A/N: I don't own it, I'm just fucking with it.

A reminder that this story is rated M for a reason. 18+ only please!

Thanks heaps to RemyKilday for pre-reading and giving love.

I worship at the altar of HammerHips' ass.

Chapter 3: I Hope You Dance

I hope you still feel small

When you stand beside the ocean

Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens

Promise me you'll give faith a fighting chance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

I hope you dance

-"I Hope You Dance" by Lee Ann Womack

Sage POV

"Rose, please leave me alone!" I cried, spinning out of Rosalie's grasp. She'd spent the past half-hour chasing me around my bedroom with various cosmetics.

She huffed in frustration. "This is prom. You can't just go completely bare…" the corner of her mouth hitched up in a smirk as she let the comment hang in the air.

My eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "Rosalie Lillian Hale!" I shrieked and Rose doubled over laughing. "What I get waxed is my business… and as for the makeup… I'm gonna wear some, I just don't want you chasing me with it." I scowled at her. "You're gonna get it in my hair or something and I like my hair."

I caught my reflection in the mirror and smiled. My long pale hair had been barrel-curled and then twisted into a loose twist-bun at the nape of my neck with several pieces loose in the front to frame my face. Rose had secured a fresh Kaleidoscope Orchid on either side of the bun.

I danced out of her reach again as a powder puff flew at my face. "EMMETT!" I yelled, dashing out the door, clutching my robe around me. "EMMETT, MAKE HER STOP!" I bounded down the stairs and crashed straight into a hard, well-muscled chest.

"Easy, Sweetie." Jasper chided. He'd just come out of the shower, his short hair still damp. He was wearing only a pair of basketball shorts and a gray T-shirt. "Don't wanna hurt yourself before we even get to the prom."

"Funny, Jas." I groaned and then squeaked as Jasper whipped me behind him as Rose made to come at me from behind. "EMMETT!" I yelled again, taking off toward the kitchen.

"Sage, I'm good with makeup, dammit! Just sit down!"

"Make her stop!" I yelled at Emmett as he put the finishing touches on a mammoth sandwich.

He turned and glanced from me to Rose and back to me. "Uh…" Great. He's weighing the options based on the fact that Rose may put him on a sex timeout. "Uh…"

"Rose, this is Sage's prom, why not let her do her own thing." Jasper sighed, leaning against the doorframe.

Rose huffed, her eyes narrowing. "Fine!" she stormed out of the kitchen.

I closed my eyes for a moment and felt a great sense of relief. When I padded back out to the hallway, Jasper was locked in a glaring contest with Rose. "Everything OK?" I asked hesitantly.

"Just fine, Sweetie. Rosie's just having trouble letting go is all." Jasper gave me an encouraging smile and nodded for me to head back upstairs. When I got to the top of the stairs I cringed as I heard harsh whispers and "Dammit, Rose! Just back off her, let her have her night! I'm gonna smoke a fuckin' cigarette and when I come back in, you're not gonna be hassling her, or me." The door opened and closed and I sighed and sat back down at my vanity and began applying foundation and powder.

Blend… puff… blush…eyeliner…

Small wisps of smoke rose up from the porch below my window and I took a moment to peak out and down to see Jasper leaning with his elbows on the railing, a cigarette dangling from between the second and third fingers of his right hand. He blew another puff of smoke out and I watched him shift, standing and heading down into the yard, inspecting the tread on Rosalie's tires. He turned and his eyes immediately shifted up to my window. I ducked out of the way as quickly as possible and went back to my makeup.

Eye shadow…mascara…lip gloss…

I smiled at my reflection. I knew that if Rosalie had done my makeup, she would've wanted a heavier, more done-up look. I liked the peachy undertones and the dewy look and I felt I'd done a good job. I sighed as I glanced at my dress; I was going to have to make nice with Rosalie. I wouldn't be able to get the zipper in the back otherwise, and I wasn't exactly shot in the butt with the idea of Emmett having a bird's eye view of my bare back (no bra) and white lace thong.

Jasper, on the other hand…

No! We're not even gonna go there. Nuh-uh!

I sighed and shed my robe, deciding to pull on a black tube top and a pair of red shorts so that I wasn't wandering around searching for Rose in my robe. I padded back down the stairs just as Jasper was coming back in. He cocked an eyebrow at me, but smiled.

