Edward's POV:
I am so tired… I lie in bed and rub my eyes. I never knew being the Prince of Italy was going to be this frustrating. It's not fair. I have no life, I can't go out like normal people, can't make friends like normal people, and most of all, I can't fall in love like normal people. My marriage is arranged with the cruelest Princess in the world, Victoria. I can't believe my father; Carlisle is making me marry her just for the benefit of fame and wealth. I absolutely hate my life right now.
Bella's POV:
I am so tired... I lie on my straw and hay bed itching my body. I will never get used to these crappy beds the king provides for us. I never knew that my life would be so frustrating. It really sucks. I have no life, I can't look good, I have no money, I am stuck here in this prison cleaning up after others, and I am to be married to my best friend. How are you supposed to 'love' your best friend? Jacob is like a brother to me, not a husband. I can't believe my father; Charlie is making me marry Jacob just because he thinks that he is the only one that will agree to marry a poor maid like me. I want to kill myself right now.
I got up and went to the maids well to wash my face. I wasn't looking forward to mopping and cleaning the palace today. I freshened up with the few refreshments I had and went up to the palace to get my list of chores for that day. While I was running up the staircase to the kitchen, I bumped into Emmett, one of the royals. "You better watch it!" Emmett said as he wiped his shirt like there was some infection on it. I rolled my eyes thinking of how he would survive without us or as Emmett would say 'infection carriers'. I continued up the staircase and got to the kitchen where one of the other maids motioned for me to do something. "Here begins another chore filled day of fun!" I said sarcastically. Someone laughed behind me. I turned around to see Edward, another one of the royals that was going to marry one of the cruelest princesses in the world. Edward was so handsome, he was still in his night robe and his hair was a mess. Messy in the sense, sexy messy. "Ummm…" there was an awkward silence as Edward didn't know what to say. This was my first time speaking to one of the royals and it was overwhelming. I instantly liked Edward, he didn't treat me as if I were some infection and was really kind of hot. "Do you need anything?" I asked nervously. He looked at me and said, "Um, y-yes actually, can you get me something to eat? I got into a fight with my dad yesterday about my marriage and didn't eat…" He looked down as he spoke. "Of course," I said. "What would you like?" Edward looked at me and said, "Anything you want to give me." I left him standing there saying I would be back as I went into the kitchen to get him something to eat.
Edward's POV:
As soon as she left to get me something, I took a deep breath. What was wrong with me? Can I not talk to a maid confidently? I mean, look at Emmett; he practically treats them like garbage! But the thing is, as soon as I saw her turn around and as soon as I heard her voice, I think I fell in love. She was beautiful and that was the kind of girl I wanted to marry, not some rich but stupid princess. My daydream shattered when she came back and brought me a plate with food. "Thank you so much," I said to her. She looked at me and said, "No problem."
Bella's POV:
When Edward left, I worked all my regular routines and was still working when king Carlisle made an announcement, "Everyone of Italy, I have great news. Prince Edward is going to be married to the lovely Princess Victoria in three days!" I heard a great loud cheer from everyone in the palace and outside. Well, there will be a royal wedding in three days, guess that's more work for me.
Edward's POV:
"WHAT!" You can't do this, it's not fair! I am arguing with my father as the rest of my family is sitting there and just watching. "Alice! Make him understand that it is not fair!" I turn to Alice since she is the only one who truly understands me. Alice looks at father and tries, "Fath—." Father stops her before she can say anything at all. Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie, and even Esme don't do anything to make him stop. I smack my fist on the wall and slam the door as I burst out walking.
Bella's POV:
I am mopping the royal level of the palace when someone knocks over the dirty water. I think it's one of the other maids so I burst out shouting, "CAN'T YOU WATCH IT! I'M NOT MOPPING THIS DAMN PLACE ANYMORE!" When I turn to see who it really is, I gasp. Edward stares at me in shock, "I-I-I'm so sorry, and I didn't mean to say what I just did…" Edward doesn't say anything and picks up the mop. "What are you doing?" I ask. He looks at me and says, "Well, I am the one who made this mess so I will be the one to clean it up." I stare at him while he cleans. He is mopping in aggression so I try to make him stop. "You really don't have to clean it up, and plus to make it worse, you seem angry." I take the mop away from him and start cleaning again. Edward grabs his hair in frustration. "Do you want to tell me about it?" Edward sighs and sits on the dry part of the floor. "I don't want to marry her, and it's in three days! Can you believe it?" I can't help but think that he looks really hot when he is frustrated like that. I leave my mop and sit next to him; he seems more like a friend than a person who could order me around. "Well, you are from the Royal Family, so no, it's not hard to believe." He looks at me and sighs. "I just wish I could be normal like you…" I try to feel his pain but cannot. He has everything a person could wish for and he wishes he could be normal? But I guess I'm not a princess so I don't judge him on his feelings. We sit there side by side lost in our own thoughts when suddenly he takes my hand in his. I catch my breath but don't pull away.
