Author's Note: I can't believe it's been a month since my last update! I didn't intend to make you all wait that long, but I just kept putting it off to work on a few other projects that I hope to share soon. But after finishing this update today, I'm glad I waited. I'm really happy with it and hope you will be too. I've made it slightly longer than normal as my apology for taking so long. One part of it does directly quote New Moon, but the rest is original. I'm sure you'll recognize it.


Angela's party was over too quickly, as was any evening spent with Bella. I drove her home and held her close to me as she slept, still nervous beyond belief for the following night.

She could tell that something was up with me, but thankfully she trusted me enough to not question it, likely suspecting that my nerves were due to the river cleanup time upcoming with her father. Truthfully, I was more worried about how my brothers would behave around Charlie than any worry I held for myself.

But my main concern, the source of my anxiety, was that she might say no to my proposal, to something I wanted more than almost anything else. While Alice was very careful to not show me how it would go, she was confident that at least the result wouldn't be catastrophic.

Bella wasn't going to run away screaming and crying, at least unless I made her too uncomfortable talking about her and embarrassing her in how I asked. She didn't like to be the obvious center of attention for too long, even mine.

It was something I was going to have to figure out on my own, no thanks to my usually happy to meddle sister. I knew she meant well though. It was impossible to stay mad at her for something like this.

Bella was peacefully sleeping, and I wasn't sure if I could sit still for the remaining five hours until I promised to deliver her to my sisters for their day together. I was antsy and overwhelmed with nervous energy. A normal, vampire reaction to stress was freezing and becoming perfectly still, but when had I ever been normal?

I left her a sweet note in case she woke up to find me missing and ran home, trying to think of anything I could do to make the next evening have a better potential outcome.


To my surprise, Emmett was waiting outside of the house for me.

"Alice didn't want you to pick her brain, but she sent me to help you." he laughed.

"I thought she was against influencing events."

"She is. But she said she didn't see a problem with helping you enact your own plans. Would it really be Alice if she didn't meddle at least a little?"

"I guess not." I grinned nervously at him. "You sure this is how you want to spend your night?"

"Well, Rosie insisted I not, uh, mess up her hair anymore, so yeah. I'm good."

"Right, because hormonal teenage boy brain first, help brother with his big plans second."

"Exactly." Emmett smiled back, flashing all of his teeth. I shook my head and took off into the woods with him right on my heel. "Besides, it seems you've loosened up a little yourself in that department these days."

"I suppose I have."

"I suppose I have." he repeated, jokingly. "Always so formal. Why is it never 'Fuck yeah I did!' or something fun?"

I laughed. "You have a point. I'm afraid that just isn't me though."

"Bella said you curse in front of her sometimes now."

I stopped dead in my tracks and turned to stare at him, nearly making him run into me. "She said what?"

He put his hands up in defense, "Hey, I didn't ask her for details. Relax. I just asked her if things were going….better…between the two of you these days and she said that she got you to curse and she thought it was really funny."

"Funny." I said, starting to run again. "I can think of a few different words for it. Besides, she does it now too….sometimes."

"Oh, does she? Now that's more like it!"

"We aren't discussing this."

"Why not? I'm not being mean about it. I'm not teasing you. I'm taking a genuine interest in your personal life for once."

"You really are." I said, seeing no deception in his thoughts. "I'm sorry. I'm so nervous."

"Trust me, I know."

"How did you feel when you asked Rosalie to marry you the first time?"

"Well, I didn't ask so much as she strongly suggested. I was a smart cookie that took a hint and bought her a large rock. There was never any question that she would say yes."

"Yeah." I laughed, remembering exactly how that had gone down. "I suppose so. Thanks for your help with all of this."

"You're welcome. So, what exactly are we doing tonight? Alice wouldn't tell me much. She was too busy rambling about color theory, spa days and nail polish."

"Well, I was going to go for a quick hunt and then carve a swing to hang in one of the trees in our meadow. I think she will love it. And it would be more comfortable for her than sitting in the grass."

"Alright, I'm game. I get to knock down the tree?"

