Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

"Increase the magnification please," Edward asked politely.

Bella raised her eyebrows but granted his request. "Can't your eyes zoom in on their own and see way better than that microscope?"

Edward smiled. "They can, but that would be cheating."

"Edward the Honest," she smiled back.

"That's rather boring," he complained. Another slide went into place. "I'd prefer Edward the Intelligent."

"What, Edward the Humble isn't available?" She teased.

"Edward the Reflective works too," he said offhandedly as he replaced the next slide.

"I'll settle on Edward the Incorrigible."

He made a show of thinking about the narrowed his eyes playfully. "Fine," he sighed dramatically.

Bella rolled her eyes and continued to make notations in their lab journal. It was odd to witness such a cheerful Edward. His mood swings of late were enough to give her whiplash, but she nonetheless told herself to enjoy this uptick while it lasted. Edward still had his creepy moments. He still had his obstinately irritating moments. But since he'd largely stopped commenting on her relationship with Rosalie, she figured she could look past the rest and be as nice as she could to him. He was still painfully the odd man out in the Cullen house. It was truly a testament to how much the family opened its arms and made her feel like an integral part of their tight knit circle that she never felt like an outsider in their company. But as happy as that made her, she felt terrible that Edward had to put up with that position. Granted, much of the reasons why he was universally disliked by his siblings were the results of his own behavior. But still...Bella knew something of loneliness. She knew something about not fitting in inside one's own house.

Besides, when the pendulum swung towards this happy-seeming Edward, he was actually ok to talk to.

He moved on to the next part of the project, drawing reproductions of the cells they observed under different magnifications.

"Have you scheduled your exam date yet?" He asked.

"Yup. This weekend." The dreaded SATs. Well, dreaded to every other human in the school. What Bella dreaded the most was how hard it would be not to finish hours before everyone else.

"Still planning on a perfect score?"

She shrugged. "It's not unheard of. I checked."

He nodded and continued the drawings.

"How does your whole family get away with not taking the test along with everyone else?" That was something that mildly bugged her. Their covers seemed so precarious to her. What do they do if someone takes a picture of them? Decades ago, she could see how they were able to move from city to city without people recognizing them. But in this time? When everyone had a camera in their pocket and pictures uploaded to the internet lived on in immortality?

"We've built quite a few layers of protection over the years, Bella," he said, whispering now so the other students wouldn't hear. "If we had to leave town today we could be enrolled in any university of our choosing tomorrow. All the necessary paperwork, any documentation we might possibly need is relatively easy for us to come by."

"How?" Bella asked curiously.

"Money," he said simply. "And between myself, Alice and Jasper, well...few humans we come across can deny us what we want."

Except for me, she thought. Bella knew how frustrating Edward found her closed mind to be. She could empathize to a degree. Live a hundred years reading the worlds' brains like a book and then, poof, nothing from one of them? Yeah, she could kind of understand why he didn't like that very much. But she suspected that same quality in her was the one thing that could draw him out of whatever dark place he was keen on visiting these days. She liked to think he found conversing with her a refreshing experience. Pshh, getting a bit full of yourself aren't you Bella?

"So do you have any advice for Saturday?" She asked.

He smiled slightly. "Don't look around at the other students so you can pace yourself. The proctors will think you're cheating."

"Right," she sighed.

They continued to work quietly for a bit. There were a lot of cells to draw and label. After a while she noticed him tensing up. She turned when he rolled his eyes and let out an audible sigh.

"What's up?"

He sighed again and nudged his head to the table behind them. "Your friends' thoughts are particularly loud today. I don't usually mind but this subject is more...vexing than their usual fare."

"Oh?" Edward was usually so stoic when it came to people's less than polite thoughts. What could Lauren and Jessica be thinking of to irk him so?

"Prom," he explained. "Year after year, it never ceases to amaze me the amount of brain power you girls put into that ridiculous social function."

"Hey, don't lump me in with them. I didn't even know there was a prom till you mentioned it," she laughed.

That...was a lie.

It was silly. In the grand scheme of things, prom was probably the pettiest, most trivial subject to grace Bella's thoughts all year. But grace them it did. It's not that she cared much about the event itself. She had no desire to put on a fancy dress (barf), cover her face with sparkly powder or even be in the same room as most of the school's population. An event of that magnitude made Bella's stomach drop with apprehension.

She didn't want to show herself off that way. But...she did want to show off Rosalie.

It was perhaps the only truly shitty aspect of the relationship. How to explain what they had to the rest of the world? Bella had read up what she could find about their kind of relationship and understood that it usually gets better as you get older, that people are more open to different kinds of relationships when they've had a chance to mature and experience more of life. But this was high school. Small town high school. Bella couldn't begin to imagine the reactions Rosalie's simultaneous relationship with Emmett and herself would produce. Part of her didn't care. Part of her thought, fuck 'em. Why should those bastards have any influence over her being able to hold Rosalie's hand out in the open like she wanted to? But when she thought like this, another part of her would rear its ugly head and remind her of the abuse she already had to bear from the student population. God, the field day Jessica and Lauren would have if they found out.

