A/N: Thank you to mcc101180 for beta'ing this chapter and every one before it. Thanks to ElleCC for jumping on the beta team for this episode. And thank you to TwiSNfan, because you're a large part of why I'm still (kind of) here.
I don't own Twilight or Made of Honor.
Mate of Honor
Chapter 29
This moment seems utterly ridiculous. People are sobbing. I feel like I want to, but for completely different reasons than those people.
"She looks beautiful," says Alice breathily.
"She looks like a meringue," replies Rose in a hushed voice. "A big, cream-stuffed meringue."
"Don't be ridiculous," says Alice. "You can't stuff meringues with cream."
I don't bother to tell them to be quiet. I couldn't give a shit if they spoke through the entire ceremony. I just want to get the fuck out of here.
After what seems like an eternity, Charlie and Bella arrive. The music quietens, and the people gathered sit down. Charlie squeezes Bella's hands, but when I expect him to put her hand in Benno's…he doesn't. He merely nods minutely, and he then goes to sit next to Renee in the front row.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are gathered here today…"
The celebrant drones on. I only tune in when Benno speaks.
"Can I move this?" he asks, his fingers on the edge of Bella's veil. She nods, and he lifts it up and over her head. "That's better," he says, but the smile on his face falters a little. "Iz, have you been crying?"
I can't see her face, but I hear Bella sniff. "It's the horses."
"Oh. Right," he says and then turns to the celebrant. "Sorry. Your go."
The celebrant smiles wanly and continues. He rambles on about trust, and friendship, and being a solid partner. He speaks about loyalty and truth, and my stomach turns. He makes some wisecracks about Bella being a city girl, and about Benno being a farm boy, and then something about them being from two different worlds, but I'm barely paying attention by this point.
"And now," says the minister. "If nobody has any objections to why this marriage shouldn't proceed, I'll get to the important part."
I stare desperately at the back of Bella's head, at where her hair curls around her shoulders beneath the veil. I focus on the tiny flowers behind her ear—this is my last time to gaze at her as a single woman, and it's all because I'm too chicken-shit to be honest with her. The thought sobers me—she deserves a better man than me, and maybe Benno can be that man.
My tie feels like it's choking me. I want to run, but I promised to stand by her side. And I will, if it means letting her go to see her happy.
"Very well," says the minister, clapping his hands together. "In that case, do you, Jacob, take this woman to be your—"
"Wait," interrupts Bella, her voice ringing out through the otherwise quiet hall.
"Good acoustics in here," murmurs Benno, and then he speaks louder. "What is it?"
I shift a little so I can see her face—her makeup looks smudged. "Your name's Jacob?"
This is a pretty vital piece of information, and I wonder how Bella didn't pick it up. Benno, on the other hand, doesn't seem bothered at all because he shrugs and grins. "Well, yeah."
"But…but…" Bella stammers, "I thought your name was Ben. Or Benjamin. Or, I don't know"—she tosses one hand in the air—"Benedict."
"Nah," says Benno, running his hand through his hair and shuffling his feet. "Benjamin was my pet rabbit. When I was a little tacker."
Bella's eyes widen. "Wait…your pet rabbit?"
Benno shrugs again. "Yeah. His name was Benjamin Bunny. Then Paul started calling me Benjamin…Ben…Benno…" He screws up his nose. "It kinda stuck. It's what everybody calls me."
There's an expression on Bella's face I'm not familiar with, which is pretty scary—I can usually read her like a book. Her voice is full of disbelief and so soft I'm pretty sure nobody else hears it. "How did I not know this?"
"Love?" Benno asks, stooping a little to bring himself to her level. "You right?"
She shakes her head slightly. "Yeah." Her flowers rustle as she shifts them. "Yeah, just caught off guard, I guess. Let me guess...your dad's real name isn't Snow, is it?"
Benno shrugs one shoulder. "Nah, he's William."
"William Black…" murmurs Bella, looking thoughtful. "Black...Snow…" She hits her forehead. "Of course! Damn switched-up…" I watch in amusement as she continues to ramble. "God, does anybody use their real name around here?"
