EPOV

"Do you think it's a good idea?" Bella asked, pacing back and forth.

I leaned back against my desk, admiring her long legs as she strode around my office. Even though I tried to distract her by lifting her onto my desk and kissing her, Bella was too occupied with Alice and Jasper. She immediately jumped off and proceeded to what I thought. I began to realize that this was a serious concern of hers and I tried my best to appease her worries.

"For the hundredth time, yes, I think it's a good idea."

"But are you sure Jasper knows what he wants?"

"Jasper is one of the most decisive people I know. Besides it's not our choice, it's theirs."

Bella paused and took a deep breath, looking defeated. "I know." She walked over to my side.

I put my arm around her and rubbed her shoulder. "I get it. She's your best friend and you're concerned about her future."

"Jasper is great. Really, he's perfect for her, but isn't it too soon? They haven't know each other that long."

When Jasper had informed me of his intentions for marriage this morning, that was the first thought that crossed my mind. But the more he explained his love for Alice, the more I understood.

"You know, with love, I don't think the time that they've been together matters. What matters is how they make each other feel when they're together. Quality over quantity, right?" I said.

"But," Bella repeated, "how does he know that he wants to spend his whole life with her? They're still young."

"So?" I asked. "Marriage isn't about being tied down and missing out on experiences. It's about having experiences with your special someone."

I don't know why I was suddenly defended the idea of marriage since the idea had never appealed to me. But for some reason, I wanted to prove to Bella that marriage was possible for anyone as long as they were truly in love.

"I guess you're right...sorry it's just that my parents kinda ruined the whole getting-married-and-living-happily-ever-after thing."

"Oh. Right. The mom who goes to Vegas," I recalled.

Bella never really mentioned her parents after we built the tree houses and I didn't want to push her on the touchy subject. It seemed like she had a lot of depressing experiences that I didn't know about. But I wanted to know. I want to learn more about her, the good and the bad. I was very lucky to have Carlisle and Esme. Hell, I was even lucky to have that jackass of a brother, Emmett. Bella was an only child, all alone.

No. I'd make sure that she would never be alone again.

"I know my parents shouldn't influence my view on marriage, but they divorced when I was young. It kind of affected my whole life..." Bella's voice faded off.

I didn't know what to say because she had a point and I couldn't change her view on marriage.

It wasn't like I wanted to marry her someday...right?

"Bella, it's not like you're getting married. This is up to Alice and I can promise you that she'd be in great hands."

I desperately wanted to convince her that love would win in the end, but I couldn't. It'd be too suspicious, considering I didn't even know how I felt about her. I needed to figure that out first to avoid any heartbreak.

Standing in front of her, I pressed her back against my desk. Her hair was held back in a high ponytail so her creamy white neck was exposed to me. I placed my hands on her thighs and lifted her off on the desk where objects were pushed out of the way.

Bella tried to suppress her grin. "Whatcha doing?"

I placed soft kisses on her neck. "Trying to make my lovely lady feel better," I said. "Since I have only ten minutes, let's make the most of this."

Immediately she wrapped her legs around my waist, pulling me closer and driving me insane.

"Ten minutes until what?" She moaned out.

"Until I have to help plan a proposal."


Jasper entrusted me and Emmett to help him with the proposal and honestly, it was taking longer than it should have. Having Emmett also didn't really make things progress.

But after long consecutive meetings, Jasper finally picked a simple solution. He was going to propose to Alice at the museum where they first met. Which also happened to be where Bella and I first met. And made out hardcore against the wall.

I kind of wanted to do that again. No. It's Jasper's big day...but maybe Bella and I can sneak off for a while...

While I was fine with the basic proposal, Emmett, on the other hand was upset with how unoriginal it was.

"Like seriously dude," he began. "You only propose once-hopefully once-in your entire life, and you're not even gonna do all out with this thing?"

Jasper shrugged. "I figured simpleness would work best in this situation."

"Simpleness? With Alice? The girl who randomly makes sparkly tutus to wear? The girl who threw all your towels up on the roof while you were in the shower because you said you hated the color yellow?"

I chuckled at the memory of Jasper begging her to bring him a towel because it was getting too cold. She didn't until he admitted that he liked yellow. Bella can be pretty stubborn at times, but she was nothing compared to Alice.

"Okay yeah she can be a little insane, but I only love her more for that. Besides, Alice knows I like to keep things uncomplicated," Jasper replied.

"You mean boring," Emmett said.

