**So, this picks up right after the prologue in Breaking Dawn, so if it's been a while since you've read that, go read it and come back and read this!**

**I do not own any of the twilight characters or books, no copyright intended!*

Wedding Guests

"Bella?"

It's only a whisper, but the weariness in the sound makes my stomach tighten up. Is it real? It sounds much too otherworldly to belong to a human. This realization makes my mouth go dry.

A dark shape slides past me, and the coldness it carries with it makes me shiver more intensely than ever before. Maybe it's the combination of darkness, fear, and utter cold that makes me grip my arms around myself. My eyes start to ache from the strain to see anything.

Teeth. White, sharp teeth are what come into view first. Their size and shape make me feel oddly safe despite the obvious malicious nature they mean to convey. Then, I see him. His bare arm is inches from me and it glows in a faint light that seems to be coming from nowhere.

When my eyes opened suddenly and of their own accord, I began to rack my brain to remember my dream. Nothing came to me. I felt completely calm and warm wrapped in my blanket that always smelled like Edward. Upon thinking his name, my mouth morphed into the smile that is his and my eyes closed lazily.

Something flashed across my eyelids, like I was watching a movie that is out of focus. Not as clear as a memory, yet less substantial than a lie. My dream? Yes, Edward had been there. He'd said my name. He'd stood next to me, but in that protective way he did. His shoulder was slightly ahead of mine and his hands were balled into fists. I tried to remember what he was protecting me from, but the more I think, the less I get in return.

My eyes fluttered open and I lay still as I let them adjust to the total darkness of my room. I moved to sit up, thinking I would check my clock for the time. A sigh blew through my lips when I saw that it was still early and I felt completely awake. I would have hell trying to fall asleep again.

"Sorry. Did I wake you?"

I stopped moving instantly, which was hard since I was in a semi-reclined position and propped up on one elbow. The smile that belongs to the handsome speaker erupted across my face before I could stop it. The voice in my dream. The one I knew better than my own. The voice of my love. My Edward. A rush of affection flooded over me so unexpectedly, that I let my body flop back down on the bed and exhaled.

"I just dreamt about you, I think." I said, as I stretch and then fell still and quiet. I anticipated the familiar feeling of his cold fingers on my face, or his strong arm around my waist. I was waiting in vain.

"Did you fall asleep?" He whispered from the far corner of my room, making a frown replace my smile instantly. There was hope in his voice. I sat up and stared into the corner I knew he was in, even though he was almost completely invisible. The pale skin of his picturesque face managed to gleam slightly in the dark. It reminded me that he was what I could see through the darkness of my dream. His skin and a pair of large teeth had shone out at me. Teeth? I asked myself as an involuntary chill shot down my spine.

"Why are you so far away?" I asked casually, trying to hide the worry that was engulfing me. I heard him sigh quietly before striding over to my bed. Did he regret accidently waking me? Why? I prepared myself for him to be in one of his rare bad moods. I hated them. That one would be completely out of the norm though, considering that he was only moody when he needed to feed. He'd been away with Carlisle and Emmett all day doing just that. Had I done something? Maybe Alice told him I was less than enthused at the dress fitting? Maybe he somehow knew I had called to check up on Jacob? I started to feel defensive at the very thought and almost wished he would try to be angry about it.

So what if I was checking on Jacob? He was, after all, the best friend I'd had in a really long time. Not to mention I had recently broken his heart and was the sole reason he was roaming around Canada, away from his family and pack. I felt my face flush then quickly reminded myself that I didn't even know if anything was wrong. Still, I tried to get ready for what Edward would say or how he would act.

As soon as I felt him sit next to me, though, his hands found my face and he was kissing me. Kissing me in an overwhelming kind of way. His lips molded against mine and made them move everywhere his did. He tensed up when my breath caught from the shock and a slight moan escaped through my open mouth. His rigid frame relaxed when my arms wound up his and wrapped around his neck. I felt completely in his control and, thus, safer than ever. The kissing lasted longer than normal and I found myself wondering why just before he pulled away.

