Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, New Moon, (Edit: Eclipse), or any of Stephenie Meyer's characters. Please don't sue me.
Okay, I'm pretty sure that Bella will choose to take Edward up on his marriage offer in Eclipse, so I'll leave any ideas I have for that for Ms. Meyers to write so that I do not poison her wondrous ideas with my sloppy own. Therefore, I'm not going to take that approach with this story.Edit: Yay! I was right for once!
I hadn't intended on writing this chapter, honestly. I was just going to pick up with the surprise at the end (Hey! Stop scrolling down to read ahead!). But I began it the way I did, and the words just kept coming. So, here it is. Chapter nine. It's dedicated to twilighttopaz333, because her life depends on this chapter. :)
Alice was bouncing in her seat. It wasn't unusual- she did some pretty weird things when she was excited, but she normally waited until she was out of the car and not driving. I wasn't worried about her crashing the car or anything, but it was strange for her to be so happy and not tell me a thing.
"So, I take it you two are in on this?" I asked, twisting in my seat to look back at Esme and Rosalie. The blond merely gave me a slight smile and continued looking out the window, still not the epitome of a best friend. Esme, however gave a soft chuckle and nodded.
"I suppose that means it's something of importance, if you two are in on it," I grumbled, turning back around. "Well... if you two are in on it and Esme's not objecting."
"It'll be fine, Bella," Alice said, grinning ear-to-ear. She ran a hand through her spiky hair before turning off onto the exit for Port Angeles. "If it were something dangerous or potentially harmful, do you think Edward would have made you come on your own?"
That was a point to consider. With the wedding about a month away and my prolonged inability to control my power, Edward had been at my side constantly. Why wouldn't he have come with us to our mysterious destination? My thoughts raced, until realization smacked me across the face.
"You told him not to come!" I accused, watching Alice's bouncing slow with wary eyes.
"Maybe," she sniffed pretentiously, unnecessarily keeping her eyes on the road.
"Why?" It had to be something big to keep Edward from coming, especially since he gave up so easily. All Alice had to do was say, "Edward, we're taking Bella," and he nodded and returned to the novel he was reading.
"It's bad luck," she murmured. It would have been too quiet for a human to hear, but my ears understood it just fine.
"Bad luck?" My forehead creased with confusion, until it hit me. "Oh my god," I breathed. "You're taking me to get a wedding dress!" I spat the words out like they were poison, glaring at her.
"Now, now, Bella," Esme, the voice of reason, crooned from the backseat. "It's inevitable. The wedding is in four weeks, and if you want to look decent, we'll have to start looking now so that Alice and I will have time to fit it." I understood what she meant- she made sense. But the idea of the wedding being so close made me want to puke.
"It won't be so bad," Rosalie said, piping up. "Just think of it like you're shopping for a pair of blue jeans, except they're not blue and they're not jeans."
"I don't think it's going to be that easy," I muttered, looking out my window and watching the signs blurring past.
"Well, on the upside," Alice said after a sigh. "We're not looking for a specific dress. We're looking for styles you like so that someone else can design it especially for you."
"Who?" I asked, panicking. It was bad enough that Edward was insisting on buying me a car for a wedding present. If word got around that I had a Vera Wang dress or some other million-dollar-designer, who knows what people would start gossiping about. It was a bad habit of mine, worrying about what other people thought about the wedding, but I couldn't help myself. I'd been raised to abhor the idea of marriage, so abhor I did.
"Nobody special," Alice assured me. "He only does small-time designing, but he's very talented. He already did one of Rosalie's wedding dresses, and he created the one I wore to the charity ball."
I pursed my lips, thinking of the dress that looked like a night sky. It was pretty enough for me, and obviously stylish enough for Alice. I supposed that I could possibly try not to rip off the dresses they made me try on. I didn't make any promises, though.
Trying to ignore the voice that strongly despised the idea of marriage, I let my thoughts wonder to dresses. I'd never been one to get dressed up, but with Alice, Rosalie, and my mom all gathered in one room, I doubted I'd be allowed out without make-up. But all my desperate fears relied on the hope that my mother wouldn't let me wear bright red lipstick and-or dark eyeshadow. And Alice was planning the wedding for outside (the exact location was being held from me), so she probably wouldn't go crazy with the hair, just in case it rained- which would probably happen.
