The Last Twilight

Summary: Set in Bella's, then Jake's, then Edward's POV until the end, where it goes back to Bella's and then Jake's. This dips into their thoughts during the final moments before Bella's change.

DC: Yeah, yeah. But I bought Eclipse this morning hahaha

In the last light of August, I let myself lay in the soft grass of my back yard, eyes plastered to the sky. The oranges and purples of a once-in-a-lifetime sunset were the perfect memory, and I savored it, smiling that there was no rain.

Because despite what people might've thought, there was no reason to cry this evening. Despite what people might've thought, and what they might've disapproved of, for once, I didn't have a worry in the world.

I brushed my open palm against the grass and reached over, clutching a cool hand in mine.

I had graduated exactly three weeks ago… the last of Saturday drained out, and I closed my eyes against the cool breeze that blew past. It had been a warm day - no need for my heavy jacket. Soon, maybe no need for it at all.

I clutched his hand tight in mine, letting it go as he went to collect his thoughts one last time. As I brushed my fingers through the grass, tears slid from the corners of my eyes. My last sunset. A last day in this life.

She basked in orange glow that turned her skin a magnificent color. I idled at a stop sign, watching her with an intensity and attention that I hadn't known myself capable of. The Rabbit rumbled beneath me; she was just as angry as I was, scared of the oncoming thunder. I could feel it in my bones, and my instinct told me I was right. Someone was going to die, and I was crossing my fingers at the wheel that it wasn't going to be her.
She looked so peaceful, there, sucking in the deep breaths of a soon dying child. Except she wasn't a child; she was a woman now, capable of her own decisions, as she had pointed out. My ring on her finger told me so, and even as scared as I was, with my family hidden in the trees around me, my thirst quenched, I knew that she would never leave my side.

I knew she was ready. I could feel it in her touch; although she trembled, I could sense her anticipation, her eagerness to lose herself. I wondered why she wanted it; she wondered why it mattered so much.

I could smell him in the air, my acute senses picking up his scent and the growling of that VW he had restored. In the back of my mind, I pointed out, 'He's breaking the treaty.' The logical part, the one I had been trying to suppress, reminded me that I was, as well.

I clenched my fingers and looked to the horizon, gazing up at the oncoming twilight. This was her wish - this was her happiness. I let my fists go and trudged gracefully back through the grass, my thoughts swirling with a new courage and anticipation of what would come after.

I knew he was afraid. His usually still limbs shook with the slightest discomfort, and as he settled himself down in the grass next to me, his fingers in mine told me so.

"Are you ready?" he said, and a calm voice wavered, as if hoping for one last time that I would deny myself of such a tragic life. I nodded, taking another deep breath.

"I'll always be ready to be with you forever," I whispered, and his eyes boring into mine were an epiphany in my soul, shattering all the pieces into mirrored flecks of light, breaking away from me. My soon-to-be-still heart loved him with every part of its matter, and despite myself, I smiled.

He let go of my hand and let his own trail my body, leaning over me, legs pressed together. I could feel my heart accelerating, its heartbeat progressing as his hands nervously skimmed my neck, collarbone, chest, stomach, thighs, and calves, feeling my pulse one last time as it shook the atmosphere with its erratic pounding. At last, he pulled me into his lap, facing me, and cupped my face; he pressed his nose to both sides of my neck before leaning up to assault my mouth.

I felt the world swirl in me with pleasure and happiness, creating a strange high that made the trees sway and the setting sun shake.

His hands skimmed my hips one last time, caressing my back, before he gripped the back of my neck firmly, yet gently. I let my eyes flutter closed. I wasn't afraid.

His lips pressed gently against my pulse, the thunderous beating evident in the quiet silence we had created. He took a shuddering, unneeded breath, and let his mouth fall open, letting his tongue touch that quaking vein.

"La tua cantante," he whispered with a sad smile, and I laughed, twining my hands in his hair. Soon, I knew, this would all be over. Soon, I could be with him forever. I would be his mate; I would be his wife. We would be happy, undisturbed. I pressed my cheek against the side of his head, dizzying myself with his scent. Yes; I was ready.
The pain didn't exist when those fangs, so jagged and poisonous, found their mark. I was in ecstacy; I held my breath and squirmed beneath his touch, my vision blurring in thousands of colors, my mind reeling with millions of songs and thoughts that made no sense. I hugged him closer as my body went numb, but he struggled against my grasp and pulled away, my blood at the corner of his mouth. With fingers that always shook, but weren't shaking now, I wiped it away, brushing them across his cheek. His face was caught in grief and I felt guilty for a moment, until he saw the smile that slid to my lips.

"I love you," he said, so quietly that it could've been inaudible, but I didn't respond.

All he needed was my hand in his, my fingers on his cheek, to know the way I would respond.

When the black faded in and the colors disappeared, I heard myself give a gentle, shuddering laugh.

Forever.

I let my head fall back against the grass, knowing that when I woke up, every twilight would be different. When August faded to September, and September to October, I would never be unhappy; with his smile to match mine, my hand in his, I would be in heaven.

A different heaven.

A heaven of forevers, with twilight in every one of them.

I tightened my grip on the wheel, closing my eyes as I heard his voice in the quiet.

She would break the treaty, I knew. I had known it all along - she had insisted that, while she loved me very closely, she loved him with something else, something I wasn't capable of creating in her. As soon as he bit her, I would have to relax. As soon as it happened, I knew I'd have no control over my senses, and no sooner than as his teeth pulled from her perfect skin would I be ready to rip him apart.

No.

I clutched the wheel desperately, and the Rabbit whined beneath me. I quieted her in my mind, my priceless baby. Soon, she would be all I had left to hold on to. My precious Bella, my best friend, would be a bloodsucker just like the rest, bloodthirsty and traitorous. I cringed.

I decided I would miss her.

As I heard the air slide through his teeth, I fought back my angry spasms and put the car in gear.

As those poisoned, pointed daggers pierced her porcelain skin, my tire tracks were all that was left of our relationship.

The stars were coming out. I'd have to be on watch soon, and Sam would be looking for me.

I'd forget all about her; I'd forget about the Cullens, about my best friend, about the besotted feeling that spread through me when I used to see her.

My arms went slack, and I ran a stopsign on the way out of Forks.

I decided I wouldn't tell Billy.

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