Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. Stephenie Meyer created it all.

A/N: I'm not one to write lengthy notes, but I think this is important. A little bit about my writing style: I write when the characters speak to me. Those who have ever been to my profile have probably read this about me. I really wanted this story to only be told from Bella and Laurent's perspectives, but Edward had important things to say. He demanded to be heard. Alice had things she wanted to say in the beginning and she begged and pleaded, but I told her no time and time again. She worked hard to be heard, I swear she slipped her phone into that mailbox without my permission. As you may have guessed, Edward is impossible to say 'no' to. However, I gave him stipulations, I told him to get it all out here. So I expect this to be the ONLY chapter from Edward's perspective. So while Edward's mind is a fascinating place to be, this story is about Laurent and Bella and their journey and their friendship. A piece of fabulous advice that can be applied to my story: Don't get caught up in the end point, just enjoy the ride. -Cindy

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Chapter 11: Edward- Intention-\in-'ten-chen\- n. 1: a determination to act in a certain way

It was excruciating watching Alice's non-stop and ever-changing visions of Bella. To be honest, I was jealous of her close relationship with Laurent, of which Alice assured me it was strictly platonic. I was upset with myself for mistaking that kiss I saw for anything romantic. Alice replayed her and Bella's conversations from the hotel room in her mind for me to see. My most prominent emotion was guilt. Guilt over her change that I was now watching through Alice's visions as we flew from Brazil to our connecting flight in Houston and from there to Sea-Tac. There was nothing I could do but wait.

I was beyond jealousy when I saw that Laurent was the one to comfort her as she woke up to this life and how he was there to show her on her first hunt.

Disappointment flooded me when I saw the vision come when she told Laurent that I didn't want her any more. I was disappointed in myself for the worst lie I could have ever told. How could I ever not want Bella?

"Dude, you're more emotional than a girl," Jasper so eloquently pointed out, He should get along well with Laurent, he thought. I was treated to an image of Laurent on the phone experiencing a myriad of emotions.

He replayed his interactions with Laurent for my benefit when Alice had a sudden vision. Charlie coming to the house, Bella trying to attack him.

Through my carelessness, I dented my armrests as I helplessly watched the vision play out.

Then the worst part came, Esme was packing bags for Bella and Laurent and then they left. I made no attempt to try to hide the damage, all I could do was watch as she left.

She came so far in her journey, she was looking for me, she even subjected herself to the vampire transformation. All of this and she still didn't truly believe that I loved her with every fiber of my being, and, why should she? She only knew what I had so foolishly told her myself.

We touched down in Sea-Tac about a day after Bella's abrupt departure from Forks. The thing that Alice could see was that she was in a forest somewhere. I wanted to find her. I wanted to bring her back and talk some sense into her, but there was nothing to indicate where they could have run to and I just didn't know where to start.

So when Esme picked us up at the airport, I went home with them. Esme me hugged me tight and begged me never to leave again, that she couldn't when her children weren't with her. She pictured Bella and Laurent walking out the door, it pained her, and it surprised me that she thought of Laurent of one of her own. I felt a little jealous.

Over the next few days I laid on couch in my room and never moved an inch. I had my mind trained on Alice's thoughts. At first I didn't think she noticed, but after several visions of miscellaneous things and my sighs of displeasure she caught on.

Edward, I will tell you if I know anything. Get out!

But I couldn't. It was the only thing I had to go on, so I kept watching. I stifled my reactions so as not to give myself away.

I know you're still watching.

She replayed a vision of me laying on my couch with a look of concentration on my face. She resorted to the only thing that could get me to back out of her thoughts. She started undressing Jasper in her mind. For the record, I didn't want to watch, but I debated with myself: Was it worth it to subject myself to this is if it meant that I wouldn't miss a vision of Bella? She started going through a role playing fantasy when I decided it was NOT worth it. Besides, Alice promised me that she would tell me if anything happened. I decided to go out for a hunt.

I ran half way to Seattle stretching muscles that I hadn't used for days, well, months really. I spent most of my time in Ithaca curled up in my room wallowing in my own dark existence. The only comfort I had was knowing that Bella was safe without me in her life. When I was curled up in the attic in Rio de Janiero, I couldn't even comfort myself with that anymore. All I knew at the time was Bella running around the country with a vampire. Whether she was with that vampire, I honestly couldn't say at the time, but Alice's vision of that kiss replayed over and over in my mind until I neared the point of insanity. About a day into my self imposed imprisonment, I began to hallucinate. I wasn't even sure it was possible, but there she was, sitting next to me wearing that blue dress that she wore on her birthday.

