DISCLAIMER: Stephanie Meyer owns the twilight universe

AUTHOR'S NOTE: For those who have expressed an interest in reading a sequel there definitely will be one. I finished writing the entire story last night and I feel a sequel is actually needed. Please read and review

(Pink Floyd)

-BPOV-

"Bella." He breathed. "You are simply breathtaking."

I smiled at him. He hadn't taken his eyes off of me since I began my descent down the stairs, surprisingly not falling, although I did trip once. He was looking at me with all of the love and admiration in the world and I couldn't help but smile, wide and ridiculously.

He was the breathtaking one. When I had gotten my first glimpse of him standing at the bottom of my stairs in his tuxedo, his hair still messy as usual… well. Could you blame me for tripping?

Someone cleared their throat and I looked over, surprised to see Charlie standing nearby watching Edward as if he was suddenly one of America's most wanted.

"I'll watch over her Charlie." Edward promised.

Charlie nodded curtly.

"Be sure that you do. She's sort of a magnet for trouble."

Edward chuckled and I blushed.

"I have noticed that."

"okay. Enough talking like she isn't standing right here."

Edward grinned at me and wrapped his arm around me waist.

"Are you ready to go?"

My heart rate picked up speed just like it did every time I was within a foot of Edward. It was slightly annoying at times.

"I'll see you later Dad."

Charlie nodded but then he cleared his throat.

"Bells? Can I talk to you for a second?"

I furrowed my brow in question but nodded. Edward released me and planted a kiss on the top of my head.

"I will meet you in the car Bella."

After he shut the door I looked to Charlie, surprised to see him blushing.

"You… well Bells, you look beautiful."

I smiled and gave him a hug.

"Thanks Dad." I said with emotion.

"Edward's an okay kid." he remarked out of nowhere.

I nodded and turned to leave.

"That doesn't mean I won't hesitate to shoot him if he hurts you."

I turned back to him with an eyebrow raised. The sad part is I knew he was dead serious.

---

"Newton's eyes need to be placed back in his head." Edward scowled.

My head swung in the direction of Edward's sneering and I saw Mike Newton gawking openly at me. I felt my cheeks warm and I ducked my head to hide behind the curtain it provided.

"I someone jealous Mr. Cullen?" I teased, trying to navigate the conversation away from my obvious admirer, and onto a topic I liked infinitely better; Edward.

He chuckled.

"Of course I am Ms. Swan." He tucked my defensive shield of hair behind my ear and looked me in the eyes. His own eyes were swimming in mirth.

"But I have reason to be such."

I scoffed.

"And I don't?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow and nodding my head in the direction of a group of four or five girls who were pointedly ogling Edward.

I tightened my grip on his hand and slid a little closer. Edward cocked and eyebrow at me.

"What?" I asked innocently.

Edward grinned impishly and gave my hand a slight squeeze.

"You have absolutely no need to be jealous. You have blinded me to all other women. But if it makes you happy by all means continue."

He smirked and grazed my knuckles with a kiss.

"You are utterly adorable when you're jealous." He finished.

I rolled my eyes but I could feel my blush make its presence known.

"let's get some punch." I suggested in hopes of changing the subject once again.

"Of course."

Edward led me to the refreshments and handed me a cup before getting one for himself.

"If I didn't know any better I would believe you were trying to avoid dancing with me."

I gasped and put my hand to my chest in mock shock.

"Me?" I asked innocently.

Edward threw his head back and laughed at my display.

"What ever was I thinking?" he teased.

My smirk quickly vanish as he gently took my drink from my hands and took both of my hands in his.

"What?" I stuttered and then I cleared my throat. "What are you doing?"

It was Edwards turn to smirk.

"I thought you weren't trying to avoid dancing with me?" he questioned in feigned hurt.

"I'm not!" I stated indignantly but there was no use lying to Edward. He knew me too well. Besides everyone knew I was a horrible liar.

"It wouldn't do any good anyway." I sighed and then I looked to him with the biggest smile I could muster and fluttered my eyelashes at him. "Would it?"

Edward chuckled.

