The month after Bella's accident flew by. After Charlie had cooled down and quit blaming me for her 'accident' ¨C which he had every right to do since it was my fault ¨C things had been comparatively free of danger...besides the obvious danger that I always presented.
Regardless of our now quiet and semi-uneventful life, I was quite content. It had only become habit for me to stay in her room every night and each day absorb every word that came out of her mouth ¨C sarcastic or not.
Looking into the mirror I could see my dark eyes and deep blue circles under my eyes from where I hadn't hunted in a while. It was hard to take myself away from Bella for any period of time, so my hunting habits had become less gluttonous than usual. Before the prom, though I would hunt.
In the corner of my eye I caught the black bag with a post-it note with my name written on it. Alice had purchased for me a new tuxedo. Unzipping the bag, I grabbed the coat to examine it. It was made by some famous and outrageously expensive designer. But clothes, no matter what kind of an occasion, were her specialty and you just learned to not argue with her. Putting the black coat back into the closet and making sure all my accessories were there, I decided to give Charlie a call.
The phone rang a few times before I heard Charlie's gruff voice on the other end.
"Hello?"
"Good evening, Charlie. It's Edward," I said politely, using my smooth voice.
"Ah. Yes." He coughed and cleared his throat before whispering into the phone. "She's upstairs right now." He laughed lightly. "She has no clue."
I returned his laugh. She sure seemed a little slow about something so obvious. What could she possibly be thinking we were doing tonight? Surely she had noticed all the posters around school with today's date and the words PROM plastered all over every inch of the school building.
"Thanks, Charlie. I will be there in a few minutes."
"I'll make sure she's downstairs and ready," he chuckled under his breath, still whispering.
When I arrived outside of her house I could hear her complaining to Charlie.
"So, Bells, what do you have planned for the evening? Alice showed me the dress you are wearing tonight."
"I don't know, dad. Alice wouldn't tell me, and Edward wouldn't budge either. For all I know they could be taking me to the Grammy's," her voice was clearly irritated at the lack of information we had given her.
Honestly, I was probably enjoying this much more than I should be. Usually, she is the one unlocking my secrets and me giving her all the answers. But the past two weeks have been kind of fun, especially every time she gave me her pouty face, which was absolutely adorable and almost impossible to resist. I decided before hand that if she gave me that irresistible face, I would just kiss her pouty bottom lip.
"I don't know about that. I told him to keep it in a fifteen mile radius."
"Ugh!" Bella groaned. "Did he tell you?"
During their banter I had made it quickly up the sidewalk and was standing outside the door, thoroughly enjoying their conversation.
"Nope. Not even a hint," I heard him chuckle.
"This is so annoying," she huffed.
I knocked lightly on the door, which was quickly yanked open to a smiling Charlie.
Bella was sitting on the couch, her head placed on top of her hands - which were intertwined like she was praying - with a look of pure devastation on her face. I laughed.
"Are you going to tell me now?" Her chin jutted out.
I shook my head, chuckling.
She folded her arms. "Fine."
Stepping around Charlie, I brought Bella into a deep embracing hug, like I hadn't seen her in months. Her tiny arms wrapped around me fiercely and she smiled reluctantly.
"Alice is waiting for you," I kissed her forehead and let her fragrance tingle my throat pleasantly.
Alice had become the best friend to Bella that she always envisioned, minus the scarlet red eyes ¨C which I continually refused to give her, regardless of Bella and Alice's pleas. Though it pained me to see Bella's delicate leg casted on a daily basis, I knew that my sister was taking care of her during hours I wasn't allowed into the Swan house.
I shook my head to try and dispel thoughts of Alice, now, who is planning on entrapping Bella in her gym sized closet for hours today while I go out hunting with Jasper and Emmett. Her not-so-sneaky-way of telling Bella about the transformation process of how to become a vampire was her way of taking the strain of that kind of conversation off of myself by having Bella ask me. What she seemed to not be able to comprehend is that I didn't want to have that conversation, not just because I didn't want to bring it up, but because I never wanted to have that conversation in the first place.
"You take care of my girl," Charlie commanded. "Have fun at prom," he whispered so low Bella couldn't hear.
