EPOV
August. It was the month that if you were under the age of eighteen, you dreaded with all your heart. It always meant the first day of school was right around the corner. There never seemed to be enough time in August to do everything you still hadn't done all summer. By the time you want to do something you can't because school starts the next day. August was also the month that turned quickly into September which was the month where it began to get cold. The one thing I am grateful for is that none of that applies to me anymore, except the cold September month. All August means to me now is my best friend getting married in a week.
That seemed to be the only thing anyone could talk about now a days. It didn't matter that I wasn't the one getting married, it was the topic at my dinner table. My mom was excited because she helped design the spaces for the ceremony and reception. She was also excited to see me in a tux again. My dad was just kind of going with the flow. I was barely around the house anymore which was a good thing because I've spent too much time here as it was. I was always running around with Jasper and Emmett and getting to know the other groomsmen. Everyone was in wedding mode, there was barely enough time to think about yourself.
I was enjoying the distraction probably just as much as Emmett was. The night of the storm seemed like it was ages ago, when in reality it was only a couple weeks ago. Not only did the storm take a toll on the town (broken tree branches scattered the streets, roofs torn apart, down power lines), it also took a major toll on us emotionally. After Bella left the basement, Emmett and I kind of sat down there by ourselves. Jasper and Alice came back downstairs a while later and we started up a game of Wii bowling. The storm raged on for a few more hours before it quit. Bella and Rose never came back downstairs. That was the last time I ever saw her. I tried calling her the days that followed but I always got her voicemail. Eventually I gave up, which felt really wrong but I'd have to let her talk to me when she wanted to. I welcomed this week of distraction with open arms. And it seemed to be working.
~oOo~
This week was chalk full of wedding rehearsals. We had the rehearsal dinner today and the actual wedding rehearsal on Thursday. Plus, we had Jasper's surprise Bachelor party on Friday. He needed to get into some last minute single man shenanigans before we shipped him off to the married life. He was never going to forget the last night of freedom with his best friends.
My parents and I pulled up outside the restaurant where the dinner was taking place. There were a million cars parked all along both sides of street. The restaurant was a rustic place in downtown Seattle that served just about anything you could imagine. We walked inside and were immediately escorted up a flight of metal stairs and into a large dining room. There were a bunch of large round tables covered in white table cloths surrounded with distressed wooden chairs. There was one long rectangular table at the front of the room that was set up for the wedding party. Sitting in the center of it was Jasper and Alice. Nobody else had arrived yet, except their parents.
"Edward!" Jasper hollered from across the room.
"What's up?" I say as I approach the table. I noticed that sitting in front of each chair was a nametag. I walked around and dropped into the seat one away from Jasper.
"We've been watching my mom argue with the wedding planner over something," Alice said gesturing over to her right. "Jasper and I have been making up dialogue for them."
"You guys are dorks." I pointed out.
"But we are dorks together. We make one huge dork!" Alice wrapped her arms around Jasper in a side grip.
I just shook my head with amusement. "What's for dinner tonight?"
"I have no idea, to be honest." Jasper shrugged his shoulders.
"I think they are supposed to bring out menus when the time comes." Alice affirmed.
As dinner drew closer, the room began to fill up with the families of Jasper and Alice. This was basically the chance to see what they were marrying into. Their families didn't seem so bad right now, but give it a few hours to let the alcohol set in and then you will see the true forms of some people. The rest of the bridal party slowly started to show up. I saw Bella walk in shortly after Emmett made his grand entrance. She looked as pretty as ever in a white top and blue skirt.
"I brought pictures!" She skipped over and stopped in front of Alice. I averted my eyes, afraid she'd catch me staring at her. "Renee finally emailed them to me!"
"Let me see let me see!" Alice grabbed for the manila envelope, tearing it open and pulling out the stack of pictures. "He is so cute!"
"Who is so cute?" Emmett asked leaning forward to peer around Jasper.
"Bella's new baby brother!" Alice handed Emmett a picture from the pile and continued to flip through them. "She took so many!"
"I'd call it new mom syndrome, but this is her second child." Bella replied.
