A/N: Here's my next chapter...and I need to warn you, the next one might take another day or two...so if it doesn't come out tomorrow, don't hurt me. 'Cause I feel kinda bad, I've been ignoring some of my other stories 'cause I was just on a roll with this one, and I didn't want to lose it, but now I think I really need to get my butt moving with them too. It's a long weekend, so hopefully I'll be able to do those and this one too! Anyways...as for this chapter, there are some lines that are in all caps, that's 'cause she's yelling...really loud. So yeah, I'm sorry if it's a little awkward to read. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters.

Chapter Fifteen: Yelling and Crying

BPOV

I had spent over 70 years believing the only person I had ever loved had never loved me back. Over 70 years believing my existence was meaningless, that no one truly cared for me. Then, all of a sudden, he tells me he was lying. That he left to protect me. That all he had wanted was to keep me safe.

It was almost the same exact situation, but in reverse. I almost laughed at the irony and hopelessness of the situation. He once told me that he didn't love me, that everything he had said before was a lie. Now he was telling me that that was a lie and he had loved me all along.

What was I to believe? How was I to react? Could I really just accept that he in fact loved me then, just as he loved me now? Was it really that easy? No, it wasn't. My heart couldn't take the chance of it being a lie.

I did the only thing I could in that sort of situation and that was to act on instinct. That instinct, as unfortunate as it was for Edward, was anger. Anger at his reasoning, anger at his lies, anger at all the times he had ever hid something from me in order to protect me, and most of all, anger at his audacity to decide what was best for me.

I glared at his stunned face. Edward seemed to have been rendered speechless, by his own faulty words or by my reaction to them, I did not know. I knew in other situations I would have felt guilty for yelling at him, or would not have been able to at all, but at that moment, with all the pain and pent-up frustration at my pure existence, I did not care one bit. I let him have it.

"YOU ARE WORSE THAN ROSALIE!"

I heard a faint "hey" from somewhere in the house – a half-hearted attempt from said person to defend herself.

"I'M SORRY." I snarled in her general direction. "BUT YOU'RE TERRIBLY SELF-CENTERED AND WE ALL KNOW IT, INCLUDING YOURSELF." I turned my murderous gaze back to its rightful owner: Edward.

"I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE SO FOCUSED ON YOURSELF! HOW CAN ONE PERSON BELIEVE THAT THEY KNOW EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING THAT IS RIGHT FOR SOMEONE ELSE?! YES YOU CAN HEAR THOUGHTS! CONGRATULATIONS! THAT DOES NOT MAKE YOU GOD! WHO ARE YOU TO DECIDE WHAT IS RIGHT FOR ME?! WHO ARE YOU TO DECIDE WHAT IS BEST FOR MY SAFETY?!

"DID YOU EVER EVEN THINK THAT MAYBE YOU LEAVING ME ALONE AND DEFENSELESS WOULDN'T BE BEST FOR MY SAFETY? THAT AFTER I HAD ARRIVED AT FORKS I HAD NEARLY DIED AT LEAST FIVE TIMES AND THAT BY JUST REMOVING YOU FROM THE MIX WOULDN'T FIX HOW HORRIBLY CLUMSY I AM OR HOW PRONE TO DANGER I AM?! DID YOU THINK OF THAT?!

"Stepping away from my safety. DID YOU THINK ABOUT MY HAPPINESS?! DID YOU EVER THINK THAT WHAT WAS BEST FOR ME MIGHT POSSIBLY BE THE THING THAT MADE ME HAPPY RATHER THAN WHAT MADE ME COMPLETELY SAFE?! HOW SAFE CAN AN UTTERLY EMOTIONLESS PERSON BE?! OR A SEVERELY DEPRESSED PERSON?

"I LOVED YOU! YOU WERE MY LIFE! YOU WERE THE ONLY THING THAT MADE ME HAPPY. AND THEN YOU JUST TORE IT ALL AWAY, NOT EVEN LEAVING ME WITH MEMORIES I COULD TREASURE. No…they only caused pain."

My voice was hoarse from my yelling. I knew it was unnecessary, especially since the person my rant was directed to was a vampire with super hearing capabilities, but in my state of mind I did not care who heard me and I hoped Edward felt the full brunt of my fury.

"Happiness does not always come hand in hand with safety Edward. In fact a lot of times happiness has nothing to do with protecting yourself. Especially if that happiness comes from love, because by being in love you have to put yourself out there, fully exposed, to someone else and there's always risks in that. I definitely learned that." If possible, the expression on Edward's face became even more pained. I looked at him, feeling my anger beginning to melt.

Quickly thinking of my next words, I opened my mouth to speak again, then just as swiftly closed it. I couldn't do this anymore, I couldn't rant and rave at the man I loved, only causing him pain. I needed to go somewhere, away, to think.

