Sorry that I haven't posted in a while. I've been very, very emotional lately. I had to leave to go back to school four hours away from home. I am a straight homebody so it's really hard for me to move away from everyone I know.

So, I would like to give shout outs to those who reviewed my last story! (: Thank you to DxGRAYxMAN, secretindulgence, Guest, Miam904, and WithLove x me! Your reviews really encourage me that my story isn't a total bust. I don't think I'm a bad writer, but sometimes when I re-read my stories… I feel like it definitely could be written better… and your support helps!

All rights to the characters and the Twilight Saga go to Stephenie Meyer. Enjoy!(;

Chapter 47: Prom (Lemons)

The hallways of the school and lunchroom walls were filled with decorations for prom. Snowflakes and crystal lights hung down from one side of the halls, and then red and orange satin fabric hung down the other side of the hallway. Banners lined the doorways reminding everyone where it would take place, the school gym. Which was ironically the only place large enough in Forks to hold that many people that Forks high school had.

Jessica had her little prom committee minions handing out fliers, passing them around to the freshmen that weren't going to be attending, to show them how fun prom could be for them when they do go. The pamphlet held a Robert Frost titled Fire and Ice. Seemed a little poetic for even her to use it, but it was befitting for the prom. I didn't mean that in the most non amicable way, but Jessica was a girl who held school knowledge. She was the top of her class and made sure her grades were suited to guide her into a better future, but other than that, Jessica didn't present herself to be the type to identify serene poems.

If anything at that, leave it to Jessica to be able to excite the school about the beauty and romantic gesture that prom had to offer.

Angela made sure to find me after every class. It was usually the same conversation about where we would go to dinner before prom and about what we would be doing at prom. She wanted to make sure to take plenty of pictures of Jake and I when we were there. She didn't like to be in photos herself, but she enjoyed being behind them. I didn't necessarily care for pictures either, but I will make sure to urge her to take photos with me. Memories are what she went after and I would want her to remember me. Besides, I would have to download some of those photos and send them to my mother anyways. I was lacking in the photo department. I was supposed to take photos of my senior year for my mother, but I had lost interest not too long after my birthday to take them.

It was another sunny day outside today. The heat wave was still passing through. Only a few clouds were passing over the sky, keeping the sun unhidden. Forks didn't naturally have a lot of sun rays beaming towards the wet ground. The only sun that was normally given was through the clouds, casting a clean shadow through the fog. If Edward and his family were still here, they would have had to stay inside the entire time and leave for an entire week of classes. Most likely their whereabouts would have prevailed on hiking through the mountains to knock down some unfortunate wildlife that wanted to also enjoy the warm days.

Angela and I sat outside for lunch again as we had done previously this week. We wanted to enjoy the warm weather as much as we could before it had escaped us again with the draping of clouds overhead and the chill air across our skins. We groaned at the idea of the heat wave leaving us. This was the type of weather that my mother would have enjoyed if she visited me.

Jessica had joined us out here at the picnic tables, leaving Lauren behind in the lunchroom with the rest of our daily lunch friends. She stayed quiet first, heaving her chest out towards the sun, leaning her neck back.

I had always admired Jessica before she had grown animosity towards me. Not that I disliked her now, but it definitely was an uncomfortable feeling to be around her. We hadn't talked about what happened at Seattle or at the party. Jessica was caring in her own way. She invited me to her home and provided a dress for the party for me. I didn't think Jessica disliked me, but it could be Lauren who had urged her on, or my past actions in Port Angeles. I knew I wasn't particularly Lauren's favorite, and the possibility of being around Lauren could have transpired Jessica to feel ill towards me.

"I don't think we are going to get another day like this until summer," Jessica said to us, letting the sun drape over her facial features as she leaned back.

"I'm surprised you're finally relaxing," Angela responded. "You've been panicking about prom all week."

"Yeah, I have been. It's been stressful, but this weather helps," Jessica grinned but then sighed, sitting back up. She paused, taking another breath of the air. "Bella…" Jessica's mouth held open loosely as the wrinkles formed between her eyebrows. "This is our senior year. Our last prom… and I would really hate it if I never were able to fix this before the school year ended," She paused, biting her lip.

My jaw slacked. "I—no, it's fine, Jessica. I'm not upset with you," I was stupefied when she spoke to me. I hadn't expected her to be out here with us, especially leaving Lauren behind in the cafeteria.

"No, it's not fine. Angela was right. I was being a bad friend," she looked down, pulling her hair behind her ears. "I like you, Bella. I do." She looked up at me. "I just—" Jessica smacked on her lips, changing the direction of her eyes.

"But…" I replied, "Lauren doesn't like me… I get it."

"No, it's not that," She paused. "She doesn't like you, that's true. But I've always been a little…" She winced at her words. "jealous of you…?"

My body stiffened at her words. My face fell, along with my jaw. "Jealous… of me?" I replied with a shaky voice, stuttering my words from disbelief. "Jessica, you're the most popular girl in school… and you're at the top of our class."

"Yeah, well. It's a little unwelcoming when the new girl comes to school causing all the guys to flock to her, including the most gorgeous one out of all of them," She muttered the last point. "It was like you were this new plaything for all the boys to gawk at. I could barely hold Mike's attention when you were in the room."

"Jessica, Mike likes you. You know that."