"At some point tonight, you are gonna be in a dress, right? I feel like I'm going through the various stages of dress here."

"Oh… funny. I have to go make nice with your sister or no, you won't be seeing me in a dress." I smacked him lightly across his abs and he pretended to fall down.

"Ouch!" he called after me as I smirked and walked off.

I found Rosalie in the kitchen with a cup of tea. I leaned against the doorway and sighed. "Rose, I'm sorry, OK? I just wanted to be able to do it myself." She nodded minutely. "Would you mind helping me on with my dress?" she shrugged and stood to follow me. "Thank you." Jasper was lying where I'd left him, one eye open to watch for my return. I snickered. "Get up, Loser. You've got an entire tuxedo to get on." I nudged him with my toe and he grabbed my ankle and pulled me down. I landed on his chest and he began tickling me. "Jas! Jasper, no! No tickling!" I cried, bending and curling, trying to escape him.

"Apologize!" he laughed and I shook my head. "Apologize! I can go on like this for a good long while, Sage. Apologize!"

"OK! OK, I'm sorry!" he stopped and I stood up and stepped over him, shoving his head back down as I went, adding, "that you're such a loser!" I sprinted up the stairs.

Rosalie joined me a moment later, closing the door silently. She stared at me, appraising me, and I shifted uncomfortably. "Jas is always so happy because of you." She said finally. "I don't think I've ever seen him smile as much as when one of your letters would come, or here in the past week… It's… it's very nice to see."

How the hell do I respond to that?

"Thank you, Rosalie."

She gave me a small smile and slid my dress off the hanger. "This is an amazing dress, by the way." I peeled my clothes off and stepped into it, careful to aim my right side away from both the mirror and Rosalie, as my tattoo was just over my bottom right ribs. I smiled as I held it to my torso and she zipped me into it.

My dress was made of white silk barege. I loved the fabric because it was gauzy and light; it was strapless, with an empire waist just below my bosom. At knee level, the white fabric faded to hot pink and ended at the floor in a small pool.

Rose smiled and helped me on with my strappy silver stilettos, and then fastened a fine silver chain with a single small hot pink gemstone around my neck. I added matching stud earrings and then we both simply stared at me in the mirror.

"Wow." She smiled and patted my shoulder. "You look really beautiful, Sage."

I watched as the blush crept up my chest and into my face. "Thanks, Rose." I sighed and sat back down at the vanity. "What are you and Emmett doing tonight?"

"We're catching a double feature in Port Angeles." She rolled her eyes. "Two Horror movies… Your brother is a moron sometimes." She turned and headed for the door, sparing a glance at the clock. "It's seven now. We need to get pictures done before you leave or Charlie will kill us, so come on down when you're ready. I'm going to go make sure Jasper's ready." She disappeared into the hallway.

I nodded and glanced at myself in the mirror again. "Well," I sighed. "It's as good as it's gonna get. You wanted a date. Get a move on."

I stood and turned on my heel without another thought and marched to the door. I opened it, stepped out onto the landing, and peered down the stairs. Jasper was waiting for me, a smile on his face, and a corsage of Kaleidoscope Orchids in his hand. His eyes widened and so did his smile as I came into full view.

"Well get on down here, don't keep me waiting." He chided, drawling it out so that I giggled.

I carefully maneuvered the stairs (damn Rose and her death-shoe fetish!) and stood in front of him.

"Miss McCarty, I do believe you've grown." He smirked.

"Mister Whitlock, don't be an ass." I stuck my tongue out at him and he laughed.

"Pictures!" Rosalie called and she pulled my blue digital Nikon out of her pocket before handing me Jasper's matching boutonniere. "Let's get some of you pinning the boutonniere on, and then some of Jazz putting your corsage on and then we'll get some nice posed ones."

"Yeah, 'cause that doesn't sound cheesy and posed at all." I whispered, rolling my eyes, causing Jasper inhale sharply in order to keep from laughing.

We did as instructed, posing and smiling per Rosalie's directions until Emmett came out of the kitchen and groaned.

"Rose!" We all knew where that was going. He'd demanded I not wear a strapless dress. She shot him a death glare, however, and he backtracked. "I thought you were going to call me before you did pictures."

Rose's eyes narrowed. "Sorry." She replied curtly before turning back to us. "How about some cute ones?" I raised my eyebrow and looked up at Jasper. His expression mimicked mine. Rose rolled her eyes and huffed. "Peck Jazz on the cheek."

