Disclaimer: I do not own 'Twilight' or any of the characters!

Rating: T (language and sexual references!!!!)

Pairing: JB/EC

Thanks so much for the reviews! Everyone has really awesome ideas and your encouragement boosts my morale! There are no lemons but I have taken it upon myself to provide y'all with some detail of the smex goin' on but nothing extremely explicit! To anyone who has read this before, THIS is the chapter I started adding in some major (hopefully noticeable) changes!!!! And to you who are just starting to read this story, I hope you enjoy what I've done! I so much want your approval everyone! I love you ALL!! *emotional tears* Thank you! *sniff!*

Now, onto your story!

Chapter 7: The Aftermath

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(Edward's POV)

It was quiet, peaceful and undisturbed. The sunlight was bright, shining through the thin silk curtains in my room. The thin veil-like canopy that hung around the large bed placed in the center of the room with foam blue walls dimmed the somewhat intrusive sunrays. My hand played with the blanket of ebony hair that was fanned about my chest like a halo of some kind. The creature lying atop me hardly stirred as my fingers twisted a lock here and there. It was odd to say the least, for you see…he was warmer than usual, his cheeks were still flushed, his eyes were closed, his mind was in a sort of blank state…he held a faint heartbeat--he was sleeping.

No vampire ever slept. Our bodies are literally frozen in time once we are bitten and the ability to sleep escapes us 'for…we don't need it. He was once a werewolf, and we had been so sure, Carlisle and I, that perhaps all of the venom wiped most of that trait out…but lying in the bed with him at that moment…made me think twice. I wasn't complaining with that, he was gorgeous and something in me had felt an indescribable pull to him and my instincts had definitely taken over….

(Flashback)

It only took me a moment to decide what was to happen.

"I wasn't willing to break her heart just to mend mine? I wasn't willing to love him? Did I love him?"

I kissed him at that thought, ending his mental tirade. I wanted him and I was going to have him. I swiftly unbuttoned his shirt, tossing it into a corner somewhere. We were still on the floor--that had to change. Never breaking the kiss I effortlessly lifted him into my arms, carrying him quickly down the hallway to the very last door. Throwing it open we barely made it to the bed before he was trying to rip my shirt off as well.

With all the speed and gentleness in the world I sat him at the edge of the bed, not once looking away. His eyes--those strange eyes--were dark, the red meshing with the brown, creating black as they changed. Pink tinged his cheeks gracefully, ebony hair lay wildly about his shoulders; he was a true vision of beauty. My body took over my mind, thrusting me towards him so fast that I thought the bed was surely done for. Immediately he responded to my fevered kisses that made a trail down his torso, letting out slow breathless moans, begging for more.

I wanted to give him what he asked for. I wanted to make him mine…but I needed to know that this wasn't a mistake, that he would not regret what we were going to do. "Tell me, let me hear you say it and I will grant your wish." His entire body froze, literally, becoming just as cool as my own once again before sparking to life with a heat I'd never felt before. Suddenly I was looking up into his face. He had such an expression of lust in his eyes that I was sure he wasn't entirely conscious of it. But he swooped down just as fast upon me, whispering in my ear, "I want you now."

And that was all it took before I was leaning over him again, pressing our bodies closer together, seeking to feel the blazing heat beneath my own frozen skin. For the rest of the evening I felt nothing, knew nothing, but the burning body beneath me and the unmistakable passion burning within.

(End Flashback)

Thinking back on how we ended up like this, him lying with me, made me feel strange. Alice's vision had been correct and I'd doubted her, or rather, chose not to believe her. She probably saw it coming as soon as I'd walked into the door the day before, riling me up just to get me here….And Jake…he must have known about it otherwise he would have been in his room and nothing would have happened between us besides the kiss. I felt, rather than heard, his faint heartbeat fade away completely. The unusual heat radiating from his body came to an end and he was just as cool and frozen as I was. The flush from his cheeks were the last thing to fade, having been the first to burst to life. Life.

As his eyes slowly fluttered open, I was hit with a realization. It hit me so hard that I remained still once he sat up, staring rather oddly at me. My eyes caught onto something unusual in my shocked state, immediately causing me to become angry with myself. He cautiously looked down to see exactly what I was glaring at, quickly looking back up at me with sure disbelief written all over his face. "Why are there handprints on my hips?" If he could blush then I'm sure he would've been crimson at the moment.

