Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of the characters. This story is inspired by music, especially by Taylor Swift. No profit is made from this work.
Chapter I: All At Once
Edward sighed and glanced at his sheet music for the twentieth time in a single minute. He picked up the piece of paper in front of him and drew a couple of harsh lines to cross out an entire verse.
He was writing a song, but something was missing. Something essential.
He couldn't pinpoint what it was, this hole that seemed to be burning his inspiration to the ground, but he was determined to discover it. He hated feeling this way when he was writing. Songwriting was his one outlet, his one escape, and it had always been easy to lose himself in the process.
He needed to get out of this writing funk as soon as possible.
Suddenly, there was an insistent knock on his door. He decided to leave his tortured artist frame of mind for the moment and rejoin the real world.
He opened the door and saw Emmett, his cousin, standing in the doorway armed with a six pack of beer and a wide grin. "Good morning, Your Highness. I'm surprised you're already up."
"Was working on some songs," Edward replied. "And it's 10 in the morning, for Christ's sake. What are you doing bringing me alcohol?"
"Jasper's coming over later, remember? I don't know about you, but I could use some human contact," Emmett grouched. "Being holed up in this palace 24/7 is so not conducive to my pursuit of happiness."
"What? Who exactly is stopping you from pursuing your happiness?" Edward asked.
"Whatever, man. I'm just bored as hell. I need a break. Not a spa day kind of break, a real break. Like a skiing and climbing mountains kind of break. Or maybe a New York trip. Wouldn't that be a treat?" Emmett said, chuckling. He sat on the large sofa in front of the television and turned it on, rapidly flipping to a sports channel.
Edward actually agreed with his cousin. It would indeed be a treat to go somewhere, anywhere. Having been trained to take up the crown almost his entire life, Edward couldn't exactly prioritize going on holidays. But… maybe, just maybe, he deserved a holiday. Just one. Just this once.
"That's actually a pretty good idea, Em." Emmett raised his eyebrow and shifted his gaze back to his cousin.
"There's a concert in New York I wanna see in a couple weeks. And there's a gala the king wants me to attend there, too. Let's make a trip of it," Edward said.
"Are you serious? Hell yeah, Eddie! Do you have tickets to that show yet? I can go online and get them right now. Who's the artist? And I'll ask somebody to arrange the entire trip, we won't have to worry about a thing," Emmett went on excitedly.
"Don't call me Eddie and I promise you we'll go. And the concert is Bella Swan's, you know, that girl Eleazar wanted me to meet? She's apparently a really good songwriter," Edward said, sitting down next to Emmett on the couch.
Eleazar was Edward's uncle on his mother's side and not a part of the royal family. He was a very successful music producer and he had helped Edward with his music a lot over the years.
"Bella Swan? She's insanely popular over there, dude. Her concert probably sold out months ago. I'm a big fan, actually. If Eleazar knows her, he should hook us up with some tickets," Emmett replied.
"I think they worked together a couple times. I'll call him and see if he'll be in New York the same time we'll be there," Edward said.
Emmett nodded and blew out a long breath. He started flipping through channels again and landed on an entertainment news channel. "That Bella is amazing. It'd be awesome if we actually get to see her. She's, like, the biggest artist right now. Got an angel voice and absolutely stunning."
"You sound half in love with her," Edward remarked, snorting. He didn't understand Emmett's idolization of her. He was interested in the music, not the pop star. "How do you know she's not shallow as a puddle or dumb as hell?"
"That's way harsh, Ed. She's a songwriter. It takes heart to be a songwriter, and I know you know that." Emmett shook his head at his cousin.
Edward laughed softly and decided Emmett had a point. He really needed to sit down and listen to this Swan girl's music. Everyone was crazy about her.
"Hey, look, there she is!" Emmett exclaimed and turned up the volume on the entertainment news show. It was an interview with Bella Swan. Her long brown hair was held back in a sleek ponytail and she was smiling brightly as she answered the reporter's question, something about where she got inspiration to write songs her fans could adore and relate to.
"Well, I think like any songwriter, I take inspiration from all my experiences, you know? Songwriting is something I've been doing for a long time. It's my safe space. Writing about my experiences is just second nature to me and I feel really lucky that people—my fans—can connect with my music. I've heard girls tell me things like, you know, 'I got kissed for the first time to your song!' or 'I walked down the aisle to your song!' and that's just—to me, that's so, so amazing. I'm so happy and amazed that the experiences that inspired my songs, the experiences that were so special to me, become just as special to the people who hear my songs. I think that's really amazing and it's one of my favorite things about my job," she said, her ponytail swishing as she nodded her head, bright smile still firmly in place.
