A/N: No, I'm not dead, but it's just been a while hasn't it?! I am dedicating this chapter to all of the readers who correctly guessed what was going to happen. You know who you are :)

Chapter 14

I pulled into the driveway and ran inside, up to my room, to take a shower.

When I stepped out of the hot water and into the steamy room I shaved and got dressed.

"Edward?" Mom knocked at my door.

"Yeah?" I called.

"Bella is here, she said she could help get ready,"

Shit. Bella is here already? "Okay," I called, "tell her I'll be right down, just finishing getting dressed,"

"Okay," Mom said, and I heard her start down the stairs.

I took a deep breath and pocketed the box again, my hand shaking.

When I walked downstairs I saw Bella sitting on the couch in the living room scratching behind Bailey's ears.

Bailey looked at me, and wagged her tail, her ears perking.

Bella looked up, and her eyes met mine, "Hi," she said, rubbing Bailey's head.

"Hi," I said stuffing my hands into my pockets and walking over to her.

"So, do you need any help setting up for this party?" Bella stood up, and smoothed her shirt.

"Uh," I looked around, "you could help me pick out some music," I gestured upstairs to my room.

"Okay, lets go," she grabbed my hand and pulled me upstairs. We walked into my room and she pulled a door open, revealing my record collection. "Edward," she said, wrapping her arm around my waist, "this is my favorite part of your room,"

"Yeah, me too," I said, looking at the shelves of records.

We stood there in silence for a few moments, both of us admiring the collection.

"What about this?" Bella said, stepping forward and pulling out one of my Collective Soul records.

She flipped it in her hands, waiting for my response.

"Okay, lets pick out one more," I said, stepping forward and scanning the S's. "Ah, here we go," I pulled out one of my favorite records, one that I always listened to when Bella wasn't with me, The Script.

"The Script?" She said, taking the record from me, "I've never heard of them."

"Really?" I said, putting it into the record player, "they are my new favorite band. They are from Ireland,"

"Ireland? Ooo, they sound sexy already," she joked, lounging on my bed, waiting for the music to start.

"Hey," I sprawled next to her, "does that mean I am not sexy?" I said, pinning her down under me.

"Well, I mean you are sexy," she smiled, "but if you were from Ireland you would be even sexier." She pushed me off of her and stood up.

"So, I shouldn't take you to Ireland then?"

"Oh I would love for you and I to go to Ireland," She walked back over to my record collection and ran her fingers over the covers, "why shouldn't you take me?"

"The competition," I smiled slightly.

She turned to face me a smile growing on her face, "Well you see, being sexy is just part of the reason why I love you,"

"Only part?"

"Yep. And I am biased, because even if we went to Ireland you would still be the only one I would want to go with." She turned back to the record shelves.

I smiled to myself, and suddenly I found I was standing behind Bella, my arms wrapping around her, "Good," I whispered, "because you are the only one I would go with," she turned around and her lips met mine.

I pushed her against the wall, her legs wrapping around my waist, my hands sliding up her thighs and to her ribs.

God, is it possible for someone to feel this good?

There was a knock on my door and Bella and I quickly broke apart, smoothing our clothing.

"Edward?" My mom called from the hallway.

I quickly ran to open the door so we didn't look suspicious.

Mom smiled, "Emmett and Rose are here, and grandma and grandpa called and they said they will be here is about five minutes,"

"Okay, thanks mom, let me grab the records and we'll be right down,"

She nodded and made her way back to the kitchen probably to put the finishing touches on the barbeque items.

I walked back over to Bella who had turned back to the record collection and pulled her into my arms, kissing her passionately for the shortest amount possible.

When I pulled away we were both breathing hard, her cheeks flushed.

"Let's go," I said, lacing my fingers through hers, grabbing the two records, and heading down stairs.

"Well, look who finally decided to show up," Emmett said, lounging on the couch, looking up at Bella and I coming down the stairs, "I can guess what you two were doing," he said teasing.

I flipped him off and said, "Why hello Rose, how nice it is to see you,"

She smiled, "You too Edward. Wow, Bella, you look great!"

And man, was Rosalie right, Bella did look fantastic. Her hair was hanging over her shoulders and she was wearing a simple white sun dress, Charlie's necklace hanging around her neck.

Simply gorgeous.

"Thanks Rose, I love your bracelet," Bella said, taking Rosalie's wrist into her hands and examining the silver.

"Thank Emmett, he was the one who got it for me," Rosalie looked at Emmett, a sparkle in her eyes.

He smiled.

"Wow Emmett," Bella cooed, "great choice."

I swear Emmett's ego visibly grew.

"Thanks Bella," he said, standing up to join our circle.

The doorbell rang before any of us could say anything else.

"Edward?" Mom called from the kitchen, "Could you get that?"

"Yeah mom! I've got it!"

I walked to the door and opened it slowly.

"My dear Edward!"

