A/N Sooooooooo very sorry this has taken so long. I probably lost most of you by now, too :( Hope you all are having a good Friday. Here's chapter 10, again, extremely sorry for the delay :)

Thanks to my beta, Breath-of-Twilight. She makes me not sound like so much of an idiot, and I love her for that. Plus, she's an inspiration and I feel honored that she helps me.

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer is a goddess and she owns all of the Twilight universe. I own the story line. Please do not steal what isn't yours. No copyright infringement intended.

All the Loves of Our Lives

9. Soul Separation

I immediately felt a sick pain in the pit of my stomach. No one lived on our road but the two of us. I broke out into a dead run for the trail-head, hearing Edward's footfalls close beside me. When we reached the road, the car was gone; but there, in the middle of the road, was a little black ball. It took a second before reality hit me and I realized what it was that I was looking at. Edward had already made it to the middle of the road and was hovering over whatever was there. He moved to look up at me, giving me a clear view of exactly what was there on the road.

It was Jakey.

Pain clenched at my heart to such an extreme that I couldn't feel the rest of my body. I just stood there, in the middle of the road, as the tears started to stream down my cheeks, sobs wracking my body. I slowly moved towards Edward. When I was standing just over his shoulder, he looked up at me with tears in his eyes. I didn't have to ask him what was wrong. I dropped to my knees and stared at my sweet little black ball of fur. Jakey was gone. The one constant, true confidant that I had ever had was gone.

Edward scooped Jakey in his arms and stood in front of me, waiting for some kind of direction. I could barely even look at him holding my baby. He must have come to some decision because he slowly walked up his driveway towards his garage. I wasn't sure how long I stood there; it could have been seconds, minutes, hours, before I forced my feet to follow.

When I reached the open garage door, Edward had just finished covering Jakey with an old towel.

"Bella, do you want me to take care of this for you?" He looked like this was something that he really wanted to do for me, if only so that I didn't have to do it myself. I felt a little guilty for having him help me, but I also didn't have the strength to do it on my own.

"I would appreciate that, but I want to help."

"Where would you like to bury him?"

"I think somewhere in the back yard." We walked to my back yard, finding the perfect spot next to an old cedar tree. As Edward went to dig the hole, I sat in his garage with Jakey. He was more than a just a pet. I would miss him dearly. I couldn't believe all that I had been through with him. He had been around years before even Riley was in my life. He was approaching middle age for a cat but he still had a lot of good years left. Who would run over someone's family pet then drive away? They didn't even get out of the car to check and see if he was okay.

"Bella, I'm ready whenever you are."

I picked up his little body; it felt like he was already starting to get cold. I walked the path into my back yard, as soon as I saw the hole; I could feel my hold on my emotions start to slip.

"Edward, if you don't mind I think I'm going to go in the house while you do this." It was too fresh in my mind. I didn't think that it had even really sunk in that Jakey was gone.

I walked into the living room, collapsing onto the couch. Sobs overtook my body as I was consumed with grief.

My friend was gone. And now that he was, what was going to happen when Edward left? I was going to be left all by myself. I felt so selfish. My sweet baby cat was just killed and all I could think of was how lonely I was going to be.

Minutes seemed like hours waiting for Edward to come into the house, and at some point, my eyes got heavy and I drifted off into a restless sleep.

"Bella… Bella… Honey, it's okay, you're okay." Groggy and disoriented, I opened my eyes to see Edward standing over me with a worried expression on his face.

"What's going on?"

"You were having a nightmare and screaming in your sleep. I've been trying to wake you for five minutes, but you wouldn't budge.

I couldn't remember anything about having a nightmare but my throat was dry and scratchy like I'd been screaming. As the fog lifted from my brain, the day's events started to come back to me. A crushing weight felt like it had taken up residence on my chest, and I felt like I was going to have a panic attack.

"Bella, you have to calm down. Everything is going to be okay. I'm here with you, and I promise that everything is going to be okay." He gathered me in his arms and silently rocked me back and forth as if I was a child.

The phone ringing brought me back to reality, and I moved to get off Edward's lap.

"Don't. Let the machine pick it up. Let me just hold you for a bit longer." We listened until the machine picked up and Rose's voice broke through the silence:

Bella, it's me, Rose. I was getting worried 'cause I haven't seen you or heard from you in a little while… I know things have been crazy with the wedding coming up, but I miss my best friend. I don't want to wait to see you just before the wedding. I do need a chance to gossip with you and be girly.

Why don't we do something tomorrow night before we leave for Tahoe on Saturday? Like a bachelorette party or something. I know I said that I didn't want one, and I still don't, but I want to hang with my girl one more time before I'm an old, married lady.

