Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight.

All plotlines, characterizations, and details in Eternally Intertwined belong to the author: Bronzehyperion. No copying or reproduction of this work is permitted without the author's authorization.©2009-2011 rights reserved worldwide.

EPILOGUE: FIX YOU

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

(Coldplay)

"Happy Birthday, my love," Edward whispered.

'Hmm…happy indeed," I giggled as my hand found the bulge in his sweats.

"Tsk tsk," Edward scolded me playfully. "This is your birthday. Let me please you."

"And how will you do that?" I asked innocently.

"Oh, I can think of a few ways," Edward said as he nibbled on my ear a little before kissing down my neck.

"You taste good," he murmured.

I tilted my head to give him better access while I pressed my hand to his erection again. I traced one finger along his length first before using my entire hand to grab it through the fabric.

"Bella," Edward groaned against my overheated skin. "If you want me to give you proper birthday attention, you need to stop doing that."

"Doing what?" I said, feigning innocence again.

"You know what," Edward hissed as he grabbed the hand that was touching his cock to bring it to his chest.

I grinned as I traced his lips with my free hand.

"I love teasing you."

"I love you," Edward countered. "Happy Birthday," he added softly.

"I love you too," I told him.

"Now…how about I make it an even better birthday," Edward grinned before his lips captured mine.

When your boyfriend who you love more than anything in the universe is getting it on with you on the morning of your birthday, the world's a very happy place.

And happy I was for the most part these days.

My neck had healed, apart from a small crescent shaped scar that would have made me feel ugly and insecure had it not been for the fact Edward seemed to like it because he kissed and licked it fervently all the time.

Hey, if it turned him on, why should I feel insecure about it, right?

I believed he felt a connection to it because he had been the one who had sucked out Kate's venom to prevent me from becoming a vampire.

If he hadn't I would have been like him by now. Immortal.

Sometimes I wish he would have let the venom spread.

If he had I would have been a vampire by now.

But I wasn't.

Not yet.

When I'd been recovering in the hospital - now four months ago - we had talked about it.

I wanted to become a vampire because it was the only thing that made sense; the only way Edward and I would have a guaranteed future together.

Edward had admitted that my eagerness to become a vampire frightened him a little. Not because he didn't want me to. Quite the opposite actually: he wanted it pretty badly- his eyes would shine with a strange brightness whenever we talked about this commitment and I always wondered what could make him feel so happy when he had also voiced his concerns on the details of how and when we were to execute my change; he felt we needed to consider a few things before such a change could take place.

First of all, Edward had insisted that I needed to be eighteen so that Charlie couldn't legally protest any of my decisions.

Also, at the time we had discussed it, the disappearance of Angela and the murder on Jessica had been too fresh. Another disappearance in Forks would have raised too much suspicion. Suspicion the Cullens didn't need.

And disappear I would have to according to Edward because newborns were volatile, strong and possibly uncontrollable. I had pointed out that it hadn't been like that for Angela and that maybe it wouldn't be like that for me but Edward had countered that regardless of how I would adapt as a vampire; no matter how well it would become me or not, we would still have to disappear because of my transformation and also because the Cullens worried about the fact Mark Daggett was missing, along with his daughter.

"We have to leave at some point, Bella," Edward had told me at one point. "If Daggett comes back and seeks revenge he might expose us all and we cannot risk that. Things are okay now, but there is always a lingering threat of being found out."

In the months that had passed Forks had gone back to being a sleepy boring town. The rest of our junior year had been very uneventful, especially compared to how things were before – we had ended up getting another new principal, this one without a sinister background, vampire family members or evil "trying to steal my boyfriend"- daughters. Mrs. Roberts was fifty-four; she had a daughter who was married and a granddaughter who she clearly adored. Basically she was a strict but fair person.

The Daggett house had been emptied, but we hadn't been able to figure out by whom. It had worried Edward and Carlisle and up until a month ago the Cullen brothers had taken turns every week to check out the territory to see if the house was still empty. But then, a month ago a new family – unrelated to the Daggetts – had moved in.

It seemed they were really gone and not coming back.

