Previously, in Chapter Thirty-Six…

I fired another round, hitting him in the chest this time, the bullet ripping through his long dead heart. His pale body jerked then fell, sliding to the earth, his scruffy face submerging in a deep puddle. I watched him for a moment before leaving him there, satisfied that there were no bubbles erupting from the surface of his watery grave.

Then I stepped inside my grandmother's house to reclaim my life.

I reclaimed my new life with Edward.

Pre-read by my ff soul mate, Jonesn, who tolerates my weirdness for some strange reason. Beta'd by my evil overlord, AliCat0623, who didn't look over this twice. Why? Because she's lazy as hell. All mistakes are mine. Hope y'all enjoy it.

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Final Goodbyes

It's time to say goodbye,

but I think goodbyes are sad

and I'd much rather say hello.

Hello to a new adventure.

~Ernie Harwell~

Cool cotton sheets comforted me as I awoke from a deep, dreamless sleep. I stretched, glancing around Edward's bedroom and found myself alone. The morning sunlight filtered in through the window, the light fading and shifting with the movement of the branches and leaves of the trees looming over the Cullen property.

I slipped from beneath the covers, yawning and stretching, before a slight chill settled over me. My eyes searched the room, searched for her, yet found nothing out of the ordinary. Deciding the chill was the bitter end-of-November wind creeping inside, I shrugged, then padded into Edward's bathroom to take a long, hot shower.

It wasn't until later, after blow-drying my hair, slipping on an old, familiar black dress, and carefully applying my makeup, that the chill returned. Staring into the mirror, just past my right shoulder in the reflection, I was met with a pair of dark eyes, so similar, yet so vastly different from my own.

"You really need to stop popping up every time I have my back turned, Ali," I sighed.

My sister grinned a mischievous little grin, her eyes alight with amusement as she watched me casually finish my makeup. It wasn't the first time she visited me since my uncle's demise. She was there with me when I found Edward inside my grandmother's home, standing over his forlorn body, causing me to break out into a scream. She was there in the woods near the river when we dumped the body and tossed the guns, and she was there the night our grandmother called me sobbing, explaining that Makenna finally passed away.

I slipped my fingers inside a black lace glove. Then I held my hand in the air, turning it this way and that way, admiring the web-like pattern the ebony lace made against my skin. My sister watched me with that silly grin on her face, smug over the fact that she'd surprised me once more by popping up unannounced.

"People already think I'm crazy," I murmured, peeking at Edward's partly open door. "If they hear me talking to my dead sister they'll really think my mind's flown the coop."

"I feel more and more insignificant every time you mention the word 'dead.' How would you feel if I kept rubbing your demise in your face?" she asked, her grin stretching widely across her pale face. "Maybe you're the one who's dead, and I'm really alive."

"What?" I gasped, turning to her with wide eyes.

Alice cackled, then rolled from her belly to her side, propping her head on her hand. The black dress she wore was wrinkled, the deep creases embedded in the dark silk. She lounged on Edward's bed as though it were the most natural thing in the world, as she'd done for the past few weeks, showing up when I least expected it and scaring the shit out of me each and every time.

"I liked you better when you were alive," I muttered, narrowing my eyes.

"Well, I should hope so!"

"Ali, can I ask you a question? Are you a ghost, or just a figment of my imagination?"

My sister sighed, then sat up on the bed, crossing her tiny legs beneath her. She was barefoot, with no shoes in sight.

"I hate the word 'ghost.' It makes me feel invisible… so empty," she mused, casting me another one of those grins, which quickly melted once she noticed my serious expression. "Okay, okay. No more jokes. Jesus. You take things too seriously. To be honest with you, I don't know what I am, but I'd like to think I'm more than just a ghost, more than just an illusion you've conjured up. I like to imagine that I'm memories, memories that you can see if you look hard enough."

I absorbed her words for a moment, then nodded, moving on to my next question.

"Have you met God?"

"God?" she scowled, rolling her eyes. "Why, hell no, Sissy. If I met God do you think I'd still be hanging around this joint?"

"So why are you here?"

"I came to say goodbye, one last time."

I stared at her for a long moment, her humor no longer evident. Her dark eyes were somewhat shy, and completely laced with sadness as she toyed with the hem of her dress.

"If you're a memory, then you'll never slip away," I whispered, my heart twisting inside my chest at the thought of no longer seeing my sister.

