A/N: I discovered with my last chapter that FanFiction won't let me put full links in my stories. So, if you want to see more details of Bella's and Angela's prom looks the way I pictured them, for each of the web addresses below you just need to copy and paste them to a new window, then add in the "." wherever there is a space (and take the space out) and they should all work. Also, the song will be explained within the chapter.
Angela's dress: promgirl com/shop/dresses/viewitem-PD2341563
Angela's hair: pin it/6jp6MNW
I made up Bella's dress from several different ideas, so I don't have a link for that one. Here's the description I gave in Ch 32: It was a deep crimson satin A-line dress with narrow straps. The satin was flowy and silky, so even though it had a slight flare, it hung close to my body and accentuated my curves without being skin-tight or clingy. The bodice was a faux wrap that was gathered on the left side and fanned out going across the front. What I loved most though were the gold crystals all over the bodice that tapered off as they continued down onto the skirt, like stardust falling from the sky. The color against my skin was so pretty, cream and roses.
Bella's hair: therighthairstyles com/half-updos/11/
Bella's hair clip: bigamart com/product/yheakne-rhinestone-wedding-hair-clip-barrette-gold-crystal-hair-barrette-shine-bride-headpieces-decorative-headwear-crystal-hair-clip-comb-bridal-hair-accessories-for-women-and-girls-gold/
Bella's necklace (gold instead of silver, and instead of gems it has crystals encrusted on those stars): bernierobbins com/product/3890/White-Gold-Diamond-Star-Necklace
Bella's earrings: curtsyapp com/item/cute-drop-dangle-multi-star-stud-earrings/LEzmg8gmNi
Song ("You Pulled Me Through" by Jennifer Hudson): open spotify com/track/3nao0o1vuLEgqLfVy5UEul?si=b658eec3c1424c5e
Happy reading!
As always, the world and characters are not mine and belong to Stephenie Meyers.
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CHAPTER 46
~~BELLA POV~~
SATURDAY MORNING ARRIVED and I smiled at the pale sunshine filtering through my window. Even though Jake hadn't been near overnight, I felt well rested. Perhaps staying together the previous night had helped.
You awake, baby?
My heart leapt with excitement in my chest at Jake's words in my head and my smile grew. I hadn't even had a chance to sit up yet.
Yeah, I just woke up a couple minutes ago.
I thought so. What're your plans for the day?
I ran through what I hoped to get done before going to Angela's. Jake sounded so much more like himself, without any of the tension from the night before coming through. Hopefully whatever had been on his mind had gotten worked out.
Once we'd said our goodbyes, I rolled out of bed and pulled on some yoga pants and a t-shirt and threw my hair up in messy bun. After a few hours of cleaning and laundry I had a quick lunch, showered, then headed over to Angela's house, backpack and Prom attire in tow. We were going to spend the rest of the day together, studying and then getting ready for the dance.
"Are you excited for tonight?" Angela asked as we were getting settled at her dining room table with our books.
"I'm not sure how I feel. Part of me keeps asking what in the world I was thinking and wants to run for the hills. But I think I'm also excited. Now that I apparently don't have to worry about my klutziness, there isn't as much to be concerned about at least."
"Well, I'm definitely excited! I can't wait to see Embry in his tux. He's gonna look so hot."
I laughed at Angela's declaration. "You know, I don't think that had even crossed my mind, I've been so worried about the actual dancing part."
She gave me a sly grin. "You're thinking about it now though, aren't you?"
I returned her mischievous smile. "So hot…" I swooned with my hand on my forehead and fanned myself with a notebook. We both burst out laughing.
"Why are you still so worried about the dancing part? From what you told me of Jake's little experiment last weekend, the dancing is going to be effortless for you now."
"Whether or not I can do it is not the issue… it's how uncomfortable I'll feel. I have been avoiding anything remotely athletic my entire life, so it's not easy convincing my brain that all the sudden it's all good."
"Maybe tonight will be a good chance for you to try to get past that. Either way, I'm just so happy that you're actually going!"
