Chapter 18. Girls' Night.

It was Friday afternoon, the day of my first official girls' night with Alice, and I had been home from school for a few hours. Edward had left about half an hour ago to pick up Alice and bring her back here. It was the most time I had had to myself in the five days since Edward had told me about the nomads in the area, and I was taking the opportunity to call Madison. Since we were both now in serious relationships it wasn't easy to find time when we were both free to talk, but Conner was hanging out with his family so it was a good time for me to catch her up as much as I could on everything that was going on.

"Wait, you're telling me that your super hot boyfriend refuses to have sex with you?" Madison laughed in disbelief over the phone. "That's rough, Bells."

"He's not refusing," I hissed, looking over my shoulder. I never knew when Edward would just show up – since he'd started staying here every night, I'd started leaving my window open all the time so he could just come and go as he liked. It was closed now because I knew he would show up at the front door with Alice, but I was still paranoid. "He's just got morals."

"Yeah, morals that say no sex for Bella," Madison sang, her tone completely teasing. "No, really, are you okay with this?"

"Yeah, I mean Edward's great. I… I love him." It was still weird for me to say it out loud, to be seventeen and in love, but I wasn't as uncomfortable with it as I was a few nights ago. "It's enough to just be with him for now."

"Bells, did you just drop the L-word?" Madison said, and I could only imagine her shocked expression. "Holy shit. I don't even know if I love Conner yet! Does Edward know? Did you tell him? Does he feel the same way?"

"Um, yes to all," I said with a chuckle, tucking my hair behind my free ear and bending my knees to cross my legs in front of me. "He actually said it first. You know, after he told me that he was saving himself for marriage and that if it was going to happen it would be with me."

"Oh God, Bella, you're going to end up married at eighteen, aren't you?" Madison groaned. "You are! You're going to be so desperate for him that you're going to marry him just to get in bed with him."

"No, I'm not," I said, although, really… who knew? Alice, probably. "And if I do end up marrying him really young, that won't be the only reason."

"No, of course not. It'll be because you love him," Madison said and though it wasn't a FaceTime call, I heard her roll her eyes. "Bella, you realize you're both seventeen, right? That might change in a few years."

"Sure, maybe," I said, but I was pretty sure it wouldn't. I was already having difficulty remembering a time before Edward was so important to me and it had only been a few months. I certainly couldn't imagine not being with him, not loving him anymore.

I was beginning to wonder if this had something to do with the whole vampire mate thing. Was there no separating us now that we had fallen in love and admitted to it, had committed ourselves to each other? Was loving a vampire and being loved by one different than loving a human? He was a supernatural being, after all; it didn't seem totally outside the realm of possibility that there was something supernatural binding us now.

"Look, at least remind him that there are other things," Madison said. She must have sensed my confusion when I didn't answer because she sighed and elaborated. "Other things besides sex. If he won't give you the d, you can still do other things."

"Oh," I said, frowning. I had actually forgotten that sex wasn't the only option. There were plenty of steps between kissing and having sex. Suddenly an image of him replacing my probing fingers at night with his own came unbidden to my mind. I wondered what it would feel like if he used his mouth. I felt the blood rush to my face and I cleared my throat. "Right. You're right."

"I know," Madison said, laughing. "I mean, really, there is also the possibility of you changing his mind. He is seventeen; remember? It wouldn't be too difficult."

She was also probably right about that. Edward had a strong will, but he seemed to have a weak spot when it came to me The only thing was, I had no interest in taking advantage of him like that. It was important to him that he hold on to as many things as he could from his own time, so it was also important to me.

"I'm not going to do that, Madison," I told her. "It's not right."

"You're right, you're right. I was just pointing out all of your options," she said. "So… how are you going to bring up third base to him?"

"I don't know." I groaned, just imagining how awkward that conversation might be, how I might stumble over the words. "Organically?"

