The Life I Live Now

Chapter 4

Disclaimer:

Things I Own: twilight soundtrack, twilight movie companion, twilight book series, twilight collector's edition, twilight calendar, twilight posters, and soon twilight movie and saga guide.

Things I don't own, but really wish that I did own: Twilight characters and plot line.

After telling Rosalie and Alice that dinner was ready, we walked down to the dining room. Esme, Carlisle and two men were sitting around a table. There was an assortment of food on the table; tonight we were having roast lamb with a mixture of vegetables and an expensive-looking red wine.

A pale, dark-haired man stood up from the table and rushed over me. I was completely dumbstruck when he pulled me into a tight bear hug. I felt all the air rush out of my lungs as he squeezed me. I was relieved when he finally let me go.

"You must be Bella," the man said, "I'm Emmett, Edward's brother. It's so great to finally meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too," I replied shyly. Emmett was very big and muscular, with curly brown hair. It looked like with one flick of his finger, he could put me in a coma. He looked so intimidating, yet his green eyes were tender and compassionate.

The other man stood up and walked over to me. He was tall and lanky, with light blonde hair. His eyes were dark blue and seemed to be able to read my emotions.

"Hello, I'm Jasper, Alice's husband," he smiled at me. I felt serene, it was like his smile had calmed all my nerves. It was a strange feeling, yet it didn't bother me.

"Hello," I replied timidly. I was looking down at my feet, as I felt my nerves come back. I didn't know these people and I was staying in their unfamiliar house. There was an awkward silence, and I could feel everyone staring at me.

"We would better hurry up and eat, before the food gets cold," Edward suggested, breaking the silence. He walked over to the table and pulled my chair out for me.

" Thank you Edward," I muttered, sitting down carefully in the chair. Edward sat down in the chair on my left, and the chair on my right was quickly filled by Alice.

Once everyone was seated, I felt something brush against my left hand. I looked down to see Edward's hand lightly touching mine. I looked up at his face to see him smiling down at me. I smiled back at him, as he took my hand in his. He started rubbing soothing circles on my palm.

Even though I barely knew him, holding his hand was strangely comforting. I wouldn't help but wonder why he was holding my hand. We barely knew eachother, even though we were getting married it seemed strange.

I didn't have much time to think about Edward, as his family started bombarding me with questions. They wanted to know everything about me, my life, and worst of all, my thoughts on the wedding.

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After we had finished eating everyone, except Carlisle and Esme, went into the library. The library was huge, it's walls were filled with shelves reaching up to the ceiling of books. There was a fireplace built into one of the two walls that didn't have books. There was also an assortment of chairs and a few tables around the room. It was the most magnificent library that I had ever seen.

I gazed around in wonder as we walked into the room. Everyone else went and sat in various chairs around the fireplace, trying to keep away from the coldness that winter had brought upon us. I couldn't relax without having a closer look at the books that surrounded me.

I could have sat in there for hours, just staring up at the books. As I was running my hand along the shelves, reading some of the titles, I saw it. A collection of Jane Austen, my favorite author, books. I gasped as I took one off the shelf, it was a first edition copy in perfect condition. Unlike my copy of the book, which was tattered and worn from use.

Edward, having heard my gasp, was by my side in seconds. I had a wide, happy smile on my face. He seemed confused and worried about me, which seemed strange to me since I hadn't even knowen him for a full day. There seemed to be a connection between us, which I didn't understand.

"Bella, are you alright? What happened?" Edward asked in a concerned voice. I was facing away from him, so he hadn't seen the smile that covered my face yet.

I turned around to face him, still grinning. The worry and concern quickly faded from his face, but the confusion was still there.

"Do you know what this is?" I asked him frantically, not able to contain my excitement.

"A book?" Edward replied, still confused.

"Not just any book!" I exclaimed, rolling my eyes at him. "It's a collection of Jane Austen, first edition books, in perfect condition!"

I felt my face heat up as they all stared at me as if I was crazy. A smile slowly spread across Alice's face.

"Ali...what are you thinking?" Jasper asked suspiciously.

"I have the perfect idea for Bella and Edward's wedding!" Alice squealed, jumping up and down.

AN: Sorry for the long wait! I've been really busy and had a lot of bad luck with computers lol! Hope you like it and I will update a.s.a.p and please review! Thanx to my betas Kate and Megan for all the ideas! I know this chapter is quite short, but I was trying to get it out quickly. I promise the next chapter will be longer. Thanx xoxoxo