A/N: Hey, guys! So, here's chapter two to Arsenic-Riddled Roses. Sorry it took so long. I thought I'd have a lot of free time over my Christmas break, but obviously not. Anyway, here's another… long chapter. Sorry =S. As the story progresses, the chapters get shorter (I'm talking like 5-6 pages, not 2) so it'll get better. I promise!
"Two souls but with a single thought, two hearts that beat as one." –Friedrich Halm
-
THE WIN:
My cell phone vibrated loudly on my desk when Rosalie and Alice were in the other room. Angela and Lauren didn't notice it. They were too involved in their discussion about Naruto or something. It was funny how they'd never gotten over the anime thing. They'd been into it since—or maybe I just hadn't noticed until—9th grade. Discretely, I reached behind me in my desk chair and brought my phone into my lap, glancing at the screen. My heart jumped into my throat with excitement when I saw who the text message was from. I hurriedly pressed 'Read Now'.
EDWARD: excited? Nervous? Cold feet?
I glanced up at my friends before ducking my head again to type my reply.
BELLA: excited, nervous, feet r toasty wrm. Rnt u busy? Y do u have tym 2 txt me?
I slipped the phone quickly beneath my butt when Rosalie and Alice re-entered the room. The two of them combined had to be about the most superstitious person in the country. Then I gasped and burst out laughing.
"How do we look?" Alice asked, striking a pose.
"Where did you find that?" I demanded between fits of laughter.
"In your make up bin, actually," Rose replied, waltzing over to my mirror to check the bright green eye shadow she wore.
"Oh, I really look forward to you guys wearing that to my wedding," I joked. They'd applied it from their lids all the way up their brow bones.
Rosalie grinned at me in the mirror.
The phone hummed against my butt, and Alice cocked her head. I could almost see her ears perk up. "What was that?" she wanted to know.
"Nothing," I blurted. "I didn't hear anything." I shouldn't have spoken. One look at my face and they knew something was up. My crimson cheeks were a dead giveaway.
"Who is it?" Alice asked, venturing closer.
"Who? What? W-what are you talking about?" I asked, giggling nervously. Rosalie joined her in the predatory stalk toward me and I gulped. "It's no one!" I cried.
Rosalie's cornflower blue eyes narrowed in doubt. "Yeah, right. Fork it over."
"Fork what over?!" I widened my eyes, trying to make it look like I was innocent, but my phone vibrated against the plastic chair again, and it completely gave me away. Thanks, Edward.
"GIVE!" Rosalie yelled, diving at me.
I screamed, cringing away from her. Hands shoved and I was suddenly on the floor.
"AHA!" Alice cried out in victory holding my phone over her head. "I WIIN! I'm the wiener!" she cried, laughing. Alice leaped onto my bed and flipped open the phone. She began to bounce and her words became broken up, but I was still able to understand that she was reading Edward's messages aloud. "I'm not busy. The guys are drinking beer and being stupid. Make sure the girls stay sober, 'cause they might need a little support." She was silent for a moment as she clicked over to the next message. "Hello? Bella?"
"Let me answer him!" I begged, scrambling toward her.
"Ah, ah, ah!" she scolded, skilfully dodging my arms which were so close to capturing her.
"ALICE!" I cried.
"Girls? Is everything alright in there?" I then heard my mother call.
"NO!" I whined, calling through the door. "They won't give me my phone!"
Renee laughed, and then it faded, making it clear she was walking away. I sighed, scowling Alice's way, and then left the room, emerging into the battlefield. I dodged around small kids on the stair case and trekked into the kitchen to get a glass of water.
I was enveloped from behind in a huge hug and lost my breath for a moment. "Bells!" the voice called and I knew who it was in an instant. I turned to see my Uncle Kyle grinning at me.
"Hi!" I said, leaning up to wrap my arms around him again.
"Isabella!" I heard Renee gasp from behind me and I turned to face her. "Look at you! What have you girls been doing up there?"
"Um, obviously nothing." Uncle Kyle snickered.
Renee observed my make-up less face, my hair which hung loose around my shoulders, and the grungy t-shirt I still wore.
"I can't do anything!" I complained. "Jess isn't here yet!"
Renee sighed. "I'm sure the girls could get you dressed up just fine."
"Mom." I huffed, planting one hand on my hip. "You should have seen Rosalie and Alice five minutes ago. They're wearing green eye shadow! I don't want them to dress me up. Besides, Jessica has all the make up. She bought it all."
