A/N: Very short prologue, I know. I hope to make these chapters way longer than in my other stories. :/ We'll see though. I have to stop when it feels right, and it felt right here.

Breathing her in, I wasn't sure how much longer this charade could last. She was mine. And I, hers. She was my step-brother's girlfriend. But she wanted me. It was my name she called out softly, voice filled with passion and want. I was the one who made her toes curl and her eyes unfocused with desire. I felt movement next to me as I wrote in my journal. Glancing over I saw her roll on her side, sighing my name quietly. The sheet barely covered the curvy expanse of her hips. I couldn't feel guilty. I had tried time and time again to disentangle her from my mind and loosen the grasp she had on my heart. It was a fruitless endeavor. I knew something had to give, I had to give her up or she had to give him up. I was doubtful however, that he would give her up. He claimed she was his muse, his best friend, the sole purpose for his existence. I knew better though. Bella once told me that before she met me it was as if she forgot how to breathe. Every day was spent gasping for breath, for control of her life. How she used to just go with the flow, follow the tides as they ebbed further away from who she was. Where she wanted to be.

I spent a few more moments staring at the expanse of her skin, before glancing at the clock on her bedside table. Shit, he would be here any minute. I hurriedly put on my boxers and gathered up my clothes in my hands, shoving my journal underneath her mattress. Giving her a quick kiss on the temple, I fled through the back door as my step-brother arrived to take his beloved to school. I couldn't help thinking about the events that led me to getting dressed in the freezing cold Washington weather at seven am on an old hiking trail behind my step-brother's girlfriend's house... I wouldn't change them for anything in the world.