A/N: Sorry for the wait.

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Disclaimer: See previous chapters

It was around seven o'clock at night when Tony faded through the wall to enter the large house in the middle of the woods.

He left Jacob in his room, sleeping.

The shifter had only left for about thirty minutes to go see Bella but the shock from that visit left him exhausted and confused. Plus Sam had already called about an hour ago to tell him that the pack would be meeting with the Cullens later that night, since the coven sire called and said that he had something of great importance to discuss. Jacob started freaking out since he wasn't ready to see Bella's vampire again but he also knew that Sam would pop a vein if he even thought about skipping out. So Tony tried to calm him down using his inherent cold to get the teen relaxed and soon Jacob fell into a deep albeit uneasy sleep. Once the shifter fell asleep Tony immediately left the house.

Bella told Jacob about where the Cullens lived once and Jacob in turn told Tony one day when he was voicing his frustrations on the girl, and exactly why she couldn't see the bloodsucking monsters for what they were.

Tony knew that Jacob wasn't going to let him come along to the meeting later that night. It was hard trying to keep his imaginary friend a secret from the pack when he wasn't there let alone when he was hovering just a few feet away so Tony learnt to stay away whenever Jacob went on patrol. Not that he particularly liked staying at home alone and in Jacob's room but he didn't really have much of a choice in the matter.

Sometimes when Jacob was out Tony would hover around Billy and watch him as he went about his day, his heart ached for the man whenever he caught him staring at a picture of Jacob's mother with tears in his eyes or whenever he argued with his daughter Rebecca over the phone but he didn't tell Jacob about those things. They weren't his secrets to tell and he's sure that Billy wouldn't want Jacob worrying about him any more than he already was. It wasn't always apparent but Tony could tell how deeply Billy cared for his son.

As for why he went to the Cullen house well, Tony just needed to see it for himself.

The vampire that supposedly looks exactly like him.

He still isn't sure what to make of that since it didn't really make any kind of real sense, but then again a lot hasn't made sense to him since he met Jacob twelve years ago. It was strange.

First there was nothing and then there was Jacob. Tony could remember his parents; his kind hearted mother and his strict father. He remembered that last day in the hospital, the very same day he supposedly died but that's about it. It was like he'd shut his eyes for just a moment and suddenly there was Jacob. Curled up beneath the covers on his bed, shivering in fear as a storm raged on outside. He'd let out a soft squeak when he saw the older teen suddenly standing in his room but still showed an impressive amount of courage as he bravely asked Tony who he was and how he got into his room.

He's been with the boy ever since.

Things were rough for Jacob at first, what with his mother suspecting him of insanity and his father thinking that he was just acting up, but eventually he got used to having the ghost around and learned not to talk about him since he quickly realized that no one else saw Tony the way that he did.

Years passed and Tony grew to care for the boy and love him more with every day that went by, despite the fact that he could never touch Jacob to comfort him or even welcome him home. Even though he had absolutely no idea why he appeared to Jacob in the first place. He just knew that Jacob was important to him or maybe, he would one day become important to him. Either way Tony never felt any need leave the boy and never even felt the urge to try. For a while Tony felt like he'd be able to be with Jacob just as they were, for the rest of the boy's life. But then Jacob grew older and taller and puberty kicked in, which made things awkward since Jacob's affections for him took a decidedly less innocent turn than how it had been when he was younger. It made things awkward since Tony felt the same way, but they both knew that a relationship would be impossible for them, what with Tony being a ghost and all. So neither one brought it up.

Later Jacob turned sixteen and the shifter gene gave him a growth spurt to end all growth spurts and Tony briefly wondered if that was meant to be his punishment. Maybe he really did pass on into the afterlife and he wasn't actually a ghost. He was being punished for all his sins by being so close yet so very far from the one person that he wanted to hold and touch but never really could.

Tony remembered how strained their relationship was around the time that Jacob found out about his heritage and just didn't seem to have any time for him anymore, since he was always around Sam and the pack. It was different from how it used to be when Jacob was younger and Tony only had to deal with the infuriating little annoyance that was Bella Swan, different because Jacob's bond to the pack went far beyond that of a silly little crush and for a while Tony worried that Jacob may grow tired of him.

But the Quileute never did.

He spent hours at home in the privacy of his own room whenever he wasn't at school or on patrol with the pack. His room was basically the only place that Jacob could talk to the ghost as freely as he wanted to without looking like he was absolutely insane.

Tony learnt that Jacob couldn't fall asleep unless he was right there beside him, the heat from his wolf made things unbearably warm and Jacob said that he liked feeling the cold that came from Tony even if he could never really feel Tony's skin against his own. Jacob also talked to him about things he couldn't talk about with anyone else since, well: if you can't tell your secrets to your imaginary friend then who could you tell?

