Disclaimer: Twilight = not mine
A/N: Sorry for the delay in updates, though this hasn't been the longest. I traveled to the midwest, traveled home, and then got caught up in the Harry Potter premiere excitement. But now I am yours and MMM's once again :)
Enjoy!
Chapter 21 - Doo Right
"Do you-"
"Hell yes I do!"
"Emmett, man, that was so rude," Jasper chuckled. Then snorted.
I pursed my lips and looked down at my hands and the single red rose I was holding, again trying desperately to concentrate on the delicate petals instead of my immediate, hilarious surroundings. It was taking a bit of effort to keep myself together.
I felt Alice shaking in silent laughter next to me and couldn't help but shut my eyes and let one small laugh escape. It's not like Rosalie or Emmett would notice any blatant laughter, but I felt like the principal of not laughing in the middle of a wedding ceremony was worth holding up. I wanted to at least try and do everything right, even if the attempt was futile.
The wedding was not going... well.
It wasn't going badly either. Quite the contrary. Everyone was having a fantastic time. Except for maybe the minister. He kept getting interrupted, and I'm not sure many people appreciate that, no matter how much they are being paid by a circus themed casino.
You see, the better portion of our merry little wedding crew was still a bit intoxicated.
And by "a bit" I mean thoroughly smashed.
Emmett, Edward, and Jasper hadn't ceased drinking since our pre-decoration festivities. Aro matched the 3 of them drink for drink, or so I hear, but he was still seemingly unaffected by the alcohol. The guy seriously didn't get drunk. Ever. It was unnatural, but sort of appreciated since he did manage to talk the boys out of trying to invite Sigfried, Roy, and their tigers to the wedding. I'm still a little bit unclear on how this brilliant idea formed, but from what I could get Drunk Edward and Aro to explain to me, Emmett was waiting for Jasper to get out of the bathroom and flipped on the discovery channel. There was some special about the tigers attacking Roy... or a child or something... and Emmett fell in love and vowed to have them as wedding guests, despite the gruesome nature of the story.
That whole time Alice and I had been with Rose, helping her get ready for her "Bid Day Under the Big Top" (Alice's new name for the wedding) so we were not around for the tiger ordeal. Rosalie had decided to keep her own party going and drank a whole bottle of champagne while we wresteled her into her dress. Esme and Mrs. Hale were there as well, but when Rosalie started singing "I Feel Pretty" they bailed with excuses of finding their husbands. That's when Alice and I decided we should probably sober up a bit and stay that way. I think we were both a little concerned about Rose suddenly snapping out of "I Feel Pretty" mode, remembering what was happening, and then freaking out about getting married in Vegas. We took her continued drunkeness as a mask for the lingering discomfort of the situation, and we just didn't want to risk being incapable of calming her down should she decide she was suddenly unhappy with the 99 balloon wedding.
No one wanted to drunkenly account for their best friend throwing a Belagio chair through a window or anything. And Rosalie throws when she freaks out.
So now here Alice and I stand, directly to the right of Rosalie watching a most unorthodox wedding proceed before us.
Talk about a circus...
We were just now getting to the "I do's" but Rose and Emmett had already kissed 3 times. Emmett just interrupted the minister for the 5th time (the 1st and 3rd times were about being hungry), Jasper decided that his shoes were ugly so he'd discarded them 5 minutes ago and ran into the aisle to give them to his mother who (God bless Esme) was video taping everything. Rosalie made Alice redo her hair after she decided to wear it up, and then called for a "re-do" during the opening "We are gathered here today" speech once she got it up. Jasper whistled the wedding march the whole time Rosalie was walking down the aisle, and Edward kept winking, waving, or throwing things at me in an effort to get my undivided attention, then trying to walk over to stand with me.
At least Drunk Jasper, after his offending shoes were off, was respectful of the wedding and his interruptions were, in his tipsy little mind, helping the ceremony try to proceed. He kept restraining Edward from leaving his best man post and telling Emmett to stop interrupting. He's also the one that, 30 seconds after we got started, told Rosalie to pin up her hair because it looked more "professional".