"If you like. Just not one of the ones near the meadow. I don't want her to feel like anything is missing."

"You know you're overthinking this." he said with no question at all.

"I know. I want it to be perfect."

"You're not even a little worried about asking Charlie?"

"No. His no doesn't really matter. It's hers that does."

"What makes you so sure she's going to say no?" he asked.

"Did Alice…?"

"Wouldn't tell me a damn thing. I tried for ya, bro."

"You know, I'm kind of an ass to you sometimes, but you really are the best brother a guy could ask for."

"Bet Alice didn't see that one coming." He laughed loudly, taking off running through the trees, hoping to find a bear to wrestle before we started work. One of the reasons I loved Emmett was his joyful, happy go lucky nature. I couldn't have asked for a better distraction for the remainder of the evening.


Charlie was already gone when I arrived at the Swan house for Bella the next morning. I made sure no neighbors were watching and climbed through her window. She smiled when she saw me and started to sit up.

"Relax. We've got a few minutes." I said, getting under the blankets with her and laying her back down in my arms, kissing her face.

"I found your note. I got up for a bit but laid back down. It's too cold out there."

"But having me under here with you as cold as I am doesn't count?"

"No." she said with a smile. "You are exactly where I want you."

"Is that so?" I asked, smiling at her. She put her soft, warm hands on either side of my face and kissed me gently, lovingly. I melted like putty under her touch, enjoying each brush of her warmth against my skin.

"I love you." she said, her large brown eyes piercing through me, really, truly seeing me, and still loving me. My heart swelled for her.

"As I love you."

"You're going to be late."

"Wouldn't that be a normal teenage boy thing to do? I can't think of a better reason to be late." I said, leaning in to kiss her some more. She didn't protest, wrapping her arms around my neck as she kissed me back with a happy sigh.

While I didn't mind a bit to be late, a certain miniature vampire was too eager to steal her best friend away from me. She hopped delicately through Bella's window and immediately started giggling. "Alright lovebirds, time to go."

"I don't wanna." Bella whined, holding me more tightly. I happily strengthened my grip on her, not enough to hurt her, but enough to show that we felt the same.

"Too bad. You promised."

"But Alice, I'm so warm under here."

"I've got heated seats and a hot cappuccino for you in the car." she insisted, putting her hands on her hips, and raising her eyebrows expectantly at us. "Besides, I've already arranged a sleepover for you two tonight with Charlie, so you owe me one, not to mention the one you two already owe me for last time. And Jasper and Emmett are already waiting in Edward's car for him outside."

"Fine." Bella grumbled, reluctantly loosening her grip on me, and looking up at me sadly.

I kissed her lips and caressed her cheek, hating to part with her as well, but deciding to at least give her something to spend the day looking forward to. "I promise you we'll watch the sun set together in our meadow tonight, just the two of us."

"That sounds amazing." she smiled, kissing me once more and whispering I love you, which I returned before hopping out of her window to join my brothers. I hoped that Alice wouldn't torture her too much in my absence, but I knew that she was loved and safe.

I waved hello to Rosalie and took the driver's seat beside Emmett. Jasper was in the backseat, his nose buried in some large history book he hadn't managed to read yet despite his extensive personal library.

"Geez man, I can feel the nerves coming off from you in waves now that Alice stole Bella from you."

"She's the only thing that can keep me calm."

"Yet the very thing that's making you anxious." he observed.

"She isn't making me anxious, it's tonight. I really hope she doesn't say no."

"And what if she does?"

"Huh?" I asked, confused.

"Well, you usually think in worse case scenarios. I'm surprised you haven't planned this all out already. So what if she says no? What happens?"

"I won't get to have her as my wife. You know how badly I want that."

"I do. But you will still get to have her. There's no doubt at all in her feelings for you. And when the time is right, if she does say no, you can ask her again."

"Did Alice see her saying no?"

"She won't tell me a damn thing." he said. "And trust me, I tried for my own curiosity. I even offered sexual favors and free reign with my credit card."

"She has her own credit card."

"Yeah, but I hear it's more fun when she uses mine." he laughed.

