A/N: I am extremely sorry that it took me so long to get this chapter up. This is going to be the last chapter for this story, so please bear with me for a moment while I explain why. First and foremost, I never meant this story to last forever; from the start, it has always been my intention that this story would run back into the original plot line. While exploring a different possible path for Bella, I always knew in the back of my mind that any situation would lead her back to Edward - his delayed return to Forks was no exception to that rule. From the start, I meant for this version of events to fit nicely into the Twilight saga, that you would be able to pick this story up from the end of New Moon, and when it ended, return back to the end of Eclipse. I'm very sorry if anyone is disappointed by how I chose to write this, but in the end, it's happened just how I always expected it to.

Another reason I chose to end it here was that the story was no longer holding my interest - it took me a few weeks just to write this chapter. It was returning too much to the original plot, and I knew it was only a matter of time before it was too similar to the original story and I'd need to give it the axe - it's getting the axe here. I got to the point where I was really just rewording events that had already occurred, and this story was ready to be finished. I hope everyone has enjoyed the story, and that I'm not thought less of as a writer because of the direction I chose to go.

That being said, I already have a new story idea that I'm very excited about, and I intend to begin writing it as soon as possible. Maybe even tonight. Thanks for sticking with this story, and stay tuned for a new one real soon!

Disclaimer: I am not Stephenie Meyer, don't own any of the Twilight Saga.

Chapter Ten

"Bella, love," Edward's soft voice called, and he shook my shoulder lightly. I was instantly alert. "It's time to go."

I jumped to my feet immediately and began tying on my shoes. "Is this going to be horrible?" I asked.

"Is what?" Edward asked, clearly having no idea to what I was referring.

"The whole deal with Jake last night… is it going to be bad?" I braced myself for bad news.

"Well, I'm sure he's not going to be happy," Edward sighed, "but I think he'll be more annoying to me than anything. He was upset, but I really think he's going to keep fighting for you regardless."

"As long as he doesn't hate me," I mumbled.

Edward had no reply for that. "Let's go," he said after a moment, and he pulled me into his arms and leapt lightly out my window.

We flew through the forest back to that same clearing from the previous night where the rest of the Cullens were already waiting.

"Bella!" Alice cried, running over to embrace me. "I'm still so happy, and I have your dress ready, and mine too, and I have a color scheme for the house and I've already designed the cake – I'll have a professional make it of course, but to my specifications – and I've already picked out all the music, especially since I have that recording of Edward playing your song and –"

"Alice!" I had to yell to cut her off. I was afraid that run on sentence would never end if I didn't do something soon.

"Sorry," she mumbled with a grin, "I'm just so excited."

"It's okay," I said. "One of us should be. Thing is, Jake and I did end things last night, just a few hours ago really, and I think it's a little early for him to hear that I've already got wedding plans. You understand, of course?"

"Oh!" she cried. "Yes, you're right… mums the word."

"Thanks," I sighed. I still couldn't quite comprehend how I had come to be dating one person and engaged to another at the same time. The only conclusion I was able to draw was that I wasn't physically capable of turning Edward down; my reaction would have been the same whether I was single, engaged, or married for years. I shuddered at the thought; what if Edward had waited to come back, even years? If Jake never did imprint, and we were married, maybe even with kids! If Edward had come running back into the picture then, would I have broken up everything I had to be with him? I wanted to say no, but deep down I knew what the answer would really be; it made me feel terrible.

"They are coming, right?" Jasper asked, eyes roving impatiently around the field.

"When I said goodbye to Jake, he said he'd be here," I said with a shrug.

"Okay, we'll wait another minute and get started then," Jasper said.

A few minutes later, all eyes turned east; a minute later, ten giant wolves made their way into the clearing. It would always shock me, no matter how much time I spent down at La Push, to see these huge creatures emerge from the woods. They still frightened me a little, even though I knew these were my friends.

They moved just out of the woods and stopped, leaving a considerable distance between themselves and the Cullens.

"We would prefer to stay in this form," Edward said to Carlisle, speaking for Sam. "As he is doing right now, your son can translate for us."

"That's perfectly fine," Carlisle assured him. "Now as we mentioned before, Jasper's history has given us some insight on what we can expect from these newborn vampires."

