Thanks to those who reviewed, alerted and put this story up as their favorite. XD
Without further ado, here you go!
As I looked at my reflection on the long length mirror, I couldn't help but replay the events that led to this dreadful day. How I wished to run away and never turn back.
If the groom was anyone else but Edward, I wouldn't face such a dilemma as I was pretty sure they wouldn't treat me like how he did. During the dance at his birthday party, I found out that he was the Anthony I had a slight crush on years ago. After we made up, I thought we were going to stay as friends.
But days after, it was back to square one again. We continued our bickering sessions, which I had to admit, were entertaining. We made up... We argued again...
If I didn't know better, I would've thought Edward was a girl. Trust me when I say his mood swings was way worse than mine. He could be really nice to me like an old or even best friend, and the next second, he could be treating me as though I was a piece of shit.
Anyhow, till this day, I had yet to see him touching other girls. You must be thinking what about the slut right? Well, after the dance, he told me she was forcing herself onto him although he kept distancing himself from her. That's what he said. I ignored the voice in my head.
Then, my mind drifted to Edward's brother, Jasper. I can't believe you had a past relationship with your fiancé's brother. This is ridiculous. Shut up, I scolded the voice.
It was a few days ago when Edward wanted to introduce his brother to me. So we decided to meet up at the mall.
flashback
I looked at my watch and smiled as I still had time to check out some of the classical albums in the music store.
Scanning through the albums, my eyes lit up when I saw Dvorak's Symphony, which I wanted ever since I heard it on YouTube the other day. I quickly grabbed the album, and read the notes behind it.
"Isabella?"
I froze. The only one who would call me by that name with such familiarity and emotion, and who had a Southern drawl to his voice was him. No, it's impossible. I met him in Texas. Of all places, he couldn't be here, in New York. Bella, Texas and New York are both in America, it won't be a surprise that he's here.
I took a deep breath and looked towards the guy who called the name Isabella. And sure, standing right there, was Jasper, the hottie who had honey blonde hair, with a tall, lanky body. Wow, he seemed more muscular. I wondered what he looked like with the clothes taken off. Get your mind out of the gutter, Bella.
"Hi, Jasper." I said, blushing. I was thankful that he wasn't a mind reader, or else, it would be really embarrassing as I was only thinking of his naked body the moment I saw him again. There's no such thing as mind reader in this entire universe.
"Why did you leave?" He asked bluntly. I was taken back because I never expected him to ask me that question if we ever met again. He cheated on me and he had the nerves to ask me why I left.
I laughed bitterly. "Playing innocent? Jasper, you should know the answer."
"What are you talking about? Would I ask you if I knew the reason behind your disappearing act? Would I ask you if I understood why you just left me a note that told me never to find you and that you're safe?" He looked at me incredulously while I raised an eyebrow at him.
I crossed my arms. "Don't play dumb with me, Jasper. I'm not falling for your lies again."
"What the fuck are you talking about? I'm not lying." He let out a huge sigh and rubbed the back of his neck in annoyance. Jasper cussing? I never heard him swearing in that one month when I was with him. Maybe he was speaking the truth. Ah, of course he didn't know why I left. That's because he never knew I would find out about his affair.
"Oh, so you want to play it this way." I put on a fake smile. "Maybe I shall enlighten you a little. Let's start from the beginning, shall we?"
"I'm all ears." He grinned. So adorable! How could he be both hot and cute at the same time! Bella!!! Story time!
"Two years ago, we met at one of the clubs in Texas."
"Cosmos." He answered with a daze. He still remembered. Heck, maybe that's where he does his girl hunting. But the way he was looking at me with that pair of lustful eyes… Perhaps he was reminiscing that night? No, no, no! Impossible.
"Really? I can't remember the name." I lied. It would be a joke if you don't know how and where you lost your virginity. I frowned when I saw sadness crossed his feature.
"So, we hit it off and thus, the one night stand. Then, we decided to keep the relationship, and we started dating. I even took two months leave just so that we could at least get to know each other better, before starting the long distance relationship. A month later, you started coming home late and when I questioned you, you gave me all sorts of reasons, which I so stupidly believed."
"I have a reason for that, Isa-"
I cut him off. "Shut up! As if I don't know what that reason was. You were cheating on me."
"Cheating on you?" He said each word slowly, as if processing them. "No, I didn't. I never dreamed of it."
"Please, Jasper, you think I would buy your words? I saw both of you with my own eyes. You were with a girl in that house which I liked but hated the location of it. And do I need to remind you what you were doing? You were lying on top of her, and kissing her!" My internal feelings were going haywire. I was sad, hurt, angry…
"Wait… Wait a second. Isabella, this is just a misunderstanding. There was nothing between Wendy and I." He was gripping my shoulders and staring at me with wide eyes.
