Gotta get in a bit about Bella's birthday! Because it is—in theory—on Saturday. Plus, she shares a birthday with my dad; although he is quite a bit older. He'll be 60!

EPOV

Bella's 18th birthday

Bella has tried to playoff one of the biggest birthdays of her life as 'no big deal.' She said she didn't want a party or anything. But, what kind of boyfriend would I be if I just let this milestone pass unnoticed?

I wasn't going to go for broke, because I knew that would upset her, but I was at least going to have a small gathering and get her a gift. I knew she liked that Angela Webber from some of her AP classes. I've never talked to her, but she seems like a nice girl.

Although, she did look similar to a deer in the headlights when I approached her at school to invite her to the party.

No, not a party. I can't think of it as a party or else it will get too out of hand. It was bad enough that Alice demanded on helping—I had a hard time reining her in on the finer details of the event. She wanted to turn our parents' house into the Bellagio Hotel. I think she's seen Ocean's 11 one time too many!

"Oh come on, Edward," she whined as I vetoed the idea of her covering every piece of furniture in the basement with some very expensive silk cloth. "This is for your girlfriend; don't you want her to have the best?"

"Yeah, but we're doing small scale here, Alice. Think less Paris Hilton and more...I don't know; just keep it simple, OK?"

"Fine," she pouted, "Can I at least string these lights around the room? I swear, they're not too ostentatious."

"Yeah, that would be nice, actually," I said, imagining how the twinkle lights would sparkle in Bella's eyes.

I got lost for a moment and Alice had to snap me back to reality.

"Earth to Edward! Come back from Bellaland! We still need to talk about food! We will be feeding people, right?"

"Of course," I said, "I was thinking just finger foods and chips and such."

"Typical boy," she quipped, "At least let me make nice finger foods, like mini quiches and bruschetta—not just your disgusting pigs-in-a-blanket garbage!"

"Hey, I like pigs-in-a-blanket," I countered.

"Yeah, you also like Spam, so I'm not counting on your tastes in food here."

I playfully smacked her shoulder and she replied with a punch to the kidneys.

"Anyway," she continued, "I put an order in for a cake from the bakery, and I'm putting my foot down on this one because my friend will have an awesome birthday cake—no matter how expensive it is!"

I laughed, "That's fine, it can be the centerpiece of the party if it makes you feel better."

"It does, actually."

People started arriving at my house around 4 p.m. on Saturday. They all came in through the garage and went straight down to the basement, as Bella was upstairs with Alice. My sister cunningly devised a plot in which she would keep Bella occupied for a couple hours by claiming she wanted to practice creating a new hairstyle on her—Bella had become accustomed to being Alice's cosmetic guinea pig.

That way, Bella would be ready for the 'gathering,' but would be at least a little surprised that it was all going on. Though, I think she suspected me of evil-doings when she saw a receipt for all the party favors absentmindedly sitting on the floor of my car. I had to think fast and claim it was concerning a party for the football team.

Once all the guests were there—I had called Charlie, but he refused to set foot in my house—Alice brought Bella downstairs and we did the whole surprise thing. As I had guessed, Bella wasn't altogether surprised by this. But, she did play along and have a good time.

She was very impressed with the cake Alice had chosen—it had four tiers and was covered in flowers and pearls.

And she was too beautiful for words. She wore a simple, pink dress that I think I had seen on my mother before, but on Bella—it was beyond angelic. Her hair was in loose waves and Alice had strategically pinned little rhinestones all over Bella's head so that the lights shone not only in her eyes, but also in her lovely, dark hair.

I made sure to give her my present last. She kept on repeating how nobody needed to get her anything – we didn't need to make such a big deal out of this, and so on. But, I had a feeling she'd really like my gift.

I placed it in her hands when no one was looking and she gave me an exasperated look, "Not you, too."

"Of course me too!" I said. "Me most of all, in fact. I should be the only one showering you with presents."

"You're the only present I need," I said as she kissed me.