He didn't go far, though. His cold forehead rested against mine as he listened to my labored breathing. One of his hands moved from my face to rest on my chest where my heart was threatening to burst. He never allowed anything quite that intimate and the sensation of that realization caused a flutter in my stomach. The icy skin of his palm felt particularly cold against the part of my chest that was exposed. I was wearing a tank top and I felt heat rise to my face when my body reacted to his touch. He seemed oblivious to all of this and sat perfectly still for quite some time.

"You can go back to the corner and come back again if you want." I sighed trying to steady myself. He chuckled quietly and moved his face up so he could kiss my forehead. After my breathing returned to- relative- normality he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me to lay against his chest in one swift motion. I smiled from the familiarity of it all.

Something was off, though. I realized that he was taking short, shallow breathes, for one. Was this just a side affect of the kiss and closeness of his hand to my bare skin? Maybe. But he was also holding my head against his chest by wrapping his fingers in my hair. Was this just his passion for me manifesting itself the only way he was allowing it to so far? No. It felt like he was trying to keep my head there.

"How was your day?" he asked through a deep exhale as he slightly loosened his grip on my hair. The two actions made me relax, though only a little.

In all honesty, my day had been lousy. I had to drive that huge neon sign of a car around, feel further disappointment where Jacob was concerned, deal with Alice's dress fitting, and, most importantly, do it all without him.

"Pretty good, considering." I lied. I knew I was bad at it and he would probably hear a slight flutter of my heart and know I was not being honest. I just couldn't find the strength to burden him with my trivial problems. Not unless he asked, anyway.

"Tell me." He muttered through a smile that I couldn't see from my position on his chest, but could definitely hear in his smooth voice.

"Well," I paused trying to decide what to focus on. "It's the car." The last part came out quick and muffled, but I knew he heard it clearly because he half groaned and half growled at me. I squeezed my lips together to stop the smile that danced around them. He was incredibly desirable when he was annoyed.

"What is it this time?"

"I wont ask what you did to get that car, partly because I don't think I want to know and partly because I'm sure I'd want to kill you for it." I heard myself speaking with a lot less force than I'd planned to and wondered why I was still worried. He obviously wasn't upset with me. Unless kissing and touching me were new symptoms of his bad moods, and in that case, I planned to piss him off very often.

"What are you talking about?" He sounded genuinely confused.

"I went to put gas in that tank and two hikers flipped out over the car and told me it wasn't even for sale overseas, yet alone here in the states." I explained stressing my irritation by attempting to slap his chest. My fingers seemed to hit a brick wall and I simply let them lay there to recuperate.

"It's a wonderful car that most people would give anything to just be able to sit in and you act like its some piece of junk from the scrap yard!" he complained with amused agitation.

"Yeah! Got that when two complete strangers asked to take photos with the dumb thing!" I said excitedly, having to monitor the volume of my voice so Charlie would stay asleep. Though Edward and I were engaged and planning to live together soon, (supposedly at Dartmouth where we would both be studying Literature, though I knew I would be useless in such a setting for the first year or so after my change to a vampire), we didn't think it wise to let Charlie in on our nightly visits.

"Really?"

"Really." I said dryly, making him chuckle.

"See, it's a great car! Very stylish and luxurious and safe." He mumbled, kissing my hair with every adjective as if this would make them impossible to deny. The last word triggered a memory of what the two men had said about the car when they thought I wasn't listening.

"Oh, very safe indeed! Missile-proof glass, Edward? Seriously? Where in all of Forks am I going to come across a missile? I've already told you I'd stay away from the missile training going on over at High Trail Avenue!" I said with heavy sarcasm. I anticipated a sigh or sly comment back from him. Instead, he started to laugh so deeply that it shook my whole bed and me. Before I could help myself, I joined in. We stopped suddenly when Edward heard Charlie's bed springs shift.

