This is the first Twilight fic that I ever wrote! So please be nice!! :P
xoxoxo
As we crossed into the State of Washington boundary, I had the sudden urge to run to Forks to check on Bella. I knew that nothing could have happened to her since I'd left reluctantly to have my "bachelor party", but all the same, I just wanted to be sure. As we got closer to home, I sighed as I spotted Alice heading over to us. Of course Alice knew what I wanted to do; she knew even before I did. It was at times like this that her power was very frustrating.
"Don't even think about it, Edward," she growled, warning me.
"I just wanna make sure she's alright," I groaned.
She raised her eyebrows, flanked by Jasper then.
"She's fine, Edward. Trust me. I've been watching her all night for you. I'll be picking her up in a few hours, and you get to see her at the ceremony this evening."
I groaned again.
"I can't wait that long," I started.
"You have to!" Alice hissed back at me. "It's bad luck, Edward!"
I turned and headed back to the house.
"Where are you going?"
"To my room," I muttered, just loud enough for her to hear me.
The rest of the night passed slowly. I paced around my room, rearranged my already rearranged furniture, examined my tuxedo, paced some more. Reorganised my CD collection. At around 8am, Alice charged in, already in a fluster, and ordered me out. Jasper and Emmett were taking me hunting again, as unnecessary as it was. I was no longer thirsty, considering last night's large bachelor hunt. Even that had been unnecessary; I hadn't needed to hunt, I hadn't wanted to leave her side last night. Alice was going to fetch Bella, and she was going to be getting ready in my room, currently the only free room in the whole house. I reluctantly allowed Jasper and Emmett to take me into the forest, every now and then glancing back in the direction of the house, keeping my mind tuned into Alice's. I breathed a sigh of relief as Bella's image flooded her thoughts; no doubt she had known that I would be annoying Jasper and Emmett with my constant worry and wanted to let me know that everything was alright, as she had promised it would be. After a few hours of hunting, of which I spent around an hour in total actually concentrating on the hunt, Jasper and Emmett finally started to head back to the house. I attempted to run ahead, but Emmett's tough grip held me back. I didn't have the heart to fight him; not today. Nothing was going to spoil today. Alice had an inventory for me to follow thoroughly, and I didn't dare deviate upstairs, not even for a moment. After I'd gotten changed into my tuxedo, in the garage, of all places, Alice had me checking the seating plans, then checking that the flowers were set out correctly. Then checking that the food was prepared for the human guests. The ceremony was due to start at six, to coincide with the setting of the sun when it ended, and it was currently four. I was busy welcoming the guests, paying close attention to some of their thoughts. I welcomed Tanya from the Denali clan, and grinned at what I heard.
I don't know what's so special about her...she's a human...what's she got that I haven't?
I had to bite my tongue to prevent myself from saying something like "a pulse". The next most interesting thoughts I heard belonged to Mike Newton. He arrived with Jessica Stanley, and was perfectly cordial towards me. I had to stop myself from laughing out loud at what I heard.
I still don't trust Cullen. He still looks at her like she's something to eat. She should have listened to me last time I told her.
The thought was downright hilarious. And I also wondered why she had never told me before. I played host, directing all of the guests to their allocated seats, ensuring that I was being as thorough as Alice would have expected.
