Chapter 9: Continuing with Life

Bella walked out of school one day with Alice and Jasper when the smaller vampire nudged her. "Bella look," she said quietly gesturing to the side of the school. Bella looked over to see Jacob there straddling a motorcycle, leaning against the handlebars.

"I'll see you guys later," she told them.

They waved and went to their cars while Bella walked over to Jacob. "Hey," she greeted. Jacob kissed her briefly with a grin.

"Hey, hop on," he told her handing her a helmet.

"Is this safe?" She asked with a grin as she put the helmet on.
"Have I ever put you in danger?" He asked.

"Everyday," she teased.

Jacob rolled his eye and moved up a little more so Bella could get on the motorcycle. She wrapped her arms around his waist. "Hey what about my truck?" She asked.

"Embry took it back for you," he replied.

"Wait…" she started.

"Bella, you need a better hiding place for your extra key than under a blanket in the bed of your truck," he replied.

Bella sighed before he started the motorcycle up and drove off.

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Edward had returned from his hunt and was sitting out on a cliff watching as the sun was beginning to set. He rubbed his hands together and let out a sigh, looking at his bare wrist.

(Flashback)

Edward stood there with annoyance showing on his face. "This way of life is foolish father, we are vampires, not humans anymore," he insisted. Carlisle stood up with a quizzical look.

"Son, what has happened to make you suddenly change your mind about how we live our vampire lives?" He asked.

"It is foolish, everything is foolish," Edward answered.

He walked over to the door to his father's room and opened it again. "I'm angry father, I am angry that you turned me this way," he added. He could tell he had hurt Carlisle with these words, not just by the look on his face, but his thoughts were telling him everything he needed to know. "I wish you let me die and not let me be this monster," he said angrily before leaving the room, slamming the door closed behind him.

(End Flashback)

That day, Edward left Volterra and took a ship over to America where he tried to live his own life, if he was even alive as his father kept insisting.

Edward lied back on the ground and watched as stars started to slowly appear in the sky. He closed his eyes and moved so his legs were no longer hanging off the edge of the cliff. After leaving his father in Volterra, he traveled alone for many years before he came across the nomads, where he defeated their original leader on the day he proved that he could be the leader. He also knew now that his coven was no longer taking him seriously, they were in fact doing the opposite of everything that he wanted them to do.

What bothered him more was that he couldn't read their minds, it was difficult when they learned how to shield their minds from him. Edward's mind then slowly started to drift over to Bella. It had been a couple of months since he saw her last. She was still on his mind constantly. Never had he felt this way for a human, never had he ever though he would think about a human.

Edward started wondering what it would be like if he and Bella had met in a different time, a time where he wasn't a vampire. He started wishing more and more he was human again, but not because of the monstrous acts he was doing, no, it was because he would love to spend a human life with Bella. This girl changed him so much in just a few months, it was driving him crazy that he wasn't with her. It depressed him really, he was only living now that she was gone.

Edward did nothing but hunt and sit alone away from his coven. He would sit in wherever he could where there would be silence and would just think about her. He would think about all the things she did that made him chuckle, but also the things she did that frustrated him. It didn't stop him from feeling these feelings for her, feelings he didn't think a vampire could have anymore after they were condemned to this cursed life. Living this life of a monster, an evil monster that only lived to kill. He only wanted to see her once more, to feel her soft skin against his cold stone hand. He wanted to look into her beautiful chocolate brown eyes that hypnotized him when he looked into them.

Edward shook his head and got up from the ground, walking back down the hill where his coven waited. "Let's go," he told hem before they took off into the forest.

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Bella was sitting up in her room doing homework when there was a knock on her door. "Come in," she answered. She looked up when Charlie walked in.

"Hey kiddo," he greeted.

"Hey," she answered.

"Listen, I have to take off. I got a call about a break in, have to check it out," he informed.

She nodded. "Be careful," she told him.

"Always am," he answered.

He left afterwards and Bella sat against the headboard of her bed, pressing her hand against her forehead. She bit her lower lip as she twisted her bracelet around her wrist as her mind started drifting again. It started drifting back to Edward. The last two months she still thought about him, dreamt about him. No matter what she did he was on her mind. Every once in awhile she would think he was there, but it would just be her eyes tricking her.

Bella never thought she would feel this way for a vampire, especially for one who at first just thought of her as a prize. However, he protected her, he changed. Now that Bella knew that Edward was Carlisle's son that he hadn't seen in over two hundred years, she started to believe that if Carlisle hadn't seen him in so long, the chances of her seeing him again in a human life was dim. Bella suddenly felt something on her face and held her hand up, pulling her hand away to see that it was tears. She shook her head, wiping her hand on the sheet of her bed. "Stop your crying Bella he's gone," she told herself.

She let out a sigh as she went through her homework again. "Edward's gone and he's never coming back," she told herself. Saying the words didn't help ease the pain that was in her heart. It actually made it worse. Bella swallowed hard and shook her head. "Stop thinking about him Bella, just stop thinking about him. You have Jacob, he worships the ground you walk on practically. You can have a future with him," she thought to herself.

The more Bella thought about why she should stop thinking about Edward, the more her heart screamed at her to not forget about him. All the sweet gestures he did make, the smiles he did give. She could see it in his face that every once in awhile he would want to try to kiss her. In all honesty, she wanted to know what it felt like to kiss him. Bella moved her hair from her face as she got up from her bed and went downstairs to get something to eat. She just heated up the pizza that was in the fridge and sat down at the kitchen table, poking at it. Suddenly food had lost her interest again. She got up from her chair, grabbed her keys, and left the house.

Bella found herself walking through the forest, walking through trails she never went on before and she didn't really care anymore either. She used to not care about going to the forest, but during the last couple of months she was traveling through the woods to think. She would stop and think, and wonder why she was doing this. She would think of how Edward always retreated into the woods with her when his coven suddenly became too interested in her. Those were the days where she got to know about him some more. She found herself sitting in the middle of a meadow an sat down letting out a sigh. She moved her fingers through her hair and looked out. It was so quiet, peaceful even. She could hear the hooting of an owl not too far away, but it didn't bother her.

Bella drew her knees up to her chest and bit her lower lip. "I miss you," she whispered to the sky. She just wished her words traveled across the distance and he could hear them. After sitting in this spot for about an hour, she started to get cold and it made her get up and return home.

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Edward standing in a tree that looked out across all the many trees, but his eyes were fixated on the sky above him. "I miss you," he said quietly, as if she could hear him. He wished she could hear him. He sat in the tree all night, just thinking about the human that changed his life.