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I hope you enjoy this chapter!


Forever Bound

Chapter Six – You Stood Up

Bella and Esme had spent every possible waking moment preparing for the ball. Bella had never felt so exhausted in her life, though she knew it would be worth it on the evening; seeing all the women in their beautiful dresses fanning out everywhere, trying to recognise people in their masks, making new acquaintances. She truly could not wait.

Alice had been sewing their dresses together since she first knew the date of the ball. On the morning of the dance, just as Bella was finishing her breakfast with Edward, in silence of course, Alice had rushed in, grabbed her arm and pulled her from the room before Bella had any time to react.

"Alice, what are you doing?" Bella gasped as Alice yanked her up a flight of stairs, and was now halfway down the second corridor.

"There is not a second to lose today Bella! There is too much to do."

"Not a second to lose? Alice, are you aware that there are eleven hours until the ball commences? It is two hours to twelve and the ball does not begin until nine hours past!"

"Of course I am aware Isabella! However, every second is needed. You must bathe, clean your hair, style your hair, apply makeup, make final corrections to the dress..." Bella tuned out as Alice continued to rattle off the list of things that absolutely had to be done.

Eventually they reached Bella's chamber. When they entered, Bella noticed Esme at the dresser, laying out numerous products to use. "Ah, you're finally here. Well Bella, there is no time to spare. I've run you a bath and I want you to scrub every inch of your body before you even think about getting out. Alice will you please pin up my hair while we wait?"

Alice, who was pushing Bella towards the bathroom, turned her head, "Of course. Bella, hurry up!"

An hour later, Bella dared to leave the bathroom, having washed three times and cleaned her hair. Walking into the bedroom, Alice was putting the finishing touches to Esme's hair. She had pulled it back into a bun with a thick plait either side, with the bun being wrapped in the two plaits. It looked amazing.

"Oh Bella, at last. It's your turn next," Alice told her without diverting her attention.

Bella nodded and slipped on a plain dress before sitting on the bed and watching Alice complete her first masterpiece of the day.

At fifteen minutes past noon it was finally Bella's turn. Sitting down in the chair, Bella did not even question what Alice was doing, trusting her completely. As Alice had told her on her wedding day, she would not doubt her again.

Two hours later and Bella's hair was perfect. Alice had somehow made it so smooth it looked like silk. She had pinned it to the back of Bella's head, although the bun looked as if it had been cut in two, it was almost like a bow. As a final touch, Alice had placed a small silver tiara on the front of her head.

"It's perfect Alice. Thank you ever so much." Bella praised her.

Alice grinned at her, "It was my pleasure," her grin turned into a sly smile, "Now, it's your turn to get me ready." And she pulled out the pair of hair curlers once more.

Bella backed away from her. "Alice you cannot be talking sense. I cannot use those, those things! I will burn all the hair from your scalp"" she cried.

"Do not be ridiculous Bella. I'll talk you through what to do. You will be completely fine I assure you. I trust you." Alice used her puppy dog eyes on Bella to beat her into submission.

Three hours of hard work later and Bella stepped back to admire her work. She believed it was the best thing she had been able to do her whole life! Every stand of Alice's long black hair had been curled into beautiful rings. Alice had told Bella to stop her hands from shaking and get on with her task, guiding her perfectly. After she had completed curling it, Bella was instructed to pull strands of it up at a time, to produce a large bun at the back of Alice's head. To finish the look, Bella placed a silver headband made out of diamonds at the front of Alice's head, which hung down to the middle of her beasts. She looked stunning.

"Oh Bella it's ideal," Alice complimented her, "I told you there was nothing for you to worry about! Now time for the dresses," Alice clapped her hands together.

Bella did not want to admit it, but Alice had been correct; they did need every moment they had. Including a break for lunch, it took the women three hours to perfect their dresses. Alice had to make a few adjustments to each outfit and then they had to make sure they fell correctly so that they covered all their modesty.

Esme was wearing a beautiful blue and silver gown. It was strapless and silver up to the waist, from down below it was blue silk, with intricate flowers rising up at different heights along the bottom. She was a large pearl necklace to set it off. Her mask was blue with silver gems scattered along it and had two large blue feather next to the left eye.

