AN: Thank you everyone who has been so patient with my absence. Unfortunately the real world decided to crash down on me for the past few months and i was incapable of getting anything FF related written. It made me very sad, but priorities are priorities as much as i wished them otherwise.
Originally FALLING STARS was going to have a few more chapters, but i was more than satisfied with this being it. I hope you all enjoy it! i know i loved writing it.
I'd like to thank everyone who's stuck by this story, but there's a special thanks i;d like to give...and that's to MIGHTYBLUEPEN, without whom this chapter would still be only a paragraph sitting on my screen glaring at me. She edited this chapter for me and i love the way it came out! So thank you! :)
Now go read it! ENJOY! and PLEASE REVIEW!
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Prom Night
(Selene's POV)
"Bella! You have to come out of that bathroom sometime! We're going to be late if you don't!" Alice was growing impatient, as was evident by the annoyed tone in her voice and the rapid tapping of her high-heeled foot.
She'd spent a good part of the past four hours helping to beautify Bella, and now the exasperating human in question wouldn't even exit the bathroom to let us see the results. Of course, Alice and I had already been able to see how she looked, and had blocked Edward out by thinking about our own dates and how they looked.
There was no noise was coming from behind the closed door at all, not even the ruffle of fabric. It was kind of eerie how the only sounds that even vampire ears could pick up on were her breathing and heartbeat. Other than those reminders that she was still alive and very human, there wasn't even the slightest noise emanating from that room.
"Bella? Girl, you need to get out here so that Edward can drool," I laughed, but there was a sense of seriousness in my voice as well.
I wondered what could possibly be keeping her in that room. Any mention of Edward would normally have had her barreling through that door, looking for him. But no, still the ominous silence from the opposite side of the door. Sighing, I turned around at the sound of approaching footsteps.
"Is she ready yet?" Emmett asked, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow in faux impatience.
That was the last straw for Alice. Her whole frame vibrated as she exhaled an exasperated breath- one I don't think she'd even realized she'd been holding, as she got more and more agitated. Her knuckles collided with the wood so that the bang rang through the whole house.
Downstairs, Rosalie huffed as she retrieved something she'd dropped in surprise and Jasper looked up towards the ceiling where we stood above him with a curious expression on his face. A few doors down, Carlisle was startled out of his book he was reading and Esme gasped as her hand slid the pen a few centimeters off their mark on a blueprint she was drawing. Edward was outside with Connor, and they both turned to look towards the house simultaneously.
Edward took a step to come back inside, but I stopped him with a warning hiss in his mind. He wasn't allowed anywhere near the bathroom until Bella came out. I'd told him this numerous times. As did Alice. So it didn't surprise me when he scowled and turned back to whatever he and Connor were doing. I really didn't care enough to see what that was exactly, so I left it at that.
Everyone in the house jumped again when Alice's voice rang right after the knock.
"Isabella Marie Swan! If you don't come out of that bathroom in ten seconds, I'm going to break down the door and drag you out myself!"
I'd never seen Alice so worked up. Yeah, I'd seen her absolutely crazy over something, but never had I actually heard her yell. She'd always been good at gritting her teeth and making her anger known through short snappy statements said without unlocking her jaw.
Esme had heard Alice clear as day, and with the tiny vampire's words, Esme sucked in her breath. Her mind circulated around the bathroom door, praying that Bella wouldn't drive Alice to knocking it down. It had been one of the first doors she'd designed with Carlisle for this house, and I knew, though it was the bathroom door, it still meant quite a bit to her.
My sister had begun her count down in the same loud tone she threatened in. Emmett and I were pretty much helpless to just stand behind her and watch.
"10…9…8…7…6…"
Esme was getting kind of antsy now and started moving towards the door out of the office.
"5…4…3…2…1…"
Just as Alice was about to grab the doorknob and shoulder the door in, the wood disappeared, swinging into the room. Esme sighed in relief.
Bella stood in the door's place staring at all of us. I smiled now knowing exactly why she hadn't said anything or moved. I could vividly imagine her standing in front of the mirror, mouth agape, and brown eyes wide in wonder as she stared at the reflection gaping back at her. She hadn't moved an inch because she'd been paralyzed by the job Alice and I- mostly Alice- had done with her.
