Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or any of its characters. But who wouldn't wish to? Here is the chapter everyone has been waiting for.
Bella looked through her window. A black car was in front of her house, with its lights on, waiting. She sighed.
If this is going to happen, it will happen alright, she thought, and quickly collected the pile she had just made with all the memories she had from Edward – pictures, CDs, notes – and hid them in the deepest corner of her wardrobe. This time, he was not taking his whole presence from that house. From Forks.
She sighed again.
'Fate... here I go.'
She stepped over her smashed phone and smiled to Charlie as she passed by. He gazed at her, amazed. Bella took a glance at her appearance to see if she still looked human. She was alright, with her deep blue dress – simple and long – and her hair shaped into perfect curls around her face. She did seem too pale, though; the make-up didn't quite cover it.
As soon as she opened the door, Edward turned around to look at her. He was holding one single red rose in his hand, and that one flower reminded Bella immediately of how much she loved him, how much she needed him to be there by her side, always. She felt a knot in her throat and couldn't speak, but as it seemed Edward couldn't speak either. He was looking at her, astonished.
'Bells...' he choked out, embarrassed, 'You look just amazing.'
He stretched his hand to touch her face, but Bella noticed his eyes were black as the darkest night. The girl gazed at the floor, and Edward placed his hand by his side again, hurt. She was still suffering. He showed her the rose he had especially brought for her. It was perfect from any point you looked from. Bella looked up at the rose and took it with the corners of her mouth twitching in melancholy.
'Thank you,' she whispered.
'Shall we go?' Edward asked pointing at the car. Bella nodded and got in after giving him a kind, but sad, look.
The drive was short and quiet. The female vampire spent the little trip in silence, looking through the window, while the male kept staring at her face, feeling the little box in his pocket become heavier as the time passed. Maybe he was wrong, after all. Maybe he shouldn't have. But it was too late to regret it now. Besides, it was now or never.
He stopped in front of a restaurant with a dim light and filled with elegant people from, as it seemed, high society. Bella swallowed when she saw this. Edward knew she hated those kind of places. A man approached to open the door for her, but Edward was quicker. She was beautiful. He couldn't believe his eyes. And she had dressed all by herself, no Alice or Rosalie or Esme to help her now. Quite a job.
'I have a reservation under Edward and Bella Cullen,' he informed to the man standing beside the door. Bella was surprised to hear this. Bella Cullen? She loved the name more than anything, but it wasn't hers... and it wouldn't be.
The man searched in a large book and smiled at the two vampires.
'Table nineteen,' he announced, and a smiling lady suddenly appeared beside Edward, eyeing him hungrily.
Something good at last this night!
Edward glared at her, and the smile faltered. Embarrassed, the lady took them to their table, which was on the second floor of the restaurant, in a corner beside the balcony, from where they could see the first floor.
At least no moon or open sky to help make it more romantic, Bella thought sadly. It was better if it was sudden. She was already prepared.
'What shall I serve you to eat?' the lady asked Edward.
Just say me and it's free, hotty.
'Nothing for the while, thank you,' Edward replied a bit too harshly. Bella watched the girl walk away quite offended, and then stared at her boyfriend.
'... all the same, always superficial and –'
Bella cleared her throat and stared in a meaningful way so he stopped muttering under his breath.
'Sorry,' Edward apologized with a sigh, 'Those kind of girls just... freak me out. Always looking for a good outside. They never look what people have inside. They're not like you,' he finished the sentence with a tone of melancholy on his voice. Bella quickly began playing with her fork, feeling Edward's gaze fixed on her.
'Aren't you wondering why I brought you here?' he suddenly asked, perplexed. Bella felt a jolt in her chest. Should she lie...?
'No,' she finally admitted, destroyed in the inside. Edward stared at her more strongly, and the power of his eyes dazzled her. 'I – I know why you brought me here.'
Edward stared at her. Here came the confession. And he wasn't prepared to hear it. Not yet.
'And honestly, Edward,' Bella sighed, tears filling her eyes, 'I think you should do what you think is right, and if you think the right thing is what you are going to do, please, do it now, because I swear I can't –' she couldn't speak. She took a moment to find her voice again, 'I swear I can't stand this pain any more.'
'Bella,' Edward said, depressed by the sadness she was feeling. She couldn't be taking it so wrong.
'Bella, I can't... do this without telling you the most important first. The only time I did this, it didn't turn out as I wanted. So if it happens again, I just want you to know everything first.'
The girl stared at him, and it shocked her to see the pain in him. Tears started rolling down her cheeks.
'Remember that first day, when I first talked to you?' Edward said with a small smile that melted his eyes with love and sweetness. Bella nodded and more tears filled her eyes, 'It was amazing, how I fell in love with you so... easily, and not know about it. I only realized that night, when you said my name in your dreams. The only thing I thought on that moment was... I wanted to have you close to me the rest of my life. My heart might be dead, but with that single word, you made it be alive again.