"Right," Jasper said, stepping forward so that he stood behind his family, facing everyone at the same time. Edward and I stood at the far end of the grouping, and it seemed like Edward had done this intentionally, to put as much space between Jacob and I as possible. Jake stood at Sam's right hand, near the center of the group. I kept casting uncomfortable glances at him, dying to know what he was thinking. He seemed to be looking at me quite often too; I wanted to ask Edward about his thoughts, but I didn't know if the wolves would be able to hear me, too.

"If I whisper, will the wolves be able to hear me?" I mouthed to Edward, assuming that lip-reading was one of the indefinite number of skills he seemed to possess. He looked at me strangely for a moment, and then nodded.

"Is Jake upset?" I mouthed again.

Edward turned his head to glare at Jake for a moment, then turned back to me and mouthed, "I wish."

I gave him a quizzical look, to which he mouthed, "he's definitely not fighting fair."

I looked past Edward to Jake once more, but of course I was unable to decipher anything about his thoughts; I might as well be staring at a tree for all the information I was getting. I sighed and turned back to Jasper.

"Now, Emmett's the best example of a newborn attack," Jasper was explaining. Shoot, I had missed all the details in the middle; fortunately, Edward probably knew them as well as Jasper did. Emmett scowled; he uprooted a nearby tree and threw it at Jasper.

"Emmett," Carlisle said warningly, as the wolves behind us had all begun to shift – to me, it seemed uncomfortably – and whine at Emmett's display of strength.

"Cool it," Edward said to him harshly, seeming to confirm the thoughts in Carlisle's head.

"I only mean that Emmett relies mainly on his strength when he is attacking; strategy isn't necessary for him when brute force can get the job done. Plus, he thinks it's more fun," Jasper added with a chuckle. Emmett crossed his arms across his chest and gave a sharp nod. "If we could demonstrate…?" Jasper asked, looking toward Emmett. He nodded again and stepped forward into the center of the clearing with Jasper.

Even knowing they weren't really going to hurt each other, watching them fight was… difficult. I stared down at the ground, but just hearing the snarls and crashing sounds without a visual made it so much worse.

"Do you need me to take you home?" Edward asked quietly, concerned.

"No, I'm fine," I lied. I didn't need a mirror to tell me that my face was either a vicious shade of green, or a ghostly pale.

"Really now, Bella," he stressed, voice full of concern, "there's no need to be a hero. I'll take you home."

"No," I said, a little louder this time. "I'll be okay, I swear… I want to stay."

"Fine," Edward said, disapproval coloring his tone. "But if you get any paler, I'm taking you straight home."

"I'll be okay," I promised, reaching up and placing my hand on his cheek. "I'm a tough girl."

"Yes, you are," he agreed, unintentionally dazzling me with the intensity of his eyes. He wrapped both arms around me, placing one on the small of my back and pulling me closer. I tilted my head up and he kissed me softly, but pulled away much too quickly. "Breathe, love," he reminded me with a laugh.

I sucked in a gasping breath; I couldn't even remember how long I'd been holding it. "You've got to stop doing that," I muttered.

Suddenly, I heard an unbelievably low warning growl issue from somewhere behind us. I turned and my eyes locked with Jacob's for a moment, and I felt a wave of guilt.

"What's he thinking?" I asked Edward, embarrassed.

"Nothing pleasant," he muttered. "My turn."

I turned back to Jasper. I had missed his entire fight with Emmett; I could only tell who had won by the look on Emmett's face. He was clearly dying for a rematch. He strode over to stand beside me while Edward fought, using my shoulder as an armrest. Surprisingly, he put no pressure on my shoulder; knowing Emmett, I had expected a little force as a joke, and actually probably way too much force because he wouldn't know his own strength.

"Thanks for not pushing me into the ground," I muttered, never taking my eyes off the fight between Edward and Jasper; Edward clearly had the upper hand, but that did nothing to alleviate my stress.

"Ha… you know Edward would murder me if so much as a hair on your head was out of place," he laughed in response.

"Yes I would," Edward chuckled, not even slightly distracted from the fight by our conversation.

I was driving myself crazy, and I was fully aware of it, but I couldn't help but keep casting my eyes in Jake's direction. I felt so guilty I could barely stand it, but I knew nothing would change my mind. I wondered whether his cocky attempts to win me back would make me feel guilty, or just solidify my choice in my mind.

After his fight with Jasper, Edward returned to my side and took Emmett's place. "Bella, love," he began, studying my face, but I cut him off.

