Author's Note: Happy Friday, all! Thanks for the lovely reviews. I was pleasantly surprised by those who chose to write me nice, lengthy ones. I means so much that you are all taking such a liking to my story. I'm keeping this short this time, but I'll see you all down below.

~Tay

DISCLAIMER: Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight. I do, however, own a copy of each of her books, movies, and a Scene It trivia game. I also own all the mistakes, for I have no beta for this story.

It's been a few weeks since our date and things have been going great. I walk Bella to all of her classes now and she gives me small kisses when I drop her off. She sits next to me in all of our shared classes and even in the lunch room. We walk through the halls with my arm draped over her shoulders and we talk every night. We don't go out on dates like the first one, but we hang out on the weekends.

I feel great; everything is easy and Bella is my girl.

…I'm pretty sure.

Although I haven't said anything about it, Bella isn't the type of girl to share kisses and she's been kissing me. She's my girl by default. I'll take what I can get.

It's the first Monday of October and everyone's excited about the Homecoming dance this weekend. I couldn't care less about it. I didn't even bother asking Bella if she wants to go. We "don't do dancing." There's no point in getting shot down since she wouldn't have fun anyway. Plus dressing up is lame.

There are flyers and posters all over the walls telling everyone to vote for Homecoming king and queen, as well as reminding the students what day is what for Spirit Week. It's all so very, very lame.

Bella rides into school today with Kachiri and Sasha. Today's supposed to be Wacky Tacky Day and everyone looks stupid. Well, everyone except Bella. She's got on a pink polka dot sweater over a blue vertical striped shirt. It's cooler outside today so she's wearing army green cargo pedal pushers and knee high socks with crazy looking unicorns on them. They're the weird toe-socked kind and it looks funny seeing the hearts and rainbows on her toes through her purple flip-flops.

Her friends are dressed up just as horrendously as she is, but I guess girls not only party in packs, they act like fools in packs too.

When Bella sees me watching her, she smiles. Sadly, it doesn't last long. I wonder what's upset her.

I look down at myself to see if I forgot anything, like pants. Confirming that I'm wearing jeans and my favorite The Strokes t-shirt, I wait for the girls to make their way over to me.

Kachiri and Sasha both lean in from either side of Bella and the three of them start whispering before breaking off and leaving us alone. As soon as Bella's close enough I hug her. I even kiss her lips quickly, but she still doesn't smile.

"What's up?" I try to keep my tone light, but I really want to know what's wrong. I finger the sleeve of her crazy sweater with a smile. "This looks ridiculous, you know." I laugh a little bit. Even in this stupid outfit, she looks fucking adorable.

She pulls her sleeve from me and wraps her arms around herself. "N-n-nothing. H-h-how are you?"

She's embarrassed again; she's stuttering. I think it happens a lot now because she's never been someone's girl before.

I just shrug in answer to her question. The day just started so there's nothing to really report.

I wrap my arm around her shoulders and start walking her to her first class. We're both silent, but that's nothing new. What is new is that she's tugging and shifting her sweater. The material must feel weird.

I stop us once we get to her door. I usually kiss her before getting to my own class, but when I look at her face I realize something's not right.

"What's up?" Her hair is in off kilter pigtails. I tug one. I bite the corner of my mouth to stop a smile from getting too big: she's utterly ridiculous and utterly cute.

Her head is ducked down. "N-nothing."

I tilt her chin up, but she shifts her eyes away from mine. "Tell me." I make sure my voice is soft, persuasive. I want to know what's bothering her so I can fix it.

"It's nothing, r-really." I don't know what the subject is, but she changes it, looking straight into my eyes. "W-why didn't you dress up today?" Her eyes are huge and her pointer fingernail finds its way to her mouth. It immediately captures my attention.

I want to kiss those lips. And not just a peck either. I want to consume them. Maybe even bite them a little. The thought gets me kind of hard.

I try to focus, but can't take my eyes from her mouth. "Our football team sucks and Spirit Week is lame." It would not be cool to walk around the school looking like a total idiot all day. The girls can dress up all they want, but guys aren't supposed to look so dumb. The only dudes who dressed up are the weird ones and I'm not weird.

The two minute warning bell rings. I'll have to figure out what's bothering her later. I kiss her quickly and stroll to class. I'm going to be late, but I'm not jogging down the hall. It would make me look stupid; no one should be eager to get to class.

