A/N: Okay, I know I'm supposed to be working on A New Beginning, and I am. I haven't posted in a while because of finals. Which, undoubtedly, I failed. Not self-pity. Just a prediction. Sigh. I suck. But see, I'm working on my own novel, a series consisting of six to seven books, and I've got the layout already. During one of my books, the hero and heroine get into a major falling out, and I wasn't sure of the reception to that. If my books actually get published, and get a fan base of course. Again, I'm not psychic, so this is not a prediction. Wish I have an Alice right now…

So I thought, what better way to see how it would work out than to test it out on Edward and Bella themselves? They're together all the time, but they have their own issues. It's not entirely improbable that this would happen to them…Alright, maybe not after they're married, but it's probable during Eclipse. P.S. Who else hated Jacob in that book?

Alright, alright, I'm writing too much without actually getting into the story. Tell me what you think, and please try not to kill me when you read this. It's got angst in it, and I wanted to make sure you all know that Edward and Bella get a happy ending in here. Of COURSE they do, I love them, remember??

Disclaimer:My God, if only. Then I wouldn't have to suffer the embarrassment of failing my finals. Again. I think I'd go into depression after the results are released…I'm counting on that, actually. So, the answer is no, I don't own Twilight or any of the amazing characters. SM does. I'm just borrowing for some fun. And personal experiments. Oh, not in that way, get your mind out of the gutter!

Chapter 1: The Calm Before the Storm

Bella's POV

I was in the bathroom, brushing my hair when I heard the doorbell. I bit my lip, hiding my smile. I knew it was Edward. He rarely used the door, but tonight, he has to.

He's taking me out to dinner.

On a real date.

He wanted to take me to the restaurant we'd gone to the first time, in Port Angeles. I hadn't objected. Though, I hoped the waitress had gotten herself fired by now.

Setting my brush beside the sink, I thought back over the last few weeks. It has been so blissful, so wonderfully perfect. Without even realizing what I was doing, I reached inside my shirt, fingering the ring Edward had given me in his house-in his bedroom, I corrected myself internally, and saw myself flush with pleasure in the mirror.

It was his mother's ring, so it was old fashioned. Edward had teased me about it when I first saw it, but I could see that he really was anxious to see if I liked it. I chuckled to myself.

Silly vampire.

Of course I did. I love old fashioned things, he should have figured it out by now.

"Bella," I heard Charlie call out my name.

"Coming!"

I looked at myself once more in the mirror. I hadn't really known what to wear, according to Alice. So she had come over at the most ungodly hour and forced me to try on every single one of my outfits. Then she had thrown her hands in the air and dragged me off to shop for a new outfit.

I found that highly unhealthy, shopping for one event, and I had told her this. Her only response was a look that was halfway between a glare and a laughing fit.

We had scoured the mall in Olympia until she found me this outfit. The moment she looked at it, she grinned. "Edward's going to love you in that, Bella!"

I had been unnerved by her devious grin, but I didn't think too much of it. Now I was just plain nervous.

It was a deep blue dress, Edward's favorite color on me. It didn't have an overbearingly plunging neckline, for which I am thankful for. But it did have an open back, all the way to just above my hips, and the dress ended just above my knees.

Taking a deep, steadying breath I knew he could hear all the way from the living room, I threw the door to the bathroom open and rushed down the stairs.

Edward and Charlie were in the living room, as I had expected. Charlie had the game on, but his eyes weren't exactly trained on the screen. He kept sipping his beer and shooting looks at Edward. I noticed that every time he did, his eyes narrowed a tiny bit. I groaned internally. If I noticed it from the stairs, Edward must have noticed it from where he was sitting, pretending to be unperturbed by all of this.

I knew it still upsets him, that Charlie would still be angry at him after all this time. And I knew he couldn't blame Charlie because he blamed himself as well. I wished I could make him forgive himself for what he did last year. He had already explained the reasons behind his actions, and I didn't need anything more, now that I have him with me.

