The Face of Beauty to Fall For

I walked down an aisle, dressed in a black dress and holding a blood red rose bouquet. While I walked, I noticed that the church was way too big for the few people in it.

To the left of me: no one sat in the pews. To the right: The Cullens, plus a beautiful woman I’d never seen before.

As I got to the alter, I passed Elizabeth my bouquet and smiled at Salym, who just scowled and tried not to attack any of my new friends.

I supposed that she was annoyed because she was simply a bridesmaid and not my Maid of Honor -- the title that I’d given to Elizabeth.

I looked up to finally see who I was marrying, my heart literally stopping when I noticed who was looking back at me. “Edward?” I asked in shock.

“Why so surprised?” He questioned, taking my hands in his, and for once, his weren’t icy.

“I just… thought you hated me is all.” I told him.

He smirked and shook his head slightly at me, “Oh, Ember… Didn’t you realize that it was all just a ploy? I was trying to deny my feelings for you by reacting the opposite of how I felt.” He explained, bringing my hands to his lips and kissing them softly before bringing them back down to where they had been.

I blushed, not feeling the normal heat in my face.

“Shall we get this started?” A tall, beautiful blonde man questioned from the alter beside us.

Edward nodded. “Whenever you’d like, Carlisle.” He told the man.

I looked down at our hands, seeing that mine no longer held the light olive tint it normally did, but were ivory just like the larger ones of the man across from me. “What’s going on, Edward?” I asked.

He stared at me curiously. “I don’t understand.”

“Why do I look like you now?” I questioned, somehow knowing that I wasn’t myself.

His smirk turning into a full on smile. “We were all trying so hard to protect you from this, but the only way I could protect you is to make you one of us.” He said simply.

“And what are you?” I asked.

“Don’t you remember?” He asked. “What we discussed.” He reminded me.

“I’m… a vampire?” I asked incredulously.

He nodded. “This way, we can be together forever, Bella.”

I stared at him in shock. “I’m not Bella.” I said simply.

Elizabeth and the rest of the Cullens looked shocked. The woman I’d never seen before, but somehow knew was named Esme looked in disappointment at her younger son. And Salym… she was enraged, quickly phasing to a wolf and snarling at Edward.

I stepped between them immediately. “Say! Don’t!” I screamed, holding my hands toward her.

She shook her head at me and jumped at him.

I woke with a jolt, breathing heavily. I looked down at my hands to see that I was shaking.

I stood and headed for my bathroom, seeing that it was only a few minutes before I had to be ready for school anyway. I showered and dressed, looking out my window to see that it was overcast, yet again, and most likely cold outside.

I went downstairs and grabbed some toast and orange juice, throwing my school bag over my shoulder and grabbing my crappy car, car keys and headed out the front door, only to nearly ram into Edward Cullen.

“Oh… Sorry, Ember.” He said, picking up my keys and my coffee thermos of O.J.

I took the toast from between my teeth and tried not to blurt out what I’d dreamed about to him. “Hi, Cullen. What are you doing here?” I asked.

He smiled and moved out of the way to show his family, all dressed in ski outfits and holding a large sign that said ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EMBER!’ in bright colours.

I grinned. “Oh… Guys, this is… wow, thank you.” I said, excited about a surprise start to my morning. “But shouldn’t we be getting to school? We’re gonna be late if we leave any later than right now.”

Elizabeth shook her head. “We’re not going to school today. And neither are you.” She said.

Alice floated over and handed me a bag. “Go put these on. We’ll wait.” She told me.

I looked at her oddly, and opened the bag to see a black and green ski outfit. “Oh… Oh, no… I’m not going skiing.” I told them. “I’d die.”

Emmett laughed. “Okay, Miss Baseball Star.”

“No, I’m serious. I’m afraid of heights. Add two pieces of slick wood to the bottom of my feet and I’ll have a panic attack.” I told them, feeling the anxiety grow in my stomach as I spoke the words.

“We won’t let anything happen to you.” Edward spoke up.

I looked at him. “Promise?” I asked, feeling at ease when Jasper took a step forward, and I don’t think it was because his proximity was comforting.

Edward nodded. “Scout’s honor.” He said, holding two fingers up in the Boy Scout salute.

I sighed deeply and walked back into the house, changing in the bathroom and walking back out. “Where are we going anyway?” I asked.

