Nightfall

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Birthday Girl

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As I stared into the woods, I thought I saw a pair of electric blue dots, like frozen eyes. But when I looked again, I found nothing but darkness. I rolled my eyes at my paranoia. Edward started kissing my neck and I lost myself in his caresses, completely forgetting about those blue spots in an instant.

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"Rise and shine, birthday girl." Edward whispered in my ear. I just had to smile. With my eyes still closed, I puckered my lips up for a kiss. He chuckled and pressed his cold lips to mine. I sighed in contempt against his mouth.

"That was the perfect birthday present." It had been a few weeks since that night in Edward's back yard. Things were back to normal, or at least as normal as they were ever going to get.

"Oh, that was only one of the many gifts I have for you today."

"Oh really?" I raised my eyebrows. In a flash, Edward had me on my back and was hovering over me, his weight supported by his elbows.

"Really." He touched his lips to my neck and I shivered. He slowly formed a line of kisses from my jaw to the opening of his white shirt, which I wore to bed almost every night. He undid the top button and kissed my exposed skin, then did the same thing with the second one, and the third.

"Edward." My ragged whisper startled even myself. He looked up with a smile on his lips, but I could see his eyes were bright with desire.

"Just a few more months." I told him.

"Yeah." He laid down next to me and took my hand. "It's a good thing time flies when you're having fun."

I giggled and turned on my side to face him.

"Bella?"

"Yeah?"

"You are eighteen now."

I smiled. "I know."

"Do you know what that means?"

"That I can now legally drink in Mexico?"

He gave me a crooked smile. "Well yes, but you can also move in with me now."

I laughed softly. "It's too soon, we need to give Charlie some time to get used to the idea. If we move in together right now, without any warning, I'm afraid he might shoot you!"

Edward growled playfully and pulled me on top of him. "Let him."

I bit my lip and stared at nothing, lost in thought. He rolled his eyes. "You're wondering if a bullet would hurt me, aren't you?"

"Well not exactly. I was more like wondering if it would make a dent."

Edward roared with quiet laughter. "You should check under your pillow." He said between laughs, "I think you might find something there for you."

I grinned and hurried to lift the pillow. Underneath, I found a long blue box with a white ribbon. "Edward, what's this?"

"That, is your first present."

I opened the beautiful box only to find an even more beautiful chain inside. It was long and really thin, made out of white gold. I stared at it in awe. "Edward..." I began.

"It's long so you can wear it under your clothes all the time. If I could have it my way, I would've given you something huge, maybe with lots of diamonds. But we have to be discrete."

I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him. "I love discrete."

Edward laughed and sat up, with me on his lap. He turned me around so he could put the necklace on me, and then sighed. "As much as I'd love to keep you here with me all morning, Charlie wants to have breakfast with you and he's making it himself. You might want to get downstairs fast, he just sprinkled paprika on your french toast."

I groaned and rolled out of bed. Just as I was heading out the door Edward stopped me with a sudden kiss. "I'll be waiting for you downstairs. Try not to be late, school might actually be fun today."

I glared at him, getting the feeling that he knew something I didn't.

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Breakfast with my father was an enjoyable experience, apart from the actual breakfast, of course. He gave new tires for the truck as a birthday present. I've got to admit, I loved them. He also gave me a t-shirt, which was two sizes too big and a rather weird shade of pink. I gave him an awkward hug in thanks before waltzing back to my room to get ready.

My mother called right before I left for school. I asked her how things were going with Phil and she admitted they'd been making some progress. They'd been going to a marriage counselor for a few days and that seemed to be helping.

When Edward rang the doorbell I said goodbye to my mother. She asked to speak to Charlie, which used to be a really weird thing, but she'd been doing it ever since I'd gotten back from Phoenix. Edward said she wanted to check up on me and make sure things weren't getting too intense with my "hunky boyfriend" as she referred to him.

I handed Charlie the phone and ran to the door to meet Edward. He was holding a bunch of white and yellow freesias.

"Oh wow." I stared dumfounded at the eighteen beautiful flowers in his even more beautiful arms.

"Happy birthday my love." He whispered in my ear and kissed my cheek.

"Good morning Edward. Good God, those are some fine specimens." Charlie, who was balancing the phone between his shoulder and ear, gawked at the gift. My mother must've called his attention, because he then said, "Flowers, Renee. Freesias I think. No I do not know how much he spent on them! Well what do I care?"

I giggled and took the flowers from him. I was unsure of what to do with them. "I think I'll put them in water."

"No, don't." Edward took my hand and guided me to the car.

"Edward! They'll die!" I looked down at them. They were so beautiful.

