Sorry it's taken me so long to get this chapter out. School has been burying me with work- William Blake & Wordsworth and Pope- oh my!- so I live most days in a zombie-state, barely able to complete my work let alone work on a fanfiction story!

But this story has always been on my mind, of course. When I first started writing this chapter (forever ago, if you can believe it) I could hardly get the words out. I deserted it mid-page somewhere, thoroughly disgusted by the stupid new plotline I was writing. I decided that until I could find a better one, I wasn't going to write any more.

Cue boredom & procrastination and you have little Miss Rita sitting her butt down to work on the chapter that's been hanging over her like a perpetual hurricane.

It feels nice to update but I'm still unsure of where I'm going. This chapter is a bit manic to me, hahaha. You'll see what I mean by the end. Thoughts/opinions/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. OH and another thing- I barely edited the second part of it (Shane's POV). If you all hate it, I'd like to know b/c then I can change it around. Hopefully you won't hate it (fingers crossed).

Enjoy.

BPOV

"Bellaaaa!" Alice wailed. "Please!"

I shook my head. "No, Alice. No ruffles. You promised."

She pouted and stomped away, yanking her bridal magazine along with her.

Edward came up to me and grinned. "That's what you get for letting Alice plan the wedding."

I growled half-heartedly. I had only wanted a simple affair, but when Alice asked me if she could plan the wedding and Edward's eyes lit up at the ideas in her head, how could I refuse? He looked the most incandescent and radiant in that moment than he'd ever looked, and being Edward, that was a big deal.

"What are you thinking, love?" he asked me, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Guess."

He laughed and shook his head. "Come on."

He brought me up to his room that, after two weeks, would also be my room. Gently, he placed me on the bed and climbed on top of me, whispering loving words as he did so.

"Two weeks have never seemed so long to me, Bella," he whispered in my ear. I trembled at his meaning and he chuckled. "Do you honestly believe that I'm not as impatient as you are?"

"You don't seem to be," I grumbled. I looked away.

"On the contrary," he said, pulling my face back toward him, "I bet I'm even more anxious to be one with you."

I gulped. "What makes you say that?"

He smiled crookedly. "You forget how long I've existed, Bella. Now that I've finally found someone, I'm embarrassed to admit that I'm desperately counting down the seconds."

A slow grin spread across my face. "Really?"

He nodded sheepishly.

I leant closer to his face and whispered against his lips, "Why wait?"

He sighed and pulled away, rubbing his face. "I know you think we have a soul, Bella. I want to ensure that we keep it intact."

I understood his point and was touched that he cared so much. Just because I understood didn't mean I was complacent. I reached for him again and, though he was wary, he allowed me to get close again. I kissed him shamelessly and deep and once again lifted my leg over his.

"Bella," he growled in a warning against my lips, but this time he didn't pull away.

He sighed into my desperate lips and let a hand wander over my hip, nudging me closer against his leg.

I honestly think we would have continued had it not been for a certain annoying pixie.

"STOP IT RIGHT NOW!" Alice bellowed, running into the room and pulling me away. To my pleasure, Edward looked devastated that I was no longer in his arms.

"Alice," he groaned, shaking his head, "you certainly can't tell when you aren't wanted."

She rolled her eyes and then glared at me. "Edward wants a traditional wedding and I think you'll find that you do, too. I saw the wedding and the two of you are going to be overjoyed. I'm sure that staying virgins right now must seem impossible to the both of you, especially after what you've been through, but let me tell you something- it's going to be worth it." At this, she grinned evilly.

"Have you been peeking, Alice?" Edward rose from the bed and took on an intimidating posture.

"I can't help what I see," she replied innocently.

"Alice!" I cried out, horrified.

"Oh, relax, virgins. I only saw afterwards."

I sighed with relief but Edward did not relax from his rigid glare. "Out, Alice."

"Only if you two promise to keep your hands-," she looked over at me, "-and legs to yourselves."

"Fine," Edward said through gritted teeth.

She giggled and hopped out, winking at me as she passed.

"I love her but she is probably the most annoying being on the earth." Edward looked at me with amusement but it quickly faded. His face took on an intensity I'd never seen before. Then he looked down at the floor, almost seeming like he was ashamed. "I'm sorry, Bella. I used to pride myself on being a gentleman." He slowly raised his eyes up to mine. "If you only knew what I was planning to do to you just a few minutes ago, you'd be appalled and run from me forever."

My breathing quickened. Why did he have to be so freaking tempting?!

"Why are you apologizing? I liked it. And I started it, if you remember. You're a gentleman- too much of a gentleman in my opinion. I want you so badly… but you and Alice are right. We need to do this as we originally intended." I walked over to him and hugged him. "And if your plans were anything like mine, we're going to have one hell of a wedding night," I whispered in his ear.

He groaned and buried his face in my hair. "When I said you were going to be the death of me so long ago, I meant it."

SPOV

I hated to disrupt their moment, but the time had come to make them aware of my presence.

I slipped into a downstairs window, satisfied to see everyone in the living room minus Bella and Edward.

The family stared back at me, speechless and confused. I forgot, temporarily, that Edward could read minds and would know immediately that I was here. It was no matter to me; it actually made things a lot easier. Suddenly he was before me, demanding to know what I wanted. I took a deep breath and blocked the majority of my thoughts.

"That's simple," I said, smiling slightly. "All I want is Bella."

His eyes widened and he looked back at her in confusion. She was standing on the stairs, staring at me disbelievingly as though I were some horrible ghost in one of her nightmares. He was talking to her, asking her who I was, but she couldn't speak. Her brown eyes were fixed on me as I started walking closer. I smirked at Edward who had begun to growl.

