Disclaimer: I am not Stephenie Meyer and I do not own Twilight, New Moon or anything else relating to her. I also do not own any of the text stolen from the books.

Chapter 25 – An Occasion

Edward helped me get into his car, being very careful of the wisps of silk and chiffon, as well as the flowers he'd just pinned into my elaborately styled curls. He ignored the stubborn set of my mouth.

When he had me settled, he got in the driver's seat of his Aston Martin Vanquish and headed back out the long, narrow drive.

"Can't we just go to Port Angeles or Olympia or Tacoma or Seattle?" I asked grumpily. I didn't want to do this, but somehow I'd been roped into it. Not by Edward, ironically enough, but by his annoying little shrimp of a sister that I was going to find a way to kill for this.

It was February 19th, the day of the 'Crush Dance,' in honor of the holiday that featured far too many chocolates and roses for any sane person's desire. It was also in honor of the soda beverage, Crush. The cheerleading squad, headed up by Lauren – of all people – had been more than eager to run a "Crush for your Crush" campaign for the last month to drum up money for the coming summer's cheerleading camp. The whole gist of it was a person could spend two dollars to give a can of Crush anonymously to whoever you wanted. If you added an extra dollar you could send a note with it, and if you wanted spend five dollars you could give them a fancy glass bottle of crush – note included.

I'd ended up buying two of the bottles. I sent one to Mike with a note claiming it was from his secret gay admirer, and the other to Edward with a note with only three simple words.

Even so, I didn't want to do this. Dancing wasn't my thing, had truly never been my thing. I wasn't that kind of person.

Edward had seemed to at least take some of my words to heart, because he had started kissing me a little more freely after I'd come back from La Push that night more than a month and a half ago, but even so, he wasn't really listening. Alice was worse than him though.

She wheedled, pleaded, and begged until I had no choice but to give in. As was the case now. And being dressed in a giant pale orange poof dress was not my idea of fun. I didn't care how cute it made me look. I wasn't much for dresses at any time, and especially not when I was being forced into one for the sole purpose of Alice's Texas sized ego. I loved her... truly, I did. But there were moment when I really wished I could rip her throat out.

Edward smiled. "Sorry, but I'm pretty sure Alice would kill us both if we didn't go."

"Humph." I crossed my arms over my chest sourly. Then glanced at him again in his black tux with the pale orange tie – his only concession to the orange themed danced.

"I did mention that you looked very nice, didn't I?" I verified.

"Yes." He grinned again. I'd never seen him dress in black before, and, with the contrast against his pale skin, his beauty was absolutely surreal. That much I couldn't deny, even if the reason for the outfit made me want to find the nearest rock to hide under...

What could I say? I really didn't like dances.

"What are you so worried about?" Edward asked softly.

"Falling and breaking my ankle or my neck or any other bone in my body, getting a concussion, getting some of the punch and not being aware it's spiked until after I'm already through my third glass and making a fool out of myself, and any number of other awkward situations I'd much prefer to avoid." I was grumbling by the end of my rant.

"Do you honestly think I'd let any of that happen to you?"

No, no I didn't. Not that I was going to give him the satisfaction of admitting that. "I don't know... Emmett tends to find it funny and I know he'll be there."

I'd seen the giant bright orange tux in their bathroom when Alice had been spending too many hours playing Bella Barbie with me that afternoon. The tux was too large for anyone other than him.

Edward turned his head to glare at me as he continued to drive the car. Even though I was used to him doing it almost every time he drove I still hated it, and so I glowered right back at him. Finally though, I sighed, looking back out the window of his car.

"No, I don't think you'd let any of that happen, but that doesn't mean you'll be right next to me just when one of those possibilities occur, It's not like you can just zoom across the room if you're not near near me at that point."

"I won't let you go even once, Bella. I promise."

"You really can't make that promise, Edward."

"Why not?"

I was exasperated by the fact that he didn't get it. "You're taking me to a dance, Edward. A high school dance, where almost all of my friends will be. Likely even some of the people from the Res will be there as they're invited to come since the high school in La Push doesn't have a budget for dances. They are going to want to dance with me and talk with me. There's no avoiding that once we get there."