I slapped off his hands. "Oh so her name was Wendy? Jasper and Wendy, what a perfect match." I sneered.
He shook his head. "Please, hear me out. Just let me explain all of this."
"You think I will trust you again? You should've known. I told you I didn't have faith with relationship, and you promised me you would show me what true love is. I gave my heart to you but you so cruelly broke it into pieces the moment you betrayed me, betrayed my trust."
I started to turn around when he pulled me back and kissed me forcefully. At first I wanted to kiss him back but thought otherwise. I shoved him away.
"Leave me alone."
"No, I wouldn't let you go this time. We need to talk." He locked my shoulders in his tight grip and no matter how hard I tried, I still couldn't get his hands off.
"Fine, five minutes is all you got."
He placed a light kiss on my forehead. "Thank you."
"So can you remove your hands right now?"
He took them off and mumbled. "Sorry."
I rubbed at where he was holding on and told him. "Start talking."
"Those days when I was coming home late was because I was working on building the exact same house which you liked. I even bought the land already. Even after you left, I still constructed that house, hoping that one day you might return. And that day when you saw us in that house, I actually was comparing the house with the plan I drew. Wendy was the dealer for that house, so I had to ask her for the keys. When you saw me lying on top of her, we weren't kissing. That was just an accident. She tripped and I wanted to catch her but ended up she pulled me down with her."
I raised an eyebrow at him. Was he speaking the truth?
He cupped my face and bored his intense, crystal blue eyes into mine. "Look, Isabella, that night, I meant it when I wanted more than a one night stand, that I wanted a relationship. I wasn't lying when I told you I would show you what true love is. There really wasn't anything going on between Wendy and I."
"And, I wasn't lying too when I told you that was the best night ever." He smiled sheepishly. Same here, same here… So, do you believe what he's saying?
"How would I know when you're telling me the truth and when you're just lying to get a girl doing all the house chores for you?" I really wanted to trust him, but how could I? I couldn't bring myself to believe guys when relationship was concerned.
He touched the tip of my nose. "Silly Isabella. I would hire a maid if I wanted someone to help me with the house chores. When you left, I couldn't eat, couldn't sleep. The bed didn't feel the same without you sleeping right next to me. It took me days to finally stop mopping around."
I sighed. "I don't know if I can trust whatever you said. It's been two years. The hole you left in my heart was mended, and I was starting to enjoy my life when now, two years later, you pop into my life again and tell me you didn't cheat on me. Besides, there's too much coincidence in your story. I really don't know, Jasper."
He dropped his hands to his side and looked at the albums on the rack. With his hand gripping the side of the rack, he whispered dejectedly. "How can I make you believe that night and that whole month were real, that my feelings towards you were, and still are real?"
Seeing his depressed feature, I couldn't help but feel a pierce through my heart. I shot out my hand and wanted to pat his back, but dropped it when I figured there was nothing I could do when I couldn't trust him yet.
What surprised me was his next move. Turning around, he brushed the back of his hand across my cheek. He then placed his finger under my chin and made me look up into his piercing blue eyes.
"At least give me a chance to prove my feelings to you again, please?" He pleaded with puppy eyes. Bella, you're doomed! It's the puppy eyes that you always succumb to.
I could feel his 'spell' working on me. "Okay." I blurted out.
"Really?"
I nodded my head and smiled genuinely. This might not be a good idea, but I wanted to know if Jasper really meant whatever he said-those three words that I remember till now. You like him? I don't know, I answered my voice truthfully.
Two years ago, I was devastated after coming home from Texas. I never told anyone about it, not even the Four Musketeers (Emmett, Rosalie, Alice and Jacob). I knew I already got rid of my feelings I once had towards him. But could the love I once felt for him be buried away in two years' time?
Now, he was telling me that it was just a misunderstanding, he wasn't cheating on me. Could everything between us go back to two years before? The time when we were still lovey-dovey. No, you're getting married, Bella. Damn, I totally forgot about my marriage.
"There's something I need to tell you."
"Yes, baby?"
"I'm going-" I was cut off by a loud, familiar voice from Jasper's behind.
"Darling! There you are!"
I rolled my eyes when I saw Edward advancing towards me, without even casting a glance at Jasper. He bent down and whispered into my ears. "Flirting again, are we? Well, you're not gonna succeed in it."
Placing a firm grip around my waist, he finally looked up at Jasper and gasped. "Jasper, why are you here?"
Jasper's eyes darted between, Edward's hand on my hips and me. I tugged at his hand, but his hold onto me tightened.
"You know each other?" I asked.
Edward cast a glance down at me, "Yeah. He's my brother."