I could feel the blush rising, but did as I was told so that Rose would leave me alone. We switched for the next shot, me still beet red, and then we did our best to back slowly out the front door. Slowly… slowly… slowly… We didn't want to startle Rose… she might charge…

We hauled ass to the M3, laughing hysterically as Rose yelled for us to come back. Jasper helped me into the car, climbed in, and we peeled out.

"Your sister… is bipolar or something!" I gasped. "Manic about the makeup, depressed about the makeup, manic about the pictures!"

Jasper shook his head. "Did you see Emmett's face when he saw your dress? I thought he was gonna rip my arms off and light me on fire!" he grimaced all of a sudden. "Shit, we forgot your camera in our bid to get free."

I shook my head. "No…" and I held up a smaller, pink camera. "I put it in my handbag before I came downstairs. I had a feeling we would have to beat a hasty retreat."

He looked offended. "I do not retreat!" he growled playfully.

I mock-saluted. "Yes, Sir!"

"Don't get snarky."

"Why not? You're already in the tux."

Jasper rolled his eyes. "Cocky little shit."

"Learned it from you." I retorted. I leaned down to adjust my dress around my feet when my cell phone (thank GOD for insurance!) started ringing. I rolled my eyes and pulled it out. "What, Emmett?" I asked when I hit Talk.

"I just wanted to remind you that we'll be in Port Angeles and Uncle Charlie is working the night shift tonight, so if you need something—"

"Call Sue, Billy, or Misses Newton." I finished lamely.

"Right. And remember—"

"There's pepper spray in my purse, Jasper's to keep his hands to himself, and he's to make sure that other guys keep their hands to themselves as well."

"Exactly. Any questions?"

I shot Jasper a look and he smirked. "Yeah… do I have to keep my hands to myself?" I could almost hear him turning red with anger. "Love you, Emmy! Bye!" I hung up laughing.

Jasper shook his head. "I really shouldn't encourage you with that." He snorted a laugh. "But I will because I can only imagine the heart attack going down."

My phone rang again and I rolled my eyes, not bothering to look at the screen, as I picked it up again and put it on speaker. "What, Emmett?"

"Not Big E."

"Oops. Sorry, Jake. What's up?"

There was silence for a moment and Jasper glanced at my phone. Finally, Jake said, "We have… a box."

I raised an eyebrow. "A box?"

"Yes."

Jasper and I glanced at each other. "OK, I'll bite. What kind of box?"

There was laughter in the background and I could easily pick out Seth and Paul.

"A shoebox!" Paul yelled.

"A shoebox…" I repeated, thinking. Then it dawned on me. "NO! NO! We swore we weren't gonna open that 'til we graduated college!" I cried, earning me a WTF? look from Jasper.

"Technically we said when we graduated, it was just assumed that it would be college." Seth yelled.

"We haven't graduated yet!"

"Don't be a bitch, Pipsqueak!" Paul yelled. "Our prom is tonight too. I expect your scrawny little ass down at First Beach by midnight or we're opening it without you!" there was a pause and I could tell he was taking the phone from Jake and taking their end off speaker. "And remember… I know what you put in there." He teased.

I groaned. "Paul, don't be an ass." I begged.

"Oh please! Like you wouldn't sell me out in a heartbeat. Midnight, Pipsqueak." And the line went dead.

I groaned. "Some days… not always, but some days… I really hate Paul." Jasper sighed, reached over, and flicked my bare shoulder. "Ow!" I shrieked. "What the hell?"

"Quit being sullen! I'm in a penguin suit, in a pink tie, driving my sister's car even though I'll have to endure a slow, painful death if I even scratch it, it's not even eight, and you're groaning and moaning because your friends want to hang out with you." He flicked me again and I smacked his hand. "We'll go to the beach. We'll have fun. And if you get whiny, I'm gonna bite you." He shot me a stern look that left no room for argument, but it was tainted by his playful smile.

I hunkered down in my seat, careful of my hair, and mumbled, "I thought you were secure enough in your sexuality to wear pink."

"I am, Pipsqueak."

"Don't call me that." I instantly regretted my tone as a look that appeared to be a cross between jealousy and hurt marred his features.

"Paul gets to give you a nickname?" he even sounded hurt.

