Passing Years

Disclaimer; all characters and copyright belong to Stephanie Meyer.

Part One-A Neverending Night

Edward watched as his wife of fifty seven years packed her suitcase. The sun shining through the window lit up her vibrant hair, highlighting the redness in the chestnut strands. It also made her alabaster skin glisten with a thousand diamond sparkles before the sun was suddenly hidden by clouds. Edward thought his wife had never looked more beautiful or more radiant then she did now as she packed up her belongings to leave him for her yearly visit to Washington State. If he possessed a beating heart he thought he would find it lying bleeding at his feet as he was forced to take a step back and pretend that he was perfectly comfortable that his beloved was leaving to spend a month with another man, not just any man, but the man who had always held a piece of her human heart. Even now she was changed and had lived more of her existence as a vampire than she ever had as a human, the intense feelings she still held for the other man had only been heightened when she had turned. They could both deny it. In fact they had been doing nothing but that for decades, but today something splintered inside Edward's chest and he knew he couldn't condone her doing this anymore. D-day had arrived, he needed to speak, speak now and stop her from torturing herself and in retrospect him as well.

"Stay here, Bella. Do not go this time?" He hated that he was begging, but he couldn't help it when he saw her expression close down as she turned away from him. "Cut ties with him for good. Doing this only stops him from finding someone himself, from ever giving up the wolf and moving forward. And us? You know this is killing what we have built together. Don't go this time. Stay where you belong."

Bella continued to pack her clothes as if he had never spoken, only the stiffness around her shoulders showed her tension. "Why bring this up now, Edward?" She folded her designer jeans carefully and packed them with the rest of her clothes. "You know I have had this visit planned all year. Why begrudge him a month when you have me all to yourself for the rest of it?" She glanced at him briefly, her expression showing her irritation.

Edward knew the battle was lost, she was gone from him, had been for a long time. It had been years since she had allowed him a peek into her mind, in the early stages of their union she would drop her guard regularly, she knew how much he needed the constant reassurance of her adoration, but now he had no idea how she felt about him at all, or for the dog for that matter. He tried one last time. "Bella, please I am asking you for the sake of our marriage to put us first. Do not go; stay here with me, your husband."

Bella shut her travel case and locked it before lifting it from the bed easily. "I'll be back in a month, Edward." She said rather formally as she approached and gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek. "We'll talk more then."

Edward stared after the departing figure of his wife as she glided silently out of their shared room. His felt dead inside, more so than he had ever felt before, some instinct told him he would never set eyes on Bella again.

The club was noisy, especially to Bella's ears. She winced as she weaved her way through the sweaty, heaving bodies which filled the large hall. The strobe lights above made everything seem surreal. Why had he wanted to meet her here? In this place? She sighed as an arm reached out and caught her slim wrist. She glared at the inebriated individual as his eyes roamed her body in its tight fitting black dress and high heels. It was an outfit the human Bella would never have dared to wear, she would have broken her ankles trying to teeter in the shoes, but vampire Bella was more confident and loved being able to wear more daring outfits than she used to, or indeed than she bothered to wear when she was around her own husband. Thinking of Edward brought down her mood as she shoved the young man away from her who was trying to get her to dance with him and melted back into the crowd.

Bella found him easily, her enhanced sense of smell and his strong scent made it easy. He was sitting at the bar, ignoring the many female eyes that were trained on him and watching her covertly as she shimmered through the throng. He grinned as she slipped onto a stool next to him, the tight fitting dress not impeding her at all as she smiled at the captivated bartender and ordered a glass of wine. She couldn't eat but she had found over the years that she could tolerate alcohol in small amounts. She had experimented one day out of sheer boredom, she missed the sensations of being able to taste and eat real food or drink strong alcohol and feel it slide easily down her throat. "Why here?" She asked as the bartender returned with her drink and looked regretfully as she leaned closer to Jacob, her hand gliding down one muscled arm. Jacob glared at the bartender and he quickly slinked away to serve the next customer. He did not want to mess with the big built guy sitting with the brunette beauty.