"Memories fade over time," she replied, uncrossing her legs and perching on the side of the bed, smoothing the wrinkles from her dress. "I'm starting to forget things. I can't remember hardly anything from our childhood. I barely remember our father. I remember Mama, but can't remember what she looks like. Mama's face no longer lingers in my mind."

"That's not a great loss," I grumbled.

"She's our mother," Alice told me, gazing at me with nothing but solemnity. "No matter how awful she treated us, find forgiveness somehow, Bella. It's the only way you'll move forward in life."

"Are you coming to the funeral before you leave?" I asked, ignoring her statement, because forgiveness was nowhere feasible in the near future, not for my mother, not for anyone.

"Nah. Once you've been to your own funeral, you've been to them all," she cracked, shooting me another smile.

"My dead sister is full of jokes today."

"Stop calling me dead!" she groaned, pressing her tiny head delicately against her still heart. "You're completely crushing my spirit! Get it? Crushing my spirit?"

I opened my mouth to snap back at her, but the soft padding of boots on the stairs caused me to pause. Alice heard the footsteps as well. Quickly standing from the bed, she crossed the room, then shocked me by throwing her tiny arms around my neck.

I felt her.

I felt her cool body pressed against mine, the sleek fabric of the dress slipping against my chilled skin. The smell of her shampoo wafted around me in an Alice-induced haze. I felt her cheeks rise against my face as she smiled. I heard her breath, the breath of a dead girl. Then she began to pull away.

"Wow," I whispered, gazing at her with wide eyes as her soft hands lingered on my shoulders. "I can feel you. That's amazing."

"Of course you can feel me," she snorted, the contours of her face softening as they began to fade. "I'm your sister."

One hand slipped from my body, the other slid beneath the chain dangling from my neck. She lifted the key that hung there, knotting her eyebrows in concentration as the outline of her body quickly began to slip away.

"Ali," I gasped, saddened that she was leaving, horrified that I'd never see her again, grasping at questions to force her to remain. "Wait, don't go. What about the key? Stay behind and tell me about the key."

"The key," she murmured, those eyebrows still drawn in confusion as she lifted her eyes and met mine. "You know, I can't seem to remember anything about a key."

And just like that she was gone.

"Bella?"

Cool metal slapped against my neck as the key fell against my skin, landing between my breasts. I closed my eyes, then took a deep breath before turning to the door. Edward stood in the doorway, his mussed hair even more unruly than usual and dark circles beneath his eyes.

"Are you alright?"

I laughed at his words, shaking my head slightly at the irony of it all.

I was most definitely not 'alright.'

"I'm great," I replied with a soft smile, hoping it met my eyes.

Edward pushed himself from where he was propped against the door frame, then made his way across the room. My stomach fluttered at the way he looked wearing a charcoal-grey suit, nicely tailored, with his hands deep in his pockets. A pink tie hung from his neck which I used to draw him against me, sliding my fingers around the slick material and giving it a tug. He grinned that famous lopsided grin, then melted into me, wrapping his arms tightly around my waist.

"Are you sure you can do this?" he asked, his warm breath just a whisper as he planted sweet kisses beneath my ear.

"Yeah, I'm sort of used to it by now," I cracked, snubbing the emotional knot lodging inside my throat.

"That doesn't mean it ever gets any easier," he replied, resting his hands on the small of my back. "If you want to say 'fuck it, let's go have a burger and shake,' we'll do that. We'll do anything you want to do. I just want you happy. I'm tired of seeing you sad."

"I'll watch them bury my cousin," I responded, closing my eyes and breathing him in as he rested his forehead against mine. "And I'll bury my sadness with her as well."

~DSDW~

The lobby of the funeral home was brimming with friends and relatives hugging and clinging to one another, murmuring their condolences for a bit before moving on to other subjects like jobs, families, what ever happened to cousin Tracey, and so on.

I once described funerals as a major social event in the South, which was true. There's the inevitable out-of-towners, those relatives one doesn't see unless there's some major life event.

Those family members won't return to town anytime soon unless there's another death, marriage, birth, or family reunion. Someone at said event will inevitably be drunk or high, and someone is bound to get into a fight before the end of the night. That's just how it is sometimes.

The sanctuary was full of people pressing their tissues to the corners of their eyes. The loss of such a young person hung in the air. Such a terrible tragedy, they murmured. A freak accident, they claimed, faulty wiring in the truck. Only a select few of us knew the truth surrounding the night of Makenna's 'accident.'

The curious eyes of the townsfolk continued to linger on us, me and the Cullen clan, who all sat on the back pew of the church. I dismissed Emmett's suggestion to sit near the front in a pew reserved only for close relatives.