I try to figure out what's got Bella upset during my next two classes. She seems really melancholy in the class we share before lunch and I don't know why. She barely talks. She also twirls her hair a lot. She looks totally cute. I try not to laugh at her. I fail most times.

At lunch everyone at our table talks about the Homecoming game and dance. I ignore them mostly. Our football team sucks and school spirit is a waste of time.

I see Kate talking to my girl, but Bella's head is down. She's not even really eating her food, just pushing the spaghetti from side to side. I really wish I knew what was up with her today.

Kate keeps talking to Bella, oblivious that she's not even paying attention. "So after the game Friday, we're all going to an after-party in La Push. Some people are camping out, or whatever, but I've got a hair appointment early Saturday morning and I will not be caught dead looking like shit at the dance from sleeping on a beach all night." Kate scoffs and flicks her hair. I think I see Bella roll her eyes, but she doesn't look up.

Kate can't take a hint. "Besides, Garrett's parents are on some romantic trip for their anniversary, or whatever, so we'll have the whole house to ourselves." She gets all dreamy eyed before whispering in Garrett's ear.

I find myself gritting my teeth. Bella and I don't have the opportunity to have a house all to ourselves. Even if we did, we wouldn't do anything with it. I mean, we might kiss, but our kisses have always been chaste and close mouthed. I don't know how far she would be willing to go with me. Shit, I don't even know if she saving herself until marriage or something.

Fuck! I don't even know if she's really even my girl.

I drape my arm over the back of her chair. Her head tilts towards me slightly, but she doesn't make eye contact. I have a really bad feeling about something.

I bring my mouth close to her ear and whisper to her. "Tell me what's wrong." She just shakes her head so I continue. "Please? I know something's wrong. Tell me and I'll fix it." I draw back a bit and see that her eyes are screwed shut. "I promise you." I tug on one of her pigtails again, but I can't find it in me to laugh right now.

Bella takes a deep breath and looks at me. She looks so determined and it intimidates me a little. I draw my face back a bit more to let her know I'm taking her seriously.

"Are you going to the football game?" Only the teeth nibbling at the corner of her mouth give away that she's nervous. I don't know why she is though, it's a random question.

I shrug. Our football team sucks. I thought I already told her this. I tell her again, just so she's clear. "Why waste time watching them lose? Our team is a joke." I make sure to say the last part semi loudly because I know I'm not the only one who thinks this. Alec laughs from a few chairs down and I reach out to bump his fist. He pounds mine back like he's supposed to.

Bella releases her lower lip and goes back to pushing her food around. I don't get it and it makes me feel uneasy. I don't like it when she isn't smiling and something's telling me it's my fault.

I need to figure this out without letting her know how much it's bothering me; I don't want to look whipped. "Why? You want to go?" I make sure my voice sounds light, amused. Maybe if I'm smiling, she'll smile too.

She doesn't. She shrugs instead without looking up. I'm at a loss.

Kate leans over to try to get Bella's attention again. "So what color's your dress for the dance? Are you going to wear the school colors?"

What the fuck is she talking about?

Bella only shrugs, but she looks at Kate this time. I can't see Bella's facial expression, but it causes Kate to look up at me and start talking my ear off. "Are you guys going to match? I mean, you do realize Bella's a shoo in, right?"

Again, what the fuck is she talking about?

I narrow my eyes at the back of Bella's head, but she doesn't turn around. Kate speaks for her after sucking the back of her teeth and rolling her eyes at me. I'm liking her less and less. "For Miss Spirit, duh! It's between her and Becky, but Bella's got this."

I just stare blankly; I don't know what Miss Spirit is and I don't know who Becky is either.

I try to figure this out. "Who?"

Kate doesn't seem amused. "Becky! You know, Rebecca Black? She's at all the football games. The girl who makes all the schedule announcements?" She looks at me like I'm stupid. I don't like it.

"Whatever." She doesn't like my answer and turns back to Garrett. I rub Bella between her shoulder blades with the arm that's still slung over her chair, trying to communicate that whoever the fuck this Becky girl is, my girl's far better. Miss Spirit sounds like a lame-ass thing anyway. I mean, what would someone have to do to…

But my hand stills as I instantly remember:

My girl follows our piece of shit team.

My girl wears her Forks High sweatshirt with pride.

My girl is dressed is hearts and rainbows, unicorn toe-socks for Wacky Tacky Day.

