Hello Everyone,

I know that I broke my promise, but things got crazy the last few weeks. My mom had major surgery, my uncle was admitted into the hospital for pneumonia, and I have been running around like a chicken with it's head cut off.

The good news for the story is that my next class isn't available this next session, so I'm off until November 30th. I hope that I can get this story back under control and make more regular postings.

***I do have a request of you guys, though. I have been laying out a new story. Renee leaves Charlie with Jake and Emmett (twins age 5), and Bella (3 almost 4). She wakes up Bella while she is arguing with Charlie. Bella hears the rest of the argument and Renee leaving. They grow-up and Charlie and Sue get married. Leah and Seth become their siblings. The main story starts when the Em and Jake are seniors, Bella and Leah are juniors, and Seth is a freshmen. The Cullens (Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, Edward and Alice {twins}) Move from Seattle and start at Forks High School. The older boys are all on the football team together. The working title that I have is Brothers and Sisters, but I don't think that is fits the way that the story ended up going. I would appreciate any suggests that may work a little bit better. I want to showcase the plot a tiny bit more with the title. Thank you in advance!***

So now back to the story and the rest of the Halloween Dance. I hope that you're all enjoy the story. Let me know what you think and any title ideas that you can think of.

I don't own any of the Twilight characters and materials. I just make them put up with Tanya. Happy Reading!

Chapter 29: Tanya, The Terror, and 30. Meet the Parents

Everything was great until the song ended, and the DJ came over the speakers saying that she was going to slow it down for a little while. The beginning of Faith Hill's Breathe starts to play and our group split into couples and as Edward pulled me to the side of the auditorium, Lucy Lunatic comes up behind him, coyly tapping on his shoulder.

"Hey, Tanya, I was just going to dance with my date so, yeah, bye," Edward finished, trying to tow me away from her before she could answer. However, not even real vampire speed would've been enough.

"Would you like to dance with me for a song or two?"

"Like I just said, I'm dancing with my date," Edward repeated. He came to stand between Tanya and me.

"Oh, I'm sure Bailee here wouldn't mind sharing you for a song or two. Right, Bailee?"

"It's Bella and let me guess. You're not going to take no for an answer?"

"So glad you understand," she said and laced her arm into Edward's. Edward broke away and came back over to me.

"You don't have to give in," he said, grabbing my hand.

"I know. It's okay. I'd rather do this, keep the peace, and get back to our evening. She's not worth ruining our night over, by causing a problem. That doesn't mean that I have to like it." I didn't like this, but all hell was going to break loose with Tanya soon enough. She wasn't going to take this well and school was likely to be hellish now. I wasn't going to let her have any more power then what would keep her quiet. He nodded slowly and hugging me close and breaking away.

"One dance and then just you," he said, looking straight at me so that I knew he was serious.

"Go, I promised Jake a dance or two anyway so that he doesn't have to sway awkwardly with Jess or Angela all night," I laughed half-heartedly, and Edward did the last thing that I expected. He leaned down and lightly kissed his fingertips and then cupped my cheek.

"One dance," he vowed again and walked slowly to join Tanya.

I turned and walked back to our chairs between the lab and the dungeon. I sat there for about four measures of the song before Alice broke away from Jasper and they came to sit by me.

"Oh, Bella, what happened?" Alice asked and looked out to find Edward trying to dance as far away from as possible with the stranglehold she had around his neck. If he wasn't my date or friend, it would have been hysterical. "Oh My God," Allie yelled when she spotted the spectacle on the dance floor. She was really angry. "That fake strawberry blonde, Regina George knock-off. Can't she tell that Edward wants nothing to do with her?"

"She didn't have to. Edward told her twice that he wanted to dance with me. She wouldn't take no for an answer, and I didn't want to ruin our evening, so I bowed out to keep the peace. I don't like it, and I hope that Edward doesn't think that he doesn't mean enough to me, but I think that this way, after this song we can still have a great time."

"I guess so, and I'm sure that Edward understands because we grew up with Tanya. She's still a pushy bitch. She would make a big deal and ask him until he gave in," Alice said, still really angry.

"Oh, there was never any doubt," I said, and we giggled while Jasper rolled his eyes.

"Want to rent-a-rebel?" she asked, pointing around me to Jasper who tipped an invisible hat.

"At your service, ma'am," he added.

"No, I'm fine. It's only for one song. You guys go and have fun." They looked at me skeptically. "Seriously, go."

"Alright, if you're sure?" Alice asked again.

"I am."

