Disclaimer: Sadly enough, I still don't own Twilight, or these characters. All of this belongs to the amazing Stephenie Meyer. I just own the storyline ;)


Epilogue

Edward

For so long I had been invisible, desperately trying to blend my way in to the school crowds. Trying not to catch the eye of anyone, because I was so damn afraid of their possible reaction to my presence. I was afraid they would comment on my being a freak, or a loner. Because I knew I wasn't the normal teenager. I wasn't your average seventeen year old and for so long I had hated myself for being 'different'.

But then she came along and opened my eyes.

She made me believe that there was nothing really wrong with me. She taught me how to believe in myself, and stand up to those who wanted to bring me down. She taught me how to love and loved me in return. Unconditionally.

She.

Bella.

Bella was the reason that I was here today, alongside every other student of Forks High, wearing an ugly yellow cap and gown, waiting for my name to be called at the graduation ceremony. I had really made it. I had graduated and a whole new world was waiting for me to explore.

My mother was sitting somewhere in the back of the room, already wiping away her tears as she saw me up here, ready to really start my life for real.

Over the past few months so much had changed, and I could only thank Bella for it, even though she would get angry at me for saying that. She firmly believed that it was all on me.

It wasn't.

She had been the one supporting me as I had to retake every test, assuring me that I could do it when sometimes I wanted nothing more than to just throw away all of my books and leave those tests for what they were. Of course, math and science was easy and I passed all of those tests with the highest mark, even getting a few compliments of my teachers for my brilliance. Yeah, that did wonders to my self-confidence.

But other subjects like History and English weren't really my cup of tea. And that's where Bella stepped in, helping me at every chance she got, and making sure I got really good marks for basically everything.

On top of the success that I had earned in school, I could also proudly say that I was making improvements socially as well. Slowly Bella had introduced me to her friends, trying to make me comfortable around other people than her. At first I had been scared shitless that they would despise me and ignore me all the time, but that fear was quickly washed away as every single one of them greeted me with a big smile and accepted me into their lives with ease. I had even grown close to Alice and Rose's boyfriends, Jasper and Emmett. We weren't exactly bro's yet, but it was something. For the first time I had real friends; people who cared for me and stood up for me, no matter what the situation. It felt really goddamned good.

I was snapped out of my train of thoughts as Mr. Greene announced my name. I quickly made my way up the stage, trying to ignore the loud screaming of my mother when I finally accepted the paper out of Mr. Greene's hands. I felt invincible.

The rest of the ceremony passed in a blur and before I knew it, Bella was back by my side, wrapping her arms around me as she congratulated me.

"I'm so proud of you," she whispered, tightening her grip on me.

"It's all thanks to you," I replied, leaning in to kiss her swiftly. She was blushing lightly as we parted, making me fall in love with her all over again. "Congratulations love."

I could already see my mother pushing her way through the crowds to reach us, her face wet with tears. When she had finally succeeded, we were both wrapped into a hug as she started blubbering how proud she was of both of us.

A second later we were joined by Bella's parents, who also showed how proud they were. Charlie and Renee were two of the nicest people I had ever met, even though I was still scared shitless of Chief Swan sometimes. He had already insisted that I called him Charlie, much to Bella's surprise, but sometimes – mostly when I was holding Bella too close – he had that look in his eyes that told me to back off. Which I did, most of the time. I mean, the man had a gun, you know. Nonetheless, they had both accepted me as a strong and stable presence in Bella's life and I couldn't be happier about having them in my life.

After the promise to meet them all back at my place later in the evening, we parted again, ready to mingle a bit with the other students. We went to look for our friends when a highly annoying voice interrupted our search.

"Congratulations Edward," the nauseating voice announced, completely ignoring the fact that Bella was next to me as well. I sighed deeply as I turned around and faced the one person that made me want to crawl back into my shell again.

Tanya Denali… Where do I begin to explain that one?

Let's just say that ever since I had let Bella and Alice have a say in my wardrobe – with my full permission on every piece of clothing before they were allowed to purchase it of course – and actually my entire look, to be honest, I had caught the attention of some of other girls in school. I had never acknowledged any of them, mostly because as cheesy as it may sound, I had only eyes for my Bella. But Bella herself on the other hand, found it hard to deal with the attention they all suddenly threw at me. I don't know how many times I had already told her that she was the one for me, but still she always got possessive whenever one of them would try to get their claws into me.

I just nodded at Tanya, trying to look as uninterested as possible – which I didn't even have to fake – before turning back to Bella, who was now shooting daggers at Miss fake-nose.

Because she obviously didn't get the hint of being unwanted, I turned around, dragging Bella along with me to a more secluded area and most importantly away from a now scowling Tanya.

"Bella, she's got nothing on you," I said, trying to reassure her once again. "I love you, and only you."

"I know," she sighed deeply, "I'm just afraid that one day you're gonna take full advantage of your obvious handsomeness and that I'm gonna lose you to one of those whores."

I quickly turned to her, forcing her eyes into mine.

"Love, I thought you knew me better than that. I will never fall for their fakeness, because that's what they all are; fake. And I'll always be the same Edward. It's not because you've had a say in my outfit and looks that I've changed who I am. I'm still the same person, only now I have the most amazing, most beautiful girlfriend and a bit more self-confidence," I explained, grinning from ear to ear at the last few words.

A smile returned to her beautiful face, and I couldn't help but wrap my arms around her again. She was my everything. My compass, my true north, without Bella I was lost.

And that was also what had led me to deciding to follow her to U-Dub. I was fully aware – also thanks to the many times my mom and teachers had mentioned it – that I would be studying something well under my abilities and that I could get into much better universities, but I liked the programs that they offered at U-Dub and I just couldn't imagine being away from Bella, even for a short period of time.

It had taken me a great deal of time trying to convince her, but ultimately she realized that it was my decision and ever since then we had been planning everything.

My life had turned around so drastically, but I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Everything was falling into place and for the first time I was actually looking forward to the future.

And most importantly of all; I wasn't invisible anymore. And I really liked it.

THE END

A/N: And that was it. We're done!

Please leave me your thoughts on the epi and the entire story in general! Some feedback is amazing!

Longer author note follows (I have a lot to say :'D)

Love, Ellen