I figure the disclaimer can take a hike this far into it… if you don't already know who owns the series, you haven't been reading this. lol.

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"Carlisle!!" Edward barely raised his voice as he called through the house, but it contained all of the turmoil he was feeling. Bella clung uncertainly to his arm, their hands clasped tightly. It was as though after the bond they had shared, he was scared to lose her touch as death came so close to her.

I'm running right into it though, she thought with amusement at the irony.

Carlisle looked a bit concerned as he came rushing down the stairs and within seconds it seemed, Edward had explained everything in words too fast for Bella's human ears to pick up. She stared blankly instead as Edward's emotional conversation translated to his body. Though the arm she was holding remained more or less perfectly still, the rest of her lover's body moved with its natural superhuman speed. With her eyes unfocused, she could almost see him move out of the corner of her eye.

Will I be like that soon? She blushed suddenly, thinking of how casually she named him her lover now. We really are lovers, aren't we? Fiancée…. Soon to be his wife… I wonder why it never hit me before….

"Bella?" Carlisle's gentle question pulled her out of her reverie. "Bella you look a bit flushed. Are you okay? And you smell a bit different too," he commented as he took her face gently in his hands. Edward's cheeks turned a barely pink and he turned away with a look of embarrassment on his face. Carlisle frowned at him, unsure of why he was blushing until he placed the "odd" smell and dropped the subject. He smiled with fatherly affection on his boy and when Bella giggled nervously at the impossibly adorable scene, Edward simply said "ugh!" and hid his face in his hand.

"Sorry," Carlisle said with a chuckle, placing a hand on Edward's shoulder. Edward looked at Bella sideways through his fingers, trying to judge her reaction to the older man knowing about them. Bella's smile was somewhat sad though as she read the lingering frantic look from his usually enigmatic eyes. Edward looked away and his pink glow faded, replaced by a look that made it seem he would cry if he could. Carlisle noted the difference and turned to Bella.

"It's time, isn't it?" she said with a small voice.

He placed his other hand on her shoulder. "It's still your decision."

"My decision still hasn't changed," she replied matter-of-factly. Edward pulled her aside and sat on the arm of the couch, leveling out their heights so they looked directly into each other's eyes.

"You can stay human, we can run away together…," Please, his eyes finished the statement.

"I want to stay like this. With you. Forever. I can't do that as a human, and you know that."

Edward looked sadly into her eyes and pulled her into a strong embrace, pressing his cool cheek against her warm one. He held her as though he would never hold her again, and when they pulled away, a tear coursed down his cheek. He wiped it away with a look of confusion, and then noticed the source, wiping her eyes gingerly.

"I love you, Edward," she whispered through the emotional haze.

"You are my life now," he repeated back to her, trying to smile her favorite crooked smile and not getting it quite right. She looked to find Carlisle and noted he had gone without a word. "He's preparing," Edward explained softly. He looked so pained to hear his own words.

Bella grabbed his face roughly in her hands and made sure they could only look directly into each other's eyes. "This is what I want. Do you hear? I'm not going to die —"

"Well actually you will—"

"You know what I mean, I'm going to wake up and you'll be right there. Everything will be fine. You'll be fine. You won't kill me for good, you won't ruin my soul. You once said you weren't human but you were still a man. Be that man, Edward and we'll be all right." I'll be all right.

Edward looked deep into her eyes and smiled a genuine smile. "You're right. We'll be all right." He chuckled softly. "How silly; a man who has lived a hundred years being reassured by a little girl."

"I'm not little!"

"You are to me… and it's just the way I like you," he said sweetly, embracing her once again, lips, body and soul. She wrapped her arms around his waist as he stood over her, holding her to his chest, taking in the scent of her hair, raising her wrist to his lips as he smelled her blood and kissed her pulse. "I'll miss this," he said more to himself than to her, lowering himself to his knees before her and burying his face in her clothing as he held her against him. She ran her fingers through his coppery hair, making no appreciable change in the perpetual state of perfect messiness. She couldn't help smiling a little as a rumbling "mmm…" came from her shirt-tails.

