Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
So the story's told
Beyond our grasp
We were climbing forever
An infinite task
Shoulders straining
With the endless toil
We're nothing more than
A feather moving in the wind
-Sunny Day Real Estate "Every Shining Time You Arrive"
2008
Volterra is successful.
Edward Cullen glances around his new surroundings and wonders briefly where he is. It is like nothing he has ever seen before and he has seen the world several times over. Living for a century tended to dull life's beauty and for the most fleeing second, he misses Isabella Swan's face.
He misses touching her, holding her, and kissing her. He doesn't give himself the satisfaction of closing his eyes to remember her exquisite face, because her face is imprinted upon his very memory. She is a part of him, even now, and he will be damned to give her up.
When Chuck Bass dies in the car crash with his father, Blair Waldorf steals all the Percocet and Valium bottles from suite 1812 and consumes them one after the other until she is feeling wonderfully lightheaded and pleasant at last.
In an era where parents don't search out their children until embarrassment comes upon them, it takes the world nine days to find her. It is Nate Archibald that first opens the door to his best friend's long standing home. It is Nate Archibald that finds his ex-girlfriend lying elegantly on the floor.
Even in death, Blair manages to appear sophisticated and haughty. He drops to his knees as he cradles her head in his arms. He doesn't notice when minutes turn into hours and hours into days and somebody finally realizes he is missing.
Lily Bass lets out a shocked gasp when she takes in Nate's ragged appearance and Blair's lifeless form. Her eyes overflow with tears as she holds the boy she almost considers her son as she is on the phone dealing with the girl she absolutely considered her daughter.
She and Nate share choked up sobs as their worlds come crashing down upon them once again.
There is the vague sound of a hiccup that startles Edward out of his near slumber. It has been so long since he has been able to sleep that he finds he wishes he could.
During those few precious moments with his Bella, he often wondered what sleep still felt like, but here, it is lonely. Here, he has too much time to think.
His thoughts float back to the present as he eyes a body that accompanies the hiccup.
It's a girl, a small brunette. Something grasps at his cold heart when he almost hopefully wishes it is her.
It is not.
When she gazes at him, she looks confused, but no more confused than him.
She is trying very hard to hide the fact that she is sobbing, but even without super human hearing, he can perceive the sounds she is making. He doesn't need his brother Jasper's gift to know she is in pain. For some reason, he wants to end it for her.
She has made no move to walk over to him, so he finds his way to her.
He greets her, "Hello, I'm Edward Cullen."
She looks up at him in shock, but she replies, "Blair Waldorf."
She is a pretty girl with a pretty name. It shocks Edward to think this, because before Bella, he had never noticed anybody at all. She has changed him.
She muses aloud, "Where are we?"
Edward looks around as he answers, "I still haven't figured that out."
"Is this heaven?" Blair wonders.
Edward scoffs, "I should think not. There is no afterlife for…people like me."
Blair mulls over this until she asks, "People like you? What, are you a murderer?"
He grimaces, remembering those years he spent away from Carlisle, Esme, and Rosalie, before replying, "Something like that."
She doesn't push the issue further, but she doesn't make a move to evade him, either. She is utterly fascinating and he doesn't even know her. It's a wonder he's still captivated.
It takes him several more minutes to figure out he can't hear her thoughts. He doesn't ask about it.
Blair looks like she is itching to say something every time she stares off into space, but she has extraordinary self control for a human. Edward would know.
Instead, he tells her about Bella, minus the supernatural glamorous part about vampirism and danger. She of course wonders why they couldn't be together.
"I wasn't good for her," he counters, his eyes heavily trained at the ground.
Blair wonders, "Why not?" before she can stop herself, because she honestly wants to know.
Edward smiles, "That's a story for another day."
He could easily tell it today and she knows it, but she is aware she has to give a little if she wants to take, but she still isn't quite ready for her side of the storytelling yet.
So, they wait.
It feels like a week later – although Edward can't be sure, because time is so warped here – when Blair finally blurts out, "Why haven't I slept?"
Sleeping is a strange concept to him, but he won't dwell on the matter until she has spoken up about her life. She shakes her head to herself and he really wishes he would have retained his skill in this afterlife.
Blair tells him her life story, beginning with Nate Archibald and ending with Chuck Bass. He listens the entire time without interrupting. He thinks it's quite nice to hear a story firsthand that you haven't first heard inside someone's head. He mentions this fact. She is appropriately confused.
It is Edward's turn to continue his story, but his story is much longer. As he weaves through his barely remembered human life and discusses his transformation into a vampire, Blair's eyes are captivated as she drinks the story in. She doesn't utter a word as he talks about Carlisle or Esme, but he thinks he hears her choke up when he mentions Rosalie's vapid narcissism.