"Rosie too." Emmett added. "Women." He laughed, shaking his head.

"You guys better be careful what you say in front of the chief today." I said, changing the subject to warn them. "I know we don't associate with the humans too much. We can't give any indication that you guys are really married or that we're-"

"Old as dirt. Got it." Emmett said with a laugh.

"You know what I mean."

"Relax." Jasper said, using his gift to calm me. "We know how much she means to you. We won't screw anything up. We promise. We've all waited too many years for her. It's nice to finally see you happy."

"Even Rosie likes her more than she lets on." Emmett said. "I'm sure they will take good care of her today."

"I forgot to remind Alice how often she needs to eat."

"You act like Bella can't talk or like her stomach doesn't loudly growl sometimes." Jasper said, laughing. "Besides, Esme made her some kind of fancy coffee and sent her a home cooked breakfast by Alice this morning already. She'll be alright."

With his reassurances and emotional influence, I allowed myself to relax, thanking my brothers for coming with me and helping ease my nerves.


There was a small line of cars at the event, but mostly it seemed like people were going to come and go as they pleased all day. That meant that no one would be heavily scrutinizing me and my brothers as we helped, which was a relief. One of Charlie's deputies checked us in and gave us instructions.

"Any supplies you need are over there." he indicated a tent in the distance. "It's up to you if you want to help around the riverbank or if you want to dive in and go after more substantial trash. Unfortunately, a lot of people like to dump things they shouldn't around here, so there will be things you can't get out on your own. Should you find anything heavy or illegal, drug paraphernalia and the like, just yell for one of us and we'll come help you or mark the spot for the heavy equipment to come in later tonight to finish up."

We thanked him and headed off as a group to a remote area, still in sight of the others but where we could talk freely and not have to worry too much about accidentally slipping up. We worked at a human pace, quickly filling up several bags of trash. It always baffled me how little humans respected their environment and it even felt good to help clean things up for the local wildlife.

Emmett was quickly bored and ran into the mostly shallow water, splashing and laughing like crazy. He lifted an old tire and tossed it on the ground beside me and Jasper.

"Be human." I whispered, knowing he heard me.

"Fine then, come give me a hand."

"No, I'm not getting in my car covered in mud and smelling like fish."

"Well, I'm going to." he insisted, going into deeper water, and looking for more debris.

Jasper shrugged at me and took off after Emmett, helping him find and thankfully at least, at a reasonable human strength, toss out more tires and the remains of some battered shopping carts.

I heard Charlie's thoughts approaching as I stacked their refuse up neatly a few feet from the water to be carried to the dump.

"Don't know how to swim?" he shouted at me, smiling as he approached.

"Doesn't want to mess up his car!" Emmett yelled, laughing triumphantly as he picked up an abandoned boat part and tossed it at Jasper, who tossed it at my feet.

"Ah." Charlie said, coming to stand beside me.

"I suppose they're going to mess it up anyhow, but I'd rather not pick Bella up tonight smelling like fish and whatever else they are finding in there."

"Yeah, she might not like that." Charlie said with a kind smile. "Glad to see you kids here. Seems like less and less teens participate each year."

"A shame." I said. "We enjoy helping."

"Clearly." Charlie laughed, watching Emmett and Jasper horse around in the water. "Your brothers must lift weights."

"A little too much. Sometimes I worry if they've dropped them on each other's heads."

He laughed again, in a good mood all on his own without any influence from Jasper. "I can tell you're nervous, Edward. What's bugging you?"

"How do you mean?"

"Well, your brothers are over there being delightful dumbasses." They both laughed, hearing him, and agreeing, though he didn't know that they heard. "And you're over here all by yourself clearly worrying about something. I know you aren't that worried about your car getting all gross smelling or you would have already run off and left them here."

"That's true. Well, there's something I wanted to ask you today actually."

"Already?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at me, and making me wonder if he wasn't the mind reader. I saw in his thoughts that he knew exactly what I was planning to request of him. "What's the rush?"

"There isn't one. I just can't wait any longer to ask her. I want her to know how much she means to me."

