Well, Ladies and Gents, this is it. The race line I've been hurtling towards (with many bumps and breaks) has finally been reached. So, please, take your seats and read through Isabella Cullen's final words of My Shattered Heart.

Epilogue.

Normality. I breathed the word in like oxygen. After a few days back in Forks, the gossip-mongers had lost interest in out arrival and, save for a few cursory glances and wandering thoughts, all of which were silenced quite efficiently once the perpetrator was on the receiving end of my glare

But now something was different. Though the routine we held was almost exactly the same as before – save for Charlie's nightly 'It's nine o'clock' – there was an unmentioned presence hanging in the air between us. It neither hindered or impeded our affections, yet we could both sense it.

I had a name for it. Approximately a week after our sudden return, the occasional night-time mumblings of 'Jane...sadistic bitch' and 'Go faster...the sun' dissipated into reverent whispers of my name. And, punctuating these moments, fell from his lips a small, yet monumentally important word; Leah.

Leah Clearwater.

She haunted his nightly imaginations, this werewolf who had been attempting to worm her way into Edward's heart while it was already riddled with holes, this mongrel stalked the edges of Edward's consciousness, biting out at me in the middle of the night.

"Lee, you promised...friends no matter wha-" He murmured nightly, his hands balling into fists under his sheets. Each time his forehead creased into a delicate frown which I immediately hastened to kiss away. Jolts of smug satisfaction ran through me as he breathed in my scent every time and, with a hushed calling of my name, allowed the caged thoughts of the werewolf to be locked away for another night.

But then, a careless comment from Charlie, "Have you even tried to call her?" set into motions wheels that I was fighting to keep still.

"Hello? Sue? Is Leah there?"

"Edward!" The startled voice of the deceased Quileute elder's wife had halted Edward as he paced the small Swan kitchen.

"Yes. Is she there?" I'd turned away from him, my hidden vantage point close enough to see the lines of hope across his face. Far too close.

"She's patrolling, Edward." Came the short reply before the dialing tone had rang through the plastic phone.

Edward had hung up with a sigh. He'd stared at the clock for a few seconds before, with a fit of rage I'd never once seen in him, lashed out and slammed his fist into the plaster by the phone, cursing loudly.

I'd heard the grotesque tearing of tender flesh, looking up again to see him stare down at his knuckles with a mixture of disinterest and regret. He'd headed to the first-aid cabinet and slowly wrapped a bandage around his knuckles, all the while staring at the clock as it counted towards five o'clock.

He never mentioned the phone-call. Or the bandage.

And I didn't ask.

More phone-calls followed through the passing weeks, each ending with a curt 'She's asleep' or 'She's out'. Each one dampening Edward's spirits. Every time he headed towards the phone again the dial the number that must have by now been etched into his memory, he trudged a little slower, dialed with a little more hesitancy, and hung up with a growing sense of toleration.

As the days passed and his calls grew in their intensity, he knew that I knew. He hung his head with a guilt he refused to name whenever he saw my eyes flicker towards the phone.

Whenever he thought that I wasn't listening to him – stupid thought – he would grouse about the recurring brush-offs to either Charlie, Angela or Ben. While Charlie stubbornly stuck to his guns and told his son to 'Keep trying, You'll get through eventually' both Angela and Ben managed to subtlety remind him that his girlfriend was sitting a few seats away.

I'd always liked those two.

To these reminders from his school-mates, Edward merely looked at them in a mixed expression of confusion and horror. The horror was unjustified; the young couple knew nothing of mythical feuds between Vampires and Werewolves, but the confusion made me smile a little to myself.

No matter what Angela or Ben thought, Edward's so-called 'Unfaithful' phone-calls had nothing to do with adulterous tendencies. His confusion was rooted in the fact that, while he knew Clearwater as loyal friend, he didn't realise that other's saw her as his 'rebound-girlfriend' to quote a phrase from Jessica Stanley's brain.

But, though he steadfastly kept his silence about his calls, his frustration lay bubbling beneath the surface until it can to a sudden, final, explosion.

"It's just plain rude!" He yanked open the door to my beloved Volvo and sprawled out on the seat, seething as I pulled out of Newton's Outfitter's Car-Lot. "Downright insulting. Sue said she doesn't want to talk to me! That she was there and wouldn't extend any effort to walking three steps to pick up the phone!" He took a deep breath, staring out of the window and watching the forest as we slipped by. "Usually it's 'She's sleeping' Or 'She's busy'! I know she's lying but it was the polite way to handle it!" He sighed to the window, his breath fogging up a small patch of the glass, before he turned back to me. "I'm sorry," He murmured, entwining my free hand with his. "It's just not fair. Sue hates me now, too."

