A/N: Welcome back lovelies! So excited to be updating so soon, I was so happy to receive all those reviews last chapter. You guys are so awesome but I love how some of you guys had questions and doubts so I will be answering some of your concerns down below. I hope you guys enjoy the chapter, as I said on my last author note, SNEAK PEEKS for the next chapter will be given to those who review this chapter and will be sent to you via a PM. as always thanks for all the support and understanding over my update schedule you guys rock.
As always huge thank you to those who reviewed last chapter: Alwaysaromantic4eva, Tayjj44, Sherylb, guest, fresh-Blood-was-drawn-2night, Ms simmons, Bellh, Guest, dimondeyes323 and 56520ma. You guys rock thanks for reviewing.
QUESTIONS WILL BE ANSWERED ON A/N at the bottom!
excuse mistakes they're all mine - I am human. .
Anyways without further ado. . .
Disclaimer: SM owns the characters I just give them and alternative world.
B POV
*Wednesday*
"I want to do it" he turned around surprise staring back at me for a few minutes before walking over and taking my right hand in his and guiding it to his lips giving it a light kiss. "Okay" with those words my future would change. . . hopefully not too much.
"So where do we go from here?" I asked Edward, we were currently awkwardly standing in the middle of his room not knowing how to proceed after my very brave acceptance. "Well I guess we have to figure everything out. . . I mean there is one thing we did not take into account-" he left the sentence hanging, I stood there confused trying to figure out what he was talking about.
"Okay and what is that?" he looked at me like I had missed the point. "Bella we can fool your family and the media, but what about my family, what are we going to tell them?" that's when it dawned on me, what exactly am I getting myself into, or should I say we.
"Oh right. . ." I looked down to my hands thinking how this was already backfiring on us and we hadn't even began the charade. I looked up to see Edward staring at me intently as if he was trying to figure me out, after a few more minutes he realized I was staring back at him and he gave me a small smile. "Okay I think I got it, it'll be crazy and trust me it will not sit well with them but we'll deal with them in due time" he explained, I nodded hoping that whatever plan he had was right.
"How about we take a stroll by the beach and discuss this more in depth, let's make a plan and I guess get to know each other better" he suggested taking my hand and guiding us out the door, his hand felt nice in mine it was warm and soft, we fit perfectly. Get your mind out of the clouds Bella, this is all a charade, the last thing you need is to catch feelings.
We were almost out the back door when Esme and Carlisle spotted us from the kitchen, they looked up and waved. "Hey what are you guys doing?" Carlisle asked as they both walked over to us, I didn't miss them looking down at our intertwined hands and giving each other a knowing look which made me swallow nervously. Edward on the other hand let go off my hand giving each a hug playing it off cool.
"Oh just Bella and I were about to go take a nice stroll by the beach" he said calmly, I could see a knowing look on Esme's face which only made the traitor blush creep up. "Oh do you mind if we join? Esme and I would really enjoy some time by the beach-" carlisle began but Edward interrupted him.
"Sorry dad, we were kind of hoping for some alone time. . ." he said letting the words hang in the air, great now his parents would probably get the wrong idea. My face grew hot as I saw Carlisle's face dawn with understanding while Esme stood there studying us her eyes jumping from Edward to me.
"Don't worry honey it's fine, y'all go out and enjoy the beach" she finally said smiling warmly at both of us. "Thank you Esme, we will see you later" I whispered, she winked at me approvingly which only made me blush deeper. I could sense Edward growing awkward so he quickly pulled me out of there and into the warm outdoors.
"Sorry about that, I wasn't too subtle about it-" I shook my head at him. "No it's fine, I guess we have to make it as obvious as possible right. . ." he smiled. We walked side by side quietly for about five minutes before we finally decided to take a seat by the shore. It looked so peaceful out here, it was beautiful.
"So I guess let's begin. . . Alice told me that you said three months for the wedding, which would put us for a June wedding. And then Alice said that we will be meeting your family at our get together in six weeks, which is the last weekend of April" he said looking down at the calendar in his phone, I sat there staring at him surprised that he knew all of this.
