Disclaimer: I have never claimed to have written the 'Twilight' series, only to have read and enjoyed it.

Author's Note: I think I'm getting my time-line a little confused now. It must be nearly time for the big vampire attack. So, we'll have one more nice chapter, then we'll get ready to fight. I am very excited about that bit!

Rose's car was sat there waiting for us. Edward gave it one short longing look before he held the driver's door open for me, forcing me to ask if he'd driven it before.

He shook his head, "even Emmett isn't allowed to drive Rose's car," he said, "she really is honouring you. Won't you at least drive at the speed limit?"

"I don't want to hurt Rose's car."

"She won't mind at all. She'd be more upset to think that you forced her baby to crawl along at this pace. I wish I could drive."

I giggled, "poor Edward," I said, he frowned.

"I didn't mean that" he said, "I have no right to complain."

Great. Now he was going to start feeling guilty again.

"You can direct," I told him, "where are we going?"

He gave me directions in a monotone voice. He was miserable again. He'd been thinking about his driving ban and how he'd earned it. I wondered if he was going to survive another two months of being grounded.

We drove around for a while before I began to recognise roads. We came to a cross-roads that I thought I remembered, and took a left. The next time we came to the cross-roads we took a right. That was when I realised that we were going around in circles. I turned to Edward and glared at him, "what are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm directing."

"I was expecting you to direct us to somewhere, not around and around. What are you trying to do?"

"Confuse you, so that you don't guess where we're going."

I sighed, "fine," I said, "it's worked. I am confused and I have no idea where we're going. Now, will you tell me how to get there, please?"

Whether it was my request or whether he had already decided that he had confused me enough, I don't know. But, Edward did stop taking us in circles and directed me to the middle of nowhere. He asked me to pull over onto a dirt track and park the car. I did so, slightly surprised. "There's nothing here," I said.

"That's alright, this isn't where we're stopping. We're going to walk the rest of the way."

"Edward, have you seen the shoes that I'm wearing?"

He smirked at me, I guess his sulk was completely over now, sometimes his moods changed so fast they made my head spin. "I suppose that my last statement wasn't quite accurate," he said, "I'm going to walk the rest of the way; you're going to be carried."

"Not wanting to ruin your great plan, but I'm not jumping up on your back in this dress."

He smirked again and, instead of replying, swept me up into his arms bridal-style. Then, he took off at a run. I snuggled my cheek against his chest and wrapped my arms around his neck. This was a nice way of being carried. I looked up to see if Edward was enjoying it too, and saw that he was staring intently at my face.

"Hey!" I shouted, "look where you're going!"

Edward laughed at me and leaned over to kiss me, without slowing down at all.

The kiss had its usual, disorientating effect. I couldn't think of anything and completely forgot my concerns about Edward running into a tree. Completely forgot, that is, until he stopped running and set me down on my feet.

I turned and gave him a perfect glare. "You could have hurt me," I said, "just because you can run through walls, doesn't mean that you should be reckless when I'm with you. Why didn't you look where you were going?"

He grinned again. I don't think that he'd realised how scared I'd been, "I knew where I was going," he said, "I swear that you were never in any danger. I would never run into anything, especially not while I was carrying you. And, I'm not sure that I can run through walls, I think it would depend on the material and the construction method of the wall in question. I'm sure that Emmett would enjoy experimenting for you."

"Considering how eager you are for me to remain human, I would expect you to give my human nature a bit more consideration."

He hung his head, "yes, Bella," he said meekly, "I'm sorry."

He looked up at me through his eyelashes, probably trying to get himself out of trouble again. I smiled, I wasn't really that annoyed, I just wanted to ensure that he looked where he was going next time. I didn't think my heart could take so much excitement.

"Next time you carry me, you will look where you're going, alright?"

"It isn't necessary . . ." he began, but then he changed his mind and said, "yes, Bella," instead.

"You're forgiven." I stood up on tip-toes and gave him a kiss, to prove that he was back in my good graces. He kissed me back with enthusiasm, until I pulled away for a bit of air.

"Come on," I said, "surely you have something to show me? You can't have dragged me all the way out here for nothing."

He smiled shyly, "actually," he admitted, "I've just got to put the finishing touches to something. It's nothing incredible, certainly it's a lot less than you deserve, but I'm hoping that this will please you. Do you mind waiting for just one minute?"

