Thanks guys. Here you go. The next chapter is the wedding. I think.. yeah.. probably... maybe some planning and a cliffe. hehe you guys love me though, right?

ALSO: THE 100TH REVIEWER WILL GET A SNEAK PEEK OF THE NEXT CHAPTER before I put it up. I will give you some heads up, so to speak. I hope you guys like this chapter.

Story: The Betrothal

Author: Twilight51545888

Full Summary: Edward and Bella have been friends for as long as they can remember, always being there for each other. Bella and Edward's families pretty much rule the corporate business as far as anyone is concerned. The Swan and Cullen Corporations are two of the richest, most powerful companies in America, with plans to go global.
After an accident takes Bella's Father away, her family reads his will. Stated in it is that Bella is to marry her Father's best friend's son, Jacob Black. Jacob's Father, Billy, is the owner of a large company that is already completely global. If Bella were to marry Jacob, they could be the most powerful business in the world. Everyone but Bella is thrilled about the engagement. The only way out is if she is engaged to and marries the man of her dreams, and stays with him for a year and a half. But there is a catch to that... she must bare an heir within that time, or she is to marry Jacob immediately.
How will her best friend help her? And will secret feelings stay hidden, or be revealed? OOC AU Edward and Bella.

Ages:

Bella: 18
Edward: 21
Alice: 20
Jasper: 20
Jacob: 25
Emmett: 25
Rosalie: 23

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from Twilight, nor do I own the rights to any of the songs I may use later on.

(C)hapter (T)en: (A) (F)lashback (A)nd (F)irst (K)iss

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I heard her gasp at what I had just said. "Wait... What?" I shook my head sorrowfully.

"When I heard about what my Father wanted me to do, I couldn't believe it... I'm so sorry, Bella." I saw her look down at her lap, and her shoulders shake; she was trying not to cry. I knew Bella all too well.

"Tell me... Tell me more..." her voice shook, though she was trying to keep it from doing that exact thing.

"Bella, my Father thought that it would always be a good thing for us to get married. He, of course, wanted the money and thought nothing about what I wanted. Or even what you would have wanted for that matter. Growing up, he said that he would watch the two of us and thought we should be together. He was able to convince Charlie of this, as well." I could tell by this point that this whole thing was hard on her. Especially now that I was going to be mentioning her Father.

"I want to hear it. Don't spare me anything just because it has to do with my Father. I want to hear it. All of it..." she seemed so confident at first, but two things told me that she truely wasn't wanting to hear what I had to say. For one, her voice never stopped shaking when she spoke. And for another, she hadn't even brought her head up to meet my eyes.

"If that's what you want, then I can tell you everything. Until my Father comes in, that is," I grinned sheepishly. I could hear some air escape her, from her nose. It was a small laugh she did that was very slight. Her smile turned into a grin when she finally said,

"Well? Tell me about this... engagement."

I took a deep breath, and started my story.

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I hated the smell of this place as much as the next person, but I had to 'grin and bare it' so to speak. No one wanted to hear any complaints now, especially when there was only good news that they were willing to hear. I stood up next to my Father and followed him out of the room. I looked back at Bella, sweet Bella, and couldn't help but to glare at the man holding her. She was snuggled up in Edward's arms, crying. Well, since she was crying I don't think that she was 'snuggled', but you get it.

As I turned the corner out of the room, I looked to my Father, who wasn't saying a word to me. My hands shook as we walked down the hall and to room 483; Charlie's room. My Father turned to face me when we arrived at the door expectantly. I let out a breath I didn't realize I had been holding, and opened the door, walking into the private room Charlie had gotten. Carlisle had made sure that all of Charlie's needs would be met in any way, manner or form.

"Hello there, Charlie," My Father greeted gleefully. I couldn't believe that he was smiling at a time like this. How could he?

Nonetheless, Charlie's typical smile eventually broke through as he raised a weak hand up in the air.

