Disclaimer: The characters, locations and background are thanks to the imagination of Stephenie Meyer. I am simply a humble fanfic writer playing in her wonderful world.

AN: This is the last part of the 'Cardinal Points Saga'. It stands in for Breaking Dawn Part 1 and right off the bat I'm going to tell you that it does not include a baby. If you prefer little vampire-human hybrids, please find one of hundreds of other stories to read.

Where the story stands: Bella was not attacked by James in Phoenix and instead spent the entire ordeal in a car with Edward and Carlisle, while Jasper and Emmett took care of the tracker. Victoria escaped. At Bella's 18th birthday party there was a very near disaster, but everyone – including the piano – walked away mostly unscathed. Edward wasn't an idiot and didn't leave. They visited college campuses in November, and Edward convinced Bella to go to Dartmouth. He bought a house for the family in Vermont and in the spring they decorated it for the following September (timeline: the September of Bella's 19th birthday). Victoria threw a kink in the plans by going to the Volturi and telling them about Bella. The Volturi discovered the wolves and there was a confrontation. Aro forgave the Cullens for telling Bella the truth, on the provision that she would be changed after graduation. He also insisted, despite Caius' views on the subject, that the wolves were now the Cullen's responsibility and the wolves could never be responsible for the death of any vampires. The Cullens and pack made a new treaty, allowing Bella to be changed, if the Cullens promised to defend the wolves against a potential attack by the Volturi in the future. The Cullens decided to move to Alaska for Bella's change, after staging her death in a car accident right before graduation. Edward finally agreed to change Bella himself, if she married him.

Prologue

It was just getting annoying. Edward had taken to asking her in as many different ways as he could find nearly every day. Sometimes he did it so suddenly that it was obviously an attempt to catch her off guard – thinking she would say yes without thinking about it – but Bella managed to keep a step ahead of him. It was especially annoying, however, when Alice started poking her too.

Of course, Alice only wanted an answer so that she could plan the wedding. The piles of magazines littered around the Cullen house weren't exactly subtle.

By the beginning of June, the entire school knew about the proposal. Bella had no idea how it had happened, but Edward took full advantage of the opportunity to propose – loudly – in the middle of the cafeteria.

But Bella wasn't about to give in to him, no matter how embarrassed he made her. 'No,' she said clearly so that the entire student body could hear and resumed eating her lunch. Mike's eyebrows shot through his hair and Jessica made a noise that sounded like a kitten dying. Angela just reached over and patted Bella's hand.

'If you don't want to get married, that's okay with me,' she said.

Edward glared at her.

'Stop it,' Bella muttered to him, glaring a bit herself. But Edward really wasn't taking the hint. The Cullens all thought it was entertaining and assumed that – sooner or later – Bella would give in. She'd made her reasons quite clear after Edward's sudden marriage proposal on the back deck a week after their lives had been unexpectedly saved from the Volturi's version of justice. It wasn't like she'd said no forever, but Bella had absolutely no interest in tying the knot before her change that summer. Edward thought otherwise. In fact, he had made it the condition on which he would change her himself.

Bella really thought he wasn't playing fair.

'Just give in,' Alice told her, when the student lunch body had finally returned to their own business.

'No,' she muttered, so used to saying it now that there was no power at all behind the word. It sounded like a protest to the inevitable rather than a determined stance.

'Please?'

'No.'

'I'm planning the wedding anyways, you know,' Alice put in.

'Go ahead. I'm sure Rosalie and Emmett wouldn't mind getting married again.'

Alice sighed, exasperated, but let the matter drop. At least for the rest of the day.

Unfortunately, Edward's rather public proposal managed to reach Charlie's ears inside of two days. During one of their few private dinners that Friday, Charlie abruptly asked:

'So, Edward proposed?'

Bella's fork somehow managed to find the floor. Blushing, she reached down to pick it up and spent entirely too much focus making certain it was clean.

'Uh, yeah,' she said.

'Bella,' her father began, but she beat him to it.

'I'm not going to say yes. I don't want to get married. Not now, at least. Maybe after college,' she went on, lying about the last part. Although, maybe not. Maybe they would go to college in a few years when she no longer wanted to drink the entire student populace dry, and then after that they could get married.

'Okay. Still, he proposed. That's...pretty serious.'

Bella looked up at him. 'Look, Dad, we really are that serious, but I still think we're too young to get married. It can wait a few years. Edward's just...very old fashioned.'

Charlie looked confused. 'What does that mean?'

Cursing her choice of words, Bella blushingly stammered: 'It means he wants to do things properly. To get married before...before...' she trailed off.

Charlie, thankfully, got the message. 'Oh,' he said. And then, 'Ooh. Right. Well, think I like that a little better now. Edward's got the right idea. But I think you're too young. Give it a few years.'

'Exactly,' Bella said, and that was the end of that conversation.

For about a week. As Bella knew was bound to happen, she eventually caved.

'I am going to say this one last time, Edward. My answer is no. Not 'no I will never marry you', just 'no, I won't marry you right now'. Not before my change. Maybe I'll feel different afterwards.'

'Do you honestly think that, Bella?' he asked her. They were sitting beside each other on the piano bench at his house on a typical rainy day.

'I don't know. But yes, I think so. I think I'll feel differently about a lot of things when eternity is not just an option but a definitive.'

'Are you saying no now because you think I'll take advantage of it to delay your change?' he ventured, fingers tapping out occasional notes on the keys.

Bella sighed. 'Partly, yes; I guess the thought had crossed my mind. But mostly it's just that I don't want to get married and then promptly spend three to six months consumed by blood lust. Let me get through that first and then we can talk about a wedding.'

'Okay,' he agreed.

Shocked speechless, Bella turned to stare at him. 'But...?'

'I'm not trying to trick you. I am also not making an attempt to delay your change. I promised the timing would be your choice and I meant that. I mean that,' he rephrased.

Bella smiled. 'How about this? Ask me again.'

In a flash Edward was on one knee in front of her. 'Bella Swan, will you marry me?' he grinned.

Teasingly, she smiled. 'Yes, Edward, I'll marry you...next summer.'

'You aren't trying to trick me?'

'No,' she promised him.

'You're getting married!' Alice screamed as she danced into the room. 'I'm going to need the whole year Bella! There are so many things to – '

'Yes there are. You better get right on them,' Bella cut her off, making a shooing motion back out the door.

Alice took the hint. She danced back out of the room humming 'Here Comes the Bride' while Bella drew her – fiancé – up for a kiss.

'Mrs. Cullen,' he addressed her.

'Nope; not yet. Let me get used to not being Bella Swan anymore first. Then we can worry about Mrs. Bella Cullen. Next year, Edward, I mean it,' she reiterated.

'I'll hold you to that,' he managed to get out, before the rest of the family milled around them with offers of congratulations.

'I love June weddings,' Alice stridently announced over the hubbub. 'We'll plan it well before your birthday too!'

'Thanks for that,' Bella told her, in all sincerity. After so many weeks of determinedly saying no, it felt like a rather large relief to finally say yes. And she hadn't caved; not like Edward had wanted her to. A year was plenty of time and being a vampire would change things. After that, what did the pomp and circumstance of a wedding matter? It would be a small affair, after all.