He's been with Jacob for twelve years and Tony knew without a shadow of a doubt that there isn't anything that he wouldn't do for the Quileute.

Which is why he decided to pay the Cullen house a little visit.

After all, if anyone could figure out what the deal was with his vampire dopple ganger it would be him wouldn't it? Plus, Tony was just a little bit curious as to exactly how close a resemblance he had with this Edward Cullen.

He phased through the wall of a brightly lit house, it was beautiful and spacious, a little flashy for a family of vampires supposedly trying to hide out in the woods but Tony didn't hate it as much as he thought he would.

He walked down the hallway taking a moment to pause as he looked over into the den to find two people sitting on the loveseat furthest away, near the wall beside one of the large glass windows.

One was a woman with beautiful blonde hair and the other was a man with a large frame and dark hair. Both had deathly pale skin and cold eyes and they were curled around one another on the couch, whispering softly to each other in the quiet room.

A mated pair, probably. Tony turned away and moved through the next wall and blinked when he found himself in the kitchen where a woman with brown hair going down to her shoulders stood humming over a stove filled with pots and pans.

The ghost couldn't help but move a bit closer as she smiled stirring a pot of what looked like pasta sauce while the steam from the pots around her rushed up to her cheeks. She had a kind face, something that almost reminded him of his mother and Tony couldn't help but smile.

The woman then seemed to pause and stopped humming all together as she pursed her lips together in a tight line and stared down at the sauce with a frown. Until she stirred the sauce one more time before lifting the wooden spoon up to her lips to taste. She only hesitated for a moment before she tasted the bright red liquid and Tony frowned since Jacob told him that vampires couldn't eat food.

The woman's face suddenly twisted in disgust and she immediately turned back to spit the sauce back out in the sink, opening the tap to release a rush of water to try and dispel the taste.

Tony gave a snort as he turned away and went back into the hall way. Up the stairs and down the hall despite the fact that he could have simply floated up to the second floor. He found the rooms there vacant with the exception of one that had a blonde male vampire sitting on the end of the bed, reading some sort of book. Tony frowned as he edged closer to the man to get a look at what he was reading only to hold back a gasp when the man's head suddenly snapped up and he seemed to look right at him with a frown of his own. Tony gasped immediately phasing out of the room and back down to the first floor.

Was he actually seen?

By someone other than Jacob? But how?

None of the other vampires in the house noticed him at all so maybe… maybe it's a coincidence.

Tony took a deep breath despite the fact that he really didn't need to as he looked around himself. The woman in the kitchen was humming again, clearly having recovered from her little experiment and the two in the den still sat whispering.

Tony turned back and found a door down the hall next to the stairs and made his way towards it, going right through the wooden panel and down the small flight of stairs that made it clear that it was a basement only to smile when he found a baby grand piano sitting right in the middle of the large darkened room.

The ghost moved over towards it, letting his hand drift over the smooth wooden finish on the side of the instrument before sliding over to sit on the bench in front of it. The fall was up, leaving the white and black keys exposed and Tony briefly glanced over the sheets of music on the music rack.

"Bella's song." Tony read the title at the top of the page and realized that the piano probably belonged to Edward. There were dozens of other pages scattered on top of the closed lid with a pencil lying haphazardly on top of them, but Tony barely paid attention to any of it as he lifted his hands and let his fingers hover above the keys before he slowly brought them down.

It didn't make a sound, Tony hadn't expected it to but he felt a familiar calm wash over him at the setting as he remembered the few times that his father had sat beside him when he was younger and taught him how to play. He wished for what sure wouldn't be the last time that he had his own body just so he could at least touch the keys before him.

The ghost sighed in frustration, since he didn't go over to that house to reminisce he went there to find Edward. But Edward didn't seem to be there. The ghost stared at the baby grand for one more moment when-

"Edward? I thought you went to go see Be-" Tony's head snapped up and he silently cursed himself for not noticing the vampire earlier only to freeze in shock when he realized that the vampire just spoke directly to him.

She was a short girl with black hair down to her chin and large gold eyes. Large gold eyes that went wide as she gaped at him.

"What are-… You're not Edward."

With that Tony immediately rushed out of the house in a blur, ignoring the loud shout that the girl gave as he phased through the walls and disappeared into the night.

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"Edward." Bella gasped when she suddenly saw the vampire standing in her room but still smiled as she tried to catch her breath, "I didn't see you. You know for a moment I thought you weren't coming tonight."

