Disclaimer: SM owns everything in the Twiverse.

So I'd had no intention of posting another chapter so soon. But your enthusiasm for S.P. spurred me on, and I hereby present Chapter Five.

Happy Saturday!

Chapter 5: Truth & Consequences

Edward's POV

I stood at the front of the classroom with the eyes of my Government class watching me. I heard Mr. Cromley rambling, heard the malice in Lauren's thoughts as she sized me up, but none of it truly registered. All I could see and care about was Bella, staring at me from our table in the back of the classroom.

Though it had only been sixteen hours and twenty-six minutes since the last time I saw Bella, it was as if I had never seen her before. Her staggering beauty almost made me lose my balance-ivory skin, dark auburn hair, haunting eyes. It was like she was happening to me all over again.

It was in those eyes, though, that I searched for my salvation. In those eyes, I sought the truth.

And they did not disappoint me.

Her initial reaction was shock, pure and clear, which quickly gave way to disbelief and confusion before returning to shock again. As my eyes remained with hers, something inside her must have changed because I began to see the beginnings of hurt, betrayal, and that scary anger from yesterday.

But before Bella remembered to be hurt, another emotion had appeared. It hadn't lasted long, nor do I think she was conscious of it, but I'd seen it in all its perfection just the same. It planted itself in my heart where I would tend and nurture it until it became something more, something stronger and better that would bring us back together. But until that time came, I would cherish that sweet emotion for what it was.

Relief.

For the shortest of seconds, Bella had been relieved to see me.

Wow, I'd thought when her relief washed over me. Esme was right.

My mother had stayed with me for the entire night as it was well after dawn that I had finally stopped sobbing. She'd said very little as she held me, but as her thoughts began to shift from my grief to her own, I remembered that I wasn't the only one mourning.

"I'm sorry for taking Bella from you," I said.

Pain flickered across her face, and she couldn't speak. I saw in her mind her memories of Bella: talking together for the first time at the baseball game, flipping through decorating magazines in the kitchen, picking flowers in her garden to set throughout the house. I saw all the things they hadn't gotten the chance to do, the plans Esme had had for her newest daughter, and my heartache doubled.

Then she fixed on an image of Bella and me at the piano on Bella's first visit to our home, the love in our eyes unbridled and undeniable. "It's not too late, you know."

I disentangled myself from her embrace and stalked toward the window. "I can't undo this."

"Yes, you can." I could hear the smile creeping into her voice. "You can, and you should."

"No, I can't, and I definitely shouldn't."

"Oh, you beautiful, stupid boy." Esme stood in front of me and cupped my chin in her hands. "When will you ever allow yourself to be happy?"

I turned to stone. "After what happened here the other night, how could you expect me to risk Bella's life for the sake of my happiness?"

Her features fell at the reminder, but she stood her ground. "Bella's life is hers to risk. She's willing to trade her kind of life for yours. But you won't let her. That's why she left you."

I couldn't respond as Bella's accusation still stung me.

"And it's not just your happiness at stake here," she continued. "Bella loves you, Edward. She needs you as much as you need her. She simply doesn't care for your unsolicited displays of misguided chivalry. If you can learn to let her make her own choices, you can get her back."

"You didn't see her, Esme." My mind flashed to Bella in the forest. "You didn't hear her resolve when she told me goodbye, the look in her eyes right before she left. She hates me."

"Maybe," my mother smiled. "But she can only hate you because she loves you. As angry as Bella might be right now, if you go to her, if you can bear her wrath and give her some time, she will find her way back to you because with you is the only place she wants to be."

Though I fought against her words with everything in me, the notion was too sweet, too tempting to ignore: Bella in my arms again, whispering my name in her sleep. Bella looking at me with love and longing, making me over with every bat of her eye. Bella's warm body beneath mine, trembling with pleasure at my touch. Despite the surge of desire those visions gave me, I shook them off, remembering who and what I was. "I don't deserve that."

"No, you don't," she winked. "But thank God that we don't always get what we deserve." At my sigh, she turned serious. "Edward, we will leave Forks if you want. And once we land somewhere, I'll even let you go off on your own for a while, as long as you promise to come back." Her worry when I fled to Denali after Bella's arrival clouded her mind, and my guilt overwhelmed me. "But I'm hoping you'll have the good sense to go to school today and face the woman you love."

I sighed, knowing I was out of excuses, and looked at the wall clock. "But I might be late for class."

She kissed my cheek. "There's a first time for everything."

Now, as Mr. Cromley echoed Esme's sentiments, I watched Bella's face, praying for a sign that there was still hope for us. When that spark of relief softened her features, I'd had to physically restrain myself from running to her side and throwing myself at her two left feet. I settled instead for bowing in apology to Mr. Cromley and walking to my seat at our table.