"No, his name is Jasper Whitlock. Not Jasper Cullen." I choked out. No, no, no… This couldn't be happening.
He laughed and patted Jasper's shoulder. "Dude! I can't believe you still go by that last name instead of Cullen."
"Why didn't you tell me your last name was Cullen?" I looked at Jasper who was staring at me.
"You're Bella? You're the girl Edward's going to get married to?"
Before I could answer him, Edward cut in. "Yeah, she's my fiancé." He nodded his head, looking at Jasper warily. Way to go, Bella. Sleeping with the brother of your fiancé… And not to mention, I promised Jasper that I would let him prove to me that whatever he said wasn't a lie.
Edward smacked Jasper's arm playfully, the joyous look on his face was completely different from the previous wary look of his seconds ago. "Isn't she beautiful that she took your breath away when you met her?" He teased.
I frowned. Didn't all his family members know that our soon to be marriage was a fake one?
Jasper rubbed the back of his neck and said awkwardly. "Yeah... We just met." He then stared at me with a hurt look. Why was he lying? We met two years ago, dumb ass!
"So, I think I should do the introduction again since you lied to her about your last name." He looked pointedly at Jasper. "This is my fiancé, Isabella Marie Swan, but she prefers to go by Bella. Darling, this is Jasper Cullen, my brother."
"Hi." I waved with an apologetic smile. I wanted so badly to explain that I wasn't Edward's fiancé, that none of the relationship I had with Edward was real. But the other side of me kept telling me that there was no need of explanation, and that it was not as if Jasper was still my boyfriend or anything. Even though I liked him before, that was in the past. Yeah, nothing else… But you didn't break up with him officially.
Stupid voice, making things even more complicated than it seemed. Of course, the only I note I left before I took my flight back was a simple 'I'm safe. Don't try to come and look for me. I don't want to see your face anymore.'
He broke me out of my thoughts. "Hey." But his voice was void of any emotion. I chanced up a look at his eyes, and there, they weren't as sparkling as they used to be. They were a darker shade of blue with no emotion in it.
Ever since then, it was as though he was working on auto pilot. And whenever we met each other, it was really awkward as he wouldn't smile at me, or even looked into my eyes. I needed to talk to him before he turned into a walking zombie. I must. I couldn't bear to see him in that state.
[back to present]
"For God's sake, Bella! Stop looking at the mirror." Rosalie shouted once she came out of the bathroom.
I rolled my eyes.
"Come on, it's your wedding day! Cheer up!" Alice chirped as she stood next to me, checking her hair.
"I can't help it! I'm mourning for the death of single Bella." I sighed dramatically.
"Let's look at the bright side-"
"All I can see is darkness." I interjected.
"Stop being a drama queen. You made this decision, so suck it up." Rosalie crossed her arms at me.
I looked at her. "You're right. Let's get through this."
There was a knock on the door and all three of us said "Come in." at the same time.
Peter slid into the room. "Ladies, are we done? The ceremony begins in another five minutes."
Alice skipped to his side and gave him a peck on his cheek. "Daddy, isn't Bella's dress beautiful?"
I rolled my eyes. All Alice could think of was my dress.
"Of course, darling. Now, can I have a moment with Bella?"
Alice and Rosalie then excused themselves out of the room.
"Thanks for doing this." I walked over to Peter, and gave him a tight hug. Alice's father was giving me away since Charlie passed away.
He laughed, "Actually, I should thank you for giving me chance to walk a pretty girl like you down the aisle."
Then he looked at me in the eyes. "Bella, you should know that you're like a daughter to both Charlotte and I, and we would do anything to give you the happiness you deserve. It's never too late if you pull out right now. We will find another way to secure the company. Charlotte and I can persuade our board of directors to buy over your company and pass it to Emmett after that. We can also-"
"Peter, I owe both you and Charlotte too much. You were there for us when the company was going to fall because of Emmett's inexperience, leading him to make that wrong decision. You helped the company's financial crisis, paying most of our debts. I just can't let you waste your money again."
"Hush Bella, investing in your company is never a waste. Swan Inc. makes huge profit every year!"
"No. Please, let me be useful to my family for once."
"But-"
"Peter, we've been through this a lot of times. Please, I need you and Charlotte's support more than anyone else's." I begged. They must support me, or else, I could never make it through.
He sighed. "Alright, if that's what you want, Charlotte and I will give you our full support. But if anything happens, you can always come over. Charlotte will be more than delighted to have you over."
I laughed. "I have my own apartment!"
"Well, you're selling it, aren't you?"
I smiled sheepishly. "You found out."
"Of course…"
I sighed. "I have to make this look real."
"I understand." He took a look at his watch. "It's time."
