Wow! 407 reviews! I never expected that many. ITS INSANE!
For anyone who cares...here are the rest of the stats (they make me feel special...)
Before and After has 46108 words and 27 chapters...
It has gotten 407 reviews and 31067 hits...
It is part of 2 c2s
It is on the fave list of 94 people and the alert list of 114 people.
Wow!!!
As I said before...ITS INSANE!
Anyway...
Sorry this chapter took so long. I have been so busy. As I said before, im in the play at my middle school and I have rehearsal every day after school so im kinda busy...
Disclaimer: I don't own twilight or new moon. It makes me want to cry.
Chapter 25
"You...made...me...faint!" she said. I laughed as I remembered the exact same words come out of her mouth the day she met my family the first time. I helped her sit up.
"Sorry, Bella," I said as I cradled her in my arms. I began to hum her lullaby, and then felt her fall asleep.
Bella's POV
"Edward...do I really have to do this?" I asked as I walked into the Cullen's Mansion. Edward grinned as he looked over at me.
"Yes, Bella, you really have to do this," he said, and I groaned. It was Friday and Alice had decided that this weekend we were going to start doing major wedding plans. Ugh, I hate those words. Wedding plans. I have heard them many times in the past week, and whenever I did it made me want to puke.
Wedding plans.
Wedding plans.
Ew.
"Edward, I—" I started to protest again, but he gave me a stern look. I closed my mouth and sighed. "Fine," I said. He chuckled.
"That's my girl," he said teasingly.
"Hello, Bella," Carlisle said as we walked into the mansion. I waved back at him as I mumbled a 'hello.' He began to chuckle because of my lack of enthusiasm for today's plans. I thought about how I must look, and joined in on the laughter. Edward looked back and forth from Carlisle to me strangely. He rolled his eyes and grabbed my hand.
"Come on," he said. "We have to go plan." I stopped laughing immediately and my expression turned into a frown. Now Edward began to laugh, and I scowled at him. I turned away from him and began to walk towards the stairs. But being me, as I began to walk away angrily, I tripped.
I felt Edwards cold arms wrap around me before I hit the ground, and then he helped me stand upright.
"Thank you," I said. Then I continued to walk upstairs. When I arrived in Alice's room, I saw Edward sitting on her bed, waiting for me.
"Hello again," he said. I giggled, but then composed myself. I turned away from him and walked out of Alice's room.
I loved having these little "mini-fights" with Edward. I loved that we could get in teasing, fake fights, and not actually get angry with each other. But then we could also have sweet and romantic times together. I will never get over how lucky I am to have someone like Edward Cullen.
I marched down the hall to Edward's room, still playing along with our "fight." I entered his room and sat down on his couch, and folded my arms over my chest. I heard laughter coming from somewhere around me, and looked around to see where it was coming from. I stood up and walked over to Edward's closet. I opened the door and looked to see if he was hiding in it. He wasn't, so I turned back around and nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw him.
"Hello again," Edward said. He was sitting on his couch, looking relaxed, like he had been sitting there the whole time. I giggled and walked over to sit down next to him. "Oh, so we're on good terms now?" he asked when I began to cuddle into him. I nodded.
"Yup. We're good," I said. He chuckled and wrapped his arms around me. We weren't alone for more than 10 seconds when Edward's door opened and Alice pranced into the room.
"Hey, you two love birds, come on! We have tons of work to do, theres no time for sitting around. Hurry up!" she said as she walked up next to us. She grabbed each of our arms and began to pull us up off the couch and out of the room. I groaned and Edward laughed.
We reached Alice's room, and I saw the millions of wedding magazines spread out on her floor again. I groaned for the millionth time today and sat down on Alice's bed. "Ok, Alice, where should we start?" I asked her.
"Well," she said as she took out a notebook and pencil, "we need to find a cater and a band to play at the reception. We also have to finish up the guest list and pick out the flowers that you want to have. And of course, you need to decide on a location for the ceremony and the reception. And then I was thinking that tomorrow we could go to Seattle and pick out dresses. Does that sound good?"
