AN: 'Empty – Metric'. I personally think it fits pretty well (go with it).

I'm an idiot. I'm putting off studying for my French exam to finish and post this but I hope you like it!

BPOV

…6:12pm…6:17pm…6:24pm…6:35pm…

"That's it, Alice. I've sat here and cooperated like your perfect, silent Barbie doll but I can't take it anymore. Aren't you done yet?" I whined. I was at breaking point. Alice had done just about everything to get me ready for the dance. You name it: prodded, plucked, poked, smeared, curled, and the list goes on. It was wrong to me on so many levels.

"Oh hush. Please let me have my fun, Bella. I never get to do this here," Alice pouted. "You want to look good for Edward, don't you?"

I looked at her for a minute until I caved and slumped in my chair. I sighed, "Continue."

"So," I began, not standing the silence once again, "looking forward to seeing Jasper all dressed up and looking handsome tonight?" I nudged her playfully, though carefully so she wouldn't poke out my eye with the eyeliner poised at my eye.

It was silent, until—

"Is that a blush I see, Ms. Brandon?" I gasped.

"No," Alice denied but a smile was evident on her lips.

"You really like him, don't you?" I stated the obvious.

"More than you can believe," she sighed. "…I think I love him."

My head snapped up with a grin spreading on my face.

"He loves you too, you know."

Alice's eyes were glistening with so much hope. I felt immensely happy for my friend. After everything she had been through she was able to gain so much from coming here. I knew she had found the love of her life.

"There, all done." Alice backed away so she could admire her work.

I walked tentatively to the mirror in our room. There I found…some other girl? This definitely was not me. Her hair was in beautiful loose curls that framed her face while the make-up accented her eyes perfectly.

"Alice, you've outdone yourself." I actually looked good!

"I know," she replied simply. "Go put your dress on!"

I turned around to find Alice already in her dress. When had she done that?

After Alice and I were finished we walked down to the cafeteria where all of the other residents were gathering. I hadn't realized just how many of us there were. One look into the room and I could tell it was already packed. Then again, it wasn't the biggest cafeteria out there.

We found Edward and Jasper at the entrance waiting patiently for us. My breathing was cut short as I took in Edward. His hair was in a perfect messy state but I could tell he had tried to comb it. I smiled at the effort. He wore black dress pants and his blue shirt almost matched my dress perfectly…I'd bet anything Alice had something to do with that.

Upon approaching the boys, I saw Edward's smile fade as his jaw now hung slightly open, while his eyes widened. He snapped it shut when he noticed me looking.

"Words cannot begin to describe how amazing you look," Edward whispered as he kissed my cheek.

Heat raced to my cheeks as I murmured a thank you.

We had to separate after that, keeping a safe distance between us so the staff wouldn't get suspicious.

Walking in and taking in my surroundings I couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled to my lips. Probably the entire staff (besides the head doctors) were standing in the room, stiff backed with piercing eyes. What was most likely supposed to be menacing was simply funny. All the other teenagers were just standing around, not really knowing what to do with themselves.

They had taken the effort to clearing away the long tables from the cafeteria and replacing them with smaller circular tables. Needless to say, most of the population was stationed at these tables.

A smug smirk appeared on my lips as I turned to look at Alice. I knew it would be a waste of time coming here.

"Don't even say anything, Bella," Alice narrowed her eyes at me then turned her attention back to the room, almost with a pleading look.

"Whoa, who died?" Jasper muttered from Alice's side. I snorted at this but covered it as a cough, not wanting to get chastised by Alice.

"This isn't fair," Alice whined, stomping her petite heel for effect, "I wanted to go to a dance. This is…well I don't even know what this is!" Alice waved her hand around the room. I actually felt bad for Alice. She adored events like dances so this was a complete let down for her. She was beginning to show that pout again. Why must I be such a good person at heart?