"You know, you really do smell like sex," Edward's muffled voice commented from her middle.

"We didn't even do much," Bella reminded him, rolling her eyes, but meeting him on her knees self-consciously all the same.

"I'll fix that next time," he replied with a smile, pulling her body against his in a passionate kiss that seemed to send her mind reeling as their bodies and lips connected perfectly, fitting as though they were two pieces of a puzzle. Meant to be. He let her tongue explore his mouth experimentally and slipped his between her parted lips, trying to become as much a part of the other as decency allowed. He slid his hand down her back and smiled slightly as he gripped her ass, earning him a short muffled moan from Bella. She tried to ignore him and tangled her hands in his hair, determined to get as much out of him as she could before he couldn't take the strain on his nerves anymore. He didn't hold back though, his love protecting her from the beast he may accidentally unleash.

They finally parted with a last, chaste kiss and he hugged her as tight as he could without hurting her, painfully aware of her fragile humanity. She threw herself back into the hug, trying to show him just how much she loved and trusted him. He pulled away and looked up the stairs quietly.

"Ready?" Bella asked, though she already knew the answer. Edward confirmed it with a nod, "Though I'm not sure ready is a good word," he added and helped her stand, keeping her small hand enveloped in his. "Um… Edward?" she called quietly as he began to walk away. He turned in silence to look at his beloved. "Will you carry me?"

"Carry you?" he repeated, somewhat surprised by the request.

"Well you know… the first time you touched me on purpose was when you carried me to the nurses' office that one time—"

He smiled at the memory. "You said you could smell the blood."

"Well, yeah, it's gross."

"That will be interesting."

"…. anyway. I was just wondering," she said uncertainly, looking at the ground.

He tilted her chin up to meet his and kissed her lips sweetly before scooping her up in his arms. She hugged his neck fiercely and he nuzzled her hair, taking in the last of her humanity it seemed. He carried her up the stairs to Alice's bedroom, where Carlisle, Esme, Alice, and Jasper were there waiting for her. Carlisle rose from the bed and Edward shifted her onto his lap as he sat down.

"How do you want this, Edward?" the older man asked quietly.

"I'll do it. Just stop me if I go too far," he whispered back, having only eyes for Bella. He wondered absently if any of the warmth of those large brown eyes would stay after the turn. She took a deep, shaky breath before setting herself and nodding. He smiled as he saw everything she was thinking on her face. He glanced up at Jasper, who smiled and nodded, already not breathing so he could be of help in dampening the bloodlust in case things got out of hand. Jasper seemed to close his eyes in meditation as Alice put a gentle hand over his, smiling at the couple in reassurance.

Edward turned back to meet his girl's gaze. "You know I love you, Bella."

She smiled and nodded. "I'll see you when I wake up."

He gently unbuttoned her shirt and left her in the tank top and bra she had been wearing under her graduation uniform. It seemed so far away now, high school and all the drama of the past years. He slipped the straps off one shoulder and brushed her hair back, gently kissing where her neck sloped down to her shoulders. She draped her arm over him and lifted his chin slightly.

"Wait, I want you to try to promise me something."

"Anything." His eyes were so cold and distant now.

"Promise me you won't listen."

"What?" he seemed to come back slightly and frowned at her.

"Well… it hurts, right? I don't want you to just… listen to it. Block it out. Do whatever you have to, but don't just… don't torture yourself with it. This is my choice. Okay?"

He looked back blankly for a minute before sighing heavily. "I'll do what I can."

She hugged him close and he kissed her neck again sweetly. "Love you, Edward," she whispered in his ear.

