Epilogue

A year had passed since Ben and Angela's wedding, and a lot of things had changed. Alice and Jasper were engaged. Jasper had proposed to Alice in December, at the same spot where he had asked her to be his girlfriend. Alice now called that spot "The place of new beginnings."

Emmett and Rosalie were inseparable. They could never keep their hands off each other; whether they're holding hands or glued together at their lips, they're always touching.

Ben and Angela were dominating the seas. The merge of the two shipping companies was a huge success, and Ben and Angela were benefiting from it. They didn't care about the money, though. They still loved to sail –together or apart- all over the ocean.

Recently, however, they had decided to take a break from the sea when they learned that Angela was carrying their first child. Amelia Elizabeth Cheney was expected to arrive on September 6th.

And then there was Edward.

Spending the past year with Edward was a blessing. When I was around him, everything else in the world seemed to dim and fade away. He had a way of making everything better. When I was sad, he would cheer me up; when I was worried, he would convince me that everything was fine.

Edward had quit his job at El Torito after Rosalie's masquerade party. He took a job as a part-time piano teacher. He worked mostly with young kids learning to play the piano for the first time.

"Julia says she wants to meet you," Edward told me as we were driving to dinner one night. Julia was Edward's favorite student; she was a seven year old girl and a according to Edward, she was a natural piano player.

"Does she? Do you frequently talk about me with your students?"

"Only Julia." Edward flashed a smile at me. "I think you'd really like her if you met her. She's extremely thoughtful and incredibly smart. She reminds me a lot of you."

"I can't wait to meet her." I looked out the window, noticing that we had driven past the Forks city limits. "Edward, where exactly are you taking us to eat?"

"You'll see."

Almost an hour later, Edward pulled into the parking lot of El Torito. "We're eating here?" I asked, looking over at Edward. "I thought you said you'd be happy if you never had to step foot in this place again?"

"I meant what I said, but I decided that there was something worth coming here for." Edward's gaze shifted to the restaurant and the corner of his mouth pulled up into a crooked smile. When he turned back to look at me, amusement was clear in his eyes.

"What's worth coming here for?" I asked.

"You'll see," he promised. "Let's go in."

The inside of the restaurant looked exactly the same as it had nearly a year and a half before.

"Hi welcome to El Torito," the hostess greeted us. Her eyes widened a little as she looked at Edward. "Edward," she smiled, her expression changing from surprise to recognition. "It's good to see you again."

"You're still working here, Emily?" Edward asked, smiling.

"Yeah, I need the money for tuition. Who's this?" She motioned toward me.

"This is my girlfriend, Bella. Bella, this is Emily, one of the few sane people I worked with here."

"It's nice to meet you, Emily," I offered my hand to her.

"It's nice to meet you as well," Emily replied, shaking my hand. "Follow me, I'll show you to your table."

Emily led us to a table in the back corner of the restaurant. Edward held out my chair for me and I sat. Before Emily left, Edward asked her a question that was too quiet for me to here. She nodded her head and Edward tried to be sly as he handed her a twenty dollar bill.

"What was that about?" I asked when Edward sat down across from me.

"You saw that?"

"Yeah, I did. You're not as sneaky as you think, Edward."

"Well darn, there go my dreams of being a spy," Edward said with a laugh. " You'll understand in about a minute."

"Hi, my name is Mike and I'll be….." Our waiter announced his presence, but trailed off when he recognized. I looked up to see Mike Newton standing with a pad and paper in his hands and an apron tied around him. He looked between me and Edward with an expression of mixed anger and humiliation.

"Mike?" I tried to hold back my laughter, but I wasn't succeeding. "Since when do you work here?"

Mike looked down at the floor, his cheeks flushing slightly red. "Since Tina wanted me to work here with her," he whispered, probably hoping we couldn't hear him.

"Tina wanted you to work with her? Why?" I didn't understand why Tina would want Mike to work with her after their plan had failed at the masquerade.

"Well…" Mike trailed off, and bent down to pick up an imaginary piece of food off of the carpet.

"He couldn't say no to his girlfriend," Edward finished for Mike, fighting a smile.

"Mike and Tina are dating?" I could feel the surprise on my face. Mike and Tina didn't seem at all compatible. But then again, they both thought it would be a good idea to try to tear Edward and I apart for their own personal gain. So maybe they were perfect for each other.

"Yeah, yeah," Mike said, straightening up. "What do you guys want to eat?"

"Chicken fettuccine," Edward and I said together. Mike scowled at our food choice and scribbled it down on the paper. He turned on his heel and walked away without another word.

"So do you think he remembers?" I asked Edward.

Edward took my hand and held it on the table. "I'm pretty sure he remembers. Not many people order an Italian dish at a Mexican restaurant."

Mike didn't appear again until he brought our food. He brought our drinks with our food.

"Edward I need your opinion on this fettuccine," I said before Mike left. I twirled my fork in my pasta and offered it to Edward.

Mike snarled and stormed away.

Edward closed his mouth around my fork, his eyes burning into mine. Slowly, he dragged his lips away from the fork, taking the fettuccine noodles with him.

"Is it good?" I asked him, laughing.

"It's delicious."

"Was this the reason you brought me here, to see Mike here?" I asked.

"I thought you'd like to know that Mike's moved on."

We didn't see Mike for the rest of the night. According to Emily, he stormed out of the restaurant after he gave us our food.

Edward drove me home and walked me up to my door. "Thanks for dinner," I whispered, pulling him close to me.

"It was my pleasure." Placing his hands on the door on the side of my head, he leaned in and kissed me lightly on the lips.

"I love you, Edward," I mumbled against his perfect lips, taking his face in my hands.

"I love you too, Bella." Edward leaned back in to kiss me when the door opened, causing us to fall through the doorway.

"Oh my gosh!" Alice exclaimed, "I'm so sorry."

"I should have seen that coming," I muttered, placing my forehead on Edward's.

"Now we've come full circle," he laughed, shutting door with his foot and recapturing my lips.

The End.

Excuse how horrible the epilogue was. There were so many times I thought about just throwing it out.

Thank you all for your support. :D Like I said in my AN in Chp. 23, I have another idea for a story, but I'm going to write it out before I put it up. I had planned on telling you what the story will be about, but I decided not to. I'm sorry. But I will tell you that it will be titled "Dreams" So you can guess as to what it is about.

Thanks again. You guys rock!