"Alice! My feet are killing me!" I groaned to the pixie-like vampire in front of me. "Bella, we only have 2 months until the wedding. Frankly, we should have done all this shoe-shopping earlier," she replied. I scowled at her perfect face. "And," she continued, "we have that other thing to prepare for!" Her twinkly voice was filled with exitement, and she didn't hesitate to show it on her granite face. "Alice, don't you think celebrating Edwards so-called 'birthday' and the wedding barely 1 month apart is the best idea? I mean, he might not like it..." I trailed off, still unsure that he would like it or not.

Alice's musical laugh filled the aisle of shoes. "Stop worrying, Bella! I forsaw that he would be very happy with this." Suddenly, her tiny, cold hand was on my shoulder. "Trust me? Please?" she pleaded. I sighed in defeat. "Okay, but if anything goes wrong, or he gets angry, it's on you." Her face lit up. "Yay! Anyway, try these on! I promise that these are the last ones." She handed me a pair of platform heels. "You're joking, right? Please tell me you're joking," I said, frightened by the size of the heels. "Nope! You're too short compared to the groom, and these will definitely help," she said innocently. "I have to be slightly shorter, not taller," I muttered, staring at the elegant lace shoes. Alice rolled her eyes. "Just try them on!"

About a minute later, I was sitting on the bench with a death-sentence on each of my feet. "Okay, now stand and walk!" she said exitedly. I was frozen on the seat. "Oh, come on, Bella! I'll catch you if you fall!"

Out of nowhere, I felt two muscular, stone arms clamped around my waist. Edward's lips were so close to my ear I could feel his cool breath. "I'll catch you," he breathed, so only I could hear. My heart was indecisive as it stopped, and then rapidly beat again, and that both vampires could hear.

Edward chuckled, clearly amused at my reaction. Alice glared at him. "You're not supposed to be here!" she hissed through her teeth. "Am I, now? Why don't we just ask the bride, hmm?" he responded. He lowered his head so that his chin was gently sat on the top of my head. "Can I stay, love?" he asked me. I automatically nodded. "Darn his irresistable nature! Alice is going to get me back for this, I know it..."

"Fine," Alice responded, though even I could hear her teeth grind together. "Whatever makes Bella here walk with the shoes." She scowled at me. I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at her. How childish would that be, especially in front of Edward?

Speaking of, he was suddenly in front of me, with my warm hands in his icy ones. He gently lifted me off the seat, and put his hands on my waist until I was steady. I was only an inch shorter than him now. My eyes widened when I didn't have to look up to see his mesmerising ocher orbs. He pressed his lips to mine. "Much better," he whispered. I felt the blood rush to my cheeks, and my heart went into panic mode, both from his irresistible perfect-ness and the sudden height change.

Apparently, that was enough to concern the over-protective vampire that was soon to be my husband. "Bella, are you okay?" he questioned, his eyes full of concern. "Y-yeah!" I blushed even more. Edward's musical laugh filled the store. I looked down at my incredibly arched feet.

Edward lifted my chin so he could look at my face. "Walk," he said calmly. I fiddled with my fingers. "I-I can't," I mumbled. "Of course you can!" Alice chimed. "If I did it, so can you!" I glared at the little pixie-like vampire. "Well, graceful isn't exactly my middle name..," I grumbled under my breath.

I took a deep breath, knowing that I wouldn't be able to get out of this, and lifted my foot off the gorund. It felt about 10 pounds heavier.

What happened next probably scratched any ideas of me wearing these shoes to the wedding off the list.

To put it short, well, leave it to me to trip on air.

Before my right foot was even an inch from the ground, I felt my right ankle twist. I could have sworn that I heard it crack. My eyes widened as I held in a scream. I felt a stone grip around my waist, pulling me off the ground. Edward cradled me in his arms. His expression was of worry and anger, both mixed into one. "Bella, does it hurt?" I raised my eyebrow questioningly, my heart still pounding like it was trying to escape my chest. "Your ankle. Bella, I heard it crack."

My eyes widened again, and then I winced. The pain had finally started to come into feeling. "Alice! Look what you did! It's probably broken!" he yelled at Alice, ony loud enough for her to hear. His voice was full of fury.

"Edward, I do remember that you said you would catch her, and it wouldn't hurt her to walk!" Alice countered. "Didn't you forsee this?!" Edward accused.

"I don't think that Bella was exactly planning to trip over thin air. Were you, Bella?" she asked me. I shook my head. I tried to reposition my ankle in Edward's arms so that I could see it, but immeadiately regretted it. I let out a cry of pain. Edward look down at me again, pain, worry, and anger all in the same expression. "Are you okay, love?" I nodded slowly, wondering what he would do to Alice. "Alice! This is all your fault!" he whisper-yelled to his 'sister', his voice overflowing with rage. "My fault? What about you promising that you wouldn't let anything hurt her?" Alice retorted, her voice clearly frustrated.

