That took fucking forever to write. I'm so sorry for the delay. This all came from this chapter being long, me being anxious from work, and writer's block. My groove is kinda broken now, but I want to continue writing this before I get distracted again.

paulavara140: Thank you so much!

TheLadyO: As of now, I have diverged from Twilight. The bit with Bella and James was my nod to the plot. This is technically the time of Eclipse now? With them in twelfth grade.

DxGRAYxMAN: All I will say is lol

overlordred: I'm happy you're here too! Let me tell you, I LOVE Florence, and I see you quoting No Choir! Never Let Me Go is SOO good for them. T_T

Gabbstterr: Thank you! Keep reading and you'll see ;)

FriendlyNeighborhoodHufflepuff: Yes he does! Thanks for laughing at my joke!

Ochideus.C: Thank you! I'm glad you like what I've done. And never apologise for your English, it's a stupid language.

KinnleyBrynn: Well here you go, boo!

Enjoy more fluff!

...

Edward was stuck one day, when he saw Alia staring at a poster advertising the year's fall senior dance. I kind of wish I could go… she thought wistfully. Nah, I'd look ridiculous.

She wanted to go to the dance. This was the first time he'd seen her express interest in that sort of event. For the years he'd known her, Alia had always scoffed at the idea of going to any school function, let alone the dances available to the various grades. Besides being shy, she had never wanted to go through the fuss of dressing up.

He could only look at her contemplatively throughout their biology class. So what had changed? Was she realising that this was her last chance to experience a high school dance? Forks only had one event exclusively for seniors, the spring dance being reserved for everyone else.

At Alia's house later that day, as they were playing video games, Edward broached the topic. "So… the dance is coming up."

Alia didn't look up from the TV screen. "Yeah, and…?

"Were you thinking of going this year?"

She snorted. "No way. It's totally not my thing."

"Why not?" Edward pushed, watching her frown.

"I don't know. I'm just not interested. There are better things to do." She said stubbornly, going back to their game with vigour. Ah, so she was lying to herself while lying to him then. She wanted to go, but didn't want him to think she wanted to go. Why?

He had never stopped pushing before, and it wasn't going to stop him now. Before he could pose a question, his phone rang. He picked it up with one hand, the other on the controller, still effortlessly winning the match they were playing. "What do you want, Alice?"

"Heya Edward. So I just called you to stop you from doing something potentially stupid, cause I'm just amazing like that."

"What do you mean?" Edward said coolly. Alia glanced over curiously, but he kept his expression neutral.

"You were about to ask Alia to go to the dance with you."

"... And…?"

"Boys…" he heard her scoff. "She would have taken it the wrong way. Trust me. Unless you actually want her to think you're asking her out?"

His gaze fell to Alia again, who was fully invested in the match, too invested to notice the strands of hair falling into her eyes. Since they were at her house, she was wearing the thick, square glasses she'd had since she was a child. She was less and less of a child every day now, even if remnants of that childhood remained.

Edward pictured it for a moment. He would confess his feelings and truly ask her to go to this dance, rendering the inconsequential high school event into something important for the both of them. He continued to entertain the fantasy… the two of dancing alone under the moonlight. He'd be dressed in black, and she in white; no other color would compliment her brown skin as well. She'd be a terrible dancer, of course, never having done it before, so it would be up to him to lead, holding her close, bearing witness to her shy smiles and flushed cheeks. He'd say something to make her laugh, then steal a kiss like a thief in the night.

He forced himself to dispel the image. "I don't." he answered Alice's question.

"Uh-huh." He could hear the skepticism in Alice's voice. "Okay, then. So she wants to go… but needs a little push. Leave it to me."

Before he could argue with the hurricane he called a sister, she hung up. "Everything okay?" Alia asked.

"As okay as it can be with Alice." he grumbled.

For someone who won six games in a row, you'd think he'd be more cheerful. She thought as the score flashed across the screen. Gotta keep trying!