I sighed into his chest and felt myself start to relax from the laughing as his scent drifted into my senses. He seemed to be doing the same at my head and we both laughed a few seconds more. I knew my scent made him exultant and distressed at the same time, but I tried to focus on the happy part more often. He showed such wonderful strength just being in the same room with me and not pouncing to drain all my precious blood. To have him hold me, kiss me, and sniff my hair made it easy to see him as some kind of Hercules. My own, private Vampire God. I couldn't wait for the day he would no longer have to work all the time to restrain himself. I could think of no better gift to give him.

"It really is a nice car, Bella. I know it's not you, but the 'after' car is and you'll get that soon enough." He said, bringing me from my thoughts. I wondered for the first time what exactly the 'after' car would be like. I hoped so much that it was truly a more 'me' car.

"Let me guess: No missile proofing necessary on that one?"

"Exactly. Once you're one of the family and I can feel completely safe to let you out of my sight to drive, you can have the less obvious, practical car. Once you're less," he paused for a significant amount of time then finished with a sigh. "Fragile."

He loosened his grip on my hair a little more and moved his head a fraction of an inch as if to look into my face, but quickly seemed to remember himself and jerked back to his position. His fingers wove into my hair again making a knot form in my stomach.

"Edward, what's wrong?" I asked without hiding the shaking in my voice.

"Who says something is wrong?" He sounded very convincingly close to someone who had no worries, but then gave himself away by added too quickly, "Get some sleep, Bella."

My first attempt to turn my face to his was feeble and barely even registered with me. The second time, I pushed the whole top of my body off of his chest and felt his arms fall away in a submissive sort of way. He had his face turned slightly away from me as if he were pretending to look out the window. Even though he was trying to hide it, the deep purple shades under his eyes and the black abyss that was usually golden screamed out at me from his pale face.

"What happened? I thought you were away because you were hunting?" I whispered as I realized that he had been trying to avoid this very conversation by staying in the shadows and kissing me into a daze. He closed his dark eyes and his long lashes touched the purple skin beneath them. I had to remind myself to breathe just then. Even when he was sickly, he was breathtaking.

"We intended to, but," he sighed deeply and sat up a little more so that his head rested on my headboard. I pulled myself up and sat cross-legged next to him. He finally met my eye contact and I reached out and touched his face with my fingertips. He looked so haggard. His mouth seemed to curve up involuntarily at my touch and his eyes closed again slowly. I realized with shock and worry that he almost looked tired enough to sleep.

"Edward, you're scaring me. What's happened?"

"Sorry. I'm not trying to scare you." He said bringing his hand up to the one I had on his face and kissing it softly. "We were on our way out when we picked up a scent. It was old, but Carlisle recognized it instantly." He paused, opening his eyes and then narrowing them instantly. I knew they were searching my face for the look of shock and realization that should have shown up there.

What was he saying? Why did my eyes seem to want to water and spill over treacherously? Why did everything in my body seem to know what he meant before my brain did?

An odd sensation to run filled me before I could stop it and I squeezed his hand to keep from jumping up. The Volturi. They had come for me and here I sat, just as human as when I'd left them in Italy. My heart pounded as if it knew it was in danger.

Another wave of shock hit me when I suddenly realized what this meant. It felt like someone had thrown a bucket of cold water down my back. We'd have to leave. Tonight. No wedding. No honeymoon. He would have to start the change tonight. I felt regret that we would miss out on the last human experience I wanted with him, but the fear of a huge gang of vampires coming after me and my new family outweighed the disappointment.

"Breathe, Bella," Edward said sitting up all the way now and grasping my face in his hands. "It's okay. They left."

The breath, that I hadn't realized I was holding, rushed out of me so quickly that I felt lightheaded and had to bring my head down to his shoulder. I turned so my face was buried in his neck and took deep, slow breaths to calm my pounding heart. He ran his knuckles down my cheek a few times and I felt my head cease the relentless spinning.

"Who?" I managed to choke out and hoped he would understand what I meant so that I wouldn't have to open my mouth again. It felt like leaving my mouth open was just asking for the nausea to take over. I took Edward's pause as a bad sign. He returned to stroking my cheek for a few seconds before taking my face in his hands and moving so that we were face to face.

