Hey =] Nice to see you're all still with me, even though I make you wait ages between updates :( Sorry people! I'm quitting work soon though =P

Hope you enjoy! And sorry if there's any mistakes, I'm too tired to re-read it for a fourth time lol

Chapter 15:

It was perfect; she was walking down the aisle in a stunning floor length gown, with the man of her dreams hanging off her arm; she was smiling as she passed by her family and friends, all whom had gathered at once to witness the pinnacle moment of her very existence.

Bella couldn't have asked for much more than this. To have everyone all together to celebrate her happy day with her. But as they reached the end of the aisle and the organ soon cut out, it all came flooding back to her.

This wasn't the happiest day of her life; it wasn't her wedding day as the delusion had led her to believe. And while she may have walked down the aisle with potentially the love of her life, he wasn't exactly hers to have. He'd never been hers.

Stepping to the side she rooted on the spot; reality hit her hard. And a brief dizzy spell washed over her as she tried to maintain her balance, and as she looked out at the many faces up ahead, all of those eyes staring at her with careful scrutiny, she felt her legs turn hot and heavy.

For the entirety of the wedding ceremony, whether it was minutes or hours, Bella was completely dazed out, focusing less on the service at hand, and more so on not-passing-out, as everything, sounds and images, almost blended into one.

It wasn't until Edward lightly nudged her on the arm sometime later, that she forcefully blinked herself back into awareness. She turned her head to glance at him, and Edward's face frowned at her in concern, his mouth twitching as if he was about to ask her something.

But he didn't. Instead, like before, he took her arm, and they followed their parents back down the aisle to an eruption of claps and cheers...

It was a gift from god for Bella, to finally step outside and have the fresh warm air glide over her hot and sweaty face. Because if she'd have stayed inside any longer, it was looking extremely likely that her legs would have given out from underneath her, and she'd have done a face-splat right on the Chapels wooden flooring. It wouldn't have been pleasent to say the least.

Now as she reached outside, she placed her hand against the walls entrance to the chapel, propping herself up to gather her composure. She ensured she kept relatively out of sight from her parents, not wanting to alarm them of her dreary state. But she was certain they were far too wrapped up in themselves, the intense sun and the photography, to even notice her anyway.

"Are you ok?" a voice asked her, and she jumped a little out of her skin. Maybe hiding from her parents was a given, but clearly there was no chance of hiding from him.

Taking a wary look to her left she tried to smile, "yeah, of course, I'm fine".

"Well, you don't look fine. Back in there especially, your face turned grey almost," his own face scrunched up in distress.

"It was just warm in there, that's all" she swivelled awkwardly on the spot, using her arm to hold most of her weight, before she perched her backside onto the wall, sighing as she relaxed her shaky legs.

A second later her name was being called. "Bellz? Picture time!" her father grinned at her from a distance, waving her over from where he stood with his wife in the garden, and Bella leaned over to acknowledge him, plastering a smile onto her face and telling him she'd be right there.

Rising to her feet, and swaying a little in the process she attempted to walk towards them. "Wait" But Edward was quick to grab her arm, pulling her back to him, and she almost lost her footing as she tripped, "If something's wrong, if you're not well…"

"I'm fine!" She butt in with decree, raising her voice for added impact, and a look of shock at her outburst followed by mistrust, suggested he didn't believe her. She softened to reiterate, "I said I'm fine" she spoke once again; looking into his eyes as she did, his face was so close and his smell so unbelievably sweet, she hadn't been this close to him in so long. But she forced herself to turn away from him, shrugging herself out of his grasp and over towards their parents.

As he watched Bella walk away, Alice appeared silently at his side. "Something's wrong, isn't it?" he spoke to her, never turning his head as he stared at the performance Bella was putting on for their parents.

"Of course something's wrong" the tone of Alice's response then told him that she knew. He'd kind of figured Bella would end up telling Alice everything anyway, and he honestly didn't mind. He preferred it in fact, knowing how vital a best friend's shoulder was in times of crisis. Tanya had been his for several months now, it was only right Bella had a shoulder to cry on too.

"Do you have any idea what it's been like for her, since you've been gone?" she questioned him, not usually one to encourage confrontation, but Bella was her best friend, and anything she said was only out of concern.

"It wasn't a choice Alice" he lightly argued back, keeping his voice to a minimum; not wanting to raise any eyebrows.

"Maybe not. But I don't think you realise how hard this has been for her. It's bound to take its toll".

"I know that. Don't you think I wanted to do something, if I could make it better, I would" he finally turned to her.

