Three vampires sat frozen in their seats. Even though the cafeteria was full of chatter, the world seemed to have gone quiet. It was an awkward silence. Edward and I exchanged glances. Some part of me wanted to laugh at the ridiculous situation we had found ourselves in. But the sound just would not pass my lips.

We quietly took our seat as Alice bounced in hers, a grin splitting her face, and waited.

I tightened my hold on Edwards hand when the blond girl, Rosalie, returned to herself. She blinked rapidly. "Holy shit!"

Her reaction seemed to bring back the others as well.

"Go Eddie!" the big one blurted. "You finally got some?"

Edward frowned and narrowed his eyes at him but said nothing.

"Edward." I had to correct him sternly. "His name is Edward and you will call him that."

He shrugged completely unconcerned. "I am proud of you, Eddie." Emmett pretend to brush away a tear. "It's a little fast but who cares, right? You finally lost your V-card."

I furrowed my brows in confusion. "What?"

"Oh, you didn't?" Emmet acted just as confused as I was. "Then why would you marry so fast?"

"Fast?"

"It wasn't-" Edward was interrupted by Emmett.

"Yeah, Eddie didn't even tell us he met his mate."

I shook my head. "Wait a moment." I said. "You think we have only just met and instantly married?"

Emmett shrugged. "Yeah, I mean we all know how old-fashioned he is. I am sure he would be concerned for your virtue or something equally as ridiculous."

"Edward is old-fashioned?" I turned to my husband. "He has always been quite liberal."

He scratched his neck and looked at his lap. "I suppose Emmett is partially correct. I may have been forward thinking in 1918 but I would be considered old-fashioned by today's standards."

"How so?"

"Edward is still quite the gentleman." Alice chirped in. "But Emmett is talking about his behavior towards women. He could not understand why Edward would not accept the many, uhm- let's call them offers, he got over the years."

"Offers?" I had to ask. "What kind of offers?"

"Those of sexual nature." Edward answered me quietly. "Emmett never understood why I would not jump into every available bed."

"And there have been many." Emmett grinned. "Many, many, many."

"Yes, there have been quite a few offers." Edward sighed. "But I could not do something like that. I could never. It goes against everything that makes me me. Not only would I have betrayed you, love, but I could never use a female like that."

I nodded. "I thought the same way." I stroked his cheek softly and gazed into his golden eyes. "I could never have betrayed you like that."

There was a spark in his eyes. A mixture of deep love, happiness, awe, devotion and something I was not so familiar with, it could have been relief. His eyes drew me in and I was lost to the world.

"So, Edward, what the hell is going on?" asked Rosalie, bringing me back.

"Right." He closed his eyes to collect his thoughts. I felt the loss of his gaze instantly. "Bella and I have been married for a long time. A very long time."

"Why would you keep this from us?" Rosalie questioned him, flipping her blond hair over her shoulder in agitation. Her harsh voice sent a shiver down my back. "We are supposed to be your family. You should have told us that you met your mate."

"That was before you became my family. All of you." Edward shot back. "Years before Carlisle found you, Rose, in Rochester. More than a decade."

"And why would you keep her from us?"

"I could not speak of her. It hurt too much to speak of what happened and what I had lost. Even to say her name out loud was torture."

"Oh, so you would not tell us because you missed her a little? You know all about my pains. You have had first access to all my most private demons. And you could not share something as monumental as your mate with us." she growled. "Did you not trust us? Is there a reason we would have judged your mate bond? Otherwise she could have joined us. Or did you think we would not accept your mate? Do you think so little of us, Edward Cullen? That we would reject your mate bond?"

"No." he whispered. "I would never think that."

"Then answer me, why did you not tell us?"

"Because I thought she was dead." Edwards' voice broke from the pain. His eyes fell and I could see the agony in the lines of his face. All I could do was draw him closer to me and rub his back in soothing circles. "I thought I had lost her."

Rosalie turned her deadly glare on me. "And why would you let my brother believe that you were dead? It seems he has tortured himself for nothing. You seem quite alive to me."

"Rosalie! She-" Edward raised his voice in protest and shook his head.

"Because I believed the same." I interrupted him. "I thought he was dead. I thought he had left me alone in this world."

She raised her eyebrow.

"I have mourned him for close to a hundred years."

Japer spoke for the first time. "Why don't you just tell us what happened, darling? I'm feeling like you all talk past each other."

I nodded and smiled mildly. "Well, Edward and I married in 1917. In 1918 he fell ill with the Spanish flu. The doctor told me both his mother and Edward died of it in one night. Instead, it seems, he has been changed. I tried to go on but there was nothing left for me in this world. I decided I would not see 1919 without Edward and I tried to drown myself in Lake Michigan. But I was pulled out and bitten."

"So did you pop Eddie's cherry or not?"

"Emmett!" Edward protested loudly.

"What?" Emmett grinned. "I need the important information first."

"Emmett, we had been married for more than half a year when Edward first fell ill." I said calmly.

His deep laughter turned heads. "So our little Edward is not as innocent as he would have us believe?"

"I never made you believe anything, you did that all by yourself."

"And you never corrected us."

"Why would I do that?" He shrugged his shoulders. "I saw no harm in your mistake."

"That's why you never reacted to my taunts?"