I kept my eyes on Bella's, fearing that if we broke contact, she might not look at me again. But she had chosen anger as her official response, and I was struck by how stubbornly she clung to it. Even though I could tell it was killing her, which killed me to know, she refused to look away and appeared to be staring me down. Her hands were clenched into tight little fists, and as I reached our table, I wondered if she might forget what she was up against and punch me. With the eyes of our class watching, I couldn't risk my identity by moving quickly enough to stop the blow in time nor could I let Bella break her hand because she was angry with me.

Thankfully, she allowed me to pass behind her without fisticuffs and relaxed her hand. As I sank into the cold plastic chair, Bella scooted to the farthest end of her side of the table. I heard the satisfaction in Lauren's spiteful mind but chose to take comfort in the fact that Bella didn't change seats altogether.

She slid her notebook in front of her and covered the top of facing page with her hand. I had already seen what she was trying to hide: she had doodled my name with tiny hearts floating around it. I don't know how long ago she'd done it-perhaps on that sunny day last week when Alice and I stayed home-but I hoped she wouldn't rip out the page to foreshadow her plans for my heart. She clicked her purple pen to life as Mr. Cromley turned out the lights and focused her attention on the screen ahead.

I could have easily watched the movie and Bella at the same time, but the irregularities in her heartbeat made me nervous enough to not to overwhelm her with my attentions. I took out my own notebook, dated the upper right-hand corner of the page, and tried to care about colonial America's rules and regulations enough to not worsen her plight.

But despite my best efforts to feign indifference, there was too much going on beside me to ignore. When I'd first walked into the room, I had been so glad to see Bella that the finer details of her appearance had escaped my notice. Now they were shouting at me. Bella's skin, though still creamy and soft, had an ashen sheen, as if it were parched and unclean. She was fanatical about her evening toilette; had she skipped it last night? She was hiding her face by resting her head in her left hand, but my memory of her eyes revealed new things. They had been puffy and pink with heavy bags underneath them. The sleeve on the arm with which she was blocking my view was damp and smelled faintly of salt.

She had been crying.

The thought was enough to make me curse myself afresh and sigh aloud. Bella flinched at the sound but didn't look at me. Her heart rate increased again, and I heard a deep intake of air before she began to chant "New best friend… new best friend…" under her breath.

This response made no sense. She had a new best friend already? Was she really that angry with Alice? My annoying little sister had often joked that Bella only stayed with me because of her, and I knew that was at least partially true. I couldn't believe Bella had given up on Alice so quickly. But who was her new best friend and what could they have to do with me?

An unexpected thought hit my soul like a dagger: Could she have already been thinking of someone else? Could I have messed things up so thoroughly that her heart was already preparing for new suitors? I still heard the thoughts of the boys in this school-any number of them would gladly take Bella from my undeserving hands. And although I didn't blame them for their impeccable taste, I never imagined that she would want any of them.

Was it that Quileute boy from the reservation, Jacob Black? Had he stopped by while I was gone and thrown his hat into the ring? I didn't think news of yesterday's… skirmish… had become public knowledge yet. How could he have found out?

Charlie.

My hope sank at the likelihood of this. Charlie hadn't liked me very much to begin with, but after the fiasco in Phoenix, he barely tolerated my presence. Jacob Black, on the other hand, was the son of one of his best friends and someone he would likely trust with Bella's heart far more than he trusted me. Could he have called Billy, sensing something was wrong between Bella and me, and encouraged him to send his son to cheer Bella up? Would she have allowed it, welcomed his ministrations? Could something so significant have happened between them last night that she would now think of him as her best friend and possibly more?

"Bella loves you, Edward. She needs you as much as you need her."

My mind conjured up Esme's words and the image she'd been seeing when she said them: Bella and I had been stretched out on the couch in the living room watching The Age of Innocence, one of my favorite book-to-movie adaptations of all time. Bella was laying half on top of me with her head on my chest, her leg across my hip, our hands entwined. I had kissed her hair for the hundredth time that weekend, and thought that my life couldn't get any better.

And through the haze of my current guilt, I tried to trust the vision, tried to believe what my mother had said. Though only heaven knew why, Bella loved me. And somehow I knew that if I were going to earn her trust again, I would have to remember that…no matter how little evidence I presently possessed.

I felt my phone buzzing in my pocket and hit "Ignore." I'd heard all the opinions that I could stand to hear before leaving the house this morning and had no room for anything else.

Once Esme floated to Carlisle and told him that we were staying in Forks, he had called a family meeting. We hadn't all spoken since the night of Bella's party, the news of our departure coming courtesy of Alice poking around in my head. Jasper and I hadn't even been in the same room since Tuesday night. As such, Carlisle called everyone out to the backyard.

When I decided to leave Forks, I had been so focused on Bella's welfare that I couldn't bring myself to care what anyone else felt. And yesterday when I approached the house, Bella's confession in the forest had dominated nearly everyone's thoughts.

But in the face of this new decision, the cracks in the family dam were beginning to show.

If he thinks I'm just going to sit around and wait while he and that flighty human figure out what they want to do, he's out of his rabid mind!

Bella deserves better than all of this. Maybe we should leave before I try to kill her again.

