A/N: I'm really sorry I didn't get to update last weekend. My son's been sick this, which has made it hard to get much done. I really appreciate everyone's understanding. Thanks for favoriting me as a story and author, and thank you even more for reviewing. I really love getting your feedback, and if you have a good idea I might use it (I'd credit you, of course). I'm getting close to 100 reviews which is awesome! I love to hear your thoughts!

Disclaimer: Twilight's not mine…

EPOV

After my slight panic attack in the bathroom eased, I headed out to class. The day itself, was relatively dull and uneventful. At lunch I remained silent and tried to tune out the conversation. Everyone kept giving me strange looks, and I started to wonder what exactly Alice had said to everyone.

Once school was over and I was hanging at Jasper's the opportunity came to find out. Jasper and I were goofing around playing Mario Kart Wii, when I let him beat me. While he was busy running around doing his usual celebrating, I was biding my time. After his typical victory lap around the living room, he came in for one final bow of recognition, and I rushed forward. I quickly put him into a headlock.

"Owe, dude! What the fuck?" he grunted from under my arms.

"Tell me what Alice told you!" I yelled at him.

"What? What are you talking about? If this is about this morning, she didn't say anything beyond what we told you at the table. Now let me go!" he called, but I tightened my grip on him.

"You lie. I love my sister dearly, but she can't keep a secret any better than Jessica Stanley can keep her legs shut! Now tell me what you know!"

"No offense dude, but I can't. I mean, while this hurts like hell, what she could do to me would hurt WAY more!"

"I wouldn't be so sure about that!"

"You want to bet? I can take just about all the physical abuse you can give me, but I prefer not to develop a case of blue balls. You feel me?"

"That's beyond gross man!" I said as I freed him and shoved him away from me. "This is my sister we're talking about here."

"I know, but that doesn't change the fact that she's my girlfriend, too."

"Yeah, but I thought we had a rule. I'd look the other way and not kill you for violating the innocence of my sister, just as long as you didn't remind that you were doing it."

"I'm sorry man, but you left me with no choice."

"Whatever; just tell me what she told you. I promise I won't tell her anything about it. The truth is, I was planning on giving you all the details today, and it would really help if I knew what facts you already have."

"Is that all? Well, why didn't you just say so? I mean, there was no need to get all WWF on me about something you were GONNA say anyways! Geez my man!"

"Well, I figured if I was going to be bearing my soul to you, I should at least get some kind of satisfaction over it. I mean you should have seen your face when your curtain call was interrupted."

"Ha ha, very funny, you don't have to be all sore loser, just because I kicked your ass."

"Hey, I just let you win. I've been planning this whole thing all day! I mean think about it, have I ever been such a shitty driver?"

"Well, that still doesn't change the fact that You. Suck."

"Fine, say what you want. Will you just tell me what my loud mouthed sister told you already?"

"It wasn't anything big. She just said that your parents set you up with this Bella chick, and that she's the one that's staying at your house. That's about all. Really, it's not much more than what we said at the table this morning, and I'm the only one who knows anything past the table talk. She didn't say a word to Em and Rose, I made her promise."

"Well, my parents made her promise too, but that didn't help, clearly."

"You parents didn't bargain with her."

"I don't even want to know! But, thanks for having my back there. I don't think those two are ready for all of this yet."

"So, it's true then? You're actually dating a girl your parents set you up with?"

"There's more to it than that, actually. The other night, my parents sat us all down and told us that their marriage to one another had been arranged by our grandparents, just as it had been for them and for generations before. It's a tradition in our family to have arranged marriages. Then, there was a video saying basically the same thing about Bella's parents."

"Wait, so you're parents had an arranged marriage and it's tradition to do that? Does that mean…" fear encompassed his features.

"No, you and Alice are safe. Just as long as the two of you are together and happy my parents said they won't intervene."

"That's a relief, but that means…"

"Yup, Bella isn't just my date for the formal. She is sort of my fiancée. We each have until graduation to find someone else that could be our life partner, or else we are subject to the fate they've arranged."

"Wow! That sucks dude!"

"Tell me about it! The fact that choices are being taken away, sucks, but what actually sucks even great, is the more I think about what I might want in the person I marry, the more things seem to point to Bella."

"WOW! That's deep, man. So what are you going to do?"

