A/N I apologize this update took so long to get out. I was working on a o/s for the Pick Your Own Adventure Contest. Try to see if you can figure out which one is mine. And also feel free to enter yourself. You have until February 28th to enter and voting starts on March 1st and goes until March 8th. Go check it out here http:/www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/~pickyourownadventurecontest (replacing the "dot" with the real ones of course).
In other news...I'm involved with a contest along with toni0204, mouse555, Hongkongphooey (HKP_Jen_73 on twitter) It is called the Who Doesn't Love a Fairy Tale Contest. Go check it out and enter your entry today! For deets go here http:/www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/u/2719891/who_doesnt_love_a_fairy_tale
And lastly...as always thanks to you, the readers for recing, reviewing and all that and also to my awesomely fantastic beta Dragonfly336 for putting up with my shiz and junk...lol. You my dear complete me. Just the epi to go after this and my first WIP will be completed. I'm still not sure how I feel about that yet...it's kinda weird knowing it's all going to end soon.
Anywho...enough already! I leave you with this...
SM owns all things Twilight. Me...I just happen to own a very nice warm fleece blanket.
Chapter 16 Endings and New Beginnings
BPOV
"Bella! You just about ready? You're going to be late!" my dad calls up to me as I'm getting ready.
"Yes! I'm coming now," I say as I put the finishing touches on my make up and run down the stairs. I'm wearing a simple blue dress with cute black ballet flats. Today, Emmett, Jasper, Edward, and I are all graduating. My...where has the time gone? It seems like just yesterday I arrived here at Forks High. Now, I leave for bigger and better things. Edward and I have talked about starting classes at the local community college this fall, but I'm really not sure if that's what I want to do yet. I also know that if I don't go to college right away, I risk becoming one of those people that say they are going to take a year off and just never end up going back. Decisions, decisions.
At least I do have one stable rock on my side...Edward. There is no doubt in my mind that if he asked me to marry him there would be nothing stopping me from saying yes. He is the total package. He's cute, he's charming, he makes me laugh, and I'm just plain head-over-heels for that boy. I guess you can say that he is my whole world, my whole life. Being away from him for that horribly long month made me realize how much I couldn't or rather wouldn't want to spend another day without him. So now, it's a matter of when and if he will ask me.
My dad and I jump into the car and start our drive to the school. We make it with seconds to spare.
"I'm so proud of you, Bella," my dad says as he leans down and kisses my cheek. "I'll see you after the ceremony."
"OK, Dad. See ya later."
We're all supposed to gather in the band room, since it's the biggest area in the school to be able to hold everybody. Well, besides the gym that is. That's where the ceremony is taking place. As I start to put on my cap and gown, I can feel him approaching and it makes me smile. A few seconds later, I feel a set of arms snake around me from behind. I don't even have to turn around to know that it's Edward.
"Hey beautiful," he whispers to me as he plants a kiss to my neck. I can't help the slight moan I let out.
"Hey handsome," I say as I turn around and gasp. He looks absolutely edible in his black slacks, with a black long sleeved dress shirt and tie to match my dress. I told him that it wasn't prom, it was a graduation, but he insisted to know what color my dress was so he could get a tie to match. He's always cute like that.
"So, are you excited for the big party later?" Edward asked. Alice insisted that she throw a graduation party for Edward, Jasper, Emmett and I. So, after the ceremony, everybody (and when I say everybody I mean everybody in our class) was coming back to the Cullen household for some food and fun. Good thing we only had a small class of 50 people. Gotta love small towns. I gave Edward a smile and an eye roll.
"No, not really. But because Alice had so much fun planning this, I think I can suck it up for one night. It really was sweet of her to even want to throw this party for us." Edward chuckles.
"Yeah, she has been running around like a chicken with its head cut off. But that's what she loves, the chaos of party planning. I think she may have found her calling in life." I laugh and nod my head.
"Yes, I think you may be right."
Just then, Mr. Banner, our student adviser, comes in and tells us that it's time to line up. Edward looks at me, smiles, gives me a quick kiss and a 'See you later' and was off. Because his last name starts with a C he is near the end of the line where as my name starts with an S I'm near the front. Everybody that would normally be in the back of the line will be now in the front and vice versa. I've been picking on him all week about it, saying that because they are going through the alphabet backwards that I get to graduate before him. He normally sticks his tongue out at me, but it usually leads to a smile after.
I find my place in the line and because we don't have anybody in our class with T, U, or V in their last name, I'll be sitting next to Jasper. It also turns out that Jasper is the very first one in our class to graduate.