Finally, eventually, Renee bounded down the stairs, telling me that it was time. I grinned at her, before motioning to Carlisle and walking, at an annoying slow human pace, down the aisle towards the minister. I grinned at my family, sitting in the front row, Esme already starting to sob tearlessly. As Rosalie started playing on the piano, I suddenly stood erect, and Carlisle placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder. As if I needed to be reassured. Today was going to be the best day of my entire existence. I was finally going to pledge my love to Bella; I was going to let the world know that she was mine, and I was hers. I vaguely noticed the music change to the traditional wedding march, and I let all of the thoughts drift out of my head. I could hear her coming down the stairs, her breathing slow and deep. I smiled as I pictured her walking, taking even more care than usual not to fall. I could already smell her. Inconspicuously, I took a deep breath and inhaled as much of her scent as I could. I had already been without it for too long. If my heart had still been beating, I knew that it would have been pounding at a hundred miles an hour. It seemed to take forever for her to appear in the doorway. If I had needed to breathe, she would have taken my breath away. She did. I, along with everyone else in the room, couldn't take my eyes off her. She was perfect; no, she was much more than that. She was perfection. After a moment, her eyes found mine, and I held her gaze, smiling her favourite crooked smile. It took too long for her to reach me, and I was sure that she was sharing my impatience. I wished I could tell Rose to speed up her playing. I didn't want to wait another moment to make her mine. As she finally reached to me, I once again inhaled that intoxicating scent that I had missed so much. She beamed as Charlie placed her hand into mine, and I felt all of the nervous tension which had been building inside me since I'd left her the previous night fall away. Her cheeks were flushed a brilliant pink colour, and I loved it. I couldn't take my eyes off her as the minister started, and she gazed into mine, silent tears of happiness falling down her perfect cheeks. When she finally said "I do", I thought I would explode with happiness. If it were possible, I would have joined her silent crying. I said my vows clearly, without any hesitation, knowing that Seth Clearwater would be bound to play the entire ceremony back to Jacob Black. I wanted to get the message across to him; Bella always had, and always would be, mine. I pressed my forehead lightly against hers as the minister pronounced us husband and wife, gently wiping the tears from her face before kissing her lightly. I rolled my eyes slightly as she misbehaved, having to end the kiss almost as quickly as I had started it. I still couldn't tear my eyes from her face for long as we were engulfed by a sea of cheering people, and I kept a firm grip on one of her hands. There was no way she was getting away from me tonight.
I waited impatiently for all of the guests to congratulate us. I wanted nothing more than a moment alone with my wife, wanting a private moment to share with her. Finally, Charlie and Renee were the last to leave, and, since Alice was otherwise preoccupied in the garden, I took my chance, leading her into a dark corner of the room, my arms never extracting themselves from around her waist.
"I love you," I told her, for the first time as man and wife.
"As I love you," she replied, never once tearing her eyes away from mine.
I glanced around us quickly before lifting her gently in my arms so that I could kiss her without making her strain. For a few moments, I could do nothing but surrender myself to her, a small growl rumbling in my throat as I heard Alice beginning to wonder where we were.
"Is it really too much to ask for five minutes alone with you?" I groaned. Bella grinned at me, not releasing her arms from around my neck.
"Edward..." she began. I didn't need to be able to read her mind to know what she was about to ask me.
"I know, Bella. Don't worry, I won't forget my promise." I paused, meeting her eyes before taking in the whole of her perfect form in my vision. "Besides..." I groaned. "Even if I hadn't made that promise..." I growled softly as I heard Alice beginning to head inside, looking for us. "The way you look right now..." I kissed her softly, hoping to get my point across. Alice headed into the room then. She knew we were there even before she saw us, but I couldn't find the strength to tear my lips away from Bella's.
"Come on, you two!" Alice giggled, gliding over to us. "You have a party to host."
"Is it too much for a man to ask for a private moment with his wife?"
There'll be plenty of time for that later. Alice winked at me, pulling us outside with her. I rolled my eyes as I set Bella down on the floor, keeping hold of one of her hands as we made our way outside.
Of course, all of the guests wanted to congratulate us again, a sentiment which I considered to be extremely tedious. We did all of the traditional post-wedding feats, and, for appearances sake, I even forced myself to eat a slice of the wedding cake. At the very least, it seemed to amuse Bella.
When I pulled her onto the dance floor for our first dance as man and wife, I expected, at the very least, that she would moan or complain or throw me a look. But she didn't do any of these. Instead, she seemed unusually at ease. We danced to the same song to which we had shared our first ever dance at the high school prom. She seemed perfectly at ease in my arms, and I was perfectly happy to have her there.
"How are you, Mrs Cullen?" I asked, feeling elated at the very sound of the words.
"That'll take some getting used to," she giggled. "I feel like the luckiest woman in the whole world. For once in my life, I have everything I want."