"Hey there... Billy..." he had to take a breath between, but we could still understand what he was saying perfectly. The heart attack seemed to have done a number on his spirit, as well as his body.

I watched from the door, which was now closed behind me, as my Father walked up to Charlie's bedside. He looked at his old friend, and said rather softly, "How are you feeling? Is there anything I can get for you?" That brought back Charlie's smile.

"No, I think I'm just fine. Now, you two know why you are in here, right?" So he had noticed I was here too. Charlie looked from my Father to me and then back. I watched as Billy nodded his head. I started to walk over to them both and took out a piece of paper from my jacket pocket. Before I had gotten to them, I grabbed Charlie's chart that was at the foot of the bed, and used it for a writing space. Of course I wasn't writing on it, but i needed a hard surface. This was all just so surreal.

"Charlie," my Father started, "do you think that you can write? Or do you want me and Jacob to do it for you? And you just tell us what to put in it?"

"You two do it," he whispered slowly. He then looked down at his old, worn, shaking hands as he said this. I could have sworn that I heard his heart rate go up ever so slightly, but I didn't think anything about it. Maybe it was just that this whole situation was finally dawning on him after all.

"Ok, then," I grabbed a pen from my jacket pocket, and clicked it out. I looked to Charlie and nodded my head. "Go ahead, Charlie. Take your time, too. I don't want you to think that you are rushed. Think everything through before you say it. I mean, this is going to be your whole life on a piece of paper."

He was about to begin when Carlisle walked in.

"I'm sorry for intruding, but I must check the vitals one last time." We just nodded and watched as he walked over to the foot of the bed, and then looked at it blankly, then he looked up at the three of us. "Do you guys know where his chart is..?" He asked quietly, but then his eyes landed on my hands. I tried not to laugh at the expression he gave me, and handed him the clip board. He was always a very Fatherly person, and would never make you feel uncomfortable on purpose.

"Well," he said finally, "everything seems OK for now. He is stable at least." He handed me the board back, finishing with, "And here's the clip board for... what ever the hell you were using it for..." I couldn't help the laugh that time. I turned back to Charlie once Carlisle had left.

"Begin, whenever you are ready."

I wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote, never really looking up at Charlie after I started. The first reason of course was because he had already thought about everything that he wanted to have left to his daughters; his wife. And the other reason why I couldn't look up at him was because I knew that if I did, then I might just break down. Yes, I am a man. But I still felt for him. For Bella.

He finished up with what was happening with Alice, and then he stopped. When realization dawned on me that he had stopped talking, my head snapped up to look at him. I don't know. I guess that maybe I thought he was dead, or that he just needed a minute. But in reality, it was my Father's hand on his shoulder that caused him to stop and look towards Billy.

"Charlie, I don't think that we can wait until she is nineteen. She is already an adult, so why not?" I looked at my Father confused. But my confusion only grew when they both looked at me, like there was something I was supposed to be in on but I really had no clue about. I hated moments like these...

"What?" I asked with a shrug.

"Jacob, we could tell by watching the two of you over the years that you and Bella have always had this... connection..." Charlie started "Billy here was actually the one that pointed it out to me a couple years back. I couldn't believe it but then as I watched you two grow up... I just knew that you were ment for each other."

His smile was large as he looked off, almost as if in space, as he thought about the memories that were obviously in his head. I could tell that he was getting some energy back, as he didn't need to pause as much when he spoke to us. Maybe the drugs were finally kicking in.

"So... what are you getting at?" I looked to my Father.

"We think that you and Bella should get married, son," he finished, looking from his best friend to me. I was shocked at what he had just said.. And part of the shock was the fact that he was smiling as he said this. Smiling! I can understand the happiness that he felt when he thought about his only son, only child, getting married, but Charlie was lying in front of us... And if we didn't lie to ourselves, we would have known that it was his death bed.

I just sat there for a moment, taking in this information. Me... and Bella? That didn't even sound right. Let alone when you thought about it more. Isabella Marie... Black? Bella Black. hmm...

