Chapter One:

Edward had been avoiding this moment for weeks. He'd been so excited when Bella finally agreed to be his wife that he had failed to consider that Bella, being like most other teenage girls her age - no matter how much she protested dreamed of being whisked away on her honeymoon and becoming one with her new husband. It took nearly all his strength just to sit by her night after night, controlling his own urges, to want to touch, caress, devour her mouthwatering essence. Although he was just shy of one hundred and ten he himself had never been with a woman so the wonder and awe of his overwhelming feelings were just as strong as hers. The thought of her warm subtle skin, the sound of her heart

beating and her pulse pounding faster and faster every time he touched her until sometimes they ceased all together. He knew he could never act on his impulse. Acting human he had to slow all of his movements down to a mere fraction of his true speed. If he became over aroused, if he were sidetracked for merely an instant he may loose his grip on reality and his gentle velvet motions would become a hurricane of pure power. There was no knowing what damage that could cause, what injuries may insure. No. he had promised himself that the risks were far too high, no matter how badly he wanted to be her, taste her he would refrain until there was no chance of harming her. It was a pain he lived with daily, and he knew that deep down it hurt her too. To not be like other young couples their age, exploring love and intimacies for the first time. Edward was a well mannered young man, and even in his day and age when some couples did flirt with such behaviors he had promised himself even then that he would never be lured into such damnation. He would wait until the proper time and not before hand.

As he sat in her room, holding her close, watching her chest rise and fall with every beat of her heart he glanced around at all the posters on the walls, the photos, the books. Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte, Jane Austin. Such lust and fire and forbidden love, it was going to be a long five years, but they would be well worth it. To see Bella enjoy life, to show her the world through human eyes before blinding them. The night was cool, an icy breeze drifted through the window and for a moment Bella seemed aware of the intruder and shuddered beneath the blanket. Stretching out towards the rocking chair which lay positioned looking out upon the front lawn, Edward grabbed the small throw and placed it atop her shoulders. Bella's restlessness ceased immediately and Edward returned to the posters and books. Picking one of her favourites from the shelf beside her bed Edward opened it and continued reading. It was Romeo and Juliet. They had spoken of it often, there were many similarities between his and Bella's situation and that of Juliet and Romeo. They came from different families, with very different expectations on life, They both had to be careful of how the reacted in public, to keep their relationship a secret. Juliet's father did not approve of Romeo as Charlie did not approve of Edward. Juliet had been promised to another just as Bella and Jacob were torn. Then there was the Rosalie / Rosaline distinction that neither of them wanted to think about, it was just too creepy to think about. Unlike Romeo and Juliet however Edward had no wish to see his love forfeit her life for him, there would be no lovers pact, not from Bella's point of view. He'd rather see her with Jacob or that Mike Newton than to bear thinking of her, ending her life. An icy tear fell from his cheek so he decided to shut the book and try something new. Only 4am Bella wouldn't be awake for another three hours. Edward pulled out a piece of paper and a pen and started to sketch his sleeping love. He was careful to note every line, every crevice. He wanted it as accurate as possible. He didn't know what he was going to do with it but just in case he didn't want the image to be an inaccurate representation of what he saw. Next he drew a picture of Bella and him, dressed in the same attire they had worn to prom, and then another dressed in what appeared to be a groom and brides attire from the late 1800's. Bella was elegant as ever, Edward paled in her presence. He left the image of them at prom beside her on the bedside table with a note that simply read 'for all time' and then deciding that Bella would not approve of his other two drawings promptly placed then in his jacket pocket, kissed her on the forehead and repositioned her on the bed so that he could leave. It was their nightly ritual, Edward would stay until six thirty and then just before Charlie awoke he would return home, change and be back by seven am when she woke. After three years Charlie was none the wiser and they liked it that way.