Edward resisted the urge to sigh and rake a hand through his hair in frustration; instead he stood still as the girl got up off the bed and walked over to plant a soft kiss on his lips. It was incredibly hard not pushing her away but he didn't kiss her back either and Bella immediately noticed.

The girl frowned, "What's wrong?"

Edward kept his gaze on her as he tried to find the right words, but it was hard. Just the night before he was telling Bella how much he loved her and how he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. It was just that afternoon that he'd held her in his arms and kissed her deeply, fighting back against the temptation that her sweet blood always carried for him. But now suddenly things are different.

Her blood was still as sweet and enticing as it used to be, only this time Edward couldn't fool himself into believing that the urge to bite was caused by him wanting to claim her as his mate and not because he desperately wanted to drain her dry. He still cared for her, that much Edward was sure of, but he was also sure that Jacob was the only one he had any intention of claiming and for the first time since he'd convinced himself that he was in love Edward saw his attraction to her for what it was.

She's a sweet girl, kind and thoughtful; she's a wonderful person. But her blood overwhelmed all else and for the first time Edward really felt that burning itch at the back of his throat.

The telepath looked away and immediately stopped breathing, he tried to divert his mind to things other than the blood he could hear rushing through the human girl's veins and almost instinctively Edward's thoughts went straight to Jacob. He wondered what the Quileute was doing, if he'd gotten over the shock of their connection yet and what he was thinking about right at that moment. Edward felt a rush of anticipation as he remembered that Carlisle had called a meeting with the pack and that Jacob would probably be there as well. It's only been a few hours and his heart already ached with longing to see his mate.

"Edward?"

Bella asked in concern as she lifted a hand to gently touch his face instantly bringing the vampire back to the task at hand.

After his talk with Carlisle, Alice had practically shoved Edward into the nearest corner of the house and demanded answers since she had heard the telepath's confession along with everyone else in the house. Edward explained what happened, how it felt when he and Jacob touched and how absolutely sure he was of what the teen meant to him after he did. At first Alice seemed less than pleased as she asked exactly where that left Bella and Edward told her that he simply couldn't go on with the wedding, not anymore.

But the pixie surprised him as she simply let out a sigh.

"I'd had such high hopes for her, she really is such a lovely girl and the visions… well I suppose they don't really matter anymore." Alice gave another sigh, "I just want you to be happy Edward, that's all I've ever wanted for our family. You've been lonely and so unhappy for the longest time that I got so excited when I started seeing you and Bella together. You deserve a mate of your own and if… Jacob can be that for you then I'll support you in whatever way is necessary."

Edward couldn't help but smile, "Thank you Alice that means a lot to me."

"You're welcome, although-" The pixie cut herself off biting her lip for a moment before she spoke, "You know how difficult this will be, don't you? I'm sure the tribe won't be pleased and as for your wolf-… I heard what you told Carlisle about how he reacted at Bella's; he's going to make a very difficult mate Edward."

The telepath sighed, "I know, I know things are going to be difficult but I can't deny the way I feel about him Alice. I've been away from him for less than an hour and I already miss him so badly I can't stand it."

Alice gave him a small smile, "It'll get better once you're mated for now however I think that Carlisle is right, you should give him some space to process what he's feeling."

Edward resisted the urge to pout like a toddler and simply nodded his head as Alice continued, "You'll also need to tell Bella about this as soon as possible it's not fair to keep her in the dark." The pixie said as she plopped down onto the seat beside her brother with a heavy sigh, "How quickly things change. This morning I was sure that you and Bella would be together forever, I was having so much fun planning the wedding and now…" The pixie gave a pout, "I mean, what am I even supposed to do for the wedding? We'll have to change the fitting I'd booked for Bella with the designer with a tailor instead unless, do you think Jacob would mind wearing a dress? I'd try to figure it out for myself but I for some reason I just can't seem to see him."

Edward couldn't help but laugh at that.

A few hours ago, Edward was able to forget about his problems for a while and spent the next two hours rambling on and on about Jacob despite the fact that they hadn't spoken much at all and most of what he knew he'd gotten from Bella and all the stories that he heard from her about the shifter.

But he hoped that that would soon change. Later they would meet with the pack and hopefully things would go well. Hopefully he'd be allowed to see Jacob and maybe Jacob would want to see him. It occurred to Edward that they haven't said more than a few words to one another. Ideally he would've wanted to get to know Jacob first and then build a relationship before telling Sam and the tribe but Carlisle was right, the sooner they know the better. They couldn't have the pack thinking that Jacob has been sneaking around and consorting with cold ones without anyone knowing. If Edward is going to do this, he's going to do this right.

But first…

This needs to end.

"Bella, we need to talk." Edward said taking both of the girl's hands into his own and Bella frowned even more, "About what?"

