DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the intellectual property to the respective author. The original characters and plot are the property of Stephenie Meyer (and Wicker Park). No copyright infringement is intended.

*All the mistakes are mine*

February 19, 2014

12:54 PM

Franklin Street, Chicago, Illinois

"Hey! Taxi!" I shouted and stepped out into the street. The car flew past me, and to add insult to injury, the tires kicked up slushy snow and drenched the front of my coat. "Come on, man."

It's been taking me forever to get a cab. Ten minutes too long. The timing was bad with the lunchtime traffic and sudden snow fall (it was a staggering fifteen degrees outside and was bound to get worse). It made getting a ride next to impossible.

This shit was the last thing I needed.

"Hey! Hey!" I threw up my hands, frustrated and panicked. I'd been running around downtown like a crazed man. "Oh, my God!"

Every time I ran to wave one down, a person was getting into it, or the driver decided they didn't need the extra tab. I pounded on their hoods as they ignored me and drove away. But I kept hollering and searching, pushing my way into the busy street, nearly getting hit by speeding cars, to flag one down.

I checked my watch. "Fuck!"

Time kept ticking away without mercy. I couldn't walk to Wicker Park from here. It was ten, maybe twelve miles, and that would take me an hour I didn't have.

What I needed was a damn taxi.

Glancing down the street, I saw one stopped on the curb and a person was getting out. There was no one around. My feet moved slow at first and then faster until I was running. This was my last chance. Bella wasn't going to wait long for me. Not for a man who cheated on her. I had to see her. She had to know the truth.

"Hey!" I yelled at them and waved. "Hold the cab!"

I wasn't even polite. Even before their last grocery bag was removed from the backseat, I was pushing the guy aside and getting into the car. They cursed and flipped me off.

"Sorry." I slammed the door in their face and tossed money at the driver. "I'm going to Wicker Park."

The entire drive through downtown and suburbia down into the Wicker Park district, I thought about all the years Bella believed a lie. I didn't know why she left or why she never called, it was a mystery to me, but I could delude myself into a dream where she still loved me.

Bella only knew one thing: the man she loved and wanted to move in with had cheated on her. The hurt and betrayal she must of felt—and still feels. It tore me apart to know her pain was caused by me. Even if it was a lie, it was real to her, and it destroyed everything we built together.

For all those years, I hated her for breaking my heart. I played the victim. Moping around and feeling sorry for myself, when I should've searched for her and asked those questions instead of accepting it.

Fighting for her and for us was the only option I had.

One I didn't see until it was too late.

Now I was begging for more time…

Please, baby, just wait for me.

February 19, 2014

1:32 PM

Wicker Park

Damen Avenue, Chicago, Illinois

The cab dropped me off at the entrance. It wasn't even fully stopped when I opened the door and got out. I jogged across the street and into the park praying that she was still here. Frank's Chili Dogs was in full swing, with a small line forming, but none of the people standing there were Bella. I searched everywhere: under our canopy or the little garden she liked so much, even across the street at the coffee shop.

She wasn't here.

The sun was coming out from behind the clouds and warmed by face, but I felt cold inside. The chill of realization was bitter. My Bella was gone again. I didn't know by how long. Maybe I missed her by two minutes or twenty, fate had a horrible sense of humor, but it didn't matter. The end result was the same. She slipped out of my grasp because I couldn't get my shit together.

She trusted me to get to her, but I was late. I was always late, wasn't I? Losing track of time was part of my genetic makeup. But why did I have to be late today? Of all fucking days? Why couldn't I get my shit straight for once? Why didn't I leave the restaurant sooner? Why did I waste time with Rose looking for answers that didn't solve anything and only made shit more complicated?

It was my typical Edward Cullen bullshit.

I was a failure to her…to us.

Rubbing my face to dispel those thoughts of pity, I needed to think of another way to her. This door was closed, yes, that was true, but I couldn't stop looking for her. That was insanity. Give in and do what? Go back to New York with Kate? That life was over. This one, no matter how shitty, was the life I've chosen to live, and giving up on finding Bella wasn't part of the plan.

She's the woman I was meant to be with.

She always has been.

I had one more place to try.

February 19, 2014

2:22 PM

Chicago O'Hare Airport

Bessie Coleman Drive, Chicago, Illinois

The international terminal was packed. It caused anxiety, a bit of claustrophobia, but I was determined to find my girl. Pushing and zigzagging my way around people, I looked at all of their faces. No familiarity in their smiles or a hint of her perfume. Searching for her in this madness was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. I couldn't keep my shit together.

Fuck! I spun around. Where is she?

It was hard to not think the worst. After years of bad luck, you tend to believe that good luck was a fairy tale. No happily ever after for the poor photographer and his lost ballerina.

And if I lose her again—no! That wasn't going to happen.

The overhead screen for departures showed flight 853 to London was scheduled to board in forty minutes. There was still time, I told myself over and over. Bella hasn't left yet. But my girl was a creature of habit. She liked to arrive early, have her coffee and listen to music while she waited to board the airplane. I just prayed that she was running late today and didn't go through TSA.