"I don't care if I look pale," I moaned, locking eyes with him. "I need to be here. Please."

Something he saw in my eyes wouldn't allow him to say no. "Okay," he gave in with a sigh. "I suppose when you pass out, I'll just carry you home." His tone sounded annoyed, but a smile played across his lips.

"Sounds good," I agreed.

We watched the rest of the fighting. My eyes, not being as infallible as Edward's, were barely able to comprehend the scene before me. I turned to watch Edward's face instead. I saw glints of different emotions in his eyes sometimes, but his face gave nothing away; it was smooth and unchanging through the duration of the lesson.

"We'll be coming back again tomorrow," Jasper announced to the wolves as he brought the meeting to its conclusion. "If you want to come watch again, you're welcome to."

"They'd like to become more familiar with each of our scents," Edward said warily. "They would hate to have an accident during the fight. They ask that we spread ourselves out and stay very still, allowing them to walk among us and familiarize themselves with each of our scents."

Carlisle was the only one who looked completely at ease with this idea, and agreed at once. Esme and Alice looked unsure, Rosalie looked annoyed, Jasper and Emmett looked concerned for Alice and Rosalie respectively, and Edward kept casting glances at me; he was clearly not a fan of them coming so close to me in their wolf forms. His family slowly, cautiously, spread themselves out in a wide line across the field – Edward held me close at one end of the line, his arm wrapped tightly around my waist.

"Is that really necessary?" he spat harshly at the wolves. Everyone looked as confused as I felt. "It won't make a difference." He stared at the wolves for a moment, his mind conflicted. "Fine," he finally agreed, "but make it fast."

He dropped his arm from my waist and stepped about ten feet to the side. I could tell it was painful for him, putting such a large distance between us and leaving me so vulnerable, even though he could cross that distance in a millisecond and I'd be safe again.

"They want our distinct scents," Edward explained vehemently. "They don't want our two scents mixed together, in the event that it might confuse them later."

"That sounds reasonable," I said quietly, sure that Edward was not feeling the same way. The wolves wound their way slowly through our group, stopping at each of us and taking our scents in. Some of the younger wolves seemed anxious to be standing in such close proximity to the vampires, but none of the Cullens – aside from Edward, of course – showed any signs of emotion.

Eventually, Jacob made his way to me. "I'm sorry," I whispered, even though I knew every being in the field – both terms "living thing" and "person" didn't seem appropriate to me, in given company – could hear every word. He rolled his eyes at me. "It's a pretty pathetic response given what I've done, I know, but I don't know what else I can say."

He stared hard at me for a long moment, not even blinking. It was extremely intimidating. "Jake?" I asked uncertainly. Then, without warning, Jake planted a giant, sloppy lick on me, running from my neck up to my hair line.

"Oh ew, Jake, gross!" I complained, wiping my face off on my sleeve. "What'd you lick me for?"

"His wolf equivalent of a kiss," Edward said coldly.

"Jake!" I scolded, and smacked him as hard as I could across his muzzle. This drew an unexpected, ferocious response from the wolves. They all turned on me, and began to close in; well, all of them except for Sam. Edward was at my side in an instant, and Jake appeared to be trying to force his brothers back.

"She barely weighs 100 pounds, how could she possibly hurt him?" Edward asked, and I imagined his voice might've contained a bit of humor, if he weren't so worried about the proximity of the wolves. "Sam, can't you order them back?" he complained.

Moments later, the wolves all began to back away, except for Jacob, who maintained his posture right in front of me. His expression appeared amused, but I could detect a hint of the sadness he was trying hard not to show underneath.

"Would you like me to smacking him?" Edward asked coldly. "I promise I'll do a little more damage than you did."

"No, that's not necessary," I said, "let's just go home."

Jacob took off running into the woods without a backward glance. For some reason it made me sad, maybe because of the hurt I had read in his eyes moments before.

"Does he hate me?" I asked Edward. I felt terrible about the fact that he had to see me upset over Jake. He was much too wonderful to deserve the things I had put him through; he had already been through so much on his own already.

"Quite the contrary," Edward assured me, eyes on the trees. I followed his gaze to see Jake walking back out in human form.

"Give us a minute," he said to Edward, striding toward me. Edward narrowed his eyes and turned to me.

"Two seconds," I promised, and walked toward Jake.

