A/N: Feels like I'm finally making headway with this story. Fingers crossed that feeling sticks around!

Apologies for the numerous mistakes in this chapter. It's late here. Half my brain is asleep.

Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight

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Bella had been sequestered in Alice's room for close to an hour.

I wasn't nervous, not really. Okay, maybe a little. The thing was, Bella seemed even shyer when she'd come to our door, and we'd shared this sort of awkward silence that had left me with a godawful sense of foreboding. If we couldn't be at ease around each other enough to say "hi" there was no way tonight was going to run smoothly. Alice had breezed in and grabbed Bella's hand to lead her upstairs, and I hadn't seen either of them since.

It took me fifteen minutes to get ready, and that included a shower. After I finished dressing, I watched bad TV and listened to Mom and Dad talk about their plans for dinner. They were making themselves scarce for the night so Alice could host her pre-dance "dinner" at the house. She'd already spent several hours today preparing some sort of low fat, full flavor feast.

"We should hijack the kids' limo," Dad was saying, winking at Mom in a flirty way.

"That would be better than having to drive back from Port tonight."

"We don't have to come home," Dad countered. "The kids can look after themselves, and we could get a room."

"As appealing as that sounds, I don't think I could look Charlie Swan in the eye if he ever found out I let his daughter sleepover unsupervised while Edward was home."

"Hey!" I objected, changing the channels with even more frustration.

"Oh, Edward. I know you wouldn't do anything that bad, but Bella is a bit of a delicate flower, and Charlie . . . He's used to seeing the worst in people," Mom said, placating me.

I didn't respond, just kept flicking through the channels before turning the TV off when it became clear there really wasn't anything decent on.

"So we'll drive back," Mom said to Dad. "Probably around midnight," she added. I was sure it was for my benefit.

"You kids better behave," Dad said, pretending to be disappointed about having to come home. Or maybe he really was disappointed. "Absolutely no drinking in the limo."

"What about drinking at home?" I asked, feeling cheeky.

"Bella's father is the Chief of Police, son," Dad said seriously.

It was as close as he'd come to saying no. As long as we kept out of trouble, Mom and Dad were pretty okay with whatever we did. Dad was always clear that we were responsible for our behavior and as long as we didn't mess up, they were a lot more reasonable and lenient than other parents.

Alice came bounding down the stairs then, her bright yellow dress billowing out around her. "Wait 'til you see Bella," she said, bright-eyed and smiling like a crazy woman.

At the top of the stairs, Bella was beginning her descent—a lot slower than Alice had done it. You could see she looked different, but not too different. She had on a blue dress that was the most feminine thing I'd ever seen her in. It was a nice fit, and she looked lovely. Alice had done her hair and added a bit of make-up, and the result was great. She still looked like herself, just . . . better.

"Don't you both look nice," Mom said once Bella had made it down the stairs and was standing shyly behind Alice.

"You look beautiful," I said, not to be outdone by Mom.

"Thanks."

"Well, we'd better go before your friends get here," Dad said, smirking in Alice's direction. She'd been pretty vocal about the 'rents making themselves scarce.

"Good! Have fun!" Alice said, all but herding them out the door.

"No drinking in the limo!" Dad reiterated when she had him outside.

She slammed the door closed and turned to face Bella and me. "Right. Starters!" And with that she flew past and into the kitchen.

Bella was about to leave but I grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "You really do look lovely," I said, leaning in and kissing her lightly on her lips, wanting to reassure her.

Her nerves eased and she wrapped her fingers through mine, smiling. "I think Alice needs some help."

Jasper showed up shortly after Mom and Dad left and he took over being bossed around by Alice so Bella and I were able to escape. We sat on the lounge together and talked, mostly about school and what we had due and our exams which were fast approaching. We absolutely did not talk about what would happen after the dance.

Then the doorbell rang and when I answered it, all my composure disappeared.

Rose had on a long silver dress with a split up the side that hugged her figure perfectly. Her hair was out, the blond curls flowing down her back. The dress was cut a little lower in front, but nothing obscene—just the hint of cleavage, and she looked gorgeous. Elegant. Womanly.