Also, don't forget that we need to leave super early on Saturday. The ceremony isn't until later in the evening but I just want to make sure that there are no surprises and things run smoothly. Okay, well, I'm sure I've run your machine out of memory, so call me as soon as you get this, okay? Love you, bye.

The phone disconnected and I couldn't help the smile that was on my face. Rose always had that ability to make me feel better by just being my friend. Even though Edward was here with me, I was glad that Rose had invited me out. I hadn't gone out on a Friday night in ages.

"Are you going to go?" Edward asked. He had a smile on his face and didn't look a bit upset or apprehensive about me leaving him to go out.

"Do you mind? I mean, I know I don't need your permission or anything; I just don't want you to feel like we haven't gotten to spend a whole lot of time together. You're very important to me, Edward; if you have to leave soon then I want to make sure I spend as much time as possible with you. Rose is my best friend though and she's getting married. I don't want to miss out on this chance to spend a little time with her before Emmett whisks her away." I was rambling, and I was so nervous. I knew he wouldn't ever tell me I couldn't go, not that I would take that from him anyway. I just wanted to be courteous to his feelings, too.

"Well, I told you that I probably won't have to leave for a couple of weeks. It's looking like I'll be here all of next week and the week after, and then I'll leave the following Monday. We are going to have plenty of time together. I don't plan on leaving you unless absolutely necessary. I'll even be your designated driver out and then home again," he said with a huge smile on his face. I didn't know if he took comfort in the fact that he would be around awhile, but I sure did.

"I bet Rose would love that. Although, I'm sure Emmett will bring her to meet me wherever we decide to go. So, you really don't mind?"

"Of course not. I just want us to have as regular and normal life as possible. I am so very happy here with you. Life without you is unbearable…"

"How would you know what life is like without me?" I said with a smirk. Edward's face dropped, suddenly he looked nervous.

"I… that is… I've had to leave before and I didn't like being away from you," he explained.

"But you hardly knew me. Oh well, never mind. I was only joking with you anyway," I teased.

Edward was staring at me, making me suddenly feel self conscious. It was as if he was looking right through me into my very soul. The moment was getting too intense for me so I stood up, breaking away from his gaze.

"I should go call Rose." I turned, walking into the kitchen, still very aware that Edward seemed lost in the moment and looked as though he were a million miles away.

The phone only rang once before Rose picked up.

"Bella, what's up, girlie?"

"Not a whole lot, just returning your call. I would have called sooner, I've just been busy and things have been a little crazy around here."

"What's been going on? Now that we don't see each other every day, I feel like I am totally out of the loop with your love life," Rose snickered.

"Well, it has definitely been exciting the past couple of days." Rose instantly picked up on the slightest bit of hesitation on my part.

"What's wrong, Bella? I can hear it in your voice."

"Jakey was hit by a car today. He didn't make it."

The other end of the line went silent and I thought I could hear Rose getting choked up on the other end of the line. Tears started to stream down my cheeks of their own free will, I was determined to hold it together this time.

"I am so sorry, Bella. What happened? I mean, I know you said he was hit; did you see the person do it?"

"No. Edward and I were out on a walk when we heard tires squeal. We ran back to the road but the car was already gone. I'm gonna miss him, Rose, so much."

Rose sniffled. "Then this definitely calls for us to go out and have some fun. Emmett and I can come pick you up, and then he'll drop us downtown. He can even bring you home if you want."

"That's okay. Actually, Edward offered the same thing. If you want, we can just meet somewhere."

"That actually sounds perfect. I want Emmett to meet Edward anyway. Maybe they could even stay for a drink so that we can all get to know each other better."

"That sounds great. Edward really wants to meet my family. I think hanging out with you guys would be a good start." I looked over at Edward on the couch and was met with his beautiful smile.

"Well good then, so how does six o'clock sound? That way we can have little dinner with our boys before we get our drink on."

"Six is good. See you then. Love you."

"Love you, too. Bye."

"Bye."

I hung up the phone, moving back to the couch and my previous position on Edward's lap.

"Are you ready for this?"

"Bella, I'm ready to tackle anything to be with you. Even if that means meeting the entirety of every acquaintance you've ever had. Starting with your best friend, though, I think she's going to be the toughest on me."

"Don't forget that she's the reason we met so much sooner than if we had been left to our own devices. I think you already have an in with her anyway. She wants us to have dinner with her and Emmett before she and I go out. That's okay, right? I should have asked, but I just felt like we'd have a really good time with them."

"No worries, sweetheart. It all sounds perfect."