I wouldn't be able to reach her after that.

Not that I wasn't crazy enough buy a ticket to London just to get passed security, but the plane was full. That left me with Paris and Moscow, and their ticket lines were an hour long. By that time, she would be half-way over the Atlantic and I would have missed her again.

And if she leaves Chicago…I ran my hand through my hair.

Damn it, I couldn't wait anymore. It had to be today. It had to be now. There was no other way. My heart couldn't continue to take the starting and stopping. It was getting weak from the agony.

Arching my neck above the crowd, I scanned the people for the millionth time, looking at every one of their faces for something recognizable, but none of them were her. It killed a part of me with disappointment, but I didn't give up hope or the search. Knowing deep down that she was here…somewhere, I just had to keep looking.

Forcing my way through a heavy throng of bodies, I turned my attention towards the 'check-in' line of British Airways. Twenty minutes until the London flight boarded. I winced. It was too late. Knowing my Bella, she was sitting in a comfy chair sipping on her Chai Latte and listening to her Billie Holiday.

I smiled at the thought, but knew it was time to give in—for now.

And as I turned to leave, the sea of people in front of the line parted for me. One by one they moved right and left towards their destination, clearing away a path to a woman standing with her back towards me.

I stared, unsure if my eyes were playing tricks on me. The wave in her dark brown hair was gone and she was wearing a blue coat and black scarf—a vast contrast to bright colors to the girl I fell in love with three years ago used to wear, but something felt familiar. I knew without having to see her face that the woman, standing a mere ten feet away from me, was my Bella.

That was all it took to make my heart start again.

Taking a fast and hasty step in her direction, the people around her dissolved and she illuminated, like a bright spotlight shining down and leading me home. Nothing else mattered and I wasn't aware of the world until it appeared right in front of me.

"Hi!"

I plowed into a soft body, and it stopped my momentum at once. Holding the shoulders of this person, in hopes to not fall over, I glanced away from my Bella and was startled by the pair of all-too familiar blue eyes staring up at me.

"Kate?" It almost didn't register that she was here, but there she was, smiling and grabbing on the lapel of my coat. "Hi…" Fuck!

"There you are!" She stroked my cheek with the back of her hand. It was a loving gesture and something she'd done since our third date, but feeling it now stung. "Where have you been, baby? Your flight got in an hour ago?"

"Um…" I weaved around Kate's head to keep my eyes on Bella. Ten feet now felt like a hundred miles. If I could just get away from Kate—shit, it sounded bad, but I was too close to what I wanted. She was an obstacle, a regrettable causality. It irritated me to see her here. Why now?

"I've been down to baggage claim and back," she continued to say and oblivious to the way I was dodging her. She had me in her sights and nothing around that mattered. That's how I knew she loved me…well, not me, but a version of the man I allowed her to have.

"Kate…" I grunted out, holding back my frustrations and impatience, but she kept touching me and following me at every turn. "I, um…shit."

"What's the matter? Rough flight home?"

It was hard to keep tabs on Bella with Kate in my face. I felt suffocated and trapped by her. She blathered on and on about dresses from China. Her constant touching and yanking on my coat, a hand on my chest, slowly moving down to the buckle of my belt became too much for me.

"Kate, I…" but then it all became a nightmare when I took my eyes off Bella for one second and she disappeared.

Where did she go?

She was there and now…what, vanished in the crowd of nameless people? How the fuck does that happen? My body shivered with the fear that I'd missed that window of opportunity. That painful agony filled with disappointment was rising up from my stomach and my heart stopped.

No, no, no, not again.

"Is there something wrong, sweetie?"

"Kate…" I stopped our little dance and held her hands. The frustration of her being here and losing Bella to the crowd caused the truth to come out harsh and blunt. "I didn't go to China."

She smiled with unease. "What are you talking about?"

"I never got on the plane, okay? I just…" It was now or never. Pull the Band-Aid off quick and fast. Painless, right… "I can't marry you. It would be a huge mistake."

The color drained from her face. "You're going have to help me out, baby. Did I do something wrong?"

"No! You didn't do anything wrong…" I searched the terminal for Bella. Like a ghost, she was gone. All the years pretending to be a man I wasn't came flashing before my eyes. It was me who had always been the problem. You can't change who you are because you don't want to feel. "Look, I've been doing something wrong for the last three years. I'm not this person. I can't go back with you. I can't do this."

"What person?" Her grasps on my hands were loosening. "I don't understand what you're saying."

"When I met you three years ago, I was in love with someone else…" I glanced away from Kate to look for Bella. Every time I saw she wasn't there, my heart lodged itself deeper in my throat. The noose around my neck was getting tighter. Time vengeful and my true adversary was slipping on by with no apologies. "She just came back into my life. She broke my heart—" I stopped myself short when I saw the hurt and betrayal in her eyes. Fuck…I didn't want to do that. "I'm sorry."

