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Dream's Shadow

Summary:
This is my take on the over- and usually poorly- done plot. Edward leaves Bella again. She is changed and they meet again in the future. There will be a big twist! Requested by Iris. Banner by Iris!

Notes:
Try it! I know stories like this usually stink, but I thought I'd give it a try. I own nothing. Stephenie Meyer owns all.

75. Chapter 75

Rating 4.5/5   Word Count 519   Review this Chapter

“Are you real?” I ask, inanely. Immediately, I’m embarrassed at it- what a stupid thing to say! This is him, my one true love, and he’s here, right in front of me, for the first time in so long.

“Of course I am,” he answers. “I’m real, and I’m right here, for you, love.”

I notice the similarity to what he said after the first time he left me. I also notice that he’s putting an almost abnormal amount of stress on the word ‘love’. It’s almost scary. And the way his eyes are gleaming- not just with love, but with something else. “Edward, is something wrong?”

He leans toward me, so I can’t look away from the intensity of his eyes (not that I could anyway, not that I’d want to.) There is silence for a moment, and I shudder from the ferocity of it. “I really… missed you,” he says again, like he isn’t sure what he wants to say or how to say it.

“I missed you too.”

“Really?”

“Really… but why are you here? It isn’t that I don’t want you- I do, more than anything else,” I quickly add, seeing the pain flare up in his irresistible eyes. “It’s just… Alice, Edward. What about Alice?”

“Well. Love. I don’t know how to say this…” he ducks his head, as if ashamed. “I can’t stand the pain. I thought I could, but I can’t take one more second. If… if I can’t stay here with you, Bella, I will die. So this is what I’m saying… come with me. Leave this place behind. Forget about everything except each other. Run away, far away, be happy with me… and forget about everything else. It doesn’t matter to me, love, not anymore. I’ve done all the living without you I can stand. I can’t take another minute of it. So don’t make me. Let me stay with you, forever.”

The words pour out like liquid. He’s practically begging, and he speaks as quickly as he can. I recognize the emotion in them. He is miserable that he has to do this at all. It makes him feel that terrible guilt, the same one that made him leave me the first two times. And yet he has so much hope riding on it. I can tell he really loves me. I can tell he really wants me.

That doesn’t make this easier. “Edward…”

He winces. “What?”

“We can’t just run off into the sunset. They will kill Alice and Jasper, and probably the rest of our family too. Doesn’t that matter to you?”

I can see him shrink back from the accusation in my voice, the harshness, and yet he closes his perfect eyes in pain and shame. “No. Not anymore, Bella… listen. I am asking you. Do this, do this for me. Come with me, because I love you, and I need you. Please. I’m begging. I’ll do anything… for you, my love. Because I can’t take one more minute without you by my side.”