A/N: To borrow a phrase from Bella, Holy Crow!!! You guys rock so much, thank you so much for all your reviews. Hey... if you love me right, it'll be ONE THOUSAND reviews this chapter!!! I can't believe this story has come this far, thank you all so much. There will be 2 more full chapters after this, and an epilogue. So we're almost to the end. Thanks as always to LittleLea05 for beta-ing for me even when she's not feeling well. Love ya gal!!!

Disclaimer: I don't earn a single penny off of this, FYI.

BPOV

The Mothers bawled their eyes out when it was time for Emmett and me to go back to Madison. My job at the Wisconsin State Journal was set to begin next week, and, despite my own reservations, needed to employ Alice's fashion sense so I wouldn't look like a complete idiot on my first day. That, paired with the engagement, and I knew I was going to have a handful. I loved Alice to death, but I was already exhausted just thinking about it.

We promised our families we'd be home soon. Jake and Leah were planning their wedding at the end of August, and we wanted to be there for sure. We'd all become good friends over the visit, spending lots of afternoons and evenings together, drinking too much and laughing too hard. I would miss spending time with Jake, and wished I could get to know Leah a little better.

The Mothers hugged us tightly, almost as if they'd never see us ever again, and then we were off towards our gate, tickets in hand.

The flight went smoothly, and we got back to our apartment just as the sun was setting. We fell asleep, fully clothed, on the bed, despite the sticky, sweaty feeling you get on a plane, regardless of how long you're actually traveling.

The next morning, I felt like I'd just slept in the middle of the jungle, and my breath smelled about as good, so I threw off my clothes and took a long shower while Emmett snored away contentedly. It felt really nice to wash the invisible grime and dried sweat away.

I went to the kitchen with the towel still wrapped around my hair, and hit my speed dial for Alice. She answered in three rings.

"Hello? Bella?!" she said excitedly. I gritted my teeth, preparing myself for the onslaught of Crazy/Excited.

"Hiya Alice," I said calmly. "How are you?"

"Oh, Bella, I HAVE to see you. Are you busy now?"

I had hoped for a little more time to mentally prepare, but now was as good a time as any.

"Um, no, not really, though Em is still asleep."

"Oh. Well, I'm going to go get Jasper now anyways, and then we'll come by, okay? Oh my GOD, I've missed you!!!"

"I missed you, too, Ali," I promised. "Okay, I'll see you in a little bit."

"Bye!" she chirped.

I slapped the phone shut and groaned. I hated excitement, I hated attention, I hated eyes on me. It unnerved me, embarrassed me, and made me want to vomit quite honestly. It was already a stretch that I wanted to have a wedding fit for The Mothers and Alice. It was for their sake rather than Emmett's and mine. Vegas sounded just fine to me, but I knew we couldn't do that to The Mothers and Best Friend. They'd kill us.

I went into the bedroom and shook Emmett awake. Not going to lie, he smelled awful.

"Babe, get up," I said loudly, shaking his massive shoulder.

"Ugh, why," he moaned, rubbing his eyes with one hand. "Sleep, want sleep…"

"You've been asleep for well over twelve hours, first of all," I said, trying to keep the patronizing out of my voice. "And second, Jasper and Alice are on their way over and you smell like you fell in a pile of garbage."

"I do not," he grumbled, and I had to laugh at his childish tone. He threw the sheets off himself and went into the bathroom, closing the door hard behind him, but not slamming it. I knew he'd come out with a huge smile on his face in any case, so I wasn't worried. Emmett was not a fan of waking up in the morning regardless of circumstance. He was probably just annoyed I hadn't woken him up with a blow job, not that that was his typical alarm clock or anything.

I heard him turn on the shower, and I went back to the kitchen, making a pot of coffee and getting a bite to eat before Alice and Jasper got here.

Emmett found me in the kitchen, me desperately downing a cup of scalding hot coffee, trying to get as much caffeine into my system as possible. I didn't want to be tired on top of stressed. Unfortunately, the coffee was much hotter than I'd anticipated, and it splashed down the front of my white T-shirt as I spluttered and yelled, "HOT!"

