The meadow had always been our escape. The flowers that bloomed in the spring, the cool breeze that swept through in the fall, and the way the sun shone down reflecting his beauty in the light. We were able to be alone without fear of judgement.
As I ran I couldn't help but think of the old days. It was so blurry now it was harder to create a clear image in my head. I pushed through the trees. Alice was right, right now I was the only one who could convince him to listen. I understood his pain on a level indescribable to the others.
As I neared the clearing, I slowed to a walk. I could hear the sound of wood splintering and angry screams of pain. I waited in the treeline for a moment watching him. He was furious. Every tree that he ripped from the ground and shattered beneath his hands was a clear representation of how he felt.
I sighed as I walked into the clearing.
Edward.
I felt the tree crack under the pressure from my grip and I screamed as I threw it to the side. How could she? Betray me. Sneak around behind my back. Nearly ruin my family's reputation.
I threw another tree against the ground. I fell back from the force and pulled another from the ground around me.
This wasn't her fault. It was my own. I never should have gotten involved with her. I slammed my fist into the tree. She didn't love me, and I knew it. She knew I could never give my full heart to her, either. I screamed in frustration.
She was just a replacement. A way of dealing with the loss I had felt for so many years. I cracked another tree beneath my hands. I could never risk my family by turning a human I didn't truly love.
My head snapped to the trees as I heard someone's footsteps. I turned to find Marceline cautiously walking towards me. Her long hair fell in waves across her shoulders. She had borrowed another skirt from Alice and it clung to her hips that swayed when she walked towards me. Her eyes were dark and clouded. She hadn't eaten since she had been here, and yet, she was still stronger than I was. She was beautiful. Bella had a fragile, clumsy sense of beauty about her, but Marceline...she had always managed to take my breath away.
I shook my head to clear those thoughts away. She didn't deserve flattery. She had ruined everything. This had been her fault since the moment she came into my life. I felt a growl rip through my chest as I threw a piece of the tree at her.
Marceline.
I had expected him to be angry when he saw me, but the throwing of a tree at my head seemed a bit of an overkill. My hands shot up in front of me and the wood cracked beneath my grip. I stormed towards him as he glared at me.
I didn't exactly want to talk to him either, but he could at least pretend for a moment. I had spent decades avoiding him but now he had to listen whether he wanted to or not.
"How dare you?" He growled at me.
"What?" I snapped as I came face to face with him.
"You ruined everything! Why did you even come here? Was it Rosalies idea?" He accused me, "Some big plan to hurt me?"
"It isn't my fault she didn't love you," I spat at him. I watched as he shook in anger, "And I don't think you loved her as much as you thought."
"Do you even know what I went through for her?" He was growing angrier by the minute.
"Do you know the risk you put us in by even thinking about her?" I yelled back.
"Us?" He growled quietly, "How can you include yourself in our family?"
"Excuse me?" I asked.
"You haven't been a part of this family in decades," he pointed a finger at me, "You left."
I couldn't believe what he had just said to me. The audacity he had to make me seem like the bad guy. I shoved him. Hard. He flew back against the ground and stared at me in disbelief. I stormed over to him.
"I LEFT BECAUSE OF YOU!" I screamed, watching his eyes widen in shock, "YOU are the reason I left."
"I never did anything to you!" He yelled back at me.
"Liar!" I growled as I lunged for him again. He moved out of the way and I turned to face him again.
"You ruined my life!" I screamed.
"And you just ruined mine!" He shot back.
"By saving our family? By getting rid of that human? By giving her a chance?" I watched as he looked away in frustration. He knew I had a point.
I turned away from him and stared at the line of trees he had destroyed in his anger. The nerve he had to say I destroyed his life when he took away mine. I couldn't help but mutter under my breath as I turned to leave the clearing. I should have known this was a mistake.
"I gave her the chance you took away from me," I mumbled as I walked away.
I felt his hands on my back before I realized he had rushed at me. I was thrown against the ground hard, the sleeve of my shirt ripping. I turned around just in time to kick him away ad he ran for me again. He flew into a tree and I cornered him. Much as I had done the last time I encountered him in the clearing, I grabbed him throat and forced him to look at me.
"You took EVERYTHING from me," I yelled as I held his throat harder.
"My family."
Harder.
"My humanity."
Harder.
"My soul."
Harder.
"My choice!"
I screamed the last word at him as I threw him on the ground and looked him in the eyes.
"You turned me into a monster!" I screamed as I kicked him, "You are the most selfish bastard I've ever met. I had my whole life ahead of me and you took that away!"
My voice had cracked and I turned away from him. I knew if I was capable of crying I would have.
"You took everything from me Edward. You have no right to accuse me of leaving when you're the one who drove me to that point. I spent decades listening to them insisting that you had only done it for the better. You had only done it for us. You had only done it because it was the only option. Excuse after excuse after excuse. What about me? I was just supposed to forgive you? Accept that I was a monster now?" I stared up at the clouded sky as I spoke. He didn't try to interrupt me, "You took away my choice."
I listened as his footsteps drew closer and he had stopped in front of me. He was only a foot or so away but I refused to look at him. I watched a bird fly overhead. He was silent. When I finally glanced at him he was studying me, and I realized he was reading my thoughts.
"You really believe all that?" He asked quietly.
"It's the truth," I answered shortly.
"Marceline...do you not remember?"
His question caught me off guard and I narrowed my eyes at him.
"Remember what?" I asked.
"Do you not remember what happened with us?" He asked.
I could only shake my head no. Of course, I remembered the pain and waking up, but I could only faintly remember what had happened before. I remember his sharp teeth against my neck but everything before that is a blur.
"Marceline, I loved you."
I froze. He watched me carefully. I took a few steps back from him as I took in what he said.
"What?" I whispered.
"I loved you, and you...." He paused looking away, "Marce, you loved me, too."
"You're lying," I stuttered as I walked,"You can't be serious."
He held a hand out to me as I backed away from him. I shook my head furiously as he tried to get me to stop.
"Marceline, please," He held a hand out to me.
Edward and I had always shared a...special ability. We had first experienced it after I was turned, and it's what led me to hate him. Carlisle was facinated by my talent and subsequently insisted I try and connect it with Edward's own ability. Whenever I touched him it had not only allowed me to feel what he felt, but experience what he was thinking. Carlisle was amazed by it and I shortly found out we had been able to connect because Edward had been the one to turn me. Carlisle insisted I try again and, being the newborn I was, I followed his direction. I was met with the horrible memory of Edward sinking his teeth into my neck as I cried out in protest. From that point on I shunned him and cut him off from my new life. I despised him, and part of me knew Carlisle blamed himself.
"No, stay away, " I argued with Edward as he held his hand out. He wanted me to remember. He wanted me to see why I became what he made me.
He ran at me and wrapped me in a hug. I gasped in shock as everything around me went black and I was thrown into his memories.