The first thing Edward Cullen smelled when he walked inside Bella Black's hospital room was blood. Her blood to be exact.
He was surprised at how little he cared.
She lay on her bed, old and tired. Her eyes were focused on the television screen in front of her. She was watching the local news while her frail hands slowly scooped pudding to her lips. She hadn't noticed him yet.
Part of him felt like he should turn and walk back out the door. He didn't have to enter her life again, even though she didn't have much of it left. They could continue on with the relationship they'd had the past sixty nine years. She would live a long life with the man she loved, and he would stay away.
But Edward Cullen had to know.
"Bella," he said softly, his eyes never leaving her face. Her head slowly turned towards him and she looked up at him with those wide brown eyes that he had loved so much. Her pudding tumbled to the floor.
"My God," she said, her hands gripping her blanket. "Ed-Edward? Is that really you?" Her face broke into a warm smile, and she gestured for him to sit down. "It's been a long time. For both of us."
After fifteen minutes of trivial chit-chat, Bella fell asleep. She had warned him that she might. "The drugs they're giving me, they can really knock me out," she had said with a laugh.
So Edward watched her sleep, just like he used to when she had been his age. Well, physically his age.
He noticed she still slept with her head in the same position as she used to. Her mouth would sometimes fall open, just slightly. And she still mumbled things. "Jake." "Forks." "I miss you." "Soon."
Questions were erupting inside Edward's head. All these years he spent wondering about her, wondering how she was doing when he was a world away. He was always so far away from her, but this time it had been her choice.
He wanted to know about her life so badly. And he had limited time.
"Bella," he breathed, gently running a cool finger up and down her withering arm. Her eyes fluttered open and she turned her head slightly to look at him. The corner of her mouth tugged up in an attempt at a smile. "These drugs, I'm telling you…"
"It's alright Bella. I want you to get some rest, but do you think you can tell me something?" he asked with something along the lines of urgency.
Her eyes closed again, but she nodded. "Ask away."
He sucked in a breath he did not need. "I want to know about your life together. I want to know if he made you happy."
Of course he had made her happy. Bella frowned. What an odd question to ask. Her body felt warm. She liked that.
"Bella, please, I need to know."
She sighed. "Yes. He made me happy."
Jacob was sitting at the kitchen table. He looked absolutely terrified. It was sunny outside, for once, and Bella was thinking that maybe she and Jake could go to the beach. However, since Jacob looked like he was going to projectile vomit, they probably weren't going to make it to the beach today.
"Um, Jake? Do you need me to get you something?"
He shook his head quickly before pushing himself away from the table. "No, Bells, I'm fine. I'm totally fine." He grabbed her hand and hauled her out the door, and the look of desperation in his eyes was almost comedic. Bella gently pulled her hand away. "Jake…what's going on?"
He shook his head again before shoving his hand into his pocket to fumble with something. "Nothing, Bella, don't worry about a thing. Just get into the car. I want to take you somewhere."
Fifteen minutes later they arrived at a spot near the cliffs. It was close to the point where Bella had jumped, and they could see and smell the ocean from their perch. Jacob laid a blanket onto the ground before plopping down and kindly pulling Bella down with him.
"Jake, we were supposed to go to the beach." Bella laid her head onto his shoulder and listened to the waves.
"I know we were, but…but this spot is better."
"Not really."
"Yes really. I mean, you can see the ocean from here, you can hear it and smell it, but you don't have to worry about getting your hair wet, or getting sand in your shoes, or completely freezing your ass off. And I mean, this spot is a little more romantic then just straight up 'The Beach', and Sam proposed here so I figured—." Jake, whose mind was catching up with his words, froze. Projectile vomit—it was coming.
"Finish that last sentence," said Bella.
"Nope. You didn't hear anything—"
Feeling a stoke of genius, Bella reached into Jake's pocket and grabbed the thing he had been playing with earlier.
It was a small velvet box. Bella smiled knowingly. The ring was small, simple, and perfect. Just like her and Jacob.
Jacob was staring at her, horrified.
Bella quickly moved into a sitting position on her knees. Holding the ring out to him she asked, "Jacob Black, marry me?"