Renee rolled her eyes, moving towards me. She put her hand on the small of my back and directed me back toward the stair case. "Just try to begin to get ready. There are only two hours until we have to leave."
"Two hours?!" I screeched in surprise, spinning to look at her.
"I know!" she said, eyes widening. "Now, hurry up," she demanded, patting me once on the butt.
I began to trek back upstairs when the doorbell rang. I turned to answer it. When I pulled open the door, Jessica grinned back at me, Prada bag dangling from the crook in her elbow, flaming hair pulled back into a messy yet conservative bun. Her forest green eyes were lined very thinly with black eyeliner, but even the tiniest of make up made her facial structure pop.
"Heyy!" I squealed, leaning forward to hug her.
"Careful," she warned, and I could hear the smile in her voice. When I pulled away she held up her arms. Occupying both of her hands were Starbucks cups. "Starbucks anyone?"
"Jess!" I squealed, grinning. I was so excited I even jumped up and down, clapping my hands together sporadically. "You're my bestest friend! I love you!" I cried as I retrieved the blueberry frappucino from her right hand. I sucked some back, but she quickly stole it back. "Ah, ah, ah," she scolded, "that one's mine. This one's yours," she corrected, handing me the strawberry. "You don't want your lips all purple for the wedding."
I pouted, but sipped meagrely from the green straw.
Jessica slipped past me, into the house. "Oh, God, look at you." She groaned, observing my face.
"What?" I asked, suddenly defensive.
"C'mon," she said, gripping my elbow. We began our ascent up the stairs. When we entered my bedroom, they swarmed me, stealing my cup from my hands.
"Hey!" I whined as Rosalie, Alice, Angela and Lauren took turns sipping from my cup.
"Don't mind them," Jess muttered, tugging me over to the desk. She shoved me down into the chair. "Might as well get some work done while they're distracted," she observed. As Jess set up her paraphernalia of make up, I watched as my friends downed my beloved frappucino.
"That one's mine!" Rosalie cried, snatching the haltered rose and dark chocolate colored dress from Lauren's hands. "This one's yours," she told her, shoving a dress identical to the first in her hands. I rolled my eyes from where I lounged on my bed.
Alice and Jessica were comparing their dresses, trying to figure out which one was theirs.
All five of the girls wore their hair half up, half down. Perfect ringlets framed their faces, and the rhinestone encrusted bobby pins glittered beneath the rays of sunshine blasting in through my opened window. Faces done elaborately up, I had to admit that each and every one of them looked beautiful.
Angela and Lauren were the most drastic changes though. Neither of them had really worn a lot of makeup through high school, and I finally understood why. Now, under the impeccable flawlessness Jessica had painted across their faces—she worked as a makeup artist, as well as an editor—they looked inhumanly, outrageously beautiful. Hair shining, smiling lips, they looked completely blissed out as they paraded around in their underwear, trying to decipher one dress from the other.
I hadn't changed into my dress yet. I could see the edge of it jutting out from behind the slightly opened door of my closet, and my heart burst frantically into palpitations. I glanced across my room at my clock, taking in the time. It was half past twelve.
We had an hour before we had to be there. We had an hour until my life was forever and drastically changed. An hour to decide if I was going to back out or not.
I ran the pads of my fingers over the dark blue ribbon woven into my hair.
When I next looked up at my friends, I felt my lips curve into an exhilarated smile. "You guys look amazing!" I squealed joyfully, taking them all in. Of course, I'd seen them in their dresses before, but this time, something was different. Maybe it was the excitement of the day, or the sunlight piercing the golden accents on the dark chocolate dresses. Either way, they looked amazing.
Alice admired herself in my mirror for a moment, smoothing out the nonexistent creases in the knee length skirt, and then quickly turned back to my closet. She pulled the dress off the hook, and it flowed out into the room. I was suddenly unbelievably excited to climb into it.
"Something old," Renee whispered as she ran her fingers over the sparkling tennis bracelet I wore around my wrist. It had been my Grandma Marie's. "Something new," she continued, her fingers fluttering over my silk sheathed waist, referring to the dress. "Something borrowed, something blue" she finished, fingers fluttering over the blue love-knot braided through my hair. Then her blue eyes lifted to meet mine. "You look stunning."