We shifted our focus to studying for the next few hours. I had finally been able to get caught up in all of my classes, so the next couple weeks I just had to focus on finishing up the last few big assignments and studying for finals. When Emily showed up several hours later, that was our signal to switch gears and start getting ready. She was in charge of getting me ready, and Mrs. Weber was helping Angela.
Emily didn't go nearly as crazy as Alice did last year, but she used a lot of stuff on my face before she even touched any make-up. Once my face was done, she moved on to my hair. She pulled back the sides in loose braids, meeting at the back of my head with a pretty gold and jewel hair clip. The rest of my hair was loosely curled and hung down my back in wavy tendrils.
Angela's hair also had the sides in loose braids, but all of her hair was then pulled up into a bun, secured low on the back of her head.
Dress and shoes on, I pulled out the jewelry that Alice had bought for me. I hadn't really taken a good look at them before but they, of course, went perfectly with my dress. The golden earrings had stars that dotted over my earlobes but attached to the back of each earring was a waterfall of stars, each one dangling at the end of different lengths of chain. The gold necklace had six stars of different sizes linked together in a random pattern and hung from a delicate chain. Two of the stars had clear crystals encrusted all over them and the necklace hung just a couple inches above the neckline of my dress.
Looking at myself in the mirror with the gold crystals on my dress and the gold stars and crystals on the jewelry, I was suddenly struck with the realization that all of it reminded me of the shimmering golden light of our magic.
Emily came up and stood behind me, looking at my reflection over my shoulder and smiled.
"You look stunning Bella. Jake isn't going to know what to do with himself."
"Thanks," I said, returning her smile. "I was just thinking about how much this all reminds me of our magic."
"Yes, I had the same thought. The connections that I can see between you and Jake are made up of the same golden light. I wish I could show you a glimpse of it."
Mrs. Weber peeked her head around the corner of the open door. "Bella, your dad is here. Would you like for me to bring him up to see you?"
"Oh, yes, thank you Mrs. Weber."
Emily excused herself and left the room as well. Angela was insisting that we make an entrance by walking down the stairs individually after the guys had arrived, so I had to stay upstairs until then. Not something that I would have agreed to a couple weeks ago but figured I could probably handle it without hurting myself now that I was more sure-footed. It was definitely something that Alice would approve of.
I was kinda sad that she couldn't be here today, but she was adamant that she shouldn't be. "I want the night to be as perfect for the four of you as possible," she had told me on Tuesday. "Even though they would understand, my scent could possibly be an irritant to both Jake and Embry for the whole night. And I don't want that. Just make sure to take plenty of pictures."
"Wow Bells!" I turned to find Charlie standing in the doorway, his hands in his pockets and a gentle smile gracing his face. "You look beautiful… and so grown up. I hardly recognized you."
"Thanks Dad," I said, my cheeks getting hot. Was it my imagination, or was he was looking at me differently? I couldn't figure out what the look on his face meant. Maybe it was just because I was all dressed up, but I felt like there was something more to it. It was like he wanted to say something else to me.
"Everything alright, Dad?"
Before he had a chance to respond, we heard the guys arriving downstairs. Butterflies suddenly took flight in my stomach and my cheeks flushed even more. Angela ran into the room, a little breathless.
"Hi Chief Swan," she said to Charlie then looked at me. "You ready?"
I nodded and looked at Charlie again.
He gave me another small smile. "It's nothing Bells. You really do look amazing sweetie." We had a moment of awkward silence then Charlie pointed back out the door. "I'll just head back downstairs. Don't want to mess up your grand entrance." He raised his eyebrows at me, knowing there was no way that was my idea.
A few minutes later, Angela was descending the stairs, leaving me upstairs fretting by myself. I waited the instructed amount of time, took a deep breath, and started for the stairs, feeling so silly and self-conscious. Why in the world had I agreed to any of this?! Even without being so klutzy, I just knew I'd find a way to make a fool of myself.