Even if she found the courage and decided she didn't care, there was still the matter of the Cullens. A revelation like this would travel through town faster than even her legs could carry her. Could the Cullens afford that sort of negative attention, especially when they already had to fight off dark insinuation from much of the town over the relationships under their roof to begin with? And it wasn't just the Cullens. Bella herself had promised Charlie early on when she first moved in that she wouldn't draw any attention to herself. That, she thought, would definitely be drawing attention to herself.

As if he'd even notice, she thought darkly.

It could've been worse. But it wasn't, largely thanks to Emmett who sympathized with her and Rosalie's predicament and had done all he could to make things easier on Bella. Whereas a year ago he and Rosalie would be all over each other no matter where they were, this year they weren't. Oh, they still held hands and kissed often. But they no longer made out heavily in the cafeteria for all to see. In fact, the few times during the day that Bella got to see them, Emmett would often wink and nudge Rosalie her way so they could have some semblance of 'together time.' Those minutes and lunch hour were the only things that got her through her day sometimes.

The idea of prom brought out her gag reflex, yes. But Bella wanted to dance with Rosalie. She wanted to kiss her in front of the whole world. She wanted to shout at all the stupid kids and all the stupid people she'd likely come across in the future that she was madly, deeply in love with Rosalie, and that she wouldn't be her Rosalie if she wasn't madly, deeply in love with Emmett too.

"Will you be attending this year?" Edward asked.

"What?" Bella wasn't sure what he was talking about anymore, or if she had missed some part of the conversation.

"Prom. Will you be going?"

Bella picked up the red pencil to color in the nucleus. "I haven't given it much thought."

Edward studied her for a moment. "I don't think the school officials sell tickets in three's."

"Edward, don't start," she growled.

"I'm not trying to start anything," he said calmly. "Just pointing out the obvious. They do couple's photos at these things. You think they'll let Rosalie take two?"

"Jesus, Edward! You think something as trivial as prom is going to bother me?" She hissed quietly. "I don't need that kind of validation!"

"Fine," he rolled his eyes. "Forget validation. For practicality's sake however, what if you accompanied me?"

What?

"Excuse me?" She asked dubiously.

"You and Rosalie are obviously choosing not to publicize your...relationship," he shrugged. "So you can't act like a couple at prom. Assuming you want to go...I'd be happy to be your date."

What the fuck was he trying to pull?

She stared at him incredulously for a moment before she remembered to finish her drawing. "Well thanks for the offer, but that's ok." Then, in an effort not to hurt him too badly, she added, "Going with you will just add fuel to the rumors about us. I'll save you a dance if I do go, though."

He shrugged again. "It's your call, but I'm here if you change your mind."

The bell rang and she hurriedly put away the lab equipment and gathered her things. She might've been the first one out of the classroom if Jessica didn't beat her to it, blocking the door.

"What's the hurry?" Jessica smiled her usual fake smile reserved for people she publicly or privately disliked.

"Out of my fucking way, Jessica," Bella narrowed her eyes and tried to move past her.

"Bella! We don't use language like that in my classroom," Mr. Banner admonished her from behind. "I'm surprised at you."

"Sorry, Mr. Banner," Bella mumbled and turned to glare at Jessica.

"That's ok, Mr. Banner," Jessica replied smoothly. "Bella's just on fire to go to her next class."

The way she said it made Bella's heart run cold. Jessica winked and walked away leaving her frozen in the doorway. Why did she use those words? Why those specific words?

It's nothing, she told herself. It's a common enough phrasing. Right?

For the second time in less than a year, Emmett had to literally block his wife's way in the hallway to stop her from lunging 30 feet forward and crashing into Edward. Even the humans gave them a wider than usual berth. Rosalie was positively humming with pent-up anger.

"Jazz and I will deal with him," Alice said, watching Rosalie warily. "You two just find Bella."

"Thanks, Al," Emmett mumbled as he steered Rosalie, who was so full of rage she could barely take a step on her own, up the rarely used staircase. It looked like Bella had gone up to her old favorite haunt.

"Come out, come out Bella bear!" Emmett yelled playfully when they closed the roof access door behind them. "I can smell you...and you smell good! Yum yum!"

"Em..." Rosalie scolded, but Emmett just grinned and shook his head.

"Hey, it worked!" He said happily. "She laughed," and stuck out his tongue.

"I'm not depressed or anything," Bella said from behind her backpack which she was using as a pillow. "There's no need to pull out the magic tricks."

Neither he nor Rosalie must have looked very convinced, because Bella laughed after looking at their faces and said, "believe me, Edward asking me to prom does not make this a horrible day."

Emmett and Rosalie removed their backpacks and joined her on the ground. This was her favorite spot, he knew, because you could see the distant mountains without having to see (or be seen by) anyone in the parking lot below.

"I'll kill him," Rosalie growled.

"No she won't," Emmett reassured her. "But I don't think his Volvo is safe from her wrath anymore."