"Maybe you'd do better if you picked an easier kart to handle." Edward smirked, as they went to the selection screen once more.

She gave an offended gasp. "Maybe you need to mind your own business."

They were off once more in another match. Edward didn't need to worry for too long about what Alice had planned, as her thoughts made it clear as soon as he went home. Seeing as that plan worked, he only sighed and left it alone giving her one warning to not go too overboard, before going to coax music from his piano for the night.

Alia however, was in for a shock the next morning as she heard a car pull up in her driveway. She looked out her window to see Alice spring out from her bright yellow Volkswagen Beetle. She waved when she saw Alia. Alia waved back and quickly changed out of her duck patterned pajamas before running down the stairs to get the door.

Alice grinned at her with sparkling teeth. "Are you free today?"

"Yeah…?" Alia said, suspicious despite herself. "Come in."

Alice came in and made herself at home, plopping herself down on the orange couch in the living room. "Well, first I should tell you, I really need a favor."

"I wanna hear what it is before agreeing to it." Alia said, remembering last time.

"Fair enough. Well... I want you to go to the dance with me." At the baffled look on Alia's face, she held up a finger. "Let me explain! The principal's really strict about students outside of school coming to the dance, so that means Jasper won't be able to go to the dance with me." A sad expression crossed her face at that admission. Right. Jasper technically wasn't a student anymore. "It would be boring with just me and Edward there, so it'd mean a lot if you came with us. Only if you think it'd be fun, of course."

She could only stare at Alice who was giving her impressive puppy dog eyes. "I… I don't have anything to wear."

"That's why I asked if you were free. I want to take you dress shopping!"

Her dad picked that exact moment to walk down the stairs, coat in hand. "Oh," he said, spotting Alice, taken aback by her unexpected presence. "Hi Alice. I was heading to the hospital. Do you girls need anything?"

"Hi, Mr. Verma!" Alice said brightly. "As a matter of fact… I just convinced Alia to go to the school dance! Is it okay if I take her to pick out dresses?"

Alia groaned as her dad simply nodded, swayed easily by Alice's charm. "I don't see why not." He shrugged on his coat. He pulled out his wallet and handed Alia a credit card, which she took reluctantly. "I've been thinking that you need to get out of the house more." he said to her. "Go ahead and get yourself a nice dress."

"Sure." she said, resigned to her fate as Alice grinned victoriously. "Thanks, Dad."

And after grabbing an energy bar, he was off, pulling out his phone with the other hand to take a call. Alia turned to Alice, who was practically bouncing with excitement. "All this and I haven't even brushed my teeth." Alia sighed. "Ugh, give me, like, ten minutes."

Alia couldn't deny, as she showered and threw clothes on, that she was excited by the prospect of shopping for dresses. She had never done anything like this before and was somewhat eager to see where it would go.

When she was more put together, she came down to see Alice in the same position she left her. "Chop chop! Let's go!"

It was only after getting into Alice's tiny yellow car, when Alia noticed there was someone else sitting in the backseat. "Oh... hi Rosalie."

Rosalie looked up briefly from the text she was composing, then back. "Hi."

Even after all this time, Alia was nervous around Rosalie. The rest of the Cullens had been nothing but nice to her, but Rosalie always maintained her distance. It seemed that Rosalie really didn't like her as she usually left the room whenever Alia entered with Edward. Alia didn't blame her for it, but couldn't help but feel uncomfortable and intimidated.

"Ready ladies?" Alice asked, hopping into the driver's seat, oblivious to or ignoring the silence in the air. "Great!"

They drove for a bit before Alia realised that they weren't heading down the road to Port Angeles. "Alice!" she protested feebly. "You never said we were going to Seattle!"

"You can't expect me to shop in a small town." Alice laughed. "Trust me, I know the best boutiques down there." Alia could only flail her hands in the air. "Come on, do you have anything else to do today?"

"No, but still!" If she had known it was going to be a road trip, she would have brought earbuds.