"Wait until you're making out all hot and heavy and then spring it on him. Classic," Madison said, and I could hear amused approval in her voice. "He won't have the willpower to resist. You evil genius."

I wasn't so sure about that. There was a lot of willpower there. I realized I would have to plan out what I would say to him, what I would do.

"Thanks," I muttered anyway, and jumped up to rush to the window when I heard a car in the driveway. I smiled when I saw the silver Volvo parked behind Charlie's police car. "I gotta go, Mads. Edward and his sister just got here. Their whole family is going camping tonight, but Alice doesn't want to go so she's spending the night here."

At least, that was the story we had told Renee and Charlie. Really, just Edward and Jasper were going hunting and Alice was staying to both keep me company and to watch over me since we still weren't sure exactly when the three nomadic vampires were going to pass through. According to Edward, Emmett had very briefly suggested that he could keep me company before Alice had swiftly cut him off with both logic – my parents were not going to go for that – and threats. Apparently, Emmett had had his bonding moments and it was Alice's turn.

"Sounds fun," Madison said.

"Yeah, tons," I told her, not bothering to hide my sarcasm. I knew Edward and Alice could hear me from the car. "She keeps talking about giving me a makeover and playing dress up like I'm her own personal life-size Barbie doll."

"Barbie Bella," Madison laughed.

I watched them get out of the car, Alice carrying a comically large overnight bag, and make their way to the house. She was scowling, stomping up the walkway, and Edward was smirking as he followed behind her.

"I'll talk to you later." I sighed, and then threw my phone onto my bed and hurried down the stairs.

Charlie was already opening the door by the time I was halfway down.

"Hi, Alice," Charlie said, and he sounded as warm and welcoming as I'd ever heard him. Then his tone shifted into more of a casual acceptance. "Edward."

"Hello, Charlie. I'm just dropping off my sister." He was still smirking, I could hear it in his voice. Whatever Alice and Charlie were thinking was really putting him in a good mood. "Hi, Bella."

"Hi," I said, breathless as I skidded into the foyer.

"Come on, Alice." Next to me, Charlie rolled his eyes and reached to take Alice's bag from her. "Let's get you settled in."

Edward folded me into his arms the second Charlie and Alice started up the stairs. "I'm going to miss you," he whispered into my hair.

"I'm the one who has to play dress up with Alice," I pointed out, my fingers curling into the fabric on either side of his waist. "I'm going to miss you too."

I would miss what had by now become our nightly makeout session – he didn't stop me as quickly as he had that first time he'd stayed all night with me, but we also hadn't let it get as far as it had on Christmas night. But more than that, I would just miss him. I would miss talking to him. No matter the topic, Edward was always completely enthralled by anything I ever had to say. I would miss simply being together in silence. For as much as Edward and I wanted to know everything about each other and did our best to sate our curiosity, we also had discovered a mutual enjoyment of sitting silently together with a book each. I would miss his cool, comforting presence next to me when I drifted off to sleep and when I woke in the morning. I would just miss him.

"I don't have to go," he murmured.

He sounded very tempted to ditch Jasper and stay by my side. I knew that part of his reluctance to leave me, especially now when he was so hungry, was due to my scent, and another part was that protective nature that had always been in him but was tantamount now that there were other vampires headed our way. I suspected, however, that he would also just miss me, our conversations, and the silence that my mind provided him.

I pulled back just far enough to crane my neck up to look into his face. I lifted one hand and touched my fingers lightly under his dark eyes. "Yes, you do."

He sighed and nodded. "Yes, I do."

He lowered his head and kissed me, drawing it out until it brought a pang to my stomach. I wanted nothing more than to drag him up to my room and never stop kissing him. He pulled away far too soon and took a step back.

"I'll be back tomorrow around noon to pick you up," he said, looking over my shoulder. I turned around to see Charlie and Alice coming back down the stairs, Renee behind them.

"Leaving so soon, Edward?" Renee said.