Groaning, I leaned over and rested my cheek against his shoulder. "It's not a nickname I enjoy… and you're Southern… you don't do nicknames. You do endearments… and I much prefer Sweetheart, Darlin', and Sweetie over Pipsqueak."

He smiled at that and turned his head a fraction to place a soft kiss on my forehead.

Odd.

He'd never done that before.

Jasper seemed to be thinking along the same line because he cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably as I slid all the way back into my seat.

"So…" he grimaced as he steered the car into the school parking lot and parked. He turned to face me and then sighed, shaking his head. "Are you gonna be OK if I miss your graduation?"

I was stunned. I hadn't actually expected him to go to my commencement ceremony. "Why wouldn't I be?"

He shrugged. "I just wanted to make sure. You and Emmett seem to be in a weird place right now."

It was my turn to grimace. Emmett and I had been in a screaming match the previous night over me living in the dorms at Berkeley; Emmett wanted me nearby, but I wanted the freedom the dorms proposed. He and Rosalie had already been searching for a townhouse to rent in order to accommodate more people. In the end, Rosalie had proposed the same compromise Emmett and I had reached about Berkeley. I would live with them for one year and then I was free to move into the dorms or out on my own. We'd both grudgingly agreed.

"I'll be fine."

He nodded. "I know you'll be fine, that's not my concern. It just seems like you and Emmett are fighting more, and I know at least part of that is because I'm around. I don't want it to get out of control if I'm not here to step in."

I turned in my seat to face him. "You are not the reason we're fighting." I sighed. "I made a resolution… after the whole Henry thing… that I wasn't going to let Emmett control everything about my life without a fight anymore. I'm not that ten year-old girl who needs looking after and it's time he realized it." He smiled at that. "But, since you bring it up, where are you going?"

Jasper rolled his eyes. "Rose wants me to move in with ya'll and since I have nothing here but the stuff in my pack, I need to get back to Fort Belvoir and clean out my storage locker… and get my truck. This riding around in Beetles and lipstick red chick cars is killing my manliness."

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, because you're so manly. It oozes from you and makes everything around you more manly too."

He smirked. "You make it sound like an STD, Sage."

"Don't all you Army boys have at least three of those?" I snarked, my hand going to the door handle. Jasper grasped my wrist and nodded at the door as though to say Excuse me? Gentleman here. I'll get it.

Jasper POV

To say that Sage looked beautiful all dressed up would be the understatement of my existence. There were no words to describe her, and though there were times I occasionally wondered what it would be like to have Sage romantically, they all paled to the notion of her in that dress, dolled up for me.

OK, I knew it wasn't for me, but I pretended all the same, if only for a moment. That was how I tripped up. I kissed her forehead when I hadn't meant to, and it stunned her. To ease my own discomfort, I simply brushed it off.

By the time we arrived, the prom was in full-swing. Bodies were everywhere and hip hop blasted from the speakers… some song that had obviously come out during my time overseas, because I had no clue what it was.

I wrapped a protective arm around Sage and she wrapped her arm around my waist as we made our way through the gym.

She squeezed my side and I bent down so she could whisper in my ear. "That's Henry." She looked pointedly at a tall, gangly red-haired boy who looked like he should just be starting high school, not finishing it.

I smirked. "Wanna make him jealous, Sweetheart?" she cocked an eyebrow at me. "Come on, you know you're just a little bit pissed at him for letting Emmett scare him off."

No clue. I really had no clue what I was doing. It was like I was begging for something to go wrong.

"What did you have in mind?" she asked.

I shrugged and dropped my arm from her, instead lacing my fingers with hers and watching for just the right moment, planting a tender kiss on her knuckles as Henry looked in our direction. He blanched and I could almost feel the jealousy and insecurity radiating off of him.

"I'm sorry, Sweetheart, but I think Emmett mighta done you a favor."

She snorted. "I never said I liked him… he was a friend and he asked me."

I rolled my eyes as a slow song began and I pulled her onto the dance floor, pulling her arms up to drape them around my neck. "Well, I think you took a step up, at least."

"Of course I did. That's why you're my best friend, Jazz. You're always there for me." She smiled sweetly and I grinned back, hiding the fact that I felt as though I'd been punched in the stomach.

Shit.

"Sage!"

Sage turned and dropped her arms, spinning in my hands to hug a tall redheaded girl who'd magically appeared behind us. "Victoria! How are you?"