"Um...ok..." I said. Everything sounded so overwhelming, I couldn't think straight. Edward put his arm around me and whispered in my ear.
"Everything is going to be fine. I know it seems like a lot now, but really, it's not too much work to do. Everything is going to be fine," he said. I nodded.
"Ok, so what should we start with?" Alice asked. I thought about what would be the easiest thing to do, and was about to answer when I saw Alice's expression go blank. After a few seconds, she snapped out of her trance and looked at Edward and I.
"I think we should start with planning where you want the ceremony and reception to be," she said with a grin.
" Alice, what did you see?" I asked. I turned to Edward and saw that he was grinning too. "Edward, what did she see?" I asked again.
"Bella, I know the perfect place for our wedding," he said.
"Well...where is it?" I asked after he didn't say anything more.
"Come with me," he said. Edward and I stood up, but Alice stayed where she was. Edward took my hand and led me out of Alice's room, downstairs, and out of the Cullen's house. I started to walk towards Edward's Volvo, but he led me a different way. I looked at him questioningly, but he simply continued to lead me. We walked farther and farther away from his house, when we finally arrived in an area that I recognized. It was the meadow that I had watched Edward and his family play baseball in. I shivered as I remembered what had happened on that fateful night. James' coven had shown up here, wanting to play baseball. Then James had gotten a whiff of my scent, and began a game of cat and mouse that made Alice and Jasper have to take me down to Phoenix to get away from him. In the end, he had caught up with me and bitten me. It was only because of Edward that I wasn't a vampire right now; he had sucked the venom out of me.
Edward sensed my discomfort as we approached this meadow, and he let go of my hand to wrap his arms around my waist. I stopped walking, thinking that this meadow was the perfect place that Alice had seen, but Edward continued walking.
"Bella, it is sort of rough terrain the rest of the way. I think it would be easier for you if you rode on my back. Is that alright with you?" he asked as he stopped walking for a moment.
"Um, ok," I said. The words were barely out of my mouth when I felt myself being lifted up into the air and flung onto Edward's back. A second later, he was running.
I was surprised by how natural this felt. I no longer needed to close my eyes or cower into his back because I was afraid I would get sick. I could sit up and feel the wind whipping into my face and breathe in the smells of the forest. It was a great feeling.
I wound my arms tightly around Edward's neck, clinging to him. I knew that if he would have been human, I would be choking him right now. But since he wasn't and I knew I couldn't hurt him, I gripped him very tightly. I leaned down and breathed in his scent. It was overpowering, and made me dizzy. I faintly heard Edward laugh, and realized that he must've heard my heart thud out a random rhythm when I breathed in his scent. I could feel myself blush and I think he felt it too, since I was resting my head on his back. He laughed again, and then stopped running. He waited for me to get off his back, but I didn't want to let him go.
"Um...Bella...you can let go now," he said. I shook my head, knowing that he would feel it.
"I'll never let you go!" I said in a teasing voice as I wrapped my arms around him tighter. He reached up and carefully unlocked my arms from around him, and then lifted me off his back and set me down on the ground. "Ok, maybe I will let go..." I said in defeat. Edward chuckled and took my arms in his hands. Then he moved them so they were, once again, wrapped around his neck. He stepped so he was closer to me and leaned down and gently kissed my lips.
Somehow, I managed not to freak out.
We broke apart a moment later. It wasn't an intense, passionate kiss, but it was perfect all the same. I looked up at Edward and he gave me the crooked smile I love. "What was that for?" I asked. He shrugged.
"I just got a sudden urge to kiss you," he said, grinning. I laughed.
"Fine by me," I said. I left my arms wrapped around my neck, but turned so I could look around me. When I saw where I was standing, I gasped.
We were in a clearing, a little bigger than our meadow. I saw many trees that I knew to be apple trees from the beautiful white flowers blossoming on them. I turned my head to look in another direction, and saw a large rock wall with a natural waterfall flowing down it, landing in a small pond with a river that flowed out of it. I turned my head again and saw a small white gazebo at the end of the clearing, surrounded by more apple trees, all full of white blossoms.
