Bella Swan and Edward Cullen

"There was this beautiful image, this boy, just glittering with light and talking to this normal girl. And the dream really was about him. She was also listening, as I was, and he was the one telling the story. It was mostly about how much he wanted to kill her ― and, yet, how much he loved her."

- Stephenie Meyer on her dream: the first incarnation of the Twilight Saga.

Bella Swan and Edward Cullen are the main couple throughout the Twilight Saga. They are members of the Olympic Coven and the parents of Renesmee Cullen. The saga mainly focuses on their relationship's development, starting with their first and dangerous encounter in Twilight to eternal love in Breaking Dawn.

In the films, Bella is portrayed by Kristen Stewart, and Edward is portrayed by Robert Pattinson.

Bella Swan
"About three things I was absolutely positive. First, Edward was a vampire. Second, there was a part of him - and I didn't know how potent that part might be - that thirsted for my blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him."

- Bella's feelings for Edward.

Bella's parents divorced when she was three months old, after which Renée took Bella with her to Riverside, California, and lived there with Bella's grandmother for five years before moving to Phoenix, Arizona.

Bella did not fit in very well at school. She never had many friends, and spent a lot of time with her mother. She briefly took ballet lessons. Bella has visited Forks in her past to spend time with Charlie every summer. During these occasions, she also spent time with Rachel, Rebecca, and Jacob Black, the children of Charlie's friend Billy Black. She stopped visiting Forks at the age of fourteen. This was when she put her foot down, and Charlie went to California for two weeks every summer instead. Bella took care of her mother.

By the time Bella is seventeen, her mom remarries with a minor league baseball player named Phil Dwyer. Phil travels a lot due to his profession, and Bella notices how much her mother wants to follow him in his travels. To make it easier for them, Bella moved back to her birth town of Forks to live with her father.

Edward Cullen
"You're the most important thing to me now. The most important thing to me ever."

- Edward to Bella.

Edward lived in the early 1900s as a human. He grew up in a very old-fashioned family life style. Edward wanted to enlist in the army during World War One, but that changed when he and his parents fell victim to the Spanish Influenza in 1918. His father, Edward Masen Sr., died in the first wave of the influenza. Before she died, Edward's mother, Elizabeth Masen, begged the doctor who was taking care of them, Dr. Carlisle Cullen, to do everything within his power to save her son. After Elizabeth died, Carlisle took Edward from the hospital, brought him to his house, and there changed him into a vampire, causing Edward to gain the ability to hear people's thoughts.

Edward had a rebellious period at the beginning of his vampire life and left Carlisle and Esme in 1928. During his time as a nomad, he used his mind-reading ability to attack the worst people of society, thinking that, as long as he was serving justice, it would not matter that he was feeding on humans. A few years later, he regretted this decision, returned to Carlisle and Esme, and renewed his committment to drinking only animal blood. Over the next 80 years, their family was joined by Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper.

Twilight
"And so the lion fell in love with the lamb." "What a stupid lamb." "What a sick, masochistic lion."

- Bella and Edward.

When Bella and Edward first meet in Twilight, Edward realizes that he is unable to read Bella's thoughts, which he finds frustrating. Later he finds it difficult to be around her; because even though he is a "vegetarian" vampire, her blood is more appealing than anything he'd ever tasted. The want is so overwhelming that he considers killing her, as well as the twenty other surrounding students, to remove all living witnesses. He attempts to change his biology class to avoid being with her, but fails. He also discovers that his mind-reading powers do not affect her, and instantly believes her to be of interest because he cannot read her droll thoughts and dismiss her, as he has done for most of his vampire life. He temporarily runs away from her, to Alaska, where he stays for a short while. The day after he returns, he saves Bella from being hit by a van, exposing his superhuman strength and speed. Bella tries to confront him about it, but he refuses to tell her anything.

Edward is infatuated with Bella, and can't get her out of his mind. His infatuation with her reaches to the point that he sneaks into her room at night to watch her sleep. Then one night, while Bella was dreaming of Edward she said his name in her sleep. Edward then realized that he loved her. After yet again saving Bella in Port Angeles, Bella tells him that she knows about him being a vampire and that it "doesn't matter", proving that she loved him as well.

