Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

Author's Note: I want to thank all of you who reviewed! I was very excited when I opened my email and saw reveiw alerts. Keep on reading and reveiwing!

Chapter Eleven: Promises

Elizabeth Cullen

I wasn't sure how long I drove for, but somehow I ended up in front of William's Park, the town's only park. I cut the engine and got out, heading down the path towards the center of the park. The night air was cold, and I pulled my coat closer to my body.

I spotted a bench and went over to it, so I could sit down and gather my thoughts.

For a good hour and a half, I sat on that bench, thinking about my conversation with Ian.

He had said that my fiancée – a man that loved me, supposedly – was cheating on me. With another woman.

What had given him the right? He knew nothing – absolutely nothing – about Ethan. He had only met him once, and that was only briefly. Maybe he was just jealous. Jealous men did that sometimes, like in the movies.

Or maybe he still cared about me.

I thought about that for a second.

Nah.

But it came down to one thing. How would I know if Ian was telling me the truth? There was only one thing that I could think of to find out the truth.

I needed to ask Ethan.

I didn't know if that was the correct thing to do, but I needed to know. I needed to know if I should still marry him.

I pulled out my phone as I got up and walked back towards my truck. I dialed my home phone number, and when Mom answered, I told her that I was going down to Port Angeles to see Ethan and that I probably wouldn't be back until later.

An hour later, I drove up to Ethan's house. I sat there for a moment, and then killed the engine, got out and walked up to the door.

Tilda answered after a moment. "Elizabeth!" she said. "What in the world are you doing here?"

"Hi, I'm sorry I'm calling so late. I just need to talk to Ethan for a moment. Is he here?" I asked.

Tilde nodded. "He is."

"Great. Could you ask him to come down and meet me outside?" I asked.

Four minutes later, Ethan came out the front door and down the porch steps. I was leaning against my truck and stood up straight as he came nearer.

"Hey," I said.

"Hey. My mom said you needed to talk to me. Is everything alright?" he asked.

"Um, I just needed to ask you a question," I said. "My mom has always told me that no marriage should start with lies. I need to know something. Are you cheating on me?"

Ethan looked shocked for one split second, and then his features softened and he let out a chuckle. "What gave you an absolute crazy idea like that?"

"Nothing. I just … I just need to know the truth," I said. My tone was deadly serious. "How do I know that you're not lying to me?"

"Because I'm not," he said. He came forward and placed his hands on my shoulders. "Lizzy, baby, I love you. I would never ever do that to you."

I looked deep into his eyes, and his eyes seemed truthful enough. "Alright. I'm sorry I asked you that."

"That's alright."

"Are we good?" I asked.

He nodded and planted a kiss on my lips.

~~0~~

Days passed. The days turned into weeks, and the weeks turned into months. Before I knew it, it was nearing the end of December.

I was getting married in five days.

We had passed the previous weeks by finalizing all the wedding plans. We reserved the church, where the ceremony and reception would be taking place, and had one final dress fitting one week before the wedding. Even the cake had been decided on.

As the date of the wedding got closer, the wedding presents kept piling up. Each day a new package arrived. The presents ranged from a coffee maker to a toaster to even a spatula. The nicest gift was a china tea set that had such intricate detail and was made of porcelain that I was afraid to even take it out of the box.

Nathan's date to the dance with Mackenzie had gone very well. I had been sitting at the kitchen table drinking hot cocoa and reading when he came home at eleven o'clock, and I had managed to get him to tell me about his night. He had said that it had gone magnificent and that he might even have a chance with Mackenzie. The following Monday, he had asked her out again (this time to go to the café for hot cocoa and pie that night), and she had accepted.

When he came home that night, he had come into my room and told me that he now had a girlfriend. I had told him congratulations, and welcome to the life of love. He asked if he could bring Mackenzie to the wedding, and I said 'sure!'.

I hadn't spoken to Ian since the night that I had walked out of his life forever. I wasn't mad at him anymore, and I couldn't figure out why.

I would see him in the grocery store, but the instant I saw him, I would turn and walk the other way.

The relationship between Ethan and I had grown just a little bit strained since the night I asked him if he was cheating on me. He wasn't his normal self, and our dates were beginning to grow awkward.

I spent hours at night awake, staring at my ceiling, wondering why in the world I was even awake pondering why I was marrying Ethan yet I couldn't even get Ian out of my mind.

Two days before the wedding, I spent the night at Leah's place. Leah had come up with the idea of our very own 'bachelorette party' that didn't involve spending a lot of money and going out for 'a night on the town' – a bunch of chick flicks and popcorn and Oreos.

Leah had told me to be over at her house by seven, and to bring the Oreos, pizza, and the two liters of soda. She would be supplying the movies and the popcorn. Her parents were going to be out of town that night, so we would have the place to ourselves.

I left my place a little after six, so I could get the Oreos and soda, and then stop by the pizzeria to pick up the pizza.

I was in the store, heading towards the check-out with the Oreos and soda in hand when I ran into Ethan.

"Oh, hi! What are you doing here?" I asked. "We're not supposed to be seeing each other until the wedding."

