Beta'd by TwiDi and pre-read by PaigeloveRob
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
AN: Sorry for the wait, lots of reasons which I won't bore you with. However please note I do update my blog and profile to keep people updated. Nasty PMs about updating are not needed nor do they encourage the writer to update.
In case you forgot: Bella came to live with Charlie her Dad and her brother Emmett after dealing with years of abuse from her mother Renee. Renee is now in jail for trying to kidnap and harm Bella. Renee's husband Phil who was a perverted jerk is now dead thanks to Charlie's gun. Edward and Bella are now dating, Alice and Jasper are together as well even though he is having an affair with his tire iron. Emmett and Rose had a rocky go of it and broke up for awhile and he dated Victoria who went a little crazy. Rose and Em made up after he found out about her miscarriage and the reason she had become so distant and cold. Bella now has a maternal grandfather, uncle and half younger sister who was adopted by her uncle and is being raised as her cousin. Bella is in therapy with Liz, and doing great. Liz has a crush on Charlie but ethically can not do anything about it. Alice and Bella are sophomores in high school while the others are all seniors.
Visual aids are going up on my blog, please note that it may contain spoilers so you might want to wait till after the chapter to look at them.
This chapter has a lot of viewpoint changes, but they are for a reason.
Bella's POV (a couple of weeks later)
I love the tingling sensation in the pit of my stomach when Edward kisses the side of my neck like he is doing right now. Gentle with very light suction, warm lips and finally his strong chest pushing into my much softer one. His hands slip a little lower, cradling my butt and gently squeezing the cheeks. Never too much, never too far and always wonderful. Yet, the more we kissed, the further we go and the further I want to go.
"Mmmm… your taste is divine," he says, moving to my lips. My tongue meets his, and I'm once again thanking Google for helping me get here. The first time he tried this was a failure, after a few hours using the search engine… and now it's beyond wonderful.
I rock a little and he groans. The tingle gets stronger. One of his hands slips up to gently caress my breast through my clothes. I know that in a minute he will work himself up to reach under my top. Skin on skin. We take everything in stages, making sure never to rush the other.
"Oh shit!" Edward leaps up suddenly and my butt lands hard on the floor. "Car," he explains, calming a little. He reaches down to help me up and brushes my backside as if to make sure no damage was done. His hand though, lingers a little longer than necessary. Not that I'm complaining.
"He's early." I pout. Edward being Edward can't resist kissing my pout. Soon enough, his lips are once again on mine. A throat clearing breaks us apart.
"Evening, kids," Dad greets us.
"Hi, Dad." Edward says 'hello' as well. This was just a little too awkward. And Charlie was a little too red in the face.
"Edward, I hope you don't mind, but I'm gonna steal my daughter for the evening."
"Course not, Charlie." He leans over and kisses me gently. "Goodnight, love." I walk him to the door where we say 'goodnight' once more; and I sigh, turning to look at my father.
"Umm…" I trail off; a little worried I'm in trouble.
"You hungry, kid? 'Cause I could eat a huge steak. How about we go to the diner and grab some grub?"
"Ok, sounds good." I put my sneakers back on and follow him out to the car.
We spend an hour at the diner, laughing and talking about our day. He was wondering what I thought about a family trip this summer. Since Em was going off to school. Charlie thought something with just the three of us would be fun to do. I agreed and we decided to put it to a family vote on where to go and what to do.
However, by the time we got home, Charlie was acting funny. Twitchy and jumpy. He asked me to wait in the living room for him, saying he just needed a moment. A couple of months ago, I would have been worried sick that he was going to get the belt, or something else to beat me with. Now, even though I can't completely fight off all the worry, I'm more at ease.
When he comes back in, he is holding a book in his hands and shifting around. He gently sits in his recliner and turns towards me, putting the book behind him. He coughs, and starts bouncing his knee. This is vaguely familiar. I just can't put my finger on it.
"Bella…" He hesitates. "Oh hell, this was so much easier a conversation to have with your brother," he mutters to himself.
"Dad?" Ok, he was worrying me now.
"Bella, there comes a time in life when we get urges," he stops and takes a breath. I'm worried because his cheeks are bright red, yet he seems to be pale underneath it. "Now these urges are natural, and it's alright to have them." His knee bounces harder. "It's how you act on them that is what matters." Sweat is popping up along his brow.
"Dad, are you ok?"
