Wow, this is the end. Crazy stuff, huh? I'm so glad you all stuck with me to the end - and even if you didn't, thanks for reading even a sentence of this story! Special thanks go to those fabulous people that added my story to their C2; and especially to my reviewers. You guys make it all worth while!
And the reviewers are (for the last time):
Esme's Favorite, twilightaddict26, StarryNightT, jake.n.ash.n.edward, MelissaTheTwilightFan, Jennie, .wish.i.was.a.cullen., BlackBells, OfficiallyDazzled, HarvestEclipse31, Ghosts in the Snow, margaritama, laibballfan, jennifier potter, sweet333249, xx Phyre xx, manyafandom, AlwaysAround888, sassydolphin007, GinnyBrown is here and now, Kevin the Cornbread Slice, Vampires-Rock4eva, bedwardforever, Music ADD, LookAfterMyHeart, AtReYu-FrEaK, edwardsfavoriteflavour, secretlycullen1212, emm.ee.cee, Bellefire253, Fall Down Again Bella, Luckybugg, AlwaysBettingOnAlice, Bethany Knight, 143twilighter, rocky937, jacob is the new black, yaaaay, lillitgirlx2, FrEvrNvrLasts, smile for the paparazzi, xdancefreakx, books and bojangles, Jam2MyRed-ipod, iread.don'twrite. (x5), OECD, joellen818, In The Life Of Sara's, ObsessingOverEdward, Michelle62092, booknerd14, musicormisery4105, Fanpire, robyn, Jade, neatospeedo, FearLover, THISwaayOUTofLIMBO, TwilightTeen, x-aly-x, EdwardXBells4ever, edwardrocksmysocks, IrisOfTheRainbow, MoonsilverTwilight.
Special Mentions:
EVERYONE: Well, as for the meadow prediction... you're going to have to wait and find out ;-D
Esme's Favorite: Why yes, the "I'll just drag you back" bit IS from Twilight!! Fantastic observational skills :-D
StarryNightT: Yeah, Edward was more or less sitting in the back of the Hummer - it would have been more comfortable than the boot of Alice's Porsche! That's the reason for taking the hummer... along with the fact that Alice didn't want Edward taking her car and Bella would have recognised Edward's Volvo. And I saw The Dark Night the other day - Oh My Carlisle. It was awesome! And Heath Ledger... is brilliant. I'm so sad he's gone. Australia isn't the same nation without him.
jake.n.ash.n.edward: Yeah, Edward likes Bells for sure. He just makes stupid decisions sometimes!
xx Phyre xx: What do you mean, about chapter 20? I can't find any glitches... and I checked, it's still there... is it not showing up or something?
Kevin the Cornbread Slice: Hah, thankyou for your reviews! They were particularly great - because of the views you presented. And I'll miss Kev, even if he hates me, cos he had some funny stuff to say!
books and bojangles: True, 'pretty please' doesn't make a lot of sense. But my favourite non-making-sense phrase is 'now, then' (as used by teachers). How can something be 'now' as well as 'then'? Silly! I've been chatting to your friend, Book2romantic - I'm writing out my part of the story on Saturday. Tomorrow. Woo!! -does happy dance- The weekend's here, the weekend's here!!
joellen818: Yeah, Bella will re-meet the parents if there's a sequal. Of course. As for the perfume - I may include something to do with it, but at the time I just liked the name. Lol. Thanks for being so observant though!
ObsessingOverEdward: Aww, thanks for your sweet review! I'm glad you're enjoying the story. And I loved having Alice and Jasper hate each other - it made them so much more interesting. I mean, the whole thing of Alice and Jasper just being there and immediately knowing that the other person is "The One" is so boring. Sweet, but boring once you've read it a million times!
robyn: Hahahahaha, your review was awesome! Loved the groping comment! I agree with you - fics where Bella and Edward have no challenges for their relationship are just too easy. I like ones that make them work! It's heaps funner to read.
iread.don't write.: Hahah, I didn't notice I'd written it like that! Sorry for making you almost gag your dinner, lol. Thanks for reading! And I hope to become an author, one day :-D
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Chapter Twenty-Eight: The End
We had spent the entire day driving. And when I say 'entire' – I mean the whole day. We'd stopped for lunch and snacks and stuff, but other than that Edward had just mindlessly driven me all over the place. I thought it was a huge waste of finite resources, but he didn't seem to mind. Nor did he seem to mind the amount of money that I saw appear on the counter at the gas station when he refilled the car.
