CHAPTER 32

*****BELLA POV*****

ONCE WE GOT TO Port Angeles the guys dropped us off at the dress shop and they went to get fitted for their tuxes. As I started flipping through the racks, I realized finding a dress I liked that also covered all my bruises was going to be a challenge.

"You can always get a little jacket or sweater to wear over it if you can't find something that covers enough," Angela suggested. "Or we could also try to cover up anything that shows with makeup."

I sighed and kept flipping through the rack. Shopping was agonizing enough without any added complications.

"Bella Swan!" I froze as a perfect bell tone voice trilled behind me. "How could you go shopping without me!"

I spun around with my mouth agape, then a giant grin spread across my face. "Alice! What in the world are you doing here?" I said as I went to give her a hug.

"I swear I'm not spying on you, but I still get flashes of you sometimes and I saw you two talking at lunch and then here at the store."

I was staring at her wide-eyed as she nonchalantly talked about her visions… Angela didn't know about them, as far as I knew. Plus, I didn't want Angela to freak out with Alice here. When I slowly turned to Angela, she looked a little tense, but not upset or surprised.

She gave me a small smile when she noticed the look on my face. "It's okay. Embry told me about their extra powers. Definitely explains why your face would just go blank sometimes, Alice."

Alice let out a little tinkling laugh. "Yes, that's unfortunately one of the side effects. I hope you're okay with me being here Angela. I didn't see you getting upset, but please tell me if me being here makes you uncomfortable. Carlisle said that you had trouble when you saw him the other day."

"No, I'm alright," Angela assured her. "I mean, we went to school together for over a year and nothing ever happened, plus I know how you have helped keep Bella safe. That day when I saw Carlisle was just a really hard day. This is all starting to get easier… learning about and accepting new things. Not much can top learning your best friend is being hunted by a vampire."

"I don't suppose so," Alice answered soberly. "At least that's behind all of us now." Then she turned to me and put her hands on her hips, her tone turning accusatory. "And you! I can't believe after all the trouble you gave us getting you to prom last year that you agreed so easily today."

I shrugged. "I guess Jake and Angela are just more convincing. Besides, I didn't so much give you trouble as I told you both 'no' and then you all tricked me into going. Also, a lot has changed for me, and I don't think about things quite the same as I did a year ago."

"No, I suppose you don't." She sighed and then smiled and waved her hand dismissively in the air. "Enough about all of that. Let's shop!" She practically sang the last two words, rubbing her hands together. "Alright, I know you're going to be fine with finding your dress Angela, so Bella, let's pick you out some options. Then I have one quick errand to run, but I'll be back in time to help you figure out which one you want."

I had forgotten how much like a force of nature Alice could be, and I knew it was pointless to argue with her. Also, she'd probably seen all the dresses I would have chosen anyway, so I accepted what she picked out and headed to the fitting rooms with Angela. I was checking out my second option—a black, silky, form-fitted number—in the tri-angled mirror when Alice returned. I wasn't 100% sold on it, disliking how much it clung to me.

"You will have to try them all on before you can decide," she said excitedly.

"Why don't you just tell me which one I pick?" I pleaded.

"Nope. You'll like the dress a lot more if you figure it out on your own. Just trust me," she replied with a wink as she shooed me back into the fitting room. She had picked out six options for me, so I put on the third one—a somewhat frilly dress, navy with silver sparkles throughout the tulle skirt—and went out to the mirror. Angela was there turning and studying her third option as well.

"I think this is the one," she said with a big smile.

"It's beautiful Angela," Alice said, and I agreed.

The A-line cut dress was a pale-yellow color, like buttercream, that was so pretty against her olive complexion. The partially sheer bodice was covered with a swirling embroidered lace applique and rhinestones, with double spaghetti straps. The chiffon skirt flowed from the natural waistline and floated around Angela as she moved, barely skimming the floor.

I tried on the remaining dresses that Alice had picked out for me, not particularly excited about any of them. However, when I got to the last one, I knew it was the one I wanted. It was a deep crimson satin A-line dress with narrow straps. The satin was flowy and silky, so even though it had a slight flare, it hung close to my body and accentuated my curves without being skin-tight or clingy. The bodice was a faux wrap that was gathered on the left side and fanned out going across the front. What I loved most though were the gold crystals all over the bodice that tapered off as they continued down onto the skirt, like stardust falling from the sky. The color against my skin was so pretty, cream and roses. And it came up far enough in the back that just a few bruises were peeking over the top. Those could easily be covered with a little makeup… or possibly healed enough in a week and a half that they wouldn't even show any more.