"Yeah, thanks to you…" Jessica said, kicking a rock at her foot. Angela looked at me, her eyes opened wide, raising her eyebrow at me. "He told me you rejected him last year… and basically encouraged him to go to the dance with me instead."

"Well, he shouldn't have told you that. It's a bit rude, but that was then. Things are different now," I insisted to her.

"Maybe," She let out another sigh, "He's there when I need him to be."

"Jessica… I don't know—"

"And you got your handson Edward Cullen. Not that I would have even tried to take the dive. He was dreamy of course, but too intimidating to talk to. But out of all the girls in school, including me, he went after you. Never have I seen that guy even look at someone the way he stared at you." A heavy feeling slumped into my chest.

"Well, look where that got me…" I said, sucking air into my teeth.

"Yeah, and then you land this other hot guy who drives all the way to Seattle to see you… just to rent a tux for prom. I've never had that."

"The boys here at school are stupid, Jessica. Wait for college," Angela tried to encourage her.

"Yeah, they are. And you have sweet Ben. It just seems all the good guys don't come after me. But they come after you, Bella. The good and the bad." I bit my lip at the 'bad.' It reminded me of that night in Port Angeles when I was scavenging around looking for a bookstore but came up short. I had tried to walk around a town that I didn't know the street names of, aimlessly walking down streets in between buildings until I had found myself surrounded by an unwelcoming crowd… until Edward saved me.

"I don't mean to," I said under my breath.

"Yeah, it's effortless for you. But they still swarm around you. I have to work for their attention. Anyways… I'm babbling on about something that isn't remotely important. I'm Jessica Stanley," she laughed, dryly. "the most popular girl in school, head of the volleyball team… and they went after you. That's all, really. I was jealous and it made me a bad friend to you." She looked back at me, and then towards the clouds that wisped across the sky. "And I'm sorry… I just hope that we can work things out before the school year ends. Before we leave to start our new lives. And I hope I get to see you at the dance tonight." Jessica stood up from the picnic table, grabbing her purse and keys off of it, walking back inside the lunchroom.

I had no words to say after that. I felt speechless at her assumptions. Jessica had no reason to be jealous of me. If I was special in an unfathomable way, then Edward would never have left me. I wouldn't still be upset over the loss of him. Upset that he was gone and not in my life anymore. Even if Edward never came back to Forks, I'd want nothing more than his family to come back to me. They came into my life so suddenly, so fast and strong. I loved them dearly—they were my family. Alice was my fashionable nosy sister, Emmett was my sarcastic big brother, Jasper was the odd brother that was uncomfortable to speak around me, Rosalie was the sister that held animosity towards me, Carlisle was the most compassionate and selfless father, and Esme, the kind woman who took me in with no questions asked. I would just want my family back. To be back in their lives even if Edward didn't come back.

But they weren't coming back, none of them were. There was no reason for Jessica to be jealous of a girl that forced a whole family—or a coven of vampires to move away.

And Jacob. She was jealous of him. I wasn't too shy to notice how beautiful he was. He always held a sense of attractive qualities. No— never would I deny how unmistakably beautiful he was.

Angela's face was easy to read while she gawked at me in amazement at Jessica's apology, or so her excuses for the way she had reacted towards me when I was present. I didn't mind it though, even if they were excuses. I felt more complacent with the idea that she came forward about it to me, which I would accept.

Prom would commence only just a few hours after the school day had ended. I made sure to request today off of work over a few weeks ago so that I could make preparations for myself and also help Jacob get ready—not that he needed my help. I'm not usually the one to go to for fashion advice for any occasion, especially not for prom. Jacob most likely will be able to handle his prom attire himself considering he already had the suit. There isn't much that comes to the male requirements for prom besides the suit itself and their hair at least brushed neatly.

Angela had made sure to remind me one more time about dinner tonight before we made our separate ways in the parking lot. She wanted to entertain the idea that we should carpool together, but I knew instead that if I wanted to leave early, I'd need my truck to do so. I kindly declined her offer.

Charlie was home earlier than his usual time. I swallowed at the thought of him having possibly left work early so that he could see me go to prom. I didn't like that idea. He was there for me for my junior prom, so I didn't see the reason why he would need to see my senior one. There was nothing special about it, but maybe it had to do with the idea that I was going with Jacob, the son of his best friend. I wasn't blind to the idea that Charlie much preferred Jacob over Edward, so it wouldn't surprise me that he would be pleased with the idea of making sure he was there to escort Jacob and I to the door.

Getting ready wasn't too complicated. My hair held some waves after I had it tied up in the towel after I washed my hair. When it dried, it was bouncy enough for me to be able to effortlessly add some light curls to it to give it more appeal to match the dress that Angela helped pick out for me. Makeup wasn't something I wore normally. I would mostly just add some light blush to my cheeks every now and then, and maybe a small swoop of mascara to my lashes, but nothing too flashy or noticeable. I tried to take advantage of tonight, though. I wanted to not look too plain and unkempt when wearing that dress. I took the liberty of adding a dark navy-blue eyeshadow on my lids and adding a hint of charcoal to the top and bottom eyelash base to blend the look together. It didn't look like any professional did it, but if Alice were here, she might have approved. With a touch of mascara and a hint of lip gloss, I felt that I was prepared and ready to put on my dress and wait for Jacob to arrive.