“Crystal Mountain.” Emmett told me, climbing into the massive Jeep parked alongside a shiny Volvo in my driveway.

“Tacoma?” I questioned.

“We decided that it would be good for us to go there, seeing as how the concert is in Tacoma. We’ve booked rooms at the Alta Crystal Resort for all of us.” Zachary spoke up, getting into the back of the Volvo.

I stood between the two cars as everyone was dividing between the two. “Where am I going?”

“Volvo. Front seat.” Elizabeth told me, getting into the back.

I climbed in, buckling my seatbelt. “Who’s driving?”

“I am.” Edward stated, sliding into the driver’s seat and starting the engine.

I sighed at the sound.

“What’s wrong with you?” Elizabeth asked.

“I can’t wait for my Charger to be finished. It would blow this car off the road.” I told her.

Zachary laughed. “I want to see that.”

I grinned. “I can take Cullen in a quarter mile.”

Edward smirked, and I died a little again. “We’ll see about that.”

Later that night, once we’d gotten checked into our suites (“Oh… I’m so sorry, guys. It seems like I booked Edward and Ember into the Honeymoon cabin rather than Emmett and Rosalie.” “Sure, Elizabeth. You’re that forgetful.”) and I had my ankle bandaged from where I’d torn my Achilles tendon on the slopes, we were all huddled by the fire in Edward’s and my suite.

“Are you going to speak to me?” Edward asked, annoyed.

I shook my head and turned back to my book.

Alice smiled at me. “Alright. It’s time for your present!” She announced giddily.

I looked over at her, startled. “There’s more to this fantastic day?” I asked, casting an angry look at Edward.

She nodded. “It’s only one present, but there’s a little bit of each of us.” She explained, passing me a familiar powder blue box.

“You got me a present from Tiffany’s?” I asked, staring at the box in my hand.

“Oh, just open it and freak out about it later.” Elizabeth chimed in.

I slowly untied the bow and opened the lid, gasping slightly. “It’s beautiful.” I said, lifting the charm bracelet out of the box to examine each of the charms attached to it.

“The bracelet is from our father and mother.” Rosalie said.

“That’s Carlisle and Esme.” I said, all of them looking at me like I’d spoken in tongues. I looked at them each in turn, realizing that I must’ve said something wrong. “That’s their names, right?”

Jasper nodded. “How did you know that?” He asked in his mild southern accent.

I shrugged, “You must’ve said them before or something.” I lied, reminding myself to think back to see if they actually had or not.

They all seemed to calm down at that, except for Edward and Alice, who gave each other a look and then looked at Elizabeth, who quickly shook her head.

I watched them curiously, but said nothing.

“The ballet shoe is from me.” Alice said, breaking the awkward silence. “Because we both like to dance.”

I turned my attention back to the bracelet I held. “Oh… It’s beautiful. Thank you, Alice.”

“And the flag is from me.” Jasper added. “Because you’re southern, and I’m southern. I thought it’d bring a little bit of home to you.”

I nodded and smiled. “It does. Thanks.”

“The speedometer’s from me.” said Rosalie. “Since we’re car freaks.”

“Cool.” I said, genuinely.

“The baseball’s mine.” Emmett told me. “Pretty obvious why.”

I laughed. “Yeah. It’s cool.”

“And since your favorite instrument is the guitar, and your favorite movie is Nightmare Before Christmas, Zachary and I got you charms of each.” Elizabeth told me.

I looked at them. “Oh, awesome. Thanks.”

“And the music note is from me.” Edward added last.

I looked at it and smiled. “It’s great. Really… The whole this is completely awesome.” I told them honestly, fastening it around my wrist.

They all smiled at me and then one by one, stood.

“I think it’s time for us to go to our own suites.” Alice said, winking slyly at me.

“Yeah, and give you two lovebirds-- I mean, you two-- time to settle your arguments.” Elizabeth said, grinning wickedly at us.

I gave her an extremely dirty look and went back to my book.

I didn’t know they were gone until Edward cleared his throat from the couch across from me. I looked up at him. “Hello.”

He smiled. “Hello.”

Another long moment passed .

“So… anything you want to talk about?” He asked.

I chewed on my bottom lip and contemplated bring up my dream.

“What’s wrong, Ember?” He asked.

I looked up at him. “Who’s Bella?”