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With the rough patch between Jasper and I smoothed over, my mind turned toward the prom he said he would take me to. A few times, I tried to bridge the gap between Bella and me by asking her to look for a dress with me, but each time I thought better of it. If I wanted to get on her good side again, shopping was not the way to do it. But if I…

"No."

"How come?" I whined a little too loud at the lunch table the following Thursday. Luckily, no one other than those at the Cullen table paid attention to me.

"There is no need for me to pretend to enjoy a prom just so you and your sister can talk. If you want to talk to her, go over there and talk to her. Or go home once in a while," Edward said, not looking up from the book he was reading.

"I still think it would be nice for her."

"It would just give false hope."

"For who?"

He glanced up with a sad glare in his eyes. I slouched into myself and apologized without words. I didn't know if he would believe me or not, but I was trying my best to stop making small jabs here and there about him and Bella. It just didn't seem like it sometimes. I then turned my attention back to the prom and dress shopping. Glancing at Rosalie, I wondered if she was going to the prom with Emmett and if she would mind going with me. I didn't want to think we were becoming friends, but I did think our time together last week had its fun moments. A movement from Edward caught my eyes. It was a nod. I sat up with a determined smile.

"Do you want to go shopping for a dress, Rosalie?"

She sighed dramatically. "Okay."

"Tomorrow."

"Sounds doable."

I thanked Edward as the bell rang to signal lunch was over. For the rest of the afternoon, Jasper was inundated with my chatter about how I thought the shopping trip was going to go. By the time he dropped me off at home, I could almost sense relief wafting off him.

The next day, I couldn't reign in my excitement. I bounced on my toes next to Jasper, dancing around him as we walked from class to class. He was amused by me but tried not to show it; every now and then, I would catch a small smile play across his lips as I continued to run through the list of stores I wanted to visit that evening.

Finally, the school day ended, and I soon found myself in Rosalie's red BMW, zooming down the highway to Seattle. Port Angeles was the town I thought we were going to, and the place I told Charlie we'd be, but Rosalie insisted the dresses there would already be picked over. "Besides," she added, "I'm not risking showing up in the same dress as someone else."

"I don't have much money to spend," I told her, knowing I was easily going to deplete most of the money in my account on this occasion.

"We'll go to a store you can afford. Just don't expect me to buy something there, too." I nodded and looked out the passenger side window at the blurred scenery for the rest of the trip.

We made it to Seattle in no time. I was soon looking up at the tall buildings that housed shops I didn't know even existed. After finding a parking garage, Rosalie and I found ourselves headed to a boutique she wanted to see. It was supposed to be the new up and coming designer hot spot. Once my foot stepped into the shop, I knew I was out of my league. All the mannequins in their designer jeans and tops made me look as though I was taking cues on fashion from Bella.

Rosalie looked around, completely in her element. I looked at the price tag on a shirt and choked on nothing but the air in front of me. I immediately let go of the small tag and walked away with the knowledge that the one of her shirts probably cost more than my whole wardrobe. The shock was short lived, however, as I realized I would love to be able to shop in the high end stores and have enough outfits to be able to go through a wardrobe in a year without a repeat.

For the next few minutes, I watched Rosalie shift through dresses with a saleswoman and pick out the few she wanted to try on. I was completely in the moment of hunting for my perfect dress – for fun, of course – when she turned to me and said, "Pick a few. Try them on."

"Really?"

"Or you can stand there looking like a kid in a candy store and drool all over the fabrics. Either way, it doesn't bother me…much."

I chose a couple of dresses: a short, black and simple affair which looked like something Audrey Hepburn would wear, a knee length, dark burgundy color with a slight black tint where the light didn't touch, and a simple, long white strapless ball gown with a silk black belt wrapped delicately around the waist of the dress.

The first dress looked cute on me, but it didn't stand up to Rosalie's first pick, a floor length red strapless dress which showed off every curve of her beautifully pale body. I complimented her, which helped break the ice more than our short spurts of conversations earlier. I even thought I saw her genuinely smile for the first time after I said Emmett would love seeing her walk down the stairs in that dress.