"Isabella?" says the celebrant, sounding a little cautious. "May we proceed?"
"Sure." She shakes her head, and it's like she's trying to shake her thoughts into some kind of order. "I mean, of course." She smiles at the celebrant, but it's not genuine.
"Good, then. Do you, Jacob, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife…"
I switch off. I'm not even listening. I'm focusing on Bella's hands, hidden beneath her flowers but visible from where I'm standing. She's trembling. Benno is saying "I do" with a grin on his face. She's not even looking at him.
"Do you, Isabella, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold…"
She's shaking her head. It's ever so slightly, and so minutely, that at first I think maybe I'm imagining it, but I'm not. I can see it. I can see what nobody else sees. What her about-to-be husband doesn't see. She's uncomfortable. She doesn't want to be here. She wants to run.
I want nothing more than to run with her.
Her lips part to speak, but the voice that rings through the room, as clear as a bell, isn't hers.
"Wait! Stop!"
The congregation gasps, and I look in the direction of the voice. Somebody is standing while the rest of the people gathered remain seated.
The minister looks pissed. "Yes?"
"This wedding can't go ahead." The speaker squares her shoulders. "There's no way this wedding can go ahead when every single person here can see that one of them"— a hand waves in the direction of all of us standing up front—" is in love with somebody else."
The statement sends the congregation into a frenzy of hushed whispers and gasps. I grew up in a small town, and I understand the impact this kind of scandal can have—this will be talked about for years to come.
"I beg your pardon," says the minister. "I think that this is possibly something that should have been addressed before now."
"But it's true," the woman says beseechingly, and now I recognize her as Bec, Benno's cousin or neighbor, or whatever—whom I only met last night. She twists the handle of her purse, and her knuckles are white. "I have proof."
At this, the crowd all but loses it, albeit in a tone suitable for the environment. My eyes scan across the people seated before me. Sarah has her hand on her chest, and beside her, Snow remains stony-faced. On Sarah's other side, Tess is still staring at her hands, just like she has been throughout the entire ceremony. Across the aisle, Charlie's moustache looks like it's about to dance right off his face, and Renee has her normal, peaceful look, but she keeps turning around to glare at the people whispering behind her.
"Bec?" says Benno. "What are you doing? We're about to get married here."
Bec shakes her head. "Trust me," she says. "This is a really bad idea."
"If you'll excuse us for just a moment," says the minister. He speaks in a hushed tone, so only those of us closest can hear. "Is there something I should know?"
"I'm sorry, mate," says Benno. "I've got no idea what's going on."
"Isabella?" asks the minister. "Something I should know?"
Bella bites her lip and says nothing.
Something makes me glance at Bec, and when I do, I realize it—I can see it in her eyes: she saw us. She saw me kissing Bella in the courtyard at the pub. And she's got proof.
And then, it hits me—it really hits me—that this is the moment. This is my absolute last opportunity. There are no second chances, no do-overs. I'm about to lose my very best friend, the only woman I've ever loved, to a man who doesn't know her and doesn't deserve her. She's staying here—she's staying on this sun-scorched continent half a world away. She'll settle down here. She'll have beautiful, mini-Bella babies—and I won't be their father.
She needs to know, and it seems she's about to find out. But if Bella's going to hear it from anybody, it sure as hell isn't going to be from some random Australian chick. I clear my throat.
"Bec is right." My voice is thick with nerves, yet it manages to carry above the din coming from the congregation. I guess Benno's right—the acoustics are good in here. It also helps that silence falls like darkness.
Bella turns to face me. "What's going on?" she asks, glancing around nervously.
"Bella." I consider holding her hand, but right now, it seems wrong. I chuckle, because the fact that I'm nervous about holding her hand pretty much sums up everything I've been so worried about. "She's right. And I can't stand here and watch you do this."