As I got a few steps down the stairs I started scanning all the smiling faces at the bottom; Mr. & Mrs. Weber, Charlie, Sam and Emily (he was grinning like a proud big brother… he must have come with Jake and Embry), and Angela and Embry. A camera flash went off just as my eyes finally came to rest on Jake. Suddenly there wasn't anyone else there and it was just me and Jake.
His black tux was pretty standard with a low-cut vest and white shirt, but he wore no tie, and the top two buttons of his shirt were left undone. It all fit him flawlessly and showed off his strong, lean, muscular build. His silky black hair hung free around his face, barely brushing the tops of his shoulders. 'Hot' didn't even begin to describe how fantastic he looked. I couldn't really think of a word that accurately described Jake with is deep eyes and strong jaw and the way confidence and power radiated from every inch of him, but it stole my breath away.
The look of absolute adoration on his face as he watched me step after step made the butterflies in my stomach go mad and my already pounding heart skipped irregularly in my chest. I could hardly believe that this was my reality… that he was mine.
I took Jake's outstretched hand as I reached the bottom few steps, never looking away from his face. His eyes slid over me, sparks flashing in their depths, before coming back to hold my gaze.
"Bella, I… you look… I mean, you're just…" he paused his stumbling words, pressed his lips together for a moment and cleared his throat. "Gorgeous. You look absolutely, breathtakingly gorgeous."
"Thanks," I said softly as I stepped a little closer and placed my hand on his chest. "I can say the same about you." I tugged gently on the collar of his shirt. "I like the no tie look. It suits you." Then I saw what was around his neck and I froze. Resting against his collarbone was a beaded necklace. I lightly traced my finger over the alternating white cylindrical beads and dark brown round beads and my throat constricted.
"You remember it?" he asked.
I nodded and whispered, "Of course I remember it."
The memory of the little shop in California that Renee had taken me to flooded my mind. I had taken forever to look at all the loose beads available before I'd decided which ones to get, then fretted over the pattern I wanted to make so I was sure to get the right amount of each bead… two cylinders and a round repeated across the length of the necklace. It was the first gift I'd ever bought with my own money that I'd earned from babysitting… and it was the last gift that I'd given Jake before I'd run away from him.
Jake gently brushed his thumb at the corner of my eye, pulling me from the memory, and I realized my eyes were burning, a few unshed tears hanging at the corners. I sucked in a breath to get control of my emotions and dabbed the tears away so I didn't mess up all the hard work Emily had put into my eye makeup. Then a short laugh bubbled up from my throat.
"I can't believe it still fits you," I exclaimed softly.
"I had to extend it in the back with an extra strip of leather. I wore it all the time after you gave it to me, until I outgrew it. I would have started wearing it again sooner, but I didn't want to risk destroying it when I phased. Hopefully there will be no phasing tonight."
Both of us smiling, he gently brushed his fingers down my cheek, and brought his hand to rest against my neck. Continuing to hold each other's gaze, we were still oblivious to anything going on around us.
A hand gently touched my shoulder, finally drawing my gaze reluctantly away from Jake. I turned my head to find Emily standing next to me smiling.
"Earth to Jake and Bella," Embry was saying, and I saw Angela elbow him in the side, both of them laughing softly.
"Mrs. Weber wants to get some pictures of you guys," Emily said as she pressed a tissue into my hand.
I dabbed the rest of the moisture from my eyes as we headed into their living room. We spent a good twenty minutes posing while Mrs. Weber took a ton of pictures; the four of us together, each couple, just the girls, just the guys, with Charlie, the four of us with Sam and Emily… just about every combination you could imagine. Alice would be pleased, but my cheeks hurt when we were done.
When it was finally time to leave, everyone followed us outside. A damp chill hung in the air, but it thankfully wasn't raining. Mr. Weber was graciously letting us use his nice white Escalade SUV and we all climbed in, waving as we drove away.
When we reached the school, before we had a chance to head inside Jake stopped us.
"Hold on a minute," he said, leading us to the edge of the parking lot by the trees. "Someone's here to see the girls."
"Alice!" I exclaimed when I saw her standing at the edge of the trees and a huge smile broke across my face. I had to stop myself from running to give her a hug.
