A/N: Yay! I added in my extra bit, and I'm not telling you what it is cause someone will probably burst my bubble and tell me it wasn't really necessary afterall, so my lips are sealed. I have a few original scenes in here, so forgive me if they seem a little odd. It's early and wrote this in like half an hour...

Oh yeah, and I wanted to say I somewhat overuse the Jane Austen books and Wuthering Heights in my chapters, but whenever I picture Bella, I see her reading, and I can't really think of any other books she would be reading.

Done appologizing/ranting. Read on.

Chapter 10

I sat next to Bella's bedside every day for the rest of the week, while she slowly got better and better. The doctor was right; she would be fine, or as fine as she could be. We just had to take our time.

I was reading to her from her favorite book, Wuthering Heights, one day, when she tugged at my hand.

"You know what I just realized?" She asked, her brown eyes alight with excitement.

"What?" I asked, unable to control the grin that spread across my face.

"Maybe God has a bigger plan for me than I had for myself," she said pensively. "Like, maybe you were sent to me because I'm sick." Her smile told me there was something more, so I waited to hear the rest. "You're my angel," she said, as her whole face lit up in a brilliant grin.

I didn't need to tell her that she had it backwards. She was my angel. This was the moment I had been waiting for.

"Bella," I whispered, afraid my voice would give away my excitement. "Do you love me?" She stared at me, not needing to say yes. "Then, will you do something for me?"

She smiled. "Anything."

"Will you marry me?"

She stared at me, then said, "Okay. What's the punch line?"

I sighed. "Bella, you're wounding my ego. I just proposed to you and you think it's a joke."

"Edward, please be serious!"

"I am one hundred percent serious." There wasn't a trace of humor in my face.

"Oh, c'mon… I'm not even eighteen!" she said almost hysterically.

"You said anything!"

"I'm sorry, I should have been more specific." She stared at me plainly, forcing me to pull out all the stops and dazzle her.

"Bella, I love you, and I want to be able to say you're mine. Is it so selfish for me to want to spend every last minute of your life with you and only you?"

"No! I am yours, always and forever! But marriage…" she trailed off almost in disgust at the idea.

I leaned forward, locking my green eyes on hers. "Please, Bella?" I breathed. "I love you, as long as we both shall live, and I want to keep you for all eternity. Could you tell me why you don't want to be my wife?"

Her cheeks turned red as she contemplated my question. "You'll laugh," she whispered.

"No I will not," I assured her, then held my breath for the answer.

"Fine! Well, it's just so… embarrassing! I mean, I'm just not that girl, the kind who gets married right out of high school. I wouldn't marry Jacob either, don't feel like it's just you."

"You don't love Jacob like you love me," I pointed out.

"That's true…" she murmured, her gaze lost in thought. "But what would Rene say? Or Charlie?"

I frowned. This definitely wasn't going the way I planned. "I don't care what they think, I care what you think, Bella! Can't you try to see my point of view? You're the only girl who will ever make me feel this way, and I'm serious about spending the rest of our lives together!"

I begged, and I pleaded, but she was still shaking her head no. "I love you Edward, more than anything, but I'm not getting married." She turned back to the book she was reading, ignoring the pain on my face.

So perhaps Jacob Black and I weren't so different after all.

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Three days later, I walked into the hospital bright and early to meet Bella once again, but stopped suddenly when I got to her door.

Through the glass window on the heavy hospital door, I could see Jacob Black lounging on the end of Bella's bed, Bella's face lit up with happiness. She was laughing, as was he, about something I couldn't hear from my side of the door. Immediately my mind started thinking defensively. When did he arrive, how long had they been together, how could I get Bella back for myself without startling her, would I have an excuse to punch him before he left…

But one thing stopped me from any sudden reactions, and that was Bella's brilliant smile. She really was happy with him. Maybe that was the reason she wouldn't marry me…

Bella saw me through the glass window and her expression changed infinitesimally. She said something of caution, I assumed, to Jacob and then waved me in.

I entered the room on guard, immediately aware of the husky laugh coming from the young native American boy perched closer to my girlfriend than was to my liking.