"Edward...its beautiful..." I breathed. I moved my arms so I was only holding his hand, and began to walk towards the waterfall. He followed close behind me, and when I reached the waterfall I bent down to feel the water. It was a little cold, but not freezing, and there was something about it that felt almost...magical...
I pulled my hand out of Edward's and cupped my hands together. I dipped them into the water again, and when I pulled them back out of the pond, the water in them was glistening just like Edward's skin does when he stands out in the sun. I stood up from the edge of the pond and began to walk towards the gazebo. I reached one of the apple trees that stood next to it and reached out for one of the blossoms. Suddenly, Edward was by my side. He picked one of the while blossoms and put it in my hair.
"Beautiful..." he whispered into my ear, repeating my last words. I smiled. I reached for his hand again, and began to walk into the gazebo. I looked around and saw that it was very old. A lot of the white paint was chipping away and I could see the old wood showing through. I ran my fingers over the wood and then turned back around to face Edward.
"You like it?" he asked. I nodded.
"Edward, it's perfect," I said. "Why didn't you even tell me about this place?" I asked him.
"To tell you the truth, I didn't know it was here," he said. "We own a lot of land, and there is a lot of it that I haven't explored. I don't think anyone in my family knew it was here, actually. But when Alice saw it in her vision, I knew you would love it."
"How did you know where to find it?" I asked. He shrugged.
"I guess it was just a weird vampire sense," he said with a grin. I laughed. Then I walked out of the gazebo and over to the side of the clearing opposite of the waterfall. There was a small, stone bench, surrounded by white and pink roses, and pink bleeding hearts. There was a path of circular stones that led to the bench, and next to it was a bird bath. I walked along the stone path and sat down on the bench. In a moment, Edward was sitting next to me. He put his arm around me and pulled me closer to him. I cuddled against him and closed my eyes. I felt completely relaxed. After a while I opened my eyes.
"How old do you think all these things are?" I asked him. I knew he would know what I was talking about.
"Well, we lived in a different house the last time we were in Forks," he said, thinking. "The house we are in now has been around since before the last time we were here. I believe the house was built around 1900, and the gazebo looks about as old as the house did when we first bought it. So, I'm guessing everything here is about 100 years old," he finished. I gasped.
"100 years?" I asked incredulously. He nodded. "Wow..." I breathed as I looked around. Then I leaned in to him and closed my eyes again. We sat in silence for a while, taking in our surroundings.
"I haven't asked you the most important question," Edward said after a few minutes. I opened my eyes and sat up, and looked at him.
"Yes?" I said.
"What do you think of this place for our wedding?" he asked. I closed my eyes and tried to picture it. Me, wearing a white wedding dress. Edward, looking perfect as always, in a tuxedo. The clearing adorned with flowers. Edward and my family, together, watching Edward and I take our vows.
"It's perfect," I finally said. Edward smiled.
"I think so too."
Yay! I am really proud of this chapter. My last chapters have basically sucked because I couldn't really get in to it. But this one is really good I think. Or at least, the finding-the-clearing part is...
Maybe I'm just weird, but I think it says somewhere that the Cullens have a lot of land. If it doesn't say that, then im just crazy and made stuff up. But I think it does, so thats how edward didn't know about the clearing. And about the clearing...yes, I made it up. I was trying to not make it seem more spectacular than the meadow (I mean, come on. The meadow is like...the meadow! I didn't dare try to make this better than that) but I did make it seem a bit over-spectacular. I just had a totally awesome picture in my mind of this place, and it was like...awesome. So it's kinda...WOW!...if you know what I mean...
For those of you who don't know what bleeding hearts are, they are my fave kind of flower. Here's 2 pics of what they look like...
http://photos11.
I love them! They are soooo cool!!
Again, sorry that chapter took so long to get out. I hope the next one will be quicker, but I sorta doubt it. Im going to be even more busy because this week is the play performance (ya...its really soon. The stupid director only planned 3 weeks of rehearsal so the play is gonna FAIL) so I'm going to be really busy with that. But I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as I can. Sorry if its not out until like...Sunday or Monday or something.
Please review! I want to know how I did!
--danielle--