on a branch and watched Jacob frown.

Uninvited, his thoughts echoed around my head, though I didn't need to be able to read his mind to know what he was thinking about.

Renesme, Renesme, Renesme, always Renesme.

He was afraid to go near the house, afraid that he might cause an even greater rift in the perfect little world on the other side of the trees. Like a statue, I watched him, not a muscle twitching, not one blink to disrupt my stare. We stayed like this for a while, Jacob occasionally shifting his weight to another foot, adjusting his muscular arms or head, while I remained un-moving, the statue watching the observer. The only way I could tell that time was passing was the slowly moving sun, obscured by cloud as it made its daily journey. And then, in what seemed to be both a brief moment and an age, Jacob left, his ebony locks being gently caressed by the wind, his larger feet crunching more twigs.

He had wanted Renesme to come out.

Stood close to our house while the others either didn't notice or didn't care, hoping for the relationship to continue in secret while hoping that she wouldn't think of him at all. It would be better, it would be worse, it would be... He didn't even know.

The heat left the area when he did.

I pushed myself off the branch when he was out of earshot, the soft forest floor absorbing some of the impact, my impervious vampiric body absorbing the rest. I continued to walk, passing so many areas that were full of memories, most of them now distasteful and annoying. I wished for a hidden cave, somewhere that would be just for me, not Bella or Renesme, Carlisle or any of the other vampires, a place to escape. There at least I wouldn't be expected to be Odysseus, fighting off a harpy as the hero, I could be Achilles. Weak. Flawed.

Imperfect.

And then, in my cave I could...

No, I wouldn't think about that now. Not this close to my jailer harpy Bella.

I trudged back to the cottage, letting my feet that were capable of such speeds to go as slowly as they pleased. I opened the door, bracing myself for another Bella preaching moment as I entered. Oh Edward, how could you upset poor sweet Renesme, and also Jacob, and most importantly my bubble of perfection? I will love you and keep you close forever, but maybe while I do, I can also tell you that maybe you don't do things the way you should, or the way I think you should, and conform to the way things should be in our little bubble.

Sometimes I wondered if she adored me or the idea of me, the perfect loving husband I represented in her eyes.

She hadn't leapt out from the shadows yet, but I knew where she was now, comforting poor, abused Renesme, the over-indulged spoilt child that wasn't used to being deprived of what she wanted when she wanted it.

She really was Bella's child.

A caterpillar who was eating all the cabbage she was given, always expecting more and more to get bigger and bigger.

One day she would vomit all those gifts and kindnesses up.

Nothing lasts forever.

"Edward?" It was Bella, looking pathetically like a child as she stood in the doorway to our room. I could see tear stains on her top, something for Alice to get mad at later.

"Bella." I was facing away from the doorway, and made no effort to turn around. I listened as her feet walked tentatively towards me, until she sat down next to me. Gently, she leaned her body against mine, but as my muscles tensed, she righted her position, sitting without relying on me.

"Edward, you need to talk to Jacob." My face twitched, although I had known it was coming.

"You already mentioned," I pointed out, still looking ahead of myself instead of at her.

"Edward--" Her hand reached out to touch me, but I brushed it away.

Don't touch me. "I will talk to Jacob," I said.

"Oh, Ed--"

"Tomorrow. And tomorrow, you should talk with Carlisle. Ask him about my missing years. He'll know what you're talking about."

"But why can't--"

"I don't want to tell you."

And then there was silence.

Expect more updates in the very near future. Until then, say what you think in a review. Good, bad, or something in between, it's all welcome.