Chapter Fourteen

"Will you marry me?" In his hand, a tiny blue box appeared. He flipped the top open to reveal a glittering white-gold diamond engagement ring.

I stared at him for a long moment, my heart pounding. I was completely unable to think. Was this possible? Was it possible that Jacob really wanted to be with me forever?

I already knew it was; he'd told me so many times. But it was still difficult to grasp. I began to tremble. Then suddenly, to my disgust, I burst into tears.

Jacob's face fell. "Is that a no?"

"I'm so sorry," I said as I bawled idiotically.

He sighed, his shoulders drooping. "Why?"

"No, no, no!" I panicked as I realized that he'd misunderstood. "I'm sorry…because this…is the most perfect…moment of my entire life and…I'm blubbering like an idiot!"

Jacob stared at me for a moment, and then burst into peals of resplendent laughter. "Oh my Nessie." My heart threatened to explode out of my chest as it pounded with happiness when he spoke those words. "You're so silly."

"I'm not silly," I insisted, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand. "I'm overwhelmed."

He laughed again. "Well you're very cute when you're overwhelmed."

Of course, I blushed.

He chuckled and stroked my flushed cheek. "So is that a yes?"

"Of course!"

He chuckled again and pressed his warm lips to mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck and deepened the kiss as my heart began to race faster.

When our lips parted, I was trembling violently. My shallow breaths rose as cloudy plumes in the cold winter air, but yet I didn't feel the cold. I was too happy to really notice anything aside from the tall, handsome sixteen-year-old werewolf that had just offered to be mine for the rest of eternity, to be really mine.

"I hate to do this," he said apologetically. "But I promised Alice that I'd get you to the dance. Besides," he said, his eyes raking over me. "It'd be pretty selfish of me to not show you off, especially when you're looking like this."

Not even the horrific prospect of a dance could dampen my spirits. I felt as though I were glowing. I'd known that Jacob and I would be always together; I'd known it from the start, although at the time I hadn't known what the dynamics of our relationship would be. After I'd learned that he loved me as I loved him, I'd assumed that marriage was on our horizon. But to have it confirmed, to know that he was going to be mine, that he wanted to be mind and to know that he would always be mine…I wasn't sure if there were words to describe it.

"Ness?" he asked hesitantly.

I blinked, realizing that he was waiting for an answer. "Oh. Yeah, okay."

He narrowed his eyes slightly. "'Okay'?"

"I told you before," I reminded him. "As long as you're there, I can suck it up."

He laughed. "Well, sorry anyways." He took my hand and led me back towards the massive garage, which looked strangely deserted. His silver Aston Martin DBS, Mom's red Ferrari F430 and Dad's Volvo were the only cars left. Even Grandpa Carlisle's Mercedes was missing; he'd taken Grandma Esme out for the evening.

It was parked in the back left-hand corner of the vast garage. He didn't use it often, but he treasured the rare occasions on which he had the opportunity to use it.

"So you actually asked my dad that you were planning to propose?"

"Yeah."

"And you're still alive?"

He chuckled. "Apparently. He was actually pretty cool about it. He told me about the age thing and he explained in detail what he'd do to me if I tried anything before we're married." He laughed again.

I rolled my eyes. So typical.

"Here we are," he said as we turned into the crowded parking lot in front of the brightly-lit banquet hall.

I groaned as I caught sight of my family crowding near the entrance. My entire family was crowded around the cars, watching us with huge smiles. Well, Uncle Emmett's was more like a smirk. I shuddered involuntarily. I didn't even want to think about the jokes that he was undoubtedly formulating.

Jacob chuckled at my expression. "Ten bucks says Emily, Alice and Rosalie already have the wedding half-planned."

I blinked with surprise. Since when did he call Aunt Rose "Rosalie"? He'd called her Blondie for as long as I could remember.

Jacob got out first and then came around to open my door for me. I stepped out of the car carefully so as not to step on the train of my dress, heart pounding but still blissfully happy. I inhaled deeply and hooked my arm through his.