"Okay, let me know if Astrid needs to cut a bitch."

I chuckled at her. "I will"

"Rosie will help us hide the body."

"After the way they treated her, she should do the honors," I said, and Allie nodded, heading back out on the dance with Jazz.

After 2 more minutes of watching Tanya nearly molest my date, the song switched to Keane's Somewhere Only We Know. Edward worked to extract himself from Tanya's claws. He was finally free just as the lyrics started up. He started to make his way over to me.

I walked across an empty land

I knew the pathway like the back of the hand.

Edward came to stand in front of me and put his hand out toward me. "Miss Swan, We have a date on the dance floor."

I put my hand in his, allowing him to pull me along after him.

"Never leaving your side again," he said, pulling me closer into his chest.

"I saw that. Are you okay? She seemed to have a pretty tight hold on you there."

He pulled me closer still. "I'm okay now."

"I'm glad. I sorry I subjected you to that. I was sure it was the only way to avoid having a fight and ruining our night. Are you mad at me? You know that you mean a lot to me and that I wasn't trying to get out of our date or anything, right?"

"No Bella, I'm not mad at you. I know that you were just trying to get rid of her. I'm sorry that you felt that way, but I would never think that it was because I didn't mean as much to you. Besides, you were right. She said so… well she was a real bitch."

"Nothing I haven't heard before, I'm sure," I whispered, looking down.

Everyone says that hell starts in High School. They were wrong. For me, third grade was the beginning of the downward slope. The start of the fat jokes, the whale watch flyers taped to the back of my cubbie, the moo-ing in the hallway, the milk cartons to the back of the head. Girls hated me for having boobs before they did until the boys started to make fun of me for it instead of coming on to me. The teachers did what they could, but kids can be cruel. Momma being a teacher there was both helpful and hurtful to my cause. It was horrible.

With my heart condition, the weight was harder to lose, and third grade was when it started to just sort of stay put. Baseball and ballet allowed me to even it out, but I was never toned or super small like when I was a child. I was born tall, wide-shouldered, and hipped. All traits from my father's family which – according to my great-great Aunt – was good for having babies in the future but sucked so bad right now.

Edward put his hand under my chin and lifted it, wiping a tear away that I hadn't known I had shed. "Bella, she is a twig bitch who doesn't care who she hurts. She doesn't care about anything that's not about her. But you do. You're an amazing person and anyone would be to your friend, boyfriends, sister, whatever. I shouldn't have said anything about it because she is stupid and rude and unworthy of your time and thoughts. Please understand that we, all of us, couldn't think she was anymore wrong. Me, especially," he said and kissed me on the cheek where the tear had been.

Oh My God! My kinda first kiss. I hoped Alice didn't see that or I would never get to sleep tonight. I hugged him around the neck, burying my face in his neck. Our Dads had made all the boys use "man stink". Deodorant, aftershave, the works. Edward was wearing Old Spice Classic. It was what my Papa used, my dad. Only the best men in the world wore it, and Edward was no exception.That was the nicest thing a boy had ever said to me, and I was fighting back happy tears. I loved that he thought that and hoped it was all true.

"Thank you, Edward, you sweet, sweet boy," I said against his shoulder, afraid of what would happen if anyone around us heard me. "I'm really happy here, and I'm glad you guys like having Nessie and me around. She loves you guys as much as I do. I'm sorry I got upset and put a damper on the night."

"You don't have to be sorry for being upset about it. I wish that you didn't feel that way for your sake but don't feel sorry for my sake. I'm just glad that I can help."

"You do trust me," I said, laying my head back on his shoulder and swaying to the music as the song continued and ended, melting into Maroon 5's Sunday Morning.

"I love this song," I yelled, spinning out of his arms and dragging him to the center of the floor where our "family" was dancing around in pairs. They were twirling each other around, pushing and pulling each other apart and back together again. We shared a group couple dance, and the song was nearing the end when Alice leaned over from Jasper's arms.

"Did you see "Mom and Dad's" costumes?" she asked, looking pointedly at the auditorium doors that lead back into the school. I turned, and Edward searched to see what I was looking at and chuckled.

Mr. Loch had nice dress pants and a button-down shirt on which would be Loch government issue if it weren't for the long white doctor's coat and stethoscope. He had obviously made a trip to the medical supply store in Port Angles. If that wasn't enough, Mrs. Loch stood next to him with her arm laced through his, deep lavender ruffle blouse black pencil skirt, low black heels, and a deep caramel wig to complete the look.