The telepath swallowed hard as he stared down at their joint hands, how he used to marvel at the warmth radiating beneath her human skin, now all he could think about was how much warmer Jacob's skin was in comparison.

"About the wedding." Edward said leading the girl back towards her bed so they both sat down and Bella's expression grew with even more concern.

"What about it?"

Edward swallowed hard before he spoke, "We can't get married anymore."

Bella froze in shock, "What?"

"Bella. You know I've never wanted this life for you. Being a vampire is hell on earth and I couldn't dream of dooming someone to the same fate as the one that I have to suffer through-"

"But I already told you that I don't care about that." Bella interrupted quickly as she moved a little closer to the telepath, "I love you Edward and as long as we're together then nothing else matters."

"But I don't want to be with you anymore Bella." The girl suddenly sat back completely silent and Edward resisted the urge to sigh as he finished, "There's someone else."

For a perfect moment Edward was almost sure that the girl had stopped breathing. Her face was completely expressionless and Edward internally sighed at the look. Just yesterday he'd found it utterly mysterious how he couldn't read Bella like all the other humans. How he had to put in actual effort to figure what she wanted and how she felt.

Now he can't help but feel utterly frustrated.

"Who is it? How long has this been going on?"

Edward hesitated, he wasn't sure about exactly how much to tell Bella. He knew she deserved to know the truth but he also knew how much Bella meant to Jacob, so he couldn't tell her about his involvement just yet, Jacob would tell her when he's ready.

"Not long."

Bella almost seemed to let out a sigh, "Then it isn't too late, Edward we can work through this. I can forgive you-"

"No we can't and you shouldn't have to forgive me for this. I am the one who's wrong here." the telepath raked a hand through his hair when the girl sank back into herself and he could almost smell the tears collecting in her eyes. The sheer amount of guilt he felt at making her cry almost made Edward want to take his words back.

But he couldn't.

"You deserve better than anything that I could give you Bella. I can't commit to you when I'm in love with someone else."

The girl seemed to give a soft sniff as she looked down at her lap with her hands clenching tight on her jeans, "You said you loved me."

"And I do, just not the same way-"

"That you love her?!" Bella snapped and the telepath sighed but didn't answer and the human girl just knew.

Bella's jaw clenched and her face flushed with heartache before she whispered, "Get out."

Edward swallowed hard, wanting to comfort her but knowing that that would probably just make things worse.

"I really am sorry Bella, but this is the best for everyone." Edward said as he turned back and left through the window the same way that he came, feeling like complete and total utter garbage when he did and yet slightly elated as well.

He didn't want to hurt Bella he'd never dream of it, but both Carlisle and Alice were right. He couldn't keep up the charade with her, knowing what he did about Jacob. Knowing how he felt about the Quileute even if they haven't spent much time together.

There would be time for that later, hopefully if he somehow manages to get a hold of Jacob first.

The telepath sighed.

Things can never be easy can they?

Edward reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone and turned on the screen.

Almost time to meet the pack.

Edward walked away from the house, briefly wondering if he should change before hand or if he should just head straight to the border instead. Would Jacob even care? Probably not, but Edward couldn't help but let a small smile creep over his face at the thought that maybe Jacob would care, if he felt the connection that he shared with the vampire the way that Edward was sure he did. But he won't be sure until he actually saw Jacob.

For the first time since they moved to Forks, Edward looked forward to a meeting with the pack.

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"Jacob?"

Tony asked as he appeared in the Quileute's room and found the teen scrambling to find the tie that he usually used to tie his cut offs to his ankle, until he seemed to let out a sigh when he found it in the top drawer beside his bed.

"Hey."

"Jacob there's something I need to tell you."

"I can't talk right now, Sam called he said we have to go." The shifter growled in frustration, "Like I really wanna see any part of the Cullens right now."

Tony moved until he was standing right in front of the teen, "Jacob it's important-"

"Then you can tell me later." Jacob said dismissively as he turned towards his door when he suddenly heard his phone buzz loudly on the bedside table. Jacob gave another frustrated sigh as he turned back to pick it up. "What now-… Bella?"

The shifter frowned at the name flashing across the screen and Tony let out a huff of frustration as he folded his arms across his chest, "So you'll talk to Bella but not to me about something that's actually important?"

"Gimme a break O.K Tony, when I get back we can talk as long as you want." Jacob said as he swiped his finger across the screen and held the phone up to his ear to answer, "Hey, Bells, look I'm kind of in a hurry can I call you back la-… what? Wait, are you crying?... What happened?"

Jacob's eyes went wide and Tony frowned at him when the shifter suddenly growled out.

"He did what?!"

A/N:

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