I tell myself all the words he surely meant to say.
I'll talk until the conversation doesn't stay on.
Wait for me I'm almost ready.
When he meant let go.

Leave unsaid unspoken,
Eyes wide shut unopened.
You and me,
Always between the lines.
BETWEEN THE LINES, SARA BARIELLES

.SOLAR FLARE.

I had a small bag packed and was leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed against my chest and one foot up against the wall. I had already said good-bye to everyone, Edward was the last person. Jasper and Alice had left, apologizing profusely for bowing out so soon but they just couldn't take Edward's pigheaded behavior much longer. Even Rosalie, the most tenacious of them all, thought Edward was going above and beyond his usual stubbornness.

We had spent almost the entire night arguing and yelling about my need to visit Jacob. It had been years since I had heard anything about him and even though we were all sure the pack had stopped changing Alice still couldn't get a firm grasp on their future actions and Edward still felt that because of that they posed some risk for me. Edward was certain that my showing up would cause Jake to change and hurt me or kill me.

"It's just not safe, Bella. I don't feel comfortable with you going there by yourself. It's dangerous and it's breaking the rules." Apparently it didn't matter that we had fused some sort of awkward relationship with the wolves when Victoria was alive meant absolutely nothing, apparently Carlisle and Edward going on to the reservation hadn't changed anything about that pact.

"You of all people should know that rules are meant to be broken."

"Meaning what?" he asked shortly. His jaw was set firmly in place, it appeared that he had no intentions of changing his opinion no matter how much I yelled and screamed at him.

"Oh, I don't know… me knowing about vampires and werewolves. There's a nice big one that we broke!"

"You figured both of those out by yourself. The rules can be broken when a person who is brilliant enough can gain the knowledge herself. Besides, I never told you anything. Jacob Black, if anyone, is the one to be hold accountable for you knowing about everything."

"But you didn't exactly deny being a vampire!"

"Like I could deny you anything," he scoffed.

"You are right now!" I had slammed myself down onto the couch, pulling my hair harshly away from my face. "You're so hypocritical, Edward!"

"This is different."

"Not really."

We stared at each other, me sitting on the couch and Edward leaning against the mattress of our bed. Moments passed. It could have been seconds, minutes or hours. It didn't matter in the end because the fire flaming in both of our eyes didn't die, but continued to simmer and pop with determination and resentment. He sat down next to me, respecting my space and sitting on the opposite end. His stance was similar to mind, feet on the floor, knees together, back straight and arms crossed.

"I'm going no matter what you say Edward." I couldn't bear to look at him. "You can be angry with me all you want, but he was my best friend, he still is! You know…." I managed to look at him, preparing myself to fight dirty. Throw sand in his eyes, spit in his face, stomp on his foot, pull his hair and run for it. "You know, I don't know if I'd be here if it weren't for him. I don't know how things would have gone for me when you were—away. You might not have come back to something alive."

"I would hardly call the state you were in alive."

"I mean, you might not have come back to something with a beating heart."

Back in the foyer I stared at him long and hard, waiting for him to start begging again.

"Let me drive you. I'll wait at the line. Please, I'd feel so much better." I was almost getting as good as Alice when it came to this guessing the future thing. At least when it came to Edward. Part of me wanted to say yes to him because no matter how stubborn I could be I didn't like Edward being in any sort of pain anymore than he liked to see me in pain. But I knew that if I did say yes there was a bigger chance that he would ruin the visit by either hearing something he didn't like or getting fed up with being kept away from me in what he saw as a 'dangerous situation.'

"I need to do this by myself, Edward. I'll be back before the sun comes up, I promise you that. And I'll call. On the road, before I see him, when I leave. I'll play it all safe, the moment I sense any danger I'll leave and call you. Speed dial number one," I showed him the screen of the palm-sized cell phone. "You even override my voicemail," I smiled sadly. I needed to visit Jacob, but I couldn't leave Edward when he was angry. It'd break my heart for the time I was gone. "Trust me. I'll be okay. Even if they do get pissed that I'm on their land what are they really going to do?"

