I don't own Twilight. all Stephenie Meyer.

Chapter Two

Welcome to a world of Darkness

Alice pushed me forward slightly and for the first time I saw Edward Cullen. He was beautiful, just as the rest of his family. His skin was pale and smooth.

His bronze hair was in perfect disarray, almost as though he had just woken up that way. It was very attractive on him. He was lean with a hint of muscles that could be seen underneath the white button down shirt he was wearing. He held himself in a regal manner, just like his father.

For a second my mind went off. This man was beautiful and perfect; I mean he was a prince for crying out loud. And the only reason I was here was because my father saved his father's life years ago. What could he possibly want with me? He probably wants absolutely nothing to do with, but is going along with this because we have to.

Eventually I shook my head to clear my mind of those thoughts and continued to look at the beautiful man standing in front of me.

That's when I noticed it. His eyes were covered by a pair of expensive looking sunglasses. How odd that he'd be wearing them in doors. I wonder why he would cover them up. If his face was any indication I was sure that his eyes would be just as breath taking, if not more so.

I was completely entranced by him, my heart beat had picked up tremendously.

I felt another little shove from Alice. I bit my lip nervously. "Hello your highness."

"Hello, Isabella." He nodded his head at me in a slight bow.

"Bella, please." I always felt like someone was about to scold me when they called me by my full name. That was due to the fact that Renee would call me by my full name when I was in trouble.

My correction caught him off guard for a minute, but he nodded again. "Thank you, Alice." He turned toward his sister.

She looked at me, asking me silently if that was okay.

I gave her a reassuring smile that I would be okay and she gave me on last glance.

He waited until she was gone and then turned his attention back to me.

Reaching his hand out, he found my arm and gently trailed it up to my shoulder and then neck. All the while leaving a trail of heat on my skin as his hand rose higher. Then his hand reached my face.

"What are you doing, your highness?" I finally managed to whisper, shocked at the fact that he was touching me.

He cleared his throat. "I'm blind. This is how I see." His hand continued up to my face leaving an electric current in its wake. His hand gently caressed the curves of my face, touching my lips, my nose, my eyes, leaving no spot untouched.

My breath hitched as he continued. I had definitely never felt anything like that before. I found it a little strange that he hadn't tried to have some sort of surgery for his eyes; after all he was a prince and could afford it. I came to the conclusion that not even a prince can defy natural laws.

He stepped closer to me and his scent filled my nose. It was Edward's smell, masculine, with a hint of honey and the autumn leaves. Nothing compared to that wonderful smell.

A blush covered my cheeks as he continued. "Are you blushing?" He asked me.

Embarrassed I nodded, aware that he could feel my head move.

Finally after what seemed like hours he finished, lowering his hand. "You may go now." He turned away.

I stood there confused for a second. "Excuse me, your highness?"

He sat down on the couch in front of me. "That's all. You may go."

"You have to be joking. I went through all of this and you're just going to send me away after five minutes." I didn't care about the fact that he couldn't see or that he probably realized just how plain I was, it was his haughty tone that he took with me as he "dismissed" me.

"Exactly, I wanted to see you and now I have. So you may go." His velvety voice turned cold and his jaw went rigid.

I crossed my arms over my chest and rolled my eyes. "Unbelievable. I didn't even want to come here and now…" I trailed off, losing steam.

"Now I asked you to leave." He pointed his hand in the direction of the door.

I continued to stare at him, shocked at the way he was behaving. "I came here upon request and you're just dismissing me like I'm one of your servants?"

A crooked grin spread across his lips, a sexy grin that made me want to melt despite his rude behavior. "Bella, I am the crowned prince," he started before I cut him off.

My temper was getting the best of me. Because of the time change and jet lag taking over and the filter I usually had in place to edit what I said, was nonexistent. I glared at him, even though he couldn't see me, before speaking.

"I don't care who you are. Edward, do you have any idea what I've been through for the past two days? I am hanging on by a thread here. Getting ready and coming over to meet you took everything I had. Well, I hope you got a good enough look." I felt traitor tears threatening to fall.

