Edward helped Beau into his car, mindful of the suit and bulky walking cast. He ignored the latter's sulking and returned to the driver's seat. Trees whizzed past them as he drove, always too fast, down the long, narrow drive. Thankfully, he brought the car up to the front door so Beau didn't have to look at the still-demolished Mercedes.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" Beau asked grumpily.

He hated surprises. Edward knew that perfectly well.

"I'm shocked that you haven't figured it out yet." Edward threw a mocking smile in his direction, and Beau felt the breath catch in his throat. Would he ever get used to his perfection?

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

"Yes." He grinned again. Beau had never seen Edward dress in black before, and with the contrast against his pale skin, his beauty was absolutely surreal. That was undeniable, even if the fact he was wearing a tuxedo made Beau very nervous.

Not quite as nervous as his own tuxedo. It was the most expensive thing Beau had ever worn, and combined with the walking cast, he was sure some tragedy would inevitably befall it. That was just his luck nowadays.

"I'm not coming over anymore if Alice is going to treat me like a Ken doll when I do."

Beau had spent the better part of the day in Alice's staggeringly vast bedroom, a helpless victim as she measured, tailored, and fitted him in an off-the-rack suit she'd bought earlier this morning. He peeked at the tag—Hugo Boss—and nearly passed out at the pricetag, which was still attached.

Whenever he complained, Alice reminded him that she didn't have any memories of being human, and asked him not to ruin her fun. He felt too guilty about destroying the videotape to refuse her, even knowing Edward saw the pertinent information from James's mind before they killed him.

Nothing good could come out of their formal attire, Beau was sure of that. Unless . . . but he was afraid to put his suspicions into words, even in his own head.

Beau was distracted by the sound of a phone ringing. Edward pulled his cell phone from a pocket inside his jacket, looking briefly at the caller ID before answering.

"Hello, Charlie," he said warily.

Beau raised his eyebrows. "Charlie?"

Charlie had been . . . difficult during Beau's recovery. He had compartmentalized the bad experience into two defined reactions. Toward Carlisle he was almost worshipfully grateful. On the other hand, he was stubbornly convinced that Edward was at fault—because, if not for him, Beau wouldn't have left home in the first place. And Edward was far from disagreeing with him. These days Beau had rules that hadn't existed before: curfews . . . visiting hours.

Something Charlie was saying made Edward's eyes widen in disbelief. A grin spread across his face.

"You're kidding!" he laughed.

"What is it?" Beau demanded.

"Why don't you let me talk to her?" Edward suggested with evident pleasure. He waited for a few seconds.

"Hello, Lauren, this is Edward Cullen." His voice was very friendly on the surface, but Beau knew it well enough to catch the soft edge of menace underneath. What was Lauren doing at his house? The awful truth began to dawn on him. He looked down at the suit Alice had forced him into with mounting dread.

"I'm sorry if there's been some kind of miscommunication, but Beau is unavailable tonight. To be perfectly honest, he'll be unavailable every night, as far as anyone besides myself is concerned. No offense. And I'm sorry about your evening." He didn't sound sorry at all. And then he snapped the phone shut, a huge smirk on his face.

Beau knew his face and neck were flushed crimson with anger. Edward looked surprised by this reaction.

"Was that last part too much? I didn't mean to offend you."

"First, she doesn't know I'm gay? Second, you're taking me to the prom!" Beau yelled.

It was embarrassingly obvious to him now. If he had been paying any attention at all, Beau was sure he would have noticed the date on the posters that decorated the school. But he never dreamed that Edward would subject him to this. Didn't he know him at all?

"Don't be difficult, Beau."

"Why are you doing this to me?"

Edward gestured to his own tuxedo. "Honestly, Beau, what did you think we were doing?"

Beau was mortified. His vague suspicions—expectations, really—that he had been forming all day as Alice poked and prodded were so far wide of the mark. His half-fearful hopes seemed very silly now.

Beau guessed there was some kind of occasion brewing. But prom! That was the furthest thing from his mind.

"This is completely ridiculous. Why are you crying?" Edward demanded in frustration.

"Because I'm mad!"

"Beau." He turned on the full force of his scorching golden eyes before Beau knew what was happening.

"What?"

"Humor me."

His eyes were melting all the fury. It was impossible to fight with him when he cheated like that. Beau gave in with poor grace.

