Disclaimer: Once more with feeling...I do not own any of these awesome characters. They are the creation of Steph Meyer!

Chapter 9 – Countdown

The sun streaming through the windows woke me from my nightmare. I rolled over reaching for Edward, but he wasn't there. I sat up rubbing my eyes and yawned widely. Closing my eyes, I tried to focus on the dream I'd just woken from. Aro had been torturing Marcus. Jane was using her horrid powers on him in between Aro's painful attentions. Caius had been fettered to the wall behind them with a werewolf gnawing on his leg. The wolf had looked at me then turned into Jacob.

"Jacob, where are you?" I whispered into my hands. I examined the charm he'd given me for graduation. That he'd made with his own hands. I had tried my best not to think about him the last month; it was almost as painful as the time Edward had left me. Almost. But dammit, I needed my best friend. Of course, we weren't really best friends anymore. I'd somehow managed to blow that too.

My head was throbbing and my stomach was growling. I slid out of bed and grabbed the robe Alice had lent me. I wasn't really looking forward to facing the whole family, especially Carlisle. I didn't quite know how to behave around him anymore. The thought of how he'd last seen me caused my cheeks to flush crimson. Maybe I could sneak out, but then what? Walk home in a robe? I sighed. Nope, there was no other option; I had to make an appearance downstairs before I could make my way to the relative safety of my house.

I could hear Esme's voice clearly. She was discussing wedding arrangements. I shook my head in disbelief. They were just going to act as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Actually, it sounded like a really good plan to me at the moment. I stumbled down the stairs, missing the last step altogether and found myself in Jaspers cool grasp. He tensed slightly and set me down before moving like lightening to the far side of the room. Guess it was still difficult for him to be around me.

Emmett's booming laughter met my ears. "Thanks Bella! I so needed that this morning." He pulled me into a tight bear hug. "Glad you're okay and completely back to normal."

I would have answered him, but he'd squeezed all the air out of me.

"I think that you should probably set her down, Emmett," Jasper spoke softly, a smile tugging at his lips. "She seems to be turning colors."

Alice bounded toward me. "Good morning, Bella dear!" She kissed me quickly on my cheek "Esme is on the phone with your mother right now," she informed me bursting with happiness.

"My mom?" I asked, my stomach falling like I'd missed a step.

She nodded, practically bouncing up and down. "She's helping Esme with the wedding preparations. Edward has decided to move the wedding up by a few weeks." She danced to Jasper and kissed him lightly as he twirled her in a complex, swirling move, dancing to music only they could hear.

Move the wedding up? When the hell had that happened? Didn't I get a say. But then, why should it matter? The sooner I was married, the sooner I could have the single most important human experience of my life. "So what day am I getting married on now?" I tried to sound peeved, but the smile pulling at my lips betrayed my mood.

Alice looked slightly put out, "This weekend, I believe. He seemed quite insistent that you two were married immediately. So your mom and Phil will be up here tomorrow to help us finish everything. Don't worry, Bella, you will not have to lift a finger, all you need to do is show up."

I felt Edward's cold arms wrap around me. "Good morning, love," he breathed into my ear, his lips pressed against my cheek.

I turned to face him. I'd been expecting a smile but he looked down right miserable. I lightly touched his face trying to read what was behind those tortured eyes. "What are you thinking?" he asked, voice full of frustration. I certainly hoped that I'd carry the ability to keep him out of my thoughts once I was a vampire. The idea of him being privy to the workings of my mind turned my blood cold.

"Just trying to figure out why you're not happier? Alice tells me we'll be married by Sunday. It's what you wanted, right? So, why the face?"

His cool lips pressed lightly against mine and he whispered, "It's not what you think, love." He picked me up and carried me to the kitchen where Angela and Ben were waiting with a ton of breakfast food to choose from.

"Angela!" I screamed as he set me gently down. I hugged her and nudged Ben on the shoulder. "What are you two doing here?" I was truly mystified, but extremely happy. I hadn't had any time to hang out with Angela since graduation and missed her greatly.

Ben rolled his eyes. "We've been enlisted to help put your wedding together."

I whirled around abruptly. "Alice, get your tiny little butt in here right now," I ordered. She came bounding around the corner looking completely unrepentant. "What have you done?" I gasped. I had wanted to be the one to tell Angela my good news. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't slightly pissed.

"What? We needed some help and you said you wanted her for your bridesmaid." She shrugged. "I needed to get them fitted so I could have the alterations taken care of in time."

