Edward dropped me off at home and left just as quickly so that Charlie wouldn’t see him. I sat inside and moped around the house in exhaustion and self-hatred. The meetings with Nancy always left me emotionally drained and dreading life. One of the harder parts was having to listen to Edward continuously blame himself when it was my own stupid fault.

Charlie remained at Billy Black’s house longer than anticipated and ended up coming home two hours late. I didn’t particularly mind. Facing Edward for an extra two hours would have been more than I could handle.

Rather than sticking around, I feigned exhaustion from homework and went to bed. Sleep came quickly and was welcomed with open arms.

On Sunday, I woke up around noon – alone. Turning around, I scanned the room multiple times to find Edward. He wasn’t there.

Slightly disappointed, I stood up and walked to the bathroom for some human time. I showered, paying careful attention to washing the salty streaks off my face. Afterwards, I changed into an oversized shirt and some sweats. Comfortable, I plopped down in front of my desk and started with the little homework I had.

When Edward’s visiting hours finally arrived, I stared at the door the entire time. He never showed up. Where could he be?

Thoroughly upset, I stalked back upstairs and slumped onto my bed. Unable to keep my mind off of him, I began crying.

Was I really that much of a problem? He must hate me so much now, and he left. I really did ruin everything I had. Couldn’t I be happy for once? Couldn’t all these problems just go away? Now I really had lost Edward.

The tears continued to flow, but a gentle hand resting itself on my back suddenly interrupted them.

“Bella?” Edward whispered.

I wiped my eyes and turned over to face him. “Where were you?” I asked between sobs.

“I went out hunting. I’m sorry I forget to tell you.”

“I thought you left.”

He looked offended and gathered me into his arms. I sat there, head against his chest, crying onto his shirt. He held me close and kissed every inch of my body he could reach.

“I’m never leaving, Bella.”

I hugged him back as hard as I could. As long as he really was here, I would keep him close.

Eventually, he lied down next to me and sung my lullaby, helping me fall asleep. The weekend was emotionally draining and I wasn’t sure if I was ready for school just yet.

–

School on Monday went well. Nobody said anything – not that anyone besides the Cullens knew. This was my little problem, and I was not interested in broadcasting it to the entire student body. The last thing I needed was more drama.

The day ended with a lot of homework. Therefore, I was probably going to be up all night. As it turned out, Edward really is perfect at everything and he helped me with some of the harder assignments while he was over.

That night was spent at least as peacefully as all the others. I showered and got into bed. Edward pulled me into his arms and hummed my lullaby like he did every night. Sleep was forced upon me, as always, but welcomed all the same.

Too bad the tranquility wouldn’t last long.