AN: Hey guys. Sorry that's it's been so long. I just couldn't get completely satisfied with this chapter. The draft had been done for a while and this is the best I have felt about it, so I'm just gonna go with it. See you at the end.

Chapter 15

One Last Chance

We returned to the house after our hunt. Surprisingly I had managed not to end up wearing more of my prey's blood than I drank. I wondered, if possibly, it might have had something to do with experiencing human blood, even if it was donated. After one of my normal hunts, Eleanor would tease me immensely about my sloppiness when we got back, even if she was a bigger slob than I was, but I had learned to just tune her out, kind of like most of the family did. Her razzing was always in good fun; she never really meant anything by it

"I guess I finally figured it out," I answered her when El started teasing me, this time because I wasn't covered in blood.

"It's about time," Archie said as he and Jess returned just after everyone else had. "Now I'll be able to start getting you the good stuff," he added with a wink.

I knew what he meant. Archie had been insisting on buying me fancy clothes by designers that I hadn't ever heard of before, mostly because I normally just shopped for clothes at K-Mart. "Please don't waste the money on it," I protested. "I'm good in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt; you know that."

Archie shook his head and groaned. "One of these days you're going to have to get over your aversion to fashion if we're going to be best bros."

I just groaned back at him and left them in the living room and when I realized that he wouldn't let this go, storming up the stairs in a hissy fit. Archie could be annoying; everyone knew that. But at the same time, I had never met anyone who could also be so fiercely loyal… even to a fault. He suffered through the first few times when Jules came over until he realized that it was their kind that was responsible for why his visions disappeared when they were involved. Now he had learned to embrace the loss of his visions since he got to feel normal, well as normal as a vampire could be anyway, around them.

Edythe flitted into our room just as I was about to slam the door. "Beau?" She asked, even if she saw me as soon as she entered.

I smiled, still not believing how lucky I had been. But still I felt ashamed of myself. Lee was right; I was certain of that in that moment. I had to tell them both the truth. Edythe was my life; no more than that. She was my sun; maybe even the air. It was her that I couldn't live without. It would be hard without Jules; she had always been my moon but Edythe could light up my world so much more.

"A penny for your thoughts," Edythe sang. I knew she never needed to use that line on anyone else before.

This wouldn't be the best day for this but in reality, would there ever be a better one? Probably not. So I shrugged and just went for it. It would be easy to explain everything to Edythe, but Julie; that would be tricky. "What do you think if I spent the day in La Push today?"

She thought for a moment and a part of me hope she was just going to say no. There was just no real good way to do what I had to. But she surprised me. "I think that's a great idea. Bonnie really wants to see you and so does Saul. They'll all be surprised by you, especially if you tell them about what we tried last evening," Edythe added with a wink.

There was something fishy about the way she said it, almost like she was deliberately leaving something out. Normally it was always about what Julie wanted, but she didn't even mention her. "And Jules?" I asked.

"I'm sure that she'd be thrilled to see you as well."

That really wasn't what I was worried about. I knew that I would probably do something really stupid around Julie. It was just so easy to fall into my old routine with her around. And there was the matter of when she kissed me. For some reason, my mind kept going back to that. Even though it caught me completely by surprise, I couldn't help to think that I liked it. I even felt a desire for her I never knew before. The desire to make her mine.

But yet Edythe had a claim on me that no one else could make on me. No matter how right I felt with Julie, with Edythe in the picture I just could never get her completely out of my head.

"Alright, " I conceded as I headed out the front door. No time like the present to admit to her that I was now certain of one thing.

"Uh Beau?" Edythe said as she caught me just out the door.

I smiled as she yanked my arm slightly. The spark of electricity between us when we touched had not waned in the past few months. If anything it had only grown stronger between us. "Yeah?"

Edythe pointed to the sky and I understood what she meant. In my hurry to leave, I had not noticed that there wasn't a cloud in the sky today. Running would not be an option.

"You might want to drive today. A little birdie told me that Royal's finished with your car."

Royal ran into the doorway jingling the keys with that familiar big 'H' on it. His grin was enthusiastic and I could tell he was eager to show off what he did, not that I would understand anything about it. "Couldn't quite double the power… yet. Nitrous should get me all the way there but I wanted you to see it. Even without NOS, it's really quick. Twelve second quarter mile, but she's got more in her."

