Edward's beauty seemed to brighten up the dreary Forks kitchen. I was standing by the sink, chopping up vegetables for Charlie's dinner later that night. It was after graduation, and I was getting married in 27 days.

'Can I leave you here, alone, for a few hours while I go hunting?' his velvet voice sounded apologetic, heartbroken.

'Of course. I don't think anything will happen. I'll take a bath', I decided, making sure that he didn't feel too bad. I vehemently made sure that I never would make Edward feel guilty about our relationship ever again. Since his absence last year, and since Jacob's kiss, I had ensured that. I never let him see the pain that his short departures, however necessary, caused me. I would never – could never – let him see my suffering.

Edward was suddenly at my side, holding my upper arms carefully. The knife was out of my hands, on the counter next to the chopped and diced carrots. His eyes burned gloriously into mine.

'We aren't going too far – just up by the Makah reservation. If you need anything, call the house and Esme or Alice'll be here in a second, you know that'.

'I know. Now go! Have fun! And bag a few grizzlies for me…'

His chuckle made my heart fill up and spill over, as he departed into the rain. As soon as he left, I wiped the goofy grin off of my face, sighed and started to cut the vegetables again. I was beginning to tire of cooking. In only a month or so, I would never need to touch human food again, and I was finding my culinary expertise evermore tiresome. I sat down at the kitchen table, reaching for my battered copy of Wuthering Heights. Charlie wouldn't be home for another hour or two – I had plenty of time before I needed to start the long process of making his favourite beef stew.

As I was transported into the world of Victorian England, Charlie stomped in through the door, removing his raincoat and hanging up his gun belt.

'Sorry, dad. Dinner's not ready yet – I lost track of the time'.

''S'all right – there's a game on anyway', he informed me, before going into the TV room. I heard his groan as he settled into his favourite armchair.

As I stood up, my head seemed to sway from side to side and my vision seemed to black out for a minute. I grabbed the back of the kitchen chair to steady myself, before walking carefully back to the counter to continue preparing Charlie's dinner. That was odd, I thought to myself, before turning back to the task at hand.

As Charlie ate, and I read, he noticed my lack of appetite.

'Not hungry, Bells?'

'Naw, I already ate at the Cullens. Actually, you know what? I'm going to go take a bath. I had a long day with Alice and Esme over wedding preparations. I need to relax. 'Night, dad'.

'Night, honey'.

I climbed wearily up the stairs, hoping my presumed tiredness would distract Charlie from questioning me further. I started turned the taps on in the shabby bathroom before going into my bedroom to get my pyjamas. I sighed. The hole that had plagued me for the several months Edward was away threatened to return. He's coming back, he's coming back, I tried to convince myself.

I returned back to the bathroom and locked the door before leaving my clothes in a small pile by the toilet. I climbed into the boiling hot water. I had felt a sudden chill come over my body, and I shivered despite the steaming water. I lowered myself further into the bath and started the drawn out process of washing my hair. I tried to concentrate on every trivial task to stop myself thinking of when Edward was coming back.

When the water finally turned cold, I got out and wrapped myself in a towel. I was still freezing, and dried myself, rubbing my skin harshly to create heat. I brushed my teeth and ran a comb through my mane before hanging up he towel and returning to my bedroom.

I crawled under the sheets, still shivering, before my teeth started to chatter. I pulled back my blanket and walked over to the closet to get out another one. I wrapped it around myself after throwing on another sweatshirt, and returned to my seemingly icy bed.