Edwards thought for a second but shook his head. "No, I believe that even if I had been untouched at the time, I would never have given myself to anyone but the one. Making love is too special to waste it on anyone else. And I do not think that I would have minded your ridicule because I chose to stick to my own beliefs. I know you cannot comprehend the way I think about the matter, but this desire to save myself for my one love was so ingrained in me that your words would not have done a thing. Even if I had waited a hundred years to first meet Bella."

I pulled him closer to me and smiled.

"So, Edward, where is your ring?" Jasper asked, the curiosity clear in his voice.

My eyes flew down to his barren hands, inspecting both before my eyebrows knitted together. Disappointment and deep sadness shot through me as I registered that he no longer wore the ring I had placed there.

Edward gave me an apologetic smile and pulled a chain from under his white shirt. The ring I had given him in 1917 was dangling from it.

"Why?" I asked somewhat weary.

"Did I take it off?" He completed my question softly.

I nodded. My eyes trained on his pale face.

"Two reasons, love. First, I could not bear the questions it would get me. I would drown in the pain of your absence whenever someone asked or even thought of it. After a few years I could no longer take it. Every time it felt as if someone stabbed a fresh knife in my already cut up chest. Second, it draws attention and it would have been suspicious to have a high school student wear a wedding band." Edward grabbed the ring and was about to put the chain back under his shirt when he thought better of it. "Would you like me to wear it again, love?"

I smiled shyly but nodded. "Let me, please."

I reached up to unclasp the silver chain from his neck and slid the ring off. It lay heavy in my hand. There was little wear on it. As if it was only a few years old. Not decades. I could not shake the tint of sadness when I thought of its pristine condition compared to my well-worn rings. But when I looked back up into Edwards eager eyes all my worries gave way. With an expectant smile I waited and raised my eyebrow.

Edward almost immediately understood my intent.

"I, Edward Anthony Masen Cullen," he spoke solemnly, "take you, Isabella Swan Masen, to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part."

"Although I hope that will not happen again." I said as I slipped the ring back on his finger.

"I do not think we can ever truly be separated. Even death could not truly manage that." Edward said with an infectious grin, almost as beautiful as the one he wore on our actual wedding day all those years ago.

"I love you." I whispered into his ear.

"As I do you."

"Eddie, you still have to kiss the bride." Emmett interjected.

I shrunk back in my chair.

Edward chuckled softly but shook his head. "Bella never liked public affections, Emmett. I think we can forgo a kiss in the cafeteria."

"Come on! You can't do that to me." he protested.

Rosalie smacked his head and hissed "If Bella does not want to kiss in public you will not pressure her."

"Well she did kiss him in front of people at their actual wedding, right?" He looked at his siblings. "So what is the big deal? If she can do it in front of hers and Eddie's parents I am sure she can do it here."

"The big deal is that she does not want to. And that is enough."

I shot Rosalie a grateful smile.

Emmett tried to pout. "But-"

"No, Emmett."

Edward sighed and softly pressed his lips against my temple. "There you have it. I kissed the bride. Now, can we move on from this?"

"That was no real kiss." he protested.

"Emmett!" Rosalie's voice was cold as ice. "Watch it."

He grumbled under his breath but kept his comments to himself.

"Anyway," Alice said cheerfully, "We have to get to class."

Edward gathered his prop food, grabbed my hand and left the table. The bell rang as he disposed of the food.

"What class do you have next, love?" he asked as we left the noisy cafeteria behind.

I pulled out my schedule and answered. "Biology."

A smile spread on Edwards face. "Perfect! I have the same class. I'm glad that I won't have to let you go just yet."

"I don't know if I could bear to be separated from you again so soon." I said solemnly as fear gripped my unbeaten heart. I shook my head. My eyes were wide in alarm. "I could not bear it, Edward."

"Shh, love. There is nothing to worry about. Absolutely nothing. Nothing can separate us ever again." He softly caressed my cheek and pushed a hair strand behind my ear. "But I am not quite certain that I myself could do that just yet."

"So we skip the last class?" I asked hopefully. "I have gym after Biology."

"Yes, we will skip." he decided, nodding.

His hand still grazed my cheek and I closed my eyes, leaning into his touch. It seemed to go deeper than my skin. Went deeper than my bones even. Accompanied by the same spark that always seemed to come with his touch. Even when we both were only humans. His skin was velvet against mine.

"I would love to kiss you right now, Bella." he whispered, his voice thick with emotions.

"Then do it." I whispered back. "Please."

His lips were soft as he kissed me. His mouth was perfectly molding to mine. He tasted sweet. A mixture of honey and lavender and sunshine that was Edward.

It was more than a kiss. It was a reverence. Worshiping the other. "Bella." He whispered my name over and over. "Bella." Every time his lips left mine for a moment. "Bella."

The once familiar love and desire shot through me. Emotions I had not felt for decades. And yet everything was exactly as it had always been. Just as natural. Just as magical. Everything had changed. But Edward was still my Edward and I was still his Bella. Just like it was in Chicago. And just as it always would be.

Suddenly Edward sighed, pulled back and folded me into his arms instead. "Jessica Stanley is coming." he explained, not a moment too late. Her approaching steps grew louder to my ears as she neared.

I whimpered at the lost connection but nodded my head and buried my face in his chest where his heart had once beaten as he stroked my back. I was a little dizzy from the kiss and its sudden end.

"I love you, my Bella." he sighed into my hair and his sweet scent engulfed me. It soothed me for the moment. Until we could continue later.