"Emmett, I don't think you're in any position to plan a proposal," I interrupted. "You almost drunkenly married Rosalie in Vegas."

"Pssssssh! So? Just 'cause I had one dumbass moment doesn't mean I can't impress my woman."

"Actually, you've had a lot of dumbass moments," I pointed out.

"Whatever. Point is I can show Rosalie a good time."

"Like...?"

He clapped his hands together. "Like our first date! I told her take her on a date that unlike any other she'd ever been on and so I took her to a supermarket to watch the lobsters fighting in the lobster tank. And boom! Now we're married."

"That date wasn't a dumbass moment?"

"Nope," Emmett replied with a grin. "And afterwards, we went back to my place and-"

"That's enough," I cut him off. "Spare us the graphic details."

"As enlightening as that story was Em, I'm doing this my way," Jasper said.

"By taking her to the museum and asking her, I know. Real creative."

I suddenly thought about Bella and, if it was possible, how I'd propose to her. For a slight moment, I panicked, realizing how difficult it'd be to come up with a proposal worthy of her.

But I shook the thought off. That wouldn't be happening anytime soon. Plus, after her freak out about Alice and Jasper, and her parents' divorce, I was sure marriage was the last thing she wanted.

"Ah, but you didn't let me explain the whole plan. It's where the proposal takes place that matters," Jasper said cryptically. "If you guys remember correctly, after we tracked down Bella in the coffee shop, Alice saw the rest of the exhibit with me. And then something special happened."

Emmett and I both sat forward in our seats and said, "What?"

Jasper was never one to talk about his personal life, but whenever he did, it was always an interesting story.

"Well, the last thing we looked at was a maze behind the museum. It was a smaller replica of a Shakespearean maze in Verona, Italy."

"Shakespeare? That's not cliche at all," Emmett sarcastically commented.

I elbowed him in the ribs and in return, he flipped me off.

"Anyway, this maze had statues of Shakespeare's characters scattered around and apparently, there's one of Shakespeare himself right in the center. Tradition has it that if two people go through the maze from different entrances and meet in the middle at his statue, then they're meant to be together," Jasper elaborated.

Disbelief sweep over me. "You guys tried doing that, didn't you? And you guys actually-"

"-met in the middle. Yes, we did," he finished. "I'm taking her back to that maze to try it again and when we meet in the middle, I'll ask her to marry me."

"You mean if you meet in the middle," Emmett corrected.

"What if you guys don't?" I asked.

"My plan will be seriously fucked. But I'll still propose...it'll just be way less effective."

I had to admit, I admired Jasper. This plan was a huge risk, but he was willing to take it because he was confident of his love for Alice.

It made me wish I was confident of how I felt about Bella.


Jasper opted for a modest and subtle restaurant, so Alice wouldn't be suspicious of anything special. He invited the rest of our friends to join them. In order to keep his proposal secretive, only Emmett and I knew it was happening tonight. Bella and Rosalie thought it was just another normal dinner.

A waitress came up to our table to take our orders. Everyone else placed their orders and then it was Bella's turn.

"What would you like to eat, love?" I asked Bella.

Her eyes scanned the menu as she bit her bottom lip in concentration. This was a quirk of hers that I thoroughly enjoyed.

"I think I'm gonna go with the house special garden salad and raspberry vinaigrette."

The waitress quickly jotted that down and hurried off.

"I didn't know you were a salad girl," I said.

I quickly learned that was the wrong thing to say.

"You know, I hate it when guys are like oh you're not one of those girls that's orders a salad for dinner, are you? Like screw you, maybe I am! Maybe I just fucking love salads! Have you even tasted raspberry vinaigrette?" She ranted.

Everyone turned to stare at her and I couldn't hold back my chuckle. Bella was too adorable. Too precious for her own good. And whenever she was annoyed, she reminded me of an angry little kitten.

"I wasn't going to criticize your choice of meal. I was just gonna tell you what a good decision you made. And also raspberry vinaigrette is my favorite."

Our friends howled with laughter and a blushing Bella slid back lower into her seat.

"Sorry for off on you like that."

I grabbed her hand reassuringly. "You had issues with previous boyfriends, I know."

The rest of the dinner went like this: one of us making a joke and the rest laughing uncontrollably, a lot of PDA, Jasper growing increasingly nervous around Alice, and my infatuation with Bella only getting stronger.

She made me feel more like myself than I ever had before. I found it hard to take my eyes off her and now I finally understood what the saying "butterflies in your stomach" felt like.