"Bella and I aren't like that..." I looked back and forth between them before settling on Charlie. "Look, Bella doesn't like me in that way, and if you say that she has to marry me then you might just be taking away her future. Don't you get that?"

"But how do you feel about her, son?" I heard my Father ask, but I was more focused on Charlie, who at the moment seemed in thought. My Father was about to say something else, when Charlie interrupted him.

"I can see your point there, Jacob," I held back the sigh of gratitude and relief. "And I also think that this is what she wants. Perhaps i can make another way.. A loop hole, if you will."

"Yes, I think that that would be the best thing to do," I smiled at him.

We sat there contemplating the wording of the will's ending part for I don't know how long, and we finally got it right. My Father was quiet the whole time, so that really ticked me off. But I didn't care. I could talk to him at any time, but I needed to speak with Charlie.

Finally we got the thing done, and even had it rewritten to make sure that there were no mistakes on it. He wanted there to be every possible way for his children to be happy, and we respected that.

But I was still confused about the whole thing...

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"And then what happen?" Bella snapped me out of my little word of story telling. I hadn't even noticed that i had stopped until she said something. I was thinking about it as a whole, something we have always been taught to do, and I didn't even remember that she was in the room. As I told the story, it got easier and easier to say.

"Oh... Well, we were walking back out to where you all were, and I got around to asking my dad why he seemed so up for the engagement. He said that we would get richer; more powerful. We would become the richest country, what with that fact of Swan and Black are both going international."

"But it would be the Swan and Black's Corporations... Right?"

I sighed. "That's what I thought as well, but apparently Billy had other plans. He straight out told me that if the wedding didn't work out... We would get a divorce. Because your family's company is so much larger than ours, I would get the Black Corporation back, and then part of the Swan Corporation as well..." I heard her gasp, her hand going to her small mouth and covering it. "You would have lost a lot of all the things your Father worked for, and I could have fought for even more of it, because of how much bigger your family's company is than ours... Bella I'm so sorry."

It took her a moment, She was processing this new information and starting to breathe correctly. She had removed the hand from her mouth. I looked down at my hands, which now resided in my lap. I was ashamed of my Father, and what he wanted me to do. If Bella didn't want me to talk to her any more, I wouldn't be able to blame her not one bit. There was a moment of silence, before i felt her hand on my shoulder. I still hadn't looked up.

"Jacob..." she said slowly, "will you walk me down the aisle at my wedding?"

My head snapped up and I looked into her eyes.

Bella P.O.V.

I giggled at Jacob's reaction. "Of course, Jake." I took his large hand in my small one. "I don't think that this was your fault at all. Trust me... I know what it's like to think that you have to do what your Father tells you to do... I love you Jacob, but only as a brother."

He looked like he had tears in his eyes at my words, but I didn't have time to check before he pulled me in for a hug. I laughed again, only this time letting my own tears fall. I didn't even know that they were there to begin with.

"Jacob, I--" That was all the more i was able to get out of my mouth before I heard my Mother calling from down stairs. I sighed. She had called me Isabella. "I think that we should head back down, now." He pulled away and quickly brushed at his face. Yeah. He cried. He stood up, and we walked down the stairs, hand in hand.

When we were at the bottom, I was met with my Mother and Jacob's Father. They both looked to us, then our intertwined hands. And then in mere moments their smiles were blinding.

"Ah, Bella. I see that you and Jacob have--"

"Done nothing." I was surprised that the words left my mouth, but I wasn't about to stop them. "Mom, I am moving out. This is getting just plain out ridiculous, and," I untwined my hand from Jacob's and instead placed it on his shoulder, "I hope that you come to my wedding. Mine and Edward's wedding."

"But, Bella, really, do you think that--"

"It is what Charlie would have wanted, and I know for a fact that i am doing the right thing!" I didn't want to raise my voice to my Mother, but I really did have no choice here. 'I love you mom, and you will be getting an invitation in the mail," I said.