The second dress looked like me. It was playful, the length stopping at my knees and the spaghetti straps allowing my small shoulders to shine. I could see myself dancing around Jasper in the middle of the dance floor, everyone admiring not only me but him as well. Rosalie, who changed to a strapless pink dress with a skirt of big fabric roses, saw how I twirled around in the mirrors and laughed a friendly laugh before giving me a compliment about how the dress suited me.

Then I came out of the dressing room wearing the long white gown. Rosalie had her red strapless one on again, checking out how she looked one last time. By the way she started messing with her hair, I knew she found the one. As I walked up to the mirror, she commented on how good the white looked against my slightly tan skin. I looked at myself in the mirror. The smile that should have grown faded as my mind took me to another time and place.

Jasper and I were there. He was in a nice dark suit, and I was in a short white dress. We were standing near an older woman with a small bouquet of lilies and an older man in a white robe over black who held a book open in his hands in front of him. It was then, as the two of us kissed, I realized what I was seeing. My heart started beating as the vision broke up, leaving a picture of my hands holding his. I raised my finger to my temples and rubbed the area in circular motions while repeating, "I can't wear this. I can't wear this."

"Are you okay?" asked Rosalie, concern in her voice.

"Yes," I answered, shaking my head. "I'll be… I'll be back."

I practically ran into the dressing room and quickly stripped out of the dress. The small scene played over and over again in my head as I clumsily dressed back into the clothes I came in with. When all I had was my shoes left to put on, I stopped and sat down on the small bench in the room. My eyes focused on the cream colored carpet below my feet as I worked on trying to slow my breathing to force myself to forget the image I hoped wasn't going to happen.

"Are you really okay? Do you want to go back? Call someone?"

"No!" I jumped up and opened the door to see Rosalie with her cell phone in her hand. "Bella won't talk to me and Charlie doesn't understand. And Jasper would just freak out like last time. And I need some time to hide my thoughts from Edward." I shook my head. "Could we just stop and get something to drink?"

In a few minutes, my shoes were on and we were out of the boutique and into the coffee shop across the street. I sipped my hot coffee as Rosalie pretended to read the newspaper with her own cup.

"I'm sorry I ruined our shopping trip."

"You haven't ruined it." She looked up from the paper. "Yet." With a smirk on her lips, she looked back down.

"I can see glimpses of the future," I blurted out, not quite understanding why I wanted to talk to her about what I saw. I surmised it was probably because she was the only person I could really talk to at the moment.

"Yes?" she said plainly. When I didn't say anything, she put the paper down, folding it into the neat lines it was in before she opened it up. "Are you waiting for me to be surprised?"

"No. I just thought I would get more. I'm sure you don't meet many humans with gifts not unlike yours," I said truthfully before I brushed it away. "Anyway, I can see glimpses of the future. They usually come true. I pride myself on my ninety-five percent success rate. But," I closed my eyes and replayed the scene, "what if you saw something you didn't want to happen. Would you try to change it even when you know you can't?"

"That depends on what it is I saw."

"I saw something I wanted but nothing I wanted at the same time." My eyes slowly opened and looked upon Rosalie. With a weak smile, I shook my head. "Just forget about it. It's just me being stupid. Of course life isn't supposed to go the way you want it to."

Her eyes softened and sadness spread across her face. "It rarely ever does."

I reached across the table and touched her cold hand sitting on top of the paper. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I did get Emmett." The happiness was short lived, however, and her face sat back in the sorrow. "But I lost everything else. Carlisle was the one, but I don't blame him. It was Royce who stole everything from me: my youth, my innocence, my future, my friends, my family. I'm not going to get into it here and now, but I will tell you to think about what you are doing with Jasper. I know that's not the advice you were seeking, but you need think about everything you're leaving behind by being with him. If you're having reservations, then you should step away now before the two of you become more attached."

