Tying the knot, and other loose ends by: Artemisgoddess16
A/N: another twilight fic. Hope you like!
It was the most terrifying day of my entire life. I had been stripped, scrubbed and tossed into some unknown garment. I had been held down against my will as things slick and sometimes powdery covered my entire face. My straight brown hair had been pulled, fixed and tied at every possible angle till it felt like a lead weight. The worst of all however was when my feet were bound into tightly strapped death traps that made me hang onto a wall for sheer panic that I would fall and crack open my skull.
You might ask what vile and satanic ritual of torture this was... and it could only be called this... getting ready for my wedding day. I had never been fond of marriage considering how wonderfully it had benefited my parents, Charlie and Renee, but there was only one reason why I would ever subject myself to such anxiety. It was to please the person who was something stronger than a soul mate, my absolute destiny. Edward. He had insisted on having a marriage ceremony that legally bound us to each other, even though I had already promised to be with him forever. Funny, vampires can be so insecure sometimes.
Charlie, my dad, had blown a gasket when we told him. He had yelled that I was much too young, that I was throwing my life out on just another boy. When that hadn't worked he had actually cried and said that he couldn't lose his baby girl. I'm not talking little tears he could've stolen from a crocodile; I'm talking full out 'I've lost my child' crying. Really he was making a scene like I had already died, I hadn't yet but that was soon going to be fixed. When I had finally gotten him to calm down enough that seeing Edward didn't inspire automatic rage, I explained to him why I had to do this. I left out the vampire part since I didn't want him to have a heart attack and die on me, but I felt horrible for lying.
It was probably a sin to lie about why you were getting married, especially to your father, but I was fairly certain becoming a vampire wouldn't get me any higher on the list either. The strange thing was that was the part I didn't mind. Oh I'll take eternal damnation with Edward any day, but ask me to lie to my dad and I'll feel really guilty. Honestly though, if becoming a vampire meant the entire Cullen family, my family, was going to hell, then I say light up the torches and let's have a party down there.
Renee had taken things a lot smoother than Charlie, but then again she was a free spirit and had done the exact same thing at my age. So who was she to criticize? The only thing remotely motherly she had done was say to just make sure that he's the one. I told her I knew without a doubt that he was, and was always going to be the one. After that she had dissolved into giggles and started acting like it was just another girlfriend heading towards marital bliss.
It was nice to be treated like an adult instead of a girl in over her head, but being an adult also meant she wasn't helping with the wedding plans or the wedding fund. Charlie had just out right refused to donate on the principle of him disagreeing with my choice. However, that wasn't a problem, after living long enough in the Cullen family money just started to accumulate naturally. I had placed one monetary limit on Alice, my creepily cheery wedding planner/ soon to be sister-in-law, that the wedding could not under any circumstances exceed 1 million dollars. She had actually pouted at me and said it was going to be a pain to rearrange everything. That comment had slightly horrified me, but I didn't feel so bad after realizing I hadn't put a limit on the dresses, just the ceremony. So Alice got to be lavish, only in a more restricted way.
Time had almost started accelerating as soon as we had actually gotten down to the nitty-gritty planning. I had to face the fact that my days were numbered and I was going to die. I was still a little mentally unprepared, but thankfully a certain someone wouldn't know that. If he had known for even an instant that I was scared, he'd call off the whole deal and I would not become anything more than human ever, unless I asked Carlisle maybe Alice. I had enough to do that I wasn't able to think about it for long unless I was alone, but Edward almost never left me alone so it wasn't a problem.
Aside from the whole dying thing, there was one more splinter in my foot, or rather a rip in my chest. I hadn't seen Jacob since the day I told him I could never love him more than Edward. I knew it was cowardly, I knew I was horrible and deserved no one, but it was for both of our sakes, well all three of our sakes really that I couldn't face him. It would kill Jacob to see me with any sort of ring associated with marriage to Edward, and it would kill him even more if he saw me leave to become a vampire. I couldn't hurt him like that again; I could live with this pain because I knew I deserved it. Jacob still suffered because of what I did, I hated that, but it was better that there was a break even though it was a sloppy one that might not heal, it was still a break.
Edward deserved a girl who could give him all of her heart. I tried; God knows how hard I tried to give him all of mine. There was just that one stubborn rip that refused to be sewn back together without Jacob. As it turns out people aren't like magnets, they can't be stuck together and become friends or at least not if they're supposedly mythical creatures. I had chosen Edward that was the right thing, I at least knew that much. I just wished that I had managed to do it without hurting other people so much.
"Bella! Hello! Earth to Ms. Swan! Please come back to the land of the conscious so you can inspect yourself." Alice's voice tinged with annoyance brought me out of my revere. "I'm here Alice." I arose from the squishy chair and walked, extremely carefully, in the death traps to Alice's 3 sided mirror in her room. What I saw made me take a step closer just to make sure it was me.
