So I'm feeling a bit better today, much better than the last two. So I decided to get myself back into the groove of things… and my brain wouldn't shut up! Hope you enjoy.

Penname: kyla713
Creative Original or Derivative Fiction: Derivative

Rating/Warning(s): M

Notes:

Disclaimer: All copyrighted, trademarked items, or recognizable characters, plots, etc. mentioned herein belong to their respective owners. No copying or reproduction of this work is permitted without their express written authorization.

Prompt: Shimmer

Sitting on the white sand of the nearly deserted beach with his elbows resting on his bent knees, he gazed out over the shimmering water, glinting like diamonds with the setting sun. The multicolored hues of the sky should have been a captivating sight to behold, but nothing could take his breath away more than the center of his vision right at that moment.

Wading through the crystal clear water with her delicate hands skimming the surface, smiling down as if it was the most wondrous thing she'd ever seen, was his beautiful new bride. The black fabric of her bikini contrasted beautifully with her porcelain skin, the tips of her hair dampened from occasionally lowering her shoulders beneath the waves.

If there was ever an angel sent from heaven, she was standing before him.

"Aren't you going to come in?" she called out to him and when he shook his head with a smirk, she rolled her eyes and began walking back to shore. He leaned back on his hands to observe her as inch by inch, her body slowly emerged from the water. When she finally reached him, he broke into laughter as she slid down his thighs to straddle his waist, effectively soaking him through as well. "Why come to a beach if you're only going to sit in the sand?"

"I was enjoying the view," he replied, brushing her hair back from her face and kissing her gently. She smiled back at him, biting her lip and blushing slightly.

If he'd been told a year ago that he would actually be not only content, but also blissfully happy to be on his honeymoon with this woman, he would have told that person they were crazy. Arranged marriages were supposed to be a thing of the past, never creeping their way into the lives of modern men and women.

She'd been a tradeoff for her father's life, the only thing of value to sacrifice for the debt he'd accumulated from the powerful family he'd borrowed from.

He needed to be relieved of his debt, the Cullen's only son required a bride to ensure the succession of the family.

When he met his future wife, he had to admit, he was visually pleased. She had deep brown eyes, long wavy chestnut hair, and beautiful full lips. But the moment she spoke, he wished to call off the whole thing.

Not that her voice was unpleasant, but rather it was the disagreeable manner with which she spoke. She assured him, in no uncertain terms, how displeased she was with the situation, and that she would sooner be married to her cat.

For the first two months of her stay in his family's home, he saw her only at meals. Speaking only when spoken to, but never to him. It was as if he weren't even there.

He'd finally had enough one evening and made his way to her room, knocking on the door. When he received no reply, he entered the room but didn't see her anywhere. The doors leading out to the balcony were open with the sheer white curtains billowing in the breeze. He stepped through the doors to find her sitting in one of the white wicker chairs, sipping an amber liquid from one of the tumbler glasses set from her vanity. Yet her refusal to acknowledge him did not ignite the familiar ferocity it usually would have.

The trail of tears streaming down her cheek halted any harsh words he might have spoken before this.

"Can I help you?" she spoke suddenly, her tone slightly biting and her eyes remaining directly forward.

"Are you alright?" he asked, sitting in the chair beside her with only a small table separating them.

"Spectacular. Yourself?" she quipped, taking another long pull from her glass.

"It's not as bad as it seems, Bella," he said gently.

"No, I supposed it wouldn't be, for you. You had the option of saying no, I'm sure. You weren't sold off like cattle by the one person you should be able to trust. Sent away from your home and your family, everything you've ever known, and for what? Gambling debt? I'm supposed to be happy when I mean less to him than that?" she vented out, finally gazing over to him with fresh tears in her eyes.

For the first time, more than just his body responded to her. His heart constricted at the hurt and devastation in her eyes, the trembling of her lip as she spoke. As her future husband, it should have been his responsibility to comfort her and end her tears, to hold her and tell her it was going to be alright. Yet he was barely more than a stranger to her.

"You know what? This is ridiculous," she said abruptly, setting her glass down roughly on the table between us. She breezed past him in her floor-length satin nightgown and matching robe, re-entering her bedroom and leaving him confounded on the balcony. "Edward?"

He stood as she called out to him, and walked into the room to find her sprawled across the bed, her hair fanned out over the pillows, her eyes focused on the high ceiling above her. "Bella, what are you doing?"

"It's what you're here for, isn't it? Just get it over with already," she replied, pinching her eyes closed.