He muttered something under his breath that I didn't quite catch as he pulled into the school parking lot next to Rosalie's red convertible.

He got out and walked around the car to open my door. He held out his hand.

I sat stubbornly in my seat, arms folded, feeling a secret twinge of smugness. The lot was crowded with people in formal dress: witnesses. He couldn't remove me forcibly from the car as he might have if we'd been alone.

He sighed. "When someone wants to kill you, you're brave as a lion – and then when someone mentions dancing..." He shook his head.

I really didn't like dancing.

"Bella, I won't let anything hurt you – not even yourself."

I sighed, but finally offered him my hand. I wasn't going to get out of the disaster that was waiting to happen, that much was clear.

He took my hand, helping me out of his low sitting car. "There, now, it won't be so bad."

He had no idea what he was saying.

When we headed inside the gym I couldn't help myself, I giggled. There were actual balloon arches and twisted garlands of crepe paper festooning the walls, all of it in varying shades of orange.

"This looks like a horror movie waiting to happen," I snickered.

"Well," he muttered as we slowly approached the ticket table. "There are more than enough vampires present."

I looked at the dance floor; a wide gap had formed in the center of the floor, where two couples whirled gracefully. The other dancers pressed to the sides of the room to give them space – no one wanted to stand in contrast with such radiance. Emmett and Jasper were intimidating and flawless in tuxedos, Emmett in the bright orange one I'd seen in the bathroom at their house and Jasper in a classic black – I wondered where his orange was until I saw the pale orange shirt he had on under the jacket. Alice was striking in a papaya orange satin dress with geometric cutouts that bared large triangles of her snowy white skin. And Rosalie was... well, Rosalie. She was beyond belief. Her deep orange dress was backless, tight to her calves where it flared into a wide ruffled train, with a neckline that plunged to her waist. I pitied every girl in the room, myself included.

"Do you want me to bolt the doors so you can massacre the unsuspecting townsfolk?" I whispered conspiratorially.

"And where do you fit into that scheme?" He glared.

"Oh, I'm with the vampires, of course."

He smiled reluctantly. "Anything to get out of dancing."

"Anything."

He bought our tickets, then turned me toward the dance floor. I cringed against his arm and dragged my feet.

"I've got all night," he warned.

He hadn't realized it yet, but he really didn't. I could already feel eyes on me from several places around the room. People, my friends – evil beings who were like going make me break my ankle tonight – were all over, and they would all want to dance with me since I was here. In fact, among the people at the dance were a handful of Quileutes, including Embry and Kendra standing next to one wall, both of them were staring at me with a look that promised pain for me.

Eventually he managed to tow me out to where his family was twirling elegantly – if in a style totally unsuitable to the present time and music. I watched in horror.

"Edward." My throat was so dry I could only manage a whisper. "I honestly can't dance!" I could feel the panic bubbling up inside my chest.

"Don't worry, silly," he whispered back. "I can." He put my arms around his neck and lifted me to slide his feet under mine.

And then we were whirling, too.

"I feel like I'm five years old," I laughed after a few minutes of effortless waltzing.

"You don't look five," he murmured, pulling me closer for a second, so that my feet were briefly a foot from the ground.

Alice caught my eye on a turn and smiled in encouragement – I smiled back. I was surprised to realize that I was actually enjoying myself... a little. I knew it couldn't last though. I'd seen Mike, Tyler, and Eric all over in one corner playing rock, paper, scissors as they'd been staring at Edward and me.

Edward suddenly started staring toward the doors, and his face was angry.

"What is it?" I wondered aloud. I followed his gaze, disoriented by the spinning, but finally I could see what was bothering him. Jacob Black, not in a tux, but in a long-sleeved white shirt and tie, his hair smoothed back into his usual ponytail, was crossing the floor toward us.

After the first shock of recognition, I couldn't help but feel bad for Jacob. He was clearly uncomfortable – excruciatingly so. His face was apologetic as his eyes met mine.

Edward snarled very quietly.

"Behave!" I hissed.

Edward's voice was scathing. "He wants to chat with you."

Jacob reached us then, the embarrassment and apology even more evident on his face.