The clip of her ended and it was replaced by a photograph of her standing next to a blonde man on a red carpet. The reporter said it was her boyfriend of two years, actor Mike Newton. The reporter then went on to talk about Bella Swan's tour around the world promoting her new sophomore album, with many songs apparently about her whirlwind romance with the Newton guy.
The girl piqued Edward's interest. What she'd said about her songwriting was intriguing. He decided he needed to check out her music as soon as possible and quickly went to iTunes on his phone to find her first album.
Before the album could finish downloading, though, a text notification buzzed on his phone. It was a text from Edward's father, the king.
Edward, please meet with me in my study in fifteen minutes. We'll have breakfast and talk.
Edward sighed. "Emmett, get outta here. Dad says he needs to meet me. I need to get dressed."
Emmett left his cousin alone with much grumbling but without any real resistance.
There were red party streamers, beautiful flowers, a giant chocolate birthday cake, and even confetti. Bella was in a new dress, red lipstick glistening on her face. The people around her were laughing and mingling, smiling their best smiles and looking like they were having as much fun as the birthday girl should be.
Instead, Bella couldn't stop staring at the door, waiting for the one person who she wanted to be here, the one person who promised her he would make it. Hell, he was the one who wanted her to throw this stupid party. And yet here she was standing alone with an uneaten slice of cake, and the people around her had no idea she was about to have a breakdown.
Things had been like this with Mike, her boyfriend of a little more than two years, for a while now. They seemed to be stuck in a numbing, vicious cycle where he would make mistakes and he would promise to make it up to her and she would forgive him and it would be nice again and he promised her he'd be here and she shouldn't have let him talk her into this and—
Every thought in Bella's head came screeching to a halt.
She carefully set down her plate of cake. She took off running to the bathroom and barely made it inside before the first sob came wrenching out of her throat.
She steadied herself against the counter and looked in the mirror as tears streaked down her face. She let herself cry and wonder what she was holding on to anymore. Whatever good thing she had had with Mike Newton had slipped through their fingers long ago. She wondered how long she had been rationalizing and telling herself that everything was fine just because things felt comfortable and safe with him.
"My God, Bella, how far have you fallen?" she asked the girl in the mirror with her makeup all ruined and hands still shaking. She sighed and tried to wipe her face as best she could, but the tears still fell. Giving up on looking anywhere near presentable, Bella decided to face the music and tell everyone the party was over.
Of course, nothing stops a party faster than the guest of honor walking in with tears streaming down her face.
Everyone in the room turned their eyes on her, speechless. She hoped desperately that her voice wouldn't break as she said, "Everyone, I'm so sorry to cut the party short, but I'm afraid something's come up and I need to go. Thank you so much for coming and celebrating this day with me."
The room broke into hushed whispers and as she turned to leave, a few people wished her pitiful, murmured birthday greetings.
By morning, Mike had called her about a hundred times, but Bella answered only once.
He told her he was sorry.
"I know, Mike. But I don't think your apologies mean anything anymore. And that's okay. I want you to be happy. I want both of us to be happy. Just not together," she said into the phone. Her tears had already run dry from the night before. There was only silence on the other line. Bella didn't want to wait for him to come up with more apologies and hung up.
She dropped the phone onto her bed and cried into her pillow.
Back at the palace, Edward entered his father's study and found the king sitting at his desk, drinking a cup of coffee.
"Good morning, Dad," Edward said, smiling. "What did you need to speak to me about?" Edward sat down on the other side of the desk and picked up his own cup of coffee. He took a croissant from the tray between them and bit into it, chewing heartily.
"Good morning, son. What I want to speak to you about is very important and it's actually the main topic on the agenda at our scheduled meeting with the royal advisers later in the week. But I wanted you to hear it from me first," Edward's dad said seriously.
"Okay," Edward said, unsure. He didn't know what was supposed to be discussed at the royal meeting, or why his father would want to warn him first. He took another bite of his croissant. He even dunked it into his coffee.
"Edward, I'm retiring," the king said. Edward almost spat the lump of croissant in his mouth at his father's face.
A/N: I'd love to hear what you think! I haven't written fanfic in a long, long while and I only got these gears working again because I was inspired by new music from my angel Taylor and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's engagement. Love them!