Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Stephanie Meyers' work. She created the characters. I may have come up with the originals, but they were intertwined with Meyers' magnificent genius. The story points of view are broken up into different books, like in Breaking Dawn. I do give credit to Stephanie Meyer for that style of writing as well!

A note: Song lyrics are from Sarah McLachlan's song entitled "Fear". Thank you for reading. We'll see if a sequel happens, but stay tuned for other new stories that may arise!

Epilogue: Fear

from above

they say temptation will destroy our love
the never ending hunger

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but I fear I have nothing to give
I have so much to lose here in this lonely place
tangled up in our embrace
there's nothing I'd like better than to fall

.

but I fear I have nothing to give
I have so much to lose
I have nothing to give
We have so much to lose

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Edward's POV

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"You're distracted," Bella said as she got Renesmee bundled up, ready to take on the snow. I did not answer at first, only stared out the back and watched as Jasper and Corey walked into the woods alone. "Edward?"

"I do not lie," I said softly, almost to myself.

"What?" I could hear the confusion in her beautiful ringing voice. "Okay, go find your hat, Nessie."

"Jacob has it," my daughter's soprano voice sounded through the now empty house, and I heard her little feet sprint into the other room to attack her best friend – Jacob Black.

"What's wrong?" Bella wrapped her hands around my waist and kissed my shoulder.

"I do not lie … to my family," I replied gravely.

"What happened? Did I do something?"

She always put the blame on herself. It pained me even now, still knowing that she was less breakable. I turned and brushed a hand across her cheek. She tried to smile, but worry still spread across her face. I shook my head.

"No, love, you did nothing … it was actually my fault," I stared into her beautiful, glowing face. I missed the blushing, but to touch her without abandon and with no fear far surpassed that selfish nostalgia.

"Are you going to tell me or just talk to yourself?" she knitted her brow.

I scanned the area; everyone else was outside, getting ready for Emmett's big snowball fight. Their minds were elsewhere so they would not be tuned in to our conversation.

"I lied to Jasper. I do not lie to my family, there are hardly any secrets in this family, but I have kept one from him."

"Why? What was it? I'm sure you had a good reason," she was so quick to defend me, even before she knew how heinous my crime was.

I smiled and kissed her lightly. "I lied to him about Corey. I lied because if I did not then this family would fall apart … Alice hardly knew what she was getting herself into when she told us to go to the hospital that day. If Jasper and I had just stayed home, I don't think any of this would have happened. But then would we have protected her from being killed? Would our absence from that hospital have been the catalyst for a reckless and pointless death of an innocent girl?" I couldn't stop the words. They just flowed. Months of hidden secrets just poured out of my mouth. Bella was left frowning at me.

"I don't understand," her voice wavered.

"She won't stay with Mike for long," I sighed. "She has not yet made the decision, but the thought has played in her mind more than once. She knows Alice will see her change and like you, Corey would rather stay in pain than let others suffer."

"So she doesn't love Mike."

"Not the way wishes … the way she loves someone else. Alice knew when she sent us to the hospital that there was a chance that Corey would fall in love with Jasper … but there was only a chance. And here she was depending on me to alert her when the change of heart happened. I've been lying."

"Oh … Has it always been like this?" Bella pried, and I wish she would stop, but at the same time it was so nice to get this off my chest.

"No. She thought she was in love until just recently … Mike was her first romantic relationship. She convinced herself that he was the one, and that it would all work out in the long run. I think she was so taken by the perfect timing with him that she essentially settled for him," I frowned, that thought was not pleasant to pry from her head, but true. Corey thought she was hiding all this information from me by repeating the Declaration of Independence in Russian over and over, but it only made things harder to decipher – not impossible.

"Are you going to talk to her about this?"

"I have not yet decided … Maybe things are best left the way they are …" my eyes wandered to the forest. I listened intently to Corey's thoughts – her guard was down, she would not be hiding any secrets. I could sense the pain in her voice as she explained herself to Jasper and the intensity of her love for him … she was genuinely afraid and this shielded her true emotions from him. But it would not last forever.

"You'll make the right decision," Bella said soothingly, kissed my neck, and then ran to find Renesmee.

I sighed and dwelled on four sentences that kept repeating, echoing throughout Corey's mind in a rhythmic cadence: But I fear I have nothing to give. I have so much to lose. I have nothing to give. We have so much to lose.

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THE END.

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Playlist for my Twilight story:

"Fear" - Sarah McLachlan (I usually title my stories after songs)

"Wintersong" - Sarah McLachlan

Twilight score

"Never Think" - Rob Pattinson

"Hold On" - Sarah McLachlan

"Almost Lover" - A Fine Frenzy

"Permanent" - David Cook

Legends of the Fall score

"Mercy" - Sarah McLachlan

"We All Need Saving" - Jon McLaughlin

"America" - Simon & Garfunkel (covered by Josh Groban