Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of the characters.

A/N: Thanks to katmom and Angelinia, who beta this story.

Chapter Thirty-One

The Proposal

Edward was really a mess after everything that happened. He didn't like the fact that things kept on coming up, not has they had in the book, but yet he still felt as if things where set against him. He was wondering if some kind of Southern army of Newborns weren't going to come after them for some reason. That seemed like the next likely thing to happen if things were going to follow a certain pattern. However, he couldn't count on that. He had to be prepared for everything... for something that he couldn't foresee coming. There were millions of dangers that could come their way and he shouldn't limit his thoughts like this.

"Edward... I'm okay..." Bella said and it seemed like something that she would say so much in this moment that Edward almost believed she had woken up and noticed his expression. But she was still sleeping, probably dreaming of him worrying over her. He had been so protective of her for the week since Garrett's unannounced visit that she had to say these words at least ten times a day. He could tell she was getting tired of all this but she didn't say anything, she just let him worry in peace and he was thankful for that.

When she slept was always the worst for him now, for he couldn't block his thoughts when he didn't have to try so much not to show exactly how worried he was. It was now midway through February and they had until September, another seven months until they wanted Bella to become a vampire. Normally that time would seem like a blink of an eye to him... nothing to worry about. But now, he was anxious for each day to end so that she could become as unbreakable as he was and there would be many things that he wouldn't have to worry about anymore.

Part of him wished that he could just turn Bella into a vampire now so she could be safe, but this wouldn't work. There was too much that they would lose if he were to do that, and even the thought of trying to have a baby now and losing all hope that it would be the little girl that they had read about was unbearable. So that's what he had been stuck on for the last three nights, wishing Bella could be invincible... needing her to stay human.

"Edward," Bella said, and this time he knew she was awake. He looked at her and her eyebrows where furrowed and she was looking at him with concern. "What's the matter? What have you been thinking about?"

"About what's going to be coming at us next," Edward answered truthfully. "I'm terrified that something is going to happen to you."

"I know," Bella sighed. "But you have to relax..."

"As soon as I relax something terrible is going to happen," Edward shook his head. "Bella I left you for one day to go hunting and all this chaos happened. How am I supposed to relax when I know something else is going to happen?"

"You don't know that," Bella said.

"But I do, I can feel it," Edward said.

"Because you're so tense right now," Bella rolled her eyes. "Besides, not everything that happened in the books was bad. Maybe something good is going to come our way next. You don't know."

"I suppose," Edward said unconvinced.

"Edward I don't want to be worried about what if's for the rest of my human life," Bella sighed. "I promise that I will do whatever you think is best to keep me safe, but you have to promise me that you'll stop moping around all the time."

"I don't know if I can do that, but I'll try," Edward said smiling at her.

"Well good," Bella said and then she got out of bed, "and now it's time for me to get ready for the day."

O

"I just thought of something that you could do about that," Esme said. Edward and Bella were at the Cullens' house and Edward was in the dining room. Bella was in the living room talking to Alice.

"Really," Edward said, looking at Esme with a raised eyebrow, for she was trying her hardest not to think about whatever it was that she was going to say.

Esme smiled at him. "And it's something you can do a lot better than you did in the book!"

"Okay?" Edward said still trying to figure out what she was thinking about as she beamed at him.

"You can propose to Bella!" Esme practically squealed and then she said in a slightly sterner voice. "And you do it properly this time!"

"I'm not sure..." Edward started to say, he was much too worried to actually think of coming up with something.

"Come on, Edward, she said you can ask her now... and it will give you something positive to think about," Esme said. "I know you've been worried since the accident and what happened with Garrett has got you even tenser than ever."

"Well, why shouldn't I be tense? I know something else is going to come..." Edward started to say.

"No, you don't, Edward," Esme said trying to be firm but her voice shook and Edward could tell that she was worried about that too.

"Yes, I do... I can feel it!" Edward said letting more of his worry show than he normally would, especially to Esme (knowing how much she liked to worry herself), but he had been trying to control this so much in front of Bella that he needed to show his feeling right now.

"And this is exactly the reason why you should propose to Bella... take some time to think of the right way to do it," Esme said. "Edward, if there is something coming then it's going to come whether you think about it or not... why not spend the time in between happy?"

Edward didn't say anything. He didn't know what to say to that.

Just think about it, okay? Esme thought as they rejoined Bella and Alice in the living room. The first thing he saw when he walked into the room was his Bella laughing sweetly and he couldn't help thinking about what Esme had just said to him. He knew that his mind must have been firm in that second for he saw the beginning of a vision from Alice, though his sister had shut him out almost immediately.