"The only way I can safely be a part of his life is to be," I paused, trying to talk around the word vampire to keep the details from the ears of the other people in the coffee shop, "the same as him. Plus, I'll be able to take care of him. He doesn't want to admit it, but he needs me. Like you need Emmett."

"We are both very selfish," she commented with a smile on her lips.

"Well, you two are twins," I chuckled.

We went back to the boutique and Rosalie purchased the red dress. Then we went to a couple more stores before heading back to the car without the perfect dress for me. I decided the next day I was going to venture to Port Angeles to see what the shops there had to offer. If that wasn't going to work, I quickly planned to make a less sophisticated copy of the dress I loved in the boutique.

The car ride back to the Cullen's wasn't as bad as the drive to Seattle. The air between the two of us had softened considerably. We talked about the different accessories Rosalie could pair with the dress and about how much Emmett was going to drool over her. It all made me excited about Jasper and his reaction to my entrance.

"You'll be walking down in your underwear. He won't know what to do with himself," she joked.

I laughed at the thought of him passing out and making a Jasper sized hole in the floor. It was then the vision decided to pop back into my head. I groaned and rubbed my forehead. "How am I going to stop Edward from seeing my vision?"

"Imagine Bella in a skimpy dress," she said in a serious tone.

"So you really do want me to die." We both laughed and spent the rest of the ride in comfortable silence.

The week after our trip, I walked into Jasper's room and found the perfect dress I tried on in the boutique with an elegantly written note stuck on the cloudy plastic garment bag saying:

You owe me big time. – Rosalie

The few weeks until prom sped by a little too quickly with all the last minute plans I felt I had to make. Adjusting the dress to fit my small frame and the much needed new accessories to go with my outrageously expensive gift were top priority. But there was also Charlie. As soon as I told him I was going to prom, he kept prodding me to get Bella to join me. I tried a few times, but I never got as far as actually asking her to come. He also wanted to know who I was going with, but all I would give him was a name and told him if he had any problems to call Dr. Cullen. Having Jasper meet my dad still scared me, not because of Jasper but because of my father.

Then, all of a sudden, it was the day of the prom. Jasper went out hunting the night before, so when he came to pick me up that afternoon, his eyes were the perfect amber color I loved to see. On the way to his house, we – mostly I – talked about our plans, every unimportant moment the day would have to take for me to end up looking just as good as the always gorgeous Rosalie. He let me know I would be beautiful even if I was wearing a burlap sack, to which I grumbled about stuffing a sack of potatoes down his throat.

When we arrived, I gave him one last look and headed up to Rosalie and Esme to start getting ready. At the beginning, Esme and I mostly fussed about Rosalie's hair and make-up. It wasn't hard to figure out every hairstyle and every different shade of lipstick accentuated her stunning features. The whole process only made me realize I was glad she already had Emmett by the time Jasper had arrived. Otherwise…

"Are you ready, Alice?" Esme's voice sounded, breaking me away from my insecure thoughts.

Those thoughts didn't have time to reappear. My short hair didn't allow for many fancy styles like Rosalie's, and, after trying a few different clips, I decided to let it stand for itself. Besides, it was the dress that was supposed to be prominent. My make-up was subtle and simple, a light cranberry shadow and pink lips. Then it was time for the dress. After having it taken in at a few key spots, it was more than perfect. Esme helped me with the hidden zipper in the back as I stared at myself in the mirror. Nerves started to break through. If Jasper was near, there was no way I would be able to explain it. It was just a stupid high school dance. A stupid high school dance where I was going to be taking a vampire into a small enclosed space filled with humans. But, no, that wasn't what had me nervous.

It was Jasper and me standing together in front of the man with an all important book and the all important symbol of sacrifice behind him and –

A soft knock woke me from my daze. "Are you ladies ready?" Edward's voice asked. "They're starting to pace."

"They can keep pacing. You know we're supposed to keep them waiting," Rosalie said, making sure her voice could be heard downstairs.