"Yes that's right, so how long are we going to keep this up? I mean we can't actually get married-" he looked up surprised but soon was replaced with understanding. "Right, let's not think about that right now, we can always say we rushed into things and cancel the wedding or just whatever, we will make something up when the time comes" I sighed.
I knew in the end I would somehow end up looking bad in front of my family, I'd be the girl who was engaged and broke it. . . what did you? expect to actually get married for real. . .no of course not, I mean it's not like I want to actually get married. Actually Marriage hadn't crossed my mind until I went to Forks. . . ugh!
"Okay so we all fly out on Sunday, you to New York and I to Chicago. . . which means we have to break the news to my family soon, we have three days to get it done, I think it's best if we do it Saturday night" he explained while I sat nodding at his words like I understood but really was just trying to figure everything out. "What do you think they're going to say?" I asked worried, he sighed shrugging.
"I have no clue Bella, but I do know they'll flip shit" I couldn't help but giggle at his words. "Okay we will get that done Saturday night, what about the rest?" I asked, he ran his hand through his hair frustrated as he thought. "Well we have to go public, I'm not due for New York for another two weeks, which means that I'll have to fly you out to Chicago next week end so we can do an interview and go public" I swallowed at his words, I know he had warned me about this but I couldn't help the nerves that were beginning to form.
"Do we have to go public?" I whisper, he looked over at me giving me a small smile. "No we don't have to, but once the paps get a whiff of the news it'll be worse than us coming out and announcing it. If we don't and they hear a rumour not confirming it, they'll do anything to be the first to get pictures and put the story out publicly. But if we can get one step ahead we won't be harassed as much-" I sat back trying to soak all his words.
What did I get myself into. You can still back up Bella it's not too late.
"I will call my assistant Jessica and arrange a flight for you to Chicago for next weekend, and also get her to arrange the interview with Volturi Magazine and formally announce our engagement. News will most likely break out the next day about it-" I stopped listening to Edwards plan as I tried not to freak out.
"How much is my life going to change?" I asked interrupting him from whatever he was saying, he looked up from his phone and stop texting whoever he was texting and could see the worry in his eyes. "Well for starters you'll probably have paps following you the first couple of weeks, don't worry I can assign you a bodyguard, if that would make you feel safe. And well a bit, anyone that keeps up with business gossip, specially coming from Volturi will most likely recognize you and you'll be the talk for a while but don't worry it's not too bad. Bella I'll take care of you" he said taking my hand in his trying to assure me.
Squeezing my hand lightly I smiled at him feeling more calm. Until I heard a certain pixie squealing loudly behind us making me jump away from Edward.
"Oh my God look Jazzy how cute they look!" she yelled tugging Jasper behind her, he had a smirk on his face and was wiggling his eyebrows at Edward. They took a seat beside us looking between both of us, until Edward broke the silence.
"So I take it you two are dating then?" he asked looking at his best friend, Jasper smiled looking down at Alice taking her hand in his and giving it a light kiss. "Yes we are, don't even start with your over protectiveness Edward" Alice warned glaring at Edward which made me laugh as he pouted defeated.
"Fine, Jasper you better treat my sister right" Edward said giving Jasper a stern look, Jasper nodded. "Of course Edward, I would never hurt her. . . so it looks like you guys have hit it off too" he said, we all became quiet looking anywhere but him.
"Okay guys what is going on?" Jasper asked confused looking at all of us, I was surprised to see Alice hadn't spilled the beans. "Well Jasper there is something I have to tell you" Edward said nervously, Alice grabbed his hand squeezing it lightly. "Okay bro what is going on, you're worrying me" he said worried.
"Bella and I. . . we're getting married" Edward said pulling the plug, it took Jasper a couple of minutes before he could speak again. "Wait what! Guys are you crazy? You guys just met like yesterday!" he said freaking out, but none of us made a move. "Okay what is wrong with you, Alice back me up here. . . that's insane why? What" he said looking at Alice for support but she smiled.
