The characters are not mine... they belong to the awesome Stephenie Meyer...

I only enjoy making them do the things I want them to. :)

BPOV

Music:

Baby, I'm yours

And I'll be yours until the stars fall from the sky

Yours, until the rivers all run dry

In other words

Until I die…

"Baby, I'm yours…" he whispered into my ear.

Swaying to and fro, my head on his shoulder, face in the crook of his neck, I knew this was what I wanted for the rest of my life. Nothing felt quite like the feeling of being pressed against the man I had loved and counted on for the past 2 years. The feel of his rhythmic breathing warming my neck with each exhale sent goose bumps down the right side of my body. His left hand was holding my right to his chest while his other hand settled on my lower back, keeping my body in stride with his own.

The night sky was surprisingly clear, showing all the stars twinkling just for us. Creating our own special disco ball of lights. Standing outside the gym, near Edward's Volvo with Barbara Lewis singing our song just for us, I knew this was so much more romantic than anything going on inside the gym.

"And I'll be yours until the sun no longer shines, until the poets run out of rhyme. In other words, until the end of time," he sang softly to me.

Inhaling deeply, I put this moment in time forever in my memory. I wanted to lock it away where I could pull it out and relive this time together anytime I wished. It felt as though things couldn't get any better than they were at this very second, dancing by ourselves by the light of the moon and stars. It would never to be forgotten.

"Bella?"

"Mmm?" I replied softly, my body still swaying with his.

"Bella, I have to tell you something." His voice sounded shaky. Almost like he was nervous. I felt his body stiffen a bit against mine and stop moving.

Lifting my head from his shoulder, I looked into his beautiful face to find it looking sad. Tonight had been perfect. What could possibly be wrong?

I raised my eyebrows as if to ask what was the matter and he looked away, seeming lost in his thoughts. His eyes gave away that he was trying to choose his words carefully. And were those tears welling in his eyes? This couldn't be good. My heart started racing at the many thoughts that ran through my own mind waiting for him to spit it out. And just when I thought I'd come up with the worst possible scenario, he proved me wrong.

"Bella, my family is moving away at the end of the school year. My father just told me this morning."

I couldn't possibly have heard him correctly. Moving? Where? And for how long? My heart was shattering, falling to pieces as we stood in the darkness. This was not happening.

Seeming to know that I would need to know more than just the fact that he was leaving, and probably noticing my sudden change in demeanor, Edward pulled me tighter to himself and took a deep breath.

"My father has taken a job at a hospital in Virginia. He's expected to start there in July. I don't know how long we'll be there, but I swear, I will write to you every week. And I'm sure I can work out trips back here to see you." He was trying to keep himself composed in front of me, and failing at it. I could hear the hurt in his voice. I could feel it in his tensed muscles surrounding me.

"Edward…"

I couldn't get anything else out without breaking down into complete sobbing. My throat was so tight and my chest aching. My heart beating so hard and so fast that I could feel it in my ears as I tried to keep my tears inside. The need to let this new flood of emotions out was becoming unbearable.

I felt Edward release my hand at his chest and move to wrap my trembling body completely within his own. He was holding me as tight as he could, almost crushing me. But I didn't care. My only love, the one who held me through all the many good times we had shared and the bad, oh the bad times, was leaving for an unknown amount of time on the opposite side of the country.

I felt his face move closer to my left ear and just listened to his sweet voice singing our song to me, allowing myself to absorb his every move, every note, every breath, every beat of his heart.

"Nothing in the world can drive me away,

cause every day you'll hear me say

Baby, I'm yours

And I'll be yours until two and two is three

Yours, until the mountain crumbles to the sea

In other words, until eternity…"

"I love you Edward." I whispered through my quiet crying.

"You are my world Bella. Nothing will ever change that. No matter how far apart we are. I am now, and will always be YOURS." His voice seemed to be getting more and more quiet as he spoke. Like he was getting farther away from me.

I lifted my hands to either side of his beautiful face, staring intently into his gorgeous green eyes and whispered, "There will never be anyone but you."

Suddenly, my hands were no longer touching his face. What's going on? No! He was getting farther! I could see him slowly moving away like something unknown was driving us apart despite my struggle to stay next to him.

"Bella!" he cried although barely audible. His beautiful face gazed at me through his obvious pain.

Farther and farther…

"NO!" I cried between sobs. Hard as I tried, my body was unwilling to move. I was stuck and my Edward was slowly getting smaller and smaller.

