WOW, ROMAN, PROPOSING ALREADY?

"Fall. Fall. Fall."

"You're supposed to be saying 'don't fall,'" Bella groaned in frustration. Then she stumbled a bit and a curse slipped past her lips. Alice immediately reached out and steadied her.

Frankie just shrugged while leaning against the front porch railing, continuing to watch as the bride-to-be practiced walking in her heels. "Glare at Alice. I'm the one that fought for you to wear flats."

And so Bella did shift her glare to Alice, who smiled unapologetically. "You just have to break them in."

"I've been breaking them in. For three days," Bella deadpanned. Frankie snickered, glad that the annoyance had been redirected away from her. "Can I just go barefoot?"

Alice, of course, was horrified by the idea. "No, absolutely not," she said as if it was her wedding and she was the one going without shoes.

"Barefoot is very in right now," Frankie said. "Especially in the pack." She was hardly ever in shoes now.

"Just thinking it's a little much, you know?" she mumbled, looking around the yard. "The dress and the shoes, and all of this."

Maybe Frankie agreed a little bit, but not really as she spotted her boyfriend shirtless and hauling a huge tree trunk that was thrown over his shoulder. He looked damn good as he set up the decoration — not that she was studying the countless flowers that Esme was carefully and individually placing anywhere they could fit.

"No, it's exactly enough," Alice insisted. "Tomorrow will be perfect."

"Where do you want em, boss?" Emmett asked, standing and looking around. The tree wasn't heavy, but it still wasn't easy to transport without potentially knocking something else over.

"On either side of the aisle," Alice instructed.

"What aisle?" Rosalie asked, holding a wide tree stump covered in moss and flowers, an annoyed look on her face.

Alice scoffed before walking over to them. "Does no one have vision? And Frankie, come on! You're perfectly capable of heavy lifting."

Frankie grumbled and shared a look with Bella. "Quick, take 'em off," she whispered, and Bella didn't hesitate to remove the shoes.

"Frank!" Alice called again.

"And I left you a present on your bed for tomorrow. Alice can't see them," Frankie said, referring to a pair of white sneakers that Bella could change into after the ceremony. Then she was off, ready to be forced to do physical labor for the family she loved so much.

It would all be worth it the next day though when Bella and Edward got married. Maybe Bella didn't want the big wedding, but she wanted Edward for all of eternity, so Frankie was happy to make sure she got that eternity with him. Not only that, but Charlie and Raylan were going together, their first official outing into the town as a couple, and Bella and Frankie couldn't be more thrilled. It was just one step closer to them becoming real sisters.

Everything was falling into place.

☽︎

"What did I say about beauty sleep?" Alice asked sharply the next day. "I specifically said Frankie couldn't spend the night so you could sleep."

"I don't keep her up that late!" Frankie argued, putting her hands on her hips.

The wedding day had arrived, and Alice was currently working on Bella's makeup — specifically the concealer under her tired eyes.

"Sorry, bad dream. It was wedding jitters," Bella told them. Frankie knew the girl well enough to know it was a lie, that something more than the wedding had spooked her in her dreams, but she knew not to question it.

A moment later, Rosalie came in. Her hair and makeup were finished, all that was left to do was put on her dress. "Do you need some help? I could do her hair."

"Really?" Bella and Frankie both asked in sync.

"Please," Rosalie said, rolling her eyes with an easy smile on her lips. She moved behind Bella and started combing her hair. "I'm not offended by your choice of groom."

"Just my blatant lack of respect for mortality," Bella said flatly.

Rosalie did her best to hide her smirk. "Essentially."

"Weddings," Alice said, grinning brightly. "They bring everyone together."

"So," Frankie began as Rosalie used her speed to fix Bella's hair, Alice doing the same with makeup. Frankie had nothing to do but sit and watch. "Is Leah coming to the wedding? I know she got an invite."

Rosalie and Leah were still taking things slow, and slow meant long walks in the woods and absolutely zero introductions to their respective families. But every time she came back from spending time with the wolf, Rosalie had a content smile on her face, letting the others at least know they were happy with each other.

"No," Rosalie said, maintaining her composure even though she'd be blushing if she were human. "She's still not comfortable around our kind. I didn't want to overwhelm her, especially with the Denali Coven in attendance."