I shook my head and, after one quick peck on the cheek, Edward was gone.

Instantly my phone rang, I laughed and answered it, "hello, Alice."

"I thought that I would help out by distracting you," she said, "if you try and follow Edward to spy on him, you'll wind up lost in the woods."

"I wasn't going to wander off looking for Edward," I said.

Alice laughed, "really? If you say so, Bella."

"So, are you watching us?"

"No, not really. I'm watching to be sure that he gets you home safe and unharmed. I saw that you were arguing about you having got lost in the woods and ruining Edward's surprise, so I thought that I'd call and prevent you wandering off."

"Alright, can you try not to watch us for the next hour or so? I would really appreciate a bit of privacy."

"You're outside, Bella, what are you planning on doing? Well, just keep your clothes on, so that you don't catch cold. I guess that doesn't go for Edward though, you can make him strip if you like."

"Alice!" I was shocked by her suggestion, I had not thought about anything of the sort. I just wanted to have a serious conversation.

She giggled again, "wow," she said, "that has to be a first. You sound really shocked, so those visions must be from Edward's half-formed plans and not yours. That's a bit of a surprise. When my little brother gets back to you, will you tell him from me that he has developed a very dirty mind?"

I laughed, "maybe," I said "I think that I'd be interested to know what his half-formed plans are."

Alice instantly changed the subject. "Oh, while I've got you," she went on, "if you asked then you could persuade Carlisle and Esme to reduce Edward's sentence. But, I'm not sure that you really want to. Charlie would be very upset and it would take him longer to start trusting Edward again."

I frowned, I had been thinking about talking to Edward's parents. Two months seemed like a long time for him to continue to suffer.

"Two months isn't a long time for us," Alice said, spying into my mind. I wondered whether she did that using her knowledge of the future, or merely her knowledge of me, maybe they were the same thing. Maybe knowing other people well was Alice's real gift and it only looked like knowledge of the future because she used her understanding of those she loved to predict where their natures would take them. "He will be alright, I promise. Nobody would make him do this, if we thought that it would really hurt him."

I knew that was true. Edward's family loved him as much as I did, even if they didn't love him in the same way as I did. Jasper had told me how concerned they were about the changes in Edward's behaviour. Carlisle thought that meeting a mate changed vampires forever, and they didn't want Edward to be moody and out-of-control forever. They wanted him nearby, where they could keep an eye on him. And Jasper was determined to help Edward regain control of his emotions. What they were doing with him at the moment seemed cruel, but they really did believe that this was going to help Edward in the long run.

"I know that," I said to Alice, "I just don't like seeing him unhappy."

Alice laughed, "well, be careful," she said, "remember that it's sometimes best for him to be unhappy for a little while. You can't give him everything he wants every time he pouts at you."

"Alright," I said.

"Really, Bella," Alice pressed, "don't agree just because he pouts. It won't turn out well if you do. Oh, there's no point, nothing that I say is going to help. Still, you can't say that I didn't warn you. Bye, Bella, Edward's on his way back to you."

"Bye Alice," just as I hung up the phone, Edward appeared in front of me.

He looked rather proud of himself.

"You have to close your eyes," he said.

I groaned, "you do remember that I hate surprises, right?"

"I remember that you said I could spoil you tonight," he said.

I sighed, but I closed my eyes. I didn't mind that he scooped me up in his arms again. I really liked being carried like this, nuzzled against his chest, breathing in his wonderful sweet scent. Maybe, while he wasn't driving, I should encourage him to carry me around instead. It's not as though he would get tired out.

Gently, Edward set me back down on my feet, standing himself on my right, holding my hand. "You can open your eyes, now," he said cheerfully.

Nervously, I opened them.

What I saw was amazing. We were in our meadow, but it looked completely different. There was a pagoda in the centre, with fairy lights all over the roof. There were more fairy lights in all the trees all around the edges. It was glittering and beautiful, like our own private star system.

"Oh," I gasped out in shock, "it's beautiful."

Edward was thrilled, "you're happy?" he checked.

"Yes, Edward, I'm happy."

He let go of my hand – which didn't seem like an improvement – then he skipped (yes, it surprised me too, but he really did) over to the pagoda and pressed some buttons, causing music to play softly.

