PREFACE

What was real in my body was a dream in my mind. The pain was real. The cold arms wrapped around me were real. But my blurry vision suggested something magical. I was floating, relaxed and safe in these arms. The prickling pain I'd felt before was drifting away… and everything I heard was muted as if I was underwater. A musical voice called my name in the distance and it made me smile. The voice was so urgent, so panicked; I wanted to let it know everything was okay. It was beautiful where I was. The voice didn't listen, now shouting, screaming to get me to open my eyes. Weren't my eyes already open? The voice refused to let me sink further, so I obeyed.

It was as if suddenly I'd been forced back to the surface and my senses were on overload. I gasped, only to find a thick liquid blocking my throat. Loud sirens could be heard in a distance, and those safe arms tore themselves away from me. I was drowning, and the water was red.

CHAPTER ONE

"CHANGES"

It was Saturday, exactly one month away from the big day. I was letting the afternoon waste away as I stayed comfortably in my fiancé's arms, lying in a bed he'd invested in for my sleeping purposes only. I had only just gotten accustomed to saying the word fiancé out loud, which had made Edward a bit more forward in showing his affections. Words like "fiancée" and "wife" and "Mrs. Cullen" got him especially enthusiastic. To a point.

My fingers tensed against his bare chest (his shirt was the only thing he'd allowed me to unbutton), which immediately alerted him to my distress. He glanced down at me, concerned, and I pursed my lips. Wait for it.

"Bella!" Alice moaned at a human volume from downstairs. "Don't do this to me!"

I knew better than to make decisions regarding my wedding in the Cullen household. I hadn't really planned it, it was just a thought that I'd been entertaining for some time. My mind had been floating from topic to topic all day.

"I guess-" I told Edward, who I could tell was growing immensely impatient, "-I've decided I want an extra bridesmaid."

I didn't have to look at him to know his tightlipped expression had stretched into a grin. He enjoyed it when I got involved with the wedding in any capacity. "I see."

With a great, reluctant sigh, I pulled myself away from Edward and slid off the bed. He pushed himself up on his elbows but made no move to follow me. "Some advice would be appreciated," I said to him as I pulled my shoes on, trying to keep my eyes off of his half-naked body. It really wasn't fair that he looked so good without even trying.

I must've been blushing, because he proceeded to button his shirt as he spoke. "You were right. It seems another bridesmaid disrupts the balance of the wedding party. And changes the entire décor-" he paused mid-sentence and pinched the bridge of his nose. "-and the seating chart. She is very loud when she's angry."

"BELLA!"

"She's coming, Alice," Edward said at a normal volume before whispering to me. "Take comfort in knowing you get your way. She wouldn't be so angry if that wasn't what the future held."

I laughed, indeed comforted by that fact, and reluctantly left Edward's room and made my way down the stairs. Alice was, of course, waiting for me, and sighed. "Look Bella," she began in a very clipped tone I'd never heard from her before. Wedding planner Alice was much more intense than regular Alice. "You simply cannot add another bridesmaid. Having two bridesmaids ruins everything. It doesn't fit with the theme."

"And what is the theme?" I asked, feeling mildly uncomfortable that I was trapped on the narrow bottom stair, gripping the railing for balance.

"Perfection!" she snapped, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Alice paused then, closing her eyes briefly. I wondered if she felt bad for being so harsh, but soon found out that wasn't the case. "You're lucky I just had about five visions on how to fix this little problem."

I nodded, feeling like a child who got caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "So I can ask Angela, then?"

"You're the bride," she said in a distressed manner, turning on her heels with impressive speed and disappearing into the floral factory that was the Cullen kitchen.

Once Alice was gone I sat gingerly on the stairs and clutched my forehead in my hands, wondering if I should have just pushed for Vegas like Edward had suggested. It would be a lot less stress, I was sure, and I would already be on my honeymoon by now.

As I ran my hands through my hair and exhaled deeply, I felt cold hands begin to massage my neck. "It's not too late to change your mind," Edward said softly, his mouth dangerously close to my ear. It was times like this when I wondered if he'd been lying all along and really could read my mind. No, I answered myself in my head, he's just getting better at guessing.

I sighed under his pleasantly cool touch and let my arms fall to my sides. "No, I'm happy that everyone gets to be a part of it. Renee is excited, Charlie gets to walk me down the aisle, Alice gets to indulge her party planning addiction- I would never want to take that away from them."

"And there's nothing you are excited about?"

"You know what I'm excited about," I replied, taking it as an opportunity to situate myself in his lap.

He didn't object, his arms wrapping instinctively around my waist, but I did catch a slight roll of his eyes. "I suppose I'm merely curious why you've decided to have some input. Alice was under the distinct impression that she had free reign from here on out."

I shrugged, trying to hide my distress. "I didn't think it was that big of a deal. I just…"

Edward sighed. My inability to finish sentences was one of his biggest pet peeves, considering he couldn't pluck the rest out of my head like anyone else. I searched quickly for the right words before he grew too impatient.

"I just thought it would be nice. Angela has been a true friend since I moved here. And she was one of the only ones who didn't… who didn't completely abandon me last year." I really didn't want to bring up the period of time when Edward was absent from my life because it brought on a fresh wave of guilt for him, but he also hated it when I lied. Unfortunately, the truth was that I depended on Angela at school the same way I depended on Jacob. Without them, I very well could have died.