A lot has happened since then. Jake and I had become friends, and Edward and Jake-while being stubborn about wanting to kill each other-had accepted that they were both a part of my life.

I'm engaged, and though this struck fear in me every time it's mentioned, or every time I think about it, I can't help but feel a tiny bit happy to think that I would be Mrs. Edward Cullen in a few months.

Okay, I get more than a tiny bit happy. Edward and I were going to be together, officially. And though I'm not a big fan of marriages, I'm excited anyway. And not just about the walking down the aisle part, either. In fact, I'm more excited about the wedding night. And the fact that after our marriage, I would be joining Edward and the Cullens in eternity.

What could be better than this?

Edward saw me first-he had heard the pitter patter of my feet even though I had tried to make as little sound as possible. Well, I was only human. For now.

I had the pleasure of seeing his eyes popping as he looked at the dress I was wearing. I grinned at him sheepishly. No matter what Alice said, it unnerved me to be wearing something like this. And as pleasurable as it is to see Edward so taken by it, it scared me a little.

"Hi, Edward," I whispered, though I knew he could hear me. Damn vampire hearing. And then he flashed me my favorite crooked smile, and I was done for. I swear I stopped breathing.

Tearing my gaze from him, I managed to restart my heart.

I cleared my throat and spoke louder for Charlie's benefit. "Dad, we're going to go, okay?" I rushed to the kitchen table to grab my jacket. There was no need for Charlie to see the back of my dress. I knew for a fact he wouldn't let me out of the house if he saw it. Not that I'd actually comply…I am eighteen already. I'd just prefer it if Edward and I could leave without Charlie turning purple and sputtering out insults.

I managed to slide the jacket on before Charlie came into the kitchen, followed by Edward. Looking at the front of my dress was already causing Charlie half an aneurysm. "Bella…" He brought his hand up to rub his reddening neck.

Raising an eyebrow, I smiled. "See you later, Charlie," I tugged at Edward's hand, eager to leave the house before Charlie came to his senses and start acting the father.

"Wait!" Charlie called out, just as I was opening the front door.

I groaned, letting my head drop. Edward chuckled, and kissed me on the cheek swiftly before Charlie even stepped out of the kitchen. "No escaping him tonight, love," he whispered.

He straightened up just as Charlie appeared in the hallway. "I want you back by eleven, Isabella," he glared at me, then shifted his gaze to Edward.

Three years ago, I would have thought he looked slightly scary. But he's got nothing on Edward's anger.

Edward only smiled, and nodded. "Of course, sir. Don't worry, she'll be safe with me."

I rolled my eyes at the both of them. "Great. Now that we've got the testosterone spill all cleared up, let's go!" I glared at Edward again, only to receive another chuckle. To my surprise, even Charlie laughed.

"Have fun," Charlie called out. I could hear him muttering, "But not too much fun," under his breath.

I rolled my eyes again as I closed the door behind us. I smiled when I saw Edward's Volvo in the driveway. Edward opened the door for me and I slid in. I hadn't even blinked when he was already beside me, beaming down at me.

"You look beautiful, Bella," he whispered, leaning in closer to kiss me. My heart skipped a beat as he pressed his marble lips to mine. I gasped into his mouth. It's been such a long time, it seems, that we've done this. The past four days had been sunny, and he'd taken the time to go hunting with Emmett, Jasper and Carlisle. Today was the first time I'd seen him in four days and three nights.

When he pulled away, I was flushed crimson. I gripped at his shirt. "I missed you," I told him sincerely.

Edward smiled at me, and brushed his lips against my forehead. "And I've missed you," he told me. "Let's get going, or we'll miss our reservation." I nodded and let him go reluctantly.

I wonder what it would be like to join him for a hunt. I've never once seen him feed. I had wanted to, time and again, though I've only mentioned it to him once. When I'd first found out about him, and what he really is, I'd asked him if I could see him hunt. He'd gotten…Angry, I suppose, was the right word. Fearful. He'd said that as a human, if I were to see him hunt, he could lose control and attack me instead. He didn't want to risk that.