"Alice... Are you okay?" Bella questioned, realizing that she had a vision, and obviously worried about whatever it was that she saw.

"Oh, I'm better than all right," Alice beamed at her and though Bella was a little afraid of what the smile meant, she knew it had to be good news at the very least. At least you're going to do things the proper way this time, Edward. I'm so excited!

"Whatever," Edward said in a low voice that Bella didn't have a hope of hearing, though judging by her expression, she realized the two of them were talking. "I haven't made up my mind yet..."

Sure you haven't Edward, Alice thought, That's why you're trying to figure out what I saw right now!

Edward scowled at that, knowing she had a point but he still wasn't sure when he had decided to do this. Of course the truth was he'd been wanting to do this since he meet his Bella in person.

That really didn't take a long time, I knew you wanted to do this, Esme thought smugly and then started a conversation with Bella.

O

Edward had been going over what he should do for the last five days. He would spend so much of his time thinking about the proper way to propose to Bella that his fear took a back seat. Of course it was still there; he wasn't sure if it was ever going to go away even when she was a vampire like him, but at least the fear was more manageable now. Every day at lunch he would try to see if Alice would give him any more details of how he was actually going to do this, but his sister was keeping him completely blocked. A smug expression on her face as she would always think, sorry, Edward, you have to do this on your own.

He would always frown at this thought as Alice would go back to translating some kind of song or something like that. Why couldn't she just show him? It's not like it wouldn't have been his thoughts for the start, he just wouldn't have to spend all this time coming up with this in the first place. But finally on Friday morning he thought of something that he knew was the right thing (not only because Alice was beaming at him during lunch) but because he could feel that it was the right way to doing this.

"Edward, are you all right?" Bella asked as they walked towards the Volvo after school had let out.

"I'm fine," Edward said smiling at her and Bella lost all conscious thought as she struggled to remember how to breathe.

"I'm never going to get used to that," Bella sighed when he looked away and she could breathe normally again.

"And I never want you to," Edward chuckled.

Bella smiled too, but she was looking back at Edward and she was sure that he was lying about being okay. She had noticed this whole week that he had been acting oddly and not in the way he had been acting before this. He wasn't overprotective and worried about her safety. It was something else that he seemed to be worrying about. She tried to ask Alice about this, but Edward, of course, had always been by her side so it was impossible and anytime she would ask Edward he would say that he was fine.

"Do you mind if we go out tonight?" Edward asked in what he hoped to be a casual voice.

"That's fine," Bella answered, as she looked at Edward suspiciously.

Edward sighed, realizing that she was onto him... or at least he knew that she knew he was up to something. But he wasn't about let that stop him.

"So where are we going?" Bella questioned.

"I thought we would go to La Bella Italia first," Edward said smiling.

"Okay," Bella said looking at him more suspiciously than ever, trying to think of what he was up to.

"Just relax, Bella," Edward chuckled and she smiled at him, knowing that she was caught as much as he was.

After calling Charlie to tell him that she was going out and that his dinner was leftover lasagna, and telling him how to heat it, she and Edward made their way to Port Angeles. Edward was obviously nervous the whole drive down for he didn't talk much and instead of their normal comfortable silences, the car ride was filled with tension. Bella was starting to get worried about what he was going to say by the time they got to the restaurant.

Edward was starting to wish that he had chosen to do this differently, when he noticed how nervous Bella had gotten. He also wished that he could just ask her now so that the tension he was feeling would vanish, but he knew that she wouldn't enjoy a public proposal and he really didn't want that either. He didn't understand why he was this nervous. He knew what her answer was going to be. He knew that he was going to do this in a way that he wouldn't be ashamed to tell his child when she asked. But he couldn't help but wonder how Bella was going to feel about this. He was sure she was going to say yes... but he wasn't sure she was going to be excited about this.

Still, as they walked into the restaurant he took a deep breath and made sure that he was going to act as normally as he possibly could during this dinner. And that's what he did, and he was glad to see that the worry in Bella's eyes slowly slipped away as her meal came (some revolting smelling dish that she said was really good).

"So what else do you have planned tonight?" Bella questioned after her meal was finished.

"What makes you think I have anything else planned?" Edward questioned.

"Because you said we would be going here first," Bella shrugged.

"Did anyone ever tell you that you were too observant for you own good?" Edward said sternly, but the amusement in his eyes made her smile at him.

"I think I've heard that, or maybe read it somewhere," she chuckled.

"The next place I'm going to take you is a surprise," Edward said and Bella sighed. He chuckled as he said, "I know you don't like surprises but I promise you'll like this."