"We could have taken my car." Rosalie added coolly as they exited Forks. "I'll be impressed if your punch buggy reaches eighty on the freeway."

"Well, I never!" Alice said, outraged. "It will, trust me."

Alice kept driving and Alia lost herself to the sights that blazed past. Alice had been right, with her yellow car smoothly flying across the road. She was glad Alice was driving as Rosalie, from what she'd seen from afar was an extremely fast driver.

They reached Seattle before noon. Alice drove confidently, as if she'd been there a thousand times, driving through the downtown area until they reached a fashionable section that clearly had a bunch of shops with prom dresses and wedding gowns on their displays. Alice parked parallel to a huge dress boutique and was out in a flash to put coins in the meter.

The inside of the boutique wasn't as crowded as Alia would have expected. There were three floors, packed with a variety of dresses as well as fitting rooms. The shop was populated with groups of chattering teenage girls and mothers watching their daughters show off their gowns in front of large mirrors.

Alia very quickly realised the biggest problem that came alongside trying on dresses with Alice. She made everything she tried on look like it came off the runway. At the very least, Rosalie wasn't trying on dresses. That would have been too much for her self esteem.

After a bit of prodding, Alia got into the swing of things. Twenty minutes into trying on dresses Alice shoved into her arms, she took initiative. She adored Alice and all, but the revealing ball gowns she kept giving her were not something she was comfortable with.

"But you have the boobs for them!" Alice protested.

"She's right." Rosalie said, holding up a floor length red gown with a plunging sweetheart neckline that was clearly more suited to her than Alia. "You don't have to be afraid to show off your figure."

"I'm not afraid." Alia said, laughing sheepishly. "Just not comfortable."

"Fair enough." Rosalie said, ignoring a pouting Alice and pulling out a few more modest dresses for Alia. "Try these."

It was after trying on one particular dress that had her heart fluttering. She peeked out of the fitting room, an eager smile on her face. "I think this is the one."

"Ooh!" Alice said, clapping her hands together, on a stand herself wearing a shocking violet ball gown. "It's really pretty."

It was Rosalie's inspection that made Alia nervous. She was seated gracefully in one of the plush armchairs for people waiting for those trying on dresses, looking like a judge at a beauty contest. This wasn't one of the dresses that she had chosen, but one that Alia had picked from the racks. After a moment, she nodded. "Jewel tones suit you."

"Thanks." Alia smiled, relieved. She inspected herself in the mirror and fluffed out the deep green skirt, looking at it from every angle she could. It was a skirt that hugged her hips without being too clingy. The neckline was straight, held up by thin straps. The dress felt feminine without being too revealing.

It was within a good price range too, on sale because it was a dress from the previous year. While it was still an exorbitant amount of money for a single article of clothing, she knew for a fact it was half of what one of Avantika's prom dresses had cost (her sister insisting on buying one for each dance). Plus it wasn't like she was a high maintenance daughter or anything… so she didn't feel too much guilt charging the credit card her dad had handed her that morning.

Next came narrowing down the many options Alice was stuck between. The solution to Alice's problem was her tapping her lip and simply declaring that she was going to buy all of them. Well, Alia wasn't too shocked. She'd been going to the Cullen house for years and was well aware that they were loaded. Even Rosalie picked up the seductive red evening gown she had been eyeing earlier, adding it to Alice's pile after asking for her size from the baffled dress shop employee.

Alia, initially thinking she was done now that they had dresses, was in for disappointment, when Alice and Rosalie moved to the shoe section. Apparently, they had to pick out shoes as well that matched the dresses. "But my dress is long!" Alia said in protest as heels kept being presented to her. "Who's going to be looking at my feet?"

Alice looked as if Alia had kicked her. "The right shoes change everything. Your posture, how the skirt falls, they give you the confidence of being taller— "

"I'm okay with my height." Alia said, picking up a pair of formal silver mary jane flats. "I already can't dance. I'm not going to make things worse by tripping around."

