Folktale

1839

Forks, Washington

Micheal Newton was born in Phoenix, Arizona, just a couple of years before Isabella Swan. His parents were close friends with Isabella's parents, so close they considered each other family. Which is why when Irene Swan gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on August 13th, 1821, the proud father and his best friend sat in his office and planned the union of their children. A union that would tie their families together.

Micheal, an eager boy with blonde hair and bright blue eyes, grew up with the idea of marrying Isabella. Even at such a young age, he became her protector, her best friend. He was the one person she could turn to when she needed one, he was the only person who could bring out a smile on her face when she got sad. It didn't take much for him to know - even at a young age - that Isabella was indeed the person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. The woman who would make him the happiest man on Earth, the woman who he would thank when she birthed his children and the woman he could only see himself growing old with.

All of this, Isabella was aware of. And while the love she felt for the young boy was purely platonic, she couldn't help thinking that maybe after they did marry, she could learn to love him the same way he loved her.

But all hope for that love to reciprocate was lost the moment she fell in love with Edward Masen. Deep inside her, she knew she could not feel for Micheal the way she felt for Edward. And it terrified her the more real it became that she was to marry Micheal the summer of the upcoming year.

It terrified her even more when at the Masen's ball, she was forced to pretend to be madly in love with her fiance. When people asked, she'd said she couldn't wait for their wedding day, that she counted down the minutes until she could walk down that aisle and marry the man of her dreams. It thrilled Micheal to hear her say that. It made it real and at the time, he really did believe Isabella loved him as much as he loved her.

Micheal was a smart boy with a bright future, but very naive.

So naive, he didn't notice the glares coming from the other end of the room. A possessive and jealous Edward. An Edward who felt murderous whenever he saw Micheal touch Izzy, admire her openly and show off that he and only he would be the man to marry her. And it only sunk the dagger deeper into his chest when Izzy would smile at her fiance and pretend those words meant something to her. But then their eyes would meet across the room and a simple look said it all. A simple look from her was enough to assure him how much she wished it was him by her side and not Micheal. And that was enough to keep Edward at bay until he could hold her in his arms again.

But Micheal felt brave. After an entire evening with his fiancee, talking about their upcoming wedding and how they couldn't wait to be married gave him so much confidence. Enough to pull her outside, away from the party and ask for a single kiss.

"Do you really think that's proper?" Izzy asked with a nervous chuckle. She was terrified of kissing him, someone who wasn't Edward.

Micheal smiled. "Isabella Swan, I've dreamt of nothing but kissing you. And tonight... It has been nothing but a dream come true. To dance with you, show you off as my fiancee is almost like a fairy tale. All I ask is for a single kiss. Just a kiss."

And even when every single fiber of her body screamed at her no, she gave him a forced nod, hoping it would look as eager as he was. And it fooled him very easily.