"Fine, I'll go quietly. But you'll see. I'm way overdue for more bad luck. I'll probably break my other leg. This suit should be made out of gold for what it costs!"

Edward stared at him for way longer than necessary. "Remind me to thank Alice for that tonight."

"Alice is going to be there?"

"With Jasper, and Emmett . . . and Rosalie," he admitted.

Beau slouched in his seat. There had been no progress with Rosalie, especially when he saw what she did to Big Red in the name of "evidence" of the alleged car crash. He was on good terms with her sometimes-husband. Emmett enjoyed having him around—he thought Beau's bizarre human reactions were hilarious . . . or maybe it was just the fact Beau had fallen down a lot during physical therapy and he found it funny. Rosalie acted like he didn't exist. While Beau shook his head to dispel the direction his thoughts had taken, he remembered something else.

"Is Charlie in on this?"

"Of course," Edward grinned. "Apparently Lauren wasn't, though."

Beau gritted his teeth. How Lauren could be so delusional, he couldn't imagine. At school, where Charlie couldn't interfere, he and Edward were inseparable, except on those rare sunny days.

They were at the elementary school now; Rosalie's red convertible was conspicuous in the staff parking lot. Edward got out and walked around the car to open the door, holding out his hand, but Beau remained stubbornly seated. The lot was crowded with people in formal dress: witnesses. Edward couldn't remove him forcibly from the car as he might have if they were alone.

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

Beau gulped. Dancing. With a walking cast and a crutch. Ridiculous.

"Beau, I won't let anything hurt you—not even yourself. I won't let go of you once, I promise."

Beau thought about that and suddenly felt much better.

"There, now," Edward said gently. "It won't be so bad."

Beau put the crutch in his right hand and let Edward support his left side, shoulder to shoulder, the way they had done after blood typing in Biology so many weeks ago.

In Phoenix, they held proms in hotel ballrooms. This dance was in the gym at Forks Elementary due to the mysterious fire at the high school. When they got inside, Beau laughed. There were actual balloon arches and twisted garlands everywhere. Everything was in a pastel shade.

"This looks like a horror movie waiting to happen."

"Well, there are more than enough vampires present."

It was true. His siblings were holding court in the center of the dance floor, radiant, whirling gracefully with each other. Beau pitied everyone in the room, including himself, to be compared to their brilliance.

"Do you want me to bolt the doors so you can massacre the unsuspecting townsfolk?"

Edward glared at him. "And where do you fit in that scheme?"

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

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

"Anything."

Edward bought their tickets, then turned him toward the dance floor. Beau leaned hard against the crutch to drag his feet.

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

Eventually he towed Beau out to where his family was twirling elegantly.

"Edward," he moaned, brandishing the crutch like a weapon until Edward handed it off to Emmett, who grinned as he passed by. "I honestly can't dance like this."

"Don't worry, silly, I can."

Somehow Edward managed to make them whirl, too. Beau laughed after a few minutes of effortless waltzing.

"I feel like I'm five years old."

Edward leaned in on the pretense of adjusting Beau's tie, a royal blue that matched his Mariners cap, which sadly had been lost in the fire.

"You don't look five."

Alice caught his eye on a turn and smiled in encouragement. Beau smiled back. He was surprised to realize that he was actually enjoying himself . . . a little.

"Okay, this isn't half bad."

"May I cut in?"

The two turned to look and found Angela waiting shyly. Edward and Ben Cheney looked at each other, chuckled, and went off in search of punch.

"You look great, Ang."

"Thanks," she smiled, her hands on his shoulders. "So do you."

"I'm sorry I'm not much in the dance department," he laughed as they spun in one spot. "Edward's much better at it."

"Don't worry about it. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry."

"What for?" Beau asked. Angela looked embarrassed.

"I was sneaking around with Ben," she confessed, stealing a glance at the punch table. Her date was gesturing a lot and appeared to be showing Edward kung fu moves he learned from a movie. To his credit, Edward was listening very intently. "I wasn't around much when you came out and I feel bad about it. I'm really sorry."

"Ang," Beau smiled, squeezing her shoulders for a moment. "I'm good. We're good. Everything's good."

"Good," Angela repeated, relieved. "I'm glad."

Edward and Ben returned with glasses of punch. Beau sipped his gratefully as Ben and Angela disappeared, giggling amongst themselves. Beau laughed too until he saw Edward's angry expression. He was looking past Beau to the gymnasium doors, where Jacob Black, hair smoothed back into his usual ponytail, was crossing the floor toward them.