The dress still fit perfectly, not that I expected it not to. It didn't hold itself too snug against my figure and the skirt flowed as it went past my hips, exposing the leg slit in it. The tulle that hung over the black satin dress with the small golden accents towards the middle of the skirt down to the end of the dress was a tad crinkled from being encased in the bag in my closet in an unorganized way, but it was beginning to fall in place the longer it hung on my body. The back of the dress was open with small thin straps that flowed diagonal downwards across it. Luckily, the heat still lingered outside toward the evening.

"Bella?" Charlie knocked on my door hesitantly. "Are you almost ready?"

"Yeah, dad, one second," I replied, swooping one side of my hair behind my shoulder, exposing my collar bone. "Is Jacob already here?"

"Not yet, just wanted to give you something before he arrived." I lifted up the bottom of my dress so I could shuffle my bare feet across the floor to the door without tripping over it. I cracked it open looking up at him and proceeded to swing it open entirely.

Charlie's eyebrows raised as he inspected me and his jaw hung loosely, parting his lips. He took in a deep breath and then exhaled.

"Wow, Bells. That sure is some dress."

I forced a smile and reciprocated the heavy sigh. "Thanks. Angela picked it out for me." Charlie nodded and stood there for a moment as if he had forgotten why he came to my door.

"Oh, sorry." He pushed his hand into his front pocket, pulling out a small green box from it. "I thought you'd need some… jewelry of some kind to go along with whatever dress you picked out for tonight." He fumbled with the box in his hand— opening it and exposing the petite diamond earring studs encased in it. "They were my mom's, or well, your gran's earrings…" he took another sigh, "I didn't have the heart to sell them and they were taking up space in my dresser. Thought maybe you'd like to have them for tonight, or to keep for yourself. Whichever."

I nodded at him with a slight grin. I lifted the box out of his hand, staring at them and shifting the box side to side as the light in my room shimmered off them.

"They are great… wow," I chuckled awkwardly. It's not unusual for me to not know how to react to a gift, especially one such as this. They were stunning, and definitely not too elegant for me to wear on a daily basis. They were subtle. I wrapped my fingers around the box closing it and lifted my arms up around Charlie's neck, hugging him. He held me tightly around my rib cage and bared his chin on top of my head, lightly pecking it before letting go of the hug. Hugging wasn't a normal thing Charlie and I did. We didn't get too emotional around each other, normally, but I had appreciated this gift from him.

"No problem, Bells. Glad you like them." Charlie looked down at my feet, raising one of his eyebrows. "No shoes?"

"Oh, I have a pair of heels in my closet somewhere. Just waiting on Jacob to get here before I put them on." I spoke too soon. A loud knock on the door echoed up the staircase. Jacob never needed to knock, normally. Charlie made sure to encourage him that he was always welcome to walk inside whenever he wanted to. I nodded at Charlie and walked away from him to my closet, shoveling through different boxes until I could find the shoes that I wore to the party last weekend. They weren't too high of a heel. It was about three inches, so not too incapable for me to be able to walk in. The shoes were black with an open toe. One strap laid over the top of the toes and another strap wrapped around my ankle with a dainty belt clasp. Renee had gotten me these a few years ago. I never had a chance to wear them considering dressing up was never a part of my forte, but the party last week and for prom tonight seemed to be a good occasion for them. Especially if I wanted even a chance to get closer to Jacob's height.

I opened the small box, taking out the small diamond stud earrings and put them on. They were very light weight, so it was hardly noticeable that I was wearing them. Another thing to appreciate about them.

Jacob and Charlie were chatting downstairs. I'm sure they were talking about curfew while I was safe away in my bedroom. I took a deep breath before I decided to pass the threshold of my doorway towards the staircase. I held onto the railing on the wall and slowly started to make my way down the stairs, trying to not trip from the height of the heels that I had not adjusted myself to yet.

Jacob stood backwards towards the staircase, not noticing that I was walking down yet. I don't know how he hadn't. My heels were pretty loud. He was laughing at something Charlie had said to him where then Charlie patted the top of his shoulder, signaling Jake to turn around.

There wasn't much I was expecting from his reaction. I didn't expect a ball to drop, or the ceiling to crash down, or confetti to burst into the air, but his reaction surprised me. It was more sensual in the sense. At first his eyes widened, forcing his eyebrows to raise, but then they settled into a flat line. The corner of his mouth lifted, giving a lopsided grin, partially exposing his teeth before he bit the bottom of his lip. I was very glad that Charlie was behind him, not being able to see the facial expression painted on Jacob's face. I looked down trying to hide the smile that exhaled a chuckle from my throat.

"Here, let me help you," Jacob walked up a few steps up the stairs, grabbing onto my other hand that was free from the railing. He helped me balance myself the rest of the way down. "Is this one of your adrenaline junkie phases, Bells? Wearing heels?" He chortled.

"Ha, very funny. I can change if you rather." I raised my eyebrow at him, smirking.

"Okay, you two. Your mom is going to kill me if I don't get a photo of you both." Charlie said to me.

"Oh, I forgot my camera upstairs," I replied. "I'll go get it."

"No, no don't worry. I already grabbed it from your dresser when I got off work," he chuckled under his breath. "I came prepared."