"Then do it" she implored, as her eyebrows rose. Before he could respond though, his mother's voice called him over. And playing the dutiful son, he too plastered a fake smile on, before walking over to join in with his presently-contrived happy little family.

…

There was no better feeling than sitting in an air conditioned room, on a comfy chair at the dining room table, especially for Bella anyway, who up until this moment had been feeling as if she had the body of an 80 year old woman... a very unhealthy one at that.

Having sat through various speeches, several from both Charlie and Esme's work colleagues, it was time to eat.

The food smelt delicious, and while Bella aimed to pace herself, her stomach still tender from a lack of food, it wasn't long before she delve right in, gobbling up the contents on her plate with barely a pause between mouthfuls. Half way through her main meal she was already feeling better. It seemed her dizzy spell from earlier was mostly due to her empty stomach, well, that and the affects of her long awaited reunion with Edward. She had never been faced with so many different emotions all at the same time before. All that pent up passion for him, pre-reunion jitters and the fact that she'd gone without breakfast - her body was simply fighting for control.

"Will you pass the salt please?" Charlie asked midway through the meal, to no one in particular, which inevitably caused both Bella and Edward to simultaneously go for the salt shaker at once.

As they did, their hands touched, 'electricity' fired, and Bella noticeably flinched at the sudden contact of his soft hand cupping her own. She pulled away, startled, as if she'd touched a hot iron, not before she'd taken a good look at Edwards hand though.

Having been so pre-occupied with his beautiful face, it wasn't until now that she noticed the state of his hand; gashed across the expanse of his knuckles like a lightening bolt. On sensing Bella's surprise, Edward quickly retracted, switching hands and passing the salt to Charlie with his good hand; he then proceeded to hide his other one behind the table.

Charlie accepted Edwards offering, saying a brief "Thanks" but choosing to look away as he did. Too focused on eating his meal, rather than the peculiar goings on across the table.

Bella meanwhile frowned at the image of Edwards cut hand in her mind, desperately wanting to ask what had happened, but Alice who was sat to her left awkwardly spoke up, "This chickens great", offering a distraction, and Bella knew this was not the time or the place, though it still pained her to be so in the dark.

Instead Bella offered a sheepish smile back to Alice, to which Alice's lips twitched with a curve of sympathy, before Bella chose to take a leaf out of Charlie's book, and busied herself with focusing on the food on her plate.

Not even that could prevent Bella from glancing back at Edward though, and as she did, to her pleasant surprise, she found him looking straight back at her. He held her gaze for a brief moment, and she attempted a small smile of support, but he didn't respond, he merely ducked his head, and shamefully stared at his hands.

It was strange to see Edward so withdrawn, and it reminded Bella of that late Friday evening, when she'd walked down the stairs to find him sitting on the couch with his head in his hands.

Desperately trying to shake the thought to protect her aching heart, she fiddled with her Veg, entertaining herself by counting peas.

…

"How about a dance with your old man then?" Charlie stood before Bella as she sat at the side with Alice, on-looking the dance floor. "Sorry Al, you don't mind if I steal her away for five minutes do you?" he turned to Alice, and she smiled back shaking her head, "go for it, she's all yours" And Bella stood up with a broad smile, as she followed her father onto the dance floor.

Taking his one hand in her own, and placing her other on his arm, they swayed to the music.

"Great day" she mused, and Charlie was quick to agree. "Out of this world Bellz, I can't remember a time when I was ever this happy. I mean, aside from when you were born of course" he smiled at her.

"Glad to hear it" she teased lightly. "Esme's a wonderful woman".

"That she is. I've no doubt she's my soul mate. You know when two people just work so well together, they just fit, you know, like puzzle pieces".

She nodded back distantly, lost in a train of thought. She'd once felt that way about Edward. Maybe not to the extent of being soul mates, but there'd been no denying how well they worked together, with Edward feeling very much like the other half to Bella's puzzle piece.

"Now we've just got to find you one" his tone changed from dreamy to smirky but sincere, and like a smack in the face she was thrown from her wandering thoughts and back to reality.

"Dad" she whined, trying to smile as she brushed him off, hoping he'd let it go.

"Come on Bellz, I've had my turn, now it's time for yours" he persisted on. "How about that Jasper? I know I joked about it earlier, but he seems like a decent enough kid".

She almost snapped at that, yelling at him "I'm 18 years old dad! I'm not interested in kids!" but her inner strength powered on, managing to control her fury, she couldn't go causing a scene, not today of all days.