"I don't know, but that's why I'm telling you all of this. I'm going to need someone to talk with, and you were the only one I could think of. Plus, I really do want to see what's out there, and I have to look outside of our little circle because I've clearly not found anyone of interest here. I need your help finding other prospects."

"Wait. You want me to go trolling for girls with you?"

"Well, sort of. Not really. I don't know. I thought maybe Emmett in his party animal ways would have access to lots of other girls, but I didn't want to talk to him about all of this. I needed it to be casual, you know?"

"I don't understand. You just said that you like Bella, didn't you? So, why are you trying to look somewhere else?"

"I DO like Bella, but this is all happening too fast. It's too serious! I can't do this right now! I mean, I'm too young to be talking marriage, let alone with a girl I've just met!"

"I don't know; I was pretty sure your sister was the one for me without any big freakout."

"So you're saying that if my parents told you that you and Alice would be married after graduation you would be cool with that?"

"Actually, yeah I think I would. Do you think they'd be okay with that? I mean, do you think they'd be okay with me asking her to marry me? It's just something that's been running through my mind lately. I thought maybe they'd think we were too young for that kind of commitment or something, but I know what I want, and I'm pretty sure Alice feels the same way."

"Yeah, she does. You two are perfect for each other. As far as my parents are concerned, they'd probably be cool with it. It could put more pressure on me though, so you think you could hold off on the asking?"

"Sure. I want to get her a nice ring first, anyways."

"This whole thing makes me feel uneasy. I mean, on the one hand I like Bella. A. Lot. On the other hand, though, it feels wrong having those feelings with something that you were pretty much forced upon. Not to mention that the natural order of things just does not work out like this. I mean, isn't it supposed to be man meets woman, man falls in love with woman, he decides to marry her, and they live happily ever after?"

"Isn't that kind of what's happening here? I mean, you've met her, you have feelings for her, in the end you either meet someone else or end up marrying her, and then the last part, well that I can't help you with."

"Well, the marriage thing isn't a choice really. If I don't meet someone else then I will have to marry her, assuming she hasn't met someone else. There's no choice."

"That's not entirely true. I believe that if neither of you find someone else, it's because it was meant to be and nothing more."

"So you're saying that if neither of us find someone else by graduation it's not because we had too small of a pond to fish from, but because we're the only ones for each other?"

"That's what I'm saying."

"Interesting theory…I guess we'll have to wait and see with that. Now, are you going to help me or what?"

"What exactly am I helping you with again?"

"You're helping me find more fish, so to speak."

"You're killing me with the fishing analogies, you know that right?"

"It's all I can come up with, now will you help me or not?"

"Fine. I'll help you, but only because I love your sister, and believe she's right. I don't think you're going to find what you're looking for anywhere else, but you'll have to see that for yourself."

"Everyone else is so sure about that, but in the end I really don't care who's right. I just hope that I can feel better about the course my life is on at that point."

"Well, that seems like a fair thing to hope for."

"Thanks man. Now, how 'bout a rematch?"

"Sure, why not, but I'm still going to kick your ass!"

BPOV

The shopping trip turned out to be both wonderful and brutal.

After visiting one furniture store after another, I'd finally found the perfect bed, and that only happened because I gave in to all the suggestions from Alice and Esme. In truth, I didn't really care what my bed looked like. I enjoyed the sleigh bed that was currently in the room, but it seemed too classy or over the top for my personality, not to mention it wasn't really mine.

I also had a very hard time not stressing about the price tags. I couldn't stand the idea of spending that much money on a bed! Then, they each kept reminding me that I could be shopping for the bed I might share with Edward, or whoever my husband turned out to be.

Thinking about that made me wonder what kind of style a man would like. And if I was really being honest with myself, I was more concerned with what Edward would think. When considering him, I thought of how much I'd compared him to a statue, perfectly carved out of marble.

I was in the midst of this thought when I noticed a bed that looked as if it was made from marble. It had sleek lines that screamed contemporary but still held some elegance. I knew right then, it was perfect. Esme agreed, citing that it would fit in perfectly with one of the color schemes she had cooked up.

So, it turned out I was going to have a room with a Twilight Garden theme. The colors were black, red, silver, and white. The goal was to incorporate those shades in striping and then add subtle floral accents. It was going to be the perfect balance of masculine and feminine tastes.

It was apparently something she had seen recently for a baby's room, which I thought was odd, but it sounded like a great combination. While we saw some really great bedding at the furniture store, nothing was really what any of us seemed to want, so we moved on.

