BPOV

                We all returned to our respective homes. Edward came with me. I wasn’t willing to let him go even if he had wanted to. Alice and Jasper practically flew up the stairs. They hadn’t taken their eyes off of each other the whole way home. It gave me a feeling of foreboding, as if Alice knew that she didn’t have very much time left with Jasper.

                I clung to Edward, burying my head in his sweater. I could feel his rock hard chest, icy through the cloth. I could almost trick myself into hearing his noticeably absent heart beat. He was hanging on to me with equal fervor. Every few steps he would stop and bury his face in my hair. I would gulp in his scent as if I could never get enough. I would never be able to bear being apart from him again. I think he sensed it because he held me that much closer.

                There were no boundaries between us now. There was nothing to keep us apart. The night called to my senses, but Edward called stronger. We ran up the stairs together. His mouth found mine when we reached the hallway. We stumbled, blind with passion, down the hall. His hand fumbled at my door knob. He wrenched himself away to push the door open, perhaps too forcefully. We were panting although neither of us needed air.

                His golden eyes caressed me, reeled me in. The moon sparkled off of his face. He was a glittering god, a hundred times more beautiful than I had remembered. The space between us closed, and I was in his arms again. I had never tasted anything as delicious as him. His hands sent fire through my body. The rest of the world receded until there was only Edward, not that I noticed much else when he was around to begin with.

                We collapsed onto the bed. He kissed every piece of my skin as it was revealed. I had never felt more beautiful or more alive, even as a human. Edward was my everything. I marveled at his perfection, worshipped his mouth, his chin, his chest. My human mind could never have dreamt of this. For the first time in 50 years, waking was better than dreaming.

EPOV

                The sun raced over the horizon. I wished that the day would never come. We had spent the night in each other’s arms. I felt as if separating myself from Bella would kill me. We were both aware that this night could be our last together.

                “Bella, my love?” My voice sounded horse, husky as I stared at my beautiful Bella.

                “Hmmm…” She mumbled. Neither of us could sleep, but Bella was still not a morning person.

                “I have to ask…What was that business about ‘shielding’?”

                “Oh. You don’t know.” She sat up in bed, moving so that she could see me more clearly. “Well, after I was changed, we discovered that I have a power.” I must have looked as shocked as I felt because she laughed. Bella slid her hands into mine. “You know how you could never read my mind? Well, it’s like there’s a shield there. It took me forever to learn, but I can stretch it out to cover other people. “

                “You can shield other people’s minds?” Her perfection was blinding me, making me stupid.

                “I can shield against pretty much anything, both physical and mental attacks.” I kissed her. She was so amazing. I had never seen such a perfect creature. The weak morning light made her skin shine brilliantly. Is this how she felt the first time she saw me in the sun? I can’t imagine her being as dazzled by me as I was by her. Yet, that was her word, “dazzle”. Bella always said that I “dazzled” people. I had never really believed it though. She was the most stunning being in the world.

                Eventually, we made it out of bed and down to the piano. I wanted to hear her play more. We spent a long time feeding each other music. I loved her with everything in me. I would never live without her. She wouldn’t die in this battle. The world would be a dark place without this angel in it.