"Fine, baby girl, just give me a moment."
"Ok." I stand up and go grab him a bottle of water from the fridge. He thanks me, takes a large gulp and motions for me to sit down.
"Like I was saying… urges, Bella, there are consequences for acting on those urges. Some are good, some will be great when you are older and some you never want to happen." He pulls something out of the book and hands it to me.
Looking down, I see the red and black cover and the words 'Sexually Transmitted Diseases' are in bold print.
"Umm…"
"Now, when you act on these urges, you can get one of these. These are bad; and some have no cure. You get herpes, you'll always have them." He gives a decisive nod. "AIDs, get it, you'll always have it."
"Ok?" I sort of ask, worried why he's telling me about STDs.
He pulls the book from behind him and hands it to me. What to Expect When You're Expecting reads the title. My eyes widen and I look up at the still beet red Charlie.
"One day you'll welcome a little one to this life. They are a blessing. Right now, your whole life would be turned upside down, kiddo. This book will give you an idea of how much you'll go through if you get pregnant. Urges that you give into can lead to babies. I just want you to be well-informed of the consequences of giving-in to your urges."
"Thank you?" Really, what else can I say right now?
"No thanks needed, kiddo. It's my job as your Dad to guide you and protect you anyway that I can." He takes a deep breath then lets it out. He shoots me a wary look. "Any questions?"
"No?" My tone still sounds more like a question than an answer, but Dad looks relieved.
"Good, good. I'm glad we had this talk." He pats me on the knee and flips on ESPN.
I say 'goodnight' quietly, taking my pamphlet and book upstairs. Dad kept talking about 'urges'; and I'm assuming he meant the urge to have sex. I do have questions, but I don't think Charlie is up to answering them. He almost seemed like he was going to have a heart attack or something just getting what he did out. I just have to figure out whom to ask. I don't think Google can help me with this one. Yeah, it can give me the mechanics, but it can't discuss my feelings with me.
With a heavy sigh I tuck Noel into the bed beside me and start reading the stuff Charlie gave me. Maybe I can find some answers in here.
Emmett's POV
Edward is the man. I swear the boy has this romantical shit down pat. Now if we can just pull this off.
"Ben, Jasper, you both know what to do?" The drill Sergeant of love is giving his orders.
"Yep," Jasper answers, Ben just flashes a 'thumbs up', looking a little nervous.
"Em, you ready, man?"
"Yeah, let's do this thing."
"Alright, let's roll."
Rose's POV
"So, who are you going to go to Prom with?" Alice asks. I had just filled her in on my less than stellar conversation with Emmett.
"Probably, Eric," I reply with a sigh.
"Hey," Bella says softly as she sits down with her tray.
"Hey, Bella," Alice and I greet in unison. I'm a little shocked that she made it to the table without her permanent attachment, Edward.
"What are we talking about?" she asks.
"Prom, what else?" I laugh. "I think that is what the majority of the school is talking about." She nods giggling.
"I heard two freshmen girls discussing it in the girls' lav earlier. They were depressed that none of the junior or senior boys asked them," Bella tells us.
"It still sucks that budget cuts made them combine the two proms. The alternative was to cancel the junior prom, and that just ticked everyone off," Alice adds.
"I remember junior prom, Emmett actually asked me to that one." Ok that just slipped out. Bitter much, Rose?
"I thought he had asked you to this one?" Bella asks, her eyes wide with shock.
"Nope," I grumble.
"Oh." She shakes her head back and forth. "I don't think he's asked anyone else, and I know he rented a tux. I just assumed…" she trails off.
"Knowing Em, he probably did just assume she was going with him," Alice tosses into the conversation. "You should totally go with Eric, make Em jealous."
"Jeesh, I know I said I'd probably go with Eric, but come on why would I willingly be going to the Prom with my cousin? That's like how every 'My-prom-sucked story starts, with the desperate party going to prom with a relative. And how exactly would that make Emmett jealous?" I laugh. "This may be a small town, but we haven't started inbreeding as far as I know." I roll my eyes.
"Wait, Eric is your cousin?" Alice almost yells, looking at me like I have two heads.
"Yeah, he's my Uncle Paul's kid."
"But your Uncle Paul has been married for like ever to your Aunt Gemma. You have cousins in college?" She is rambling on and on.