Emmett burst into laughter, and I glared at him. I know it was probably karma for me laughing at him when he burned his mouth with the lasagna. "Oh hush," I said sourly, while Emmett still laughed.

"What in the hell are you chugging coffee for?"

"I'm tired and stressed," I whined.

"I didn't propose to you so you would be stressed out about it," he said, frowning and rubbing my shoulder. "I want you to be happy."

"I am… trust me. When it's you and me talking about forever, I'm happy. When it's The Mothers and soon Alice, and a million plans for a party, I'm not so keen."

He kissed my forehead. "It'll be alright, I promise. You know we can always fly to Vegas…"

I sighed. "And have a riot on our hands when we get back?"

"Good point." He was quiet for a moment. "We can pull a Jim and Pam." His face lit up with excitement.

"Huh?"

"The Office, my lovely, silly girl. You know, they had the wedding for their friends and family, but the real ceremony was out at Niagara Falls… just the two of them?"

My eyes widened as I recalled the episode. "You don't think…?"

"C'mon, it'll be perfect. Just you and me, and Elvis just like you wanted… and then later we can plan the fuckery they dare call a wedding ceremony. We don't even have to tell anyone we're really married yet. It can be our little secret."

"Yeah, cuz we're so good at keeping them," I said, rolling my eyes, but I could picture it now, and I was really liking what he was proposing. "You really think we could do that?"

Emmett kissed me, a soft and chaste kiss. "Only if you want to."

"Yeah, that sounds perfect," I said. And it really was. The naked proposal, eloping with Elvis as the minister… it was all so Emmett and me. The fake proposal on the beach, the insanity of a flowery wedding, those things weren't us, but they were the traditional mask we'd show to everyone just so they'd be happy. I was willing to be both faces for myself and my family. I wanted everyone to be happy.

Could I have my own happiness, and let everyone else be happy, too?

"Let's do it!" I said confidently. I wrapped my arms around his neck and hopped up on the counter so my legs were wrapped around his waist and I could pull him flush against me. "Let's just go, and get married, and then I can be your wife…"

Emmett growled in approval, and brought me in for an excited kiss. "Tomorrow?"

"Okay," I said, without thinking. "Yes!"

We were being hasty and probably kind of ridiculous, but I really didn't care. I loved Emmett with all my heart, and nothing was going to change that. Whether it was right now, six months from now, ten years from now, or when I was ninety-five, I would always want Emmett, always need him, always want to be his wife, friend, lover, partner-in-crime.

"I'll call the airlines right now," he said, eyes full of brightness and excitement. I knew mine reflected the same. I bit my lip and nodded, and he was rushing off to his phone.

I felt giddy, my heart was pounding, and I had nearly forgotten about Alice and Jasper when there was a knock at the door. I flung open the door with a rush of adrenaline, and then Alice was flying into my arms. We embraced excitedly, and it wasn't until I heard twin gasps that I realized Emmett had joined us in the living room.

"What the hell?" The boys asked in unison. I pulled away from Alice, confused as I took in Jasper's wide eyes. I turned to see Emmett's face held the same expression.

"When did you-?"

"Why didn't you tell me-?"

"What's going on?!" Alice asked, brow furrowed, clearly as confused as I was. Emmett pointed to Alice's hand just as Jasper pointed to mine. My eyes followed Emmett's gaze, and I gasped, too.

"OH MY GOD!" we yelled in unison, and I forgot my own rules about squealing and jumping up and down. We both had diamonds rings on our significant fingers, and we couldn't hold in the exhilaration.

Emmett and Jasper shook hands, faces stoic, pretending to be all manly and whatnot… and seconds later were hugging and slapping each other on the backs enthusiastically with huge grins on their faces. There was a flurry of words as we all started talking at the same time. Alice admired my ring while I admired hers. It was bigger and flashier than mine, but I couldn't have cared less. Alice was that kind of girl. Looks like our boys knew us well.

"We HAVE to go out tonight," Alice said, and Jasper nodded. I looked at Emmett, trying to ask him with my eyes if we had time before our flight tomorrow. He gave a nod and a smile, and I smiled back.

"Yes, let's go out and have drinks and stuff," I suggested.