"Oh, the rest of our family is waiting on me," Edward lied so smoothly I would have believed him if I didn't know he and Jasper were only going to the national park to hunt, and that they didn't have to leave immediately to make it there.

"See you then," Alice said, stopping at the foot of the stairs.

"I hope you have a good time," Renee said, coming to stand near us.

"Yeah, have fun, Edward," Charlie said half-heartedly. He did truly like Edward, but he had his moments where he couldn't quite hide the fact that he wished I didn't have a boyfriend at all, at least not one that I was so serious about.

"I'll see you tomorrow," I said.

"Have fun," he said, raising his eyebrows at me.

"You, too," I said. Really, he would probably end up having more fun than me. Alice was great, but her definition of fun was vastly different than mine.

He left then, without saying he loved me. It was probably better that way, really; Charlie would probably do the choking-on-a-whole-egg thing all over again. Still, ever since he had told me that first time, I couldn't get enough of hearing it. It was saying it back that was still a bit challenging.

"So, what do you girls have planned for tonight?" Renee asked as Edward drove off.

"Barbie Bella," I muttered, eyeing Alice reproachfully – she had talked about it nonstop at lunch today. "Such fun."

Charlie gave me a sympathetic look, but Renee, traitor that she was, looked somewhat envious like she wanted to dress me up, too.

"It is going to be fun, Bella," Alice pouted, adding a little foot stomp that produced an impressive thump on the carpeted floor; Charlie raised an eyebrow.

"I know, Alice," I lied; something about tiny adorable Alice Cullen and the way she stuck that perfect bottom lip out just so made me feel guilty. I knew she was just playing me, but that didn't stop me from trying to placate her. "I'm sorry. I was just giving you a hard time."

"Thank you for apologizing," Alice said sagely. I wondered if the Cullens were so used to Alice that they stopped apologizing to her or if they didn't even bother to resist her at all anymore.

"You girls have fun," Charlie said as Alice grabbed my wrist and began to tow me up the stairs. Scowling over my shoulder at my very amused parents, I would have tripped if Alice didn't warn me to watch where I was going.

She beamed again as soon as we made it to my room. "Well, should we start now?"

"Start what?" I asked warily. I crossed to my bed and heaved at her bag, felt the enormous weight of it, and dropped it to the floor with a thud. "Geez, Alice, what did you bring?"

"You know, just clothes and supplies," she said, lifting the bag with one hand easily and dropping it back onto my bed next to me.

She pulled a small black dress out. Even before she laid it out on the bed, I could tell it was far too long for her minuscule frame. "Clothes for you?" I asked, frowning.

"No," she said simply, and threw a swath of gauzy dark blue fabric at me. "Here, try this on."

"What is it?" I asked, fumbling to catch it. Knowing Alice, and having seen the Cullens' house and everything in it, and the gifts they had exchanged at Christmas, I thought the dress was probably worth more than my truck.

"A dress." Alice rolled her eyes.

"I can see that." I scowled at the offensive material and the offending vampire who had brought it. "I meant what is it for?"

"This beautiful gown," Alice said, taking the now crinkled ball of gauze from me and unrolling it with a flourish to reveal a beautiful, flowy, long midnight blue dress, "is your prom dress."

"Prom?" I balked, shaking my head enthusiastically. "I am not going to prom."

Alice's eyes went blank momentarily, and then she grinned, self-satisfied, and thrust the dress back into my hands. "Yep, still going."

"No, Alice, I'm not," I insisted. "I can't dance. I'll break my leg. I'll break my neck. I'll die."

"Edward would never let any of that happen," Alice said. "And he can dance."

"I'm sure he can," I said, reminded of when I'd had almost the exact same conversation with Jessica about a different dance. "Doesn't change the fact that I will fall and break my face and probably take down three other people in the process."

