Title:An Unkind Fate

Rating:PG (T)

Pairings:Ultimately Bella & Edward but first we have to show what happens with Jacob

Disclaimer:I don't own Twilight or any of the Twilight series. They are the property of Stephanie Meyer and are not my intellectual property. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.

Set:Alternative Universe to New Moon. Edward doesn't think Bella died. Edward doesn't go to the Volturi nor does he come back to Bella.

A/N 1 – This ceremony is made up and doesn't exist as written.

Chapter 7 - The Wedding

"Hey, kid," Charlie said as he walked through the kitchen. He stopped dead in his tracks and stared.

"I knew it. I look bad don't I?"

Charlie just stared some more. I looked so horrible that I had made my father speechless.

Crap, crap, crap. If this looked bad, I didn't know what I was going to wear to the wedding. I barely had enough money for this dress so I didn't have a back-up plan.

I started to sprint for the stairs in a panic when Charlie's voice stopped me. "Bells, you look stunning."

I slowly turned back around to look at Charlie on the landing. I smoothed down the golden textured bottom half of the dress I had purchased in Port Angeles. The dress was like a strapless sheath gown with a choker collar attached to the dress by a vertical strip of material covered in black and gold beads that made it look more like one large necklace rather than beaded material. It fit like a second skin so it wasn't something I would have normally bought.

I smiled shyly. "Really? You think Jake will like it."

Charlie's brows descended and his expression was pure protective father.

"He better not like it too much," he muttered under his breath.

I laughed. I noticed he was wearing his uniform. "Dad, when are you getting ready? You don't have a lot of time before we have to be at the La Push beach."

"I can't come but please tell Emily and Sam I wish them the best."

"I thought you were going to the wedding with Sue."

"I was. Then Deputy Bob's wife went into labor. Tom is on vacation so I have to take the day and night shift."

"Are you sure you aren't just trying to duck out of wearing a suit."

"I'm not saying that I'm going to miss the suit, but I feel bad making Sue go on her own."

Jakes voice came from the front doorway, "Don't worry, Charlie. My Dad is going to take your place."

Charlie did not look pleased about this turn of events. "Super."

I came down the stairs to greet Jake and he just stared. Charlie didn't look pleased about that either.

"Wow…."

I smiled, "You like?"

"I like!"

Charlie snapped his fingers in front of Jake's dazed eyes, "I expect her home in the same condition she left in."

Jake just kept staring at me, "Sure, sure, Charlie."

Charlie looked like he wanted to say something else but just rolled his eyes, grabbed his jacket and headed for the front door.

"Bells, you look beautiful."

I stepped closer to Jake, "Really?"

"Really," he said as he bent down to kiss me.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, running my fingers through the back of his hair as he kissed me. His hands burned on the expanse of bare back displayed due to the choker collar neck line.

"No bra," Jake said more as statement then a question.

"Couldn't in this dress."

"Ok, we really need to leave."

"Why?"

"If we don't leave now, I'm going to see just what else you aren't wearing under that dress."

I reluctantly let him go. I grabbed my dress coat and we left.

xxxxxxxxx

Emily had picked a beautiful spot for the wedding near where the pack held the bonfires. In fact, the fire pit was set up with a small version of the normal bonfire I was used to. A pergola was set up beside the fire pit.

"Wow, it looks beautiful."

"The guys and I met this morning to help set everything up. Not an easy thing to do with a hangover."

I admired the wood structure decorated with carvings and scraps of red silk and flowers.

"Sam built the pergola a few weeks ago."

"The carvings are incredible. Are those whales, eagles and wolves?"

Jake nodded and I could see a bit of pride on his face.

"Sam wanted to incorporate things that were important to the Quileute and Makah to honor both his and Emily's tribal traditions. They plan to put it in the garden behind their house after they use it for the wedding."

"Well, it's really beautiful."

"I helped the guys set up the chairs for the guest seating this afternoon."

"Don't tell me you guys did the flowers and the bows as well?"

He laughed, "No, the girls decorated the pergola with the flowers and the material. If it had been left to us you might have found Paul's dirty underwear hanging down. He was such a dick last night."

I smiled in all the right places but I was a little hurt that no one had asked me to help. I went to Emily's for an impromptu bridal shower the night before while Jake and the guys threw Sam a bachelor party. No one had mentioned getting together today to decorate for the ceremony.

