Chapter Five

News!: first off, I want to thank everyone for reading it so far!! I'm glad that I've had such a great response to it, I was afraid no one would read it haha. That being said, I debated making this it's own chapter, I wasn't sure if I should add more to the end (ie, the wedding) or if I should leave it at this, and have it be it's own chapter... after some thought, I decided to publish it so you guys could read. I'm also still sorting out exactly how I want the wedding to happen haha. I promise it'll be up soon! If you have any ideas that you'd like to see me try to work into the story, please let me know! I'm always up for considering new ideas. That being said, here's chapter five!

Disclaimer: I'm still not Stephenie Meyer, so I don't own Edward, Bella, or any of them sighs enjoy.

Chapter Five

The next morning I awoke to find myself curled into a tight ball under my covers, clutching the small silver phone in my hand, still open. I was about to shut it, when I heard Edward's voice say, "good morning beautiful." It sounded so distant, and I was confused until I realized the line had never disconnected. Incredulously, I held the phone up to my ear.

"Edward?" I asked, a little confused. "Did you stay on the line all night? I thought you needed to go hunt."

"Well of course I didn't stay on the line all night. I left my phone open so we'd stay connected, but I did go hunting with Emmett and Jasper. As much as I would've loved to sit here all night and listened to you talk in your sleep, we thought it would be best if we were all well fed for today."

This explanation seemed to make sense, but I was still confused. "How did you know when to say good morning, then?" I asked.

"Well duh," the sweet soprano voice called from my window, making me tumble awkwardly out of bed, and I ended up entangled in my blankets on the floor struggling to free myself. "I told him the exact second you were going to wake up this morning!"

In one swift movement Alice had me freed from my temporary restraints, and pulled me to my feet. I went to reach for the phone, but Alice already had it in her hand and was speaking to Edward.

"It's time for me to take over," she said into the phone, and I pouted that couldn't speak to him until later. "Bella, please, you're going to see him in a few hours."

I sighed and plopped down on the bed, playing with my nails absentmindedly, waiting for Alice to get off the phone. She eyed me for a moment, and an expression resembling pity spread across her face.

"Oh alright," she sighed, holding out the phone to me. "You get thirty seconds to say goodbye, and I'm counting!"

I quickly snatched the phone from her outstretched hand and held it to my ear.

"So how are you feeling this morning?" he asked before I even had a chance to speak.

"Anxious," I admitted.

"Good anxious or bad anxious?" he questioned.

"To be honest, a bit of both. Allow me to explain!" I insisted, as I heard him scoff through the phone. "Good anxious in that I get to be Mrs. Edward Cullen very very soon. Bad anxious in that I'm fairly certain that somewhere with the twenty steps I'll be taking in front of people today, I'm going to trip and fall on my face. Good anxious that my mom will be here. Bad anxious that Alice can't see anything that's going to happen because Seth and his mom are coming, so if I am going to trip and break something, she can't see it coming."

"Oh Bella," he laughed, "Like I would ever let you fall. On the way up the aisle, Charlie will be there to catch you, and on the way back down, you'll have me. What could you possibly have to worry about?"

"I suppose you're right," I sighed. "Only," I glanced at the clock, trying to do the math. It was now 7:16. "Two hours and 44 minutes," I said, trying to sound excited, but my nerves were getting the best of me.

"Oh my gosh!" Alice exclaimed; clearly, she hadn't realized that she only had close to three hours to torture me with make-up and hair products before it was time. "Get off the phone NOW, we have so much work to do!"

With that, she flew out my window, and seconds later I heard the door bell ring. "Whoever could that be?" I asked mockingly, getting up and moving towards the door.

"I'll see you soon, love," Edward said. I said goodbye and shut the phone in time to hear Charlie call me from downstairs.

"Hey Bells, Alice is here!"

"Coming!" I called back, and headed down the stairs.

I entered the kitchen to see Charlie sitting there with Alice, finishing off the last off his coffee. "Want me to make you something for breakfast?" he asked cheerfully.

The look on Alice's face clearly told me that she didn't think I had time for a big breakfast, and she wanted to get to work right away. "Um, no thanks dad," I replied. I was too nervous to even consider eating anyway.

