"What are you doing?" Jasper whispered in my ear. I could hear the amusement in his tone and felt his smirk against my ear.

"Taking my enjoyment where I can." I whispered back as his arms wrapped around my waist. From where I stood 'painting' in the backyard I could see Bella's reflection in the bathroom mirror. She didn't know what Alice was primping her for, but she was less than pleased to be Alice's life-sized doll for the day. I took some sadistic glee in every grimace and cringe as Alice curled and styled her hair before moving on to makeup, poking and prodding till everything was just as she wanted it.

Bella had questioned what all this was for but Alice would only tell her that Edward had a surprise for her. Bella was less than satisfied by the answer, she scowled into the mirror as Alice continued her primping like she hadn't even spoken. I could only imagine how wrapped up in Edward Bella had to be that she didn't realize that tonight was prom. Jasper had mentioned that the student planning committee had gone overboard advertising, supposedly there had been brightly colored fliers plastered on almost every surface around the school for the last month.

"Be careful, Alice will be looking to force you into her chair of torture when she's done with Bella." Jasper teased and I scoffed.

"She can try, but then neither of us will be ready in time to leave." I may not have been versed in the latest fashions or trends but I knew enough to dress myself and to do my own hair without looking out of place in the modern world. I was more than capable of getting myself ready and if I felt the need to ask for assistance I sought out Rosalie.

Alice tended to be far more eccentric with her styles then I was comfortable with. Granted I had learned to adapt with the times, but I still clung to some of the principles of my time. Women now casually showed much more skin than then they did in my youth, in fact they showed enough on a daily basis to make a whore blush in my time. Alice wholeheartedly embraced the trends while I fought for modesty. Rosalie too often embraced the trends but she understood my desires and didn't push, instead aiding in finding a way to modernize a look or to find a happy middle ground.

Jasper chuckled before looking at the canvas I had managed to put a few stokes on for appearances. He laughed again when he saw how little was done and pressed a kiss to my temple as I turned my attention to the canvas and made a few more indications with brown paint.

"Your trees look a little sparse for a forest, Darlin'." He teased and I hummed.

"I disagree." I said and smiled as I continued working, waiting for him to recognize where I was painting. He rested his head on mine and watched. As I outlined rocks in gray I could tell that Jasper had finally recognized the location.

"Thinking of home again, huh?" He asked and I hummed with a shrug.

"Maybe we'll go back some day. Take another swim in the pond." I teased and giggled at his growl before shrieking as his hands went to my sides and made me squirm at the sensation. I wriggled free of his arms and put space between us. Carlisle and Esme rushed to the doorway but stopped when they saw that it was just Jasper and I. Jasper was cackling and though I was trying to keep my scowl in place, my lip kept twitching.

"Do we even want to know?" Carlisle asked, a brow raised while he tried to hold back a smile of his own. I gave up the scowl and let the smile take over my face.

"Jasper and I were just reminiscing about the time I convinced him to swim with me." I said and Jasper scoffed before smiling and shaking a finger at me.

"That's not how I remember it. We were sitting in a tree and she had me thinking that she was comforting me, that she was being nice and the next thing I know I'm falling because she had shoved me off the branch and there was no way of avoiding ending up in the water." Carlisle and Esme were both chuckling.

"Then she thought she could get away without retribution. But I caught her." Jasper declared proudly.

"Carried me back to the pond and attempted to toss me in, but I managed to pull him in with me." I said smugly as I smiled at my love. Jasper broke out in a laugh.

"Of course, that's when Peter and Charlotte found us." Jasper added and I continued to giggle.

"Why do I feel the fun didn't end there?" Esme asked with a knowing smile.

"Peter and Charlotte found us amusing till we turned on them and they too ended up in the water." The four of us laughed.

"Charlotte was so mad." Jasper said between bouts of laughter. My attention was pulled away from our mirth when I heard two more laughs. My eyes searched out the sound and saw the bathroom window open. The laughs belonging to Alice and Bella. It tamed my mirth and I walked back to Jasper and my painting.