"Sorry Wayne, not trying to be rude, I'm just excited to marry my wife," Emmett apologized to the minister.
His name was Father Matthews but Emmett kept calling him Wayne because he looked similar to the Wayne Newton billboard outside of Circus-Circus that we had to pass on our way here.
"It's alright, Emmett," Father Matthews patiently responded. He took a deep breath and looked around at all of us, trying to assess if we were going to behave. When he had the eye of everyone, except for Edward who was staring at me, he continued. "Rosalie, do you take Emmett to be your la-"
Father Matthews stopped speaking as the small, silver cuff link arched in the air directly in front of his face, nicked Rose's shoulder, and bounced at my feet.
Edward was throwing things again.
"Bella!" he staged whispered to me. As if the whole room wasn't aware he'd just thrown a clothing accessory at me to get my attention.
"Edward, not now please," I pleaded quickly with a soft smile and a hard tone.
He upsets so easily in his drunk state.
"But we have to talk about Europe, I won't go back without you, Bella. Bella-"
"Not now. Stop," I scolded with a little less of a smile.
His face fell and he started twiddling his fingers. He was acting like a child. A very handsome, alluring in a suit, way too attractive when he pouts child.
"Stop what? I can't stop my love, Bella. I won't stop my love. I love you. Remember? More, more, mo-"
Oh, help him.
"I know you love me, Edward, but this is Rosalie and Emmett's wedding, not the time to talk about Europe."
"I need to touch you."
I let out and exhasperated sigh and turned to apologize to Rose and Emmett. Who were kissing again.
Jasper's hand caught Edward's bicep just as he took his second step towards me, thankfully restraining him again. Jazz was giggling at Edward's desperation to get to me but he didn't let go so he reamined the hero of this latest little outburst.
"You can touch Bell later, Edward," Alice scoffed. "Right now Rose and Emmett just need to get married. Jazz, get your finger out of Edward's ear. That's gross."
Oh yeah, Drunk Jasper was also handing out Wet Willys rather frequently. Mostly just to Drunk Edward though.
"Are we proceeding?" Father Matthews questioned, trying to catch Alice or I's eye from around Rose and Emmett who were still going at it.
"Wayne, I'm proceeding," Emmett turned his face from Rose and said to our poor minister. "With my wife. Right up stairs."
Rosalie whooped and then hopped into Emmett's arms as he started to walk away from the altar.
"But the ceremony hasn't ..." Matthews tried to reason, but stopped. He probably realized that if they walked out early he could finally be rid of us.
"All right, I am getting up. You people need your help."
Aro stood up from the front row on the bride's side, where he had been sitting in between Rosalie's mother and father.
He blocked Rose and Em as they tried to escape their own unfinished wedding ceremony and forced them to turn around and follow him as he walked up onto the stage while holding a red balloon he had stolen from somewhere around the room. He'd named it "Lucky Number 99".
"Put the bride down, Emmett. Rosalie, darling, do not let Emmett touch you until someone else orders him to."
Rosalie and Emmett looked a little sad but obliged. They followed Aro back towards the 5 of us still standing at the altar and Rosalie pushed Emmett away when he tried to wrap his hand around her waist.
"Aro, what are you doing?" Edward asked lazily, grabbing the bowler hat off the Spaniard's head and placing it on his own.
"All of you told me you wanted a wedding so I am making sure it happens. I'm not letting your silliness ruin all of your fun little dreams."
Aro waved his hand around casually at the lot of us and looked around, narrowing his eyes in some level of concentration.
Edward stopped paying attention to Aro and again turned his sights on me. He winked at me again as he tilted the hat a bit and smirked. It made me happy and frustrated all at the same time. Drunk Edward was a whole lot of hott.
"Ok kiddies," Aro began as he took a firm stance in the middle of our little half circle.