"Oh come on now, Bells," he insisted. "Today's a big day, you need to have something in your stomach."

"Why," I asked, "so I can throw up all over the altar?" My stomach was already doing back flips, and I still had hours to go.

"At least a bite of cereal, if nothing else," Charlie insisted again, and I sighed and gave in.

Alice, feeling pressed for time, had already gotten out a bowl, a spoon, and the milk. I crossed to the cupboard, grabbed a random box of cereal, and sat down at the table. Alice drummed her fingers impatiently on the table while I ate, but she didn't have to wait long; after about three or four bites, I was fairly positive that I couldn't handle anymore, and I laid my spoon down on the table with a sigh.

"OkayCharliewe'regoingtogoupstairsandgetready!" Alice squealed, grabbing my hand and dragging me towards the stairs. I don't think he understood a word of it, but our actions were enough for him to get the gist. Once we got into my room, Alice shoved me into the chair that I used for whenever I actually used my ancient computer, gasped, and ran out the door. About a second later, she was back with her arms packed full of bags.

"Be careful about your speed!" I hissed at her, but she just laughed.

"Oh don't worry about Charlie, he's too preoccupied getting himself ready to pay attention to me right now. We've got soo much work to do, and only a few hours to go!" She pulled an old bed sheet out of one of her bags and tossed it over my bed, and dumped the rest of the bag's contents over the top. Apparently, my bed would be serving as her makeshift make-up counter. "I didn't want to do it this way," she sighed, reading my expression, "but it's the best I can do. I can't believe you don't have a vanity in your room!"

"Alice, I don't even wear make-up, what use would I have for a vanity?"

"Oh, every girl needs a vanity!" she scoffed. "Even Rosalie's got one, though I can't even imagine what she uses it for. Anyway, nails first!" and with that, she pulled out a couple small bottles from the mixture, and I realized she was preparing to give me a French manicure and pedicure.

"Alice, do we have time for this?" I gulped, glancing at the clock.

"Of course, now sit still!" She grabbed my feet and immediately went to work. I couldn't see how she could possibly finish in time, my nails alone were going to take quite some time. However, one detail I had totally forgotten to consider… Alice was fast. "Nails are done!" she called cheerfully just seconds later. "Now, let them dry while I get to work on your hair."

She immediately started plugging in curling irons, straighteners, and other fancy hair contraptions that I had never seen before. Could she really need all of this stuff to do my hair? She grabbed a brush and a container of bobby pins and dove in. It was the only moment in my life where I really did wish I had a vanity; I wanted to see what she was doing to my hair. I sat there growing more and more panicked at the thought of what she could possibly be doing to my head. I didn't really want to have a hair style like Alice could come up with; glamorous and understated. Visions of Dolly Parton flashed through my head and my anxiety worsened significantly.

However, I didn't have long to panic. Within minutes she was finished; any professional hairstylist would've needed at least an hour more to accomplish what Alice had in just a few short minutes.

"I need to see what you did," I croaked, fearing the worst. I tried to stand, but she pushed me back down in the chair.

"Your nails aren't dry, you can't be walking around the house yet!" she insisted. She rummaged through another bag and pulled out a huge hand mirror, and held it up in front of me.

"Oh Alice," was all I could manage as I eyed my hair in the mirror. It was perfect. She had pulled back the hair in the front straight and pinned in, so it was a slick, flat surface. There was a neat row of pearls strung through where the hair was clipped to hide the bobby pins, and the hair below it was curled. Then all the rest of my hair was down, cascading lightly around my shoulders, and it was all curled. (i205./albums/bb132/kjk5555/wedding/hair2.jpg this is the best I can do for a picture, I'm not 100 percent happy with it, but it's as close as I could find to what I was describing). I looked more beautiful than I thought possible. There was a chance that maybe Alice and Rosalie wouldn't outshine me, though I knew better than to think Edward would be giving either of them a second thought anyway. Most of all, I was happy that for the first time, I felt like I really was beautiful enough to stand next to Edward in the photos, like I really did belong there next to him.

Tears began welling up in my eyes, and I reached out to Alice for a hug. "Nails!" she cried, grabbing me around the wrists to prevent me from ruining her handiwork. We both laughed, and she carefully wrapped her arms around me and gave me a little squeeze.

