Rating/Warning(s)/Note(s): T, Shadows
Disclaimer: All copyrights, trademarked items, or recognizable characters, plots, etc. mentioned herein belong to their respective owners. No copying or reproduction of this work is permitted without their express written authorization.
Prompt: Braid, staid, paid

I thought my first year at Dartmouth was tough. I thought I studied hard. I thought I wrote a ton of papers, turned in piles of assignments, read thousands of pages, and that it couldn't get any worse.

I thought wrong.

"How am I supposed to memorize all of this?" I screamed, barely restraining my desire to chuck my textbook across the room. Edward smiled at my outburst, annoying me further. "Oh, you can smile, you have perfect recall. Do I? No. I have to cram all this stuff into my brain…"

My rant was cut off when he moved blindingly fast, picking me up, depositing me on my bed, and kissing me before the last word left my mouth. I pushed against his chest for a minute, wanting to finish my homework, but he grabbed my hands and pinned them in one of his above my head. He wrapped his other hand around my waist, pulling me close. It wasn't long before the fight, angst, or even memory of my frustration left me.

"Feeling better?" he asked when my body relaxed against him.

"Well, I'm still frustrated, just in a different way," I said. I let out a sigh and lay back on the bed. "Why is school so hard?"

"A couple reasons. First, they want you to learn a great deal of material. Second, they want you to learn to pick out what's really important. Third, they're testing your dedication to getting a degree; will you stick it out or give up. Fourth…"

"That's more than a couple," I said huffily.

"Fourth, they will make it easier in the next two years. Well, the material is harder, but they're more willing to work with you." He smiled down at me, pulled his hand from my waist and brushed his knuckles down my cheek. "It also teaches you how to think, jump through hoops, and persevere. You're doing fine. Finals are next week, then the wedding, and then you have a couple weeks to relax. It'll be here sooner than you realize."

He was right. The girls spent dead week getting fitted for dresses, cleaning the barn, house and cottage in preparation for the influx of guests, and finalizing details with the caterer. Granted, it was mostly Alice doing the work, since she insisted we had to study and she didn't need to sleep so didn't need our help.

The boys spent the time hunting, fetching things for Alice, picking up people from the airport and keeping Jacob away from Alice so she could see. Carlisle paid for everyone's plane tickets as a wedding present, much to the delight of those coming from across the Atlantic. Jasper took over making sure Jenks had all the legal issues with Marta's immigration handled. He and Edward even went with Jenks, Jacob and Marta to meet with the immigration officer who had to certify that it was a real wedding and not so she could get a green card. They also made sure there weren't any issues with her family getting visas to attend the wedding.

"The guy was actually shaking," Jacob said around his laughter as he told me about the meeting. "Jasper told me the officer was feeling smug so he zapped him with fear just as Jenks was telling the guy what kind of lawsuit he'd be facing if we were turned down. It was the craziest thing ever, because as soon as he agreed, Jasper hit him with this warm, peaceful feeling. Actually, he sent that one to all of us. I swear if anyone else walked in at that moment they would have thought we were all stoned." Everyone busted out laughing, but that could have been because Jasper was still in the room.

Finally the big day arrived. Since Marta was from a staid Catholic family her dress was very conservative, but because Alice was involved it was very beautiful. The style was 1950s retro, and looked as if it was based on the dress in The Sound of Music. Only, Alice added a lace overlay that made the satin underneath almost sparkle like stars when the light hit it just right. The bridesmaids' dresses were exact duplicates of the wedding dress, except tea length with silver bodices and navy skirts.

We all carried white roses, the bride's bouquet trimmed in white and the bridesmaids' in navy and silver. The flowers and ribbons were also woven into the braids we all wore. Alice and Rosalie moved at vampire speed getting us and each other ready until the mothers arrived.

"Oh, you girls came over quite early?" Renee asked as Alice danced over with her dress.

"Yes, they've been here a while so I could focus on the moms," Alice said, then repeated in flawless Spanish to Marta's mother before whisking them away to get ready.

Sitting carefully so as not to wrinkle our dresses, Marta and I took a few minutes to relax. "Are you nervous?" I asked.

She smiled beatifically. "Not in the least. Do you think you will be when it's your and Edward's turn?"

I thought about it for a second before smiling and shaking my head. "Only about tripping on my dress."

We chatted about finals and papers until our mothers appeared. Renee was standing in for Jacob's mother and looked beautiful in her navy dress. Marta's mother was wearing silver. We were all gushing over each other when a timid knock came and Edward poked his head in the door. "Ready ladies?" he asked. The rest of the women answered but I could only gape.

He was wearing a black tux, perfectly cut to his body, with a white shirt and silver tie, and looked like he stepped off the pages of a magazine. Spotting me his eyes widened, and he quickly came over to help me to my feet. "You look lovely," he said as he wrapped his arms around me and barely touched my lips with his.

"Don't muss her," Alice chided, grabbing his arm to yank him away. "I didn't work all that time so you could ruin my masterpiece."

"Oh leave them be," Renee said, in turn tugging on Alice. "I think it's sweet."

"It'll be sweet after the pictures," Alice told her. "Now we need to get you all loaded into the limo." My mother snapped a salute, laughing when Alice stuck her tongue out at her.

Edward let us know that the other guys were going with Jacob to the church, and managed to only scare Marta's mother once with his driving. The mothers decided to embarrass Marta by giving rather personal advice, but I was redder than she was and Edward looked decidedly uncomfortable. His eyes flickered between me and the road repeatedly, but when we pulled up to the church his entire body went stiff as Alice let out a hiss.

Surprised by their reaction I looked to see where they were staring. Marta and I both let out a gasp when we saw Jane and Demetri on the church steps.

You can tell when I'm not as busy at work because the chapter gets written there and posted much earlier! Not sure how long this will last, but plan to take advantage of it.