As they argued, my vision started to blur, and I knew that tears were glossing my eyes over. "Stop," I whimpered weakly. I said it so quietly that I was positive that even they couldn't hear it. No matter how hard I tried to stop them, the rebellious tears flowed down my cheeks. I could no longer hear the two 'siblings' arguing.

Edward's cold hand cupped my face. "Bella, love, what's wrong? Does your ankle hurt?" he asked me softly. In truth, I could only feel a faint throbbing, but I figured that was because my mind was swirling with their argument. "Stop," I whispered again, struggling to find my voice. I opened my eyes, and Edward's face softened. "You guys are fighting because of me," I said, my voice slightly stronger. "Edward, please, it really doesn't hurt very much," I continued, my voice pleading.

His eyes softened. "Bella, please, don't try to make it seem like it doesn't hurt as much as it really does. It hurts me to see you try to cover your pain."

The tears continued to spill. Soon, I realized that I was sobbing, quietly. Edward held me closer to his chest and whispered, "Shh, it's okay, Bella, it's okay," over and over again.

"B-but your guys a-are fighting because of m-me! Please, s-stop..," I managed to choke out. "Okay, Bella. I'm sorry we made you cry. We'll stop now," Edward murmured in my ear. He put his icy hand on my ankle and I sighed in relief. Well, that made me blush.

"We should take her to Carlisle," Alice said, serious now. "You may be able to help her, but you're too young to prescribe anything." Edward nodded. Still holding my ankle, afraid to make it move too fast, I assumed, he sprinted a little faster than human speed towards the door.

Before I knew it, we were sitting inside Alice's Porsche, me and Edward in the backseat, with Alice driving at 70 miles per hour before we were even out of the parking lot, and easily 250 miles per hour on the road. Alice was on the phone before I could even comprehend what she was doing, speaking to Carlisle, I guessed, having a conversation in vampire speed.

After about 5 minutes, I saw the white walls and large windows of the Cullen house. Carlisle and Esme were outside waiting. Edward had me out of the car and in the house, still holding my ankle, in a heartbeat.

Carlisle had already cleared the coffee table, obviously a prop, and told Edward to lay me onto it. "Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper are off hunting," Carlisle told me, after noticing that I was searching the room for the others. "Oh," I whispered.

"Edward, get her the water on the counter," he told him. As soon as Edward's hand left my ankle, it started to throb, and I yelped in surprise and pain. Carlisle realized that the cold felt relieving, and replaced Edward's hand with his own. The pain immeadiately dulled.

Edward got back with the water, and carefully lifted me so I sat upright. I gulped all the water down, ignoring its strange taste. I figured that they probably didn't have a filter because they didn't need water.

"How does it look?" Edward asked Carlisle. "It's definitely twisted," Carlisle answered. Edward grimaced. Carlisle continued,"She'll have to have a cast. Possibly for the wedding as well. I'm really sorry." Edward glared daggers at Alice, whose eyes widened. "Carlisle, no! She can't! It's her wedding for crying out loud!" she complained. "I'm sorry, Alice, but if you hadn't made her walk in those platforms, this may not have happened." Alice scowled. Edward continued to glare. Carlisle sighed. "You, too, Edward. To my understanding, you convinced her to listen?" Edward sighed in defeat. "You're right."

"I don't have plaster with me right now, and I know you won't want to go to the hospital, Bella, but that's the only way I can cover it as quickly as possible." Carlisle seemed truly sorry. I pouted. "Unless, you can promise me not to use your ankle until tomorrow, when I can retreive my materials." I quickly nodded. "I can promise that," I said before he changed his mind. Carlisle sighed. "Well, if you'll exuse me, I'm supposed to meet Emmett and the others now. Alice?" he asked. Alice suddenly stood next to him. "Okay," she said.

When they both left, I turned to Edward. "I'm going to need crutches, aren't I?" I questioned with a frown. Edward nodded, his hand once again on my ankle. I groaned. "Great," I mumbled. "Another pair of legs to trip me." I suddenly yawned, and my eyelids began to get heavy. Edward chuckled at my confused expression. "There was morphine in the water, love," he explained. I shrugged, and yawned again.

Edward lifted me and sat on the couch, placing my head in his lap. "Sleep now, Bella." He began humming my lullaby. He ran his hands through my hair, soothing me. As he hummed, I could feel the vibrations in his chest.

I fell asleep in his sturdy arms, safe, to the sound of his beautiful voice. Safe.