"They're already dead Bella. Why don't you enjoy them while their beauty lasts, instead of keeping them in your room in a vase."

I raised an eyebrow. "You want me to carry eighteen flowers around all day?"

"No, not all of them." He opened the door of his car for me and took the eighteen beauties from my hands. He chose two and placed the rest on the back seat. He handed me a white one and a yellow one. "Here, take those."

It struck me as weird, but I smiled and took those two anyway. We rode to school in silence. When we got there, Edward opened the door for me and helped me out. "Let's get to class. We don't want to be late." The way he said that made me feel like something was definitely off. I hoped he hadn't planned some weird surprise for me in homeroom, but when we got there, everything looked normal.

With his arm draped around my shoulder we walked to our desks. I was about to sit when Mike pushed his way into the classroom. He didn't have homeroom with us, which was why he startled me when he ran all the way over to where I was standing and threw his arms around me.

I stood there, stiff as a stick, while he hugged me. "Happy birthday Bella! You didn't think I'd forget did you?"

I gave Edward a sideway glance. He was fuming. His eyes narrowed and I could see he was debating between pulling me away or tearing Mike to shreds. When he let out a low growl I patted Mike on the back lightly and gently pushed him away.

"Thanks Mike! I thought no one new!"

"Are you kidding? Of course we know! We have a surprise for you, we'll give it to you at lunch."

"She will be with me at lunch, Newton." Edward's voice sounded so dangerous even I shuddered.

"Well, ahem, our thing will only take a minute." The poor kid looked uncomfortably at my imposing boyfriend.

Edward gave him a murderous stare, but said nothing.

"Well, I better get to class." Mike turned around and left without another word.

"I didn't think he'd actually come in." Edward muttered under his breath. So that was why he'd rushed me to class.

"He was just being nice." I smiled at him.

"Well I don't like it when other people touch you. In fact, I don't really like it when people get too close to you at all. Your smell mixes with theirs."

He pulled me close to him and whispered in my ear. "Your smell is far too superior to be mixing with theirs."

I smiled against his chest "Well aren't you the overprotective boyfriend."

Edward pushed me away gently by the arms, looking worried. "Does that bother you? I can tone it down." I could tell it took a great deal of self-control to even say that to me.

"No, it doesn't bother me." I was being honest.

"Well good then." He let me go and sat down on the desk next to mine. Then he pushed it until it was right next to the one I was sitting on.

"Mister Cullen, would you mind explaining to me why you're invading Miss Swan's personal space like that?" The teacher, who had just arrived, asked him.

"She's feeling a little faint today Mrs. Evans. I'm just trying to prevent an accident."

His voice was so smooth even the sixty-year-old teacher couldn't resist him. She went on with her class. I smiled and rested my head on his shoulder, I could get used to that.

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Lunch arrived soon enough. Edward walked behind me, his arms around my waist. When we got to the cafeteria, Mike, Jessica and the rest of my former lunch table buddies were waiting for me with a chocolate cake in front of them. I smiled at the gesture and turned around to let Edward know that I wanted to go over there for a moment.

He let me go without a word and was about to go sit at our usual table when I took his hand. "Come with me." I whispered so only he could hear.

"Newton will be pissed."

"I don't care."

He smiled and turned around to follow me. Moments later I heard a shriek coming from the end of the hall.

"Bella!" Alice called out. The whole room turned to watch as the petite beauty, who most of them had never seen speak, let alone run, gracefully made her way across the room to throw her arms around my neck.

"Happy Birthday!" She kissed both my cheeks and hugged me again. "Let's hope this is the last one." She whispered in my ear. I giggled.

"Oh, I got you a present!" She handed me a big box, which I'd somehow not seen before. I frowned at her.

"Oh Alice, you didn't have to get me anything!"

"Are you kidding? It's your birthday! Besides, you know I love spoiling you."

I smiled and tore through the paper. Inside the box I found a tote bag that said Louis Vuitton on the side. "Oh Alice, you shouldn't have!"

"Yes Alice, you really shouldn't" Edward was glaring at his sister. "What did I tell you about being discrete?"

"Oh suck it up Edward. Kids here already know we have money, they've seen Rosalie's car."

Edward muttered something so fast I was sure he only wanted Alice to hear. She made a face that let me know she was answering his mutterings in her head. His eyes widened and he whispered, loud enough for me to hear "Oh you wouldn't dare!"

"Guys." I warned. Eric was approaching us quickly. Edward growled again and stood behind me, placing an arm over my shoulder and past my chest to rest just over my hips. It was clear he didn't want Eric to hug me like Mike had.