"Code for 'I'm ashamed of my family and don't trust them not to embarrass me'," Alice said, smirking a bit as she started on eyeshadow.

"C'mon, Seth is coming," Frankie whined. "I'm sure Lee would be ecstatic if you called her up and asked last minute."

"Not happening," Rosalie said, shaking her head.

That was it, much to Frankie's annoyance, who wanted more than anything to gossip about the whole Leah and Rosalie situation. Why couldn't they be like Jess, who could go on for hours about Paul and vice versa? The two perfect people loved talking about how perfect the other was.

"Bella? Alice?" They heard Bella's mother, Renée, calling after a moment.

"ln here, Mom," Bella replied just as Rosalie finished her hair.

Renée came around the corner and she gasped when she saw her daughter all made up. "Oh, my gosh! You're so beautiful. Oh, honey." Then the mother of the bride began to cry. "Crap, my mascara!"

Alice had a handkerchief at the ready, which Renée needed immediately, wiping her eyes.

"Charlie, get in here," Renée ordered.

Charlie had been hovering around the corner, not knowing if he was welcome in the dressing room "You sure? I don't wanna..." He awkwardly trailed off as he walked over to them.

"Damn, Chief Swan," Frankie said, seeing him in a crisp, black tuxedo. "You pulled out all the stops for Dad, huh."

"Yeah," Charlie said flatly, rolling his eyes. "I did it for your dad. Not my only daughter getting married."

"Mark me down as jealous," Bella teased. But even she was shocked to see him clean up so well.

"I know. I look hot," Charlie said, causing everyone to laugh. Then he handed a small gift box to Bella. Inside was a beautiful hair comb with blue gems. "We thought you needed something blue. And something old. Besides your mother."

"Nice," Renée muttered sarcastically.

"It was Grandma Swan's," Charlie explained as Bella carefully picked up the comb.

"But we added the sapphires," Renée added.

"It's beautiful, you guys. Wow. Thank you so much." Bella handed the comb to Alice, who gently put it in her hair, careful not to mess up Rosalie's work.

"It's your first family heirloom. Pass it on to your daughter, and her daughter," Renée said, beginning to cry once more.

The silence was deafening to those that knew there would be no daughter or granddaughter. Frankie squeezed Bella's hand, meeting her gaze in the mirror, letting her know she supported her.

"Mom, I love it," Bella said, overcome with emotion.

She moved to hug both her parents, but Alice intercepted her, keeping her back. "Nope. No smudging my masterpiece."

"She's right," Renée agreed, wiping under her eyes.

"Okay. Time for the dress!" Alice said excitedly. She moved over to the rack holding the bridesmaids' dresses and the wedding dress. "Do you wanna see it?"

"I want to see it!" Renée told her enthusiastically.

While they helped Bella, Rosalie shoved the garment bag with Frankie's dress into her arms — she was the only bridesmaid that Bella wanted.

"I know you don't super love purple, but put it on with minimal complaining," she instructed, a small smile on her face. "You look beautiful in it, and I know Emmett will love it on you."

"He loves anything on me," Frankie said confidently while unzipping the bag. "Or nothi—"

"Alright," Charlie said, clearing his throat loudly. "I'm gonna go find your dad. And maybe my gun."

☽︎

"Damn," Mike mumbled under his breath, his eyes glued to the breathtaking vampires. "Frank, who is that family?"

"They have got to be related," Eric said, his eyes still wide.

"Yes," Frankie lied. They were all eying the Denali vampires, which consisted of Kate, Irina, Tanya, Carmen, and Eleazar. "Cousins or something on Carlisle's side."

"What a gene pool," Mike said, sounding more suspicious than in awe. In an instant, Jessica and Frankie shared a look, both knowing that this was going to end up on 'Clue Bord Version 2' that was coming along in his room.

To try and get him to move on, Jessica rolled her eyes playfully while leaning against a very uncomfortable Paul, who was in a suit and did not want to be there. But Jessica couldn't show up to the wedding without a date, and he couldn't tell her no. "You've got some, uh, drool," she told him, breaking Mike's calculating state.

Eric and Tyler actually were drooling, having wiped their mouths to double check, which made Frankie laugh.