So, as Alice and Esme chattered on back and forth about the reception, I let myself wonder what I'd be wearing when I walked down the aisle. It didn't really matter that much to me, but I knew that Edward would look breathtaking in anything Alice dressed him up in, and I wanted to look at least decent compared to him in the wedding photos.
I cringed as I pictured myself in dress after dress, visibly wincing at some. It was just so strange and unbelievably distant. The wedding was in less than a month, but it felt like a lifetime away. The dresses I imagined got bigger and poofier as I continued thinking about it. All I could worry about was walking down the aisle- while people gossiped and talked about me- wearing the dorkiest dress imaginable.
Shopping just got a lot more formidable.
"This is the place," I heard Alice sing next to me, parking the car and unbuckling. "Remember- we don't have to buy anything. We're just browsing."
"That really doesn't make me feel any better." I unbuckled myself, pushing open the door of Edward's Volvo.
"It'll be alright, Bella," Esme said, patting my cheek affectionately.
Rosalie fixed her jeans on her perfect hips and stepped up next to us. "Yeah. And, hell, if all else fails, you can outrun us now."
I grinned at her, and she looked at the ground, glancing back up with a faint smile.
"Oh, stop scaring her," Alice muttered, taking my hand and pulling me into the boutique. The smell of plastic and generic air freshener immediately hit me. And blood. I paused for a minute at the doorway, closing my eyes and taking a few deep, calming breaths before I nodded at Alice, who still held my hand.
"Oh, Bella, dear, look at this one," Esme cooed, pulling a big, fluffy dress off of a rack. It was in a protective plastic bag, but one glimpse at the gaudy lace and beading and I shuddered. She chuckled. "I'm just kidding you."
I was opening my mouth for a retort when a painfully familiar voice reached my ears. "Hi, welcome to Chapels, I'll be with you in a minute!"
My eyes widened and I looked at Alice. "Is that..."
She nodded, stifling a laugh with a dainty hand. She may have thought it was funny, but I wanted to hide in the nearest rack of dresses, like I used to do when I was little. I hadn't told anybody but my parents about the wedding, and I didn't want the news to be spread that I showed up in a Port Angeles wedding boutique, with the Cullen women, no less.
"Oh, my god," I whispered. "We've got to leave."
"No way," Rosalie said, realization dawning on her face. She grinned, her hands on her hips. "This is going to be so awesome."
Esme looked between Alice, Rose, and I, confused. "What? What's going on?"
"Don't worry," Alice snickered. "It's just-"
"Bella? Bella Swan?"
I cringed, turning around, and fisting my hands at my side. "Hi, Jessica."
"Oh, my god!" The petite brunette looked like she'd just swallowed vinegar, thinking it was water. "You look so... different..." Her eyes moved up and down my body, gaping openly. Her gaze locked on my left hand, still clenched at my side, and she visibly relaxed.
"We need to look at some wedding dresses," Rosalie said, pursing her perfect lips to disguise a wicked grin. I was sure she had some twisted idea she was ready to set in motion- she looked like a lioness poised to pounce.
"Rosalie..." Jessica said, a smile tight on her face. "Alice...And you must be their mom." She looked up at Esme, obviously a little intimidated. It was her natural instinct to be afraid in a room with so many vampires. "Um, yeah, sure. What kind of style were you interested in."
I opened my mouth to speak, but Rosalie took a step forwards and directed the conversation. "Well, I've always liked simple A-lines, but Alice thinks a sheath style would better suit the occasion. So, we'd probably like to go through both."
"Ah, okay." Jessica breathed, turning towards a rack of clothes. Her lips moved wordlessly as she mouthed incredulous words. She reached over and pulled an empty rack over, taking a few plastic-protected dresses and setting them on it. After four or five dresses, she summoned us over.
Rosalie, once again, took the lead, stepping forward and examining each dress with intense concentration. I was confused, but one suggestive look from Alice, and I couldn't help but smile. I understood what she was doing now. If I could still blush, my cheeks would be a pretty shade of red.
"Oooh," my blond soon-to-be sister suddenly said. "I love this one!" She picked up a dress that would make Cinderella's gown seem like rags. Looking from me, to Alice, to Esme, she said, "Do you mind if I try it on?"
"You should," I offered. "You'd look gorgeous in it."
I saw Jessica's eyes glance at Rosalie's hand, which she held up to her mouth as if she were considering something. The florescent lights glittered off of the ring on her third finger.