"Something borrowed, something blue, something old, something new!" Jess called out with a funky little swagger down the upstairs hallway. I burst out laughing, not caring that my mother was still present in the bedroom. I saw the smirk twist her berry colored lips as she watched Jessica near us.
"Something borrowed, something blue, something old, something new!" she cried out again, stepped through the doorway.
Renee rolled her eyes as Jess and I choked on our laughter. "You girls," she scolded half-heartedly.
"What are you borrowing?" Jess demanded to know, plopping butt first onto the bed next to me, sending me bouncing a little.
"Um, this." I told her, holding up my wrist.
She nodded knowingly. "Ah, something old and borrowed."
"Something new," I said, gesturing to my dress. "Annddd, something blue!" I finished happily, pointing to the love-knot.
Jess suddenly shook her hands vivaciously through the air. "Oh, oh, oh! I have a joke for you. I made it up just for this special occasion!"
"What is it?" I wanted to know, twisting to look at her.
"Why did the chicken cross the road?" she questioned. Her lips twitched, and I knew she was fighting a smile.
"Umm… to lay an egg?"
Jess giggled and shook her head from side to side.
"Uh… how 'bout to get to the other side?"
"BECAUSE SHE WAS GETTING MARRIED!" Jess shrieked, letting the grin make its appearance.
By this time, Renee had disappeared.
I stared at her fixedly. Blinked.
She inclined her head toward me. "Because… she… was… getting…married?" she repeated slowly.
"That's… not funny," I so obviously pointed out.
Jessica burst into hysterics. "I KNOW!" she screamed through her laughter.
It suddenly clicked inside my head how utterly stupid the joke was and I began to shake with suppressed laughter again. But it was too difficult to hide, so I began to laugh just as hard as she was. It was then that the silk of my dress decided to slip and slide against the comforter of my bed, and I tumbled onto the floor. But I didn't stop laughing.
The summery bright trees and cars zipping down the highway seemed to fade into the background as the limo pulled into Heritage Park. Alice slapped my thigh and I yelped.
"Oh my God!" she yelled. "We're here!"
"Yes, Alice!" I praised her slowly, like she was a first grader, "Wonderful observation!"
Alice rolled her eyes in contempt.
Rosalie grinned at me, and I settled into the seat, pressing the pad of my thumb against one of the heads of the pins that held the bouquet of flowers in place. Moon flowers, died carnations and Queen Anne's Lace were cradled together in the elaborately silk wrapped scarf my mother had lent me.
The limo halted in the empty parking lot,--we'd rented out the park for this day—and my heart leapt into my throat along with it. This was it. There was no backing out now. Well, maybe… Would the driver turn around if I told him to? Not that I ever would. I was nervous… Oh, hell, was I ever. But I held no regrets toward the fact that I was marrying Edward.
There was silence while the driver's door opened, and then a few moments later the driver pulled open the back door. "Ladies," he said, holding out a smooth, white gloved hand. Rosalie rested her long, fair fingers upon his and flowed smoothly from the buttery back seat of the limo, clutching her flowers in one hand. Girl by girl, my side of the wedding procession moved slowly from the limo. I was saved for last. The sunlight penetrated the silk of my dress, soaking into my skin when I was exposed to the sunlight. I squinted against the glare of it.
"You remember the plan, right? I'll drive around to the back, and once you all make your escape, we'll drive to the picture destination, right?" the driver reviewed with me.
A slight nod his way was all I could manage.
"If I may be the first one to say it," the driver then spoke again, "congratulations, miss,"
"Thank you," I told him, and I meant it. I could see deep in his eyes that it was genuine. And then he climbed back into the limo and pulled away.
Jessica raised her wrist to her face, peering at the face of the watch attached to her silver charm bracelet.
"We gotta go," she told me, lifting her eyes to reach mine. "See you soon, okay?"
I nodded, forcing my lips into a smile. But it was like pushing them through heavy amounts of nervous hardening cement.
They each took their turn hugging me, and then scurried through the gravel and pebbles down toward where the old church would be. That was where we were being married. As if on cue, right after they left, the Old Nash pulled up behind me. Soft rose ribbons were attached to the doors, drawing a ring of beauty around the green exterior of the old car. I smirked at the familiar licence plate on the front of the car, situated between the head lights. Get in, sit down, and shut up.