"So," Jessica said, lowering her voice as she smirked at Frankie and Angela. "You think Bella's gonna be showing?"

Frankie bit back a smile, knowing damn well that Jessica knew what was happening. But the girl was a master at pretending nothing was different, and that meant gossip. And under the circumstances, if Frankie didn't know what she did, she'd be thinking the exact same thing. Angela was the only one to have any faith in the notion of true love, though.

"Jess, she is not pregnant."

"Okay," Jessica said, clearly not buying into it. "Who else gets married at eighteen?"

Paul nodded in agreement, thinking marrying young was stupid — but that was because it's what his parents had done and it hadn't worked out well for them. "Dumb and pregnant people."

The group continued to joke around for a few more minutes. Frankie and Paul made sure to introduce Sue, Billy, and Seth to the friends when they arrived, wanting them to feel included, as they only knew a few people at the wedding.

All too soon, Alice was coming out to fetch Frankie and send everyone to their seats. She stood still as Alice fixed a few strands of hair and shoved an elegant bouquet in her hands. Thankfully, Edward had chosen Emmett as his best man, so the two would be walking down the aisle together.

The music was due to start any minute, but Frankie rushed from Emmett and to Bella's side, who looked ready to throw up as she held onto her father's arm. Bella immediately hugged Frankie when she was close enough, seeking out her best friend's comfort.

"Hi," Bella said weakly.

"Sup," she greeted, smirking down at Bella. It eased a bit of the tension in Bella's shoulders. "Just make sure to take deep breaths and hold onto Charlie — he'll keep you from falling."

"Thought you wanted me to fall," she joked with a little smile.

"Only at practice," Frankie said, squeezing her hand. "I know you're nervous, but just think about Edward, okay? All that matters is him at the end of the aisle."

Bella took a deep breath with her eyes closed before nodding. "Thank you, Frankie," she whispered, squeezing her hand once more. Then she smiled softly. "You know you're more than just a maid of honor, right? You're my sister."

"I've always been your sister, Bells."

☽︎

As soon as the ceremony ended and the guests moved to the reception area, Frankie and Emmett remained glued to each other's side. They met up with her father, who was fixing Charlie's bow tie, who was already sulking now that the couple was happily married. Billy, Sue, and Seth were there as well.

"You were great, Frank," Seth said brightly, bounding over to them faster than the adults.

"She was absolutely gorgeous," Emmett said, smiling as he kissed her forehead.

"Got us wondering when you'll be the one in white," Sue said teasingly, which made Raylan grumble at the mere thought of his girl marrying Emmett.

"No teen marriages for me, I fear," she said, shaking her head while leaning against Emmett's chest. Then she frowned and looked at her boyfriend. "Shit, neither of us ages anymore."

"So, it will be a teen wedding," Seth joked, a big grin on his face. "Don't worry. Leah's in the same boat with Rosalie now. If she ever makes a move, that is."

"Well, Jared took forever to make a move on Kim, so Leah can take her time," Frankie said.

"And Rose will appreciate that," Emmett added, knowing that with all of Rosalie's trust issues, she needed something soft and slow and trusting.

"Well, I wanna go see Edward and Bella before the speeches start," Seth said excitedly.

"Oh, my speech is gonna be killer," Emmett said with a smirk as the group wandered over to the newlywed couple.

"Hey man. Nice to see you," Seth greeted Edward, grinning brightly as he shook his hand. "I'm happy for you."

"Thank you," Edward said, smiling at the younger boy. Frankie was glad to see him befriending more members of the pack. Between Emmett and Rosalie being Imprints, it was clear they'd be around for a long time.

"I hope you'll be happy, Bella," Billy said, all but Charlie knowing the double meaning behind his words.

"Thank you, Billy," she replied. Then a sad smile crossed her face. "Have you heard from him?"

Jake had been missing for weeks, ever since the wedding invitations went out. Of course, Frankie knew he was just in his wolf form, running around the Canadian border and moping. But there was no looming vampire threat, so she let him have his alone time to process the fact that Bella really hadn't chosen him. However, everyone was beginning to lose patience with him the longer he stayed away.

Billy simply shook his head. "I'm sure Jake wishes you the best."