"Good! We've missed you at the Yearbook meetings this past week." Her eyes flicked to me briefly before going back to Sage.

"Yeah… Jasper just got back from Iraq so I've been hanging out with him." She patted my hand that rested on her hip.

Victoria's eyes widened. "You're Sage's Soldier Boy?" she asked me and I shrugged, suddenly embarrassed. "Man more like, I guess." She gave a knowing smile. "No wonder she's kept you all to herself."

"Victoria!" Sage cried.

"What?" she wiggled her eyebrows at me. "Can't help it if I like 'em tall, lean, and blond… Man-meat. Yum." Sage groaned and I hugged her tighter to my chest in reassurance. "Seriously though, we thought she'd made you up."

I laughed. "No ma'am, I'm very real."

"And very here." She added. "I may just have to cut in later."

"Maybe." I answered, having no intention of allowing her to. "It was nice to meet you, Victoria." She smirked and disappeared into the crowd again as I leaned down to Sage's ear and whispered, "So you talk about me to your friends, huh?"

She turned so we could continue dancing and she was a robust shade of scarlet. "You're a friend too. Why wouldn't I?" I shrugged, not really having an answer. "I am sorry for her though… She's a little… friendly."

I shook my head. "Don't apologize. Sometimes I kinda feel invisible. It's nice to be seen."

Sage looked hurt. "I see you."

I laughed. "I know you do. I just meant by someone other than you." She raised an eyebrow at me. "What?"

She shook her head. "Jazz, maybe you haven't noticed, but every girl here sees you. You're like walking sex or something." I blushed, unable to stop it and silently cursing it. "Seriously!"

I silently willed the blood to leave my face and changed the subject. "So… what's in the shoebox?"

She groaned. "It's really stupid…" I smirked and she rolled her eyes. "When we were twelve, right after Emmett and Rose moved to California, Jake, Paul, Seth, and I buried our own… stupid version of a time capsule in Seth's backyard." She rolled her eyes. "We opened it when we were fifteen and took out our old stuff and put new stuff in."

"Why?"

She blushed again. "Because we realized we were really stupid, idiotic kids and the stuff we put in there was not how we wanted to be remembered."

"Do I even want to know?

She let out a hard breath and I saw tears filling her eyes. She shut them quickly, forcing them back. "I was a really angry kid back then, Jazz."

I nodded. "I remember… took you forever to let me in, but I remember." I pulled her into a hug. "You had a right to be. No one faults you for that."

She smiled into my chest. "God, Jazz! Don't make me cry!" she laughed and pulled away, wiping her eyes gently so as not to smear her makeup.

There was a small jolt of pleasure as I saw Henry Davidson standing twenty feet away at the punch bowl, glaring at me. I smiled brightly at him before hugging Sage again. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." I whispered into her hair.

"I know." She sighed.

We talked to several more of her friends over the course of the evening, spending the longest time with a French foreign exchange student named Laurent who insisted on squeezing my arm and winking at me, his hand at one point sliding down to my hip. I was forced to immediately sidestep and put Sage between us. She thought it was funny and laughed hysterically about it as we left.

"I mean… Laurent's never that forward! It took him forever to ask Riley Biers on a date."

I grimaced and helped her into the car. I jogged around to the driver's side and climbed in, asking, "And what happened to Riley Biers?"

She shrugged. "He goes both ways, so I think he was with Irina Denali tonight."

I snorted a laugh. "Lovely. Guess it's my lucky night then, since Laurent's on the prowl."

"Oh stop." She chided, rolling her eyes. "You know if it had been anyone else… say… Peter? You'd have been laughing your ass off right along with me."

"Yeah, probably." I smirked. "Just kinda killed the ego to have the most beautiful girl there on my arm and I was still getting felt up by a dude."

"As I said, he's never usually that forward. Probably an 'end of high school drama-rama' thing or something." It didn't escape me that she completely ignored my compliment. She actually rolled her eyes when I said it. "Turn onto the highway." She directed, pointing to the turnoff. "It's sad that you haven't had the chance to see First Beach in the daylight… but they'll probably start a driftwood bonfire, which is really cool." She grimaced and reached down to start undoing the straps on her shoes. "Think I'm going barefoot though. I swear Rose is trying to kill me… Death By Shoe. Should make the news." She flexed her feet, appreciating the freedom.

