Author's note- Wow...3390 words...i'm impressed with myself! ha. An extra-long chapter for my wonderful reviewers. Keep it up guys, you keep me going :). Thanks for everything.

Thanks to Amelia Bedelia for a plot suggestion that spurred the later half of the chapter. ;)

Disclaimer.

"I don't want to!" I yelled, shoving the brushes and electrical devices away from my face.

"Now, Claire, let's approach this from a logical angle," Stormy rationalized, resting the blow drier in her hand against the hip of her right leg, "how many Snow Ball dances do you get to go to?"

"Too many," I promised her, attempting to wriggle off of the toilet seat where she had planted me, insisting on beautifying me for the winter dance at school.

"Well, aren't you peachy," she quipped, pulling out a couple serums and rubbing them through my hair.

"No!" I wailed, leaning away from her nimble fingers. She finished and pulled away, rinsing her slimy fingers in the sink. "You are the pushiest person in the entire world."

"What a silly thing to say." She shook her head. "There is no way that you have met everyone in the entire world."She chuckled highly as I stared at her in disbelief.

"But, Storms, I just don't want to go!" I tried to make my point. She came towards me with a straightener, flattening large sections of my hair between the hot plates. The ironed sections fell loosely down to my face after being pressed, still warm against my skin. "I don't think you understand," I insisted, my breathing becoming uneven. Stormy backed away for one second and looked me straight in the face.

"Claire, what is it that I am not understanding?"

"I—I…well you see, I –"

She raised her slanted eyebrows at me, letting a bent smile crawl over her full lips.

"I can't make up an excuse that fast," I snapped, folding my arms across my chest.

"Look, Claire, I get it, dances aren't that fun when your boyfriend can't go with you." She seemed to understand, her grey eyes shadowed in the side lighting of the bathroom. "But you only get to go to a couple high school dances and I know for a fact that Quil insists that you go to this one with me."

This alliance, Jacob and Stormy aligning with Quil against me, was going to be hard to fight.

"So, could you please just pretend to want to go?" She pouted her lips and let her eyes droop pleadingly, "for me?"

I sighed, defeated. "Why are you doing all of this, Stormy?" I asked. She widened her eyes and looked up to the ceiling in thought.

"Because you're too hopeless to do it for yourself." She winked and arranged my hair back behind my shoulders, brushing the strays off of my face. She was right, of course. I never would have gone on my own accord.

She dumped make up out of a zippered bag that she'd brought with her. She thickened my eyelashes with a swipe of mascara and dusted some glitter on the curves of my eyelids. I couldn't tell you what she put on my skin to make it look dewy and flawless, but I made a memo to ask her about it later. Lastly she smeared some thick raspberry lip balm over my smile.

"Nice work," I complimented, glimpsing myself in the mirror. "I look half-decent."

"Fully decent, I would say." She tucked the sticks and powders away, grabbing a black fabric from her bag. "Now we just have to get you dressed." A teeny tiny dress slunk from her fingers. The silky black cut was tastefully low, a pair of thin straps holding it up. The body of the garment was loose, coming to a tight ring at the bottom. Bottom meaning where the dress would finally meet my mid-thigh, that is.

"Oh no," I warned, climbing up from my seat and backing into the corner. "I'm not wearing that."

"Aw, Claire, don't be difficult," Stormy teased, her eyes bright with kind humor.

"It's not gonna be difficult to rip that thing in half once you get it close to me!"

"Chance!" Stormy called into the hall. Crap.

My sister appeared in the doorway, her svelte curves outlined in a crimson number that would have had monks swooning. She glanced at the dress in Stormy's hands and raised a suggestive eyebrow at me.

"We'll give you four seconds to get yourself into it, Claire," Chance proclaimed as Stormy tossed me the scandalous thing.

"Chance, no!"

"Claire, yes!"

"Why are you making me do this?!" I cried, praying to God that the dress would catch fire and burn away.

"You are being melodramatic," Chance commented, picking up the dress and unzipping the side of it. "You'll look great in this!"

I changed my mind. I wouldn't care if I burnt up instead.