She pulled the wrapping off of the box and opened it – just as I thought, her eyes welled up just a little bit.

"Edward…it's so beautiful."

She held up the heart-shaped locket and gazed at it lovingly. I took it gently and placed it around her neck. "You're beautiful, and this locket is just a reminder of how I feel for you. You have my heart, Bella – do with it what you will."

She turned as a tear dropped from her eye, "I love you."

"I love you, too."

I wrapped her in my arms so we could dance to the soft music Alice played, and found that Bella smelled of strawberries and freesia. I could have stayed there all night, lost in her eyes and her arms. But the party ended just around 11 p.m., and I drove my love home to find Charlie sitting out on the front porch waiting for us.

"He doesn't have a shotgun, does he?" I asked

"No, he's just being an overprotect jerk again," she said angrily.

"Hey," I said, pulling her face to mine, "He'll come around, I promise. I'll do whatever it takes to make him like me."

"That could take an eternity," she countered as I kissed her forehead.

"I accept the challenge," I said.

BPOV

I usually don't get all excited about shopping—especially not for dresses. But today I'm shopping for the dress I will wear to the first dance I'm actually taking a date to. Not just a date...a boyfriend.

It made me kind of giddy, actually. And that thrilled Alice to no end. Plus, it meant that I didn't just want to wear any old dress, this had to be special. At every other dance I've been to, I've just worn whatever cute, short black dress I could find. Now, I was looking for that dress that made jaws drop.

The only problem was the cost. I was afraid to ask Dad for the money, because we're barely scraping by as it is with what he makes at the shop. So, I did something I never thought I'd do—I called my Grandma Swan out in Port Angeles.

My Dad would be furious if he knew, because he hasn't talked to Grandma in years. They had a falling out about five years ago over the death of my Uncle Tom. I forget exactly what the fight was about, but Dad stopped talking to her and kept me from talking to her as well.

She met me and Alice in Port Angeles when we went there to go dress shopping.

"My little Bella," she cried when she saw me, "How I've missed you..."

"I've missed you too, Grandma," I said, hugging her close.

"So, you're going to a dance and you need a dress?"

"Yeah," I said shyly, "Usually, I don't go for anything too fancy, but I'm going with my boyfriend, Edward, and I want to look stunning."

"Boyfriend? Oh my Babygirl is all grown up, isn't she?"

"I'm not all grown up, not yet anyway."

"You're eighteen now," she said wistfully, "You're practically a woman."

Then she became suddenly serious, "...Are you a 'woman,' Bella?"

"Grandma," I hissed in a low voice, "I don't want to talk about things like that in public."

Alice laughed, "Oh Bella, don't be such a prude. I think it's cool that your grandma wants to know. My grandma still insists on telling me that babies come from the stork."

I chuckled slightly at Alice's quip, but my grandma was still waiting for my answer, "No. I'm still a virgin."

"Well good, don't want to rush into anything that you'll regret," she said.

"Amen," Alice replied.

We got to the store and Alice immediately pulled me to a rack of dresses that looked more suited for a prom than a homecoming.

"You said you wanted stunning," she said.

"Yeah, but that means something longer and more sparkly than I would usually get. Not a full-on ball gown."

"Fine, how about this?"

She held up a blue dress that draped over one shoulder and fell just to floor length. Grandma and I gasped at the same time.

"Well, it's not sparkly," Grandma said, "But, you've got to admit Bells, it is stunning."

"Better than stunning, it's probably the most gorgeous dress I've ever seen."

I looked at the price tag: 198.

"Oh Grandma, I couldn't ask you for that much," I said.

"Like hell you can't," she scoffed, "You've never asked me for anything, child, and I'm getting you this dress—I don't care if it costs 500."

"Grandma," I began, but she gave me that stern look and I caved. "Fine, but I'm paying for my own shoes."

"Sure you are," Alice said, winking at Grandma.

The dance

I tried to convince Edward to come over to my house for dinner beforehand, but he insisted he didn't want any undue unpleasantness to ruin the night for me.