"Again, Edward wouldn't let that happen," she said. I knew she was right; Edward had a tendency to right me whenever I tripped. "It's all in the leading. Now, are you going to undress yourself or do I need to do it for you?"

I had imagined a vampire saying something similar to me before, but not this vampire. I sighed, and pulled my shirt over my head. Alice Cullen looked harmless, but I knew better than any other human that her looks were very deceiving.

I tried not to be self-conscious as I tripped out of my jeans and stood in front of her in my bra and underwear. She had probably already seen the entire moment playing out anyway, I told myself. I struggled with the dress, trying to find the neck, or the bottom, or a zipper, or whatever way I was supposed to put it on. Alice was suddenly there, deft fingers finding a delicate zipper inlaid so well in the fabric that it was practically invisible.

She threw the material over my head, shimmying it down my body like I was a child or an invalid, and then she circled behind me and I felt the zipper moving up my spine, the fabric snug – not tight, but just right – around me.

"I knew it," Alice said with a satisfied smile as she walked back around to study me. "It's perfect."

"If you knew it, then why did I have to try it on?" I grumbled. Alice ignored me.

"Renee!" she called, and I assumed she heard footsteps in the hallway through the closed door.

"Did you need something, girls?" Renee asked, opening the door to peek in. When she spotted me, she gasped. "Oh! How pretty!"

"It's her prom dress," Alice announced giddily.

"You and Edward are going to prom?" Renee asked, staring at me in disbelief. I had only been to one dance in my entire life, and I'd come home from it with a sprained ankle. Dylan, who was the only one brave enough to take me, had gone home with a bloody nose. I still wasn't sure how I had managed that one.

"That's what Alice tells me, but I'm unconvinced," I said, trying for a severe look. Alice didn't even blink.

"Edward looks very handsome in a suit," Alice said lightly.

Renee laughed and I glared at both of them.

"Of course he does," I said. But damn right I wanted to see him in one. I wondered if he would just wear one to amuse me one day, if I asked, or if he would take Alice's side on this prom issue. It was likely he wanted to see me all dressed up, too.

"How are you going to do her hair?" Renee asked Alice, as if I had no say in the matter. I realized it was more accurate than I cared to admit.

"I'm curling it," Alice said, and there was suddenly a menacing metal tube in her hand. She saw the alarm on my face and rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Bella, it's just a curling wand."

"It's dangerous," I said darkly. Any hot, electric thing was a danger to me.

"Only if you annoy me," Alice warned, taking a small section of my hair and getting to work.

Renee sat on my bed to watch, clearly pleased that Alice was including her. It made me feel guilty as ever that the reality of my life now was that I couldn't openly share much with my mother. I strongly suspected Alice knew how I felt and was giving us this moment, just another of her gifts to me.

"Are you and Jasper going to prom?" I asked. I couldn't really imagine Jasper willingly attending a school dance where he would be crammed into the gym with hundreds of sweaty teen humans with hot blood roaring through their veins, probably most of them projecting lust at him.

"Of course," Alice said. "It's a rite of passage, Bella."

"Is Jasper your boyfriend?" Renee asked, prompting Alice to launch into a passionate diatribe about her love for Jasper. It was good, really, because it afforded me time to think about what she had said.

Prom was a rite of passage, wasn't it? It was an important event for most teens. Just like things like graduation and marriage. I wondered if I would regret not having those experiences if I decided to change, if I lived an eternity likely reliving high school and college over and over again. Would it be better for me to remember doing them as a normal human? Or would it be better if I didn't know anything different?

Edward would probably enjoy recalling my human experiences when I relived these moments again as a vampire. If I became one – and why wouldn't I? I loved Edward, and he loved me. I couldn't imagine that love going away. I couldn't imagine going any length of time without him, really – would I be depriving more than just myself of these things by not experiencing them now?

"Bella?" Renee said, and I blinked to find that Alice had turned me back around to face the mirror in the corner of my room, near the window Edward always snuck through. "What do you think?"