Her brown hair was curled to perfection, with half of the coils pinned up to reveal her face and frame her features perfectly. The make-up she wore was very neutral and minimal, but it was amazing what just a little mascara and blush would do to the already beautiful human. Blue, as Edward had been telling me for the past few months, really was her color. Dressed in an off-the-shoulder frilly dress that ended in a few layers at the bottom, Bella was absolutely gorgeous. And I was glad that she had finally seen that in herself as well.
"What do you think?" I asked, enjoying the grumbling that Alice was doing as she appraised Bella.
"This is a dream. A very…dressed up…dream," she replied, almost as if dazed.
Emmett broke down in laughter, and my smile widened. It was strange how she could have stood there for half an hour just looking and she still didn't believe what her eyes were telling her.
Edward. You can come into the house now. But stay downstairs.
I stuck my tongue out at him mentally just for good measure. He mentally stuck his tongue out back at me but nodded and came through the back door, Connor following behind him. My brother changed his mind halfway to the front door and was about to start up the stairs anyways, but my low growl halted him on the first step and he backed up to the bottom of the landing.
Emmett quit laughing to glance at me and Alice turned to do the same. Bella looked slightly alarmed, and I realized I'd growled aloud. Smirking, I just shook my head and laughed a little.
"Don't worry, just Mr. Edward Cullen being a little defiant. I took care of that."
Alice giggled and Emmett shrugged.
Emmett looked over at Bella and let out a long wolf whistle, winking at her just to make her blush. It worked. Natural color filled her face instantly. He laughed and turned to head down the stairs. I lightly punched his shoulder as he passed for doing that to her.
That was his favorite game with her now. All he ever tried to do was make her blush whenever she was around. It fascinated him how easy it was for the blood to rush so quickly to her cheeks when he cracked a joke at her expense or complimented her, however true it was, just to get a reaction. Bella handled it well though. She never got angry, just blushed, took it, and as she got more comfortable around all of us, she would crack a joke right back.
Downstairs, Edward was stepping from one foot to the other side-to-side, getting antsy.
I laughed at his expense and turned to Alice.
"We should probably get down stairs. The suspense is killing Edward. And if we don't leave soon, not only will he strangle me for making him wait to see Bella, but we'll be late."
All seriousness, Alice nodded and finished circling Bella, the appraisal over. A huge smile burst out across her face and she faced Bella.
"You look absolutely gorgeous. I did a fabulous job on you!" her voice shot through two octaves in the one word and I was about to complain when I snapped my mouth shut. I realized quickly what she was doing when I heard Edward's movement stop all together. He became a statue, waiting and listening.
Alice was teasing him. I liked it and couldn't help laughing as I headed for the staircase myself.
I reached the bottom before Alice and Bella had even touched the first step and went to stand in front of Emmett. He wrapped his huge arms around my shoulders and pulled me in so that I was leaning against his chest. The velvet of his lips felt like heaven as they brushed quickly across my neck.
Connor stood nearest the front door with one arm slung around Rosalie's bare shoulders. He was in a suit, just like Edward, Emmett and Jasper. All of their suits were the traditional black and white ones with a different color tie for each guy. Edward wore a blue tie, to match Bella's dress- the only clue he'd had as to what she was wearing tonight. Connor wore a red tie to compliment Rosalie's strapless form-fitting siren's call of a dress. Jasper had a purple tie, setting off Alice's purple halter dress that clung to every curve she had, making her look even more dainty and pixie-like than usual. And Emmett wore green, to match my floor length, spaghetti strap green satin dress.
We all stood in a half moon circle with Edward in the middle, waiting at the foot of the stairs for Bella.
Alice darted down first and went straight to Jasper. Then, after a few agonizing seconds, for Edward anyways, we could see the hem of Bella's dress on its way down the steps. When she came into full view, Edward inhaled deeply and a smile twisted his lips into something absolutely radiant.
I smiled in spite of myself. That look in its self was one of the ways I knew that Bella and Edward were right together. Where Edward had always made me feel special, he had never looked at me with the intensity and absolute complete adoration that he did Bella. And that made me happier than I could explain. My brother had found somebody, in this world that was leaving us all behind. We all had found somebody and nothing could replace the feeling of rightness that washed over me then. It meant the world to me that everyone in our odd little family was happy, and for that moment in time, it felt as if everything would always be okay and that nothing in the world could take this away from us.
Edward extended his hand to Bella, and with a shy smile, she took it, allowing him to help the last few steps, which I was pretty sure she would have tripped down if he hadn't done just that.
"You look…" he was at a loss for words. Another clue that she was the one for him. He'd never been at a loss for words in his life. "Absolutely stunning."
