Disclaimer: I am not Stephenie Meyer and I do not own the rights to the Twilight Saga, Life and Death, or any of the accouterments in the series.
AN: This chapter is relatively short, but like any story, some chapters are longer, some are shorter. Ultimately, it shows an important event, and it just felt like the best place to end it.
Chapter 1 – Another Shade of Trust
Beau
It had been three days since orientation, and tomorrow, Friday, was to be our first day of classes. I was dreading it, even if I was as curious to see Edward again. He had been an enigma in the night for both Bella and I.
But first, there were things we both needed to do, not the least of which was unpacking the fifteen boxes filled with my stuff that had arrived this very morning.
"Where's my truck?" I asked, staring at Bella. It should have arrived with my stuff. It had been shipped at the same time.
She was unpacking a box of my books, stacking them diligently on the floor since we didn't have a bookcase yet. It was on her post-it of things we had to buy.
She didn't answer immediately, and when she did, her voice was too casual. "Oh, I'm sure it will be here soon."
What did you do?
Her reply was instantaneous. Nothing.
I narrowed my eyes at her in pure suspicion, mentally poking her every other second.
A minute later she threw her hands up in the air, a copy of my book, Of Mice and Men, in her hand. "Fine, it's at an auto-garage getting an overhaul and a makeover."
My eyes widened – something between shock and horror going through my mind. "Why?"
"Beau, your truck is over fifty years old, and I know you love it... but if you want it to last another fifty, it's going to need the maintenance. Besides, rust isn't actually a color."
I muttered something unintelligible to myself thinking, Showing off her money, again.
"I heard that. And I have it, so I might as well use it. Anyways, it's money well spent. After all, it's the only vehicle we have currently."
"And what are we going to do about going places until it gets here?"
"Rent a vehicle." I figured we could rent one later today, after... if you still want to, that is.
"You know I'm not one to change my mind." We were alike in that, stubborn to the point of blind stupidity, as my dad used to say.
"Good." She smiled.
"It's just too bad we don't know how to contact the two people we have so far met..."
"They have people there that can be our witnesses," she said in reply.
"I know, I just wish there would actually be someone with us." I didn't say it, but we both knew when I said someone, I meant her mom... who of everyone who'd ever met us, had always been the most supportive of our relationship. Unfortunately, her mom had died almost three years ago now.
"Well, we can always wait till we go back to Forks for either Christmas break or Spring break or something."
I thought of my dad's reaction and immediately rejected the idea. "It's better to ask forgiveness than permission."
She laughed before bending back over the box to get more books out. I watched, contemplating things that would probably get me in trouble in several of the fifty states.
Suddenly I heard in my mind, Stop staring at my ass and get unpacking.
I blinked then went back to the box I was working on which had most of my kitchen supplies. The service that Bella had hired to prepare the house for us to move in had already left a paltry selection of plates, cups, and silverware as well as a couple of pans, but they were all foreign to me and it was nice to have my own items back.
I did feel bad for taking the items from my dad's kitchen, right up until I remembered every time he'd tried to cook something as simple as spaghetti, or when he put chicken noodle soup – still in the can – in the microwave. I actually should have taken the microwave too, to guarantee he didn't blow up the kitchen. Besides, it wasn't like he didn't still have cooking utensils – I left the best skillet for him, as the only thing he could cook was eggs – just not the utensils I'd bought once I got old enough to have a job.
As I sorted out the items in the box I was working on, Bella moved onto my collection of DVDs and CDs, stacking them into individual stacks on the floor as well.
Maybe we should have bought the furniture first, I thought to her.
Where's the fun in that? She continued aloud, "We only move into our first house once. This is supposed to be part of it, learning from our mistakes so we don't make them when we finally decide to move elsewhere. We're not supposed to plan ahead this first time... and I already did some of that."
I thought of us moving in without the limited furnishings that had been here when we moved, imagining how much more difficult the last three days would have been on our love life without the furniture. I remembered one of the poses she'd held while I'd been pleasuring her with my tongue and imagined her trying to stay like that without the bed's help. I sent her the mental image.
And that would be why I planned ahead. A little.
…
Two hours of sweat, followed by the world's most unsatisfying shower, and a taxi ride later and we were in the heart of downtown Ithaca – about three blocks away from our actual destination. In front of us was a small boutique – the likes of which I generally tried to avoid like the plague.
Do we have to? I visibly pouted.
"Come on, Beau. Just because we aren't being traditional doesn't mean we shouldn't make it memorable. You don't need a tux, just something new. Something that, if it's the only time you wear it, then you can keep it and someday show it to our children – if we ever have any. Or if it's something you wear from time to time, then it's something you'll remember this day by. What we're wearing now... there's nothing memorable here."
I rolled my eyes even though I got her point. Ripped jeans and tees weren't exactly the norm. Not even for a justice of the peace.