I didn't really understand anything Royal said but I ran to grab the keys from him. But it sounded weird to hear him talk about the car as if it was a living thing. That was something that Julie would do. And for just a second, I wondered if after all this was over if he and Julie might become friends, at least when it came to talking about cars. "Thanks Roy," I said.

His smile surprised me. Never before had he really done that for me. It always seemed like I was now the annoying little brother that he finally admitted was all grown up.

I started running to the garage but stopped about half way to it, letting the sunlight flow over me. I hadn't really ever stopped to look at my new shine and it amazed me. I had seen after my transformation that my new self looked… right next to Edythe but I had never really understood all of it. But every time I saw the prism-like effect of my new skin, it looked like I was born to be a vampire. This was the place that I shone bright, letting my inner star burn bright. I felt the smile completely consume me.

I took my time walking at what would pass for a human's brisk pace and then started up the car. For being so simple of a shell, that looked like the only thing that Royal had left alone. Looking around, he had added a full roll cage and racing seat with similar style seat belts to what Eleanor's Jeep had. I could only shake my head. What did he think I was going to do in this thing?

And then I made the mistake of jamming my foot to the floor. My old truck would have wheezed and coughed in protest when I floored it, but this thing took off like a bat out of hell.

Edythe was right; driving fast was a ton of fun. But half way to the reservation, I realized what I had to do again. Secretly, half of me hoped that Lee relayed at least some of what we talked about. But at the same time, I hoped he hadn't. There was a lot that I had to explain to Jules and I didn't think I should lead her on any more.

As I pulled up to Bonnie's small house, Julie ran outside and when she saw my new car an envious look crossed her face. "Damn," she all but sang looking at my new car. "Royal's got some serious wrenchin' skill."

I smiled as I felt myself fall into my old routine. I couldn't help it. "How you doing Jules?"

"Excited I get to finally let loose on some reeking bloodsuckers." Her voice, while sounding serious, had more joking in it than I had expected.

"Yeah, I figured that much. I mean about everything else." My right hand smacked into my forehead in a frustrated facepalm that sounded more like two boulders colliding than flesh striking flesh. Why couldn't I just say what I really wanted to ask her?

"Everything's gonna work out fine, Beau. I know it." Why was she trying to soothe me in this?

She obviously had more patience than I ever would. But still, I felt exactly two inches tall for doing what I was going to so obviously have to in the very soon future. I knew what I was going to have to do; there was no way around that. While sure, I felt okay with Julie I knew that there was something there with Edythe and I that she just couldn't eclipse. It was as if my course was set for me the moment I met Edythe.

In that moment, I finally found the words that described the massive conflict that I hadn't been able to properly define the fight between Edythe and Jules… until now. For some reason, I thought of the blood moon, a lunar eclipse, and everything made sense. Julie was my moon, or even better, my North Star. She set my course but could only do so at night. When Edythe, my true sun was in my life, none of the other stars can outshine it. No matter how much I cared for Jules, and I couldn't begin to express how much that was, Edythe simply could never be outshined by anyone.

My thoughts seemed to be deepened because in the instant I realized everything, It's Your Love by Faith Hill and Tim McGraw came on the radio. It was true, Edythe's love just did something that I couldn't understand. The only thing I was sure of was that I needed her. But still I hoped that there'd be some way that Julie could be involved in my life still in some way, even if it wasn't the way that Jules had hoped for once.

Had Charlie not gotten involved in the mess in Seattle, then it was possible that he and Bonnie may have been able to develop feelings for each other. That would have been an almost ideal way that Charlie could have come into the world of vampires with relative safety. But now, Archie was fairly certain of two possibilities for him. Either Charlie had been changed or killed. Knowing what I knew of the Volturi and their methods of seeking justice in their eyes, either might mean death for him.

I shook my head to put myself back into the moment. "So no more talk of tomorrow," I said wanting to focus just on today. "No more talk of who's a vampire and who's a werewolf. Let's just focus on the two of us."

Jules face lit up like a kid's on Christmas. "Okay Beau."

I realized what I had done in that moment. There was no future for us in the way she probably wanted it. The key today was to get what little bit of that misunderstanding out from between us as possible without completely wrecking our newfound alliance. "The two of us as friends," I added to make sure she got the message.

"Maybe friends with benefits?" She teased, trying to sound too innocent for what she was insinuating.

