Hey everyone! Its been a long time... lol sorry about that... I've just been really busy but I managed to update! yayy
thanks to everyone that updated for the last chapter!!
The POVs change between Bella and Edward the whole time so make sure you pay attention to that or else the chapter might not make sense
happy reading! and remember to review
Disclaimer: i don't own twilight or any of the characters
--------------------------------------------------
Chapter 26
BPOV
It seemed like Edward's pained expression was etched into my mind as I ran deeper and deeper into the forest. My tears flew off my cheeks and I ran harder and faster than I ever had. I had no idea how far away I had run until I finally stopped. I leaned up against a tree and closed my eyes as I tried to get the tears to stop. They eventually slowed and I wiped them away with my sleeve. I opened my eyes to look at my surroundings. I couldn't hear any human thoughts around me so I knew I could stay here for a while. I sunk to the ground and brought my knees up to my chest and ignored all of the visions that kept flooding my mind. I knew that I couldn't return to Forks and go back to my family. I just needed time. I needed to get away from everything.
EPOV
As I watched Bella run out the door and into the forest, I felt Carlisle's hand firmly plant itself on my shoulder to keep me from sprinting after the love of my life. My body was going numb and if I wanted to resist Carlisle and go after her but he was right. She just needed some time. She would come back. The rest of my family came down and stood around me silently as I stared at the place where Bella had disappeared. I felt Alice's tiny arms wrap themselves around me as she tried to comfort me but I was too numb to respond.
I should have known this was going to happen. Bella was unhappy and now she was gone. I should have seen this coming but somehow I was too happy to have her all to myself to notice her pain. I was a selfish monster and now Bella was paying the price.
"She's going to be ok. She'll come back, Edward." Alice assured me. I blankly nodded and didn't take my eyes off the place that she disappeared. Bella had run far enough that she was out of range and I couldn't hear the sound of her feet against the forest ground.
"Let's just give him some room." Jasper said quietly. I could hear everyone's shocked and upset thoughts about Bella as they slowly retreated away from me.
"She'll be back, son" Carlisle said releasing me. I nodded at him and numbly stood staring at the same place.
BPOV
It had been a day since I had run from the house. I have been sitting in the same place since yesterday and I wasn't panning on moving for a while. I kept replaying the vision from my funeral over and over again in my head. I saw Charlie and Renee's blank faces and the whole town of Fork's there for me. I could see how this was going to change their short human lives and I got to selfishly keep on living forever.
Before I was changed, I knew that this was going to eventually happen but I didn't think that it would affect me or anyone else so much. I was hurting so many people. A few more tears slide down my cheek and I wasn't sure how much more I would be able to take. I swallowed deeply and watched as the leaves fell slowly to the ground around me as the wind blew. The forest started to get dark and I knew that it was the end of day 2 that I had been missing. I still felt awful and I knew that I had hurt the one person that would be able to make me feel better. I stiffly stood up and stretched out my arms and legs. I caught the scent of a deer from the wind and the back of my throat began to burn. I didn't even remember the last time that I had hunted. I took off and hunted the deer down. Once I had drained it and hid the carcass, I explored the area a little. I found a steam lit up by the moonlight and I silently sat down on a rock. I looked into the water and saw an unrecognizable face staring back at me. I seemed paler in the moonlight and my cheeks had sunken in. I looked sad and broken; exactly how I felt. I sighed and looked away from the depressing image in the water.
I could feel something or someone watching me as I took off my shoes and let my feet dangle in the cool water. I listened for thoughts or emotions but I didn't hear or feel anything and I decided to ignore it. I sat there staring off into the night until the sun rose again under the clouds.
EPOV
It was the third day since Bella had been away. I hadn't moved from my spot since then. My family had tried to talk with me and get me to do something besides sitting and waiting for Bella but I ignored them. I didn't talk and I didn't move. I knew that I was hurting them in so many ways but I refused to do anything until I had Bella safely back.
"Alice, when do you think she's coming back?" I heard Jasper ask his wife from all the way up in their room.
"I don't know. It keeps changing. Something is going to happen." She whispered back. I knew she didn't want me to hear this but it was hard to miss with my hearing.
"Do you think he's going to come to the funeral?" Jasper asked. I remembered hearing thoughts and that the funeral for my wife and I was today.
