Greetings from the road! I'm sorry it took me so long to update. I literally just got back in my home state as I was typing that, haha. But anyway, here it is! I've been feeling rather mushy lately, and it really shows in this chapter. I hope you enjoy it!
-irishphoenix615

Saturday was a very hurried, scrambled day in the Cullen household. Carlisle had been given the afternoon off after almost an entire week of begging. Esme had devoted the entire weekend to the kids, and she was beginning to drive Jasper and Edward bonkers. She left the girls alone only because she knew that Alice would make sure Bella got dressed "properly." Jasper and Edward, on the other hand, she trusted about as far as she could throw them.

"Edward, for the love of God, comb your hair!" Bella giggled impishly as she heard yet another fight begin over Edward's "stylistically" messy hair. Alice, wielding a curling iron and a round brush, scowled heavily as her victim's head bobbled with mirth.

"Isabella," she growled, exasperated; Bella gave a small grin of victory. "If you don't want to get burned, I suggest you quit moving around like a dog on a dashboard." She sighed furiously, glaring at the back of Bella's head. Bella could feel the anger rolling off of the other girl in waves, and stopped bobbing.

To sober herself, she simply glanced over at the huge bed, where the dress Alice and Esme had picked out for her lay, ready and waiting. It was beautiful, and Bella was extremely thankful for it, but she didn't think she would be very comfortable in it. It was just a simple black dress with a simple wide blue stripe down the stripe down the front, but she didn't think she'd be comfortable for four hours in it. She wrinkled her nose, one of the only expressions of uncertainty she still had available, and sighed deeply. Alice whacked her on the shoulder with the round brush.

"Hush up," she chided softly. Bella merely rolled her eyes and stood up. "Wait a minute! I wasn't done! Bella, come back!" she cried as Bella picked up the dress.

"Alice," she whispered, staring at the beautifully silky dress. "I dunno if I can go. I… this… I can't."

"Isabella Marie Swan." Alice crossed to the bed, took the taller girl by the shoulders, and shook her slightly. "You are going to Homecoming, with Edward, and you're going to enjoy yourself. He is going to barely be able to control himself, and you're going to love every minute of it. I am going to come away from this night dating your brother, and you will be the one and only girlfriend of Edward Cullen." Bella stared in shock; the tiny pixie seemed so sure of herself. But Bella had learned relatively quickly that whenever Alice was that sure, the fates usually made sure she got her way.

"We're leaving in thirty minutes," Jasper huffed as he passed Bella's room. Alice froze, staring at his bare chest beneath the towel he had draped around his neck. Bella could've died laughing; leave it to Alice to ogle openly without caring. "Be ready, or else. I don't want to give Esme any opportunity to "fix" my tie."

"What tie?" Bella asked, amused. Flecks of drool were beginning to appear around Alice's mouth. "And for God's sake, Jazz, put on a shirt. Nobody wants to see all that flub hanging out."

"Speak for yourself, Bells," Alice whispered, not really caring whether or not Jasper heard. Judging by the chuckle, he definitely did. "We'll be ready, Jazz. Thanks a million." She just smiled brilliantly, causing Jasper to grin sheepishly.

"Nice job, Als. Could you have been any more obvious?" she teased. Alice simply rolled her eyes and beckoned to the chair, motioning for Bella to sit. She gave in reluctantly, plopping down with an exaggerated humph. Alice smiled happily before attacking her with the contents of her makeup bag. Bella just closed her eyes, not wanting to see the damage.

"Silly Bella," Alice chuckled amusedly. "I'm not killing you. You actually look utterly fantastic." Reluctantly, Bella peeked through her eyelashes. She hated to admit it, but Alice was right; she looked pretty good. Nothing compared to her minute companion, but great compared to how she usually looked.

"She's right, Bella," said a quiet voice behind them. Bella jumped and spun around to face a smiling Carlisle Cullen. She flushed a deep red.

"T-thank you, Mr Cullen," she stammered.

Carlisle chortled deeply and shook his head. "Please, call me Carlisle." He smiled warmly at her, his eerie golden-Cullen eyes glowing; Bella couldn't help but trust him. "You've lived here for over a month. You're family now. Family doesn't bother with all of those stuffy formalities." His eyes swept between Bella and Alice and twinkled merrily. "Nice touch with the dresses, Alice. You girls match your dates."

"Thank you, Carlisle," Alice beamed at him, handing Bella a pair of dangerously high black heels. "Esme helped me with colors." Carlisle opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by his wife.

"Have fun tonight girls! Keep the boys in line, please," Esme trilled as she dashed in, nodding at them in appreciation. "Oh Carlisle, aren't they beautiful? Remember our senior Homecoming? It was a Mardi Gras theme… Oh, it was so romantic!" She sniffed and wiped a tear away from her eye, recalling the memories. "We have to get pictures! Honey, stand between the girls… Good!"

"Mom, stop fussing." Bella's jaw nearly dropped as she blinked the flash spots out of her eyes furiously so she could get a second look at what she'd seen a split second before being blinded.

Jasper and Edward were dressed in identical black dress shirts and pants. Jasper's tie was a deep red, perfectly matching Alice's beautiful scarlet silk dress. The pair look classic together, but Bella only had eyes for Edward.

The stark black of his shirt contrasted magnificently with the paleness of his snowy skin. The bright blue of his tie not only brought out his beautiful caramel eyes, but it perfectly matched the brilliant blue stripe down the front of her dress. He looked nervous, something Bella never thought she'd see. He locked eyes with her then; his jaw about hit the floor. "Wow Bella, you look wonderful. Alice did a great job."