Eric noticed Edward's protective stand and stayed back. "Happy birthday, Bella! We have a cake for you."

"Oh I love chocolate!" I smiled at him and walked over to the table, pulling Edward behind me.

Mike looked less than pleased when he saw him. Edward smirked. Everyone sang happy birthday to me and I blew out the candles. The girls were admiring my new present (I could hear awed whispers of how much the bag could've cost and how lucky I was to have the Cullens as friends) and oohed over the flowers I still carried around. Mike smiled at me "Hey, why don't you join us for lunch today?"

"Sorry Newton, we have plans." Edward's smile was smug.

"We do?" I frowned.

"Yes." Edward moved aside and pointed to a table on the far end of the cafeteria. "We do."

I stared, my mouth wide. The table was covered with a white tablecloth. It was set with crystal glasses and porcelain plates. As we approached, I could see the plates filled with lasagna and some kind of salad.

"Edward, what happened to discrete?" I asked him once we were standing next to the table.

"I am being discrete! Otherwise we'd have a band and some decent wine." He poured me some grape juice and placed the napkin on my lap.

I kissed his hand when he set my glass down. He smiled at me and took the seat across from mine.

"Everyone is staring." I pointed out.

"Oh Bella, people have been staring at us since the day we first sat together." He had a point there.

"Here, I have your next present."

"There's more? Edward! You've given me enough!" I rolled my eyes at him.

He took my hands in his and whispered, "Nothing will ever be enough, my Bella." He then handed me a small velvet box.

My breath caught in my throat when I saw it. "What's this?" I asked.

"Well, open it!"

I did. Inside, I found the pair of earrings that had caused my mental breakdown back at the mall in Phoenix.

"Oh my god Edward. I love these!"

"I know." He kissed my hand and handed me my fork. "Now eat please, before it gets cold and all my hours of cooking go to waste."

"You did this?" I was truly surprised.

"Yes. And I paid some random guy twenty bucks to taste it, so it's probably good."

I chuckled and picked up my fork. It was turning out to be one of the best birthdays ever.

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The last class of the day was gym. We were doing track, which in our case - with the heavy rain and all – basically meant twenty laps around the gym. Edward had a blast. I stumbled over my own feet at least seven times. He was right next to me all along of course, so he managed to somehow keep me on my feet. During the last lap, my laces came undone and the boy running behind us stepped on them, which sent me flying in the air without my shoe. Edward caught me before I hit the ground, steadied me and then went back to retrieve the lost item.

He was laughing loudly when he caught up with me. He knelt down and lifted my leg so I could slide my sneaker back on. "What's so funny?" I asked, deeply embarrassed.

"The teacher seems to think it's a good thing you're going out with me. According to her, with me at your side, the mortality rate of the class just went down considerably."

I scowled as he tied my laces. I would've done it myself but I was still too worked up to even notice Edward was doing it for me. "Yeah well, what does she know?"

"Apparently you had quite a few incidents last semester. She thinks it's a wonder Newton is still alive. Your clumsiness seems to be a legend around here."

The teacher whistled then, signaling the end of class. I turned around to storm to the locker room and promptly fell forward. Edward caught me once more. It was apparently becoming a habit.

"You twisted your ankle didn't you?" He looked upset.

"I'm fine. Put me down." He did. I tried to put some weight on my foot but found it impossible, so instead I started limping.

Edward rolled his eyes, scooped me up and walked me to the locker room.

"Girls! I'm coming in! I have my eyes closed!" He announced at the door and proceeded to walk me to a bench. A couple of girls shrieked, but most of them were too surprised to say anything.

He sat me down right in front of my locker and walked outside. As he was leaving he called after himself "Try not to kill yourself while you're alone. Yell for me once you're decent."

I didn't even stop to wonder how he knew which locker was mine. I just wobbled over to the showers, figuring he had something else planned for that afternoon and not wanting to smell the way I did for the rest of the day.

Once I was done I made my way to the hall. There was no way I was going to yell for him, the girls were already looking at me funny. When I got outside he was nowhere to be seen. That struck me as odd, but I just decided to go wait for him on the parking lot. Out of nowhere, a pair of strong arms lifted me in the air and carried me back inside before I could even get to the door.

"Edward! What is going on?"

"Come with me, we have to wait until everyone leaves." He carried me to an empty classroom and sat me down on the teacher's desk.

"Why can't we just go home?" I grumbled.

"Well, because Alice would kill me. She's going to be pissed enough as it is."

"Why?"

"Because of your ankle."

I asked no more. It was obvious he wasn't planning on giving me straightforward answers. He sat next to me and rubbed my ankle while we waited. I've got to admit, his cold touch on my sore muscles felt great.