"Well, I plan on getting drunk," Charlie stated, earning a chuckle from Raylan, who hummed in agreement. "They're serving up some pretty fancy champagne. Ray, can I get you a glass?"

"Make it a scotch, and you've got a deal," Raylan smirked before putting his arm around Charlie and leading him away.

"Gross," Frankie giggled before looking at Bella as Seth, Sue, and Billy went with them. "But I'm gonna make sure Charlie really is okay. I'll see you in a little bit."

"Thanks," Bella said, hugging her once more before she followed after the others. As soon as she was gone, the Denali clan was taking his place.

"Bella!" Carmen greeted excitedly. She wasted no time in embracing Bella, kissing her on both her cheeks while Eleazar shook Edward's hand. Tanya and Kate hugged Emmett, who hadn't followed his mate yet. "Congratulations."

"Thank you," Bella said, smiling fondly. "Eleazar and Carmen, right?" Carmen nodded enthusiastically as she remembered their names.

"Yes, and these are our cousins from Alaska," Edward explained. "Tanya, Kate."

"We've heard so much about you," Kate told her, just as excited as the others that Edward had found someone.

"Welcome to the family," Eleazar said to Bella.

"Thank you."

After a moment, Carmen — all of them — seemed to realize that one member of their family had yet to be introduced. She looked over her shoulder and saw Irina several feet away. "Irina, come meet Bella."

But Irina was frozen in place, and Emmett finally followed her line of sight, realizing why she looked so sad, so traumatized. She was looking at Seth and Frankie. She was looking at the same creatures that killed her mate.

"I can't do this," Irina said quietly, not taking her eyes off them.

"You promised," Tanya said sharply.

"They invited one," she spat, malice evident in her tone that all the supernatural creatures could hear. It had Emmett tensing up, and Frankie looked over sharply, not liking how uncomfortable she was making Seth.

An angry type of protectiveness filled Emmett's veins, and he almost couldn't help taking a step forward, blocking Frankie from Irina's vision.

"Irina, they're our friends," Edward told her quickly.

"They killed Laurent!"

"He tried to kill Bella," Edward stated calmly. It didn't matter that he was trying out the vegetarian lifestyle. He tried to hurt Edward's mate, and so none of the Cullens particularly cared about the fate of Laurent.

"I don't believe that," Irina said, truly thinking that Bella was a liar. "He wanted to be like us. To live in peace with humans. With me."

"Well, he wasn't doing a particularly good job," Frankie said smoothly while appearing beside Emmett. He instantly slid his arm around her protectively, and Irina visibly grew angry from the sign of affection. "Keep your glare off of Seth. He wasn't even part of the pack then."

"Oh, and I suppose you're not responsible either?" Irina questioned with a scoff.

"Oh, no," Frankie said, smiling sweetly. "I was the one to rip his head off. He came after my sister. That makes it personal."

Frankie didn't pay Irina any mind as she ungracefully pulled Emmett away and to the dance floor, seeking out her human friends as they could always calm her down. As soon as Irina noticed Paul amongst them, a third wolf, she was storming off angrily with no plans to return.

For a little while, Frankie and Emmett danced around. Much to her delight, he and Paul were civil with each other, laughing as Mike made a fool of himself on the dance floor with Frankie cheering him on. Paul was just happy to be there with Jessica and her smiling face.

But eventually, the time came for everyone to take a seat at the beautifully decorated tables and look to the stage. The speeches were... not superb.

Emmett had made a vampire joke that came off as an awkward sex joke to the humans. It had Frankie torn between laughing and sinking down in her seat in embarrassment because she was dating him.

Frankie loved Jessica with her whole heart, but her speech had her cringing. There was still some lingering jealousy and anger that Edward had chosen Bella over not only herself but pretty much every other girl at Forks — not to mention that horribly embarrassing rejection that Jessica did in fact bring up. He'd crushed her self-esteem in one blow and she wasn't going to let him forget.

Personally, Frankie thought Jessica could do better than Edward anyway. She was far too bubbly for someone so broody — yes, this did earn a glare from the mind reader. Paul was perfect for her. The right amount of strong and assertive but trusting enough that she could be her independent self. Jessica would always be safe with Paul.

