Between the Perennial Blooms || Paul Lahote

Forty Eight | Nasturtium

"Loving, destructive and sad. Some hearts are created that way."
—Juansen Dizon | 'I Am The Architect of My Own Destruction'

• • •

This is the beginning of the end, she thought. And for the two Quileute wolves and one golden-haired Swan,

it almost was.

• • •

Of all the things Bailey had expected to wake up to that next morning, the bright sun shining down on her through the green fabric of her tent wasn't one of them. She had expected the morning to be darker, for the clouds to have suffocated any rays of sunlight that tried to peak through them as snow continued to fall down in the same thick flurries as it had the night before. She had expected the weather to reflect the foreboding in the air, to personify the multitude of emotions that had plagued her for the past few days leading up to that very morning in question. At the very least, she had expected some semblance of a preemptive winter storm to brew menacingly outside.

However, as she stepped through the zippered entrance of the tent after hurriedly getting dressed, all she was met with was the sight of the ground covered in a blanket of crystal white snow.

"I was just about to wake you," Bella greeted from her perch on a fallen log as she sipped from a thermos of hot chocolate Edward had left for the two sisters some time ago. "I got up not too long before you did and haven't been able to find anyone since."

"Is it nearly time?" Bailey wondered quietly. She wrapped her thin arms around her middle and huddled into herself as thoughts began to race rapidly through her mind. Had she really been sleeping for so long? Had Jacob already left? Was it too late for her to wish him one last good-luck/goodbye and request he tell Paul to stay safe and that she loved him?

"No," Edward answered as he suddenly stepped from between the trees. Smiling small at Bailey in greeting, he made his way over to Bella's side and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "We still have some time to prepare. And Jacob hasn't left yet — he's making sure the woods are clear before he goes."

"Sorry about last night," Bella apologized as she leaned into his side. "Couldn't have been easy on you."

Edward made a sound of derision. "It definitely won't make my list of top ten favorite evenings."

"You have a list?" Bella wondered, eyes flickering over to her quiet sister.

Paying no mind to the attention directed her way, Bailey busied herself with taking a large gulp of the hot chocolate she'd taken from Bella as her gaze flickered about their surroundings briefly.

"All ten were spent with you," Edward quietly replied with an adoring smile. "Number one was when you said you'd marry me." His voice lowered down to a whisper. "Mrs. Cullen."

"This is the twenty-first century," Bella replied, equally as quiet so as not to let Bailey hear. "I'm at least hyphenating my—"

"You're marrying him?!"

Bella spun around to see Jacob emerging from the brush. His muscles were taunt, body poised to either take off or pounce, and his face was a perfect mixture of devastation, rage, and an overwhelming amount of betrayal.