Well, as promised, here is the rewritten first chapter. I know that I've been working on this story for about four years now, but I really want it to be as great as I envisioned. I tried to add more details to this first chapter, and would love to know if I've done a good job. So, please, read and review.

It Ends Tonight

Twilight was fast approaching; the sunset was shot through with brilliant reds and subdued purples. I vaguely wondered how I had never appreciated such beauty before, but then remembered that I spent my days in the company of immortals. They were unchanging in their youth and perfection, but never dull to look at. How could a sunset compare?

Glancing to the left, my gaze fell upon Edward. He had taken me out on a date earlier in the day, to the bookstore of all places. Now, he stood next to me as we leaned against his car, watching the sunset. I studied the profile of his flawless face, recommitted the curve of his jaw to memory and distantly admired the way his eyelashes brushed high cheekbones. Without my permission, his features morphed into ones more leonine. My brow furrowed in concentration as I tried to remember when precisely I stopped finding Edward to be the most beautiful part of my world, and began wishing he was someone else.

"Bella. Love, what's the matter?" he questioned me from far away. I blinked up at him and found that he looked like himself again; only he could wear that particular mix of exasperation and concern.

Clearing my throat, I replied with, "It's nothing, Edward. I'm just admiring the view; it's stunning. The sunset isn't too bad, either."

Edward let out a gorgeous laugh, but it still wasn't the one that brought a smile to my lips. He leaned in for a kiss and, not for the first time in recent months, I pushed him away. I almost felt guilty for being the reason he looked so wounded, but then I recalled that he had made me feel much worse.

"Are you sure there's nothing wrong?" he inquired softly, looking me squarely in the eye. I didn't answer him right away; what could I say? Everything was wrong, had been for so long, and it was his entire fault. But, of course, I couldn't blurt that out, so I said instead:

"You worry too much, Edward." My words, in no way, indicated that I wanted to continue in that vein of conversation. "Can we go home now? Esme said that she would be bringing Italian from Port Angeles for my dinner tonight."

Although he looked like he wanted to ask more questions, I'm sure that Edward could tell by the set of my mouth that I wouldn't have it. So instead, he held the door open for me and gestured for me to get in. I muttered my thanks and tumbled into the passenger seat. He was on his side and behind the wheel faster than my weak, human eyes could comprehend.

The car rumbled to life beneath us as he turned the engine over and pulled off at a speed much higher than the speed limit. I was used to his fast driving at that point, and merely buckled my seatbelt before turning my attention to the window. The scenery whipped past at a pace too high to discern anything, but it was preferable to looking at him.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Edward fiddling with the iPod hooked up to the radio, but I thought nothing of it. I was unprepared, then, for "Claire de Lune" to start playing. A jagged gasp escaped me as pain jolted through my chest; I had forgotten I could feel this way about him. My gaze flickered to Edward and I saw that he looked almost angry; his jaw clenched and hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly, it cracked.

"Bella, if I asked you a question, would you be honest with me?"

I didn't miss a beat.

"Haven't I always been, Edward?"

He ignored my question, seeming to be far from being reassured. "What are you hiding from me, Isabella?"

Briefly, I let shock color my features. It wasn't just the question itself, but that he was being so formal. He hadn't called me Isabella in well over a year as he only addressed me as such when he was really upset. I quickly schooled my face into a blank mask, like I had watched him do so many times with me.

"I'm not hiding anything from you. What gave you that idea?" I was genuinely curious as to what inspired such a question. However, he didn't respond and simply sped up.

Shrugging, I turned my gaze back the window and noticed that we were almost home; I could see the ocean. During the last few minutes of the drive, my mind was racing with the possible implications of Edward's suspicions. He couldn't possibly know, right?

Once we had pulled up in front of the house, I had my seatbelt off and was out of the car before Edward could be bothered to assist me. My march across the yard was much too fast for my clumsy tendencies, but I couldn't handle any more confrontation from Edward. I wasn't as infallible as an immortal; eventually, something would slip out and I would ruin everything.

"Bella Bear!" Emmett's booming voice rang out, causing me to jump. My big brother's massive form appeared before me and he swept me up into his arms. "Edward has been keeping you to himself all day, baby sister. It's time we had some serious bonding time."

"Video games?" I inquired with a bright smile.

"Video games."

Emmett threw me over his shoulder and jogged to the house at a human pace. Meanwhile, I giggled, thrashed, and demanded that he put me down, but not really meaning it. It had been weeks since I had any reason to smile, so I was hesitant to put an end to it. Still, once Emmett placed me on the couch and began to tickle my sides mercilessly, I shrieked out a plea for him to stop.

"Emmett, you're being too rough." Edward admonished from somewhere behind us.

Immediately, I was released from the pseudo-torture and Emmett was sitting in the recliner across from me, wearing an innocent expression. I sat up and turned to fix Edward with what I hoped was a withering glare.