"Jess, where are the dressing rooms?" Rose demanded in a sugar-sweet voice.
"That way," Jessica mumbled, pointing behind a set of mirrors.
"Thanks." She lifted the dress over her arm and strutted off.
"Wow," Jess breathed, her eyes darting around uncertainly. "She's going to be a beautiful bride." The jealousy seeping off of her was palpable.
"She will be," Alice confirmed, taking Rose's place at the rack of dresses. She picked one up and looked it up and down, making sure it was angled towards me. Her eyes glanced up at mine, and I shook my head minutely. Making a noncommittal noise, she put it back.
"Did you receive your invitation to the wedding yet?" I asked, tucking my thumbs in the back pocket of my blue jeans. "Alice sent them out a couple days ago, but nobody's tied up the line, so we figured that either they hadn't gotten them or the news hadn't shocked anybody."
"No," Jessica said faintly, as if she was thinking about something else. Her eyes kept drifting to my face, and having her examining my pale, beautiful features was disconcerting.
"I, personally, don't think that a lot of people will be shocked." Alice shrugged as she moved from Jessica's picks to the entire rack. "I mean, they've been practically glued to the hip since our junior year."
Esme smiled, but kept quiet, wandering off to look at a collection of bridesmaids' dresses.
"So, Jessica," I began. "I thought you were going to college in California."
"Well, yeah," Her shoulders relaxed a little now that we were talking about a subject she was comfortable with: herself. "But school doesn't start until September, so I thought I'd keep my job here for a little bit to earn a little extra spending money. Is it true that you're going to Alaska for college?"
The question was pointed at me, but Alice jumped in. "We all are. Well- She, Edward, Jasper, and I. We're renting a house near campus, so Jazz and I will take upstairs and Bella and Edward will take downstairs."
"Oh." Jessica's gaze turned back to me, and I could feel a loaded question pointed at me before it was even said. "So, are you and Edward going to share a room?"
I gave a nervous laugh, but tried to keep my cool. "Of course. Why wouldn't we?"
Jessica pursed her lips, and I could already see the list of names that she was going to divulge this piece of gossip to. Lauren, Mike, Samantha, Lee, Connor... The names just kept coming.
That was when Rosalie glided out in all of her pale, blond, majestic glory. She had her hands clasped in front of her as she walked, her back straight, and her chin held high. If the rainy little town of Forks had a queen, Rosalie would have a tiara pressed into her blond locks. The full, white dress hugged her curves, flaring out at the hips into the biggest skirt I'd ever seen, along with an endless train. Jessica's jaw visibly dropped.
"Rosalie, you look beautiful," Esme sang, smiling and stepping back over towards us. She knelt down and picked up the edge of the dress, examining the hemline with intense concentration. She ran a finger over the stitching, murmuring something incoherent to herself.
"What do you think, Alice?" Rose looked at me when she said it, smoothing her hands over the beading on the bodice. I wanted to look away, knowing that I could never be the goddess that she was.
"I love it- it really flatters your figure," the tiny psychic evaluated, a dainty finger tapping her chin. "Bella?"
"I like it on you," I shrugged, looking her up and down. "It's too much for me, personally."
"Why don't you try on some other ones?" Alice said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Just to keep your options open."
"Good idea," Esme murmured, standing up and putting a hand on Rosalie's arm. "Here, I'll help you take it off."
"Bella and I will bring some to the dressing rooms in a minute," Alice called after them as they disappeared behind the mirrors. She then turned to Jess. "Do you have anything that might look vintage? We kind of wanted to have an old-fashioned wedding."
"Sure, just a second," She disappeared into a back room, her smile fading before she even turned all the way around. "I can't believe I'm taking orders from a Cullen," she whispered, too low for human ears, but we picked it up just fine and stifled laughs.
"Alice, you and Rosalie don't have to do this," I murmured, folding my arms in front of me. "I mean, I really appreciate it, but she's going to find out that I'm the one getting married soon enough."
"Well, at least now she can't spread any gossip about it until she gets the invitation." She looked thoughtful. "And if she tries to tell people that you and Edward will be living in sin in Alaska, people who do have their invitation will laugh in her face."
"That is a positive," I laughed, shaking my head.