He turned to Father Matthews and sighed. "You may be relieved, Padre. Please go and have a sit down."
Father Matthews looked like he was going to ask questions but apparently decided against it. Instead he nodded in acceptance and walked towards the seats.
Before any of us could ask what was going on Aro was standing in the minister's place and spouting even more orders.
"Jasper, you should put your shoes back on, and please take the flower out of your hair and place it back on the lapel where it belongs on a gentleman. Emmett and Rosalie, stand on either side of me and remember to resist touching. You may burn with the passion of union, but you must practice self control for a few moments more. You will wait until I give you the-"
Emmett opened up his mouth to protest but Aro held his hand up and silenced him right away with a sharp stare.
"Remember what I just spoke to Jasper about? Being a gentleman?"
Emett sighed and then nodded sadly. Then he looked up at Rose and licked his lips. She groaned.
"Fine, Spain. I'll be good and keep my hands to myself until you say. But I'm not known for my impressive amounts of control, so get let's get this thing going, bro,"Emmett rubbed his hands together while he spoke and stared at Rose like she was the biggest pina colada he'd ever seen.
Just then a button flew past my nose and I looked past Emmett, right into a pair of shining, mischievous, green eyes.
"Speaking of gentleman and what they do and do not do - Isabel, kindly trade places with Jasper. Maybe with you right next to his side Edwardo can keep his hands and clothing pieces to himself."
Edward's eyes grew hungry and excited as I started to walk towards him. Jasper and I exchanged a high five as we walked past each other to our new places. He initiated it, holding up his hand as he passed me, and I hit it because, hey! Edwardo probably wasn't going to keep his hands to himself even with me standing next to him, but that wasn't a major issue for me. Now I could reap the benefits of it.
Alice squealed as Jasper reached her because he somehow managed to grab her and toss her onto his back, piggy-back style.
Edward reached for my waist once I got close enough and turned me around in his arms, facing me towards Rose and Emmett and crushing my back into his chest. He hummed in contentment and blatantly smelled my hair. If I wasn't so glad to have him touching me I would have laughed out loud.
I entwined my fingers with Edward's and locked our hands in place on my torso. I figured this was the best way to go about ensuring his hands didn't wander. Being this close to him was always a happy experience, but we didn't need Drunk Edward doing anything inappropriate, no matter how great he looked. And smelled.
I mean, he was all dressed up, emotional, and smelling of whiskey. Something about it appealed to me. Some of his fingers escaped mine and started tracing little circles on my sides. I shivered and Edward chuckled. He was clearly not going to behave. Emmett was right. We needed to get things going.
"Aro, darling, I appreciate the help and all that, but I don't understand how you expect all of this to help us get married when you sent the preacher away," Rosalie commented in a concerned manner. She started twirling a piece of gum around her finger that I swore I saw Alice make her throw away before the ceremony. "I mean, seriously, who the frick is supposed to marry us?"
"Yeah, wait. We need Wayne Newton back!" Emmett yelled as he threw his arm out towards where a very disgruntled looking Father Matthews/Newton sat.
"You do not need Wayne Newton when you have Aro," our new wedding coordinator spat.
"Why not?" Rosalie asked, completely confused.
"Well, I'm ordained, of course," Aro smiled.
"Sweet, Spain! Marry us up."
I felt a little surprised and a little not all at the same time. Edward was right about you getting used to the unexpected happening around our Aro. He was just never normal. Never predicatable.
Ordained? Sure!
Winner of Star Search Spain in '93? You bet! Wanted for grand theft auto of a European tour bus? Oh yeah.
Fluent in 5 different languages? Of course!
Certified to fly a plane? Uh-huh.
You just never knew with him.
"You can marry us?" Rosalie asked.
Aro nodded,"Yes ma'am."
"You want to marry us?"
"Yes, of course."