He crossed the room slowly, watching her breathing increase with each step he took toward her, tears spilling down over her temple. Her body visibly stiffened as he knelt down on the mattress beside her, her lips pressing together as she swallowed hard. He gently traced his fingertips along her dampened cheek, pained at the thought that she believed him to be such a monster. "Bella, open your eyes and look at me."

Her eyes hesitantly fluttered open and she took a shuddery breath, finally bringing her gaze to his. The emotions he saw swirling in those brown depths were heartbreaking. Pain, betrayal, sorrow and, worst of all, fear.

"That's not why I'm here. You have nothing to be afraid of. I would rather pay your father's debts off myself and send you home than to have you afraid of me," he replied gently, brushing her tears away with his thumb. "Nothing like that is going to happen until if and when you decide you are ready."

Her hand came up to take his gently and she shook her head. "Please don't send me back there."

More tears formed in her eyes as she sat up and rested her forehead against his shoulder. His arms slowly encircled her and she relaxed against him slightly, only for her body to succumb to sobs, her hand grasping his shirt. He slowly shifted with her in his arms to lean against the headboard as she cried into his chest.

"How could he do this? I'm his daughter, how could I mean so little to him that he would sell me off? I had so many plans, and none of them involved getting married or having a family yet. Now that's all I'll ever be, some man's wife and mother of his children. A man I don't know, and not of my choosing," she continued to cry against him as his hand rubbed gentle, soothing circles over her back. "I'm sorry I've been so cold, but I really didn't want this. Did you?"

"No," he answered honestly, shaking his head slowly. "What did you want?"

She pushed off his chest and sat up, hugging her knees to her chest. "It doesn't matter now. In a year's time, I'll be married and probably even pregnant already, since that's what I'm here for. Doesn't leave much of a place for what I wanted."

He moved to sit behind her, resting his hands on her waist. "Tell me. Please?"

She took a slow deep breath, hesitating slightly as she bit her lip. "I was supposed to go to Europe this past summer after graduation, and start college in the fall. I'd been saving for years with summer jobs and such, but I gave it all to my dad because he was in trouble. And it still wasn't enough. So, now here I am, paying off my father's debt still."

"You'll go, Bella," he said gently, lifting the curtain of hair that had fallen beside her face and brushing it over her shoulder. Her face turned toward his, gazing at him questioningly. "Anything I can give you, you will have. I think we can easily plan a trip to Europe, for our honeymoon, if not sooner. You're never going to have to sacrifice anything else, not as long as I can help it."

She eyed him scrupulously, shaking her head in disbelief. "Why are you being so nice to me? I've been awful to you, treating you horribly because I don't want to be here. Why?"

"Because, my dear Bella," he replied quietly, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I have no cause to be otherwise. We're both unhappy about the arrangement, but we both seem to be people of our word, and we are bound to this. That does not mean that we can't be civil, and perhaps even find we like each other."

Bella let out a soft laugh and nodded. "I suppose that would make things a little easier, now wouldn't it?"

He gently stroked her cheek with his hand, looking into her eyes and this time, found a slight glimmer of hope in them. "We can be happy, but only if we are willing to give it a chance."

"Okay," she agreed and her smile grew. Through the rough exterior that was Edward Cullen, she found a gentle soul, as she had so often told him since.

Which led them here, happy and completely in love, on their honeymoon in Sardinia, Italy… on their second tour of Europe in the last year.

"So I was thinking," Bella started distractedly, twirling his hair at the base of his neck with her fingers. "When we get back Stateside, I don't think I want to reapply for the fall semester."

Edward furrowed his brow, gazing at her in confusion. She had just begun taking courses the semester before, taking this one off for the wedding and the first few months of married life, fully intending on returning in the fall. It was what she had wanted so badly when they sat up all that night talking in her room. "Baby, I told you. The two of us getting married was simply a formality, nothing else is going to change. You can still go and get your degree, nothing is going to stop you…"

Her fingers met his lips to silence him. "I think that is something that is going to have to change. Stop arguing with me when I've already made up my mind."

"But Bella, that degree means everything to you," he replied, shaking his head as her hand stroked his cheek.

"There's something I want more."

"And what would that be?" he asked her, his arms tightening around her waist to pull her closer to him and brushing her lips with his.

"I'm thinking that I would like to be pregnant by then," she whispered against his lips and opening her eyes to gaze into his. "Very pregnant."

They shared a smile as he kissed her, lifting them both off the sand and carrying her back to the car to head back to the hotel.