She curled up next to me with her legs demurely tucked underneath her, she rested her head on my shoulder and sighed.

"Please come back, I miss you so much," she tested my resolve. I always had such a hard time saying 'no' to her. I closed my eyes and leaned over to smell the heavenly scent of her hair, but I couldn't smell her. Of course I couldn't smell her, she wasn't there. When I opened my eyes she was gone.

Everyday she returned to taunt me, to trick me into endangering the life of my Bella.

By the fourth day, I kept my eyes open. I wanted to see her even if she wasn't real. I watched her as she paced the attic. She would tell me how great our life would be together if I would just come back to her. As she did the other days, she curled up next to me, still wearing that blue dress, and told me how much she missed me. I closed my eyes to revel in the sound of her voice and when I opened them again, she was gone.

On the fifth day, Bella showed up and instead of pacing the attic she boldly came and sat on top of me, straddling my thighs. She took my face between her hands and begged me to come back to her. She was relentless. She began to rock her hips into me, telling me that I could have anything I wanted when I came back.

I wondered if she told Laurent that. No, I didn't really believe that.

That day I watched her in contempt as she tried her hardest yet to lure me out of my exile. That day I closed my eyes knowing that she would disappear. I refused to open them again. I would not be tempted any longer, after all, I only had so much self control. I sat with my eyes closed for days until Alice and Jasper busted into my dark corner of the world. At first I thought they were hallucinations, too.

Alice showed me a vision of Bella asking Laurent to bite, then him biting, and then him breaking her shoulder. That's what set my feet in motion. I watched as Bella screamed. I had to get to her.

In the end, all my efforts were futile. Here I was running to Seattle and back with no one at my side. I still ached with the knowledge that if Bella were here she could run along side of me now. It was a fate I never wanted for her. So yes, in the end, all my efforts were in vain.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by a scent that I hadn't smell in several decades. The La Push Wolves. I looked around me but I didn't see any. I hoped that they still honored the treaty. I would have Carlisle check on that. I ran back to the house to get started on making sure that we would still be safe in our territory.

When I got back, Alice immediately stole my attention away.

"Edward, I had vision!" Alice bombarded my mind with visuals while explaining them anyways, "Charlie's coming, he wants to talk to us. He wants to know what's going on and he'll be here in about an hour."

"We should talk to Carlisle about this," I said.

"I'll call him, he's at the hospital," Esme said as she fished her phone out of her purse.

I sat down on the couch, it smelt faintly on Bella, only slightly different. Rosalie came and sat down beside me.

"You know that I would say above all to keep the secret, but Charlie already knows something's up." And part of it is my fault, she thought as she was too ashamed to admit it aloud, if I hadn't leapt at her maybe he wouldn't have suspected as much.

"That's not true, Emmett told me that he saw how fast she came down the stairs and he saw the color of her eyes. If you hadn't leapt at her, she could have killed Charlie."

"If we tell Charlie, then the Volturi will kill Charlie," she countered.

"Frankly, I don't know what we're going to tell him, I don't know what to even say."

I laid my head down on the couch and nuzzled into the pillow that smelled so strongly of Bella and let it comfort me. I closed my eyes as I gulped down her scent. In that state, I let my thoughts swirl around my head. I weighed the pros and cons of telling Charlie the truth.

Esme couldn't get Carlisle on the phone, he was in surgery. Ultimately the decision was mine. Carlisle and I had an agreement that if he wasn't available to speak, then I was next in charge. It was a role I had always been uncomfortable with.

I decided to only answer Charlie's questions, no more, no less. I looked to Alice to see if it was a good decision. She shrugged, too many variables.

The dreaded knock on the door came and I let Charlie in.

"Charlie, come in," I led him into the seating area of the great room, "please sit down, I know that you have many questions."

From his obscured thoughts, I could tell he was very upset with me. I was made privy to images of Bella comatose after my departure. How she would scream in the middle of the night. It was a low blow that he didn't even realize he was giving.