"Oh, it was a big scandal back in the day; I guess it faded away with the years. Anyways, my Uncle Paul and Eric's Mom—Lesley—had a little affair when my Aunt and Uncle were on the outs. Nine months later Lesley was married to Michael Yorkie, and Eric was raised as his kid. We've always known we were related though. It is one of those secrets-that-aren't-so-secret that this town has."
"Wow, I didn't know…" Alice trails off this time, her jaw dropping. She is staring off at something to my right. I turn to look and my jaw drops too.
Ben, Edward and Jasper are all standing there, arms loaded down with flowers. Different types, all white. I look around for Angela, wondering why her boyfriend is holding flowers here when she isn't sitting here.
"White carnations symbolize remembrance." Ben steps forward and hands me a dozen white carnations, followed by a tiny white card with the words; 'Never forget' written on it.
"White tulips mean forgiveness," Jasper says as he hands me a dozen white tulips. The card with this one reads; 'Forgive me for not being all you deserve'.
"White Chrysanthemums symbolize truth." Edward hands me his offering and backs away. I read the card; 'The truth is I've always loved you, always will'. Tears spring to my eyes.
"Rosalie Hale," Emmett's voice draws me to the center of the room, where he has a mic in hand and some kind of speaker next to him, "this past year has been one helluva ride and at times I had no idea where it was going, or where it would end. When I finally started seeing the end of the road, you were there. Rosie, will you continue on this journey with me, starting with being my date to the prom?"
"Yes!" I yell, rushing towards my big teddy bear.
"Hell yes!" He yells and pulls me up into his arms.
Bella's POV
The night of Prom came quicker than I could have ever imagined. Alice and Rose decided that it would be best if we all got ready at the Cullen's house, since it had the most room. Esme had dinner catered; and we had a wonderful spread together instead of going to the diner like so many of our classmates.
While getting dressed Esme came in with a surprise for each of us girls. Each of us received a beautiful clutch bag that matched our dresses. Mine was satin in pewter to match my shoes and shrug that went over my rich blue dress. Alice's clutch was pink and looked like flowers exploded out of it. It really fit her overall ensemble. Rose's clutch was silver, the same shade as her really high heels, the combo really blended well with her elegant deep purple gown. After that, she let us borrow jewelry to go with the outfits and I swear Alice squealed so loud that dogs all around Forks started howling.
"The promise land." She sighs, looking over her Mom's many baubles.
"Are you sure this is ok?" I ask Esme gently. You could tell these were not of the cheap Wal-mart variety.
"Bella, this is a special night. Plus, jewelry can be replaced, it's not like I'm handing out the crown jewels of England or something." She kisses the top of my head and looks at the offering before us before pulling a bracelet. "Here try this." She puts it on my wrist and I had to admit that it blended well and was perfect with the rest of my outfit. Alice quickly handed me earrings that matched, before moving on to look for herself.
"Thank you." I hugged Esme tightly. If I could have hand-picked my Mother, it would have been Esme. Or someone like her, because you know dating Edward wouldn't be legal or right if Esme was our mother.
"Ohhhh, this is the one!" Alice bounced excitedly. Earrings the same shade as her dress were quickly put on, followed by two rings in rose gold settings. Rosalie was pondering over the rest of the jewels when Esme smiled and stood up.
"I almost forgot these." Coming back, Esme handed Rose a ring and necklace both had amethyst gems and set in silver. They went with her dress and shoes really well. Esme paused as if she was unsure of Rose's response before handing her a small blue box, "Your Mom sent these over before she had to go to Seattle." Rose was handed diamond earrings in an oval setting.
"Grandma's earrings?" She had a tear in her eye. She grabbed her cell and rushed to the hallway. "Mom…" Was all we heard before she faded out of our hearing range.
"I have to say, we are three hot babes." Alice—who is posing in front of a full length mirror—says with a grin.
"Three beautiful young women," Esme corrects.
"Ladies, let's roll!" Emmett bellows from downstairs, and Alice and I look at each other.
"Ready?" She asks me with a supportive smile.
"Ready." She grabs my hand and as we walked into the hallway, where we grabbed a smiling Rose, so that we could descend the staircase together. At the bottom, we found our handsome tux-clad dates waiting for us with open boxes of corsages. Beautiful flowers to adorn our wrists.
"You're stunning," Edward whispers softly into my ear while placing a white orchid—with some small blue flower that I didn't know—corsage on my wrist.