Beau couldn't help but feel bad for Jacob. He was clearly uncomfortable—no tuxedo, surrounded by a class that was not his own, and clearly on a mission he did not want to complete. His eyes were apologetic as he approached. Edward snarled very quietly.

"Behave," Beau hissed.

"He wants to chat with you."

"Hey, Beau, I was hoping you'd be here." Jacob sounded like he'd been hoping for the exact opposite. Despite his evident embarrassment, his smile was as warm as ever.

"Hi Jacob." Beau smiled back. "What's up?"

"Can I cut in?" he asked tentatively, glancing at Edward for the first time. Beau was shocked to notice that Jacob didn't have to look up at either of them. He must have grown half a foot since the last time Beau saw him.

Edward took the punch glass and stepped back to allow Jacob to take his place.

"Thanks."

Beau scowled when Edward walked away without a word. They really had to work on his rudeness.

"Wow, Jake, you're almost as tall as me now."

"Almost," Jacob said smugly.

"So, how did you end up here tonight?" Beau considered Edward's reaction and had some ideas cooking already.

"Can you believe my dad paid me twenty bucks to come to your prom?" Jacob asked.

"Yes, I can," Beau muttered. "Well, I hope you're enjoying yourself, at least. Seen anything you like?"

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

Jacob met his curious glaze for a second before they both looked away, embarrassed. "You look really great, by the way. Very James Bond."

Beau reddened. "Um, thanks. So why did Billy pay you to come here?"

Jacob looked away, uncomfortable again. "He said it was a 'safe' place to talk to you. I swear the old man is losing his mind. Anyway, he said that if I told you something, he would get me that master cylinder I need."

"Tell me then," Beau grinned. "I want you to get your car finished."

At least Jacob didn't believe any of this. It made the situation a bit easier. Against the wall, Edward was watching them, his own face expressionless. A sophomore in a pink dress was eyeing him with timid speculation, but he ignored her completely.

"Don't get mad, okay?"

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

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

"Still superstitious, huh?"

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

Beau's eyes narrowed. "It was a car accident."

"I know that."

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

Jacob wouldn't meet his eyes. They weren't even swaying to the music, though Jacob's hands were still on his waist, and Beau's were around Jacob's neck.

"Look, Jacob, I know Billy probably won't believe this, but just so you know, Edward saved my life. If it weren't for Edward and his father, I'd be dead."

"I know."

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

"Yeah." He still looked awkward . . . upset.

"There's more?"

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

Beau glared at him. "Just spit it out, Jacob."

"It's so bad."

"I don't care. Tell me."

"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—'We'll be watching.'"

It sounded like something from a mafia movie. Beau laughed out loud.

"I'm sorry you had to do this, Jake."

"I don't mind that much," Jacob grinned as his dark eyes appraised the tuxedo again. "So, should I tell him you said to butt the hell out?"

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

The song ended, and Beau dropped his arms. Jacob's hands hesitated on his waist. "Do you want to dance again? Or I can help you get somewhere?"

Edward answered for him. "That's all right, Jacob. I'll take it from here."

Jacob flinched, staring wide-eyed at Edward, who appeared as if from nowhere.

"Hey, I didn't see you there," he mumbled. "I guess I'll see you around, Beau."

Beau smiled. "Yeah, I'll see you later. Don't forget, I need a mechanic for Big Red."

"Sorry," Jacob repeated before he turned for the door.

Edward's arms wound around Beau as the next song started. It was a little fast for slow dancing, but that didn't seem to concern him. Beau leaned against him, content.

"Feeling better?"

"Not really," Edward said tersely.

"Don't be mad at Billy. He just worries about me for Charlie's sake. It's nothing personal."

"I'm not mad at Billy," Edward corrected him. "But his son is irritating me."

Beau pulled back to look at him. His face was deadly serious.

"Why?"

"First of all, he made me break my promise."

Beau stared at him in confusion. Edward half-smiled.

"I promised I wouldn't let go of you tonight."

"Oh. Well, I forgive you."

"Thanks. But there's something else." Edward frowned. "He said you looked great. That's practically an insult, the way you look right now. You're much more than handsome."

Beau laughed. "You might be a little biased."

"I don't think that's it. Besides, I have excellent eyesight."

They were twirling again. "So are you going to explain the reason for all of this?"