Thirty minutes later, the ceremony started. Jake held my hand as we stood with a crowd of fifty or so of Sam and Emily's friends and family around the fire pit to watch them take their vows. Emily wore a non-traditional white gown but it was subtly beaded with traditional tribal shapes and designs. She found a harmonious way to blend the old traditions with the modern. Her hair was down and parted on the side so a heavy waterfall of long bangs partially shadowed the scarred side of her face while accentuating the unscarred. She looked radiant.

Sam, in a dark suit, stared at her as if she was his true north. I widened my eyes and then blinked a few times trying to force back the tears I felt welling up. I wanted what Emily had. I wanted to know that the man I loved would love me and cherish me forever. Jake squeezed my hand when he saw a tear escape.

The ceremony started with the exchange of contemporary wedding vows, each promising to love, honor and cherish the other until parted by death. Then they exchanged more traditional vows and gifts.

"Emily, take this feather as a sign of my love and loyalty to you and to our future family."

"Sam, take this corn in the hope that we will have many children to love and cherish." There was a bit of snickering at that. Evidently the cat was out of the bag about the baby.

"Take this rock as a symbol of the strength of our love. May it endure to the day we no longer take a breath on this earth and beyond."

I scanned the crowd and saw Leah as she looked down at her feet at the vows. I knew this must be killing her. As if she sensed my gaze, she looked up. I tried to give her a reassuring smile but she just scowled at me.

I looked back to the ceremony. By this time, Emily's mother and Old Quil each handed Emily and Sam a piece of kindling burning at the end. The Celebrant then said, "Take this fire as a sign of your separate life forces becoming one." With that they took their kindling to the small fire pit and dropped it on the stack of wood and flames shot up creating one large fire. The firelight made their skin glow as Sam kissed Emily and the Celebrant pronounced them husband and wife.

I could barely hear Emily's mother over the clapping and cheering. She waived her hands for quiet and then invited everyone for some food and drinks while the happy couple and family took pictures.

Jacob and a few of the guys helped move Billy and then we followed the crowd to the community center which was also decorated in Emily's bridal colors of white and red. We grabbed our name cards and went in search of our assigned table when we spied Quil chasing after his imprint and lone flower girl, Claire. She darted around the tables and then crawled under the tables scattered through the room as she evaded Quil's long reach.

"Claire-bear, Emily is going to kill me if I let you get that pretty red dress dirty."

"But I want to play in my fort, Quill" the adorable four year old entreated as she peaked up from under the table.

Quill gave up and let her play in the "fort" the table cloth made over one of the round tables.

"Doesn't Claire have to take pictures?"

Emily had eschewed having bridesmaids because she would have had to ask Leah. She knew how much that would have hurt Leah so she settled on having just her niece as a flower girl.

"Too much sugar this morning so Emily said to let her run off some steam. They took pictures before the ceremony and she said they might try to get a couple with her later." Claire came out from her 'fort' with her curls askew and a smudge of dust down one cheek. "Or maybe, not."

We laughed.

Quil looked at Claire so indulgently; Jake couldn't help but say, "If you're this whipped now, what are you going to be like when she's 19?"

Quil shot him a dirty look, "Your time will come."

I felt a little pang at his unthinking comment.

Jake shot him a dirty look and Quill looked at me apologetically. Jake tried to cover it up by asking, "Would you like something to drink?"

"Sure. How about some white wine?"

Jake glared at Quill and stalked off to get some drinks.

"Sorry, Bella."

"No, no, don't worry about it." I looked around the community hall as I tried to find something innocuous to talk about, "The room looks great. Did you guys set this up this morning as well?"

"Yeah, we put together the tables and then Rachel, Kim and Grace put up the decorations and the flowers."

Ah…the imprints.

"Sam did a great job with the pergola. The carvings were amazing."

"Most of the credit really goes to Billy and Jake. They did most of the intricate animal carvings."

I felt for the wolf carving on my wrist. I didn't want to take it off but it really didn't look right as a necklace with the dress. So I put it on a charm bracelet that Charlie gave me as a Christmas gift years ago. I traced the swirls and indents of my small wolf and was amazed again at how talented Jake was. He was an artist with mechanical devices and now wood.

Jake came back the table with our drinks. He looked incredible in his suit and tie. It was a big difference from the boy that showed up in jeans at my high school dance with his white button down and borrowed tie. He handed Quill a beer and sat down beside me draping his arm behind my back and over my chair trailing his fingers along my bare back. I couldn't hold back a shiver and Jake just smiled.

