No matter how many times Andy came to pick me up, our routine remained the same. And so on the night of our junior prom, I was standing in my shop, Forks Fashion Boutique, waiting for him to arrive. As usual, he was right on time- Andy was, amoung other things, extremely reliable.

Still following the status quo, I opened the door to my shop and locked it behind me. Andy got out of the car. It wasn't raining- which was actually odd, for Forks- and so he approached me without the large black umbrella that frequently accompanied him.

He was wearing a slick black tux, probably the same one he'd worn to the Spring Dance. He looked amazing in it, but it didn't matter at all because I only had eyes for his face. His familiar, gorgeous grin greeted me, his blue eyes locking with my green ones. I took the two or three steps to reach him, grabbed him around the neck, and we kissed.

"Hey," I said, smiling back at him as we broke apart.

"Hi," he replied. "You look beautiful."

My smile widened at the compliment. Naturally, I had made myself the perfect dress for the occasion. Alice was wearing black and Rose was going in red, so those two colours hadn't been options, although I hadn't planned on either anyway. Alice was playing barbie with Bella and dressing her in blue. Green was too predictable. And so I was wearing a dress made in a smooth white silk, tight at the bodice with a flair at the bottom. It was sleeveless, strapless, backless- if I was showing anymore skin I'd be topless. The silk was good quality, and strong- which was lucky, because I doubted that when Andy removed it at the end of the night that he would do so gently.

Andy opened my door for me. He went around to the drivers side and got in. His car rumbled to a start and the radio started playing softly.

I no longer had to ask to fiddle with Andy's radio. I tuned it to one of my favourite stations and turned it up, but not so loudly that conversation was impossible.

"Do you wish you were doing a song tonight?" Andy asked me.

I shook my head. "Been there, done that." I shrugged.

"'Spose you got your games of Performation to keep you entertained." he said.

I grinned at the mention of mine and the Cullens favourite pastime- a game of singing, acting and dancing that we called Performation.

"I hope you don't think I've given up on getting you to try it," I teased him. "I will not rest until I have you singing."

He laughed. "Good luck." he said.

The drive to school was short and we only had time for one song on the radio before we were pulling into the parking lot. It was full- Andy and I had shown up a couple of minutes late on purpose. One, so that Emmett and Jasper could get there first and take care of something for me, and two, so that more people could see me arrive in my dress.

Andy hurried round to my door to open it. I stepped out and we linked arms to walk in. Other couples were walking in, talking and laughing loudly.

The gym was set up in much the same way as it had been for the Spring Dance earlier in the year. One half on the room had become a dance floor, the other a seating area. No stage was on the wall this time- Mrs. Trillson had not arranged any performances. I didn't really mind- I was happy to enjoy the night with my friends.

I heard the music pumping on the dance floor and immediately headed in that direction. Andy followed me without complaint. I was surprised to find that only two couples were dancing, and then I saw why. Those two couples were Emmett and Rose, Jasper and Alice, and no one wanted to be compared to them. Except for me of course.

"Oi, Al!" I shouted over the music.

No one else seemed to hear me, but all the Cullens looked. Alice grinned. Her and Jasper stopped twirling and came to join Andy and I. Some people looked at us strangely but tonight, I didn't care.

"What's with the dancing? We're in the twenty first century." I told her.

She laughed. "So sorry, little miss dancing expert. Why don't you go and show us how it's done?"

I grinned. That was exactly what I planned to do.

Emmett and Rose had stopped dancing and joined us as well.

"Oh, Emmett," I said. "Did you take care of that little thing we talked about." I asked conspiratorially.

He nodded, his face serious. "All plant life successfully disposed of."

I laughed. "Thanks," I said, "Didn't want repeats of last school dance I went to."

I looked towards the empty gap in the middle of the dance floor. The current music quietened and then the song changed. It was up beat and it was loud. I made my way to the centre of the dance floor, and then I danced.

I tried not to concentrate on the blur of faces surrounding me. They looked at me with surprise, jealousy, indignation. It was all very distracting, and so I found Alice and Rose's faces and beckoned for them to join me. They hesitated, then agreed. Standing in a tight circle, we danced. I ignored the stares of my classmates and just enjoyed myself- the loud music, the lights, the wonderful feeling I got when I was dancing, Rose and Alice's laughter...