And to be perfectly honest, I felt like I was in love.

As a matter of fact, I've felt like this a lot with Bella. The first time was the night I had to take her drunken self home. But after that, the feeling only grew grew. Usually, I would push those feelings away and deny them, but tonight...I just couldn't fight it and it terrified the shit out of me.

All of my life, I've worked hard on the road to success because I knew what I wanted and what my goals were. I was always sure of myself. But right now, I felt uncertain and vulnerable. Bella was too important to me and I couldn't mess this up.

Our relationship wasn't a blueprint; I couldn't just toss it and start from scratch. No, being with Bella meant I had to be cautious of every move I made.

Suddenly Jasper stands up, and gives Emmett and me a knowing look.

It was time.

"We're off," he said, meaning him and Alice and no one else.

"We are?" she asked, looking surprised. "But we haven't had dessert yet."

He smiled down at her. "I'm taking you somewhere special for dessert.

Alice looked satisfied enough. "Okay. I guess I'll see all of you guys later!"

You'll be seeing us sooner than you think.

Once they left the restaurant, Emmett flagged down our waitress and asked for the ticket.

"We're leaving already?" Rosalie asked with disappointment. This was one of those rare nights when they went out without the baby.

Emmett grinned. "Something much cooler is gonna happen."

I stood up and helped Bella to her feet. "Come on, we have to hurry."

She looked at me, searching for some answers. I kissed her head and said excitedly, "You'll see."


I drove all of us quickly to the museum and saw Jasper's car in the parking lot. They probably entered the maze by now.

"Everyone, we're gonna have to start running if we wanna make it in time," I hollered out.

Emmett led us to the back of the museum where we easily found the maze and multiple entrances. Emmett and I didn't plan out how we were gonna get to the middle, so I just hoped fate will take us the right way.

"Edward, why are we here again? And why are we rushing?" Bella asked, struggling to keep up.

I was too busy concentrating on the path to reply.

She looked at Rosalie. "Do you know what's going on?"

Rosalie shook her head, but broke into a fit of giggles. "I'm dying to know though!"

Emmett and I ran forward in a frenzy, hoping to catch Jasper and Alice before he popped the question. After a few minutes, I heard a yell and turned around to find only Emmett and Rosalie.

Bella was missing.

Oh no. Oh no. Oh fucking no.

"Bella! Where are you?!" I called out.

"Edward, I'm fine! I just fell...but I think I've lost you!" Her reply was a few feet away, but she was nowhere to be seen.

I turned to Rosalie and Emmett. "You guys go on ahead; we'll meet you in the middle."

"Bro, are you sure? This maze is like Satan's doing. It's impossible to figure out!" Emmett said.

"I'll be fine. I just have to find Bella first. We'll meet you there!"

He nodded and grabbed Rosalie's hand as they ran ahead. I turned back down the path and took a different way to find Bella.

I called out for her and she replied, so she wasn't far, but no matter where I went, I couldn't find her.

"Dammit! Bella, you have to meet me in the middle of the maze okay? There's a statue of William Shakespeare and that's where I'll be!"

"Okay Edward..." Her voice was filled with uncertainty, but I was more doubtful than she was.

She didn't know the story behind the maze and I was scared that we might not meet in the middle. Not because we were both lost, but I was scared that she might not be the one for me.

Even though I didn't believe in silly superstitions, I wanted to know if she was my soul mate. If we were meant to be.

And goddamn, I really hope we were.

After many twists and turns, there was still no sign of Bella or the center, only endless green hedges. Exhausted and nearly hopeless, I turned a right corner and abruptly entered a wide clearing.

Across this clearing, I could see other entrances scattered about. I walked slowly and stood facing the statue of a smiling Shakespeare, holding in a pen in one hand.

I couldn't believe it. I actually made it to the center, but no one else was here yet.

I sat down a bench and waited, reflecting on the emotional mess I had become.

The only thing I was certain of is that I wanted to be with Bella and I wanted her to be happy. Her happiness came before my own. I would do anything for her if she asked me to.

Then it was as if Cupid's arrow hit me. Well, actually it was as if I realized Cupid's arrow had been in my ass all this time.

I've been in love with Bella for the longest time now.

Love was wanting the best for someone, to wish the good of another person. I've felt that way towards Bella since the first day that we met. Right at this museum. I had to be by her side always, to watch for her and make sure that she knew that I love her.

I was in love with Isabella Swan.