Alice was grinning at me, and I realized the smile on my face was huge… I was actually excited to wear this dress… and for Jake to see me in it.

"It's beautiful Bella," Angela said. "That color is just gorgeous on you!"

Alice's face suddenly changed. "Hurry, go change! The guys will be here in just a few minutes, and you don't want Jake to see your dress until you're all done up!"

"It's not like it's a wedding dress," I argued with her, but she was gently pushing me back to the fitting room, so I stopped arguing and just changed. My back was aching, and I was anxious to be next to Jake again anyway.

When I came out of the fitting room Alice was there with a white garment bag for me to put my dress in.

"Man, you're really serious about him not seeing the dress, aren't you?"

"Yes. It just adds that little extra something when they don't have any specifics on what you'll look like until the look is all complete."

Alice took the dress from me the led me over to the shoes where Angela was already browsing. She collected Angela's dress as well and took them to the counter to have them held until we were done.

I was looking at a pair of flats when Alice returned, and she snatched the shoes out of my hands.

"No way. Jake is a giant, so you're wearing heels… no arguments. Besides, if you wear flats your dress would need to be hemmed and you don't have time for that." She looked at Angela while gesturing to me. "Tell her."

Angela gave me a sympathetic smile. "I agree, you should definitely wear heels. Just 2-3 inches, nothing crazy."

"Any heel on me is crazy! I'll break my ankle! Or my neck!"

"No way Jake would let that happen," Angela said.

"I bet I can find a way," I mumbled, then turned to find Alice holding out a pair of strappy heels with gold crystals all over. They were perfect, of course, so with a deep sigh I relented, taking them from Alice to try them on. I was walking around, slow and unsteady, when I heard the guys' voices as they came in the front door.

I was suddenly sitting, and Alice was removing my shoes. She put them in the box and closed the lid, then also collected the pretty silver shoes that Angela had picked out and took both pairs up to the counter as well. Angela was laughing quietly at the stunned look on my face when the guys found us.

Jake smiled at me with amusement. "What's that look for?"

"Well… Alice," was all I could say, and he laughed, helping me to my feet.

"I told you that's who it was," Jake said to Embry. My brow scrunched in confusion, so Jake explained. "Someone paid for our tux rentals while we were in the back getting measured. We could smell her when we came back out, but Embry wasn't positive it was her."

"Wait! She paid for your tuxes?" I asked, my eyes wide again.

"Yep," Embry said with a smile.

"Is she still here?" Jake asked. "I'd like to thank her… that was very generous."

I looked at Angela, whose eyes were also wide, and we both jumped up and hurried to the counter where Alice was just taking her receipt from the cashier. I regretted the quick movements as a twinge of pain went through my back.

"Alice, what did you do?" I asked her.

"I paid for all your prom things," she said. "Well, actually, Charlie paid for your dress and shoes Bella, but I bought the rest and a little something for your graduation. Here is his card back."

I took the card from her, and I looked at her disapprovingly.

"Don't give me that look Bella. Just consider it a late Christmas present, or an "I'm glad you're still alive" present, or "I'm glad we're still friends" present, or a Graduation present… or a combination of all of those things. I won't get to go to prom with you this time, so just let me do this for you and accept the gifts graciously!

"As for the rest of you, I just appreciate more than I could express that you were all there for Bella when my family and I weren't." She cast a pointed look at Jake. "I will never be able to express my gratitude enough for everything you've done for her."

I had a lump in my throat as Jake quietly inclined his head to Alice. Then the other three all made me look like a jerk as they thanked Alice for her generosity and Angela gave her a hug. I sighed in resignation. "I am grateful Alice, it's just too much. But thank you. I'm so glad you came to help me find the perfect dress. It's been really good to see you."

She gave me an approving nod. "That's better! And it's really good for me to see you back on your feet and doing so well Bella. I felt really guilty that you got hurt on my watch."

I hugged her. "Please don't feel guilty. It all worked out okay."

She smiled at me. "Well, I must get going. You all have a great rest of your evening." She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and then flitted out the door.