"Sorry Jasper I am all up for it" she said which only made Jasper scoff, he turned to Edward. "Okay tell me what's going" he demanded, Edward ran his hand over his hair frustrated but got up. "It's complicated I'll explain c'mon let's take a walk" Edward said pulling Jasper up, he sighed but joined him.
We watched them walk away. . . and my nerves only increase, if Jasper reacted that way how would his family react?. . . once they were out of hearing shot Alice squealed snapping out of my train of thoughts.
"Okay how awesome is this! I knew Edward and you would be together. . . so I have a couple things planned already, I have booked the place we will be having the shindig with your parents and-" I cut her off. "Calm down Alice, you never told me Edward was in the spotlight so much. . . I don't know if I can handle that, and stop planning is not like we're really getting married" she huffed crossing her arms.
"Okay yes he is in the spotlight but it'll be fine, it's not as bad as it looks trust me. Plus you're gorgeous look at you, you'll fit right in. . . And says who you're not getting married for real" she said, I shook my head at her. "Me I said so, what is wrong with you. . . you know all this is a sham right?" she rolled her eyes at my words but stayed quiet. "Anyways what did you say to him last night, you didn't mention what happened with Jake and Leah-" she looked down at her hands and it dawned on me.
"Oh my God you did! You told him, of course that's why he had a change of heart he felt sorry for me" I accused her, she looked up at me and shook her head. "No Bella I didn't say anything I promise!" she pleaded, I sighed looking at her. "Fine If you say so, now be quiet they're coming back" I said as Edward and a more calm Jasper came back.
E POV
"Okay dude what the actual fuck" Jasper said as soon as we were out of earshot, I sighed. "Jasper you're going to think I'm crazy-" he laughed. "Edward I already think that, now explain" he demanded. I nodded and told him what Alice had told me last night, I know I had said I wasn't going to tell anyone but Jasper was my best friend and I needed to tell someone about this crazy thing.
"Wow" he said when I was done, I nodded. "Yeah tell me about it" I said.
"So what you are helping Bella because you feel sorry for her then?" I frowned. "No absolutely not, there's something captivating about her-" Jas smiled knowingly. "You like her" I looked over at him. "Maybe, I mean she's beautiful obviously did you see her today she looked gorgeous in that dress. . ." Jas gave me a knowing look but I rolled my eyes dismissing him. "Anyways I don't know Jasper, all I know is that just knowing what those assholes did to her and how her family didn't support her. . . and then what I said last night, ugh! it makes me so angry with them and myself-" he patted my back.
"Look I don't feel sorry for her, I just want to help her. For whatever reason it is that I haven't figured it out yet-" Jas sighed at my words. "Edward just be careful, with shit like this someone usually ends up getting hurt, and the last thing I want to see is you or her get heartbroken" he explained, I nodded.
"That won't happen Jasper, we both know what's going on and-" he laughed. "Edward that's exactly what everyone who ever finds themselves in this predicament says. . . and you know what happens next?" he looked at me waiting and I sighed. "They usually end up with feelings and one of them ends up heartbroken. . . now you can turn the blind eye for now if you want but I'm just warning you to be careful." he finished.
Jasper had always been the voice of reason, and I knew he was right, but I couldn't help but brush his words off. I needed to do this.
"I'll be fine Jas, but thanks for looking out for me" I said giving him a hug, he nodded smiling sadly at me. "Okay Ed, count on me for whatever you need" he said before walking back to the girls who looked to be having a heated discussion themselves.
"Make sure not to hurt Alice, you're my best friend and I trust you with her" I whisper giving him the side eye, he grinned nodding. "You got my words Edward, I really like her" I gave him a nod.
B POV
"Okay so Alice let's go over this one more time" Edward said frustrated, we were currently reviewing everything we had planned so far with Alice of course her being the organizer for each event. Edward had whispered that Jasper was informed about our little arrangement, but had not disclose how much or what exactly he had said to him.
