Chapter 5 – Until Eternity

I’d been ordered to Alice’s room so I was making my way up there when I ran into Tanya laughing softly as she descended from the third floor. Edward’s floor. “Oh, Bella,” her smile faltered. “I was just congratulating Edward,” she said stiffly. “Thank you so much for inviting us down here. We’re all extremely fond of Edward, as you well know.”

Jasper and Rosalie were suddenly behind me. He’d unleashed his powers sending out happy thoughts that left both Tanya and I smiling, despite our obvious animosity. We’d been tap dancing around each other for the last two days. If I wasn’t near Edward she was glued to his side. I was feeling less than charitable towards her. Jasper had been a life saver, keeping me level headed.

Rosalie smiled sweetly at Tanya. “If you’ll excuse us,” she clasped my hand in hers and began tugging me up the steps past Tanya, “we really need to get her ready,” she called over her shoulder.

–

I peeked out of Alice’s window taking in the many mingling guest who were taking their seats in the Cullen’s backyard. It was a twilight ceremony, so Alice had taken it upon herself to decorate every tree around the perimeter in sparkling butterfly and dragonfly lights. Every other chair was covered in what we referred to as Edward’s blue while the rest were draped in silver with matching flower arrangements placed sporadically throughout. She even had an ornate archway built where we would exchange our vows. I shook my head. There was no point in being bothered by all the fanfare; it was just a part of being Alice’s sister. I guess you just had to take the bad with the good.

I searched the crowd diligently for any sign of Jacobs’s dark hair. Quil, Embry, Sam and their dates were already there talking to Charlie and Billy. Seeing Billy there without Jacob really made it hit home. He would not be here. Could I really blame him for not wanting to sit through my wedding to a vampire? Yeah, I really could. Even though I knew that I’d have trouble doing the same for him.

A gentle tap on the door brought me out of my sulking thoughts. “Come in,” I called.