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~EPOV~

The house was quiet.

Nothing but a simple rhythm of noises that you could hear humming down the halls. A melody that should have brought me peace and contentment.

Jacob snores on the couch downstairs. Renesmee sleeps soundly beside me. Emmett and Rosalie are in their room at the other end of the house, talking quietly amongst themselves.

Cold wind whistling in the dark, hitting the walls in hard gusts, sending a tremor through the windows. The crackling of the fireplaces.

We were safe here. Warm and undisturbed.

But the song seemed to choke me. It hurt my head and tightened my muscles.

This kind of contentment shouldn't exist without her.

It shouldn't be so peaceful.

A part of me wished the wind would shatter the glass with its pressure. Create some kind of chaos to match the fury in my head. Even just for a minute.

When it was done, I would clean up the mess, of course. Just as we had repaired that empty house in the woods.

I would do it with a sinking feeling in my stomach.

That feeling you get when you've forgotten something or done something horribly wrong.

It was a constant.

It was unavoidable, no matter how much I tried to distract myself from it.

So, I had given up trying.

Accepting that this was life without her. Misery.

But the broken sound that came out of nowhere wasn't from the glass finally shattering.

It was her.

"Edward?" The whispered voice appeared in my mind. Weak and fearful.

Familiar and foreign all at once.

I slid from the bed and stood for a moment, listening to all the sounds around me.

Beyond the storm and the trees blowing in the wind, there was the faint sound of footsteps. Instantly sending me into shock.

I rushed down the stairs and outside, into the snow, searching through the darkness.

I was losing my mind. That was my first thought.

Then I saw her.

Walking through the snow slowly, unclipping a red and black cloak and dropping it to the ground.

I stumbled forward to meet her. Still trying to grasp the moment I was in. It didn't feel real. It was nothing like I had imagined. No smiles or sunshine.

I made a quick move to approach her.

But she stayed frozen in her spot.

Dressed in black and her head hanging low, I suddenly felt that pain in my stomach intensify.

I grabbed her and pulled her into my arms roughly.

I asked frantically if she was okay. She didn't answer.

She burrowed herself into me. Feeling more fragile and delicate than she ever had before.

Something was wrong. She trembled.

I pulled her back to look at her, but she refused to look back at me.

I took her face in my hands and lifted her head up.

Lips parted in a silent cry. Red eyes that sent a chill down my spine, deep into my bones.

"I'm sorry." She told me, pulling her gaze from mine. All of her words soaked in pain. The faint smell of human blood still lingered on her breath.

I pulled her back into my chest as my name fell from her lips in a distressed sob.

"I've got you now." I assured her, repeatedly, holding her as tightly as I possibly could.

All that pain in me suddenly going up in flames, creating a rage that I knew would forever burn inside of me. Because I had no way of unleashing it. I couldn't punish them for what they had done to her, for what she was feeling now. All I could do was try to help her. And let the fire burn.