"Number one, go ahead and call Jessica right now and organize the interview for next saturday. . . tell her to book two airplane tickets for Bella and me to fly in Friday night." she instructed him handing his phone to him. Edward dialed his assistant putting her on speaker while we all sat quietly waiting for her to pick up.
"Yes Mr. Cullen!" the girl on the other end answer breathlessly. "Ms. Stanley please write down what I'm about to say-" Edwards greeted, we could hear her moving paper around and then a click of her pen. "Yes sir go ahead"
"Okay first I want you to call Volturi Magazine, book an interview with them for Saturday. . . but make sure Alec is the one to come in-" Jessica cut him off. "For Saturday? Mr. Cullen Alec is out of town-" she said nervously, Edward sighed. "Do whatever you have to do to get Alec, I do not want Jane. . . she can be rough-" he said sternly.
"Yes of course, um I'll do that. . . anything else Mr. Cullen?" Jessica said nervously again. "Yes I need you to book two airplane tickets for Friday night-" I could hear Jessica typing in her computer already. "Okay and what names should I put them under?" she asked.
"First of all what I'm about to say needs to be kept as quiet as possible. . . Jessica this cannot get out to anyone, not until Saturday you hear me-" she gulped loudly. "Yes sir"
"First ticket is for my sister Mary Alice Cullen and the next one is for-" he looked up at me and I whisper my full name for him. "For my fiancee Isabella Marie Swan" Jessica gasped loudly. "Fiancee?" she stammered. "Yes Ms. Stanley did I stutter" you could hear the shock on her voice as she spoke up again. "No sir, I'll get that done for you and I'll email everything in a bit. . . is there anything else I can do for you?" she said.
"No that's all Ms. Stanley, and like I said this stays between us" she stuttered a 'yes' before hanging up. "Well that's done" Edward whispered to himself, looking around at our shocked faces. "What?" he ask.
"Geez Edward talk about being a rough boss" Alice said giggling, Edward rolled his eyes. "Well Alice I have you know she tried to flirt with me her first day of work, like you said I'm her boss not her lover. I need to put boundaries between my employees and me, if not the whole office would go crazy" he explained sternly.
Wow so most of the girls in his office found him attractive? Do you blame them, I mean look at him. . . okay brain you can shut up now!
"Yeah Alice, those girls can be a little smothering sometimes" Jasper explained which caused Alice to stop laughing and turn to give Jasper a 'say what' look. "Anyways, what's next on the list Alice" I said trying to steer the conversation away from them, it worked Alice looked down at her phone and smiled.
"Okay so I already booked the place to host our get together, it'll be at the Twilight venue" she announced smiling wide, my jaw dropped. . . Twilight was one of the most fanciest places in New York usually Celebrities got married and hosted parties there. And from what I've heard you have to book like years in advance.
"How did you book it in such a short amount of time?" I asked shocked, they all looked at me like I was crazy. "Bella, all I had to do was drop the Cullen last name. . . the place is owned by my dad's old friend Alistair, he will do anything for us" she smiled happily, while I nodded just realizing how connected and important this family really was.
"Anyways don't worry about the rest I have it covered, I will start planning the wedding. . . I'll give you more details later but for now. . . Jasper I think we should give them some time alone before dinner is ready" she said tugging Jasper up with her. I gasped looking out towards the water, noticing that it was indeed beginning to get dark.
Had we really been sitting here for so long? Wow. . .
"Very subtle Alice" I said giving her the don't leave me look, but she just winked at me before they both turned to walk away, but she stopped as if remembering something. "Edward can you come here for a sec" she said innocently, Edward looked at her confused at her but she gave him a look which he then got up understanding.
"Bella excuse me a min" he said walking to where Jas and Alie stood, they whispered then Alice handed something to Edward, I wasn't able to see what it was as Edward shield it quickly.
Then after a few more whispers they left leaving us alone. Edward walked back taking a seat beside me again "So Bella are we still good?" he asked, I gave him a small smile. "Yes I think I'm good, I mean it's a lot to process and take in but I'm good" he nodded understanding.