But soon it was getting dark, and Edward did a U-turn on a deserted road just outside Seattle. He drove back into the city and for once, he seemed to be actually heading somewhere.
"Where are we going?" I asked for the millionth time.
He actually had an answer for me now. His previous responses had been 'you'll find out' or 'somewhere' or 'be patient' or 'stop trying to open the door, you'll get hit by a car!'
But now he said, "Seattle."
"Oh, that's helpful," I said sarcastically. The biting tone that had come into my voice wasn't meant to be so harsh, but it was too late to take it back now. Besides, he deserved to hear how irritated I was.
In spite of that, he still laughed when he looked across the dark cabin at me. "Patience, Bella. Not too long to wait."
The whole ride I'd had many questions on the tip of my tongue, all of them to do with the Masquerade Ball. Why had he kissed me? Did he think it was funny to mess me up? And why did he chase after me? Why didn't he write me a letter? Why was he kidnapping me? What did he want? Did he like me at all in the way I liked him? Why, why, why?!
I leaned to the left as Edward pulled into an empty parking lot. There weren't any other cars around but the city noises could be heard in the distance.
"What's happening?" I said, feeling very highly-strung. "Where are we now?"
"You have no patience, do you?" Edward asked, reaching behind him for something on the backseat. I was curious as to know what it was, but I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that.
He leaned forward but hid the thing in his hands. "Lean forward," he instructed.
I looked at him suspiciously, then leaned toward the windscreen slightly. Edward chuckled.
"What?"
"Lean towards me."
Oh God.
"Why?"
"Just trust me. And close your eyes."
Oh God, oh God, oh God…
I swallowed, my throat feeling very dry. I did as he asked, and just as my eyes were closing, I saw him leaning toward me.
I felt nothing for a long second, then something was put over my eyes. A piece of cloth.
"You're blindfolding me?" I asked, feeling both relieved and terribly disappointed at the same time.
"Yep."
"Very original." I put a hand up to my face and touched the blackness covering my eyes. My head moved slightly as he pulled the knot at the back of my head together, then I heard him lean back into his seat. "Now what?"
"Stay there. I'll help you out."
I heard his door open then slam shut, and a moment later my own door was opening. I heard him breathing very close to me, but I didn't know where he was.
"I'm going to lift you out," he said, and I felt his arms slide under my knees and behind my back.
I put my arm around his shoulder as he lifted me up, then I was set on my feet. The truck door closed and I heard the beep-beep indicating that Edward had locked it. He didn't move from my side, though.
"Now, walk this way," he said gently, taking my hand to lead me. I started to move, but my foot caught on something and I was thrown forward. Edward caught me before I hit the ground. I heard him quietly laughing.
"Shut up. I can't see, you know."
"Uh huh."
We both knew that blindfolded or not, I would always find something to trip over.
He sighed, and the sound was much closer to me than I thought it would be. "Here," he offered, and I felt his arm slide around my waist. We walked like that for a minute without problems. "Better?"
It was, but my own arm was in an awkward place. "Hang on a sec," I said, then bravely raised my lead-weight arm and put it around him too. I felt immeasurably more comfortable. "Better."
We walked in silence for a while, every few minutes Edward's hold on me would tighten a little more, pulling me closer to his side. I didn't mind one little bit. My own arm was too scared to do the same, so I contented myself by just holding onto the side of his shirt with my fist bunched around the material. I was getting very cold when Edward abruptly stopped us both.
"We're here," he said happily.
I made to remove the blindfold, but Edward's impossibly warm hand stopped me.
"Not yet," he said.
I huffed, frustrated, and folded my goose-bump covered arms. Edward laughed.
I heard a door being pulled open, and I was passed by a short gush of warmth.
"Don't scream."
"What?"
Then the air left my lungs as Edward scooped me up bridal-style.
"Sorry, but there are stairs to climb now."
I chose not to reply.
We stayed silent while Edward carried me up flight after flight of stairs. His breathing never betrayed exhaustion, neither did his faultlessly strong arms. I lost count of the number of stairs when we passed two-hundred and seventy something plods of his feet. Then Edward wasn't going up any more, but was just walking along a flat path. His feet made echoing noises on the walls, so I thought we were in some kind of stadium; or a big empty room like a gym. And we were obviously pretty high up too.