True to her word, Esme kept us away from the mall, so thankfully all of our shopping remained focused on the furnishing and decorating of the room and not on the renovation of my wardrobe.

I was more than uncomfortable when it was all said and done with the cost of everything we'd bought. Although I was never allowed to look when it was all totaled up, I'm pretty smart and can estimate the bill based on price tags of other things.

With the new bed, coordinating dresser with mirror combo and nightstand, we had racked up quite a bit just on basic bedroom furniture. Add to that the linens and pillows, which admittedly I splurged a little on because I really love the warmth and comfort of down, not to mention the silk sheets which Alice had insisted on, and the paint and accessories that Esme selected, it was a beyond expensive shopping trip that phased neither of my companions in the least.

And despite all of the cost and the craziness of trying to find the perfect things, and listening to suggestions (because clearly I have no taste at all), I really had a great time. Alice joked with me and whispered little secrets about her and Jasper, some of which I could have lived without knowing, like why she knew so much about how great silk sheets were, and Esme offered me suggestions, but was never forceful and thankfully never brought up anything about our day.

I think we both were in need of a break from all of the drama. Delivery for all of the furniture was arranged for Saturday, and with all of our other new purchases in hand, we headed home. It was actually nice to think of it like that.

I was starting to see Alice as a really close friend, if not a sister, neither of which I'd ever had before. Esme was motherly, but not in an overpowering way. I hadn't really interacted much with Carlisle, but he seemed like a nice enough guy, and Edward, well he was complicated, but I still liked the idea of heading back to the house to be with everyone.

When we arrived at the house, it turned out that Carlisle was working late, and Edward wasn't back yet from Jasper's. That left just us girls to continue our girls' night of fun.

"So, what do we want to do?" Esme asked us. I looked at Alice, and had no idea what she was thinking, but all I could do was dread her response. With my luck she was going to suggest something like a makeover.

Before she was able to get anything out, I sucked up my nerves and made a suggestion, "When I was home alone with my mom for a girls' night, we used to sit around eating ice cream and watching chick flicks. Sometimes, we would watch the really awful ones and joke about how those things never happened in real life, and sometimes we'd see one that would make us wonder how to trick Charlie into watching it. My mom always had this horrible tell though, it was just a look she got in her eyes when she approached him, so he always knew we were up to something!"

They both laughed at that idea. I didn't add what rolled through my head just after that, which was even though he knew what was up, he'd pretend that he didn't and let us torture him for a few minutes, before throwing a big old fake tantrum about watching a sissy flick. The thought both enlightened and saddened me, and I didn't want to damper the mood.

"That sounds like it could be fun. OR, and I'm just throwing this out there, we could still do the ice cream thing, but instead of watching chick flicks we could go upstairs and start painting your new room," Alice suggested.

Thankfully, Esme came to my rescue, "I think it may be too late for painting tonight, Alice. There is no way the paint would dry soon enough, and even if it did, she's not going to spend the night in there with all of those fumes. Where would she sleep?"

"In my room of course!" she came back.

"Well, that's sweet of you, Alice, but you have school tomorrow, and I can't see the two of you getting much sleep together."

I smiled at that. Esme really did know her daughter well.

"Fine!" she pouted, "but there ARE other guest rooms, or she could always sleep with Edward."

I opened my mouth to object, but nothing came out, and again Esme rescued me,

"I don't think that's such a good idea, Alice. Honestly, it's really too late, and I wouldn't dream of forcing one more thing on Edward or Bella, for that matter. I don't know how you could even suggest such a thing."

"I don't know; it seems like a good idea to me," she replied, "but I suppose you're right. I really should be putting myself into his position, and I guess I could see how forcing them to spend the night together isn't nice. I'm sorry Bella," she turned towards me with her lower lip jutted out in apology.

"It's fine, really. I know you're just excited to do something."

"Well, since you're being so understanding, I have another great idea!"

"Oh you do, do you?"

"Yes, and this one doesn't involve paint at all."

Since I placed nail polish and make-up in the same category of paint, I felt safe. "Alright, I'll bite. What's the great idea?"

"I thought maybe you'd like to see the dress I have for you for the Fall Formal, and then we could start looking at shoes and accessories online. I promise it won't hurt, and I'm sure you'll love the dress. Mom has already seen it, and she agrees with me that it's great."