Jacob walked over towards the kitchen counter grabbing a clear box that held red roses with gold tulle. "May I?"

I gawked at it. "Was this necessary?" I shyly whispered, raising my eyebrows. "I didn't even get you a boutonniere."

"No worries. I got mine in the car," He winked, wrapping the corsage around my wrist.

"Alright, kiddos. Snuggle up," Charlie held the camera in his hand, turning it around looking for the on button. I held my hand out for it, taking it and turning it on for him, getting it ready for him to take the photo. Charlie faintly blushed from embarrassment when taking it back from me and cleared his throat. "Okay, I want to see nice happy grins. Your mom is going to be stunned."

I rolled my eyes at Charlie with a side grin on my face. Jacob held his hand at the small of my back, leaning in close to me. I held myself against him, with my hand with the corsage on my wrist against his chest. I looked over at the camera, giving a small grin towards it. I couldn't imagine what this photo would have looked like if I weren't wearing these heels. Not that they didn't do much to increase my height towards Jacob, but at least I appeared three inches closer to him.

"Alright. Three… two… one…" Click. The flash went off, causing me to squint my eyes and shield my face away from view when it was over. "Oops, sorry about that," Charlie mocked. "But the photo looks great."

"Awesome, ready to go?" I looked up into Jacob's eyes.

"Hold on, Bells," Charlie said. "Let me get in a few words," Charlie huffed, scratching the back of his neck. "I know it's prom night. I may be old, but I'm not too old to realize that you teenagers like to stay out all night partying. I would know. I used to be one," He cleared his throat. "So, you don't necessarily have a curfew, but I do expect you to be upstairs in your room when I wake up in the morning. Got that?"

I nodded at him, "Sure, no problem."

"And if you plan on drinking, then please, find someone to drive you home, or better yet, call the house phone and ask me to come get you."

"It's fine, dad. I don't plan on drinking," I expressed in an annoyed tone. Charlie knows me better than to participate in that sort of thing.

"Don't worry, Charlie. I'll take care of her," Jacob interjected.

"Good, well— alright then. You two have fun."

(This is a link to a picture of Bella's prom dress that I drew on Windows Paint! imgur (dot com) /a/lCrPDxa I am not an artist, but this was the basic idea I had envisioned!)

"Yes, that turn, Jake. The one that's coming up." I said to him trying to navigate him to the restaurant.

"Just making sure," He chuckled. We didn't take my truck like I wanted to, but Jacob was pleased with the idea of being able to take me to prom in his own car, so I didn't make a fuss. We were meeting up with Angela and Ben at the new Olive Garden that they built in town. It was surprisingly the fanciest restaurant Forks had to offer, considering that it was an Italian American cuisine place. Ben and Angela already had a table waiting for us when we got there. The place was crowded with our other classmates who had tables for parties of ten, and some for less. This place must be the new talk of the town if it has this many people here.

Jacob and Ben had scarfed down two appetizers of the famous breadsticks before we had ordered our food.

"Bella, this is so exciting!" Angela said, pulling out her camera and snapping a quick photo of me and Jacob. The photo couldn't have been flattering in the slightest. She took them too soon for us to realize. She was into those kinds of candid photos, so I was content to be able to let her enjoy herself. "Our last prom, senior year! Well. Maybe not you two's last prom. Jacob, you have two more years, right?"

"Yeah, just about. I'm sure Bella wouldn't let me take her anyways. Our proms aren't that exciting since most of us on the rez are either related or we all know each other very well from our parents being old friends with each other. And they aren't going to be near as funded as Forks High School's proms."

"Jessica went all out this year. She raised buckets of money to fund it. I have to give her credit for that one."

"Oh, and they hired a really cool DJ this year. Won't be some random faculty member clicking random songs on a screen," Ben responded.

"Last year's prom was fun, too though. It was very aesthetic."

"Yeah, I remember. I crashed it to see Bella for a few minutes," Jacob laughed, glancing in my direction.

"How long do you think we are planning on staying at prom? Couple of hours?" Angela asked us.

"Hours?" I gawked at her. "I don't think I can stand in these heels for that long. They are already hurting my ankles."

"At least you look pretty," She said with a cheeky grin.

Jacob wrapped his arm around me, kissing the top of my head. "That you do, honey." He smiled at me. "And I don't know. I thought maybe Bella and I could hangout afterwards. Charlie didn't give her a curfew."

"Awh, dude! Lucky. I have to have Angela home by ten-thirty tonight," Ben responded.

"I could call my mom and see if it's okay to stay out longer if you guys wanted to?" Jacob quickly glanced at her and paused on her face. Angela's eyes widened and crimson pooled in her cheeks. "Or, Ben you and I could do something." She said, looking over at Ben to break eye contact with Jacob.

"I think it would be fun to hangout tonight after prom," I insisted. "I just would want to change out of this dress first."

Angela quickly looked at Jacob again, and then grinned at me. "No, no it's okay! Really, you and Jacob should enjoy your night together. Me and Ben will probably catch a late movie." She looked back at him and rested her hand on his forearm.

The sidewalk leading to the gym's outside doors were lighted with hanging lanterns and vines wrapped around the poles. Small vases were scattered on the ground in random positions with small LED lights inside of them. A canopy ahead was put in place to walk under before you made it to the double doors. Long streaming lights were hanging down it, forcing you to part through them before you headed inside. A photographer was also stationed outside, ready to take pictures of the guests.