Jessica reappeared with her arms full of plastic and silk. I reached forward to help her, but she made a little noise, refusing my assistance. It took her a full three minutes to manage to hang up each of the six dresses without dropping any of them. "I hope money isn't an issue," she said, a little out of breath- even though she knew that money was never a problem with the Cullens. "Some of these dresses have some lace that's pretty pricey."
"The price doesn't matter. The wedding has to be perfect." Alice examined each one, and I watched her expressions change from pleased to disgusted to satisfied to appalled. After a moment, she pulled two off of the rack and pulled me towards the mirrors. "Let's go dress up the bride!"
I let her drag me behind the wall of reflections and through the door where she knew Rosalie and Esme would be. She let go of my hand to open the door, and let me walk in before her. The door locked automatically behind us.
For a dressing room, the changing space was surprisingly large. I wondered absently if every boutique was like this- large and overly elegant. Three of the four walls were mirrors, and there was a small pedestal built into the center of the floor for the bride to stand on. Esme was leaning against a wall, murmuring into her cell phone, and Rosalie was in the far corner, boldly stripping of the wedding dress. She stood tall as she picked the dress up off of the floor, shamelessly flaunting her perfect figure.
"Bella," Rosalie said and pointed at the dresses in Alice's hand. "Why don't you try those on? I can go back out front and search for some different styles. Keep up the appearance."
I watched her with wide eyes as she pulled her khakis back on. "I- I don't know." After Rosalie's exquisite display of modeling, the inoffensive dresses looked nefarious.
"Remember," she said to me as she buttoned her blouse up. "You're just trying on blue jeans." Without another word, she opened the door and glided out the door, tossing a "Be right back!" over her shoulder.
"Okay, Bella, this one has a lot of buttons, so we'll try it on first," Alice said, hanging both of the gowns on the rack that Rosalie had placed her princess dress on. As I reluctantly pulled my shirt over my head, she unzipped the protective bag and pulled out the lacy garment. "Alright this one dates about Edward's time- the style. High neck, full skirt, lots of lace- the works."
I shuddered, stepping out of my jeans.
"Do you need any help?" Esme asked, turning to us and pressing the phone to her shoulder.
"No, we've got it under control," Alice mumbled as she undid the many, many buttons that danced down the back of the dress. Her hands were blurs to the human eye, already finished in thirty seconds. "Alright, come here, Bella," She held the dress open for me to step into, and I suppressed the strangled whimper that wanted to escape. "The bodice is a little tricky, so I'll help you with that."
I nodded, holding my breath as I put one foot into the mass of lace and silk, and then the other. My newfound balance became useful, as I was able to stay straight as Alice gently pulled the dress over my legs, past my thighs, and settled the skirt on my hips. The mesh fabric beneath the silk skirt was scratchy and unfamiliar on my legs. The excessive beading rubbed against my stomach as Alice led my arm through one loop after another, murmuring words of encouragement. You would think I was getting a tattoo, not trying on a dress.
Finally, the sleeves were on, and Alice buttoned up the back, which stretched from my tail bone to the very top of my spine at the back of my neck. "Aw, Bella!" Alice said, turning me around and pulling me towards the pedestal in the center of the floor. "You looked nice in my vision, but you look even prettier in person!"
I looked like I belonged on a Little House on the Prairie episode.
The long lace sleeves covered everything from my cleavage up. The bodice was uncomfortable, and I was surprised that the skirt didn't have a wire hoop underneath to hold it up. It felt ridiculous. "Alice," I sighed, disappointed. "I wish that I could say that I was having a totally cliché moment where I tear up and say it's the perfect dress, but I don't like it at all."
I'd expected her to start arguing with me when she pursed her lips, but she closed her eyes and nodded. "Okay. If it's not what you want."
"Wow," I mumbled as she helped me down and out of the dress. "What I want? So you wouldn't mind if I got married in sweats?"
"Don't be silly," she laughed. "You're wearing a dress- you're going to have to get over that part. What I mean is that I want you to be comfortable in whatever you wear while going through with the oh-so-torturous ceremony."
I sighed. "Well, then let's get this shopping thing over with." I walked over to the rack as she put the gown back into the protective bag. The other dress was the same style- poofy, high-necked, ridiculous. I pursed my lips, examining it closer. The lace was beautiful, a design that seemed to blend modern and old fashioned style. The pattern was almost a tessellation of circles, flowers, and other unidentifiable shapes.