Alice was wearing an amazing plum coloured, short sleeve dress, which was decorated with silver spirals from head to toe. Her mask was silver up to where her eyebrows should have been, glittery silver around the top of the eye holes, and painted plain silver to the bottom of her nose. There were gold glittery swirls covering the mask. It was extremely creative.

Bella adored her dress. It was floor length, red satin. The sleeves began opposite her bust, just as her dress did. It was corset like again from the top to the waist, before flaring out into a full sized skirt. Her mask was simple. It simply covered her eyes, was made out of white material and had red lace covering it, with a red feather placed next to her right eye. Even Bella admitted that she looked pretty.

At eight and a half hours past noon, Alice and Esme left Bella's chamber, telling her not to leave the room until nine hours past none. Bella had questioned this; she thought the ball started at this time. Esme and Alice shock their heads, and explained to her that they could not be on time to their own party, they must be fashionably late. Bella nodded at this information and allowed Esme and Alice to go in search of their partners.

At nine o'clock on the dot, Bella exited her chamber and walked towards the stairs, freezing when she saw who was at the bottom. Edward was gorgeous. He was wearing a plain black tux with a white shirt buttoned up to the neck, though he wore no tie. His hair was a beautiful mess and she felt an odd desire rise up within her to run her fingers through it. Covering his nose and top half of his face was a black mask with gold thread running along the edges. Although she disliked him immensely due to his treatment of her, Bella could appreciate what a fine specimen of male her husband was. Breaking out of her observations, Bella began to descend down the stairs towards Edward, who seemed to be struggling with something.

As she reached the last step, Edward offered her his arm, which she took without comment. Leading her out of the front door, Edward escorted Bella into the horse drawn carriage that was waiting outside. Bella was confused; she had no idea where they were heading as Esme had refused to tell her, although she refused to mention it to Edward. They rarely spoke these days and only did when he initiated the conversation.

The couple were driven through the gardens for five minutes before they reached an almost invisible path. As the carriage followed it, Bella glanced around curiously, trying to discover where they were heading. Suddenly, a magnificent white house came into view and the carriage drove right up to it. The house had three floors from what Bella could see, with white pillars connecting floors one and two on the outside. Floor two and three both had balconies and Bella was sure you would be able to see for miles if you stood on them.

Edward had helped her exit the carriage and they had entered the entrance hall before Bella finally gave in and asked where they were. "This," he told her as he led her up a flight of stairs and down one of the number of corridors, "is our house. Mother and father have had it built for us as a wedding gift." And with that, they entered the ballroom.

"What? What! This is ours? Why?" Bella asked quickly but quietly as they walked down the pathway created by their guests.

"Mother designed it for us so that we are close enough to keep her happy but we have our own privacy." Edward led her to the dance floor to share their first dance.

As they moved to the music, Edward attempted to make polite conversation between them, though Bella gave him nothing to go on; answering in very brief answers when possible or just a movement of her head. Edward soon gave up and as soon as the last note sounded, he released her from his hold and went onto the balcony.

Bella stared after him, wondering what to do now as she suddenly had no dance partner. At that moment, Alice approached her, her hand in the arm of a man. From what Bella could see, the man was very attractive. He had wavy honey blonde hair with caramel streaks running through it. He stood at around six foot three inches and looked perfect with Alice. He was also wearing a black tux, although he had a black shirt on underneath instead of a white one like Edward. The left side of his face, including his nose, was covered by a silver mask, which complimented Alice's dress.

"Bella, allow me to introduce you to my fiancé Jasper Whitlock. Jasper, this is Isabella Cullen, Edward's lovely bride." Bella blushed at Alice's introduction.

Jasper lifted Bella's hand and kissed it, "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance Isabella."

Blushing an even darker shade of red, sure to rival her dress, Bella corrected him, "It's a pleasure to meet you too Mr Whitlock. Please, call me Bella."

"Only if you will call me Jasper," he smiled at her, "May I have to honour of the next dance?"

