Bella's Last Chance

I know you're all going to say i'm evil and this chapter is extremely short, but it needed to be written.

I'm a free woman now so I can write to my heart's content whilst i still don't have a full time job.

I hope you all didn't miss me too much ;) and enjoy!

Before Edward had left to come home, he had received a phone call from Bella on the Monday.

Although she was already sure of her fate, she decided this moment was now or never to try and get him to reconsider his decision. Her hands shook as she pressed the numbers on the phone one by one, she wasn't even sure that he'd taken his phone to wherever he was going.

She held her breath and listened for a dial tone.

One ring...two rings...three rings...it seemed like forever until the phone was picked up.

"Bella?" he asked uncertainly, "is something wrong? Are you hurt? Have the Volturi?-"

"Edward." She said breathlessly as she cut him off. The sound of his voice brought butterflies and pain at the same time; Bella had to grab the chair for support just in case her knees buckled to the floor. "Edward. I couldn't let you decide without knowing some things..." She told him as she sat down with the phone cord wrapped around her wrist. As she heard him take a breath, she pressed the receiver closer to her ear to hear his voice clearer.

"Bella, I don't want you to change, I love you just as you are..." he replied tiredly. She could hear cars in the background, she was sure that he was in some motel off of a highway.

"This isn't about me changing." She told him in a quick voice.

"Then what is this about?" he asked confused. "It's not about Jacob is it?" he continued in a worried tone.

"This has nothing to do with Jacob." She informed him. "It's to do with you."

"Me?"

"Yes...well mainly me, but it's to do with you at the same time...but I just wanted to say that I've acted like a five year old since Evie arrived here. I put you in a position in which you don't want to be in and I can see how much me wanting to change into a vampire hurt you, and I reacted in the wrong way when I told you to kill me."

"Bella please don't apologise. None of this is your fault. You were acting out of hurt..."

"It is my fault." She interrupted him. "I haven't been thinking about you one bit, all I've been focused on is my rivalry with Evie and I'm sorry. All I've thought about is what I've wanted, never once thinking about how it will affect you and I shouldn't have behaved in that way. If you don't want me to change, then I won't. I want you to stay happy; you don't have to keep to your bargain that you made with Evie..."

"You know about my bargain with Evie?" Edward asked in surprise. He hadn't expected them to have talked about the arrangement, let alone talk to each other at all.

"Yes. She and I had a heart to heart the day you left." Bella explained as the images flashed through her head. "She made me see what a monster I'd become. I've come to accept that there is a high possibility that you're going to choose her, but, I just wanted you to know that I will always love you Edward Cullen, and that if you do choose Evie, then it's because I never treated you the way I should have done. I've seen that she only has your interests at heart... and I do too, but she's made them so much clearer then I have. All I can say is that I was acting the way I was because I am human. I don't want to be, but I am. And if I've learnt anything about love, then it is that being human and in love makes you make bad choices. And I have made the worst choices when it comes to us, but it's only because of how much I love you, and how much I don't want to lose you."

"Bella..."

"I know I'm probably making this harder for you, but I'm only saying it because I didn't get to say what I should've done before you left. I know Evie got to say her piece, so I thought I should say mine."

"I agree and you have, but I..." he was interrupted again by her explanations.

"You have to remember that whoever you chose it has to be because they make you happy, not the other way round. It'd be unfair on both of us if you picked me because you did it out of duty to stop me from falling off the edge, because I will try not to, I swear. So I'm reminding you...Your happiness comes first Edward, nobody else's."

"I'll keep that in mind." He replied in a pensive tone "Thank you for making this easier for me Bella."

"No problem." She replied with a small intake of breath.

From what he had said, Bella could tell that he was getting closer to his decision. It frightened and made her impatient at the same time. She just wanted him home; she just wanted to see his face for one last time just in case he went away again, but permanently in this instance.

She knew it would hurt so much more than the first time, but she was bracing herself this time for it because this time, she would be prepared if it did happen. It wouldn't hit her as hard (she hoped).

"Stay safe Bella." Edward said as he brought her out of her thoughts. "I'll be home soon."

"I'll stay as safe as I'll ever be." She half laughed.

She couldn't bear to put the phone down, to cut herself off from him. But the time was coming; he'd have to go once again out of her life until he returned with his choice.

"I love you..." he whispered.

"I love you too." She whispered back.

The line went dead, and slowly Bella unwound the cord from her wrist and put the receiver back in its holder. She turned towards the stairs and found Evie sitting on the third stair weaving a plait into her wavy chestnut brown hair.

"I'm glad you finally saw sense Bella." She smiled as she looked up at Bella. "He knows how much you love him now."

"He always knew." Bella replied quietly.

"But he needed reassurance. Just so he knew that you didn't love him just because you can become a vampire. He needed to know that his Bella, the one he fell in love with still wanted to make him happy."

"I got lost in my own happiness, but thank you for setting me straight last week."

"No problem Bella, shall we call this a truce?" Evie asked holding out her hand.

Bella shook her head.

"Not until he chooses." She sighed heavily. "Then I'll call it a truce."

"Fine by me." Evie replied as she dropped the hair from her fingers and looked around the hallway as she had nothing better to look at.

"I've got some homework to be catching up on." Bella said awkwardly. "Do you mind leaving?"

"Sure, I came here in the first place as I wanted to make sure you were ok. Alice and Jasper have gone hunting for the night, and Rosalie and Emmett have gone to the cinema, so I volunteered to check up on you. I wanted to give Esme and Carlisle a break; they're going through so much worry about Edward they look like they could sleep."

"You didn't have to come; I'm capable of staying safe on my own." Bella pouted.

"You mean a lot to the Cullen family, they don't want to see you hurt. So, in a weird and twisted way, you mean a lot to me too and I don't want to see you hurt either."

Bella raised her eyebrows as if trying to figure out whether Evie was lying or not, she gave up in a couple of seconds as she couldn't reach a decision, so she decided to take the nice route. "Thank you Evie."

"Goodnight Bella. And don't worry about Charlie; he didn't hear your conversation with Edward or my visit. Take care."

Evie had left in a blink of an eye leaving Bella alone once again.

She stood at the foot of the stairs and revelled in the rather surreal moment she'd just been a part of.

Had she and her rival put their differences to the side and had a nearly friendly conversation?

It must have been because the end of this was getting closer, she deducted. Strangely enough, she felt a little lighter knowing that this would be all over soon.

Had her words made any difference?

Only Edward knew the answer that.

Are you happy that Bella got her say?

Only 2 more chapters to go! (Well if all goes to plan in my mind...but it changes all the time...so who knows?)

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