2brown-eyes rocks!

The Power of Love—Celine Dion (originally by Jennifer Rush 1984)

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Edward says, even as he moves down the steps toward me. "We keep doing this…"

My eyes burn, but I blink it away. "I know." The guilt burns like acid, and I swallow it down. "And I'm done."

His slanted brows rise slowly, and his facial expression shifts as he filters through the various things I could mean. "With…" It's a quiet question, his voice so small it barely echoes in the cavernous space.

"Pretending." I hold his green gaze as I take a nervous step in his direction. "I'm so tired of keeping my feelings to myself, of acting like it's okay that the love of my life is with another girl. It's not okay. I was so stupid," I spit, my stomach churning as I think of last summer and how I encouraged him when he finally told me he'd met someone. "All that work to push you out into the world, and I had no intention of moving on myself. I foolishly thought…" That whatever fun he had would be over by this summer. The summer I was free. Tears rush to my eyes, and I swipe at them angrily. "I don't know what I thought, but it wasn't this."

"Why are you telling me this now?" he asks, his eyes glassy.

"Because I can't go another minute without you knowing," I say, my voice passionate. "Because I'm tired of pretending that I don't love you. Because I want you to choose me."

"Bella." It's a soft whisper. "I'm scared."

The pain of his confession knocks the wind out of me. "You don't have to be," I say, taking another step. "Because I've learned my lesson." I stop only a few inches in front of him. "It kills me to think that we'll be hurting a perfectly nice girl but, Edward, you don't belong with her." I move closer and cup his jaw. "You belong with me."

He licks his lips, his eyes roving my face. "I think she knows."

"What?" I ask, head tilting.

His fingers reach out to grip my hip. "That I love you more."

Tears roll down my cheeks, and I press my face into his chest—his strong, firm scrub-covered chest. My shoulders shake under the weight of my sobs, and his palm splays across the back of my head, holding me tucked closely against him.

Relief pours out of me in the form of tears.

"This is really messed up, B," he whispers, his lips near my ear.

I nod because he's right.

I'm stupid.

So damn stupid.

"I'm sorry," I mumble into his chest. "I didn't want you to miss anything because I was still at home in high school, and I definitely didn't want to find out that you'd cheated, so I made it okay. I let you go in the slowest, most painful possible way, and I'm just sorry, Edward." I lift my watery eyes. "I'm so fucking sorry."

"And you want me back?" he asks, gaze so fucking serious. "You want to be with me again no matter how far apart we are or for how long?"

If I was into the whole cheating scene, I'd yank his face down and show him how much I want that, but I'm not, so all I can give him are my words.

I place my palms on his cheeks. "You, Edward Cullen, are the only man I've ever loved, and I want to be with you for as long as you'll have me."

He huffs a laugh. "That might be a very long time."

"The longer the better," I say, our mouths moving closer together on instinct alone. "I'd kiss you, but this isn't how I want our relationship to start."

He presses his forehead against mine. "Agreed. I'll tell Bree tonight."

My stomach bunches into a knot. "Please, tell her I'm sorry."

He blows a heavy breath. "We've been fighting."

"About me?"

"Among other stuff," he answers vaguely.

"Were you happy before you came back here?" I hold my breath, knowing this answer is going to sting.

"Yeah," he whispers, pushing a curl behind my ear. "We were."

I bob my head. "I can see why. She's a cook chick."

"She's very cool," he agrees, smiling softly. "But she's no Bella Swan."

My lips curve even under the heavy strain of this conversation, and I huff a laugh. "Are you sure you're getting the best end of this deal?"

He cups my jaw, bottomless greens pinning me in place. "The very best."

"I love you, Edward, and I swear I won't ever break up with you again."

"I'm going to need to hear that," he says. "A lot."

I so hope FF is cooperating today because I want ALLLLL THE WORDS in a review. TIP: If it won't accept, you can always log out and guest review!

Dying to know if this was satisfying enough?

Gonna try to wrap up writing this today and point my focus on what's next. (hopefully Perfect Knot, but let's see what the muse thinks). If I get it done, we'll swap to 5x days a week nxt week!

See you Monday :)