I winced as another twinge went through my back and side and I rubbed the spot that was aching the most. That was a mistake though as it just made the pain worse, and I gasped. Jake quickly moved closer and put his arm around my shoulders.

"You okay?" he asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I need to get something to drink so I can take my pain medicine. I lost track of time. Plus, I'm starving."

Jake insisted on carrying me to take the strain off my back, and Embry gathered up our dresses and the bags with our shoes. We stopped by the car to drop off our purchases then went to a little diner that was nearby where we ate and then just hung out and talked and laughed until it was time to head home.

On the drive home I leaned comfortably against Jake in the backseat and realized just how tired I was. It had been a while since I'd gone to a full day of school, not to mention then going shopping and out to dinner.

"I really had fun tonight. Thanks for ganging up on me to convince me to go to prom. Not sure how the actual prom is going to go, but tonight was good."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he said, sounding and looking completely innocent. "But I'm glad you had fun… I did too. It was great to just do something simple and fun and normal."

I nodded my agreement. "I hope I didn't overdo it though. I'm afraid I'm going to be pretty sore tonight."

"Do you want me to stay with you for a while, so you can at least get some good sleep?"

"Pretty sure Charlie's not going to go for that."

"I've snuck in your window once before… I could do it again."

"Oh, I hadn't thought about that. That's very tempting, but I don't know."

"I can just stay until I'm sure you're sound asleep. I missed having you beside me Sunday and last night."

"Yeah, I did too… and it was hard to stay warm. I might need to get an electric blanket." I thought about his suggestion for a minute. "Okay, but you've got to make sure you don't fall asleep and accidentally stay all night. I would hate for Charlie to find you and lose his trust in you."

"I will, I promise."

They dropped me off first. Jake was going to come back over a little later when Charlie should be asleep.

Charlie was in high spirits and wanted to see my dress and he made all of the appropriate appreciative noises when I removed it from the garment bag. When I pulled out the shoebox and the wrapped graduation outfit there was another little bag in there and I found a set of jewelry inside, wrapped in tissue, and I sighed.

"Alice is too extravagant with her gifts," I proclaimed.

"Alice?" Charlie asked in surprise. "I didn't know Alice was going."

"Oh, yeah, she somehow found out that we were going shopping, so of course she couldn't resist surprising us. And she paid for almost everything! Including the guys' tux rentals!"

"That was awfully generous of her," he said, but I saw his face drop a little and understood then why she didn't pay for my dress.

"You still bought me the dress and shoes, Dad. And thank you again for both." I handed him back his card.

His face brightened again at that news as he took the card from me. "That explains why you bought heels," he said, dangling one of the strappy torture devices from his finger.

I nodded. "Yeah. Not sure how that's gonna go, but Alice can be convincing, and they were just too perfect for that dress to say no. I hope I can stay upright all night." I stretched and then winced a little. "I think I'm going to head to bed. I'm pretty sore from the day."

"Alright kiddo. Good night."

"Night Dad."

I took a hot shower, letting the water run over my back for a long time to try to ease the ache. It helped, but not much.

It had been a few days since I'd had a chance to email Renee, so I fired up the computer and lay down on the bed to relax my back while I waited for it to boot up. This achy back thing was going to get old really fast, and I was really looking forward to when Jake would get there, very thankful that he had offered.

After I emailed Renee, I took my new dress and outfit over to the closet to put them away. I slid the left side closet door opened and hung them there, so they'd be out of the way since I never used that side. My foot bumped into something on the closet floor, and I looked down to see a black garbage bag setting there with the mess of wires sticking out the top. I sighed, remembering the hurt and anger I had felt that day when I had put all of the gifts from the Cullens in there last fall after my disastrous birthday party. Well, not all of them. Edward had taken the CD he'd made for me. I had completely forgotten about all of them.

I drug the bag over beside my desk and sat down to look through it. Besides the possibly ruined stereo, there was the necklace from Rosalie, and the plane ticket vouchers from Carlisle and Esme (the outfit Alice had given me had been ruined when I bled all over it, so it was long gone). I stared at the pieces of paper for a while, wondering if the one intended for Edward could be used by someone else… and if that would be wrong to do. Studying them a little closer I saw that there were no names on the vouchers, so it seemed like they could be used by anyone. It would be great to visit Renee… and I could only think of one person that I'd want to take with me, but that felt kinda wrong. It also felt wrong to let them go to waste though. And Carlisle liked Jake and had been so supportive of us. I would ask Alice what she thought.

