Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or its sequel New Moon; I just like playing god with the characters. XD

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Weeks passed uneventfully. Victoria remained elusive and finals loomed. Edward was over much of the time, despite the grounding, and helped her study as much as he was a distraction. When school finally ended, the excitement following a whole week of exams was more than just the average graduating senior's pleasure. The time had finally come.

"What do you mean, wait?! School is over! Done! We had a deal!"

"Have you told Charlie about marrying me?"

"Well…."

"I've held off giving you an engagement ring per your request, but I absolutely will not make any move to complete my end of the bargain until a) you tell him, and b) you graduate," Edward replied stubbornly, reading a novel in the living room while Bella tugged impatiently on his sleeve.

"But Edward…!"

"No. If I have explained it once I have explained it 20 times why you have to wait."

"No, listen! School is over! The graduation ceremony is in three days, and I can skip it if need be. I mean, I'll be graduating a lot, if I'm gonna follow your example and go through school over and over, so one isn't going to matter." She grabbed the book from his hands and angrily tossed it on the floor. "Pay attention to me!"

He sighed and took her face in his long, slender fingers and pressed his cold lips to hers. "Calm down, love. Have patience. You've waited eighteen whole years before this. What is three days. Can't you stop being so irritating? We can't risk it until after the ceremony. It's important, so you can't skip it. Afterwards, no one will see you again, so it won't matter then. But if you suddenly look like I beat you and kept you in a dark closet since finals, it will cause unnecessary trouble. And if the Blacks decide to attend, it will be worse. Afterwards, we can leave without raising suspicion." He released her and his eyes narrowed slightly. "He comes sniffing around your house occasionally, you know. I can smell him in the woods around your house. He keeps a very close eye on us." He broke off, sensing her anger at the topic. Kissing her forehead, Edward stood to retrieve the book, but Bella held on to his sleeve and pulled him back down onto the couch with her.

"It's okay. I've gotten over it," she insisted. Edward smiled at the lie and pulled her into his lap. "It's just, you have no idea how hard it is to be patient." She looked into his bright tawny eyes.

"I'm that charming, am I?" He chuckled.

"Well maybe not charming," she joked. He frowned, sticking out his bottom lip in a pout. "Cute though." His pout softened. "But you must know by now how attracted I am to you. I love you, but you don't feel it as bad as I do. You told me yourself the human drives are buried. Heck, you've seen it. I'm getting… I dunno. Really impatient. Antsy."

"Horny?" he supplied.

"Shhh! Don't say that out loud. I am not horny."

"Yes you are, you just said so."

"Did not."

"Technicality. You meant it. 'Antsy' refers to ones pants, love." He nuzzled her neck, brushing along her jawline.

"Aren't you? Don't you want me?" she countered trying to frown, pretending unsuccessfully to be hurt.

"That's not fair Bella. You know I want you. But I don't… I don't want to hurt you." He looked away, embarrassed. "I'm not just worried about biting you. And… You're wrong when you say I don't feel it." He looked up at her from under his eyelashes. "I might lose control. You're so fragile, Bella. I don't want to break you. Even so, I'm impatient for you to be mine just as much."

She sighed and hugged him tight. "You won't hurt me. We won't take it that far. Just a little."

"I don't think I'd be able to stop if we started. The drive…" He paused, searching for the right words. "The feelings, the ways I want you. They all get mixed up. I want to make love to you, and keep you near me always, but I want to… hunger is the only way to describe it. The hunger for your body and the hunger for your blood go together. I'm afraid if I give in to one, I'll give in to both. That's why I want to wait to even take the first step. I know I have the self control, but I don't know that I'll be able to use it."

She rested her forehead against his. "I suppose I understand. But that doesn't change anything. I still want you."

"Good. I want you too. I never want you to stop wanting me. That would hurt my feelings." He grinned and kissed her softly.

A thump sounded lightly at the landing halfway down the stairs, and Bella looked up in time to see Alice stick a perfect landing from a jump down the last half of the stairs.

"Hey, you two better not start necking in the living room."

"Necking?" Bella asked, confused.

"What, is that too old fashioned? Making out. Tongue hockey. What else…"

"Okay okay, I get it! What did you come down for? You seem excited."

"Your dress arrived, and I wanted to show you," Alice explained, grinning.

"Absolutely not. And what dress are you talking about?" Bella asked, glaring a warning at Edward.

"What? I have nothing to do with this, so don't look at me like that," Edward protested instantly.