I shook my head with a smile and grabbed my silver bracelet, black shawl, and small black purse and walked to the door. Edward was still waiting in the hallway. My eyes tried to brush past him, but they were still curious and wanted to know if he saw anything my brain thought of. A snort and a small smirk let my whole being know he had seen it. He didn't say a word about it and let me go, but I knew it was only a matter of time before the vision would start to make its waves.

It was the top of the stairs that I let everything about Edward drop. Jasper was at the bottom looking up. He looked the same yet completely different. His blond hair was nicely brushed, styled just the same as it had always been, but the few hairs that would have usually been out of line were standing in their right formation. His hard features were softened as if he smoothed them out with a finger the way someone drawing with charcoal would. The suit he wore was a classic black. Under the two buttoned black coat a wine colored vest was peeking out while holding back a black tie and a white dress shirt. He smiled.

And, suddenly, I forgot how to breathe.

By the time I took a breath, Jasper had started up the steps to get me. Concern marred his face, and I tried making him feel better by smiling and shaking my head while swallowing to calm my newly awakened heart. He met me halfway, though, and lifted up his hand for me to take. At the bottom, he walked with me into the living room where Carlisle sat and Emmett paced. I briefly wondered if Emmett was like that every time he and Rosalie had a special occasion like a prom or a wedding.

"Every single time," said Edward with a slight groan.

"Just wait, Edward. You'll see," said Emmett.

"It would be nice if you didn't ruin this floor," said Carlisle, prompting Emmett to stop which he did.

"Oh," I said, letting go of Jasper's hand to open my purse. I pulled out my camera and handed it to Carlisle. "Would you take a picture of us?"

He smiled as he took the device. "Of course."

I placed my purse and shawl on the couch and fumbled with the clasp on my bracelet. Jasper's hands fell into view and he took it from me. With delicate fingers, he easily placed it on my wrist. When our eyes met, I could have sworn he blushed along with me. I reached up to his cheek with my other hand and let it rest on his cheek. Even with the heels I was wearing, my height didn't match his, so I pushed myself up from the balls of my feet to give me height. My goal was to give him a kiss, but he met me halfway and placed his lips on my forehead. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to believe we were the only ones there.

"Rose. You look…"

Emmett's voice faded off as Jasper's took front and center. "I'll be right back."

I nodded and let my hand fall from him. By the time my eyes had opened, he was walking away from me and up to the stairs. Before I could feel alone in the midst of Emmett and Rosalie saying their hellos and Esme and Carlisle having their private conversation, Jasper was back. He held a small but long rectangular box in front of him with a tiny bow on the end. When I looked up to him and wanted to ask, rather stupidly, if it was for me, he nodded. I took it from him and pulled the top off. In the box was a soft and black rectangular jewelry box. I glanced back up to him and he ushered for me to go on. After pulling out the other box and flipping it open on the hinges, I found myself staring at a beautiful silver chain dotted with small diamonds and one silver open heart charm hanging off of it.

He took the necklace away from me and carefully unwrapped from the box. Using the same delicate touch as he did with the bracelet, he placed the necklace around my neck. When the beautiful necklace stopped moving against my skin, his unneeded breath brushed against my ear. "Just something to say how sorry I am." He kissed my neck and lingered there for a moment.

"You don't need to…" Someone shuffled behind us and I remembered once again it wasn't just the two of us standing in the house. He backed away. My mind was buzzing with the words I didn't get to say as I looked around the room and the tense, still bodies in it. It immediately donned on me what they thought was going to happen. Instead of tensing up like them, I smiled and blushed.

And then I busted into a laugh.

"You broke her, Jasper," chuckled Emmett.

I shook my head and motioned for Jasper to come closer while looking at Carlisle. "A few more pictures?" Quelling my laughter, I smiled for the camera. I kept the happiness inside and hoped Jasper bottled up as much of it as he could for now, for later, for whenever he let himself think he was the monster I knew he wasn't.