"You guys are making a bigger deal out of this than it deserves," Bella sighed.

"Maybe," Rosalie said softly, "but we should talk about it anyway. To be honest I haven't given prom any thoughts. We've gone to so many of them...it's all rather automatic."

"I don't care about prom," Bella mumbled. "I mean it! It's the bigger picture stuff that gets on my nerves."

"People suck," Emmett agreed, eloquently as always.

Rosalie squeezed his hand. "What would happen if we stopped giving a shit?" Emmett continued. "Seriously, what's the worst that could happen?"

"Uhh, people start talking and thinking about the Cullens more and more. Law of large numbers, Em. The more you're on people's minds, the more likely somebody will start asking the right questions, the more likely someone eventually figures out what you are."

"One: that is not the law of large numbers, smartypants. Two: I could live with that," Rosalie stated. They both turned to look at her. "Oh, nobody's going to figure anything out! They can wonder and gossip all they want. People have always refused to believe things that are right in front of them if it flies in the face of everything they know. There's always been and always will be crazies who'll believe anything, but it's never been enough to hurt our standing."

"You've moved for less before," Bella said quietly, looking down at her hands.

Emmett didn't miss the way Rosalie's face contorted in fear. He understood. Though not painted on his face the way it was for Rosalie, he too felt a stab of fear in his heart at the thought of having to leave his Bella Bear, unlikely as that was.

"Bella," Rosalie said slowly, enunciating each syllable. "We are never, ever going to leave you. No matter what happens. I promise."

Emmett chuckled a little to lighten up the mood. "Not to mention it's a little late for Rosie here. She's kinda hooked on you, Bells. You're stuck with her."

Even as he said it, Emmett wondered if Bella really understood how true his words were. Did she truly comprehend what a mating bond entailed? That Rosalie was in this for the long haul? That Rosalie honestly couldn't leave her no more than she could leave him?

Bella and Rosalie shared a look, and again Emmett was struck by the similarities between their relationship and his and Rosalie's. It shouldn't have come as a surprise, not really. He already knew that mated vampires rarely even needed to speak to each other to communicate how they felt. Before Bella he didn't think it was possible for a vampire and a human to share that kind of connection. But here they were. Irrefutable proof that a vampire could have more than one mate, and that one need not be a vampire to enjoy its peculiar benefits. Then again, Bella was such an anomaly herself that the normal rules that governed humans and vampires probably just didn't apply to her.

"Sweetie, if you want to 'come out', the family won't have any problems. We've faced much worse before," Rosalie said.

"It's not just you," Bella whispered. "Charlie..."

Rosalie snarled. "You owe him nothing! I've told you a million times. Just leave that place. Stay with us and you'll never have to worry about him again!"

"I promised him, Rose," she said sadly. "I promised."

"He promised to love you and protect you!" Rosalie shouted. Emmett touched her arm and she paused in order to calm down. "He promised to be a father the second you were born. He hasn't exactly kept his promises, has he?"

Bella said nothing, but it was clear from her demeanor that she wasn't convinced. In spite of everything, Charlie still meant a lot to Bella and she was determined not to screw anything up or give up on him in the year and a half she had left of high school.

"I'm not ready, Rose," Bella set her hand on Rosalie's lap and left it there. "And I'm not ready to give up on him either. I really don't care about prom but if I go...will you promise me a dance?"

Rosalie put her hand on top of Bella's and smiled softly. "I promise you a thousand."

Emmett smiled then cursed. "Damn it!"

Bella looked at him, shocked, but Rosalie shook her head and smiled in reassurance.

"No, not you," Emmett waved her off. "Jasper just called dibs on teaching you to dance. I wanted to do it! Not fair, Jazz!"

"Making assumptions, the lot of you," Bella teased. "Do you know how many ballroom dance books there are in any given library?"

"Oh god," Emmett laughed. "I better brush up then. Can't have you outclassing me."

Bella grinned and stuck out her tongue. She cuddled up closer to Rosalie who was only too happy to provide her a place to snuggle.

"Can we stay here the rest of the day?" Bella asked wistfully. "People really do suck."

Emmett and Rosalie looked at each other. He shrugged. Why not?

They made themselves comfortable around their backpacks and jackets. They maneuvered into place, somehow without Rosalie ever letting go of Emmett's hand or removing her arm from around Bella's shoulders. His wife turned to him, smiling softly, and whispered, "I love you," before resting her head on his shoulder. He smiled back but stayed silent. Rosalie understood his unspoken words without him needing to say them. He'd have to find a time to tell Bella too, because those words were meant for her as well. Maybe later while Rosalie worked on her truck, after he kicked her ass on the playstation, he'd tell her how much he hoped the world would change...that he couldn't wait for the day when he could walk down a crowded hall holding Rosalie's hand, with Bella holding the other.

Author's note: Like wine with cheese if you're so inclined, listen to "Same In Any Lingo" by Nancy Wilson to add some flavor to the last part of this chapter.

Author's note II: What do you think about the nitty gritty practicalities of Bella, Rosalie, and Emmett's relationship?