I glanced over at Esme in disbelief, "I did offer my approval, Bella. Alice showed it to me as soon as she told me the great news about you and Edward going together. I think you'll have a wonderful time, and if nothing else, this dress should make you feel like a princess."

"I bought it at Saks. It's made by Carmen Marc Valvo, and it's a basket weave silk chiffon gown that gathers at the top to form an empire waist. Then chiffon is draped everywhere to add drama. There is a deep V in the front and back, and a flared and ruffled hem. Oh and it has cap sleeves and is like a forest greeny kind of color. It's fabulous!"

I looked at her in disbelief. Most of what she said was in like a foreign language, and all I knew was it likely pointed to something expensive. Knowing I would surely regret it later, I agreed to take a look.

"I know you're going to love it! You could even try it on right now, if you like."

"Um, no thanks. I said I'd look at it, I'm not making any promises."

"It will be fine," she prodded as she started to drag me towards the stairs.

"Why don't you two go ahead without me. I have some things to do down here. I won't be far if you need me, though."

I glanced back at Esme, silently wishing she'd change her mind, but completely understanding her lack of eagerness to face the next however many minutes with Alice looking at stuff for a dance she wasn't going to. I didn't even want to do it, and I was the one who would be stuck wearing whatever we found.

When we got upstairs and Alice showed me the dress, I immediately looked at the price tag. "You spent $940 on a dress that, assuming I agree to wear it, will likely only be worn like once?!?!?!?" I screamed at Alice in disbelief.

"First of all, you only live once. Secondly, did you look at this gown? It's gorgeous! You can't put a price on beauty like this."

"I beg to differ; they did and it's $940."

She just rolled her eyes at me. "You know very well I didn't mean it like that. It's the perfect gown for you. It will fit well with your skin tone, hair and eye color, screams fall, and has just the right amount of fancy flair to really attract attention."

"But I don't WANT to attract attention. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not much for having all eyes on me."

"Of course I've noticed, hence the dress. There were a lot of other stunning choices, believe me. I looked at a couple of lovely maroon gowns, and several more that screamed classy and sexy, but I knew you wouldn't like that kind of attention. This dress will offer just the right amount. You won't get dismissed as being beneath the crowd, your natural beauty will be acknowledged, and if nothing else, you'll make Edward the luckiest guy at the dance. Well, second luckiest actually, after Jasper, of course."

"Oh, of course," I replied sarcastically. Now it was my turn to roll my eyes.

"At least try it on before you dismiss it. Come on, please?" Again, she came at me with that puppy dog eyes and pout combo. "I will get on my hands and knees and beg if I have to…"

I thought about how amusing that would be to see, but decided to be nice. After all, it really did seem like she had put some thought into the purchase, and while I still didn't approve of the cost, you only lived once. If nothing else, losing my parents had taught me that.

"Fine," I acquiesced, taking the dress from her. "Where should I change?"

"You can go into my bathroom, over there. Let me know if you need any help."

I plodded of to where she had pointed. Once in the bathroom, I hung the dress on a hook at the back of the door. Then, after undressing down to my underwear, I carefully unzipped the dress. I noticed it had a silk lining, and I actually couldn't wait to get the thing on. I stepped gingerly into the dress and then started to do up the back zipper. I was too worried to look in the mirror so I just took a deep breath and stepped out of the room.

"Oh. My. God! It's perfect, just like I knew it would be," Alice said with a huge grin on her face. "What do you think?"

"It's surprisingly comfortable. You really think it looks okay?"

"Beyond okay, it's fabulous. Didn't you look?"

"I didn't have the nerve."

"Here," she said, pulling me off towards her closet and revealing a three-way mirror, "look."

I stood there stunned. The dress hugged my body in all the right places, and flowed freely. I couldn't believe it, but I loved it! I never would have spent so much on a dress, but since I didn't buy it, and Alice wouldn't have taken no for an answer anyway, I was surprisingly relieved.

"I'm going to go get my mom. She has to see this!" she said as she ran out of the room.

While she was gone, I just stood there, staring in the mirror. Examining the dress from all of its different angles, I had to admit that the shopping sprite had good taste. I was just about to turn away when I looked up into the mirror and met the gaze of Edward's glorious green eyes. I was suddenly struck by how well the green in the dress accented them.

"Wow," he exclaimed. "I am so going to owe Alice for this. Is that the dress she picked out for the dance?"