I had to fight the urge to reach out and take her hand, to lead her into my house as though she was my date. The realization that I couldn't do anything like that, ever, left me feeling empty inside—like I was missing out.

"You gonna let us in or what?" Emmett boomed.

"Right." I gave him a half-smile and stepped out of the way, watching as he took Rose's hand. Even Emmett looked great. He was wearing the standard dress pants and button-down, maybe a little more hair product than usual—nothing that special—but the way he looked next to Rose . . . It was like he was basking in her, and together they were perfect.

I followed behind them, pointedly not staring at Rosalie's ass, and made my way back to Bella while they went in to find Alice. It hadn't escaped my notice that Rose didn't meet my eyes once, nor talk to me directly. I had a feeling that was how it would be from now on.

"Rose looks beautiful," Bella muttered from beside me once I'd sat down.

At first I thought she was making the comment so I'd reassure her again, but Bella didn't look like that was what she was after. If anything she looked almost apologetic, and I was at a loss as to why she'd feel that way.

"Not nearly as beautiful as you," I said, sounding like I meant it.

Alice called out that dinner was ready before Bella could respond and I quickly stood, offering my hand for Bella to take, then held her firmly, possessively, as we went to join the others.

Dinner was delicious and painful. Everyone else seemed to have a fantastic time, especially Jasper and Emmett. But I couldn't get past how Rose was able to ignore me so completely. And so subtlety—no one else seemed to even notice she was doing it.

The limo showed up exactly on time and Alice had us all filing out to get in. Mom and Dad were paying for it, so none of us actually complained about our ride. But it was ridiculously over the top for a school dance. There are no limos in Forks. None. So everyone knows that this one is from Port Angeles and that that extra two hours of driving doesn't come cheap. Alice didn't care what anyone else thought. She kept throwing around words like "magical" and "night to remember" and we all knew better than to try and argue with her when she was being like that.

In the car, I was seated across from Rose, and at first I took great pleasure in ignoring her like she'd been doing to me. It helped me to feel a little better—more in control of myself—like I wasn't completely enthralled with her. Bella's hand wrapped firmly around mine, and I realized I was too tense and quite obviously not behaving normally. There wasn't enough space though and I couldn't relax, not with us all so . . . confined. I looked at Bella and tried hard to block everyone else out, knowing there were only a few more blocks until we reached the school.

Once there, Bella and I hung back so the others could get out first. Alice cooed about the luck of having a clear night, how she could even see some stars through the patches of cloud. Rosalie slid across the seat and the light of the moon caught her thigh and the uncomfortable feeling in my chest increased.

"Are you okay?" Bella asked from beside me.

"Yeah, just . . . a little warm."

She didn't start to get out like I expected, instead staring down at our joined hands.

"We don't have to—if you don't want to."

I honestly didn't know if she was talking about the dance or . . . after the dance. She was being serious though, and I felt awful. She was all dressed up and had been excited, and now I was ruining her night.

"I want to," I said as convincingly as I could. Then I summoned up some reserves of Cullen charm and smiled the way she liked. "Ready?

"Yeah," she answered, looking noticeably more flushed. There were the nerves I'd been expecting.

And with that, we left the safety of the limo and headed for the gym.

. ~ . ~ . ~ .

It was only a school dance so my expectations had always been pretty low, but the evening was definitely a bust. There was crepe paper and balloons everywhere, trying hard to disguise the fact that we were still at school and failing miserably. A few people were having a good time, mostly Alice and Jasper. They danced no matter what song came on and it wasn't until I saw Emmett pass Jasper a flask that I understood how he could do it. Alice, of course, didn't need any extra encouragement.

Bella spent most of the night by my side, although she did head off with Jessica for a whole ten minutes, and danced with Alice for one song while Jasper took a leak. The rest of the night she was like glue. Not that I minded. At all. I wanted this.