"Absolutely not." he replied jovially and I sighed in frustration. It wasn't fair that he was the only one capable of dazzling.

Edward slid his arms around my waist and pulled me to his chest making me trip in the process. I scowled.

"Relax." he whispered in my ear. "It's only me and you."

I sighed and blew a strand of hair out of my face.

"And the forty people standing around us right?"

Edward chuckled, his breath fanning over my face.

"No." He replied seriously. "There's no one here but you and I."

"Great." I commented sarcastically. "Now I'm seeing things!"

Edward laughed and placed my arms around his neck.

"You're not hearing voices as well are you?" he asked in feigned worry.

I giggled.

"No, no. I'm not that crazy. I just see things."

"it's good to know my girlfriend hasn't reached the level of absolute insanity." he responded with a nod of his head and I laughed.

"That stage is not fun in the least." He continued in mock seriousness.

I absent mindedly twisted a lock of his hair around my finger. I loved seeing Edward like this. He was usually so serious, so intense. But in this moment he was just playful, just Edward, and I had never loved him more.

"You sound like you have experience with 'that stage.'" I joked.

Edward ceased our movements and it wasn't until then that I realized we had been dancing.

"I live with Emmett remember?" he chuckled.

I nodded in full understanding.

"Rightly noted." I giggled.

Edward kissed my forehead and started turning us in graceful circles once again.

"How did you learn to dance like this?" I asked in awe.

It was amazing. Dancing seemed to come second nature to him. He seemed to be gliding on air without having to give it a second thought.

"May I take you tone to mean that you are no longer afraid to dance with me?"

I rolled my eyes.

"I was never afraid of dancing with you Edward. I was afraid of you dancing with me."

"What's the difference?" he asked, amusement lining his tone.

I sighed while I ran my fingers through the tangles of hair at the nape of his neck.

"I was only thinking of your poor toes."

Edward chuckled.

"My toes are fine Love. You are a wonderful dancer."

I smirked.

"It must be the leading."

"It must." He agreed complacently.

"You never answered my question." I reminded him.

He sighed. Clearly he had thought me so easily distracted by his teasing and perfected dance moves. He would not get off so easily this time.

"Esme made me take dance lessons as a child." he admitted grudgingly. "Ball room to be precise. She said I was going to 'sweep some lovely lady off her feet someday.'"

Perhaps it was Esme with the borderline physic intuition in the family. How right she had been.

"I was frustrated with her at the time but…" He trailed off and leaned back just enough so that he could leave a feather light kiss on my lips.

"Now I am thankful."

I opened my eyes to see that he had straightened back up and he was staring at me with a small smile playing at his lips.

"You are thankful for the help with 'sweeping some lovely lady off her feet?'" I questioned teasingly in the hopes that he would not comment on me getting lost in the moment.

He grinned crookedly at me.

"No. I am thankful that I am able to tell some lovely lady about Emmett's participation in said dance classes." he winked wickedly and spun me around without warning, causing a flattering surprised snort of laughter.

Edward dipped me so that my head was nearly touching the floor like he had the first time we had danced at our meadow. I was truly thankful I was not wearing a dress similar to Rosalie's tonight because this would surely be more embarrassing if I had.

"But the assistance is equally appreciated." he whispered too low for anyone else to hear him.

And there were other people close enough to hear our conversation. They were all trying to look inconspicuous while the readily tried to hear what Edward was saying. Both the guys and the girls were glowing green with envy.

He righted us again and we began the graceful circles once more. I couldn't believe I had not tripped yet, especially after my heart had started sputtering around in my chest. I wondered if it would ever behave around Edward. A part of me really hoped it didn't.

"What were these stories of Emmett in dance class?" I asked curiously.

---

The remainder of the dance had gone smoothly. I suppose in the back of my mind I had always known it would if I was there with Edward but it was a relief non the less.

"Now all you have to worry about is the prom." Edward remarked as we parked outside of my house after the dance had ended.

I cringed. I would willingly admit that this dance had not been as awful as I had feared. I had actually had fun, with Edward telling me funny stories about Emmett attempting ball room dance, and scowling at Mike every time he thought I wasn't watching. That didn't mean I was ready for yet another opportunity to make a fool of myself. I still simply grateful I hadn't done so this time.

