CHAPTER 4

BPOV:

Disclaimer: I've pinched all of the character's from Stephenie Meyer's Twilight.

CHAPTER 4

BPOV

When I arrived at the Cullen's house on the day of Emmett and Rosalie's wedding their property looked amazing. The driveway was lined with hundreds of lanterns, all ready to have the fairy lights illuminate the way for guests. The front of the house was festooned with white flowers, mostly lilies, and larger white lanterns hanging from trees.

Alice had insisted that I arrive early so that I could get dressed at the house with the other girls. The other girls being the other bridesmaids and of course the bride. Clearly she didn't trust that I would wear the dress and shoes she picked out for me. And as for my hair and make up she wasn't leaving that up to chance.

When I arrived I was quickly ushered upstairs by Carlisle. None of the rest of the family was anywhere to be seen. The girls had taken over the 1st floor of the house, with hairdressers and makeup artists and they were well underway with their preparations by the time I arrived.

Alice quickly ushered me towards a hairdresser and whispered something into her ear. God, she wasn't even going to let me in on the big plan. The hairdresser immediately damped down my hair and put it into big chunky rollers, then she had one of the makeup artists apply a little makeup to my face. Alice insisted that I wear makeup, but Esme insisted that I didn't need much, god love her!

When I was done Alice instructed me to go up to her room as my dress and shoes were up there and the bridal party needed to finish getting ready. I went up, and laid out on her bed was the gorgeous satin cocktail dress we had decided on. It was a beautiful dusty blue, not too light though, with tiny capped sleeves, quite fitted, finishing at the knee. A little more snug than I was used to, but Alice insisted it was very elegant, and Esme had agreed. I trusted Esme.

I put the dress on, sat on the bed and looked skeptically at the silver heels that were sitting on the floor. Alice had loaned me another pair to practice in over the last couple of weeks, thank god, because I had to get down two flights of stairs in these things and spend all night in them. Alice had insisted I was lucky she hadn't put me in the three inch heels, these were only two inches. At least I should be able to avoid having to dance in them. That was the upside to not having an escort.

As I slipped them on my feet I could hear music start to drift up from downstairs. It sounded like someone was playing the piano. I stood and looked out the window and could see guests had started to arrive, I turned and headed downstairs. Please god, don't let me fall down the stairs in these things.

EPOV:

The concertina doors at the back of the house had been pushed back to create one space with the verandah, which flowed down onto the lawn where the wedding ceremony and reception were being held. As well as being a groomsmen I had the job of playing the piano as guests arrived.

As I sat playing one of my favorite songs an attractive brunette came to the top of the internal stairs of the house. I assumed it must have been one of Rosalie's friends or relatives, so I didn't pay her much attention. As she descended I could tell her head was turned in my direction, so I looked up. It was Bella, and she was breathtaking. There was a strange feeling in my chest as my fingers continued to move across the piano keys. At that moment I was playing only for her.

She walked slowly towards me, wearing a blue satin dress, cut just to the knee, showing off every gentle curve of her body. Her hair was out and seemed more curly than usual. She was in a pair of strappy heels that made her taller. She looked slightly uncomfortable but absolutely exquisite.

Bella walked towards me smiling hesitantly as I continued to play.

"Is there nothing you can't do Cullen? I didn't know you played." She sounded surprised to hear me playing the piano.

"Who did you think played this thing?" I asked genuinely interested to hear what she had to say.

She didn't answer, instead perching next to me on the piano stool to listen to the music.

"Clair de lune," she sighed wistfully. I was impressed, and it must have shown. "My mum used to play a lot of classical music back in Phoenix. This is one of my favorites." She smiled up at me and I wanted to tell her right then how I felt about her. But she stood up as the song came to an end as if she hadn't meant to sit down in the first place, as if needing to put some distance between us. Did she sense what I was feeling and did it make her uncomfortable. God I hoped not.

She began to walk away.

"Oh by the way………you look hot Swan." I wanted to make her comfortable again. Sarcasm usually worked well with her. But it didn't seem to work, she blushed, put her head down and fidgeted as if she wasn't comfortable.

"I think I'm going to fall down any minute in these things. Alice insisted I wear them."

"Well, you look amazing."

"Uh, thanks Edward." She turned and walked away. I ran my hands through my hair to calm my nerves a bit. She didn't seem to be warming to me. Fuck, this was frustrating.

As she was walking away I started to play a piano version of the Blowers Daughter by Damien Rice. I had heard Alice playing it since Bella had come into her life so I knew she should recognize it, I prayed she understood the meaning.

BPOV:

I wondered out into the garden. Many of the other guests had arrived, including Tanya. She looked achingly beautiful. Her long strawberry blonde hair had been straightened and she wore a pail pink strapless chiffon gown that fell to the floor. She looked incredibly sophisticated and I had seen several heads turn in her direction when she walked down the stairs of the verandah onto the path that lead to where the seats for the ceremony were. How could I compete with that?

