Yes, we've reached the end of Book 1. *sob* Just kidding, story's not over yet. More notes on that at the end though. Enjoy!

Epilogue

"Please, Jacob, before she comes back, tell me where they're taking me."

I leaned forward and put my mouth next to my ear. She drew in an anticipative breath, but I whispered no, and Bella sat back in her kitchen chair and crossed her arms. She pulled her eyebrows down and a little crease formed between them.

"I think you're better off figuring this out on your own," I said, "It's pretty obvious. If I tell you, your self-esteem will drop."

Bella raised a hand to smack my shoulder like she was accustomed to but then dropped it.

"I'm sorry. I can't smack a cripple," she said. I laughed.

"And you wouldn't want to ruin your pretty nails," I teased, "And I'm only half-crippled." My shoulder and the ribs were healed, but the leg was covered in gauze and plaster. I was moving to a boot soon though.

"Please tell my why I'm getting dressed up though," Bella begged. I shook my head but turning down a pretty face was hard. Alice had already done her make-up and hair. It was curled and put up in something elaborate.

"You haven't even gotten dressed yet," I said. The worst had yet to was upstairs with it while Bella's nails were drying. I caught a glimpse of the dress on the way here. Sweats-and-Jeans Bella had reason to be terrified.

"Bella!" Alice called, "Your nails will be dry in fifteen seconds. Then get up here."

I chuckled and Bella bit her lip. In a few seconds, she left, mouthing "help me."

I got up on my crutches and decided to take a look around the Swan home. Maybe I'd find a funny picture of Bella when she was little. Chief Swan was on duty so it was just me.

I crutched over to the mantle. There was an especially funny one of Bella in a ballet get-up. She looked miserable among the other little girls. I couldn't imagine she was a good dancer.

There was only one photo on the mantle that was not of Bella(except for the one of a giant fish). It was a family photo taken in a hospital. I assumed it was of people from the Quileute reservation. Maybe the guy Bella's dad always went fishing with. A beautiful but exhausted woman was holding a tiny dark-skinned baby dressed in blue. A beaming man in a Mariners ball cap was next to her. Two little girls were smiling beside the bed, both of their wide smiles were missing teeth.

There was something about their faces that was distinctly familiar. The way the woman smiled. The little girls' noses. I'd seen these things before, somewhere.

I heard clacking on the wooden stairs. I turned away from the photo and crutched over to the bottom of the stairs.

Bella looked stunning. My own eyes widened a bit. Alice had dressed her in a deep blue gown. The top part was embellished with silver flowers on the top. The bottom was ruffled. I saw the silver stilettos under the dress. Alice was assisting her down the stairs in a far shorter formal dress.

"After tonight, I'm going to need those crutches," Bella mumbled. She never took her eyes off her feet.

"Left, right, left, right," I said.

I laughed and grabbed her hand when she landed on the floor.

"You look beautiful," I mumbled nervously. My stomach was tied up in knots.

Bella smiled at me. She looked surprised to hear it. She will never really see herself.

"Will you tell me where I'm going now?" she asked. I locked my lips and threw away the key.

Alice took out her cellphone and started snapping pictures of Bella and me. Bella smiled for one and then turned away. Her cheeks had gone from pink to red.

There was a knock on the door. With a huge smile on her face, Alice skipped to the door and opened it up. Edward was there, in a tuxedo. Bella walked a little too fast over to him. Edward caught her and laughed. She got redder and kissed him next to the mouth. In her shoes, Edward didn't have to bend over.

"So where we going?" she asked. She was restless.

"I'll tell you in the car," Edward said. Bella smiled and took his hand. She nearly ran to the car, but soon tripped in her stilettos. Edward deftly caught her once again and took her arm for the rest of the walk.

Alice shut the door.

"If she knew where she was going, she wouldn't be in a rush," Alice said, "I'm gonna grab my bag so we can go."

She zipped into the kitchen. Someone knocked on the door. Confused, I turned around and opened it.

Tyler Crowley looked just as surprised to see me as I was to see him. He was dressed in a black suit with a red tie. He smiled at me amiably.

"Hey, Tyler?" I said. Why was he here?

"Hey, Jacob, right? Um, is Bella in?"

I credit Esme's etiquette classes for teaching me how to hold in my laughter. I couldn't hold in my smile though.

"Edward and Bella just left for prom," I told him.

"Oh..." Tyler said. This was awkward.

"I'm sure she would appreciate the offer though," I said, trying to be kind. Alice walked up behind me.

"Uh, yeah. What are you guys doing here?"

"Bella and I were getting ready together, and Jacob's a tagalong," Alice said. She sent me a teasing glance. She could switch from aunt to sister without missing a beat.

"Oh, um. I'll be going then. See you...around."

Tyler walked back to his car with his head bent. Poor guy. Yet when Alice closed the door, I was silent with laughter. Alice's tinkling-bells laugh was shrill.

Alice whipped out her cell phone. "Oh, I can't wait to tell Edward."

Two cars pulled up in front of the house. Jasper was in the first. He winked at Alice. She smiled like it was her only prom and ran out of the house, a little too quickly. They sped off.

I rolled my eyes and crutched down the driveway. Mom smiled at me.

"Have fun?"

I shrugged. My shoulder stung a little when I did. My cell phone pinged from my pocket. I got a picture message from Alice.

"Who's that?" Mom asked.

"Alice sent me a picture of me and Bella," I said.

"You can do that?" Mom asked. She had trouble keeping up with technology. One time my iPod was playing and she told me to turn down the record-player. Dad still teased her about that one.

I opened up the picture. It was the one where Bella actually smiled to the camera. I was smiling too. After a quick glance, I snapped my eyes back to the picture. I zoomed in on my face.

The nose.

The smile.

I was right. I had seen those things before.

Thank you for reading and reviewing and favoriting and subscribing and all that good stuff! You all deserve medals and cupcakes and the like! Okay, so I am working on the (drumroll please) sequel! As we go on, the story will look less like canon although some events will remain the same because Jacob wouldn't affect with some happenings. I want to get a good start on Book 2 though before I post it. That does not mean you will be rid of me though! Since the Childhood chapter was so popular, I have decided to post the outtakes, a mini song-fic, things I felt needed to be explained and weren't yadda, yadda, yadda. Have an amazing day and thanks for reading!