What About Us Chapter 26, a twilight fanfic

Authors note...

Holy Crap! A new chapter...I bet you never thought this day would come. I've finally gotten to a point where I can write again! Yay! I finished this story, finally (only two years later) and if you're still with me I wanted to let you know that I changed some stuff in the already posted story, nothing dramatic, just made it flow a little better. I do finally have an ending and will be reposting the finished story. I am replacing all the chapters, so I'm not sure if you'll get any alerts until the new chapters come out. Even though its written doesn't mean it's permanent, so if there is anything you want to see happen at the end, or in an outtake, let me know and I'll see what I can do if it fits with the story. I hope you enjoy!

I Also added an EPOV to Chapter 3, so you can see what was going through his mind when Charlie walked in on them...

Now on with the story...

Chapter 26

BPOV

Things have been all sorts of hectic over the past year and some. But luckily it is now time to graduate. Yay! I'm just glad to finally be out of school. It's finally time we can leave this area, and get our careers going and settle into happy little lives together.

Well, I'm hoping for the happy life, settling in with Edward while he starts his residency, and I find a publishing job. I was actually looking forward to getting married and years down the road having a few little mini-Edwards running around.

However, I'm beginning to think that Edward has other plans. I was getting sort of excited, thinking Edward was going to propose at some point. Over the past year he had mentioned a forever with me, and we even discussed the whole 'dream wedding' thing. It wasn't something I had put much stock into before, but while discussing it with him, we came up with this completely irrational perfect wedding. It would take place in the early summer, in Ireland, surrounded by rolling hills, with all of the wildflowers in bloom. I would carry a small bouquet with my favorite wildflowers in a harmony of various colors. It would be small, just our immediate family and friends, then we could explore it and the connecting countries for our honeymoon.

That sounded absolutely perfect to me, but I'm watching as that dream is flying out the window, only to land in a stream and be washed away, beating on rocks, then going through a waterfall into a deep violent death. Edward has barely spent any time with me, much less had a real conversation with me for the past few months. At first I chalked it up to all the standardized tests and entrance exams he had to study for and take for his graduate schools. Once those were done though, and he had his acceptance letter and all, I thought life would go back to normal.

I was wrong.

If possible, I actually saw him less after that. I would ask him where he was, or what was going on, and he would just mumble and stutter, then leave. He didn't even have to gall to fake a response, and give me something to hold on to. Not that I want him to lie. But seriously, if you are going out of your way to ignore your supposed 'love of your life' put some effort behind it. I mean, really.

I was surprised he actually asked me out for dinner tonight. Nothing fancy, which is fine, preferred really. I'm just afraid it will be a break up dinner. I really can't handle that. Not from him, if it were anyone else, I could. I really don't think I could survive losing him again. He once told me he couldn't imagine losing me again either. It's times like this I wish I had a voice recorder of all of our conversations so I could replay them, and throw all the lies he's told me and promises he's going to break in his face. Maybe then I would feel a little better.

I can't even figure out what to wear. I'm fighting between "You're breaking up with me, so I'm just gonna look like shit, since I don't have to impress you anymore and you obviously don't care anyway," or "I'm going to look super hot so you can see what you'll be missing." Maybe that's the problem. He won't miss it. Since our spring break last year, our sex life has taken up more of our life. We started slow, but built to where we are, well, were, until about five months ago, having a pretty good amount of it. But with our drop in time together, we lost that as well.

I really don't want to think he is cheating on me. I know though, that when we were separated, he slept around a bit. Then I know he wanted more with me when we got back together, though he never pushed, thankfully. So the fact that we got that, then he stopped partaking in that with me, only leaves me to think that I really wasn't good enough for him, and now he has to be getting it somewhere else. He couldn't possibly just not feel like it anymore, there would have to be a reason. He's also seemed pretty constantly exhausted lately. Once again, I tried to convince myself it was in preparation of next year, but yet again, it got worse after all th plans were in place.

Oh well. I guess I will settle for comfortable sexy, the best of both worlds. I really don't think my wardrobe will change his mind. Don't be fooled though, I am not going down without a fight, if I have the energy for one when we finally meet. With the back and forth crying and anger I've been experiencing because of it today, I'm feeling rather drained. I wonder if I can ask him to postpone the break up, so I can have the energy to beg him not to leave. He hasn't even wanted to go apartment shopping with me for our new home we will need when we move to his new school. He said it wasn't necessary.