I was barely a foot away from the car door when they swarmed us. Aunt Alice and Emily did a lot of excited shrieking as the family bombarded us with questions, but I scarcely heard them. I was going to marry Jacob Black. Judging by the heart-wrenchingly beautiful smile on his face, I could tell that he was still just as happy as I was.

"Congratulations, Ness," Mom said with a maternal smile. She and Dad took turns hugging me. "I'm so happy for you," she continued.

"Thanks, Mom," I said. I knew how hard this was for them. I was surprised that they were doing as well as they were. I had fully expected Dad to have one of his fatherly overreactions.

"I haven't ruled it out," he muttered.

I laughed and hugged him again. "Well, thanks for letting us have our minute."

"I'm glad you're happy," he smiled.

Next in the crowd of our well-wishers were Aunt Rose…and Uncle Emmett. I sucked in a tiny breath. I was quite literally in my happy place. I would not allow him to ruin anything with his awful jokes.

Aunt Rose hugged me tightly. "I maintain that you will always be much too good for the mutt," she muttered. "But if he makes you happy…well, I'll get used to him."

I felt my smile widen. "Thank you, Aunt Rose, really." I said, hugging her back. I knew this wouldn't be easy for her either. She detested Jacob, but the fact that she was willing to overlook her passionate dislike for him gave me hope.

"Are you going to make her stand there all night or am I going to get to get to dance with my fiancée?" asked Jacob.

Aunt Rose pursed her lips and took a step back, her teeth grinding together.

"Let's go," I said confidently.

Jacob and I led the way into the banquet hall, Mom and Dad just behind us, followed by Aunt Alice and Uncle Jasper, Aunt Rose and Uncle Emmett, Tara and Ian and Emily and Rob. The interior was dim, a stark contrast to the luminous exterior.

Several of the humans towards the fringes of the throng that had been dancing to a rhythmic techno beat stopped dead to stare at us.

Jacob snorted smugly. "I told you that you looked stunning."

I rolled my eyes. "Please. They're probably staring at you."

Dad's teeth snapped together behind me. "The male on the left is decidedly not."

I towed Jacob out of arms-reach of the gawking human before he had a chance to do anything unwise. "So how do we do this, exactly?" I asked him.

"I have no idea," he laughed. "I haven't done a whole lot of partying in my twenty-one years. To be honest, the last party of this nature that I went to was probably your mom's graduation party."

"Were you into her back then?" I asked nonchalantly, and for once, I truly felt nonchalant about asking it, now that I knew beyond any shadow of a doubt that he had no lingering feelings for her.

He studied my face carefully before answering. "Yeah. It was kind of a competition between Edward and me back then."

"Do you regret giving in?" I inquired.

"Not for a second," he replied. "If he hadn't won, I wouldn't have either," he said, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear.

"Me neither," I said quietly.

The song abruptly changed from the lively techno beat to a much slower, quieter tune.

"I know how to do this, at least," Jacob grinned, wrapping one warm arm around my waist and taking my hand. We moved gracefully around the dance floor, nearly managing to forget the other dancers swaying together all about us. Of course, my family had completely thrown caution to the wind and were dancing with a finesse that would have earned the enmity of many a professional dancer.

I watched my parents for a few moments. They had always been my example of what love ought to be. They had as unconventional a past as was possible, and yet their love had managed to survive inconceivable odds. It was a love of that strength and calibre that I had dreamed about as a young child.

I sighed contentedly. I think some part of me had always known that Jacob was my happily ever after. I'd also always known that I was incredibly lucky. There weren't many girls that had their fairytale ending, albeit a gothic fairytale ending, handed to them on a silver platter.

"Hey, check that out," Jacob said amusedly, interrupting my thoughts.

I glanced in the indicated direction. Melina, dressed in a flattering black and white dress, and Jeff, dressed to the nines in an expensive tuxedo, were entering arm-in-arm.