"I don't remember agreeing to go to prom." I replied tauntingly.

Edward smirked.

"You didn't suppose…" he sighed and then he winked. "But you will."

I looked at him with a true look of surprise.

"So sure of yourself are you?"

Edward chuckled and got out to open my door.

"Do you doubt my persuasive abilities Ms. Swan?" he asked playfully as he helped me out of the car.

I pretended to ponder over his question and Edward quirked an eyebrow at me in amusement.

I tried desperately not to smile as I tapped my chin with my fingers.

"Hmm…"

Edward pouted and before I knew what he was doing he stepped towards me until my back was against the side of the car. He placed both hands on either side of my head and stared at me with a devilish grin as he leaned towards me.

"I am quite persuasive Bella." he breathed, probably wafting his mouthwatering breath over my face intentionally.

"I… I believe you." I chocked out.

Edward stepped back and gave me the crocked grin that I loved so much.

"Does that mean you will go to the prom with me?" he asked hopefully.

We both knew I would. I would resort to a life of drinking blood if he asked me to. But he didn't have to know that.

"We shall have to see." I sang out tauntingly.

He groaned.

"Good night Edward." I sighed.

The curtain had just twitched in the living room window and I knew Charlie was watching us intently with his gun loaded and at the ready.

"Good night my Love." Edward responded with a chaste kiss.

Chaste as it was I was still slightly worried about the police chief of a father I had watching us from the living room. I couldn't bring myself to be angry with him though. I knew most girls would probably be irate at the invasion of their privacy but I had never had a father to worry about me before and I was still reveling in the fact that Charlie and I were becoming comfortable enough with each other for him to threaten my dates.

"I love you." I told him as I made my way to the front door.

"And I love you." I heard him say from behind me. "Truly I do."

---

Charlie was sitting in front of the television when I closed the front door behind me. I smirked. He wasn't fooling anyone.

"Good night Dad."

Charlie turned on the couch to look at me.

"Oh. Hi Bells." he said, acting as if he had just noticed my arrival.

Yes. There was no doubt were I had gotten my acting skills.

"How was the dance?" he asked.

I smiled as I remembered.

"It was good." I replied happily.

"Good." Charlie said, nodding his head. "Good."

"I think I'm going to go ahead and go to be now." I remarked. "It's been a long day."

Charlie looked like he was going to say something but then he simply nodded.

"Good night Bells." he mumbled but there was obviously something bothering him.

"Is something wrong Dad?" I asked, getting anxious myself now.

Everything was just falling into place. Of course something bad was going to happen.

"No." Charlie shook his head but there was nothing convincing in his tone.

"Just… well, Renee called while you were gone."

I furrowed my eyebrows. Renee hadn't called me since the accident involving me nearly getting crushed by a wayward van. She hadn't really been there enough to keep in touch with me. It was one of the reasons she had "suggested" I moved here. She had gone to work, eaten just enough to stay alive, slept just enough to ensure she would be able to repeat the process the next day. She hadn't done anything else since Zach's accident.

"Oh."

I didn't know what else to say.

"We don't have to talk about this tonight Bella. I shouldn't even have mentioned it until tomorrow."

"No. it's fine. Is she okay?"

A new wave of fear swept over me as I thought of what could possibly be bad enough to break through her haze.

"She's fine." He quickly reassured me.

Charlie paused and he forced a smile.

"Actually she says she's ready for you to move back to Arizona."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Please read and review. I want to know what you all are thinking. Thanks!

-PREVIEW OF NEXT CHAPTER-

"I couldn't do it Bella." she whispered. "I couldn't surround myself with the memories any more."

"But not all of the memories were bad." I proclaimed.

"What do you mean?"

I had thought it was so obvious but now that I had to explain it I was at a lose for words.

"Remembering Zach isn't a bad thing if you remember there was a before."

The only thing I heard for an immeasurable moment was the static of a silent phone line.

"Mom?"

"I'm not strong like you Bella."