Stupid anger trained tear ducts. I always cried when I got angry, an embarrassing flaw that always came up at the most inappropriate times.

"When you actually want to speak to me instead of dictate you know where to find me." I opened the door, running out before the tears could start falling.

"Oh, Bella, what happened?" Alice caught up to me.

I shook my head, tripping as I made my way back to my room.

Thankfully she didn't press it. She made sure that I got to my room alright and told me she'd have some food sent up to me later.

I took off the clothes I'd worn to meet Edward and changed into my trusty sweatpants and a comfortable tank top.

Without another thought I climbed onto the over large bed after a couple of failed attempts and buried my face in one of the pillows. It was so soft and comfortable, and I hated having my tears stain the fabric. I cried for I don't know how long, but it felt good.

I had been on an emotional roller coaster for days. With finding out about the arrangement, flying to a strange country, meeting my "fiancé", I wasn't sure how much more I could possibly take. The way he had treated was the last straw.

Most of the late afternoon and early evening I spent crying on the large bed, especially after I realized I was stuck up there. It was so large so high up I figured that I wouldn't be able to get down without physical help or jumping off.

After I calmed down there was a knock at my door and a timid young woman stepped into the room. "Good evening Miss." She curtsied. "The Prince requests that you join him for dinner. He will be in his suite."

I sat up, scooting to the edge. "What's your name?"

"Oh Amber, Miss." She curtsied again. She seemed so nervous and shaky.

I nodded, trying to reassure her. "It's nice to meet you Amber. Please tell Edward that I won't be joining him tonight."

She nodded and curtsied quickly. "Of course, Miss." She left the room quickly.

Just as I was sitting back on the bed again there was a loud bang on the door and Alice and a big burly man I didn't recognize stepped in. "Bella, you are incredible." The man's voice boomed.

"This is my brother Emmett." Alice quickly introduced us, noticing my slight anxiety. "Forgive him, sometimes I think he was dropped on his head as a baby."

I giggled quietly. "It's nice to meet you Emmett."

Emmett grinned. "There's a smile." They walked further into the room and made themselves comfortable. "You are officially my hero, Bella." He was tall like his brother and very big, like a body builder. He had dark curly hair and cute dimples on his cheeks.

"Me?" I asked shocked.

He nodded. "You made Edward speechless. I don't think I've ever seen my poised older brother at a loss for words before and it was great." His booming laughter filled the air.

A blush rose on my cheeks at his words. I hadn't realized my words had any effect on him.

"Yeah, I don't think anyone has ever spoken to Edward the way you did. He's completely perplexed." Alice was a bouncing ball of energy. "What exactly is it that happened. He wouldn't even talk about it."

I bit my lip nervously. "After Edward asked you to leave he came over to me and ran his hand along my face so he could see me. Five minutes later he dismissed me." I watched as Alice's eyes narrowed in anger and Emmett's hands clenched. "I've been a little on edge so I gave him a few choice words and told him that if he wanted to have a conversation with me he knew where to find me." I sighed.

"Wow." Emmett came over to me and pulled me into a bone crushing hug.

"Can't breathe," I managed to choke out.

He laughed and released me. "Sorry."

Alice stood up from where she was seated. "Don't worry about Edward. I have a few choice words of my own to have with him." She made her way to the door.

"Please don't say anything to him." I called before she left. "This is between him and me. Promise me you won't say anything."

She looked back at me and paused when I pouted at her. "Fine," she groaned, "if he doesn't straighten out though then I won't be able to control myself from beating him."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you. What exactly happened to Edward's eyes?" I wasn't sure if I was allowed to ask, but the question had been burning in my mind ever since I realized he couldn't see.

"That is a story for Edward to tell you." Alice looked to Emmett, exchanging some sort of knowing glance. "Although, I wouldn't expect too much from him right now. He's pretty stubborn and tends to overreact."

"I can be just as stubborn. That drives my parents crazy." I grinned. "So, I guess that means he has a problem with his temper?"

Emmett snorted under his breath. "That's an understatement. He tries very hard not to, but doesn't do a very good job with it." He seemed quite amused about that fact.