Edward watched him glare at the crepe paper, thought a moment, then spun Beau through the crowd to the back door of the gym. He caught a glimpse of Jessica and Mike, staring at them curiously; Angela, looking blissfully happy in Ben's arms; Coach Clapp and Mr. Banner standing shoulder-to-shoulder like gargoyles, closer together than Beau would have imagined to be platonic.

Beau could name every face that spiraled past him. And then they were outdoors, in the cool, dim light of a fading sunset.

As soon as they were alone, Edward swung him up into his arms, carrying him across the dark grounds to a bench shadowed by madrone trees. He placed Beau in his lap, taking care to support the cast. The moon was already up, visible through the gauzy clouds, and both boys were pale in the white light.

"The point?"

Edward stared up at the moon. "Twilight, again. Another ending. No matter how perfect the day is, it always has to end."

"Some things don't have to end," Beau said through his teeth. He was already tense.

"I brought you to the prom," Edward said slowly, finally answering his 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."

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

"It wasn't so bad, you said so yourself."

"That's because I was with you."

They were quiet for a minute. Edward stared at the moon and Beau stared at him. He wished there was some way to explain how very uninterested he was in a normal human life.

"Will you tell me something?"

"Don't I always?"

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

"Fine."

"You seemed honestly surprised when you figured out that I was taking you here," he began.

"I was."

"Exactly," Edward agreed. "But you must have had some other theory . . . I'm curious—what did you think I was dressing you up for?"

Beau knew he would regret it. "I don't want to tell you."

"You promised," Edward objected.

"I know."

"What's the problem?"

Beau knew he thought it was mere embarrassment holding him back. "I think it will make you mad—or sad."

"I still want to know. Please?"

"Well . . . " Beau sighed. "I assumed it was some kind of . . . occasion. But I didn't think it would be some trite human thing . . . like prom."

"Human?" Edward asked flatly.

Beau looked away, tugging at the tie at his neck, uncomfortable. "Okay, so I was hoping that you might have changed your mind . . . that you were going to change me, after all."

A dozen emotions played across his face. Some Beau recognized: anger . . . pain . . . and then he seemed to collect himself and become amused.

"You thought that would be a black tie occasion, did you?" Edward teased, reaching over to fix the crumpled blue tie.

Beau scowled to hide his embarrassment. "I don't know how these things work. To me, at least, it seems more rational than prom does . . . it's not funny!"

"No, you're right, it's not." The smile faded. "I'd rather treat it like a joke, though, than believe you're serious."

"But I am serious."

Edward sighed deeply. "I know. And you're really that willing?"

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

"So you're ready for this to be the end," Edward 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."

Edward was sad. "I'm not worth it."

"Do you remember when you told me that I didn't see myself very clearly?" Beau prompted him. "You obviously have the same blindness."

"I know what I am."

Mercurial as always, Edward pursed his lips, examining Beau's face for a long moment.

"You're ready now, then?"

"Um." Beau gulped. "Yes?"

Edward smiled and inclined his head until his cold lips brushed the skin just under Beau's jaw.

"Right now?" Edward whispered.

"Yes," Beau whispered, shivering at the chill, keeping his voice low enough that it wouldn't break. If Edward thought he was bluffing, he was going to be disappointed. Beau already made this decision and he was sure. It didn't matter that his body had gone rigid, hands balled into fists, his breathing erratic . . .

Edward chuckled darkly and leaned away. He looked disappointed. "You can't really believe that I would give in so easily."

Beau ignored the mocking tone. "A guy can dream."

"Is that really what you dream about? Being a monster?"

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

Edward's expression softened, hearing, no doubt, the ache in Beau's voice.

"Beau." The cool fingers lightly traced the shape of his lips. "I will stay with you—isn't that enough?"

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

Edward exhaled, and the sound was practically a growl. No one was going to surrender tonight. But Beau wouldn't give in—he knew what he wanted.

"Look, I love you more than anything else in the world combined. Isn't that enough?"

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

And then he leaned to press his cold lips once more to Beau's throat.

A/N: I can't believe we're at the end! What a great ride. Like I said last week, I intend to follow up with a New Moon AU in the next few months. I also have another piece I'm working on.

Thank you again to all who reviewed. It was fun to take this little journey with you. Posting every week kept me disciplined and I'm eager to get back to it soon.

Take care, everyone. My inbox is always open :)