Disclaimer: Sadly, I own nothing.
Tyler found that he was nervous as he began to drive towards the small town of Forks once more. He wanted to make sure that everything was perfect. This was his chance to actively court the woman he had given his heart too even as a boy. Tyler had called and made reservations at the Metropolitan Grill for dinner and planned on going through the Market district in Seattle with her and walking along the water until the time came for their reservation. In his mind if everything went according to plan it would be the perfect day. The only problem with his plan was that a large part of it hinged on Reid carrying out the mission that Tyler had sent him on.
There was one rather large complication involved there. The other sons were likely to get curious when they felt Reid use to send the precious object to Tyler all the way in Seattle. That was likely to raise questions that Reid couldn't answer without getting Tyler in trouble. The only other option would be for Reid to simply take the blame for the whole entire situation. Tyler knew that his request put his brother in a rather awkward predicament. Reid embraced his heritage and birthright just as much as Caleb rejected it. If the eldest questioned him and he would consequences were sure to follow for Reid. It was the only part about the plan that Tyler did not feel good about.
Once Tyler arrived at Charlie's house he found Bella already dressed and waiting for him on the porch. The sight in front of him made him smile more than anything had in a long time. There is indeed another catch to being born into the Covenant. That catch was being born to wealthy and successful parents. Furthermore, wealthy and successful parents have expectations of their children because they want them to be wealthy and successful.
This year being that the sons were about to graduate from Spencer Academy that meant going on to the Ivies. Their families left them legacies at the best schools in the country and it was not that Tyler was ungrateful. In fact he was far from it. He wanted to be successful for his own reasons. The only problem he had with the expectation was he was unsure about placing such an expectation on his beloved Bella. It was tough to get into Harvard where as Tyler was a legacy and would be expected to go. Would Bella be accepted to Harvard especially after moving to such small and mediocre school as she made it clear that Forks High School was?
As Bella got into the car Tyler wondered to himself how to best bring up some of the other topics that they needed to discuss. It had been a while since they had discussed college and what their plans were for afterwards. Was Bella even still okay with thier plans?
He also knew that Bella just moved out here to spend some time with Charlie which had been a rarity. Was it fair to ask her to move so far away from here in such a short time? When Bella had written that she would be moving up to Washington he knew that things might change. Tyler had looked into the University of Washington and knew that it was a good school with one of the better medical programs. That however was not an option where Tyler's father was concerned. Glen Simms had gone to Harvard for Premed and then had gone to Med. School at John's Hopkins. The expectation was that Tyler would do the same. It was going to be a rather intense conversation again and he was not a fan of conflict. If there was a way to avoid it he would.
Bella fiddled with the radio until she found Nickleback playing on a station that had some reception here. They made the drive to Seattle listening to music and talking about events that were coming up in the next few months. First would be Thanksgiving and Christmas and Bella planned to try and make a traditional dinner for her and Charlie. She even mentioned the possibility of inviting some family friends over to share the meal. By way of explanation Bella explained that Billy's wife had passed away some time ago.
Tyler nodded at this understanding since he and his parents often had Evelyn and Caleb join them for the holidays. Tyler spoke of his plans to give his mother's cook the day off and make the feast himself this year. He rarely spoke of it to anyone but cooking was something that he enjoyed and he hoped that Bella would enjoy this skill. He learned in hopes that he would be able to please her as a husband. He knew that she was frequently stuck doing all of the cooking, cleaning and grocery shopping. This was something that Tyler was determined to stop once they were together everyday. She shouldn't have to do all of the work in the household and it was his opinion that it was borderline abusive.
There were also the final events of the school year to consider. This meant Senior Ball and Graduation for both of them. Bella swallowed hard at the mention of the formal events. This got a slight chuckle from Tyler who tried to hide it with a cough. He knew that she did not like dancing much and feared that she would never manage to leave alive if she was to try. Tyler knew that he needed to calm Bella's fears before she freaked out too much. To this end he said, "Don't worry the only ones who would probably actually bother with dancing in our group would be Caleb and Sarah. Reid might try if he found a girl that he was actually interested in. At Spencer these events are more about being social and being seen. It would be an opportunity for you to get to know the guys and meet their girls than anything."
A smile returned to Bella's face and she nodded her head in understanding. There would be no getting out of this event for her. The others would want to meet her eventually and no doubt Dr. and Mrs. Simms would want to see her again and make sure that she was still suitable for their son. Bella told him, "Well, then we'll go to ball at your school and since our graduations are on different dates we can attend each others. That makes that part of things a lot easier."
