This began as a one-shot and has evolved to a thing with chapters. Feels pretty typical at this point.

So, by request here I have a short (ish?) three piece addition to my Breaking Points verse because apparently Rosalie and Edward have a lot of time on their hands, being immortal and all, and consequently refuse to leave me alone.

This doesn't have to considered Breaking Points canonif you don't like it – I must stress that not everyone is going to like this, I think. So therefore if you read and think, "Noooooo!" then you can disregard it entirely. Really, it's just me enjoying writing my favourite couple again. It is what I think would have inevitably happened in this story, given enough time but as I said – if you don't like it, please feel free to ignore it from the BP verse. That said, I hope everyone else enjoys it and I have a pretty good idea of which people will enjoy it (you know who you are) and take it in the BP spirit it was intended; all soul crushing angst and doomed love.

I promised this about seventy nine years ago, so it's bit late, but hey I've posted later!

This is what I came up with.

Bex.

-The Point at Which it Breaks-

-Chapter One: Pressure Behind a Fracture-

'Gargoyles standing at the front of your gate.
Trying to tell me to wait,
But I can't wait to see you.
So I run like I'm mad to heaven's door.
I don't wanna be bad,
I won't cheat you no more.
Roses, Bel Air, take me there,
I've been waiting to meet you.
Palm trees in the light,
I can sleep late at night
Darling, I'm waiting to greet you,
Come to me, baby.

-Lana Del Rey

-Edward -

Everett, Washington.

2033

I had always considered myself to be something more than what I was now. Really, that went without saying at this point but there was time to fill so why not say it? Why not waste a few more seconds and postpone the reality that waited patiently before me. True, it was not the first time I had witnessed such a hellish display but that made it no easier to bear.

This was hell and there was a dress code. I really had always considered myself more than this at the very least. Standing in a church, wearing Armani and an utterly false smile as I watched my daughter marry Jacob Black. Again.

They had chosen a church ceremony yet again; big and lavish. Black had insisted on paying for it himself with his money from his Auto Repair Workshop which he had ingeniously named, 'Blacks' . It was something he was very impressed with. We had all worked hard to feign approval and interest. Some people had had to work harder than others, of course.

Best not to chance looking over there, I thought. Bella was right next to me, after all.

"...know any reasons why these two should not be wed?"

Though I knew no-one would say anything, I was tense. Determinedly not looking in that direction, I waited to see if the silence would remain and it did. Of course it did. Still, one could never be too sure with...certain people.

"Then I now pronounce you, Husband and Wife!"

Again. I smiled and clapped along with everyone else; to all the world a proud brother, to eight of my family a proud father and to one who was never fooled by anything I said or did, a despondent man forced to cheer for a marriage I would never be easy with, wearing a façade that grew thinner and tighter with each passing day.

She had heard me, I felt it. Her recognition of my sentiments rippled through me; a soft reverberation of sorts. Inevitably, my eyes were drawn to hers. She wasn't looking at me of course. She too was clapping and smiling, with notably less enthusiasm than everyone else, but from her it was expected. She wore pale gold, her hair long and wavy and her eyes were dancing in the soft candlelight.

Rosalie. My Rosalie. Mine.

'Don't stare,' she warned me gently. 'You'll cause a scene.' Her voice echoed softly in the chambers of my mind. Ordinarily a warning such as that could be interpreted as playful, flirtatious even. But there was an edge of desperate longing and frustrated impatience thrumming through her. It ran through me also. She would never usually risk speaking to me like this in front of others. Honestly, it was a necessary warning because as each day passed I felt increasingly reckless.

Nessie and Jacob were walking down the aisle together, arm in arm laughing and kissing; the very picture of young love. Bella was saying something that I knew only required a kiss and a smile as an answer. I obliged because we were married and I loved her, but my mind was now firmly elsewhere, imagining...causing a scene.

I would cross the small space between us in front of everyone we knew and many people we did not. I would pull her towards me, bask momentarily in the sheer bliss of being allowed to simply touch her. The ridiculous pleasure the mere feel of her skin would bring and then the sheer opulence of bringing her lips to mine, a place they seemed to belong and each moment spent denying that fact was useless and cumbersome. The gasp I would elicit from her, the sweet rush of fear and adrenaline and lust that would cause her eyes to flutter right before she would give in and reach for me in turn.

'Stop it!' she insisted, but it was more like begging than anything else. I felt the warm desire rolling off her in waves, the danger and recklessness both infuriating and exciting her.

The anticipation was understandably immense. It had been nineteen months since last I had forged time to be with Rosalie and tomorrow was the result of our hard work, patience and careful planning. Tonight, a crisis would occur that could only be solved my Rosalie and Jasper. I would volunteer to go along as well. Emmett would offer to go along, Rosalie would accept. There would be an argument between Rosalie and Emmett tomorrow just before we were to leave. Emmett would stay behind, Rosalie would storm away. Jasper would spend a few days making the streets of New York safer for women and other vulnerable people. Rosalie and I would spend that time together in every sense of the word.

Our bodies and minds were in utter unison of impatience and expectation. I couldn't help myself...I brushed my index finger along her wrist as we left the church together. No one else noticed I was sure, but it sent a shock wave through her that echoed within me for the rest of the day.