Mr. Banner signals for Jasper to start walking us over to the gym. As we walk, I hear the Graduation March start playing and I take a deep breath and let it out. This was it...the end of one chapter of my life and the beginning of something new. It felt really surreal. We walk over to where they had chairs set up for all the graduates and take a seat. Once everybody is seated, Dr. Brown, our principle, starts a speech about the future and jobs and blah, blah, blah. Yeah...I kinda zoned out a bit. What are they going to do? Send me to detention?
A very long fifteen minutes later, Dr. Brown finally says that it's time to start handing out the diplomas. Oh thank freakin' God! As Jasper is called up, I can hear his parents and the Cullen's all cheering him on as he walks across the stage and gives the class and the audience a fist bump from the stage.
"Isabella Swan." When I hear my name, I stand up and start walking towards the stage to hear my dad, the Cullen's, and both Emmett and Edward cheering me on along with Jasper as he walked back to his seat. I shake Dr. Brown's hand and he hands me my diploma. Well...that's it. High school is over. I actually breathe a sigh of relief as it suddenly hits me; I no longer will be wandering the halls of Forks High. I smile at the thought. I'm just really excited to find out what my future holds for not only myself but for Edward as well. Will we make it and get married and start a family? Or will we fizzle out along with all the other high school relationships? I finally find my seat again and Jasper smiles at me.
"Congratulations, Bella," he says and gives me a hug. I sit back down.
"Congratulations to you too, Jasper. I'm glad I get to sit next to you."
"Me too." Just then we here Emmett's name being called.
"Emmett Cullen." Emmett gets up from his chair and runs up to the stage. He practically breaks Dr. Brown's hand with the force of his handshake, takes his diploma, and does a little happy dance all the way back to his seat. Of course Jasper and I cheer really loud like he did for the both of us as he walked across the stage. "Edward Cullen." At the sound of Edward's name I could feel my blush flow through my cheeks. Oh the things that boy does to me. Jasper and I scream just as loud for Edward as we did for Emmett. I really was quite proud of the two of us and really all of us. We all have officially graduated now. It was time to meet up with our parents.
"Oh, Bella, I'm so proud of you," Esme says as she pulls me into a hug. I smile. I've become very close with Esme lately. Mainly because I don't have my mom anymore to talk to, so, if I have any 'girly issues' she told me that I could come and talk to her anytime. We have had many awesome woman to woman chats. Some may have been about boys even.
"Thank you. It feels good knowing that I'm done with high school and am ready to face what the future holds for me." I notice that Esme smiles at me and I swear I could have seen a tear but I think I was imagining it.
"Yes, congratulations, Bella," Carlisle says to me and pulls me into a hug. Then my dad comes over and pulls me into a great big bear hug.
"I'm proud of ya kid," my dad says to me then looks down at his feet then back up again, "and you're mother would be proud too." All I can do is nod my head in agreement because of his sweet words to me. I give him another hug.
"Thank you, Daddy. That means a lot and I think you're right. She would be proud." Just then, I feel Edward's presence as he wraps his arms around me from behind.
"So, how does it feel to be graduated? I know I'm loving the idea that I don't have to come back to this place ever again," he says while looking into my eyes and smiling. I return the smile.
"It does feel good to know that we'll be somewhere else come fall. Where that is, who knows?" I notice that my dad and Edward share a knowing look and smile at each other but I just chalk it up to some 'male bonding' moment or something.
"Are you ready to go?" Edward asks me as he offers me his arm. I smile up at him and place my arm with his.
"Sounds good. You lead the way."
"We'll see you there," Esme calls out to us.
We get to the car and Edward opens my door for me. I can't help the smile that crosses my face.
"Thank you," I say as I step into the car.
As we drive, we don't say much to each other. We just steal glances every once in a while and smile. Well, rather Edward would smile and I would just smile with him even though I didn't know what I was smiling about. His smile is just so contagious like that. He seemed nervous for some reason, I just couldn't figure out why.
"Are you OK?" I finally ask. He smiles and steals a quick glance at me then puts his eyes back on the road.
"I couldn't be better," he says as he grabs my hand and places it on his leg.
We finally pull up to the Cullen home and find that there were already quite a few cars in the driveway. Well, this should be fun. We both jump out of the car and head for the house hand in hand. When we get inside it's pretty chaotic. There is nothing but a sea of people in the living room area. It's a good thing that the Cullen's have a big enough house to throw such a party in. Edward and I find Emmett, Jasper, and Alice amongst the people and I walk up to Alice and give her a hug.
"As much as you know I'm not keen on parties, I think I might actually have to say that this is going to be a lot of fun. Thank you," I say with a smile.
"Oh, you're welcome. I got to say, I really did have a lot of fun putting this shindig together."