"Why didn't you tell me you helped carve the figures on the pergola?"

Jake looked embarrassed. "It's a tradition that my Dad thought I should learn."

"You are a really talented artist, Jake." I held up my hand and he saw that I was wore his wolf on my bracelet.

He shrugged off the compliment but he seemed happy to see that I wore his gift. "I figured it was good practice." He looked at me meaningfully. Then I realized he meant for us. I melted inside. I leaned in and kissed him.

"If I had known what a turn on my wood carving skills were going to be to you, I would have had Dad show me how to do it a lot sooner."

I bumped my shoulder in to his and he grabbed my hand. "Come on. Let's dance."

The reception was a lot of fun. Jake normally didn't like to dance but he was a great sport and joined in the electric slide and the chicken dance with the other guys. As the night progressed, the songs got slower and slower. Jake and I shuffled around the dance floor. We didn't care that we lacked grace. We just enjoyed being in each others arms as we rocked slowly from side to side,

Jake stared at me as I ran my fingers through the back of his hair. I could have drowned in his eyes. I felt so close to him at that moment. Our breathing was almost in sync. He slowly lowered his head and gave me a toe curling kiss. I started to forget where we were until the DJ called out that it was time to see off the bride and groom.

Emily and Sam hugged their family goodbye and made their way to Sam's car which the guys had snuck out of the reception, earlier, to decorate with a variety of embarrassing slogans and novelty items. Sam looked irritated but Emily just laughed. They were off to their honeymoon in San Francisco for a week.

Jake kept me anchored to his side as we waived off the happy couple. His hand rubbed up and down my arm making me feel warm and cherished. When the last of their tail lights disappeared into the night, Jake turned to me and stared at me intently.

"Do you want to get out of here?"

He looked so serious. I matched his look and said, "Yes."

Jake drove me home. He held my hand but was quiet throughout the drive to my house. He parked the car and went around the vehicle to open my door. He had the door half way open when he suddenly stiffened. He looked around the inky darkness.

"What? Is something wrong?"

He held his finger up and I stopped talking. He stared intently at the tree line behind my house. He finally turned around and helped me out of the car. "No. Just thought I heard something." I leaned me against the side of the car and then he picked me up in his strong arms. He kissed me for all that he was worth. After some passionate moments, he slowly lowered me by sliding me down his body. He knew how much I loved when he did that. I couldn't get close enough.

He was breathing hard as he grabbed my hand and we went into the house. I don't know if it was the wedding or just wanting some reassurance that we were solid but instead of moving into the living room like we normally did I held his hand and led him up the stairs to my room.

He ran his big hands in circles on the outer part of my shoulders, "You looked incredible tonight. Like a dream."

The ring of the phone broke us apart. I grabbed the portable phone on my desk, "Hello?"

"Hi, just wanted to make sure you got home safely. How was the wedding?"

"Hi, Dad. It was really nice. I wish you could have been there."

"Me too. How was Sue? Billy didn't try to put the moves on her did he?"

I couldn't help but laugh at his jealous tone. "No, Dad, Billy was a perfect gentleman."

Jake laughed, hearing the entire conversation, "Is that Jake?"

"Yes, and he told me to tell you that he has dropped me off in the same state he picked me up in as directed."

Jake smirked as my Dad muttered something about his gun and a smart ass kid.

"I'll see you in the morning, Dad."

Charlie reminded me to lock the doors before I went to sleep and hung up.

"Did you really need to say that? I'm pretty sure as chief of police he could cover up my death as a freak gun cleaning accident."

"Well, you did bring me home in the same state you picked me up in."

Jake turned serious, "I don't think I'm going to be able to leave you in that same state." He grabbed me and tumbled me onto the bed. I giggled until the kisses drove the humor away and only brought on white hot need.

Jake groaned, "I can't stay."

I looked up in some surprise. "I have to relieve Brady from patrol with Sam gone."

We both straitened our clothes and I walked Jake downstairs and to the front steps. He gave me one last kiss that made me want to drag him back inside. He reluctantly let me go and took off down the street.

A/N – Thank you to those that have have set up this story to follow or as a favorite. I really appreciate the interest. Reviews are highly motivating and I would appreciate any feedback you might have on the story or the writing. Please tell me what you think.