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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 (E)leven: (C)onfessions (N)ew (A)nd (O)ld (:) (W)edding (P)lans
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I was kissing... Edward? This was new. To me, at least. I have never been kissed. But when it finally registered, and the shock of the whole thing wore off, I couldn't kiss him back. Instead, we heard someone to my left call out, "I knew it!"
We pulled away, and looked to see Rosalie and Emmett standing there, wiping grease off of their hands as they walked towards us, grins in place. I looked to them and then back at Edward with a red face. I buried my face in his shirt, making him laugh at me. I could hear Rose and Emmett's laughter from behind me and, when I finally got the courage, lifted my head from Edward's shirt. I looked at them.
As I looked to them, I realized something. When I had kissed Edward just moments ago... I liked it. No, I loved it. I couldn't believe that this whole thing was happening. I thought back to all of the different times that me and Edward had been together in the past week, and thought about it all as a whole. I was around him less than I wanted to, but even when we were together I could only think about being with him again. I wanted to always be around him, my best friend. I thought about this and I couldn't help it...
I love him.
Having this thought only made them stare at me for a moment while a hundred different emotions went across my face. I couldn't help it though. I wanted to be around Edward, and here I was, with my face buried in his shirt. I inhaled his scent, making it seem as though I was only taking a breath.
"What?" I asked, not really getting it. Hearing 'I knew it,' didn't always make you feel very comfortable. They just looked between each other, and then back to me. They even took a glance at Jacob, merely waving toward him, and then their attention went back to me and Edward before I finally got an answer.
Emmett was the one that answered, his grin only growing. "We knew there was something between you two."
I was surprised that I didn't blush. I only smiled at him and Rose, who proceeded to advance towards me. Wait... Rose? All thoughts about what Emmett had just said vanished at the moment that I realized that she was here.
"Whoa, wait, Rose," I asked once she got to me; she stopped, "what are you doing here?" She just laughed and pulled me into the hug she had been planning.
"We got out of the house during that little fight with you and Mom. I just couldn't see staying in that house for very much longer..." she pulled away and I could see a little pout on her face. It only made me laugh at her. I looked past her to Emmett and walked up to him.
"Hey, you," I said, wrapping my arms around his neck. He gave me a big bear hug, twirling me around like Edward did just a little while ago. When he finally put me down, I was a little dizzy, but Edward caught me before I could hurt myself. Knowing me, I just might.
We were all standing there for a moment in comfortable silence when Edward finally pointed something out to me.
"Um, Bella," he said, pointing towards where my car once was, "why is Jacob here?"
When the realization that I had momentarily forgotten about my friend dawned on me, all four of them laughed at me. I blushed, and then walked up to him. I think that he forgave me because he then wrapped me in a hug as well.
"Why don't we all just head inside?" I suggested, pointing the general direction of the door. I walked up to Edward and wrapped my arm around his, and started walking. He soon just smiled and walked right along with me. I could hear the foot steps of the others behind me as I walked.
When we got in, Carlisle was standing there, about to open the door himself. He looked to Edward, and then to me, and then our arms. He smiled as all five of us walked in.
"What are you doing here, Bella?" he asked, very Fatherly.
"I think I'm here for the same reason as Rose... Do you think that I can stay here for a while?" I could hear, and surprisingly feel my voice get weaker as I continued my sentence. I didn't know what he was going to say, but I should have known better than to second , or underestimate Carlisle.
"Stay here as long as you need to, dear," we all turned when we heard Esme walking towards us with Alice and Jasper in tow. Was it just me, or did I see Alice have to drop her hand there for a moment? I would have to ask her about that later... Hmm... I thanked her as she got closer. "But do you think that this whole thing is OK with your Mother? I mean, we don't mind you staying here, but don't you think that this would upset her?"
"Absolutely," I answered with a smile. They stifled laughs at my response, and then I turned to Edward, dropping my arm from his. "What happens now?"
Everyone turned to Edward, and he sighed. "We should all head to the sitting room." They looked at him strangely, giving him pretty much the que to continue his thought. "I kind of have a confessions to make..." I was surprised when he said that. What's the confession? I had no idea, but if it was something bad enough to stay on Edward's conscience, then we had to know about it. I was just confused.
What was happening?
I wanted to know, but would I really want to know? There are times when you find something out and then you realize that you never wanted to know to begin with, but it's far too late. I hoped that this wasn't one of those times.
Edward P.O.V.
I was scared, to say the least. I couldn't believe what I was about to do, though I was pretty sure that Bella already knew about the whole thing. Even if she didn't technically realize it just yet.
I had told her that I wanted to marry her, and now i wasn't too sure. Well, you get the point. At least you will.
"Umm... Alright then," my Mother said, the attention going to her, "why don't we head over there?" She pointed with her hands, half turned, and then started walking towards the room with my Father right next to her. She would do this to make the others follow her lead quicker. It usually kept us more in line when she did this. Ias I watched my parents walking, I could see them whispering, so I knew that they had to clue what was going on. My siblings and Alice and Rosalie soon followed behind them.