"Let it go." Rosalie said to an Alice who was in the middle of opening her mouth to argue. "It's her choice."

Alia smiled at Rosalie in thanks, who gave her the smallest of smiles back. Alice grumbled, but was quickly distracted by her own prospective shoes. Like before, she ended up buying a few pairs, all at least with four inch heels.

They walked out of the store with bags in stow. There was no need to tailor them in shop as Alice offered to hem and fit her dress for her (as she was apparently talented at altering clothing). Alia took her up on it and was happy to not have to pay an extra hundred bucks.

"Well, let's get going. It's a long drive back." Alice said, slinging the bags into the tiny trunk of her car.

"Would be shorter if we'd taken my car."

"Sorry, I don't speak naysayer." Alice stuck her tongue out.

"Um…" Alia said as they opened the car doors. Both Alice and Rosalie looked at her curiously and she felt her face colour. "I was thinking, if you guys are okay with it, that maybe we could get something to eat?" She had skipped breakfast with Alice's entrance that morning and it was past the time she would have normally eaten lunch. Her stomach was aching with hunger.

Surprise lit up both Rosalie and Alice's faces and they exchanged a look. "I totally forgot. Lunch… right!" Alice said quickly, immediately shutting the car door. "Let's go eat!"

"Lets." Rosalie said shortly, shooting Alice a glare.

"If you're not hungry, it's okay." Alia said. "I can wait til we get back—"

"Nonsense." Rosalie said, her expression softening as she looked at Alia. "Eating's important. What do you want?"

They decided on burgers, and ten minutes later, Alia was devouring her second hamburger, only slightly self conscious about how primly Alice and Rosalie ate in comparison. Within a minute it was gone, and she was working on the onion rings and milkshake. "I'm going to go to the bathroom." She announced, happy and slightly sleepy after she was full of food.

"We'll be here." Alice said. As soon as Alia was off to the restaurant's bathroom, humming a song under her breath, Alice and Rosalie began disposing of their own burgers and sides.

"You can see the future, but you forgot that humans need to eat?" Rosalie said in a voice too low for humans to hear.

"Oh shut up. You forgot too!"

With their supernatural speed, the food was placed under napkins, chair cushions, and under the neighbouring table. When Alia came back, she saw that they were done eating. "Thanks for waiting."

"No worries." Alice rubbed the back of her head, messing up her already artfully messy hair. "You want anything else?"

"Nah, I'm stuffed." Alia grinned happily.

"Then let's go." Rosalie said, calling for the bill.

With that, they were off once more, back towards Forks as the sky got darker and they watched the sun get lower in the sky. It was like they were chasing the sunset. By the time they were back, the sun had left them and it was dark out.

For the next few days, Alia kept opening the shoe box and inspecting her new fancy shoes, the dress being with Alice to alter, and therefore unable to be scrutinised. Now that she was in it and had a valid reason to go, she found herself excited at the prospect of the school dance. She knew she was being ridiculous. She should have just made the first step on her own to go to the dance, but didn't want to be the kind of girl that openly relished in such things.

The day of the dance came and Alia couldn't stop bouncing in her seat the entire school day, rife with nerves and excitement. When Edward looked at her curiously, she lied and told him that she'd just had too much coffee.

The afternoon came quickly. She got ready at the Cullen house, riding her bike down the familiar route with her shoes in her backpack. Alice was already in her hair, dress, and makeup, looking glamorous. She had opted to wear a shimmering lavender halter dress that came to the tops of her knees. It took little time for Alia herself to get ready and her face and hair done up by Alice. The makeup was simple, and her hair, now reaching her shoulders, was gently curled to frame her face.

By the time they were ready, Edward was waiting for them. He was in a crisp black suit that stood out against his pale skin, making him look positively regal. Side by side in front of Edward's silver Volvo, she didn't know who was more beautiful, Alice or Edward. She felt positively plain looking at them.

All those insecurities vanished when Edward smiled at her. He gave a dramatic bow. "My lady. You look stunning."