"Okay, I think the coast is clear!" He grinned after a few minutes and lifted me in the air once again. He let me down once we got to the door and covered my eyes.

"Okay Bella. I have another gift for you."

I groaned. "Edward, this is getting a little out of hand."

He shushed me. "Just wait. Ready?" His hands dropped to my waist. "Happy birthday."

At first I didn't see what he was trying to show me, then the huge red bow hit me like a ton of bricks. It was attached to a car.

My jaw dropped to the floor. The silver beauty was parked right in front of us. It looked incredible, not to mention expensive.

"You got me a car!" I shrieked.

"Not just any car. That is a Rinspeed Porsche 911 with leather interiors and doors that swing upward."

"Doors that swing... Edward this is ridiculous!" I turned around to face him. He was beaming.

"Thank you."

"No, Edward! I can't take this! I can't accept a car! Specially not one that looks like it costs more than my house!"

He placed his hands on my back and pulled me close. "Bella, in a couple of months you are going to become one of us. Once that happens, not only will you have a true need for speed, but you'll also get your very own credit card and access to all of our accounts. So you see, the car is really nothing in comparison."

I shook my head stubbornly. "I still can't accept that car. What the hell happened to discrete?"

He rolled his eyes in frustration. "Fine, look at it this way then. The car is mine. What's mine is yours. You can just hold on to the keys." He dangled those in front of my face and I scowled.

"It's too much."

"We'll keep it at my place of course. No one will ever know you have it. You don't even have to drive it until we move in together if you don't want to." I was still scowling so he sighed. "Please Bella. Just let me give this to you. You're giving up so much by being with me, why won't you let me give you something in return?"

"First of all, I'm not giving up anything to be with you. And even if I were, you don't need to give me expensive gifts to show me that you love me! I don't need all these things! All I wanted for my birthday was you, and I have you, so I'm already happy."

He pulled me closer and kissed my forehead. "Fine. I'll keep it in our garage for now. But once you move in, it's yours."

"We will cross that bridge when we get there." I smiled at him.

"You are absurdly stubborn." He picked me up and sat me down on the passenger seat.

"Hey! Don't I get to drive?"

"You refused my gift!" He ripped off the bow and sat on the driver's seat, "you don't get to drive it until you accept it."

"I should have, just to keep you from killing us both with your driving." I gripped the edge of the seat as he practically flew out the student parking lot.

"Well, maybe you should have." He gave me a lopsided grin.

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"So, where are we going?" I asked eagerly.

"Home." Edward didn't even take his eyes off the road, which was strange for him.

"Oh really? And what are we going to do there?" I could sense the car had not been the last of his gifts, and since each one seemed to be more extravagant than the next, I was a little worried about the rest of the day.

"I'm dropping you off."

"What?" I shrieked. "You're leaving me?"

"Bella, if I could have it my way I'd glue you to my hip. Alice, however, wants a few hours alone with you." He glanced at me apologetically and kept driving. I scowled the rest of the way home. Once we got there, we found Alice sitting gracefully on the front lawn, waiting patiently for me.

The first words out of her mouth were, "I told you she wouldn't keep the car." Her handsome brother growled in her direction.

"Oh Edward, betting against Alice? Really?" I wrinkled my forehead and he scowled.

"You are keeping it, Bella. I'm just going to store it for you."

Alice just giggled. Edward bent down to kiss me gently and caressed my face with his knuckles. My heart raced. I was sure even Alice would notice.

"Have her back on time." Edward commanded, his eyes never leaving mine.

"Yeah, yeah. Come on Bells." She pulled me away from my personal god and into Edward's Volvo, which was parked right next to us.

"Where are we going?"

She turned on the car and grinned at me. "The spa!"

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For the next three hours I was tugged, wrapped, soaked and poked. Alice joined me for the mud bath and the algae wrap, but not for the massage or the manicure. My hair got trimmed and curled, my toes were painted dark red and someone who looked like an expert did my makeup.

When they were done with me, my skin felt softer than it'd ever had and I looked... different.

"Alice, I look pretty!" I stared in wonder at the girl in the mirror. It looked as if I weren't wearing any makeup, although I was sure I had some of it on, except for my lips. Those were a light shade of red. I also looked radiant, glowing.

Alice smirked and handed me the two flowers I was still carrying around. "You are always pretty, Bella. Right now you look breathtaking. And I'm not even done yet."

She drove back to her house at top speed, muttering under her breath something about being behind schedule and Edward getting pissed. When we got there, she practically shoved me into her bathroom.

"I am going to assume you have a dress for me to wear." I rolled my eyes.