"Let's do this." I cheered for the both of us and walked out to the wooden door leading to the garden. We were having the entire wedding ceremony, including the reception in the Cullen's mansion, since their house was huge.
The huge wooden door opened when the song came, and the cute little flower girls, followed by Angela, Alice and Rosalie walked down the aisle.
Once Rosalie took her place at the opposite side of Edward and Jasper, the sound of the bridal march came.
I took a deep breath and walked down the aisle with Peter. My eyes were on a smiling Edward, since that was what the brides always do, eyes on the groom even though the guests turned to watch her entering. I frowned internally when I realized Edward seemed odd because he looked as if he won a lottery. Maybe he did.
Peter gave my hand to Edward and kissed my cheek before taking a seat next to Charlotte. She gave me an encouraging smile and the butterflies in my stomach stopped. I was glad both of them supported my decision as it was of no use if they didn't. They were like parents to me.
I took a look at Jasper, who was staring at the minister. That was what I meant by emotionless. He was just like a stone, a statue, standing right there.
I started zoning out once the minister started with his speech. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here..."
Edward elbowed me and I glared at him. "I do." He mouthed at me, eyes darting between me and the minister.
I blushed crimson red. "I do." What an embarrassing moment. The guests were probably thinking that I was going to say no to the marriage. Had it not been for the company, I would've said no. I mean, who in the right mind would marry a playboy?
"Now, you may say your vows."
"I, Edward Anthony Cullen, take you Isabella Marie Swan, to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part." He said with such intensity in his eyes that I thought for a second, the wedding was real. But, really, he was nothing but a great actor. Why he didn't opt for an acting career was beyond me.
"I, Isabella Marie Swan, take you Edward Anthony Cullen, to be my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part." I said with tears blurring my vision. Others might think they were tears of happiness, but no, they weren't. I was thinking of how it was all my mom's fault that I ended up being married to the only guy I hated and liked (as a friend) at the same time. They were tears of anger.
"May we have the rings?" Edward turned towards Jasper who handed him the platinum ring with a dejected look. Finally, an emotion that was showed on his face!
"I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and faithfulness. As I place it on your finger, I commit my heart and soul to you. I ask you to wear this ring as a reminder of the vows we have spoken today, our wedding day." He slipped the band onto my finger. Hmm… I wondered whether he would actually remember the vows. Committing his heart and soul to me? Oh please. This was a fake wedding! Besides, playboys don't settle down and give their heart solely to one girl.
"Now, Isabella."
Rosalie passed me a similar band like Edward's, but it had a full circle of diamonds on it, and I repeated the same sentence, sliding the ring onto his finger.
"I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and faithfulness. As I place it on your finger, I commit my heart and soul to you. I ask you to wear this ring as a reminder of the vows we have spoken today, our wedding day." I said, pouring the love I felt towards my family and my friends into that one sentence so that it sounded emotional, unlike the monotonous tone that suggested I had no feelings towards my husband. Ah, actually I did have feelings for him, pure hatred, but at times, I did like him as a friend.
After signing the register, I zoned out once again, not that interested at whatever that was happening after that.
"I now declare you, husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." My eyes shot wide open.
Whoa, what? Before I had the chance to protest, Edward's lips came crashing onto mine.
He had no right to kiss me without my permission. I had no idea we had to kiss during the ceremony. Honey, don't you know all wedding ceremonies are like this? The groom will kiss the bride once they're officially husband and wife. Okay, maybe I did know, but that didn't mean he could kiss me without asking or even telling me beforehand.
The way he was kissing me so passionately was as though he wanted to show it to someone else. But the moment his tongue entered my mouth, I was a goner.
Damn, he was such a good kisser! My hands were acting on their own as they worked their way up to Edward's hair. They were so soft. Then his hands went to my back, one wrapping around my waist, while the other supporting the back of my neck.
Bella! I snapped back to reality and thanked the voice in my head before the kiss went further. An evil plan formed in my mind. Without giving a warning, I bit his bottom lip. Hard. He almost yelped and pulled away but I managed to stop him from doing so by silencing him with a kiss.
Then only I pulled away quickly. I smiled innocently at him and was thankful when I saw that his lips weren't bleeding. He shot a glare at me before entwining his arms with mine, and we walked down the aisle.
He tilted his head and whispered into my ears. "Payback's a bitch."
SO, like it or don't?
Or are you confused? Actually I'm not sure if there's any holes, my friend and i know the plot, so while reading, there doesn't seem to be any problem. But I'm afraid you guys will get confused.
But if there's any problem that you find in the story/plot, please do tell. I'll definitely appreciate it!
Before i sign off, please hit the review button at the bottom! XD
Love ya,
LittleBells.