Tyler smiled glad to know that she would be there to support him. What he neglected to mention was that it was not Caleb who had wound up as class valedictorian so far. If he kept his grades up it would be Tyler who had to speak at graduation. He looked over to Bella and finally asked, "Have you found out where you place in your class yet?" Bella nodded her head, "I'm in the top 10 but all of the Cullen's had better grades. So with them gone I'm not sure anymore." Tyler nodded in understanding just as they pulled into town by Pike Place Market in Seattle.
The two decided to start the trip off with a walk along the water front enjoying a rare sunny day in the area. After a while Bella spotted a bench and motioned for Tyler to join while she needed to rest and catch her breath. They sat there for a moment just enjoying the scenery and each others presence. Finally, Tyler knew that he had to ask Bella about the things that had been on his mind. It would drive him to distraction all day if he did not. "Are you still okay with moving so far away from here in such a short time? I can understand if your not. I mean, after all it is not the easiest thing to ask of someone and Harvard is really difficult to get into. That is not even considering that you'd have to leave having only been here for a little over year to spend time with Charlie. If you're not okay with moving so far away we can discuss other options."
Tyler was looking at the cement of the sidewalk as he said this not even wanting to see the look on Bella's face as he said these things. He had to wonder if she would not be relieved that he was offering her a way out. He would be willing to wait through another four years if that was necessary so that she could attend a school closer to home. He would wait if that was what it took for her to be with him as long as it was not him she was rejecting.
The awkward silence stretched on for a time before she finally did managed to respond. "I really don't mind and after a lot of what has happened it would probably do me some good to get away and start over. As far as getting in to Harvard, I've appled to a number of Ivy League schools and other colleges in the area. We can go from there." Tyler looked up at her pleased to see that not only was she still okay with the plan that they had developed as children but had taken on a level headed approach to it.
Bella now having sat for a few minutes decided to lead Tyler on a tour through the market area on Pike Place. There was a larger variety of shops here selling everything from grocery items and seafood to jewelry, clothing and art work. They looked around through the various shops and enjoyed joking around and looking at various things for sale.
When they came to a store selling jewelry made of precious stones and traditional designs something caught Tyler's eye. In the case in front of him was a beautiful gold promise ring in the traditional Celtic design with the heart made of sapphire. Noticing that Bella was looking at something at another counter Tyler swiftly asked to purchase the ring and whatever Bella was looking at. He made payment for the items and found that Bella had been looking at a pair of gold hoop earrings. Tyler smiled at this seeing that she had not changed much at all in the last year. She still is the same beautiful, sweet, intelligent girl with simple taste.
From the way she was dressed he knew that she had finally had a female role model who taught her about fashion and dressing well. As much as he didn't like it this skill would be necessary for her to survive in his world. Even as he suspected the connection to the Cullen's he couldn't help but feel grateful to them for that. Perhaps everything was working together the way that it was supposed to and that thought made him smile.
As they left the market Bella lead him to the Space Needle at the center of the city and they took the elevator up to the observation deck. The view of the city from there was magnificent. Tyler thought that the only thing that might have made it more impressive was to be there at night when the stars were out.
It was here that Tyler decided to give her the items that he had purchased at the market. First he knelt and handed her the box with the promise ring with the top up. Bella's eyes popped open so wide that Tyler thought they would fall out. Bella was amazed at the beauty and intricacy of the ring and loved it on sight. She knew the significance of this to Tyler. Not only would this seal their relationship, showing the world that she belonged to him, but he was connecting her to his heritage. The Simms were Celts by decent and it was a part of himself that Tyler had taken some pride in. Rejecting this gift to him would be akin to rejecting him. She smiled and let him place it on her ring finger indicating that she was taken.
Bella was further amazed when he then handed her another box this one with the earrings that she had wanted to buy but decided were too expensive. She smiled knowingly, "its a little much don't you think?" Tyler laughed at her typical response he had expected this but was prepared with a response. "It's not that much from where I stand and I don't get to be with you every day yet. Please, just let me spoil you this once." It was as he got up and looked towards the sky again that Tyler noticed how late it was getting. Having taken Bella's hand in his, Tyler led her back to the elevator so that they could make their reservation for dinner.
[A/n: I am sorry that it took me a while to get this posted. I enjoyed getting to write this section though. As always please review any an all thoughts are appreciated. Did you love it or hate it? What should I maybe do differently here?]