"That," I pointed out, "is nothing more than a shirt of expensive fabric! There is nothing dress about it."

"You're making this hard on yourself," my sister exclaimed, stuffing the dress over my head and dethroning me of my t-shirt in less time than I thought possible.

The gym wasn't even recognizable with the large curtains of white gauze that hung from the walls, reflecting the beaming lights of the DJ booth back onto the floor.

"Wow."

"Told you it wouldn't be so bad." Stormy bumped me with her hip, her eyes glinting with spritely satisfaction. Reagan appeared, her lithe, slight body covered by a satin, blue dress.

"I found us a table, guys," she mentioned, nodding over towards the southern wall.

I smiled and followed her towards a table in the back. A warm hand closed over my shoulder.

"You look beautiful," he hummed in my ear. I felt my entire face heat up as I turned back towards Casey.

"Erm—thanks," I muttered ineloquently. His grin widened at my awkwardness and he looked around the gym.

"Any reason to fear a couple of broken bones tonight?" He asked, scanning the crowd for the boy who had promised to break more than that.

"Not tonight," I said quietly. Casey's eyes danced in the beams of artificial light as he looked to Chance, Reagan, and Stormy.

"You wouldn't mind if I stole her for a dance, girls, would you?"

"Be my guest," Chance voiced. I gulped, blushing even more fiercely than before.

"Don't forget to bring her back," Reagan chimed as I stepped away from my seat.

I didn't know if I'd be able to have Casey's hand on me…and keep the shakes out of my limbs. His hand was tight around mine, keeping the quakes to a minimum as we walked towards the dance floor. He wrapped an arm around the small of my back and drew me towards him, his other hand holding mine. He was gentle, careful in his movements.

"Claire, you look unbelievable." His lips accidentally grazed my ear as he whispered in my hair and my body shivered in response.

"Thanks, Case." My hands ceased trembling, that easy peace of heart that Casey always brought with him, settling in my veins. "You look really nice, too." No matter how wrong my head seemed to think it was, my body liked Casey's touch.

It was different from Quil's. Like comparing a raging wildfire to a subdued rise of heat, subdued like the feeling of the ground after a day of caress from the sun's fiery fingers.

The notes of the song played through the air, a slow song that I knew how to play on the guitar. A low humming filled my right ear as Casey began to mumble the words beneath the music. My stomach fluttered at the comforting sound.

Our feet shuffled across the floor, mine restrained into some absurdly tall pair of heels. Even still, I only reached Casey's chin with my eyes. The song's final bars dwindled as another took its place. He backed away from me and smiled with his eyes, the green orbs brightening with the expression. He reached gingerly towards my cheek and softly pulled his thumb down to my chin. My heart boomed beneath my ribs as he leaned forward and let his lips cross over my cheek.

"I miss you," he mumbled. My heart jumped and my head pulled away from him.

"Thanks for the dance," I garbled. A mellifluous voice interrupted my own just as I was ready to speed back to the table where my friends were.

"You wouldn't mind if I cut in?" I looked up to the stranger who had spoken to Casey at my expense. I had never seen him before, but that didn't stop him from looking unbearably similar to someone else…someone I didn't quite remember. Casey's eyes narrowed as he shook his head, slowly turning away from me.

"Well aren't you popular tonight?" Chance joked as she swept past my shoulder, holding some boy's hand as he whisked her out towards the corner of the floor. The stranger's hands closed around my waist, I glanced up to him and saw that he was staring at Chance.

"Is that your sister?" He asked, his voice curious.

"Yeah, Chance," I murmured.

"Weird," he said to himself. I took the second to look up at him, his alabaster skin shone weirdly in the blinking lights from the front of the gym. His golden eyes flitted excitedly around the room, dark curls of hair falling over his forehead. My hands were cold against his gigantic shoulders, and I couldn't tell whether I was nervous or his skin was as cold as ice.

A young man, who had the same skin and eyes, approached us. His platinum blonde hair glinted in the streaks of moonlight that he stalked through.

"I think we need to get out of here, Emmett," the other one said. Emmett looked down to me and smiled, winking quickly. My heart rate unintentionally sped. There was something about him…something charming, but there was a darker something there as well…a dangerous something. My heart wasn't thundering simply out of allure, it sped out of fear.

