I don't own Twilight, but I do have complete control over this story d:
One week later…
Bella POV
I stared up at the ceiling above my bed, lacking the ability to sleep. Tonight would be my last night unbound to anyone, besides my parents and I wasn't taking it easy.
A warm tear trickled out of the corner of my eye and down my cheek, where I hastily wiped it away before it could fall any further.
I looked around my darkened room, then out the window towards the upper-town community where he was probably sound asleep, not a worry in the world about this wedding at all.
Edward Masen was… well, attractive to say the least, and I was well aware of my heart racing that first day I met him. No matter how much I was infatuated over him, I was unhappy to be marrying someone I didn't love, because isn't that what marriage is all about? Being legally bound to someone out of love and because you want to? At least that's how I had always comprehended it.
I turned over in my bed, pulling the blankets up around me tight and shut my eyes, willing for the sleep to overcome my body.
Another tear rolled down my cheek, and I concentrated on forbidding another one to fall over the outcome of tomorrow, because whether or not I liked it, tomorrow night I would be a married woman.
XXXXX
My body was shaking and I rolled over, trying to make it stop. It did… for a second. Then, along with the uncontrollable shaking, a blinding light was being shined in my eyes.
I winced, trying to bury myself deeper into my blankets, when suddenly they were gone. Either I was having a horrible nightmare, or I was being brutally kidnapped.
"Bella!" my eyes snapped open at the briskness in my mother's frantic voice and I looked down realizing she was the one shaking me. The blinding light was actually the sun glaring through the window, straight at my face, my blankets on the ground beside my bed.
I groaned and sat up, my throat and mouth horribly dry and parched. This was the worst thing about waking; the complete dryness, and the waking up situation.
"Bella, you have to get up or you won't be ready in time!"
Ready? Ready for wh – Oh!
My hand slapped onto my forehead as I groaned again.
"Mom, go get me some water please. I will be up when you get back." She nodded hurriedly and trampled out of the room and down the stairs.
It had always amazed me how people could take a flight of stairs like they were running across flat land. If I even dared to try running down stairs like a mad woman, I would most likely fall and kill myself on the landing. I was not very coordinated, and I was just lucky to have not made a spectacle of myself at the Masen's last week.
I sat up, stretching as I did and gazed out the now opened window. It was definitely a nice day for a wedding. Too bad I didn't want one.
"Come on," my mother chanted as she handed me a cup of cool water.
"We have a lot to do today!"
I rolled my eyes while greedily drinking down the glass until there was nothing left.
I groaned while crawling out of bed and stumbling towards the bathroom.
She tisked me while rummaging through the closet to pick out the wedding dress she lent me.
"Bella. Please be careful not to fall today. It is not going to be a good thing to have to call for the doctor on your wedding day." I ignored her comment and started to run the water to get ready for the day.
XXXXX
Five hours, much bustling around, and one shoe hunt later I stood before the two large wooden double doors of the church, my father's arm through my own as I tried to steady my breathing.
"Sweetheart, you must calm down. We cannot have you passing out before you reach the altar."
Charlie smiled down at me trying to brighten the mood, but it wasn't working very well.
My mother and three of her village friends had come down to dress me up in my wedding attire, and I had to admit that I did look beautiful in my mother's white dress, though a tailor was needed to shorten it. White flats adorned my feet, chosen by mother since she knew the problem I had with walking in heels.
My heart skipped a beat as the wooden doors began to slowly open and I resisted the urge to turn around and run.
"This is it, kiddo," My father's face had turned a slight red, his arm gripping harder around mine. He looked almost as nervous as I felt.
The doors had fully opened and the sound of the wedding march filled the air from a piano. I had hoped it would not be an organ playing. Pianos always seemed to calm me down with their sweet, melodic tones.
I was being lightly pulled by Charlie and I squeezed my eyes shut tight once, and then met his pace.
I glanced around the room and immediately became overwhelmed with the vast amount of people whom had attended the wedding ceremony.
I didn't look around long enough to see if I recognized any of them, for my eyes had unwittingly traveled to the altar, where standing in front of the priest was Edward, and I would have been lying if I said he wasn't too stunning for his own good.
It seemed he had gotten a lot… handsomer from the last I had seen him – if that is even possible.
The bronze hair was still the same, but seemed more illuminated by the lights that made the different shades almost impossible to decipher; there were so many altering colors.
The black tuxedo he was formally dressed in complimented his skin tone nicely, setting his pale skin with a luminous glow like God was positively beaming down at his creation.
His eyes, jade green and shining, were staring fixedly at me; his lips slightly parted as if he liked what he saw.
He must not be looking at me, then. I thought as I felt the heat rise to my cheeks and I looked down to save myself from further embarrassment.
What seemed like hours later, but was really only seconds, we reached the altar where he himself stood in his entire appealing splendor.
My father kissed my cheek and squeezed my hand once before leaving me to go sit by my mother.
I exhaled slowly and took Edward's outstretched hand, before inhaling sharply as a feeling similar to a pleasant shock ran up my arm. My head snapped up, and I noticed that by the look on Edward's face he had felt it too.
His hands were light in their grasp of mine, his fingers long and slender as they looped around my palm, his eyes on me.
I kept my head down for the fear of blushing if I looked up into his searching eyes, and continued staring at our connected hands.
The priest began his speech, and before long – after vows – Edward was slipping a beautiful silver ring on my finger, laid out with four small diamonds around the band. I glanced up at him, his green orbs flickered to meet mine, and I felt something stir in the pit of my stomach. I smiled bashfully as did he and slipped the ring onto his finger. It had belonged to my grandfather, and was much plainer than the one I had received.
More words were exchanged and then the priest said the words I was dreading.
"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."
I looked up at Edward, eyes wide as his eyes met mine on his way down to me.
"Just go along with it, please." He whispered to me before his lips - soft, yet firm - touched down on mine.
My eyes fluttered shut at the sensation his mouth brought on to my body and I could hear the crowd cheering as a background noise.
He pulled away, and took my hand, leading me down the aisle as I resisted the uncontrollable urge to touch my lip, briefly wondering if I was the only one who felt anything between our touches.
How a kiss not even lasting for five seconds had left me so breathless and dazed was beyond me…
I am truly sorry that this chapter took two days to post, but I have been really busy these past days. But don't worry. Tomorrow I will have plenty of time to post another chapter. I'm already starting it ;)