"Her voice echoed through the forest shrilly, causing the vampires around her to cover their ears and wince in pain. The tree in front of her snapped in half, crashing to the ground from the force of the invisible waves hitting it. As the high pitch...
"Yeah. It's a month before my birthday. I don't want to be another year older than you. Alice said she could get the wedding together by then." Bella explained.
Edward chuckled, "I'm sure she can...There's no rush."
"I've chosen my life. I want to start living it."
"And so you're gonna let Alice plan the whole thing? The dress, the reception, the guest list. I mean, who knows who she's gonna invite."
Bella let out a huff of amusement, "Does it matter?"
Edward sits up, causing Bella to sit up too, "I just don't know why you're doing this."
"What? The wedding?"
"No...You're trying to make everyone else happy but you're already giving away too much."
"You're wrong." Bella stands up, causing Edward to give her a concerned look, "This wasn't a choice between you, Lyra, and Jacob. It was between who I should be, who I wanted to be, and who I am. I've always felt out of step, like literally stumbling through my life. I've never felt normal. Because I'm not normal. I don't want to be. I've had to face death and loss and pain in your world, but I've also never felt stronger... and more real, more myself. Because it's my world, too. It's where I belong."
Edward smirked and asked, "So, it's not just about me?"
Bella smiled and shook her head, "No. Sorry... I've made a mess trying to figure all this out, but I wanna do it right." She leaned her face down so it was near his, "And, I wanna tie myself to you in every way humanly possible."
He let out a small huff of amusement, "Starting with a wedding."
"Actually, something a little more difficult first. And, maybe even dangerous." She stood up and smirked, "We have to tell Lyra and Charlie."
Edward chuckled before agreeing, "It's highly dangerous."
"It's a good thing you're bulletproof and that Lyra can't kill you with Charlie around."
Edward's face dropped slightly out of fear, "Are insinuating that she'll kill me when Charlie isn't around?"
"It's highly possible." Bella told him honestly before smiling and adding, "I'm gonna need that ring."
Edward smiled as he stood up and slid the ring onto her finger, hugging her gently.
***
To say Lyra took it better than Charlie is really not saying much. Charlie was both furious and stunned when he found out, meanwhile Lyra was surprisingly calm. Charlie took a lot of convincing while Lyra merely looked at Bella closely before asking, "Are you happy?"
This led to Bella looking at her best friend in confusion, "What?"
"Are you happy about marrying Edward?"
"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"
"Because Edward basically coerced you into marrying him."
"Coercion: the practice of persuading someone to do something by using force or threats." Lyra recited from memory.
"I know what coercion is, Lyra." Bella said in slight annoyance, "Edward didn't force or threaten me."
Lyra rolled her eyes at the human, not believing her, "He refuses to change you until you're married. If it's not force then what is?"
"Compromise." Bella defended, crossing her arms over her chest and shrinking into the couch, suddenly feeling very small under the banshee's gaze, "I love him."
"Loving someone doesn't mean you have to marry them, Bella."
"I know, but I want to do this. It'll make him happy. And if he's happy then I'm happy."
Lyra smiled at Bella softly, "Okay."
"Lyra," Bella said, taking her best friend's hands into hers, "I want you to be my maid of honor."
"Me?"
"Of course, who else would I have for my maid of honor other than my best friend?"
"I just thought that Alice would be..."
"Lyra, I'm never going to be able to do this without you." Bella expressed, "We've been to hell and back together. I need you for this."
"I'd do anything for you, Bells."
"So is that a yes?" Lyra nodded and hugged Bella tightly
***
"I wish I could get a tattoo!" Emmett whined as he, Lyra, Seth, and Eris walked towards a tattoo parlor in Port Angeles.
"I know, sweetie, this is the fifth time you've complained about it in the last twenty minutes." Lyra told him before finally thinking of a way that might get him to shut up, "What if I get a tattoo that you pick out anywhere you want?"
Emmett smirked, "Anywhere?" He wiggled his brows.
Lyra rolled her eyes before pushing him, "There's a child here, dumbass. Cut it out." He pouted before Lyra added, "But, yes, anywhere."
"Yay!" Emmett cheered, wrapping his arm around her as they walked into the tattoo parlor.
Before Seth and Eris could follow, the latter grabbed the former's hand and pulled him aside to say, "I just wanted to thank you for protecting Lyra during that whole ordeal. I mean, she gave me a home so I really don't know what I would do without her."
"It was nothing really." Seth told them with a small blush, "She's literally my world, so I don't know what I would do without her either."
"Well, thank you anyways." Eris glanced around for a moment before steeling her nerves and leaning up to press a kiss to his cheek.
Seth's blush deepened as his eyes widened. Eris gave him another small smile before moving to leave. Seth, however, grabbed her hand and turned her back around to face him, pulling her close and pressing a quick kiss to her lips. It was barely a peck, but it was enough to cause Eris to blush deeply. They paused for a moment before leaning back up and pressing a second slightly longer kiss to Seth's lips before pulling away, taking his hand gently and pulling him into the tattoo parlor.
Lyra and Emmett exchanged a look as the two blushing teens entered the building before looking back at the tattoo designs in a book. They both stopped when they saw the design of a tree in front of a crescent moon. It looked like their tree during the winter and they knew that this tattoo was the one.
Although this tattoo adventure did cause Alice to chew her out upon seeing the design that now graced the back of her left shoulder, Lyra couldn't be happier for what was to come.
A/n Here's a picture of Lyra's new tattoo:
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And with that, Eclipse is done. I'll be taking a small break as my school year is coming to a close and finals are approaching along with my dance recital so I'm going to be busy the next few weeks.