"Good Morning," Bella said cheerfully, her brown eyes smiling as much as her mouth was when she saw me.

Jacob coughed. "Uh, morning, Masen…" he said quietly, avoiding my instinctive glare.

"Morning to both of you," I said carefully. "What have you been up to, so early?"

"Oh, Jacob just came over for breakfast. I hadn't seen him in a while, so he stuck out of La Push for a day."

"That's… nice," I commented awkwardly.

Bella's eyes were moving apprehensively between Jacob and I, as if she could feel the tension like fog in the room.

Jacob coughed again, clearly nervous. "Actually, Masen, I was kind of hoping we could talk about something…" He looked at me for the first time, and I saw that his eyes were full several emotions that I had been feeling myself: Anger, jealousy, and hurt. This was one conversation I was not going to miss.

We stepped out into the hallway, and Jacob began walking towards the cafeteria, so I followed him.

"Alright," I said without any finesse. "What's the deal? What do you want to talk about?"

"Bella, of course," Jacob said as he pulled out a tray and started through the cafeteria line, grabbing more food than I would eat in a whole day, rather than just one meal. How he kept him purely muscular figure was beyond me. "I heard that you asked her a very important question the other day."

"What? Who told you?" I asked, shocked.

"Calm down, Charlie told me. He heard it from Bella. He's rooting for you, you know."

"Wait, I don't understand," I said shaking my head, "Why are we talking about this?"

Jacob sat down at one of the cafeteria tables and sighed. "Because… I want to help you convince her to say yes."

My draw dropped open in shock. "W-wha-what-"

"Yeah, I known, it's a little unprecedented," Jacob said with enough incredulity, it seemed like even he couldn't believe those words had come out of his own mouth.

"Why?" I asked suspiciously after a minute of strange silence between us.

Jacob groaned. "You know, sometimes I don't even know, because really all I want to do is tear your arm out of its socket, but when I look at Bella, it seems like its something I have to do. I love her, you know? I mean, I would have done everything you're doing to make her happy, but she wouldn't have it. She never felt that way about me, I know it."

"You're not the right one for her," I said a little selfishly.

"Really?" Jacob barked. "How so? What makes you the right one? What can you do for her that I can't?"

I looked at him will all sense of seriousness and answered, "I will love her until the day I die. She is the love of my life, one that no one will ever replace, and after she's gone from this earth she will forever exist in my heart. Now, you can't promise me or her that you could love like that. Someday you'll find your own match, the right person for you alone, and you'll understand."

He let out a stream of low breath, staring at the table. "Wow… I guess that is something."

"So, you said you were going to help me?" I asked tentatively after another minute.

He grinned. "Actually, I already have. This morning, I told her I was dropping out of the race. I can deal with cloud cover, but I've been eclipsed, and I'm man enough to admit it."

"Okay, but how is that going to help me? She could still say no."

Jacob looked at me, sizing me up. "I think you'll figure something out. In fact, I'm sure you will."

******************************************************************************************

I walked back to Bella's room, contemplating everything Jacob had told me, and thinking about how much I loved Bella. My thoughts seemed scattered walking down the hall, but as soon as I saw her face, there was only clarity. I didn't say a word, I just kissed her and sat down beside the bed.

"Jacob and I talked," I said quietly, mentally slapping myself over the head for stating the obvious.

"I figured," Bella grinned. "And your conclusion is?"

I laughed. "He's a more decent guy than I'd like to admit. And he smells like a dog."

Bella laughed along with me. "Brutally honest, as always."

I decided to take a more serious approach. "But he did tell me what he told you, before."

Bella flinched appropriately. "Whoa now, that doesn't change anything! This doesn't mean I'm saying yes-"

"I know that! Trust me, I know. But, I really just wanted to point something out. I know you don't think you're "that girl" who gets married at eighteen, but really, what about our relationship has been conventional? I know you're mature beyond your years, and we may not have many years left. I just want to spend all those years with you. I love you more than I love myself, and I will love you until the last of my breaths passes through my lips. I can't live without you."