Then he pulled her close into a hug and whispered into her ear, "Even though you are always stunning."
Red flooded her cheeks again, but she smiled enthusiastically. I almost thought that she was coming to terms with the fact that she was beautiful with that smile.
He kissed her quickly on the lips, and then groaned when he noticed Esme and Carlisle stepping down the stairs, a camera in our mother's hands.
"All right, individuals, groups, the whole group and then couples," Esme instructed, efficiently taking charge as usual. After so many years of Proms and other school dances, we had picture taking down to an art.
She lined us up in next to the marble stairs. She took the individual shots of all of us, girls first, then guys alone, before taking the couple pictures and finally finishing up with our big group shot. It felt strange and wonderful seeing all the new pairs this year. I watched Connor shyly pull a dazzling Rosalie into his arms and pose for a surprisingly tender shot. Bella had to be alternately coaxed then threatened to take her single photo where she awkwardly blushed into the camera but she went willingly and happily into Edward's arms for their couple photo. Judging from the adoring looks they gave each other, that photo was going to be a keeper. Alice leaped into a laughing Jasper's arm for their couple picture and just as quickly danced out of the way for Emmett's and my turn, I went straight to the spiral at the end of the rod iron banister, and pushed myself up to sit on it. Em took his place on the second step, right next to me, and wrapped an arm around my waist. I took my arms and wrapped them around his neck. Smiling in motherly bliss, Esme took the picture.
We all headed for the door after that with Carlisle and Esme watching and wishing us a good night as we went. I glanced back as we left and saw Carlisle's arm around my mother's waist and I knew they would be having a romantic night themselves with all the kids out of the nest for the evening.
It was a rare beautiful night in Forks. The sky was completely clear of any traces of rain, or clouds for that matter. Stars sparkled like brilliant diamonds as Emmett and I sat out on one of the benches on the patio. The air was breezy and held the fresh scent of the trees after a good rain. I leaned backwards a little and allowed the breeze to ruffle my straightened hair.
Prom had never been my thing, but I'd learned my lesson long ago not to argue with Alice on these sorts of things. It wasn't worth a dispute and it wasn't like they were that bad either. I kind of liked dressing up and, more so, seeing Emmett dressed up.
Smiling, I looked beside me to where Em was watching my every move, eyes glowing with the light from the twinkle lights above us. His smile made all the other light fade and I couldn't help but laughing. I loved when he made me laugh or smile for no real reason at all. His joy was just charismatic, one of the best thing about him. When Emmett was happy, you couldn't help but grin right along with him.
As he stared at me, I smirked, turned my body to face forward, lifted my chin and looked at him from the corner of my eyes.
"What?" I asked.
"You're the mind reader, you tell me what," he whispered playfully back.
Fire, not venomous, but a passionate, grew inside me as I turned back to my fiancé. He didn't have any so-called 'special' abilities that we knew of, besides a little extra strength, but what ever it was, he had a power over me. Never since I'd met him had I been angry with him for more than 24-hours. Never did he cease to make me laugh when he wanted me to, or smile. How did he do it? I'd thought I'd been in love when I was human, when I was with Edward. But all of that was nothing compared to how it was with Emmett. Having him here made eternity seem a lot less dull. I could bear to walk this earth forever as long as I knew Emmett would always be there to brighten the darkness.
I laid back in Emmett's arms and thought about our family. So many people from so many worlds. If we had stayed human and never met each other we would have all been candles in the darkness, burning brightly but all too briefly, eventually burning out and been lost forever. Our immortality turned us into Stars, shining forever. Being an immortal, life-less, bloodthirsty monster had never been in my plans. But Emmett would always be the reason I lived it out. Him and the rest of my family.
"You're thinking that you love me. And that I'm everything you every wanted and all you'll ever need."
I hadn't read his mind, because I was teasing him, but his expression told me that I was exactly right in my guess.
Without hesitating, he dipped in, taking my chin and pulled me to his lips. I don't know how long we sat there, lost in each other, but if there was a heaven for our damned souls, then this was it. Just being with Emmett was my heaven, and if that was all I ever got, I could live with that. I couldn't think of a better way to spend forever than in Emmett's arms, and in listening to the sounds of my loved ones' happiness.
I looked up into the sky and caught sight of a bit of light streaking through the dark night sky, I closed my eyes and smiled, but I didn't make a wish. My life was a falling star, and all my wishes had already come true.
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Prom Night