All right, Skinny Bro! Way to fight for your lady! Maybe she'll finally give you some for manning-up.

Edward, honey, just remember what I told you. Bella loves you. She just needs a little time.

I don't know anything anymore! I wish I could see something to give me a clue of how this turns out. But since Bella doesn't know he's still here, I can't tell how she'd feel about it.

My head was starting to throb with the stream of conflicts and contradictions in my family's thoughts, and Carlisle, who had been careful not to think anything, finally held up his hand.

"A lot has happened in the past few days," he began. "And it will take some time for us to get our family footing back. But there are a few things that need to be said."

"Rosalie," he turned to her. "We are a family, and we stand behind each other." She huffed but remained respectful. "If one of us is in trouble, we rally to their cause. We did it when Emmett slipped." She averted her eyes briefly. "And we'll do it for Edward if we have to."

"Jasper." He seemed to stand at attention when Carlisle called his name. "You are no more to blame for your reaction the other night than anyone else. Your nature wanted Bella's blood, but your love for her prevented you from taking it." If Jasper could have cried, I think he might have. "Remember that."

"Emmett, go after Rose." We hadn't noticed her silent exit. "Remind her that we love Bella as much as we love her. Not more, not less."

"Alice, I know you feel guilty after hearing what Bella said." He put his hands on his spritely daughter's shoulders, and she sagged under the truth of his words. "But Bella loves you, maybe even more than she loves Edward." She half-smiled. "That sisterly bond is stronger than any disagreement you might have." He touched the tip of her pert nose. "And I don't need your gift to see that." She flitted off to join Jasper, and Esme walked around to the side of the house with her thoughts on her zinnias.

"Edward." His voice was at its paternal best. "You need to decide once and for all what you're going to do about Bella. I know what your mother said, and I know what I told Rose. But the catalyst for this entire situation was the instability in your love for Bella. Before you go back and face her, you need to decide if you're going to see this all the way through. Because if you won't, out of my concern for Bella's fragile heart, I would ask you to leave her alone."

I was stunned. Carlisle had never spoken to me like that before, and I couldn't believe he would do so now, especially about a subject as delicate as Bella's life and safety.

"You can't have it both ways, son," he continued as if he heard my thoughts. "You can't be with Bella and bemoan her presence at the same time. Accepting the cost of her love doesn't make you callous; it makes you human. Every choice comes with a cost. If Bella has counted the cost of being with you, and she's willing to pay it, why can't you?"

His question still echoed in my mind as I sat next to Bella in class. Her heartbeat had slowed to an even pace, and she had let her left hand come to rest in the space between us on the table. She still hadn't looked at me yet, furiously copying notes as the film's narrator droned on. But the electric current between us would not be suppressed, even in the midst of what I hoped we would someday regard as our first fight. My skin tingled at its proximity to hers, and I watched my free hand cross the invisible line between us. Bella didn't move her hand, and she was always as aware of me as I was of her. I thought she was giving me this one sign of her willingness to work things out… or someday talk to me, at least.

But at the last moment, just before my pinky would have skimmed hers, she snatched her hand from the table and put it in her lap. The sudden rejection stung, and I pulled my hand back as if it had been slapped. I kept my own eyes ahead and didn't attempt contact or conversation for the rest of the film, wondering again if I had made too many mistakes to bridge the gap between us.

But I could still hear the enchanting music of her heart, still smell the floral fragrance of her hair and skin, and still be close enough to know that she was alive and well. Despite her obvious anger with me, she hadn't taken those priceless gifts from me. And I chose to be thankful for her generosity.

When class ended, I tried to take advantage of the few minutes Bella usually took to put her things away.

"So... what?" a female voice spat at me. "Did you forget something in your locker?"

I looked behind Bella because the voice was far too cold to be hers. But as no one was there, and she had paused in her packing to glare at me, I realized with a start that I had indeed heard the voice of my angel, and I tried to respond.

"I, uh… That is, no… I haven't even been to my…"

"Then what the hell are you doing here?" Her eyes demanded an answer, accosting me with their fiery fury.

But I couldn't respond to her anger, didn't even mind its presence. For I was simply too grateful for the opportunity to look at her face again, to feel her eyes on me, no matter what emotion they held. I could feel the love streaming from my eyes, and I tried to rein myself in, but the cries of my heart would not be silenced. My Bella, my precious love was in sight, and my frozen soul swelled with enraptured promises that I would shout from the rooftops if she gave me another chance.

Then the fire in her eyes suddenly burned out, and her face crumpled into blankness. Her brows furrowed as her lips began moving senselessly. "I… You… Oh Edw- I… N-N-No, I can't. I just can't!"

She grabbed her open bookbag, colliding with her chair and nearly spilling her bag's contents all over the floor, and stumbled out of the room.

I pinched the bridge of my nose as her beautiful frame left my sight yet again and groaned when my cell phone vibrated. Without first needing to see who it was, I opened the phone and furiously typed, "Leave me alone, Alice."

So what do we think of Edward's first attempt at facing the music? Let me know!