"I don't think so. Its hard enough as it is just sitting down there. He hasn't moved for 3 days. He cringed a little when he saw Charlie and Renee's reactions to their deaths in our thoughts."
I saw the memory play back in my mind as if I were there. Carlisle and Esme had gone over to Charlie's house to tell them the news.
"What's wrong?" Charlie asked, opening the door to Carlisle and Esme's grave faces.
"We have some tragic news." Carlisle simply stated.
"Is Bella all right? What happened?" Renee said coming into the room. Carlisle explained the accident and what had happened to us as gently as possible.
"No, I saw her last night. She was fine." Renee whispered, crying and refusing to believe him.
"I'm so sorry. We both lost our children." Said Esme quietly. She was actually upset from Bella running away and my state that she really wasn't acting. Charlie, who never showed any emotion started to cry.
Her parents were crushed and I pushed those thoughts from my mind. Eventually Carlisle and Esme came over to me dressed in black.
"Edward, honey, we're going now." Esme said gently to me. I just nodded and didn't move or say a word.
"Will you be ok?" Carlisle asked. I didn't respond because I knew that I wouldn't be ok until Bella came back. I had to give her some space but I desperately needed her. He nodded solemnly and led Esme out of the room with the rest of my family.
I heard all of their thoughts and I knew how badly I was hurting them. I could see their grave and unsettled faces in each other's minds. I let out a deep breath and continued to wait for my Bella.
BPOV
Today was the day of my funeral. I was officially dead. Edward was dead too according to the accident. He didn't have to die though. He could have kept living in Forks but he wanted to be with me forever.
And I left him.
I needed Edward and I was sure that he needed me too. I had to go back. I was ready to go back.
I stood up quickly and began to run back to the house. I hoped he would be there and I would find him if he wasn't.
As I was running I got the same feeling that something was watching me but I didn't hear or smell anything. I tried to shake it off but I pushed myself to run faster. I could feel myself getting more and more tired. Something was coming for me. This was my vision. It was coming true.
I glanced around me and tried to block off whatever was happening but because I was getting so tired, it wasn't working at all. For some reason I my shielding power refused to work. I saw something dart off to the side of me but I was becoming too tired to register what it was. I felt myself slowing down but I tried to keep running. I wanted to call out for help but I couldn't. My mouth refused to work. My vision started to blur and I tried to keep running but my legs stopped working and I collapsed to the ground.
'Edward'. I thought. 'Edward, help me.' I just hoped he could hear me.
****************************************
I started to awaken from whatever had caused me to be unconscious. Before I opened my eyes, I could feel that I was lying in someone's arms but I knew that they weren't Edwards. I couldn't hear any thoughts still and I knew that it was a vampire from the hardness of their skin. My eyes fluttered open and adjusted to the dim light. I looked up at my capturer and took in a breath as he noticed that I was waking up.
"You're awake." He said gently. I narrowed my eyes at him as I tried desperately to remember why he looked so familiar.
I thought all the way back to when I was captured by the Volturi and then his face clicked with someone that I thought I had destroyed.
"George?" I whispered in disbelief. (A/N: George was the guy that helped capture Bella in "Love for an Eternity" when she was taken by the Volturi. He wanted to be her mate and stuff. Go to that story and look in the end of Chapter 30 and then chapter 31 to the end about him if you don't remember.)
"That's me." He said quietly.
"But I destroyed you." I said slowly sitting up.
"Well, yes. But I came back for you. I told you that I loved you and I would be back for you, didn't I?" George said still holding me.
"I don't understand." I was still dizzy and confused from being unconscious so nothing he said was making sense.
"You and your family were a bit careless when you were cleaning up last year. You missed a few pieces of me. Aro found another vampire that was able to bring vampires back after most of them was destroyed. All the vampire needed was a bit of me and then I was back." He explained slowly.
"No…" I muttered, closing my eyes, refusing to believe this.
"What's wrong? Aren't you happy?" He asked me and reached out to touch my cheek.
I swatted his hand away and hissed at him. "Don't touch me." He looked hurt but I didn't care. I tried to get up out of his arms but he was stronger than before and was still using his power against me.
"I'm stronger than before, baby. That was another good thing about coming back from the dead." George said noticing what I was trying to do. "There's really nothing that you can do." I sighed and crossed my arms angrily.