"No-one hates you," I soothed him, resenting the Quileute woman more and more by the passing minute.

"Feels like it," He grumbled to himself, sliding an envelope with his name on it into his bag. His pay-check.

"Clearw- Leah knows we're back." I sighed through my nose. "And I'm sure she's certain that I'm going to be with you. She won't come near, the enmity is rooted far too deeply,"

"Jake manages it," He almost snarled, his hand tightening over mine before he relaxed.

"Jacob..." I struggled, trying to find a reason for the newest Black's bizarre behaviour. "He is more like his ancestor than he realises. Ephraim was the one to accept Carlisle's offer of a treaty. His Pack-mates." My mouth unintentionally sneered around the word. "Were less inclined to make dealings with us. The defiance in Leah, when she first broke the treaty and now, are rooted in her ancestors resistance, just as Jacob's placidity is traced through from his grandfather. I will not be surprised if Jacob Black shall turn out to be the one to forge the bridges between us."

Edward settled for a few seconds, thinking over my words in the silence that was only punctuated by the rain hammering on the roof of my car.

"But Leah's just being stupid. She knows you're not...like other vampires,"

"There's still good reason to keep a safe distance."

He huffed loudly, refusing to see reason.

"Edward, we are what we are. We fight like this because instinct dictates it. I can control myself, but I doubt she can. She's very young." A year older than Edward, maybe, but an infant to the realm of mythical creatures. "It would most likely turn into a fight, and I don't know if I could stop it before I k – Before I hurt her." I could hurt her. So easily that the pup would never see it coming... "But...You would be unhappy. I don't want that to happen." Pushing all homicidal thoughts away, I focused on Edward's stuttering heart. I doubted that he every would understand the deep need for battle that thrived between the two species. The very idea of taking up arms against the one creature we truly believed to be the scourge of the earth sent us into a high topped only by blood.

His emerald eyes narrowed as his heart involuntarily picked up into double time. "Isabella Cullen, were you about to say 'killed her'? Were you?"

I couldn't lie, but to tell him how much I craved to just this once drop the facades of humanity and let the vampire within me have free reign over the plight of werewolves that tainted the air and infected the land would cause for disastrous consequences.

A lie was impossible, but the truth would only hurt him. "I would try…very hard…not to do that."

I was pulled out of my shame at Edward's gaping face by the fuming thoughts of an incredibly familiar mind.

Could have gotten himself killed! Stupid, reckless, irresponsible fool! The wrath that fired within Charlie's thoughts seemed nothing compared to the righteous fury of his voice as he yelled at some-one. "Your mother will be hearing about this, Miss Clearwater, and you can warn Jacob that Billy will be sure to find out too!"

The exact reason why Clearwater was being thrown out of the Swan house, after Charlie was so interested to reconcile her and his son, was eclipsed by Charlie's furiously raging and interesting ways of grounding his son for life.

The soon-to-be worries remained undiscovered to Edward as he shook his head wildly and changed the subject. "You need to take me home before I get in even more trouble," He sighed, recognising my desire to leave the subject alone.

How could he be so stupid? Charlie fumed, his mind flickering about, re-catalouging every cut, sprain or bang to the head that Edward had received over the past months. Reviewing countless memories of amount of times Edward had been covered in blood-stained bandages made me suck in a harsh breath. What had I driven him to?

"You're already in more trouble," I murmured as the bright red motorcycle that shine through the rain hit my was his motorcycle. Seeing that... that thing that he'd ridden to the verge of death...

The sudden grip of Edward on my hand on my arm drew my thoughts away from the gutless mongrel who lurked within the trees, her infantile plan coursing through her mind with all the finesse of a toddler.

"What? What is it?" He asked, terror paling his cheeks. His eyes darted between my face and the empty street as we edged along the tarmac.

"Charlie…" I started.

"My dad?" He looked down at me, the terror forming into pure panic.

"Charlie...is probably not going to kill you, but he's thinking about it."

I heard the dog's thoughts within the surrounding forest as I pulled to a stop, hiding my car from sight behind the trees. I scanned through the forest, searching for any sign that might indicate she was joined by her pack, only to find that she completely alone.

"What did I do?" Edward whispered.

I nodded back to the vehicle standing bold as brass in his drive-way. Edward's heart stopped as his hand clenched into a fist. "No! Why? Why would Jacob do this to me?"