Vaguely, I could hear Pachebel's Canon flowing through the slightly humid air of the early afternoon. How could I possible hear it? Was it really that loud? Either way, it meant that my bridesmaids were making their way down the aisle. And that Edward was already at the front, awaiting my arrival.
Again, the butterflies leaped like kangaroos inside the caverns of my stomach.
"Bella, you look…" I glanced up to see Charlie moving toward me.
"Dad!" I interrupted, taking in his appearance. "You look amazing!" I complimented, avoiding the tidal wave of emotion that wanted to sweep over me. But I fought it, concentrating on how debonair my father looked in his tuxedo. His salt and peppered hair gave him the appearance of maturity, not age, and his dark eyes sparkled now, instead of waiting in the dark all his life.
He shrugged modestly, hands in his pockets. When he came up again, he held the boutonniere in his hand. "I couldn't figure out how to put it on," he admitted, and I saw the faintest hint of pink touch his cheeks.
I grinned and stepped up to him, the heels of my shoes clacking against the heated pavement. "Here," I told him, taking it from him. I examined it for a moment and then raised my eyebrows, staring at him in question. "It would probably work better if we had a pin to work with," I joked, pulling one from my own bouquet. I pinned it to his lapel and then straightened his tie just for good measure.
"Thanks," he told me.
Then he was helping me into the back of the Old Nash, and he was in the driver's seat. Almost five minutes later, we pulled up in front of the church. I had been instructed to stay put until my father came around to receive me, so I did.
From inside the car I could hear the March begin, but I focused my eyes on the bouquet in my lap and tried to make sense of why they were blurring. I realized then that my hands were shaking. Make that my whole body…
A hand touched mine, and I looked up, startled into Charlie's face.
"Ready?" he asked, and I thought I could see the slightest glimmer in his eyes, but he cast his gaze downward before I could really be sure.
I tried to say 'Yeah', but my voice wouldn't work and all that escaped from my throat was a squeaky breath. I tried again, and my voice was back. "Yeah. Let's go." I said more firmly this time. Really, I was quite surprised at how confident and sure my voice sounded. The complete opposite when it came to other parts of my body. For instance, the butterflies battering their wings against the walls of my stomach, too noticeable to ignore. The slickness against my palms, the tingle beneath my skin. The slight light headedness I felt. The vibration of my hands and knees.
I was worried that my knees would give way when I touched the ground, but I was proven wrong. My feet made purchase with the ground without a problem. Some of the pebbles were able to find their way through the spaces in my strappy sandals. Charlie's hand gently pulled my arm through his, and he clutched it there. His coat was itchy against my bare arm; but then, I was lucky I had him. For someone to lean on.
It was then that I could hear the excited buzz of people ringing in my ears. Almost topping the volume of the March. The slight echo through the cavernous room as people twisted to get a better look at me.
I kept my eyes downward, not daring to look up—as we began our walk down the aisle—afraid that if I caught someone's eye my cheeks would flash red. And the last thing I wanted that day was to be counted on as the blushing bride.
I focused on the dusty floor beneath me.
Carefully, I inched my eyes forward, until I took in the legs of the chairs of the front row, and the lined up feet of the bridesmaids, the groomsmen, the priest, and, finally, Edward. I followed those shoes to the black pants, up the legs, over the jacket, over the lapel with the boutonniere pinned to it, over the supremely knotted tie, to his face. Limpid jade pools framed by thick, natural lashes, over cheekbones seemed to be carved into the face of an angel. Angular jaw curved, full lips lifted in a heartbreaking, revering smile. His teeth gleamed beneath the sunlight. Perfect, only that way because of the braces he'd worn through middle school. The copper facets in his hair. The gel tamed it a little, but no body could ever bridle that adorable disarray.
When I took in the utter joy on his face I felt the tears fill my eyes, even though my jaw hurt from smiling so wide at him. Edward was the only one I could focus on at that moment. Nothing else mattered, except my father's hand on mine, reminding me to keep my slow and steady pace.
The butterflies evaporated from my stomach, leaving a smouldering urge in the pit to just be there already! The clamminess in my hands miraculously dried up, and I finally felt like I was actually back on Earth again.
Focusing on these things and not the jaw clenching urge to sprint head long up the rest of the aisle got me there quicker than expected.
Once we were in front of Edward, Charlie turned toward me, shrugged my veil off my shoulders and leaned in to kiss my cheek tenderly with tears in his eyes.