"As do I," I agreed. I couldn't keep my eyes off her for long, in the same way that I couldn't keep my lips away from hers for any great length of time. I barely noticed the presence of anyone else, even with the flashbulbs in my face. It was like we were in our own little bubble and she was the only thing that mattered. Ever since the day I'd first set eyes on her, ever since I'd first breathed in her scent, she was the only thing that had ever mattered. I flinched slightly, appalled at myself, as I remembered my first instinct for wanting to be near her; that thirst that had burned my throat and had almost consumed me; almost turned me into the monster I used to be, the monster I was desperately trying to avoid becoming again.
Of course, once our first song was over, every other male wanted his chance to dance with my bride, and it was with much reluctance that I let her go. Being the weak, selfish vampire that I am, however, I wasn't able to give her up for a long period of time, frequently gliding back to her after one song. I was tense as I watched Bella dancing with Mike Newton; he had his arms a little too low down her waist, and his inappropriate thoughts weren't helping the matter.
Oh, man, if she was mine...
Maybe if I can drag her away from Cullen for long enough, show her what she's missing...
It took a lot of carefully practiced self control to keep myself from kicking him out of the party or worse, and simply tap him gently on the shoulder instead.
"Mind if I cut in?" Mike scowled at me; I had only allowed him around a minute and a half to dance with Bella. I grinned at his back as he walked away, now that Bella was safely back in my arms.
"Still not too fond of Mike, then?" Bella teased.
"The inappropriate thoughts he was having about a certain married woman were a little too much to bear. Although, given the way you look tonight, I can hardly blame him."
"Yeah, right," she scoffed. It was still too hard for me to comprehend exactly why she was under the impression that it was impossible for any man to find her extremely attractive.
"You really haven't looked in a mirror today, have you? You really don't understand how heartbreakingly beautiful you look?"
"No," she shook her head. "Besides, you are rather biased, you know."
I sighed, leading her back towards the house. The windows, now black from the night sky and the lack of lighting inside, provided a perfect reflection of the both of us. I examined her expression carefully. She stared into the window, almost in wonder at the sight before her, as if she refused to believe it. Another, less familiar voice interrupted my thoughts then.
Blood-su...Edward...I know you don't owe me anything...well, considered what I did for you and your family, maybe you do...At least...let me see her one last time...before...
I cut off his thoughts then, before taking Bella's hand and leading her towards the trees where he was waiting.
"A surprise wedding gift for you, love." Reluctantly, I placed her hand into his before releasing my grip on her waist, heading back to the reception just as I heard her squeal his name. I pulled Rosalie onto the dance floor as a distraction, my attention focused entirely on Bella and Jacob Black. I wanted to be ready if he started to lose it.
He's thinking of doing what?! How can she be so stupid!?
I didn't need to be a mind reader to know what he was angry about.
I'll kill him! He can't seriously be considering...
I blocked out his thoughts, unlocking myself from Rose's grip and heading over to Bella. Jacob was starting to lose it, and I wasn't about to let that happen when Bella was unprotected.
"Let go, Jake! You're hurting me!" Her words were enough to enrage me, and I had to fight to keep myself under control.
"Take your hands off her!" I managed to growl, rushing instantly to her side and placing my hands where his had been just moments before. The next moment, I was running, with Bella in my arms, away from the reception. I hardly heard any of the argument between Bella and Jacob, concentrating purely on Jacob, making sure that, if he did lose control, I could make sure that I had time to get Bella out of the way. I was relieved when two of the other werewolves took charge of the situation and took Jacob into the forest. I gave Bella a chance to fix her dress before leading her back to the reception and blending in with the rest of the dancers before anyone other than my family had noticed us leave.
"I'm sorry..." Bella kept repeating herself over and over, and I had to lift her chin and kiss her gently before she would shut up.
"I'm the one who should be sorry. Jacob was right...I never should have even thought that I could...I'm putting you in too much risk...I could kill you..." I hated to break my promise to her, but I would find a way to make it up to her, somehow.