"Uh, has he ever gotten violent?" Hearing that he had bad temper wasn't exactly making me want to get to know him better.

"Of course not. Our mother taught us much better than that. Edward is a gentleman… for the most part." Emmett assured me. "He would never hit a woman."

An involuntary yawn escaped my mouth.

They both chuckled softly. "It's time for the American to sleep. We'll go and see you later." Alice kissed me on the cheek.

"But, Ali," Emmett whined.

"Don't." She pointed her finger at him in warning. "Go to your wife." She laughed, shoving him toward the door. It was quite humorous watching such a tiny pixie pushing a giant of a man out the door. "Goodnight, Bella." She turned the lights off for me.

I waved to them. "Goodnight." I managed to climb under the covers and snuggled down, trying to make myself comfortable.

The morning came all too quickly and I woke up still exhausted. I begrudgingly fought my way out of the bed, as my foot got caught up in the sheet which caused me to land flat on my back on the floor.

What a great way to wake up in the morning. I knew this fall was going to leave a mark and I really didn't care. I stood up and gingerly left my room, rubbing my back as I walked.

I barely made it to the stairs when I nearly ran into someone. A couple of hands reached out and caught me around the waist. "Oh, I am so sorry." I looked up and saw Edward.

"Bella?" His velvety smooth voice asked.

"Yes." I answered, feeling a blush forming on my cheeks.

He nodded his head. "Good, I think we need to talk. Do you mind coming with me to my room?" He asked me.

I managed to squeak out a yes and the next thing I knew we were heading to Edward's suite.

Neither of us spoke the entire way there and that suited me just fine.

When we got to his room Edward had me sit down and then he sat across from me. He didn't say anything at first; he just sat and wriggled his fingers back and forth until he finally cleared his throat. "Bella I apologize for being rude yesterday. I shouldn't have spoken to you that way and I hope you can forgive me."

I was completely thrown. From the way Alice and Emmett had talked yesterday I thought there was absolutely no way that Edward would actually apologize to me. I tried to compose myself before I spoke so my voice sounded even. "I forgive you."

He seemed to relax after I said those words. "Our father's made this arrangement and I will honor it, but I want you to know that I honestly don't expect anything from you." His velvety voice confused the words for me as they were spoken.

"Excuse me?" I shook my head.

He adjusted his sunglasses. "Bella, my world is one of darkness. It's been that way for years, and it's something I'm accustomed to. I am going to be expected to be able to run this country when the time comes, all while not being able to see."

I bit my lip as I listened to him speak.

He reached his hand out tentatively to my face, delicately stroking my cheek. "I may be blind, but I can see that you really don't want to be here. So I want you to know that I won't expect anything from you in return. We'll both be better off that way."

Wait, was he letting me off the hook? Did he just give me permission not to love him or expect that in return from him? I was completely confused. What is with this guy?

"Okay, so basically we aren't going to talk to each other or try to get each other at all. We'll get married after my birthday and that will be it?" I rolled my eyes, trying not to get upset again. "Great. Just what every girl wants to here."

"Bella, I don't know what you want from me. I'm trying to do what is right for the both of us." His voice rose a little, annoyance clear in his tone.

I crossed my arms over my chest. "No, you're trying to hide. And what I can't figure out is what you are so afraid of that you don't want me or anyone else to see, Edward." I shook my head, feeling the anger building again. "We may not like this, but I am here and sooner or later you will have to deal with me."

Edward chuckled darkly. "Touché, Isabella. You should heed your own advice."

"And what is that supposed to me?" I was really starting to getting annoyed with him.

"It means that I'm not the only one trying to hide." Even with his blind eyes I felt as though he could see right through me right into my soul. His words made me shudder.

"You know nothing about me." I shook my head, getting angrier as the conversation continued. "I don't even know why I'm bothering. It's obvious you want nothing to do with me and being here isn't high up on my list, so fine. No expectations from either of us. We'll just do our duty and let it go at that." I made to go.

He shuffled his feet, standing up. "Bella."

"Good day, your highness." I left his room.

This had by far been the weirdest morning I had ever experienced.