My Aunt Alice had insisted that we follow the age old tradition of not seeing each for three days before the wedding, only seeing each other as I walked down the aisle.

Ethan blushed and chuckled nervously.

I then noticed that a woman who looked to be about my age was standing next to him. She had great looking hair, and from what I could tell a great sense of fashion. She was wearing a nice skirt and a nice blouse, along with heels and fancy jewelry.

"Yeah, I know," Ethan said. "Elizabeth, this is my cousin, Bernadette. She's going to be in town for the wedding. I've not seen her since I was little. Bernadette, this is Elizabeth."

Something in his voice stirred a feeling at the back of my neck that I couldn't quite decipher. Nevertheless, I pushed the feeling aside and held out my hand, staring straight at her. "It's nice to meet you. Well, I've got to be going."

I quickly walked away as soon as the last word was out of my mouth. After a good distance, I looked back at my fiancée and the woman with him.

Ethan's arm was wrapped around Bernadette's waist.

I quickly paid for the Oreos and soda and hurried out of the grocery store as fast as I could.

Later that night, after the pizza was gone and the soda bottle was half empty, Leah and I laid on a bunch of pillows and blankets on her living room floor. We had already watched a few of the movies, and it was about one in the morning. We were just laying there, talking about the things we used to do as kids.

"I can't believe you're getting married tomorrow," Leah said, referring to the fact that it was one in the morning.

"I know," I said, laughing. "I can't believe it either.

"Are you excited?" she asked. "Or nervous?"

"Eh, a little bit of both," I said. Reaching forward and grabbing an Oreo. "But more nervous, I think."

I couldn't get the image of Ethan's arm wrapped around Bernadette's waist out of my head. I couldn't shake the feeling the Ian might have been right.

But Ethan had said that Bernadette was his cousin. So, maybe Ian had been wrong …?

"Who names their kid Bernadette?" I wondered aloud.

"Hmm?" Leah asked.

"I said who names their kid Bernadette?" I repeated.

Leah laughed. "French people? I don't know. Why?"

"I ran into Ian tonight at the grocery store, and there was this woman with him. He said that she was his cousin and that she was in town for the wedding."

"Huh. Bernadette… You're right. Who names their kid that?"

~~0~~

This was it.

My final day as a Cullen.

The day before the wedding was spent in a hurried frenzy – putting up decorations at the church and making sure everything was in place for the ceremony.

The rehearsal at the church went smoothly. Afterwards, all of us – my parents, Nathan, Leah, Ethan, his parents, and my dad's whole side of the family – went to the Italian restaurant for supper. It was a great night. Everybody laughed and talked with each other and had a wonderful time.

Later that night, I lay on my bed. My dress was hanging on the back of my closet door. A few wedding presents were piled up in a corner. Several cardboard boxes littered my room – a lot of them taped but some still not full.

Ethan and I would be moving into our new apartment in Port Angeles when we got back from the honeymoon, and he wanted me to have all of my stuff packed up and ready to be moved. It was kind of eerie to look around the room that had been mine since I was a baby and see almost all of the stuff gone and packed into boxes.

There was a knock on my door, and Nathan poked his head through the door.

"Hey!" I said. "Come on in."

Nathan entered the room and I patted the spot next to me on the bed. He came and sat down next to me.

"So, I just wanted to say good luck tomorrow," he said.

"Thanks. I'm gonna need it," I said.

My little brother sat there in silence for a moment and said, "You know, I'm gonna miss you around here. You've been here all of my life and now you're getting married and going off on a new life."

I put my arm around him. "I'm going to miss you, too, buddy. And I'm not going to be leaving you permanently. Yes, I'm getting married, but it's a part of life. People grow up, fall in love, get married, and start a new life. You're going to … eventually."

"I am?"

I nodded. "Everybody does. And besides, I'm only moving an hour away to Port Angeles. You'll get to visit me a lot of the time, and I'll come back to visit."

"Promise?"

Nathan looked up at me with the eyes that he used to give me when he was younger.

He really was going to miss me.

I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him tight. "I promise."

"Good. I'm going to hold you to that promise," he said, wrapping his arms around me.

I laughed and pulled back, ruffling the top of his head. "I love you, Nathan."

Nate grinned and said, "I love you, too, sis."

Author's Note: Sorry it wasn't too too long. But who like the little Nathan/Elizabeth sibling fluff at the end? I was originally going to have Bella be the one who comes in to talk to Elizabeth the night before the wedding, but then I thought Nathan would be sweeter. And, before anybody asks, Bernadette, the woman who Ethan was with at the grocery store, IS the woman who Ethan is cheating on Elizabeth with (I couldn't resist naming her Bernadette). We now know that Ethan is a lying snitch, but Elizabeth hasn't figured it out yet.

I am sad to say that there is going to be only one chapter left, and then an epilogue (the next chapter is going to be really long, though, so it'll hopefully make up for the shortness of this chapter). Everything will be concluded in that chapter (we'll find out what happens), so that's why it's probably going to be longer than the normal five pages.

Anyway, Until then, review and eat Ferrero Rocher chocolate balls (They are super good!). Until Next Time: Lemonade NInja.