"Is this really necessary?" Paul asked gruffly as he loosened the tie that Bella had just finished adjusting to sit against the thick expanse of his shirt clad neck.

Looking back over her shoulder she tried not to stare, not to linger on just how delicious her wolf looked all dressed up in his Sunday best, even if most of it had been borrowed from his pack mates and was skirting somewhere around the edge of formal. Bella herself wasn't feeling much more comfortable in her knee length black dress and heels, but the approving look Paul gave her as they both stopped to adjust the unfamiliar clothes made it all worth it.

This invitation hadn't arrived in the post; it had been blurted out over a very awkward dinner, one of many that had occurred along the path to finding a somewhat less tempestuous status quo between Paul and her father. However, Charlie's newfound love of a local woman named Mary had gone a long way in helping along Charlie's more irrational side, the one that wouldn't let go of the suspicions he held for the man who had captured his daughter so thoroughly. As they approach the little outcrop of land overlooking the ocean, Bella smiled internally to think how much the very soon to be new Mrs. Swan had swept in and changed her father's life.

"You think Charlie will care if I ditch the tie?" Paul grumbled, and just as he was reaching up to pull away the offending item for good, Bella tugged his hand back down, linked her hand with his and smiled sweetly into his eyes.

"No, not in the slightest, but I have it on good authority that Mary will kick your ass if you so much as try." Bella giggled softly when Paul looked at her like she'd told him she'd just eaten the last slice of pizza the world would ever see. She jerked on his hand to get him moving again, knowing that they were already running late. It wasn't even like she had a good excuse lined up either, and she doubted that her Dad and his fiancée would take kindly to knowing that Paul had all but bent her over the front of his truck, unable to control his instincts when she walked out of the house in a dress.

"Bells, over here!" Someone called as they stepped out of the cool spring air into the more controlled climate of the Clifftop Hotel, where the big day was about to take place. Turning her head she waved brightly at Leah, who was standing with Jacob's arm tightly wound around her waist, his attention caught up in what was obviously a very intense conversation with his father.

Bella wasn't sure whether she actually wanted to interrupt them or not, but with everyone else clearly already having taken their seats, it wasn't exactly like they had much choice either.

As they drew nearer, Jacob's eyes lifted from Billy's and though he did offer her a smile, it was tight lipped and very controlled for her usually exuberant friend. Jacob had never quite returned to himself after the chaos that had ensued at the beginning of the year, and though Paul would never reveal the depths of his mind to her, he had often hinted that Jacob was harboring a great deal of guilt for things that she doubted he would ever be able to control.

"You look lovely, Bells." Leah gushed slightly when Bella and Paul were standing awkwardly in front of them and not a word had been spoken in greeting.

Bella nodded politely, but her focus was swept up in the silent conversation that was taking place between her wolf and their Alpha. A simple look from Paul told her that this was pack business, and though her curiosity had been piqued, she knew it would happily wait until later to hear the sordid details. She doubted it was anything more than a strange scent on the land; or just another over-reaction from Jacob and the guilt he was still entertaining.

"Have you seen Charlie?" Bella asked, pulling her eyes away from twitching jaws and trying to focus her energy back on the reason they were all here.

"He was around earlier and I gotta say Bells he looked ready to tear his hair out." Bella's smile grew as she envisioned the image, being the center of attention certainly wasn't his thing and today he would be front and center with all eyes looking his way.

Bella was about to open her mouth to say something more when Embry peeked his head out from the large doorway they were gathered in front of, his boyish smile bright and easy as he winked generously at Bella, earning him a low but brotherly growl from somewhere deep within Paul's throat. "They're ready to get going. You look hot Bells!"

His head disappeared and just when Bella was about to ask where her father was, he appeared at her side, his hair a little mussed and his face a little pinker than usual, just as Leah had insinuated.

"I think we're ready to start." He said, his voice flustered, as he looked at the five pairs of eyes all silently taking in his ruffled demeanor. "Paul, do you mind if I have a quick word with you and Bella?"

Jacob, Leah and Billy departed with brief sentiments wishing good luck and congratulations, and Bella was left alone fidgeting back and forth on her high heels, wondering exactly what Charlie wanted to say.

"I know we haven't always seen eye to eye, and I think we both know that you had something to do with that incident that took place over the summer." Charlie stared down Paul, even when Bella sighed loudly; wondering why today of all times, her father felt the need to bring this up all over again.

"I thought we were past this, Dad." She interjected when it looked like neither man was going to say another word, and they were going to be left experiencing some weird macho stand-off that could potentially last all afternoon.

