Chapter 17: Try, Try Again
Bella smiled as she and Edward walked down their familiar path. Edward stopped and placed his hands on her waist as he lifted her over a fallen tree. "Edward you don't need to keep lifting me up over everything," she insisted.
"Knowing you, yeah I have to," he answered.
Bella rolled her eyes and left out a yelp when he pulled her onto his back. "Ready" He asked.
"Edward we're not seventeen anymore," she reminded him holding onto him.
"Worth a try," he pointed out.
Bella closed her eyes tight as he started running, grabbed a hold of a tree limp and swung across the large gap that was on their trail. She still clung to him and he kept walking through the forest. "Why are we going this way anyways?" She asked.
"Because," he replied.
"Not an answer," she told him.
"Sure it is, because that's how I answered you," he replied.
"You're impossible sometimes," she commented.
"Yeah but you love me anyways," he chuckled.
Bella smiled as she kissed the back of his neck. "You better believe it," she answered quietly. He pushed branches back and they came to their meadow. He set her down and Bella walked around. "So what is so important that you had to get me all the way out here?" She asked curiously.
Edward cleared his throat nervously. "I wanted to talk to you…alone," he replied. She gave him a quizzical look.
"Should I be afraid?" She asked.
"No I don't think so," he replied.
He let out a deep breath, closing his eyes for a second. "The last year has been insane, but the last six months have been a dream," he told her. Bella smiled as she pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "I feel that since we've started reconnecting, everything is falling into place. I have been trying to think of the right way to do this the last few weeks but…" he started. Edward was about to bend down on one knee when a cell phone went off. "You brought your phone?" he asked.
"Yes because what if there was an emergency?" She answered.
Bella looked at the ID on her phone and saw that it was Alice. "Hello?" She answered. Edward pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh.
"There goes that moment," he thought.
Bella hung up after a few minutes. "Alice had big news," she commented.
"What's that?" He asked.
"She's pregnant," Bella replied smiling.
"It has to be the water in Forks," he laughed.
Bella rolled her eyes a little before gripping the sides of his jacket. "So…what did you want to talk about?" She asked. Edward smiled a little.
"It's not important," he assured her.
He kissed her briefly. "Come on we should go back, I'm sure your sister wants to tell you all about it in depth," he answered. Bella held his hand and they went back home.
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Edward was visiting his parents' house, looking at the cooling coffee in his coffee cup. "I take it the proposal didn't go as planned?" Esme asked sitting down.
"Alice called just as I was about to ask," he replied.
Carlisle sat down, his hand resting on his wife's knee. "It took me ten tries to propose to your mother," he chuckled.
"Why so many tries?" Edward asked.
"Let's see, the first time I tried to propose at the restaurant I took her on our first date, but that got interrupted when your mother got sick with food poisoning. The second time I tried to propose during Valentine's Day, but that was a disaster," he replied.
"Why?" Edward asked.
Esme patted his hand. "Your dad got into a fight that night," she replied.
"You? You the man who raised his kids that violence is never the answer for anything?" Edward asked.
"Do as I say not as I do son," Carlisle answered.
"What about the other times?" Edward asked.
"Son, anything that could've gone wrong went wrong every time I went to propose to Esme," he answered.
Esme laughed a little, shaking her head. "I ended up proposing to her in her dorm room after I was done interning at the hospital," he added.
"Where's your next attempt to propose be?" Esme asked smiling.
"I was hoping to propose to her in the gazebo where we danced at prom," he replied.
Edward rubbed his hands together. "In fact, Rosalie should be finishing it up in there," he said quietly. He cleared his throat and let out a deep breath.
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Bella got out of the car and looked around in surprise. "Isn't this where we spent prom?" She asked.
"Yep," he replied smiling.
"How did you…" she started.
"I have ways," he replied.
They walked around the now empty building. She bit her lower lip as her eyes scanned the room, memories of the music blasting, their classmates dancing, the lights all over the place. Edward wrapped his arm around her waist as they walked towards the beautiful decorated gazebo, just like it was nearly three years ago. "Wow…" she whispered. Edward smiled as he led her into the middle of the dance floor.
"Shall we?" He asked.
"You're serious?" She asked curiously.
"Oh why not?" He answered grinning.
"Edward, it's almost three years later but I still don't dance," she told him.
Edward smiled a little as he wrapped his arm around her waist, lifting her up off the floor and had her stand on his feet. "I don't hear music," she commented. Edward took a remote from his pants pocket and turned on the stereo. She smiled softly as they started dancing around the gazebo.
"You look so beautiful tonight, just like at prom," he said quietly.
"Edward, please, I'm not beautiful," she answered.
Edward sighed. "I wish you would start believing me that you're beautiful," he murmured. He stroked her face gently, smiling softly. She smiled back as he held her hand and spun her around slowly. She bit her lower lip and once she turned around, she saw Edward down on one knee in front of her. "Bella, I love you more than anything. My heart was yours the moment we met when you first came to Forks. All these years all I ever thought about was spending forever. Isabella Marie Swan…" he started. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the box, opening it to reveal the ring. "I love you now and I will love you forever. Will you marry me?" He asked. Bella smiled as she walked over to him.
"Of course I will. A thousand times yes," she replied beaming.
Edward slipped the ring onto her finger and kissed her deeply. Bella kissed him back with a smile, her arms wrapped tightly around him. He lifted her up off the ground and spun her around. She laughed and clung to him with a huge smile on her face.