Edward stepped forward and grasped Charlie's hand in a warm handshake, unable to quit smiling. I didn't think I could either. Maybe they were tattooed on our faces for life.
Once the hand shake was over, Edward extended his hand toward me. Charlie lifted my hand from his arm and in a symbol as old and as treasured as the universe, put my hand in his. Charlie stepped aside as Edward took his place, and took my other hand into his.
"Who gives this woman to this man?" the priest's voice called into the open, slightly stale air of the church. I only realized then that the March had stopped playing.
"We do," my mother and father spoke simultaneously.
I heard the echo of his shoes against the floor as Charlie moved to take his seat, and then the ceremony embarked.
As I focused on the phosphorescent joy lit from deep inside Edward, it seemed as if the priest's voice was sinking beneath waves. Farther away, until I couldn't make out the words he was saying. My eyes began to drift, taking in the faces of both families. The deep brown eyes from my side, handed down from generation to generation, the angelic facial structure on Skyler's side. The startlingly beautiful green eyes which his parents shared.
Without seeming to notice it, I became lost in that sea of beautiful jade.
His smile was hypnotic. I couldn't look away until it shifted into something of a frown. Why would he be frowning?
"Bella?" the voice was coming back, growing in volume, as if I were being woken from a dream. "Bella." Skyler's lips were moving. Was he talking? "Bella!"
I blinked and the sounds came roaring back suddenly. The breeze shifting in through the church doors, the slightly panicked murmuring emitting from the audience's lips, and Skyler's voice.
"Bella..." He said again, his fingers squeezing mine.
"Oh!" I said, realizing that everyone was waiting for me to do something. "What?" I then asked turning toward the priest. "I'm sorry. I was a little… distracted," I admitted, eyes shifting back to Edward's face. I felt my cheeks burn.
Thankfully, Edward's lips had curled into a grin once more, only this time a little amused.
The exchange of the vows and rings went smoothly after I actually focused. They glinted brightly in the sun breaking in through the stained glass windows, and so did Edward's eyes. The priest recited the binding words, "You may kiss the bride," and I had to force myself to stop smiling so we could kiss.
Edward reached up to rest the pads of his fingers to my jaw line and I stretched hurriedly on my tip toes, in a rush to seal the promise we had made to each other. Our lips melded together and I felt the electric tingle rush my veins crackling from my fingertips in the intensity of the moment.
"HOME RUNNN!!" I heard Edward's best man, Emmett, call from behind him, and my lips curled at the edges. It took all my strength not to grin in the middle of the kiss.
All I cared about at that moment was the erratic pounding of my heart. I prayed to God that I wouldn't go into cardiac arrest.
"Wow, it's nice in here," Edward observed, glancing around the back of the limo as he bounced slightly in his seat beside me. We could have just walked down to the fair and shops in Heritage Park where we were going to take our pictures, but apparently we were too lazy. Besides, the girls had insisted that they didn't want to get pebbles in their shoes without a good reason to do so. I had to agree with that.
"I know!" Alice agreed from the seat across from us as her hands paused at Jessica's bodice. She was trying to re-pin the deep v neck so that she wouldn't be so 'revealed'
"Don't stab me, please!" Jess begged, squeezing her green eyes shut, clenching her fingers into fists.
Alice flashed me an evil smile before turning her full concentration back to Jess's dress.
"Allo, ladies and gentlemen," Emmett greeted us, yanking open the shining black door of the limo. He tipped his short top hat our way before frisbeeing it into the limo. Spencer waved her arms sporadically grimacing when the hat landed in her lap, as if someone had just thrown a mouldy sandwich at her.
"Ready?" Emmett asked, backing up a few paces.
"Em, don't!" Edward called, reaching out, but it was too late.
Like a diver entering a pool, he launched himself through the air, zipping through the limo doorway. He landed sprawled across the laps of Edward, me, and two other groomsmen. He rested his elbow on my far thigh and gazed up at me.
"Hey, princess, how ya doin'?" he asked, irking his eyebrows suggestively.
I rolled my eyes, and then whacked his elbow from my leg with my hand, resting my elbow, in turn, atop his head. I pressed my fingers to my lips, turning to look at Edward. Then I rolled my eyes grinning as Emmett squirmed underneath me.
It was all good until the far groomsman, Eric, got kicked in the nose with the heel of Emmett's shiny shoe.