Charlie made everyone uncomfortable by talking about murdering Edward. It sounded like he had a pretty thorough plan for it too. But it earned more laughs than Emmett's joke, so it was a little better even if he was being semi-serious.

Alice talked about forcing Bella into designer clothes that were purposefully outside of her comfort zone for the rest of her life. It would certainly be a journey for Bella, who really had no choice in the matter. Frankie hated it for her, knowing Alice always made her do things she didn't want to do without a choice. It was one of the vampire's few flaws in Frankie's opinion. She just didn't respect Bella's autonomy.

Renée sang really badly. Like, really badly.

Bella was ready for the ground to swallow her whole and didn't know if it'd get worse or better as Frankie stepped on stage. Frankie tapped the microphone and cleared her throat needlessly before starting, loving how all eyes were on her.

"Isabella," she cooed, knowing her full name would make her cringe. "I've been there for force-feeding other kids mudpies growing up, a car crash that lost us the Golden Onion—"

"My bad!" Tyler shouted from the crowd, making several people chuckle while Charlie muttered under his breath.

"And now I'm here for you getting freaking married," Frankie said with a wide grin. "You can do better than Edward, but even I can't deny that he's better, happier, dare I say it, tolerable when you're around. Of all the people he could've fallen in love with, I'm glad it was you."

"And deserved Edward slander aside, he'll give you everything you could ever want and need, and he'll love you through it all. Your relationship has survived a lot in such a short amount of time, so I know you're in good hands. I love you both so much and wish you a very long and happy marriage."

Both Edward and Bella were surprised by how nice the speech was, both clapping at the end. When Frankie moved to sit back down next to Emmett, Bella mouthed a 'thank you,' happy that she hadn't said anything particularly embarrassing aside from the part about mudpies.

Edward followed after Frankie's speech, holding out a champagne glass as he stared at Bella lovingly — how he was allowed to have that as everyone thought he was eighteen, Frankie didn't know. "It's an extraordinary thing to meet someone who you can bear your soul to and who will accept you for what you are. I've been waiting, what seems like a very long time, to get beyond what I am. And with Bella, I feel like I can finally begin. So I'd like to propose a toast to my beautiful bride. No measure of time with you will be long enough. But let's start with forever."

The rest of the wedding went on in traditional fashion. The wedding photographer worked tirelessly as Bella and Edward cut the cake, making sure to shove it in each other's faces as everyone cheered. It made Alice furious, but Bella couldn't care less about her makeup as she finally started to have fun at her wedding.

Bella was a scarlet mess as Edward removed her garter with his teeth — which she had already shimmied down to her ankle — and Emmett and Jasper were howling in the background. Then Edward dared to wink as he flung it right at Mike Newton — which all their human friends found hilarious.

When it came time for Bella to throw the bouquet, Angela and Jessica dragged Frankie to the center of the crowd. Really, she was worried about Bella launching the bouquet into a candle and burning down the wedding. But thankfully, it landed right in Jessica's waiting hand, who didn't even have to scrape and claw for it.

Frankie cackled loudly as Jessica blushed, shyly glancing at Paul, who was smiling at the ground while standing next to Seth. Sure, it was new, but she was his Imprint. He was going to love her for the rest of his life.

Soon, Frankie was whisked to the dance floor by Emmett, her arms wrapped around his neck and the garter wrapped around her wrist. Mike didn't exactly want to keep the reminder of his fruitless childhood crush.

"Your speech was perfect," Emmett told her, swaying gently to the music.

"So was yours," she said, giggling. Then her smile faltered a bit, catching a familiar scent.

"What is it?"

"Jake is here," she murmured. And Frankie wasn't the only one to know. She watched as Edward snuck Bella away from the party and towards the woods where Jacob must've been waiting. "I hope he doesn't fuck it up."

"I'm sure he won't. Not on their wedding day," Emmett said, having more faith in the boy than she did.

Frankie just shook her head and focused on the slow song, not wanting Jacob the ruin her happy night. Everything had been so perfect so far. Everyone in her life was safe and happy.

"So," she began, looking into Emmett's eyes, "no way am I letting Alice plan my wedding."

Emmett raised an intrigued eyebrow, a boyish smirk on his face. "Wow, Roman, proposing already?"