I took a deep breath as I followed my siblings and headed to the sitting room.
When we walked in, the soft music that played remained a constant and helped to somewhat sooth me. When you hear something for years and years, and can end up getting annoying. But the same songs have been playing in this fairly sized room for as long as I could remember, and it only brought back good memories and helped me keep my focus. Always a good place to study, I soon found out.
But when we sat down, I couldn't help but get a very familiar feeling. Very DeJaVu, actually. We all happen to sit down in the exact same seats as a few days ago. Bella was of course still sitting next to me. She was always by my side, I noticed. The chair that had once had her Mother in was now empty, but I don't believe that anyone noticed. Or cared, for that matter. And if they did notice, then they weren't saying anything about it any time soon.
Hmm... It seemed quieter without Renee here...
When I looked around the room, it was almost a more comforting thing, having my parents to my right again. They weren't in the seat that was directly to my right; Jacob took up that one, but they were in the one to his right. And then Emmett was to my left. Just like before. I sighed before I opened my mouth, and looked up to my parents, who were waiting for me to say... anything really.
"Dad... me and Bella weren't really... in love..." I kind of mumbled, but apparently he caught the highlights of what I had said. I could almost hear my siblings hold their breath behind me, waiting for what was going to happen next.
Carlisle looked from me, to my Mother, to Bella and then back. "What do you mean, son?"
I sighed, and then started my story. "When i asked Bella to marry me, I wasn't in love with her. At least... never mind, I'll get back to that. Look, the reason why I asked her to marry me was so that she didn't have to marry Jacob," I pointed to said Jacob, who nodded in understanding, "and could officially get out of her Father's will. Then as things started to slowly start, they stopped. Renee got in the middle of it all and no matter how hard we tried we couldn't convince her that me and Bella were in love and that we wanted to be together forever."
Carlisle nodded his head. "So... where does that leave you two now?"
"I was getting to that," I ran my hands through my hair. I couldn't help the sigh that escaped my throat as I continued once again. "I wanted to marry Bella because she is my best friend, and now I realize that I had made a mistake." I heard her gasp and my heart sank. I had to grin and bare this moment though, because i had to get this out.
Bella P.O.V
No.. please no... I thought as he said those last words. I could swear that i knew what was happening next, but for my own sake I didn't even want to think about what he could possibly be planning on saying. Just... No...
"What do you mean, Edward?" I was certainly surprised that Jacob had asked the question, but I still kept my eyes down cast, looking to my hands. I was in fact leaning against Edward, but i didn't want to make eye contact with anyone at the moment. I was afraid that this would be one of those times that I over anticipated something and then it turned out to be nothing. Don't worry, Bells... Try not to worry...
"Well, I was thinking about this after I told Bella that she needed to talk to her Mother about the whole thing. She needed to stand up for herself, you know? I was thinking about this, and I have to come clean. Bella and I only wanted to marry so that she could get out of the will and we were not in love when I asked her to marry me. But now that I think about it, I would feel horrible if I were to make her marry me, when it clearly states in the will that she is to marry the one that she loves."
I could feel my eyes sting, and my nose get hot. My eyes were filling with tears, and I couldn't stop it. I didn't want him to continue. I didn't want this to be happening. Please. I closed my eyes to keep them from overflowing with the tears as he continued, and I was sure at this point that Jacob was watching me. He was always such a good friend.
"I can't marry Bella from a proposal that didn't mean anything more than to get her out of a will. I'm sorry, everyone. I truly am. Alice, Emmett, Jasper and Rosalie were all in on this as well. They knew about it."
I felt one sobs escape me and I opened my eyes; the tears were now freely flowing. I couldn't believe this... my pretend fiancée was breaking up with me. And I had just come to the conclusion that I loved him... So he never did have any feelings for me, did he? I should have known that by now. Everyone was silent for a moment after he said that, and they probably had heard my sob, as I felt eyes on me.
"So," Carlisle started; he could plainly see my face, "where does that leave you two now?"
I decided to answer him before Edward could say any more. I just couldn't handle him talking about this anymore, and no matter how hard it would be fore me, I knew that I had to just speak before he could. My voice was unbelievably shaky as I spoke. "It leaves us at a cross roads," I answered, and then cleared my throat. I spoke with a little more authority, but I still wasn't happy with the way that my voice sounded. "We don't both have the same feelings, so I am to marry Jacob..." my voice broke as I said his name.
Jacob and I had talked on the way over here, and he was fully aware that the only reason why I didn't want to marry him was because I was confused about the whole thing. I wasn't afraid of him or thought he was gross or anything. I was just confused, and he understood that completely.
We sat there for a moment, and I could feel the tears rolling down my face. I couldn't take the silence, even though I hadn't realized it was only about five seconds worth of silence all together. I finally sniffled and stood up quickly, making my way to the door.
