Hello, I told you I would try to update this week.

I want to thank all so very, very, much for all your love. This story has one last chapter, and then it's done.

But that's not the last you'll see of me.

I have another fic ready to start publishing. It will be Paul/Bella, around Eclipse... you'll have to wait for the publishing to know a bit more :)

So, add me to your author alert if you're interested :)

In the meantime, stay safe and enjoy!

TWO CENTURIES LOVE

Chapter 16: We do.

I wasn't supposed to feel nervous about this because Edward was the only sure thing I had in my life. Friendships come and go, but our love was ever constant. It was him who would be waiting at the end of the makeshift aisle that Alice bossed the boys to put together. It was Edward I would be going on a honeymoon with to a private island owned by Carlisle and Esme (just when I thought I knew everything about this family). I was anxious to get away with him and be together alone, just the two of us.

I straightened the already straight fabric of the dress in an attempt to keep my nerves at bay and looked at myself in the mirror. As I saw myself in the white summer dress Alice discovered, I looked at my golden eyes, missing the brown that I inherited from my dad. Suddenly, I was transported to the first time I saw myself as a vampire.

I opened my eyes and saw everything around me. I didn't understand why I could see the spider in the farthest corner of the room when I never had such a good vision. I sat straight and noticed I was on a bed; it was soft to the touch, very comfortable, with blue and white covers, pillows, and cushions. I was distracted by the patterns in the fabric. A sudden noise made me jump without thinking about it to the corner of the room where I saw the spider. I crouched there and stayed there until a man came into the room.

The man had red eyes, a handsome smile, and ragged hair.

"Oh good, you're awake." He waltzed around the room elegantly, ignoring the fact that I was still crouching away from him. He started straightening the room, including the bed I jumped off.

After several minutes of silence in which I observed him moving around the room, and he ignored me until he was done, he stood in front of me. His smile turned soft. He extended one hand with his palm up, offering it to me in silence. I took it as a gesture that I could trust him. He didn't force me to get up; he knew I was scared and confused. He stood there for a few minutes, not giving up. He never dropped his hand, he never spoke, he looked at me in the eyes and let me come out of my shell by myself.

Eventually, I took his hand and stood up. He didn't let go of my hand, but it didn't feel romantic. It felt like he was leading me. Shortly, I was standing in front of a mirror. I resisted the urge to scream in fear and run away. My eyes were blood-red like the man's beside me. My skin was whiter than it had ever been. Those were the first changes I noticed. Then, I noticed my hair, the red strakes I had had were accentuated, my hair was longer, and it felt thicker. I swore I felt taller, but I couldn't be sure.

I didn't know what I had become, but it wasn't something natural.

"Jasper is asking if you want him to send you some calming waves?" Alice's voice brought me back to earth.

I looked at her through the mirror; she was smiling at me as if she knew where my mind had been.

"No, it's ok." I shook my head. "They're good nerves." I smiled at her.

She put her hands on my shoulders and leaned down. "You look beautiful. Edward is going to fall when he sees you."

I smiled wider at her words. I turned around and took her hands in mine. "I can't thank you enough, Alice. I wouldn't have done all of this without your help."

"You're about to become my sister, officially. I did this gladly and would do it a thousand times again. I love you and Edward, and it makes me so happy that you've reconnected, and I'm thankful to whatever force wanted your story to continue. I can't speak for you because I've known you for a little while, but I have never seen Edward so happy."

"I've never been happier, either."

…

…

…

When the time came, Garrett knocked on the bedroom door, cueing Alice and Rose that it was time for them to take their places.

Garrett offered me his arm to loop mine. He was very handsome in his gray suit. We had agreed that we weren't going to have a very fancy wedding. Men could wear tuxedos, and women could wear an array of summer dresses. We were going to be only sixteen people. There was no reason to be too fancy.

"You say the word, and we run." He whispered jokingly. I laughed, shaking my head.

"No way." No way, indeed. I've been waiting for this moment for a century or so. It was long overdue. In a few hours, I would be a Masen (and, by extension, a Cullen). I couldn't wait.

The only regret I had was that one of my other best friends wasn't coming. Demetri had returned his invitation with a short letter, plainly stating that it was going to be too hard to come and see me get married to another man. I was sad when I received the invitation, but it was what it was.

"You never led him on, love. You were always honest with him. It's his loss." Edward said when I showed him the letter.

"How do you know?"

He smiled. "I read his mind when we were in Italy." I snorted. Of course he did.

But I could see why it would be hard to see the person you love marry someone else, but as Edward said, I was always honest with him, and he knew my heart only belonged to one person.