I struggled to keep from laughing. "What is this, revenge?"

"You've got it exactly," Dad chortled as he and Mom glided past us.

I looked next at Ian and Tara, who were staring deep into the each others' eyes, completely oblivious to the world around them as they danced with more elegance than a human would ever have been able to manage. Tara glanced at her sister suddenly, as though she'd called her. The two stared at each other for a moment, and then both laughed.

I frowned with confusion. I hadn't heard either of them speak a word. I'd seen them do this several times since they'd come to live with us, but I still couldn't make any sense of it.

"Is he suicidal?" Jacob asked suddenly.

I glanced over. Jeff was approaching Ian and Tara. Ian was watching him through narrowed eyes. Tara was beet-red.

"So, um I was wondering…could I uh, you know, maybe call you later?" I heard Jeff ask.

My mouth fell open. "Tell me I heard him wrong."

Jacob covered his mouth to muffle his laughter. "Nope," he snickered.

Several things happened at once. Ian's eyes grew wide and began to throw himself into a crouch at the same time as Rob forced him back against the wall.

"Ian, no!" he snarled at the precise moment that the music became louder. I glanced at the DJ table to see Aunt Alice handing the DJ a fifty dollar bill.

"Jasper!" I heard Dad call, but quietly enough so as not to arouse the attention of the humans, who were still dancing, blithely unaware of what was happening – including Jeff, to my incredulity.

Uncle Jasper, who had also paused to watch the exchange, walked at a very human pace to where Rob was restraining the snarling Ian.

"Oh dear," I muttered.

"Ian, get a grip!" Rob hissed up at him. It amazed me that Rob, who looked so small in comparison to Ian, was actually managing to keep him pinned.

"I won't hurt him," Ian said in between growls. "Much."

Dad glanced at Uncle Jasper again. "Jasper?"

Uncle Jasper nodded, his eyes flicking to Ian. He began to relax against his will.

Ian cleared his throat slightly and looked down at Rob. "You can let go any time now."

Rob stared untrustingly at him for a moment, and then stepped back. "Don't do anything stupid."

"Here," Ian said to Jeff, who was still looking at Tara expectantly. "Let me write it down for you."

Dad burst out laughing suddenly.

I looked at him and frowned. "What? What's going on?"

"He's-He's giving him the number to the Rejection Hotline," he said in between peals of laughter. "If only I'd known that number back when Mike Newton was an issue…"

Mom snorted.

"Was he that idiot that came to the movies with us, Bells?" Jacob asked Mom.

"Yep."

I glanced back at Jeff, who was beaming spectacularly. "Awesome."

"Yes it will be," Ian said with a dark smile.

"Thanks, man," Jeff said.

"Any time," Ian replied in a sinister tone. He watched Jeff as he sauntered off happily into the crowd of dancing teens.

"Well-played," Rob agreed, patting his brother on the back.

"I liked my first idea better."

"Please don't kill him," Tara said quietly. "Not even Jeff deserves to be prey."

Ian tore his eyes away from Jeff to look at Tara, his expression immediately softening. "Let's dance, before I do something less than wise."

Jacob sighed. "I guess that means there won't be a fight."

"Jacob!" I scolded.

"What?" he said defensively. "I didn't say it was a good thing, I just think it would've been fun to watch, that's all."

"You're as bad as Uncle Emmett, you know."

"No one's as bad as Emmett."

He had a point.

He offered a hand. "Shall we?"

I took his hand. "Definitely." We rejoined the mass of dancing adolescents, and I once again found myself lost in my happiness.

We'd only been dancing a few moments when Aunt Alice gave a horrified gasp. Jacob and I stopped in the middle of the dance floor and looked at her. Her face was frozen into a mask of shock, and whiter than I'd ever seen it.

Uncle Jasper was already at her side. "Alice, what is it?" he asked urgently. He looked from Dad, who bore an identical expression. "Someone please explain what's going on."

"They're coming," Aunt Alice choked.

"For the Winters," Dad finished.