Hullo, mates! I can't BELIEVE that I am so close to 500 reviews. It's an amazing feeling.
I HAVE RECENTLY STARTING ACCEPTING ANONYMOUS REVIEWS. I didn't even know I was blocking them until my friends at school that read but don't have accounts pointed it out, so sorry! Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last time (not a single person told me the last chapter was boring! yay!)- Mrs-haleycullen, bonapuella, we.cloned.edward.cullen, elitestar1234, MTVicesk8r, LinaLina318, Twilightfan0195, SeanEmma4Evr, ellamoo, slytheringrl17, VampireCat3, dazzled620, goldeneyesx, bella almost cullen, sillyaddict13, silver sniper of night, EdwardsGirl53 obsessedwithjamespotter, mishacon, EmilyMCullen, sammygirl2010, Forever Your Angel, redtwiheart12, strangerthanyou, renalrocks, Erika-Cullen13 iluv2read321, DesperateRomantic, Bookangel812, Fire Away EC, crystal (who actually took the time to review almost every single chapter!), XxsamiixX, wheep, CassieB, edwardcullen119, kelbeck, and my very loyal since-the-beginning fan, briiittx xhc. I hope that none of you terribly miss the bold commas... it was just too much work and it's almost midnight! I have no TIME for bolding all my commas! Lol...
So, it's the day before the wedding. Tuesday, August 12. Happy reading. :)
When I woke up the following morning, my stomach was in knots. The only thought that was in my mind was that it was the day before the wedding. Wow. I groaned and rubbed the sleep from my eyes, then wriggled out of Edward's strong embrace.
"It's almost here, love," Edward whispered, pulling me back into his arms. I frowned and sat cross-legged.
"What if I trip down the aisle?" I asked.
"You won't," Edward said, and put a cold finger to my lips before I could protest, "Alice knew that you would have a panic-attack today. She wanted me to remind you that she's taken care of everything."
"I'm sure she has," Charlie said. I scrambled hastily around, twisting the sheet around my legs. I nearly fell off the bed when my legs flailed, but Edward caught me around the waist with his steady hands. He settled me back onto the bed, and rubbed my back soothingly.
"Ch-Charlie?" I said, horrified. Why wasn't Edward ducking under the bed?
"Morning, Bells. You look like you've seen a ghost," he said, chuckling.
"Uhh... bad dream," I said, which wasn't entirely untrue. I had a nightmare of mixing up my vows the previous night.
"I took off from work and invited Edward over to drive us to the Cullen house. You know... family bonding? Before you go away on the honeymoon," Charlie explained.
"Oh. Well, then, thanks dad. I'm sure Esme will love to see you," I said, relieved that Edward and I hadn't been busted again. Charlie blushed.
"Edward just finished making us waffles, right?" Charlie asked.
My angel nodded and lifted me gently out of bed. He kissed my forehead and said, "Go get ready, Bella. I'll meet you in the kitchen," he murmured.
Suddenly, I had no disregard for our audience and I leaned in for a kiss. My longing for Edward was much stronger than my caution from PDA.
I pressed my lips to his urgently, letting my arms travel up his back and hooking around his neck and over his shoulders. Edward seemed surprised, but returned the kiss briefly, and made to push me away. I wouldn't let him. He flitted his marble tongue across my lower lip, then captured it with his and tugged firmly. "Later," he whispered so softly I barely caught it.
"When?" I whispered back.
"Soon," he answered, and I felt like it was frustratingly cryptic.
When we pulled away, Charlie's face was passive. "Yes, well," he said, and turned quickly away. I heard him tromping rather loudly down the stairs.
Edward raised his eyebrows, but swooped in for another teaser-kiss. "Later," he reminded me.
I threw a black mid-sleeve with a few sequins that Alice had previously labeled "sophisticatedly casual" and a pair of faded jeans into my arms and folded them on the bathroom counter to wait for me to be done my shower.
Without Edward, my wedding fear came flooding back and I began to hyperventilate. I tried to calm myself, but to no avail. Not even the smell of my luscious shampoo would return my breathing back to normal. Finally, I gave up and lathered my body in soap, trying to breathe as deeply as possible.
When the hot water ran out and I was forced to stop the rather pointless and inefficient calming exercises that I had taken up again. I turned all the shower's knobs and pulled back the curtain, grabbed my towel, and dried off.
