Disclaimer: I own neither Twilight, nor the Apocalypse. I do, however, own one hundred pennies, or a dollar, as some would call it.
This is how the world ends,
This is how the world ends,
This is how the world ends,
Not with a Bang, but a Whimper.
-T.S. Eliot
We sat on the hill overlooking Forks that day. That last day.
And, we sparkled for the world to see. Anyone who noticed wouldn't care...couldn't care. They're lives were soon to be ended, just as ours were.
I was clutching Edward, Esme and Carlisle sat embracing, Jasper and Alice gazed at each other's sad eyes, and Rosalie and Emmett were wrapped around each other till I couldn't tell were the one ended and the other began. I smiled a little. Same old, same old...
I imagined though, that in all the panic and desperation, we were the happiest about having this friendly, blue planet obliterated by meteors.
Many humans and not-so-humans, had tried to take shelter underground, but not us. Alice had seen it all. There wouldn't be any survivors. The thousands of meteors would knock the planet's orbit off kilter. No one had the slightest chance of staying alive after today.
So, here we sat, in plain sight, like glittering targets for those otherworldly missiles. I sighed as I watched the Sun start to slowly sink down behind the trees in the last sunset Earth would ever see.
Edward pulled me to him, and I snuggled in as close as I could, hating the fact that we were two separate people instead of one. If we were one, there was no chance that we could be divided. I knew that this "end of the world" thing was terrible for him and his hero complex.
This was the one thing he couldn't protect me from.
What he didn't know though, was that it was just as bad for me.
"I love you, Bella," he whispered, "so, so much."
"I love you, too," I murmured. "I'll still get to love you after this. We'll still love each other." It sounded more like I was trying to convince myself though.
He nodded, time after time again. He just sat there, with his arms around me, nodding against my hair.
The hours I had to talk to him were numbered, and here I couldn't think of anything to say. I wanted to hear his voice though, more than ever.
"Edward?" I asked. "Will you sing to me?"
Immediately, he started humming my lullaby. I closed my eyes and leant my ear against his chest, feeling the vibrations as the melody flowed up out of his soul, to his lips.
That was the only sound around, aside from the birds' song. The happy, oblivious birds – they didn't even have a clue that this was no occasion to be chirping on. I wished Edward and I were birds then, singing all day long, right up till the world ended.
We'd come back to Forks on a whim for this affair, or at least, that's what Alice called it. I looked over to see her still gazing at Jasper, in her best, most expensive Channel beige dress. The corners of my mouth twitched. Alice would be Alice.
Edward's voice shattered my reverie. "Will you sing to me?"
I laughed. "Are you serious?"
He nodded.
"Well, all right... um..." I started humming a random song that floated into my head, just tacking on different notes that sounded good together.
He clapped when I was finished. "Beautiful, my darling."
I gave a fake bow. "Why, thank you."
He laughed. Soon, it elicited my own laughter. Maybe we were more like the birds than I thought.
The Sun had gone now, and I was doleful to note that I would never see it again, never see Edward sparkle in its brilliant rays. I would've cried if I could.
I was, on the other hand, glad to see the stars once more. They came out one by one, those bright pokeholes in the navy sky. Some of them, I thought, seemed to be getting larger.
After we all realized why, we glanced around at each other, trying to memorize the faces of this family we all loved. But, good things don't last forever.
We sat with our mates and waited as the stars grew bigger and bigger and bigger, until they dwarfed the Moon in comparison now. It was nearly as bright as the day now.
Suddenly, the falling meteors were concealed in blackness. Clouds covered them over, and I felt the wet drops of rain plummet and splatter onto my face. Then, more fell, till a regular rainstorm bombarded us.
Emmett laughed, and it was infectious. Pretty soon, we all laughed at the irony of something so normal happening right now. It was almost like Forks didn't care that it was about to be knocked off of the map. It looked the other way and went on with its day-to-day routine regardless.
All of a sudden, Edward jumped up. And amid the booms of thunder, his voice rang out to me. "Dance with me!"
I jumped up laughing. White light was starting to diffuse through the clouds now, but I didn't care.
He hooked his arm around my waste and pulled me to him with a growl. I wrapped mine around his neck, and tangled my fingers through his sopping bronze hair. Our other hands were held out to the side, fingers interlaced.
He spun me around, and dipped me low, and kissed me repeatedly, and all the while the white light grew brighter, but we smiled anyway. I never looked away from his topaz eyes. It made sense now, coming to Forks. It made sense to end my life where it began.
And that's where we were, that's what we did, Edward and I. We laughed, sang, and waltzed though puddles the day the world stopped spinning.