"Thank you." I gently kiss his cheek. "You look…" I pause for a moment, trying to find just the right word, "hot." I tell him with a giggle.
"I can deal with 'hot'," he assures me with a kiss to the lips.
"Hey, break it up, guys, we have a prom to get to," Emmett interrupts. Edward laughs good-naturedly as Esme walks up with a camera.
"Everybody, smile!" she exclaims.
After a lot of hugs, thanks and so many photos that my eyes were still seeing spots from the flash, we all loaded into the limo Edward and the boys rented for the night.
"Ok, seriously, on a scale from one to ten, how lame are we that we actually enjoyed dinner with the fam on prom night?" Alice asks, laughing.
"Probably around a nine, but who cares?" Rose replies, gazing at her pretty lavender rose wrist corsage.
"I agree. Personally I feel the media tries to make teenagers appear more apathetic and cranky than what we really are," My sweet Edward says in his practical-tone. "It's a proven fact that the majority of kids with a strong family ties go further education-wise, and later, they achieve more at work and have strong families of their own."
"Thank you, New York TimesWard," Jasper groans. "It's prom, loosen up, old man."
"I'm younger than you, Jasper." Edward semi-glares at Jasper.
"Dude, really, who cares if we are lame or not? Ten years from now, we'll all be college-grads with grown-up lives and thankful for all the time we got to spend with our parents; so when we become adults, we know how to do it right," Emmett tells us all seriously. "And yeah, Ed, sometimes you're like this 107 year old man in a teenager's body."
"True," Alice replies. Then laughs out, "on all accounts."
"I don't think you're old, Edward," I assure him with a quick peck to his cheek.
"Thanks, baby."
"Ok, guys, enough with the philosophy, raggin on Ed and parental talk. Let's get our prom on." Leave it to my brother to be serious one moment and ready to party the next.
~0~
Forks High School prom was nothing like I'd seen in all those movies Alice had been making me watch the past few weeks. No professional dancers having a dance standoff like in She's All That, and no mass murderer like Prom Night. Yes, she made me watch both versions of Prom Night, swearing that we needed to be prepared for all eventualities that could happen. Though, I think Not Just Another Teenage Movie was a bit over kill, seeing as how it was a parody.
The high school gym looked good though. It had some balloons, some miniature twinkle lights and its one flaw would have to be a really ugly disco ball—that Edward whispered to me that it had had to be from the 70s—taking center stage. Emmett, on the other hand, saw it and shouted 'cool'. To which Jasper assured him that all his taste has to be in his mouth.
Twenty minutes into Prom, Esme called Edward to make sure it was ok that she was a chaperone, one of the volunteers came down with food poisoning last minute and they needed someone to fill in. Of course we had no problem with it. So, she was now standing guard over the punch bowl as we all danced.
"Hey!" Angela and her date, Ben, greeted, joining us at our table. She looked great in a simple black dress. "Bella, I love your dress." She tells me.
"Yours is so pretty," I reply sincerely. "Are you having fun?" She nods.
"Yeah, I mean it's fun, even if it is a reminder that Ben is going away to college soon." She pouts.
"I know the feeling," Alice comments. "I feel a little guilty about it, but I'm glad Jazz will be going to the community college, so he is nearby. Three and a half hours away in Seattle would just blow." Edward must sense my tension as he reaches down and squeezes my thigh in reassurance. His going away isn't something I'd like to think about.
"So, are you all ready for Tanya's trial?" Grr… another topic I hate.
"I can't believe how many continuances that girl got," Alice growls.
"Maybe they can shove her in a cell with Renee and let them drive each other nuts," Rose grumbles.
"Nope, Renee is bunking with Big Bertha. Tanya needs to go to the padded party room and bunk with Mad Mandy. They can color each other's straight jackets."
"Guys, it's Prom! What is it with you all and the deep topics?" Emmett groans. "I'm going to get some punch if Esme lets me by, anyone want anything?" We turn him down and he kisses Rose's head before walking over towards the punch stand.
"Speaking of 'deep' topics, did you hear that Jessica Stanley was caught by her Mom and my Dad going down on Mike Newton?" Angela laughs and we all start talking about how they were in the living room when her Mom and the Reverend Webber caught them.
Em's POV
"So, if I promise not to slip anything into it, can I grab some punch?" I ask the vigilant guard of the Prom punch. Two years ago they had an incident that ended up with three guys having too much special punch and streaking through town after Prom. And the year before, there was an accident that almost killed two now former students. I guess they were being more careful now.