"You called though, right? They know you're coming."

I nodded and rubbed my lips together. "I got a hold of Emily. Sam's wife. She didn't want me to come; she's scared that me being there will trigger something in her son and cause him to change. I promised I'd only stay for a few hours. I'll be back before you know it."

He looked at me, angry but defeated. "I'll walk you to the car," he placed his hand on the small of my back and led me out the door and to the car that was parked in the driveway. I threw my bag through the driver side window and into the passenger seat. I leaned back against the door and looked up at Edward's beautiful face.

"I love you Edward, please don't let me leave while you're mad." His fingertips grazed my cheek, the touch was too soft and I grabbed his hand I pressed it harder against my cheek. If it weren't for my improved senses I never would have seen the small movement he made from where he was standing a foot away from to nearly on top of me and kissing me hard. One hand was on my waist and the other was behind my neck pressing me even closer to him. I pulled away, pointlessly breathing hard, "I'll be back in under 24 hours."

"That's too long."

I smiled and shrugged at him, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder."

"I don't have to be away from you to love you more than I do now."

I wrinkled my forehead and pulled away from him, "What a line, Mr. Cullen." I got in the car and started it.

"Hurry home, Mrs. Cullen," he said, leaning in through the open window of the car.

It wasn't two hours into my drive when my phone rang, "Are you heading home yet?" Edward's voice came out loud and clear through the speaker's of the car.

"No, Edward," I said contemptuously. His persistence was cute, but irritating.

&

I stopped the car right outside Washington. If it weren't for the fact that I knew my system didn't work like that anymore I would have thought the feeling in my stomach was my last meal getting ready to be thrown up. My nerves had been getting the best of me ever since I had gotten off the phone with Edward when I hit Idaho. The leather covering on the steering wheel had been rubbed away a while ago; I was going to need to buy a new steering wheel before heading back home.

I slowed the car down as I neared La Push and eased off to the side of the road, I asked the car's computer to dial Edward and waited while the car connected me to him. "Bella?" he asked breathlessly.

"I'm impressed Edward, you were away from your phone. Good job."

"The guys forced me to go hunting," he was like a seven year old being forced to do the dishes.

I laughed into the phone. "Poor baby." Things got awkward suddenly and I wasn't sure what to say to Edward. In the past two and a half decades very little had been denied in our relationship. We were open and honest, we shared almost everything. He knew every vulnerable part of me. And yet, I had no clue what to say to him when he disapproved so vehemently of what I was doing. "So, I'm about to go see him. I told you I would call."

"You made good timing." Edward of all people would make a comment on my driving.

"I learned from the best," again I laughed and had no clue what to say afterwards.

"How long are you going to be there?"

"A few hours max. I don't even know if he'll want to see me or talk to me, I might just be turning around in another few minutes. I'll call though, before I head back."

"Call me when you need me."

"Always. I love you Edward."

"I love you too, Bella."

I pressed the End button on the steering wheel and shut the car off, the hum that was silent to human ears halted. I took two unnecessary deep breathes before opening the door and making a run for it. Running (and running fast) was the only thing that would get me to Jake's front door, if I walked towards the reservation I'd be more likely turn around and head back to Edward. I had given myself very little time to think about what I was doing because that was the only way I'd be able to get through this.

It wasn't long before I reached Jake's porch. I had wanted to see Jake so badly for the past several years and now that I was here I couldn't even bring myself to knock on his door. Instead I listened hard for the voices inside. The building had still maintained it's original shape, but over the years it had been fortified with newer materials that were thick and sturdy. They were able to withstand the harsh weather that came off of the ocean, but they also helped keep prying vampire ears from listening to someone through them. Esme had fortified all of her houses with them once she got her hands on the material, inside and out.

"Is Abby gonna be alright, Dad?" It was a young boy that spoke, he sounded similar to Jake and I assumed him to be his son. His son. Jacob had a son, it was a thought to bizarre to even think of, perhaps it was his nephew. I couldn't get any scents from out on the porch.