"It's not Jacob."

"What?" Edward spun to look at me. "It's...Is she still here?" He spat, his eyes dilated, his skin flushed and his blood laced with an intoxicating, adrenaline fueled fragrance. I'd never seen him this riled.

"Yes. She's waiting for us there."

Edward threw himself out of the car, heading for the trees. Sighing, I exited also and captured his hand as soon as his feet touched down onto the damp sidewalk, holding him back as he made for the forest.

"Let me go Bella. I want to see the traitor!" He hissed, the venom in his voice making him sound as deadly as the creature he longed to become.

"Charlie will hear you," I said, fearing that this meeting that seemed to be tearing Edward away from Lee would never commence. "And once he gets you inside, he may brick over the doorway."

I'm sorry. The teenaged wolf bit her lip as she heard Edward's raging cry.

Edward continued to twist out of my grip, without success. "I'll deal with Charlie after I've seen her!"

Charlie peeked out the window at the driveway, only seeing the fire-engine red motorcycle.

Let's get this over with. Taking a deep breath, Leah tried to calm her already shaking hands as she caught wind of my scent. I smirked immaturely at the discomfort my fragrance alone caused the mutt. Her mind displayed an ages old image of myself and her standing meters apart, each staring the other down. I in a prom dress, she in ragged shorts and top much like she had had to recently become accustomed to. Cullen, I'm here for you.

"She wants to see me. That's why she's still here."

Edward dropped from the balls of his feet, the fight flooding out of him. "Why?" He asked cagily.

"She's not here to confront me," I soothed him, rubbing circles into his hand with m thumb. "She's acting as a spokesperson for the pack,"

"You're sure?"

I nodded and he turned back to the forest, squared his shoulders and headed forward. This time I let him, but I kept my hand in his. He was mine!

I walked Edward through the forest, leading towards the unbearable stench of the canine who's heart thunder upon hearing Edward's uneven footsteps stumble across the forest floor.

I came to a halt as we rounded the last corner. This was close enough if all she wanted to do was talk

Clearwater immediately assumed a defensive position as we came into her view, folding her bronze arms across her chest.

The fact that Edward looked healthier tenfold now that the last time she had seen him didn't go unnoticed and her lip curled into a laniary snarl as she put down the change to my reappearance. I smirked at her, childishly reminding her that all her thoughts were about as private as a greenhouse.

"Clearwater," I stared at her as mental obscenities fired themselves at me, the tamest of which consisted of Parasite! and Leech!

"Cullen."

"Why, Leah?" Edward's pained voice broke the tense silence. "How could you do this to me,"

The deep disappointment in his soft voice punctured the mutt's confidence like an arrow, like a bullet. "It was for the best," she said, trying to ignore Edward's gaze. She's not good enough for you.

"What is that supposed to mean?" A hint of anger tainted the hurt in Edward's retort. "Do you want Charlie to strangle me? Or did you want him to have a heart attack, like Harry? No matter how mad you are at me, how could you do this to him?"

Grounding you would keep Cullen away from both of you. She's more dangerous than I am. The mongrel showed no remorse in her thoughts. Her misguided notions were, she believed, the only way.

I answered Edward's question for her. "She didn't want to hurt anyone—she just wanted to get you grounded, so that you wouldn't be allowed to spend time with me."

Stay out of my head, parasite! Her fists tightened.

"I'm already grounded!" Edward moaned, unaware of Leah's insult and my own childishly smug grins. "Why do you think I haven't been down to La Push to kick your butt for avoiding my phone calls?"

Charlie stopped you? Not Her? "That's why?" She blurted out before snapping her mouth shut.

"She thought I wouldn't let you, not Charlie," I said, watching in amusement as the Quileute's face burned with embarrassment.

"Stop that," Leah snapped, petulance lacing her tone..

"Make me." I sneered.

"Fine!" She snapped. "Then you must already know why I'm here, leech."

"Yes," I said, relishing the idea of an argument with this canine. But there was one incredibly painful act I still had to perform. "But, before you begin, I need to say something. Thank you. I will never be able to tell you how grateful I am. I will owe you for the rest of my…existence." Whether she doubted my earnestness or not, I still meant every word. "For keeping Edward alive," I explained before sighing heavily as a glimmer of pain flashed across my chest. "When I…didn't."

"I didn't do it for you!"

"I know. But that doesn't erase the gratitude I feel."