"I know it's a lot to take in, listen I think we should get to know each other a little better since we are supposed to be engaged, so I'll tell you about myself and vice versa. . ." he said. "Sounds good, go ahead" he sighed.
"Okay where do I start. . . okay so my name is Edward Anthony Cullen, twenty three, soon to be twenty four. . . um I graduated High school early and went to Dartmouth College and graduated at twenty one. . . obviously as you know I opened my company with Emmett's help, we used part of our trust fund to do it, and as you can see it has paid off-" I nodded, he seemed to have dedicated his whole time to school and work basically.
"As for my romantic life, I've only had one steady girlfriend; her name is Tanya, we dated all through college and broke up mutually and amicably after she got a modeling offer in Europe. I wasn't willing to take the next step with her so we decided we weren't fit for each other-" I nodded, but in the back of my head I couldn't help the pang of jealousy that hit me at hearing her name.
Ugh calm down Bella he's not really your fiance. . . I can only imagine this girl being beautiful if she's a model. . .
"As you can imagine I have had a couple of girls in my life but nothing serious, I guess they were more like flings lasting mere weeks. . . I wasn't lying when I said most of them are just interested in the benefits of being with me. . .now I'm not a saint of course, but trust me there is no one I'm currently seeing. . . not for the past four months anyways, I wasn't lying when I say my job is basically my life" he explained, I nodded taking his words in.
Of course he's had plenty of woman around him, which only made me more self conscious.
"Is that why you didn't want Jane to interview us? Was she one of your conquest" I gasped once I realized what I had said. . .crap way to begin with the jealousy Bella!
Edward laughed and shook his head. "God no Bella, Jane and Alec Volturi are twins, they are the only children and heirs of Aro Volturi. . . as you can imagine they've had everything at their feet, so they are very spoiled and can be very inconvenient if things don't go their way-" my eyebrows raised at this. "Point is they both with their father as they will inherit it one day, but Jane can be very. . . rough and twist things around to her convenience, Alec can be too but he is easier to work with than Jane" he explained.
"So you're basically saying Jane's a bitch" he laughed at my words, which made me giggle. "Right, I wouldn't use those words but since you put it that way. . .yes" he said with humor in his eyes. "So what else should I know about Mr. Cullen" I said, he looked at me his eyes darkening at my words, he shifted in his spot and looked away.
"Well I love music, I actually play the piano-" my eyes widened surprised "I played football in high school, I love to read and that's about it- oh there is one thing, my dad used to think I was going to be a doctor like him one day. . . unfortunately I disappointed him when I went for business instead." I was surprised to hear that.
"But Carlisle looks to be very proud of Emmett and you" he smiled. "Yeah he is now, but it was hard at first. . . anyways that's a story for another day, tell me about you" he said changing the subject.
I sighed feeling awkward all of a sudden, looking up at him shyly.
"Well I was born in Phoenix Arizona, I'm almost twenty years old. . . my mother Renee died when I was born. . .we moved to Forks after that, my father Charlie remarried Sue Clearwater two years later, she has two children of her own. . .Seth and Leah-" I said feeling a knot form in the back of my throat as I talked about them. . . specially my mother, I very seldom spoke about her, but right now I wish I had she was alive.
"Are you okay Bella?" Edward asked taking my hand in his and squeezing it lightly, I looked up blinking my tears away. "Yeah sorry, um where was I-" I said trying to ignore my feelings.
"Um I don't really have a lot of hobbies. . . I am very clumsy, so sports were out of the question, I love to read. . . I've only had one boyfriend- Jacob and I dated for four years through high school-" the knot was back and I could feel the memories ready to resurface back again haunting me.
"It's okay Bella. . . you don't have to talk about him. . .about them-" Edward said squeezing my hand, but I looked up confused. . . Alice said she didn't tell him, but the look on Edward's face told me otherwise. "Alice told you, didn't she" I whispered, he looked down pained.