"Yes, sir."
Charlie shut the door behind us as I let Bella brace all of her weight on me and then helped her into the car.
After I dropped a scowling Bella off at my house, Emmett, Jasper and I went hunting. The trip was short lived and desperately needed. It had been almost two weeks, and I was thirstier than I thought. The warm blood of the elk soothed the ache, though it would never fully rid me of it.
"It's prom night..." Emmett chuckled on the way back home. "You know what that means?"
Oh, haha. Funny. Jasper laughed along with Emmett.
I frowned at them.
"Oh come on, Edward!" Emmett raised his hands in faux exasperation. "Did you get a hotel room or were you planning on doing it in the car?" Emmett guffawed stupidly for several minutes at his own joke.
"I'm not going to...have sex with her, Emmett." I said through clenched teeth.
"Well what do you do with her all those nights in her room?"
Jasper and Emmett were doubled over in laughter now.
"That's it!" I snapped. My foot slammed on the break and Emmett's head hit the roll bar on the jeep, putting a deep dent in it.
This time, I laughed.
"Dammit, Edward!" He screamed at me while Jasper continued to laugh insanely loud.
I looked in the rear view mirror. "You're next!" I warned Jasper.
He put his lips together in an attempt to stop his laughter, but couldn't hold it in any longer and his breath came whooshing out along with more cackling. Instead of getting even, I couldn't help myself and I joined in on the laughter while Emmett glared at me.
Rose is going to kick my ass for this.
"Yup," I replied and Emmett mock punched me in the arm.
The rest of the drive continued like this...Emmett making a sex joke, Jasper nodding in agreement and grinning widely at me in the rear view mirror while I swerved once making Jasper's head break through the hard top on the Jeep.
When we finally arrived back home, we found Rosalie scowling in the garage in her scarlet dress that fell flawlessly over her body. Emmett jumped out of the Jeep and whistled. He tried to give her a hug but she backed away.
"Ew! Take a shower and get changed. Bella is already ready," she sneered her name. I frowned at her but she just turned and got into her M3, her dress not covering an inch of her back. "I'll be waiting!" She shouted at Emmett who was already running up the stairs to their room.
When I finally walked inside and up to Alice's closet, I saw Bella. She was leaning against the wall behind Alice, her hair in intricate curls, her silk blue dress clinging just right onto her extravagant body and her free foot in delicate high heels with lace wrapping around her lower ankle. I literally had to put my tongue back in my mouth. She was stunning, though her facial expression was clearly not in league with her appearance. She had a deep scowl on her face and there was a tiny pucker between her eyebrows.
"Get dressed!" Alice demanded, though she was still wearing pants.
Kissing Bella lightly on the forehead I shot upstairs to the third floor to quickly take a shower and put on my tuxedo.
"By the way, you're late!" Alice yelled up the stairs. I'll take Bella downstairs. I'm going to get dressed and Jasper and I will meet you there.
By the time I was done, Alice and Jasper were gone and Bella was sitting on the couch downstairs talking with Esme. Rushing towards her, I pulled her up into my arms and brushed my hands lightly through her intricate curls.
"This is for you," I showed her a white lily which Alice had left on my dresser.
Blood rushed up her face, coloring it a delicious pink. The scent was spectacular.
"Thanks," she whispered.
"Here," I said while pinning it into her hair. "Now you're perfect."
Her blush turned an even darker shade of pink.
"You're not so bad yourself," her lips twitched up into a smile.
Wrapping my arm around her waist we proceeded to the door.
"Are you going to tell me where we are going now?" She looked sideways at me, anticipation obvious in her eyes.
"Not a chance," I grinned.
Her lips turned down as I helped her into my car. Carefully, I made sure that she was secure, including her dress, before I shut the door. Alice would kill me if I got her dress dirty before we even arrived at the school.
"At what point exactly are you going to tell me what's going on?" She asked tersely.
Really? Had she seriously not figure it out yet? I threw her a derisive smile.
"I'm shocked that you haven't figured it out yet."
She took in a deep breath and held it for several seconds before she spoke.
"I did mention that you looked very nice, didn't I?" She double-checked.