"Hi grandma," I said, enveloped in her arms, my head a few inches above her own.

"It's so good to see you, and oh my, have you grown since I've last seen you? Oh, no matter, I cannot believe that we missed the graduation ceremony. That silly airline delayed us."

I laughed, "It's okay grandma, it was like every other graduation you've been to. Almost exactly like Alice's."

"Oh hush," grandma said, swatting her hand in the air, "I don't care if I've seen four thousand graduations before, but I do know that I did not want to miss this one."

"Janette," mom said, emerging from the kitchen, drying her hands on a dish towel, "it's good to see you!" Mom and grandma hugged. "Don't worry, Carlisle recorded the ceremony, so even though you didn't make it, you will still be able to watch it later,"

"Wow, my son is brilliant!" Grandma said, making her way to the kitchen.

"Edward, good to see you," Grandpa shook my hand.

"Hi gramps," I said, "how was the trip over?"

"Those God damned airlines. I swear. Bastards!"

I couldn't help but laugh. Grandpa always knew the perfect way to express his opinion.

"Do you want me to get your bags?" I asked, walking to the door.

"Sure, thank you Edward. Now where did your grandmother go?"

"Uh, I think she and mom went to the kitchen," I said opening the door.

"Of course," he said, mumbling something that was probably a long line of profanities.

Emmett followed me out the door, and to the silver rental car.

"So Edward, Rose told me about," he gestured back to the house, "when are you planning to ask?"

I swallowed, because the truth was, I had no clue. It was probably just going to happen. "I have no fucking idea. I am so nervous too. I don't think I have ever been this nervous."

Emmett put a strong hand on my shoulder, "Edward," he looked right at me, "calm the hell down. Take a deep fucking breath and calm down. You are stressing me out and I am not even going to ask Rose anytime soon."

I inhaled, "Okay," exhaled, "I need to calm down. Bella probably already knows."

"Are you serious? She has no idea."

"How do you know?"

"Because she would look as awful as you do if she knew what was coming. She would look nervous, but she looks pretty damn confident to me, so she doesn't know."

"But what if she says no?"

"For fucks sake! She won't say no. Jesus. I cannot believe you."

"Well," but a car pulled into the driveway, making me forget what I was about to say.

"Alice?" I asked, dumbstruck.

"Little brother!" she squealed, jumping out of the drivers seat and sprinting to me.

She and I hugged, and when she pulled back she held me by the shoulders and asked, "Where is this girl you have been telling me so much about?"

"In there," I pointed to the house, "but before you go, where is this Jasper character?"

Alice grinned, "Passenger seat. Let me introduce you, and then you have to take me to see Isabella Swan."

"Deal."

"Jasper?" Alice asked, dragging me over to her car, "this is my younger brother, Edward. And that is his friend Emmett."

A tall, athletic looking guy stepped out of the car, "Hey Edward, I'm Jasper. It's nice to finally meet you."

"You too, it's nice to be able to put a face with the name,"

"Likewise," Jasper said, smiling at Alice.

"Hey Jasper, I'm Emmett," Emmett shook Jasper's hand.

"Hi, nice to meet you too," Jasper said, releasing Emmett's hand.

"Alice?!" Mom ran out of the front door, her arms wide.

Emmett and I resumed our original job and grabbed hold of grandma and grandpa's suitcases, hauling them to the guest bedroom.

"What do you think of your sister's boyfriend?" Emmett asked, as we walked into the guest bedroom.

"He's pretty cool I guess, I mean, I've only known him for as long as you have. But from what she's told me, he's a pretty good guy."

"Yeah, that's the impression I got too."

When Emmett and I walked out of the guest bedroom and back to the living room, we found Rose and Bella sitting and talking on the couch.

"Bella?" I asked, standing behind her, sifting her hair through my fingers.

"Hmm," she looked up.

"Do you want to meet my sister?"

Bella stood up suddenly, "Yeah! I would love to meet Alice!"

"Okay," I laced my fingers through hers, "lets go,"

We walked out to the porch and saw Alice and Jasper grabbing their bags from the trunk of her car.

"Alice," I called.

She looked up and dropped her bags, heading right towards us.

"Bella?" Alice asked.

"Hi," Bella said.

Alice hugged Bella, looked at me and mouthed, This is HER?

I nodded.

"It's so nice to finally meet you," Alice said, pulling away, "I've heard so much about you,"

"Thank you, I have been waiting to finally meet you, Edward has talked so much about you," Bella said, receiving one of Alice's "I Approve" looks.

"Bella, would you like to meet my boyfriend?"

"Sure," Bella smiled.

"Jasper?" He looked up at Alice, "This is Bella, Edward's girlfriend. Bella, this is Jasper."

Bella stepped forward and shook Jasper's hand, "Nice to meet you,"

"Nice to meet you too," Jasper replied.