I knew he thought of himself as a monster. But how can he when he thinks of protecting me all the time? When he takes every precaution possible to make sure that I'm safe? It scares him to see me hurt, and I love him all the more because of it.

"What are you thinking, Bella?" he asked me softly, pulling me out of my reverie.

I smiled. It frustrated him that he couldn't read my mind. "I was thinking of hunting," I replied, turning to look at him. I saw surprise in his warm, golden eyes. "I was thinking how it would feel like to hunt."

He looked pained all of a sudden. "Bella…It, this life, it comes with a price. If you don't-"

I placed a hand on his arm. "Edward, you're not getting out of spending eternity with me because you feel guilty," I told him. "I love you, and while I might be the first vampire in history who faints at the sight of blood, that's not going to stop me."

Suddenly he was roaring with laughter. "I highly doubt you'd faint at the sight of blood, Bella," he chuckled, regaining his composure.

I grinned at him. I was glad I was able to bring him out of his gloomy mood. He'd been more and more reflective lately, and I know this is because he's upset I will change my mind after I've been changed. I sighed inwardly. He doesn't understand that the only thing that would ever kill me, really kill me, is being without him. Doesn't he know that by now? If anything, our rocky time apart should have given him a hint.

I struggled, trying not to think about it. I know now that what he said, and did, was only to protect me. In his mind, he thought he would put me in danger if he stayed with me. It didn't change the fact that it hurt.

That period of my life I would gladly forget.

Before I even realized it, we were already at La Bella Italia. I tugged off the seatbelt, and when I reached for the door, Edward was already pulling it open. I smiled at him as I took his hand, letting him lead me into the restaurant.

The host was a different girl this time, but she showed even more appreciation towards Edward that the last one. I fought the urge to roll my eyes and slap her hard, several times. Finally, we were left alone. Then I noticed that we were seated in the same booth as the previous time we were here.

"You know, you're incredibly adorable when you're jealous," Edward told me, reaching out to wrap his arm around my waist.

I glared at him half-heartedly. "I wasn't jealous," I insisted.

He only smiled infuriatingly. "Um-hmm."

I was about to retort when our server arrived. Definitely different that the one we had last time. This server was male. He glanced at Edward, then smiled at me. I smiled back, confused. Why hadn't he smiled at Edward, too? Maybe he was afraid. I'll admit, only in my head, that Edward can be scary when he wants to be. I just thought that servers had to be friendly to all customers.

"Hello," he greeted me. "My name is Ben, and I'll be your server tonight."

I ordered a coke, and Ben sidled away.

When I turned to face Edward again, he was scowling at the spot where Ben was at. I waved a hand in front of his face. "Edward? What's wrong?" I felt my eyebrows pull together.

"He was having some very explicit thoughts about you," he spat out.

I blushed. "Oh." Now I wished I hadn't asked. I didn't know Ben, but he was our server for the night. How was I supposed to look him in the eye after this? Couldn't Edward have said that he was just jealous?

Suddenly a smile tugged at my lips. "Hey! You're jealous!" I exclaimed, resting my chin on his shoulder, and poking him in the chest lightly. Not that he could feel it.

Edward faced me with surprised eyes, then he frowned again. "Of course I am. I could hear his thoughts, see images of you…He was degrading you!"

I chuckled, shaking my head. "He's being a male. Aren't you supposed to be used to it by now? It's been a hundred years," I reminded him.

"Not for us," he retorted. I was still chuckling, so he folded his arms indignantly across his stone chest. "Alright, how would you like it if our host were to come by right now?" I sobered up instantly, glaring, while he grinned, knowing he'd stumped me into silence.

When Ben came back, with my coke, however, he was less than friendly of course. Just to stop him from anything life-threatening, I ordered a plate of carbonara.

"Edward," I groaned, after Ben had left with my order. "Would you stop it with the death glares? I'm sure you scared him enough, now forget him."