Bella blushed deeply and waited for Alice's usual scathing retort, the one she used when she realized the Bella wasn't going to say anything, but a quick glance to her right quashed that hope: Alice and Jasper were staring at each other, mouths flopping uselessly. Aw, how romantic, she thought sarcastically, a little panicked that she was actually expected to hold a conversation with Edward on her own, when he looked that damn good. "You look really great too," she mumbled shyly, averting her eyes. Not before she'd caught his brilliant smile, however. She stared at the floor, completely dazzled.

"Mom, we have to go now," Edward gently pried his mother away from Jasper and Alice, trying to create an opening for them to leave.

"Just one more picture!" Esme cried, pushing the four teenagers together. "Just one group picture, then I'll let you get on. Please Edward, don't deny your mother the only chance she'll have for a very long time to get pictures of her only son and her favorite niece all dressed up with the people they –"

Edward hastily cut her off, "Fine! One picture," and draped his arm around Bella's waist. His touch erupted a fire of chill bumps across her skin. Esme beamed happily and pushed Alice next to Bella. The two girls exchanged glances, looked at the other's date, then looked back at each other. Jasper was in the same position as Edward, but he and Alice looked a lot more comfortable than Bella felt. She and Alice just burst out laughing.

Maybe Alice was right, Bella thought to herself as she was once again rendered sightless by Esme's flash. Maybe we really are meant to be.


It took twenty minutes to get to Forks High from the Cullen house. Incidentally, that's how long it took for the butterflies in Bella's stomach to metamorphose into large fruit bats. She was so nervous, she didn't think she'd be able to stand. She stumbled a little as she got out of the car, but, as usual, Edward was right there to catch her.

"Oh Bella," Alice laughed, smiling at her from her spot in Jasper's arm. "Can't you at least try to keep upright tonight?" she teased. Bella would've fired something back, but she realized that Edward was still holding on to her.

"Don't tease her, Alice," he chided. Bella nearly fainted; his breath was right at her earlobe. "She's just unsteady. It was your brilliant idea to give her heels." Alice just rolled her eyes and swept into the building with Jasper.

"Thanks for saving my life… again," Bella said gratefully. Edward just smiled and pulled her into a hug.

"No problem, Bells," he laughed into her hair. "We can't have you breaking anything tonight, can we?"

He took her hand and began walking toward the door. Bella had no choice but to follow. No going back now, Bella. Hope you're ready to make a fool out of yourself. They entered the "Commons," which was just a fancy name for cafeteria, through the huge metal double doors, neither quite sure of what to expect. Bella looked around frantically for Alice and Jasper; she'd made Alice promise to stay close. Of course, the tiny girl was nowhere to be found.

"Let's dance!" he yelled over the music, pulling her into his arms. Bella froze in fear.

"I-I'm not the best dancer in the world," she yelled back. "I don't want to hurt you."

He gave her a look of disbelief and just pulled her closer. "Bella, don't worry, I'm not going to let you get hurt." He picked her up gently and placed her feet on top of his so he was doing all the work. "There. A risk-free approach."

Bella would've been fine with these arrangements had the song not changed at that exact moment. The previous song had been moderately fast. Something Edward had to concentrate on to keep up with. This one, however, was something slow for couples to dance to. She met his gaze, panicked, and found something that looked a lot like determination and a little like fear. The fear she recognized immediately; she'd had that emotion ever since she'd first met him. The determination threw her for a loop, however. He gently wound his arms around her waist, and she despised her own arms as they snaked around his neck of their own accord. He looked pleasantly surprised.

"Bella," he whispered, leaning down so he could talk to her without screaming. "I wasn't kidding earlier; you look absolutely beautiful. Every single guy in this room is staring at you." He laughed quietly, making Bella turn her head so she could look him in the eye. "Black looks like he's going to come over here and murder me. Like he could."

"Don't provoke him," Bella whispered, unable to break away from Edward's intense gaze. "Don't. I don't want you getting hurt. Even if you think you could take him."

He stared at her, mouth slightly slack, for a few seconds before mumbling to himself. It was too quiet for Bella to be sure, but she would've sworn it sounded like 'fuck it.' "Doesn't really matter now, I won."

"Won?" she asked, feeling her heart begin to break.

"Yeah, I won," he mumbled, pressing his forehead against hers. "I'm the one dancing with the most beautiful girl I've ever seen."

Bella was completely blindsided. She was so focused on trying to process his comment that she didn't even notice he was moving until he pressed his lips gently against hers.

It was everything she'd ever imagined and more. His lips were soft against hers, almost loving, and she felt herself begin to warm up and kiss him back. They stayed that way, just standing there kissing softly, until someone cleared their throat behind them.

"Um, Bella, Edward, I get that you're in love, but can you please cut it out? It's making me sick," Alice said, beaming brightly at Bella, walking up to them. Bella blushed brightly.

Did Edward Cullen seriously just kiss me?

Well, how was it? Review and tell me! Reviews make me happy… especially since I really didn't want to come home. Haha. But oh well. I swear it won't take me that long again, I know it's annoying when people don't update for a long time. But here it is! Review and tell me your opinion.
-irishphoenix615

Thanks to my reviewers:
ShelbieJames: Haha, I'm glad you like it so much. Thanks for the review.
Mediana: There is a reason for it, I promise! I hope you liked this homecoming.
BelleDuJour: I swoon every time I write him. And I dunno, maybe. =) [That means yes] I FINALLY saw the movie about two days ago… I hate being busy. Thanks for the review.
Blue-Eyed Chica: I'm glad you love it! Thanks for the review.
Girlz-Rule: Sorry it took so long! Thanks for the review.
DarkAngelRakell: He does indeed. You get to meet her in a few chapters. You may or may not be expecting her, so be prepared! Thanks for the review.