"Bella, Angela, you both look amazing… all of you look fantastic," she called to us, a matching grin on her face.
Jake lifted our joined hands, inviting me to do a turn. I hesitated but went ahead and turned in a slow circle under his arm. Alice clapped joyfully and hopped up and down a few times.
She said something else more quietly and I couldn't hear her, but then Jake nodded his head toward her and said, "You're welcome," so I figured she probably thanked him.
"Did you do this?" I asked him.
He nodded. "I knew how bummed you were that she wasn't going to be there to help you get ready. I tried to get her to just go be with you, but she refused. So, I thought this would be a nice compromise."
I reached up on my tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you, Jake. This was very thoughtful."
"You guys better get going," Alice called. "Have fun!"
We waved to her and then headed toward the school.
When we first got inside, we drew a lot of attention. Most everyone was pretty used to seeing Jake around, but now there were two giant men, so it seemed to rekindle everyone's interest. Thankfully Angela had the foresight to let Ben know that she was dating someone new, so he wouldn't be blindsided by it, but there was mild surprise on his face when he saw Embry.
Jessica hurried over to us with Mike trailing behind. They were apparently back together… again. He didn't look thrilled, eyeing Jake a little, looking like he still disapproved. I sighed inwardly… maybe he would always disapprove of anyone that wasn't him.
At first, I was very hesitant to dance at all, still fighting my old fears. As the first slow song played, Jake took my hand and led me onto the dance floor, my stomach doing flips and my palms clammy.
He pulled me in close against him and placed his finger under my chin to tip my head back, making me look at him. "It's just me and you. Forget about everyone else."
I nodded and held his gaze as we slowly began to sway and turn with the music. Jake never looked away from me and soon I had forgotten all about the gymnasium full of students and we were back in my living room, just the two of us.
After that, I quickly became comfortable with the slow songs, loving to be in Jake's arms. Ever so gradually I became more and more relaxed about fast dancing with Angela and Jessica and a few other girls Jessica had pulled in, but I didn't know very well. Realizing just how easily I was able to control my body now, I watched the dance moves that the others did and copied some of the movements, slowly discovering what I liked. Jake and Embry stood back and watched at first, rapt looks on their faces. It didn't take them long to join in though, and, not surprisingly, they both moved with an almost unnatural fluid grace.
Since Jake had started helping me rebuild my music collection, I had begun listening to music all the time again. Angela had also joined in on the effort, and between the two of them I now had over 30 CD's in my music library… both old and new albums from a wide variety of genres. Recently, I had heard a new song that made me think of everything Jake had done for me and what he meant to me. I had hoped that they would play it tonight, but as the evening went on, I was starting to think they may not. I finally worked up the nerve and headed over to see if the DJ had the song and would be willing to play it.
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~~JACOB POV~~
I WATCHED AS BELLA walked toward me, coming from the DJ booth. She had amazed me over and over again all night at how differently she moved. Throughout the evening she had become more and more confident and adventurous in her dancing, really starting to embrace the change she had gone through.
When she reached me at the edge of the dance floor, I took her in my arms and kissed her forehead, starting to move with the slow music again. Something had shifted between us tonight, further strengthening our already strong bonds. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but I wondered if it had something to do with her growing confidence.
The next song started, and Bella spoke to me through our mental link.
I requested this song. It makes me think of you and what you did for me and what you mean to me Jake. I don't know where I would be without you, but it wouldn't be where I was supposed to be. You brought me out of my darkness, and through you I have become the person I was born to be. Thank you for everything you have done for me.
Pulling her more tightly against me, I listened closely to the song just as the lyrics started. I vaguely remembered hearing it recently on the radio and I thought it was a new one by Jennifer Hudson. I swayed with Bella and caressed her face, holding her gaze as I continued to listen and we moved together.
I was in the darkness
I was out in the cold
Seemed nothing could heal this
This hole in my soul
You reached out your arms to me
Held out your heart to me
Pulled me back from the edge
Thought I'd reached the end.
When I was drowning
When I was so confused
You, you, You pulled me through
I was in the shadows
Lost, nothing left to lose.