Edward sighed, and rested his chin on my shoulder, kissing my neck lightly. I shivered at his touch. "Alright, love. I'm sorry. After all these years, jealousy is still a very hard thing for me to conquer…You bring out the human in me, Bella. It's been a long time."

I smiled, then patted his hand. "It's alright, Edward. I'd just like to focus a little bit more on us, and a little bit less on hormonal boy over there."

He snorted, dissolving in a fit of laughter. Controlling himself, he bent and gave me a kiss, brushing his lips ever so gently against mine. When he made to pull away, I groaned, and grabbed at his shirt, tugging him closer.

I felt his icy lips on mine, firmer, stronger and sighed. His sweet scent was enveloping me. I find it so hard to form a coherent sentence when he does that. Then he parted his own lips and my eyes flew open in shock. We've never done that before. He's always pulled away too quickly for my own liking, and here he was, tongue probing my lips to part. My lids drifted shut as I gave in, and I tasted him now. He was like candy, icy and sweet, and never too much.

I heard someone clearing their throat, and we reluctantly pulled back. It was Ben, our server. He was holding my plate of carbonara, and he placed it on the table in front of me, an annoyed look on his face. "Enjoy," he muttered, though his tone was less warmer than before.

"I think you were right about him," I managed to choke out. Edward smoothed his hand down the front of his shirt, equally as out of breath as me, and laughed slightly.

I picked up my fork and started on my carbonara. The truth was, I'd like nothing more than to grab Edward and rush us out of here, go someplace private and continue what we had been doing just moments ago.

But Edward wanted to wait until our wedding night, and I had to give him that. But our wedding night? We had just gotten engaged. Our wedding was supposed to take place after graduation. That's months away.

I groaned inwardly, and dropped my fork. I took my coke and sipped it, trying to cool the heat in the pit of my stomach.

All I knew was, it was going to be a long night.

EBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBE

After I was done with the carbonara, and the dessert, we were ready to leave. I was still uncomfortable with the fact that I ate while Edward just sat and watched. He must have been bored. So I was glad that we were leaving.

Though, I was very happy we came. The night was perfect. Edward and I had talked, about our plans after graduation, about college. He told me he wanted to take me to Europe for our honeymoon, see if we could travel a little before my time as a human is up. I found it funny and exciting at the same time that if we were to go to Europe, the only time we would be able to do anything in plain sight would be during nighttime.

When our server came back to give us our receipt, he was still flirting with me. If I had needed Edward's help before in understanding his words and gestures, I certainly didn't need them now. And if he interpreted my reaction to him as a good thing, then he was clearly mistaken. All he did was irritate me a little more every time he came by, and now I just had a migraine. Edward wasn't doing much better, minus the migraine, of course.

When I stood up, Ben was an inch apart from me. "If you ever decide you're done with him, call me, huh?" he grinned. I fought the urge to retch at his breath.

He had whispered his words to me but, of course, Edward had heard it all. "She won't be done with me! We're getting married, you imbecile. Get away from my fiancée!"

I shot Ben a disgusted look, and grabbed Edward's hand.

We exited the restaurant, without a glance back and got into the Volvo. He had been quiet the whole time. Before he could pull away, I rested a hand on his arm. "Edward, I'm sorry you had to hear that. But you know it doesn't mean a thing to me, don't you?"

He sighed, shooting me a crooked smile. Then he shut his eyes tightly and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"What's wrong, Edward?" I asked, for the second time that night.

"I was just thinking…If this is how men react to you when you're human, I can just imagine fighting them off with a baseball bat when you're a vampire."

I couldn't help myself. I burst out laughing.

EBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBE

It was only nine thirty. Edward had told me that he was taking me someplace, as a surprise. We were still outside of Forks, but it was too dark for me to actually see anything. We pulled into a dirt path, and I smiled suddenly. We were nearing the meadow. Our meadow.

