Takes place in standard New Moon Au/ The Cullens never return. Thank you to SMI4Life for betaing.
He didn't believe her when she said she was fine.
He could see plain as day she was lying.
He had spent enough time with her over the past months to read every facial expression and twitch of her upper lip to tell him she was lying through her teeth.
He could see the truth hidden in her pain filled eyes. Eyes in which he could see her soul, every broken piece of it. Pieces he knew she swore would never be put back together again.
But what she didn't know, what she couldn't see, was that he could see the pieces he had healed back together, the parts of her that were no longer broken and useless.
And he had hope that he could heal all those shards she continued to try to hide from him.
He was fixing her little by little, piece by piece.
He loved her and he was hopeful that in the end he could finally claim the broken girl with the sad, soulful eyes that had taken the entirety of his being with just a smile.
He didn't believe her when she said she was fine, he knew she wasn't, but he knew without a doubt that one day she would be and on that day he would believe those words as they fell from her perfect pink lips.
He didn't believe her when she said she loved him but…
He had told her countless times now how he was in love with her; how she was the only woman he could see and would ever see.
She always gave him the reply that she loved him but it would never be romantic. How she loved another more and could never love anyone else that way. She didn't want to lose him and blah, blah, blah.
It was all a crock to him because he could see it in the eyes he knew better than his own. As much as she tried she could never lie effectively because he could always see the truth in her eyes.
He knew her better than he knew the nine others he shared his mind with. Everything she tried to hide from him, he could see. When she tried to hide her pain, he saw it. When she tried to cover her embarrassment, he saw it. When she turned from him to bury her anger, he saw that, too.
So when she said she loved him but…, he didn't believe her because he could see it in her fathomless chocolate orbs that what was falling from her lips was as much a lie to him as it was to herself.
He didn't believe her because he knew she was just as in love with him as he was her.
He didn't believe her when she said she was ready for more, that she was ready for them to make love.
She had finally, finally seen what he had; that they were perfect for each other and that they were both in love with one another.
It had been a long hard fight. She had pushed him away over and over again. She was always denying her feelings, more to herself than to him.
Once she had given in, once she had acknowledged what he had already known, they had progressed quickly in the physical aspect of their relationship.
And yet when she brought it up, that she was ready for them to cross that next step, it floored him.
He was so used to having to put the brakes on his zeal for her. Used to not saying what he felt or showing her his love. He was so used to her pushing him away that when she released that last hold he believed she was saving for the other, he couldn't believe her.
He didn't believe her when she said she was ready for them to make love but when he looked into her eyes, he knew she was.
He didn't believe her when she said yes.
He had wanted to ask her for ages. Had he been honest with himself, he had wanted to ask her when she was still that broken hearted girl.
He hasn't asked her because he knew it was too soon for either of them. They hadn't been together all that long by traditional standards, so he waited until he thought it more appropriate.
He hadn't asked her either because he knew how she felt about the institution itself. He knew she had little to no faith in it; her parents' divorce while she was still quite young had cemented that belief in her so he waited some more.
But without a doubt, this was what he wanted. He wanted her to be his in this way; for him to be tied to her and her to him.
He went back and forth on if he should even do it. He didn't want to lose her but he wanted her as his.
He bought what he needed, asked her father permission. If she knew, she would have been aghast but he did it more for him than her. He wanted to do this right, needed to do this right.
He brought them to the beach-their place-where candles were lit all around the tree that was symbolic of their start.
His words were simple but heartfelt and he was quaking in his boots.
So when he asked, 'Will you marry me?' he still didn't expect a positive answer.
He didn't believe her when she breathed out yes but the tears falling from her shining eyes, the small smile that curled the corner of her lips, the way her body started shaking and the way her heart hammered in her chest let him know she wanted it.
He didn't believe her when she said I do.
He had been waiting for this day for as long as he could remember. He was a nervous ball of energy and his friends wouldn't be wrong if they said he looked a little green.
Standing on the beach, near the spot where he proposed, he looked into the eyes of the woman he loved as she promised herself to him and he couldn't believe a word she spoke because he never believed they would get to this moment.
When he imagined the broken girl who showed up to his garage asking to fix the bikes but her eyes asking him to fix her, he couldn't believe that they were standing there today.
His heart was racing as he watched her mouth speak the vows but he couldn't hear her through the roar of his blood.
So when he finally heard her speak I do, he didn't believe her, but the glow of her skin in the rare La Push sun and the absolute radiant joy that shines out of his favorite pair of eyes let him know this was real and she did say I do and they were now married.
He didn't believe her when she said they were having a baby.
They hadn't been married very long and they had been working nonstop to get on their feet.
He's had every dream come true so far and this one seemed close to impossible.
Every time he tried to imagine a child of theirs, he came up blank because they always had every piece of her he loves so much.
He didn't believe her when she said they were having a baby but the stick in her hand with two pink lines and the tiny little flutter he hears coming from her let him know that the miracle he couldn't imagine to be true, is.
He didn't believe her when she said dada.
She was the perfect mix of her mother and him and he was totally in love with her.
He was enamored with every smile, every movement and milestone she reaches.
He has never been happier than when she laughs at him or when her eyes light up when he comes to pick her up in the morning.
He even loves when she pukes on him or messes a diaper or pulls everything off the coffee table as she tries to stand.
But this milestone he hadn't prepared himself for. So he didn't believe her when he was picking her up that morning when 'dada' fell from her lips. But he knew from the bubble of joy that erupted from his belly at that moment and the triumphant smile that spread across her face, that it was completely true.