Below you will find the TMF Outtakes from Chapters 39,40,41, and 42.

.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.

TMF OUTTAKE

Chapter 39

(((*Edward*)))

Once I was inside our well-lit apartment my eyes fervently scanned the area. There was no one in the kitchen or the living room, but there was a lamp shattered on the ground, and one of the sofa's had been pulled from its usual place at the center of the room.

The entire space was quiet and still.

The scent of James' all too familiar stale cologne lingered in the air, sending my eyes searching once again all around the room.

He had definitely been here.

Where was he now?

Where was Bella?

I ran over to both balconies to check those first, but still found nothing or any other signs of a struggle. This was somewhat comforting, but it still wasn't enough to slow me down.

My feet carefully carried me towards the main hallway of the apartment that would take me to all of the bedrooms, and my study. If he had her trapped somewhere, with the door locked, I didn't want to tip him off that they were no longer all alone.

The last thing I wanted to do was cause James to panic and then do something stupid.

Even in having the upper hand here, thanks to us being in my home- on my turf, I still had to find a way to get a jump on him.

Both of the kids' bedroom doors were wide open with the lights off, and absolutely no movement.

When I got to the study that door was actually closed, just like it always was, but I didn't see any light coming out from the bottom.

My hand reached down, from where it had been tugging the hair at the top of my head, to slowly turn over the knob, and I tapped the bottom of the corner of the door with my foot to swing it further open.

Nope.

No one.

That only left the master bedroom.

Both panic and rage quickly began to take over every part of me.

If I walked in and he was… if he was… touching her.

I would kill him.

Without even hesitating he would be a dead man, and it would inevitably haunt me for the rest of my life, but still… I would not hesitate.

I had to get to her.

She was the only thing that mattered right now, but I had to be smart.

James was clearly here for some type of twisted revenge on us. Otherwise, he wouldn't have snuck into my building like this, and he certainly wouldn't have waited in the shadows for me to leave before coming to the front door of my apartment.

What his actual end game was... that was still a mystery. Because of that unforgiving fact, I had to consider anything and everything as a possibility.

While purposely keeping my feet from stepping up to the bottom of the closed doorway I carefully leaned my body past its frame and pressed my ear gently against the cold wood of mine and Bella's bedroom door.

I could hear them talking.

She didn't sound overly panicked, but she wasn't exactly relaxed sounding either. This realization helped me breathe a little easier, but not much, and not for very long.

I knew how fast things could change in a situation like this.

Time was not on our side here.

He was asking her about whiskey… and now the doorknob was starting to wiggle. I took a brash step backward and prepared myself to charge at the mother fucker the very moment he'd open the door.

This would be my one and only chance to get a jump on him when he was the least prepared to react defensively.

I had to make it count because if anything happened to Bella…

No.

There was no way I'd ever survive that, so that was not even an option.

.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.

TMF OUTTAKE

Chapter 40

(((.EDWARD.)))

Initially, when Garrett's number had appeared on my phone's screen I'd sent it straight to voicemail without even giving it a second thought.

Honestly, I hadn't been at a point yet where I'd felt prepared to hear from him again.

Once I'd listened to his message, though, and he'd explain he was simply reaching out after he'd successfully retrieved all of Bella's drawings for her… Well, I'd had no other choice but to suck back my pride and return his damn call.

We'd kept our actual conversation short and to the point, which I was grateful for. I could tell by the hesitation in his voice that he'd had plenty more to say, but thankfully he'd refrained from actually saying the majority of it out loud this time.

I'd of course gone back and forth, pacing with purpose, while trying to decide if I should first open and screen the package he'd sent before presenting it to Bella. Ultimately, the deciding factor for me had been all of the progress we'd made since coming back home to the city.

The last thing I wanted was for her to think I wouldn't trust her if she did ever make the choice to bring him back into our life as a friend... someday… a day much further down the road.

I also didn't want her to ever feel like she'd need to hide anything about him from me, just because she felt it might make me a little uncomfortable.

Because of all of those thoughts, after much internal deliberation, the choice had been made for me.

All I could do now was hope that I'd made the right choice, and that it wouldn't come back to bite me in the ass at a later time.

It didn't take me long to have second thoughts.

The way her face crumbled after she'd noticed his pretty boy handwriting, it sent my own anxiety right back up to a ten in a matter of nanoseconds. The fact that she'd known it was his handwriting at all… so soon… well, that had also bothered me… probably more than it should have, but I wasn't ready to admit that out loud.

Thankfully, once she'd learned that he'd simply sent her drawings, everything about her disposition had instantly changed right before my eyes. That had allowed me the opportunity to breathe again, without over-analyzing anything for a few brief seconds. I'd found some comfort in that until we'd both noticed his note. She shocked the hell out of me when she began reading it out loud for me to hear without any edits, or mumbled words coming from her lips.

There were honestly only two things that had bothered me in his long-winded message to her.

