Disclaimer: don't own them
Prologue: Happily Never After
A short month ago, my life had been in shreds. In the course of a few weeks it had almost gone back to what it had been Before. A lot of things still didn't make sense, but I'd given up hope that they ever would.
The alarm clock rang and I rolled toward it. I climbed out of bed, across the cold floor, and to the bathroom where I preceded to brush my teeth.
The center of my world was once again Edward. I didn't need to have his unusual power to tell that I was the same in his. I never thought I'd be able to understand that. I'm not a beauty, I'm not anything particularly extraordinary. I should be dead several times over by now. I should have been dead the day I met Edward. I'm glad that I didn't, and at the same time, I wish it had. Not in a morbid suicidal way, but more that there have been times since I met Edward that it would have been easier to have been dead. There was also a romantic eternal life and non-seemingly, but still tragic existence that appealed to me. I was so close to that fate. I knew it would be coming soon, just as I knew that Edward would fight me on it until the very end. He still couldn't see that my soul lived and died with him.
I clambered down the stairs and into the kitchen. As I was getting the milk out of the fridge for my daily cereal, I saw a note. It read, 'Bella, going to be home late, Dad.' I finished my cereal and went outside to my old truck. Charlie must have left early. Ever since that 'trip' to Italy, Charlie had started becoming more and more protective.
I had a reason to suspect that he wouldn't follow through with it. Despite the fact that the Volturi had been promised that I'd be made. Not long after the Cullen clan accepted me into their futuristic family, Edward had struck a sort of deal with me. The one thing I wanted the most was to be by his side until the end of time. But in the dreams I had of how everything could go, he was the one who'd change me. Only that short amount of time ago, Edward made a simple request in return for what I'd asked. A contingency, if you prefer. Me to marry him first. Me, Isabella Swan, married to a vampire before I myself joined them in their immortality. The pain, I'd be able to endure. The living forever... sure, no problem. But for me... marriage is the path to failure. At least if, in eternal life, he tired of me, I wouldn't feel burdened to stay. I would stay if I married him first. This, above all else was what I feared from these vampires. Fear of loosing them, but also, in a way, a fear of their love. It hurts more when it's the people you love the most that leave. Even worse when you're doing the leaving. Marriage had doomed my parents. I didn't want the same. I didn't want to have to give it all up. During the chaos of the moment, I never fully answered. There may have been implications, but I still hadn't made up my mind.
I pulled into the school parking lot, being cautious of the cars that seemed to think that they had a right to whiz past me, just because my truck can't go over fifty. I didn't realize until that exact moment. The moment when I saw Edward and Alice waiting for me by as I got out of my truck. I had nothing to worry about, so why was I worrying? That moment that I looked at his perfect face and my breath escaped me. That second when I felt safe again, as I hadn't dared to a month before. I could feel my face shift in my astonished awe at this realization. 'I'm going to marry him.' my mind told me. I almost said it out loud, but decided against it. Once again, I was alarmingly happy that I was the one exception to Edward's gift. I didn't want him to just find out. More importantly, I didn't want him to realize that I hadn't decided to not not marry him until that moment. Because, at that instant, I knew I wouldn't be able to accept that kind of gifted curse from anyone other than him, contingencies be dned.'That's it,' I told myself, 'decision made.' I immediately regretted my decision, however. A tidal wave of panic over took me as I watched Alice go statuesquely still. Edward's face morphed into a frown as I came to stand next to him, gnawing at my bottom lip.
Alice's eyes returned to focus, and Edward's face relaxed. I held my breath, nervous. Alice's eyes fluttered from me, to Edward, and back. Her features were molded into shock, but before I could blink, it returned to it's normal state. She must have been dying to ask. That much, I could read in her eyes. Getting even more nervous, I turned to Edward. His face had once again shifted, this time into my favorite crooked smile. His topaz eyes moved their gaze down to my hand. Smile firmly in place, he took that hand into his own and laced his fingers through mine. My breath caught as he lifted them to his lips and kissed them gently. My heart jumped at the feel of cold lips and hands on my own fingers. And I was surprised, for I never remembered Edward having ever doe that before. He let our hands fall to our sides, still laced, and watched my face. The cool, collected look that the Cullens had perfected returned, but I could still see my smile in his eyes. It was as if I hadn't made a potentially life altering decision at that very moment. I knew I'd have some explaining to do, as would Edward, to Alice. Her honey colored eyes followed us as we walked to first period. Before we got out of the standard human hearing range, I heard her say one thing, "Well, this should be interesting." I should have known then that I'd delved into something beyond my comprehension. I should have known what I was getting myself into. I should have remembered that life's not a fairy tale, and that my happily ever after will never come.