"I have a plan," he said. "We'll go to your house for Thanksgiving, but I'll have spent the time in between getting to know Charlie, OK?"

"Alright, but as long as we actually go," I said.

Instead of the dinner I initially wanted, Edward and I tagged along with Alice and Jasper to a nice little restaurant. Alice had finally gotten fed up of Jasper—who is painfully shy, especially around girls—not plucking up the nerve to ask her to the dance, that she asked him herself the week before.

It was kind of funny to watch him sit there, all gawky and awkward in a nice shirt and tie, as bubbly little Alice tried to get him to join in the conversation. He usually only added an 'uh-huh' here and there as needed.

But, mostly I focused on Edward as he sat next to me and kept his arm around my shoulders almost the whole time. Of course, that gave me the chance to feed him occasionally, which earned us several eye rolls from Alice. Particularly when we ordered some cheesecake for dessert and he hungrily attacked it when offered.

When we got to the dance, all of our classmates were already there. I noticed Jessica and Lauren on the dance floor surrounded by a gaggle of football players who seemed to enjoy watching them bump and grind together. Is this a high school dance or a Lil' Wayne video?

Alice noticed it at the same time I did and turned to me, "Come on, Bells, let's show those two how it's done."

She pulled me to a space next to the exhibitionist gathering on the gym floor and we both started grooving as soon as that Flo Rida song, "Low" came on. We were back-to-back, shimmying slowly to the floor as Jasper and Edward shot us surprised looks.

Suddenly, the football players joined our dates in their gawking. Alice even turned around and wrapped an arm around my waist as we dipped again – this elicited an appreciative cheer from the crowd. Then, they started to get a little too rowdy – one guy stepped in and grabbed Alice to try and grind against her. Jasper pushed the guy aside as Edward pulled me into a corner to keep me safe.

"Are you OK? Is your back alright?" He asked as he held me close.

"I'm fine, is Alice OK? Did Jasper get her out of there?"

"Yeah," he said, turning towards the door, "I think he took her outside, do you want to go check?"

Just then, "No One" by Alicia Keys came on.

"No," I said, "I want to dance with you."

He smiled and pulled me back onto the floor. I put my head on his shoulder as we swayed to the music. Although the song isn't exactly a song to sway to – I just liked the message of the song, how there wasn't a boy on this earth who could get in the way of how I feel about Edward. Though many of them seem to be trying.

In fact, right as the song ended, I looked up and saw Jacob approaching. He was wearing some black slacks and a tight-fitting black shirt. I held on to Edward and whispered, "Let's go find Alice and Jasper."

He nodded and we ducked out of the gym and into the hallway. Jasper was standing outside the ladies room when we found him.

"Where's Alice?" I asked.

"In there," he said, jerking a thumb towards the bathroom door, "She won't come out."

"Why not?"

"You ask her," he said, frustrated. "She doesn't want to talk to me."

I pushed the door open and walked in to find Alice leaning against the row of sinks in front of the long mirror. When she looked up at me, I could see she had been crying.

"What's wrong, Al? Did one of those guys hurt you?" I asked as I hugged her close.

"Yeah…Jasper…"

"What did he do?" I pulled away to study her face.

"It's just…he's always acted like he likes me, but he didn't even have the balls to ask me to this dance. And then, when some other guy shows interest or wants to dance with me, he gets all weird and possessive! It's just so frustrating! I wish he would just say whether he wants to be with me or not."

I pulled her back in, "Oh Alice, Jasper's really shy. I haven't known him that long, but I at least know that much about him. Just tell him how you feel…"

"I just did," she cried hysterically, cutting me off. "I told him how I felt and he just looked at me like I'd grown another head."

"Did you mention it calmly and rationally? Or did you scream it at him?"

She sniffled a bit, "…I might have screamed…a bit."

"That's what I thought," I laughed. "Try it again later – maybe tomorrow. Invite him out to coffee or something and talk about it then."