My girl was nominated as Miss Spirit because my girl loves her school…

…and I've been laughing at her all day. I haven't even asked her to the fucking dance.

I'm an asshole.

I am so totally fucked and I don't know how to fix this. Then, I have another thought: Who the fuck is taking my girl to the dance? I didn't ask her and she was obviously still going to go.

I see red. I'll be damned if someone else gets to spend time with her.

After taking two deep breaths, I lean down close to her ear again. "Who are you going with, anyway?" I'm surprised I sound as calm as I do.

Bella looks up with large shining eyes. The brown is beautiful as it shimmers. My anger melts away; I can't be mad if she's looking at me like this, as if she's going to cry.

"Wha-what?" Her lips are trembling. She shakes her head and clamps her eyes shut. "N-no one asked me."

I breathe a sigh of relief. No one asked her because everyone knows she's with me. Yes, I am a total asshole, but my train of thought quickly derails. I have failed in the worst way: my girl thinks nobody wants her because I didn't ask her to the dance. I have to fix this.

I tuck a loose tendril of hair behind her ear. "Well, are you going?"

Her eyes meet mine again and they're impossibly more watered down. I feel like if her lashes weren't so long, the tears would spill over.

"I d-don't know." She bites her lip. I know that means she's thinking about it.

"Well, what color's your dress?" I start tugging on one of her pigtails again; I can't keep my hands to myself, it's overwhelming.

"Um, I-I've got a gold dress." Her cheeks heat up before she continues. "And a navy shawl."

I laugh. "School colors?" Of course. "We're going to look so lame." I'll need a navy suit and a gold tie. I know the guys are going to bomb on me so badly, but I'm not heartless and this obviously means something to Bella, so I'll do it.

"Really? You'll go with me?" She sounds so surprised. I obviously need to step up to show her how much she means to me. I mean, doesn't she know she's great?

I choose my reply deliberately. "I don't do dancing." She doesn't smile. I don't think she remembers. I quickly continue. "But I'll come with you, you know, if you want me to." I say the last part really softly. I don't want anyone to hear me sound so uncertain. But I am, because she owns me. How can she not know?

Bella's smile makes everything alright, though. "Yeah, I'd like that."

I take a sip of soda to try to hold in a smile. "Cool."

I peek back at her after a moment and she's smiling down at her spaghetti with pink cheeks. I can't resist, I kiss her temple. "You're fucking cute."

Her face blushes scarlet and she looks at me through her lashes before ducking her head back down. "Thanks."

I pull her closer into my side; making our cafeteria chairs scrap the floor and everyone to look over at us. For once, I don't care so much; Bella's smiling and I made her do it. It makes me feel bold. "It's true." I take deep breath and murmur in her ear. "Not only do I have the cutest girl, but she's the future Miss Spirit."

I can't bring myself to look at her after saying it though and close my eyes to kiss her temple again.

"You really think I'll win?" Her voice sounds small, but hopeful.

I pull back to look into her eyes, blue to brown. She's beautiful; how could she not? "Yeah." I kiss her lips quickly. Sealed with a kiss.

Alec pipes up. "Get a room, Jasper! You and your girl are killing my appetite."

"Whatever." I fight to sound nonchalant. I stretch lazily and pull Bella closer still, whispering into her ear. "He's totally jealous."

She giggles and I feel lightheaded.

Surely she knows she's with me.

Surely she realizes I'd do anything to see her smile.

Surely.

.

A/N: Do you realize what seems to be happening? Jasper needs to pay closer attention, I think.

For those of you who review to get teasers: I have a roller derby bout this weekend and will be out of town. I usually reply to all reviews without hours of them posting (one of the perks of being a stay at home mother), but location will make that impossible. So, to ensure that I don't leave anyone out, I won't be replying to any reviews until Sunday-ish, Monday at the latest. But I will be replying once I'm home, I promise. I don't actually leave until Saturday, so I might get to some after posting, we'll see.

Blue Review buttons vote for not waiting until marriage.

~Tay

P.s - I want to recommend that you all read anything by quothme. She's no longer active on the site (I don't think), but all of her stories are amazing. Glitch and Type O Negative are my personal favorites, but she has two others as well. They are all complete, too.

P.p.s. - The boy just got us a new computer! I'm super excited because the monitor is huge! The sad thing is, I have to redo chapter 9! Meaning, those teasers are going to be a little later than I thought. Sorry y'all! I promise that I'll send them once I write them.