Wedding Bells
Disclaimer; all characters and copyright belong to Stephanie Meyer.
A/N-thank you for the kind reviews!
Part Seven
The hours passed by, soon it was approaching mid-afternoon. Carlisle was forced to come up onto the stage and announce that the wedding was not going to happen that day. He was embarrassed to see that nobody seemed to care. The guests carried on partying along with the pack. He was glad that he hadn't brought Edward along with him to make the announcement; it would have hurt his adopted son considerably to see what was going on. He had left Edward with Esme and Tanya, who was still clinging to his son. In her human life Tanya had been a possessive character, there were rumours that she had been behind her husband's disappearance when he tried to get away from her. This was before she was changed. But Carlisle always liked to see the best in everyone and he ignored the rumours that were circulating at the time. As soon as she had seen Edward she had become fixated on him, and had not been best pleased when he had not returned her affections. It was for a good reason she had not found another mate of her own, she tended to scare them away with her overzealous attentions.
Carlisle sighed heavily as he scanned the huge gardens trying to find Bella. Rosalie had let slip that she was with her wolf boy, or Jacob Black to give him his human name. Carlisle was trying to be understanding, he knew how much Bella was attached to the young shapeshifter, and indeed he himself was grateful that Jacob had kept Bella safe and well, but it upset him that Bella had so easily walked away from his son without a by your leave to essentially catch up with an old friend. He kept searching but Carlisle could not see her, he noticed her parents dancing together, which was odd as he thought Charlie and Renee were estranged from one another. They were dancing very close, he could see Renee's younger husband glaring at them as they swayed together. Carlisle felt like he was missing something here, but he couldn't get a hold on what. He continued to use his piercing eyesight to look around. Most of the pack was near the food and drink, which wasn't a surprise as they had to eat huge quantities to maintain their high metabolism. He could see that Jacob wasn't among them; neither was their Alpha, Sam Uley. Carlisle would have thought the leader of the pack would have been keeping an eye on them. Two of them looked very worse for wear, one was Seth and his companion, Quil was it? He couldn't remember all their names. The two of them were perched on one of the long benches, arms around each other's shoulders singing drunkenly to an amused crowd which had gathered around them.
Carlisle finally gave up; he couldn't see Bella at all. He wasn't looking forward to having to go back and inform Edward that his wife to be had disappeared. Tanya would certainly take advantage of the situation. Carlisle shuddered at the thought of Tanya becoming a part of his family. There was a reason she lived in Denali with the other demanding members of that coven. He often wondered how Garrat could stand being around such head strong females on a daily basis. Still there was nothing he could do right now. He would have to try and soothe Edward's frazzled nerves. He was certain Bella would turn up soon. She could never stay away from his son for long, she loved Edward too much. With this thought in mind Carlisle left the stage and hurried back to his family.
Sue Clearwater sat down next to Billy. She couldn't find her daughter anywhere. Her son was right at that moment entertaining some drunken females with his terrible singing voice. Quil Ateara was serenading someone called Jessica Stanley. He had stolen her from under her date's nose, but by the way the girl was clinging to Quil, it looked like he hadn't needed to try very hard.
"No luck?" Billy asked sympathetically.
"No." Sue smoothed the long skirts of her dress down. She was worried about her daughter, especially after her jaded history with Sam. Why had he run off with her like that? What had possessed him? What about Emily? It was odd that she had stayed behind when Jared's imprint, Kim, had come. She was pulled out of her thoughts when she felt Billy's warm hand curl around hers. She glanced up into his wise eyes and felt comforted by his presence.
"It will be fine, Sue. Don't worry. Leah is a strong girl, I am sure she can handle herself and as for Seth, well let him enjoy being young." Billy stroked her hand for a moment before letting go. Sue was surprised that she missed his touch.