Edward takes Bella hiking to a beautiful meadow; a place he considers the most beautiful around the dank forest of Forks. Bella thinks the same. Here, he shows her what sunlight does to his body for the first time. The sight of Edward's sparkling skin dazes Bella incredulously.

Bella and Edward become closer, eventually beginning a relationship; Edward invites her over to meet his family who are excited to meet her, except Rosalie. She is later invited to their baseball game. During the game, danger reveals itself in the form of a visiting vampire coven consisting of Laurent, Victoria, and James. James tricks Bella into confronting him alone in a ballet studio she once went to as a child, and all of the Cullens come to her aid, destroying James before he can kill Bella. Bella spends time in a hospital with Edward constantly by her side, where he admits that his sister Alice saw a vision of Bella becoming a vampire. However, he is determined to keep her human, despite her wanting to become one.

At the end of Twilight, Edward takes Bella to the prom, despite her broken leg and her angry protests. As the book ends, there is high tension between the couple over Bella's reasons for wanting to become a vampire, and Edward's reasons for wanting her to stay human, admitting that Carlisle is physically younger than Esme and proving that he would "love her at any age". The story ends with neither one of them winning the argument, but neither is giving in. Instead, they enjoy the moment together.

Midnight Sun
In Midnight Sun, Edward describes how he became frustrated with his inability to read Bella's thoughts, his relentlessly overwhelming desire for her blood and his eventual discovery of love for her. He witnesses Alice's vision of Bella's two potential futures: her ultimate fate caused by his lack of self-control, or her becoming a vampire. After that, he tries hard to stay away from her to avoid both futures, but finds it harder and harder to be away from her as time passes. Eventually, he gives in to his feelings and tries to get closer to her. Emmett comments that his brother has gone crazy because of Bella, while most of the rest are happy to know that he has found love in his life.

New Moon
The next book in the series, New Moon, begins with Bella celebrating her eighteenth birthday. She is depressed because this is the day that she becomes physically older than Edward, who is perpetually 17. Edward invites her over to his family's house to celebrate. She receives a paper cut while unwrapping one of her gifts, and Edward's brother, Jasper Hale, tries to attack her.

As a result, Edward leaves Forks and Bella, telling her that he no longer loves her, because he thinks that leaving her is the best thing he can do for her. Bella then goes into an immense depression, and once "awakened", becomes closer to Jacob Black and he wants to be more than friends, but that's not what she wants. Jacob fakes being ill with mono, with Billy insisting he stay away from Bella. They argue, leaving Bella heartbroken. Jacob gives Bella succinct hints about what he is, and Bella discovers he is a werewolf. Bella soon finds out that when she is in danger, she can hear Edward's voice clearly in her mind. When wanting to hear his voice again, she attempts cliff-diving, and nearly drowns in the process. When Alice, who can see into the future, sees her jump, she believes that Bella has committed suicide, and travels to see Bella and see for herself. Edward, believing Bella to be dead from Alice's vision, loses the will to live and travels to Volterra, Italy to have the Volturi kill him, and end his misery without Bella.

When they prevent the Volturi from killing Edward, he begs her forgiveness, tells her that he loves her, had always loved her, always will, and promises to never leave her again. Bella forgives him entirely and becomes entirely normal again, as if Edward had never left Forks. Later, after his family votes in favor of Bella becoming a vampire, Edward agrees to do it himself if Bella will marry him first. Bella is still worried if Edward doesn't turn her into a vampire she will continue to get older while Edward will be physically seventeen forever, as well as outraged that he refuses to turn her just because he wants to protect her soul.

Eclipse
When Eclipse begins, Bella receives a letter from Jacob, saying that he misses her too, but that it doesn't change anything. She is saddened by this, but Edward visits her, and her mood greatly improves. Edward becomes "banned" from her home for awhile but he ignores it by sneaking into her room every night. Later, while Bella is visiting Jacob, he admits that he is in love with her, and forcefully kisses her, saying that she must either have him as her boyfriend or not at all. Bella is furious at Jacob for this, and nearly ends their friendship.