"Well it's hardly like you actually love him!" Leah spat at me, the humiliation of being indebted to a vampire rising swiftly. "You're changing him! Twisting him into this filthy...thing like you! You're killing him and you don't even care!"

"Leah-"

"Don't you dare!" I hissed, cutting of Edward. "Don't you even dare!" I snarled and she took a hurried step back. "You can say what ever you want about me. tell me I'm a monster, I'm loathsome, I devastated him. I was selfish. I don't deserve him. I suppose you're right. I did all those things. I am all those things but never, for one moment did I not love him." I advanced, bending clean over. "When I left, I loved him, and when I wanted to come back every second of every day, I loved him. When I stayed away because I couldn't bear to ruin him anymore than I already had, I loved him. Every second that passed me by meaninglessly, I wanted to see him. Because the only reason I let him go was because I. loved. him. Go ahead and accuse me of anything you want, call me whatever you want, because it's probably true, but don't you dare tell me I didn't love him!" My lips contorted as I finished, almost crouching as I set my sights on my prey, blood-lust filling me up like boiling lava.

"STOP!" A loud cry broke the pair of us out of our attacking positions. Edward had moved, standing between us, a panicked expression on his face that broke my heart. "If you hurt each other, you're only hurting me!"

"EDWARD! YOU GET IN THIS HOUSE THIS INSTANT!" His heart skipped a beat when he heard his father's voice echoing through the trees. Charlie had found the car.

"Next time, Rover," I muttered under my breath, baring my teeth.

You're dead meat, Leech.

"Crap!" Edward broke the deadlock with his own unconventional methods

Clearwater looked away first "I am sorry about that. I had to do what I could – I had to try..."

"Thanks." Edward's attempt at sarcasm fell hollow and I knew he had already forgiven the pup as he looked back toward the house fearfully.

"But there's one key-point in the treaty I need to inform you of. The treaty is incredibly specific." Leah continued, her voice ice cold. "If a Cullen bites a human – bites not kills, the war starts. Make no mistake."

"EDWARD! I SEE HER CAR AND I KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE! IF YOU AREN'T INSIDE THIS HOUSE IN ONE MINUTE...!"

Edward froze, focused on the mutt. "You promised. Still friends, right

"You know how hard I've tried to keep that promise, but...I can't see how to keep trying. Not now...Goodbye Edward"

Just before the fur overtook her body and the pounding of her heart, loud in my ears, grew faster and more feral with every moment, she deflated in defeat. Goodbye, she thought, mourning him as if he'd just been killed before her and lain at her feet.

A blur of quaking flesh and fur, she let herself explode, body and mind reforming into a ferine, killing machine. Her dark eyes lingered on Edward's still form before she bounded away into the depths of the forest.

I escorted Edward along the path, keeping him steady as he began to shake slightly. The look of his face made it seem as for all the world he'd been run over ten times by a truck.

I knew that an apology couldn't ease his worry. There was only one thing I could offer now. "I'm here."

He took in a quivering breath and clutched me tighter, looking in my eyes as I stared at him. Edward said not a word, but took a determined step forward.

Our feet moved perfectly in time as we, as one, stepped over the abandoned logs and ducked beneath low-lying branches. With every breath he took, it filled me up, his scent washing around me like a familiar and favorite perfume.

There was only one path now, I knew as we stepped through But I wouldn't have to walk it alone. No matter what the future held; happiness, war, love, immortality or death, I knew one certain fact etched forever into eternity.

We'd face it all side by side.

"They'll never believe I love you," I commented, as the light of the edge of the forest came into view. "That I'm not trying to hurt you,"

"I know," Edward sighed. His heart sped up. "But I have a solution."

"Oh?"

He whirled before I could finish and, as though he had been holding it in for years, pressed his lips against mine, one hand still intertwined with my fingers, his other reaching up to the side of my neck to steady himself.

He broke away panting.

"Marry me, Isabella Cullen."

... Cliffhanger. At the end of the book? Oh I am cruel :)

I just want to thank you from the utmost bottom of my heart. All of you who stuck with me, who reviewed through the chapters, who inspired me to carry on and left such lovely compliments - Thank you. You are amazing people who I love insanely.

To those of you who asked, I have started writing chapters of the next book,,, but I need ideas for titles. I need it to stick in theme with the whole 'His Green Eyes' and 'My Shattered Heart' format, so if you have any suggestions, please review and tell me them.

So, for the last time in My Shattered Heart, from both Bella and I, Please Review and tell me what you thought, thank you.

Hattii XXxxXX