Chapter-by-Chapter: Twilight, Epilogue

Woo hoo! We've made it to the end of Twilight. There were a couple of times when I thought we'd never actually get here. But now we've arrived and it feels fantastic.

The last chapter saw Bella getting caught up to speed in the hospital, seeing her Mum and establishing that Edward has no intention of turning her into a vampire. That last bit was news that Bella didn't take too kindly to. Oh, and Bella's announced she's staying in Forks.

On to the Epilogue: An Occasion.

What Happens?

Edward and Alice get Bella all dressed up. She's disappointed to find he's taking her to prom and not to be transformed into a vampire. Jacob shows up to pass on a warning from Billy as well. With that out of the way Bella and Edward are able to get back to enjoying the prom and discussing Bella's desire to be with Edward forever.

Thoughts as I read:

I have no idea what could possibly happen in this chapter. I guess it's asking too much to find out more about Alice and all that stuff with the tracker. Perhaps it's just Bella getting out of hospital, that might be an occasion. Hell, walking from one side of the school to another without injuring herself would be an occasion for Bella!

Oh wow! This chapter doesn't begin with Bella waking up! I'm shocked. I have no idea what to expect at all from what follows!

Edward helped me into his car, being very careful of the wisps of silk and chiffon, the flowers he'd just pinned into my elaborately styled curls, and my bulky walking cast. He ignored the angry set of my mouth.

So she's out of hospital… and she's really annoyed about it?

Okay, I'm kind of with Bella on the surprises thing. It's find if it's a genuine surprise, but these 'I've got a surprise for you but I'm not going to tell you what it is' surprises are really frustrating. Edward's also dressed up. My first thought was that he was going to take her out for a meal (not like that) but then I remembered Edward doesn't eat so that would be kind of pointless.

Seriously? She's wearing a stiletto heel and a cast? Has Stephenie Meyer ever worn an ankle cast? That would so not work. It's either sensible flats or trainers and if you're in a cast for any length of time the pair will be ruined because you'll wear one down and not the other. And when you consider how clumsy Bella is it just seems like another broken leg waiting to happen!

"I'm not coming over any more if Alice is going to treat me like Guinea Pig Barbie when I do," I griped.

Hehe, I love Alice.

I'm glad to see the Charlie issue is being address, however briefly. He's convinced Edward is a problem so now Bella has curfews and visiting hours but despite this he's currently phoning Edward. It's because Tyler has shown up at Charlie's ready to take Bella to the prom. So that's where they're going. As you can imagine, Bella is thrilled.

This actually makes Bella cry. They're not happy tears. They may smudge her make up. The horror!

It seems as though Bella has just now realised that wearing one show might be a bad idea:

"I'll go quietly. But you'll see. I'm way overdue for more bad luck. I'll probably break my other leg. Look at this shoe! It's a death trap!" I held out my good leg as evidence.

No, Bella. It's a plot point.

Edward's response is to perv at Bella's leg. He's such a gentleman.

We also get an update on how Bella's getting on with the other Cullens. Generally good, except Rosalie. Not so much there. Emmett seems entertained by Bella's predisposition towards falling over, so she's got that going for her at least.

Once at school Bella pretty much refuses to get out of the car. Edward does make a valid point:

He sighed. "When someone wants to kill you, you're brave as a lion – and then when someone mentions dancing…" He shook his head.

Bella's still not impressed by the whole prom thing when she gets inside. The only people who are dancing properly are the vampires, everyone else is sort of pushed off to the sides of the dance floor. Of course dancing in a cast isn't easy so Edward has Bella stand on his feet. Classy.

This romantic scene is interrupted by Jacob showing up. Rather strangely he asks to cut in and he's grown since the last time we saw him. Edward lets him take over and walks away. Billy sent Jacob to tell Bella to break up with Edward. This is all because of Bella getting hurt and Billy thinks Edward had something to do with it. Which would make Billy right.

That's not all Jacob was sent to tell Bella though. She's being warned 'we'll be watching'. Bella thanks him and Edward returns in a bit of a snit. Part of the reason for this latest mood swing is because Jacob was the reason he had to let go of Bella, after he promised not to let go of her all evening. Oh look. Edward made a funny. And Jacob only called Bella 'pretty' when she's clearly 'beautiful'. D'oh.

Bella asks to know why Edward's gone to all this trouble for her because, after saving her from a vampire who wanted to eat her, taking her to the prom is a really big deal!

He ignored me, staring up at the moon.
"Twilight, again," he murmured. "Another ending. No matter how perfect the day is, it always has to end."

What he says next kind of makes sense. He doesn't want Bella being with him to stop her having a normal human life. Bella points out that his idea of normal isn't so accurate; she never would've gone to the prom anyway.

Turns out that Bella was hoping the fancy outfit was going to be because Edward had decided to change her into a vampire. Because one should always look one's best when having one's blood drained in order to become the Undead.

Edward says as much as this. He's sad that she'd be that happy to give up life and all the alive people things he's no longer able to do. Like eating. And breathing. And having a pulse. He misses them all so much.

For a moment he makes out like he's going to do it. Then stops and reminds her he will stay with her. It's not quite enough for her though.

He frowned at my tenacity. No one was going to surrender tonight. He exhaled, and the sound was practically a growl.
I touched his face. "Look," I said. "I love you more than everything else in the world combined. Isn't that enough?"
"Yes, it is enough," he answered, smiling. "Enough for forever."
And he leaned down to press his cold lips once more to my throat.

Okay. That wasn't such a bad ending to the book. The very last couple of pages felt like they could've been written by someone else entirely compared to the rest of the book. It was actually a Bella and Edward discussion I quite enjoyed and actually understood what was being said. That was quite novel.

Just two questions to finish up the book:

• Is Bella annoyed about getting out of hospital? No, she seems to be annoyed about having to get dressed up and not being told what it's all in aid of.
• Stiletto heel and plaster cast? Seriously?!