"Of course, Will. She just has what you had. The flu, nothing more." That was Jacob. Jacob talking to the boy. It was his son. I smiled in bemusement. Jake had come so far since I had left.

After more conversation between Jake and his son I heard a woman ask his he wanted something. His wife possibly. God, Jake had a wife. Things were just getting weirder and weirder. Even though they shouldn't have been, that's what people did when they could age and grow up. They got married and had children and owned houses. In my stable state I could only do some of that. Jake answered the woman and I realized that she was probably making food of some sort. The fact that his eating habits hadn't changed made me laugh, I covered my mouth before the sound traveled far enough for any human ear to hear.

It was silence before the woman started speaking again, she was calming Jake down about something. His daughter, the woman, Clara, was calming him down about his sick daughter. I prayed to God that it was just something like a cough or even just croup. The conversation went on, Clara pointing out the Jake was just being his usual overprotective self, something I remembered vaguely from my limited human memories.

After a little while longer a small girl's voice sounded out, asking to go to the beach. Jake kept refusing, but it seemed to be a losing battle for him. That was exactly the kind of father I would expect Jake to be, trying to refuse his daughter everything and giving her anything she wanted.

As he helped her with her coat and rain gear I realized that this was the point where I would need to knock on the door and announce myself. Vampire or not it wasn't polite to linger on someone's doorstep for so long. Someone would think I was a stalker or something.

As I walked over to the door fear surged through me again, my moments of playing a eves dropper were over. Now or never, Bella, now or never. Jake said a short good bye to his wife. Now or never. It wasn't too late to turn around, I could be half way to the car before he even opened the door. His hand was on the handle. Now or never, Bella.

The door opened. Jake stood there with a small girl in his arms. He had aged so much it surprised me, light wrinkles lined his forehead and a few grey hairs dotted his hairline. The little girl, I only knew she was girl by the vast amount of pink that swaddled her body since she was covered head to toe in rain gear, was chanting "beach, beach, beach," over and over again, happily tugging on Jake's hair. He shushed her and then spoke to me.

"Bella, you're not welcome here." He looked furious and I really didn't blame him. Had I honestly expected him to just drop everything he had (and obviously what he had was some precious cargo) and welcome me into open arms. I knew I was safe from any attack because Emily had assured me that no one was changing anymore, but also because Jake hadn't realized until this moment that I was outside.

Even though I knew resentment was a definite possibility when it came to Jake seeing me again, I couldn't help but be hurt by it. "Jake," I said softly.

"I won't let you hurt my family Bella. Please leave. Just because no one is changing anymore doesn't mean you should take advantage of that. I thought you'd want to prove me wrong about you being different. I was right though, you are just a heartless bloodsucker."

If I was heartless his statement wouldn't have just twisted the knife that he had lodged into my heart. The little girl in his arms spoke up. "She has a heart, Daddy, she's alive. Duh." The girl, no matter how young, had spunk and attitude I had to admire. It reminded me so much of Jacob. He pressed her head against his shoulder, refusing to let me see her face.

"Bella, please leave. Please respect what we had and just go. If I wanted to see you I would have wrote you back."

"Jake, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. To make sure you were happy. I still care about you. I would never hurt you—or your family."

"Why should I trust a leech?"

"You should trust your best friend, Jacob."

A woman's hand appeared on his shoulder, it had to be Clara. She was a little taller than me, but aging gracefully, something I could never do. "Jake? What's going on?"

"It's an old friend. She's leaving."

"Jake, don't be rude," she reprimanded, "Let her come in. Offer her something to drink, just because you used to be a wild animal doesn't mean you need to be uncivilized," she finished softly, not intending me to hear.

Jake turned to talk to her more directly, he kept a careful hand on his daughter's head though, keeping her out of my sight. "I'm not letting a vampire into my home. I'm not letting her hurt my family," he hissed.