I stopped at a red light on the outskirts of town and took the time to peel off my jacket and roll up my shirtsleeves. I watched her frown out of the corner of my eye and I knew what she was looking at.

On each of my forearms, on the inside, is a set of tally marks. Seven on the inside of my right arm, twelve on my left. I groaned internally, knowing this was not a conversation to be had on what was supposed to be a happy night.

"Jas… What are—"

"How about we not discuss them tonight?" I cut her off. I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye and she looked taken aback by my abruptness.

"What if I said no?"

I snorted. "Sweetie, you and I both know you won't win an argument with me." But her frown increased and I got a sense of knowing from her.

"Jas…"

"Sage, please don't make me put a damper on the night." I pleaded.

She sighed and turned to look out the window. "Fine."

I groaned out loud this time and reached over to take her hand in mine, rubbing slow, soothing circles along the back of her hand with my thumb. "Please don't be upset with me." I murmured. "This isn't a conversation to have right now."

Honestly, I'd forgotten about the tattoos. Had I remembered them, I'd have kept my sleeves down. I'd been lucky so far that she hadn't noticed them, but that was mostly due to my predominantly long-sleeved wardrobe.

"Since when do we have specific settings for specific conversations, Jazz?" she was still looking out the window. "Turn right on the next road."

Sighing, I squeezed her hand gently and placed it back in her lap. "Tomorrow, Sweetheart."

"Uh-huh."

"Sage…"

"It's fine." She sighed. "Pull in here."

I parked the car and ran around, but wasn't fast enough and she got out on her own, hiking up the skirt of her dress a couple inches off the ground.

"Aw, hell." I sighed. I wrapped an arm around her waist and lifted her gently, balancing her against my hip as I walked us onto the sand. I set her down gently and she smiled appreciatively before turning and scanning the beach, finally settling on the bonfire a few hundred yards away.

We made our way over and I noticed three figures sitting around the bonfire, passing a large bottle back and forth. I immediately recognized the hulking forms of Seth and Jacob and was forced to assume that the shorter, stockier one was Paul.

"Pipsqueak!" Paul yelled, running to us and scooping Sage up bridal style and twirling her around. "I knew you'd come!"

"You didn't give me much of a—Paul, I'm gonna be sick!" Sage cried, slapping his shoulder.

He set her down gently, laughing, before turning to me and the smile fell off his face. "Who's the Pale Face?"

"This is Jasper." She sighed. "Jas, this is Paul Blackburn."

I held out my hand. "Pleasure."

He smirked and didn't shake my hand. "Yeah, not so much."

"Don't be a dick." Sage warned.

"Wouldn't have to be if you'd just let me—"

"Paul!" Seth called. His warning was more forceful.

He smirked. "Shall we?" he led us back to the fire and I immediately noticed a large shoebox crammed inside a clear plastic bag.

Sage made to sit down on one of the logs positioned around the fire, but I stopped her, sat down, and pulled her onto my lap. "Don't want to snag your dress." I said as an explanation. She nodded.

Jacob rubbed his hands together and pulled the box out of the bag. "Alrighty…" he yanked the top off and dug through it, frowning. "I don't think any of this is mine."

Sage quaked with silent laughter. "You didn't dig up Seth's porn collection did you? I buried it under the oak tree."

"You did that? I thought that was my mom!" the boy cried.

"Yeah, well she helped… I was the one who snuck it out of your room… she's the one who told me where to bury it." She laughed harder, leaning back into my chest so that I vibrated with her laughter.

"No…" Jake replied, ignoring the side conversation. "This is our time capsule."

"Gimme that." Paul snarled, grabbing the box. He dug through for a few minutes and held up a CD. "Fall Out Boy CD?"

"Which album?" Seth asked.

Paul checked the cover. "Folie A Deux."

"Mine." Seth replied, catching it deftly as it was tossed to him.

"And… Infinity On High."

"Mine." Sage replied and she too caught the CD tossed to her.

Paul rooted around a bit more. "Picture of Bella." I expected that to be Sage.

"Mine." Jake chimed. Shock.

"And this is mine." Paul said, taking out a bobble head of a wolf. He rooted around some more and smiled wickedly as he pulled a battered black and white notebook from the depths of the box. "And I wonder who's this—" he flipped it open to the first page and Sage flew out of my lap at warp speed.