'Not much longer,' she told herself and consequently me. I could only share the sentiment.

There were three houses between us all. The biggest one, the one I thought of as home, was of course where Carlisle and Esme lived along with Emmett, Rosalie, Bella and myself. The second house was much smaller, only for Jasper and Alice who found that in the last five years or so, they had become very fond of privacy. The newest house wasn't as small or as nice, but it backed on to a huge, dense forest. This was Nessie's and Jacob's house; necessary for Jacob to transform once a day and have room to bound and run, should he desire it. Renesme enjoyed the novelty of her own house and space away from Bella and myself. Jacob loved the novelty and I sensed would pursue it forever from now on, no matter where we moved to next.

We had two more years in Everett before we had to leave America altogether for at least the next fifty years. Truthfully, there were only so many dark, rainy places to live in America before you started coming back around on yourself. Everyone except Jacob was in favour of moving to England; privately, I hoped this meant that he would decline altogether but that meant that we would be deprived of Nessie altogether and that would never do.

Still, I liked this house. The last American house for quite some time. The living situation was such that it reminded me of a time before Alice and Jasper had ever come to us, and certainly before Children of the Moon had become extended family. I enjoyed it.

Not to say that we didn't see each other every day, because we did. Bella, Alice and Renesme attended the local Tech Institute together and we always spent time together whenever we could. Alice worked in the local community theatre and Jasper sometimes went with her. Carlisle had opened up his own practise with the assistance of Esme. Emmett and Rosalie did their own thing, which meant nothing so tied down. Rosalie was always very clever with money and as such had little need or compulsion to find something career wise. She was arguably the one best able to cope with the pressing issue of time and how slowly it moved. The trick, she had told me once, was not rushing things. Bella, Jacob and Renesme were still fairly new to this and found it difficult, trying to fill each day best they could with tasks, projects and general busyness. Emmett occasionally helped out at Black's and gave Alice a hand with set building. Mostly, he was content to be with Rosalie and the rest of us.

I found myself in a similar situation. There seemed to be no point in putting down roots when I knew we were leaving. Rosalie and I also found ourselves unable to cope with any more school. We wore slightly more adult clothes and passed for twenty year olds. Just. I had little interest in further education, especially when it was something I knew back to front.

That was how we lived. Or at least how everyone else lived; I seemed to be surviving and only barely. The things everyone else concerned themselves with were nothing more to me than passing amusements. I had no time for them, no energy to build and maintain them. In fact, most things seemed distant and useless lately. Everything except time with Rosalie. That was all I thought about, all I wanted. If could dream, it would have been all I dreamed about. I spent most of the day and night imagining being with her, sometimes very riskily reaching out to her mind and sharing these thoughts with her. Rarely, she reciprocated and on those rare time – when we were always surrounded by others – it would feel as though the world had fallen away and we were alone. I could almost touch her with my thoughts; feel her, smell her, taste her.

It was undoubtedly dangerous, but it was difficult to work up the energy to care when I could hear her sighing softly in my mind.

It would all be worth it, all the waiting. Tomorrow it would be for real; no more imagining.

-Rosalie-

When it finally stopped, I prayed to God to let me be dead now. Was there anything worse in Hell or on Earth than having to listen to the people you consider parents having uncharacteristically loud sex four rooms down? Silence prevailed for two minutes and I took the opportunity to flee the house as fast as possible. There were some things immortal brains could not withstand.

It was a beautiful night, anyway. Crisp, clear and obviously chilly though the icy air felt more like a lukewarm caress to my freezing skin. I was alone, for once. The 'Newly' Weds were on their honeymoon. Emmett, Alice and Jasper were hunting while Edward and Bella had gone to see a film. A purposeful attempt at giving Esme and Carlisle privacy on their anniversary and I had been about to make my own plans when the sex had begun, quite unexpectedly. Perhaps they'd thought I had already left. Either way, I was glad for the solitude. There was so much happening in my mind, such turmoil and fire.

I decided not to take my car and simply walk around for a while. Again, the solitude was refreshing and with little else but the sound of my own footfalls, I was more relaxed than I had been in over a year.

I suspected that this decade was going to be a troublesome one for me. Occasionally, I went through periods of continuous depression that lasted far too long. This was usually what it felt like at the start of one. I felt bad even admitting this to myself for there was no real reason for this depression. Any person would say my life was ideal. Happy, coupled off family. Immortality. Youth. Money. Everything.

Everything except the one thing that mattered, of course.

Having sensed my thoughts, he tentatively reached out to me from where he sat cuddled with Bella in the movie theatre. It was only a weak connection; a mere shadow of what it could be were he closer. He gave me a gentle, telepathic version of a kiss on the cheek. It made my skin feel too hot all of a sudden and while I appreciated the gesture, it was not helpful.

'One more day, love,' he promised fiercely. 'Just one more day.'

But days were meaningless slots of time to me and I was sick of them. Days, weeks, months and then the true hell of years. Years.

'I'm fairly certain we all know that you have a problem with time, Rose,' mocked playfully. 'You might have mentioned it a couple of times.'

'I'm so sick of it!' I snapped, feeling him flinch back a little at the unexpected level of anger. 'I can't stand waiting around to be near you without having to worry if and when someone's going to come bursting in!'