"I didn't think that you would appreciate live music," he explained, "since it would require musicians, and I know that you like privacy."

I smiled and nodded. The music sounded perfect to me, it was a gentle waltz.

Edward took me by the waist and the hand and pulled me into a flawless dance. I had already discovered that it was easy to be graceful when dancing with Edward. In fact, though I wasn't ready to admit it to him yet, dancing with Edward was pretty fantastic. I loved it when he held me so close and I loved the feeling of being graceful, which I only got when I danced with Edward. We span around and around, it was so easy and smooth, it was like being another person, not my usual clumsy self.

"You're beautiful," he whispered as we danced around, "I love you."

"I love you too," I whispered back, "this was a wonderful surprise."

He leant over and kissed my throat, making me sigh with pleasure.

"Thank you so much," he said, "for enjoying this evening and letting me make a little bit of a fuss of you."

I laughed. Poor Edward, I had really been cruel to him in refusing to accept gifts or expensive dates. He was absurdly grateful to me for allowing him to take me out.

"I ought to be thanking you," I said.

"Please don't," Edward whispered softly, "I can't accept thanks for doing something that I enjoy this much. Thank you for letting me dance with you."

I interrupted him with a kiss. All of this thanking each other was getting ridiculous. Edward took my hint and shut up. He danced me around, twirled me and dipped me. We danced all the way through three songs, then I began to get tired. Edward noticed my feet dragging and me leaning on him a little more, and he brought the dancing to a close.

"You're tired," he said, "we should sit."

He carried me into the pagoda, which I realised for the first time was piled with cushions and blankets. They were golden and purple, giving a rich sumptuous feel. They were soft and wonderful, Edward arranged them into a nest and settled us down together, cuddled up under a carefully arranged blanket.

"Are you comfortable?" he asked.

"Of course I am, this is lovely. You've thought of everything."

He stretched out in his cat-like way of showing his delight. "I try to please you," he said.

"Will it ruin the moment if I start our serious talk now?"

He tightened his grip on me slightly, "I am, as always, at your disposal," he said softly.

I giggled, "this isn't a bad talk," I said.

"I'm not getting scolded?"

I twisted around to look him in the eye, "have you done something for which I ought to be scolding you?"

"Not intentionally," he said.

He was so adorable right then: looking sweet and loving and vulnerable. I couldn't really understand what had happened to Edward over the last eight months, how he had become so soft and vulnerable, but I liked it. I liked him being more open with his feelings. I liked knowing that he cared about me. It wasn't that I wanted to hurt him, but knowing that I could hurt him was comforting, it meant that I really mattered. I kissed him on the forehead and enjoyed seeing him smile. That was even better than knowing that I could hurt him: knowing that I could make him superlatively happy.

"You said the other day that I was due another training session, is that what this is about?"

I shook my head, "stop guessing. I'll tell you. I want to talk about our sex life," I said, figuring that it would be best if I just blurted it out. At least then we could be embarrassed together and I wouldn't have to bear it alone.

I blushed bright red right away of course, and Edward looked at me rather quizzically. "Do we have one?" he asked.

"You said that you wanted to marry me. Sex is usually a part of marriage."

"That is true. It is also true that you said you wanted to become a vampire. I would never consider consummating the marriage unless you were a lot less fragile."

"You're reconciled to the idea of my change, then?"

"Not at all. I only said that I wouldn't consider making love to you right now, not that I was looking forward to seeing you lose your soul."

I snorted and he looked a little bit hurt. "Well, stop being so silly," I told him, "we both know that you're not absolutely certain that you don't have a soul. Remember that you thought you were in heaven when I pushed you over in Italy?"

"I may have a tiny sliver of uncertainty about the matter," he admitted slowly, "but that really isn't worth gambling your soul. The most likely situation is that I am eternally damned. You can't really be suggesting that I should risk your salvation on the off-chance."

I frowned, "you think that Carlisle is damned?" I asked him, irritated now, "and Esme and Alice? Is that really what you think?"

He looked desperately sad and, suddenly, very, very old, I thought that I could see every one of his 103 years on his face, "yes," he said extremely quietly, "and I cannot wish that on you. I'm sorry."

This wasn't really what I wanted to talk about, of course. We'd had enough conversations about my soul to last me a lifetime (possibly enough to last me eternity). I wanted to talk about sex and here I was distracted into yet another deep and meaningful discussion of my change. I shook my head to clear it and signal a change of subject.