Bella nodded dumbly; a little dazed by his smile. It was beautiful, but not as stunning as Edward's she noted. When she regained her focus, she noticed Jasper and Alice sharing a moment, staring into each other's eyes. She knew they could see no one else around them; they were utterly perfect together.

After a few seconds, they tore the gazes away from one another and Jasper smiled at Bella, offering her his hand. She took it with a small smile of her own and allowed Jasper to lead her right into the middle of the dance floor. The music began and they started to move. Jasper made light, enjoyable conversation, while keeping Bella steady on her feet at all times. Bella began to enjoy herself enormously, laughing a true laugh as Jasper told her a joke while he spun her round and round.

Her happiness was stopped abruptly as she was spun for the second time. From the corner of her eye, Bella notice Edward embracing a woman on the balcony. Her hands were tangled up in his hair and Edward's eyes were closed in what she assumed to be bliss. Bella stopped dancing and stared at them.

Finally they broke apart. Edward glanced up, scanning the party, looking for anyone who may have seen them. His gaze caught Bella's. She refused to look away, unaware how long they stood there for, just staring at one another.

She was the first to pull away, as she became aware of Jasper placing his hand on her arm and calling her name. She turned to him, "Bella, are you well?" He sounded truly concerned.

Bella graced him with a tight smile before she excused herself, picked up the bottom of the dress and ran through the crowds and away from the party.

She fled down the stairs with no idea where she was heading. Why did tonight have to be the night they moved to a new home? It meant Bella had nowhere to run. Seeing the front door ahead of her, Bella ran through it and into the garden. She kept on running, wanting to run away from this life, before her clumsiness caught up with her and she tripped, falling onto the grass.

Giving up, Bella sobbed into her hands. "How could I be so stupid?" she cried, "Of course he already has a mistress. She is so beautiful; I could never measure up to someone like her! He's just using me..." the sobs overcame her.

A few minutes later and Bella had exhausted herself; she had no more tears to cry. Sitting still for a moment, Bella had a revelation; why was she allowing Edward and the woman he was with ruin the ball she had spent weeks planning? If anyone should be running away, it should be the pair of them; not her. With that in mind, Bella rose to her feet, wiped her dress down as she made sure it wasn't ruined from her fall and made her way back into the house, determined to stay to the end of the party and show Edward how strong she was.

As soon as she entered the party, Bella saw Edward and Carlisle standing just in front of her and Esme was at her side. "Bella sweetheart, I was worried about you." Bella started to apologise before Esme spoke over her, "Oh dear, don't apologise. Now," she began to usher Bella towards Edward, "it's time for you to dance the last dance of the night." Bella looked anywhere apart from Edward.

Edward offered her his hand. Bella took it while still avoiding his eyes. He led the pair of them to the dance floor, while all the other guests formed a circle around the couple. His positioned his hand on her waist while she placed her arm around his neck. The music began once more and they began to dance in synch.

Edward tried to start a conversation as if he had not seen her notice him and his mistress kissing. "Do you enjoy the waltz?"

"Yes." Bella replied shortly.

"Have you had an enjoyable time this evening?" He tried again.

"Of course." If he was going to play then so was she.

"Form any new acquaintances?"

"Edward, there is no need to make conversation. We have nothing to talk about," Bella told him.

Edward snapped his mouth shut and they continued to dance in silence.

When the last sound of music was played, Bella tore herself away from Edward and went in search of Esme. She found her in discussion with Carlisle near the back of the hall.

"Esme, Carlisle, I just wanted to thank you both for a lovely evening."

"Don't thank us dear, you did most of the work," Esme told her. Bella smiled at her mother in law.

"Could you please tell me where my chamber is? I would like to retire for the evening and I believe Edward would like to bid farewell to a few guests before he does. I do not wish to disturb him."

"Why of course dear." And with that, Esme escorted Bella out of the ballroom, and although they passed Edward who began to question where they were headed, Bella did not turn back once.

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Thanks for reading. Please review and tell me what you think.

What will be the effect of Bella seeing the kiss? What will happen with Bella and Edward?

Until next time. :)