Realization flooded her face, "This is her. The girl you loved before me," Clara nodded and rubbed her lips together, "You should go talk with her. I trust you and I trust her." Her words shocked me. It took all I had to not choke on the venom in my mouth. She smiled at me. "Take Anna to the beach and talk with your old friend, please."

Jake stared at her for sometime and I regretted that I had refused Edward's company on this trip since it would have come in handy at this point. I wanted so desperately to know what was going on through Jake's head. "Don't open the door for anyone else," he begged.

"Honestly Jake, if her family wanted us dead wouldn't we be dead by now?" Her smile was soft and sad.

He kissed her cheek and swiftly shut the door. I didn't like this at all; it wasn't supposed to be like this. "If I had known you were going to hate me so much I wouldn't have come. I should have listened to Emily." I exhaled a deep breath and I could feel the salt particles sticking to the inside of my nose. I started to walk towards the tide.

"You talked to Emily?" he inquired from behind me. It was a nice sign, he was still talking to me and he was following me to the beach. A small conversation with him wasn't completely hopeless after all.

"I wanted to get permission to come here. She advised me not to, said you'd moved on… but it's just something I needed to see with my own eyes. I'm not staying long if that's what you're worried about. She wasn't sure how long my presence would be needed to start the whole werewolf thing again, I'll be out of the state before the sunsets," I looked back at him, he may be following me but his face was still set in stone. Absolute and complete disgust. "But, if you're just going to look at me like I'm some enemy-monster than I'll just go now," I hadn't meant to be so short with him, it had just come out like that. Great job Bella, if he didn't fear for his life before he is now.

I could feel his eyes judging me. Looking at each small, perfect feature I had gained. I couldn't help but feel like a cow at a cattle show. I pulled gently on the strings of the sweatshirt I had on.

"Daddy, pretty!" Anna screamed from her position over his shoulder. Her loved hand pointed to a sand dollar on the sand, 57 grains of sand covered it. A small portion was chipped off and a crack went from the chip to the middle of the dollar, disfiguring the design in the middle. But to human eyes it was perfect. "Get it for me, pwease!" The small girl was so wild with excitement that Jake couldn't find the balance to bend down to the sand, I smiled, so much had changed since I had left. Before, it was Jake that was the graceful supernatural being, now I held that position. I picked the shell up with the tips of my fingers, I was a still a little wary of my strength and generally left things this delicate to be handled by someone with more experience.

My newborn clumsiness came in handy, after breaking five necklaces Edward had promised to not buy me any jewelry for the next fifty years. Anna's small hand clasped around the shell, her eyes were wide with wonder at the new thing. "What's 'at?"

"It's a sand dollar," Jacob explained.

"A dowyer? How much is it worth?"

Jake stared at the shell long and hard. I couldn't help but smile at him in amazement. Just like Anna seeing a new shell for the first time, I was seeing Jake, my Jacob, in a brand new light.

"A hug."

"Dat's stoopid." I snickered behind them as Jake reprimanded Anna's language.

"Stupid isn't a nice word, Annabelle." Annabelle. Clara had only called her Anna, but that must have just been a nickname. I found it odd that Jake would name his daughter something so close to my own name. I would have thought that he would have strayed away from anything that reminded him of me.

"So?" Annabelle talked back. Jake just smiled and gave up.

"Annabelle?" I asked Jake.

"Eh, yeah," Jake set Annabelle down and she scampered off in front of us. "Annabella is a family name, Clara didn't like the sound though. I didn't like it either," I could see him peering at me, trying to be sly about checking out my reaction, but I kept my face perfectly calm.

"Annabelle is a pretty name. Your son calls her Abby?" He frowned at me. "I was outside for awhile before knocking," I shrugged. I couldn't help my nerves. My ears rang when he ground his teeth together in what could have been anger.

"Uhm, yeah. Annabelle was too much of a mouthful for William when she was first born, you know?" I nodded as if I knew exactly what he meant, as if I had seen a child go through the different stages of speech. But I knew nothing beyond the classes I had taken at college. With things like children I could only gain knowledge and experience through other people and through education. I would never have children of my own, but that was the price I paid for getting Edward for the rest of forever. And I was perfectly happy with that, children might have been what Jake wanted in his future, but bringing a child into my life would have been dangerous. I had a hard enough time keeping track of myself.