"So are you just going to take me back to the Volturi now?" I said, not looking at him.
"No, of course not. I wouldn't do that to you again. I left them a few months ago. Aro wasn't too happy with me but he let me go because of what happened with you." He said with a bitter laugh.
"What makes you think that I want to be with you now?" I said returning the bitter tone.
"I was hoping you might have felt bad about destroying me and I knew that you had run away and were alone. I didn't know why but I thought you might have gotten into a fight with Edward."
"And you thought that I would just go right to you, didn't you?" He nodded at me and I rolled my eyes. "You're wrong. I was going back to him. I just needed some space."
"Oh…" He muttered and cursed under his breath.
"Yeah, so can I just go back now?" I snapped at him. He raised his eyebrows and laughed at me.
"Did you really think that I was just going to let you return to Edward after I had come all this way just for you?" I bit my bottom lip and sighed. "Bella, please understand that I really cannot live without you. I need you."
"Well you seemed to have been doing just fine for the last year."
"I really haven't. I'm not happy unless I have you."
"No, George. I'm married." I slowly said for him to understand. He sighed.
"I was hoping that you would come happily with me. I didn't want to have to keep you under my power the whole time."
"This is insane." I complained. "I don't want this. I just want Edward." I said and a single tear ran down my cheek.
George let out a low growl and slammed his fist against a tree. "Why am I not good enough, Bella? Why?" He yelled angrily. I cringed away from him and took this opportunity to move out of his lap. He was keeping me weak enough that I couldn't stand, let alone walk, so I did my best to crawl a few feet from him.
EPOV
As I was intently watching the place where Bella had disappeared a few days ago, I faintly heard a slam and someone yell "Why am I not good enough, Bella? Why?" It was so quiet that I almost missed it.
I listened for another moment to hear something more but I knew that Bella was in trouble. I sprinted off in the direction of the voice and was surprised that I had actually heard it since it was so far away. I slowed once caught Bella's scent and stopped a couple hundred feet away from where she was.
I saw my love sitting on the ground looking absolutely terrified and exhausted and another vampire angrily yelling and slamming things together.
"Why, Bella? Why? I just don't get it!" He yelled at her. I growled and began to stalk towards this monster.
"You're not Edward." She whispered back to him.
"What can I do to win you?" He said with a strained voice.
"Nothing." She simply stated and the other vampire let out a loud growl. He ran over to her and kneeled in front of her. The vampire leaned into to kiss my wife and that's when I decided to step in.
I lunged from my hiding spot and tackled him away from her before he even got close to kissing her. I pinned him to the ground and held onto him.
"Edward!" I heard Bella whisper in relief. I wanted to hold her in my arms finally but I needed to finish off this guy first.
"You!" He yelled pushing me off of him. "You're the reason she won't ever love me!" I growled and fought him. We skillfully lunged at each other and I was suddenly becoming really tired. I was moving a lot slower now. George was using his power against me and knocked me to the ground. As he pinned me down to the ground I looked over at Bella pleadingly. She realized that he could only control one of us at a time and she used her shield on me. I felt more energized and was able to shove him off of me and against a tree. He was slightly dazed and I used this opportunity to rip him apart.
"You will die fully this time." I said finally decapitating George.
I stood up quickly and started a fire and made sure that I got every single piece of him into the fire. I noticed that Bella still sat on the ground behind me and I wasn't sure if she was still upset with me or not. I put out the fire and slowly turned around to her.
She was still huddled on the ground and had a few tears falling down her beautiful face. I walked over to her and sat on the ground in front of her.
"Bella?" I asked cautiously taking one of her hands. She looked up at me with her big brown eyes and a slight smile crept on to her face. She crawled into my lap and hugged herself against my chest. I wrapped my arms around her and kissed the top of her head.
"I'm so sorry, Edward." Bella whispered up to me.
"Bella, I'm just glad that you're ok." I said tilting her head up to me. I leaned in and kissed her for the first time in over 3 days.
"I love you." She said when we pulled apart.
"I love you more than you could ever know, Bella." I told her as I held her securely in my arms. I waited for this moment for what felt like an eternity and I was glad that I had found her.
"I know. I didn't mean to ever hurt you." She mumbled into my chest.
"I know you didn't. I feel awful for putting you through this." I ran my fingers through her silky hair.