As Bella woke, the sunlight was just starting to stream through her bedroom window. Although the light was warm the air was not, she reached out and pulled on her robe. The picture Edward had drawn fell to the floor and as she picked it up she saw the inscription. She felt just like Juliet, everyday she looked in the mirror and wondered why Edward had attached himself to her, was it just her scent, did he not notice her for her looks? What if she had been ugly, would her tell her? Would he care? So many question flew around her head that she was glad that Edward could not hear them, he'd go made trying to answer them all. Besides, her mum had always said that a little mystery is good in any relationship. She grabbed her towel and headed for the bathroom. Edward called them her 'human moments', a term she quite adored so much better than dear I need to take a shower, or I'm needing to use these toilet – too much imagery for her liking. As she brushed her hair and moisturised her legs she often tried to imagine what Edward would be thinking about, what did he picture her doing? What would he want her to wear that day? Not that she'd ever dress to impress anyone else and truth be known she'd prefer track pants to jeans any day but Alice, her sister for all intensive purposes, was making it her eternally life long goal to criticise her styling technique with constant hints about updating her wardrobe to something more fashionable. She had decided that once she was a vampire that she would take her aside once and for all and ask her to let her be. After all, once she was Edwards wife she'd have to start listening to her, wouldn't she?

Bella grabbed her things and waited for her Romeo to arrive she grew more and more anxious. He had never been late, it was a quarter to eight, school would be starting soon, where was he? As she imagined all sorts of horrible things from being hit by a car to being attacked by a werewolf and even Laurent she began to unravel. Separation, even one so minute as a few hours was too painful for either of them to bare. She was staring out of the window, waiting for any sign of his shining silver Volvo that she didn't hear Charlie knocking at the door. "Bella" he called as he stood in the doorway, but she didn't answer, "Bella" he called again as he entered the room, touching her on the shoulder to make sure she could hear him. Startled by the sudden intruder Bella jump and knocked over the lamp on the bedside table. "Bella are you okay?" Charlie asked, concerned by the expression on her face.

"Yeah, fine dad, just tired I guess."

"Okay then" Charlie was never one for words, "Well it's almost eight o'clock, you need to get going if you want to make it to school on time, come on I'll drive you myself."

"Thanks dad." Bella didn't want to leave, not till she new what was going on, but Charlie insisted on driving her to school and she didn't have a good enough reason to refuse that would spike Charlie's suspicions. The drive to school took longer than normal, Bella kept her eyes on the side of the road, out in the tree line for any sign of her Romeo or his family, but there was nothing. The school parking lot was full as she approached, but most had already made it to their classrooms so that only a handful of kids remained. "Have a good day kiddo." Charlie said trying to cheer her up.

"Will do dad, and thanks" Bella replied slinging her backpack over her back.

"Listen Bells, I've got a bit of paperwork to catch up on tonight so I might be late. Don't wait up for me okay."

"Sure thing dad." With that Charlie took of down the road, leaving Bella free to search the small parking lot for any sign of Emmet's jeep, Rosalie's extravagant red sports car or Edwards Volvo….. nothing. An overwhelming lump started to appear in Bella's throat, what was wrong? She looked for the cell phone that Edward had given her so they could talk without Charlie knowing but it wasn't there, her mind went back to where she had put it on the bedside table the night before, and to where it now lay under her bed after the commotion of Charlie's entrance. "Damn" She knew the nurse wouldn't let her use the office phone, and it was five miles into town where the nearest pay phone was. The overwhelming sense of dread that now surrounded her was totally unjustified and she new it, there could be a million valid reasons for Edward not to be at school today, even Emmet and Rosalie but she just couldn't think of a single one. Without thinking she headed back down the main driveway of the school. If she cut across the forest she could be at Edwards house in little over an hour. The sky was dark and the weather was closing in but that didn't concern her, she had to find Edward.

She must have been walking for hours she told herself. The forest was dense and every step was harder than the last, the wind was strong and the air was frozen. She couldn't feel her legs anymore and she hadn't noticed the hundreds of tiny scratches where she had torn her way through the bushes. She was about to give up. Certain she was lost when she noticed a light coming from somewhere in the near distance. Bella pushed on making her way inch by inch to what appeared to be an old stone cottage. She thought it peculiar. No one had ever mentioned anyone living out this way, and certainly not like this, it was so ancient, it looked like something out of an old Hans Christian Anderson tale. Smoke poured from the chimney and there was the faint smell of something, meaty, cooking over the fire. She kept herself concealed, peering through the little window to the south. The room was bare except for a rustic table and two chairs. There was a pot of something bubbling next to the fire just as she had expected. At first there was no sign of anyone, then as soon as she'd sat up to peer in further she lost her balance and fell backwards, hitting her head on the stump.