He stared at her for a moment before he enveloped her into a hug and laughed into her hair. "That didn't go as planned, but, yes, I will marry you Bella Swan and make you the happiest woman on earth."
Bella snorted, and both of them eventually fell onto their sides laughing.
"Jacob, we're going to be late!"
Jacob groaned and pulled the blankets over his head. "It's too early."
Bella was beginning to grow frustrated. "Jacob, our flight leaves in two hours. We. Need. To. Go."
He rolled on his side facing away from her.
"Jacob Black, we're going to miss our own honeymoon. Now please help me make sure I packed everything. I think I packed our bathing suits, but I'm not sure. And I cannot find your passport anywhere—"
In the blink of an eye Jacob grabbed Bella and pulled her into the bed beside him. "I have a better idea," he said, his voice husky.
It only took a moment for Bella to lose her sanity and push herself into Jacob. He felt so good under her arms. Her hands trailed the hard muscles in his shoulders and chest. He was hers. His kisses ran from her neck to her smooth legs and covered everything in between. She was his. They had finally claimed each other.
Needless to say, they missed their flight.
Watching your child graduate was a fulfilling, if a somewhat sad experience. Bella and Jacob watched their son stand in line to receive his diploma with his other classmates. He was tall, with light skin and lean muscle. He had Jacob's dark and shaggy hair and Bella's beautiful brown eyes. He was flirting with the redhead standing next to him.
"You think he'd be paying more attention to the valedictorian," Bella whispered in Jacob's ear.
Jacob grinned. "Hey, he realizes what's more important. He gets that from his dad." He squeezed Bella's hand and she smiled up at him.
Three years later their son would marry that redhead.
The sun was setting over La Push, and Bella and Jacob were walking down the beach hand in hand, a content silence between them. Both of their paces were slower then they had been, and their hands were more wrinkled.
But they were both smiling.
Suddenly Jacob stopped and Bella gave him a look of confusion as she stopped beside him.
He looked out over the ocean and inhaled. "I was just thinking how beautiful this sunset and this beach are." Bella opened her mouth to say something, but Jacob placed a finger over her lips. "I'm glad I got to spend my life with you."
Bella nodded as tears escaped from her eyes and ran down her cheeks. "I'm glad I didn't give this up."
They stood there and held each other close. Time, which they had enjoyed so much of, was starting to fail them, and soon they would no longer have any left.
Bella buried her husband by the clearing towards the cliffs. The funeral had ended hours before, but she couldn't bring herself to leave him. She traced her finger over the wood carved figurine of a wolf that Jacob had made for in the form of a bracelet her many years ago.
She closed her eyes and remembered. His laughter as he pulled her into a hug, his kisses as he pulled her into their bed, his irritation when she'd spend too long cleaning something, his amusement when she'd pretend she actually gave a damn about cars, his joy whenever she told him she loved him. Bella could remember everything.
Wolves howled in the distance.
Bella's eyes fluttered open again. She could barely bring herself to look at Edward's face.
It was unreadable. He was staring at her, his finger tracing circles onto the back of her hand. She smiled up at him. "Now you know."
He nodded before sighing. "Yes. I know now. Thank you for telling me."
"Edward," Bella said sharply, grabbing his attention, "Just because I'm going to die doesn't mean you can go and die too." His eyes slid away from hers as if ashamed.
"Edward," Bella's voice was urgent, "Please don't do anything foolish. I was so happy. I gave my heart and soul to someone and I received theirs in return. Edward you deserve that kind of happiness."
He pulled his hand away from hers and stared up at the ceiling. "Bella, you already had my soul," he whispered.
Bella slowly sat up and, with quite a bit of effort, leaned forward and pulled Edward into a hug. "It was never mine Edward, not really. Give it to someone who can make you happy and spend eternity with you. I'm a little inept now, I should think." She placed a gentle kiss on his cheek and laid back down on her bed.
Her heartbeat was very faint. She had but moments.
He pressed the panic button before walking out of Bella's hospital room. He glanced at the small group of people who were waiting outside of her door. "She's going," he said before turning and walking in the opposite direction.
Just this once, Edward dared to venture onto La Push territory. He stared at both of them, quietly laying in their own little clearing, with their souls forever intertwined.