"What brought about this fond memory of the past?" Esme asked as she joined us in the yard. I turned the canvas for her to see.

"I was painting my original canvas. There was an outcropping of rock that I used to paint over and over again. Jasper and I spent many hours there when we were first getting to know each other." I said and Esme studied what little of the painting I had finished.

"I'll show you when I finish." I promised and Esme nodded with a smile.

"I look forward to it." Esme said and returned to the house.

"You should hurry if you want to avoid Alice's interference." Jasper said and I sighed before turning and pressing my lips to his. I smiled when I broke away.

"I'll be quick. I'm really hoping we're around when she realizes that she's going to prom." Jasper chuckled and nodded before gently pushing me in the direction of the house. I smiled and took off inside knowing he'd bring in the canvas and easel when he went to our room to get changed.

Rosalie and I had designed the dress I was going to wear. She'd sent out the design to a designer that she and Alice had used to make their last proms dresses and who was more than happy to make another set of gowns for them. Rosalie and Alice had each designed their own prom dresses for years but I usually found one or two that I liked, sometimes altering one of Alice or Rosalie's and wore them till they went out of style. Unfortunately, the trends had changed enough since their last trip through school that the dresses I'd worn before were no longer in style and would have stood out.

The dress we had designed was very much inspired by the fashions of my human life. Rosalie had suggested a more 'timeless' look, stating that I would be able to get more use out of the dress that way. The bodice was similar to the corseted style that woman in higher society had worn during the time while the sleeves were loose and flowing and were made with chiffon to drape over my arms to my elbow instead of being made of linen and ruffled to my wrists. What I liked the most was the skirt, it attached at the waist and flowed down to brush the ground, there was a thin glittering material that fell over the skirt and provided a little more body to the dress and ended with a small wave around my feet. Rosalie had suggested a pale pink color and added an offset bow at the waist, the bow tails trailing down to my knees.

It was simple and modest yet modern enough that no one would question why it was chosen. Rosalie had kept my dress with her since we were going to use her and Emmett's attached bathroom to get ready while Emmett and Jasper were going to get ready in our room. The dress was already hanging on the back of the closet door when I got to Rose and Emmett's room. Rose already had her hair in curlers and her make up was done.

"Come on, I know exactly what we should do with your hair." Rose said and I followed her into the bathroom. She used several products and brushes to tame my unruly curls into soft waves and pinned one side back while I used the softest shade of pink to color my eyelids and borrowed a soft red lip stick to paint my lips. When Rose was done with my hair she used a weird looking tool to curl my lashes before declaring me done.

I helped Rose remove the curlers and fetched her dress while she finished styling her hair. I carried our dresses out of the closest and laid the bags on the bed. Unzipping the bag that held Rosalie's dress and I marveled at how little fabric it consisted of. When Rose exited the bathroom, I helped her wiggle into the dress without disturbing her hair. Getting into my dress was much easier, I just needed Rose to help tie up the corset. When we were done we slipped down the stairs and out to the garage. Rose and Emmett left while Carlisle and Esme insisted on pictures of Bella and Edward before they headed out. Jasper and I waited on Alice who'd had to wait till Edward had Bella out of the room and distracted before she could get ready.

Luckily Bella was still distracted with Carlisle and Esme when Alice joined us in a dress that had little more fabric than Rosalie's. We slipped out and arrived at the school just behind Bella's group of friends. We got in line for our tickets and posed for the camera like the rest of the students. Esme always insisted on the pictures, she had a scrapbook for each of us that she kept all the photos in.

"I don't know how they managed, but the decorating for every prom we've ever been to has been equally horrendous." I said lowly making Jasper and Emmett chuckle while Alice and Rosalie nodded their agreement as they looked around the room at the poorly hung streamers and paper decorations that were strewn all over.

"Edward just arrived." Jasper announced and I looked to him questioningly.