"The little dude has a lot of hair." Emmett pointed to the picture in his hands. I looked down at it and smiled. He had a patch of dark brown hair in the middle of his head. It contrasted with the bright blue of his eyes. I'm pretty sure they would change to brown after a while.
"It makes his eyes stand out," I heard Bella say. "Too bad he's going to get stuck with dumb old brown." I looked up at her and we met each other's stares. She quickly looked down at her shoes.
"Well he is just adorable," Alice said sliding the pictures back in the envelope. "You'll have to show them to Rose when she gets here."
"Where is she?" Bella took the envelope back and walked around to sit in her seat.
"Running late, as per her usual when it concerns something important that I'm a part of." Jasper muttered. "If she doesn't get here soon, mom is going to have her head."
"She's probably off with some guy," Emmett mumbled under his breath, something that I wasn't supposed to hear.
Dinner menus were brought out thirty minutes later, still no sign of Rosalie. Once dinner was served and eaten, Rose showed up just in time to socialize. Jasper and Alice were whisked away to talk too just about everyone in the room. I sat back at the table with Emmett watching everyone. I really didn't have the desire to talk to anyone. I could see Emmett's gaze following Rose around the room, watching her carefully. Bella was following her around, being a social butterfly for once. I've never seen her talk to so many strangers before. She eventually came back to the table and sat down in Jasper's seat. "Emmett, you look miserable."
"Is it that obvious?" He turned towards her.
"Well, I've noticed that whenever I look over here you are staring at Rose with this sad, blank expression on your face." She rested her elbow on the table, mimicking his face.
"I can't help it," He groaned. "It's either the face I have now or the angry one. I chose to go with the less hostile expression today."
"You aren't the only miserable one here today, you know." I thought she was going to point out that I was here. "Rosalie isn't so bright and chipper either. She just hides it with her snark and mean sarcasm."
"That isn't the only thing she is hiding." Emmett muttered.
"Hey, I know you are still very upset. I am too, but I need to ignore it for the sake of Alice. There are plenty of things I'd like to tell Rose about what she did to you, but I won't. Not yet anyway. Can you put it past you just this week til the wedding is over?" Bella begged. "Then you can go back to your self-loathing and hatred. Be happy for Jasper. I know he'd appreciate it."
"Since when did you get good at pep talks?" Emmett asked, sounding more like himself.
"I got one from my mom last week. It helped with a lot actually, including my pep talking skills." She looked him in the eyes with a half-smile. "So, will you do it?"
"I'll try." Emmett agreed, bringing her in for one of his bear hugs.
"Good. Now, stop mopping around," She got up from her seat. "I know for a fact that over at that table is a very drunk second cousin of Jasper's who is telling some amazing bullshit stories."
Emmett got up from the table and followed Bella over to the guy she pointed out. They sat down together and immediately Emmett was laughing. Bella looked over her shoulder back to where I was sitting. I raised my eyebrows as if I were saying good job. I saw a blush creep up her cheek before she turned back around.
~oOo~
"Where are they?!" Alice was pacing back and forth by the altar. She was going to put a rut into the carpet.
"They are your cousins. Shouldn't you know where they are?" Rose threw at her. That would be unnecessary comment number five that has come out of her mouth.
"I don't have time for your attitude today, Rosalie!" Alice spit back.
We'd been waiting inside the church for almost two hours for the rest of Alice's bridesmaids to get here. We couldn't do a full run through of the basics of the ceremony til they got here. It was only ten in the morning and something was already going wrong. Alice was under a lot of stress already which meant today could only get better or worse from here.
"We don't have time for a lot of things today," Rosalie challenged.
"Cut it out." Jasper said with finality. Rose sunk farther into the pew. All the groomsmen were slouched in pews as well, some even sprawled out on the floor.
"This is ridiculous!" Alice roared, marching up the aisle and out into the lobby.
"Where the fuck are they?" The bridesmaid named Amanda said.
"Probably getting Starbucks or something," Emmett said under his breath. I chuckled.
"Alice is going to explode if they don't get here soon." Bella sounded worried.