"Hey, Bella, I was hoping you would be here." Jacob sounded like he'd been hoping the exact opposite. But his smile was just as warm as ever.

"Hi, Jacob." I smiled back. "What's up?"

"Can I cut in?" he asked tentatively, glancing at Edward for the first time. I was shocked to notice that Jacob didn't need to look up. He must have grown several inches since I'd seen him at Leah's wedding rehearsal dinner only a month and a half ago.

Edward's face was composed, his expression blank. His only answer was to set me carefully on my feet, and take a step back.

"Thanks," Jacob said amiably.

Edward just nodded, looking at me intently before he turned to walk away.

Jacob put his hands on my waist, and I reached up to put my hands on his shoulders.

"Wow, Jake, just how tall are you now?"

He was smug. "Six feet tall."

We weren't really dancing – my ineptness made that a very difficult thing to do. Instead we swayed awkwardly from side to side without moving our feet. It was just as well; the recent growth spurt had left him looking gangly and uncoordinated, he was probably no better a dancer than I was.

I felt sick to my stomach though as my mind started to recognize the implication of what his grown spurt most likely meant. I'd seen how tall Sam, Paul and Jared all were.

"So, how did you end up here tonight?" I asked without true curiosity. Considering Edward's reaction, I could guess.

"Can you believe my dad paid me twenty bucks to come to your dance?" he admitted, slightly ashamed.

"Yes, I can," I muttered. "Well, I hope you're enjoying yourself, at least. Seen anything you like?" I teased, nodding toward a group of girls lined up against the wall like a bunch of oranges, peaches, and tangerines.

"Yeah," he sighed. "But she's taken."

He glanced down to meet my gaze for just a second – then we both looked away, embarrassed.

Of course, I knew how he felt about me, I'd known back when he'd first started crushing on me more than a year ago, so it was my own fault for teasing him, but I couldn't help but hope that he'd outgrow me. I doubted I'd ever be able to see him as anything other than a little brother.

"You look really pretty, by the way," he added shyly.

"Um, thanks. So why did Billy pay you to come here?" I asked quickly, though I knew the answer.

Jacob didn't seem grateful for the subject change; he looked away, uncomfortable again. "He said it was a 'safe' place to talk to you. I swear the old man is losing his mind."

I joined in his laughter weakly.

"Anyway, he said that if I told you something, he would get me that master cylinder I need," he confessed with a sheepish grin.

"Tell me, then. I want you to get your car finished." I grinned back. At least Jacob didn't believe any of it yet. It made the situation a bit easier. Against the wall, Edward was watching my face, his own face expressionless. I saw a sophomore in a pink-orange dress eyeing him with timid speculation, but he didn't seem to be aware of her.

Jacob looked away again, ashamed. "Don't get mad, okay?"

"There's no way I'll be mad at you, Jacob," I assured him. "I won't even be mad at Billy. Just say what you have to."

"Well – this is so stupid, I'm sorry, Bella – he wants you to break up with your boyfriend. He asked me to tell you 'please.'" He shook his head in disgust.

"He's still being superstitious, eh?"

"Yeah. He was... kind of over the top when you got hurt in Portland. He didn't believe..." Jacob trailed off self-consciously.

My eyes narrowed. "It was an accident. That tree in the back of the cabin had been unstable for years. It was pure bad luck that it happened to fall and knock that gun out of place." I knew Jacob had been to the Clearwaters' cabin before.

"I know that," Jacob agreed quickly.

"He thinks Edward had something to do with me getting hurt." It wasn't a question, and, despite my promise, I was angry.

Jacob wouldn't meet my eyes. We weren't even bothering to sway to the music, though his hands were still on my waist, and mine around his neck.

"Look, Jacob, I know Billy probably won't believe this, but just so you know –" he looked at me now, responding to the new earnestness in my voice "– Edward really did save my life. If it weren't for Edward, I'd be dead."

"I know," he claimed, but he sounded like my sincere words had affected him some. Maybe he'd be able to convince Billy of this much, at least.

"Hey, I'm sorry you had to come do this, Jacob," I apologized. "At any rate, you get your parts, right?"

"Yeah," he muttered. He was still looking awkward... upset.

"There's more?" I asked in disbelief.