"Yes." My smile deepened.
Her musical heart began to pick up in pace. In anticipation or nervousness, I wasn't sure. She looked down at her attire and frowned.
"I'm not coming over anymore if Alice is going to treat me like Guinea Pig Barbie when I do," she complained.
My phone vibrated lightly before it rang. If it's Alice, I'm not answering. I put my hand into my inside jacket pocket, pulled out my phone and looked at the number. It was Bella's number. It was easy to tell who was calling me since Bella was sitting next to me. Curious as to what he was calling for, I answered.
"Hello, Charlie."
"Charlie?" Bella's frown became more prominent on her face.
"Um. Yeah." Charlie paused, obviously unsure of how to continue. "Tyler is here to pick Bella up for prom." He said the words slowly, delicately.
I could feel my eyes widen in disbelief.
"He says that Bella told him 'yes' when he asked her to go to prom."
A grin slowly crept up my face. It was about time that Tyler get the point that Bella is taken. That she is mine!
I laughed. "You're kidding!"
"No...definitely not," I could hear Charlie's voice cracking. He was trying not to laugh.
"What is it?" Bella demanded at the same time Tyler asked, "Who are you talking to?"
This was like a dream come true. It was bad enough that I had to hear every guys fantasy at school. It was time for payback.
"Why don't you let me talk to him?" I offered.
"Um. Okay, if you think that's best."
Charlie handed the phone over to Tyler.
"Who is it?" Tyler asked curiously.
"Just answer the phone, Tyler," Charlie demanded.
"Er...Hello?"
"Hello, Tyler, this is Edward Cullen." I used my friendly voice, but it had an undercurrent of threat. "I'm sorry if there's been some kind of miscommunication, but Bella is unavailable tonight."
"But...prom," he spluttered.
The undercurrent in my voice became prominent as I continued. "To be perfectly honest, she'll be unavailable every night, as far as anyone besides myself is concerned. No offense. And I'm sorry about your evening."
"But..." he began, but I snapped my phone shut while I smiled widely at the thought of him standing there, dumbfounded.
When I took in a deep breath I caught a concentrated scent of Bella's blood and looked over at her immediately. Her face and neck were the same color as Rosalie's dress. Her eyes were beginning to water slightly in anger.
Oops, I hope I didn't upset her, that was not my intention. Of course, she would have handled it with more finesse than me. "Was that last part a bit too much? I didn't mean to offend you."
She gritted her teeth before staring at me in absolute and utter belligerence. "You're taking me to the prom!" She shouted.
She caught me completely off guard. So it wasn't because of my threatening voice towards Tyler, it was because of prom! Once I took in her angry expression I tried not to laugh at her vicious kitten-y face. My lips pressed together tightly and my eyes narrowed slightly in an effort not to show my humor.
"Don't be difficult, Bella."
She jerked her head to look out of the window as it sunk in.
"Why are you doing this to me?" Her voice acerbic.
I raised an eyebrow at her and pointed towards my James Bond tuxedo. "Honestly, Bella, what did you think we were doing?"
The color in her cheeks only turned a darker shade of red as water spilled over her eye lashes and down her cheeks. She quickly wiped under her eyes and looked at her tear stained hand. After watching her reaction I couldn't figure out how the prom - of all the things for tears to be spilt over ¨C was bothering her so much. Prom, of course, wasn't on my list of tear worthy subjects. She didn't even have this reaction when she met up with James in Phoenix. Her reactions now were just completely absurd!
"This is completely ridiculous. Why are you crying?" I demanded in frustration.
"Because I'm mad!" She shouted.
"Bella," I sighed, turning my gaze on her.
"What?" she muttered, folding her arms irritably.
Okay, it was time to try the dazzling trick. "Humor me," I requested while gazing deeply into her eyes.
Her shoulders hunched forward in defeat after a few seconds. "Fine," her lower lip jutted out while staring back at me, possibly trying to glare, but the tears were making it hard to read them. "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!"
She lifted her dress and pointed at her leg in horror.
"Hmmm." Her soft delicate skin was porcelain white and looked soft, warm and silky. "Remind me to thank Alice for that tonight," I teased.