"Dance floor thief," Jasper whispered in my ear.

I turned and laughed. "Good luck getting rid of me. I could go all night."

He raised his eyebrows. "Who's the one that doesn't need to eat or sleep?" he asked, quietly enough that only I could hear.

I rolled my eyes.

"When I get thirsty, you can go back to your ballroom." I promised.

He smiled. "When I get thirsty, find me a tasty looking human," he replied.

It turned out that it didn't take long for me to be absolutely parched. I joined Andy- who had found Alex and Tom, Steph and some boy called Blake and, to my surprise, Kate and Matt. Kate and Matt weren't actually with them, but I could see them easily enough- sitting on one of the couches, each attempting to the eat the other ones face. Or at least that's what it looked like.

"I know," Andy said, when he saw me looking. "Turns out they've been secretly dating for ages."

I was shocked for a moment, then I thought about it and it made sense. That's why Kate had acted to possessive over Matt at our last trip to the beach. And that's why she occasionally turned up late to places, Matt in tow, or went to things without a car. I never wondered who she got lifts with.

Andy escorted me to the bar and got us some of the same punch we'd had last time. We sat on one of the couches- considerably far away from Kate and Matt.

"Having fun so far?" I asked Andy.

He nodded. "Yeah, it's pretty good."

"I'll have to get you on the dance floor," I said, a gleam in my eye.

"Only if you get other people up there too. I'm not going up against the Cullens by myself."

I smiled. Andy wasn't a very confident dancer. I thought he was fine, but I understood that he didn't want to be compared to the Cullens.

"Come on, we'll get Steph and that Blake guy to dance with us," I said, standing up.

Andy followed me back towards the dance floor. To the surprise of both of us, three couples were now twirling. The third was Bella and Edward. Bella looked quite pretty considering the cast on her leg. I noticed she was standing on Edward's feet and smiled.

I turned around, trying to find Steph in the crowd, and saw the Quileute guy I'd met on the beach- Jacob- walking towards us. He didn't notice me or Andy, but went straight for Bella Swan. I remembered thinking he had a bit of a crush on her. Had he stalked her to the prom? Creepy much.

He reached Bella and Edward. Edward looked furious, but Bella looked happy enough to see him. Edward carefully composed his face as Jacob tentatively asked for a dance with Bella. Edward agreed of course. He spotted Andy and I and went to join us. His face had regained its previous furious expression.

"Stupid, interfering Quileutes," he muttered.

"What's up?" I asked, "Think you have some competition?"

He didn't laugh at the joke and I realized there was actually something wrong.

"His father sent him," Edward said, "To warn Bella. To stay away from me. He thinks I was the one that hurt her..." his voice was angry now, a deep growl under the surface.

Eager to calm him down, I said,

"Don't worry, Bella won't listen to that. She knows the truth. That should be the only thing that matters."

Edward glanced at me. His face became very blank and he said, his voice curt,

"Yes, you're probably right."

I looked at him suspiciously but didn't say anything else.

I couldn't hear what Jacob was saying, I could only see his face. His expression was guilty and apologetic, and he seemed to be taking a long time to say what he'd come to say. To give Bella her 'warning'...

I couldn't see Bella's face; her back was to me. I imagined her kindly listening to the message and convincing Jacob that Edward was perfectly safe. Which wasn't 100% true, but that didn't really matter.

Suddenly Edward went to stand next to Bella and Jacob. Jacob seemed to take this as his cue to leave, and Bella was once again in Edward's arms. I watched them spin out of the room and outdoors.

More people had started dancing now, after the initial hesitation over the Cullens presence. I grabbed Andy's hand and dragged him onto the dance floor. Alex and Tom joined us and we all danced together, singing loudly to any songs we knew. Steph managed to get Blake on to the dance floor as well. Kate and Matt still hadn't surfaced for air.

By the end of the night both my feet and my throat were sore. Andy and I left the gym along with the last few couples, laughing about Tom's terrible dancing. He opened the door for me and I got in the car. This was what I had been looking forward to even more than the prom. Andy and I had only had sex once- in the forest, when I was recovering from a serious head injury. According to Alice and Rose- with whom I had been forced to discuss this with at length- your first time with someone is never the best. Alice said that seeing as it was my first time with anyone, ever- and Andy's too- it had probably seemed better than it was. She had assured me that now Andy and I had the experience, we would have improved.