(End Edward's POV)

(Jacob's POV)

I scrambled quickly away from the man…vampire that I'd just been lying on not half a second before. Spotting a mirror to my left I peered into it to see quite an odd sight to say the least. My skin was gray, gray, where my hips held the handprints. They were perfectly shaped where…he grabbed me. Turning slowly on the spot, I spied at least two handprints on my back, one where each shoulder met my neck, two places on each of my arms were also bruised….My lips were a light gray as well…what the fuck happened to me?

I could feel uneasiness start to creep up inside of me, threatening to boil over and turn into a sense of panic. I turned back to the bed to discover his eyes on me. I was naked. Nothing to cover me except for the clothes that had been discarded and in some cases shredded into nothing more than strips of useless fabric. I ran to the bed, yanked off the first blanket I touched then wrapped it loosely around my waist. I felt much more presentable.

"Okay…Edward. I think you have some explaining to do….Where did these bruises come from?" My memory from the night before was foggy enough to the point where I could not gauge reality from fantasy. Settling myself at the end of the bed, I sat Indian Style, providing the vampire not three feet away from me my undivided attention.

Edward stared relentlessly. I stared back with just as much expectancy written on my face that I felt, never blinking an eye. He did not move, he seemed like a statue; nothing could waver my determination, I needed to know how my supposedly perfect skin got flawed so easily. A change occurred, he smirked, a look oddly mixed with humor. Fuck it all, I was getting annoyed. Without thinking about it, much to my own advantage, I was at his throat in seconds, my teeth bared at the smooth flesh. If he dared me not to, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

A chuckle erupted from his lips and his arms locked around my waist. Suddenly, I was no longer the one with the upper hand. He pressed my back down into the mattress and dug his hips into mine. "Gah," I breathed, the friction catching me off guard, sending a pleasurable sensation throughout my entire body. "You think it was easy trying to tame you?" he whispered, licking my ear slowly while grinding his hips into mine once again. I moaned unwillingly, "Fuck off." "You think it was easy trying to make you scream my name while bending you backwards as far as I could?" I felt the heat erupt on my face first, the feeling of a blush almost too surreal to take notice.

He moved his head and I could see his eyes, the insincerity of his actions and words merely seconds before blatantly visible. He continued to straddle me, pinning my arms down to my sides. "I think Carlisle should take a look at this. Your cheeks are just as flushed as they were last night," he commented before lazily climbing off of me and walking away from the bed.

I hadn't meant to, I tried to stop it but he heard it--the small disgruntled moan that had managed to escape. I bit down on my lip, averting my eyes and desperately trying to shut down my mind. "Really Jacob? You thought I forgot about your little--" he paused, playing with the moment, "problem?" I heard him walk across the floor. My left foot became encompassed in his hands, then he pulled me to him at the bottom of the bed. His finger, cool against my flushed skin turned my face to look into his eyes, infused with lust and humor.

"Always think something's funny?" I asked. A small smile stole his face, "No, you just read me wrong." His lips were soft on mine and disregarding my earlier frustration, I wrapped a leg about his waist to pull him closer, knowing where we were headed once again.

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As we lay quietly in the confines of his hideaway, I felt as if what he'd said the night before, about being cared for by someone…by him…I felt it was true. This time around…he'd been gentle with his words and his body, making sure to be careful not to grab too tight or yank too rough. His fingers massaged my scalp and I moved to be just a little closer to him, not worried that my nakedness was touching his underneath the downy blanket.

"Edward," I whispered, glancing up at his face. When he looked into my eyes, I took that as an invitation to continue, "you never did answer my question earlier." The hand in my hair tensed for a moment, then went back to massaging, "What would you like to know?" I pushed myself up on my forearms which were on either side of his torso, "The bruises…and…my face--I mean my body. I woke up this morning. I'd actually lost track of time for once this whole entire week…and my heart," I could feel it now, the faint beat to it, "my heart is beating and you…you heard it…you can hear it--"

"So what is it that you want to know Jacob?" His voice was gentle which still ended up irritating me. I steeled my voice, grinding out, "What the hell is happening to me?" My heartbeat was slowly fading away, the heat that I knew a vampire should not feel beneath their skin was becoming less and less and the weakness that I could feel was fading too.