"That isn't the point," I said, "the point is that we have a relationship and you want to take it further and I want to take it further. You think that we should get married and I'm not comfortable marrying someone whom I've never even seen naked."

There was a pause. Edward seemed lost for words.

Thinking about it, that last sentence hadn't exactly come out the way in which I intended it to. Still, that was partly his fault. He hadn't been helping the conversation along.

Finally, he spoke, "would you marry me if I took my clothes off?" he kept his voice steady, sounding a note of polite enquiry. But his eyes were laughing at me.

That was annoying. I'd intended to have a sensible, mature and loving discussion about this, and he was laughing at me. He could see that I was bright red and struggling to talk and he thought it was funny. I was mad. So, I decided to call his bluff.

"Yes," I said, smirking.

I thought that he would be embarrassed in return. I thought that he would drop his head and look up through his lashes in that adorable way of his.

That isn't what he did.

In a flash he was stood in front of me, completely naked and grinning from ear to ear.

He moved so fast that it was scary. I knew that vampires were fast, but this was bizarre.

The grin was also slightly confusing. I mean, obviously he'd won a bit of a point. But, he was the one standing in the middle of a forest, wearing nothing at all. What was he grinning about?

"I've brought the ring," he said, "will you wear it? No, wait," Edward back-pedalling, this was new, "let me ask you again, properly."

He dropped to one knee and a ring appeared in his hand.

"Isabella Marie Swan, I love you and I would do anything for you. I already belong to you entirely. Will you do me the immeasurable honour of making my tie to you official? Will you consent to have me as your husband?"

Ah, that explained the grin. I had thought that I was winning a point. He thought that I was agreeing to marry him.

He wanted me to marry him so badly that he would do literally anything I asked. He hadn't even thought twice about stripping for me. Usually, he was so shy and so careful to keep propriety and boundaries intact. But, he saw a chance at my accepting his proposal and he took it.

Wow. He must really love me.

I certainly loved him.

It was a very sweet proposal: half traditional and half absurd. Romantic and silly. Ancient and childish. The old-fashioned words, down on one knee, in our meadow, surrounded by sparkling lights, with Edward's naked skin glittering. It was so clean and it was so, well, dirty at the same time.

"Yes", the word was out of my mouth before I had absolutely decided upon saying it.

"Thank you," he looked so gloriously happy. It was a very nice feeling, making someone I loved so much so very, very happy. Maybe that's why girls accept proposals. To be so wanted, it's very flattering. How can anyone resist such desire?

"I don't want to push my luck," he said, in his little boy voice, "do you want to look at the ring? Will you wear it, just to check it fits?"

"I'm not ready to wear an engagement ring, Edward."

"Sorry," he snapped the box shut, "I should have guessed that."

"I'll try it on," I said, feeling a little guilty. This was his big moment and I was ruining it. "If you would like me to, I'll try the ring on. I just don't want to walk around wearing it, yet. Let's get through the whole 'we're all going to die a horrible death at the hands of an army of newborn vampires' thing out of the way before we give ourselves an engagement to worry about."

His face lit up again, "may I?" he asked, and his eyes were filled with longing. Who would have thought that any guy could ever be so desperate to get a ring on his girlfriend's finger?

I nodded, because it was nice to make him happy. I let him slip the ring onto my finger. To be honest, I was glad that he did it, I wasn't quite sure which finger was supposed to hold an engagement ring. Turns out you wear it on the same finger as a wedding ring, which makes sense.

He stared at my hand rapturously, and I risked a quick glance, only to wish that I hadn't. The stone was huge. It was glittery and expensive looking. Seeing it on my hand was terrifying. I slid it off and passed it back to Edward. He gave it a quick glance (perhaps it was a longing look at vampire speed) before he shut it back in its box and put it away.

"How much did that thing cost you?" I gasped, again without really thinking.

He winced, "it was my mother's" he said, "I thought that you would appreciate something of more sentimental than cash value. But, I can get another if you would prefer."

"Your mother's?" I was surprised. I was sure that he couldn't have much that belonged to his mother. After all this time, and after all the moving around he had done, how could he have kept much? "You've kept your mother's ring all this time, and now you want to just give it away?"

"To you," he said softly, "I would like very much to give it to you."