"Wow," was all I could say. I looked beautiful. I wasn't sure what kind of magic Alice had worked, but my hair fell in soft, loose curls that framed my face beautifully. Suddenly, I wanted Edward to see me like this. The way the dress hugged my body in gauzy layers accentuated curves I didn't even know I had.

"I'm going to do your makeup too, of course," Alice said. "Nothing too drastic. Eyeliner, a little shadow. You have such nice skin, and beautiful features. I wouldn't want to cover them up."

"Wow," I repeated. "Alice…"

"I know," she said, hugging me from behind. "Edward is going to love it, too."

"You do look beautiful," Renee said, and I could see her staring at me in our reflection, her face overcome with emotion.

There was a light knock on the doorframe. We all turned to see Charlie standing there, looking awkward.

"I was, uh, wondering if you wanted me to order pizza," he said, shifting to lean on the doorframe. "But if you girls have other plans…"

"No." I laughed. Did he really think I was going out in Forks wearing a formal gown?

"This is Bella's prom dress, Charlie," Renee said. "Edward is taking her."

"Ah," Charlie said, and rubbed the back of his neck. "When is the prom?"

"End of the school year," I said.

"May 13," Alice said promptly.

"Edward asked you that far in advance? And you already got a dress picked out?" Charlie said, and I didn't need to be able to read his mind to know that he was thinking there was a chance we wouldn't make it that far. High school romances weren't built to last. Only, Edward wasn't a normal high schooler. And, I guessed, in some ways, neither was I.

"He hasn't asked, and Alice picked it out," I said.

"Does he need to ask you?" Alice said, looking at me like I was crazy. "Jasper hasn't asked me on a date in forever and yet, we keep going on dates."

I shot her a sidelong glance. I wasn't sure what Alice's definition of a date was, but I didn't think she and Jasper were driving to Port Angeles to see a movie every weekend like my human friends. Maybe Alice and Jasper considered hunting together to be a date, kind of like how I kept going hiking with Edward – I was fond of our meadow, of kissing him and talking to him and learning as much as I could about him. Still, Edward usually asked me to go with him.

"They should still probably make a plan," Renee said.

"Don't worry. It'll happen," Alice said, eyes blank again. "Tomorrow."

I caught the perplexed look Charlie and Renee shared.

"Anyway," I said quickly, drawing their attention. "Pizza sounds great."

"Great. I'll go order it," Charlie said. "Any preferred toppings, Alice?"

"No, whatever you get will be fine, Charlie. Thank you," Alice said, her voice and expression lively again.

"Right. Sure," Charlie said, and started to turn away. He paused, his hand gripping the doorframe, and studied me over his shoulder. "You really do look beautiful, Bells."

"Thanks, Dad," I murmured, my face heating.

"Yep," he said, and headed down the stairs.

"I better go, too. Your dad forgets things when he's embarrassed," Renee said, and stood to follow.

"Well," Alice said when we were alone. "Should we do makeup or try on another dress?"

"Another dress?" I repeated, dismayed. "I thought you said this was definitely my prom dress."

"Yes," Alice said with the air of someone speaking to a small child. "This is a different dress. For a different occasion."

"Alice, what the hell kind of occasion would I need a dress like that for?" I demanded, staring in horror at the black dress I had seen her pull out of her bag before. Only now that I knew it was for me did I notice how very short and tight it looked.

"To seduce my brother, obviously," Alice said, rolling her eyes. "Don't worry; it will work."

"What?" I gaped at her, horrified. "You can see stuff like that?"

"Yes," Alice said. "Don't be embarrassed, Bella. I've seen much worse things about so many other people. And before you ask, no, I don't mean sex – that's still on for the wedding night, as far as I can tell. It flickered a few times when you two first discussed it, but it's holding steady now. But he will agree to everything else you have in mind."