"Bella!" Suddenly my name was cried right in front of my face it seemed. Like someone was yelling at me. But, that wasn't Edward's voice, was it?

"Bella! Get up!"

No, that was definitely not my Edward. It sounded familiar but feminine… and slightly annoying.

"Bella, get out of this bed right now!" the voice screamed.

I caught a last glimpse of my now barely visible Edward as he mouthed the words, "Baby, I'm yours. I love you."

Shaking. What in the world?

"Bella, I swear. You are far too old for me to be having to get you out of bed. It's almost eleven and you're going to be late for work!"

Cracking one eye open a bit, I saw her. Victoria. Ugh. She was the epitome of the 'Evil Step Mother.' Damn, if I didn't hate this woman. Always making her grand entrance at the most inconvenient time. And yet maybe it wasn't inconvenient this time. My chest was aching from withholding my cries as I slept.

Sleep. Edward was only in my dream. Again. How long would I have to relive that perfect night before my heart would heal and I could move on? How many times would I press my body to his as we danced alone, look into his beautiful face, his eyes, hear his melodic voice singing to me, touch his face and wake to find myself dreaming of him once again.?

Oh, my aching heart.

"What are you doing in here, Vicky?" I asked rolling over to face away from her awful stare. She hated it when I called her that. \

Get out of my room and leave me alone, evil wench.

"You know as well as I do that you need to be up, probably a couple hours ago. Besides, I don't like having people sleeping while I'm awake doing everything for them." Victoria sneered, fluffing her long red hair in my vanity mirror.

"Boy, Dad must love living with you…" I mumbled sarcastically into my pillow.

"What was that Isabella?" I hate when she calls me that. I could just picture in my mind how Victoria raised her left eyebrow, cocked her head to the right side and placed both hands on her hips. Seen that a few too many times…

Rolling over to finally face her, I found that my mental picture was standing just as I thought she would be. Figures.

"I said, 'Dad must love living with you.' Ever stop to think that maybe he might want to sleep in some mornings? Or that maybe he goes fishing a lot for a reason?" Standing up from my bed, I walked to the vanity behind Victoria and grabbed my things for the bathroom.

"You know, you might want to remember that your father loves me. He was a broken man when your mother died and I was there for him. And where were you? Oh! That's right. Off with your little boyfriend, Edmond." She was trying to make her point and knew that bringing up Mom would do it. Damn her.

"First of all, his name was EDWARD. And secondly, how dare you talk about my mother. You all but jumped on Charlie after the funeral. You were always jealous that he chose Renee over you and when she died, you were right there to take her place weren't you?" I felt myself getting hotter with rage. I relaxed my hands that were cramped from clenching them so tightly. As I stared at Victoria, her face started to soften and her eyes grew wet with tears.

"I have always loved Charlie, that's never been a secret. When Renee died, a part of me died with her. She was one of my closest friends. I only wanted to comfort your father. And he wanted to do the same for me. We helped each other. And if you can't see that, if you won't see that… well, that's just your problem." She stared off into nothing when she finished. Her shoulders had slumped a bit and a couple of her welling tears had spilled over. I almost felt bad for her. Seeing her get so emotional and be slightly open about what had happened showed the softer side to Victoria that I'd hardly seen. I could count on one hand how many times I'd seen Victoria cry in the eight years she'd been married to Charlie.

Coming back to the present, and my bedroom, she sniffed loudly, straightened her shoulders and dabbed at her moist cheeks with a tissue that she pulled from under her watchband.

"Besides, it's better for you that that silly Edward left. He was all wrong for you," I should have known that 'Nice Vicky' wouldn't have lasted long…

"You're better off without him. And now you have Jacob. And, oh, he's so much better suited for you." She trailed off as she moved past me and made her way downstairs to the kitchen.

Better off without him. How could that possibly be? And yet I needed to be. Edward wasn't coming back. I should know that by now. If three years without him hadn't proved it, I didn't know what would.

Shower. I needed to shower. Despite all the things I was feeling towards Victoria right now, she was right on one thing. I needed to get ready for work before I was late.

Closing the door behind me, I set my bag of things on the back of the toilet and started the water. Dropping my pink flannel pants and grey tank on the floor, I stared at my reflection in the mirror.

It's no wonder he never wrote to me. It was probably an easy way out of our relationship for him. He was all the way across the country, where he wouldn't have to worry about running into me at the grocery store or the library or anywhere else for that matter.