I looked at the bundle of pink that was splashing in the left over water the waves left behind. "She's gorgeous," I said, even though I had only seen the smallest bit of her face. Jake's wife was pretty though, in a human way and Jake was handsome of course, their children would only end up being attractive. "And you make a great dad. It's cute. You're very protective of her."

"Clara says I'm overprotective about the women in my life. She says I spoil Annabelle too much, she doesn't want her to act like a spoiled brat when she's older. But I can't help it I can't deny her anything. I can't deny either of them anything."

"Yeah, I kind of remember you having a problem with saying no, of course you also had a problem with taking no for an answer." He didn't respond. "You have a son too," I mentioned, drifting away from the painful memories of the past. They were probably more painful for Jacob, who could remember them clearly. I only vaguely remembered what had happened between us when Victoria was making her army, I knew that more than amiable feelings were shared between us though.

"Yeah, William, after my father. He's seven. Annabelle's four. Will's brilliant, freaky off the charts… I have a hard time keeping up with him. It's hard to connect with him. But I gotta be there for him, you know? I grew up without a mother and that was hard enough. I know Clara thinks I'm only protective about her and Annabelle, but I'd do anything for Will too."

I could hear the ache in his voice. I knew that Jake could give me a run for my money when it came to stressing out. "You're a wonderful father, Jake," I soothed. "Give yourself some credit, you're smarter than you think. Maybe not book smart, but you have things to offer him. Don't doubt yourself."

"Where'd all this wisdom come from?"

"Well I don't sleep," I said dryly. It was a matter of fact. Sure, the night was filled with other things between Edward and I but even after that there was free time when you never had to sleep, eat (regularly at least) or use the restroom. It was amazing how those small portions of time could really add up to huge chunks of your day.

"Insomnia's the key to everything."

"Pretty much," I smiled. "So you and Clara?" I went on to a new topic, drifting away from my vampire life. "You're married."

"Yeah, going on forever, I guess. She's the one who's good with numbers. She's my imprint. I feel like I've known her forever. Like the time we're together doesn't really matter because I know we'll never be parted. It's kind of intense."

"I'd imagine so," no matter what Jake believed that was how I felt about Edward.

When we reached the tide pools Jake grabbed both of Annabelle's hands in hopes that she would remain dry rather then try and pick up any of the strange animals on the bottom of the shallow, rocky pools.

"Uhm, I don't want details but how have you been?" his voice was shakey with curiosity. Like the way a human drove near road kill, they wanted to see the slaughter, but they didn't want to see it at the same time. Even though I had been human, I would never be able to understand that. I had always sped up when passing the carnage of clumsy animals.

"Well, I went to Dartmouth, like Edward wanted. I double majored in English and Philosophy. Both completely useless but it's not like it matters. I never thought I'd like philosophy but Edward and Jasper convinced me to take the first course and I was hooked. You know, all the time in the world to ponder things, philosophy is pretty interesting," I trailed off; I had done it again, without even meaning to I had brought my new life into the conversation. "Sorry. It's hard. I mean, it hasn't been that long in comparison to everyone else but… I think you just get used to the vastness of it all. You know?"

He looked bewildered.

"I mean, think about how everything is so connected and it all works out in one way or another. I mean…" he seemed with me so far, "if you hadn't been so pissed at me after I left you never would have stayed a wolf so long, am I right? I mean, since leaving I've been the first vampire to come back here so there's really been no reason for anyone here to change, right? And if you had stopped changing you would have been too old for Clara. It all works out in the end, it doesn't matter how you get there I guess. I don't know, just a theory. I've got lots of them."

It was silent for some time, I noticed that the sun was nearing the horizon. Jake had noticed too. "I'll leave now. Thank you for not going all Buffy on me or something."

"I don't think I could anymore, Bells." He sounded sincere and honest. It was nice.

