Only Human Twilight

22

It had taken three weeks of working and saving, and then begging my mother to lend me the rest, but I had done it. I finally had enough money to put a ring on Bella's finger. It wouldn't be much, but I knew she wouldn't mind, and besides, I would buy her a better one someday. This was about making it official. Making her mine in the eyes of the world.

The small jewelry store didn't look like much, but a friend at work had recommended it, and it was in my price range.

The clerk, a dark-haired man in his thirties with a mustache that curled at the ends, smiled when I entered. It wasn't really a friendly smile; rather, the smile of someone who had just locked on a target.

"How may I help you today, young man?" he asked. "Looking for a special present for your sweetheart, perhaps?"

The idea amused me. My sweetheart. Bella was so much more. "I'm looking for an engagement ring, actually."

"Ah," he smiled knowingly as if I'd just shared some secret. "We have a fine selection of rings," he went on, pulling a tray out of a case for me to browse from. "See if there's anything you like here."

There were diamonds, rows and rows of diamonds in different shapes and sizes, different arrangements on different bands, but none of them were quite right. Bella wasn't a diamond, some shiny, pretty little thing to be thrust under noses at parties and oohed and ahhed over. She was something much better.

"Do you have anything more...unique?"

His expression registered surprise, but he didn't voice it; instead he reached for another tray. "Perhaps one of these will suit you better."

There were more diamonds, but other stones, too – configurations of rubies, pearls, opals...they all seemed too garish or too...girlish for Bella. She was a woman who deserved a woman's ring.

When my eyes landed on the sapphire, practically hidden off to the side, I knew it was the one. Deep and elegant, small but powerful...it was very much Bella.

"That's the one."

Her acceptance of the ring was so laughably easy that I almost felt offended...almost. But I could see in her eyes what my human heart didn't want to acknowledge – the fear, the guilt, the sadness. Even though I remained blissfully unaware in the past, Bella knew what was coming, and she wouldn't dare ruin my last human memories arguing about rings and weddings. I was grateful for it, because in those memories, I was blissfully happy. Nearly as happy as I'd been when I saw Bella walking down the aisle to me.

I wondered if she had any idea how close the end was. I had wakened as a vampire September 29th. Nine days, including the transformation, from my best count, unless she somehow changed the past. But could she? If I wasn't changed at that precise moment, would I be sitting here reliving the memories now? It was...impossible. More impossible than vampires or werewolves or wish-induced time-traveling.

I'd never seen my father ill before. He'd been healthy every day of his life, as far as I knew. My mother was afraid; I could see it every time I went to check on them. Bella was always there, holding my hand, but I knew she felt as helpless as I did.

"...he keeps asking for you..." My mother's voice faded to the background as I thought of climbing those stairs and walking into that room, but I made myself do it somehow. He was so incredibly pale, white as the sheets beneath him, but he forced a smile for me.

"Father..."

"Edward, I want to...apologize." A cough. "We always think we know how our children's lives should go." Another cough. "You do what makes you happy, Edward. Don't waste a moment you have with her."