Jacob and I took our picture together, but this felt more intimidating than when my father took them for us at the house. I got bashful and looked away from the camera in time before he could click the button, but Jacob rolled his finger down my cheek, and lifted my chin up to look into his eyes, allowing the photographer to take a candid-like photo of us.

Last year's dance was much different than this one. Bright red and white lights flashed along the floor to add to the detail of the fire and ice theme. A disco ball hung from the ceiling causing scattering light to dance around the room. There was a wide gap in the middle of the dance floor, filled with only a few couples twirling around— showing off their practiced dance routines to certain songs. Other dancers were scattered along the edge, pressed against each other, and others were casually moving their body to the beat of the music.

Jacob grabbed onto my hand, and I stood there staring at him, unable to move.

"What are you doing?" he looked at me confused.

"I can't dance, you know this."

"Well, me neither, but I made a bet with Cheney and I'm not about to lose my money over it." Jacob pulled me into him, catching me before I had lost my balance. We had swayed back and forth, uncoordinated as we both were. He tried to do small swoops that you see in the movies, but they weren't as flawlessly executed. Jacob held his arm around my waist, lifting me in the air to whirl me around the way the others were doing on the dance floor.

"I feel like a child," I laughed at my effortlessness.

"You don't look like a child," Jacob murmured, pulling me closer to him. My feet had to be about a foot off the ground. I bared my face on the crook of his neck chuckling at his response.

I turned my head looking over at the other side of the dance floor where Ben and Angela were enjoying themselves hand in hand, her hand on his shoulder, and his hand on her hip, swaying back and forth to the medium paced song.

"Looks like you're going to lose that bet, Black," I snickered. Jacob looked over in that same direction.

"The hell I am!" He held his arm tighter around my waist and started to drag me over towards them. "Excuse us, trying to get to the snack table," Jacob said pushing his body and mine in between the two of them.

"No fair man, you can't interfere with the bet!" Ben shouted as Jacob continued to drag me towards the chocolate fountain. I laughed looking over at Angela who had a side grin on her face, shaking her head back and forth at me.

"Oh, hey guys!" Jessica said walking over towards us with her hand in Mikes.

"Hey, Jess. The dress looks great," I ensured her.

"Right?" She chuckled, flipping her hair away from her chest. "But look at you! Wow. What theme are you going for? Fire or ice?"

I quickly glanced at Jacob who had let me down from his arms only a few moments ago. "Oh, I didn't really choose. Angela picked this dress saying that it fit the neutral theme between the two."

"Smart thinking," She grinned at me. "I hope everything looks great. You won't believe how much that DJ cost." She stuck her finger in her opened mouth imitating a gag impression. "And that chocolate fountain was no joke either."

"Yeah, Jacob sure seems to like it," I said, glancing over at him again who now had a plate full of covered strawberries, pretzels, and marshmallows.

"Well, as you saw, we hired a photographer for the night. I thought maybe we could all get a group photo together. You, Jacob, Angela, Ben, Lauren, Tyler, Eric, Mike, and me!"

"Oh, did Eric not bring a date?" I asked.

"No, he's riding solo tonight," Mike added.

"Sucks to be that guy," Jacob said with a mouth full of chocolate marshmallows. I noticed Jacob's eyebrow had raised when he noticed Mike was speaking. Mike dry coughed lightly, looking away from him.

"So, sound good?" Jessica asked, looking over at Jacob and back at me. She wrapped her arm around Mike and pulled him in closer to her.

"Oh, I don't know…" I muttered.

"It's our last senior prom, Bella. Our last year of high school!" Angela said. I hadn't noticed she was standing so near to us.

I caved. I didn't want to be the only person opposed to the idea. "Sure…" I let out a sigh, "why not."

Jessica squealed, "Awesome. I'll get the group together. Meet us outside by the canopy!"

The night passed by quicker than I imagined it to. Jacob and I decided to spend the prom outside of the gym doors, listening to the music echo in the building. Angela and Ben had joined us before they decided to go back inside and continue to dance with the rest of our classmates.

Jacob had lost the bet, sadly enough, but fortunately Ben didn't hold it against him or make him pay up. So much for bets. I needed to get out of the crowded dance floor that was held in the gym. I wanted to get away and just take a moment to appreciate Jacob tonight. We stood underneath one of the trees near the gym where lights intertwined around the trunk of it. My head against his chest, his hand trailing down my bare spine to the small of my back, and our other hand held together with our fingers intertwined.

We weren't speaking as we usually do. We are never normally quiet with each other, but this moment was meant for peace between us. Meant to take in what we had together, especially tonight. The heat of his skin radiated through his button-down white shirt under his suit. It pierced through the pores of my skin like tiny needles, but it didn't bother me. The moment was too serene, too blissful to care.

The warmth in the air had also felt pleasurable against my bare back. The night was perfect. No chill air to turn me away.

Jacob leaned his mouth towards my ear. "We can leave whenever you're ready, honey." He whispered. I nodded, breathing in the warm scent of his breath.

I looked back up at him as his face escaped from my cheek. "Was this what you imagined prom would be like?"