"She knows that." I nodded. He continued. "But if you're asking my blessing, it's not mine you need. It's all up to her. She's not too fond of the idea of marriage after what she saw me and her mom go through. And if you ask me, you're too young, way too young. I would request that you both at least finish school first and don't get knocked up on us."

"I promise."

"It means that much to you?"

"It does. She does."

"I never put this much thought into it myself. It just seemed like the right thing to do at the time. I know you'll take care of her. I won't stand in your way. But I will come after you should you ever hurt her again, for any reason, in any way."

His thoughts were kind, trusting Bella to make the right decision for her own life. He was never one to try to control her. He was even grateful that she found someone to love her so completely. He no longer doubted my feelings or my desire to take care of her, though he did worry that I didn't have any hobbies or interests outside of Bella.

"I would want you to." I agreed. "I promise I won't hurt her."

"Good. Now, go horse around with your brothers if you want. I can always give the three of you a ride home and let Carlisle come get your car or something. Or we can have the fire department come hose everyone off at the end of the day." he joked, clapping a hand on my shoulder. I smiled at him and thanked him sincerely before deciding to join my brothers in their antics. Perhaps it would be the best way to get my mind off from things. I was grateful for his blessing.


The day quickly passed thanks to my brothers help. At least part of my mind was always on Bella, wondering how the night would go, worrying, daydreaming, hoping that Alice and Rosalie were taking good care of her. But I also enjoyed spending my time doing something useful. We earned compliments from all of the police for the section we worked on. We gathered the most trash out of everyone, but not enough to make anyone suspicious. Charlie was reassured that Bella was going to be joining a great family.

We were able to skip their pizza party, insisting that we had plans for the evening. Charlie helpfully gave us a large roll of plastic tarp to stop my brothers from ruining the cloth seats in my car, laughing the entire time. "Good luck. I'm sure it will go fine." he said to me before returning to the party. I always liked his simple manner of getting right to his point. I drove us away with a smile on my face.


We beat Alice home somehow and there was still just over an hour to spare before sunset. I took a long shower, making sure to wash all of the slime from my hair, totally lost in daydreams and fantasies of seeing Bella and spending a quiet evening in our meadow.

I noted the sound of Alice's car in the garage but wasn't really paying attention to the passage of time until I heard soft footsteps in my bedroom and faintly smelled freesia, strawberries…Bella.

I quickly finished my shower, drying off as fast as I could and wrapping myself in a towel before stepping into my room. She was laying in the center of my bed on her back, gazing at the ceiling when I stepped out of the bathroom. She turned to me with a smile, a blush creeping across her face when she saw that I was mostly naked.

"Well, this is a nice greeting." she said with a soft giggle, looking up and down my body in a way that would have made me uncomfortable were she anyone else. But not her. Never her.

"Indeed." I smiled, admiring her as she relaxed, her hair fanned around her delicate face.

She sat up and wrapped her arms around me, her face resting against my chest. "I missed you."

"I missed you too."

She inhaled deeply, enjoying my scent as I enjoyed hers. Then, she started kissing a trail of hot, gentle fire up my chest and as high as she could reach.

I bent down to kiss her on the lips, aroused by her but knowing we were pressed for time. I caressed her face gently and took a step back. "Later, my love. I promise."

She smiled and relaxed back on the bed as I dressed. It was impossible to not smile feeling her presence with me again. She was comfortable around me and my family and it meant the world to me.

"Ready?" I asked, standing again beside the bed but now dressed in dark jeans and a blue button up to match the dress I noticed my sisters had put her in.

"Ready." she answered, sitting up. I kissed her once more before lifting her onto my back, her mostly bare legs wrapping around sides, pressing her hot center up against me. I had to fight to suppress a soft growl at the sensation of her and our physical proximity as I leapt from my window, holding on to her tightly, not daring to let her be harmed.

We arrived at our meadow quickly and I sat her on her feet just a few seconds after the sun started to peek through the clouds. She looked upward and smiled, enjoying its warmth and beauty. The glimpse of a vision Alice had shown me the night before game true as colors started to appear in the sky, and I admired her as she admired nature. She reached behind her for me, and I quickly wrapped my arms around her from behind, brushing her hair aside to kiss her neck.