The only family I desired sat by my side: the Cullens.

I bristled as I spied Kate wander into the room, her icy-blue eyes darting around the sanctuary until they landed on mine. The sight of the pink scratches embedded down the side of her face caused me to cringe, but I held her stare, tilting my head high.

No regrets.

Kate surprised me by bestowing a soft smile upon me, then tugging Garrett closely to her side. They made their way across the room, weaving through the mourners standing in line down the center aisle of the sanctuary, waiting their turn to view the body and hug the woeful parents of my little cousin.

My body went rigid as the two of them slipped passed us in the pew, Kate's soft blue skirt drifting across my bare knees. She sat down beside me and I gave her a tight smile, trying not to stare at the marks beneath her thick makeup.

"I look like shit. I know," she whispered, giving me a half-smile. "It's okay. I deserved it."

"Yeah, you kinda did," I admitted, my smile not so tight after that, struggling to remember Alice's advice concerning forgiveness.

"Has the FBI been questioning you about Aro?"

My cousin never was one for beating around the bush. I glanced behind me at the mourners, content that everyone within earshot was deeply absorbed in their own hushed conversations.

"They came sniffing around, asking questions about Aro," I told her, as Edward's arm slipped around my shoulders.

"What did you tell them?"

"The truth," I grinned. "I told them the truth, to an extent. I was with Edward the night of the storm. It was far too rough to get out in that sort of weather."

"Do you think they bought it?" she asked.

I shrugged, unsure of that answer myself. Cops and detectives were persistent, if anything. I wouldn't be surprised if they were to continue hounding us for answers. Unfortunately for them, dead men don't talk, especially not the one we tossed in the river. If only Billy were there to join his friend and his own son in their watery graves.

"Heard anything about Billy Black?" she questioned, as though she were reading my mind. "Any new developments?"

"Nah," I sighed, running my fingers through my dark hair, tugging a strand between my fingers. "He's practically living at the police station. He's terrified, as he should be. Carlisle's itching to get his hands on him. He told me and Edward that he'll be the one to end Billy. Paul's still on the inside watching Billy's every move and reporting back to Carlisle, but Billy's never alone and always at the police station. Edward thinks we should just turn my father's doctored police reports along with the originals that we found in Nana's safe to the FBI, but Carlisle won't have it. I think he really wanted to be the one to end Aro's life for killing Edward Senior. He stood back and let us handle it because it was our fathers' who were murdered, but Billy … Billy's all Carlisle's."

"I'd love to help Carlisle end Billy Black's life," she confessed, her eyes sparkling mischievously. "I need another trigger finger to replace the one I got rid of."

"Kate," I gasped. "That's horrible! Ugh."

"Meh," she said with a shrug, lowering her voice so low that I struggled to hear her as the preacher gestured for the audience to rise. "I know. I'm a little twisted. Garrett says I'm disturbing, but I don't think so. Cutting off a trigger finger or two is nothing compared to the things they've done to us, our family, and the Cullens."

I nodded my head, a silent agreement to her softly spoken words. Then we stood, hung our heads in prayer, and mourned the loss of our cousin, although few tears were shed between Kate and I.

~DSDW~

"This is wrong on so many levels."

"Shhh, just one hit," Edward begs, flashing those white teeth behind his pink, kissable lips. "Just to take the edge off."

"Are we gonna sit here all day and discuss this, or are we gonna get baked?" Garrett grumbled, snatching the blunt from my boyfriend's fingertips.

The four of us sat in the hayloft in Nana's barn, our feet dangling from the edge of the platform. I sat between Edward's legs as he leaned back on his elbows, his dress shirt unbuttoned halfway down his chest. He looked scrumptious.

Rose and Emmett were somewhere inside Nana's house distracting everyone from snooping us out, not that I thought anyone would truly come looking for us. Everyone was too busy gossiping and eating, mourning and then laughing.

"What if there's a Cullen and Swan smackdown, right in the middle of Nana's dining room?" I asked, frowning as Garrett toked the blunt, his cheeks hollowing out as he sucked the smoke into his lungs.

"Bella, the entire goddamn town is in your grandmother's house gorging on casseroles and cake," Edward sighed, pulling me into his lap. "Rose is the only 'Cullen' in your grandmother's house, and you know no one besides our family thinks of her as a true Cullen. Besides, your uncles are scared shitless right about now. They won't do anything to draw more attention to your family, so stop worrying. There won't be a smackdown, unless you'd like me to smack your ass for being so damn stubborn."