"Okay, but now that we're all engaged, there'll be no more kissing of the ladies," Emmett said sternly. Jasper looked like he kind of wanted to protest, but didn't say a word.

"Deal?"

"Deal!" Alice said, jumping into Jasper's arms. "Only you from now on, baby, you know that, right?"

"Of course, darlin'," he said, and swooped in for a kiss. I turned away to give them their private moment, and was instantly being scooped into Emmett's arms. I kissed him just under the jaw.

I could hear Jasper whispering something to Alice, and then she whispered something back.

"What're you two talking about?" Emmett asked rather rudely, and I punched his shoulder for it. "What? I was just curious." He gave me an adorable little pout, which I ignored.

"Well, we were wondering something," Alice said, sounding shy for once. "Um… we were kind of thinking about just going to Vegas and eloping, and we were wondering…"

Emmett and I were already hunched over with laughter. "What?!" Alice demanded. "Tell me! It's not funny, we're serious, we really want to-"

"No, it's not that," I laughed. "Emmett and I were going to do the same thing! Tomorrow!"

Alice and Jasper's eyes widened in unison. "Really?"

"Great minds think alike," Emmett said, his smile practically splitting his face in half. "So what, are we going to have a double wedding or what?"

"Eww, no," Alice said, wrinkling her nose. I raised my eyebrows in surprise. I would have thought she'd like that idea. "But we can be each other's witnesses."

"Sounds good to me," I said, surprised and pleased about these turn of events. "Will you come with us tomorrow?"

I could tell Alice and Jasper hadn't thought that far ahead, and were probably the kind of people who planned out spontaneous events, but as they communicated through their eyes, I could see that they were warming up to the idea.

"Yes," Alice said, still looking into Jasper's eyes. "Yes, we'll come!" she said with a huge grin on her face, turning back towards us. "Oh my God, Bella, we have so much to plan!"

"Do we really?"

"Of COURSE! We have to find you something to wear, naturally. Now, how do you feel about white… maybe knee-length… strapless… pretty but casual…" Alice led me into the bedroom without further discussion, and I looked back, pleading for help from the guys. They just laughed.

EmPOV

Bella threw me a desperate look as Hurricane Alice swept her into the bedroom, and Jasper and I had to laugh at that. What did she expect?

"So why in the fuck didn't you tell me?" Jasper demanded when Alice shut the door behind them.

"You didn't tell me," I challenged.

"Oh. Right. Good point."

"When did you do it?" I asked.

"Last night. I made this dinner, and all the candles and shit… she loved it. I'll do anything to make her happy."

"I know," I said sentimentally. I was the same for Bella. Thank God her tastes were slightly less refined than Alice's. I don't know if I could handle the whole cliché crap… though if Bella wanted it, that's what she would get. Thank God she didn't want it, either.

"So what about you?"

I debated not telling him. But then I decided, shit, he's my best friend, and I know Alice will get it out of Bella eventually anyway… and they were coming with us to elope… so he might as well know the whole story. "Last week… in bed…"

Jasper guffawed. "That's SO you, Emmett."

"I couldn't help it," I defended.

We were sitting on the couch at this point, and Jasper swung his feet onto the coffee table.

"I wish I could have done it that way," he admitted in a hushed voice. "But Alice would've killed me."

I nodded sympathetically. "Yes, yes she would have."

* * * * * * * * * * *

Alice refused to let us go out until our suitcases were completely packed. Bella wasn't allowed to show me her dress… Alice's rules. Jasper got their plane tickets arranged as well, and we decided to go out for a few drinks before turning in early for our flight the next afternoon.

Bella was particularly frisky as we were getting ready to go out. Her hands kept wandering down my body as I tried to button my shirt. I groaned. "Love, this isn't exactly helping me," I complained as she cupped my semi-erection. Well, now it wasn't such a semi…

"I can't help it," she sighed. "You're going to be my husband tomorrow."

"Then I guess I shouldn't be with you now," I teased. "Isn't it bad luck for the bride to see the groom?"

"Only if I'm in a wedding dress," she said in that damn husky voice she gets when she's turned on. "And baby, I'm not wearing a wedding dress."

