I'm really super-duper sorry that I haven't been updating quicker! Thank you for being so patient

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these awesome characters. It is depressing.

PLEASE RR! This will be your second to last chance to make me feel good – make good use of it! yesh, this is going to end with chapter 8, i'm sorry, but it has to end sometime, loves.

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(quick recap: Bella comes home, and she hears "Bella? You're alive!")

I couldn't move. It wasn't that I was scared, my brain just didn't seem to want to accept what my eyes and ears were giving it.

"Way to go, Edward. She'll die of shock now," muttered Alice, who looked relieved and confused at the same time.

My brain finally caught me up: Edward and Alice were standing in my tiny kitchen. The brain was trying frantically to get a message to my mouth, telling it to say something that sounded at least half-intelligent. Instead, it opened and closed slowly like a fish out of water.

"Bella?" Edward's velvet voice was full of concern, probably because I hadn't moved and I probably looked like I was suffocating or something. He seemed torn between coming closer and staying where he was.

"E-Edward?" I finally managed to choke out. "Wha-what are you doing here?"

"Bella, I couldn't not come when I thought you were dead. I—"

I held up a hand. "Wait a minute. Since when was I dead?" Not only was Edward in my kitchen, but he had thought I was dead too. This just kept getting better didn't it?

"It's my fault, really," Alice spoke up. "Your future disappeared and I panicked. Then Edward rummaged through my head when I wouldn't tell Jasper what was bothering me." She shot an annoyed glance at Edward.

I glanced away from them for a moment and looked out the little kitchen window. "But why would my future disappear?" I asked, turning back to the two of them.

"The only thing we know of that would make that happen is your death," said Alice. Her forehead wrinkled. "Obviously that's not the case here."

Things were not making sense these past couple days. Why me? Jacob was a werewolf, fine, I could deal with that. But now my old vampire sweetheart comes back when he should have already left me far behind, like I had tried to do with him. "Why would you come back then?"

Edward opened his mouth to speak, but I went on before he could get anything in. "If you thought I was dead, why come back? I'm not your responsibility anymore; you all should be living your lives and not worrying about me."

Edward looked at me sadly with his dark gold eyes. "Bella, I know you've changed, that your feelings about me are not what they used to be. I couldn't have hoped for better. But I will always love you; I told you before, maybe not is so many words, that you were the only one for me." I don't know if I've ever heard so much pain in his beautiful voice. "I couldn't accept what Alice saw; I had to come see for myself."

So that was it; I had pretty much managed to move on, but he would never stop loving me. What a pretty pickle this was.

"What have you been up to then?" Alice asked, changing the subject. I could tell it as nearly killing her that her visions had disappeared with no understandable reason.

"Well…" I knew this was going to be painful for Edward, but Alice was going to insist and it would get ugly if I refused. Edward was keeping his expression carefully blank. "It was kind of hard at first, but not as bad as I thought it'd be. I was distant, yes, for the first day or so, but I visited Jacob Black down in La Push, and, well, he really helped." I fudged a bit, "Then one thing led to another, and we're… together." I glanced at Edward, but his smooth-as-marble expression didn't change.

Alice gave me a measuring look. "That doesn't explain anything. You have a future right now. What are you leaving out?"

"Nothing!" I said, too quickly. Alice looked smug at my guilty expression. "I promised," I grumbled finally. "You of all people should understand." Alice nodded, and then a sudden smile lit up her pixie face. I knew that look. "I'm gonna spill aren't I?" It wasn't really a question.

"Outlook looks good!" Edward finally gave a sign of life, shooting Alice a warning look, which she ignored.

I sighed and dragged a chair away from the table and sat down heavily. "I never told you this," I said. They both nodded. "Okay. The day I went to visit Jake, something… happened to him. They wouldn't tell me what was wrong and they made me leave. But I – I needed Jake, so I went back, and they didn't want me there – well, Jake did." I knew I was talking fast out of nervousness. "And, well, they were all acting kind of weird and looking at me strange, and it was kind of scary because those La Push guys are huge—"

"Oh!" Edward clapped a hand to his forehead. His wide golden eyes, staring at me, were frightened. "Oh no, not good!"

"Are they like the cold ones your great-grandfather met?"

"No," Jacob had said, "they are the same ones."

As that thought flashed through my head, I realized that Edward knew what had happened to Jacob.

"What? Edward, what is it?" Alice asked sharply. She hadn't been around when the treaty was made. And Edward was; he wouldn't have the same reservations I did about spilling Jacob's secret.

"You hadn't come yet," he began. He was still looking at me as he spoke to Alice. "When we first came, the Quileute people knew exactly what we were. Carlisle managed to convince the elders that we were different from the other vampires. But the Quileutes didn't trust us enough, so we all agreed on a treaty: we would stay off their land and they wouldn't expose us."

"So this Jacob knows we're vampires? But he'll break the treaty if he tells anyone, so what's the problem?" Alice frowned; she didn't like not knowing.

Edward sighed. "We aren't the only monsters in the area." I started to protest, but Alice held a tiny hand up and Edward kept going. "I learned a little about the Quileute legends long ago when we first had the treaty, enough to discover why they were so adamant to keep us off their land. Supposedly, their ancestors were able to share bodies with the wolves, and over time I think it somehow became part of their genetic make-up and –"

Alice had put two and two together. "Werewolves? Oh. That would explain it then. You're mixing your future with them, and I'm not able to see them; probably because we're mythical enemies…" She looked at me. "You are one gigantic danger magnet, aren't you?" She shook her head, probably wondering how I could leave vampires and end up a day or two later with werewolves.

"It's a talent." I was surprise at my own slightly defensive tone. Edward opened his mouth again to say something, but the door behind me suddenly crashed open, and I could have sworn it came off the hinges.

"Bella!" Jacob came tearing into the kitchen, throwing me behind him. He was shaking all over. Edward and Alice immediately crouched down, muscles tense, ready if something happened. Jacob cocked his head, assessing the situation. "What are you doing here?" he spat, still vibrating like a tuning fork.

"Something came up," Edward said shortly.

Jacob growled, and I put my hand on his arm, which was still holding me back. He spared a quick glance back at me, and then made an effort to relax. Edward and Alice straightened up a fraction. Soon enough, only Jacob's hands were shaking; I was proud of the way he was able to get himself under control so quick.

I barely saw the brief silent exchange between Edward and Alice, but Edward nodded and Alice walked gracefully past Jacob, which sent him shivering again. I knew what was coming.

"Goodbye, Bella," she said, hugging me tightly. I hugged her back fiercely. "Be careful," she whispered before releasing me and walking out the door. Jacob was more under control again now that there was one less vampire in the house. He kept his eyes on Edward.

I could tell Edward had one last thing to say to me, but the fact that Jacob's enormous frame almost completely hid me was making that difficult. I nudged Jacob to the side and his face told me "No", but then he reluctantly stepped aside when he saw the look on my face.

Edward approached me slowly, stopping about an arm's length away. His eyes were tight, but he was trying his best to keep me from seeing how hard this was for him. "I—" he stopped. I hardly ever saw the articulate vampire at a loss for words. "I am honestly glad that you found someone you can be completely happy with, Bella," he said quietly. My throat closed at the pain in his voice as he walked out the door, out of my life, forever.

It was almost too much. Jacob's warm body was beside me in an instant, and I sagged gratefully against him. "It's okay, I'm here." He kissed my face and wiped the tears away. He hugged me to him and I never wanted him to let go. "It's over."