He paused only a second before he bit into her soft flesh. She cringed at the pain and grabbed fistfuls of his shirt as hot venom flowed into her muscles and blood trailed down her chest. He hadn't broken any arteries so blood oozed rather than gushed into his mouth, but she could feel as the heat, the burning began to move towards her heart. She whimpered and tried not to cry out, but the pain grew steadily worse. She could feel Edward trying not to drink much as his venom penetrated her body, could feel the beast inside each of them fighting to break through within her lover. He pulled her body close, sinking his teeth in deeper, searching for more of the warm life flowing into his mouth. She cried out in pain, no longer able to hold back as the burning reached new heights and moved towards her heart. Tears streamed freely down her cheeks and it was the steady drops on his shoulder than brought Edward back to her. He pulled back abruptly, not being able to resist moving back in to lick the trail of dark red liquid coursing down to her collar. Before he could bite down again, he quickly moved her down onto the bed, where Carlisle had gauze waiting to stop the bleeding. Edward stepped away quietly, his every muscle tense, crying out for more of Bella's sweet life. The intoxicating scent, the wonderful taste in his mouth was almost more than he could take. He opened a window and fell to his knees, gripping the windowsill as though her life depended on it, because the fragile human's life did seem to depend on that sill, the doorway to outside. He nearly jumped out to get away from the smell, to keep himself from unleashing every instinct fighting for control of his body.

But suddenly it was easier. A breeze blew in through the window and though he could still taste it, the smell of her blood was no longer in the air. Esme was next to him with a hand on his shoulder and he could feel Jasper's calming influence. He felt sleepy, thought he knew he could not sleep, and as Bella fell under his influence as well, the screams downgraded to a soft whimper. He stood from the window and cleared his head as best he could before heading to sit at Bella's side.

As he walked across the room, he caught his reflection in the mirror and was disgusted by the red-eyed monster he found staring back at him. He stomped back to the window and spat out his disgust at the creature of his reflection. Alice, closer than anyone of the others could ever be to him, looked at him with her bright ocher eyes.

"She needs you. She'll need you more desperately soon. Go while she sleeps and come back when you're fed," Alice commanded in her sweet musical voice. Edward nodded slightly though he had just fed a day ago and left the house, running with an abandon he had never known before. He ran from his troubles until he could run no more, and found himself close to the Quileute reserve. He turned to go back when he caught Victoria's scent once more. She had followed him and was now nearby. He growled deeply, resenting her for having forced this course of action on him, on them, for forcing this pain on Bella. He turned to stalk her quietly, using every bit of the tracking experience he had picked up in his time away from the love now suffering in his sister's room.

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Alice tried to calm Bella down as she thrashed in the sheets, nearly reopening the healing wound on her shoulder. The deep fang marks were clearly visible still, though the bite had been the first site on her body to begin the change. Bella's face looked gaunt and strained and it took every bit of her reserve to sit by the dying human while her brother was away. The others had all left, and while Carlisle had checked in not too long ago, she couldn't help wanting Edward to come back to take care of the girl. Her screams were becoming too much for Alice to take.

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Carlisle was sitting by Bella's bed when he heard Edward come home. She was breathing heavily, having run out her voice over the past two days of change. Carlisle frowned as he smelled vampire blood, unsure at first that what his senses were telling him was real. As Edward walked up the stairs and he caught sight of his blood-covered adopted son though, doubt turned to concern and he rushed over to him as he leaned against the door frame.

What happened? Carlisle thought frantically. Are you okay?

Edward's stoic stone face revealed nothing, but as Carlisle examined him, he saw no cuts to account for all the blood.

"Victoria is no longer a threat to our coven," he commented shortly as he moved to Bella's side, never touching the sheets or her reclining body. "She looks weak. How much longer?"

She's still got some time left before the change is finished... Moments of lucidity come and go, but she'll wake up for a while soon, right before the end. You may want to shower before that.