Alice leaned part of her little body over Jasper's shoulder and tapped Rosalie on the arm, demanding "gum" as she held out her hand. Rosalie deposited her gum into Alice's hand but kept her eyes on Aro's sincere face the whole time.
"That's so.... nice," she breathed as she started to tear up a little bit. "No one's ever wanted to marry Emmett and I before. Thank you."
My mouth dropped open in surprise as Alice giggled and Jasper began clapping. Rosalie threw her arms around Aro's neck and Emmett' yelled, "No touching the bride!"
Rosalie pulled away and smiled at Aro as she wiped her one tear away.
"Oh Bella, Rosalie's not crying because of me is she?" Edward asked softly into my ear. He sounded truly worried.
I closed my eyes and decided that our wedding and reception might have to be dry. No way can I deal with Emotionward if he finds whiskey before or during our own big day. He's too freaking emotional.
"No, Edward. Rosalie's crying because she's happy."
"Do I make you happy enough to cry? That doesn't make sense to me, but I'll do it Bella, if you want. I will-"
I clapped my hand over his mouth and smiled.
"Edward, stop it. I may cry soon... But you're perfect to me even if I don't."
I let my hand drop as he nodded.
"Come to Europe with me, Bella."
I sighed and dropped my head, hating that he wouldn't give this up. But before my argument could begin, Aro did.
"Ladies and gentleman, drunkards and Wayne Newton, we are gathered here today to witness the joining of Rosalie and Emmett in holy matrimony..."
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
"Pass me the pitcher, Edward, I'm running dry, man."
"No can do my brother. You've already had… um… Bella, I seem to have lost count of Jasper's drinks…"
"Edwardo, do not keep such things as margaritas from your family. Sharing is caring, hermano."
"I promised him, Aro, stay out of it. Bella, I forgot how many margaritas Jasper's had. I forgot!"
"It's ok, Edward. Jasper doesn't – uhhh... Please stop licking my thumb. It's… distracting…"
"Rosalie, can we leave yet?"
"No, Emmett, that's rude. Bella hasn't given her toast yet, everyone stays seated. Jazz, ugh, give me your napkin. I swear, if you spill one more drop of green alcohol on your Gucci shirt, I might divorce you. Emmett! Put Rosalie down! What did I just say about Bella's speech?"
"Alice, I don't really want to give a sp-"
"C'mon Bellarina, help a brother out. Stand up, say something awesome about Rose and I getting hitched, then raise your glass and take a swig so I can go get my groove on with my wife."
"Wife. Weird. I'm a wife. Pass the margaritas."
"No, I get them first. Edward. Margaritas. Now."
Welcome to Rosalie and Emmett Cullen's wedding reception.
We were gathered in the giant banquet hall in Circus Circus. Apparently you got 2 free hours in here if you rented out the other room for the ceremony.
Rose, Emmett, Edward, Jasper, Alice, Aro, the girl Aro picked up in the lobby, and myself were the only occupants in the 452 max occupant room. All at one table, all being waited on by about 10 servers.
Because even though there were only 8 of us we needed 10 servers. The drunkards were being sloppy. And entertaining.
The parents peaced out after the ceremony finally got organized enough to reach completion. I think Esme and Carlilse were going to send the tape of all of us into some TLC show about dysfunctional weddings, and Rosalie's parents wanted to gamble or shop. It didn't really matter because in 3 weeks we'd all be doing this the "right" way in LA, so they left us to fend for ourselves in the reception hall in Vegas.
"Oh, I just can't stand such desperation in a man's voice. Edwardo, have a heart," Aro pleaded for Jasper, who was currently pouting and reaching across the table at the pitcher of lime margaritas that Edward was hugging to his chest.
Apparently something had happened in New York after the night Drunk Jasper graced us with his presence for the first time. Something that involved Edward promising Jasper he wouldn't let green margaritas attack him again or something. Whatever it was, Edward was taking it seriously, and Jasper was getting ready to climb across the table and start a cat fight in order to get himself some more margarita.