She pulled me through the doors of the store, knowing that she won. The boutique had far more clothes for women than it did men, but I still went dutifully through the clothes. When I'd fully decided it was all too fancy for my tastes, I mentally checked on Bella, who was looking at a rack of cocktail dresses. There was a range of colors from black to lime green to everything in between
Blue had always been her color as it matched her heart-breaker blue eyes, but she said she wanted today to be memorable, so I thought, The red dress.
Hey! No Peeking! She thought back. Then a moment later I heard, The blue button down right in front of you and a pair of black jeans... tighter is better.
If I can't cheat then you can't either.
But I was smiling because I knew she'd get the red dress. I reached forward and grabbed the shirt she'd thought to me to get, then walked down to the jeans to select a pair of black jeans.
She was waiting at the clerk when I brought them over, and she paid for it all with cash while I winced at the price.
"Now where are we going to change into these?" I asked when we got back outside and we started heading to our planned destination.
"Ye of little faith."
Yes, yes I am.
"There are bathrooms just inside the building. We'll change there before we go to our appointment."
We continued our walk, heading the two blocks north, but just before we were going to turn right and walk the last half block to the Clerk's office, two people stepped right into our path, two people we'd been talking about earlier that day.
Alice and Jasper.
Did you track them down when I wasn't paying attention?
No! Even if the adamancy in the word hadn't come through loud and clear, the shock I could feel couldn't be faked.
"Oh, Jasper, look who it is," Alice said, her voice surprised and excited all at once.
And yet... I didn't trust it, or Bella didn't trust it. I actually wasn't sure which of us was the suspicious one.
"I can see." Jasper's voice was amused.
"Bella, Beau, It's so nice to see you. I'm dragging Jasper along so I can do some retail therapy. He's an excellent bag carrier."
"That's about all I am on these types of trips," Jasper muttered just loud enough that it was easily heard.
Alice elbowed him in the gut.
"What are you two doing out here?"
Should we ask? I thought.
I see no reason not to. Even if we don't trust them happening to be here exactly when we were wanting them... Well we're freaks, maybe they are too. Who knows? Who are we to judge? Besides, they're here now.
"We were just heading to the Tompkins County Clerk around the corner to be officially married."
Alice's brow furrowed. "Bella told me your engagement was relatively recent..."
"It is, I asked her the day we first met you. But Bella and I have known each other our whole lives, literally."
"He's right. Neither of us can really remember a time when we didn't know each other. When we didn't love each other in some form," Bella agreed. "We were going to just have some people in the Clerical office be our witnesses, but since you're here, would you two like to?"
"Hmmm," Jasper said, looking at Alice strangely.
"Sounds like fun," Alice said, bouncing slightly on her toes.
She is –
– far too energetic.
It only took a few minutes after that for us to make it to the Clerk's office at which point Bella shoved the bag of my clothes into my hands and practically pushed me into the men's bathroom before going into the one for the women, herself.
I changed into the clothes, carefully tucking the button down shirt in before looking at myself in the full length mirror that was attached to the wall. I had to admit, the clothes weren't bad on the eyes, but the three year old pair of sneakers I was wearing made the whole ensemble ridiculous.
When I got out of the bathroom to see Bella already standing next to Jasper and Alice, it wasn't the strapless red dress that ended just above her knees that I noticed immediately, it was the pair of chucks she was wearing that definitely didn't match.
She saw me looking at her feet. "Hey, you can't say it's not memorable."
I just shook my head, unable to say anything.
The journey to the small courtroom was a short one.
Once we were in the room, the judge checked over the Marriage License to make sure everything was official before preparing to read out the officiating vows, but Bella stopped her by asking if she could say her own vows.
"It's not traditional when you come to a justice, but you're the last people I'm seeing today, so go ahead."
"Thank you." Bella turned to me.
This was a surprise, she'd been hiding this plan from me. I hated surprises. I glowered at her slightly to show my unhappiness. She just smiled widely in response.
"Beaufort Geoffrey Swan, I've known and loved you my whole life. As a child, I knew you as the twin I never had, as we aged, I came to know you as my friend, my first crush and later my first love. I knew you yesterday, I know you today, and with any amount of grace I will continue to know you for many tomorrows to come. It is for this knowledge and this love that I wish to bind myself to you for every possible future smile, every future memory, and every future decision. It's for this love that I will still be there after our first argument and after our last. It's why I promise to always forgive you. I promise to love you even after heart-break. I promise to cherish, to protect, and to share everything with you evermore. I promise that you and I are one in this life, in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad. For all that we are, I promise that I will be with you through every tomorrow."
I swallowed. She'd come prepared for this, but I hadn't been, and even if I'd been able to maybe come up with something on the fly under a normal circumstance, this was no normal circumstance, and my mind was just blank.
Finally I managed to choke out, "What she said."
I was sure that the judge didn't mean to, but she still chuckled.
After that, we signed the paper with Alice and Jasper signing as witnesses.
When we were back on the street, Alice offered to take us to dinner.