"Yeah, right," she scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Though if it's anything like you tyring to ask me to Prom, it's not happening for years."

"Hey, you said yes!"

"Not like we went," she murmured, standing on her toes to brush her lips against his.

"You know," he hummed, kissing her slowly before continuing. "The garage is soudproof—"

"No!" Alice snapped, flitting to their side as soon as she saw the vision of Emmett sneaking off. She may not have been able to see Frankie, but she knew as soon as the best man decided to leave the wedding. "Keep dancing, you deviants."

Frankie rolled her eyes playfully before doing so, leaning her head on Emmett's chest. They swayed back and forth, not bothering to show off like Alice and Jasper had all night with fancy dance moves. Though he didn't have a heartbeat for her to hear, it was still the most comfortable position, knowing that his arms were made to hold her tightly.

"I love you, Cullen," she whispered, her eyes falling shut.

He leaned down, his lips pressing to the top of her head. "I love you too, Roman."

Emmett had known since the first day that he was going to marry Frankie Roman, but now everything in their lives was perfect and calm — that future felt so close that he could taste it.

For them, at least. It wasn't perfect for Jacob, who was beginning to cause a scene. Frankie's ears caught it as he yelled at Bella, getting upset over the fact that she was going to be human on her honeymoon.

And as soon as Bella said, "Jake, let me go!" she darted off, realizing that Jacob was manhandling her. Frankie was there just as fast as Edward, both ready to protect Bella from the wolf. She quickly pulled him off of Bella, who rubbed her sore arms.

"Jacob, calm down, all right?" Edward told him, standing in front of Bella protectively.

"Are you out of your mind? Huh? You'll kill her!" Jacob snapped angrily.

"It's none of your business!" Frankie shouted, pushing him back as Sam and the other members of the pack came from the woods. No way was Jacob going to come to the wedding unsupervised knowing his temper.

"Walk away, Jake," Paul said, having heard the commotion and ran over. Jessica was a few steps behind him, a concerned look on her face.

"Enough, Jacob!" Sam yelled in a more commanding tone.

"Stay out of this, Sam," Jacob muttered angrily.

"You're not gonna start something that Frankie will have to finish," Sam told him.

"She'll die."

"She's not our concern anymore," he said in a hard tone.

"Go," Frankie ordered Jacob, raising a challenging eyebrow. "Now."

Jacob huffed angrily and followed the rest of the pack, Paul going as well. Seth was hanging back, but Sam wanted everyone gone. "Let's go, Seth!"

Frankie nodded to the younger boy, who sadly left the wedding. She was going to follow after them but first checked on Bella. "You good?"

"I'm really, really, really stupid," she sighed.

"No, he's really, really, really stupid," Frankie told her. "Just ignore him. I do all the time. And know that he's wrong. Emmett and I were perfectly fine."

"You're a basically indestructible werewolf," Bella said, raising an eyebrow.

"Not the first time," she snickered. Then she looked at Jessica over the couple's shoulder. "I've got to go, but will you tell Emmett? Give him a dance for me to apologize."

"You got it," Jess said, giving a thumbs up. Then she smiled sadly at Bella. "And I'm sorry. I know how much Jacob means to you."

Bella nodded, surprised by the emotional maturity in Jessica's eyes — so often Bella forgot how smart she really was just because she also liked to shop and gossip like a normal teenage girl. "Thank you, Jess. And thank you for coming."

"I should probably be thanking you," she said with a small smile. "All of you. I wouldn't have Paul now if not for your vampire shit."

"Vampires?"

All of them turned to see Mike, who was staring with wide eyes at Edward. He'd seen Frankie run off and followed after her at a much slower pace and then remained hidden. Edward was too concerned with Jacob to hear his thoughts so close by.

"I knew it," Mike whispered.

Edward narrowed his eyes at him. "You didn't know it."

Mike frowned and crossed his arms. "I was getting to it before my board went — oh my god! Did you steal my fucking clue board?"

The vampire groaned and rubbed his forehead. They couldn't get headaches and yet he could feel one coming on from Frankie's human friends. "God, the Volturi are gonna obliterate us."

"What's a Valtari?"

"Frank, you handle that. I'm not doing this on my wedding day."