"Well come on! Let's not waste the night away!" I said in what I hoped sounded like sincere enthusiasm. The three of them looked at me oddly for a moment but then complied.

I grabbed Edward's hand and led him to the middle of the room as I sent silent threatening messages to Alice. You better appreciate me risking my life for you, dear Alice.

I hesitantly placed my arms on Edward's shoulders and he placed his arms on my waist, catching on. Of course, in any other circumstance I'm sure we would be dancing much closer; but this wasn't any other circumstance, this was rehab where we were surrounded by strict chaperones.

Alice's face brightened as she realized I was attempting to dance for her and she gladly moved to dance with Jasper.

I turned away from the pair to give them their privacy, only to come face to face with a pair of gorgeous emerald eyes.

"Bella, you look so beautiful," Edward murmured. If he kept these compliments up I might actually begin to believe him.

"You clean up pretty well, yourself," I replied with a smile.

"This was very nice of you to do for Alice," Edward said. He continued when he saw my confused expression, "I realize how much you are opposed to dancing."

"Well, this I can handle. It's when I actually try to move around. That's when it starts getting hazardous for myself and the people around me," I eyed Edward, silently warning him.

"I think I'm willing to take the risk," Edward said quietly as he squeezed my waist. I blushed again and looked away for fear of passing out under his intense gaze.

"And besides," I continued, "Alice didn't really get the chance to go to many dances at her school." Her father was very strict, to say the least.

Edward nodded his head in understanding, getting the basic gist of the reasoning.

As the song continued I battled the urge to move closer and wrap my arms around his neck. He was just too appealing for his own good.

Slowly, other attendees were finding the courage to start dancing themselves so we took that as our cue to take a break.

We sat down at one of the tables after the song finished. I was not about to dance anymore than I needed to.

For a while we simply sat together and poked fun at the other residents who attempted to dance. I really could not say much on this topic; I was far worse than many of these brave souls. The rest of the time was spent commenting on which chaperones would look the best (or in this case, funniest) together. My personal favourite was the petite mouse-like, balding man and the unusually tall woman. The bone structure of her face made her slightly resemble a horse. I pondered what their offspring would look like…

It was amusing seeing how close people could daringly get until the chaperones would snap out of their trances and break people up.

An hour after the dance had commenced, Jasper took Alice out of the room to speak privately, leaving myself and Edward…and Mike.

"Hi, Bella!" I grudgingly looked up from Edward to see Mike.

"Hello Mike," I replied, trying very hard not to sound rude.

"Do you want to dance with me?" I couldn't help but notice he said 'with me' as if it would be some privilege to do so.

"No, thank you. I don't really enjoy dancing."

"Come on, who knows when we'll have another dance? Just dance with me one time," Mike bargained.

"She politely declined Mike, what part didn't you understand?" Edward said with narrowed eyes.

Mike dragged his lusty eyes away from me to look at Edward as if he was just noticing his presence.

"Hey man, I'm just trying to get a dance with a pretty girl. You understand, Cullen, right?" he smirked. I wondered when Mike had gone from calling Edward by his first name to using his last. It couldn't be because Edward had taken an interest in me, could it?

I could tell Edward was trying to refrain from hurting Mike; his fists were in balls on his knees and his knuckles had taken on a whiter colour than his natural skin tone.

"Well I'm sorry to inform you, but Bella already promised myself a dance. If you will excuse us, Newton," Edward said with a clenched jaw, and with that he grabbed my hand and led me back onto the dance floor.

He pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger; a habit I noticed Edward would do when he was annoyed or nervous. I'd put money on the first option.

"I apologize, Bella, that was very rude of me. We don't have to dance if you don't want to…" Edward trailed off.

"No! I mean, no I want to. Besides, anything to get rid of Mike, right?" I joked, not baring to see the frown on Edward's face.

The truth was, as much as I hated dancing, I didn't mind it as much with Edward; I felt safe in his arms. And I think I'd give up my left arm before I had to dance with Mike.