"Yeah, if he'll want to talk to me again."

"Alice, he's been waiting outside of the bathroom for you…I think he'll want to talk to you again."

She smiled and I wiped the stray tears away from her face.

"Come on, let's get back out there," I said.

I led her out and she and Jasper stood awkwardly in front of each other.

"Sorry," Alice said quietly, "I overreacted."

"'S OK," Jasper said, taking her hand and pulling her back into the gym.

Edward and I followed behind. He put his arm around me and I leaned into him; I inhaled deeply with my face in his jacket – it was that wonderful, clean Edward smell. He caught me in the act and grinned at me, "What are you doing?"

"Smelling you."

"And…do I smell nice?"

"You always smell amazing," I said. "Even after that game last night when you guys won and you ran over afterward and picked me up and were all sweaty – you still smelled so good."

He laughed, "You're a strange girl, aren't you?"

I smacked him lightly on the arm.

"I'm teasing," he said, "I love that you love the way I smell. But, I bet it's not as much as I love the way you smell."

He leaned over and sniffed my hair, "You always smell like strawberries."

"It's my shampoo," I replied shyly.

"Mmmm, I'm gonna have to write your shampoo company and thank them."

I giggled, "You're such a dork."

"And you love it."

He twirled me around and we rejoined the couples on the dance floor. We danced through the night, and all the while I could feel two pairs of eyes on us. I didn't have to look to guess who they belonged to – Jacob and James. Jacob was still bound and determined to convince me I should be with him and not Edward.

As for James, I thought that after I bored him to death with my Gogol speech, he'd leave me alone. But once he saw me with Edward, he seemed to take a renewed interest in me – like it was some game he needed to win at all costs.

Thankfully, we managed to steer clear of them for most of the night. But, I hadn't anticipated what would happen after the dance was over.

EPOV

I was whisking Bella back to the car after the dance – happy that I'd given her the dream dance she wanted. She was positively glowing when we walked out into the brisk, late-September air, and I knew all the guys from school were eyeing me with intense jealousy.

I didn't care much about most of the glares, except the ones coming from Jacob and James. They both seemed to have this ridiculous notion that I would one day do something to make Bella break up with me, and then one of them would be there to pick up the pieces. That would be the only way they could get their filthy hands on her – because I won't give her up without a fight.

I was shrugging my coat off to throw around Bella's shoulders when someone came out of the darkness and put his coat over her. It was James.

"Way to keep this sweet, tiny thing warm, Cullen," he said with a smirk.

"Take your damn hands off of her," I warned as I grabbed at the fabric of his coat.

He both yanked it at the same time and it ripped at one of the shoulders. James inspected the coat, then looked up to glare at me.

"Do you know how much this cost, Cullen?"

"Obviously not that much since the cheap stitching tore so easily, here," I said, flipping a coin at him, "Here's a quarter, go by a new one off some homeless guy – no one will know the difference."

He threw the coat down and started towards me. I pulled Bella out of the way and braced myself for his wrath. We once got in a fight in junior high, and as I recall he punches like a girl. I'm sure I could take it again.

But, the blow never came. What did come was a lecture from Principal Anderson and Coach Koehler about fighting on school grounds – as if it would be OK for me to kick James' ass somewhere else.

We both stood there, nodding blankly to what the 'adults' had to say, while Bella, Alice, Jasper and some random chick who James brought with him, stood by and waited. After we apologized, I gave James one last withering glare and returned to Bella, who was wrapped in my coat.

"Are you OK?" She asked as she pulled me close, "You really shouldn't let that jerk get to you."

"I try not to, but he just seems to know how to get under my skin – he's had years of practice."

"Why do you two hate each other so much?"

"I'll tell you another time," I said, "I want the rest of the evening to be pleasant."

"Well, I am spending the night at your house again," she said with a salacious smile, "So, chances of this evening remaining pleasant are extremely high."

I grinned at her as I helped her into the car. I don't care if she is the death of me, I'd gladly go through hell for this woman.