"Bella, how many margaritas has Jasper had? I promised him that I would never get carried away again, specifically with green margaritas. I promised. And now I cannot remember how many he's had, and if I still need to regulate his intake."
Edward turned to me with a desperate look, again, as he dipped a finger of mine from the hand he was holding into the pitcher and then brought it up to his mouth to lick it off. It was an odd little thing he'd just started doing. Something that effected me deep inside in a tingling sort of fashion.
"I don't know how many he's had, sorry. The food will be here soon and then maybe you can give him another glass of margarita. After he's had some food."
I shivered a little bit as he nodded and licked my finger a bit more then winked at me. Edward was still intoxicated and still all over the place. He'd switched from worrying about Jasper's margarita intake, to feeling up my leg under the table, to dropping his head into his arm and cursing himself for some unknown reason, and back again, all within the same 10 minute window.
"There's food coming?" Emmett asked from the other side of me. We were sitting at a round table and I was in between Edward and Emmett, pretty close to each, so it didn't surprise me that he heard my comment and reacted in typical Emmett + Food fashion.
"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. My mother ordered something pricey and fancy. I've no idea what. I wasn't planning on sticking around for dinner. I was pretty sure we'd be having sex right now."
Rosalie's blunt comment and cold stare at Emmett sent a small silence over the table.
"Ok, sister, stand up and do the f'kin speech. We'll take a to go box."
Emmett pulled my chair out from underneath me, and the fast, powerful action almost sent me tumbling to the floor. I grasped Edward's arm and yelped a little bit as I tried to regain my balance. Luckily my fiancé had lightning fast reflexes and managed to safely set the pitcher on the table before rescuing me from dumping onto the ground.
"Thanks Edward," I laughed.
"Thanks Bella!" Jasper yelled as he reached over the table and grabbed the newly free pitcher. Due to his enthusiastic reaching one of the two flowers he'd stuck behind his ears (he stole Edward's boutonniere) fell into his green treasure, but that didn't' stop him from pouring it all into his cup.
"Bella, speech!" Rosalie demanded.
"Ok, ok, geeze."
I sighed and grabbed my glass of margarita and raised it up. I was chosen to give the wedding toast because when we sat down I was the last to say "not it". Well, Aro's lobby hussy-slash-date didn't beat me, but Rose and Em decided someone they actually knew should probably toast them.
"To Rose and Emmett. You both are an important part of my family and I wish you the best. And thanks for letting me live with you for the past 3 months. I hope that's not weird when we get back to LA. Oh man, I just thought about that! Is that going to be weird? You're like, married now. And I'm just going to be living with you-"
"Ok, thank you Bellarina!"
Emmett cut me off in the middle of my little epiphany about life post-wedding. He stood up, clinked his glass against mine, drained his margarita in one gulp, then grabbed Rose's hand and pulled her up.
"It's been lovely, really. We'll see you all… uh, whenever. All will be right in the Sexiverse tonight!"
And with that declaration they were out the door, leaving 5 laughing reception guests behind, and me, as I remained standing, clutching my margarita glass and worrying about being the 3rd roommate-wheel.
Alice laughed and turned to Aro's new lady friend, "Sorry if you were expecting a traditional wedding reception. You'll have to excuse us, we don't do anything right."
Everyone laughed again but I was still caught up in worrying about my living situation.
Edward pulled me down onto his lap and the feeling of his arms wrapping around me and his laughter grumbling in his chest cheered me up considerably.
"No serious faces tonight, love."
He kissed my neck and mumbled something about how I tasted like lime tress and I forgot all of my worries for the moment.
The food eventually came just as Jasper began singing the theme song to "A Chorus Line". He was using Aro's bowler hat as a prop and Alice was going through the small purse that Rose had left behind in her haste to, uh, balance the Sexiverse with Emmett.
When the food got set on the table all traces of Jasper's happiness ended and he made a face at his plate.
"What's this?"