"Yes," Edward replied shortly, and left. Within 5 minutes he had showered and changed, removing the blood and its smell from his body. He had calmed too, though he was still visibly upset. He noted the nearly-healed scar on her neck and searched for the others he knew to be there. The half-moon on her palm had plumped up to be even with the rest of her skin, though it felt as though the scar's unique temperature had invaded the rest of her body. He leaned down to kiss her still-soft lips. And like a fairy-tale princess, she opened her eyes at the touch of her true love.

Her smile lifted the clouds hovering over his head and behind his eyes and he nearly smiled back before her features rearranged as she felt the burning pain that was still with her in the change.

"I'm sorry," he whispered as she grunted and whined. She gripped his hand and managed a weak smile when he looked into her eyes, which looked more like earth than the burgundy color that was invading towards the pupils from outside.

"Love you," she whispered. Edward's face screwed up with pain and she reached out to touch him gently.

"You're so wonderful… I can't—" he cleared his throat as emotion tried to constrict it. "I can't believe that's what you're thinking. If… if I hadn't been here—" she silenced him with her fingertips. He faced her sullenly, and she pulled him down to her level. He separated himself against her protests long enough to move across the bed and lay down beside her. Bella smiled again and gratefully pressed against his cool skin, pressing aside the open button-up he had on. "I'll be here till you wake up. You don't have long now. It will be over soon," he reassured her. He listened to her heartbeat, waited for it to slow, then stop completely. He never imagined it would be so hard to hear her last breaths, to hold her corpse as she died in his arms. He cried without tears for the human girl he had cared so much for.

She twitched as some do in their final minutes before sleep and her breathing hitched slightly as it resumed, though her heartbeat was very conspicuously absent. Her blood scent had changed over the course of the night, but he wasn't surprised when it still smelled lightly of the flowers it resembled while she had been properly alive. The low hum her mind had become for him as she opened up to him had stopped when she had died, and he noted that it didn't resume for him now. He probably would never get that back. Bella opened her eyes and looked up at Edward cautiously. He stared back at her, unsure of what to say. She smiled and snuggled against his chest, still soft despite the new hardness to her skin. Edward hugged her back gently, but squeezed harder when she pulled against him with all her might.

Alice knocked lightly on the door frame, and Bella sat up quickly with a large grin on her face that turned to awe. "Whoa…" she shot her hand out and laughed merrily. "Look at me! Wow!" Alice couldn't help laughing out loud, a happy tinkling sound, at Bella's childish joy. She had been so afraid what the change might do to her personality that the relief from watching Bella's exuberance was hard to contain. She ran over and hugged Alice tightly, surprised when she actually stumbled backwards a little bit. They giggled happily and Bella whispered, "All better now," so that only Alice could hear.

"Welcome back," Carlisle said with a smile, appearing out of nowhere.

Edward came up behind Bella and placed his arms around her shoulders, still treating her gently, though not with the caution of when she had been human. She leaned back into him and looked up into his beautiful face, no longer pained. He met her eyes, searching for her mind's voice, trying to fathom what she was thinking. She smiled at the familiar expression. "It's harder to guess with your eyes like this," he commented in explanation.

"Oh!" Bella exclaimed, suddenly excited to see how her looks had changed. She rushed to the adjacent bathroom to see her reflection. "Eew!"

Edward peeked in the door at her exclamation. "What? Why eew?" He looked offended.

"I'm sweaty and gross! Get out!" she said shortly and shoved him away to shut the door.

He put his foot in the opening and raised an eyebrow at her. "That's it?"

"Let me wash up, I don't want you looking at me like this!" She insisted, hiding behind the wall.

He laughed and opened the door easily, closing it behind him. "I won't look then," he murmured while he turned on the shower. She whined hesitantly.

"What, don't you trust me? You can't really be embarrassed about taking a shower with me," he chided, adjusting the temperature and turning around to reach for her. She moved into his touch when he found her with his outstretched arm and allowed him to undress her with his eyes shut tight. His hands moved sensuously over her bare skin, and she could smell her body becoming aroused though he was not being sexual. She moved against him, realizing he wouldn't need to hold back, and leaned up to kiss him. He slid his hands across her bare back and pulled her into him, kissing her with abandon. She quickly removed his clothing, biting her lip when his pants slid below his hips. He self-consciously covered himself and moved her to the shower.