Climbing into the shower, I made quick work of washing and conditioning my hair and shaving my legs.

Better off without him? I couldn't get the thought out of my mind. What would things be like now if Edward hadn't left? Or if he had written to me like he'd said he would? Maybe we'd still be together, enjoying every moment. Making plans to get married and what we'd name our children.

Stop it. I don't have the time or energy to wonder the What If's where Edward is concerned.

Getting out of the shower, I heard the doorbell ring and Victoria's sickly sweet voice mumble something to whoever was at the house. I grabbed my towel and started grabbing at my dripping hair with it. Just as I finished and wrapped it around my body, there was a soft rapping on the door. Five knocks to be exact.

After returning the gesture with two knocks of my own, I cracked open the door to the face I knew would be there.

Jacob.

"Hey, I thought I'd drive you to work today so I could take you somewhere when you get off." The smile on his face was always genuine and I knew he wanted to be with me. Wanted to marry me. And I knew that he loved me, but I couldn't find the words to echo him whenever he told me so. It didn't feel right. And yet Jacob insisted on saying it countless times despite knowing that I didn't feel exactly the same for him as he did for me.

I suppose in a way I loved him. He made me happy, made me smile and laugh. He took me out to dinner, bought me flowers and various gifts. Charlie liked him, as did Victoria. They were both always saying how great a couple we made, and how beautiful our children would be. The thought of it seemed happy enough for me. Imagining myself with three or four kids running around the house, beautifully tanned with the same jet black hair as their father, all calling me 'Mommy,' all I ever wanted… with Edward.

"Hey, you okay Bells?" Jacob's face was the picture of concern. He placed his hands on my shoulders and turned me to face him squarely.

I must've been staring off again. How does he stand me?

Smiling up at his strong, dark face I knew that he would make a loving husband and wonderful father. He'd asked me on several occasions for my hand in marriage and I'd always come up with an excuse of some kind. But no more. The next time he asked, I would accept. It was time to put the possibility of Edward and I in the past and move on.

"Yeah, sorry. I think the water was a little too hot. Just a bit light headed there for a second."

Jacob pulled me into a hug and led me down the hall to my room. After sitting me on the edge of my bed, he got down eye-level with me.

"So are you good for a drive after work today? I want to take you somewhere."

Okay, so maybe I'd be engaged by the end of the day. Won't Rose love that?

"Yeah, sure. That would be great. But I'd better hurry and get ready for work before I don't have a job anymore." Smiling at me, he wrapped his hand around mine and placed a kiss on my forehead.

"That would give us even that much more time to spend together," he said happily. "I'll be downstairs waiting for you then."

I hurried to my closet and pulled a close fitting white t-shirt of the hangar and my favorite wide-leg khakis from the shelf. Back in the bathroom, I quickly blow dried my hair and pulled up the top middle section to keep it out of my face. Giving myself one last once-over in my full length mirror, I skipped down the stairs. I was going to make the most out of my relationship with Jacob. He deserved better than I had been giving him for a long time now and it was definitely my turn to make him happy for a change.

Jacob stood from the kitchen table as I entered and grabbed an apple from the fruit basket on the counter.

Grabbing my free hand, he stood just a step away and looked at me from head to toe, "Wow. You look really great, Bella. Maybe I should hang around while you're working so all the guys know to keep their hands off of you."

"Thanks, but I seriously doubt that will be necessary since most of the guys at the salon are gay. Are you ready to go? I'll be cutting it close." I smiled at him genuinely for the first time in too long a time. His desire to keep me for himself and no other was kind of endearing and brought happiness to my heart.

"Sure thing. Thanks for the muffins, Victoria. And the advice." He smiled at her and she returned with an added wink.

Oh great. Victoria's in on something? No doubt she was talking to him about asking me to marry him again. Well, won't all your dreams just come true, Vicky, when I say YES this time around.

Arms crossed over her chest, Victoria looked at me smugly and said, "Have a nice time tonight, Isabella. Please try to be quiet when you come in."

Rolling my eyes, I muttered an, "Mmm-hmm." and pulled Jacob out the front door.

"I'm really gonna be late. We have to hurry."

"Anything for you, Bella."

Taking a deep breath, I smiled, knowing he really meant that.

Ok, first chapter of first story... please review so I know where I should take things. But please be nice!! THANKS!