Garrett squeezed my hand when we reached the stairs. I looked at him, and he winked at me as we started our descend.

In an ideal world, I would have loved to have my dad walk me down the aisle, but in this world, I couldn't have asked for a better companion, a better friend to walk me. I knew that if I had asked Emmett or Jasper, they would have said yes immediately and without hesitation because they considered me their sister as with Alice. But there was something about having Garrett walk me down the aisle. He was my first friend in this world. He stood by me when I doubted myself when I wanted to give up. It was fitting that he was here, sharing on this important moment.

Soon, we reached the entrance to the garden, and I had to stifle a gasp. The girls had wanted the decoration to be a surprise. I had to say that they could run a wedding planning business. Everything was impeccably beautiful. There were sunflowers scattered around, but they were mixed with other flowers, giving the place a fairytale-like look. It wasn't colorful in the sense that you couldn't distinguish what the main theme was, but it was so breathtakingly beautiful.

I mouthed a thank you to Esme when I passed next to her on my way to Edward. She smiled at me.

It was so much to take in that I got distracted and almost missed the moment when we reached Edward. Garrett kissed my cheek and gave my hand to Edward, palmed his back, and went to sit next to Kate. Much to my surprise, he grabbed her hand, and she smiled timidly. I was happy my finding Edward in the most unexpected circumstances brought two amazing people together.

I tore my eyes away from the guests and focused on Edward, whose smile was so big, wide, and brilliant that it made me giggle. It was so obvious that he loved me, it was written on his face, and his eyes screamed it as clear as if he yelled the words out loud.

I only paid half attention to Carlisle, as I couldn't shift my focus off Edward. He looked so handsome in his navy-blue suit. He looked like something out of this world. He was my something blue, that's why Rose and Alice didn't mind me not having anything blue on me (they refused my suggestion of wearing blue underwear).

At last, the ceremony ended, and I could kiss my husband.

I wanted to do more than kiss him, but sadly, I had to behave. We were only sixteen people, so there was no chance of us sneaking away unnoticed. But I reminded myself that we'd have weeks just for us at the island.

…

…

…

"Did I tell you already that you look stunning?" My husband whispered in my ear.

I grinned, he had told me a few times, but it was nice to hear it.

"You look nice enough to eat." I said in return.

He laughed my favorite laugh. He was so happy and carefree. He no longer had dark circles under his eyes or sad golden eyes. As of the last few weeks, his eyes were vibrant gold, and I dared say shiny. I knew eyes could not shine, but his almost did. His happiness was so immense, only a match to mine.

"I love you." I said, looking into his eyes as we swayed with the music.

He kissed my forehead and gave me the words back. I wanted to say something else about the ceremony, but only to him, so I tried to lower my shield and managed it for a few milliseconds, not enough to reach out to him. I closed my eyes, leaning down into his shoulder, and concentrated on what I wanted. I felt the shield lowering down, but I felt in control this time. I straightened up and spoke in my mind to my husband.

"Edward." He looked at me, surprised. It wasn't the first time I did this, I tried it as soon as Eleazar explained how my shield worked, but I hadn't done it since then. He nodded to let me know he could hear me. "I'm very happy." He smiled wider if it was possible and dropped a kiss in my mouth. "I'm also glad we didn't break Carlisle. It was a beautiful ceremony." To this, he laughed loudly, getting the attention of everyone.

"Me too, love. Me too."

...

...

...

We were getting ready to leave for our honeymoon when Carlisle cleared his throat, getting everyone's attention.

"Esme and I have a gift for Bella that we would like to give her before she leaves for her honeymoon." A gift? What could they possibly have for me? I looked at Edward for answers, but he shook his head. He wasn't going to tell me. If he wouldn't tell me, Alice wasn't either, and If was hundred percent sure she knew.

Esme and Carlisle approached me with a square velvet box in their hands. "We know you were trying to decide what to do with your rings and your chain, and we thought we'd offer a solution. You don't have to choose which ring to leave on your finger and which one to leave on your chain. With this, you can war both your rings and wear this on your chain." I took the box in my hand, very curious now as to what it might contain.

I opened it and gasped. My eyes filled with venom tears that I wouldn't be able to shed. Inside the box was the most beautiful charm I've ever seen. It was delicate, elegant, but modest enough. It was the Cullen crest. It was an official welcome into the Cullen family. I didn't have words to express my appreciation for the gesture, so I did the only thing that made sense at the moment. I jumped into both their arms, taking them by surprise, and hugged them as tightly as the position allowed me. Carlisle laughed and patted my back.

"You're welcome, sweety." He said in my ear.