"She's right about what, Edward?" Bella speaks so quietly that in my peripheral vision, I see everybody in the audience lean forward. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying…" I can't not touch her anymore. I grab her hand. "I'm saying I love you. I'm saying I'm in love with you. You can't marry him." My voice wavers. "Please, Bella. Don't marry him."
"Edward…" My girl has tears in her eyes. "Edward…I…"
"Please," I beg her. "Please don't cry. I've been in love with you for as long as I can remember. Remember the time your truck got stuck in that snowbank on the way to school, and I came to tow you out and lost control and ended up totalling my car—"
"You loved that car," she interrupts. "You were so mad."
I stare right into her eyes. "But I loved you then."
"You did?" she asks. Her voice trails off. "But you were so mad…"
"Don't you see?" I say, and I can hear my pleading tone. I'm sure the congregation thinks I sound desperate. I am desperate. "If I could love you then, when I was grounded for a month without a car in my senior year…" I take a cleansing breath. "I knew then, through every argument, through every silent treatment, through every happy moment we shared. I knew for sure that I'd love you forever."
A sense of peace washes over me. I feel unburdened. I've carried this secret with me for fifteen years, and it's gone. Just like that.
Bella shakes her head. "Now?" she mutters. "Now?" She looks up at me, and I realize I'm in a whole lot of trouble. When she swats me with her bouquet, my suspicions are confirmed. "You've known this since we were in high school, and you"—she hits me again—"tell me when I'm about to get married?" Petals fly as she strikes me again. "You kissed me—kissed me—and it was the best kiss in my whole damn life, and I've been waiting for it to happen for fucking ever—" She glances at the celebrant. "Sorry, Tom."
The celebrant nods, and Bella continues. "I've been waiting for you, and you never…" She begins to sob, and I reach for her. She hits my hand away with her flowers, which are now pretty much destroyed. "I…I…" She turns her face up, and the best smile I've ever seen her smile breaks across her tear-stained face. "Oh, Edward. I love you, too."
And because that's what I've been waiting to hear, I don't let her say any more. Pulling her into my arms, I'm vaguely aware of the thud that is her bouquet hitting the floor, as I hold her close and press my mouth to hers.
I kiss her with every ounce of love that's been bubbling in me since we sat in the meadow at fifteen and promised ourselves to each other. I kiss her with the memory of a million laughs and even more moments. I kiss away the women who meant nothing to me—who even when all combined, could never hold more than a splinter's worth of love that I have for the woman in my arms. I kiss her…until the sound of a clearing throat suggests that maybe this isn't the time or place to be kissing the only woman here wearing white.
Bella doesn't let go of me as our lips pull away, but all I see wherever I look are shocked expressions...except for my boys and Rose, and Bella's parents, actually, who just look smug. And then there's Benno...who looks as though he wants to beat me to a bloody pulp.
"Mate?" he says. "You been havin' it on with me missus?" He lifts himself to his full height, and I'm actually surprised when his suit doesn't burst apart at the seams.
I step back, pulling Bella protectively behind me. "No...no, it's not like that," I say hurriedly. "Er...mate."
"I'm not your mate, mate!" he exclaims, stepping toward me. Bella steps around me, putting herself between Benno and me. He barely even looks at her. "Move aside, Iz," he warns.
"He's right," I tell her, shifting her gently to the side. "I kissed his fiancée. I deserve it."
"Too bloody right, you do," he growls, and his fist connects with my jaw. I let out a yowl when pain shoots through my face.
"Benno! You didn't need to do that!" shrieks Bella, crouching beside me.
"Yeah, he did," I tell her, flexing my jaw. It hurts, but it moves. "I get it."
Benno doesn't even seem to have hurt his hand, and I suspect I'm not the first person he's hit. Bella helps me to my feet, and I wince. As I stand, a smirk fleetingly appears on Snow's face before it disappears.
In the row behind Snow, Bec is still standing. "Actually," she says slowly, sounding amused and holding up her phone. Even from here I can see that on the display is a picture of a man and woman in an intimate embrace. She points at Benno. "I was talking about him."
