Cold Feet?
Edward's POV
I paced beyond the boundaries of the snow-white chapel. What had I done? I understood that Bella didn't wish to marry me, at least not for now. I knew (being the selfish creature that I am) she loved me in spite of her demands to stave off on becoming my wife, but I was suddenly struck with grief that I had forced my only love, my only reason for living, to commence into holy matrimony. True, I didn't want to delay in the slightest, yet if it meant saving my Bella from a painful and lie-filled day, then I would cancel this arrangement right away. I ran my hand through my unruly bronze hair, and wondered if I should just feign illness – which wouldn't be a totally unbelievable occurrence to the humans attending the wedding, considering the human food I'd eaten earlier (on a dare) and the paleness of my skin – and whisk my Bella away, change her, and get married when we were equals. My mind wandered back two weeks earlier…
I lay next to my beautiful, soon-to-be bride in my… no, our king-sized golden bed, stroking her glossy locks as she drifted away into slumber. I sighed as she slowly slipped into unconsciousness, and waited for my favorite part of the evening: Bella's thoughts, being spoken aloud, unbeknownst to her. After only waiting for 5 minutes, it began. "Edward… take…take back…ring…" I started, jumping a little, making the bed shake. Did she just ask me to take back my mother's ring, her engagement ring? I got a hold on myself and concentrated. "Please… take it…take the ring, Edward!" If I could cry, this would be the time I'd do it. "I love you. I love you!" I relaxed slightly, and spontaneously responded to her unintended statement – "I love and adore you, my Bella." As if reacting to my words, she rolled over and faced me, still fast asleep. "Not…equal. Too many lies… equal, my angel." So that's what she was trying to say. She wanted to be my equal before we got married. But what about the lies? I waited for another clue, but Bella stopped speaking, only mumbling incoherent slurs that I knew I would have to ask about in the morning.
I cringed at the memory. As soon as she had awakened that day, I confronted her about what she had said that night. And so commenced her straight-shooting argument against our immediate marriage. I soon found out that my suspicions were correct; Bella wanted me to change her, and to become my equal, before we were legally united. When I faltered, not at all sure what I should do, she broke down and sobbed, telling me that she couldn't stand lying about my inhumanness when she was not the same. We had embraced and snuggled together under the covers for the rest of the day, with her curled up against my chest, and with me lost far away in the recesses of my mind, pondering what was right and what was wrong.
"We shouldn't have come to Vegas at all. Damn!" I cursed myself for continuing with our wedding plans. Even if we were having the smallest of celebrations, with only Charlie, Renee, my family, Angela and Ben attending a 10-minute ceremony and an hour-long after-party, I knew this would break Bella. We had even decided on a miniscule church in Vegas, as I had suggested to her early in our engagement. I was so selfish, insisting on this when she wasn't ready. Forget Alice and her frivolous plans despite the minority of weddings we were about to have. Forget my yearning to take Bella as my wife right away. And, forget that my whole family and Bella's parents and friends had taken time and spent money to drag themselves all the way to southern California. I wasn't going through with this. I wasn't!
Just then I heard the music, Bella's lullaby, start up inside the chapel. I started to run in the direction of her mouthwatering scent, to run away with her while nobody was looking. Yet as soon as I found the doorway to her dressing room around back, two pairs of steely arms grabbed me from behind. I flipped around to see Emmet and Jasper, clad in fitted tuxedos, looking concernedly at me. I glared back, and Emmet smirked. "Cold feet, my brother? Don't worry… we can fix that." And, without any warning, they picked me up and lifted me up the back steps. I resisted, but the two of them combined were too much for me. I was shoved not-so-gently onto my feet and into the head of the church, where I was supposed to stand and greet my fearful and hesitant bride-to-be. My worst nightmare.