"Are we there yet?" I asked again, impatient.
He laughed. He took a few more steps, then set me gently down. My legs felt a little wobbly after being supported for so long, and I had to hold onto Edward's arm to keep myself vertical.
"Yes." His feet shuffled on the ground. "I'm going to take your blindfold off, but you need to keep your eyes closed, okay?"
I nodded. "Okay."
I heard movement from him, then he was gently removing the piece of black material. It was harder than I'd thought to stop my eyes from opening, but I managed it.
"Ready?"
"Yep."
"NOW!" he shouted, but it wasn't to me. And just as I opened my eyes, I knew why.
Several lights overhead blazed on, dazzling me. I had to blink a few times before I looked around the huge room.
It was beautiful. There were trees and plants and ferns and hundreds of leafy green things filling the massive sanctuary. Edward and I were standing on a wooden board walk hundreds of metres up from the ground; at the height where we could see into the tallest trees' branches. The roof was lined with lights too bright to distinguish – but that was probably just because my eyes hadn't gotten used to them yet. The whole place was like a piece of the Amazonian Rainforest had been picked up and brought to Washington.
But that wasn't the greatest part, not by far. Because as I watched, thousands and thousands of butterflies stirred from their still places on the branches and slowly filled the air around us.
"Oh, wow, Edward…" I said, awed.
I walked forward along the walk, watching the beautiful creatures. One landed on the rail beside me, and I put a finger out to it. It crawled onto my hand, its wings gently folding open and closed as I watched. I watched it fly off into the air, but it was soon lost in the swarm of beautiful insects surrounding us.
"So, maybe good things do happen when butterflies turn up," Edward whispered in my ear. I jumped and turned around to find that he was definitely crossing the personal space line.
"Well, nothing good has happened yet, has it?" I asked him, taking a step back.
He took a step toward me, recreating the closeness. "What 'good' would you like to happen?" he asked. His voice was like melted chocolate.
Is he trying to mess me up further?!
I stuttered, I couldn't help it. His sweet breath was very distracting. As were his honey-green eyes, which were just swirling in front of me, pulling me in…
"Kiss me," I whispered, and I realised too late that his eyes always made me speak whatever I was thinking without editing first.
But Edward didn't seem to have an issue with that, because he closed the miniscule space left between us without hesitation. He didn't behave cautiously now; his hands wound around my waist and pulled me to him. His lips caught onto mine and I responded accordingly, my hands reaching up to wind around his neck. He held me close with one arm and the other hand gently slid up my spine to tangle in my hair. I shivered, pulling myself closer to him. We stayed like that for a precious eternity, but then we both needed to breathe properly.
We each pulled back, and I hugged him tightly. His arms wrapped around me, returning the hug just as warmly and enveloping me with happiness. He rested his chin on my head and said something quietly.
"What?" I said, looking up into his eyes but not releasing my grip on him.
He looked down at me, and every aspect of his face was smiling. I grinned, feeling bubbly happiness building in my chest. I knew that for any moment I wouldn't be with him, I would miss him terribly, and I also knew that I would do anything for him.
"Bella," he said, and giddiness almost overwhelmed me.
"Yes?"
He reached into his pocket, but I couldn't tear my eyes from his face to see what it was. He held it up between us and looked a little nervous for a moment.
"Will you be my girlfriend?"
I looked down at his hand. He had a dainty silver bracelet resting in his oversized palm. It was a flat piece of metal with carvings on it, and from either end there were three or four intertwined silver chains. On one side of the carved metal there was a heart glittering with what looked like diamonds. I picked it up and examined the engravings.
On one side it said 'Edward&Bella' and on the other it had a tiny little carved envelope.
I couldn't have been smiling more if I'd tried. Nothing had ever made my heart swell so much that even tears of happiness had appeared.
"Yes," I whispered. "Yes, Edward, yes!"
And I knew that I wasn't going to have to worry about being alone ever again.
So, what did you think? Was it a good ending? Is a sequal still appropriate?
Thanks so much for reading guys. I have one last question for you all before we depart... Was this story worth reading? Be honest. I'm a big girl.
Love you all!
-Shaps