I shook my head. Silence. It really was the best option right now. There was a really good chance that something dreadful would come shooting out of my mouth if I kept talking. I spun back to Angela, effectively dismissing Alice. "You'll be my bridesmaid?"

She took my hand in hers, her face sparkling with pleasure. "Of course, Bella. The dress you picked out is gorgeous."

I smiled, shaking my head. "Don't give me credit. It's all Alice's doing." Heck, I didn't even know what it looked like.

"Eat," Edward commanded. "Then we're going to Charlie's to pack up your things." He watched my face intently for my reaction.

I just stuffed some more food in my mouth, not really focusing on his words and the meaning behind them.

I left Angela and Ben in a house full of vampires to go deal with Charlie. He wouldn't be home until much later, so I would have plenty of time to get my room packed up. This would be one of the last times that I would be back here. I sat in his Volvo just memorizing everything about the outside of our little home. I'd only spent two years of my life here, but they'd been the most important, interesting, and memorable moments of my eighteen years. Leaving it behind forever was harder than I'd ever fathomed.

Edward didn't say anything; he simply kept staring at me curiously, waiting for me to share my thoughts with him. His patience would wear out if I kept up my silent reverie. He hated his inability to know my thoughts.

When I finally faced him tears were shining in my eyes. "I don't know how to say goodbye to him," I faltered as the tears took me and I collapsed in his hard arms. He whispered comforting words into the top of my head as he stroked my hair and back.

"It's not too late," he managed.

I looked at him sharply. "What does that mean?"

"You don't have to give any of this up. I told you I would stay by your side forever. Your human forever. And I meant that." He looked stricken. His brows furrowed and his forehead creased in concern.

"And what about the Volturi? I do believe that my life is forfeit if I do not become a vampire soon," I reminded him

"I will not have that being your sole reason," he countered.

"It's not my sole reason. It's not even one of the top five reasons. It's just a fact."

"I don't want to take your life away, Bella. I-"

"You're not really taking my life away, Edward, your giving me another. The one I want. The only life I want." I kissed him silent, tired of listening to the same argument he'd been waging since I'd first asked to be transformed.

"You're sure?" he asked and I nodded. "But you look miserable," he pointed out as he traced his finger down my jaw to my neck.

"I'll be fine once it's all done and over with. I don't want to hurt Charlie and me disappearing is going to tear him apart…" I broke off. "Let's get this over with."

I walked through my front door surveying everything. I wanted to remember every single part of this simple house. I grabbed my camera and started taking pictures of every room in the house, the outside, my truck, the back yard. I wanted my life here completely documented. "I want tons of pictures of the wedding," I murmured as I shot a few of Edward. "Not of me, but everyone else. My friends from school and lots and lots of Renee, Phil, and Charlie."

He flashed me his crooked grin, "That won't be a problem. Alice has hired a slew of photographers. She might not remember her human life and didn't have anyone to say goodbye to, but she understands what you're going through."

Edward began packing all my clothes in suitcases while I dug through my closet. Everything that I picked up had a special memory attached to it. I handled everything delicately as I packed them away, lost in my own thoughts. My books were the last of my possessions. He carried them all down and placed them in the trunk, giving me some privacy. I was lying on my bed in my bare room with tears leaking down my face. In a week I'd be a vampire. I wouldn't be able to be near humans for many months, maybe longer. I'd have to give up my family and my few close friends. Oh, I knew it was worth it, but that didn't make it hurt any less. I laid there imagining what I'd look like after my transformation and how weird it would be to be dead, yet moving around. How much the transformation would hurt, haunted me. I wasn't good with pain. I hoped that the morphine would help at least a little bit. But mostly I was worried about how it would affect Edward. He was the one that had to take away my mortality and cause me the greatest pain I was likely to ever encounter, and then sit idly by while I endured in agony knowing there was nothing he could do to make it better. Compared to that, what I had to do was a breeze. I must have fallen asleep, because when I opened my eyes there was only moonlight to greet me. Edward was nowhere in sight. I made my way down the steps to find Charlie on the couch with a box of pizza perched on his stomach as he watched the game.

He looked shocked to find me here. "Hey, Bells. When did you get here?" He set the pizza on the table and glanced out the window. "How did you get here? Where's Edward?"

I sat down beside him and laid my head on his shoulder. "I've been here all afternoon, dad," I chuckled. "I guess I fell asleep. I was packing up my room," I added.