Edward's POV:
Her hand is so soft in mine; I love the touch of her and I want more. With my other hand, I pull her face towards mine and she looks up at me. At first she doesn't resist then she starts to pull away, "This isn't right." I look at her with a questioning look. This feels right to me. "Why?" A flash of anger goes across her face, "You know what I am starting to think? I think that you are just stressed and you want to use me because if you really did feel like this was something then at least you would know my name!" I look at her thinking how stupid I am. How could I not even know her name? I know that if I were her I would probably be thinking the same thing. "I'm sorry, not even knowing your name shows that I am stupid but being with you right now, felt right to me in every way." She looked at me and her expression told me everything, she forgave me. "Let's start again," she smiled. "Well, hello there. My name is Bella, what's yours?" I laugh and play along. "My name is Edward. Would you like to join me on a date tonight?" she is surprised when I ask her that but slowly gives a small nod. I am glad she has said yes because I am looking forward to spending a lovely evening with her.
Bella's POV:
When Edward left, I held my head in my hands. What just happened? Am I really going out with Edward the soon to be married to Princess Victoria? Him getting married in three days doesn't help the weirdness I am feeling right now. I continue mopping the wet floor thinking about tonight. I will have to sneak out because my father will never let me go out with a guy because he will think I am 'betraying Jacob.' Also, I am not about to tell him it isn't just any boy, but its Edward Cullen, the prince of Italy.
I do a couple more chores until it is finally my break time. I use that time to pick out a nice outfit for tonight. While I am rummaging through my closet, I hear someone walking into my room. I am very surprised when I see who it is, its Alice, Edwards sister. "Hey Bella, Edward sent these to you and there is a card for you telling what time to be ready." I take the huge bouquet of red tulips and place them on my bed. "Thank you," I say. "No problem and I can see why Edward has started to like you…" with that Alice walked away and left me in my room wondering.
Edward's POV:
It's five minutes to seven and I cannot wait until I see Bella arrive. I am planning to take her to my beach; it's my favorite place to go. I have arranged for a nighttime picnic under the stars and a nice swim after that. Of course I won't force her to come in if she doesn't want to. I was so lost in thought that I lost track of time. I look at my watch, it seven sharp. When I look up, I see her, Bella. She is beautiful; Bella is not one of those girls that try so hard to look nice. She is wearing a blue and white floral summer dress and her hair is in a loose bun. Her foot wear are tiny ballet flats that are blue to match her dress. I don't even know what to say, "You look gorgeous." She looks at me and smiles. "You look pretty nice yourself." I take her hand as I lead her to my car.
Bella's POV:
I am nervous. I am so scared of where he is taking me. I hope it's not some five star restaurants where only rich and famous people go. I am a maid and I have never been out of the palace so it is very intimidating. I run my free hand over my dress trying to smooth it out while my other hand is intertwined with Edwards. He leads me to his car and opens the door for me. I get in and suck in my breath. Edward walks around the car and gets into the driver's seat. He starts the car and we drive off.
"Where are we going?" I ask in a nervous voice. He looks at me and smiles, "You will see." The drive is very long. I don't know where we are going but for some reason I trust Edward so I am not afraid. "Are you excited?" Edward asks me. I look at him and laugh, "I don't even know where we are going!" he laughs at this too.
"Don't worry we are almost there." We pull up onto a dirt road and drive a couple meters until we stop. "I would drive farther up, but I want it to be a surprise." We walk a little unit Edward grabs my arm and tells me to stop.
"Are you ready?" I nod because I really don't know what's going on. He puts both his hands on my eyes to cover them. We walk through the little opening until we are in the open. He takes his hands off my eyes and when I open them I am amazed. We are at a deserted beach; there is no one there, only us. It's beautiful. It's getting darker, but the darkness is making it that much prettier. He leads me to this light I see from afar. When we get near it, I see that it is a little campfire burning near the water. Edward has already arranged everything; there is food, towels, and other things I can't really make out since it is dark. Edward wraps his arms around me and it seems like this is the best moment in my life.
Edward's POV:
After I let Bella out of my arms, I lay out the really big blanket onto the soft sand. I motion Bella to sit as I take out the food and drinks that we are going to have. Bella sits there quietly as I quickly prepare the snacks and main course onto the blanket. She is looking at me preparing so I wink at her. She winks back and we both laugh.
