Iridescence | Edward x OC

49

Absquatulate (v): to leave without saying goodbye.

-

Edward smiled down at the woman he loved sleeping peacefully with her head on his chest. Staying the night at her house had become the new regular, and both of them enjoyed the new arrangement more than they were willing to admit. They were head over heels for each other, and it had taken them a year to finally come to terms with it. Now that they finally had though, life was absolutely perfect. 

Edward was confused as his phone started to vibrate in his back pocket, wondering which of his family members were calling him this late, and why. He answered the call, immediately met with the sound of his sister's frantic voice.

"Edward, come home right now," Alice demanded. "It's urgent. I wouldn't call unless it was an emergency."

Without a second thought, Edward hung up the phone, climbing out from underneath Aris. He replaced where his body was with a pillow in the hopes that she couldn't tell a difference. He'd be back before she woke; it wouldn't matter. 

He arrived home within the next three minutes, immediately barging into the house and seeing his family members gathered together in the living room. The vision he saw in Alice's head caused all life to drain from his eyes. Aro, Marcus, Felix, and Jane all coming to Alaska for them. 

"Why are they coming here?" he demanded, finally finding his voice.

Carlisle sighed sadly. "We aren't sure, but we think it might have to do with Aro wanting to recruit you and Alice for himself. You remember how he showed a particular interest in you two the last time we had a run in with the Volturi," Carlisle reminded him.

"We haven't even been here for a year! I don't wanna leave already," Rosalie complained, leaning into Emmett's side.

"We have to. We have to lead them away from Aris. If they even get a glimpse of her, she's good as dead." Edward took a seat on the couch, his head in his hands as he struggled to wrap his mind around the idea of leaving her. It was excruciating, but there was nothing else he could do. He would leave her a million times over before leading the Volturi anywhere near her. 

The rest of the Cullen's held similar expressions as Edward. Though they weren't in love with her of course, they did love her. She was family. 

"How much time do we have?" Edward asked through his hands, not looking up.

"If we don't leave now, they'll be here tomorrow," Alice whispered. "I can see what route they're coming from, so we can cross a part of their path before they get to it, leading them in a different direction so they don't stop through here."

He shot up. "We have to go now," he demanded, immediately heading up to his room and packing his nearby belongings in a suitcase all within minutes. He wouldn't even be able to say goodbye. He couldn't explain to Aris what was going on because she'd insist she had to go with him. He just had to leave, and now. 

When he descended the stairs for a final time, everyone stood in the living room with their suitcases packed with their essentials in hand. They all wanted to say goodbye to Aris, but they knew they couldn't. She would follow them. They had to leave while she was sleeping, going somewhere she'd never expect. They also had to go somewhere that would take Marcus a while to track. Alice would see once they'd figured it out, and then they'd move again. They could be moving for the rest of their lives, but they'd do it together. 

Already feeling his chest constricting and tearless sobs building up, Edward led them out of the front door, only one thing on his mind.

Get as far away as possible.

-

Aris awoke with a smile on her face, turning to her right and expecting to see Edward there. Confused when all she found was empty space, she turned to her nightstand, expecting to find a note from him, but again, all that was there was empty space. 

She turned on her phone, expecting to see a text perhaps, but her notification center didn't have anything from him.

She opened her messages, deciding to send him one instead.

Edwhore (pain in my ass)

Hey, everything okay? 

undelivered

Her breath caught in her chest upon seeing that her message wasn't delivered. She was immediately out of bed and rummaging through her desk for her car keys. 

'I'm probably just being paranoid,' she thought as she put the keys into her car's ignition, backing out of the driveway, and heading towards where she knew the Cullen residence to be.

The uneasy feeling in her stomach grew as she pulled into their driveway, knowing fully well that there was no one home from the lack of noise coming from inside of the house. She let herself in, already feeling tears brimming in her eyes. 'It's fine, they're just out hunting and forgot to tell me,' she tried to convince herself, walking around the deserted house with half of the items missing. She made her way up the stairs and into Edward's room, a sob escaping her lips as she looked at the usually spotless bedroom, now completely torn to shreds. It was obvious that he had speedily went through everything, taking out the essentials. A piece of paper taped to his window caught her attention, and she immediately sped over to it, reading the familiar handwriting scrawled across it, though it was hardly legible as he obviously wrote it in a rush.

Aris,

I am so so sorry. I hate myself - loathe myself for leaving you this way. I would've done it better if I had any other option. This is for your own safety. I love you more than my life, and this is me showing you that.

I'll love you always,

Edward

She fell to her knees, clutching the paper against her chest in a heap of sobs. It was unknown how long she laid there, crying until she drowned in her own tears. She only got up once she heard the sirens wailing as cops drove up and down the streets, most certainly from her parents calling them on her. 

It was hell forcing herself down the stairs and out of the house, though she didn't leave without taking one of the many shirts that Edward had left behind. It was instantly stained with her tears as she held it up to her face. It smelled like him, which just caused her to sob even harder, if it was possible. 

Driving home was nearly impossible, but thankfully the ride was only about seven minutes. Her vision was blurry, and her head was light as she stumbled into the house, making her way up to her bedroom. She couldn't even hear her mother and father's thankful cries as she wept. She didn't object as they followed her into her room, begging her to tell them what was wrong. After an hour of them trying to pry it out of her, they gave up, leaving her to herself as they headed back downstairs.

'He left me,' was the only thought repeating in her head over and over. 

Soon enough, her exhaustion from the heavy sobs and cries caused her eyelids to fall shut, and for the first time, she fell asleep in a bed without her love beside her, his scent still lingering on her sheets.