"Go ahead, Em." She laughs at me gently. "Are you enjoying yourself?"
"Yep, except for the whole talking about Psycho Tanya, it's been a good time."
"Tanya made her own bed, Emmett. Now, she is going to have to lie in it. She ruined her own future. Don't let what she did ruin or upset yours." She pats my shoulder and I smile. Esme has the kindest heart. She knows I'm brooding over Bella having to face Tanya and Renee in court. Yep, the D.A. said that Renee has been called to testify, since she was directly involved with the reason Tanya acted like she did. Downing my punch and telling Esme I'd see her later, I head off to the little boys room. Half-way there, a voice calling my name catches my attention.
"Emmett?" I turn to find Victoria standing there in a flowing multi colored dress.
"Hey, Vickie," I greet her nervously. The last time we spoke didn't end well at all.
"Em, I uh… well, I just wanted to say hey and that I'm sorry." She signs and twirls a piece of her long curly red hair. "Listen, I mean it. I'm sorry. I kinda, sort of had a crush on you most of my life and well… obsession is a sick thing that takes over. After the whole thing with Tanya making the news, I took a step back and figured out that I was going down the same road and reevaluated my life. My Mom was a big help and well… I can see now that I was so wrong and you deserved better then the form of crazy I was putting out." She sighs.
"It's all good, Vic, it's not like you got a gang together and tracked my family down trying to kill us or anything," I joke, trying to lighten the mood.
"No, but I was an uber-bitch." She laughs. "You should feel safe in knowing that I've moved on. His name is James, I call him Jaime; and well… I'm in love." She smiles dreamily.
"I'm glad, Vickie. I really am," I tell her sincerely.
"Well, I just want to wish you well, and hey, can you tell Bella hi from me? She is a good kid and I really like her."
"No problem. You know you can always tell her hi yourself though."
"No, Em, maybe someday in the long off future when her life has been calm for a longer time, but right now, I have a feeling she might still be too fragile to trust that I'm being sincere."
"You might be right." She pats the side of my face and rushes off to a blond guy standing a few feet away. The embrace and the utter love and joy coming off the pair makes me smile even more. Prom rocks.
Bella's POV
Edward and I were wrapped around each other and he sang softly in my ear along with Bruno Mars's Rain. He would every so often kiss the tip of my nose, and a couple of times, a quick peck on the lips. Nothing that could call to the attention of our chaperones; I think we were both in agreement to avoid that attention.
"Hey, guys?" Rose tapped us on our shoulders and we found her and Em standing beside us. "There is an after party at Eric's house, want to go?" Edward looked at me, and I could tell that he really didn't want to.
"I don't think it would be a good idea, Rose, I have a curfew and if alcohol is being served, Dad might be called to break it up and Em and I would be in trouble." Just the idea of being in trouble still sent a shiver down my spine, but I used my mental mantra of 'This is Charlie, he'd never hurt you' to work my way through the panic.
"Ok, no problem. Em and I are going, Jasper and Alice said they can't make it, same reason Alice has a curfew."
"Should Em be going?" I ask her gently.
"He'll be fine, Bella," she assures me and just give a nod. I can't help but worry. I push it to the back of my mind and cuddle back up to Edward, not wanting to ruin prom for him.
An hour and way too many dances later, Alice rushes over to let me know we needed to get going so we didn't miss curfew. The limo drops me off first, Edward being the sweet gentleman that he is, walks me to the door and kisses me. He whispers "tomorrow," before going back to join the others. On the other side of the door, I do a silly little happy dance and squeal. It's so out of character for me, but I'm so excited and happy that I can't contain myself. The whole night was like a dream. No drama, no pain and I—for once—felt completely like a normal teenage girl. Well, maybe not too normal—not everyone has a really hot boyfriend. And I have a feeling that how I'm feeling inside, and the way my body feels around Edward has to be the urges Dad kept going on about. I rush to the computer to Google. Surely urges won't bring up the things that sex and STDs did.
AN: I'm working on the next chapter, which is the last regular chapter. The epi is almost done too so the wait shouldn't be as long for the couple of you that are still reading this. After that I'm focusing on To The Extreme for awhile. If you didn't know I wrote a very short drabble called Our First Thanksgiving which is now complete.
The rec's are on the blog dontrunffw (dot) blogspot (dot) com