The reception dinner was in a marquee on the back lawn. More lanterns and white candles lit the beautiful canopy that was to protect us should it rain. It was however, a beautiful night so the sides of the marquee had all been removed and we could see out into the garden which was lit all around by thousands of fairy lights.

The marquee was full of round tables each of which had a lantern hanging over head throwing soft light down onto everyone. The bride and groom had skipped tradition and were seated with their parents rather then the bridal party. It meant I was seated at a table with Alice and a few of Rosalie's cousins who were our age, and of course Edward and Tanya, who were seated opposite me.

I had been doing so well avoiding Edward over the last few weeks. While I wasn't overly interested in Mike I knew he liked me and I had been considering the possibility of dating him, but the more I got to know him the more I realized I just wasn't interested. Not in the way I was interested in the beautiful boy seated opposite me, with the equally beautiful girlfriend.

Alice spent the entire night talking over the top of me to one of Rosalie's cousins, Jasper. It was an incredibly welcome distraction, but I started to feel like I was getting in the middle of what was an obvious attraction between them. Edward kept looking in our direction, I surmised he must be getting irritated with the boy who appeared to be hitting on his younger sister. It was quite sweet really that he felt he should be protective.

After our main meal and the speeches were done I excused myself from the table. I couldn't stand sitting opposite Edward and Tanya any longer, not that they were ever affectionate with each other, but still I didn't need it thrown in my face. Many of the other guests were mingling and had started to dance so it didn't look rude.

Knowing that the weather was going to be perfect the dance floor had been moved just outside of the marquee. It had been set up under a canopy of trees, more lanterns and fairy lights were overhanging the area and it was an absolutely magical setting.

I was leaning on the pole of the marquee, taking in the scenery, watching couples dance, it really was absolutely breathtaking.

"Bella" a familiar voice breathed into my ear from behind, "would you like to dance?" Edward's hand was placed gently on my hip, it lingered there as he moved in front of me. God he was making this hard for me.

"Oh….er…Edward…I don't really dance." I bit my lip nervously. Clearly he had seen me standing here alone and felt sorry for me. I was sure he'd feel relieved that I'd said no.

"Are you turning me down?" There appeared to be a genuine look of disappointment on his beautiful face.

"I don't dance, I have two left feet. Haven't you noticed how clumsy I am?" As if he'd noticed.

"I had actually." He laughed gently. Great.

"Come on, I'll make sure you don't fall flat on your face."

One Crowded Hour by Augie March had started playing. It was one of my favorite songs, how could I say no.

As he took my hand in his I experienced this strange tingling feeling that made my stomach drop and my mouth go dry. As he lead me to the dance floor he ran his fingers through his hair. I wanted to tell him it was perfect already. But that wasn't my place.

Standing in front of me on the dance floor he raised his left hand up to my shoulder height and reached towards my waist with his right arm but only moved half way towards me as if waiting for me to accept him rather than assuming that I wanted to be in his embrace. I moved towards him as if drawn in by some magnetic force.

Once I had my hand in his he gently pulled me closer than I thought appropriate for someone whose girlfriend stood talking on the other side of the dance floor.

He looked deeply into my eyes, the corner of his lovely mouth turned ever so slightly upwards, "is this OK?" he murmured. I nodded slowly, blushing at the feel of the length of his body pressed against mine, his right hand pressed firmly into the small of my back I could feel his breath on my face and the rise and fall of his chest. I was just waiting for Tanya to come and break us apart.

I decided if I spoke to him it might distract him from my utter inadequacy as his dance partner. And maybe distract me from the feelings I had for him which weren't going away.

"So, are you and Tanya going to the same college next year?"

An inquisitive look passed over his face before he answered.

"No. She's heading East and I'm staying on the West Coast."

"Oh….that will be hard won't it?"

"I'm sure we'll miss each other, we've been friends since we were five. But you know……." He trailed off not really finishing his sentence as if thinking something privately to himself.

"You haven't danced much tonight."

"Sorry?"

"With Tanya, you haven't danced with her much. Will she mind that you're dancing with another girl?" He looked at me very oddly. Our bodies stopped swaying from side to side for a moment as he looked at me more closely.

"Bella?"

"What?"

"Tanya and I aren't…..together."

It was my turn to be confused now. "…..you're not?"

"No Bella." It's like I had never heard him say my name until that moment. He was looking into my eyes, a strange look of relief on his face. All of a sudden my heart was pounding so hard I'm sure that he could feel it. For all I knew the music that was playing could have stopped, we were the only two people in this magical setting.

"What made you think that?"