"Okay," Bella said. It was only a short time after that that they were leaving the restaurant and Edward was driving them in a direction Bella had never been before. The drive didn't last long, it seemed to take barely five minutes before they were getting out and Edward was telling her that they would be running the rest of the way.

"Okay, close your eyes Bella," Edward said as he slowed down and she did was she was told. She could feel him lay her down on a blanket and knew he sat next to her. "Okay, open your eyes."

When she did, she found she was looking at a small pond with fire flies moving along the water making small patterns. They were so bright that they lit up the pond's surroundings and she could see the violet flowers that bloomed around the pond.

"It's beautiful," Bella smiled at him.

Edward smiled, definitely pleased about that, and then he looked up and she followed his movements.

"It's a clear night!" Bella said smiling even more than before. This was only the third night that she was able to see the stars during her stay in Forks. She loved the stars, the constellations and though she loved seeing the full moon she was happy that it was only a sliver tonight because it made the stars brighter.

"Yes, I thought you might like this," Edward smiled again. "I know that you said that you enjoyed looking at the stars in Phoenix, but I think you have to admit that on nights like this, it's better to be here."

"Definitely," Bella smiled. "Though I have gone into the desert a few times because my mom wanted to see the meteor showers and that was amazing."

"Hm," Edward sighed.

"Thank you, Edward, for bringing me here," Bella smiled at him.

Edward didn't answer her; he just looked at her intently. Now was the moment, he was going to have to ask her now. The nerves that he had pushed aside during dinner came back to him tenfold as he tried to form the words. Bella's eyebrows furrowed together and she lifted one of her hands and touched his cheeks in a soothing way and Edward closed his eyes to enjoy the contact. He enjoyed this touch for a moment, letting it fill him with courage. That she would know that he was worried and wordlessly comfort him filled his heart was joy and love. Every day he was surprised to find that he was filled with more and more love for this beautiful woman in front of him.

"Bella," he started softly, his intense golden eyes boring into her and he could practically feel her heartbeat speed up (he could definitely hear it). "The moment that I heard about you my life started. I was able to see a future for myself that was beyond just existing. The moment that I first saw you, I felt as if my heart had started beating again after nearly ninety years of being dormant. The moment that I learned that you already knew my secret, that you knew it and still accepted me for what I was, I knew the future I envisioned for us would come true..."

Bella's eyes widened at this; her heart was pounding in her chest and tears were coming to her eyes. She realized, of course, what was coming next and she felt as if her heart was going to beat out of her chest.

"Bella," Edward said, getting on one knee, though because she was lying down he was looking down not up at her, his mother's ring in his hand. "You are the woman I've been looking for my whole life. You are the reason why I can believe there is a point to my continual existence on this earth, you are the one that makes me believe that I'm not the monster that I've always feared I was, because I can't see how else I could ever had deserved someone as beautiful, truly beautiful as you are."

Edward took a deep breath and still looking straight into Bella's eyes he said, "Isabella Marie Swan, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

Bella couldn't answer right way, as she was reeling from everything that Edward had just said to her. Tears were now falling freely down her cheek as she looked into his sincere eyes. She continued not saying anything until she felt Edward's anxiousness; his eyes were starting to look panicked. She placed her hands on either side of his face and he instantly relaxed as she gave him a weak smile.

"Edward, I might not have lived as long as you or had to go through as much to get to this point, but the moment that you walked into my life I've known what I wanted," Bella said, trying to keep her voice from quivering from the overwhelming emotions she was feeling in this moment. "I never thought I would be this happy hearing those words coming from you... of course I'd love to be your wife..."

She didn't get any further than that because Edward captured her mouth in a searing kiss. She could feel his relief, love, excitement, lust and every other emotion he was feeling, and she knew her feelings were just the same as his...

It was a long time later that they finally broke apart and Bella leaned on Edward's chest looking up at the stars. She could feel Edward's hand playing with the ring that was now on her finger. He had agreed that she didn't have to wear it until after school had finished. She really didn't want all the gawking that she would get by the others, but he had given her a chain so she could wear it as a necklace until that time. At the moment though, she knew that he loved the fact that she was wearing it, that while they were by this pond, looking up at the stars, that they were happily engaged and they didn't have to worry about anything but themselves.

A/N: Okay, I hope that went off well. I don't really know how to do things like this very well. I was planning on adding the graduation at the end, but I felt that would have ruined the atmosphere of this chapter, so I'll just have to start the next chapter there. And another thing that I had to say is that I sort of implied that Alice was going to make an even better wedding than the one in the book, but I have no idea how to do that. This won't be for another few chapters, but if anyone has suggestions for that I would be happy to hear any. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I think the next one should be exciting.