"It's not something I would care to go to again with anyone else," he chuckled, sliding his tongue over the bottom of his lip. "And I'd do it again if you wore that dress."

If it wasn't already for his skin contact against my cheek causing the blood to rush towards them, then definitely his words were. Jacob lifted me up again, spinning me around slowly, compressing me against his body while the skirt of the dress flowed against the warm breeze. It was a perfect night. Even if we were at a prom that was filled with a bunch of dancing high schoolers, it still was an exceptional night.

"We should get back to my dad's. I want to get out of this dress, and he would probably appreciate it more if I came home early."

"Your dad isn't at the house, Bella." Jacob admitted.

"Yeah, he is, he never mentioned he had any plans tonight. He told me to at least be upstairs by the time he wakes up."

"Yeah, he told you that. He's actually going to be with my dad tonight. They plan to get up early in the morning to go fishing, so my dad invited him to stay over for the night." Jacob looked down, smiling. "He offered him fish fry for dinner if he said yes."

"Oh," I said, processing any ideas. "Well I can think of something we can do, maybe. I'm sure there is some kind of plan for a beach bonfire tonight after prom. That's what they did last year."

Jacob held my hand, pressing it against his chest, looking down at it. "I don't want to hang out with your senior friends tonight, Bella."

I felt offended, "Oh, I'm sorry. Are you too good for them?"

He chuckled back softly, "No, chill out, Bells. It's not that. I just want to spend tonight with you." I sighed, staring at my hand that he had pressed against his chest. I ruffled the folds of his button down between my fingers.

"Spend tonight with me?" I asked with a hush breath, unsure.

"If that's okay with you. Not going to force you to hang out all night with me."

"No, no. That sounds great… Can we stop by my house first? I wouldn't mind getting out of this dress." He rolled his eyes at me, taking my hand off his chest and intertwined our fingers, encasing my hand into his and walked with me back to his car.

"Hand me your keys," Jacob said holding his hand out towards me. He had his car idled in front of my house.

"It's fine. I'll be right back," I said, clutching the keys in my hands.

"I'll get your clothes for you, Bella." He insisted.

"I just want to get changed right now and out of this dress, if I'm being honest."

He bit his lower lip, pulling his mouth to the side of his face. "I just want to see you in that dress for a little longer, if that's okay with you." I hesitated, sucking in a quick breath into my lungs. I nodded at him, unlatching my fingers around my keys and placed them into his hand. He shifted the car into park and walked to my front door, opening it and walking inside.

Jacob didn't want me to change, yet, but he wanted to grab clothes for me. Which meant at some point tonight, we would have to go somewhere so that I could change out of this dress and put a fresh pair of pants and t-shirt on tonight. Somewhere that I wouldn't know of. We most likely were not going to his house. Charlie was staying over there tonight, and they were probably asleep by now. He declined my offer of following the rest of the seniors to the beach for a bonfire in exchange to spend tonight with me instead. I hadn't quite figured out his plans yet for the rest of the evening, but I have put together that I wasn't going to be going to sleep in my own bed.

Jacob had exited my house, relocking the door and headed back into the driver's seat. He was holding a small overnight bag and a pair of my sneakers in his other hand. That concluded my suspicions that I was not going back home after we were finished hanging out. I pulled the bag out of his hands and rested it on my lap, unzipping it. Inside were a pair of clean jeans from my drawer, an old brown oversized t-shirt from my closet with a band logo on it that I don't listen to, a pair of underwear and one of my sports bras, a clean pair of socks, and then a pair of pajama pants and tank top. He had also packed my toothbrush and toothpaste. How embarrassing that he went through my underwear drawer. I didn't necessarily have anything flashy in there, but I also didn't have anything alluring to the male eye.

"Did I forget something?" he asked me. I didn't recognize that my face had contorted itself into many different expressions while I had shuffled through the bag.

"Oh, no. No, sorry. I'm just confused," That was only partially a lie.

"Confused?"

"Yeah, why not just let me change now?"

"You can change later, I promise," He said, winking at me and then shifted the car into drive, placing his hand onto my thigh with his palm up, fingers unclenched. I laid my hand into his, feeling his fingers wrap around mine.

"Where are we going?" I asked him, looking out the window as the trees passed by us on the dark road. His headlights weren't helping to get through the thick blackness of the night. He was leaning forward on the steering wheel, squinting ahead at the road, flashing his brights on and off to get a clearer view after each passing car. We had been driving for over an hour now, and I wasn't sure if he knew where we were going, or if we were lost. He kept looking back in the rearview mirror continuously. It urged me to turn around and look for myself, but there was nothing there. "Jacob?"

"Uh, hold on. Sorry…" he replied, looking at the next sign that passed by us. "Okay, we will be there in hopefully the next fifteen minutes.

"Where are we going, though?" I asked him again.

"Somewhere just a little warmer," He said, smiling at me. The heat wave was going to leave Fork's on Sunday, which Angela and I had thought we would make plans for tomorrow to go to the beach to enjoy it until it was gone.

Town lights became more visible as we got closer. The sign going into the town mentioned that we were arriving in Sequim. Sequim was a town known for being called Sunny Sequim. It was at the base of the Olympic Peninsula and it's one of the driest places in western Washington. Other than that, it's also known for its scenery of lavender fields and a well-rounded art community. I hadn't actually been here before, but I knew it was never too far from Forks, if I ever had needed to endure some sunshine.