"Aro was here with Jane and a few nameless bodyguards. They…" He stopped talking abruptly and we both turned to look at my closed bedroom door. Edward's hand closed over my mouth and he brought a single finger to his lips, signaling the need for total silence.

My eyes shot toward the digital clock on my side table and I realized that Charlie had just gotten up to get ready for work. I could see the shadow of his feet outside my door from the gap at the bottom. I wondered why Edward didn't hide in my closet and tell me to fake sleep like always, then saw and heard Charlie move past my door and stumble to the bathroom. I heard the shower being turned on and sighed against his cold hand. Edward must have seen that his thoughts didn't include a plan to pop his head into the room and check on me.

His hand slid from my mouth and rested on my neck as he turned to look deeply into my eyes. He seemed to think I was on the verge of a nervous break down or fainting because his other hand was holding my shoulder steadily.

"I'm ok. I just," I paused to swallow down the lump that sat in my throat. "I don't understand how this could have happened without us knowing. I mean, Alice?" I said her name as loudly as I could without giving us away. Edward's eyes narrowed slightly making me pull my eyebrows together in confusion.

"Alice is the cause for all this. Damn girl and her wedding plans." His voice was harsh and not at all like he usually sounded.

"What are you talking about?"

"Alice sent them a wedding invitation. They're here for the wedding." The words came from his mouth, but they sounded so odd that I almost asked him to repeat himself.

My mind was racing so fast that it was making me feel dizzy on top of everything else. I was sure I had a ridiculous look of shock on my face but didn't even attempt to change it. I was in my own head so much that it shocked me to hear the shower turn off and Charlie start to whistle as he got out. How long had I sat here not moving? It seemed like only seconds. I took advantage of our need for quiet again to think of the absurdities Edward was suggesting.

Alice had sent them an invitation? What was she thinking? And they'd come? What were they thinking? Did she know they were coming? Of course not, she would have told us, right? Did she not remember that they were adamant for my heart to stop beating as soon as possible? Didn't they remember this fact, too?

We sat in complete silence and stillness, staring into each other's eyes, until we heard Charlie walk past my door, down the stairs, and out the front door.

"Of course, she never believed for a second that they'd accept and show up." Edward continued like no time had gone by. "She saw them receive the invitation, but she also saw them disregard it like it was old news." He shrugged and shook his head as if to blow it off. I was barely listening to him. I didn't for one second believe this was their reasoning for being in Forks.

"They decided last minute to come all the way here from Italy for a wedding?" I asked suspiciously. The corners of Edward's mouth rose a little at my tone.

"Jane wanted to check up on your progress as well." He stated unnecessarily with hatred dripping from his words. I knew that was why they were here. All had been so quiet lately that they had no reason to venture so far from home. No reason, except the promise of my immortality. And apparently our wedding! I thought incredulously. My next thought made my eyes almost pop out of my head.

"They can't come to the wedding, Edward! All the people! They aren't 'vegetarians'!" I was shouting now and thankful that Charlie was gone.

"Shh, Bella. Calm down. They aren't attending the actual wedding. Aro wanted to give us his congratulations and gift in person and I've already told you why Jane wanted to come. She knows how soft Aro can be when it comes to our family." His anger returned instantly. "Luckily for us, Carlisle and Aro are close and it took very little convincing to get them to understand why you're not an immortal. Well, to get Aro to understand, at least."

"So, they just listened to Carlisle and left? Just like that?" I asked with the same skepticism as before. He looked at me a few seconds then stood up and leaned against my desk with his ankles and arms crossed.

"No, it wasn't exactly that easy." He said very reluctantly, looking down at my carpet. I perched on the edge of my bed directly in front of him and hugged my knees to my chest. He brought his eyes up to meet mine and I nodded to tell him to continue. He released a long, deep sigh as if preparing himself.

I gulped down some air and waited for him to continue.