Summary: Sequel to To The Only Girl I've Loved Before. With Victoria and her cronies taken care of, Bella and Edward look to the future and starting their forever together. Forever, however, gets off to a rocky start as Bella struggles to adjust to her new body. Can the Cullens help Bella adjust or will a prediction from Alice see her hurtling out of control?
I don't own Twilight or any of the characters.
If you haven't already read my story To The Only Girl I've Loved Before, I'd suggest reading it first as some things may not make a lot of sense if you haven't read it. If you have, then I'll let you get stuck in :)
I stood in front of a long mirror, though my eyes were closed, trying to stave off the nerves, as Alice flitted around me, pinning material here and there. It was less than a week to the wedding, and though I couldn't wait to be married to Edward, I really could do without having to be the centre of attention for a whole day. A brief thought of grabbing Edward and eloping to Vegas passed through my mind.
"You wouldn't dare!" Alice shrieked, "I've worked so hard to make this wedding perfect."
"Sorry, Alice," I said, opening my eyes to look down at her, "It was only a brief thought. I really do appreciate everything you've done to help with the wedding, but I am dreading having everyone stare at me."
"I know being the centre of attention isn't your thing," Alice said, as she stepped around to alter the back of the dress, "But you will have an amazing day, I promise. In every vision I have of the day, you are smiling."
I took a deep breath, trying to focus on Edward rather than the people that would be staring. Thankfully, it was going to be a very small wedding, for which I was exceedingly grateful. There were only a few people I wanted to be there. My mom and Phil were arriving from Florida tomorrow along with Charlie, Leah and her brother, Seth, from Forks. The rest of the wolves refused to be in the same room as the Cullens and, while I was a little upset by that, I was secretly glad that Jacob wouldn't be there to spoil anything.
The Cullens had invited their extended family from Alaska, though only Eleazar, Carmen and Kate would be attending. Irina and Tanya were still holding a grudge over the fact that the Cullens had killed Irina's so-called mate, Laurent, for his part in kidnapping me and plotting to kill Edward and me before going after the rest of the family. I knew for a fact that Laurent wasn't Irina's true mate, having heard it straight from him, but she was insistent that he was her mate and Tanya was on her side. I was upset that I had caused a rift between Edward and his extended family, but Edward insisted that Laurent had to die and that if they had an issue with that, then that was their problem.
Alice had tried to convince me to invite some of my friends from Forks High, but I had put my foot down. The last thing I wanted was Jessica Stanley or Mike Newton at my wedding drooling over Edward and me. Besides, I hadn't spoken to anyone from Forks High since graduation, except for Angela, who I still kept in touch with over email. I deliberated over whether to invite Angela and her boyfriend, Ben, but decided against it in the end. Soon, I was going to be a vampire and would be killed off in the eyes of my family and friends. While I was still happy and confident in my decision to become a vampire, having Angela at the wedding would just make it harder when the time came.
"All done," Alice trilled, "Edward will be back in about 10 minutes, so we better get this off you and put away, so he doesn't see anything."
I breathed a sigh of relief, glad that I would soon be back in his arms. He'd gone hunting with his brothers so that he wouldn't be around to see the dress in Alice's thoughts as she worked. Even though he'd only been gone a few hours, I was really missing him and, though I tried really hard not to let him see it, there was still that tiny shred of niggling doubt that he would return to me. Now, don't get me wrong, I trusted Edward completely, and logically I knew that he wouldn't leave me again, but somewhere deep down I couldn't help but worry that the closer we got to my change, he would revert to his brooding ways and decide that it was too dangerous for me to be with him.
Over the last few months since I'd finally found Edward holed up in an abandoned apartment in Chicago, he had changed a lot. Before he left me after my disastrous 18th birthday party, he had been very broody and tended to keep me in the dark or make decisions without consulting me, in a misguided attempt to protect me. Now, he always kept me in the loop about everything, even if he thought it might upset me, and he allowed me to make my own decisions about my life, most importantly about whether I wanted to become like him. Despite his reservations, he had seemed so much happier since I made the decision to become a vampire. He was allowing himself to be happy, which made him more relaxed. He smiled more and laughed more and I fell even more in love with him than I had been, though I hadn't thought it possible. As much as I hated that we had missed so much time together and the pain that we had both been in while we'd been apart, the man that I had found in Chicago was even better than the boy that had left me.
Alice had just zipped up the garment bag and tucked it safely away in her wardrobe when I heard the door opening downstairs. I raced out of Alice's room and down the stairs, clearly forgetting that I can't walk over a flat surface without incident and should really take my time, tripping on the second to last stair. Thankfully, however, Edward was right there to catch me before my face could hit the ground and he swooped me up into his arms as he rolled his eyes at my clumsiness.