"Um, yeah. I was just trying it on, and well, yeah it is." Why did I always become so incoherent around him? The heat of his gaze was causing my body temperature to rise in response. My cheeks were probably beet red at that point. I needed to turn away from him before he caught the blush, and I started to, but he reached forward and caught me.

"Please, don't turn away from me. You're beautiful when you blush, you know that?" I cast my eyes down, the blush intensifying even more. If he kept staring at me, I felt as though I would spontaneously combust.

Suddenly, we were both startled out of the moment by Alice's sharp voice, "What. Are. You. Doing. In here?" she broke up the words for added anger impact, or maybe she was hyperventilating, it was kind of hard to tell.

Edward shook his head, and as we both looked at each other again, he dropped his hold on my arm and apologized.

"The door was open, and, well I was on my way to my room and, yeah, I'm sorry Alice. I didn't mean to invade your privacy, either of you," he quickly turned and walked out of the room.

"Alice, you didn't have to be so hard on him," Esme scolded, "I'm sure he didn't mean any harm."

"Right, Alice. He didn't hurt anything. What's the big deal?" I asked.

"The surprise element of the evening is ruined now, and that's not a big deal?"

Esme and I both just looked at each other and shook our heads. "Really, you don't have to be so dramatic about it. There's plenty that will still be a surprise. So he saw the dress. Bella won't look exactly the same the next time he sees her in it. She'll have her hair done, and makeup, plus there are still accessories. Alice, it's really not the end of the world."

As Esme spoke, Alice looked as if she was coming back from the precipice she had been heading towards that had her on the brink of tears, and a smile began to show.

"Well, at least I know one thing for sure, now. HE LOVES THE DRESS!" she practically squealed as she came over and wrapped her arms around me. And just like that, the anger and sadness she that had darkened the area was replaced with laughter and jubilation.

"Are you sure you're not bipolar or something, Alice?" I asked.

"Why?" she looked at me confused.

"No reason," we all just laughed again.

"Bella, why don't you go take the dress off and hang it back up. It really does look wonderful on you. My daughter does have tremendous taste. Then, we can all go downstairs for some ice cream and you can use the computer in my home office to look for accessories and things. That should guarantee privacy from any prying eyes. Alice, do you approve?"

"Oh, thank you, Mom! You always know how to make everything better!" she exclaimed as she ran over and hugged Esme.

"I'll just be waiting downstairs," she said as she turned and closed the door.

I headed back into the bathroom and began to carefully remove the dress. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins. My heart was beating fast after everything. The look Edward had given me, had taken my breath away, not that I had been breathing much before that anyway. And when he had touched me, I swear my heart had stopped. The dress had been perfect. It fit beautifully, felt wonderful against my skin, it was just great. I had to admit that if nothing else, I could put my faith in Alice's fashion sense.

After returning the gown to its hanger and redressing, I headed out. Without a word, Alice and I wrapped the dress back up in its garment bag and returned it to her closet. Before we left the room, Alice gave me the tightest hug I've ever had.

"What was that for?" I asked.

"For liking the dress," she replied.

"Listen, Alice. I do like the dress. More than I probably should actually, given its cost. I want you to know how grateful I am for all of this. You have been really open and supportive, and well, just awesome actually. I guess what I'm trying to say si, I'm glad you're here, that's all."

"Oh Bella," she exclaimed as she embraced me once again, "you don't know how much that means to me. I'm really glad that you're here, too. And I'm sorry I lost it, when I found you two together. I was just really looking forward to surprising Edward is all, but I guess I only have myself to blame since I'm the one who left the door open."

"Don't be too hard on yourself, okay? It's not that big of a deal, really. Some things are just out of our control."

"You've got that right. Okay, well at least I can keep him from seeing the rest of things. Let's go look at accessories and stuff. I'm going to make sure you look so good that he'll need a bib to catch all the drool!"

I laughed at her, but I had to admit that I liked the idea of having a guy drool over me for once. Maybe this whole dance thing wasn't going to be so bad after all. Alice had said it would be great, and I was starting to learn not to doubt her.

OKAY. So, that's all for now, but I'll be opening the next chapter up with Edward's thoughts after he returns to his room. Check my profile for pics of her bed, and the dress. Let me know what you all think! I took a lot of searching and I'm still not sure I got it all right, but I think the dress is awesome!