"Sequim?" I asked him, confused. He looked in his rearview mirror again, and then looked back over to me, with a grin, nodding. "What are we doing in Sequim?"

"I thought maybe you'd want to enjoy the heatwave here more than in Forks. And, it's the weekend. Knowing you, you most likely have caught up on your assignments and don't need to finish any of them this weekend."

"Weekend? We are staying here all weekend?" I asked, panicking. "What is Charlie going to say? He's going to be so furious when he sees that I never came home!"

"Please, can you relax, Bella," he murmured. "He likes me."

"And? Doesn't mean he's going to be happy about this! When he realizes that I'll be gone all weekend instead of coming home tonight, he won't like you much anymore! Not to mention that I'll be grounded from seeing you"

The smile never left Jacob's face. He continued to chuckle through his teeth.

"Are you going to say anything? This isn't funny!"

"Didn't I ask you to relax?" He looked over towards me, taking his hand off the steering wheel to pat the top of my thigh. I swung it away from him towards the passenger door. "You don't seem very relaxed to me. Have you no trust in me that I have everything handled?"

"Handled?" I asked. I was partially confused but upset with him at the same time.

"Charlie knows where you are going this weekend, Bells. He knows you are going with me."

"Then why would he tell me to go home?"

"Because he wanted to keep it a surprise. He agreed that you deserved some relaxation this weekend. Especially somewhere where the sun always shines, excluding Phoenix."

"And he's okay with me going with you?" I cocked my eyebrow at him.

He grinned, "I told you he likes me."

Jacob took a right coming down the road when passing a few gas stations before it into a Holiday Inn and parked. He pulled out two overnight bags from his trunk and opened my door helping me get out. We walked inside where he already had a reservation for a room on the ground floor. They handed him the room keys and we walked down the hallway into the room. He opened up the hotel room door and I followed him inside. The room was decorated very nicely. I wasn't surprised since Holiday Inns are usually nice hotels. I didn't understand how he could have afforded it. The pillows and bedding were a nice bright white and the side tables and decor were mostly black besides the printed painting in the room. There was a window on the other side with white curtains and a television in the room that sat in front of the two beds on a black dresser. Jacob set down the bags on the bed, looking around the room.

"This is nice, right?"

"Yeah, it is. How did you get this room? You don't have a job."

"I kind of do. People bring me their cars on the rez, and I fix them."

"Okay, but this had to cost a lot of money. Why would you waste it on a hotel room?" I didn't mean to sound ungrateful, but I felt bad that Jacob went out of his way to do this. I am going to have to pay for our food this weekend to make it up to him.

"Doesn't seem like a waste to me," he grinned, unzipping our bags, and grabbing our toothbrushes out of them. He walked into the bathroom getting it ready. I followed him in there.

"And the two beds?" I asked.

"I wasn't sure if you'd want to share one with me, honestly."

"I do…" I said, looking up at him. He walked in front of me, letting out a sigh and tucking a curl behind my ear that had laid across my cheek and then held both of his hands against my cheeks.

"Glad to hear it…" He said softly, leaning down placing a kiss on my lips. I knew why we were here. Well, I suspected why. There would be no other reason for a boy to bring a girl to a hotel room after prom night. No other reason than to use the hotel room for private reasons. Sex. Jacob planned this night for us to finally be together. We had many moments like this before. In the meadow, in my truck, upstairs in my bedroom… but this time there were no other variables to stop us this time. No one to interrupt us. Just a room to ourselves and a bed out of town.

I fell into his lips, as his warm finger stroked my cheek bone. Melting into him. Soft moans escaped my throat while we walked backwards out of the bathroom, bumping into the minifridge behind us. This was soft, not as rushed as we had before. This moment was nerve wracking for both of us.

We continued to morph our lips together as Jacob walked me backwards towards the bed, not setting me down on it just yet. He grazed his fingers down the side of my throat trailing his index over the shoulder, tugging at the strap.

I let go of his lips, clearing my throat, "I have to pull it off over my head… um."

"Let me," he said tugging his finger on the material near my hips. I raised my arms up over my head, closing my eyes softly as the material slowly pulled up past my legs and up my torso until it uncovered my shoulders and over my head. He dropped the dress on the floor, not taking in my exposed chest, yet. I pressed myself up against him, shielding his eyes from me. His warm hands grazed my hips. The heat piercing through my skin. I could feel the heat quaking inside of my underwear. The wetness that was becoming from the interaction of his warm body touching me, rubbing me. He guided me backwards against the bed, allowing me to sit down, and then guided me to lean back on the covers. I could feel his hands grazing up my stomach.

Breathing, exhaling. Breathing, exhaling.

My legs wrapped around his hips, inching my pelvis against him. The heat of his hands continued to wander up my torso, his index finger and his thumb forcing a 'C' up to my chest, rounding the underside of my breast. Another soft exhale formed into a moan through my parted lips where his lips no longer were. His mouth edged my jawline, rounding back up to my ear. His hot breath vibrated along the lobe, and the vibration escaped as lips trailed down my neck, inching closer to my chest.

Jacob wasn't moving too fast, or too slow. But he was taking his time, and it was overwhelmingly frustrating.

But his hot breath continued to trail in between my breasts.

