I don't own Twilight.

This story was written from a prompt for the Twilight exchange. It was originally published February 1, 2010 on the Twilight Exchange LJ community, but I wrote it in December in a post-surgical haze. Huge thanks to bittenbee for betaing this gift to my beta.

The prompt from wickedcicada was as follows:

Years after their less-than-amicable parting on Christmas Day, _ bumps into ex-lover _ over the holidays. What happens?

I wrote this as a oneshot, but Elizabeth440 won a full-length piece from during FGB and has asked this be extended.

to doctor m, with love

Fall to Ruin One Day

December 25, 1999
Washington-Dulles International Airport

It's impossible for me not to be introspective.

It's the end of a relationship and the end of a millennium. It's a holiday commemorating the birth of a savior, and despite the fact I don't consider myself a Christian, I know I'll forever associate this day with my own salvation. As I make my way to the ticket counter, I can't help my awareness that it is the first day of the rest of my life—a life without Edward Cullen.

"I'd like to purchase a ticket, please."

"Where to?"

I can't leave him entirely. On impulse, I choose the town in which he was raised, the same town to which he'd sworn he'd never return.

"Chicago," I say. "One-way. I won't be coming back."