He let go of me, climbing out of the bed, not even sparing a glance at me. I watched him walk out of the room. What the hell did he call this exactly? And then suddenly he was back, fully dressed, and sitting beside me in the bed. I tried not to seem bothered by the space in between us. Yes, it was small enough to only lean over and rest my head on his shoulder, but he was facing the window and away from me. I didn't know why he suddenly seemed so distant…and I didn't like it. "You should go talk to Carlisle. I'm not sure…but I think that…a few moments ago you were," he paused, seeming to be baffled by what he was saying, "human again."

I sat still for a full two minutes. His voice was soft in my ears, "I'm here." That was all I needed to sink into his arms, too stunned and hopeful to do anything else. I was excited at the prospect that I could return home if there was some way to turn me back. I am part wolf you know.

"I have to go away for a while, but I'll be back home later. You could stay here if you want," he added after glancing at me in my undressed state. I nodded, looking into his eyes just as he stood up. I froze a little…was it me or did he look like something was wrong? Like he was angry about something…. Before I could ask about it he was gone and I was alone….

It took me three minutes to figure out why he'd sat so close without touching me. I didn't want to admit it but neither did he….

If I could go home…I would leave him.

I scrambled to tear the sheets away from me and throw on some pants, flying to the bedroom door and pausing, hoping that he would come back, that he had heard it in his mind…that I wanted him to stay--to be with me.

I heard the door to the cabin open once more, forgetting my vampire senses and following possibly the only human urge left in me to get past that bedroom door. He was standing there, gaze locked solely on my face, the emotionless stare almost warning me not to come any closer. I stopped just outside of the door, afraid of what would happen if his words were fatal…. "You asked what was happening to you?"

I nodded, "I became human…so what…I want to stay with you…" I trailed off, suddenly reading the quick flicker of emotion that passed over his features before it disappeared and became an emotionless mask again. He was scared.

Alright, we could get passed that little detail and I was fine with it…he didn't hurt me…so then Edward had nothing to be scared of…he didn't have to run away from me.

I wasn't leaving. I didn't have to be a mistake.

"Edward please…I'm not begging you, I'm telling you. The bruises are something we can avoid, we'll go to Carlisle like you said--" he turned away, I became angry, "don't fucking shut me out because things are getting difficult!"

He stopped just as his hand landed on the doorknob and I took this as my only chance, telling him just how his rejection was hurting, "You told me you cared…this isn't a mistake Edward. If its about Bella then," I stopped, trying to gain some sort of balance. It felt like everything was tilting too far to the right.

He was at my side before I could completely lean against the wall for support. I looked up into his eyes, seeing some strange emotion flicker before it died like a flame. I tried using my voice again, noticing that it was an octave higher as I fought the feeling to cry, "If it's about Bella then we can work it out."

And then, as if he were relieving some sort of pain, he leaned in, lips barely touching mine as he whispered, "It's better this way. You can't have everything you want…and neither can I."

Before I could blink, he was gone and I was alone.

I sank down to the floor, grasping at my chest, feeling as if the heart that no longer beat was beating faster than ever and breaking into tiny pieces with each beat. A sob ripped it's way from my lips, followed by another one and another. I cried tearlessly, the sensation so strange, but not strange enough to force me to stop.

Edward didn't want things to be difficult…he needed to know what to expect. I'd seen it in his eyes: every touch had been a mistake. "Well," I thought bitterly through my sobs, "it'll never happen again."

But mistakes have ways of haunting us in the darkest parts of our minds…and little did I know that it would become the reason I breathed again. Literally.

(A/N: What did you think!? Let me know please! Reviews are love! Thank you so much! hmm...wonder what Jakey-poo could be talkin about!)

Jacob: Don't call me that!

Ajisai: But WHY?!!? Its so adorable!

Jacob: Yeah, like Rosalie on a good day.

Ajisa: *cringes* You're right. No more Jakey-poo....