"We were just playing, Edward. And besides, what would you know about 'too rough'? You hardly ever touch me," I grumbled indignantly. Huffing, I hopped up from the couch and strode past an apparently shocked Edward and marched into the kitchen. Emmett followed closely behind me, chuckling under his breath about hormonal teenagers.

Perched at the kitchen island were Alice and Esme; they seemed to be chatting about the remodeling of a new property of theirs. They both turned their heads in my direction upon my entrance and smiled brightly in greeting. Esme glided over to me immediately and pulled me into a gentle hug.

"I put your dinner in the oven to keep it warm. I hope you like penne pasta with vodka sauce. The chef assured me that there would be no harm in you actually drinking it," my surrogate mother informed me, her voice reassuring.

"Wouldn't want to send me home to the Chief drunk, now would we?" I joked warmly as I moved over to the oven.

Once I had retrieved my food and gotten situated at the kitchen island, I finally noticed that something was off about Alice. I forked a bit of pasta into my mouth and chewed it slowly as I watched her conversing with Emmett about the pros and cons of getting me drunk. She seemed to be much more excited than usual, almost anxious or jittery. I knew that she only got this way when she was anticipating the fruition of a more desired outcome of one of her visions. A not unfamiliar trickle of foreboding dripped down my spine and suddenly, I was not so hungry.

"Bella, is something wrong?" Alice's saccharine voice floated over to me across the counter, interrupting my musings. I look up to see her focused on me, with a seemingly innocent smile. However, he had taught me how to see through people's bullshit; even that of immortals.

It was unsettling, the way that Alice was behaving. It made me feel uneasy and I suddenly couldn't stand to be in the kitchen any long. Setting my fork down, I stood and made strides toward the kitchen door.

"I'll be back; I need to use the bathroom." I informed Esme in passing. Alice's words next words, so softly spoken, left my ears ringing.

"Going to find Jasper, Bella?"

I froze in my tracks, hand reached out to push the door open. Slowly, I turned to stare at her and knew that my face betrayed the absolute shock that I felt. How could she have known that I had decided to go find Jasper? The only way she could have was if she had seen the cause of my decision in a vision. My brow furrowed as I turned to face her fully and frowned.

"You've been watching for both of us." I didn't mean to speak my thought aloud, per se, but it made no difference. Nothing much mattered anymore because every carefully woven lie was coming undone.

An almost feral smile curved Alice's lips and she opened her mouth to retort, but then her focus shifted to something over my shoulder. I quickly turned around to see what had stolen her attention and almost felt my heart fail in my chest. Standing directly behind me was Edward, his expression reflecting the blackest fury. I had never seen him look more like a vampire than he did in that moment and, for the first time, I was afraid of him.

"What do you mean, Alice?" Edward snarled through gritted teeth. His posture was hostile, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides.

I blinked up at Edward in confusion and fear, not being privy to the other's as he was. My gaze shifted between him and Alice, looking for an explanation. Alice looked just as terrified as I did, if not more so and that alone worried me.

"Edward, what is-?" I began but when he looked at me, the words died in my throat. His eyes, black with rage, they contained so much hurt and betrayal that I couldn't breathe. Shakily, I backed several steps away from him until I bumped into something hard. A steadying hand was placed on my shoulder, and without turning around, I knew that it was him.

"Jasper,"

Relief spread through me, originating from where his body touched mine. I sighed his name as if it were a prayer, or more accurately, as if he were my salvation. However, when Edward snarled the my own name in the next breath, he spat it out as if was a curse upon him. In a way, it was.

"Bella, how could you do this?" my former love demanded.

For a long moment, I did not answer him or even give an indication that I had heard him speak. It felt as if my mind was unweaving, but also a tremendous weight was lifted from my shoulders. For months, it was like Edward and I were waging a cold war; neither of us was willing to bend or break, but there was no cease-fire called. That night, I was to give the final blow.

Strangely enough, in that moment, I recalled a conversation that Jasper and I had had at the very beginning. He had been driving me home from school because my truck had "broken down", but really I was an excuse to steal a few kisses before Edward came over. I had been thinking about what we were doing and the guilt ate at me.

When Jasper pulled up to the front of my house, I swiftly attacked his lips with enough force to bruise my own, but I didn't care. I eventually pulled away and we were both gasping for air, although only one of us needed it. The next words out of my mouth were abrupt and certainly caught him off guard, but I meant them.

"Maybe it's best you leave me alone."

As I stood in the innocuous kitchen of the Cullen home, how I wished Jasper had heeded my words that day. That was not how I had wanted things to turn out; I didn't want anyone to get hurt. I was so naïve and foolish to think that we could make it out unscathed.

"It ends tonight." I murmured to the room in general. I sounded every bit the helpless lamb that I was.

I really hope that this was an improvement from the first two times I tried to begin this story. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and I hope you can also find the time to review, as well!