"No doubt she is probably yelling at them on the phone right now," Rose added.
Minutes ticked by before Alice came marching back into the church with a frustrated look. "Can't rely on family to be anywhere on time! They were out getting doughnuts! They'll be here in five minutes." She sat down on Jaspers lap, resting her head on his shoulder.
"Doughnuts. Starbucks. Same thing." Emmett shrugged.
So we waited around for five minutes. Then ten. Then twenty. It was almost approaching the thirty minute mark when they showed up. Alice stormed up the aisle again and quietly chastised them on their tardiness. "If you are late on Saturday, so help me I will kick your asses!"
"Now I know what happens when you make Alice pissed off. Putting that on my list of things never to do." Emmett whispered to me, I laughed again.
"Now that everyone is here, we can start what we were supposed to be doing two and a half hours ago! I'm going to go get the priest." Alice left the room with great haste.
"I don't even understand why we need to rehearse anyway. You walk down the aisle, she gets married, then walk back up the aisle and then go to a party and drink. Not that hard!" The pink haired bridesmaid said.
"If this wasn't my only chance to be in a wedding, I wouldn't be here!" Another said. Alice picked the bitter brigade as her bridesmaids. Awesome.
"We need to play nice for the rest of the time we have to do this. We don't want her to get even more pissed." It was like they were the only two in the room.
Alice came rushing back in with the priest and we got the ball rolling. And it kept on rolling for a couple of hours. We watched Alice and Jasper practice the unique aspect of their ceremony. We watched them pretend to get married three times. I watched as the bridesmaids practiced their walking speed a dozen times because someone always seemed to go on the wrong number of paces. The only people who didn't seem to screw up were the flower girl and the ring bearer. Finally, it was time for us guys to start doing something.
"Now let's practice walking back up the aisle. Once Jasper and Alice make it half way, the first couple can start making their way towards the aisle. And once they reach the middle of the aisle the next couple goes and so on and so forth till everyone is gone. Then the guests get up and leave. Alright, let's see if we can do this right at least once." The priest sounded exhausted like the rest of us. We were also hungry. I was looking forward to a nice take-out hamburger after this was all over.
"Okay. I have just announced that you are husband and wife. Go!" Jasper and Alice link arms and make their way up the aisle.
"Okay, Best Man number one and Maid of Honor number one go!" Rose and Emmett stepped down and walked toward each other. When they reached each other, Rosalie immediately crossed her arms and began walking up the aisle. Here we go.
"You're supposed to link arms." The priest called.
"Not going to happen!" Rose called back.
"Fine. Best Man number two and Maid of Honor number two go ahead." Bella and I both walked towards the gap in the row of pews. When we met in the middle, she slipped her arm through my elbow and we walked up the aisle.
"Hey," I said to her for the first time today.
"Hey," She glanced at me.
"That was a nice thing you did for Emmett the other day. That pep talk." I told her as we were nearing the end of our walk.
"Thanks." She smiled and let go of my arm as we reached the threshold of the doors. In the lobby, Alice was scolding Rose who didn't seem to be caring at the moment.
"You know I'm trying right?" Emmett said coming up to us. "I was going to link arms with her and then she just crossed them."
"I know Emmett. Honestly, I would think she would be the one who would want to try. Guess not." Bella rubbed his back, soothingly.
"I don't know why she would be angry, actually. She was the one who did the wrong thing." I interjected.
"Does anyone really know what she's going to do? Her mood swings are all over the place." Bella looked over at Alice and Rose. "I'd blame it on all the attention being on her brother, but I'm not really sure."
We ended up walking up that aisle ten times, until Rose finally caved and did it right. Alice told her if she didn't cooperate, we'd walk up that aisle until she did. And Alice was not kidding. Rosalie was testing every last nerve in Alice today. It was two in the afternoon when we all left the church. Just one more day left and then it was the real thing. There would be no more stressing. Hopefully a more cooperative Rosalie as well. I couldn't' wait for it to be Saturday.
