A/N: : Here you go . . . Just one more chapter to go after this.
We spent the rest of the evening cuddled on his bed, even his light caresses and sweet pecks sending ripples of desire down my nerves. It was new, it was exciting, and at the same time, because it was him, it was familiar in the most wonderful way.
When his parents arrived, we reluctantly left our private little bubble, but the promise of a happier tomorrow with him made the taste of separation seem a lot less bitter.
The rest of the week sped by, and they were, undoubtedly some of the best days of my life. It was a stark contrast from the previous week. The emotional turmoil would've made me dizzy if I hadn't been too pre-occupied with being so happy.
The day after Edward and I made things official, I'd headed to school with trepidation bubbling in my stomach, and my mind buzzing with the various reactions we could get.
As we walked hand-in-hand down the halls, our fellow students shared a few looks and spared us curious glances, but nothing more. Our group of friends behaved much the same; nobody seemed surprised. Smirks and winks were exchanged, and I think I saw a few dollar bills exchanging hands. That was it.
For all my nervousness, the outcome was quite anticlimactic.
I preferred it this way, though, as did Edward.
Alice was the only one who proudly expressed a deluge of emotion – smugness. She wore a self-satisfied smile the whole day and threw in little comments about how, in a few years, the matchmaking industry would be begging for someone like her to join their ranks.
I didn't even bother getting annoyed.
With Edward's arm around my shoulders, I just didn't have it in me to be anything but ecstatic.
Plus, I needed Alice's expertise desperately now that I'd decided to attend prom as Edward's date, with less than a handful of days to do my shopping. My original plan had been to quickly select a dress that was reasonably pretty and fit me well, but that wouldn't be enough now.
As it turned out, Alice Brandon seemed to be a bit of a clairvoyant . . . or she had a ton of self-confidence.
Because the girl already had a dress picked out for me at her favorite store in Port Angeles. She hadn't bought it yet, not wanting to thrust it upon me forcibly, but she had asked one of the salesgirls to save it for me. I trusted her, though. Alice knew my tastes since we used to get ready together for our friends' birthday parties in elementary school.
Once we'd gone to the store and the salesgirl had promptly brought the dress in question out, I'd known it was perfect. I'd tried it on, muttering silent prayers that it would fit, and let out a whispered whoop when it hugged my curves just right.
Now, I paced in my living room, dressed in the perfect dress and waiting for my perfect guy to take me to prom.
Dad was standing right next to the door, ready to pounce the moment Edward made an appearance. I resisted the urge to bite my perfectly manicured nails as I fretted over what he would say. When Edward and I had shared our news with him, Dad had taken it pretty well. I supposed he was happy that I'd chosen Edward, someone he'd trusted with my safety for years, instead of some other guy he didn't know from Adam.
Now that we were about to head out for prom, which was basically our first date, Dad seemed to have cooked up some words of wisdom for my boyfriend and wanted to convey them before I managed to pry Edward out of the house.
That was why I'd had my eyes glued to the window. As soon as I caught movement along the bushes that separated Edward's home from ours, I called out to Dad.
"Didn't you say something about taking pictures?" I asked vaguely, innocently, though I knew very well that Esme had delegated the duty to him.
Dad frowned. "Yeah, of course, why di—" He broke off and scratched his mustache when realization dawned on him. "I forgot to get the camera."
"Yep."
"Give me a minute." He threw me a warning glance that clearly indicated that we weren't supposed to leave before he had his chance to do whatever he'd planned. I simply nodded in response. He rushed toward the stairs while I smiled and opened the door to welcome Edward.
A/N : See you tomorrow at the Prom :)