Bella looked like a deer in the headlights. "But what about Jacob-"

"He wants to be your best man," I laughed. "He wants this for you too."

Bella glared at me. "My parents-"

I grinned. "I talked to them both, they're very supportive."

She gasped, clearly not expecting this. That's when I pulled out the ring.

It was my mother's ring, the one Carlisle gave her when they got engaged. It was old fashioned, the face a wide oval, set with rows of glittering round stones, a gold band, delicate and narrow, that snaked its way around the diamonds. Her eyes grew wide, and glimmered with what I hoped were tears of joy.

"It's so pretty," she whispered, unthinkingly reaching out to stroke the gems.

"Do you like it?"

"It's beautiful," she said, looking up into my eyes that were searching for hers.

I took a deep breathe, and got down on one knee, ready to ask the question, and to do it right. "Isabella Swan, I promise to love you forever, every single day. Will you marry me?" I looked into her chocolate brown eyes, seeing the fear, but also some new resolve. "Be nice," I muttered.

She just gazed at me and whispered, "Yes."

******************************************************************************************

To my surprise, when I announced our engagement my friends, Alice was not surprised, not the least bit. In fact, she had already started putting in orders for what she deemed necessary for a wedding.

"You what?" Were the first words that came out of my mouth when she told me what she had already done.

"I set a date at the church where your parents got married! Honestly Edward, there's like a three month wait list, at least, and considering how much time you guys have… just don't act so offended, I'm doing you a favor!"

I was still stunned. "Alice, how could you possibly have known-"

"Please, Edward!" she scoffed. "I know you, you are totally that boy, the one who finds his true love and gets down on one knee the first chance he gets. And let's face it, Bella's the one. For you, I mean. Which makes it such a shame…" she trailed off, but within seconds her perky mood had returned. "Well, now's not the time to dwell on unhappy things! We have plans to make!" She pulled a large binder out of no where that appeared to be filled with wedding plans that I had never even imagined her capable of amassing.

"Alice! Aren't you forgetting something?" I asked pointedly.

"No!" she laughed. "What on Earth could I be forgetting? Have you seen what's in this binder? Trust me, Edward, I have everything covered."

"I was referring to asking Bella for permission, of course," I said plainly.

"Oh, c'mon! She will be thanking me by the time this is over!" Alice laughed. "Do I really have to ask permission?"

Rather than answering her, I simply pointed to Bella's hospital door. Alice tried to soften me with her pleading hazel eyes, but I didn't budge. Finally, with a huff, she entered Bella's room, smile at the ready.

Ten minutes later, Alice returned, looking smug, and holding her precious binder close to her chest.

"It's all taken care of," she said smartly. "You do not need to worry about a thing, Edward Masen, I have this whole wedding under control. You will thank me for years and years to come."

I tried not to seem to happy as she walked by me and headed out of the hospital, but I was secretly pleased that I could spend all the more time with Bella.

I walked quietly into her room to see her perched happily in her bed, reading one of her Jane Austen novels.

"Which one is it this time?" I asked.

She grinned when she looked up at me. "Sense and Sensibility. My favorite character is in it, after all."

"Hmm… Mr. Ferras, was it?" I asked, trying to remember the hero's name.

"Edward Ferras, to be exact."

"So," I said, bringing up the subject that was on my mind. "How did Alice convince you? I thought for sure you would want the Vegas/drive through wedding."

She closed her book and set it in her lap, looking pensive. "Well, first she pointed out that it would make my family very happy, and you too-"

"What makes me happy is for you to be happy. I would get married in sweatpants if it was what you wanted."

She laughed but continued. "I know that, but then she showed me a picture of my dress-"

"What? She already had one picked out? I don't know how she plans these things…"

Bella and I sat together quietly for a minute when I finally said, "So this is what you want? You're not just trying to make Alice happy?"

Bella smiled so wide I could see all her teeth and her eyes looked like they were grinning as well. "This is exactly what I want. I couldn't ask for more."

Next up, the wedding! Yay! Now, I really think there's only two chapters left, so get your reviews in while you can!

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