They notice holes one day, holes in this place that they have never noticed before. As they wander curiously around one, they find they are being dragged by an invisible force to view something.
The holes are like movies, various movies about how life is going on without them.
Edward chokes back a tearless sob when his beautiful Bella is happy in the arms of Jacob Black. She looks warm and content as she walks around La Push.
"Is that Bella?" Blair asks timidly, because she doesn't want to push him.
"Yes," Edward replies curtly, "That's Jacob with her."
She remembers the story and doesn't prod further.
They go another few days avoiding the holes until Blair is unceremoniously pulled toward one against her will. Edward tries to pull her from it because he doesn't want anything to hurt her, but he finds himself pulled as well.
This hole displays Manhattan and how Blair's friends have moved on without her. She nearly suffocates as she cries over the image of Nate and Serena dancing happily. It's too much for her to bear, even with Edward's arm around her, so she closes her eyes to try to shut it out.
This only helps temporarily. The pain does not subside.
It takes Blair even longer to mention, "I wonder where Chuck is," without collapsing in waterless tears.
Edward has been wondering this as well, but he doesn't comment on the matter. Blair looks at him for guidance, but he won't concede to her silent request. He has given up enough for other people in a lifetime. He is pretty sure he doesn't want to give Blair up as well.
He wonders when he became so attached.
One day, when Edward is pondering the inner workings of this almost heaven, he comes to a revelation. He is astounded it took him this long to think of it.
He mentions, "I'm here."
Blair only rolls her eyes when she mutters, "Yes, I see that. Did you have something to discuss, Edward?"
He enjoys the way his name rolls off her tongue, but he ignores it in favor of saying, "This is an afterlife of some sort."
"Yes, I see that, too," Blair casually mentions, "Where are you going with this?"
"The only reason I didn't want to change—" he pauses, "Bella was because I thought I would be damning her soul."
Blair asks, "It really took you this long to figure it out?"
He shrugs.
There's another eye roll before she mutters, "Boys, so stupid."
Edward takes it upon himself to kiss Blair one day.
At first, he chalks it up to the fact that she was winning an argument and he only wanted a way to distract her, but he realizes he has growing feelings for this girl that can't be shoved aside any longer.
She is the most demanding kisser he has ever dealt with, but she is only the second girl he's ever kissed. She takes control like Bella always wanted to, but Edward's thoughts are not about Bella as he sinks his tongue deep into Blair's waiting mouth.
She tastes like cinnamon, vanilla, and something sweet he can't place. He can't get enough of her.
Their clothes are thrown off as their lips remain touching and he just needs to feel more of her before he explodes. She feels the same way, because her hands roam urgently south to the place he has never been touched.
When he takes a breath to look into her brown eyes – which were so very similar, yet quite different than Bella's – he knows he is a goner, because there is no way he can stop now. She is wet and waiting for him when he slides into her incredible warmth and he closes his eyes to get a better feel for her.
"Look at me," Blair breathes and his eyes automatically open.
He's on top of her and she's panting delightfully when he mentions between thrusts, "You're so beautiful."
This perfectness doesn't last forever, but before Edward feels like he is about to explode, Blair takes his hand and rubs it over her. He's done the second she is and it's the most beautiful thing he has ever done.
"I love you," he tells her.
He means it with utmost sincerity, but she looks shocked nonetheless.
She finally looks at him when she replies, "I think I love you, too," with a small smile gracing her flushed face.
It's enough for now.
2026
Alice Cullen surreptitiously places herself in Briar Winston Black's freshman English course to befriend her because she misses her mother dearly. It is out of oath to her long passed brother that she does not call, write, or see into Bella Black's future, but sometimes the glimpses she gets are out of her hands.
She knows now that she cannot see Jacob's future – or any of the werewolves, for that matter – but Briar doesn't have the werewolf gene so Alice can focus easily on her. After all, Edward didn't make her promise she couldn't see Bella's relations.
Alice is grinning giddily to herself when her husband steps in to frown at her before asking, "What is it, Ali? What do you see?"
She is still grinning when she responds, "You'll see, Jas. You'll all see."
Her brother Emmett catches up with them and ruffles her hair as he mentions, "Don't be so cryptic. Shit's annoying."
"As always," Emmett's wife Rosalie smiles, "You're so eloquent with your words."
"I fucking try with that shit," Emmett insists, nudging Rosalie in the side.
Before Alice can meet Briar, she gets another vision of her.
Briar is quietly sipping the unnamed punch at a frat party when a boy with ruffled copper hair comes to greet her. He introduces himself as Ethan Charles Archibald and Briar laughs at his self-importance.
"Is that supposed to impress me?" she asks, still delicately sipping her drink.
Ethan's brows furrow as he relents, "It usually works."