"Just friends," I counted back in a slight growl.

Her face fell a little from my rejection of us as lovers. In reality, if not for Edythe, the two of us in that way would have been a possibility. "I kinda get it," she started to admit.

I didn't want to let anything left unsaid any longer. I thought it best to be completely candid but she didn't let me continue.

"You weren't the only one who had a little heart to heart last night. Edythe and I had a little talk too."

I had been ready for just about anything but that. I knew the two of them both saw themselves as rivals to each other for me, but in the time that Lee had helped me get through my last reservations about hurting Jules in order to admit to myself that I just couldn't live without Edythe, it seemed like Jules and Edythe had a similar conversation about the same thing. I kind of wondered if anyone actually did any fight training last night or if it was all a scam to clear the air between the three of us.

"Yeah, I know," she said looking like she had been defeated last night. Was she really giving up on trying to win me over or was this just some trick by her to show how much she really loved me? That she'd make way for Edythe to show me that she loved me more. "I get it; how much you two really like each other but there's something between us. I don't know if it's strong enough to break the hold she has on you but I hope that you realize that even now, you still have options. I'd love you even as a smelly bloodsucker because you're not like them." She still hadn't thought of me as being one of the Cullens; not yet anyway. "You're so different than any of them we even have in our legends. Even when I looked on the internet about them, only one description even came close to what I see in you, and that was the Stregoni Benefici."

I remembered looking up the same thing she did. That night when I was trying to find anything that seemed to fit what the Cullens really were. The night I realized that it didn't matter what Edythe was because I was in way too deep to escape. I loved her with every ounce of my being and nothing would ever change that. "Ya know, I think that legend is actually about Carine. If it's not about her, then I can only hope it's about our rulers, the Volturi." I still hadn't met them and that was something I'd have to do in the near future. Carine had said it was tradition- well a little more than that, almost an unwritten law that every newborn is presented to them and also pledges their allegiance to their rule within a decade of being created by their sire. A decade or whenever they were stable enough to control themselves around humans so not draw any extra suspicion in their city, which was something that Edythe and Carine would be certain of very soon.

"I tried to hate her, Beau. I wanted to, for literally sucking the life out of you but I realized from the psychic that you were in too deep early. The two of you might have been destined from the start to find each other, much like him and the scarred freak," she said with a wink. It seemed that, at the very least Jules and Sarah had started to trust the Cullens more that the rest but still held some of the prejudice that the rest of the pack had. So this was, most likely, just teasing.

"She told me about four possibilities she thought that she had once she realized how much she cared about you. The first was that you didn't love her the way she loved you. Had that been the case, she would have just let you go. That wouldn't have been easy for her, since you guys are like rigid stone. But she said that she could of done it.

"The second was her preference from the start. That the two of you could have gone on as you were when the two of you first met, with her the bloodsucker and you still human. In some ways, it would have been one of the worse options because she couldn't give you everything she wanted to. But she thought it too dangerous so she seriously considered option three for after the mess with you in Phoenix was done. Well before everything went so wrong in Phoenix.

"The third, was the one that tortured her the most since she had tried it once. She could remove herself from your life, forcing you into option one. Archie kept her from doing that because of the way he saw himself with you. Kind of like how my dad was with Charlie before he died. But Archie said that wasn't the only reason he kept her here. He saw that ending in mass tragedy. He just wasn't sure how bad until after you were changed."

I wondered what would have happened had she actually left after I was changed. Jules said Archie saw tragedy for both of us, not just me. I knew from Carine's story that committing suicide as a vampire was not possible.

"And the fourth was what actually happened. What Edythe had not been ready for was how badly you wanted to be with her, including as a leech." Jules chuckle and smile was something I wasn't ready for. All the rest of them resented us, the Cullens I mean, but not her. I almost think that she understood that there was no other option for me. It was always either become a vampire or die. "The damn psychic said it was his fault in a way. He told you how it worked and that's when he really saw it."

"Just don't be mad at them for my screw up, 'kay?" I begged. "I mean it's not like he just told me without me asking."

"I figured as much. But I just wish that I could have had a shot at you." There was something in her eyes that I hadn't ever seen before; a longing, almost lust-like look. "I mean, the two of us could have been something special," she said as almost magnetically our lips headed towards each other. I knew I needed to be careful since all the legends of the Quileutes said that our venom was deadly to them. "She's like a drug to you, but I could have been even better for you. Something… like… the… air." Each word came out between gasps as there was barely six inches between us now. "Kiss me," she whispered.