"Thank you so much Alice, I dunno how I can ever repay you!"

"Allowing me to do all of this for you without throwing a fit is payment enough," she insisted, and I laughed. "Now, here comes the make-up!"

I cringed. "Alice, I dunno, I don't usually wear any make-up, do I really need it now?"

"Um, yes, yes you do. It's a wedding! The bride can't show up without make-up!" She looked scandalized at the thought. "But don't worry," she insisted, "It's not even going to look like you have any on, I promise. You'll just look beautiful."

She curled my eye lashes – I'm still not certain whether this moment or my encounter with James was higher up on my list of "most terrifying moments of my life" – and began liberally applying mascara.

"Alice, do you really think that's a good idea? You know how I cry," I asked uncertainly. She simply laughed and held the bottle up and I read, "waterproof". I laughed. "Oh, you've thought of everything!"

She finished my make-up fairly quickly and held up the mirror again. Naturally, she was right; the dark mascara made my eyes stand out even more, and there was a hint of color to my lips and cheeks, but nothing over the top. It looked natural, and perfect; I was just glad to not look like a Barbie.

"Alice, you're a miracle worker," I gasped, looking myself over once again. By now, my nails were dry, and I grabbed the mirror from her and examined myself thoroughly.

"Edward's jaw is going to hit the floor," Alice said with a smirk. "Okay, and on with the dress!!" she squealed, barely able to contain herself. She pulled open the long garment bag that I had somehow completely missed before, and delicately lifted the dress out. It was as stunning now as it had been the first time she showed it to me. I couldn't believe something so beautiful was meant for me. I traced my fingers along the edge of the lace for a moment, looking it over. It was too perfect; Alice had managed to find a dress that was the perfect blend of modern and well, Edward. If I hadn't known better, I'd have thought Edward had hand-picked this dress himself to be exactly suited for the two of us. No one would ever think to question it, yet it couldn't help but sparkle, as if it knew it was more sophisticated that most of the dresses brides were trying on these days.

Alice watched me eye the dress with a smile. "It's quite perfect," she agreed, "but you need to put it on now." I stared at it for another long moment, then stripped down and she helped me into it. It fit like a glove, and I loved every detail of it. The lace really is perfect for Edward, I thought to myself once more.

"I wish I could see it full-length," I sighed, regretting my lack of a floor-length mirror. I had never paid too much attention to how I looked, but this was one of those moments where I really would've appreciated it. "Too bad you don't have a giant mirror hidden somewhere in all of this," I laughed, gesturing to all of her bags strewn precariously around my room.

A grin broke out across her face, and I was shocked. "No way. You couldn't – where?" I asked, incredulous. "There is no room for a full-length mirror anywhere in here!" I insisted.

"Give me a little credit, Bella," she teased, "you really don't think I could find room for a full-length mirror?"

I gaped at her wide-eyed as she grabbed the bag my dress had been in, and carefully withdrew a long mirror the length of my dress. I must've been so awed by my dress that I didn't even notice how carefully she had set the "empty" bag down on the ground a good three feet away from me, just in case. She leaned the mirror against my closet door, and I started to stand, to check out my full appearance.

"Wait!" She insisted, "no outfit is complete without the cute shoes!" She pulled them out of their box and slipped them on my feet; very simple, very classy… very high. I looked at the heel and gulped. "Oh Bella, it's only a two inch heel! I just wanted you to be a bit taller next to Edward."

"Looks like ten," I mumbled, and tried to stand. It was difficult, but not impossible, and Alice assisted me in walking a few circles around my room to get the hang of them. Once I was a little steadier on my feet, I decided to finally look in the mirror.

Nothing in the world could've prepared me for what I was going to see. I finally looked like a bride; the hair, the dress, the shoes, the ring… all of the pieces fell into place, and it finally hit me. I looked at Alice's reflection in the mirror next to mine, and said quietly, "I'm getting married today."

A smile spread across her face, but she didn't say a word; she simply nodded.

--

well there it is! I hope you enjoyed it! ... I hope it made sense. Okay well as always, review please, I'd love to hear your feedback/ideas!