The first was the way he'd signed off with his purposely chosen verbiage of, 'Till Always'. This promise to her was no doubt a reference to the cemented affection he would always have for her, and all of the memories he would hold onto in her name.

What had stood out to me the most, though, was when he'd mentioned how Bella would never get to share all of her newest drawings with the world. At least not in the way she'd intended to when she'd set out to do the show with Garrett back in California, under the guidance of a sociopathic monster.

As she'd displayed each piece out in front of me for my eyes to take in and process, I could easily see the abundant amount of love and dedication she had put into each and every one of them. I could feel it all lifting straight up from the paper to take hold of me and remind me of the woman she was, and the life we'd continued to make with each other.

Even through everything, all of her drawings had still reflected back on to only us, and our perfectly imperfect family of five… and a forever half.

Not one of her images had included Garrett or a special moment in time that they might have experienced together, and that in itself had been ridiculously liberating for not only my bruised ego but also for my heart and soul.

The reality of what that had meant… it instantaneously took away any doubt that might have still been lingering in the back of mind. It confirmed everything I'd been feeling over the last couple of days when I'd come to the conclusion that we were ready to take our first big step together and skip over a couple of baby steps in order to get us there.

.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.

TMF OUTTAKE

Chapter 41

(((.Edward.)))

Watching Bella smile in the snow was like seeing an angel land on the untouched ground with near equal perfection. She was my perfection, though, and nothing… no one would ever come close to comparing to her.

Seeing her laugh and play with the kids while I'd stayed back off to the side working on Bree's Olaf snowman had been a nice escape for me to quietly reflect for a few minutes. I still needed to process some of the things we'd experienced today, and over the last couple of weeks of our lives that had brought all of those things together.

Our talk with Jake had gone well enough. The best thing about it had been me getting the opportunity to throw one more punch to his face. I couldn't have cared less about him sleeping with Jane. That honestly hadn't been what bothered me, and that was primarily because I'd already known it was going to happen- even before I'd left town.

All of the signs had been there, and Bree's mother had all but painted a target right at the center of his chest that day when I'd walked up on them outside of our home back in California.

Hell, if they hadn't hooked up, that's what would have actually surprised me.

What had bothered me was that I'd told him not to do it, but he'd gone and done it anyway. That showed a lack of respect and because of that, I had to react. He needed to understand that I always meant what I said, whenever I said it, so there would never be any confusion in the future if he did forever remain in our lives.

Meeting his kid had been an eye-opening experience for me. I'd seen the pain in Bella's eyes almost instantly, and I'd felt her reluctance to hold him in her arms. I'd known she was still having a difficult time with the loss of our own baby, as was I, but I hadn't realized just how deep those wounds still were for her until she'd been forced into that situation.

We'd talked a little with Liam, about us maybe trying again someday, and while she'd seemed opened to the possibility, I knew it wasn't something she would be ready for anytime soon, and I was okay with that.

I'd just caught Bella pausing several times, grinning to herself with that signature look of hers that let me know she too was taking it all in. This was another perfect moment she wanted to store away in her head until she would be able to take a pencil into her hand again and rest a sketchbook over her lap.

She'd been drawing so much lately.

Any quiet times during our day and I would almost always find her lost in her own world with her fingers busy in absolute purpose, and I loved it. What I didn't love was the idea that she might not ever share any of her art with the outside world again.

I knew deep down that wasn't what she really wanted, so while watching her toss snowballs with the kids, I'd come up with an idea of my own, one that would fit in perfectly with the surprise I'd already had planned for her.

Now, all I had to do was convince her to take the next leap with me in order to make it happen.

My smile easily increased when I looked up again to see my everything walking towards me in the snow.

"Nice Olaf, Stalker."

"Elsa made it look a hell of a lot easier than it actually was." I teased back after standing myself up to take Bella into my arms. I placed a kiss onto her forehead just below the knit cap she'd donned, then increased my grasp around her hips while we stood there watching the kids play together, having the time of their life.

"I think they love it here."

"Of course they do. New York city is in their blood." I affirmed with a soft laugh, "Not to mention, snow days are the best days when you're a kid."

"Hey now, I love them too as an adult, thank you very much!" She quipped with a playful narrowing of her eyes after she'd turned herself around in my arms to look up at me.

"Well, I love any day, anywhere, in any type of weather, just so long as it's a day spent with you."

"Pft! You and your cheese."

I laughed at her accusation then leaned down to place my lips on hers. Seconds later I was brushing freezing cold ice out of my right ear after Bree had launched a snowball in our direction to make perfect contact with the side of my head.

"Tag my father! You are now the hunter in our epic battle! You must catch us if you can! But you will not!" My oldest daughter loudly shouted out, before grabbing her brother and sister by their hands to take off behind our tree in a fit of giggles.

"You better go get'em, buddy! You don't want to give Bree too much time to build up their stockpile of ammunition behind that tree, or you'll really be in trouble." Bella pointed out with a genuine laugh following her last word. I kissed her lips one more time then released her from my arms to start high stepping my way through the snow that was still falling from the sky above us.