She was thinking, as I was, of the time nine years ago when we had been kissing with reckless abandon against my car in the garage and Black had come bounding in all of a sudden. We had pushed apart just in time, but I had seen the look in his eyes. Suspicion. It was the closest we had come yet to being discovered and despite the abject horror of it, I could not recall the incident without the tiniest of thrills; bitter-sweet and dark, demanding fulfilment. Because if we had been seen, then it would all be over. Everyone would know and there would be hell to pay but it would be something new, something different from the monotony of every day life and endless days with no sleep. Endless chatter and games, endless small town crap. Endless everything, broken up by the rare and ever decreasing times I could be with Edward; the counterpart to my soul, the entirety of my existence and everything I loved, craved and needed.

'There's no need to wax quite that poetic, Rose,' he chided. 'You'll be fine come tomorrow night.'

He was right. I knew he was right. Tomorrow night everything would be as it should be. It didn't ring quite as true as it should have, though. I was so desperate to be with him, just to touch him as he had brazenly touched me in the church. I wished he was close so I could attempt something similar but he was too far away, cuddling up to Bella and some mediocre romance film.

I wrapped my arms around myself, vaguely pretending it was him and forced myself to be patient.

The play was set. Really, we had gone to quite extraordinary lengths to arrange this; even going so far as to recruit a friend of Jasper's to the cause. The cause being that we three had less than honourable deeds to commit elsewhere in the shroud of secrecy. This was what life had been reduced to; lies and legerdemain. Only a few times before had we actually been this desperate to attempt such a daring deception before.

I was with Carlisle and Alice when the call came through to Jasper. I had to hand it to him; he really was a masterful liar.

"What do you mean?" he asked quietly in the next room. "How? God damn it, Isaac! We have been through this a hundred times and you cannot just call whenever you've messed up!"

Alice gave a surprised little sigh. "Oh," she said. "You're going away."

Carlisle frowned slightly. "Hmm?"

"Rosalie," Alice clarified. "Rosalie, Edward and Jasper. They're all going to help Isaac."

Yes we were. We were all going to help Isaac and we all believed it very much. If we didn't believe it, Alice might see something different. It had taken many years to work out the kinks in her visions and foresight but we had as good a roadmap as we were ever going to have. Actually believing you were going to do it, while repressing the truth to the far regions of your mind seemed to work most of the time. Most of the time. We were usually working on the belief that if what we were doing didn't change the course we were headed down anyway, then she wouldn't see it. Very rarely, it didn't work like that.

This didn't seem to be one of those times.

"I am?" I asked, sounding surprised. "Why?"

Alice was staring off into the distance. Carlisle and I waited patiently for her to come back.

"Isaac has killed some people. He needs Jasper's help in cleaning up the mess. It was an accident, apparently."

Ten seconds later Jasper came in looking grim.

"Isaac has killed some people. He needs my help in cleaning up the mess. It was an accident, apparently," he said. Carlisle and I smiled at his perfect repetition of Alice's prediction, while Alice herself continued to be fascinated by whatever she was seeing.

"Where is he?" I asked.

"Lockport, New York."

"That's...near Rochester," I said with subtle hesitation.

Jasper gave a serious nod. "Yes, I know. Look, I wouldn't ask but you know the area. You and Edward actually. I could really use some help with this. It's more than a couple of people and he's in a highly populated area. It's going to be difficult to manage, let alone clean up."

"I know the area too," Carlisle offered unexpectedly. "I could go."

"Would you mind?" I said, thinking fast. "If it's not much trouble, I'd rather you go than me and...but the surgery. Carlisle, you're seeing to the Reddington girl, aren't you?"

A young girl named Caroline Reddington had recently undergone a very unprofessional abortion and refused to go to a hospital, but she was coming in daily to see Carlisle for help. Tomorrow was a big appointment for her; after days of Carlisle gaining her trust, she was allowing him to help her medically. There was no way he would let her down.

His face fell. "Oh yes, of course. I'm sorry, Rose. I can't go."

I was the picture of disappointment. "No, that's fine. Thank you for offering. Couldn't you just go with Edward?"

Jasper shrugged. "I could, but honestly I'd prefer you came, Rose. This could explode if it's not taken proper care of."

"No, it's fine," I said with a sigh. "Find Edward and ask him. I suppose it works out for the best; Edward and I are the ones with the least to do anyway."

Alice returned to the room. "Emmett will offer to come too, so it's not all bad."

I smiled. "That's a plus."

Bella and Edward were almost there; casually coming around to see everyone. I felt Edward as he drew nearer; his proximity heightening my senses and anticipation. For some reason Alice gave me a strange look, but then shook herself as though dismissing whatever she had been thinking.

"Hey guys," Bella called as they entered. We all offered similar greetings and they joined us in the kitchen; a strangely central room for 'goings on'. "Whoa, check out the faces. What's happening?"

It was Edward who answered, his eyes glazed the way they did when he read minds. "Jasper's friend Isaac has had a relapse. A big one. He's killed people."

Predictably, Bella gasped. "Oh my God, why?"

Something nasty and vicious in me snarled that Bella was a disgrace to our kind; why has he killed? What a stupid question. I shoved it down, knowing it was born of frustration and jealousy. She stood so close to him that the sides of their arms were touching. My fingertips itched to shove her away, far away from him.