"Wait a second, Jazz," he comforted. "She's here somewhere, I know it."

My pulse pounded in the bones of my wrists but I couldn't bring myself to push away from the huge man in front of me; I was frozen. Emmett glanced around the room, but his brow furrowed when he didn't find what he had been looking for.

"Get away from her." A growl came from behind me, a familiar one. I felt a breath that I hadn't known I was holding fly out of my lungs. Emmett smirked defiantly but dropped his hands. I backed into the hot, stone chest that I knew was behind me. Two protective arms wrapped around my ribs.

"Nice to see you, too, Jake," Emmett taunted, smiling widely. The other one came to his side, but the blonde's face was blank and reserved. I could feel Jacob shaking a little beneath me and I knew from his tone that he wasn't happy to see these two at all.

"Let's take this outside, at least," the blonde one muttered. Jacob grunted and grabbed me by the shoulders, steering me in front of him and blocking me from the other two. The cool night air shocked my skin, raising goosebumps on the surface. Three very irate looking werewolves stood outside the door, their expressions twisted into snarls. Quil rushed towards me and snatched me into his shoulders. I trembled against him, letting my heart beat regulate against the taut skin of his chest.

Sam and Paul flanked Jacob as the two strangers ambled towards an obnoxious, red jeep parked at the corner of the parking lot. We walked slowly behind them. Quil burrowed his face in my hair, stroking my back and cursing beneath his breath. I didn't know why he was so mad, but I knew that I had been right to be afraid.

"What are you doing here!" Paul spat, his eyes practically alight. I could tell his sideways glances back towards the gym were in worry for Reagan.

"I told you we shouldn't have come," the blonde one remarked darkly. Emmett glared at him.

"Shut it, Jasper," he rumbled.

"Why would you break the treaty?" Sam demanded, his voice authoritative. I shrunk back against Quil and felt my body wrack from the chilly wind as it passed over me. Quil draped his arms around me, becoming my coat.

Emmett rolled his eyes at Sam and leaned back against the vehicle. Jasper stood rigidly at his side, his nerves visibly piqued.

"He—…We..eh-hem, I," Jasper began, struggling to choose his words.

"We saw Bella in Forks and followed her here," Emmett commented dryly. I saw Jacob stiffen. Bella. Jaob's Bella.

"Why would Bella be here?" Sam's voice was as harsh as the biting wind. "She left with your family." I noticed when Jacob flinched. If they were looking for her…that meant that this was the family that Jake had talked about, the vampires. The blood went cold under my skin.

"Bella's been…absent lately." Jasper shifted uncomfortably as the words passed his lips.

"What'd you do to her?" Jake growled, his towering form quaking.

"We didn't do anything, Scrappy," Emmett snapped, "so shut your muzzle."

"Don't press your luck, Cullen," Sam added, eyeing Paul's lunging position.

"Sam, we didn't mean to break the treaty," Jasper spoke calmly; "we're just trying to find our sister."

Jacob grunted in disgust.

"Get off our land before I rip you both to shreds," Sam commanded, pointing towards the east, away from the reservation. I felt my body shake at the words; Quil tightened his grip around me.

"We can't let them go!" Paul yelled, staring exasperatedly at Sam. "They aren't allowed to be here!"

"Bring it on, mutton chops!" Emmett barked, glowering at Paul. "It wouldn't be the first time I beat your furry ass down."

"You're right, they shouldn't be." Sam scowled. "But I wouldn't hesitate to break a treaty to search for Em or my kids either," he sighed. Paul's eyes went wide with fury. "And I know you'd do the same for Reagan." I saw Paul's shoulders relax as he withdrew. "So, step down."

Quil's hands closed over my shoulders as he folded me deeper into his chest. Emmett blew out his breath and folded him arms across his chest. Jasper pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers and looked towards Jacob.

"Could you just tell us if you come into contact with her?" He pleaded, "or if she comes to see you?"