"My God, that's a sight," Jake said, chuckling behind me.

"Yeah, they did too well," I said. They must have seen us than because they started to walk over to us. Just before they reached our spot on the floor, the song changed to I'm With m With You, and the DJ announced that she was going to speed it up for a while after.

"Hiddy Ho, children," Mr. Loch said as he reached our circle, and Mrs. Loch shook her head and rolled her eyes at him.

"Hello, very nice costumes, all of you. You boys look very dapper and the ladies all look gorgeous," Mrs. Loch said.

"Yeah, we could do a lot worse in the fake children department," Mr. Loch said, making us all laugh. "Question though, I know it was you four in a group coupe," he started, and Edward, Alice, Jake, and I nodded and laughed, "But who was the fifth vote?"

"I was, Mr. L," Rose said, raising her hand. Alice and I ran and hugged her, squealing "Sisi" at the top of our lungs, making Rose giggle.

"Emmy, don't you screw this up," Alice scolded playfully from Rose's right side. Even Mr. and Mrs. Loch laughed as Emmett saluted his baby sister and commanding officer.

"Well, great choice. We are honored that you think we are cool enough. Mrs. Collis over here is a huge fan, too," Mr. Loch said, earning a playful smack.

"Well, we'll let you kids get back to your fun." Mrs. Loch said.

"Bye Mom and Dad," we chorused making them both chuckle loudly as they left.

The music stopped and a half-beat later the unmistakable opening of the B-52's Love Shack blared. I barely had time to turn burn Alice and Rose were dragging me away from the boys to an open spot with lots of room. Everyone was dancing to this one, of course. I looked back, but the boys were gone. I turned back and smacked square into Edward's chest.

"Dance like a weirdo with me?"

"Is there any other way to do this song justice?" I asked back.

"Absolutely not," he answered, and we joined our friends, who were already dancing around like a bunch of fools.

The rest of the dance was amazing. A few more fun songs past and the next slow one, Jake asked to cut in. Edward joked about him not getting used to it. We danced three times, and Jake was just happy not to be dancing with "handsy witches".

The costume contest was a lot of fun. At some point, Alice must have added us to as many lists as we could fit into. Group costume, Girl Power Trio, Dapper Dudes, Cutest Couples, Best of Friends, All of Them. We beat out the Mystery Inc. Gang for Group – along with the 'rents. Rose, Alice, and I beat the Sham Squad. The boys came in second to the Avengers. We all swept in the Cutest Couples and Jake and I won best friends. There were even a few categories for the chaperones, and Mr. and Mrs. Loch kept the winning streak alive. Alice insisted that we grab them and head out to the hallway for a group photo. She said it would be a lasting High School memory, and Mr. and Mrs. Loch made her promise to bring them a copy of it.

Edward and I danced together for the rest of the night – aside from the three that I danced with Jake – and he kissed me two more times. First, on the top of my head, while we were dancing. Second, a small, cute peck on the corner of my mouth. Rose saw the last one and, thankfully, didn't let Emmett in on it.

Three almost-kisses! Wow. HE was so cute about it too, blushing just a little less than I did. He was still a perfect gentleman. I'm glad he told me about his feelings earlier. I hope he didn't think that I had missed his slip in of the word 'boyfriend' earlier. And I hoped I wasn't reading too much into that.

There was a change of plans, and Rose, Emmett, and Jasper were going to join us at the Cullens tonight. I really wished Rose would wait until morning to spill the beans to Alice about the kisses. I didn't hold out much hope. Alice would want to talk about Jasper and Rose about Emmett and – inevitably – something would lead us to Edward and me, and I didn't know what else to tell them.

11 o'clock rolled around, and we all walked out to where Esme and Carlisle were parked, and we piled in. In a stroke of manipulated fate, I ended up in Esme's Jetta between Rose and Alice. Go figure, huh?

"I saw that," Rose whispered, leaning into my shoulder.

"Shh, Rose," I said, looking over at her with saucer-sized eyes. I didn't want to discuss this with Alice tonight, but especially not with Edward's Mom in the car.

End Note: Next up … A flash-forward of Bella's future? Later … Rule #1: Sisters don't spill secrets. Rule #2: What's said in the clubhouse, stays in the clubhouse.

Thank you again for sticking with me. Life has been crazy, and I can't wait to get back on track with this story. Please let me know what you think.

Breathe – Faith Hill

Somewhere Only We Know – Keane

Sunday Morning – Maroon 5

I'm With You – Avril Lavigne

Love Shack – The B-52's