"It's not your fault." She said, wrapping her arms tighter around me and I kissed the top of her head.
"I missed you so much. Don't ever leave me again."
"I won't." She promised. I noticed that the dark circles under her eyes were a lot darker and she looked exhausted. She had been under George's power for a while so she must be really tired now.
"Let's get you home." I said and she nodded. I cradled her to my chest and took off running back to the house.
When we entered the house I ran us up to my room and laid her down on the bed. I laid down next to her and she cuddled up to me.
"It's so quiet." She said after a few minutes. "Where is everyone?" I didn't answer her for a few moments as I tried to find a way to tell Bella that they were at our funeral without upsetting her again.
"Well they went to our funeral." I said, finding no way around it.
"Oh…" Bella mumbled and sighed. I took her closest hand and held it in mine. "Do you want to go?" She asked in a flat voice, surprising me with her question.
"What?" I asked, propping myself up on one elbow and facing her. Her face was paler than usual and her cheeks were sunken in. Bella's eyes seemed to have lost their sparkle that I had grown accustomed too over the past years.
"You can go if you want." She replied in the same lifeless voice, staring up at the ceiling.
"And leave you?" I asked. I wasn't ever going to leave Bella again and especially not to go to our funeral. I would go if she did but not without her. She seemed so broken; like everyone she knew and loved before she met me had died. In a way, this was what happened since she can no longer see or talk to them again.
Bella just shrugged next to me. "Bella, I'm not leaving you."
"I know." She replied closing her eyes. I decided to let her rest for a while and closed my eyes as well. A few hours later, I heard Carlisle's car pulling up the driveway and then heard my family's voices as they entered the house.
"Where's Edward?" I heard Jasper ask as he noticed I wasn't still standing in the same place that I have been in for the past few days. I sat up and looked over at Bella.
"I'll be back in a few minutes, love." I whispered, kissing her and silently running down to the kitchen.
I entered the kitchen and noticed everyone's depressed expressions from the funeral. They all seemed surprised to see me.
"Edward?" Esme asked with a motherly concern.
"Is Bella back?" Alice asked. I guessed that she hadn't gotten a vision about this because of the funeral or just ignored it.
"Yes, she's upstairs resting. Bella's really worn out." I explained, telling them what had happened.
"You mean, he came back to life?" Carlisle asked and I nodded solemnly. "Interesting." He muttered, thinking about doing some research on that.
"Can I go talk to her?" Alice asked rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet.
"I'd prefer if you didn't. She's still not right." Alice nodded understandingly.
"What do you mean, 'not right'?" Emmett asked, concerned about Bella.
"Bella is depressed and drained. Everyone that she loved and loved her before she met me thinks she's dead. It's like they all died at the same time to her and Bella has to deal with all that grief at once. It's hard for her and she still needs time." I explained to them. "I'm going back up to her." I said quickly returning to Bella. She was just as I left her and I laid back down next to her.
"How was the funeral?" She asked after a few moments.
"I didn't ask." I replied truthfully, looking over at her. Her eyes were closed and she nodded in my direction. "Are you feeling any better?"
She sighed and opened her eyes to look at me. Her face still looked drained and her eyes were turning darker than I had ever seen them. I knew she had hunted recently but the stress was taking a lot out of her. "A little." Bella said.
"Good, love." I said and kissed her cheek lightly. A faint smile formed on her lips and I smiled as I kissed her again.
"Thank you, Edward." She said with a little more life in her voice than before. I responded with a trail of light kisses up her arm and then up her neck that led to the corner of her mouth.
"Are feeling better now?" I asked with a smile. Her smile grew a little larger and she nodded. "Good."
"I'm going to go take a shower." She said after a while. She got up and disappeared into the bathroom. I heard the shower turn on and I restlessly waited for her to return to me. Bella eventually came back to me and crawled into my arms.
We stayed like that until late the next morning when Bella rolled over to face me. Her eyes were almost black now and I tried to keep an even facial expression as she stared at me with them.
"How are you feeling?" I asked, placing my hand on her cheek.
"A lot better than yesterday." She replied. I knew that she had been thinking a lot last night about the past few days and was feeling better about it.
"I'm glad." I said, kissing the tip of her nose. She smiled and bit her bottom lip. I could tell that she was getting restless as she sat up around noon.