The first two hours of the party flew by, people came and went, enjoying a nice barbeque meal courtesy of mom, or a long chat with grandpa about World War II. Night time was suddenly upon us, and people from school were starting to show up.

Mom and dad had lights put up in our back yard and they asked a local DJ come play from seven o'clock to eleven o'clock.

This is what the graduating class wanted.

When the dance was in full swing I found Bella sitting on the porch, a jacket draped loosely over her shoulders.

"Hey," I said, sitting next to her on the stairs.

"Hey," she said, shifting to rest her head on my shoulder.

"So what did you think of Alice?" I asked, my arm hanging on her shoulder.

"I love her. She seems like so much fun. I bet we would have been best friends if I had known her sooner,"

I laughed.

"What?" Bella asked, sitting up.

"It's just funny, because that is the exact same thing she said,"

"No way?"

"Way."

Bella laid her head back onto my shoulder and I flashed back to earlier that night.

"Alice?"

"What's up Edward?"

"You want to take a walk?"

"Sure," she said, following me out the back door and onto the forest trail we had made when we were younger.

When we had walked deep enough into the forest that the sounds from the party were gone, I sat on a log, Alice sat on my right.

"What cha thinking about little brother?"

"This," I said, pulling out the black velvet box from my pocket.

"Oh my god…is that what I think it is?"

"Yeah," I said, closing my fingers around it.

"Let me see it," Alice said, prying my fingers from it. She opened it and her hand shot to cover her mouth. "Edward…it is so beautiful…I don't know what else to say…but have you and Bella even talked about this?"

"Yeah, but not in the sense that it was going to happen right now…"

"When would it happen?"

"I don't know."

"What? So you just bought this ring, thinking whenever you felt the time was right you would go down on one knee and pop the question?"

"Sort of,"

"What the hell does that mean?"

"It means I was walking down the street, I saw it in a window, and I bought it because it just felt right."

"Good god."

"What?"

"You are going to do it tonight aren't you?"

"I don't know," I said, looking in the direction of the house.

"Edward. If you weren't going to do it tonight, you wouldn't have it in your pocket, and you wouldn't be sitting there, pretending you weren't going to ask her to marry you."

Alice was right.

"Hey Bella?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to take a walk with me?"

"Sure," I took her hand in mine and started towards the forest.

"Alice and I made this trail years ago, when we were kids and would spend hours in here everyday."

"It's beautiful, even in the dark," Bella said, looking around, but her hand tightened on mine.

"And this is the pla –" Holy shit. Alice is an f'ing genius!

As I brought Bella into the clearing where Alice and I talked earlier today, I saw that the trees were draped with lights.

"Uh…Edward?"

Go time.

I dropped down onto one knee and took Bella's hand in mine. Her right hand shot to her mouth, a quiet whisper of my name escaping her lips.

"Isabella Marie Swan..." I smiled, pulling the black velvet box from my pants pocket, "will you marry me?"

"Edward…" Bella shook her head, "I don't know what to say!"

"Yes would be the best answer," I halfway joked.

"Of course!" Bella said, falling to her knees and throwing her arms around my neck, "What about my dad? And mom? And your parents? And college?"

I silenced her with my lips, a rush of emotion spilling from both of us.

"Bella," I cooed, "we are still going to have all of that, and we are both going to the same college," I smiled, brushing away a strand of her hair from her face. "You have nothing to worry about. I will take care of you," I kissed her again, softly this time.

"Do you want to put it on?" I asked, pulling the princess cut, three stone, platinum diamond ring from the velvet.

She nodded, brushing her hair behind her ears."

I took her left hand in mine and slid the band onto her ring finger.

She stuck her hand out, and admired the ring around it, she smiled and wiggled her fingers.

I looked at my watch, "Are you ready to get back?"

"Yeah, lets go," She said, standing up and wrapping her arm around my waist. I draped my arm over her shoulder and kissed her forehead.

"I love you," I said into her hair.

"I love you too," she said, snuggling into my chest as we walked back to the house.

"Bella! Edward! Where have you been?" Charlie yelled from the porch, "We've been looking for you everywhere!"

"Edward was just showing me where he and Alice would play when they were kids," Bella said, pointing to the forest behind us.

"Oh, okay well lets – " Charlie stopped suddenly, his eyes growing wide, "What is on your finger?"

Fuck. Bella still had the ring on.

"Um," Bella started.

"I asked Bella to marry me," I blurted out.

I should have died right then and there from the look I received from Charlie.

"Bella," Charlie said, his voice calm, his eyes exploding, "is this true?"

"Yes. Dad, Edward and I are going to get married."

"Like hell you will." Charlie said calmly.

A/N: Oh goodness gracious! So Bella and Edward had one thing in mind and now Charlie is putting the k-bosch on that! What will happen next? -dun dun dun- Want to know what the ring looks like? Click on the link on my profile :]

xoxo ~ greatterriblebeauty