Our life was right again.

It wasn't completely mended yet, but it was right, and that was a fact was worth celebrating.

After our session with Liam tonight, we would have even more to celebrate. Just so long as Bella was ready… which I honestly felt she was. She'd been wearing her heart on her sleeve lately, and opening up to me in ways she never had before. We'd made so much progress together, in such a short amount of time… it was time to share all of our progress with the world again.

It was time to let it be known we were each other's forever and nothing… no one would ever be able to take that away from us.

.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.

TMF Outtake

Chapter 42

(((.Edward.)))

As soon as I'd gotten my coffee and sat down my foot began to bounce anxiously from where I'd dropped my leg over my other knee. It never failed. Walking away from her, and leaving her behind with Liam would routinely send my thoughts into overdrive. She very rarely appeared bothered after, but I could usually see the exhaustion hidden on her face. More often than not, I knew it was an emotionally draining experience for her, just like it was for me, but for her, it always appeared to be so much more.

Our saving grace would come when we'd get home and lock ourselves away in our bedroom after the kids would go to bed. From there we'd spend the next hour or so talking about everything we'd discussed with the good doctor, at our own pace, and that was when I felt we'd make our best progress.

The rawness of it all... sitting on top of our bed in our pajamas, while we'd hold each other's hands, insisting we look each other in the eyes, revisiting every uncomfortable memory that had triggered an emotion which had been forced up to the surface by our therapist for the both of us to process and react to… it was hard, but it was always worth the journey. Especially when she'd fall asleep in my arms afterward, holding onto me, just as tightly as I'd hold onto her before drifting off myself.

Tonight, however, was going to be a bit different.

Tonight I would take Bella by the hand and guide her across the city she loved to remember, and then once she remembered, I'd ask her if it was all still worth it.

Would she still be willing to take that leap- all over again, with me, even now… after finding out I could be just as flawed, and vulnerable as she believed she was.

I was fairly certain she would tell me yes; She would do it all over again. She'd insisted time, and time again- both during and after these sessions of ours, that I was her soulmate, and she couldn't imagine a life without me in it. There was a part of me, however, that needed that absolute affirmation to come from her lips. I needed to know she would repeat all of it, with me at her side, without ever looking back for a do-over of something… with someone else, less complicated.

Thanks to Liam, I'd already figured out the exact moment when I'd failed her.

It was when I'd gone in search of something to fill a void, which didn't even need to be filled. I was unhappy in my job, but I was unwilling to let go of the position I'd established there after years of killing myself to make it to the top.

When the opportunity to try something different presented itself, I didn't even pause long enough to consider what it might lead to until I was already in too deep.

Once my back was pushed into a corner and James had found a way to take control, I let him get into my head in ways I never thought imaginable, but it happened, and ultimately, I was the one to blame for that.

The fact that Bella had stuck around at all, after the very first day I'd stepped onto the set as an actor, well it was a miracle, to say the least. That had actually spoken volumes to me… once we'd found Liam, and he'd laid it out for me to see, and then accept as fact.

Most people would have probably run for the hills immediately, but not Bella.

She'd stood in my corner and cheered me on the best she could, even though she was miserable with every step I'd taken thereafter.

Bella had only ever wanted me to be happy, regardless of her own happiness.

The first thing I'd wanted Liam to straighten out were those thoughts of hers.

I wanted her to be just as happy in our life as I was. No matter what it would take. She was my ultimate reason for breathing and waking up each and every day. This was also a fact, and it was important to me that she understood that, but that she also trust it to be the undeniable truth.

Without thinking, I picked up a magazine from the table and opened it up in my lap then swiftly shut it after seeing Maggie's smirking face looking back at me. My hands instantly buried it under the pile of other magazines laid out on the table, then I grabbed the next one from the stack to turn to a Batman article that might somewhat interest me.

Prior to Jane, post our breakup, I didn't think there would ever be another female on this planet who would be able to force themselves into my life like a goddamned leach just begging to be burned from my skin, but then entered Maggie.

Of course I should have noticed the signs and extinguished them well before they had the ability to ignite, but after seeing those photos of Bella with Garrett... well all of that common sense thinking had flown right out of the window, and I'd instantly lost myself to the person I'd vowed to never become again. The person I hated the most.

All I'd seen with those images, when I'd been so far away from her, was history repeating itself, in the worst of ways.

I'd left her behind, and she'd turned to someone else when I hadn't been there to be the person she needed the most.

In my eyes, after viewing those photos, while being all the way on an entirely different continent with an ocean between us… I'd turned into Jacob Black, and Garrett had taken my place in her world because he'd become the person she could depend on.

A/N: ... And that's that.

I hope you guys enjoyed the outtakes. Again, I started writing them as extra's to help me get other perspectives into different characters heads... this story would have easily been 60+ chapters long if I'd included all the different POV's within each update, haha.

Thank you again so much for reading.

As always, I love hearing from you guys and I hope to see you at the Aliases & Avatars updates!

XO, Peebs