"Why isn't anyone else here?" Bella asks me. I guess it's time for me to give her the details that I have hidden from her to keep it a surprise.
"This is a private beach for my family; we bought it a long time ago." She nods and only says, "Oh." After everything is done I ask her if she wants to eat. She smiles and says okay.
"What are we having by the way?" she asks while she is pouring us wine. "We are having food that I have made all by myself." I am rewarded with an impressed look from her. Soon after that we start eating our dinner under the stars.
Bella's POV:
I have to say, this date of ours is really romantic. I love how Edward led me to the beach, how he held me, and his food was just amazing. He had prepared some kind of soup with cheese ravioli and bread. We were eating quietly and my mind started wandering. I started thinking about me and Edward together but the thing is, we can't. Edward is getting married in three days, it's impossible for 'us' to work. I think about it more until I wonder; why are we doing this? It's never going to work out.
"What are you thinking about?" Edward interrupts my thoughts. If I tell him what I was really thinking about, it would just ruin the night.
"I was thinking about how wonderful you are for taking me out here, I am having the best time with you." I lie. But I am not lying because it's true; this is the best time I've ever had. He scoots closer to me and holds my shoulders. He gently starts to caress them building his touch up to my neck. I know we shouldn't be doing this but I don't want to stop. I turn around and pull him closer to me, my hands on his neck. He gently starts kissing my throat, moving up to my ear.
"Want to go for a swim?" He whispers. I slightly tug on his hair, "yes." He slowly takes his shirt off still holding me too him. I take off my dress but decide to leave my bra and panties on. When I look at him, I see that he has taken everything off. He waits for me and I self-consciously turn around to take off the rest of my clothing. He holds my hand as we both go into the water. We walk farther until he is waist deep and the water is swallowing up all of me till my chest. Edward pulls me to him and we sink underwater. We both come up soaking wet and then I do something I would never ever think of; I pull him closer and kiss him. Edward is shocked but he kisses me back and we are suddenly kissing in the water, both of us tangled up in each other. We are still kissing when we both hear a gasp of shock. I pull away from Edward as quickly as he does.
"What are doing!" I hear a female voice say.
Edward's POV:
When I hear that voice I know exactly who it is, Victoria. She looks at me with complete horror on her face as I stare back at her.
"How could you?" with that, she ran away leaving me and Bella staring after her. I know that leaving Bella here alone will not be good but I have too, for the sake of my family's reputation.
"I'm sorry but I have to go, I'll see you around later," I say as I run off after Victoria.
Bella's POV:
As Edward runs off after Victoria and leaves me here, I go to our campfire to dry off. How could he? Of course just because Victoria saw us Edward would just run after her. I knew it wasn't going to work, and the worst part is, I've never felt so amazing in my life before. Edward made me feel special; it felt like someone was there to love me for who I am. Now, that's all finished because Edward has run off to Victoria to apologize and what else, I don't even want to think about it. I knew I shouldn't have listened to Edward and say yes to the stupid little date of ours. I guess this isn't even Edwards fault, its mine because I am the one foolish enough to fall in love with the Prince of Italy.
Edward's POV:
"Victoria! Wait!" I have to yell at her so she can hear me; she still doesn't stop for me. I run faster trying to catch up with her.
"GO AWAY YOU BASTARD!" she tries to run faster but I catch up to her. I grab her arm and pull her to me.
"Why are you running away?" I ask, I know it's a pretty obvious answer but I still want to hear it. Instead, I get a dirty look and she yanks her arm away from me.
"If you want your girlfriend to be alive after today, you better leave right now." She looks at me with total disgust on her face. I let her go as she runs off.
I am still looking at her as she is running off when I see her turn in the wrong direction. Her palace is not the way she is going. She is going to the path that leads into the village. I know shouldn't, especially after what she said about Bella, but I do anyway. I go and follow her. She walks all the way into the village as I am following after her. What is she doing? I keep on following her until she stops in front of this big house. It's the house of her father's assistant. When I look towards the house, I see that all the lights are off and there is nobody home. Victoria still stands there, waiting. After a few more minutes of just standing there, I decide to leave when the door opens. A young man opens the door; he is sort of my age and has long blonde hair. The door light switches on. I gasp as I see who it is, it is James.
James takes Victoria in her arms and kisses her. I can't believe it, she is cheating with James? How could she act so sad and frustrated when I was with Bella? Of course, she just wanted to ruin my life as she would keep hers with her James. I watch them as James slowly reaches for her top and undoes the strap. The only thing I know is that I do not want to watch them in bed, so I leave.