"We'd best keep our fingers crossed that venom can actually fix your clumsiness," he chuckled, as I stuck my tongue out at him, "You could end up as the only clumsy vampire in the world." I folded my arms across my chest and looked away from him, though I wasn't actually annoyed at him at all. In reality, I loved it when he referred to my change in casual conversation. It let me know that he really was happy with my decision and that he wanted me for eternity.
"Sorry, love," he whispered in my ear, as he sat down on the sofa with me in my lap, "I'm only kidding." His breath fanned over my face, dazzling me with his scent, as he placed soft kisses along my neck just below my ear. My breath hitched and all thoughts left my head as I became lost in the sensations his talented lips were causing.
"Ahhh, come on, guys," I heard Emmett groan, "This is a communal room!"
"Like you and Rosalie are discrete," Edward mumbled into my neck and I giggled, thinking of all the times we had walked in on them, but we pulled away from each other, though Edward wouldn't let me move from his lap.
"Did you get everything sorted with your dress?" Edward asked.
"Yep, I think so," I replied, "Alice has a few alterations to make, but knowing her it'll be done before I can even blink."
"Hmmm, probably," he said, "Right now she's going through the current Gucci catalogue in her head to keep me out."
"Good," I said, "It's bad luck to see the dress before the wedding so you just stay out of her head."
"Yes, ma'am," he replied, "Now, she's shouting at me to get out of the house again so she can finish the alterations. Fancy a trip to the meadow?"
"Sounds good," I said, getting up and heading towards the stairs, "I'll just go and grab my coat."
"Uh uh," he said, pulling me back and sitting me on the sofa, "I'll get it. We don't want a repeat of your earlier clumsiness." He was gone before I could protest and I could hear him chuckling to himself as he sped up the stairs. He was back before I could even process that he had left, my coat and scarf in his hands. Having a super fast vampire for a fiancé definitely had its perks.
Once I was suitably wrapped up for the cold weather, he led me outside by the hand, scooping me up onto his back as soon as we were in the garden, and raced off into the forest towards our new meadow. It wasn't quite the same as our meadow back in Forks. Nothing would ever take the place of that meadow. The place where he had revealed himself in the sun to me, where I had put my faith in him, and where he had proposed to me. However, here in Rochester, we had a similar place, somewhere we could disappear to when we wanted to be alone, somewhere that was just ours.
We arrived at the meadow in no time and soon Edward was setting me down and taking my hand as we walked through the trees and into the clearing. Edward spread out a blanket from the bag he had grabbed on the way out the door and we both sat down, Edward behind me so I could lean back against his chest.
"Are you warm enough?" he asked, wrapping his arms around me.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I sighed as I melted into his embrace. We sat in silence for a while, just enjoying each other's company after being away from each other this morning.
"So, ready for everyone to start arriving tomorrow?" Edward asked.
"I suppose," I muttered, the nerves that I had been feeling earlier, beginning to make a reappearance.
"Are you nervous?" he asked, my telltale heart clearly giving me away.
"Not about marrying you," I assured him, turning in his arms to look up at him, "I just hate being the centre of attention, you know that. I had a brief thought of eloping to Vegas, just you and me."
"Oh, I'm sure the pixie was thrilled with that," he laughed, before his face became serious, "We can though, if that's what you want. I don't care where or how, I just want to marry you."
"And face Alice's wrath?" I said, arching my eyebrow at him.
"She wouldn't stay mad at us for long. Just a few decades," he smirked, "But seriously, I just want you to be happy."
"I know," I replied, "And as much as I'd love to elope and miss all the attention, I also want to get married with my parents there. It'll be their last memory of me. It's the least I can give them. I want them to know that I chose you and that I was happy."
"As long as you're sure," he said.
"I am, I promise," I assured, "How about you? Any nerves?"
"Nope," he answered instantly, "I want nothing more than to marry you."
"And what about my change?" I asked quietly, hoping that I knew the answer but wanting to be sure.
"No, not any more," he said, looking deep into my eyes so I could see his honesty shining through, "I know that I wasn't always on board with it, but it was never because I didn't want it. Selfishly, I always wanted it more than you'll ever know. To know that I never have to lose you or worry about disease or accidents will be amazing. Now that I have come to terms with it and let myself be selfish, I can't wait. Though I am dreading your actual change. I don't know how I'll cope seeing you in such pain."
"Yeah, I'm not looking forward to that part either," I said, wrinkling my nose at the thought, "But I can survive anything to get to have eternity with you." He leaned down and kissed me, my soft, warm lips yielding to his hard, cold ones and sending sparks of electricity through my body. A shiver ran through me, that wasn't entirely to do with the cold, but Edward pulled back, wrapping my scarf tighter around my neck.