"I know what you think, Bells, but Paul and I both know that I stepped back for you, not because I followed the line of justice. I don't even want to go into what I suspect happened to the house." Charlie flicked his eyes down to his daughter and she had the awareness to look suitably contrite, even if she would never openly admit that she knew her wolf was as guilty as her father insinuated, Charlie knew she wasn't as naïve to the reality of the situation as she let on.

"I took you on the word of my daughter when she told me that those bruises didn't come from you and regardless of what I thought happened before, I know it wasn't you who hurt my baby-girl. I know from watching you that you never would either. I don't know if things will ever be the same again after today, but I wanted you both to know that you have my blessing, that I'm ready to put everything behind us and just forget everything that's come before." Charlie looked thoroughly uncomfortable under his emotionally driven declaration and it took Paul to break the tension.

"Mary's sure got you by the balls, huh Chief?" Paul joked, and Bella slapped him dismissively in the arm.

"What?" He asked, rubbing his arm slightly, though it was more for show than because she had actually managed to inflict any pain. Meeting her steely eyes, Paul looked back to Charlie and managed somehow to look a little repentant. "I just meant that…" But the look Bella gave him suggested that explaining exactly what he'd meant probably wasn't a good idea either, so he went for a simple; "…sorry," instead.

"I think what Paul is trying to say is that it means a lot to hear that, especially after everything we've been through."

It hadn't all just been awkward tensions Bella had been forced to deal with. Not only had Charlie hauled Paul down to the station twice for questioning, but he'd also refused to step foot in his house until the night when he announced that Mary, a woman who he'd known for years as the owner of the local diner and dated for a few months, had proposed to him, and Charlie, surprisingly, had said yes. Bella had said it would be the making of her father, a man who she believed existed in his loneliness just as other's endured years in a loveless marriage; he simply knew no better life.

"Don't you think you should be getting in there, kid? Mary will skin us all alive if this doesn't go like clockwork. You know how much effort she put into making this something special." Charlie was unable to hold back the authoritative edge to his tone, but underneath the surface was what Paul had called his 'bitch side', the one which only showed itself when he spoke about his new love.

"I'll see you on the other side, babe." Paul whispered in Bella's ear, and before she could react to the tingle on her skin, or the kiss he planted on her cheek, she was watching him walk away.

"I don't think I'll ever really like him, Bells, but he loves you like nothing I've ever seen before and I know I can sleep easy at night knowing he's looking out for you." Charlie mused to his daughter as she wrapped her arm around his tuxedo-clad arm, not commenting on the fact that his nerves were making him shake slightly.

"You ready for this, Dad?" She asked, looking into his brown eyes and finding a smile created solely for her.

"As I'll ever be, kid." He replied as the doors swung open. Still, Charlie didn't move a muscle and so with a little tug, Bella jump started him, walking him towards the aisle and the smiling friends and family all looking their way.

The room was filled with people that Bella had known for all, some, or only a fraction of her life. Even though all held a piece of her heart, only a few recognized the difference in the person who she'd been and the person she'd become over the past year. The pack were all standing together and she saved her most genuine smiles for them, the family she would always share the whole of her life with, not only the parts that were safe for public consumption. It was hard to know that she would always keep a part of herself from her parents, but what she got from the wolves and the imprints would always heal that pain and make the omission worthy of everything she had to give.

She was so caught up in her thoughts of pack that when she felt her father unwind her arm, she was jolted back into the here and now to find Paul smiling at her in a knowing way and her father looking a little curious. Gathering herself quickly, she walked him to Mary, smiling broadly as she symbolically gave her father away, releasing him into the arms of his soon to be wife, just as it always should have been.

"I love you, Dad." She whispered just as she felt her fingers drift from his touch, and the glisten in his eyes a moment later told her that he'd heard. He nodded his head in the only way he knew to return the sentiment in the moment.

Bella was so swept up in the moments that followed that she felt like her whole world was rotating on auto-pilot, and only when Paul looked to her with expectation did she cock her head slightly, earning her a broad, knowing grin from her wolf.

"…this is the part where you answer whether or not you want to take as your husband?" Paul filled in for her, and without hesitation, Bella smiled right back into his devilish eyes and confident answered, "I do."

a/n: That's it folks, the end!

I want to give endless helpings of thanks to my wonderful beta Twiticulate, you absolutely rock hun and I couldn't have done this without you. x

Thank you to all you readers for joining me on this one and normally this would be the point when I'd tell you about the next story I have coming up... but, I'm lacking a little inspiration right now, so hopefully I'll see you all again in the future when the plot bunnies start bouncing again.

Until then...xxx

p.s. When Darkness Falls won The Pawbiter Award (for the most suspenseful story) over at the JacobBlack'n'Pack Summer 2011 Awards, so a huge bit gleeful thank you to anyone who voted... I can't even begin to tell you how I ridiculously happy it made me :)