Jacob's eyes brightened momentarily but he quickly snuffed out the hope and nodded laboriously. The two Cullens jumped into the off-road beast and Emmett pressed the gas, speeding onto the main road.

The group stalked rigidly back towards the gym. Stormy, in her flowing, lilac dress jogged out of the double doors, her eyes full of questions.

"What's going on?" She wondered, placing her hand on Jacob's bicep. He smiled weakly down at her.

"Just some unwanted visitors." His voice was tense.

The gears in my head clicked noisily in my ears as they went to work. Was it possible that Emmett and Jasper had seen Stormy and thought it was Bella? But, where was Bella? Had she really come back? Or was she maybe on her way here, having stalled in order to avoid any search parties her family sent out?

"We need to have a meeting with everyone," Sam interjected. "Let's get going." Quil set me on my feet and pressed his lips against my forehead.

"I'll be waiting for you when you get home," he promised.

"I'll hurry," I said. He smiled at me and then ran to catch up with the others. Stormy was waiting for me, her grey eyes brimming with a discreet emotion.

"Where were you earlier?" I asked her, remembering that Emmett hadn't seen Bella in the gym, who I was guessing was actually Stormy.

"I went to the bathroom with Reagan for awhile," she answered. "She ripped her dress but Chance had a sewing kit in her clutch, so I helped her stitch it up."

It had been convenient timing, no doubt. I didn't want to imagine what would have happened if Emmett and Jasper had confronted Stormy as Bella.

"You don't need to change the subject, Claire." Stormy's voice was cognizant. "I know about them, too."

"About who?" I tried to keep my voice steady. She laughed at me and grabbed my hand.

"About the wolves."

"So, he told you?"

"Yeah."

I nodded slowly, the pieces of a puzzle I had yet to discover coming together at an idled pace in my head, like they we're stuck in honey.

"Let's get you home," she invited. I grabbed my cell phone off of the table and nodded, following her out to the car.

"Hey, Claire," Quil greeted, waving to Stormy as she drove away. "Fun night?"

"No." I stumbled towards my bedroom, yanking the painful heels off of my feet. "You shouldn't have made them take me."

"Oh Claire," he comforted, twining his arms around my waist, "I just feel sometimes that you don't get to be as normal as everyone else because of me…"

"What if I don't want to be normal?" I provoked angrily, spinning in his arms.

"I just feel bad about it. I hate that you suffer for what I am." I pressed my lips against his moving ones in a heated sweep, keeping him from saying anything else. The heat spread through my chest as I suddenly became aware of every point of contact between the two of us.

"I don't call this suffering." My mouth curled into a smile as our kiss broke.

"I should have known you'd get into some kind of trouble tonight, looking like you do," Quil whispered as he let me escape from his grasp.

"It's your fault for making Stormy take me," I retorted, scanning my closet for something more comfortable. I reached for a pile of t-shirts when his hand closed over my wrist.

"Don't change," he begged. "You look…amazing."

I blushed and folded my arms across my chest. "I thought you said I looked like trouble."

"You do," he surrendered, drawing a line down the side of my neck with his finger. The trail it left burned. "But I think we need the danger in this relationship to be balanced out every once in a while."

"Are you saying that I'm not dangerous in general?" I taunted. Quil rolled his eyes playfully.

"Not to me."

"Jacob told Stormy about everything," I commented, "did you know that?" I analyzed his expression as it changed from playful to pissed.

"Yeah, Sam was upset with him." He pushed his hand through the thick waves of his hair. "We're all supposed to get clearance from the group before sharing it with outsiders."

"She seemed fine with it," I attempted to soothe the anger that seemed to be boiling beneath his words.

"It's…it's not that," he noted, huffing crossly, "we just think that he only told Stormy because she reminds him so much of—her."

"Bella?"

Quil nodded.

"Jacob's disregarding all of the rules, slipping into this thing he has with Stormy with no boundaries in mind…just like he's back with Bella."

"And that's…bad?" I wondered. He shook his head from side to side.

"It's just wrong. Our rules are the type that can't be broken."

Author's note- Now with all of that lovely extra text, I would truly adore all those who took the time to leave me a review! :). Mr. Winkle seconds that.