I had to tell her. Immediately.

"Edward?" I whipped around to see my sweet Bella walking towards me.

She had found the center. She had found me.

I sprinted towards her and grabbed her little body in my arms, lifting her off the ground. Holding onto her tightly, I kissed her wherever my lips could touch.

"Bella, I'm so happy to see you."

"I'm happy to see you too, Edward! But it's only been a few minutes."

I shook my head. "You don't understand. There's so much I need to tell you."

She peered at me intensely. "Well what is it?"

"Bella, I've been a fool all this time, confused with what I want. But now, I've realized. I've realized that-"

"Yooooo love birds! Let go of each other and hide. Alice and Jasper should be here any minute now!" Emmett interrupted and suddenly, I wasn't feeling loving; I wanted to kill him for barging in on this moment.

But I had to admit he was right. Jasper was going to propose soon and I couldn't steal his spotlight.

The four of us quickly squatted down behind another bench, located on the far side of the clearing. This allowed us to see anyone without them seeing us.

And then it happened.

Jasper came sauntering into the clearing first. He was wringing his hands and nervously paced back and forth, waiting for Alice. A minute later, on the opposite side, we spot Alice prancing in, oblivious to what was going to happen. She ran over to Jasper and jumped into his arms, but then he pulled back too soon for her liking.

"Wait for it," Emmett said.

Rosalie gasped, finally understanding. "No way!"

"Yes way!" he replied.

Bella still looked puzzled until Jasper pulled a small box of out of his pocket and got down on one knee.

Alice's petite body lit up with love and surprise and happiness as she yells out a "Yes!"

He stands back up. They hug. They kiss. Long, hard, and deeply.

We all stand up from our hiding spot and clap and cheer and whistle for them.

Jasper waved at us with the biggest smile on his face, as if he knew we were hiding here all along.

Emmett and Rosalie are hugging each other and they're jumping up and down.

Then Emmett slapped me on the back and said, "At first, I really hated his proposal plan. But now I see how awesome it is! I think I might cry."

I chuckled and pulled Bella closer to me. Something shiny was glistening on her cheek and I noticed that she was crying.

Worried, I asked her, "Are you okay, Bella?"

"I'm just...so happy for her. Alice is practically my sister and now that she's happy, I'm glad for her. She has someone who loves her unconditionally."

At those words, my heart ached.

Bella, I love you unconditionally. I wanted to tell her that, but now wasn't the right time.

"You must really love her, huh?" I whispered.

"I want the best for her, so yes, I do. That's what love is."

My head was spinning. She was echoing my earlier thoughts. She would understand exactly why I was madly in love with her.


All of us found our way out of that crazy maze together and after a very long interrogation between everyone, we went our separate ways.

However, I asked Bella to go through the museum again with me.

"I want to take a walk down memory lane," I told her and winked. Blushing at my remark, she nodded and placed her hand in mine.

"Do you remember the art piece you were looking at when I approached you?" I asked.

"Actually, yes I do. "The Kiss" by Auguste Rodin. How ironic, huh?"

By now, we were standing in front of it. It looked the same as always, but now, there was much more meaning behind it.

"And do you remember what pick up line I said?"

Bella scrunched her nose up. "Ummm...something about me being a masterpiece."

I rolled my eyes. "That pick up line was genius and you can't even remember?"

"If it was so genius, then hit me with another one," she teased.

I smirked and leaned down to whisper into her ear huskily. "Are you a piece of art because I'd like to nail you up against the wall."

Her breathing hitched and her face turned red. I stood back up, satisfied with her reaction.

Arching an eyebrow, I said, "Well? Not too bad?"

"You're too sexy for your own good," she groaned.

"But you loooooove it!"

"Unfortunately, I do," she deadpanned.

An idea instantly struck me. Just like she did to me so many weeks before, I abruptly grabbed the front of her shirt and kissed her deeply. This time, neither one of us hesitated. We held onto each other tightly as our tongues mingled with each other's. I could never get tired of her sweet taste.

It was difficult to even fathom that once, we had kissed right here as strangers and now, Bella meant the world to me.

I pulled away and held her face gently, so she had to look at me.

"Bella..." I said softly. "I can't fight my feelings anymore. I need to tell you that I-"

But once again, someone interrupted my confession.

"Why Edward Cullen, is that you?"

We both turned to face an unwanted person from my past.


Have some virtual hugs for reading this chapter! Hope you guys liked it and please review.

-Alexis