"Bella, you're so beautiful…" He hummed, looking down at my erect nipples. His tongue swooped his bottom lip, and his eyes hung half closed. I rolled my hand up his shoulder, trailing it up his neck until I had made it to his shaggy hair. I intertwined my fingers through it, to allow him to know that it was okay.

He kissed the middle of my chest in between them, inching closer towards the roundness. His tongue trailed up, until it enveloped around my nipple.

"Oh, Jake…" I groaned softly, trying to muffle my erected desires.

But I wasn't positive if I was fully committed to the idea of this yet. I want Jacob and enacting this would relieve me of the sensual pain for him that I've been having for a while, but I knew there were strings still tied to me. Not that the strings would stop me, but I wouldn't want to commit this act without letting Jacob know. He had a right to know.

I thought thoroughly over Romeo and Juliet at this moment. What would Juliet have felt if Romeo left her. Would she feel the same as I had felt? Torture, pain, a sense of loss…

If Romeo had decided she wasn't worth it anymore, that she was not good for him… and had disappeared and left her, would she have gone to Paris?

No, possible not. Possibly not in that story, but maybe in an alternative one. Maybe she would have if it would make her family happy, her friends. It would make peace out of a detrimental situation. And possibly she would have fallen in love with Paris over time… Not the way that she loved Romeo, but enough that she could want happiness for Paris… Happiness with him; happiness for them both.

What if Paris had been her best friend. The light that she needed to escape the dark underbrush of the trees. Growing through the black hole where Romeo used to be… and still is.

If Paris had saved her from the night sky, where all is dark and danger lurked around her, could she confide in him to pull her to safety? Would she do it?

But I was never Juliet. Juliet never had made the move and the alternate story was never written. I wrote my own, and Jacob helped me create it. He saved me.

Jacobs lips encased my swollen nipple. I could feel my panties no longer being comfortable anymore as they continued to soil underneath him.

"Jacob…" I moaned, but I couldn't continue this further. "Jacob, please…" I wanted him, but he needed to know. "Jacob," I said lightly tugging on his hair. He looked up at me, his mouth parted, until he grinned. His face was inching towards mine, but I decided to sit myself up, pulling a pillow from the head of the bed and cover myself.

His eyebrows furrowed when he noticed my actions. "Did I do something wrong? I'm—I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"No, no… Jacob, you're fine," I ensured him.

"Oh, then are you not ready? We don't have to…"

"I'm overly ready, I promise… but I don't want to take this from you until you know what's going through my head…"

"Okay, hit me." He said, lifting himself off me, joining a seat next to me on the bed.

"I love you, Jacob. I really do…"

"You're not breaking up with me, are you?" he interrupted with a shy chuckle.

"No, I'm not. Definitely not. I just don't want you to go into this without knowing that I'm not…" I paused, trying to figure out the words I wanted to convey without hurting him. A small ripple of a tear broke through my eyes. "That I'm not over it, yet…" I looked into his eyes, trying to read his facial expression, but it was blank. His eyebrows stayed neutral, his mouth didn't twitch, and his eyes didn't wander away from my face. "That I'm not over Edward, yet."

"Okay… and why are you telling me this?"

"Because I wouldn't want you going all in on this without knowing the truth. I don't want to steal your virtue or something with you thinking that I'm healed."

"I know you aren't… I'm not an idiot. But it's okay," Jacob rushed his fingers through my hair to pull it out of my face. "Let me help you get over him."

Breathe, exhale. Breathe, exhale.

Jacob leaned into me with his arms on either side of me and his hands against the mattress. His body compelling me to fall onto the mattress underneath him, towering me.

I wanted him… I was ready…

Breathe, exhale. Breathe, exhale…

(To be continued)

(A/N)

When 5 people leave a review on this chapter, then I will make sure to start working on the next one. Reviews are really important for me to continue with writing this story because they really do encourage me.

I just wanted to take the time and ask my readers if they have any particular questions so far about the story! I have my idea already for the ending, and it will be a little while longer before we get there, but I wanted to ask you what you think will happen?

I want to remind everyone. I am following the rules and guidelines of Twilight. I am not reaching for them to be out of character. The only thing I have changed to the Twilight Story itself is that Edward heard Bella on the phone and knew she was alive. I'm following the Timeline, as well which is why it may appear to me slow because we are still reaching closer and closer to Book 3: Eclipse. So, we will have to see how that book's story had flipped with such a simple flap of a different butterfly's wing. I am enforcing to remind my readers of this because I have noticed in past reviews that there was frustration with Bella not being over Edward. We have to remember what Bella was like and her continuous thoughts throughout New Moon. She tore herself down continuously believing Edward thought she was too ordinary for him and that he did not love her. While Jacob did help her in New Moon to heal her, she still greatly missed Edward. I don't believe that would have changed by now where I am in the story, either.

Don't you worry. If you want saucy content, I will give it to you. I just have reached my limit on words that I like to do per chapter. As you may have noticed, I have been gone for a long time. Like I mentioned before, school had started back and I'm taking 15 credit hours. So, I have a lot on my plate at the moment.

Don't forget to check out that link if you want a general idea of what Bella's dress looked like! imgur (dot com) /a/lCrPDxa Fan fiction doesn't let you put in links.. so just type that in there... but obviously replace dot com with the actual thing.