She stepped into the water and sighed erotically as the shower washed away the uncertainty of her decision and scent of her humanness forever. Edward stepped in behind her after a moment, holding her hips as he kissed the barely-visible discoloration from his bite. She turned to face him, smiling as his golden eyes met hers.

"You know, I imagined moments like this, but I must say, it's nothing compared to the real thing. You look so sexy," he whispered against her lips, pressing her wet body to his dry skin. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and tried to absorb him into her, encouraging his tongue into the kiss, into her mouth, moving to lean against the chilled wall. He responded perfectly, leaning into her, exploring her mouth without hesitation. He suddenly pulled her roughly up from the wall crushing his mouth to hers, moving down to suck on her ear and neck, grasping her breast firmly in his palm as she arched into him.

"Edward…ah…" Bella moaned quietly, tangling her fingers in his dripping locks as the shower beat down on them, making their bodies slick. He grabbed her hips and lifted her up onto him, pressing her back against the linoleum. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he reached lower to line himself up. He kissed her again and penetrated her mouth as easily as slipped into her body. She cried out, her voice vibrating against his lips, but he thrust again and she moved against him greedily. He pulled away slightly to ask if she was okay, but she didn't let him get the words out before she crushed her lips back to his. He needed no more encouragement and took her passionately, learning her body and what made her cry out the loudest.

When they finally sank down to the floor of the shower, kissing softly, arms and legs still wrapped around each other, Edward thought he could never be that exhausted. He told her so, and she giggled breathily, nodding in agreement. She reached over to turn off the water and loved on him quietly as he rested his head against her shoulder.

"I love you," she whispered softly in his ear, moving the wet locks off his forehead.

"Yeah, I should hope so, after that," he chuckled, smiling without opening his eyes.

"Mm." She stroked his head softly, waiting.

"You know, you owe me now."

"What? You enjoyed this as much as I did," Bella protested.

"No, I mean for the change. You owe me a wedding."

She sighed theatrically. "Well I guess. If I have to."

"Well, I won't force you," he said seriously, sitting up to look into her eyes.

She rolled her eyes and gave him a meaningful look.

He searched her eyes for a moment before she looked away, embarrassed a little by the changes in her face. Edward lifted her off carefully and turned on the water again, standing to rinse his body. Bella hugged her knees and bit her lip, watching him carefully. He turned to offer her his hand, but paused when he saw her face.

"What's wrong?" he asked, kneeling down beside her.

"You still haven't told me you love me," she mumbled.

"Oh, Bella!" He pulled her against him once more. "I love you with all my heart. I'll never stop loving you. You're everything to me, more than the moon and stars in the sky."

"Even though I'm different?" she asked, on the verge of tears that would never come.

"You'll always be my Bella, no matter how your body changes," he reassured her. He held her face in his hands and kissed her sweetly. "I love you. Forever."

"Forever." Bella repeated softly with a satisfied smile.

He gave her the crooked smile she adored. "I just hope you won't get tired of me before then," he teased.

She pounced and toppled him over onto his ass with a thud. "Don't think I won't get you back for doubting me," she warned. "I might have to withhold certain privileges."

"Oh? I get privileges?" He laughed warmly as he sat up more firmly.

Bella smiled and moved on top of him again. "Well, this body recovers quickly. I can show you a few if you want."

Edward grinned and placed his hands on her hips, moving to steal a kiss from her beautiful, cool lips.

"I love you."

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YAY! Another chapter finished Thanks so much for sticking with me and my procrastination. I hope you'll have the patience to continue with me till the end!

3 I appreciate every single one of you who take the time to write a review. You're the ones who make these things successful!

firedroplett