"The – wedding night?" I repeated, my brain and my heart stuttering violently as she unzipped the gauzy blue dress, pulled it off of me, and carefully hung it in my closet.

"Oh. Did I say too much?" Alice frowned, looking genuinely concerned for the first time. "I forget to watch myself around you because I know how much you'll love and accept it all later on."

"It's… it's okay. I do accept you," I said, but my mind was still stuck on my wedding night. "Hey, Alice, how far in the future can you see?"

"Oh, decently far," she said. "I saw Jasper thirty years before I actually found him, and I saw Carlisle and the others not long after."

"Oh. Okay. So we could be talking ten years from now before Edward and I get married," I said. But that would mean ten more years of wanting him desperately and not being able to fully have him. I didn't think there was any way I would be able to control myself that long. It would also put me at nearly thirty years old to his perpetual seventeen, which would never work for obvious reasons.

"Well… in theory, we could," Alice said carefully as she began to maneuver the skintight black dress over my head and shimmied it down my body.

"But we're not?" I guessed, gasping when it became hard to breathe.

"You're definitely still human when you get married, and you're definitely still young when you change," she told me, still gently tugging the dress over my hips and shifting it to settle just so.

"So, you do still see me as one of you?" I asked, nervous for her answer.

"Yes," Alice said, looking me in the eye with such certainty that I somehow, even though I still wasn't sure what I wanted, was comforted. "That has never changed."

"Edward said that your visions are dependent on decisions, so they could always change," I said.

Alice hummed her confirmation as she stepped back and studied the way the dress fit me.

"It's just… I haven't decided either way yet," I said. "And Edward is pretty set against it… so…"

"So whose decision is it dependent on?" Alice finished with a shrug. "Hard to say. Hard to know even what decision it's dependent on. There's the chance that it's not so much a choice of whether or not to become a vampire, but to never be parted from Edward, or to get in the car and go for a drive that results in a horrible accident and we decide to change you, to save you, like Carlisle did for the others."

I was quiet, trying to imagine… would I be on death's door when it happened? Edward seemed dedicated to keeping me safe, but he couldn't be around all the time. He couldn't stop every bad thing from happening to me, especially not with how accident prone I was. It was just that I thought that if it happened, it would be my choice that did it, my decision to become one of them, that it would all be planned out and Edward would change me just so we could be together forever… if it happened at all.

Alice seemed to realize that I was really not in the mood for anymore dress up at the moment because she suddenly nodded, declared that the dress would do the trick nicely, and pulled it back over my head.

"Alice, can I ask you something?" I asked as she carefully hung the black dress next to the blue one. There was something I had been concerned about for a while, and I figured Alice was the best person to ask other than Edward himself.

"Of course," she said, turning back to me and handing me one of my favorite t-shirts and a pair of soft sleep shorts.

"Does Edward not want me to become one of you because he doesn't want forever with me? Or is there some other reason?" I asked.

"Of course Edward wants eternity with you. There's nothing he wants more," she assured me. "Do you really doubt that?"

I shrugged, biting my lip to stop myself from frowning as I slipped the pajamas on. "It just doesn't make any sense. If he wants that, then why is he so against changing me?"

"Edward is a very complicated person, Bella," Alice said carefully. "He has very firm beliefs which sometimes contradict what he really wants."

"What do you mean?" I asked, curious and somewhat comforted by the absolute sincerity in her words.

"Bella, I really think that you should talk to Edward about this," Alice said with a small frown. "It might make your decision easier, and maybe you'll both feel more at peace with things."

"You mean Edward will feel more at peace," I said.

"Why, Bella, have you already made up your mind?" Alice teased gently.

"Not exactly. I just don't really see what could be so awful about it," I admitted shyly. There really weren't many people I could talk to about this; in fact, other than Edward, Emmett was the only one who'd humored me thus far and he had nothing bad to say about his life.

"Edward will have a whole list for you, don't worry," Alice said.