"Why, your wedding dress of course!" Alice piped up, chipper as could be.

"Whaaaat!?"

"Well you told me what you were looking at, so… well, come on you can see it for yourself. It's absolutely perfect!" Alice grabbed hold of Bella's hand and gently but firmly pulled her up the stairs to Rosalie and Emmett's bedroom, despite all groans and protests. The beautiful Rosalie was perched daintily on the bed, but stood gracefully as they entered, smiling slightly.

"I'm sorry. She insisted. I hope you don't mind," Rosalie apologized quietly, managing to look like the envy of every angel in Heaven in a simple white turtleneck and a knee-length flowing lavender skirt. Bella grumbled under her breath, and glanced over at the white dress lying across the bed. It was a two piece, a floor-length flowing skirt made of satin and a sheer overlay, an embroidered bodice, beaded with a pattern of flowers – freesia – and swirls. The sleeves were off the shoulder and the lacy fringe on top would make her body fit into a perfect heart shape, the point of which seemed to direct attention to the implied object of the conversation she had just ended with Edward. Sexy and elegant, it seemed just right in a way Bella would not have thought possible. As she looked over the dress in silence, tears brimmed over in her eyes and she threw her arms around Alice, who was still beside her, judging her reaction.

"Thank you. You shouldn't have, and I'm angry at you for spending money on me, but… it's perfect. Thank you so much." Alice giggled as Bella sniffled and tried to wipe her eyes. Rosalie placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and smiled warmly, and Bella surprised her with a hug as well. "I don't know that I deserve something this beautiful."

"You're family now, dear," Esme said, appearing at the door as Bella released Rosalie. Alice, who had skipped off to Rose's bathroom, returned and wiped Bella's eyes with a washcloth, kissing her cheek.

"You better not blub like this when you two get married. You'll ruin any makeup you decide to wear with this many tears." They all laughed and Rosalie moved to cover the dress again with the clear plastic protector. Alice led Bella back down the stairs and Edward rose from his seat when they reached the bottom, startled by Bella's still-pink eyes. He had been reading and tuning out the conversation upstairs, knowing he was not allowed to see the dress until it was on his bride at the ceremony. After all, they didn't need any more bad luck.

"What did you do to her? Was the dress that bad?" Edward said, placing his hands on Bella's shoulders, alarm showing on his face, but humor in his eyes nearly ruining the expression. Alice growled low in her throat and turned to walk back up the stairs as Edward chuckled happily. "So?" he asked his bride-to-be happily. "What did you think?"

"Have you seen it?" she asked, suspicious.

"Of course not. It won't look nearly as good on the hanger anyway."

"Oh." She turned away, leading him back to the couch so he couldn't see her thrill at the compliment. "Well then you might as well wait. I'm happy though, it's great."

He stared at her with an eyebrow raised. "Great? That's it?"

"No, I mean, it's beautiful. I just… every time I think of having to tell my parents…." She caught his expression and amended quickly. "I'm not ashamed of you, but you know what happened to my parents. They jumped the gun and now my mom is against me getting married before I'm like 35. It's going to be hard to convince her that this is a good idea."

"Mmm."

"Hey it's not like you've been married before! Don't you have the jitters?"

"Of course not. You're already my 'mate' as it were, so making it official is not really a large step." He picked up his book and found his place. "Besides, I've been to Emmett and Rosalie's weddings so I know how the ceremony goes and all that. My family approves, so there's nothing I should be jittery about." He glanced up and saw Bella staring down at her hands. "I am excited, but not yet impatient."

Bella sighed and rubbed her face with her hands, trying to find her resolve. "Fine, we can… tell them today. Will you come with me to talk to Charlie?"

"Of course."

"But I want you to wait outside in the car until I say so." Edward looked less pleased with that condition, but agreed to that as well once Bella explained that she wouldn't know about Charlie's initial reaction, given the past history between them. "All right," she sighed and made a little groan of discontent. "Can I use your phone?"

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Yay! Finally got around to fixing the ending. Man all the comments are really nice, I love hearing that you like my story, but something that makes me feel rushed is when I'm told to update soon. I hate the way my work turns out when I rush so I'm very sorry about how much time I take to crank out another piece. I hope you can forgive the time lapse between updates, but with 17 hours this semester. At least now I have a plan for future chapters. There will be at least 3 long ones and a couple short in between, so just keep me listed in your mind as something to check every now and then!! Thank you again for all the support, and as always, critiques are welcome.

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