I responded by digging my fingers angrily into his ribs causing him to laugh. His eyes flitted across my features, taking me in with a soft expression, and I found that I couldn't remain angry at him for long. Dust particles floated through the sunlight spilling through a crack in the barn, dancing around his face. He never looked so beautiful.

"Get a room," Kate playfully scolded, her grin slipping away as Garrett pulled her face to his and shotgunned, exchanging the smoke from his mouth to hers.

There was something extremely intimate about the act, the way their lips brushed lightly against one another, the way the smoke rolled from his mouth to hers. Suddenly I wasn't so opposed to the idea of getting faded hours after burying my cousin, especially if it meant pressing my lips to Edward's.

Edward reached for the blunt, but I beat him to it, snatching it from Garrett and taking a deep pull. Turning sideways in Edward's lap, I mimicked Garrett and my cousin, lightly brushing my lips against Edward's, exhaling as he inhaled in return. I felt him grow hard beneath me as I shifted in place, caught under a spell as his eyes bored into mine and smoke rolled over his bottom lip.

"We're gonna go grab a plate," Garrett laughed, effectively breaking the spell as he took the blunt back and took a drag. "Y'all take your time."

Kate and Garrett snickered as they climbed down the wooden ladder perched against the loft. Edward chuckled as the barn doors creaked behind them, leaving us partly in darkness aside from the sunlight spilling in through the occasional crack in the wood.

"Could they have been more subtle?" Edward asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, earning another rib-poking.

"Just shut up and kiss me," I whispered with a smile, watching as his own smile faded away and was replaced with a look of longing.

Tilting my head back and to the side, I closed my eyes, parting my lips when his melded to mine. His warm tongue slid inside, greeting mine, stroking it slowly, just as slow as his hand which crept up my bare knee. Pushing my black skirt up my thigh, I automatically parted my legs, gasping into his mouth as his fingers brushed against the silky fabric between my thighs.

"Already so wet," he mumbled between kisses, barely stroking my throbbing clit, teasing me with his feather light touch. "So wet for me."

I pulled his face back to mine, forcing his lips roughly against my own, desperate for his kiss, his touch. He groaned at my persistence, pushing the thin material of my panties to the side and brushing his fingers against my bare flesh. My hips bucked, and I felt as though I were about to explode.

"God, I need you," I whispered, pressing myself against his teasing fingers. "I need you inside me."

"Don't you think we need to move from the edge of this loft before you get too excited?" he teased, scooting back across the dusty surface of the empty loft.

I shot him a vicious smile, turned and crawled over him. His eyes widened and darkened as I crept over his body, spreading my legs and planting my knees on each side of his hips. He was hard where I was warm, and I couldn't help but snicker as I slowly gyrated my hips, rocking myself back and forth over his length.

"Damnit, Bella," he murmured, running his fingers up my thighs. "Could we have picked a worse spot to do this?"

Leaning down, I pressed my lips against his Adam's apple, kissing my way along his neck and across the scruff of his jaw. I took his earlobe between my lips, tugging and softly sucking, enjoying his breathy moans and the way he began grinding himself against me.

"I promise," I whispered in his ear as I released his earlobe, "that in a few minutes these wooden boards beneath us won't matter much."

Edward responded with a kiss, sucking my bottom lip between his teeth and gently biting down. His tongue slipped inside my mouth just as his hands slid up my skirt, skillfully tugging the thin material of my panties down.

Smirking, I pulled away and stood up. He stared up at me with wide eyes, watching as I shimmied the panties from beneath my skirt and tossed them to the side.

"Unbuckle that belt." I demanded.

I licked my lips, then grinned at the surprised amusement in his eyes. His long fingers fumbled with the belt until it was released. He paused, gazing up at me, one eyebrow raised with a grin on his face as though he were waiting for me to tell him the next step.

"If you want me," I told him, taking a few steps back, careful to steer clear of the edge, "you gotta come get me."

I laughed as he cursed below his breath, struggling with his pants. I darted behind a wooden beam, watching with wide eyes as he smirked at me, looking absolutely lethal as he kicked his dress shoes to the side and allowed his slacks to slide from his hips. Edward slowly unfastened the remaining buttons that held his shirt together. The material slid from his arms before he strode forward like a predator stalking his prey. The lithe movements of his body brought liquid heat shooting through me, ending between my thighs. I was rendered still, biting my lip and clutching the wooden beam as he approached me, then slipped behind me.