Although I had thought having sex with Andy was, well, amazing, I was prepared to take her word for it.

Andy drove me back to his house. The house was in darkness- his mum had conveniently gone away for the weekend to visit Andy's grandmother. Andy parked in the street and we went to the front door. Andy unlocked the door and I followed him inside. He switched on the lights in the hallway.

"Would you like something to drink?" he asked me.

"Yeah, thanks." I said, following him to the kitchen.

"Tea, coffee...?"

"Hot chocolate, if you've got it." I smiled at my immaturity.

He grinned. "With marshmallows?"

I laughed and nodded.

He boiled the water and mixed our hot chocolates, adding two marshmallows to each.

"Thanks," I said, taking the warm mug and sitting myself up on the bench.

We sipped in silence for a moment. I stared at him over my mug, taking in his perfection. Spending so much time around the Cullens had made me overly critical of human guys- I seemed to notice their imperfections more after being around Em, Jazz and Edward. But I had never stopped thinking that Andy was perfect. He set down his mug to take off his tuxedo jacket and loosen his tie.

"Don't start without me," I joked.

He smiled. "I can start for you if you want," he said.

He bent down so he was level with my foot, dangling in the air over the bench, and carefully removed my shoe. My shoes were borrowed from Alice- silver stilettos.

I giggled as his lips gently caressed my leg, moving up to my knee. I put my mug down and grabbed his tie, pulling him upwards by it, then taking him around the neck to kiss his lips. The shoe fell to the ground as he grabbed me around my waist.

"Bedroom," I murmured in between kisses.

I would have been happy to do it right there and then, but I figured the bed would be more comfortable that the kitchen bench, and besides I wasn't sure Kathy would be too pleased if she knew.

He picked me up and carried me down the hall to his bedroom. His bed was not covered in clothes and books for once- he must have cleared it in advance- and he lowered me onto it. My second shoe dropped off as the weight of his body pressed upon me. He sat up for a minute and pulled off his tie. My fingers found the buttons of his shirt and ripped them open. A couple of the buttons popped off but neither of us cared. He threw his shirt behind him, and once again he was on top of me, his naked torso smooth beneath my fingers.

Both of us sat up, and my hands went for the zip at the back of my dress as he pulled off his pants. I unzipped the dress and he pulled it off me. As I predicted, he was far from gentle, but the strong silk didn't tear.

He had become extremely good at undoing the clasp of my bra, without even looking. It fell off my body easily. I slid out of my underwear. He put on a condom- we were very careful to use contraception. I had wanted to go on the pill, but I didn't know what human medications would do to my not so human body.

I lay back and he was on top of me again, his weight feeling good on my body. That same involuntary noise I made the last time- a half scream, half groan- escaped my lips as he entered me. His touch burned, and he touched a lot- my whole body was on fire where our skin was pressed together.

This time we went for longer, I was sure of it. And Alice and Rose were right- although it had seemed impossible, it was better. We experimented a little, trying different positions. I was hopelessly inexperienced in this area- I didn't have any Sex and the City episodes to refer back to. But what we did seemed so natural, it wasn't forced at all. And in the heat of the moment, I didn't spend a lot of time worrying about what I didn't know.

When we finished we lay in the bed, my head on his chest, curled up close.

"So," I said. "What did you think?"

He laughed. "Are you fishing for a compliment?"

"Well that depends. Are you planning on giving me one?"

He laughed again. "Juniper, you are absolutely amazing in bed."

"Why thank you, Andy. So are you." I said.

I rolled onto my stomach and kissed him lightly on the lips.

"I love you." I said. "I'll love you forever."

"I'll love you for much longer than forever." Andy said.

I raised my eyebrows. "What, so now it's a competition?"

As he laughed I settled back into his chest.

"You know, if it was a competition, I think I'd win." he said after a moment.

"And how do you figure that?"

"I've put up with a lot from you, you know. With the whole not telling me your parents were dead, being a mythical creature and also not telling me that, and then there was the time you ran off to Phoenix without telling me."

I stiffened. "I'm sorry."

My head bounced on his chest as he laughed.

"I'm only joking. I forgive you for everything you've ever done. I love you anyway."

I smiled, relaxing.

"I love you too," I said, "For longer than forever."