Instead she just said, "I don't know" before shrugging her shoulders.

"Why not? You know, there's not a lot of guys out there that are brought up with that kind of level of respect" he went on. "See, even Alice likes him".

At that, Bella turned her head to see Jasper now sat beside Alice; they were both smiling and gleefully chatting away. And you'd have to be an idiot not to see the sparks fly between them. Or just plain ignorant, as Charlie had a tendency to be with things like this.

Pushing her agitation over her father to one side, Bella let a smile twist her lips, happy to see Alice finally getting some decent male attention for once. Similarly to Bella, Alice had only ever had one boy friend, and he'd turned out to be a complete waste of space, Jasper on the other hand, was very much to Bella's liking. In fact she could see them now, holding hands, walking to class together; they were the perfect picture of cuteness...

Charlie meanwhile watched his daughter closely, her eyes grew hazy and her forehead crumpled, clearly he'd lost her somewhere, deep in thought. "Well, whatever you decide Bella, whoever you choose…" her eyes flicked back towards him as he spoke, and she once again came back to reality, "I'm sure I'll learn to live with it" he said as he looked her in the eye, and she faltered under his stare, slightly caught off guard by his comment. But he said no more, simply kissing her lightly on the cheek.

What an odd thing to say, she thought to herself as she watched him walk away. Her fathers tone and the look in his eyes suggested there was more to that comment than it seemed, a hidden meaning behind the message perhaps? Was he suddenly coming around to the idea of her being with Edward?

Maybe? Maybe not?

It could've quite easily meant nothing, just a random comment shared amongst father and daughter. Surely enough, any father would struggle to accept someone taking the hand of their daughter. No man could ever live up to a fathers standards… and although there was a greater chance it was just a random comment, she clung onto the idea that in some way, despite that ignorant façade of his, Charlie was slowly but surely coming to terms with it.

…

Bella absentmindedly swished a hand in the cool water, as she perched herself on the edge of the brickwork. It was late now, hitting the 10pm mark, and Alice had recently left. A few others had too, but the party was still very much in full swing. 80s music blared from the open doors, and it was only sat out here, at the front end of the country house that Bella could actually hear herself think.

Bella was sat outside on the edge of the water feature, the one she'd laid eyes on upon her arrival. And now, on taking a closer look, she realised it wasn't just any random water feature, it was a wishing well.

Well, not in the traditional sense, there was no bucket or lever mechanism, and on the most part it was merely a circular base with a water pump at its centre. But what made it special was the fact that it was filled with shiny copper coins, that glistened up at her in the nights sky.

There must have been at least 50 or so wishes in this well, Bella thought silently to herself as she admired them from above. She wondered if any of them had actually come true. And on noticing a random coin which lay on the ground beside her feet, she picked it up with curious eyes.

Cupping the coin in the palm of her hand, she thought of only one thing. She'd never been big on superstition, nor old European Folklore beliefs; wishes rarely came true… life just wasn't that fair, right? But anything, even something as farfetched and mythological as a wishing well, was worth a shot right now.

So as she closed her eyes and thought of the only thing she'd ever truly wanted, she tossed the coin into the centre of the water. It made a plopping sound before it fell to the bottom, twinkling up at her as if it was winking.

She smiled back at it, but it didn't touch her eyes. And as she heard the distant sound of laughing girls, her head turning to face it, she exhaled a helpless sigh.

Teardrops stung her eyes as she watched them.

Far up ahead on the car park stood Edward and his friends. Two girls; one was Tanya, and another girl whom Bella didn't recognise. There was also a guy there, again no one she'd ever met, that stood beside them. Edward was waving them off, as the three of them were all-but ready to clamber into the taxi and call it a night.

Before they did though, Edward embraced each one of them. It was hard to see from where Bella sat, it was dark and her blurry tear-brimmed eyes distorted her vision, but there was no mistaking the kiss that Edward gave to each girl.

Each one was no doubt on the cheek; and for them, it was merely a friendly casual gesture. But for Bella that didn't matter. It was still an intimate one, one she hadn't had for weeks, and one she was unlikely to ever get again from Edward.

As each girl sprawled all over him, giving him a hug goodbye, Bella rose from her seat, the display of affection becoming too much to bear.

Turning on her heel she headed in the opposite direction, dragging her crushed heart along the floor as she went…

Preview – The nights far from over yet! And someone finally has a talk with Bella – but who's the other person? Charlie or Edward? And after so long, is it really what she wants to hear?