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Inspirational Song: Phil Collins – You Can't Hurry Love

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"Please?"

"No."

"Oh, come on! Leah agreed to go…"

"Good thing I'm not her then, isn't it?"

Brady fell dramatically over the back of the couch. I sat on the floor, and, leaning back, I chuckled when his upside-down head came to rest beside mine.

"Why?" He pouted.

Sighing, I closed my book, "Because I just put in my application for a position at your school. It wouldn't be appropriate, Brady." I thought about how awkward it would be to go to prom at twenty-three. Of course, I didn't really look that much older than Brady, but the gawking and whispers from people who knew of the gap were always hard to bear, even after all these years.

"But you won't even be an official teacher till next year." He grumbled, moving to sit up right.

I leaned my head back, "Don't you think you'd have more fun with your friends?" He snorted and I didn't have to ask why.

The rest of the pack had graduated years before Collin and Brady, and most of their fellow classmates were terrified of the towering pair who mostly kept to themselves anyway. The boys, even without the great secret they kept, were simply more introverted by nature. It also didn't help that Brady had decided to spend every free moment with me, just as Collin did with Leah, not that I minded in the slightest.

"Why does it matter to you so much?" I asked, sincerely. He had been asking and hinting about prom since last September and now the big night was fast approaching. School events had never been that important to me and I had only ever gone when forced. Of course, I always had some fun, but it never compared to getting to escape the crowd at the end of the night and return to my room and books.

He looked to me, "Because this is my senior prom. I know you hate these things, so I haven't asked you to go in the past, but this is my last chance to, and I want to spend it with you." His honest eyes told me so much more. He was growing up; he was leaving boyhood behind. He knew that everything was about to change. Life was about to get a lot messier and more complicated; well, the more normal parts of his life were about to get messier. He had already been living in complicated since his wolf genes kicked in.

He had asked for so little from me over the years, I knew I couldn't deny him such a simple request.

My eyes fluttered closed, and I took a steady breath in and let it out, "Alright."

"Yeah?" He leaned forward; his smile bright.

"Ya."

He threw his arms around me and kissed me. I chuckled, happy because he was happy.

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Leah and I drover to Port Angeles that Friday night to look for dresses and grab a movie. Over the years our relationship had deepened, and I considered her one of my best friends. I sat on the stool by the mirrors, sulking. Everything was too frilly, too short, or too plunging. Every dress was just too young, and I felt so out of place.

Leah, on the other hand, had already tried on several dresses, each more beautiful than the last.

Currently she stood on the podium, scrutinizing the midnight-blue dress she wore, deciding if she liked the off the shoulder look or if the empire cut was flattering.

"How did Collin get you to go?" I sighed, leaning my head back.

At the mention of her love, Leah's face shone, "Sorta suckered me into it." She laughed, her face beautiful, "We were curled up after—" Her face flushed and my eyes grew, "Well, you know, and he was saying how beautiful I was and how he couldn't believe I was his and he just went on and on about how much he loved me and how he wanted to show me off to the world…" She laughed, "One thing led to another and here we are!"

My mouth had fallen open, and I continued to gape at her.

She knew me well enough, and her smile grew mischievous, "Wait, have you two not…"

I waved for her to stop, "Nope, we are not having this conversation!"

"I was wondering why his thoughts were still so pure!" Leah chuckled, heading back to the changing room, "You do know he turned eighteen in November, right?" She appeared a moment later in a long emerald dress that brought out the beautiful rich tones of her copper skin, "You guys have been together five years and it hasn't come up once?" She rose a skeptical brow as she turned to me.

I worried my lower lip in answer.

It wasn't that it hadn't come up per se, we were in love so kissing did happen, but it was usually interrupted by Charlie or Ella coming home from work or the pack trapsing in, uninvited I might add.

"Do you think that is why he wants you to go to prom? You know, the whole cliché romance of it and first times and all." Leah thought aloud and chuckled, "You should have seen Collin's goofy face the day he turned eighteen, his thoughts were anything but pure on our next patrol!"

I considered it. Brady had never pressed the issue; in fact, he had never even brought it up. Of course, the age difference had always been looming before us but that didn't matter now. Why hadn't it come up after his birthday in November? Was he just waiting for the right time?

My face grew scarlet. If I had been his first kiss, then I was his first everything. Maybe he was nervous? We'd never talked about my past relationships and we both preferred to keep it that way, maybe he thought I was more experienced than I really was and that intimidated him?

"This might work for you, Bella." Leah held up a beautiful wine-red dress, the neckline was modest, and it was tea length which would help with my clumsy feet, and it didn't look like it would be too uncomfortable to wear. It was classy without being too much. I stood to take a closer look, wondering if I could pull it off.

"He likes you in dark reds." She tapped her head when I gave her a skeptical look, "Pack brain. Go, try it on!" She shoved it into my arms and pushed me towards the dressing room.

I had just started to change when I heard her chuckle, "And the zipper shouldn't be too hard for Brady to figure out!"

My face had never been so red.

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"Bella! Brady is here!" Charlie called up.

With a final glance at the mirror, I started towards the stairs. My smile lit up when I saw Brady futzing with the tie he wore, a corsage box held awkwardly in his other hand. He had been chatting politely with Charlie, but I knew the instance he sensed my presence. I beamed as he turned to me, his expression completely enchanted.

"Wow, Bella." He breathed, taking me all in as I met him, "You look beautiful!"

