𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍:
Wedding talks
"THE THOUGHT OF SPENDING EVERY SECOND OF YOUR FOREVER IN MATRIMONY IS QUITE PLEASANT, IS IT NOT?"
Eloise asks Bella as she approaches Bella in her bedroom. Bella, startled, emits a gasp.
"Eloise!" Bella exclaims with a hand to her chest. Eloise smiles at her cheekily, "My apologies, I knocked on your door, and your father, Charlie, answered. I told him that I'm Jasper's girlfriend."
"It's fine," Bella says as she shrugs with a dismissive wave of her hand. She sits on her bed and looks at Eloise curiously, "Umm...what are you doing here?" Bella asks, stammering a bit.
"I suppose I wanted a private conversation with you. It's quite difficult in the Cullen residence to have a decent conversation with the house filled with vampires with enhanced hearing."
Eloise tells Bella with a grin as she sits down on the chair. Eloise observantly looks around Bella's purple-painted walls, with pictures and posters hanging on the walls, a full-length mirror on the right side of the bed, and a bedside table with a yellow lamp on the right, with Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice placed on the wooden surface, a computer desk cluttered with...a bit of a mess of things.
Bella looks at her confusedly, fumbling with her fingers, nervous.
"You need not be anxious, Bella. We're just having a light conversation pertaining to your recent engagement with your undead lover." Eloise tells her with a grin. Bella lightly giggles. "You're undead too, you know."
"True." Eloise winks at her as she clears out her throat. "I'm going to be straightforward on what I came here for."
"Okay..." Bella mutters quietly.
"Just a fair warning, I'm going to pry on your love life. But here it is..." Eloise says with a calm and soothing tone. "But aren't you too young to marry?"
Bella blinks rapidly at the unexpected question. Eloise could practically metaphorically hear her overthinking.
"If you find the love of your life, what's the point of waiting?"
"A good answer for sure, but not enough for me," Eloise says as she stands up from her seat and walks towards Bella's bedroom window. She crosses her arms to her chest.
"The point of waiting to commit yourself to another officially is whether you want this now or for the rest of your life. I may not be married, but I might as well be. You make decisions together, consider each other's feelings, agree to disagree, listen, and hold on to each other in times of trials and tribulation. You commit to your union as husband and wife, no matter the hardship...To know each other so deeply is the matter of waiting."
Eloise has read an article on why divorce rates are so high because the husband and wife do not honestly know each other, as she remembered from the article 'incompatible and unrealistic expectations.'
"When you marry, it's not always sunshine and daisies, and there will always be a conflict that will test your marriage. The question is, will you be able to handle it when the time comes?"
Bella pursed her lips. I hadn't thought about that. She guesses she was in a state of bliss when Edward asked her to marry him, and she didn't think of what will happen after the marriage, just the thought of forever. And maybe being too old from Edward's human age, she's almost turning nineteen this year.
"I'm not against your marriage, Bella. I do apologize if I did come as so." Eloise apologizes as she turns around, looking at Bella, who is staring at the wall in front of her, lost in thought. Bella then shook her head, "No, no, it's okay. I'm just thinking about what you said."
"You're young, Bella. There is a whole world waiting for you."
Bella looks at Eloise softly, "Edward is my whole world."
Eloise nearly groaned. "Do not entirely depend on your entire being on a man, Bella. That is what you shall never do." she scolds with 'tsk' escaping her lips as she shakes her head.
"A husband is there to support you, Bella, not control you. All you ever need is your right to make your own decisions for yourself without the influence of your husband." Eloise lectures, her voice strong and confident, and Bella couldn't help but admire Eloise for being an independent and strong woman.
"You're really amazing, you know?"
"Oh, I know I am amazing." Eloise dismisses with a wave of her hand but with a pleasant smile on her face.
"Thank you for the talk, and you've been a great...friend?" Bella questions as Eloise laughs lightly, "Of course! We are friends, Bella, or I wouldn't have barged into your house to give you a lecture about marriage."