There was a knocking at the door, and Alice went to open it, revealing Rosalie, who was struggling to contain her laughter. "Oh, my God," she snorted as she closed the door behind her. "Jessica is out there on her phone, gossiping like there's no tomorrow."
Alice grinned, but I didn't feel as comfortable with it as they did. I attempted a smile, but it came out twisted and mangled.
"She's talking to that Lauren girl, talking about how Bella's gotten plastic surgery, and how we look like we just got done rolling around in chalk dust."
I lifted a hand to touch my offended, marble skin. I hadn't even told her that I was the bride yet, and she was already spreading lies to half of Washington. What would she say when she got her invitation? That I was a gold digger. That I was pregnant. That my dad found out and was making me get married. Who knows the kind of things they'd be saying behind my back?
And who cares? A small part of me asked. You'll be gone in just a couple months. You'll never see them again and vice versa. There's no reason to get so worked up over people who don't even care about you.
And then there was another part of me that wanted to cry. So what, if I would never see them again? All the more reason to leave them with good thoughts of me. All the more reason to want to save my reputation while I could. It was more pride than anything, I suppose. I hated the idea that people could slander my name and ruin me just because I was marrying straight out of high school.
Ugh. Marrying.
"I got some other dresses while I was out there," Rosalie said, putting them on the half-empty rack. "I saw this one," She tapped the front one. "And thought you'd like it. It's simple, and it's not incredibly princess, so..." Shrugging, she let her words trail off.
"Sure," I murmured faintly. "I'll try it."
She pulled it out and undid the zipper, letting me step into it. "Blue jeans," she whispered in my ear.
I closed my eyes, imagining it was a school day and I was getting dressed. Edward would be outside my room, perhaps making sure I had my backpack and raincoat by the door. I imagined that the slinky fabric slipping over my thighs was denim, imagined that Alice was chattering in my ear that I should wear something that flatters my figure more. I pictured that, instead of Alice zipping the back up, that Edward was fixing my coat over my shoulders.
"Oh, Bella..." I heard Esme breathe, and my eyes fluttered open. Alice and Rosalie were beaming at me. The smaller of the two turned me around, so I was facing one of the mirrored walls. I had to admit: Rosalie had taste. This dress wasn't at all like the first one. It was an off-white color that normally I would have hated for a wedding dress, but with my snow-white skin, it looked good. There was a thick, silk ribbon across the strapless cleavage line, and another one around my waist.
"So..." Alice was bouncing again. "What do you think?"
"It's..." I paused, turning around and looking over my shoulder at the back. "Not bad. Much better than the other one. It's just..." I turned back around. "Missing something..."
"Oh, Carlisle," Esme murmured into the cell phone. "I wish you could see Bella right now. She looks so beautiful."
I bit my lip, turning this way and that in front of the mirror. The dress wasn't really horrible at all. It was just... plain, somehow. I listened as Alice and Rosalie argued about what they would do with my hair. Making sure they wouldn't see, I smoothed a hand over my stomach, feeling the smooth fabric beneath my fingers. Inspiration struck me.
"Alice?"
"Mmm-hmm?" She asked, stepping up next to me and looking at my reflection.
"You said that we're not looking for a specific dress, right? Just styles and stuff?"
"Yes, of course. Why? Are there changes you want to make, or something?"
"Yeah." I walked over to the rack and picked up the second dress that she had brought in. "I like this lace, and the dress seems plain." I unzipped the bag and pulled out one of the lacy sleeves. "Don't you think that it'd look good if we... I don't know..." Laying the sleeve over my stomach, I turned so she could see the combination. "Put them together?"
Alice's eyes widened, and then she looked up at Rose. "That looks so pretty!" Taking the other sleeve, she set it against my shoulder, comparing the shades. "What do you think, Rosalie?"
"I think Bella's a genius." She said, slinking down into one of the nearby chairs. "I wish I'd thought of it."
"Carlisle?" Esme suddenly asked, straightening. Her voice was alarmed. "Carlisle what's going on?"
At that exact same moment, Alice's expression was wiped blank, and her eyes widened. Her jaw dropped in a display of horror.
"Alice," Rosalie was on her feet in a blur, shaking her sister's arm. "Alice, what's wrong?"
The psychic's eyes turned to me, full of fear and shock. "The werewolves are attacking."