Bella's POV:
I make a comfy stop on the blanket using my towel as a jacket and a bag as a pillow. Its dark out and I don't know how to get home so I decide I will see in the morning and just sleep out here with the fire. I have to say, this is way more comfortable then the beds in the maids lair. I fall asleep thinking about Edward and how I fell in love with a guy who just left me here, stranded at a beach.
Edward's POV:
I am walking away when I suddenly think of Bella; she is still at the beach! I break into a sprint and run as fast as I can to Bella. I hope she is okay. I can't believe I just left her there! I finally reach the beach and go to our campfire. When I see Bella there, asleep, I smile. She looks so calm and peaceful when she is sleeping. I quietly gather all our things and make trips back and forth to my car. When everything is packed, I put out the fire and scoop Bella into my arms. She moans lightly in her sleep but I manage to get her to the car without waking her up. I make one last trip to the beach to get the blanket, towel and bag she was laying on and then I drive to the palace. When we get back to the palace, Bella is still sleeping so I carry her once again inside. I take her up to my room and gently tuck her into my bed as I go into the bathroom to change. After I change and I am ready to go to bed, I turn off all the lights and get into the bed with Bella and fall asleep thinking about how much Bella means to me and how I fell in love with a girl I bumped into a few days ago.
Bella's POV:
I wake up with strong arms around me holding me close. I turn to see who it is, its Edward. Suddenly, all the events of yesterday come crashing at me. Me and Edward at the beach, Victoria catching us, Edward leaving me there and going after her, and me falling asleep near the campfire. I still think about it and realize that, Edward still came for me? He didn't leave me there? I snuggle closer to him, forgiving him for leaving me because he still came back right? And even though he will be in a lot of trouble he is still here, by my side. I close my eyes and just lay there with Edward. I can't help notice that he lives in such a nice room. It big and roomy, there is furniture in every corner of the room, and it is very modern. The best thing I like about his room is his bed. His bed is so comfortable! It feels like I am lying in a pool of cotton and fluff, it's the softest thing I've ever lain on.
I rest my head on his chest while he stretches. Edward hugs me closer to him and kisses me on the forehead, "Good morning…" I look at him and brush my lips against his, "Good morning."
Edward's POV:
It feels really good to wake up with Bella by my side. When she brushes her lips against mine, I pull her to me and kiss her softly. I just wish every moment could be like this. I still have to deal with my wedding that is in two days! It's obvious that me and Victoria don't like each other so I think I can work that out by talking to my dad. I am still lying in bed with Bella, when I hear the announcing horn. After a few seconds my father makes and announcement, "Good morning the good citizens of Italy, my dear almost daughter in law wants to say something." Victoria takes the microphone from father and begins to speak, "I am here to announce that my fiancé has done something very big, something I will never forgive him for." Everyone in the crowd is gasping and listening very seriously. "I caught Edward with another girl at the beach last night; they were in quite an embrace." I jump out of bed, quickly pulling on my robe. I am not going to be the only one who will end up with the bad reputation this morning. I run all the way up the balcony and snatch the microphone from Victoria before she makes up some other crap that will make me look even worse.
"Yes, I am admitting that I was in an embrace with the girl I actually happen to love last night but Victoria, you aren't telling people your side of the story…" I looked at the crowd and people were beginning to wonder what was going on. "I actually caught Victoria with another boy as they were in quite an embrace as well." Once again the crowd gasps and looks very surprised.
Suddenly father bursts into anger, "How dare both of you? We have gone through a lot of trouble for your marriage and you are cheating on each other? You know what? Just go off and do whatever you guys feel like because your marriage is CANCELED! Go on now, what are you waiting for? YOU HAVE ALREADY RUINED THE ROYALS REPUTATION SO YOU MIGHT AS WELL GO TO YOUR LITTLE SOUL MATES AND LIVE WITH THEM FOREVER!" Father leaves and slams the balcony door behind him. Victoria and I exchange glances. I leave and decide to go back to Bella to tell her the good news.
Bella's POV:
I see Edward rushing into the room with a big grin on his face. I look at him and frown, it's not funny his father is really angry.
"You heard the announcement right? We can finally be together!" Edward is so happy with the cancelation of his marriage.
"Yes I know, but your father is really angry at you guys," I say. He looks at me kissing me on the forehead.
"He will get over it, don't worry." Edward lifts me off the bed. He rests me on the ground; we are standing only inches apart. He puts his arms around my waist and kisses me lightly. "Don't worry about it, it's just us now." I look up at him and decide that I shouldn't worry anymore. Edward and I don't have to fight for love anymore because Victoria is out of the picture, not to mention king Carlisle's last words before he stormed off; "You might as well go to your little soul mates and live with them forever!" I laugh as I pull Edward down on the bed with me. We make love without worrying and think just about us in the moment.