"It's beautiful."

"Nowhere near as beautiful as you." I whispered, holding her to me as we watched the sun set and stars begin to show.

When night fell and the sky was peppered with stars, I began the speech I had planned. "Before you Bella, my life was like a moonless night. Very dark, but there were stars - points of light and reason…And then you shot across my sky like a meteor. Suddenly everything was on fire; there was brilliancy, there was beauty. When you were gone, when the meteor had fallen over the horizon, everything went black. Nothing had changed, but my eyes were blinded by the light. I couldn't see the stars anymore. And there was no more reason for anything.

I don't want to live without you ever again. There are no words to explain how happy you've made me. How whole. By some miracle I don't deserve, I know you want forever with me, and I'm prepared to give it to you when you're ready. I'm not going to put conditions on it, at least nothing unreasonable. But there is something I'd like to ask you first."

She held her breath as I walked to stand in front of her and took her hands in mine before kneeling at her feet. "I'm asking not because of society and tradition, but because I want nothing more. Will you be my wife?"

Her expression gave nothing away, but tears formed in her eyes as she leaned down to kiss me. Our lips met passionately, and I stood up to take her in my arms, anxiously wondering if her kiss were a yes or a no, but completely unwilling to pull myself away from her to ask. She ran her fingers through my hair and pressed herself tightly against me, her warmth and love sending pleasant chills down my spine.

"Please, Bella?" I asked, forcing myself to pull her away and look into her eyes. "I can't take it anymore. Is it a yes or a no?"

"It's a yes, silly." she said, tears falling from her eyes as she smiled at me. I immediately captured her lips with mine, losing sight of everything but her. There was no time or place, no logic, only Bella.

When I emerged, I was a new man yet again. She said yes! To me!

I pressed my lips to her forehead and held her close to me. I was trembling as I reached in my pocket and pulled out my mother's ring, taking her left hand to put it in place. She held me tightly and admired it with a smile, moving her hand a little so that the diamonds sparkled in the moonlight, glittering like the stars above us.

"I was afraid you wouldn't like it."

"It's beautiful."

"It was my mother's. I was worried that it might be too old-fashioned."

"It's perfect." she insisted, taking my face in her hands. "You worry too much."

"I do." I confessed. "Thank you. You really have given me everything just by existing. I almost forgot. Emmett and I made you something."

"Emmett and you?" she asked, wondering what kind of mischief he had been up to, I was sure. I took her hand and guided her across the meadow to the bench swing we had made and hung from a large tree. It was carved by hand all but the chains and blended in with the landscape.

A member of my family had been by, I noticed. There was a large basket with a note on top. "For Edward and Bella." I sat down and pulled her into my lap, handing her the note as I opened the basket. There was a large, plush blanket which I wrapped us both in, and a card of congratulations from the entire family. None of them doubted that her answer was going to be yes. In fact, they all knew. They were just extra careful to not spoil the surprise for me.

"A perfect evening." she said with a smile, looking up at me.

"Perfect indeed."

"That's why you were so nervous last night?"

"It is."

"You thought I would say no."

"I did."

"I'm sorry." she said.

"Don't be. I know marriage isn't high on your priorities list."

"No, but you are." she said, having no idea what impact those words had on me, how they warmed my entire being. "All I want is forever with you."

"I promise." I said, kissing her hand that now wore my ring. "I did promise your dad that we would finish school before we got married, so I'd like to put that condition on your change. After that, it's up to you. I'm not going to resist you anymore."

"You asked my dad?"

"I did. On the marriage part at least. Well, more like he told me it was up to you. He noticed I was anxious earlier and kind of figured it out on his own."

"Sounds like him. And that thing Carlisle was helping you prepare?"

"He was helping me secure my mother's ring for you. It had been locked in a safe deposit box in Chicago for decades. I wasn't sure if you would like it but-"

"But I love it. And I love you." she smiled.

"I love you too. More than life itself." I said, holding her in my arms as we watched the stars shoot across the night sky. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect way to spend the evening.