"I'm not going to hurt her," I said.

"Who are you?" he asked me, taking a step closer to her.

"Shane. Perhaps you've heard of me."

His eyes flickered with realization and he looked back at Bella, worry written cleary on his face.

"What do you want?" he asked again, never taking his eyes off of her.

"I believe I already answered that question."

His coal-black eyes looked back at me. "What do you want with her?"

I opened the floodgates of my thoughts, allowing him to view my imagination in vivid detail. I showed him how I was going to bring her back to Aro. I imagined me beside her, smiling. I imagined things that surely would have made Bella blush.

"Enough," he growled. "It's not going to happen. Aro gave Bella her freedom."

"Temporarily," I said calmly. "He's changed his mind. She's his, after all. He created her."

"Bella," he hissed in a low voice, "is mine- no one else's."

I sighed and looked at Bella, whose face resembled one who was just told they had a month to live. "Do you really want to make things difficult, Edward? Because believe me," I continued, meeting his eyes again, "I can make things very… unpleasant."

"You don't scare me," he snarled, making a move to run towards me.

"Stop it, Edward," another vampire said. He looked as though he were the father of the bunch. I think Aro said his name was Carlisle. He looked over at me with a somber expression. "Why must you take her? What does Aro want with her?"

"Aro didn't give me any particular reason," I said.

"I'm afraid that I'm going to have to go with you," Carlisle told me, looking at Edward pointedly. I could tell he was saying something with his thoughts.

"And I'm afraid that's impossible."

"Why is that?" another burly male vampire asked.

I sighed again, heavier this time. "Enough of this. Either she comes with me now or you'll suffer the consequences."

"We're not scared of some puny looking kid who is now Aro's bitch," the beefy vampire said, flexing his muscles for my benefit.

"You shouldn't do that," came a whisper from across the room.

Everyone turned to see Bella, slouched over with fear.

"Don't insult him," Bella added. "You'll only make things worse."

"I knew you were sensible, Isabella," I told her. "I'm proud of you. Now be a good girl and come with me."

"And if I don't?" she asked, jutting out her chin. She tried to sound courageous but her voice shook a bit; she was terrified of what I could do.

"I will tear apart each of your friends in this room as you watch."

She sucked in her breath at my words and nearly crumpled to the floor. A small, fairy-like vampire caught her and glared at me maliciously.

"Just try," the tough vampire said to me again.

"Stop!" Bella cried.

"Bella, he can't do anything to us. This… scrawny piece of crap is going to single-handedly dismember seven vampires?! I don't think so."

"I never said I'd do it alone," I amended, grinning now. "Shall I call in my friends?"

I pulled my cell from my jeans pocket and called the number on speed dial so quickly that the vampires had no chance of stopping me.

"No!" Bella screamed, fighting against the other girl's arms. "I'll go with you! I promise! I won't struggle!"

I shut my cell slowly. "Do you give me your word?"

"Bella!" Edward cried. "Don't do this."

"Bella, we can fight them," the big vampire said.

"No," Bella disagreed softly. "You can't."

She told the girl to let her go and walked slowly over to me. She looked at me sadly and then motioned for me to lead the way.

"I won't let you fight for me," she told them. "And please don't follow me. Just let it go. I knew I was always going to be trouble, vampire or not. I love you all and I promise I'll get myself out of this."

She walked over to Edward who appeared to be having some sort of mental breakdown. He stood frozen on the other side of the room. His eyes scanned around, not focusing on anything particular. He looked like someone who was about to die.

"Edward… I'll love you for eternity. Please don't do anything crazy. We'll find a way." She lifted her hand to his face and stroked him gently before sucking in a deep breath of air and stepping back.

"I'm not saying goodbye," she told them, "because I'm coming back. Even if it's not for another hundred years- I promise I'm coming back. Don't let Edward do anything rash, guys. Promise me."

She looked back at me, hatred blazing in her eyes. "I'm ready."

I looked at the people she loved so much and nearly laughed. I could tell they were all preparing themselves for battle, waiting for me to turn my back so that they could pounce on Bella and whisk her away to safety while the remaining ones would fend off any of the guards I promised were waiting.

"You're so transparent," I laughed. "Do you honestly think that I'm going to just let myself be tackled by all of you? Do you really think that even if you were able to bring me down, that there aren't guards of the Volturi waiting in the shadows to finish the job? Know this- if you try to do anything to me or if you try to steal back Bella, you'll only be hurting her. They'll neglect you to torture her, I'm sure of it. So think very carefully about your next step…"

They said nothing; their facial expressions didn't even change. But I knew I had them. Despite their natures that encouraged them to just attack, they held their ground. The love they had for this frail human eclipsed any form of primitive urge they had to attack and slaughter me. I suppose Edward himself was evidence enough that mountains could be moved for a girl like this. It almost made me sad to think of her locked away beneath the layer of cold stones that would soon house her in Italy. But the tinge of sadness didn't last long; I wasn't built to be sad. And I couldn't possibly be sad with the thought of her beside me, prey to my every whim. Now that was a satisfying thought.

I couldn't deny my attraction for her any more. I knew that I was a selfish, evil being but it didn't matter. I didn't bear the self-loathing her dear Edward had. I accepted my wickedness; I even embraced it. I wasn't going to torture her or hurt her for any sick source of pleasure. I was merely going to keep her from all she loved, from the sun, from her love to be my toy, my warmth, my pleasure. Forever.