Briar quips, "I'm not your average girl."
Ethan lifts his hands in argument as he responds, "I would say no such thing."
She shakes her head as she whispers, "Boys, so stupid," before she even realizes what she is saying.
"You're so beautiful," Ethan breathes, as he pushes a brunette lock behind her ear.
They're both stunned with what they've done. Before they know it, Briar has hopped off her spot on the couch and run far away. He can't dream of catching her, but when he does dream that night, and every night after that, he dreams of finding her.
Alice is back in the present before she gasps.
"What's wrong, darlin'?" coos Jasper.
He immediately sends a wave of calm in her direction as she wonders aloud, "What's your verdict on reincarnation?"
Alice does meet Briar outside of her head one day and it goes as perfectly as her vision. She has had many of her lately, but it would be too early to tell her of such a thing.
Like her mother before her, Briar is easily trusting. Whereas others shied away from the Cullen and Hale collective group, Briar often went out of her way to greet them. She was now friends with all of them. Even Jasper called her a good friend. It had taken him so many years to get desensitized to the smell of humans. Alice was very proud.
There is one day when Esme insists on making Briar dinner that Alice gets another vision.
Briar and Ethan are standing outside a beautiful townhouse on Park Avenue.
"I'm nervous," she admits, her hands shaking in her gray peacoat.
Ethan chuckles despite himself, insisting, "My parents will love you. You're perfect. I love you, Briar Black."
She's less anxious when she replies, "And I, you, Ethan Archibald."
There is a seven course dinner waiting for them in the Archibald household when the maid kindly lets the duo through the door. Briar's apprehension is back as easily as it left until Ethan calmly places his hand at the small of her back. She is composed again.
There is a tall blonde that comes rushing out the door as she greets what is clearly her son, "Ethan darling, you haven't been home to visit once. Shame on you."
A tall blond male comes forward to greet his son as well, as he says, "And we finally get to meet Briar, too."
"These are my parents," Ethan motions to them, "Nate and Serena. I told you they'll love you."
When Serena looks at Briar, understanding comes to her eyes. There are tears when she sees her and Nate wonders what is wrong with his wife. Briar wonders what she unconsciously did. She feels close to these people that she knows she cannot possibly know and for the life of her, she cannot figure out why.
"Mom," Ethan exclaims, "You made her cry."
"I'm so sorry," Serena throws her arms around Briar, "You just look like my old best friend."
Nate finally looks at his son's girlfriend and takes a deep breath as well.
"I'm—" but Briar doesn't know what to say, because she's very confused by this whole incident.
"Don't apologize," Nate mentions, "Blair Waldorf was a wonderful woman. You look exactly like her."
Alice takes it upon herself to look up Blair Waldorf one day. She is amazed by what she finds. Her husband finds her in their room making a rather large montage of this dead girl's life as he looks on in wonder.
"What are you doing all this for, sugar?" Jasper drawls, "You're already friends with Briar. Don't do this."
"It's her past," Alice insists, "And Edward is her future."
Jasper argues, "I know he looks like Edward, but it's not him."
Alice tries not to raise her voice as she says, "How can you even say that? Of course it's him."
Everybody knew better than to bet against Alice by now.
2088
Masen Archibald gives the eulogy at his parents' joint funeral, because he is their sole heir. It is his duty to pay his parents homage and he does not take this obligation lightly.
Alice flits in and out of the church faster than the human eye can catch has as she witnesses in person what she has already seen in her mind. It is times like these that she wishes she could cry real tears. Jasper takes hold of her while the rest of the family pay their respects the only way they can.
It would be far too suspicious for them to be seen, even though most of their friends from that time period are long passed or diseased enough not to remember. Even Rosalie looks forlorn as she watches the caskets move. This is their signal to leave.
Twenty two year old Cullen Archibald hovers at the entrance of Park Avenue Presbyterian as he drags evenly on his cigarette before stomping it on the ground. Beside him stands Kristina Baizen. One glance and Alice sees their entire future play out before her eyes. She smiles when it's over because they can barely stand each other now.
When their tragic love affair is over for the second time, Edward Cullen finds himself in a place similar to one he inhabited before. His wife is not far behind him.
"Blair, darling," he calls out, "Could you not live a moment without me?"
She smiles, despite herself, an image of perfection, frozen at eighteen.
"You know I wouldn't want to be without you, ever," she exclaims, kissing him full on the mouth.
Edward sighs against her as he whispers, "I missed you."
Blair laughs suddenly, exclaiming, "You've had a lifetime with me."
He takes her fingers to his lips and kisses them one by one as he tells her, "It would never be enough."
It is them, together, as they walk hand in hand to find eternal peace.
They pass through the gilded gates with smiles on their faces as they finally make their way to the place they were always meant to be.