"Well, you did a pretty amazing job getting everything set up that's for sure," Edward said.
We stood and talked with them for a bit then decided that we should go out and mingle with everybody else that came. So Edward and I went one way, Jasper, Alice, and Emmett went another. Edward and I walk around mingling for at least forty-five minutes before Edward takes my hand and leads me outside. As we are heading outside, I happen to notice the 'looks' I was getting from Alice, Jasper, and Emmett. They were all grinning from ear to ear. I just gave them a look of 'Oookay?' and follow Edward out the front door.
"Shouldn't we be in there with everybody else celebrating?" I ask a little confused.
"It was kinda getting stuffy in there with all the people. I wanted to come out here and get some fresh air." He looks over at me and takes my hand, "Walk with me?" I couldn't keep the smile that was forming away.
"Yes. That sounds good."
We walk down the road to a place called La Push. It has a wonderful view of the ocean and it isn't too far away from where the Cullen house is. It's about a mile down the road. We get to the beach and Edward takes off his shoes and walks barefoot in the sand. I take my flip flops off and do the same. We stroll down the beach for a very long time not saying a word. It's not a bad silence, it was a very peaceful silence, but I did get this feeling like he was up to something. After about a half an hour walk down the beach, Edward finally speaks.
"So, we've graduated now. Feels kinda weird knowing that we will never have to go back now huh?"
"Yeah, it kinda does. I like the idea that we don't have to go back."
"Me too. It means that we get to work on the next chapter of life. It's kind of exciting...don't you think?" He really is up to something...
"Yeah...I guess it is."
We walk a little further down the beach in silence some more. After another fifteen minutes go by Edward jumps in front of me preventing me from going any further. He then takes my hands and looks me in the eyes.
"Bella, that month that we were apart...that was the worst month of my life. I felt like I was nothing without my Bella beside me. I did a lot of thinking in that period of time and I made a vow to myself that if I found a way to get you back in my life, that I would find a way to keep you in my life forever..." He puts his hand in his pocket and pulls out a little black box. He proceeds to get down on one knee in front of me and takes my hand again, "Isabella Swan, I have loved you from the moment I first saw you. Would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"
I didn't know what to say. I was shaking like a leaf since I saw him get down on one knee. My hand went up to my mouth and I instantly felt the tears forming as I just looked down at him. Finally after what felt like hours I found my voice and gave him my answer in a strangled whisper.
"It would be my honor to become your wife."
"So...that would be a yes then?" He is so damn cute. I giggle and sniffle.
"Of course it's a yes."
Edward's smile is so big and his eyes shine as he places the ring on my finger. I seriously have never seen him so happy. He stands and picks me up and spins me around in a circle as we both screech with delight. I can't believe how happy this boy makes me. Now we get to make each other happy for the rest of our lives. I'm truly excited about what the future has in store for the two of us.
We start to head back to the house, hand in hand, the both of us beaming and so happy. It was a great feeling. As we walk back, I decide that now was as good a time as any to start discussing what we wanted to do. Before I could ask him, he beat me too it.
"So, I was thinking that we could get married today." I stop dead in my tracks.
"Today? You've got to be kidding me? Tell me you're joking?" He just laughs.
"Well not today, today. What I really meant to say was that I was thinking that we could get married exactly a year from now." I ponder that for a bit then look at him and smile.
"I think I like that idea. This way, we can always remember that the day we got married was also the day that we got engaged. I think it's sweet." Edward chuckles.
"Good. Then it's settled. A year from today, you will be Mrs. Isabella Cullen."
"I think I want to hyphenate my name though, so it would be Mrs. Isabella Swan-Cullen."
"You can do whatever you want as long as my name is somewhere in there." I laugh and cuddle into him.
"It's a deal."
After chatting about a few more details, like who was going to be the best man, which was going to be Emmett and Jasper was going to be an usher, and who was going to be my maid of honor, no doubt Alice and Esme I wanted as a bridesmaid, we finally arrive back at the Cullen house.
"Well, this is it," Edward says as he looks over at me, "you ready to face everybody as my future wife?" I could feel the biggest smile cross my face at that point and nod my head.
"Let's do this." He offers me his arm and I take it.
"Then let's go tell them our wonderful news, future Mrs. Cullen."
And with that, we walk through the door.
A/N Just the epi left on this one my lovies! It still hasn't hit me yet, but I have a feeling that while I'm writing the epi is when all hell will break loose and I will be a sobbing mess...lol. As always, leave me some luvins because we all know that reviews are like getting asked "Will you marry me?" by Edward. So I'm hoping in a couple of weeks I should have the epi out. So see ya then.