You, you, You pulled me through
You gave my faith back
Faith was so hard to find
You gave me my life back
You were my lifeline
The love that you gave me
Is love that has saved me
Your strength is what made me strong
You held me and I held on
When I was drowning
When I was so confused
You, oh you, You pulled me through
I was in the shadows
Lost, nothing left to lose
You, you, You pulled me through
Out of the dark
Into your arms
Into the light
Your love saved my life
When I was drowning
When I was so confused
You, ooh you, You pulled me through
When I was drowning
I was so confused
Yea you, ooh you, yea you, You pulled me through
It really was like the song had been written just for us. About half-way through, I leaned down to whisper to her, my lips brushing the shell of her ear and a shiver rushed through her.
"Do you trust me?"
Her heart began beating faster and the heated flush of her cheek radiated against my skin as she anticipated why I was asking, but she nodded. When I pulled back to look at her, a smile curved her lips and her eyes were shining.
Just follow my lead.
I began with the same steps that we did in her living room a week ago but continued turning and spinning and moving with her. Her eyes were wide and there was a slight tremble in her hands, but she stayed right with me. I was showing her the next steps in her mind, so she had some idea of what was coming. Sometimes I spun Bella by herself and sometimes I held her close to turn and glide across the floor with her pressed against me.
It was no time before her smile grew and her laughter rang out, amazing me further. Her face remained flushed a deep red, but the uncertainty left her eyes and her whole face shone full of joy and love. Trusting me completely we moved as one and she took my breath away. It was a ridiculous cliché, but it really was a magical night for us.
As the song was ending, I dipped Bella back and kissed her. When I brought her upright again, it became apparent that everyone had stopped their own dancing. Some were smiling and nodding at us while others had slack-jawed looks of shock, but almost all were watching us. Bella's expression turned slightly horrified, and she looked up to me for help. I took her hand and led her off the dance floor toward the punch table. Angela and Embry intercepted us halfway, but we had successfully removed ourselves from the spotlight of the rest of the students.
"Oh my gosh Bella, that was completely amazing!" Angela gushed. "I thought you said you didn't know how to dance!"
"I don't." Bella sounded breathless. "That was all Jake, I just followed along."
"Those were some smooth moves man." Embry smirked. "Where in the world did you learn to do that?"
"My mom and dad, from when I was little." I didn't tell him about the lessons at the community center.
Embry smiled with understanding. "That's totally cool."
"Thanks. It's nice to keep those memories alive, ya know… and make new ones using them." I caressed Bella's face as she smiled up at me, her eyes sparkling. It felt wonderful to have her trust me so completely. She was ready… I was sure of it.
The rest of the dance flew by, and soon it was time to leave. The four of us headed to the diner, which was staying opened late because of Prom. We shared some appetizers and spent some more time hanging out together. None of us seemed to want this night to end.
We ended up staying until the diner was closing and we were finally forced to head home. As we were walking to the car, I slowed to let Angela and Embry get a little ahead of us.
"Do you want to go home yet?" I asked Bella as we walked, my arm around her.
"Not really," she said, looking up at me. "Why? Do you have something else in mind?"
"Yeah. Would you want to go down to La Push with me for a while? We can drop these two off, and then have a little time to ourselves before I take you home."
"I'd like that."
When we dropped Angela off, Embry walked her to the door, and they shared a long kiss goodnight. We switched into my Charger then headed down to La Push. After dropping Embry off at his house, I drove us out to First Beach… it felt like the right place to go.
As we strolled down the beach, there was a chill in the night air, a steady breeze blowing the tangy smell of brine in off the water. It lifted Bella's hair off her shoulders and swirled strands around her face. She shivered even though she was tucked up close to me, so I wrapped my jacket around her shoulders. I chuckled lightly at how tiny she looked swimming in the massive coat when she slipped her arms into the sleeves.
"Don't make fun. It's not my fault that you're the size of a tree."
I laughed harder at that, but helped her roll up the sleeves when she held her arms out toward me.