Meanwhile, Bella still has her heart set on joining Edward and his family as a vampire. But, after consideration, she decides that there is one thing she would like to do while human: have Edward make love to her. Edward immediately refuses this "demand", explaining that although he wants her as much as she wants him, he could easily kill her if he lost control. Bella insists that he would never allow himself to let that happen. Eventually, Edward agrees that they can "try", but she must marry him first. Bella reluctantly agrees, because of her parents' early divorce, and becomes Edward's fiancée.

Moments before Bella's graduation, she realizes that the army of newborn vampires are under the control of Victoria and therefore will be coming after herself. Having no other allies, since the Denali family will not help due to Irina being mad at the werewolves for killing Laurent, the Cullens and the La Push pack of werewolves join forces to battle Victoria and her army. Before the battle, Jacob informs Bella that he will go in battle, intending to die since she won't love him back. Bella tells him to kiss her so he will think she loves him back, but as she kisses him, she realizes that she loves Jacob as well. She also recognizes that her love for Jacob is no comparison to the love she holds for Edward. Once the battle is over and Victoria and her army are defeated, Bella visits Jacob and tells him of her decision to stay with Edward.

That night, Bella breaks out in tears and Edward comforts her. Bella later decides to let Alice arrange the wedding and be her maid-of-honor. Edward realizes how much she is giving up for others and decides to repeal his conditions except for the wedding, but Bella is determined to do everything right: marriage first, then make love, and then become a vampire. At the end of the story, they agree to tell Charlie about their engagement.

Breaking Dawn
At the beginning of Breaking Dawn, Bella and Edward are married in a beautiful ceremony orchestrated by Alice. Edward and Bella ask Mr. Weber to change the words, "till death do us part" to the more appropriate "as long as we both shall live". After they are wed, Bella and Edward share their customary first dance during the reception. He comments on how "heart-breakingly beautiful" she was and frequently addresses Bella as Mrs. Cullen and his wife. Jacob comes to their wedding and when Bella insists that she can have a "real" honeymoon, Jacob is upset and says that he'll kill Edward. Seth and Sam manage to calm him down.

During their honeymoon, Bella and Edward make love for the first time. The next morning, Edward is horrified that he has bruised most of Bella's body with his hard skin and strength. He refuses to make love until she is turned into a vampire. However, Bella convinces him otherwise. Bella soon after feels a bump on her belly and misses her period. She then realizes she is pregnant with Edward's child. Her pregnancy progresses at an extremely fast rate, and she becomes very sick. She can't digest her food, as she vomits most of it, and is dying, for the baby is part vampire and not accepting food that Bella eats, it's instead eating Bella's life. Also, the baby inside of her is so strong that it has been accidentally breaking her ribs. Edward asked Jacob to help him convince her to kill the baby that was killing her, but Bella wouldn't, because she had already developed a love for her unborn child. Edward also tells Jacob that if she wants kids, she can have "puppies" with him. Jacob then has a thought that "the monster craves blood", and Edward is intrigued by that. They let Bella sample human blood, and she finds it appealing, and she is almost instantly revived when she drinks it. Throughout the pregnancy, Bella drinks gallons of blood to sustain herself and the baby. Sometime throughout the pregnancy, Edward begins to hear the baby's thoughts, and when he hears that the baby "absolutely adores Bella", his hatred for it is replaced by newfound love. Jacob remarks that Edward could never hate anyone who loved Bella, which is why Edward did not hate him.

Bella names her child "Renesmee", and Edward injects her heart with his venom, turning her into a vampire. Jacob imprints on Renesmee, unknown to Bella until she is immortal. Bella is extremely mature for her age as a newborn; when Edward takes her for her first hunt, they both cross a human scent, Bella freezes and runs away. Bella is also happy to finally be Edward's equal and that he no longer has to hold back his feelings and strength for her safety. Later on when Edward explains what had happened to their family and Jacob, they are all in shock. After a vampire named Irina mistakes Renesmee for an immortal child, a creation that is forbidden in the vampire world, the Volturi arrive to destroy the Cullens as punishment for the alleged transgression. Edward stands with Bella and their allies to convince the Volturi that Renesmee is not an immortal child and poses no threat to their existence. Once the Volturi leave, Edward and Bella feel free to live their lives in peace with their daughter. Bella removes the shield on her mind to let Edward read her thoughts for the first time, which brings them even closer to each other.

The book concludes that they continued living blissfully into their little but perfect piece of forever.