Edward moved ever so slightly away, making it seem like he was crossing his arms.

"He says it was an accident," Jasper explained doubtfully. "The guy has only been one of us for two years and I've never seen anyone struggle so badly with the blood lust before."

"Except for you, honey," Alice pointed out unexpectedly. There was no malice or double meaning there; just statement of fact.

Jasper seemed to ignore it. "If the Volturi get wind of it, they'll kill him."

Carlisle sighed. "At this point, maybe we should consider whether or not that's a bad thing."

"He's my friend," Jasper replied staunchly. "What happened to him was neither his fault or his choice."

"Nor was it for any of us," I said, playing my part. Bella coughed. "Except for Bella, of course."

"Which means what? That he should die because he's isolated and alone? He just needs some help. People to show him that they care. You should know that, Rosalie. How many did you kill when you were newborn?"

I stiffened, so very obviously offended. "That was in the service of revenge," I said coldly.

"And Edward?" Jasper said whirling to face him. "You killed so many in those first years of your life. You even left Carlisle for a while to do so!"

"I killed criminals and wrong doers, Jasper," Edward replied. "Your friend shows a lack of control, no sign of willpower. There is little that can be taught to one of our kind without willpower."

I felt him smile inside.

"So I take it I'm alone in this?" Jasper said irritably.

"Of course not," Edward countered smoothly. "We're just pointing out that in future I would keep a closer eye on this man, if you intend to clean his messes."

"And you, Rose?" Jasper asked.

With a dramatic sigh, I nodded. "Yes, if you believe it necessary. How long will we be away, Alice?"

She shrugged. "It's very unclear. A couple of days maybe, if you fly. There's something strange though; I can't seem to see anything beyond you guys leaving here. Very odd. I've been so off my game the last few years."

I studiously ignored the guilt. "Well, maybe it's living so closely with Jacob."

"Maybe," she said lightly. "Anyway, I'll let you know if I see anything else. I have to go to the theatre. Call me when you get there?" she said to Jasper. He agreed and they kissed goodbye; short and sweet as was their way.

"Have good trip," she said to Edward and me. "Try not to let it get you down too much," she added, in a quieter voice to me. "I'm only on the other end of the phone if you need to talk."

I was touched by the somewhat unexpectedly sweet gesture from Alice. It had been a while since we had been very close. She smiled brightly all of a sudden.

"Oh, we're going shopping when you return! How lovely." I clasped her hand briefly before letting go, finding myself genuinely looking forward to spending more time with her, once I was in my right mind of course.

"You know," Bella said to Edward, quietly. "Nessie is away. I could come with you guys. Help out."

A thread of panic tightened around my heart; an unforeseen complication. It had never once occurred to me that Bella would offer to come along as well. She usually hid herself well away from anything violent like that. I sensed Edward's panic as well, but he hid it flawlessly.

"Darling," he murmured, running a hand through her hair. "Do you really want to be a part of this? Something so macabre and awful?"

She bit her lip. "Well, no. But I want to help any way that I can."

'How could you possibly help?' I found myself thinking, with breathtaking nastiness. Edward ignored it for the most part, but I felt only very vague disapproval.

"That's so sweet," he told her, in that gentle, whispery voice he always used when speaking to her. "But honestly, it's going to be horrible. You don't know what a clean up entails and I hope you never have to."

I turned away with feverishly bright levels of jealousy as she leaned up to press her lips to his. Jasper was very carefully not looking at anyone, instead he was doing various things with his phone that seemed to require all of his attention. Booking flights and other things.

"I'm going to find Emmett," I announced a little too loud, but before anyone could comment, I swept past them.

'Don't be jealous, Rose. You know how it must be. Think of how soon it will be that we are touching. Please just be a little more patient,' he intoned. It was little more than lukewarm water to a burn; a burn that required ice. I needed him and desired him more than I could ever recall in all of the soon to be one hundred years of having known him. The more distance I gained from him, the worse I felt.

Emmett was not in the house, he had to be at Black's workshop. I needed to see him as soon as possible to give the plan time to work, so I headed over there in my car. The entire time I was driving, I imagined everything I was going to do with Edward when the time finally, finally came.

The scenery was a blur as I drove faster than should ever be allowed, I ran a hand around the side of my neck, chasing phantom touches and kisses that were not there yet. So incredibly long since his skin had become my skin. Since he had breathed my name, kissed me so hard it felt like we were fusing together. So long since we had been one and the same; inside, connected and utterly together.

As I pulled over in a careless fashion, I saw Emmett holding up a car with one hand while removing a tyre with the other. "Hey baby," he called, but then upon seeing me looked concerned. "What is it?"

I got out and adopted the grim look. "Jasper's friend Isaac has killed a lot of people near Rochester. He needs our help with a clean up."

"What?" he exclaimed dropping the car. "Why?"

"Because he's Jasper's friend and he didn't mean it. We have to contain it before the Volturi find out."

"Who's we?"

"Jasper, Edward and myself."

He nodded. "Because it's Rochester."

I was surprised he clicked so soon. "Yes, exactly."

"I'll come too," he said straight away. "Help in any way I can."

I smiled at him; the slow kind of smile I knew he liked and usually it was a lot easier to slip on. "That would be great baby, thanks so much."

"When do we leave?"