I couldn't control myself. Yes, her scent was a little off putting but I didn't mind it all that much. Our lips did the talking. My hands kept exploring her body, searching for somewhere that I hadn't touched before. But I knew I still needed to keep in control to some extent. I couldn't bite her, that could very well have kill her and I didn't want to do that.

It surprised me when her hands started trying to undo the buckle of my jeans. The very animalistic part of me wanted to let her, wanted to have sex with her right there but this was something that she wouldn't get from me. My most intimate encounter would be reserved only for Edythe; my one true soulmate.

I pulled our lips apart and tried to use a very small amount of my strength to push myself away. "Julie, I don't think we should."

Her lips were back on mine again with even more desperate movements, her tongue sweeping the inside of my mouth. It was incredible, a whole new level of intimacy that I had yet to experience with Edythe in this way. Sure, the two of us had come close to this point but I always respected the fact that she wanted us to wait for this until after we said our I do's.

Yet again, I pulled away slithering out of her arms. "Jules really, this isn't a good idea."

She looked dejected; disheartened. Almost like I had ripped out her heart. She pointed down towards my crotch and smiled. "Your little friend there seemed to think it was," she joked. "I think he wants to come out and say hello."

"NO!" I growled. It surprised me how animalistic it was. I had never done that before, not like that anyway. Then another one of the Quileutes came.

"It's alright Sarah," Julie said as the gangly sandy wolf came into the still open garage door. "Kind of my fault anyway."

Sarah's look just was so… human. I never thought of her that way, even no matter how many times I saw human expressions of Jules even as a wolf. But she nodded and left us alone with a short howl; my guess that she was giving a report to the rest of the pack.

"Sorry," I apologized like I had always done when I was human. This time I actually had something to apologize for unlike many of the other times when I had. "Jules, I really like you," I admitted, which drew a small smile from her, "but I don't love you. Not like that. You're my best friend, but you'll never be my girlfriend."

Her face fell from my rejection but I thought it best that there be nothing left unsaid between us any longer. If she was going to go off and do something stupid in the fight, I wanted her to know that while I cared about her… immensely, we'd never be lovers.

"You sure about that?" She asked and I heard the hope in her voice.

I was as sure about Edythe and I as any two people possibly could be, maybe even more so. "Positive Jules. I wouldn't have asked her to marry me if there was any doubt." I looked up at the roof, wondering how to put it exactly right. I knew how but I didn't want to throw Lee under the bus from being the one who made everything make sense to me. He surely had it bad enough, being the only male werewolf in the history of the tribe. "I kind of think it's a lot like how it is between Lee and Elliott. I mean, I can tell that Sam really cares about Lee, but there's nothing romantic between them; not since he knows what she has in Elliott."

Her face fell again. I think this way finally got through to her. "I kind of figured as much. I mean, having a mind reader does make life a little easier. She could pick the exact question out of my head without me even knowing how to put them into words."

I remembered that Jules had said that her and Edythe had used the time that I was walking with Lee to have their own little discussion about everything. "I'm so sorry Jules. Just know that if not for Edythe, I think the two of us could have maybe had something."

"Yeah, I can deal with a lot. You were kind of the brightest thing in my life so far but I just can't deal with an eclipse. I mean, I see that now. No matter how much I want to fight for you, I just know that we'll never be lovers, so can we still be friends?"

I smiled. This was the resolution I really hoped for. "Definitely," I said as I hugged her… a little two tightly as a head a feint crack. Followed by a groan from her. "Oops," I gasped, still surprised that my face didn't go red from embarrassment.

Julie's reaction kind of surprised me; she actually laughed. "I miss you going red, but don't worry about it Beau. It was just a rib."

"I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry about it. It'll be good as new in a couple of hours."

"Really?" I gasped.

"Yeah, just one of the perks to being so freaky; super fast healing."

We sat talking about all sorts of odd stuff for so long that I was surprised when I saw the sun dropping low over the western sky, including what she would do it somehow Charlie had gotten all mixed up in this craziness. To my relief, she had said that she talked to her mom about it.

"We'll give him quarter; allow him to surrender if he will," she said relieving some of my fears about what would happen if their side found him during the fight.