I heard Charlie come up the stairs and go into his room. Just had to wait for him to go to sleep.

I set the box with the ticket vouchers on my desk next to the necklace and heard Charlie come up the stairs, followed by his bedroom door shutting. Just a little longer to wait for him to go to sleep… I wondered if Jake was already outside.

Leaving the bag setting where it was—I shouldn't have moved it myself in the first place—I lay back down on my bed, pulling the covers tight around me, but unable to warm up. The longer I lay there the more my back started aching, so I did some of the stretches that Carlisle had given me. That helped a little, but I wished Charlie would go to sleep so Jake could come already.

It wasn't even five minutes later when there was a quiet clattering against my window. I hurried over and looked out to see Jake smiling up at me. Throwing the window open, I took a few steps back and moments later he was through the window, I was wrapped in his strong embrace, and the ache was gone.

I leaned against him and held him tight. "I'm so glad you thought to do this tonight. I don't think I would have been able to get to sleep at all. I may have overdone it just a little today."

He was smoothing his hand over my hair. "I'm here now, so you can relax and get some rest."

"I'm not sure Charlie is asleep yet though."

No sooner had the words left my mouth than his snoring started.

Jake chuckled. "I could tell he was asleep by his heart rate, but there's your confirmation." After a few quiet moments he asked, "What's that?"

I looked to find him staring down at the garbage bag by my desk.

"Oh right. This might be weird for you, or impossible, so just be honest if you don't want to. You remember when you noticed the damage to my dash… where my stereo had been?"

"Yeah," he said curiously.

"Well, in that bag is the stereo that I ripped out of the dash. The Cullens gave it to me for my birthday last year and it was too painful of a reminder at the time. I was wondering though, if it's not damaged too badly, if you might be able to put it back in? Would that be too weird for you?"

He guided me to sit on the desk chair and then knelt down on one knee beside me. He took the few somewhat mangled parts out of the bag, squinting and turning each piece over in his hands.

"Man, you really did a number on this thing. Some of the wiring will need to be replaced, and I'll need to take a better look at your dash. I also might need to get a new mounting bracket… that seems a little too damaged, but I think I might be able to reinstall it… and it might still work."

"Really? You don't mind? I don't want you to do it if it's going to cost very much, but it won't be weird for you?"

"Why would it be weird? Just because they gave it to you? I'm putting your stereo back into your truck. Besides, it would be nice to have some music while driving that beast… especially as slow as that thing goes!"

"Hey, don't knock the truck! Some really great guy, I think his name was Chewie, rebuilt the engine for me ya know."

Jake had been putting the stereo parts back in the bag, but he suddenly snatched me out of the chair as he stood up and I squealed in surprise. Slapping my hand over my mouth, we waited in silence for a few moments… Charlie's snoring continued, and we both started laughing quietly.

"Chewie, huh? Well, that guy was thrilled to have that old truck taken off his hands, because as much as you love it, he did not. Kinda crazy that he still ends up driving it so much though." Jake's tone went a little sour at the end.

"Maybe if that guy was a better mechanic, and didn't resort to banging on the engine, he could make the truck run faster," I teased.

Jake's eyebrows went up in disbelief. "Is that right!?" He held me out, acting like he was going to drop me onto the bed. "Maybe that guy can just leave you to your aches and pains!"

I scrambled to grab hold of his neck and pull myself closer to him. "No, please don't. This girl likes that guy too much… she really wants him to stay and she's sorry for insulting his mechanical abilities."

Jake brought me back close to him and held me firmly, both of us laughing again.

"I'm really glad you're here Jake." I combed my fingers through the back of his hair and gazed into his beautiful dark eyes.

"Me too." He pressed his lips to mine, kissing me softly. "You ready to go to sleep? You're probably exhausted after such a long day."

I covered a yawn as he spoke, as if to answer his question.

He kicked off his shoes, pulled back the covers, and climbed on the bed, placing me beside him as he laid down. He reached over me to turn the lamp off, then I snuggled up close to him as he wrapped his arms around me. The last thing I remember was Jake kissing my forehead before I drifted off.