"We can fly out tonight. There's preparations to be made in the meantime."

He seemed so accepting of all my lies, it almost felt too easy. Far too easy to ignore the guilt, at least.

"OK, well let me know when."

He kissed me then and the whole time, all I could feel was Edward.

-Edward-

We had decided a few days ago that it was better to leave the same night rather than the next day. Mainly because if Rosalie and I had to wait another hour than was necessary to be with one another, we were probably going to go crazy. She was driving me insane with how much she wanted me. I could feel her desire pulsating off of her in waves, increasingly strong and frequent. That was to say nothing of my own desires which were at breaking point themselves. It was like some kind of pressure building between us and soon it would implode.

The story was well set up, at least. We owed Jasper's friend a big favour, that was for sure. The plan was that once we were in Lockport we were actually going to stay there for the duration. Eight months ago, I had purchased a derelict building there and that was where Rosalie and I were going to stay. The perfect place to explain away noise and also if damage was done (damage would be done) no one would ask questions. There was even a working land line so that if anyone needed to call, they could. Jasper would stay at a nearby hotel while he went out in search of edible evil doers to slake his thirst.

It was perfect. Flawless.

All that needed to be done now was stage the argument that would result in Emmett storming off and refusing to come with us. Rosalie's hesitance about performing this last piece of our play was minimal in comparison to her never ending need to be alone with me. There was even a small amount of anticipation towards the oncoming argument as it meant we were one step closer.

My God, we had to do this more frequently. It was never enough.

I partially watched through her eyes while trying not to let my own eyes glaze over whilst speaking to Esme about travel arrangements.

Rosalie made the offhand comment that she was shocked that Emmett would even volunteer to come. Emmett stiffened and went quiet.

"What?" she asked, distractedly. "What did I say?"

"You're well aware of what you just said," he told her quietly. "Why are you shocked?"

A perfectly practised shrug. "I just know it's difficult for you, baby," she said. "Going there."

"But it's not difficult for you?"

"Not like it is for you."

"Why?"

She laughed. "What do you mean why? Why is it difficult for you but not me? What a stupid question."

"Oh, so now I'm stupid."

"It's a stupid question, you yourself are not stupid."

"Well thanks for clearing that up for me!"

"Oh my God, what is your problem? Oh I get it. You're starting a fight with me so you don't have to come? Very mature, Emmett."

Through her eyes, I vaguely saw the sheer look of disbelief on his face. "You know, I've put up with more of your crap than usual lately and despite how much I keep thinking things will get better, they just don't."

She fiercely repressed any emotions that statement invoked. She instead opted for a rather spectacular sneer. "Quite the little victim, Em. Bravo."

"Have fun in Rochester," he said and left the room, slamming the door hard as he did.

Almost everything was in place when Bella came into our room where I was packing clothes into a suitcase, imagining how much I would ruin whatever clothes Rosalie had on when we were finally alone. Bella's presence seemed somehow sudden; a mark of how distant I had been whilst fantasising.

"Hey," she said softly, slipping her arms around my waist from behind. I froze, unprepared to be thinking about Rosalie and have Bella so suddenly all around me.

"Hey," I replied, my throat oddly stuck as I forced down the urge to peel her arms off of me. She was my wife, my love, Mother of my child if nothing else and she had every right to touch me whenever she wanted. "Are you OK?"

"Yeah," she said, leaning her body against mine. I closed my eyes, willing myself not to move. "I'm just going to miss you."

"Uh-huh, me too," I said, with perhaps insufficient enthusiasm. "I'll miss you...so much."

She gave no indication of noticing anything amiss with my tone, so I continued to casually fold clothes and place them in the case.

"That's a lot of clothes," she pointed out, peering around my arm. "For a couple of days."

I sighed irritably. "Do you have any idea how messy a job it is we go to do? Clothes get covered in blood, gore and dirt. We needs lots of them."

She pulled back, having caught the tone that time. What was wrong with me? I loved her, I loved her, I loved her!

"Are you all right?" she asked. There was a palpable relief that she had stopped touching me. It was an unprecedented reaction to her touch and it shook me. "You seem sort of off."

I nodded, continuing to pack. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I'm really not looking forward to this trip, is all."

She moved around to the other side of the suitcase so she was facing me. "I'm sorry about that," she said in what was usually such a sweet, reassuring way. It grated on me a little, then. Perhaps it was just residual traces of Rosalie in my psyche. "But it's not for long."

Not long enough. I shook myself to dislodge the thought and gave her the warmest, most loving smile I could muster.

"I'll be back before you know it, I promise."

She leaned in to kiss me and I actually almost flinched back. Almost. I hadn't completely lost my mind, so I kissed her and ignored the many shades of wrong wrong wrong it felt. It had just been too long without Rosalie, too much time away and now my mind and body were impatient.

I realised after a few seconds that this wasn't just kissing. Her small, delicate hands were twining around my back and up into my hair, feather light. She had moved her body closer to mine, her movements and therefore intentions were unmistakable.

I couldn't do it. There was no way I could do it. Each and every thing she did was wrong. The feathery touch, the gentle kissing, slow and leisurely. Her lips were too soft, too yielding. Her scent was wrong, her height was wrong, her body was wrong and worst of all she was not her.