"We'd better get back," he sighed and as much as I wanted to stay here and continue that kiss, I knew he was right.
"As long as we can continue that kiss when we get home," I said, looking up into his darkening eyes.
"We'd better get home quick then," he growled, as he gathered the blanket up and swung me up onto his back, racing back to the house.
We reached the house in record time, Edward not even bothering with the doors, but instead just jumping the two stories to the open window of our room. I giggled at his impatience, but I knew that if we had walked in through the door someone in the family would have accosted us.
"Now, where were we?" he muttered, as he lay me down on the bed, my coat and scarf already disposed of, "Oh, yes." We both moaned as our lips met once again, moving softly to begin with but quickly becoming rougher and more desperate as the feelings of desire surged within us again. My desire hadn't really abated much during the run from the meadow. My legs wrapped around him, my core pressed against him as he ran and his muscles moved smoothly beneath me.
I gripped the hem of his t-shirt, pulling it up over his head, our lips parting only long enough to rid him of it. As we kissed, his hands crept down to unbutton my blouse. We sat up, facing each other, as he pushed my blouse off my shoulders, letting it pool on the bed behind me. My nipples hardened beneath the lace of my bra as his hands snaked around to unhook the clasp. He pulled back from me, allowing my bra to fall forward, exposing my breasts. He stared at them in awe, as though it was the first time he'd seen them. His hands trailed up my sides until they were cupping my breasts. I flung my head back, moaning as his finger ran lightly over my puckered peaks.
I moved on the bed so that I could push him down onto his back. Once he was lying down, I reached the buttons on his trousers, quickly flicking them open and he lifted his hips to allow me to slowly pull them down his legs. I looked down to see his erection straining against his boxers and unable to help myself, I trailed my fingers over him, watching as he groaned in pleasure. Reaching for the waistband of his boxers, he twitched in anticipation and I hooked my fingers into his boxers and removed them.
I licked my lips at the sight of him naked in front of me and I couldn't wait any longer for a taste of him. I leaned forward and licked him from base to tip and heard him groan as I swirled my tongue around the head. I looked up as I lowered my mouth over him, taking as much of him as I could in my mouth, his black eyes watching everything I did. I wrapped my hand around the base of his arousal, pumping slowly at first so that my fingers met my lips before moving back down. I began to pick up speed, as I felt the tension begin to build up within him, his hands gripping the sheets beneath him. Continuing to increase my speed, I began to hum around him, the vibrations causing him to still his whole body as he came with a feral growl. He pulsed in my mouth, seeming to grow impossibly bigger as he spilled down my throat. I swallowed it down, revelling in his unique taste on my tongue and the fact that I could do that to him. I kissed my way up his body, touching and tasting every part of him as I went, reaching his lips just as he opened his eyes.
I quickly removed my jeans and underwear, before straddling his thighs and settling my core over his already renewed erection. He hissed as I ground down on him, his shaft rubbing against my swollen nub and covering him in my own arousal. His hands rested on my hips and I placed my hands on his sculpted chest to steady myself as I raised up, before allowing him to slide into my warmth. He whispered my name reverently as my walls surrounded him and I threw my head back at the feeling of being stretched by him. I stayed still allowing the feeling of complete and utter rightness surround me at being filled by him.
Slowly, I began to move, gently raising myself off him before lowering myself once again. He moved with me, his hips lifting up to meet me as I descended, his pubic bone hitting my clit every time and causing me to cry out. As my legs began to tire, he gripped my hips, continuing to guide me up and down over him as he captured a nipple in his mouth, his tongue flicking quickly over it. The overwhelming sensations of him filling me, hitting my clit and teasing my nipples all at the same time caused me to fall into the abyss as I screamed his name.
My muscles had barely finished twitching when he flipped me over so he was hovering above me, capturing my mouth with his. He hooked my legs up over his shoulders as he pushed back into me, hitting deeper than before. He slowly pulled almost all the way out, before thrusting back in. He continued slowly, teasing me, until I moaned, "Faster," and he began to pick up the pace, thrusting fast and deep within me over and over until the coil in my stomach was wound so tightly.
"God, Bella," he groaned, "Come with me."
His voice was all I needed to push me over the edge and I came hard, my muscles clenching around him and milking his own release as he emptied into me with a growl.
As always, thanks to my beta, CoppertopJ, who is continuing to help me check over this story too.
Also, I'd like to give a special thanks to JenERoseCullen who helped me talk over a few ideas for this sequel with her. If you haven't already, head over to her profile and check out her stories. Family Emergency is a favourite of mine, a hilarious take on the family dynamic.