"Thanks." I smiled, "Is that for me?"

His nerves got the best of him as he fumbled around, "Oh, yes! Mom helped me pick it out, something about tradition or, yeah…Leah told me to go with white to compliment your dress. They said I should go with roses, but the roses looked weird to me – smelled weird too – so I went with this one, I don't remember what it's called…"

I looked down at the fresh gardenia as it nestled against my bracelets, its fragrance sweet and bright, "It's perfect, Brady."

He sighed, his face relieved, as he offered me his arm, "Well, shall we?"

I took it, the perfect fit, "We shall."

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The gym was decorated in streamers, balloons, and colorful lights. It was a shot straight out of an 80's movie. Chaperons lingered in the corners, one taking up residence at the punch bowl to make sure nothing too strong found its way inside, while the girls showed off their dresses to one another and couples sways on the floor.

"Brady, Bella!" Collin called, waving us over. Leah had fallen in love with the emerald dress, and she shone brighter than the full moon outside. She certainly wasn't lacking for any attention either; most eyes in the room were upon her. Collin was a bit puffed up, knowing how lucky he was.

"Would you like some punch?" Brady asked over the music. I nodded and he and Collin went off to fetch us some drinks.

"So…" Leah gave me a suggestive look, elbowing me slightly, "Is tonight the night?"

My face rivaled my dress, "Did…did you hear anything?" I asked, knowing she had run patrol with Brady last night.

"He kept his thoughts pretty locked up." She shrugged and rolled her eyes, "Every time he'd start to think about you, he'd quickly correct himself and start counting to a hundred."

My heart pounded as I saw the boys heading back to us, feeling caught.

"What to dance? I wore my steel toe boots." Brady smirked as he took my hand.

The night was cheesy, and cliché, and perfect. The food was edible, and the music was passable, but the company is what made it memorable.

As the night wound down, there were only a few young couples left on the floor and even the teachers had gotten laxed, allowing students to take up shadowy corners as the hour grew late. Collin suggested it was probably time to head out since he was on patrol the next morning, but Leah's wink told us otherwise.

Brady shook his head but grinned, "I need to talk to Sam about swapping patrols, I'm supposed to run with Leah tomorrow night!" He leaned back, rubbing his eyes, "It's getting pretty late, should we get you back to Forks?" I shrugged, not sure what to say.

"I don't think I've said thank you." Brady reached over and took my hand, his thumb caressing the crest of mine, "For coming, that is. I know this isn't your thing and I really appreciate it."

My eyes wandered to his, curious what his thoughts were. His face fell as he tried to figure mine out, "You alright?"

"Do you think it's…it's weird we haven't talked about that?" I nodded to were Leah and Collin had just disappeared through the doors.

Brady was rarely embarrassed, it wasn't often his nerves got the best of him or that he let them show, but they came out in full force now.

He took back his hand and began rubbing his neck, refusing to meet my eye.

"S-sorry, I—I didn't mean to just blurt that out, here of all places." My eyes wandered around, my face coloring.

"It's fine." He tried to shrug it off, clearing his throat, "Can we talk about it in the car?" His request was fair, and I nodded as we stood to collect our jackets.

The drive was quiet, edging on uncomfortable. His hands were tighter than usual on the steering wheel, and I hung back, waiting for him say something.

Finally, he cleared his throat, "I…I'm not good at this. Whenever they all think about that, it's just…just…" His face flushed.

I couldn't help smirking. Leave it to me to find the one teenage boy who was uncomfortable with the idea of sex.

"I mean, it's fine that they are cool with it and all, but I'm not." He winced, "I mean, talking about it like that, so openly and...such…"

I nodded, "Charlie tried having the talk with me right after I graduated and, ya, it was awkward to say the least."

"Oh, Mom had the whole talk with me forever ago." He replied, giving a casual shrug, "She's checked in with my every couple of years since the imprint too." Brady shared as if it were the most natural thing in the world, "I just don't like how casual the pack is about it. It seems like it should be something special, not every day shoptalk…and pictured so, so vividly…" He shook his head with wide eyes, "I know way more than I should about my pack mates."

My thoughts spun, trying to pick just one direction to go, "You—you talked to your mom about us?" I wasn't upset, just somewhat shocked that he'd feel so comfortable talking about that with her.

He grew sheepish, his eyes asking me if that was bad.

"I just…I couldn't imagine being that comfortable with my parents." I hurried to add.

Brady chuckled, "Mom is pretty chill about it. It's mostly just jokes about her not wanting to be a young grandmother and me telling her not to worry about it. She did tell me early on not to push you since you'd just come out of a serious relationship…" Even he colored slightly here, "And then, when I turned eighteen last year, not to rush anything since we have all our lives to figure it out, and we don't want to many any permanent life-changing decisions so young, not when there is so much left to experience before settling down."

I leaned back, a small smile tugging at my lips, "I knew I liked Ella."

He grinned, but his face grew serious as we pulled up to my house. He parked and turned to me, "Bella?"

I looked to him, and he reached out, his fingers entwining with mine.

"I'm happy with how things are. Honest." His eyes were sincere, "If you want to wait, or not, I'm good with whatever as long as we're good."

I smiled and stole a quick kiss, resting my head against his, "We're good." My heart was full as I sighed, "Do you want to come in for some ice cream and watch a cheesy sci-fi movie?"

He chuckled as he popped open the door, "You know it!"

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