But what on earth could I say? No, we can't have sex before I go away for a few days. Why? Because I can't stand your touch while I crave another's? I'm tired? Headache? Not in the mood?

I thought back to the time when Bella had been pregnant and Rosalie had done such terrible things for me, let everyone think she was a bad person; selfish and cruel. She had retreated within herself, allowing a brilliant kind of autopilot take over while she did what had to be done. For the very first time in my life, I had sex with my wife against my will and I did it whilst far away in attic of my mind, imagining another. The only other. Her. It would be worth it. It would all be worth it.

-Jasper-

Some things really didn't change. Time moved, the Earth evolved and fashions came and went. Rosalie and Edward, that would never change. It didn't matter where we moved, what was happening at the time, there was an imperative between them that took precedence over all else. Time could not change it, nor any obligation to those they loved. They could be patient, but that was as far as their allowances went. I still recalled the first time I confronted Edward about their relationship. He was so uncertain of my allegiance then, unsure if I could be counted upon. One thing he had been certain of though, was that nothing was going to stop the relationship between Rosalie and himself.

"There can never be a last time," he had told me. "Not between us."

It was something I had long ago accepted. I would never be able to live without some small indulgence of human blood and they would never be able to exist without indulging in their obsession with one another. Some thing did not change.

But some things did.

I had observed over the last few years that Rosalie and Edward's ability to maintain their flawless facade was fading somewhat. It was barely noticeable to anyone but myself and I only saw it because I knew what to look for. Still, something had changed. I suspected it was their level of tolerance for people who were not them. My certainty of this theory was cemented by having accidentally walked past Edward's room and sensing a whole boatload of emotions that I really didn't want to feel. Bella's bliss and pleasure, blah blah blah but Edward's feelings were anything but bliss. He had practically been crying on the inside while having sex with Bella.

This trip couldn't have come soon enough. What with Rosalie creating tension between her and Emmett and Edward dying inside while having sex with his wife, it was a good deal more crazy than I was used to, even from them.

I decided it was best to leave them utterly alone for the two days, while I saw to my own needs. The last thing I wanted to feel was more second hand sex, however consensual and wonderful for them it might have been.

Everything packed and ready, I went to find Rosalie. I said my goodbyes to Carlisle and Esme on the way who informed me Rosalie was waiting outside, due to the argument with Emmett or so they thought.

I knew better.

"Rose," I said as I closed the door behind me. She was standing against the car, looking up at the night sky. "Are you all right?"

There was a long pause before she answered, not looking away from the stars. "No."

I could no longer feel the awfulness of Edward and Bella's marital relations, but I was sure Rosalie could feel it in a whole other way. God, was she seeing it through his eyes?

I put my bags in the trunk and stood beside her in silence. There was nothing really to say, certainly nothing that would help in any way.

After a while, she let out a deep breath as though she had been holding it. "He'll be here in a minute."

Ah. So she had been seeing the entire hellish scene. Lovely.

"Great," I said awkwardly. "Where did Emmett storm off to?"

She shrugged as if she didn't really care. "No idea." When she didn't elaborate, I decided to leave it alone. This was as uncomfortable as any situation I had ever been forced to bear witness to. I wanted to say things that would reassure her but there was nothing. It was what it was, what it always would be. They both the risks and the downsides. This was one of many.

Sure enough after three minutes, Edward came out of the front door. Suitcase in one hand and an expression of barely concealed agony so obvious that I had to hope no one else had seen him leave. Rosalie was driving to the airport, so we all piled in and began the journey.

"Sorry I was late," Edward said, sounding somewhat hollow. He sat in the front, while I was in the back. "I got held up." I wondered why he even bothered to lie.

"No problem," I said trying to sound as normal as I could and stared out of the window, giving them what little privacy my silence could allow them. Rosalie took Edward's hand and clasped it tightly in her own.

Distantly, I sensed that she was somehow calming him down. Perhaps saying something to him using their telepathy. After a few more minutes of driving, he moved to lay his head on her shoulder and she pulled him in close, wrapping a single arm around him.

Some things would never change, but I could not shake the feeling that something soon would. Something had to.

-Rosalie-

By the time we were saying goodbye to Jasper and wishing him well over the next few days, I felt as though I was going to vibrate out of my skin with the tension. The anticipation and need had gone far beyond simple desire and lust. It was the agony of feeling Edward with Bella, how much he hadn't wanted it. I had to wash it off of him, replace it with myself.

"And for God's sake," Jasper said gravely. "Keep your phone on!"

"We will," I promised, rather impatiently. "Have fun."

He left us in the place that Edward owned, a place I thoroughly intended to destroy. It was a three storey building, empty save for bricks and wood. Derelict and abandoned.

I put the suitcase down and looked to Edward. It was incredible just to be able to look at him properly, without having to filter the intensity. I said his name and all the energy he had been putting into holding himself together, gave out completely.

"It's been too long," he sobbed a little, his face so wretched that I wanted to cry. "I can't live without you this long."

I moved fluidly towards him, placing a hand on his face. He closed his eyes. "I know."

"Tell me you're mine," he whispered, eyes still closed. "Please say it."

"I am yours, Edward, always and you are mine."

When he opened his eyes, there was raw desperation and need that accurately mirrored my own. I felt the moment build, rise to a crescendo of unbearable heights. After so long waiting, here it was.

