Ok, staying with Tanya was not a good idea. The situation was so desperate I was miserably hiding in a closet trying to avoid her.
"Eddie, where are you, baby?" Oh God, will it never end? I could understand that she had taken a likeing to me but this, this was just obsession.
"Go away," I whispered. Suddenly the door of the closet swung open, filling my eyes with light.
"I heard that!" I jumped as Tanya's voice pierced my ears. She grabbed my collar and hauled me to the bed and I scrambled to the top of it for dear life. She stalked closer to me slowly, like a predator.
"Eddie, don't you love me?"
"No Tanya, don't you get it?" I tried pathetically. This had really gotten to be too much.
"Oh, you're just saying that, big boy, playing hard to get."
"Oh for the love of all that's holy, I do not fancy you, Tanya!" I screamed at her, pronouncing each word clearly, as if she were dumb.
"That's impossible. No one can resist my charm!"
"Well, apparently, I can," I told her bitterly. I closed my eyes; I hated being horrid to people.
"Oh, Tanya, please, just give it up!" I said, exasperated.
"Never!" She wasn't conceding easily, that was certain. I grabbed hold of her shoulders and sat her down on a chair that was in the corner of the room. I took one look at the blaze of pure excitement and love that was buried in her topaz eyes and I sighed.
"Tanya, you need to stop, now, before you really start making some enemies. I know you have a certain desire for me, however, I do not return that desire. I merely like you at a friend level and you know that. Why do you push it?" The blaze in her eyes dwindled at each passing word.
"I want a companion, Edward, a nice, worthy companion. You pretty much fit the bill." She was on tender hooks, waiting for me to give her the words she had waited for all day.
"I am not the appropriate companion for you, Tanya." They were definitely not the words she longed for. The whole room filled with a surge of melancholy. Tanya's as well as my own. "Every relationship I start is doomed. Just look at Carlisle and Esme." I waved uselessly to add a sense of frustration. Still, every word I utter was too true for my liking, and the worst thing about it all was that it was all my doing. I had laid this on myself, now I was enjoying the consequences.
"I don't believe that. You will find that someone, just you wait."
"I believe my time here is at its end," Part of me regretted it with every fiber of my body. I felt my days with no family are at an end aswell.
"Very well, Edward. May I accompany you to wherever your lonely travels lead you?"
"They will inevitably lead me home, Tanya. You may come with me if you wish."
"I would love that very much." She got up from the chair and took my hand in hers.
Carlisle and Esme, here I come, with a little visitor. Please forgive me for the sins I have committed and embrace me back home, I need you. I was a fool to think otherwise.
I stood on the threshold of the all too familiar house after a good hour and 15 minutes. After a brief pause, I slowly turned the handle and stepped inside. Tanya followed me, sticking to my side.
"What will you do if they won't allow you back?" she whispered cautiously.
"Go to the Volturi and provoke them. Life just is not worth living without a family and a place to call home."
"Not if I have anything to say about it." The voice came from the living room door. Carlisle.
"Greetings, Carlisle, been avoiding me?" Tanya said perkily.
"On that I believe our opinions differ." He smiled graciously and hugged her warmly.
"Edward?" I met his gaze as I heard my name come from his lips.
"Have you changed your mind about this whole thing?" He was asking if I had changed my mind about being on my own.
"Yes, most definitely," I told him sincerely.
"Very well," he turned to Tanya now, "I believe everything has gotten a bit out of control and I am sorry for that. I hope he wasn't too much of a nuisance," he smirked. "I will make sure to visit again. Until then, Tanya," Carlisle dismissed. As she turned her back to us she said,
"Farewell, my friends." She then took off back to Denali without another word.
I sat down on the steps to the house and soon after Carlisle came and joined me.
"Welcome home, son," he murmured. "Are you really ready to return?" he asked. I turned to him and stared him in the eyes.
"Carlisle, look at my eyes, they're gold. I had been planning to come back for a while," I chuckled.
"I knew it, it must be my irresistible charm," he joked.
"No, it was your kind heart and wise words that led me back to you," I told him openheartedly.
"I only tell you what I have had to learn the hard way."
"I am truly sorry I left you, Carlisle."
"Don't say sorry to me, I believe Esme is wanting to make up on all the hugs she has missed. This should be entertaining," he mused. I stood up and headed for the door. I stepped in without a second's hesitation.
"Oh, Edward!" I heard. Yes, I was home, a new chapter in my book had begun, one where I became the real Edward Cullen and nothing was going to stop me making history. No internal battles anymore. My path was clear and I couldn't wait for the journey to begin.