He nodded quickly. "Yeah I heard that the big day was moved up. You ready?" He put his arm around me and muted the game.

"I'm ready to become Mrs. Edward Cullen, but not as ready to leave you as I thought I was," I whispered as I fought back my tears.

He chuckled. "You'll feel better about everything this time next week. It's just cold feet."

"Sure," I agreed even though I knew better.

"Billy called me today."

I looked at him hopefully, my heart fluttering spastically.

"He said he heard from Jacob. I don't know much, just that he's okay." He paused while I struggled with the sudden surge of emotions overwhelming me. "I doubt he'll be at the wedding. Billy told me you invited both of them."

I sighed as I wiped the tears that had escaped. Glad I hadn't bothered with makeup, it would have been ruined with the amount of crying I'd been doing lately. The practical thing would be to avoid make up for the rest of the week, though I somehow doubted that Alice would let me get married makeup free.

"I wasn't really expecting him to show up. Will Billy be there?"

"Yeah, and pretty much everyone from La Push will too." I was glad Edward wasn't here to see how happy this news made me and how my pulse had sped at the mere mention of Jacob's name. I'd hurt Edward enough for one lifetime, and had no intentions of allowing him to see me upset over Jacob Black again. Jake not being at the wedding was actually a good thing.

"Carlisle informed me that you'll be leaving for New Hampshire right after your honeymoon." He made it a question.

"Yeah." I didn't know what else to say. I wasn't sure if the residents of Forks knew that the whole Cullen clan was leaving Forks.

"You'll be back for Christmas, right?" He patted my leg awkwardly.

"I don't really know, dad. I suppose it depends on my course load. You know me, I'm a spontaneous person. I hate planning."

He snickered. "Oh, I'm well aware of your impulsive side." He laughed. "Cliff diving and motorcycles ring any bells, Bells?" He asked, his teasing lighting up his whole face and I blushed.

"Do you mind if I spend the night here tonight? I don't really want to drive back to Edward's."

His mouth gaped open. "You don't have to ask permission to sleep here, Bells." He ruffled my hair. "You look beat. Why don't you go lay down now, then you can get up early and make me a breakfast fit for a king. Kind of a farewell deal, huh?" he joked but I could see that it was to hide his real feelings about losing me to Edward.

.

Edward was waiting for me in my rocking chair. "So, you're sleeping here tonight?" I nodded. "Do you want me to stay?" He looked so unsure of my answer.

"Edward, how can you not know the answer to that?" I sat in his lap and kissed his neck softly. "Of course I want you to stay. I don't want to lose one second of time with you. By the way, where the hell did you go this afternoon?" Feigning irritation, I slapped him playfully.

"You looked like you needed some alone time," he murmured as his mouth found mine. The conversation was forgotten in the sensation of his marble lips pressed against mine. His tongue licked across mine and he deepened this kiss. I clutched at him as he pulled me even closer to his body. Our breathing had become ragged, but he continued with the kiss. Usually by now one of us would have had the good sense to back off, but we seemed to be all out of good judgment tonight. He moaned low in his throat as his hands moved uncertainly over my chest. My breath hitched as he caressed my breast for the first time. Edward's hand was on my breast. I couldn't concentrate on anything else but that one detail. Well, that and the fact that he'd already seen them completely bare when he'd rescued me.

His hand trembled slightly as he caressed me in a circular motion while we continued to kiss hungrily. Breathing was beyond me now as I felt my body going up in flames. I moaned softly as his hands and lips skimmed over me.

"I love you Isabella Swan." He kissed down my throat, stopping to inhale my scent. "I will spend all of eternity proving that to you."

I lifted his face to mine. "And I, you," I smiled. "Now remove your hands from your fiancée, so she can go to sleep and we can keep your virtue intact," I chastised.

He carried me to my bed and curled his hard form around mine humming my lullaby to me as my eyes drifted closed.

A/N: Alright that should get us up to the wedding chapter now. Whew it's hard to write those scenes between him and Bella. I'm always fighting against both of them. Neither are all that interested in waiting for the wedding. I'm glad that happy event is finally upon us so I can just give them what they want!

Anything in particular you have in mind for the wedding? Something you pictured? Let me know and I'd be glad to work it in, otherwise you're stuck with my vision. And I must admit I'm kinda like Bella in that regard, I hate weddings so you won't get a whole lot of fan-fare.

Sabrina