Prelude

*Edward*

I looked over at my cell phone, resting next to my briefcase in the passenger seat of my car, as her ring tone sang out at me and tightened my hands on the wheel. It was so happy, Chad Kroger telling me that I was never gonna be alone and all I wanted to do was grab it and throw it out the window.

Contrary to his gravelly voice, I was alone. And I was pretty damn sure that it was gonna stay that way because the girl on the other end of the phone had no fucking intentions of ever changing that.

Wasn't crushing my heart once in this lifetime enough for her? She had to call right as I was getting ready to leave to make it all worse? She couldn't just let me leave in peace; no, she had to call at the last fucking minute to make everything a little worse for me.

Growling as the verse started over again, I reached over with one hand and snatched it up, flipping open the top and pressing it to my ear. I ground my teeth together and didn't say anything, staring at the license plate of the white car in front of me.

I guess when I turned into the cold-hearted ass that I'd accused her of being a few days ago, I could just blame it on myself. Had to answer the phone and see what else she could dish out to me; couldn’t just ignore her the way I should've. Nope. Had to torture myself a little more for the fun of it.

"Don't go, don't go, don't go," she was chanting, her voice quiet, broken and pleading.

I hated myself even more when my stomach twisted and I had to swallow hard, pressing my lips tightly together so that I could stay quiet and not tell her how much I really wanted to hate her right now.

Wanted to, but the more she pled with me and kept chanting don't go, the harder she was making it for me.

"Edward, don't go. Please don't go, please."

"I have no reason to stay," I finally replied, my voice carefully detached and void of any emotion at all.

Huh. I guess I was halfway to being what she always said she was. I could feel like total and utter shit and still make it sound like I didn't care. I guess I'd learned more from her than I'd originally thought I had.

"What about me?"

"You've made it perfectly fucking clear how I'm not supposed to feel about you so don't start this shit," I growled, narrowing my eyes at the car in front of me as I gripped the steering wheel tightly.

"I was… Edward, please don't go," she begged and I heard her voice shaking. "Please, just come back so that I can talk to you."

"I'm done talking to you, Bella. You've heard my side and you have absolutely nothing to add to it. I'm done talking and I'm done hurting." I sucked in a deep breath and sat up straight in the seat. "I'm done with you."

"You don't understand!"

"I understand fucking perfectly! You're chasing after ghosts and leaving someone real, someone who's in love with you and all your fucking craziness for a ghost, Bella! I'm fucking done!"

"Please come back, Edward. Just stay tonight and let me talk to you."

"I already told you," I said through my teeth, taking another deep breath and gritting down on my teeth hard enough to have my jaw aching, "that I'm done talking to you, Bella. My flight leaves in three hours and I'm not turning around for you anymore. I'm fucking done," I said for the thousandth time, swallowing hard and flexing my hand around the steering wheel.

If I was supposed to be turning into a cold hearted bastard, was it supposed to hurt this much?

"Please," she whispered. "Give me one more day. Please, Edward."

"God damn it, Bella, no! No, no, no; a thousand fucking times, no!"

"I love you!" she shouted. "Edward, I love you!"

My eyes widened and my mouth dropped open, both of my hands loosening their grip around the wheel and the cell phone as I stared at the car in front of me once again. It felt like someone had just punched me in the stomach; all the air was gone from my lungs, I felt light-headed and honestly, I was pretty sure my toes had gone numb.

There they were. The words I'd been aching to hear her say for the four longest months of my life had finally made their way out of her mouth and I wasn't nearly as crushed and broken as I had been a few seconds ago.

"What?" I managed breathily.

"I'm in love with you," she cried, her breathing choppy and the simple sentence was punctuated with tiny sniffles.

"I don't…"

"Don't go, Edward, please," she whispered, her voice breaking. "At least not tonight. I understand if you still want to go tomorrow but give me tonight. Please just give me tonight."

She continued to whisper please into the phone as I sat up even more in my seat and looked around, glaring at all the traffic that had managed to surround me without my knowledge.

Since when was it busy at two in the afternoon on a damn Wednesday?

Since Bella had decided to finally give in and tell me what I'd wanted to hear, that's when. When my world finally started to sort itself out, there was a car in every space I wanted to use to turn around in.

This was madness.

"Bella, I'll be there, okay? I'm on my way."

I heard her hiccup out a sob and looked to my right, passing by full driveways and wondering when in the hell Wednesday afternoon had become the new Friday night. Why did people insist on making things ten times harder than they really, honestly, truly needed to be?

I heard the horn of another car blaring and looked in the direction of the sound, dropping the phone and stupidly slamming both of my feet onto my brakes.

Panic. Pure and unadulterated panic washed over me as I watched the silver car heading toward me, the sound of squealing tires echoing in my ears.

I was jerked to the right as the silver car inevitably made contact with mine, my seatbelt keeping me in my seat as my head snapped in the same direction. I heard glass breaking, felt the pinpricks against my skin as it hit me, heard more honking and felt the excruciating pain radiating throughout my whole body.

Before I succumbed to the darkness creeping around the edges of my eyes, I was pretty sure I heard the most beautifully broken voice screaming no from somewhere far away.

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