I got dressed quickly, opting for my favorite pair of tight dark flair bottom pants, and a dressy emerald tank top with lace trim on top and bottom. It's my favorite top, so I figured I should wear it one last time. If he is breaking my heart tonight, I will probably burn anything I have in this shade of green tomorrow. I don't need that type of reminder, I will have plenty of other reminders of how wonderful my life actually managed to turn out for a year. At least I got something. I should be grateful for the time I did have with him. Okay, now I just sound like he died. This is shitty.

I put on some makeup and left my hair down and wavy. I put on my shoes just as the doorbell rang. That's odd. I didn't know anyone was coming over. I didn't think it would be Edward, he does live here, he shouldn't be ringing the doorbell.

I went to answer the door, and was taken back at the sight before me. Edward was in fact at the door. He was holding two purple tulips, but I barely noticed them. What I focused on more was the amazing specimen of hotness in front of me.

He was wearing a pair of dark worn in pants, that hung low on his hips, but were still fitted enough to give you a good idea of the form underneath. He was wearing a long sleeve button down black dress shirt, with the top couple buttons undone, and the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He also had on his glasses, which always made me weak in the knees. He usually had contacts, but had recently started having issues with the cleansing solution. So I've been in glasses wearing Edward induced sexual frustration world lately. Not a happy place to be. If I ever get to sleep with him again, I am demanding he wear them the whole time. I don't care if I have to steal him away from his new girlfriend and drag him into a back alleyway, it's on.

"Hi" he says, bringing me out of my little world of happy.

"Hey, why didn't you just come it?" I ask, it seemed relevant.

"I wanted to do things proper, so it seemed appropriate to ring the doorbell when picking you up for the date. Here, these are for you." He answered, ducking his head. He seemed to be a little nervous. Probably hoping I wasn't going to make a scene when he dumps me later at the restaurant.

"Thank you. Let me put them in some water and we can go." I ran to the kitchen quickly, and carefully. Didn't need to add and injury to this evening. Though if it prolongs us being together, I would happily offer up any body part.

I put them in a vase I had from one of the many times he had sent my flowers in the past, then grabbed my jacket and went back to the door. "All set." I told him, locking the door and heading out with him.

He held out his arm for me, and I took it gladly, grateful for any contact I could have with him right now. God I feel pathetic. I never thought I would be so happy just to touch his arm, trying to find ways to trick someone into staying with me. This is why I gave up dating. I was too hurt from Edward years ago, and knew I couldn't handle this again. Then, not only do I fall for someone, but it's the same one who broke my heart to begin with, but now I'm going to let him do it again. I am pathetic. Maybe I will have myself committed after tonight. I'll let them put me in a straitjacket and all. I wonder if they come in black, whites just to aaahhhh. Wow, Alice moment. That was creepy.

He led me to the Volvo, and opened my door for me. I got in and grabbed his hand as soon as he got in on his side. We drove in a now very familiar silence to a local Italian place. He helped me back out of the car and put his hand on the small of m back as we entered the establishment. They led us to a reserved booth in the back, in a secluded area.

We sat on opposite sides, and made shallow mindless conversation as we decided what we would eat, and gave our order to the server. The conversation stayed pretty much the same way while we ate our food. Finally when the server took our dishes and we waited for our dessert, I had had enough.

"So, why are we here? I assume it's for something bigger than just random chit chat. We haven't gone on a date in months, and now that we are its full of tension and awkward silences. This isn't us Edward, what's going on?" I asked, almost pleading, trying to suppress the tears I could already feel threatening to appear.

"I'm sorry I've been so distant lately. I've had a lot of stuff to take care of in preparation for this summer. I didn't want things to get like this between us, and I take full blame. I've just been really distracted lately. I've had a lot of planning to do and it's taken up a lot more of my time then I expected. I would like to make it up to you though, and share with you what I was working on." He responded, looking at me from under his eyelashes. He had a glimmer of hope in his eyes, it looked like he had a lot riding on this conversation, which seemed odd to me.

"Okay, what is it?" I asked.

"Well, I thought, maybe we could go away for a bit this summer, before I start my residency and you start your career. I was hoping we could spend some time together. Would you agree to go with me?"

"Of course, you know I would happily go anywhere you are. So, where are we going?" I asked, sighing and letting go of the anxiety I had been feeling all day. I could already feel weight lifting from my shoulders. Though, I would still need to talk to him about the distance he's had from me.

"Here, see for yourself." He said, looking up into my eyes. His crooked smile back on his face and his confidence coming back a bit. He held out a long envelope to me. I took it in my hands and opened it, curious as to what would be inside.