Alia dissolved into a fit of giggles at that, echoed by Alice. She patted Edward's arm and grinned up at him. "Thanks. You clean up alright yourself."

Edward smirked, tilting his head to the side. "I mean it, you know." he said in a lower voice. "You look beautiful."

"Thanks." she said, more embarrassed that time.

"Hey, let's go!" Alice said, giving them a wave. "We're just in time to be fashionably late!"

And Alice was right. They got to the dance at the perfect time, when people were already in the swing of things and didn't stare too long at Edward and Alice. The school gym was set up to look pretty nice, actually, with the lights dimmed and pastel ribbons strung about. The dance only allowed eleventh and twelfth graders, which packed up the gym to include about a hundred people in total.

Alice had to pull Alia to dance for most of the evening, to fast popular music that Alia typically avoided. Edward stood by the wall, looking as still as a statue while he watched them with a smile. He would have looked awkward if he didn't look like Edward.

Pop music, Alia found, as she got into the swing of things, had its charm at moments like these. Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, Fergie, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Pink, Christina Aguilera (Alice announced each song's artist and title as they came on)… they turned out to be good for dancing. Or maybe it was because Alice could dance to a bear pounding two rocks together and still look majestic.

Alia had taken a break to grab some punch and talk to Edward, when Alice waltzed in front of them. "I'm going to the bathroom. Might take a while. Bye!"

And she was off before either of them could get a word in. Funnily enough, only a minute after Alice had left, the music changed to something slower. Alia watched the atmosphere in the gym shift as a lot of people took the opportunity to go grab snacks or drinks, or to step out and breathe. Mostly couples were left on the dance floor.

It was pretty dreamlike, watching people slowly move to the music in each others' arms. She half-wished she could be out there too. Beside her, Edward sighed. She peeked at him through the corner of her eye, and he met her gaze, smiling in a way she couldn't describe. It was almost sad, but that didn't make any sense.

"Do you wanna dance?" Alia blurted out.

Edward's eyes widened and Alia tried to justify herself. "You— uh— haven't danced yet and I— I figured— just as friends I mean— if you wanted to dance… with me…"

He put a hand over his mouth, and Alia realised he was stifling a laugh. "Well, forget I asked, then." she huffed, looking away with a warm face.

"I wasn't laughing at you." she looked back at him to see his hand outstretched. "Only at myself."

Alia took his hand, and let him lead her to the edge of the dance floor. "Why at yourself?"

Edward smiled crookedly. "I should have asked you. May I?" Well, she wouldn't have asked him otherwise, then, would she? Alia nodded, and Edward put a hand on her waist. She put one of hers on his shoulder. "Just follow my lead."

How Edward was good at this too, Alia didn't know. He led her effortlessly, so she could follow with minimal effort. He kept a good distance between them, more so than the couples around them, which made sense of course, because they weren't like that.

Edward was smiling at her again in the same way as before, all bittersweet, and she smiled back, trying to ease some of his inscrutable feelings she could only guess at. The song that was playing was slow with the voice of the female singer slightly grating and auto-tuned. But that didn't matter. Anything could be playing and it would be just as nice to be like this, with the person she trusted the most.

As they continued dancing to a second song, neither noticed Alice peeking her head through the gym doors, nodding to herself, and skipping off to the parking lot.

...

Let me tell you, writing this chapter was just me cringing about the early 2000s and trying to reference it as much as I could in the styles of dresses and the pop music. Also, they totally danced to Cascada, because it's the early 2000s, lol. Hope that doesn't ruin it.

So, since overlordred brought it up, let me share some of the songs on my playlist for this story (that won't spoil what I have in mind later, those I'll share later):

-Rabbit Heart and Drumming Song by Florence and the Machine

-Decode by Paramore (actually on the Twilight soundtrack but fits this story much better imo)

-Sunlight by Hozier

-This is Gospel and Northern Downpour by Panic! At the Disco

-Firewood by Regina Spektor