Toward the end of the evening, the DJ started playing slow songs—the kind to get everyone paired up on the dance floor. I could hardly sit on the sidelines with Bella while every other couple danced, so when the third such song came on, I stood and held out my hand, and Bella took it with embarrassing eagerness. We swayed back and forth on the polished wooden floor, just outside the 3-point line, and it was nice.

Then I looked out over the small crowd and locked eyes with Rose for the first time all night.

I caught the sad look on her face before she'd managed to mask it, and it was enough to break me. I told her with my eyes that it should be us together, that I should be the guy with my arms around her waist, and I really felt that, knew it with my very soul. She narrowed her eyes at me in response, and yes, she was right to, because I'd wanted Bella by my side. But . . . that wasn't really true. I could see that now. As clear as the starry sky outside the damn gym.

If I'd ever had the choice, it would have been Rose all along. She needed to give me a chance.

I tried to mouth words at her, to silently tell her what I felt, but Emmett had drawn back and she was smiling at him as he started leading her to twirl. He was completely enamoured with her, watching as she turned under his arm, the tacky disco light catching her silver dress and making it sparkle. Like magic.

And then the song finished and somewhere a teacher began turning the lights back on and it was just typical that when I needed the stupid dark of the dance, it would be over.

And then the other thing hit me, the thing that Bella and I were doing after the dance. It was too soon, though. My mind started racing because Rose and I had just had a moment and that was what I needed to deal with—I had to explain things to Rose.

Bella pulled away and tugged self-consciously at her dress.

"I guess it's time to go," she stated, looking around for the others.

"Guess so," I muttered, feeling more uncomfortable than Bella looked and tracking Rose and Emmett with my eyes. We followed them off the dance floor.

Alice was starry-eyed as she gathered us all together, high from the constant dancing and probably a sip of Emmett's bourbon. Rose laughed at her, saying how adorable it was to see Alice like that. "Like a tiny version of Emmett," she added. Emmett was wearing the same goofy looking smile. They were all too close—there was no way I could somehow drag her away. And she wasn't meeting my eyes again.

As I took a deep breath, I realized it was probably already too late.

The teachers said goodnight to everyone with too cheery voices, clearly glad the night was over so they could finally knock off. I led Bella past them, feeling like a fraud. My touch on her arm was wooden, perfunctory. There was no doubt in my mind now that this wasn't exactly what I wanted—it was just the next best thing.

"We'll drop Rose and Emmett off first," Alice said, climbing in and collapsing on the leather seat.

"My house," Emmett added, which made me raise an eyebrow in disbelief. Rosalie's mom always expected her home and in her own bed at night.

"You sleeping over, Rose?" I asked, unable to rein in my curiosity.

"You could call it that," she answered, barely flicking her eyes in my direction.

It was like she wanted to hurt me.

The knowledge that they were staying the night together was another weight I didn't want in my chest, another reason to be jealous of Emmett, another reminder that I had fucked up. So I did the only thing I could and pretended that it wasn't such a big deal. Hell, wasn't I going to do the same thing with my girlfriend?

All I could smell during the drive to Emmett's was the stale sweat and bourbon that seemed to leak out of Jasper. Alice was still laughing about the night in general with Emmett, gossiping about things I'd failed to notice. Then we'd pulled up outside the low fence at Emmett's house and he and Rose were getting out, managing to hold hands through the whole process. They stood on the sidewalk under the street light and waved goodbye as we pulled away from the kerb.

My last shred of hope for Rosalie and me slipped by with barely acknowledged regret.

. ~ . ~ . ~ .

It started with kissing. I laid Bella back gently on my bed, not wanting to rush her or make her feel like she couldn't stop if she wanted. Every time I asked, she assured me with more "It's okay," and "I want to." It was too easy to be like that with her, too easy to take things slow, almost mechanical. I tried to summon the same level of passion that drove me whenever I was with Rose, but the only way to do that was to picture her, all silver curves and blond hair.

There was no way I was going to think of Rose now. Not even I was that low.

I put the image out of my mind and focused on Bella, on kissing her and feeling her. The only thing I saw as I slipped her dress from her shoulders was Bella's face—wide-eyed and trusting.

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A/N: Thanks for reading :)