As I removed another small envelope, I saw an airline name scrolled across the front of it. I slowly pulled out the tickets. I looked at the type on the top, only pulling them halfway out, and saw Ireland as the destination. My heart fluttered. So maybe we could never get married there, which I always knew, but at least we could visit. I twitched a bit with my excitement, trying to stop myself from another Alice moment of bouncing and squealing, when something shiny on the ticket caught my eye.

I looked toward the middle of the ticket, and sitting on top was a beautiful yellow gold ring. It puckered in the middle, with a gold ribbon starting on the top of one side, then following the line of the ring to the bottom of the other side, the middle holding a tiffany setting to a carat diamond. It was absolutely perfect. I looked back up to Edward, still in shock, to see him now on one knee next to the side of my bench.

He took my hand free hand, coincidentally it was my left hand, in both of his, then let his eyes meet mine.

EPOV

The past few months have been hell. It's completely worth it in the end. I really hope she likes it. I know she's never been big on surprises, but she's never been big on weddings either. Hopefully surprising her with a wedding won't be too bad. I figure, she won't have to worry about planning it, or making any actual decisions about it, so that will be a good thing with her.

I've been getting her to talk 'in theory' about her dream wedding for a while, to get ideas of what she wanted. Then I took them to heart, and spent the last five months planning it. I was hoping she wouldn't get suspicious, that she wouldn't notice any difference. However, planning an overseas wedding is a lot more tedious than I ever thought, especially in the time frame I'm working with.

I really hope she appreciates it.

I really hope she'll say yes.

Getting ready for the date was almost more nerve wrecking than trying to get into med school. I just wanted everything to be perfect. I have no idea what she has thought over the past few months. If she even tried to justify why I haven't been around as much. I hope she doesn't think anything bad. I could never hurt her, not on purpose, I hope she knows that.

I got ready at Emmett's with him in the background going between giving me pep talks, and threatening my life if I ever hurt her. I think that was aiding to my nervousness.

I finally made my way to our apartment, deciding to treat it like a real date and ring the doorbell, instead of just walking in.

Bella looked beautiful as always in her green top and dark jeans. I offered her my arm and led her out to the car. I tried to keep my cool as we drove to the restaurant. I noticed she looked a bit worried on the way there and throughout dinner. I really wish I could know what she was thinking sometimes. I didn't know what she had to be nervous about. I was the one putting myself on the line tonight.

Dinner was good. The food was great. The conversation wasn't great but I couldn't put in as much effort as I wanted. My nerves were knotting themselves up trying to think of what to say to her, how to get my question out. I wanted to plan a speech and explain how I felt about her, and what she meant, but I could never seem to word it the right way. So I figured maybe this was a time to just hope the right words came to you when needed.

I almost had a panic when she started pushing me along by asking questions. I should have figured she was bring it up first. She isn't the most patient when she knows something is up.

I hated seeing how worried she had become about our relationship, and it gave me the push I needed to proceed.

I was thrilled that she still wanted to be with me and would follow me where ever I went. It gave me hope for a positive answer on the important question.

My nerves starting creeping back up as she opened the envelope. No words had entered my head yet on how to continue.

Finally, she found the ring. As she picked it up to look at it, I could see the happiness and hope flood her eyes, and a beautiful smile light up her face. I slipped to my knee next to her, holding her left hand in both of mine.

"I wanted to have a whole speech, to tell you how much I love you, how much you mean to me and how happy you make me. But words just can't envelope all I feel for you, or what you do to me. After everything you've done for me, and as happy as you make me, I want to feel bad for asking a favor of you, but please my Bella, make me the happiest man alive, say you'll marry me. I promise to spend the rest of our lives making you the happ..."

I had more though out, but was cut off mid sentence by a pair of lips crashing down into mine. I could feel her arms wrapping around my neck as her hands went into my hair, as she dropped to her knees in front of me. I could vaguely hear applause in the distance, but didn't give much notice to it. I much rather focus on the wonderful girl kissing me. She grazed my lip with her tongue, and I happily gave her entrance. Our mouths worked together for a few moments until my smile became too big to allow us to continue.

"Can I take that as a yes, or was that just a really gracious no?" I lightly joked, but just really wanted to hear her say the words.

"Of course it's a yes. There was never any other answer." She replied, sharing the same large smile I had. I reached for the ring then, putting it on her finger and kissing it in its new permanent place upon her hand.

We left shortly after, being showered with well wishes and hopes of good luck. We somehow made it back to the apartment in a haze of pure bliss. The rest of night was spent privately celebrating. Leaving the spreading of the good news to be done the next day.