"Bella's figured it out before they got here." He said with a chuckle and I groaned.

"I wanted to see her face." I pouted.

"She's mad." Jasper stated with a grin.

"You mean she didn't swoon when she figured out she was going to a dance that she stated she didn't want to go to? How unexpected." Rose said dryly and I nodded. We had all seen it coming, but Edward insisted that she'd end up enjoying herself.

The song changed and several other students took to the dance floor. Jasper looked to me and I smiled as I took his hand. This was the only reason I agreed to come to these events. Dance halls had fallen out of style and high school dances and college balls were poor substitutes but we made do. Jasper and I fell in step with Rose and Emmett, easily twirling around the other students in a waltz. Alice remained off to the side, alone since Edward was with Bella. Jasper and Emmett would take turns dancing with her tonight so she wasn't left out.

I chuckled as Edward and Bella came into view. She still looked less than pleased as she lagged behind Edward despite his arm being hooked with hers. Her eyes widened as he headed toward us on the dance floor and her steps got smaller as she tried to stop the inevitable.

"I've got all night." Edward told her and she grudgingly took bigger steps as she followed him.

"Edward. I honestly can't dance!" Bella protested.

"She's panicking." Jasper stated under his breath for Edward.

"Don't worry, silly. I can." Edward said to reassure her and I rolled my eyes at his callousness. Belittling her was going to do nothing in bolstering her confidence or ebbing her panic. The next time they came into view Edward had Bella standing on his feet. The two joined us and after a couple minutes Bella laughed.

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

"You don't look five."

"Okay this isn't half bad." Bella admitted and I didn't have to be Jasper to know that Edward was feeling smug, at least I was expecting him to be smug till I saw Edward glaring over Bella's shoulder at a boy standing in the doorway.

"What is it?" Bella asked. I didn't recognize the boy, but from Bella's reaction and Edward's expression it seemed they did. Edward snarled and Bella put her hand on his chest. From the boy's complexion I could only assume that he was from the reservation and with him all the implications that came with it as we all tensed and kept a careful eye on him as he walked toward Edward and Bella.

"Behave!" She hissed at Edward.

"He wants to chat with you." Edward sneered.

"Hey, Bella, I was hoping you would be here." The boy sounded like he wanted to be here as much as Edward wanted him here.

"Hi, Jacob. What's up?" Bella replied.

"Can I cut in?" Jacob tentatively asked Edward. Edward's expression became pinched but he gently set Bella on her feet and stepped back.

"Thanks." The boy said and Edward nodded before walking over to Alice, offering her his hand and rejoining the rest of us on the dance floor while watching Bella intently.

Bella and the boy made small talk for a moment before he admitted that his father had sent him. It was obvious that the boy was still oblivious to our existence with how much coaxing Bella had to do to get the boy to bashfully admit that his father sent him to deliver a warning.

'We'll be watching you' Jasper's eyes darted to Edward and then Emmett. The threat was obviously not intended for Bella. When the song ended Edward quickly cut back in and the boy left. I tuned out Bella and Edward's conversation after they started talking about the boy calling her pretty instead of anything that actually mattered.

"Carlisle's not going to like hearing about that conversation." I said lowly and Jasper hummed.

"No, he won't. But the tribe's not stupid, they can see where a relationship with Edward would end, just the same as we have. Remember when Carlisle told us of the rules they agreed to? The agreement in the treaty is that it's all void if one of us bites a human. They're wording was specific for a reason. It doesn't limit them to retaliating against us in the case of us killing a human, but also should we change one."

"Well then the treaty's already void." I whispered.

"Obviously we're not going to tell them that." Jasper whispered back bemused.

"Well that's going to put a damper on leaving here then. We'll never be able to come back." I sighed and Jasper hummed again.

"The price we pay for love." Jasper teased before sending me backward into a low dip, making me giggle and ending our serious conversation as we set to enjoying the rest of our night.