"I love him, Alice," I whispered, and sat heavily on the end of my bed.

"I know you do," she assured me, dancing over and sitting next to me. "I know, and I'm so happy that he's finally, after all this time, found you."

"It scares me," I admitted. Edward knew, but he hadn't really brought up my irrational fears since asking why the thought of marriage was so off putting.

"Love is terrifying," Alice said gently. I was happy that she understood that I didn't mean the idea of changing scared me. "It's terrifying, and it's messy, and it's hard sometimes, but Bella? It really is the most wonderful thing. To have someone you know you can rely on no matter what? Someone who would go to the end of the earth for you, who you would do the same for? It's better than anything, better than blood."

It would have been an odd thing to say if she were anyone else. Coming from a vampire, though, and one who had been married for more than fifty years? It was a powerful statement. Blood was what tied them to this earth, what called incessantly to them on a primal level, and for it to take a backseat to how deeply she and Jasper loved each other was astonishing.

"It's the way Edward loves you," she told me softly, wrapping a cold arm around me and resting her head on my shoulder.

"I think it might be the way I love him," I said, embarrassed to find that I was beginning to cry. It was just so overwhelming. I never had much interest in love until I met Edward.

"Oh, Bella, I know," Alice said.

This time, I heard the footsteps on the stairs too, and hastily swiped at the few tears rolling down my cheeks. Charlie poked his head around the doorframe. "Pizza's on the way, girls."

"Great. Thanks, Dad," I said. "We'll be down in a few."

I sniffled, and hoped he wouldn't notice. He looked at me for a moment, saw how Alice was still sort of hugging me, and definitely realized that something was going on. Thankfully, Charlie wasn't the sort to get into emotional situations unless he absolutely had to. He seemed to think Alice had this handled.

"Cool, see you in a bit," he said gruffly, and then he was gone, closing the door behind him as he went.

"Don't cry, Bella," Alice said softly, gently touching the skin beneath my eyes with the tips of her fingers. "It'll make it so much more difficult for me to do your makeup if your eyes are swollen."

"Makeup? Alice!" I protested.

"Don't try and fight it. It will happen." She said it like it was a threat, and I sighed.

Later, after some very sneaky food avoidance on Alice's part, and then watching a movie with Charlie and Renee, Alice and I made our way back to my room.

"Wow, I wish my parents would be this cool with Edward staying the night," I said as I closed the door behind me. "It would be kind of nice not to have to stay hidden up here all night."

"Yeah, never going to happen," Alice said. "And I don't need a vision to tell me that."

"I know," I said, and shrugged as I lay down on my bed. "It would still be nice, though."

"They'll let you sleep at our house, though," she said as she rummaged around in her bag. I hoped against hope that she was just looking for her pajamas. "This summer. You'll have the whole house to yourselves, not that they'll know that. It will be a night to remember."

"God, Alice," I groaned. I didn't need to look in the mirror to know my face was burning crimson. "I really wish you couldn't see things like that."

"It is what it is," she said simply, and I got the impression that while she accepted her ability, she wasn't particularly happy to have visions of the sort either. She straightened up and brandished a makeup brush at me with a twisted pixie grin. "Now, stop trying to distract me and get that beautiful face over here so I can make you absolutely stunning."

Hello, hello! Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! 3

You have to love our meddling little pint-sized vampire! Really, though. How awful would it be to see all of your best friend/brother's possible sexual exploits with your other best friend/sister? Can you imagine?

Next chapter will be up in a few days. A lot happens in it.

Chapter 19. The Other Kind.

"Bella, I'm one hundred and nineteen years old and I've never been with a woman before," he reminded me. "I don't think it would take nearly as much effort as you seem to think."

"I guess that's fair," I said, my breath hitching when his cool fingers brushed my hair from my neck, and then he pressed his lips there. "So, are you seducing me, then?"

"Somehow, I don't think that would take much effort either," he said with a laugh.