"Bella," I heard behind me, in chorus from everyone. They were saying it sympathetically, but one voice stood out to me. It was Edward's. Instead of his voice sounding sympathetic, it was... desperate? He didn't want me to leave now, did he? I was still walking, but I was stopped halfway between the door and the seats that were closest to it. It was Edward, and he had grabbed me by the wrist, and spun me around to where I was facing him, but he was still a good head taller than me.
"What?" I asked, almost too loud. "Edward, you said so yourself. You don't love me the way I love you, and you can't be with me. I already knew that without having to be told. Be with who you do love and just leave me alone, OK?"
For the life of me I couldn't turn away from his face when I had said that, even though I had pretty much just exploded in his face. The thing that got me the most was when he brushed away my tears. I finally decided to take notice in what he was doing and found out he was... smiling? Oh my gosh! I just admitted that I loved him and he was smiling at me?
"What?" I asked, this time sounding as tired as I really was.
Knowing him for as long as I did, I could tell that he was stifling a laugh, and then he just kept smiling at me.
"I never said that I didn't love you the way you love me." I looked at him confused for a moment, and then let him continue. "Bella, you are my best friend, and it took your Father's will to make me truely realize that... maybe we aren't ment to be friends." I gasped at him, and my gasp was only chorused by everyone in the room. I had forgotten that they were here to begin with...
"Edward..." I groaned. I tried to turn away again, but he wouldn't let me, turning me back to face him exactly like he did before. I couldn't even ask him what he wanted because of my throat. It was filled with tears, and some of them were flowing down my checks. But at this point, I didn't care. Anger is the easiest emotion to feel, and it is the one that your body will try for before any others. I was currently angry at Edward, and the tears stopped. I wiped them away and wished that I wouldn't have to cry in front of him anytime soon. I glared to him, trying to mask my true pain.
"Bella, I realized that maybe we can't be friends... We shouldn't. I can't be your friend anymore." I did my best not to turn around at what he said, and just kept my cool. But what he did next surprised everyone in the room. Especially me, and I'm pretty sure him as well.
We all watched in awe as Edward dropped down to one knee. I could feel my jaw drop.
"I can't be just your friend anymore, Bella." He grabbed my left hand with his right, and reached into his pocket with his left hand and pulled out a ring. I felt my right hand fly up to my mouth, covering it. The ring was identical to the one that he had gotten me before, but, if at all possible, looked like it had more diamonds in it than the other one. "I love you Bella, more that you really know. For real, and forever, I will always be there for you if you give me the chance."
"Edward..." I whispered, so not believing this.
"Isabella Marie Swan, will you marry me?"
I gasped at what he had just asked me, and I could feel the tears in my eyes. I sobbed into my hand as I shook my head yes. I sobbed again before finally saying, "Yes."
I watched as the smile spread on Edward's face at my words. Well, word, but you get it.
He slid the ring on my figure, losing eye contact for only a moment. Once the ring was slid into place, we heard applause. Looking over Edward's shoulder as he stood up, I was able to watch everyone in the room stand up and applaud us. I felt the tears running down my cheeks and tried to wipe them away, but there was no use t this point. I just smiled at everyone, laughing when I heard a few congratulations and Emmett whistle at us. I rolled my eyes at him and we were actually making quite a bit of noise in the room just by laughing, applauding and talking.
When the noise finally died down, we laughed when a slow, relaxing song engulfed the room. Rose and Alice ran up to me as soon as they could and gave me a large hug. I mean, both of them hugging was a lot, you have to admit. They both simultaneously said, "Congratulations!"
Then Jasper came up and gave me a nice hug, whispering in my ear that he was happy for us. Then Jacob gave me a nice, tight hug. I made sure to give him a long one, loving how warm his body was.
I went up to my, officially, future in-laws and gave Carlisle and Esme proper hugs as well. Then I went up to Emmett who almost crushed me with his bear hug, but I survived. I couldn't believe this... I was engaged to my best friend. And it was because we love each other...
I was brought back to reality when Alice went right in front of me again.
"Bella, don't you know what this means?"
I cocked my head at her, not knowing what she ment. Everyone seemed confused. "Does it mean that I finally get my happy ending?" I asked with a smile.
"Well, that," Rose said, walking up to her as well; they both finished together, "and... Wedding Plans!"
I groaned.
Alice and Rosalie jsut laughed at my reaction and gragged my, literally, out of the room. One of them to each of my wrists was no fair battle, and I could hear the booming laughter of the men in the room before me and I was being dragged by two girls; only one of which was actually taller than me. I looked to Edward and mouthed a quick 'HELP ME', to him. I only wandered for a moment weather or not he actually caught on to the message, but apparently he did. He started to laugh at me more and I went around the cornor with my two sisters.
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Thanks guys. I hope that you liked it. And please review for this chapter. Don't forget to tell me what you want in the wedding. I mean, the plans are officially going to be discussed in the next chappie so please DO tell me what you want. I never want to disappoint anyone, so I am thinking that I should right the next chapter, and by the time that I get that one out, I should be able to do the one after that. Then guess what? I will be able to get everything that you guys want done.