Jacob turned his attention back to Bella as he drank his beer. "Just needed to get away from La Push for a while…." He shrugged nonchalantly and continued to stare at her, his eyes looking at her appreciatively. "Nice dress."

Bella laughed as he glanced at her legs. "A last minute purchase. When you called and told me to meet you in here of all places I had to dive into the first shop I saw and buy something appropriate. I only packed my usual jeans and shirts."

Jacob grinned at her boyishly again as he slid off of his stool and held out his hand. "Let's dance."

Bella finished up her wine and put her hand in his. Immediately her cold skin blazed with heat. She had learned to ignore the sensation over the years as she knew Jacob did the ice cold feel of her hard skin. It was all part of the pretence they engaged in as they peeled back the years and acted as if they were the carefree teenagers they had never really been. They both still looked it after all; why not carry on with the charade every now and then if it made them both happy. They mingled with the crowd as Jacob pulled her closer and she laid her head on his shoulder as they swayed to the slow beat. Bella closed her eyes and let the music fill her soul as she absorbed the fierce heat from his closeness. For once she was the girl on fire and while he was near she would revel in it.

"Are you ever going to tell me why you need to get out of La Push?" Bella asked him as they strolled along the side walk. It was now four in the morning, the club was closed. They had danced the hours away, laughing and joking and making small talk. Now she looked up at his solemn face as she tried to read what was on his mind.

Jacob became tense for a moment as he took her hand in his and stroked the smooth hard skin of her palm with his thumb. "I won't ever be going back. My time there is over, Bella."

Her golden eyes widened in shock. This she had never expected to hear. Jacob loved his land, loved his home. He rarely left, and if he did would feel the pull to return so greatly that he began to pine for the forests and wide, open plains of his homeland. "But why? Why now?"

Jacob took a deep breath and glanced at her before staring off into the distance. "I'm giving up the wolf, Bells. I'm tired of living this half existence. I want to be free of it."

Bella trembled from head to foot. Her soul shrivelled at the enormity of what he was saying. "You'll die, Jake. You'll die." She choked out. "Please don't do this. I can't…I…"

"I am human, honey. I was always going to die." Jacob said softly.

"But not if you keep phasing. You…please. Don't do this? Please? Stay with me." It had been a long time since Bella had begged for anything. She clutched at his jacket as if she was drowning as she gazed up into his dark eyes. Her words were an echo of what Edward had said to her when she left. Bella couldn't fail to see the irony. But she pleaded anyway, over and over but Jacob would not be swayed.

Jacob took hold of her hands in his and smiled at her sadly. "Bella, everyone I knew or ever loved is dead now. The only reason I have stayed around this long is because I couldn't let go of you." He swallowed thickly. "But now I am asking you to let me go. Release me, Bella. Please."

His words were like an arrow to the gut. Bella gasped and sagged against him. "How long will you have when the wolf is gone?" She mumbled brokenly. "How long?"

"Not sure, but the years will catch up with me pretty fast, maybe a year, two at most." Jacob put his arms around a stricken Bella as they continued to walk slowly. Now that he had confessed to her what had been in his heart for so long, he felt calmer, more at peace than he had ever been. "I need to ask you one last thing…" he continued softly. "Will you stay with me? Just this once. Stay with me until the end."

Bella felt as if her whole world had darkened. All she saw ahead of her now was never ending night. She wanted to beg, plead and play on his guilt, force him to remain with her, to keep phasing and remain her anchor as he always had been. But Bella knew she could not continue to be selfish as she also knew at last, in that moment, that she would not survive his loss. She turned in his warm arms and smiled at him bravely. "I will do whatever you need me too, Jake. If you want me here, I'll stay."

A relieved smile broke out on his face as he hugged her close. Bella felt her hard body sizzle with the heat and she had to step back from him, there was only so much she could endure before it became too much. "Thank you, honey." Jacob took her hand again as they continued to walk on in silence, as the day slowly began to dawn.

A/N-thank you for reading!