A/N: So, we are getting to the good stuff soon.
This has gone so well. I'm really happy. I want to thank all my readers and reviewers.
This chapter is dedicated to Miharu Nakamura, my 160th reviewer. Thank you, toots! The 170th reviewer will have the LEMON dedicated to them! :)
My beta, flamingpen18, rocks for putting up with me. Check out her stories. They are sweet!
I don't own Twilight at all, but I wish I did.
Bella sighed. School was over. She'd graduated with high honors, not that that really mattered to her. She was getting married soon and had an eternity ahead of her. College was not on her list of things to do for the future. Who would subjugate themselves to more schooling?
She groaned. I'm getting married! I'm eighteen, and I'm getting married!
Charlie was all for the wedding. He and Aro spent a great amout of time discussing where the honeymoon should be. Bella wasn't allowed to know at all! She wasn't allowed to buy anything. That was Alice's job.
When Bella got wind of a million dollar dress, she put her foot down. There is no way she going to let that happen.
"But we're trying to make you happy," Alice tried to excuse herself when Bella exploded.
"Not the way to do it! God, my own wedding, and I can't even pick out the dress! I don't want a million dollar dress. I know what I want, and that is to pick my own things. Not to have someone do it for me!" Bella had screamed at the pixie. Did no one understand?
Aro pulled her aside after that. "We're trying to make it a perfect day for you, Isabella. Why are you so angry?"
Men! They never understood anything!
"This is our wedding! You are marrying me, not Alice! Why can't I have a say in anything?" Bella glared. Why couldn't he get it?"No girl wants her whole wedding planned out by someone else! I. AM. THE. BRIDE! I should be doing something, but instead, I'm being told to sit by and let someone else plan MY wedding!"
Aro just gave her an odd look. "I'm afraid I don't understand, Cara."
Bella stormed off in frustration. "Fine! Be dense! Until I get a say and am, pathetically enough, 'allowed' to pick my own dress, I don't want this wedding business to continue!"
Aro and Alice looked at each other in confusion. What did she just say?
Jasper took the moment to intervene. "Bella is feeling depressed. She isn't too fond of the idea of marriage and is only doing this for Aro, because it's what he wanted."
Aro gasped in horror.
Jasper shook his head in annoyance. "No, she does love you. She just knows that there are other ways to tie yourself to your mate. Marriage didn't go over well for her parents, so she's timid when it's mentioned," he told the vampire king.
He continued on, "Think about it. A young woman's wedding is supposed to be the happiest time of her life. Bella is already hesitant about it. Then there is the fact that you two are taking all the decisions away from her. She is becoming even more scared and depressed as the time flies. She doesn't get a choice of what she wants, because you took the option away from her. She doesn't want the marriage and was completely serious about stopping it."
He gave his wife a disapproving look. "Alice, how would you feel if you and I were to, actually, marry in traditional standards and not in the mating way, and I decided to have another woman plan everything? You wouldn't be allowed to have a say at all. The day of the wedding comes, and you don't like what you see, because it wasn't what you wanted. It was what the other woman wanted for herself. What if she picked an awful dress that didn't match the heels?"
Alice looked about ready to faint. "I just want her to have a lovely day," she said in a small voice.
Jasper groaned. "You've only known her for six months! Most of that time she spent with Aro. You don't know much about her."
"I was going to get my information from Aro. He knows everything about Bella," Alice frowned.
"That doesn't matter! You plan on having the wedding indoors, when Bella prefers to be outside. Bella doesn't like to have alot of money spent on her, yet you plan to waste a million on something she won't even like," Jasper sighed. Seriously, they didn't know Bella at all.
When all he received were two blank stares, he tried to explain it better. "Bella never shows her knees. Her pants aren't even tight. She disguises her figure and is always wearing an appropriate top. She doesn't enjoy showing skin." He gestured to the picture on the laptop on Alice's desk. "That is too revealing for someone like Bella. One, Bella doesn't like sheer. Two, that dress is meant for a whore. Any man who would let his soon- to- be- wife walk down the isle in that is trash." Jasper made sure to put emphasis on the word 'trash'.
Aro was looking guilty. He hadn't even looked at the dress. He was too busy trying to figure out which garter was better. Now that he saw it, he was ashamed. He would never allow Isabella to go anywhere in something like that, unless in their own private rooms.