"But how would he even know it's you? I mean, you guys will all be in wolf form, so it's not like he'll be able to just know it's really you Jules."

She burst out laughing. "Boy are you really slow Beau. Haven't you noticed at all? Our eyes, our faces; while they do look more like wolves when we phase, we still look like us. I mean, how did you know that I was me when you saw me that first time outside your dad's house?"

I stopped fighting then. How could I have been so stupid? Of course. It was her eyes. They looked too human and when I stared deeper into them, that's when I saw her. That's when I knew this was no animal in front of me but Jules. My best friend, maybe even more than that if I was in a world with no magic. The world as it was supposed to be.

"Bingo," she said seeing that I got it.

It had grown darker and we spent even more time together. I realized something then, just sitting there talking to her. There was a war going on inside of me. Two parts of me wanted something completely different. The first was and would always belong to Edythe. That part took up a large part of my being. Edythe had a hold on me that could not be easily eclipsed but there was a part of me, all be it a very small part, that saw the future that Jules did provide, that she still could provide and wanted it. The problem was that, with Edythe, this other side couldn't be acknowledged; it couldn't even really be seen. It was like Jules was the moon, the stars to me; only visible in the darkness. Edythe was my sun.

"Well, Jules," I said as I looked down at my watch after she let out a huge yawn, "I think I better go."

"Don't go," she pleaded.

"You look exhausted and we've got all sorts of fun tomorrow night."

"Hum?" She asked.

Had she forgotten what was coming? Not possible. "The newborns?"

"Oh," she gasped. "I guess I was just so happy that you came here that I could forget about that for a few hours. But tell me one thing."

"Anything," I promised. There was only one thing that I wouldn't be able to give her.

"You said that the short haired guy can see the future, right?" I nodded. "Well, does he know how tomorrow will play out?"

"Not really."

Jules frowned from, what I hoped was simply not completely understanding Archie's gift. I felt it best to elaborate a little bit. "I mean, for some reason, he can't see you guys at all. He's not exactly sure why that is, but we have a guess. And he only see possibilities. Like the first day that I really spent with Edythe, he saw a million different ways that our date could have ended up. About a quarter of them, Edythe killed me. Accidentally of course," I was quick to defend her. "She never actually drank my blood." I thought it best to let her know all the outcome Archie saw that day. "Another eighth or so she bit me but never really started drinking me. All the rest, we managed… more or less unscathed."

"More or less?" She asked through her raised eyebrow.

"A few, she accidentally broke something on me but Carine would have been able to fix me. But the vast majority of them, I was completely unharmed, even if the two of us were both changed forever."

"So, we're going into tomorrow completely guessing then, huh?"

"Not completely," again I was quick to defend Archie. "Archie sees the newborns swimming the Sound and splitting up when they catch my scent. Half completely disappear; the ones I assume you guys get. The other half, we're able to take care of with minor injuries on our side."

"Minor?"

"A couple of arms get torn off, but it's not a big deal. We can be put back together."

"You still haven't told me what she's going to do with you during this," Jules asked. To be honest, I didn't completely know either. I wanted to be wherever she was. "You know she's probably gonna babysit you."

I thought Jules was trying to tick me off but her smile and chuckle gave her away. There had been some new found camaraderie between Edythe and Jules. It was kind of weird but it was nice to see.

I shrugged. "I just assumed we'd figure that out tonight. I mean, I know we still gotta set a trail for them, so I just thought it'd come up." I looked into her eyes again. There was one thing I wanted from her more than almost anything else. "Just do me one favor Jules.

"What?" She asked kind of mockingly.

"Just don't do anything stupid. I don't want any of you guys taking unnecessary risks. Just get out okay. All of you."

Her smile was brilliant and glowing. No doubt that she was excited that I still cared about her; about what happened to her. But as far as any romantic relationship between us, that ship had long since sailed.

I had been able to put everything back into focus again. Edythe was my mate, my soulmate. She had been waiting for me for decades, hell almost a century. The minor risks I had to endure with her when I had been human was more than worth it. I had her for eternity. Once this mess was over with.

AN: So what did you all think? Next time, I go with something from the original Twilight that wasn't included in L&D but you know probably would have at some point. You'll just have to wait to see what it is. Not sure how long it will be on that one as the draft is only about half done at this point. See ya.