"Jacob Black, what are you doing?" Billy finally intervened. I looked over at Jacob, and surprisingly I wasn't even worrying about his reaction.

"I make up my mind. You can kick me out of your will if you want to, but I won't be writen into someone else's, just because of my Father." I smiled when Billy's jaw hung low, and he looked star struck toward Jacob. I started to walk towards the door. I could easily tell that Jacob was following as well. I called over my shoulder, "I'll send for my things."

I heard what sounded like my Mother trying to talk, but it only came out in short little sputters. She was officially at a loss for words. I grinned as the butler opened the door for me. Me and Jacob walked out of there, two free individuals.

And for once in my life, I realized something.

I was happy.

Edward P.O.V.

I sat there and couldn't help myself as my leg bounced up and down. I was nervous. What can I say? Was I stupid for telling Bella to go ahead and talk to her Mother? She hadn't replied to me for a while, and I was worried. You never knew with Renee. Well, this new Renee. I thought that I would never be able to talk to Renee like a second Mother ever again. She was once someone that i would love to talk to, stay up late discussing various subjects, but I could hardly remember those memories anymore.

What I was surprised about the most was the fact that Alice and Rosalie were over here. I could only understand parts, bits and pieces of what they were saying when they tried to explain it to me. Apparently, Bella and her Mother were in a small argument, and then the Blacks came over. What with their Mother being distracted, they packed two suit cases and headed on over here.

Of course though, my parents accepted them here with open arms, and we told them to stay as long as they wanted. They were crying when they arrived and I was the only boy that didn't stay behind to see if they were actually alright or not. I figured that they would be. Last I heard though, Rosalie and Emmett were going out to the parking garage to work on their cars. Out of everything, that was the one thing that could always get Rose to smile again. Working on cars. You wouldn't think so, what with the blonde hair and all.

As I sat there, looking out my window, I was thinking about Bella. Was she OK? Was she on her way? Was it a mistake to tell her that she needed to stand up to Renee? I started panicking ever so slightly. It wasn't that she couldn't take care of herself, it was just that the thought of Bella, my Bella, getting hurt...

Just as I thought that, I saw a very familiar red porche pull up. Bella only used her porche once in a while, so I was surprised to see it at all, really. I could see a driver, definitely, but couldn't recognize the person. It had to be Bella though... And there was also someone in the passenger seat as well. That was a little disconcerting, if you ask me. So... did that mean that everything was ay-OK? Or that she just ran away for a while? I could never tell.

I didn't even wait to see her get out of the car. I just ran from my window, to my door and out down the hall. I ran fast, not knowing my own speed. I ran down the stairs and then through the front room, past my very confused Father. He didn't even try to stop me, but I could feel his eyes on the back of my head as I ran.

Once I was out the door, I ran along the brick pathway and towards the garage. I ran and ran and then I saw Bella... my Bella... stepping out of the cars to give Laurent the keys. She smiled at him, and once I was a good ten yards away, I stopped running. I was only walking towards them at this point.

Then I saw Jacob get out of the car. He apparently noticed me as well and surprisingly smiled my way. I returned the smile with one of my own and a nod. He merely closed the door and went over to Bella's side. He was the one that had to point out to her that I was here in the first place. Once she saw me though, her smile got even wider and she ran the remaining feet towards me. I caught her in my open arms and twirled her around and around.

I pulled back far enough, and before either of us knew it, I held her close and was kissing her for all it was worth.

"I knew it!"

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Thank you for the reviews, and I hope that you don't mind the poll. I want you guys to review and of course vote on the poll. I will be alternating which poll I put up by the day... Well, I don't know. Definitely by the day, but I might just randomly change which one it is whenever I want to.

Remember, the poll is going to have questions for Should there be a sequel RIGHT after Bella and Edward get married and also for the wedding theme. I hope you all vote, and I can't wait to see what the results are.