"You listen to me, Edward Cullen!" I was momentarily shocked into silence by the tone of her voice. "You will not hurt me. I know that you could never...You made a promise to me, and I intend to make sure that you keep that promise!"
"I only promised I would try..." My voice sounded weak, suddenly, in comparison to hers.
"And that's enough...for now."
As I looked into her eyes, my arms still wrapped around her, still moving across the dance floor with her, I couldn't quite get my head around the fact that this amazing person wanted to spend the rest of her life – mortal or otherwise – with me. I couldn't comprehend what I had done, in this life, or my past life, to deserve to find someone like her. It took all of my self-control to keep myself focused. For once, I had to force myself to behave.
From the moment my lips met hers, I knew that there was no way that I would be able to resist her. I knew that, one way or another, no matter what the outcome, I would have to keep my promise to her. Once again, I heard Alice planning to interrupt our perfect moment, and another low growl erupted from my throat. It didn't seem to shock or bother Bella, but she wound her fingers tighter in my hair. I was happy to let her.
"It's time to go," I barely registered the fact that Alice had spoken; my thoughts were otherwise preoccupied. I felt Alice's tension as I ignored her, keeping my attention locked on Bella, a low warning growl rumbling in my throat. My arms wound themselves tighter around Bella's waist.
"I'll tell Bella where you're going for your honeymoon, so help me, I will!"
I groaned as I reluctantly withdrew my lips from Bella's. Alice took Bella's arm in an attempt to drag her away from me, but my arms were still securely fixed around her waist. I laughed as Bella – bravely – defied Alice and stood on her toes to kiss me one last time. Reluctantly, I let her go, heading to the front of the house with the rest of my family to bid them goodbye. Emmett jumped out of my Volvo as I reached the front of the house, clapping me on the back and slyly winking at me.
Try not to break anything, bro. I want my sister brought back to me in one piece!
Esme, of course, was tearlessly sobbing. I hugged her tightly, reassuring her that everything would be fine, and reminding her that I had my cell in case she needed to reach me.
Rosalie didn't really seem to have an opinion one way or the other. She was cordial enough, wishing me luck and congratulating me one last time. I had known that Rosalie would never be completely happy with having Bella in the family, but I was past caring.
Jasper was much a combination of Emmett and Rose. Although he wasn't as sarcastic as Emmett, he wasn't as serious and opposed to Bella as Rose was. I thanked him silently for that.
Carlisle was the last one I said goodbye to. He was the one I respected most, the one I loved most. He had already given me advice regarding what I was about to do. He had faith in me, and only time would tell whether he was correct to place that much faith in me.
I'm proud of you, son.
I was about to reply, but Bella had reached me then. My arms once again wound themselves around her waist, and, for the second time that day, her beauty took my un-needed breath away. She paused to say her goodbyes to my family before scanning the room for Charlie. I took her to where he was waiting, letting her go for the brief moment that they said their goodbyes. Once we were safely on the move inside the car, having evaded the majority of the rice thrown at us, I wrapped my free arm around my new wife, softly kissing her lips before turning my attention back to the road as she lay against me, the drowsiness of the day overcoming her. As we left Forks, I heard, in the distant forest, a loud, angry howl. I knew who it had come from. And I couldn't help letting a small grin creeping across my face as I looked down at my Bella, loving her more and more with every second that passed. I remembered the time when I had first watched her sleep. I had been so sure that Bella could never think of me as anything more than a monster. I had convinced myself that she would fall in love with a human, someone gentle and warm, someone who couldn't hurt her. I remembered how I had told myself that I wouldn't resent the man who swept her off her feet, how I would resist hunting him down and killing him for taking her away from me. And I grinned to myself as I realised that all of my fears had been unnecessary. The thoughts that I wouldn't be able to control myself around her. The thoughts that I could never be good enough for her. I remembered how much it had pained me when I thought of her walking down the aisle towards an unknown man, never for one second thinking that it would be me she was about to marry. I sighed happily as she whispered my name in her sleep, perfectly contented.