"It's my favorite, Jazz man. Escargot!" Aro replied, popping one small piece into his date's mouth and then one into his own.
"Escargot?" I repeated with a slight cringe. Ewe.
"More like escar-no!" Jasper exclaimed as he pushed his dish as far away from him as his arm would reach. "Seriously, where's my cheeseburger?"
He started looking around the room as if someone was actually going to bring him a cheeseburger.
"They aren't that bad, Jazzy," Alice chided as she speared one with her fork and actually started lifting it to her mouth.
I made a face and Jasper gasped.
"Alice, no! Do not put that in your mouth!"
"That's not what you said last night, Hubby."
"Alice!" I choked on my sip of margarita and Edward's eyes grew to the size of silver dollars at little Alice's crude joke.
"Good one," Aro's lady said as she reached over and high fived Alice. Huh, her and Emmett would have gotten along had she not been around when he was consumed soley with bedding his wife.
Jasper wasn't having any of the comedy though. He snatched the fork from Alice's hand and held it above his head.
"Jasper, give that back! It's my food and I want to eat it."
"No, Alice. I cannot let the mouth that I love eat bugs."
"You're over reacting. I've eaten escargot a lot and you've kissed my mouth plenty of times."
"Well it ends now! Either you promise me you'll never eat snails again or... or we don't move to Los Angeles."
Wait, what?
"Jasper, that's crazy, and stupid. You want to move just as much as I do. Snails in my mouth won't change that."
Wait. What?
"That's how passionate I am about you not eating the gross-cargot, Alice. Snails or LA. You choose."
"Wait…" I began.
"What?" Edward finished.
Apparently the fiancé and I were on the same "What's all this talk about moving to LA?" page.
"Oh yeah, Jasper and I are planning on moving to Los Angeles next month. You know, to be with you guys. We were going to formally announce it tonight, but then everyone got all wasted and ruined it. Jasper, give me my fork back."
"Alice, no! We can't move if I give you the fork back!"
"You guys are… You're moving back? To Hollywood?" I barely whispered, too in awe to believe that this was actually happening. I hadn't accidentally gotten drunk again and passed out into a very realistic, wonderful dream, had I?
"That's the plan, unless Alice wants to ruin everything by being gross."
"Jasper Cullen, do not, under any circumstances call me gross again."
"So next month everyone will be back in Los Angeles again. Except for me," Edward rationed, dropping his eyes to the table as his sentence ended.
Great. Now Sullen Cullen was back.
I ran my fingers through his hair and tried to wrap my head around everything that was happening.
"Stop pouting, Ed. We'll still be there when you get back from being a rockstar. That's what moving is all about, man."
Jasper was still holding the fork above his head as he consoled his brother but Alice and Jasper were no longer fighting over it. All attention was now on Edward and his sad, table gazing eyes.
"Edwardo, I'm turning in for the evening so that you may all have this conversation. Remember how much we love you on the tour."
Aro stood up to lead his lady out of the room. He patted Edward on the shoulder then winked at me and placed the bowler hat on my head as he passed by, letting me know in his own way that he knew Edward was over reacting and didn't take offense to his sadness over being on tour. He grabbed a handful of the balloons Jasper had collected from the chapel and brought into the banquet hall, then he and his lady of the night disappeared down the hallway.
"Edward, hey, look at me," Alice said suddenly, sapping her fingers around Edward's face and sitting up straighter.
When Edward looked up she smiled.
"You need to go back to Europe and not be sad about what you're missing over here, ok? We all love you and want you to live your dream. Jasper and I will be around when you get back, and we'll be done moving so you'll get out of having to lift any boxes or listen to Emmett sing his moving song."
That made all of us smile and my heart brightened as Edward's face did.
"Yeah kid, perk up. No pouting about touring Europe allowed. What an Edward thing to whine about."
Jasper smirked at his brother and he brought his glass up to his face and took the last swig of margarita. Edward smirked back and threw an ice cube at him.