"Forget it," he mumbled, "I'll get a job and save the money myself."

I glared at him until he met my gaze. "Just spit it out, Jacob."

"It's so bad."

"I don't care. Tell me," I insisted.

"Okay... but, geez, this sounds bad." He shook his head. "He said to tell you, no, to warn you, that – and this is his plural, not mine –" he lifted one hand from my waist and made little quotation marks in the air "– 'We'll be watching.'" He watched warily for my reaction.

It didn't sound bad, it sounded like a threat, and with his current growth spurt I suspected the threat would soon include him. There was nothing I could do to change that though. I wasn't going to walk away from the man that I loved just because of their opinions of my relationship. I wasn't a hypocrite, and leaving Edward after all the times that I'd told him my opinion on that subject would make me one – as well as make me a coward.

I sighed. "Sorry you had to do this, Jake." I smiled at him gently.

"I don't mind that much." He grinned in relief. His eyes were appraising as they raked quickly over my dress. "So, should I tell him you said to butt the hell out?" he asked hopefully.

"No," I sighed. "Tell him I said thanks. I know he means well."

The song ended, and I dropped my arms.

His hands hesitated at my waist. "Do you want to dance again?"

He barely finished the question when Kendra suddenly stepped up. "I want to dance with my friend now. Thank you very much." She stuck her tongue out at Jake.

"Embry's over there with Jessica and some of the others from the res," I said, nodding my head towards where they were all standing.

Jacob looked between the door and his friends a few times before finally heading over to them.

Over the next hour I was forced to dance with Kendra, Mike, Tyler, Jessica, Eric, Angela, Embry, and half a dozen others. Just as I'd told Edward, there was no way to keep me to himself at a dance. In fact, it wasn't until Mike tried to rally for his third dance with me that Edward managed to wrangle me away from my friends and back into his arms.

Edward's quiet growl aimed at Mike made me roll my eyes heavenward. "He's just a friend, Edward."

"He's getting on my last nerve."

We danced together for the next two songs, but I finally needed to know why the dance had been so important to him and Alice.

"So are you going to explain the reason for all of this?" I wondered.

He looked down at me, confused, and I glared meaningfully at the crepe paper.

He considered for a moment, and then changed direction, spinning me through the crowd to the back door of the gym. I caught a glimpse of Jessica and Mike dancing, staring at me curiously. Jessica waved, and I smiled back quickly. Angela was there, too, looking blissfully happy in the arms of little Ben Cheney; she didn't look up from his eyes, a head lower than hers. Lee and Samantha dancing in a world of their own. Lauren, glaring toward us, with Conner; I could name every face that spiraled past me. And then we were outdoors, in the cool, dim light of a fading sunset.

As soon as we were alone, he swung me up into his arms, and carried me across the dark grounds till he reached the bench beneath the shadow of the madrone trees. He sat there, keeping me cradled against his chest. The moon was already up, visible through the gauzy clouds, and his face glowed pale in the white light. His mouth was hard, his eyes troubled.

"The point?" I prompted softly.

He ignored me, staring up at the moon.

"Twilight, again," he murmured. "Another ending. No matter how perfect the day is, it always has to end."

I glared at him angrily, his continued casual references that made me believe he still had one foot out the door made me wish I was strong enough to slap him and make it hurt.

He sighed.

"I brought you to this dance, as I intend to take you to prom," he said slowly, finally answering my question, "because I don't want you to miss anything. I don't want my presence to take anything away from you, if I can help it. I want you to be human. I want your life to continue as it would have if I'd died in nineteen-eighteen like I should have."

I shuddered at his words, and then shook my head angrily. "In what strange parallel dimension would I ever have gone to any dance of my own free will? If you weren't a thousand times stronger than me, I would never let you get away with this."

He smiled briefly, but it didn't touch his eyes. "It wasn't so bad, you said so yourself."

"That's because I was with you."

We were quiet for a minute; he stared at the moon and I stared at him. I wished there was some way to explain how very unimportant his idea of normal high school experiences were to me.

"Will you tell me something?" he asked, glancing down at me with a slight smile.

"Don't I always?"

"Just promise you'll tell me," he insisted, grinning.

I knew I was going to regret this almost instantly. "Fine."