I had no clue what to say now because there were no words for this kind of a good-bye. In all of the education I had received in the past twenty years there was nothing about how to say good-bye to your friend forever. Annabelle began jumping up and down in his arms. "Hey! Hey! Heeeeeeey!" He let go of her hands and she reached into her pocket and handed me the shell from earlier. "Here ya go." The shell that was worth one hug. I smiled at the young but observant girl, she smiled back her mouth full of pearl like baby teeth.

"So, I think, if I recall correctly, that I can buy a hug with this," I held up the piece and smiled, realizing him I had trapped him.

"Bella," he groaned.

"Jake," I sighed, "Please? I mean, I haven't seen you in almost twenty-five years. You're my best friend Jake! And you're not that great of a pen pal. And I'm assuming you don't really want me back here, which I understand completely," I was speeding over my words, just waiting for him to completely deny me this one simply thing. "Just one hug. You're almost completely human now Jake, it shouldn't bother you. The smell I mean."

He looked towards his daughter who was playing with some creature in one of the pools. With his eyes still on Annabelle he wrapped his arms around me and I returned the action. He really ranked. Worse than just walking near him. But it was still nice in a rather masochistic way. "Don't break me, Bells."

"Well, I have to get you back for the broken hand somehow!" I teased. He ruffled my hair up and smiled as well. "I gotta run if I'm gonna be out of the state before it gets dark."

"You'll go that fast? I thought you hated speeding."

"It grows on you," I said honestly. "I love you Jake, remember that."

"Of course, Bella. Thank you, for everything. I love you too."

I looked from Jake back to his daughter who was still making friends with the tide pool creatures. With one last quick smile that Jacob might have missed I turned around and ran. I knew that to his eyes it would appear that I had just disappeared from my place on the sand. And now that I knew that Jake was happy in his new life that was how I wanted it. I didn't want to send letters and do check-ups on him because I didn't need to worry about his welfare anymore. His trouble wasn't over, he had to work on his relationship with his son and his daughter was sure to raise hell (and get away with it) at every chance that she came upon. But he wasn't in the dark place he had been when I had left. He was truly happy in the new life that he had just happened upon and that little piece of the puzzle that I had been missing finally fell into place.

When I got the car I removed my clothing that still smelled like werewolf. It was odd that certain things like that would stay with him. I threw the ruined items into the woods laughing at what a stray hiker would think of the clothing if they were ever happened upon. I pulled out the bag I had packed and pulled on the dated but comfortable sweats. Alice would kill me if she knew I was wearing them in public… actually, she probably knew that I was come to think of it. But there was no way that even I would leave the car in these, they'd draw too much attention to me.

Once on the road again I pressed the redial button on the dashboard.

"Edward?"

"Love," he answered.

"I'm coming home."

"I'm anxiously awaiting your arrival," his voice was just the smallest whisper. There was so much in his voice that made me want to drive faster than even this car would allow. There was want, even an oblivious human would be able to realize that, but there was also the love that I felt every day, the misery from being away from me and something deep in there that took a bit for me to analyze.

"Are you happy?"

"Bella, you sound glad which, in turn, makes me exultant. You must realize by now that my every emotion lies inside of your own, it's the key to why I can't deny you anything."

"I love you Edward."

"Hurry home, my love."

"I'll hurry home to you."

AN: Finally, an end to Solar Flare. Kind of. Since this story doesn't have a continuous plot and now that Breaking Dawn is out I feel a little silly continuing with this story. If something amazing comes to mind I'll keep adding to this, but for now what I wanted to accomplish with this story was accomplished. Almost every post-Eclipse question was cleared up with the exception of the Volturi, which I never intended to cover. I also never intended to cover Bella's power.

Thanks for reading and happy reading,

Samantha

not done baking

c:

AD: I've posted a new story and I'd really appreciate if you could go check it out. I really wanna know what you all think before I get too into it. It's called Life Right Now.

ALSO: find Jake's point of view in Send in the Clowns.