We walked along the beach awhile without saying anything else, just enjoying the time together. Looking out over the water, outwardly I seemed calm, but my stomach was a ball of nerves, and my heart was pounding, trying to decide the right thing to say. I'd had to make sure our mental link was closed for the moment so Bella hopefully didn't pick up on my nerves.
The clouds in the dark sky were surprisingly sparse, illuminated by the nearly full moon hanging over the water. Silver light shone down on us and glittered on the waves rolling across the sand.
Unable to wait any longer, I suddenly stopped walking and turned to face Bella, pulling her close, my hand against her cheek, and gazing into her eyes where her love for me was shining brighter than the moon above. I lost myself in their bright depths, temporarily forgetting what I was about to say… and do.
When I'd stayed quiet for a little too long, Bella gave me a questioning look. "Jake?"
I shook off the trance-like feeling and stroked my thumb over her soft, smooth skin. "Bella, I think I have loved you all of my life, in one way or another. These last few months have been the craziest of my life, but also the most wonderful. Having you there with me through everything made all the craziness so much more bearable and brought happiness into what could have been a very hard time. I can't imagine going through any of it without you."
She was smiling sweetly up at me as I continued.
"You are my soul mate, my true match, the one I have been destined for since my first breath, and I promise to continue to love and protect you until my last breath. We already have a bond that can't be broken, but I want to proclaim my love and devotion and commitment to you for all the world to see, and bind myself to you in every way possible."
I took the small box out of my pocket and placed it in Bella's palm. She examined it and ran her finger over the carved images on the lid.
"Jake, this is beautiful. Did you make it?" she asked with a curious, wonder-filled look.
"Yeah. I made it to keep these safe," I said as I slid the lid open, and Bella gasped. I took the diamond ring out and closed the lid again before getting down on one knee. Grasping her left hand in mine, I held the ring up to her.
"Bella Swan, will you marry me?"
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~~BELLA POV~~
I WAS STUNNED AS Jake held the diamond ring up to me. He was asking me to marry him! This was insane! Wasn't it? Maybe? Or maybe not.
My automatic reaction was still tainted with my mother's view, but I already knew that wasn't for me. And with everything that Emily and Grammy Jo had told me the other day, this was right. This felt right. So, yes, maybe it was a little insane to be taking this step at eighteen, but our entire lives were kind of insane. Nothing about our relationship had progressed like a 'normal' relationship would, so why should this part be any different. Ultimately, I wanted this… I wanted the same thing Jake did. I wanted to tell the whole world what we already knew – that we belong to each other for all eternity.
"Yes, Jake… yes, I'll marry you." My smile felt like it was tearing my face in two as a tear slid down my cheek.
His own beautiful smile spread across his face with relief in his eyes. He slid the ring onto my finger then grabbed me in his arms as he stood back up and swung me around, kissing me eagerly.
The whole night had been a dream and it felt so fitting to end it like this. Jake proposing to me here at the beach where we had first reconnected last year and spent so much time together over the past months… over so much of our lives. It was perfect.
I was so thankful for Jake's presence in my life. My heart had swelled as he professed his love to me, speaking things that were also in my heart. I had no idea what was coming when he handed me the box, just amazed at the absolutely beautiful intricate carving on the lid. I wondered when he had ever found the time to make something so amazing.
When Jake had set my feet back on the sand, I looked down at the platinum ring again, noticing the inlaid turquoise through the center of the band and marveling at the three glittering round diamonds across the middle. "It's beautiful Jake" I said, opening the box to get a better look at the other ring as well. It was also platinum with the inlaid turquoise, just without the diamonds. I looked back up at him, "They're both beautiful."
His smile became more tender. "They were my mom's," he said, his eyes suddenly lined with silver.
"Jake!" I exclaimed in breathless shock as I looked at the ring again then back up to him. "I don't know what to say." And I didn't. I could find no words. Nothing I could think of adequately reflected how incredibly special I knew this precious gift was. "Thank you," I whispered, since I could think of nothing else. "I will cherish them always."