Angela's disappearance and Jessica's murder had remained unsolved. Both cases were never officially closed but without proper leads it made no sense to keep investigating intensively. Clallam County had given the investigation back to Forks Police Department and my dad had been particularly pissed about this because he had been left without the manpower to continue the investigation properly. I knew he had felt a kinship to Angela and Jessica's parents because he too had a teenage daughter who could become a target. Of course he didn't know that the ones responsible for his cases were gone.

Except for Garrett. He was still out there somewhere and no one knew if he would come back. Emmett and Jasper had deemed the chances pretty low because Garrett would not be able to handle an entire coven alone but to stay on the safe side; Alice still looked for visions of him. She never saw anything threatening but if she would, the Cullens could anticipate on it. Hoorah for Alice's gift because at least it worked on Garrett and with the Daggetts gone it seemed her power was back and working flawlessly.

Regarding my mortality and when I would give it up, Edward and I had ultimately agreed I could not go through the change until some time had passed and a possible move out of Forks would sound a bit more sensible to cover up my transformation. So after many debates between Edward and Carlisle especially, the decision had been made we would all stay in Forks until graduation with the hope that both the Daggetts and Garrett would stay away and Forks would remain peaceful and quiet in the meantime.

Once we would be graduated from high school I would be able to move on to college which was a plausible reason to leave town so I could go into hiding somewhere to have me adapt to my new immortal life. Charlie, who wanted to see me go to college wouldn't argue with those - fake- plans, even if Edward and I would end up in the same place. He still didn't like Edward too much.

A part of me was alright with waiting for eight more months that because I didn't want to leave my father behind but for the most part I was very anxious to start my new life.

Becoming a vampire was all I could think of now – I pestered the Cullens and Angela with questions, which Edward slightly disapproved of because he was worried I did not fully grasp the notion of what it entailed to become one.

And maybe I didn't fully comprehend – how could I, it was all fairly otherworldly - but when I looked at Angela, it didn't seem that difficult. She had become a vampire under the most traumatic of circumstances – it had not even been a choice like for me - and still she had carried the changes without going mental.

She was handling herself quite fine now. In the months that she had been a vampire she had learned how to hunt properly with Emmett, Jasper had helped her catalogue and understand all the space in her mind and her new more intense emotions, Alice had taken her shopping and Esme and Carlisle had showered her with affection.

Jacob stopped by almost every day and to the casual observer it seemed like their relationship – Edward called it kinship – was not developing at a fast speed but we all knew better. They would hold hands and watch movies together. They were comfortable around each other and Jacob was surprisingly comfortable around the Cullens.

He and Angela were taking their blossoming love slow because it was not easy with the pressure from Jacob's pack. They still had a hard time understanding how Jacob could have imprinted on a vampire, despite the fact he had factually imprinted on human Angela.

Jacob had told me about the pressures they put him under a few times but he insisted he could handle it all because he was after all part of the pack and they would not betray him or kick him out. He was certain they would adapt and accept in time.

Summer had been great. I had almost spent every day with the Cullens because Charlie had either been working or fishing. Edward and I had visited my mother and Phil in Florida and we had been lucky that half of the time it had been conveniently overcast – my mother would either freak at Edward's sparkly skin or admire it too much if she'd see it – while he stayed inside reading at times I could soak up some sun and spend time with my mother.

Once we had been back from Jacksonville, there were only two weeks left before school would start again and indeed fourteen days later Alice, Edward and had returned to school as seniors. Emmett and Rosalie were off on one of their honeymoons, while Angela spent most of her time at home with Esme – she loved baking things even if she could not eat them anymore; I was a willing "victim" though – as was Jacob. Angela didn't like the fact she could no longer go to school but Alice and Jasper had helped her enroll in some online classes so she could "train her brain" as Jacob had called it.

I believed the Cullens were happy to have her as an addition to the family. I was happy my friend was safe but I worried that with one new vampire, another would be too much. Maybe the Cullens wouldn't want me anymore.

I knew it was irrational and Edward agreed with me.