'And when you almost get killed by James I made a promise. I would absolutely never leave you. And I would always love you. It would be you, just you. The simple thought of you being apart from me pained me terribly. How can it be possible to love someone so much? It was... impossible to believe. And if I tried to explain it, I couldn't find the appropriate words to express this love. And I still can't.
'Then, I made the worst mistake I could ever make. I left you. Not only did I break my promise, but I left you unprotected, to the dangers that werewolves involved, and the danger Victoria meant as well. And it pained me, Bella. It pained me more than you could ever imagine. I had left you. I had broken my promise. And you would continue with your life, and eventually forget me. How would I live the rest of my eternity with that thought stuck in my head? The only thing that kept me alive was that I hadn't broken the most important part of the promise. I still loved you. Only you. And as it seemed, I would never be able to get on with my life because of you.'
Edward paused and closed his eyes. The pain he had felt a long time ago was now coming back. And he couldn't stand it. Bella was staring at him, with her mouth barely open, her watery eyes wide in surprise. This was more than she could ever stand. If he left her... There was only one thing she could do.
'But then,' Edward continued with a little smile, 'you came back. It was your time to appear out of thin air. Suddenly you were there, in my arms, surrounded by danger, but I felt I was living again. Your scent, your warmth, the entire you – it was back. You were back. You were with me. And you had forgiven me for what I had done. Bella... You can't imagine how much my love grew in that one night I spent with you at your house after coming back from Italy. And it hasn't done anything but grow since then, Bella. But still there is one thing that hasn't satisfied me from that night.'
Edward stared at her fixedly, and she stared back, waiting. But now she was confused. What was that? He was telling her he loved her. He truly loved her.
'That night, I asked you a question,' Edward leaned slightly towards Bella, his eyes wide, 'And it didn't end as I wanted it to end. So now, Bella... Sweet Bells... I want to ask you again.'
A little blue box had appeared in the middle of the table, on Edward's hand.
Shock.
Surprise.
Love.
Above everything else.
'Edward...' Bella whispered, speechless. The boy narrowed his eyes and stared, waiting.
'Edward, this isn't possible!' Bella exclaimed in sad shock, new tears rolling down her cheeks. Edward's eyes became liquid topaz, and the girl could see the pain he was feeling. She could feel it. His eyebrows were almost touching each other, and he opened and closed his mouth, trying to speak, shocked and confused.
'Why?' Edward's voice bore the saddest and most terrible pain Bella had ever felt.
'Edward... I was coming here with the idea you were going to... leave me,' Bella confessed, 'And suddenly this...!'
Edward's expression relaxed a little, but it was clear to see the pain hadn't left him.
'How could you ever think such a thing?' he demanded with a trace of anger. How could she? 'You didn't quite get what I just said, did I?'
'Edward...!' Bella said desperately, 'You were acting so... strange, today in the meadow, and it reminded me of my last birthday and...'
'Bella,' Edward said seriously, taking her hand across the table, 'Look at me.'
Her vision blurred by the tears, she wiped them away impatiently with her free hand.
'Isabella Marie Swan,' Edward said her full name, using the power of his eyes as she had never seen them, dazzling her and taking power of her, 'I once made that mistake. I repeat for the last time, I will never leave you again. You are the woman I love, the one that has stolen my non-beating heart, the one for whom I would die again, the one for whom I would kill a million times if it is needed. Bella Swan, I love you with my entire heart and soul.'
She couldn't speak or breathe. Tears dropped from her eyes again, but for the first time in the day, they were tears of happiness. She bit her lip in embarrassment and smiled at him, a sincere, loving smile.
'So if you have no more stupid comments to make, I'll ask you the question for once and for all.'
Edward opened the little blue box, and Bella gasped. Inside was a ring. Not the luxurious rings with emeralds or sapphire, but a simple gold ring with incrustations of topaz.
'Isabelle Marie Swan,' he repeated her full name, but now with sweetness and love, 'Would you marry me?'
'Edward...' Bella stood up on the spot took her hands to her mouth and exclaimed, 'Of course!'
She thrust herself to Edward's arms across the table and kissed him as she had never done before – filled with love and passion, desire, happiness, excitement, anxiousness, and a mixture of lots of more feelings she couldn't identify. Edward surrounded her with his arms and kissed back just as passionately as she was – but his feelings couldn't be described with words. It was love and happiness beyond imaginable.
Nobody noticed a woman with short, black hair watching from the first floor of the restaurant with true happiness how two vampires vowed each other eternal love.
A/n: It was not hard to write this chapter. But as I wrote it, I cried. I can't tell you how I felt writing Edward's confession and reaction to Bella's stupidity. The things he said made me weep. It was terribly emotive for me. And I hope you feel the way I did by reading this. Certainly, this has been and will ever be the best chapter I have written and will write the rest of my entire life.