"Why is it you want to be immortal so badly? You have a whole life here."

Yes, instant regret. I pursed my lips, hesitating. "I don't want to tell you."

"You promised," he objected.

"I know."

"What's the problem?"

"I think it will make you mad – or sad."

His brows pulled together over his eyes as he thought that through. "I still want to know. Please?"

I sighed. He waited.

"Look, it's not about immortality so much as it's about finally being a part of something that makes my life worth while. Most of my friends in there are going places – they literally have the world at their fingertips with families that love them and some idea of what they want. Me, while it's true I've always wanted to be a cop, that's about the extent of my desires. I don't want to be a mother, have never been the type to want to have a white picket fence, and I'm not the kind of person that believes I'll ever make some sort of grand discovery or anything like that.

"It's true, I sometimes claim that my dad would be a shell of himself without me... but in reality, I often wonder if I'm the person that's held him back from moving on with his life. Perhaps if I'd never been born both him and my mom would be much happier people. And while it's true that I have dozens of friends, I'm still on the fringe of it all. I'm not like the guys; Rob, Mike, JD, Lee, Tyler, DJ and the lot of them. You'll never see me at a football game cheering them on or getting drunk at a bonfire with them. I'm not like the girls – I'm not into clothes, gossip or any of that kind of stuff. I'm a loner in many ways. And then there's you and your family, and it's the first time in all my life that I feel somewhat like there's a real place and future for me. It isn't about the immortality, it's about family, friendship, a bond..."

"And why does immortality have to be a part of being in my family?"

"How can it not? Of the seven of you, only Carlisle and Rosalie seem mostly unaffected by bloodlust. I graduate next school year and then I go off to college while you still have two more years here as a high school student at that point, but then what? If I went with you guys when you left, what would it mean for me? There's no way I could live in your house with me being human. So what does that give me as an option? I'd probably have to move into some apartment or house by myself – a place you'd probably insist on paying for..." I shook my head and didn't finish my thought. He didn't seem to realize how much I'd thought about what it would mean for us after high school if he and I stayed together. But I'd already realized that if they moved and I went with them as a human... the cost to me would be high.

He sighed deeply. "And you're really that willing?"

The pain was back in his eyes. I bit my lip and nodded.

"So ready for this to be the end," he murmured, almost to himself, "for this to be the twilight of your life, though your life has barely started. You're ready to give up everything."

"It's not the end, it's the beginning," I disagreed under my breath.

"I'm not worth it," he said sadly.

"Do you remember when you told me that I didn't see myself very clearly?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. "You obviously have the same blindness."

"I know what I am."

I sighed.

But his mercurial mood shifted on me. He pursed his lips, and his eyes were probing. He examined my face for a long moment.

"You're ready now, then?" he asked.

"Um." I gulped, because hell no, I still remembered the damn pain. "Yes?"

He smiled, and inclined his head slowly until his cold lips brushed against the skin just under the corner of my jaw.

"Right now?" he whispered, his breath blowing cool on my neck. I shivered involuntarily.

"Yes," I whispered, so my voice wouldn't have a chance to break. If he thought I was bluffing, he was going to be disappointed. I'd already made this decision, and I was sure. It didn't matter that my body was rigid as a plank, my hands balled into fists, my breathing erratic...

He chuckled darkly, and leaned away. His face did look disappointed.

"You can't really believe that I would give in so easily," he said with a sour edge to his mocking tone.

"A girl can dream."

His eyebrows rose. "Is that what you dream about? Being a monster?"

"Not exactly," I said, frowning at his word choice. Monster, indeed. "Mostly I dream about being with you forever."

His expression changed, softened and saddened by the subtle ache in my voice.

"Bella." His fingers lightly traced the shape of my lips. "I will stay with you – for however much time we have – isn't that enough?"

I smiled under his fingertips. "Enough for now."

He frowned at my tenacity. No one was going to surrender tonight. He exhaled, and the sound was practically a growl.

I touched his face. "Look," I said. "I love you more than everything else in the world combined. Isn't that enough?"

"Yes, it is enough," he answered, smiling. "Enough for forever."

And he leaned down to press his cold lips once more to my throat.