For the first time in nineteen months, our mouths met. It wasn't a sweet, soft kiss. It the kind of kiss we lived for. He practically smashed his mouth into mine, pulling me bodily towards him and I was all too eager to meet him. I knew this first time would be fast and rough; little attention to detail paid. It was what I wanted; to get the taste of Bella out of his mouth. Delicate, sweet little Bella who was still so human despite the transition.

He drew back forcefully and I felt exactly what he required.

"Don't hold back," I told him, voice low and unstable with the sheer force of my desire. "You can't break me."

That was it, just what he needed to hear. He grabbed my back and I jumped up on him, wrapping my legs around him tightly. He held me in place and we kissed with an intensity that bordered on violence. My hands moved everywhere they had not been allowed to for so long; tearing through his hair, pulling just enough to make him wild. Over his chest, his stomach and then moving ever downwards. He dropped to his knees and pressed me harder into him. I tightened the grip around him with my legs and he groaned, head tilting back. The sound from his throat sent a bolt of heat through me and what little sanity I had left abandoned me completely.

"Come on," I muttered as I recaptured his mouth to sink my teeth into his lower lip. He stared at me, eyes heavy lidded with lust and something more primal. "I want more, everything. I want you."

My back hit the floor hard and I relished it. We had both endured so long with partners who kissed gently and with too much consideration. I wanted to feel alive as I only did with Edward. Needed to feel that immortal venom pulsing within me, burning through skin and bone and replacing it with pure fire. Edward was my connection to the part of me that was inhuman. I denied it blood, but allowed it this. There was no trace of our monstrosity anywhere but there.

I tore his shirt completely off of him, reveling in the feel of the material ripping apart. He bent down and placed his open mouth over a long lost pulse point in my neck, biting down and sucking hard.

"Ahhh!" I moaned, unable to help myself. "Harder!"

He obliged, digging his teeth in just shy of breaking the skin and sucked the cold flesh as hard as he could until I felt something almost like pain. It was incredible; so little ever actually registered as feeling. Sensation was hard to come by when you were practically made of stone. I was working his belt with one hand and clawing my fingernails down his back with the other. He growled into my neck and tore backwards, eyes feral and delirious.

We tore at each others remaining items of clothing until there was nothing but skin on skin. My skin, his skin...it all became our skin. The lonely ache of being without the other half of me was gone. Here was truth, here was completion and here we finally were together.

It was beyond bliss, beyond pain. I wanted more, more, more and he knew it. I curled my legs around his back as he positioned himself ready to slip inside me. I wanted to prolong the moment but there was no way, no way we could wait any longer. His eyes locked with mine and the recognition in them was startling. We were looking at one another as though we had not done so in years. There he was, the entirety of my world. I reached up and traced his lips with my fingers, feeling the love, bliss...whatever it was...swelling within me as though one hundred years had no passed between us and this was our first time all over again.

He latched onto the thought, his perfect mouth curling into a bittersweet smile.

"One hundred years," he sighed. "Happy anniversary, Rosalie."

He cried out as he entered me and I couldn't help but do the same though I could barely hear myself. Fullness, completion...pleasure beyond articulation. He said my name over and over, prayer like. My hands ran all over his back, unable to keep still as he moved inside me.

"More," I gasped. "Please."

He knew what instantly I meant. He touched his forehead to mine and his tendrils of warm light extended into my own consciousness. I wanted him inside me in every possible way, wanted it forever.

"God, yes, yes, yes," I was babbling. "Stay inside me forever."

His pace was increasing, trading rhythm for speed and I felt my own orgasm building in the pit of my stomach; heat and light and a soft sort of agony. I pulled him down to kiss me, holding him there with both hands.

He felt it, we felt it together connected as we were and it triggered his own orgasm to arrive with mine. He cried out into my own mouth and I swallowed down each and every noise he made, too far outside my own body to even know or care what sounds I was creating.

The world had righted itself for the first time in a long time. All was well, once more. After a few more minutes, an intense calm and happiness settled into my bones, reassuring me that the world could be a good place. That life, immortal or not, could be worth living.

Edward kissed me again, some of the urgency having fled but there remained a sense of need. "My Rose," he breathed, shaky and raw. "My beautiful Rose."

I smiled and kissed him languidly. "Why do we always wait this long?"

He rolled off of me and laughed. "Because we share a weakness for tragedy." He paused for a moment, smile fading slightly. "And because we have other...obligations."

"Don't you dare speak of them now," I warned. "We have so little time as it is."

Edward propped himself up on one elbow and looked at me. "Of course, I'm sorry." He seemed so relaxed, so entirely at one with his own self. My Edward, the beautiful young boy he had once been before encountering death and immortality. The boy he could have been a little while longer had he not met Carlisle. By the time I encountered him he was already a man, so much age and experience in his eyes but every now and then I could see the vestiges of what had once been innocence. With no outside pressures or responsibilities to weigh him down, he could look just as he did then.

"And you also," he said, stroking my hair behind my ear. "Who in the world is lucky enough to see Rosalie Hale as I do?"

"Only you," I replied. "Only ever you."