"No! No, Paul!" he ducked around her and took off down the beach, waving the notebook over his head. "Paul, give it back now!"

He doubled back and ran full-tilt toward the fire circle, presumably to read a bit of whatever it was Sage had written all those years ago. As he passed me, I snatched the notebook and as Sage charged after him, I grabbed her about the waist and set her back on my lap, pressing the notebook into her hands.

"I've got ya." I whispered against her hair, giving Paul a smug smile as he scowled at me.

"Pale Face is no fun." He grumbled.

I chuckled. "Pale Face is lookin' out for his girl and doesn't really care what you think." I sighed. "Sweetie, I'm gonna have a smoke." She nodded but didn't move. "You gonna let me up?" she shook her head. "Have it your way. Hope to God I don't singe your dress."

"You won't." she replied easily. "Where's the rest, Paul? We each had three things in there." She added as I extracted a cigarette from my pocket and lit it.

Paul dug around a bit more and produced a battered old Playboy with Pam Anderson on the cover. Jake claimed that. Then came a hockey puck, which Paul claimed.

Sage turned slightly and plucked the cigarette from my fingers, taking a quick drag, and handing it back, blowing the smoke out slowly.

"Since when do you…?"

"Only occasionally." She murmured. "Sometimes the buzz is nice."

Jake snorted. "You could just have some tequila, if you want a buzz."

"I don't want an alcohol buzz." She replied. Before I'd finished the cigarette she'd stolen another drag. Her left hand found its way to my right forearm and I watched as she traced the tallies, her brow furrowed.

"Who the hell put a tuning fork in?" Paul asked suddenly, breaking us both out of our trances.

"Me." Sage raised her hand.

"Fuckin' figures." He ground out, watching her fingers dance along my skin. Jealous. It was all over him. It covered him like a second skin.

They finished going through their stuff and then Sage and I bid them goodnight. We walked solemnly back up the beach and then I carried her back over the pavement to the car. As I climbed in, she sighed.

"Jazz?"

"Hmm?" I asked, starting the car.

"It's tomorrow."

I grimaced. "Sage…"

"You said tomorrow, you didn't say what time. It's three AM, it's been tomorrow for three hours now."

I smacked myself mentally; I should've known she'd pull that. I ground my teeth together for a minute and shifted the car into reverse, pulled out of the parking spot, and shifted it to drive. I had no intent of answering her, but I knew now that she wasn't going to let it drop.

I licked my lips and swallowed, stalling for time, but she watched me expectantly. I cleared my throat and shifted uncomfortably before finally conceding defeat. "The seven on the right are the number of times I've almost died in my lifetime." I watched out of the corner of my eye and saw her face was impassive. "The twelve on the left are the number of people I've killed."

At that, her eyes widened. "But you weren't Infantry." She whispered.

"No, no I wasn't—but Sweetie, you heard about the IED incident—there was a firefight. That's an All Hands On Deck situation…" I was worried now. Just because she'd never judged me before didn't mean she wouldn't start now… and Sage was the one person I didn't think I could take it from.

Instead though, she nodded; accepting, processing. She was OK with it.

"Better them than you. I'd hate for you to be a tally on someone else's arm." She murmured quietly.

We were silent the rest of the way home. I carried her over the damp grass and up the porch steps; Emmett's Jeep was still gone and so was Charlie's cruiser. She let us in with her key and I smiled to myself as she immediately tugged the flowers out of her hair and pulled out the pins, letting it wave gently down her back.

Beautiful.

"Tired." She muttered, stretching as she headed to the kitchen for a glass of water.

"Yeah, it's been a long night… preceded by a long day." She nodded. "Sage?" she raised an eyebrow at me over her glass as she took a long pull. I was suddenly self-conscious and made a point to roll my sleeves down. "We OK?"

She set the glass down on the counter and moved into my arms, hugging me fiercely. "We're always OK, Jazz." She stood on her toes and kissed my cheek lightly. "Thanks for taking me to prom. It means a lot to me."

"It was my pleasure." I smiled down at her as she yawned.

"Alright. I'm headed for bed." She gave me one last hug, took her glass and time capsule stuff, and drifted off up the stairs. I stood stock still, listening as she moved from the bathroom to her bedroom and until she stopped moving altogether, before I began readying myself for bed.

End Note: I'll send you a teaser if you leave me a review! You know you want to!