I turned to find her kneeling on the bed wearing nothing but a black lacy bra and a garter belt. "Oh, fuck me," I moaned.

"I intend to," she said, biting her lip. Her eyes zeroed in on my pants, and the extremely obvious protrusion pushing against the fabric. Her hands went to my belt, and started undoing it.

"Wait, wait," I said, hating myself for stilling her hands. "We have to get going, they're waiting for us."

She pouted. "I just want to fuck you real fast, okay?"

I snorted with laughter. She was always eager, but usually in an orderly fashion. "You want a quickie?" We didn't have them often because we usually got carried away and kept going long after the first orgasms.

She nodded, looking up at me with half-lidded eyes. "I'm ready and everything," she purred, dipping her fingers into her panties and held up three glistening fingers. That was the undoing… of my pants. I yanked away the belt and unbuttoned the fly and zipper of my pants, freeing myself from my boxers. Bella lay back on the bed in anticipation of my cock, and moved her panties to the side so I could swiftly thrust into her.

She was right, she was more than ready for me, and it wasn't long before she was tightening around me for her first orgasm. I wanted to make it just a little more enjoyable for her, and I definitely wanted to hold off for just a little bit more. I didn't want my future wife to think that I had the stamina of a fifteen year old boy.

"Emmett," she gasped. "More, please more!"

I gave the lady what she wanted. I raised myself up, pulling her leg up so it rested on my shoulder as I continued to drill into her. "Oh, fuck yeah," I groaned as I moved infinitely deeper inside her. Her breasts bounced shallowly inside her bra, and I have no idea why, but that was so fuckin' hot. Bella bit her lip as I fucked her harder and harder. I was fast approaching my end, and wanted her to come right with me.

"Touch yourself, baby," I encouraged as I ran my hands up and down her thigh. When she did, she fell apart, and I fell right with her. "Shit," I groaned as she milked me for everything I had. "I love you," I said, not caring if that made me a sap.

I pulled out reluctantly, and leaned forward to kiss her. I realized I hadn't kissed her the entire time, and I felt bad about that. She wasn't a random fuck, it wasn't even truly fucking anymore, although there were times I still called it that, like now. It wasn't "making love," though, so I wasn't sure of the term. In any case, Bella was more, and always would be more than that.

"Mmm, thank you," she said, clearly pleased with herself. "I'm going to have the image of you, fully clothed and fucking the shit out of me running through my head all night, just so you know."

I wiggled my eyebrows at her. "Well, just knowing that underwear is under your dress is going to cause some problems for me as well. And I can't hide it as easy as you."

"Sorry about that," she giggled. "C'mon, we have to get dressed."

"Speak for yourself," I said, zipping my pants back up. "Done."

She rolled her eyes and rolled off the bed, righting her panties. Her hair was all sexified and messy, and I loved it. Mine.

Bella was record fast as getting ready, and we were actually right on time for meeting Jasper and Alice. They, on the other hand, found it a much more difficult date to keep. They showed up twenty minutes last, disheveled and blushing. Seems like they were up to the same thing Bella and I were.

We found a table and ordered drinks right away. I didn't want to get wasted, not if we were having our second flight in three days, but I wasn't going to be boring, either.

After what seemed like hours of talking and drinking, Bella was dragging me onto the dance floor and grinding on me. Shit. I wanted her again. Ever since we'd gotten engaged, we'd been all over each other… not that we weren't before. We were simply insatiable now.

She turned and ground her ass into my cock, and I grabbed her hips to not only center her movements to where I wanted them to be, but to shield my massive hard-on from other people's eyes. No one else needed to see me, only Bella.

She turned around and wound her arms around my neck, kissing me deeply as she continued to drive me crazy with her sinuous moves.

"I can't believe you're going to be my husband tomorrow," she sighed.

"And I can't believe you're going to be my wife," I said. I heard a glass break in the background, but I didn't pay it much attention. The only thing in my universe was Bella.

For about ten seconds. The next thing I knew, I was being bodily hauled away from Bella, roughly, painfully, and then I felt a sharp explosion of pain in my jaw. What the fuck?

A/N II: A review gets you the answer of "WHO?" and perhaps "WHY?"