"I'll be back in one minute," Edward promised, running off into the woods. There was no doubt in my mind that he'd be back in one minute, to the second.

"Yes?" I asked, turning toward Jake.

"Well, since he's only giving me one minute," Jake scowled, "I'll make this quick. Can you disregard everything I've said to you since the moment I said it was okay that you were letting me go? It's not okay… not at all. Allowing you to walk away was the biggest mistake I've ever made, and I need to make it right. Please Bella, honey; you know you belong with me."

"Jake, I…" I had no idea what to say. This outburst blindsided me; perhaps I should have seen it coming, but I didn't.

"Look, we've already been over all of the reasons I'm so much better for you. I'm sure he realizes it himself." Jake was pleading now. "Please, just … see it. Realize it yourself. Come back to me." His voice cracked on the last sentence and he cast his eyes to the ground.

"Jake," I tried again, but words failed me.

"Are you ready to go home?" Edward asked; he had appeared beside me so suddenly and silently that I jumped. He chuckled softly and wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

"Yeah, I am," I agreed. I allowed him to steer me toward the edge of the trees, but then I was overcome with pity, and forced myself to stop. I looked back over my shoulder at Jake, eyes still following me hopefully. "I'm sorry," I said with a slight shrug. Those words would never do, but they were all I could bring myself to say. Sincerity saturating every word, there was no way he could possibly misinterpret my meaning.

His eyes looked ready to brim over at any second, and he stared down at the ground, shoulders slumped. I couldn't bear to see him that way; I forced myself to look back to Edward. "Let's go," I whispered, searching to find my voice once more. He nodded, threw me onto his back, and ran me home.

Back at Charlie's house, I could see that the sun was ready to rise at any moment. "He'll be getting up soon," Edward said, reading my face.

"Will he hear me if I go to the bathroom?" I asked quietly once Edward had jumped us back up into my room.

"Probably… and he'll question your attire if he does." Edward replied.

"Okay, well I'll have to change in here. Turn around then," I teased, sticking my tongue out.

"I'll just pop outside for a moment," he said and was gone before I could reply.

I changed into my pajamas and ran back to the window. "Edward?" I whispered out the window.

"He's going to check on you any minute, so pretend to be asleep. I'll come back in once he's gone downstairs," Edward promised from below. I nodded and hopped into bed, pulling the covers up tight to my neck.

Sure enough, I heard the creak of my door and saw a thin strip of light from the hallway on the floor. I tried to make my breathing as even as possible, even though Edward had already ruled out actress as a possible career choice for me long ago. What was probably only seconds felt like hours as I tried to feign sleep for Charlie. Eventually he withdrew from the doorway and went downstairs, and Edward was back beside me in a flash.

"He's in a hurry," he whispered. "He'll be gone within five minutes… there was a death relatively close to the county line. Not within Charlie's jurisdiction, but he wants to see what he can do to help, so he's going to head over and get started early."

"Does that mean he's going to be wandering around with all those newborns out there? I wish he'd not play the hero once in a while," I sighed.

"If it makes you feel better, I can call Alice and ask her about his future," Edward offered, wrapping his arms around me and kissing me lightly on the forehead.

"It would, thanks," I agreed, snuggling against his chest and stifling a yawn.

"Get some sleep," he encouraged, "you must be exhausted."

"Not till you've got an answer for me," I countered, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out his phone for him. I held down the #2, knowing that's where he kept Alice on his speed dial, and held the phone up to his ear.

He had a brief, rushed conversation with Alice before snapping the phone shut and setting it on my bedside table. "He's going to be perfectly fine," he promised pulling me close once more. "Now get some sleep, you were up most of the night, and I can tell you're exhausted."

"Yeah, yeah," I agreed, reminding myself of Jake. I snuggled up against Edward, pulled the covers tightly around me, and was asleep within seconds.

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The end. Except not really. Ideally, at this point, you would continue reading about the fight with the newborns in Eclipse. My story is written in such a way that Jacob should still be getting a shock by learning of their engagement, running away, etc. Once you finish that part of Eclipse, if you like my writing (and haven't disowned me for the way I chose to end this story) you could head over and read "Breaking Dawn, My Way," to see more of my stuff, or stay tuned for a new story coming VERY soon! I just need to figure out a title for it - always the hardest part of stories for me.

Thanks for sticking with it, and please review! :)