If you've seen "The Holiday" (a very cheesy girly movie) then you'll have a great visual representation of this chapter's setting. Again, this chapter is a little short, but the next few are quite lengthy.

Stephenie Meyer owns everything in the Twilight universe. Not me. :(

Chapter Twenty One – T is for Tent

"I have a present for you." He said, shutting the door to his house gently behind us. I glanced at him angrily, but he jumped in before the yelling could commence. "Don't worry. This part cost me literally nothing. Except a few hours to set up." He guided me gently by my hands. Today he didn't even bother to cover my eyes, yet I voluntarily snapped them shut. I was afraid of what I would find waiting.

He chuckled once he realized my eyes were stitched shut. "Open your eyes, Bella."

My eyelids slid open, and my breathing ceased for a few moments.

Bedsheets—all various shades of pink and cream—were carefully constructed into a canopy. My eyes darted back from the construction, to him. He was grinning wide and his eyes sparkled today more than usual.

He must've seen my wide-eyed excitement.

"Go on in." He practically pushed me in. On my hands and knees, I crawled on top of pillows and reallocated myself to rest comfortably on my side. When he didn't follow me directly, I watched him through a small crack. Leaning casually along the wall, he flicked off the lights.

I braced myself for complete darkness. To my surprise, through the translucent sheets, strings of white Christmas lights along the top shone like stars in the sky. The beauty of it enthralled me—it was like being under the stars. Something the rain clouds had taken away lately.

His cold hands along my arms caught me off guard.

I had been rendered speechless, so I just laid there while Edward lay next to me. His fingertips skimmed my skin delicately, and I just stared up. The longer my eyes attached to the Christmas lights, the more memories I was flooded with, and the more blurred my vision became.

"Is this okay?" He asked, so unsure of himself. Normally confident, Edward was a nervous wreck today. He must have seen my tears. "You're crying. Please don't..."

His finger wiped away one tear, and a choked laugh escaped. "It's not... I'm not crying because it's bad. It's just..." I had to remind myself to breathe once again.

Edward watched patiently until I could finish my story.

"Renee used to do this when I was a kid, so we could pretend we were camping without actually needed the outdoors. We would lie on our backs, look up and pretend we were looking up at the stars." I smiled faintly, at the beautiful memory that I was now sharing with him, the most important thing to me ever. "How did you..."

"I spoke with Renee, actually." Edward confessed, with a look in his eyes that made him feel so devious. The white lights reflected in his topaz eyes, framing his face perfectly. "I wanted to do something special."

I made it plain to see when our palms intertwined, and kissed his tenderly. "You are very special to me."

He was smiling, but there was something more. Something in his eyes that he was keeping from me. It was driving me crazy not knowing—and it was clearly driving him crazy not being able to tell me.

"Do you have any plans for the next two days?" He asked plainly. I took a few minutes to think. No work. I shook my head. "Well, now you do."

From his back pocket, he retrieved and slid two long and skinny envelopes towards me. I examined them carefully. Two airplane tickets.

I looked at him incredulously. Our wedding was in three days, and he wanted to go away with me. Whether it was the plane tickets, or the makeshift night sky, or his sweet breath on my neck—I was speechless, and demanding an explanation. Clarification. Anything.

"Why..." I was stammering like an idiot, and he merely grinned.

"I won't be able to give you a proper honeymoon." This caused him to look down sullenly. The sudden drop in his voice made me feel miserable. "Not for a while, anyway."

After the sullen moment earlier, his demeanor perked up suddenly. Maybe he was trying to coax me into giddiness with leadership by example. "It's a very secluded villa."

"Don't tell me you own an island!" I groaned, half joking. Edward retrieved my head from my hands, and stroked my hair comfortingly.

"For us, I'd say it's more along the lines of rental." He said, as if it would comfort me. "It's supposed to be very warm and sunny. And it's right on the ocean. We can spend the day on the sand." He was salivating over the idea, and I was finding myself tempted.

I raised one eyebrow. "Just you and me? Alone?"

He bit his bottom lip, which panicked me slightly. I loved the idea of having Edward all to myself—it was selfish, but I didn't want to share. "It was kind of Alice's idea, so she...sort of invited herself and Jasper along."

I chuckled timidly.

"It's a quite sizeable place, and she promised to give us our privacy." The tip of his nose traced my cheek, and led him to my ear. His whisper was unhealthily consoling. "If you want, I will tell her to stay home. I'll rip up her plane tickets. I can handle disappointing Alice, but you I cannot handle disappointing."

Surprisingly, I frowned. "Don't rip her plane tickets. We'll be fine." My voice was frighteningly small. His eyes lit up with enthusiasm. "I have to pack, you know."

He smiled. "No you don't. Already done for you."

"Do you think of everything?"

"Pretty much." His smile was very smug. "You are getting better at handling surprises."

"You're lucky I'm in a very good mood tonight." I grinned. Our hands intertwined, and I nestled in under his arm.

"You're right." He kissed the bridge of my nose. "I'm very, very lucky."

Okay, just a few last notes. First of all, I'm terrible with logistics. So if there's something that seems unlikely about these next couple chapters, I'm sorry. This entire story was basically instant gratification for me. If I wanted to see Edward and Bella going to a secluded island, then they went. I didn't really think logically.

Second, THANK YOU to everyone who has reviewed, or added this story to their favorites, or put me on their author/story alert list. It means leagues to me.

Finally, I will try and update as soon as possible. Perhaps reviews would help?