Half of my flat brown hair had been pulled into a bun in the back center of my head with the rest gently curling down my shoulders. It looked like actual shampoo commercial worthy hair, kind of sparkly if you asked me, which no one did. My face, under the careful hands of Alice had become soft and creamy instead of pale and sickly. The bronze eye shadow combination had made my brown eyes escape being bland and become alive, my cheeks glowed and my lips looked kissably soft and pink. My dress however just made me look almost indescribable. It was still the dress Alice had shown me only she'd definitely had it altered or maybe I was just prettier than I thought. No, I stopped myself Alice had definitely altered it. The cloth wrapped around me accenting my gentle curves and showing just the right amount of skin through the lighter spaces of fabric. I looked absolutely amazing down to my virgin white high heels. I really looked like a bride today.
It started to scare me that this was really going to happen, but I quickly smushed the feeling. I was doing this for Edward, so I would to it. My bridesmaids all assembled in one corner of the room. Their dresses were a little Anne of the Green Gables as well, but Esme's dress was dark Green, Rosaline's profound blue, and Alice's was a deep purple all with tall heels to match. They crept skillfully over, gave me my arrangement of pink roses and turned me towards the door. I took one last deep breath of the sweet smelling flowers and turned to meet my fate.
The Cullen's backyard had been transformed into a beautiful and covered of course, sanctuary that was good enough for any bride. It was unnerving to see so much white though, but I took comfort in Charlie's angry presence beside me and Edwards look of love at the altar with Carlisle as we journeyed down the aisle. Almost half way down I spotted something that made my entire body just stop dead. Jacob, my Jacob was standing on the end of an aisle wearing his Sunday best staring straight at me. I couldn't move, and I'm pretty sure I didn't breathe. Charlie tried to get me to move along but it was just impossible for me then. I could feel everyone's eyes on me, especially Edward's. I was going to kill him for this later, no matter how much I loved him he had no right to hurt Jacob like this, by inviting him here. I had to hold back my tears as I thought about how it could hurt him. As my lips started to tremble Edward took a step forward regret all over his face, Charlie moved away to avoid the water works he saw about to fall, but most surprisingly Jacob was the one who reached out and hugged me.
I gasped as he wrapped me in one of his bear hugs, I couldn't stop the tears as they rampaged down my cheeks destroying all of Alice's hard work as I clung to him. When we finally got at least a little bit apart he held my chin up so I could look into his soulful eyes, which started an all new wave of tears. "Hey Bella don't cry." He cooed softly to me. "I came to tell you that... I'm going to let you go. I love you enough to do this because I know how much it hurts to be pulled so tightly between me and him. I know that someday I might fall in love with someone else but now it's only you. So if the l- if Edward doesn't work out I think I might take you back if I can stand the smell." He smiled my Jacob smile. I just looked at him; I tried to show in my eyes what I knew I'd make a mess of saying. It meant the world to me that he could sort of accept this and it meant even more to know that he'd still try to love me after I changed. He smiled even wider and asked my dad if he didn't mind Jacob taking over. My dad sat down quickly, relieved to be out of the lime light. So I walked down the aisle with Jacob instead of my dad, and it made me happier than I had been in months.
Jacob led me gently to the altar and tried not to glare at Edward. For his valiant effort I kissed his cheek and sent him to his seat. Then I tried not to glare at Edward but rather stomped on his foot hard enough that he got my unhappiness at the surprise, but easily enough that it could be chalked up to my usual clumsiness by everyone else. He looked at me like he was really sorry so I smiled a little at him to tell him I was glad for the resolve but I hated that it was a surprise. He smiled back and suddenly I was dazzled again. It lasted through the vows and the rings; it was like everything was on the fast forward button and I didn't know how to stop it. I saw everyone including my mom, Phil, my old schoolmates genuinely pleased and the pack at least trying to look happy. I did manage to say I do at the right time and Edward's smile got so dazzling that I stopped breathing for a second or two, at least until Alice gently elbowed me in the side. Then Edward dipped me to the side and gave me one head spinning kiss. I would have fallen if he hadn't held me.
Then I was married, the official Mrs. Edward Cullen. Edward and I walked down the aisle together, but I caught Jacob's eye and gave him the biggest most joyous smile I had ever given in my life. It was all just for him because I knew exactly what it had taken to get him here, and it was more than I could ever give him. Though the smile was a tiny repayment for what he had done I still saw his face light up. Only then did I really believe that it was all going to be ok. I looked at Edward and gave him a slightly smaller but no less powerful smile that I had given Jacob and his kissed me again. I whispered in his ear as we made our way into the Cullen's house, now my house too for the reception. "I've kept my promise now you keep yours fang boy." He smiled and whispered back so lowly that not even Jacob could understand why I blushed. "Alright, but at least let me give you a wedding night first. I thought that was the only human experience you wouldn't pass on. I shivered and looked into his eyes full of heat and it was all for me. "Careful Edward, you've bitten off more lion than you can chew." He laughed at that and spun me around; at that time I didn't even mind that I was wearing strapped death-traps on my feet.