Twilight: blood & brimstone

Bella Swan was unraveling.

Piece by piece. Thought by thought.

She wasn't sleeping. Wasn't eating much, either.

I could see it in the way she moved—slower, distracted. In the way her gaze drifted, searching for something that wasn't there.

Searching for him.

But Edward was gone.

And I?

I was still here.

Forks High - After School

The rain had started again. A slow, steady drizzle that turned the pavement slick and filled the air with the scent of wet earth.

Bella stood beside her truck, staring down at the keys in her hand, lost in thought.

I leaned against the car next to hers, watching her.

She didn't notice me at first.

She was too deep in her own mind, too wrapped up in the silence Edward had left behind.

I let the moment stretch, let the weight of his absence press down on her, let her feel the emptiness of it.

Then—

"You look exhausted."

She jumped slightly, eyes snapping up to meet mine.

I smirked. "You should be more aware of your surroundings, Isabella."

She exhaled, shaking her head. "You keep doing that."

"What?"

"Appearing out of nowhere."

I chuckled. "Maybe you're just finally noticing."

She frowned.

I tilted my head. "You have noticed me more, haven't you?"

Her lips parted slightly, but no words came.

Because she had.

Edward had vanished, and yet, she wasn't completely alone.

I was always nearby.

I let the rain drip lazily from my hair, my gaze steady on hers. "Where is he?"

Her fingers tightened around her keys. "I don't know."

I raised a brow. "Has he called?"

She shook her head.

I smirked. "And yet, you're still waiting."

Her jaw clenched. "He'll come back."

I exhaled dramatically. "Will he?"

Her breath hitched.

Because that doubt—that same doubt I planted last time—was still there.

I took a slow step toward her.

She didn't move.

I leaned against the truck beside her, close enough that the air between us shifted.

"Tell me, Isabella," I murmured, "if he really loved you… would he have left?"

Her fingers twitched.

She inhaled sharply, looking away. "He didn't leave."

I chuckled. "No? Then where is he?"

She swallowed.

I grinned, leaning in slightly, just enough to make her nerves hum with something she didn't understand yet.

"Face it," I whispered. "He ran."

Her shoulders stiffened.

Because some part of her—the part she was trying desperately to ignore—knew I was right.

Edward wasn't here.

Edward had left her alone with me.

And yet…

She wasn't running.

She wasn't afraid of me.

Not in the way she should be.

I tilted my head, watching her, feeling the confusion in her, the slow, quiet shift happening deep in her mind.

She had been so sure. So certain of Edward.

But certainty was a fragile thing.

And doubt?

Doubt was like a seed—buried deep, growing in silence, spreading before you even noticed.

I smiled. "You'll figure it out soon enough."

She exhaled shakily. "Figure what out?"

I leaned in, my voice barely above a whisper.

"That I'm the only one really here."

Her breath caught.

And in that moment—standing there in the rain, Edward's absence pressing in like a weight, my voice curling around her like something dark and inevitable—

I felt it.

The first real crack in her loyalty to him.

She didn't push me away.

She didn't argue.

She just stood there.

Waiting.

Watching.

Falling.