I wrapped my arms around his neck this time, curious to see how close we could get until we would get separated. There were no signs of authoritative figures near us but looking past Edward's right shoulder I could see Mike glaring at us. I think it was more directed at the back of Edward's head, however. I wasn't truly worried though; Mike was harmless, right?

Once again, the song ended and we headed back to our claimed table.

"I'm just going to go use the washroom, I'll be right back," I informed Edward.

"Would you like me to come with you?" Edward asked, looking over my shoulder like I had done minutes before.

"No thank you, I'm fine. I'll only be gone a minute," I said as I smiled up at him.

Edward nodded absentmindedly and kissed me on the cheek before letting go of my hand that he'd been holding.

Walking out of the makeshift dance hall, I was immediately met with peace and quite. I hadn't realized how loud it was in there until I heard the ringing in my ears out in the corridor.

As I walked in, I took a moment to look in the mirror at myself. My appearance was slowly starting to regain its original colour and look I had had before the whole drug incident occurred. Getting over the drugs had really taken a toll on me emotionally and physically and I was proud that I was looking less abnormal now. Now, just to get over the drugs and I'm home free. Easy enough, right?

After using the facilities, I quickly made my way back to the dance not wanting to keep Edward waiting. He had seemed to be worried about letting me leave on my own.

I was about to round a corner when a hand came out of nowhere and grabbed my arm, pulling me into a deserted classroom.

"Wha—? Oomf!"

As soon as I was in the room, my kidnapper pushed me up against the wall roughly.

"Finally," he said lowly. I froze as I recognized that boyish voice.

"Mike? What are you doing!"

"Claiming what is mine."

I scoffed, "Mike, I am nor will I ever be yours! Now let me go!"

"I don't believe you, Bella," Mike disagreed.

"What?"

"I've seen the way you look at me. I know you want me just as badly. You're just playing hard to get," Mike said in a cocky tone.

"Excuse me?" I asked, shocked. I was pretty sure I had never given the hint that I was at all interested in Mike. Maybe I was too nice for my own good.

"It's okay, there's no need to deny it," Mike said sharply. He pressed himself closer against me. I didn't like this. This wasn't anything like when Edward did it. This was completely wrong.

I finally looked up at Mike and noticed his bloodshot eyes. Had he done drugs? I wasn't sure but by the way he was moving I could tell he wasn't in his right state of mind and that was dangerous.

"Please Mike, just let me leave and I won't mention that this ever happened."

"No!" He said forcefully. He leaned in and before I could comprehend what was happening he kissed me. He smelled awful and it only got worse as he plunged his tongue into my mouth.

I let out a squeal of protest as I tried to shove Mike off of me. He grabbed my wrist as I tried to hit him.

"Stop, Bella. This will go a whole lot easier if you just cooperate."

By now I was crying, as Mike slid my dress strap off my shoulder. This couldn't be happening. I knew I got off too easily last time.

Just as Mike's hands moved to lift my dress, the door to the classroom burst open but I couldn't make out who it was through my tears.

The unknown person pulled Mike off of me and I immediately shut my eyes, trying to process what had come close to happening to me.

I heard a fist make contact with what I could only guess was a jaw then a body hit the floor.

"Bella?" a velvety voice asked.

AN: Bum bum bum! There was my "intense" scene. Kinda lame, huh? Oh well, you get the point. And yes, sort of a cliffy but not really…it's not too bad. I couldn't help but make the dance a total joke…at first I was going to make like, an actual one all cool and whatnot but I mean, it's rehab…jeepers. Poor Alice, though, she was so looking forward to it.

I was going to keep writing but I wanted to stop so I could have more chapters because I'm greedy like that (I'm looking at maybe five more? We'll see). I definitely won't get another chance to write until the weekend but I WILL have another chap. posted this weekend. If I don't…you have permission to verbally abuse me. Onward, to the purple button! : D