"Can we go hunting? The burning in the back of my throat is becoming unbearable." She said getting up and putting a pair of sweats on.
"Of course, love." I said opening my window. Bella grabbed my hand and we jumped out and ran into the forest. We hunted until her eyes returned to their usual beautiful brown color and then returned home. Alice heard us moving around upstairs and told me that we needed to pack everything up because we were leaving for Alaska tomorrow morning.
I told Bella this and we packed up all of our belongings that we were going to be taking back to Alaska with us.
We finished and Bella was still quiet while we rested up in our room. She was beginning to look better too and wasn't as tired as she had been yesterday. I could tell that Bella was still upset about her parents and making them feel horrible. She didn't block her thoughts from me as she thought about them.
"Can I go somewhere?" She asked me, later that night.
"Where?" I asked looking up from the book I was reading.
"Out…alone." Bella answered forgetting to block her thoughts. She wanted to go to Charlie's house and see how her parents were.
"Absolutely not." I said. She was making progress and seeing how broken her parents were would only make things worse.
"Please, Edward." She pouted.
"No, it will only make things worse."
"I just need to see them one last time. Before we leave forever." She pleaded with me.
"Bella…" I said as she begged with her big brown eyes. I found it impossible to say no to her when she did this.
"Please, Edward. I need this." Bella whispered.
"I don't want to let you go again." I said quietly and closed my eyes. When I opened them she was still staring at me with those eyes and I slowly nodded, giving into her. She ran across the room and wrapped her arms around me.
"Thank you." She said quietly in my ear.
I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. "Please be careful in what you do, love."
"Ok, I will. I love you." She said and jumped out the window and into the night.
BPOV
I took off running at full speed from Edward's room towards my old home. Edward had done everything that he could to make me feel better after all that had happened in the past few days but I needed to go alone.
I arrived at Charlie's house and slowed to a walk as I went up to a window. Charlie was sitting on the sofa staring at the blank television with an empty look on his face. He didn't move and his thoughts roamed about me. I watched him for a while and shuffled through his thoughts. His face was grave and like he hadn't slept in days. I swallowed as I tried not to try and took a few moments to send some calming waves at him.
I listened for Renee's thoughts and found her to be up in my old room. She was asleep on my bed and the window was open so I jumped inside the house. Her face was tear streaked and she looked years older than when I had left her. I gently sat down on the edge of the bed and watched her restlessly sleep. She mumbled my name a few times in the hour I spent with her and I tried not to cry as I realized how much I was hurting her and Charlie. I decided that I had to leave and I stood up off the bed. I brushed some stray pieces of hair off my mom's face and I kissed her forehead.
"It'll be all right, mom. I love you." I whispered to her as she slept and I jumped out the window and into the night.
I began to run back to the house and slowed to a walk when I got to the driveway. I got a vision of my mom returning to Florida with Phil and Charlie going back to work. They would both be able to keep living their lives. I would always be in the back of their minds but I felt better knowing that they would keep on living.
I walked at human speed and thought about my parents. They were always strong people and somehow they would get over this. Human memories were small and soon they would move on to live their lives with me as a memory. Seeing them tonight had made me feel a lot better and now I knew I could leave Forks and go back to Alaska to keep living my life with Edward and the rest of the Cullens. I smiled to myself and picked up my speed to a run and jumped into Edward room.
"Bella." He breathed, pacing around the room. I could tell that he was really worried since I had left him and wasn't sure what my reaction was going to be from my parents.
"Edward, I'm fine. I just needed to see them. I know that they will be ok eventually." I assured him as I wrapped my arms around him. He hugged me back and tilted my head up to look at him.
"Are you sure?" He said looking worried.
"Yes, I'm fine. I know that I hurt them and that's something that I'll have to live with forever but at least I know that they will get by and be able to live their lives with me as a memory." I said looking into his eyes. "Stop worrying so much." I said with a giggle.
His face relaxed after hearing my laugh and he hugged me tighter. "I'm glad you're ok, Bella." Edward said before kissing me. "I missed you." I smiled as he held me in his arms and I knew that this was where I belonged.
---------------------------------------------
that chapter took me a while and i'm still not sure if i like it so some reviews telling me what you think would be great!
and i dont know if i should end it here or do you want me to keep it going with their life in Alaska and stuff like that
so if you could review and tell me what you think pleaseee
thanks! :)