He was unsure as he saw Rosalie and Emmett, the main players at his own vampire coming-out party. He cringed a little.

"I want to know why, that when I came knocking at your door, Bella was here," he asked cautiously despite his anger. He was respectfully fearful.

Everyone had given me a run down of every moment that included Bella since the moment I left Ithaca so that I was able to answer any of his questions.

"She needed medical care," trying to make it sound as if it were normal.

"Medical care for what?" he asked slowly.

I thought through my answer several times before answering aloud.

"An infection." As soon as I said it, I kicked myself mentally for not saying it was for her broken shoulder. My answer was dangerously close to the heart of the matter.

"Why... how... and her eyes... her screams," his words were incoherent and his thoughts weren't any better. All I could really see from his thoughts was Bella descending the stairs at an inhuman speed. "Why did Carlisle keep telling me it wasn't safe?"

Another question that pierced right to the heart of the matter. I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. What could I say without laying it all out there? I looked at Esme and pleaded with her with my eyes.

"Charlie," Esme came to sit down, I got so that she could sit in my place and she sat down and reached out for Charlie's hands and he let her take them, "when I was first...uh... bitten, it was difficult for me, too."

He registered the coldness of her hands and his heart rate increased, he still didn't know what to think.

"What was difficult?" He asked although he was unsure that he wanted to hear the answer.

"To be around humans. I took me years to be able to be around them comfortably."

Charlie remembered the note that Bella wrote to him the night she left with Laurent, I don't intend of staying away forever, just a while. A few years at the most. Please don't look for me.

I wondered if she intended on becoming a vampire even then.

"What were you and Bella bitten by?" He asked Esme hesitantly.

Esme looked at me, I can't just tell him, can I? She looked Alice, Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett in the eye with each nodding their consent. She looked back at me for the final consent and I nodded as well.

"Charlie, I know that this may be hard to believe and difficult to process, but I was bitten by a vampire, Carlisle. Bella was bitten by her friend, Laurent, the one that was on the steps with her," she explained.

His reaction reminded me of Bella's when I first confirmed to her that I was a vampire. He took it well, he was a little sorry he asked, but as a whole he was un-phased.

"Wait, so when she was screaming that she wanted me, she didn't really want me, did she? She... she, uh..." He shuddered. I wished he would have passed down that sense of self-preservation to his daughter.

I nodded, "Sorry, Charlie. It's just the cold truth of the matter."

"Did Bella know, I mean did she know what she was getting into? She just went with that guy?" Then he muttered under his breath, "I taught her better than that." I chuckled a little.

He looked around the room and it slowly dawned on him that Esme wasn't the only vampire here. He remembered Rosalie lunging at Bella, and Emmett coming to restrain her. He thought of how Carlisle stood there calmly as it all happened.

He let go of Esme's hands that he forgot that he was holding, "Edward, are you a vampire, too?"

I nodded slowly and the damage was done, another human knew of our existence.

Charlie stayed for another hour asking questions. We told him about our vegetarian lifestyle and why Bella's eyes were red. I explained to the best of my ability how difficult it was to be around humans especially how difficult it is for newborns like Bella. We all told him a little bit about our lives and finally about why I left, to which he surprisingly agreed, but not aloud.

Finally he asked, "What's going to happen to Bella, will I ever see her again?"

"I don't know for sure, sir, she and Laurent left to prevent her from attacking any humans. I have to go find her but I don't know where to look, all I know is that they're in a forest somewhere.

"I don't know when she'll be ready to be around humans again, but until that time it would be best to stay away from her.

"One more thing, Charlie, it is imperative that you keep the existence of vampires a secret. All of our kind depend on it, which now includes Bella."

Charlie left the house with a lot on his mind. I stayed on the couch curled up with the pillow that smelled like Bella waiting for something to happen. All I could see from Alice's visions was Bella and Laurent sitting at the top of a tree just talking. Days went by as I watched the visions that would rarely change.

About a week after Charlie left a new vision came in. They were on a hunt, a human was near by. My heart ached when Bella had another close call with a human. Laurent barely stopped her in time. I itched to be by her side. It was then that I got up. I didn't know where I was going, but I knew Bella was out there somewhere and I couldn't hurt her anymore, so I went to find her.

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