Creak.
I gasped. What did Charlie need that was so important that he couldn't even knock? For all he knew, I could be naked!
Hastily, I hugged the towel closer around my form and put on what I hoped was a disbelieving face.
However, the man on the other side of the door was not Charlie. It was Edward.
My breath caught, and I was instantly taken back to last Thursday, when a remarkably similar scene was unfolding.
"It's later," Edward whispered, and quickly closed the distance between us.
The moment his mouth touched mine, my hands were traveling the length of his torso; his were enjoying the single layer between my stomach and his. Eventually, my hands were satisfied and Edward guided them around his neck, then took his own hands around my waist. He backed me against the counter and deepened the kiss.
His lips moved in perfect harmony with mine. I grasped his freezing upper lip in between my teeth, and yanked so that even a vampire could feel the longing behind it. He pressed his hands on either side of my throat, thumb stroking the side of my chin, holding me in place and closer to him.
"Edward," I moaned when his tongue slipped for the faintest of seconds between my parted lips.
"Careful," he warned, but regardless he held my body ever closer and our shapes melded together- absolute fits. He snagged my lower lip between two of his, and he tugged in downward, until it slipped out of his grasp. His lips continued upwards, tracing the planes of my face, kissing each of my closed eyelids, and whispering down my throat. He let the tip of his tongue taste the hollow beneath my throat, and for a moment I wondered if he considered draining my life.
His tongue made itself apparent as he kissed along both sides of my collarbone, and down my shoulders and arms. Before returned to my mouth, he took my left hand in his right, kissed in, and smiled enticingly at me. After all the foreplay, he finally settled his rosy lips onto mine for what felt like hours. Hours without breathing; hours of tasting his cold, sugary breath; hours of his stone embrace breaking ever so often so he could explore my body.
When I was left breathless, he pulled quickly away, spun me around to the mirror, and rested his chin on my right shoulder.
"Isabella Swan," he murmured.
"Yes?" I said, equally quiet.
"You will be my wife."
I nodded, and Edward straightened to kiss the top of my head, then take the brush gently out of my hands and comb back my wet brown locks. He touched my blush with light fingertips, and smiled.
"Would you like your waffles, m'lady?" he asked when he deemed my hair finished, and bowed.
"Thank you, sir Edward," I replied, smiling genuinely back. He left me to have the privacy of getting changed, but when I finished, he was right outside the door. He took my hand, kissed it like he had only minutes ago, and led me into the kitchen. I was astounded to see a plate stacked with at least 20 waffles. Each one was thick enough for Jake to scarf down and still be full.
"Overkill, much?" I laughed, and Edward confessed, "I'm not very good with serving sizes." I chuckled, and grabbed a waffle, piling it with fresh strawberries.
"Esme and Carlisle went berry-picking yesterday," Edward said. He made an appalled face as I plopped a whole strawberry in my mouth and slurped the juice out of it.
"I imagine that you'll be doing that to deer soon," he said wistfully. I wrinkled my nose and dug into the waffle.
LATER
"Okay, you three!" Alice said, waggling her finger at Edward, Charlie, and me, "No peeking. You are to stay innocently here while the rest of the family decorates the backyard." She pulled down the blinds of the giant window-walls to make sure we didn't try to cheat. The entire Cullen family except for Edward was to adorn the property with wedding apparel. Of course, Edward, Charlie, and I were forbidden to see it before the wedding day.
"Find something fun to do, Edward," Esme called in her sing-song voice before closing the door behind herself and Alice.
When they were finally gone, Edward excused himself and vanished into his room. I couldn't be sure what he was up to.
"I can't believe that you'll be living here, Bella," Charlie said awkwardly, looking down at his toes.
"Me either," I said honestly, tugging my shirt down.
"Don't do that Bella! I don't care if you're nervous- you'll stretch the shirt out!" Alice called from the outside.
Charlie looked questioningly at me. "How did she-"
I silenced him before he could come close to guessing the truth, "Alice knows everything, dad. You should know that by now."
He laughed and nodded as Edward returned from his room with a black case.
He propped the case on the coffee table, and, seeming frustrated at going at a human pace, unzipped the bag to reveal a... video camera.