Snapping myself out of my melodramatic reverie, I pressed a gentle kiss to his lips that softened his resolve immediately. "I think it's a wonderful idea," he said, deepening the kiss after he spoke. When we broke again, he scooped his arm beneath my knees and cradled me against his chest. "And what my fiancée wants, she gets."

We were back upstairs before I took another breath.

Despite his apparent impatience to return to the bedroom we'd spent most of the day in, he set me down very carefully on the bed. Before I knew it, his lips covered my lips, my jaw, my neck, as his hands danced dangerously close to other places we'd never explored together. My body was covered in goose bumps, a natural side effect of having a vampire boyfriend, but these bumps had nothing to do with his temperature. I blushed at the thought as his tongue brushed my suddenly bare stomach.

I let out a surprised moan as his hands slid up around my ribcage, a sound I'd been suppressing since he'd gotten me in such a compromising position. I knew it would startle him enough for him to jump to conclusions. Edward would automatically assume he'd hurt me in some way, and I cursed his paranoia. As expected, he pulled away and eyed me carefully. "I'm sorry," he said, though there was more weight to his words than I would have liked.

"Edward," I pleaded, "I'm fine. Please don't ruin the moment."

He smiled, shaking his head, "I know you're fine - in fact, judging by the color of your cheeks and the pace of your heart I'd say you're better than fine. That's what I'm apologizing for."

My eyes narrowed. "You shouldn't tease your future wife so much."

It did the trick, for a second anyway. His tawny eyes blazed and his unnecessary breath caught in his chest, creating a low growl I rarely got to enjoy. "You play dirty," he murmured, now burying his face in my neck.

"I know."

***

Thanks to the Cullen family's many gifted members, Edward and I were interrupted about five minutes prior to Charlie's return from fishing. That gave us enough time to make ourselves presentable (well, mostly me) and busy ourselves with wedding related projects for his arrival.

"You look so adorably guilty right now," Edward said as he arranged a centerpiece for the reception with expert hands.

My eyes widened and I knocked over a vase that was caught just inches from the floor. Emmett grinned toothily at me. "I would be guilty, too, if I got caught doing what you were doing by Esme," he said, setting the vase back on the table.

"First of all," Edward began, not allowing his focus to stray from the flowers, "you have been caught doing what we were doing by Esme. Worse things, in fact. And second of all, you weren't guilty at all. You thought it was hilarious."

"But we weren't even doing anything!" I interrupted, defending myself, "we never do anyth-"

"He knows," Edward interrupted, apparently not wanting to bring up the topic of what exactly we 'do' with Emmett in the room.

His efforts weren't very effective. "I do know," Emmett began incredulously, "and I don't get it at all. Bella's hot. Even if I had the self control not to bite her… I'd accidentally kill her while we were doing it."

There was an awkward silence that settled between the three of us, and I could tell Edward was contemplating how to attack his older brother without messing up any of the decorations. Emmett seemed to get that impression, too, and quickly added, "that was meant as a compliment."

I bit my lip, creating a rather crooked smile as I caught Edward's eye. "I know. Um, thanks."

Esme appeared in the doorway, smiling brightly, no doubt to make me feel better about earlier events. Her expression grew stern, however, as she glanced down at the floor. "Emmett, you tracked mud into the house. We have guests."

"Bella's not a guest, she's family."

My stomach turned over at the remark. Edward was beaming.

Esme frowned. "Charlie is here."

Sure enough, I heard his engine grumbling in the driveway. "I'll get Alice," Emmett said cheerfully. We always let her greet Charlie first, it put him in a much better mood.

"And then you'll clean up this mess," Esme called after him, before warmly turning her attention back to me. "I am very sorry about earlier, Bella. Usually my senses are much more on point than that," her eyes flickered over to her son's, "but I think we've all been a bit preoccupied today."

"Oh." I blushed. Stupid cheeks. "No, it's fine."

She tipped her head pointedly in my direction, her eyes darting between the two of us. I felt like she was trying to see right through me. "You have nothing to be embarrassed about."

I didn't need vampire senses to hear Charlie's big boots clomping across the wood floors, Alice on his tail. "Ready to go, Bells?" he asked as he hesitantly stuck his head into the kitchen. Apparently he was afraid of encountering something the way Esme had.

With one sidelong glance to my future husband, I nodded and hopped off of my stool. Naturally, my boots didn't take to the muddy floor and my feet flew up over my head. Edward, Esme and my Dad all went to catch me, Esme getting there the fastest. With one arm around my waist and the other gripping my arm, she set me upright.

"Fast reflexes," Charlie whistled.

She nodded carefully, not looking away from me as her eyebrows knotted together in worry. "With five children, you get a lot of practice."

I tried to imagine Jasper slipping on a muddy floor the way I just did and had to stifle a laugh. Charlie just raised a brow at me. "Well, thanks for your hospitality," he murmured to Esme, nodding in her direction before heading out the door.

"Be careful." Edward was suddenly by my side, taking me into his arms and pressing a PG kiss to my lips. At that moment, it didn't matter what rating the gesture was, because he had done it in front of Charlie, who immediately cleared his throat from the foyer. Butterflies beat against my ribcage as I tried to regain my composure.

"Charlie abides by all traffic laws, don't worry. I'll get home safe."

He rolled his eyes and slowly released me from his loving arms. "See you tomorrow," he said, to which I merely nodded. I was sure he'd be waiting in my room by the time we pulled into our driveway.

Alice caught me at the door and bore her eyes into mine. "No more changes," she said severely.

"No more changes," I repeated, genuinely afraid of what she might do to me if I tried. "I promise."

***