Jasper was beginning to make sense. Isabella was stressed, and they weren't helping her at all. She was so angry that she called off the wedding. Did they really have to have a wedding? There were other ways to mate. An exchange of blood during the climax of intercourse. That was for eternal mating. Another was a simple mark that would show all who the bearer was with. A bracelet as a betrothal gift that was made by the male. They didn't have to have a wedding. He had just wanted one badly, and she had suffered to make him happy.
Jasper sighed as Aro finally got the picture. Finally!
Alice wasn't on the same boat.
"But she's an Erosian. So that shouldn't matter. The dress is fine."
Aro and Jasper growled in annoyance.
"Just because Bella is part of a race that enjoys hot and wild sex doesn't mean that she herself is trashy," Jasper shook his head.
Aro nodded, "Yes, it is rude to assume something like that, based off of what you 'know' of her race. Isabella told me herself that she decided to wait for marriage. Later on she told me that she meant until she found her soulmate. I do know how much she detests the word marriage. She decided to live through the pain of being mateless for so long, and never gave in to the peer pressure of others her age. I agree with Jasper. We need to stop and ask Isabella what she wants."
Jasper nodded. "She left, heading toward the river. The water calms her. Go and make things right."
Aro took off, leaving a confused Alice with her husband.
He found Bella sitting on the edge of the water. She was roughly kicking at the water, probably wishing to injure it.
"Isabella?" he called out.
She ignored him, continuing to kick at the water.
"Isabella, we don't have to have a wedding," he told her, taking his rightful place by her side.
Her head jerked to him in shock. "Are you serious?"
He nodded, "I didn't know how you felt about everything. I'm so very sorry that I didn't listen to you, Cara."
Bella blushed, when he stared her directly in the eye. Most people would look away in embarrassment. He moved closer and even reached out for her face, cupping it in his hands.
"What do you want, Cara?" he asked, leaning in to plant a kiss on her mouth.
Bella blushed harder. When Aro did things like this, with a sweet gentleness, it always made her heart beat faster. She knew that he could hear it, because his face would break out in the most breathtaking smile ever.
"W-well, we could have a wedding, since you want it so badly," she mentally cursed herself for stuttering.
Aro smiled and shook his head, "No, Isabella. You tell me what you want. I'll be happy no matter what you choose, love."
Bella sighed. "I want to go somewhere. A place that has no vampires or any other supernatural beings. A place where we can be alone."
Aro didn't miss the hint. She wanted to mate in her way and would prefer that no one else could hear. That meant that she really wanted to get it over with.
"Is there a special tradition that Erosian's have when mating? Something that I need to be aware of?"
Bella blushed even more. She tried looking away, but he kept her in place, making sure she was looking him in the eye. "Isabella."
"You and I have to be... In order for it to work... We need to exchange bodily fluids in the midst of... Shit! Why is this so hard?!" Bella groaned, trying to look away.
Aro gave a soft laugh, "You are a young virgin, Isabella. Even being an Erosian won't stop the nervous feelings you'll have. It's okay to tell me."
Bella huffed and gave him a glare. "Fine! We need to exchange blood and venom the very moment you cum!"
Aro's eyes went wide, not expecting her to say it like that. A loud laugh from the house explained that Emmett wasn't expecting it either.
"Mind your own business, Emmett!" Bella shouted at the peeping tom. His laugh just grew louder, making Bella blush even deeper than before.
"So, I have to c-"
"NO! Don't say it out loud! I might just faint from hearing you say that word!" Bella panicked.
Aro smirked at her discomfort. He got an idea and leaned into her ear, to whisper, "You don't want me to say it?"
She shook her head, all the while her body was trembling.
He chuckled in her ear, "Why not? I like it when you talk dirty Isabella."
She stammered, looking for an excuse. Aro took that as an opportunity to tease her further. He blew on the shell of her ear and added in a deep voice, "So, you don't want me to cum?"
Bella squealed and fell backwards with Aro following her. He was smiling at her, and she knew that he was teasing. "How is it you can say that without being embarrased?"
"Because I'm with my mate. The one person that I don't have to be embarrased around," Aro explained with a smile. Bella rolled her eyes. He was always so honest.
Bella shivered when the wind picked up, and Aro had her in his arms immediately. "Too much cold weather. Let's get you inside, and we can talk about this later."
A/N: The link for the dress is on my profile.
