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Dream's Shadow

Summary:
This is my take on the over- and usually poorly- done plot. Edward leaves Bella again. She is changed and they meet again in the future. There will be a big twist! Requested by Iris. Banner by Iris!

Notes:
Try it! I know stories like this usually stink, but I thought I'd give it a try. I own nothing. Stephenie Meyer owns all.

50. Chapter 50

Rating 5/5   Word Count 542   Review this Chapter

“The smell. It’s like a vampire mixed with you. Stinks. Literally,” he grins.

“Did I smell bad as a human?”

“Naw. You smelled great. But now it’s like flowers, only mixed with sugar and ice, and lots of it. It actually hurts.”

“Well, you smell like a poorly groomed dog.”

He shakes his long hair at me. “You caught me.”

I return to a more serious topic abruptly.

“Why’d you try to save me?”

His eyes are earnest. “I love you. I still do. I always will. But we’ll never be together. It’s as simple as that. I can’t stand to have you die, but I have…”

“We’re happier… we both have something better. Right? Only you know she loves you.” I try to keep the bitterness out of my voice.

“No. No, really, I don’t. I’m blind when I’m around her. I don’t know who I am, who she is. All I know is that I have to keep her safe. And I love her. Really I do. But I don’t know what she wants from me. With you, I always knew.”

“Because I needed so much.” Jacob hasn’t exactly seen the best side of me. In fact, the only side he’s seen is the one that’s dying of heartbreak. He only knows me as someone with nothing left to lose, not as the well-adjusted sane human being I am now… well, minus the human part.

“Bella, I was never good for you. I thought myself so much better than him, but really I kept hurting you too.”

“It was never either of your faults. I’m just not enough.” I don’t even hurt at the words. They’re too true to worry about. They’ve become a part of me, really, so intrinsic. I no longer even notice the pain.

“You’re more than enough. It’s just the circumstances, Bells. He loves you. It’s like the way I feel about her. I know you don’t want to hear it, but I’ve seen him look at you. His world revolves around you.”

I laugh cynically. “Once I made that exact same metaphor- while he was gone the first time. I was like a lost planet, defying all the laws of the universe to keep spiraling around the locale of my destroyed sun… except you were the sun to me.”

There is an awkward silence. He breaks it. “So, I’m getting married too.”

“I wasn’t in any state to say this when I found out, but congratulations. Have you set a date?”

“Two years from now. She isn’t ready, and I can wait. Werewolves are good at waiting.”

“Like Quil and Claire.”

“Yeah. He’s got a long wait ahead.”

Jake seems totally distracted. I know he has what I’ve always wanted for him, but he doesn’t seem any happier than he did pining after me. I sigh. “Well, you’re welcome here. As long as you want.”

Unexpectedly, he hugs me. “Thanks, Bells. You’re still my best friend.”

His arms are even warmer than I remember. I snuggle into his embrace.

That, of course, is when Edward chooses to make his entrance.