Epilogue.

Bella's Point of View.

"Hey, you look good," I grimace at my words, that's not how I wanted to start.

I shake my head, forgoing the nervousness that's bubbling within me, "I mean you look beautiful," I restart, god this feels like the first time we met all over again. I rub the back of my neck, suddenly feeling guilty that it has taken me so long to return to this place again. I sigh; knowing that silence and the cool wind will be the only response I'll receive.

"A lot has happened in three years, but then, of course you know that, you were with me the entire time," I give my best smile and talk as if I'm not standing in the middle of a cemetery talking to myself.

"Alice is good, she's still a speech pathologist and she has the funniest characters as patients, like this one kid who insists that Alice is secretly a ballet dancer because of the way she moves. The kid, Renesmee, I know unfortunate name, she's a good kid, I had the pleasure of meeting her a few times. I call her Smee for short because loves Peter Pan and, she makes the best partner in crime. Especially when we're running amok in Alice's office."

As I keep talking, I can feel the nerves dissipating, for all the anxiety that she could cause, she could always calm me too. I don't know how my body was ever able to cope with the contrasting emotions, all the time.

"Rose and Leah are trying for a kid, they're going through all the books, I swear some of the things I read are like bad plot lines to horror movies. They remind me of us a little bit, when we were newly married. It's the way they look into each other's eyes, comforted in knowing that they have forever together," a pang wells in my heart, "I know that you wanted a kid too and it would have been great if we did, I always thought that I'd make a terrible parent but, looking back now, I think that we have been alright." My heart feels heavier at this admission, hindsight is great but, it doesn't really change anything.

As soon as I say this, there's something in my head that tells me to stop. And, as much as I hate to acknowledge it, the voice is right.

Don't do this.

I close my eyes and swallow the fleeting emotion, I raise my head up and place my shoulders back.

"Jacob," I continue shakily, a small sniffle the only telling sign that I was broken, "God, Jacob is still Jacob, I see that he's been visiting you often, remind me to thank him the next time I see him and also to punch him for not telling me that he shacked up with Leah's brother Seth. I had to hear that second hand information from my dad," I grin, it had taken forever but, my best friend has finally done it.

I clear my throat in apprehension, "I'm doing good, I mean, I'm better, I wrote our story you know. It's basically a memoire; I didn't write it for the fans, as you're well aware, I'm not that kind of author. But, it was cathartic and, I think that it really helped with the whole, grieving process in the end. I've had a few really appreciative people tell me that it helped them so, there's that."

I'm rambling, I know I am so, I allow for a moments grace, "I still think about you every day, I still miss you, Every. Single. Day. And, I don't think that will ever go away. But, I'm still here, living, as you…as we both want."

A gust of wind brushes past me and I can't help but think that's in agreement, "To be honest I didn't think that I would ever love again but then, I moved to San Francisco because of that song you used to play, I just wanted to be closer to you and then, Alice came crashing into my life."

A half smile makes its way to my lips, "I wonder if you had anything to do with that."

Another playful gust or maybe that was just my imagination.

"She fills my heart in places that you didn't but, at the same time, you remain in my heart in places that Alice will never replace. And, I'm ok with that; I hope that you are too. But, if you're not just send me a sign," I request this brazenly, I don't really believe in the supernatural or anything like it but we all do it when we desire something. I close my eyes and wait for a sign, knowing my luck, it'll come in the form of a bird using my face as a tree.

Silence.

Taking that as a positive sign, I smile, "Thank-you," I say not really knowing exactly what I'm thankful for.

I walk over to the grey tombstone that belongs to my deceased wife and although her body may now reside here, she's not really here anymore. I place a chaste kiss on it and, funnily enough, it feels warm, "I love you, I promise to visit more often," I whisper.

I close the door of my old rusted truck, there are probably a thousand places I need to be and more people to see but instead, I sit back in the driver's seat for just a few moments.

You never get over the loss of a loved one, for a really long time you question whether everything was for nothing as you wait for an answer in despair, alone. You long for those times where you had promised them later, not realizing that those promises were destined to be broken from the start. And you would trade anything for just one more of everything. In your destroyed state, you reluctantly reflect and begin to realize that the relationship had more meaning than what you had thought, but you were too scared to admit it at the time. And it comes with a disenchanting clarity, because you took everything for granted, like, the time you met, those embarrassing but playful moments, those fights, breakfasts, dinners, waking up together, the awkwardness of falling in love. All of those perfectly imperfect moments. The pain will always be there but, I can promise you, that one day the void that you have so ungraciously entered becomes less bleak. And in doing so, you wake up every day so that those moments can live to have meaning once again, perhaps in another time, in another place or maybe even right now.

I take out the ring box that has been secure in my pocket for the past week, taking notice how scarily light it is for what it contains.

I think of Alice, and I can tell you that right now, I'm smiling.

And there we have it, the real end. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, faved, saved and the support.