Edward and I got out of the car, and he pulled me into his embrace, then pressed his lips to mine. It was more urgent, more filled with desire, than any of our kisses had been. Normally, he would start out careful, and when we would occasionally forget that he was stronger than I am for a few blissful minutes, he would still be careful. But this kiss was passionate, crushing me to him. I didn't have a single complain.

When he pulled back, my lips, my heart, my chest throbbed. The heat pooling in my stomach was harder to ignore. "I've been wanting to do that since that human interrupted us," he whispered, his icy fingers brushing away the hair from my face.

I was incapable of speech, so I buried my face in the crook of his neck, and worked on steadying my breath. Edward could hear this, and chuckled, "Breathe, Bella."

Oxygen coming to me easily, my heart its usual pace, I pulled back and glared at Edward. "It's your fault," I teased.

Edward grinned at me, and my God, my heart stopped. He was so beautiful! He scooped me up into his arms, and then he was running. I closed my eyes, resting my head against his shoulder, enjoying the cool wind on my face. When I felt him stop, I opened my eyes.

I gasped.

Our meadow had been transformed. There were candles around the circle, casting a soft orange glow in the dark night. There was a blanket in the middle of the meadow. I turned to look at Edward. "I thought we could watch the stars tonight. Alice said it would be a good time and place."

I nodded mutely, and followed him, sitting on the blanket next to him. Stretching, I laid on my back, stretching to a comfortable position.

I could see them, the stars, shining so bright I wondered for a moment if they were make-believe. I'd never seen them like this, definitely not in Phoenix, and never in Forks. They were so beautiful.

Unconsciously, my hand lifted from my stomach of its own accord, and I traced them with a finger.

"Like it here?" Edward asked, turning on his side to look at me.

I smiled, closing my eyes contentedly. Then I opened them, and mimicked Edward's position, so that we were nose to nose now. "Yes. Thank you, Edward. I know the restaurant must have been a bore for you, but it really is the perfect night for me."

He shook his head slightly. "It is for me too, Bella," he rested an arm across my waist, his hand gently stroking my bare back. "I can't wait for us to be husband and wife," he whispered.

Our noses were so close, we were basically Eskimo kissing. I smiled up at him, and ran my nails lightly along the exposed skin of his neck. It is so hard for me to imagine that this amazing Adonis is all mine.

"Me, too."

Edward's eyes had darkened, I could see that even in the dark of the night. He scooted closer, closing the distance between us, and pressed his lips to mine. He was taking the initiative again. I wasn't going to complain. Who knew when his overprotective side would kick in again, and he would pull back? I didn't want to rush that. I'm taking all I could get.

Our tongues met again, in a wild frenzy of passion. I gasped into his mouth when he maneuvered us so that he was on top of me. I felt none of his weight, but I still felt the shiver running down his body.

He was a lot less restrictive tonight. I wonder why that is. I gasped again as he pressed down into me, his obvious arousal pressing into my thigh. I blinked, looking into his eyes. They were intense gold, almost going to black now.

I knew I should be afraid. I knew I should stop him, or fear if he had enough control.

But all I felt was safe, and happy, and warm.

And ready.

So I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him even closer to me, crushing my lips with his, pressing my body to his.

Okay, okay, I know. Evil place to end. But I wanted to know what you guys think of it so far. It's not as angst-filled as I promised, but don't worry, that's coming soon. I'm still working on the next chapter, but I've got the entire story all planned out so no worries of me getting a writer's block right now.

BTW, Read and Review, will you? And tell me if you'd prefer me to write Edward and Bella's sex scene in the next chapter (thus effectively changing the rating to an M) or if you'd like me to just skip ahead? Just a warning though, I'm not going to change Edward and Bella into swearing characters, or make them OOC, or make the scenes all nasty and all wrong. I like the way SM writes and though I won't be as torturous as her in the sense that she barely gives us hints on their sex life, I'm not about to turn it to porn either. I'm going to try and make it believable, and tasteful and well-written smut. If there's such a thing.

Once again, R&R. Tell me if I should continue or drop dead.