"Of course." She simply answered, looking around her closet.

"If there is some kind of September prom that I am no aware of, heads are going to roll."

She chuckled "Ah! There it is!" Out of her closet came the most beautiful dress I had ever seen. It was deep red, the color of fresh blood. It was a halter with a small cleavage. Alice turned it around so I could see it from every angle. It was backless, ending in a deep v below the waist.

When I tried it on I discovered that it fit perfectly, except for the length.

"Alice, it's too long!" The door to the bathroom flew open and she gasped.

"Oh my God, Bella."

"I know! I'm going to fall on my face!"

"No, Bella... you look incredible!" She twisted me around so I could see myself in her full-length mirror. I just had to agree with her. The dress hugged every inexistent curve, making me look like I actually had a figure. My pale back, creamy from all the treatments I'd gotten that day, contrasted amazingly with the deep red of the dress.

"Here, you're going to need these." She handed me a pair of pumps. I just stared at her.

"Are you mad?"

She frowned. "Probably, why?"

"I'll kill myself if I wear that!"

She shrugged. "Ideally, you'd be barefoot. You always were, in my visions. However, I don't think your feet would like that very much."

Her statement confused me. What did she mean about me being in her visions? What was going to happen that night? I knew Edward wouldn't change me yet, we had that all planned out! Unless something had happened, unless there'd been a change.

Alice could see I was starting to get nervous and she smiled. "Don't worry Bella! You won't be doing much walking today. Edward did ask me to put this on you though." She produced a soft red blindfold from her back pocket.

I raised an eyebrow. "This is starting to look kinkier by the second."

She just laughed and tied me up.

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She carried me to the car, that much I knew for sure. We drove for a little while before she parked. I was going to remove the blindfold, but she ran to my door and stopped me before I could even get my hand up. She lifted me in her arms, cradled me like a baby and took off. I could tell we were running by the way the wind tousled my hair. The soft fabric of my dress swished against the wind.

She stopped after a couple of minutes and set me down on squishy ground. She held on to me while I regained my bearings, and then let go. I had a pretty good idea of where we were, but I still felt self-conscious about removing the blindfold without her consent.

"Alice, can I look now?" When I heard no answer I started to squirm.

"Alice?" Again, silence. I slowly peeled the red satin off my eyes. What I saw next made me gasp and drop the blindfold on the ground.

I couldn't believe my eyes. Our meadow, which was usually beautiful on it's own, now looked like something right out of a fairy tale. Millions of candles illuminated every inch of the otherwise dark clearing. There was a path of freesia-scented candles leading from the place where I was standing to the very center of the meadow, where a table and two chairs waited for my arrival.

The table was beautifully set over an off-white tablecloth. Two glasses of wine were already served.

"Wow, Alice! This is incredible!" I turned around to face her, only to find myself alone. I figured Edward would be around soon, so I made my way over to the table, careful not to let my dress catch on fire with one of the candles. My sore ankle and the tall heel made it a little difficult to walk, but I got there miraculously unscratched.

I lifted a glass of what I assumed to be red wine.

"That one is mine." His melodious voice stopped me in my tracks. I could then smell the contents of the glass. I set it back down quickly and glanced around, looking for him.

He was standing in the shadows, just out of reach of the light provided by the candles. "Please forgive me for taking the liberty of filling my cup with that. I'm just hoping this will be an occasion we'll want to toast to."

He took a couple of steps towards the light and my breath caught in my throat. He hardly ever wore black, even though it looked spectacular on him. That day he was sporting a black suit and a white shirt, unbuttoned at the top. The color of his chest was almost the same as the expensive clothing that covered it, and it reflected the candlelight in a way that made me shiver. I had never in my life imagined something as beautiful as what my eyes were staring at right then.

"Bella." My name rolled off his tongue like butter. He'd stopped a few feet away from where I stood. I was speechless, so he continued. "Tonight, I want to ask you something. I know you are too young. I know it's too soon. But I just really want to ask. I just need to remind you first, we have literally all the time in the world."

I could've sworn time slowed down as he closed the distance between us, but I can certify it completely stopped when he knelt down in front of me. Out of nowhere, he produced a black velvet box.

"I love you, in a way I never dreamed could be possible. You are my life. I am yours forever. Isabella, will you marry me?"

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I'm sorry, I'm in a hurry, so I couldn't even read through this chapter! It's bound to have many little mistakes. I'm going on spring break to a beach called Mazatlan in México (that's where I'm from.) Maybe I'll get some inspiration there ;)

We are at least 3 fluffy chapters away from the real plot of the story. I'm sorry it's taking so long, but I just really love the fluff. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! See you next week!