"Oh, my God," she whispered, and broke away from me. She put her head in her hands and paced. "I can't believe this."

This was hard and painful, but she deserved a man that gave her his all and not just a fractured piece of himself. If I stayed with her, I would be doing us both a disservice.

"I know I am still in love with her." I crouched down to get to her eye level. There were no tears or sobbing. "I just…I just needed you to know."

"Know what?" Her voice was quiet at first and when I didn't say anything anger erupted. "Know what, Edward?! That I'm not the girl who can break your heart?"

It was a harsh reality and I couldn't deny it. She wasn't the girl. I cared for her deeply, but it wasn't enough. How many times would I lay in bed with her and wish it was?

Anything I told her now would just sound disingenuous.

"Yeah," she said with a nod, finally seeing me for who I was.

I wasn't the man she loved with the corporate suit and connections, but a man Bella loved with a camera and a two-day old shirt. I was a bum, a hack, and messy. That's who I was three years ago and who I've always been. Somewhere along the way, I'd lost myself.

And I tried to forget about Bella, and truly, meaningfully love Kate, but I couldn't allow myself to give in. Once you find the person you're meant to be with, no other person before or after that (no matter how perfect and great they are) will ever measure up.

"I'm sorry—" But I was cut off short with the flick of her hand and the sound of her heels walking away.

The last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt her. She came into a disaster of a man and unfairly was set up. I tricked her in order to fool myself. There was never a happy ending for us. I knew it long before Bella came back into my life. I just refused to see it.

Bella.

My head snapped in the direction I last saw her, but I was turned around. The conversation with Kate put me on a different path and the swarm of people was descending on me. It was confusing and disorienting. I walked towards the check-in counter and looked over multiple heads. Spinning and spinning around, I searched high and low for her.

Until a hint of blue and black came into view….and there she was.

Bella was sitting on the floor with her back facing me. I recognized the silver suitcase sitting beside her. It was the same one I bought for her. She still had it after all these years.

There was no doubt in my mind that I'd finally found my girl.

My feet weren't frozen or glued to the floor anymore. There was nothing stopping me from restarting my heart and having her. I walked one step at a time and removed the bags from my shoulders. Everything that I felt and didn't feel over the last three years was rushing to the surface. Happiness, pain, longing, and regret were halting and constricting my lungs. It was smothering me. I tried to hold back the tears, but when I fell to my knees behind her, I felt the hot trails run down my cheeks.

Bella, I'm here…I wanted to whisper to her, but I couldn't speak.

The loud pounding of my heart had blocked out everything but her breathing. She was perfect. I could see the slight red in her hair and smell the fragrance of her shampoo. The tremble of her hands as she pulled the phone away from her ear. She was finally here with me, and yet after years of absence, I was hesitated to touch her. Like a mirage, I feared getting to close she would disappear on me.

It was crazy, but I rather have this with her forever than tempt the kindness of fate and risk the chance of pushing it too far.

I didn't want to lose her.

Look at me, baby…please.

Bella's body stiffened. I didn't move. All breathing ceased. She slowly turned and her warm, striking eyes met mine. They were the same as I remembered them. It was quiet, a paused moment in time. She didn't say anything just stared up at me. There was disbelief and awe there. I could see the heartbreak in her smile.

What a beautiful girl.

She rose on her knees and rested her forehead against mine. She placed her hand on my wet cheek and breathed in deep. She was here with me. I could feel her heart beat and warmth. God, I am so fucking in love with her. My heart couldn't contain itself, bursting and igniting into flames. I burned and burned for her and no other.

And just like that, all my super human restraint went out the window and I couldn't hold back any longer. I needed to feel her and make this delusion of mine a reality.

Putting my lips to hers, I kissed her slowly, with so much longing and needing. She tasted the same, like a certain, unique sweetness that only meant home for me.

Time slipped away again. I didn't know how long I'd been kissing her, but it was never enough. When breathing became a problem, I pulled back and stared into her eyes. My hand reached up and caressed her cheek. Her skin was so soft under my fingertips and they tingled.

I missed every inch of her.

She had to know that.

How long did we go without being complete?

She nodded as to answer my silent question, gripping me by the collar and pulling me into a hug. She clawed the back of my coat and buried her face into my neck. I felt scorching tears hit my skin like bullets as her body shook and trembled beneath me. I held her tighter.

"Baby, don't cry," I whispered into her hair and kissed her over and over again. I couldn't stop, nor will I ever stop.

She pulled back, gazing up at me and stroking the sides of my face. There was amazement with every touch. I was real to her again. It never occurred to me that the years were equally hard on her. She had grown so much, an older more beautiful woman, but there was grief behind her eyes. She was robbed of her true love. That was the real tragedy.

I held her face in my hands. "We're okay."

"I know."

We smiled and laughed, both drenched in tears and a complete mess in a middle of the airport, but we were together.

And that's that.

*Cue credits*

AN: Now go watch the movie. It's a good one. Thanks for reading. It's been fun.

To my girl, Brina, thanks for everything.