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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.

76. Chapter 76

Rating 4.5/5   Word Count 532   Review this Chapter

I clench my fists and turn away. I cannot. I cannot. I cannot.

I cannot do this?

No, I can do this. That’s the sad thing. I can do what I have to. I just really don’t want to.

What I can’t do is look at him while I break his heart.

I close my eyes, just for an extra measure of safety, and keep my whole body firmly averted.

“No, Edward.”

That’s all it takes, those two words.

I am safely turned away, yet I can feel his pain, his disappointment, wavering in the air. It’s part of the way we’re connected, I suppose, on that deep and inherent level. I don’t need to read his mind because of how well I know him.

I know him, despite his mysteries, despite his levels of oddness and intrigue, despite the unpredictable twists and turns in his personality, despite everything.

I love him.

And so I know who he is. I know he needs me with him. I know he loves me. I know he really is telling the truth, that despite all the odds to the contrary, he’s somehow still in love with me, unexceptional me, average me- the me who can never deserve him, who needs him and not the other way around…

Yet he’s here, and doesn’t that prove he loves me?

I know he does. He would never leave me again. He wouldn’t have the strength. And I’ll never give him a reason to again- I know that doing this… can’t make him leave me, can it? It wouldn’t hurt him that much. Twenty more years aren’t that long in the scope of forever.

Right?

He’ll wait, won’t he?

This hurts. This silent contemplation, waiting for an answer. And then it comes. He touches my shoulder softly and I turn to face him. His eyes are very gentle and soft, totally without the anger or even the hurt I predicted. Edward doesn’t look betrayed. He just looks like he loves me…

And that’s the only thing I ever want to see again.

He opens his mouth as if to say something, and then pauses. It takes him a few tries to frame the words the way he wants to. Finally, I hear the soft music of his voice.

“Bella… I’m sorry. For coming out here and asking you for this. It isn’t fair to you, I know.”

“How uncharacteristically perceptive of you, Edward,” I retort before pausing to weigh the consequence. He laughs aloud.

“Thank you, love. I think.”

“You’re not mad at me? I mean… for this. I want to come with you but I can’t. I can’t do that to my family.”

He closes his eyes. “Can I blame you for doing the right thing, for being stronger than I am?”

“Edward, you need to get out of here. Out of Volterra. I’m not supposed to be here, and I don’t know what’s going to happen to Alice if I don’t get back soon.”

“Now?”

“Now.”

He turns away from me.