"Since Bella and I may be started a family soon," he began, shooting a meaningful glance that surely meant "just go along with it" at me, "I thought that perhaps it would be a good time to begin making home-videos."
Running a hand through his graying hair, Charlie smiled and looked sheepishly. I knew how much he hated being caught on camera, and he said, "I'll film for a bit, if you don't mind."
Edward nodded, handed over the camera, and plopped down next to me on the couch while the camera booted up.
"Alright, you two," Charlie instructed, "Do something to show the children."
Edward pecked me briefly on the lips, and he turned to face the camera. "This is my beautiful wife-to-be, Bella Swan."
I blushed and waved hesitantly. "This is Edward," I finished lamely.
Charlie began commentating about the Cullen house and then disappeared to film elsewhere.
"I think that he'll enjoy his new toy," Edward said, chuckling.
"You're giving it to him?!" I asked, incredulous.
"Bella, he's going to be living all alone in your house. He needs something to do."
"You are far too generous," I said, intertwining his fingers through mine.
Without a reply, Edward reached behind him and pulled my copy of Wuthering Heights from behind the cushion. "Shall we continue where we left off on Saturday?" he asked, flipping to my page. I settled into his lap with a contented sigh as he began to read...
LATER
There was a hard rap at the window. I picked my head off of Edward's cool stomach with some effort and turned to see Emmett's face smushed against the glass to my window. Edward rolled his eyes, sprinted to the window, and unlocked it.
"I thought I should knock," Emmett explained, climbing in through the window, "You know... after last time." He held a straight face for only two seconds before breaking into laughter. Edward growled at the remark as Jasper flung himself through the window and tumbled like a ninja over my carpet.
"What are you all doing here?" I asked defensively. I had planned a late night with Edward, with me resting in his arms for the last time before I was officially Bella Cullen.
"Someone had to make sure he wouldn't try to skip his own bachelor party. Alice told us that he might try," Jasper said, scrambling up and looking around.
"Nice place you've got here," Emmett said, running his finger over my dresser as if checking for dust. He blew off his finger, although I was sure that there was no dust on it.
Jasper made himself at home in my rocking chair. "We didn't interrupt anything, did we?" he asked.
"No!" I said a little too loudly, a little too quickly, and turning beet red.
Emmett raised an eyebrow. "Well, anyway, Eddiepuss, we gotta go."
"Jasper, what do vampires do for bachelor parties? You're not taking him to a strip club, are you?" I asked, unsure if I wanted to know the answer.
It didn't escape my attention when the two vampires exchanged significant glances. "Of course not," said Jasper, but it didn't offer me any reassurance.
Edward groaned, and turned to me. I embraced him tightly, trying to hold back tears. I didn't want to part from him, even for a minute. And Alice was forbidding us seeing each other the next day, so it would be double damnation.
"I love you," he said, kissing my forehead and through my hair.
"I love you too, Edward," I said, "I can't believe tomorrow is the big day."
"You'll do fine," Edward said. "If I can convince Alice, I'll be back before you know it. Now go to sleep and stop worrying."
I loosened my hold on him and kissed him full on the lips.
"Uggh, PDA, much?" Emmett whispered to Jasper. "Get a room!" Jasper whispered back.
"Goodbye, Mrs. Cullen." Edward said, slipping out the window. Jasper and Emmett followed swiftly behind.
I went to the window and listened to what didn't make sound.
"I can't believe you're dragging me here..." Edward said in the distance.
"Do I need to threaten your stereo again?" Emmett asked.
I heard a car start, and their voices were lost in the purr of the engine and the patter of rain.
I sighed and dragged myself back into bed,then threw the comforter over me. Falling asleep had never been so difficult.
Ha! Another severely long chapter!
I cannot BELIEVE or even BEGIN to grasp that the next time I update, the new chapter will contain a wedding.
I never thought that I would get so far with this fanfiction... I mean, sure, I plotted it all out and stuff, but I never thought I would make it this far. Mostly, I have to say that it's because I have so many amazing reviewers who make it all worthwhile.
Well, anyway, talk to you guys whenever I update! Hopefully tomorrow... if not, by Saturday at the latest!
And again I repeat ANONYMOUS REVIEWS ARE NOW BEING ACCEPTED. Please leave a review... I have a feeling I'll be making it to 500+ with this chapter! Thank you all for being wonderful!