Leah couldn't contain her delight. She pinched herself a couple of times to make certain that she wasn't dreaming. It was all so surreal. She replayed the moment Sam had stridden confidently toward her and scooped her up into his arms like some kind of caveman. She had immediately opened her mouth to protest but she had looked into his eyes and became lost. She hadn't seen him look at her like that for a long time, not since the day he had imprinted on Emily. Leah didn't know what to think. Her head and her heart were a mess. She had missed the feel of his arms and although the sane part of her kept telling her to get away from him, the irrational part, the part that still loved him deeply, despite everything, pushed her to stay where she was. He had carried her silently away from the huge crowds, weaving through the heaving bodies of the guests as they danced. His dark eyes, full of intense love mixed with lust never left hers. Leah knew that her Sam had never looked at Emily like that, ever.
They ended up back in the forest surrounding the Cullen's mansion. Sam finally stopped and placed Leah onto her feet before clasping her face in-between his hands. He still hadn't vocalised what he was feeling, he seemed to be using his eyes instead to tell her what was in his heart. But Leah had been burned badly by him already; she needed more confirmation than that. She'd pushed away from him and phased into her wolf form. Sam seemed to understand what she needed from him. He phased quickly and finally let her see inside his head. There were no secrets between them now, his wolf couldn't lie, Leah had relaxed her guard and let Sam back in.
Now she was on her way back to see her mother and tell her the good news, well good in her eyes anyway. She knew that Sue would be ambivalent about it, but Leah had spent so long being sad that she wanted to grasp this chance at a happy ever after with both hands. She had seen Jacob and Bella reconnecting and it had given her hope. If they still had a chance with everything that was stacked against them, then surely she had one too. Leah had reluctantly left Sam behind as he went back to Emily to tell her it was over between them. Leah knew that he had to face that trial alone. She touched her lips which were still stinging from Sam's ardent kisses and for the first time in a long time, Leah smiled.
"MY GIRRRRRRRRLLLLLLLL." Quil warbled as he got down on one knee in front of Jessica. He took her hand and kissed the back of it. Jessica was nearly coming apart at the seams. She had forgotten all about Mike Newton. Quil was the one, of course he was, no one had ever serenaded her before (even if his voice sounded like nails screeching across a blackboard, at least he knew the words). She beamed at him as he leapt gracefully onto his feet and bowed theatrically to her. Some of the other guests who had been watching the show clapped and cheered his performance.
"YES, QUILLY, YES!" Jessica yelled as she suddenly threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.
"Huh?" Quil had no idea what she was talking about. He had just picked some random girl from the crowd so he could perform in front of the others. He liked showing off. He stared at Jessica blearily. "Yes, what darlin'?" He mumbled.
"YES, I WILL MARRY YOU!" Jessica cooed as she began kissing him all over his face. The crowd began to cheer again, congratulating the couple on their newly formed engagement, while Quil's face drained of colour as he stared over the mad girl's head at the sea of excited faces.
Bella squinted as Jacob turned on the overhead lights of the garage. It had been an age since she had visited the 'Taj Mahal,' as they called it. The garage had become their refuge from the storm which seemed to have been permanently waiting to consume them in the lead up to the newborn battle. Bella had missed the place and couldn't stop herself wandering around, touching this or that as she familiarised herself with the place again. It had been Jacob's suggestion to come back here. The party was still in full swing but after they had eaten they had begun reminiscing about the past. Bella had mentioned she wanted to see the bikes again and Jacob had said they could easily take off for a while so she could see them. And it had been easy. Jacob had picked her up in his arms and carried her back to La Push; no one had seen them go. They were all too busy partying.
"Ta dah!" Jacob yanked off the tarpaulin covering the bikes and grinned as Bella's eyes lit up. "They are still in working order. I keep them tuned up."
"Even mine?" Bella said softly.
"Yeah, even yours." Jacob's grin faded as he locked eyes with Bella. "I always hoped…."
Bella paused for a moment, her eyes filling with tears as she caught the anxiety in his voice. "There is nothing wrong with hope." She whispered.
Jacob held out his hand toward her. "Shall we go for a ride?"
"I'd love to." Bella took his hand and squeezed it gently.
"I think you should ride with me though. You have been drinking." Jacob reminded her.
"Good idea." Bella leaned on him as he helped her climb on the back of his bike. Then he straddled it himself. She slipped her arms tightly around his waist and leaned her head on his broad back, closing her eyes as she did so.
"Ready?" Jacob asked.
"Ready." Bella heard him kick start the bike, then they were off.
A/N-thanks for reading!