~oOo~
It was Friday night. Seven twenty five on the dot. Emmett and I were standing on Jasper's doorstep. We were waiting for him to come to the door. Tonight we were taking Jasper to his Bachelor party destination. Thanks to his second cousin Brian, we got a great deal on renting out the local paintball place for a night of glow in the dark paintball war. The front door finally opened and Jasper's head peaked out.
"What are you guys doing here?" He asked, stepping outside.
"We have come to take you on a manly excursion in the dead of evening." Emmett used a deep, mysterious voice.
"Where are we going?"
"We are taking you to the one place dudes can be dudes without girls telling us what to do." Emmett said.
"And don't worry, you'll be back in plenty of time to get your beauty sleep." I joked, tugging him towards the car.
"Where are we going?" He asked again, getting into the back of the car.
"Paintballing." Emmett said before shutting the door.
We arrived at the paintball field just in time for the sun to start disappearing behind the horizon. The paintball arena was light up with spotty patches of lights. The obstacle course looked ominous in the dark and pretty soon it would be covered with spots of glowing paint. Emmett popped the trunk and began handing everyone a gun and packets of glow in the dark paintballs. We all headed inside and rented out the protective gear from behind the counter. The guy told us we had the place for three hours, then we had to leave because he didn't want to get in trouble with his boss.
"Alright men," Emmett said to us when we walked out to the battlefield. "We are going to split up into two teams. Since there are seven of us, Jasper's team will have the most players. We are playing Team Deathmatch. Hits to the chest, stomach, head and back are the only ones that count. We all have four lives. Multiple hits at one time count as one life lost. Once you lose all your lives, you must go back to the starting point and re-enter from there. To show that you are re-entering the game, raise your gun above your head so you don't get shot. Any questions?" Silence. "Good. Then let's play!"
The field was divided up with Emmett and Jasper as captains. Jasper nabbed me, Brian and Travis. Emmett got Nathan and Mark. We raced to opposite sides of the field and counted to thirty, then it was game on. It was quiet at first, everyone stalking and hovering in the various shadow spots, trying not to be seen. Then there was the sound of paint flying. And next thing you know, the war had begun.
I was hiding behind a giant wall, peeking out and shooting into the dark. My shots weren't hitting anyone. Then I saw a flash of blue and shot at the moving target. I hit them square in the back. "HA!"
"I'm coming for you, Cullen!" I heard Nathan yell. I got up and sprinted behind a post, climbing up it to reach a platform. I ducked behind the mini wall and surveyed the area. I raised my gun above the wall, my eyes peering down at the ground and released neon yellow pelts into the night air. I was like a sniper on the attack. Years of Call of Duty have prepared me for this moment.
"Hey Cullen," I heard behind me. Before I could fully turn around, a bright orange pelt hits my chest. Fuck. "Told you I was coming for you!"
"This isn't the end, Nathan!" I yell at him as he slides down the poll.
The game goes on for the duration of our three hours. No one getting tired or bored. Emmett lost the most lives, trying to be all intense and running out in a line of fire. I got tagged out plenty of times myself. And even though this was Jasper's Bachelor party, none of us went easy on him. By the time we had to leave, we looked like Picasso paintings. We returned the gear we borrowed and headed back to the car.
"Thanks guys," Jasper said from the front seat. "It was nice to de-stress like that. I feel so much better."
"That is what Bachelor parties are for." Brian smack Jasper on the shoulder.
"I can't believe you are getting married tomorrow," Emmett said from the driver's seat.
"I can't either," Jasper admitted. "But I don't want to be with anyone else, so why wait for the future when I can do it now."
"Uh oh. Jasper is getting all emotional." Travis gasped from right next to me. We all laughed.
"We're happy for you. And this was our way of saying it. By obliterating you with paintballs." Emmett said.
"For the record, I think my team won." Jasper said.
"No way! We slaughtered you guys!" Mark interjected.
"I beg to differ." I point out. "You hit your own teammate, Mark!"
"That was by accident! I thought Nathan was Brian!"
We argued back and forth on who won all the way home. Tomorrow was finally the day. I couldn't wait to see what the wedding day brought down on all of us.