"Alice is going to be there?"
Didn't Alice tell her? Didn't Bella see her?
"With Jasper, and Emmett... and Rosalie," I added.
Her eyebrows pulled together before she shook her head. I suppressed a sigh, longing to know what was going on in that head of hers.
Then, her lips pursed. "Is Charlie in on this?" She asked suspiciously.
"Of course." I grinned, and then chuckled. "Apparently Tyler wasn't, though."
Her teeth came together with an audible snap. It pleased me that his appearance at her house had a negative effect on her.
Finally, we pulled into the school parking lot, parking next to Rosalie's M3.
The sun was starting to set and the sky was turning a coppery color as the thin layer of clouds casted shadows down on the ground in odd angles turning the white fluff into red and orange. To the east the sky was showing some stars while turning purplish due to the setting sun. The sunset was beautiful, but when I got out to offer my help to Bella, the sunset was suddenly insignificant in comparison. I held out of hand and she tightened her folded arms and humpfed stubbornly. Her chin was jutting out with a superior smugness in her expression. I would have just picked her up but there were too many people in the parking lot.
I sighed. "When someone wants to kill you, you're brave as a lion -- and then when someone mentions dancing..." I muttered while shaking my head.
Her expression changed to fear instantly and she gulped.
"Bella, I won't let anything hurt you," I paused, "-- not even yourself. I won't let go of you once, I promise."
The fear washed away as quickly as it had placed itself on her glorious face. I was relieved at once.
"There, now," I said gently, "it won't be so bad."
Without effort I reached out pulled her to my chest, wrapping my arm around her waist and holding her hand in the other. Her warmth wrapped around my body as we walked towards the school. I held her firmly in my grasp, letting her place all her weight on me if necessary. Our progress was slow, but tonight there were no expectations and we were in no hurry.
Fork's High School prom was in their gym and as we entered Bella fully took in the decorations of balloon arches, pastel crepe paper and twisted garlands that were covering every inch of the walls. Her whimsical giggle shocked me. After all her anger, fear and constant pouting and shouting she was...smiling.
"This looks like a horror movie waiting to happen," she snickered.
Relief washed over me and I joined in with her humor.
"Well," I whispered as we approached the ticket table, "there are more than enough vampires present."
She looked over the ladies shoulder at the ticket area. On the dance floor, Emmett and Rosalie, and Jasper and Alice were floating fluidly around the enclosed circle of admirers as they danced gracefully around in their evening gowns.
That family makes me sick, look at how perfect they move.
My date probably thinks I'm ugly compared to these women.
Man I'd like to...
I shoved everyone's thoughts from my mind so I could focus on Bella. Looking down at her, she looked up at me with a look of conspiracy in her thoughts.
"Do you want me to bolt the doors so you can massacre the unsuspecting townsfolk?" She whispered.
My brow raised. "And where do you fit into that scheme?"
"Oh, I'm with the vampires, of course," she collaborated.
Though I was happy she was in better spirits, I was afraid that this conversation would turn into a 'let's turn Bella into a vampire' argument. Trying to read her face, I smiled reluctantly. "Anything to get out of dancing," I assumed.
"Anything." She smiled.
After purchasing the tickets I began pulling her to the dance floor. She literally dragged her feet. Pursing my lips, I stared down at her.
"I've got all night," I informed her, not in the least bit worried that she wouldn't fold.
Finally, her stubbornness subsided and we moved onto the dance floor next to my family. This was my first time going to the prom, though my siblings went every chance they got. Alice loved to dress up and so did Rosalie, mainly because of the stares and compliments she received.
Bella stiffened at my side and I looked down at her.
"Edward." She croaked. "I honestly can't dance!" Panic was obvious in her tone.
I sighed in exasperation. "Don't worry, silly," I whispered in her ear. "I can."
Gently, I pulled her close to my chest, her feet leaving the ground before I placed them over mine, and wrapped her arms around my neck. Without effort we twirled around the dance floor with my family and even though I tried to dispel all thoughts, the boys in the audience were also crooning over Bella. I felt smug with pride.