The fact that Jake had his mother's rings, also meant that Billy had played a part in this, and he obviously approved. That thought brought up all kinds of other worrisome thoughts and questions about how we could make this work. Most of those thoughts I managed to push away… they could be dealt with later. But one wouldn't go away, because I would have to face it either tonight or in the morning.
"What in the world is Charlie going to say? You have to be there when I tell him Jake. I don't think I can do it on my own. He's going to think I'm pregnant or something!"
Jake pulled me into his arms again.
"He already knows honey. Or, rather, he knew I was planning to ask you soon. My dad and I talked to him this morning. We told him everything. About all of the magic, the imprinting, our powers, everything. I even phased in front of him."
My eyes widen as Jake was speaking. "Oh my God, you phased in front of him!? Wait, I thought you couldn't tell anyone!"
"We can only tell those who we imprint on or who absolutely need to know. My dad and Sam agreed that this was the right thing to do. Besides him being your father… the Healer's father, he's also the Chief of Police in Forks, so it makes sense for him to know on multiple levels. Plus," Jake shrugged, "I'm Alpha, there really isn't anyone who could stop me… it was my decision to make."
"Wow! Just… wow! How did he take it?"
"He was definitely in a little bit of shock, but he took it in stride for the most part. You were right though; he did question whether you were pregnant at first. That probably got him more worked up than anything."
"I knew he would go there first… even though I just told him a few days ago that was impossible. What did you say?"
"I told him the truth. That we haven't been together in that way, so there was no way you could be pregnant."
I looked deep into Jake's eyes. "I love you, Jake. Thank you for taking care of that for me."
"Yeah, well, I think you maybe owe me one. It was the most nerve-wracking thing I have ever done!"
"I can't even imagine. It's going to be weird having Charlie know about everything. It'll be nice to not have to lie to him or hide things from him so much though." My brow furrowed with concern. "Wait, does he know about the Cullens? Did you tell him about vampires too?"
"No, I didn't feel that was necessary, so I wanted to leave it up to you whether or not to share that bit of info. I didn't figure you would be too thrilled if he knew you dated a vampire. Plus, it's not really our secret to tell."
"No, that's probably best left untold. Besides, the Volturi, the group that Carlisle told you about, they don't take too kindly to humans knowing of the existence of vampires. Keeping themselves concealed from humans is actually their number one goal, so I wouldn't want to put him in any potential danger. It's bad enough that I know and all of you know. It's unlikely that they would ever find out, but still. Why risk it if it isn't necessary."
Jake nodded as he tucked a few loose tendrils of hair behind my ear. "Alright, now that's settled, why don't we skip anymore vampire talk for tonight. We did just get engaged after all. There are plenty of other things we could talk about, like when we want to have the wedding, who we want in the wedding, where we want to have it. Or I could tell you where we'll be going for our honeymoon."
"You already have a plan for the honeymoon?!"
"Yep. My dad has a friend who has a cabin about an hour southeast of here, and he said we could stay there for two whole weeks if we want. I'm not sure if I should be gone that long, but we can at least go for 4 or 5 days… maybe we could even manage one whole week."
"That's amazing Jake! You have thought about so much already. This is what prompted you to get your GED, isn't it?"
"Yeah. It was something that I would have done eventually anyway, but this kinda spurred me to do it right away."
A shiver suddenly raced through me; I wasn't exactly dressed for standing on the beach in the middle of the night. It had to be well past 2:00 A.M., and I was barefoot. Even pressed against Jake with his jacket on, I was getting chilled… especially my feet and legs.
"I should probably be getting home. I wouldn't be surprised if Charlie were waiting up for me. Or trying to… he's probably fallen asleep on the couch, which is not good for his back."
"Okay, there's just one thing I want to do first."
Jake leaned down to press his lips to mine, pulling my body tight against his. He kissed me until I could no longer breathe, and fire was coursing through my veins. The cold on the breeze and in the sand could no longer touch me as I wrapped my arms around his neck, my fingers twined into his hair, and I melted into his arms.
.
.
A/N: Bella's rings: pin it/445icco
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