"I do not whine," he defended.
Alice, Jasper and I laughed pretty hard after that because whining was pretty much all Drunk Edward did. All that led to was Alice snatching the fork from Jasper, him yelling "gross!" after she popped it into her mouth, and Edward asking me a quabillion times if he really did whine too much.
We sat at the table for a while longer, Alice and I discussing her and Jasper's move at length while the boys played "name that tune" with silverware and over turned glasses.
Turns out Alice's father invested in a small boutique for Alice that went up for sale on Melrose, Alice's favorite area in Los Angeles to shop. Alice was doing the unthinkable, dropping out of school to start her own line in her own store. It wasn't that crazy in this situation, though. With an investor like Mr. Brandon and talent like Alice's there was really no way this plan could go bad.
It was ridiculous how happy this news made me. We were all going to be in Hollywood again. Well, almost all. Edward would be away for the first few months of Alice and Jasper's return. But I could handle that. I had to.
We decided it was time to go when Jasper started singing the theme song to "A Chorus Line" again, this time using the escargot to actually form a chorus line and join him.
Edward wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close to him as we walked back to our hotel and our room. He and Jasper were singing "Sweet Caroline" and Alice was skipping as she held Jasper's hand. We'd never stand out as odd balls on the Vegas Strip, but I still reveled in our uniqueness, loving that this was the way we were together, ever since the beginning.
When Edward and I got back to our room I got into my pajamas and climbed into bed as he took a shower.
I felt my eyes drifting closed and fought the urge to sleep with everything I had. I didn't want to miss any more moments with Edward than I had to. He was leaving the next evening and I was already internally freaking out about it.
My hand drifted up to lightly pull on a strand of hair and I curled my legs into my body.
The next thing I knew, I was being woken up with a kiss. A very warm, sensual, wonderful kiss.
"I missed you," he whispered to me.
The lights were off but our curtains were open. The many flashing lights from the strip were lighting up Edward's face in the most amazing way. He looked dark and colorful and alluring.
"You haven't gone anywhere," I responded. Yet.
He sighed and kissed me again, then rested his forehead to mine and sighed again.
"Come with me, Bella."
I closed my eyes and groaned.
"I have already told you 'no' so many times, Edward-"
"Well then stop. I want you with me. Always."
He moved his face a bit to the side and started ghosting his lips across my cheek bone.
"I feel the same, but going to Europe with you just isn't realistic."
"Reality is a fallacy," he murmured as his lips moved closer to my jaw.
"That doesn't even make sense," I retorted with my eyes still closed. His lips were magical. And persuasive. But I knew what he was doing, and I couldn't let it work.
"Still. It sounded good," he said to my skin.
I felt him smile and I giggled a little bit for his benefit. His mouth moved lower, to my neck, and I thought that Edward being stubborn about me going to Europe wasn't turning out to be a bad thing at all.
"Bella, I need you with me."
"You did perfectly fine on your own the last 3 months."
"No. I didn't. I had an excellent time, yes. But I want to have an even better time with you. With the woman I love, and adore, and," he paused to suck on my neck a little bit, making me gasp. "Worship."
I let my hand drift to his hair and I twisted it in, letting it tangle into the messy locks.
"This conversation isn't going to go anywhere, Edward. I want to be there with you too, of course I do. But I have a job I need to be around for. And the planning of a certain wedding we are supposed to have."
"Alice can plan the wedding and your job can be replaced," he said quickly as he trailed his tongue along the hem of my sleeping dress thing that I was wearing again, sans knee socks.
Man, he was really serious about this. Him and his tongue. And I wanted to give him what he wanted, I did. But I couldn't just drop everything and leave. I liked the life I was forming in Hollywood. I loved my job and the routine I was falling into again. I wanted to do good at the theatre, move up possibly. The only thing currently missing from my life in California was him, and eventually he would be there with me to fill in all the gaps his absence left in my life.