"Well, I'm glad."
"I'm glad too."
•| ⊱✿⊰ |•
"I'M GUESSING FROM THE EXPECTING LOOK ON YOUR FACE THAT BELLA TOLD YOU ABOUT 'THE TALK' AS WHAT SHE HAD WORDED IT."
Eloise says, sitting on a tree trunk near the ravine, looking up at the dark blue night sky. The moon loomed big, blazing yellowy white, and enveloped by an ethereal radiance. It was surrounded by millions of stars. Every twinkling star caught her eyes.
The gentle sound of the waves of crystalline water hitting through the creek sounded almost like a lullaby. The fresh wind blew through her golden blonde hair as the breeze swayed the leaves in the trees. Its soothing sounds made everything feel at peace.
Edward comfortingly hums, sitting beside her, seemingly at ease in Eloise's presence, as he rested his elbows on his thigh as, his upper posture bent slightly, rubbing both of his hands together, "I'm glad you talked to her, even if I don't want to, I still want to change her mind. I don't know who she'll be able to handle immortality."
Eloise looks at him in understanding, giving him an assuring smile, "When you love someone, you always want what you think is best for them, but have you ever given a thought or considered what she wanted, what she decided on?"
Edward ponders. It was clear to him, and even to his family, that he tried to control Bella's every decision, every move, every thought, but as he realized that he was selfish.
It was just that, after decades of seeing his family with their significant others, except for Emmett, he'd always been envious of the love they shared.
When Bella entered his life, after decades of loneliness in a home full of romantic and explicit thoughts from his family, he finally had someone who he could call his.
But as Eloise's words sank in, he was being possessive over Bella, and it wasn't right.
"No. I never did." Edward simply answers, but his thoughts are complicated.
"For a mind reader, it's quite difficult. You can understand the minds of others, but for you, your thoughts are complex to decipher." Eloise observes from the frown on his lips and knitted brows.
Edward sighed heavily, pursing his lips, as he fixed the way he was sitting, straightening his back, as he planted both of his hands on the surface of the tree trunk, "It took me decades, I can't say I managed perfectly now, but it suffices to say that I'm used to it."
"If it makes you feel a little better, I still have quite a difficult time controlling my ability. My emotions are overwhelming sometimes because I feel too much. It affects my ability deeply."
Edward decided to alter the topic. He was sure he had enough of realization for a day, "I'm glad you decided to join the family,"
Eloise smiles, "I enjoy everyone's company. They are all entertaining in their own ways."
As Edward realizes, Eloise's thoughts are open for him to read.
"But not enough for you to stay."
Elois looks at him with pursed lips as her eyes express that he wants him to understand. Edward nods as he looks at the scenery before him, "Why haven't you told him?"
"You already read my mind, and you know the answer."
"There's a difference between being a thought and being said."
"Touché."
"I'm sitting here because I'm still figuring out how I am going to tell him that I want to go back to New York and leave him again," Eloise says.
"Well, someone told me earlier about decisions. You don't know if he would like to go with you." Edward tells her.
Eloise looks at him with a bewildered expression, "And let him leave the people he now calls family, no."
Edward chuckles, rolling his eyes at her, "Everyone in the family knows that Jasper has been itching to leave and go to you. He was just waiting for Alice's signal to know if you are ready to be with him."
Eloise purses her lips. "But sti-"
Edward cuts her off, already knowing what Eloise wants to reason, "I assure you, Eloise, that if you ask him to go with you to New York, you will not find any hesitation with his answer. I've been with Jasper for decades. I know his mind, and you consume his every thought."
Eloise squinted her eyes, looking at him suspiciously, "Do you just want me out of Forks so I could stop teasing you with silly nicknames?" she accused, but her tone said otherwise.
"It might, or might be the reason." Edward teases as Eloise slaps him lightly on the shoulder, as he and Eloise laugh.
But they both know that they enjoy each other's company.
Thus, another friendship blossomed.