Stephenie Meyer owns all of the rights.

He was my best friend. I would always love him, and it would never, ever be enough.
– New Moon

Edward had gotten me into Emmett's off roading car before dawn. Even though it was still dark out, you could tell that it was going to be a clear day; there were no visible clouds against the midnight blue sky. The stars reflected large amounts of light, and I felt awestruck. It was so rare for me to be able to see the stars. I always lived where you couldn't see them.

I was still in the dark, so to speak, as to where we were going today. Edward, along with the rest of his family, had been keeping tight lips on the subject every time that I asked one of them. Alice, cryptic as ever, told me, "you'll know soon enough." Even Emmett and Jasper seemed to be more interested in gardening than answering my questions!

"Why can't we just run?" I asked Edward; we were equal, for the most part, when it came to strength. He was still faster than me, but not by much. Edward had always been one of the fastest vampires that I had met.

"You'll see, Silly Bella," he teased, bringing up an old nickname. I rolled my eyes.

"Fine," I replied with resignation as he parked the car at the bottom of a wooded hill. I had a feeling that we would be running through the dense forest. That didn't bother me, though. I had become rather graceful with running since Edward last knew me. A lot more graceful. I wasn't clumsy anymore. Well, for the most part, anyway. Silly Bella still had her moments, though.

Edward led the way to wherever we were going. It wasn't hard to keep up to him, though I could tell that he was going slower than he normally did. I knew that he could go a lot faster than he was going, but I was also thankful that he wasn't going too fast. It was my luck to get lost in the woods... then I'd have to track Edward to find him... and I was still hell bent on never using that talent again.

Edward stopped running altogether, and I was far enough behind him that I was able to stop before slamming into his back or something (not that it would hurt, but I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate it, either). He reached his arm behind him, extending his hand for me to take. I took it and he immediately pulled me to his side.

"Bella," he whispered my name and I could see that the trees were now thinning and leading out to an empty field. It wasn't exactly like the one that was in Forks, but it was somewhat similar. The grass here was almost like wheat grass and was shin high, probably. It was bending slightly as a breeze rippled through the otherwise calm air. It was beautiful; that was, until I noticed something.

"Edward, why isn't the sun out?" I was confused. Alice had said that it would be sunny today; I had been looking to the sun very much so. The way that it warmed my skin was beautiful, and I loved knowing that it looked like a million shards of diamonds were bouncing off of me.

More than the confusing surging through my small body was the hurt and upset and disappointment. I really, really was looking forward to the sun. I looked up at Edward's face, trying to gauge his reaction, but he didn't seem troubled with there being no sun.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" I heard his melodic voice ask.

"Yes, it is... Edward, where is the sun that Alice promised?"

He shrugged. "It'll come out later, I suppose. Come, though," he said as he tugged me towards the meadow. "I want to talk to you."

Edward led me through the grass towards the center of the meadow. I saw a plaid blanket stretched out across some of the high grass, forcing it down. Edward motioned for me to sit down on it, so I did. He plopped down next to me – graceful as always. He brought his hand up to my face and gently stroked my cheek. That almost made up for the lack of sun..., but I was still pretty bummed out.

"Bella, I don't... I don't know how to say this."

"What, Edward?" I kept my tone even and my face straight, but panic surged through my body. What if he didn't think that this was going to work out? What if this was horrible for him? What if he didn't want me – didn't love me– as much as I loved him? Go ahead and laugh at my panic; I was the one who had been struggling to live for the past 50 years since he left. I wouldn't try to do that again; I would go to the Volturi if I had to. I knew how to provoke them... I had never seen anyone actually do it, but in theory it was easy enough.

I would just have to go and taunt them – beg to die, first. If that didn't work, I could kill in their city. I knew how protective they were of it. Or, perhaps I could do something stupid that would cause them to panic... Yes, that would work. Reigning havoc across a city was easy when you had virtually unlimited strength.

Edward's melodic voice brought me back to the present. "Bella, I love you. I... I need to work out how to say this." He let out a frustrated breath of air; I could tell that he had rehearsed something in his head, but clearly it wasn't going to work out like he had planned. I wondered why not.

I was happy, though, while he was taking his few seconds to himself. Did you hear him say that he loved me? Of course I hadn't missed that; it had caused my heart to swell with even more love for Edward Cullen. I loved it – I loved feeling his love. It was the reason that I lived (if you called this living).

"Okay, if you're willing to listen to my ramblings," Edward said, to tell me that he had sorted out his thoughts.

"Of course I am. And, Edward? They aren't ramblings. I'm sure that whatever you've got to say has meaning to it."

He gave me a crooked smile. I loved the way that it met his topaz eyes. He was so beautiful. Even though I knew that I was more beautiful than when Edward and I had met, I still felt plain. I wasn't anywhere near as beautiful as Edward. There was no way possible. He was so beautiful that it hurt. I was pretty enough, but... not like Edward. Oh well, we can't have it all.

"Bella, I love you so much. The past fifty years have been spent in my own personal hell. I say this because I created the situation in which my personal hell expanded. While you were with me, I might have been a monster, I might have been in hell, but I was happy. After I told you those filthy lies, I wanted no longer to exist–"

I had to cut him off. He was blaming himself again, and that wasn't healthy or fair. We had both made our choices. It wasn't his fault that Jasper had attacked me or that I had gotten the paper cut in the first place; that could have happened to anyone (especially me) on any other day. Jasper was always more sensitive to human blood than the rest of them, anyway. He couldn't blame himself for this.

"Edward, it's not like that. Please, I thought that we were past you blaming yourself. That's not fair at all. It... I... Edward, just don't blame yourself," I pleaded with my stubborn boyfriend.

"Fine," he resigned. I saw him close his pensive eyes once more and then continue with his words. "Anyway, I've decided something. But then Carlisle pointed out that it wasn't any fair if you didn't have a say in this, too. I mean, this directly affects your personal life too. Regardless of everything – I want to know something. How much do you love me?"

I stared at him for a second before I realized that he was being serious.

"Edward, I love you more than I can describe. You're the reason that I kept on going for so many years. You're the reason that I don't hunt humans. You're the reason... that I am. Other than you, there's nothing in my life that is strong enough to hold me here." I reached out and gently touched his cheek.

Edward truly was the reason that I was. I couldn't have a better reason, either. I had decided that a long time ago. If there was no Edward Cullen in existence, there would be no Bella Swan in existence, either.

"That's all I needed to know," Edward murmured. He leaned forward to kiss me for a brief moment. It was too brief, but it wasn't rushed. I knew that his hold on me was more permanent than anything that I could have ever imagined for me. He had this pull on me that was magical, if that was the proper word.

"Isabella Marie Swan," he started. My eyes must have widened a bit, because as he said my name softly, the breeze rippled through the grass and the clouds broke so that beams of sun carelessly fell against us. We were both sparkling diamonds. He paused for a moment, smiling as he reached and touched my diamond skin. It was so beautiful– the way that we looked. The warmth of the sun felt good against me, too.

He started again, "Isabelle Marie Swan, will you marry me?" He had swiftly pulled a ring out of his pocket as his voice shook when he asked the question.

I threw myself forward, planting kisses against his lips, his skin... anything on him that I could contact with my lips.

I suppose somewhere amongst the many kisses, I might have murmured a 'yes' or two.