"I don't want to replace my job. I want to do it. Well. I love the theatre. When you get back you can come see it and you'll know why."
"I hate the theatre. It's keeping you away from me."
He looked up at me and pouted. It wasn't fair, and it almost broke me. He must have been taking lessons from Alice.
He inched his way back up to my face and kissed me again, slowly and wetly.
"I hate the oceans and the sky and the continents. I hate everything that's going to keep you away from me for another 3 months."
I traced his perfect features with my finger and nodded a long.
"Me too. But I love you more than I hate them."
"Bella, I love you so much. Come with me."
I closed my eyes and his arms tightened around me. One slipped down and moved under the fabric of the sleep dress to caress my skin.
"I can't. I don't have the money, and I don't want you to pay for it. I need to keep getting things established in LA. I'll let you take me to Europe after we're married and every cent of yours is legally mine also. When we have time to do touristy things and be by ourselves. We need to do this right, Edward. I can't let you spend your money on this, and I cannot just up and leave my job behind."
"Everything I have, everything I am is already yours, love. We can go back after we're married. I'll call the theatre and explain. Just come wi-"
"Edward, please stop asking me. It's breaking my heart to say no to you so many times. Please."
We laid there and stared at each other for a few long, silent moments, both on opposite ends of the agrument, both painfully stuck in our need to win.
Finally, after I started to tear up from having to look at the pained expression in his eyes for so long, his intesity softened and his resolve broke. He nodded once and kissed me again, this time more desperately.
"I will be counting down the seconds," he said into my mouth. "And I'm taking my ring again."
I started chuckling softly into the kiss and he joined me.
"You bet your ass you are. And you're wearing it every single day."
We laughed and kissed a lot after that, and slept very little. The night was wonderful, laced in sadness of what was to come but overshadowed with the extreme amount of love we've always had between us.
I woke up the next day to Edward grumbling and his phone ringing with the default song.
"Garrett?" he asked without saying hello.
I wrapped myself around his free arm and tucked my head into his shoulder. Stupid Garrett waking us up. Stupid band mates. He's still mine for 12 more hours!
"Yes, I'm still in Vegas. Aro and I fly back tonight, I emailed you the itinerary. Wait, what time is it there?.... Oh. Where are you?..... Forks? Why?...
My eyes opened and I looked up to see a very confused looking Edward.
Garrett was supposed to be in Spain, not Forks.
"Oh my – Garrett, I'm so sorry. Tell Kate… what?... Oh... No! That's perfectly fine, it's understandable, either of us would do the same… of course I'm sure, don't be ridiculous.... I can't imagine. Please tell Kate I'm sorry… All right. I'll let everyone know. Just keep in touch… If you need anything let us know… All right. Good bye."
He hit the end call button and silently set his phone back on the night stand.
"What was that about?" I asked as I slid my hand down his arm and took his hand in mine.
"Um, something came up," Edward sighed as he ran his free hand hand through his hair. He looked own at me and smiled weakly, in a sad manner.
"The rest of the tour is, for the time being, or possibly for good, cancelled."
You know how it goes, peeps. Hit or miss?
I know the last chapter had mixed reviews, so it will be interesting to see what this one gets. Is Car a litle nervous? Maybe. I don't like letting you guys down. Hopefully I've done good! haha... I had fun with it at least :)
A few things worth mentioning:
-IEWIS and MMM are up for a few awards. Details are on my profile if you want to vote and - or take a looksie at the other noms :)
-My one shot, Pretendre Desir Amour, won 3rd place in the Pretend Date Contest it was written for. Thanks to all who read and voted for it. It will become a full length story after MMM ends. It's very different form IEWIS Land, so I'm very grateful the support is still strong.
-We are almost done here, just a warning. A few more chapters and MMM is over. I'm as sad as you are, but it will be good. It has been great! I'm thinking there will be no more than 25-28 chaps.
All right, enough from me. Anoher update is coming soon :)
LOVE YOUS!