"Vampire or not; Carlisle and Esme adore you. Alice thinks of you as a sister. Jasper likes you and Emmett wants to fight you to see how tough you are – which is not going to happen by the way. It'll all work out," he had assured me.

But with everything finally peaceful, I still wondered every day if the Cullens were really looking forward to be dealing with another newborn soon.

It was my final birthday as a human.

"Happy Birthday!"

Alice hugged me fiercely, leaving me gasping for air. There was a small party going on in my honor. Alice had arranged it, so really there was nothing small about it.

There was a cake and a table full of presents I had asked everyone NOT to get. There were scented candles and snacks – which Jacob had declared as "his" – and music.

We spend the next few hours eating cake – well Jacob mostly did, I only had a small slice – watching movies and looking at a computer screen because Emmett had insisted on a Skype Birthday Shout Out.

He had done an awkward but funny looking birthday dance while Rosalie had waved an awkward birthday wave. Whatever that was.

Eventually the party winded down – Carlisle had a night shift at the hospital, Alice and Jasper had gone out, Esme had taken Angela hunting and Jacob had gone home – and now Edward and I found ourselves in his room in his bed.

Because yes, Edward had gotten a bed. He had assumed it would make me feel more comfortable instead of always lying on the sofa.

And it did.

"That was amazing," I breathed.

The things Edward could do with that ice cold tongue of his…magical.

"I aim to please, as always," Edward grinned against my hair.

I snuggled closer to him and he covered me up with the thick blanket.

"This was my final birthday," I murmured.

"As a human," Edward added.

"None of you celebrate it, which is fine by me, by the way," I said. "But it's still the last birthday."

"We could celebrate if you want," Edward offered as he trailed my naked back with his cool fingers.

"I don't."

"It's just that I am having all these "lasts" as a human," I added to explain.

I could feel Edward nod. "Yes, I suppose so."

He lifted himself onto his elbow to look at me.

"You know you don't have to do this, right?"

"What?" I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Bella," he said softly. "I love you more than anything ever existed. You are everything to me. But if you want to stay human, you have that choice. We'll make it work."

I shook my head fiercely. "I want to be a vampire. In fact I wish we could do it now, rather than wait for eight more months."

"You know why we have to wait," Edward said.

"Yes," I sighed, as I hitched my leg over his and buried myself in the crook of his arm," I know. But it doesn't mean I am not a little impatient."

"Do you know how many things can still go wrong in the next eight months?" I muttered. "I could trip and fall. A car could hit me. I could end up in a gang fight. Alice wants me to sign up for cheerleading. Cheerleading, Edward."

Edward pulled me close again and hummed a gentle tune. I recognized it as Coldplay's "Fix You."

"Nothing will happen. Although you in one of those cheerleader outfits sounds very appealing," He said amusement evident in his voice.

"You'll see, with my luck, I will have broken something in no time."

"If you stay away from trouble everything will be fine. But should you get hurt, than I will fix you."

"You promise?"

"Of course," Edward whispered.

"Nothing will happen then?" I asked.

"Nothing will happen," Edward promised me.

"Hello?"

"Hello Mark."

"What do you want?"

"Is that any way to treat an old friend? After everything I have done for you?"

"Cut the pleasantries. Just tell me what you want."

"I am calling you to update you on the progress we're making with your daughter."

"Progress?"

"Why yes. She was in very bad shape but she is doing much better now."

"What have you done?"

"Easy...she is fine. She is getting stronger every day..."

"Put her on the phone, Aro!"

"I am sorry Mark, I am afraid that's not possible at the moment."

"Where is she?"

"Demetri and Felix took her hunting…"

~To Be Continued

A/N: This is it for Eternally Intertwined. After +two years it'll move on to a sequel. There is plenty more to tell and if SMeyer can write four books, I can certainly tell two tales.

I won't be starting it straight away but it shouldn't be too long. A few weeks tops.

Thank you to everyone who has stuck with this story, for all the great reviews, putting up with my sometimes slow updates, my grammar - just everything.

I look forward to seeing you at "Forever Entangled: Blood Ties" (changed it from the working title)

Love,

Bronze.