19.

"What do you mean, 'no'?" Jasper asks, his jaw tight. "You can't stay here, Bella. You're in danger if you stay."

"I'm not," I insist.

"How can you say that? There was a vampire in your apartment!"

"And there are two standing in my living room right now!" I shout.

Alice steps up beside me and squeezes my hand. "Jazz," she says softly, "I think we need stop yelling and start listening." She turns to me. "You're not scared."

I shake my head. "No, I'm not. I think …" I lower myself to the sofa. "I think Edward was here last night."

"What makes you think it was him?" she asks, sitting beside me and wrapping an arm around my shoulders. "It could have been one of the others."

"No, I'm sure it was him. There was a …" I rub a hand over my bump, remembering all the things I experienced last night. "Just … wait here." I stand and walk toward my room.

I pick up the tall, thin vase, carrying it like the treasure it is, and return to the living room, holding the flower out for them to see. "I found this on my nightstand this morning."

"I don't understand the significance," Jasper says, gruffly.

I smile down at the tiny yellow petals, brushing my fingertips against them. "He used to buy them for me all the time." I look up. "And I could just … feel him. I don't know how else to explain it."

Alice and Jasper exchange a look before she turns to me. "And you're sure you feel safe here?"

"Perfectly safe. If he was going to hurt me, he had more than enough opportunity to do it last night."

When day turns to night, I open the already loose latch on the window with shaking hands and step back.

"I don't know if you can hear me," I say into the night sky, "but if you're waiting somewhere nearby, please come back." My voice lowers to a pained whisper. "I miss you." I place a hand over my bump. "There's so much I want to tell you."

With optimism I haven't felt in a long time, I crawl into our bed and pull the covers up, curling myself around Edward's pillow. Instead of being lulled to sleep by the faint traces of his scent like I usually am, anticipation of what could happen keeps me awake.

But since my nugget demands I rest, I can't fight fatigue for long. So, I close my eyes and will my body to relax and fall asleep.

Cold spreads through me, radiating out from my body's center, spreading to all my limbs. As awareness seeps in, that prickly sensation I felt last night comes back.

I know without opening my eyes that I'm not alone.

My breaths come faster and my heart once again thrashes in my chest. I open my mouth, but close it when I hear a raspy, "Shh."

And when I open my eyes … he's gone.