"Yes but Bella-" I let go off his hand and got up, I was furious, this was not Alice's story to share. . .I began walking towards the house ready to rip Alice a new one. "Bella hold on! Bella hold on relax, please listen to me-" I stopped and turned glaring at Edward.
"What Edward? When were you planning on telling me you knew about them, or were you just going to keep it a secret? Is this why you agreed to help, because you felt sorry for me-" I said stabbing his chest with my finger.
"No Bella of course not, I'm not doing this for that or because I feel sorry. . . I am very sorry for not telling you sooner and I understand you are upset with Alie and me, but listen-" I laughed shaking my head, I was too upset about everything.
"Whatever Edward save your apologies" I said before turning around, but before I could walk away Edward grabbed my arm spinning me around and planting a kiss on my lips. I was stunned as I felt his soft lips run against mine, my brain couldn't seem to process what was going on until he pulled away.
"Bella, listen to me. . . you're a very attractive, smart and sweet person and no one, specially you deserve what your family did to you. . . and I want to help you, is this plan the best to get back at them? No probably not or who knows maybe it is, but either way Bella I want to help you-" he swallowed hard and continued.
"But I want to help, not because I feel sorry for you. . . but because you deserve the world Bella. . . and I don't know what the outcome of this will be but Bella I just have something else to say to you" by now I was frozen in my spot, I could feel the traitor tears threatening to spill any minute now.
"Look Bella, this is so not how I was going to do this but-" he took my hands in his and began to kneel down pulling a black velvet box out of his pocket, when I realized what he was doing and I couldn't hold the tears back anymore as he said the words I never thought I'd be hearing.
"Isabella Marie Swan will you marry me?"
A/N: wow wow wow! Cliffhanger, so A LOT happened in this chapter. . .did you guys like it? Yay or nay let me know down on the review box. So Edward was honest and told her Alice spilled the beans, do you think he did the right thing? Will Bella say yes? Ah I have the answers and I'm still freaking out lol. What do you guys thinks will be the reaction of the cullens when they find out, if Bella goes through with it? Alice seems to be planning a lot, does she know something we don't? Oooh so how will the interview with Alec go? I guess we will find out next chapter! Aahh I can't wait to see these two get their story going. . . but soon, so as you know for THOSE OF YOU WHO REVIEW THIS CHAPTER WILL GET A SNEAK PEEK of the next chapter! NOW you DO have to have an account with FANFIC in order to receive it, and it will be via a PM.
NOW to answer some of your questions
Alwaysaromantic4eva- thank you for being so understanding, yes we will see how far they both will go with this charade, they should brace themselves for what's coming.
Tayjj44- yes Charlie was an asshole, but trust me everything has a purpose lol even his reaction. As for a POV of Charlie absolutely will have one in the future not sure when but I will have one.
Sherylb- we knew Edward is a sweetheart of course he'd help her, although we will have to wait and see if this was the best choice.
Guest- yes he has had other flings but as you can see he answers some of your concerns in this chapter. . . but more will be brought up later on the next few chapters but I agree this will def take a toll on Bella's life, will see how she handles it.
fresh-Blood-was-drawn-2night- great question will they tell them the truth I guess we will find out in a few chapters.
Ms simmons- agree this might just backfire on them just like Jasper said. . .
Bellh- I'm glad you enjoyed APOV, I'm always nervous to include her thoughts, of course is not bad to hope Edward feels like an ass. . . he was very awful to Bella and hopefully he can redeem himself soon, but right now he seems to be in a pickle. As for the dress I think she had a little bit more insight on what was going to happen later that day . . . aka the ring lol! As for the rest of the Cullen we will see what they do with them.
Guest- was Leah pregnant? well I have had a lot of you guys ask that question and its such a good guess that you guys will have to wait and find out.
Alright guys so that completes my questions to all of you that reviewed, I hope I was able to give a little insight. . . well until next chapter my lovelies and for those that review look for the sneak peak in your box!
As always I love you guys thanks for all the support.
God bless
Angie