Turning on my heel, I sped out of the house. I ran out the door quickly, hoping the outrun the pain that was threatening to close in on me. Not long after leaving I jumped into the trees, springing from one top to another almost as quickly as I could run.

When I couldn't hold back the sobs any longer I stopped, holding the tree like a life line, as I sobbed my non-beating heart out.

EPOV

I was stunned.

I knew everything in the whole situation was my fault. I knew that if I had never left Bella she would not be condemned to this life, or at least if she was, she would be with me. But I had never quite realized how much pain I had inflicted on my dear angel. How much I had put her through by leaving.

I think maybe deep down in my heart and in the very farthest corner of my mind I had known it would have led to something like this. That she loved me just as much as I loved her and she could no longer live without me than I could without her. But that part of my mind or heart was not working when I made the decision to leave her, or when I thought back over it and told myself I had done the right thing.

Almost everything she said I had thought about after her supposed death. When I thought she was truly gone, I realized exactly what a horrible decision leaving her had been. She hadn't lived the long and happy human life she should have, she hadn't even lived a year after I had left. I had thought about how I should have just given into her demand, changed her like she wanted, no matter how selfish it would have been, and kept her with me for all of eternity.

But I hadn't.

Now I was paying the price for my errors. Bella pointed out exactly how stupid I had been and, as if that wasn't enough, I could hear the entirety of my family, some more than others, agreeing with her in thought.

When she finally stopped yelling, I thought I would have my chance. That I would be able to tell her just how much I had realized in the years since I had left that I had been wrong. That had I the choice to do it over again, I never would.

But right when I thought I could speak, she turned and left. I felt like my heart was breaking all over again. Seeing that amount of pain on Bella, my Bella's face, was like a metaphorical knife to my still heart.

Without a second thought I ran after her. I would give her space, and hope that she would at least talk to me, but I refused to lose her again.

She was so incredibly fast. Faster than me. It was all I could do to keep her in sight, trailing farther and farther behind, even though I was running my fastest. It was better when she leapt into the trees. They made her slightly slower, enough for me to catch up and keep up, and the rustling, no matter how little it was, told me exactly where she was.

Bella didn't keep it up for long. Coming to a sudden stop, she gripped onto the tree she had just jumped into and sobbed, heart-wrenching tearless sobs.

I let her be, not wanting to disturb. Especially not after what I had done, but I couldn't help the aching that was in my arms to just hold her, the want they had to console her in any way I could. But I wouldn't do that to her or myself, I was almost a hundred percent sure, she would just pull away and run again if I did anything like that anyway.

As her sobs quieted, Bella did something that stunned me, just as she always had as a human.

"What do you want Edward?" Her voice sounded choked and broken. She hadn't moved in the slightest from her position, clinging to the Evergreen.

I had thought I was being sneaky, almost completely silent and completely undetectable, even for another vampire, but I guess I had been wrong.

"Oh Bella. I'm so sorry. Everything you said was right. I was such an idiot, I am an idiot, I'll admit that here and now and any other day you want me to. Just please talk to me. Please let me see you." I spoke, looking up to where I could see her slight figure. Even after seeing the colossal amount of damage that little body could inflict, it still seemed fragile.

Once again, Bella surprised me. With an almost non-existent thump Bella was standing about ten feet away. I wanted nothing more than to move towards her and sweep her into my arms, but I couldn't. I needed to speak with her before I could even think about her allowing me to touch her.

"Why Edward? Why can't you just leave me alone?" Her question pained me more than she would ever know. But I couldn't back down, not if there was the slightest chance I could have her back.

"I love you Bella. I love you more than anything else in this world, more than everything else combined. My existence is meaningless without you. I know I've made mistakes, I really, really do. I can't change them now, but I can try to fix them. Will you please let me try and fix them Bella? Will you let me try to love you?" I could hear the sincerity and desperation in my voice and could only hope that Bella took it in a good way.

Her eyes were so sad, so tired looking. I knew she was emotionally spent, just as I was, but I would continue to fight until I had my answer. Her voice shook when she spoke again, showing everything she was feeling clearly.

"I can try."

Using those words as permission, I launched myself at her just before she collapsed, catching and sweeping her up into my arms. I noted that her barrier was down. That I could feel her hard, but seemingly soft, skin against mine. I held her to me as she curled into the tightest fitting ball she could form, dry sobbing once again.

Holding her with one arm and rubbing her back with the other, I headed back to the house, in no hurry to end the moment of contact with my love.

...

A/N: Hope you all agree with me when I say, GO BELLA! BITCH HIM OUT! YEAH!! (cackles madly)