"I feel like I'm five years old," she giggled after several minutes of us waltzing.
Her hair was blowing around lightly with the slight breeze we were making with our dancing and her cheeks were flushed the perfect pink. "You don't look five," I breathed in her ear, hugging her closer to my body.
I'm a genius! I mean, just look at that dress on her. Alice thought as she watched us twirl around. Bella caught her eye and smiled back at Alice's grin. I think she might actually be enjoying herself...
Before Alice finished her thought another thought burst into my head. He was arguing with himself. As I twirled around to see who it was, I realized it was Jacob Black.
I can't believe I'm about to do this. Seriously ¨C he's here with her, what does my dad expect me to do? Go up to her and tell her to leave him right here on the dance floor... but my car, I really want my car up and running. Stupid master cylinder.
"Okay, this isn't half bad," Bella admitted to me, but I was too busy glaring towards the doors where Jacob was leaning.
I can do this. I can do this. I can do this. Jacob chanted over and over in his head. Why did she have to be here? Argh! He hesitated on the dance floor. Master cylinder, he reminded himself. ...just remember driving around in your car, his lips twitched up. ...maybe Bella in the passenger seat. The mental image was enough to make him move closer to our dancing forms.
Bella and I continued to spin without effort on the dance floor, but my eyes never left Jacob for more than a fraction of a second. My possessive side started to creep up as I watched him walked towards us.
Bella noticed my distraction. "What is it?" she looked at me curiously.
I didn't answer. She looked over her shoulder and then continued to try and focus her eyes through our continuous gyrate. Jacob continued to move towards us. His face displayed his thoughts of distress and discomfort.
Come on, Jacob. Pull yourself together! He frantically tried to calm himself. He's not actually a vampire.
He was wrong about that.
Just do it. Ask if you can cut in. I can just relay the message from dad. Jacob looked at Bella. Wow! She is positively the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. He blinked to clear his eyes, trying to get a better visual on her. Man, this is going to suck. I'm sorry, oh man I am so sorry, Bella.
A snarl came burning up my throat, but I was able to stifle most of the noise.
"Behave!" Bella hissed at me in reproach.
Behave? I wanted to argue but he was only two feet away.
Just cut in and get it over with. This is so embarrassing. Jacob's eyebrows pulled together in concentration. 'Hey, Bella. Just break up with your boyfriend...please.' He shook his head. This isn't going to be good.
Anger boiled under my cold skin. "He wants to chat with you." The severity of my thoughts was obvious in my voice.
You made it this far. Just ask. Jacob was now standing next to us.
I stopped our dancing, trying to...behave.
"Hey, Bella," Jacob addressed her, completely ignoring me. "I was hoping you would be here." Jacob lied as he smiled brightly at Bella.
"Hi, Jacob." Bella beamed back. "What's up?"
Why did she have to return his smile? She never greeted other males so warmly. What was so special about this...Jacob Black? She was just being polite. That was all.
"Can I cut in?" he asked hesitantly, swiveling towards me.
I gritted my teeth. Behave...behave...behave, I chanted over and over in my head in Bella's delicate voice. This planned conversation was angering me and now he was asking me to break my promise to Bella.
Refusing to let Jacob see my growing irritation, I kept my face absent of emotion. I knew if I were to open my mouth words not appropriate to say in front of a lady would spill out. So, instead, I just carefully placed her back on her feet and took a step backwards, my teeth still clenched tight enough to crush diamonds.
"Thanks," Jacob said pleasantly. That was easier than I imagined.
Taking a steadying breath, I nodded once and turned to walk away. Moving through the crowd I positioned myself so I could see and hear their exchange.
Venom filled my mouth when Jacob put his hands on her waist. Jealousy ripped at me when she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Without thinking, I was pushing my way back through the crowd. I was irate.
"Emmett," Alice nodded towards me. "Stop him."
He's just a kid, Edward, she reminded me.
Before I reached them, strong arms were binding me to the spot. Emmett chuckled. "Tisk tisk, bro. Here? In this crowd? Can't you pick another time to rip his arms off?"
He let go when I froze.
"I'd like to do that now," I glanced quickly towards Alice's twirling form.