Within an hour we were pulling into the school's parking lot with Rosalie and Emmett settling in next to us, and it seemed seconds after that we were herded into the gym. As soon as I saw the place, my eyes lit up. To me, it was perfect. The theme was Enchanted Garden and our first step into the gym was met with a fake stone walkway lined with fake red roses in planters that brought us to a white painted pergola wrapped in more fake red vine roses where the pictures were being taken. As Jasper walked along the path, I kept my eyes looking at the white chairs lining the section of the gym designated as the dance floor. The DJ was playing some music and there were a few people dancing, but most of the people found their way following another stone pathway out of the gym. I assumed they were heading to the food. I berated myself for not eating something before arriving.

"Whatever it is, don't worry about it," Jasper spoke as we walked closer to the pergola.

"But dinner."

"I've faked my way through more dinners than you've been alive."

"But still…"

"It's fine."

We finished walking through the sea of green grass, red roses, and grey stone and stood in front of the professional camera. Wanting the best looking picture, I quickly hurried through different positions Jasper and I could take. Looking at the camera? Too prom cliché. Hand in hand? Overall, too cliché. Staring at each other? Too wedding cliché.

A laugh sounded from where Jasper was standing. I looked up at him, half angry that he was laughing at me and half glad at his comfortableness. "The woman I love is worrying over how to stand for a picture when she doesn't think twice about who is in the picture next to her?"

Shock stopped me from breathing for the second time that evening. My eyes went wide and my mouth popped open like a fish before both softened into a calm smile as every part of my body became overwhelmed with a feeling it had only touched on. Before I could say anything, however, a flash of light to the right of me brought me out of my reverie.

"Did you mean it?" I asked, acting like a child who was just told by her dad that they were going to Disney Land as we walked to the cafeteria where they were holding the dinner. "What you said?"

"I mean everything I say," he answered, playing the father role just as perfectly.

I stopped walking and he did the same. As couples passed by us, our conversation became silent. I reached for his cheek in the same way I did inside his parent's home only this time our lips tenderly touched. "I love you, too." It felt weird to say it out loud, to announce it to him when he didn't need it to be said. Somehow, deep down, I knew these words would be uttered little in our long lives, but the passing thought wasn't a sad one.

We spent the dinner close to Rosalie and Emmett. They both felt it was better if Jasper stayed near them, and I wasn't about to disagree with them. But it wasn't dinner I was worried about. It was the dancing. At the beginning, the two of us stayed off on the sidelines, dancing our own dances, not bothering to pay attention to the tempo changes. As the night wore on and more people finished their dinner making the dance floor a little too crowded, Jasper and I moved away from his family members and the humans to the garden entrance. We danced in between fake trees and flowers until I could feel Jasper tensing a little too much.

I pulled him out of the gym and the both of us took a deep breath of fresh air. We walked away from the groups of people who also wanted fresh air or, by the looks of one couple on a bench we walked by, wanted an unsupervised make-out session. Our steps didn't take us far, only to our own unsupervised bench. I took off my shoes and jumped up on the bench, making me almost eye level to him, and placed my head on his shoulder. There we danced some more.

"I saw us," I started, not stopping from our slight swaying, "getting married."

He stopped moving and I lifted my head from his shoulder as he spoke, "Because I decided I won't change you unless we're married."

I frowned at him, telling him without words that my visions didn't happen because of a decision someone made. "Then I accept your awful proposal."

He chuckled. "Of course you do."

"You know it's not going to happen after graduation, don't you," I said, a sadness breaking the edge of my voice.

"I had a feeling."

The sadness crept in and threatened to overwhelm me. I thought of my father with Billy and my mother with her new husband. Then I thought of Bella and she was alone. Slowly, a shadow walked in. It was Edward, but neither of them looked at each other. She was still alone. "We'll help her if she doesn't." It wasn't quite a question, but it wasn't a declaration either.

Jasper just nodded. "You'll think of something. You always do."

I blocked out the thoughts of Bella and Edward. "Are you confident?"

"Not for a long time, Alice. Not for a long time."

"Can we go home?"

He smiled and took my hand as I jumped off the bench. The barefooted pixie and the proper gentleman walked back to the car hand in hand, our words hanging heavy in the air around us.