Two days passed all too soon. Treacherous as time was, it flew by when I wanted it to come to a crashing halt. The entirety of that day was spent in blissful company with not a single piece of clothing. It was easy to lose count of how many times we had sex, how much we kissed and how many words passed between us. Some hours were spent just talking, our bodies pressed together making walls from our backs to exclude the rest of the world.

It was so amazing to make him smile, elicit a laugh from him and see his eyes light up. Edward so rarely laughed about anything and genuine smiles (not the kind he wore for others) were almost as scarce.

"Do you feel we are more equal now?" he asked me, his knees pressed against mine as we lay on the very messy, debris strewn floor.

"Equal how?" I asked as my fingers traces patterns and words into his skin.

"You always seemed to be the strong one. The one who had to make sacrifices for me. Do you feel the same now, or so you feel some sense of equilibrium?"

"You feel an equilibrium?"

He said, "Yes I do. I feel we are finally old enough that we have gained some form of wisdom. I, at least, feel that I am a better version of myself."

I considered. "I can see that. But then surely it's to be expected, after having known each other for a full century now?"

"It still doesn't feel real," he replied. "One hundred years. It feels both too short and too long. So much has happened and yet not enough."

I closed my eyes briefly. "Imagine if we had been even a tenth as wise then as we are now. So much could have been avoided."

"We have Nessie," he offered.

"You have Nessie," I countered gently.

He shuffled closed and said, "Nessie is yours and mine, Rosalie. You saw to it that she was brought into this world. You gave her to me. She is ours, as much as she is...anyone else's. Anything good in this life comes from you."

I did not correct him. "And vice versa, my darling."

The time was growing near for us to commence the process of returning to reality and we both knew it. I wanted to ignore it and pretend it wasn't really happening. It wasn't enough time, nowhere near enough time. It felt as though we were only just at the start of our time together.

There had to be a last time. The knowledge made me want to cry.

We had everything ready to leave and meet Jasper in an hour. My hands were shaking badly as I fumbled with the few remaining objects we needed. Edward took my hands in his and held them, leaning his face to mine.

"We won't leave it this long again," he promised me fervently. "I swear it, we can work something out, somehow."

It wasn't enough. It would simply never be enough, no matter how much we tried. It was getting harder and harder as time wore on to say goodbye and return to obligations and lies.

He read the thought and it evoked his own, very similar pain in answer. "I know, Rosalie. I know. We can be strong, we can do this. We have always done it."

"Another hundred years of this?" I asked tightly. "It's too much."

"We can endure," he whispered, running a hand through my hair. "You and I can withstand anything."

I nodded blindly, wanting to reassure him but I was breaking apart. He kissed me and took my purse from my fingers, throwing it on the floor. I let him pull me closer, returning his kiss with bittersweet desperation.

"We have time," I gasped, circling my arms around his neck. "Time enough for a last time."

This time details did matter. Every patch of his skin that I kissed or touched, I tried to memorise and store away. Each sound he made, each movement, each individual kiss. It was precious to us both, this last time together before a vast period of abstinence and denial. One big breath before being submerged under water.

We removed only what clothing was necessary, so as to give us more time together. I sat on his lap as he knelt on the floor and only once he was inside me did I start to cry. He was crying too, but not as a human would. It was rare that our bodies would produce tears and this was not one of those times. Instead we cried as we groaned and gasped, pleasure and torment, happiness and creeping sadness intertwined as we took what comfort we could while time permitted it.

I kept my forehead to his the entire time, losing myself in his mind and he in mine. I wanted to lose myself in him, caring nothing for consequences or vile obligations. There were noises, but I was unsure if I was making them or he was. It was hard to tell, for how deep I was inside his mind.

'Stay inside me,' I begged him. 'Never leave me, so empty when you're not inside me.'

'Nothing outside of you,' he sang in my mind. 'You are everything.'

I didn't want it to end, but I could feel it coming. I buried myself into his mouth, wanting to fuse us together permanently. The pleasure was building and building, hot and sweet and ready to burst throughout our bodies and echo through our singular mind. There was no delaying it, no stopping it.

There were so many noises, Edward's cries the sweetest among them. Mine were loud too as I fell over the edge with him, tumbling through layers of bliss and rapture. We shared in some strange kind of mutual orgasm, brought about through our connection. It resonated deeply within us both, stealing my ability to breath, hear or even think.

As the shock waves dissipated slowly from us and the world began to focus once more, I could only marvel at the beautiful creature before me. If love was the word for it, then I would have screamed it until my throat gave out, but it wasn't. Perhaps a word that had not been coined yet. We had the time to wait and see if it ever would be.

He stroked my face with a trembling hand.

"Not time," he breathed. "Love or..."

He paused, seeming caught off guard and somewhat confused. His mind had detected something all of a sudden as our senses were returning to us slowly. I looked over to where my bag was on the floor. My phone was vibrating insistently. We hadn't heard it, of course.

But that was not what his mind had sensed.

It was then, while he was still inside me and I on his lap, that I caught sight of movement over Edward's shoulder, near the door.

The world shattered and broke.

Emmett was standing there in the doorway.

Author's Notes: So, let's all get ready for the next part, which will be added soon. I won't stay too much here, because it's late and I'm off to start the next piece. I hope this was worth the wait, or at least entertaining. Review because I love you all and would DIE to hear from you guys. Apologies for mistakes and y'know, if this has defiled your BP Canon.

Bex

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