"You'll need that beam," he whispered, the telltale sound of his boxers easing down his hips.

"Why?" I breathed, gasping as his hand immediately found my breasts.

"Gravity's not your friend today, I'm afraid."

Edward took his time easing the buttons loose from my fitted top, then pulling it open. He sighed once he realized I was wearing a bra, causing me to chuckle. One deft swipe of his fingers and the offensive material was gone, slipping from my shoulders as I clung topless to the wooden beam.

Edward pushed up my skirt, grinding his cock between my legs, teasing me as the tip slid from my swollen clit back to my entrance. The tip dipped inside, spreading me at an agonizingly languid pace as he gripped my waist tightly beneath his fingers. I bent down slightly against the poll, attempting to accommodate his tall stature against my petite one. We both released a mutual groan at my new position.

Then he began to move, slowly at first, massaging my tender flesh beneath his fingers then trailing them to my cheeks. I moaned, holding the beam tight, as he squeezed each cheek in his hands, his thumbs slipping to where he thrust inside me.

"Ready for that smack, Bella?"

There was a loud smacking sound that echoed through the barn, intermingled with the strangled moan that broke free from my throat. My ass stung where he struck it, but he lightly stroked the area which helped soothed the initial sting.

"So good," I gasped, blushing slightly as I felt myself growing wetter, the wet sounds of him entering me increasing tremendously.

"Someone likes an occasional smack, huh?" he asked, smacking the other cheek as well, causing me to cry out once more.

"Touch yourself, Bella."

My fingers left the wooden beam and dipping between my legs. I groaned as the tip of one finger found my swollen nub, the gentle brush almost sending me over the edge. I bit my lip, struggling to hold on to the feeling as long as I could, steadily rubbing myself in gentle circles with the tips of my two fingers. Edward picked up the pace. His hands abandoned my ass and cupped my breasts, twisting and tugging my hardened nipples between his fingers.

"Let me taste you, Bella."

My finger abandoned my wet flesh. I lifted my hand over my shoulder, moaning as I felt his warm lips embrace my fingers. He sucked and licked, humming at the taste, one of his hands replacing mine as he dipped his fingers between my legs. Pumping into me harder, faster, he rubbed light little circles over my clit.

That tense ball of heat that slowly formed in the pit of my stomach finally melted away as I found my release. I slumped against the beam tiredly as he continued to pound into me, still rubbing my overly sensitive clit, causing it to throb and twitch. He pulled me flush against him when he came, his fingers lightly stroking my clit. Palming my breast, he spilled into me with a strangled moan, just as the light from outside spilled into the barn.

"Shit," we both gasped.

I shoved him behind me, giggling at the expression on his face.

"Bella? You in here?"

It was my grandmother's voice calling me, the confused tone echoing from the wooden walls, her tenor dancing around the rafters. Pressing one finger to my lips, Edward and I stood still, me half-naked, him completely naked, cupping his hands in front of him to hide his junk.

He was failing. Miserably.

It took everything within me not to burst into laughter. Cupping my hands over my mouth and tearing my eyes from his crotch, I pressed my back firmly against the rough-cut lumber wall in the loft, holding my breath. Nana called my name twice more before mumbling incoherently beneath her breath and disappearing outside, pulling the barn door shut behind her. I held the laughter in as long as I could before bursting into peels of laughter.

"This isn't embarrassing at all," Edward grumbled, shooting me a faux look of annoyance as he struggled to hide his smile.

"She'd kill me if she knew what we were doing," I whispered, searching for my underwear and anxious to find a bathroom.

"It's a proven fact that weddings and funerals are the best places to get … ouch! What the fuck?"

Scowling, I poked him in his ribs once more, feeling slightly guilty for what we'd just done in the hayloft after burying my little cousin.

"It's the truth," he grinned, snatching up his boxers and slipping them on. "Are you asking your grandmother about the key today?"

"Yeah," I sighed, tossing him his dress shirt, worry creeping into my system once more. "This key … it makes me nervous. It belongs to something important. I can feel it."

"Well," he said with a smile, slipping one shoe on, then the other. "There's only one way to find out."

I heart you all so very much, to the point that it's kinda weird and awkward.

I'm on fictionpad now as Hoodfabulous. One of my one-shots is in a 'to be reported community,' along with some fics of other authors. I guess some folks don't like reading about the B/E doin' the deed. You can find my shiznit at fictionpad if it suddenly disappears.

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