Thank you, as always, for all your kindness and support! I know I'm awful about responding to reviews, but know that I'm grateful for all your wonderful feedback and appreciate y'all taking the time to read this story! You're all awesome!

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to the Twilight franchise, only the OC's.

Chapter Three

"Dude. Seriously. You've got to stop freaking panicking," Tom said over the phone. "You're just going to talk to your mom. It's not like you're off to meet the Pope or something."

Danielle sighed heavily as she paced the length of Jasper's bedroom, her eyes turned to the ceiling. It was the next day, and she had been spending the better part of an hour trying to psyche herself up and get herself into the right mind frame to go and face her mother. She had hoped talking to Tom would help ease her anxiety, but so far it wasn't working. Even after spending the majority of the previous afternoon practicing what she would say with Bella, and even after spending all night thinking about how best to approach Lynne, she was still nervous as all hell.

"This is serious, Tom," Danielle reminded him. "My mom and I haven't talked to each other in over two weeks. What if she's still mad at me? What if she turns me away? What if she hates me?"

Tom exhaled loudly. "Do you hear how ridiculous you sound right now?" he asked incredulously. "Your mom doesn't hate you. That's not even a possibility, Dani."

"But – " she started to argue back.

"No but's," Tom interrupted. "I have literally heard her say, on no less than five hundred and sixty-eight occasions, that you are the most important thing in the world to her. Your mom loves you. So stop being a drama queen, suck it up, and go talk to her," he commanded.

Danielle huffed as she turned to walk back the other direction. "Geez. When did you get so bossy?" she asked.

Tom snorted on his end of the line. "Probably been talking to your sister-in-law too much," he retorted.

Danielle had to crack a grin at that. Alice had been talking to Tom quite a bit. Seeing as Tom was her very closest friend, Danielle had decided to throw tradition to the wind and had appointed him as her Man of Honor, which meant Alice had been calling him frequently to discuss his suit, the duties he had to fulfill as the Man of Honor, and to just generally talk his ear off about the wedding. Tom, being pretty easy going by nature, didn't seem to mind her pestering, and the two actually seemed like they got along pretty well. There had been more than one time where Danielle had caught them talking about non-wedding related things whilst on the phone, and though she had questioned the two parties about it, they had both insisted it was nothing but friendly conversation.

"Don't even act like talking to Alice is some kinda chore or something," Danielle shot back. "You so have a crush on her."

"No, I don't," Tom denied at once.

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don't!" Tom persisted.

"Yes, you do! Times infinity!" she added for good measure.

Tom went quiet for a second, and she could practically picture him rolling his eyes. "What are you, twelve?" he said with sarcasm. "Look," he continued firmly, "Alice is cool, okay? But I barely know her. And she lives in Washington. As of right now we're just friends, and that's perfectly fine. So just…don't make it weird, okay?"

Danielle could tell that her teasing was genuinely starting to bother him, so she decided it was time to drop her act. "Don't worry, I won't. I just love both of you and want you both to be happy. I still think you'd be great together, but if you want me to drop it, then I will."

Tom sighed with relief. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Danielle said with a smile. She turned to pace back the other way, her eyes trained on the trees swaying with the wind outside the window. "You've got your flight booked, right?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Yup. I get in Monday before the wedding, then leave Sunday afternoon while you guys are off on your honeymoon," he confirmed.

Danielle grinned widely. "Pickles, you have no idea how excited I am to see your handsome face," she said, practically bouncing on her heels with excitement already.

"Dani-lani-ding-dong, I am beyond excited!" Tom said back without hesitation. "I still can't believe you're getting married next month."

"Honestly? Me neither," Danielle admitted. "It's all happened so fast. It feels kinda surreal."

"I bet," Tom agreed. "I know I've already said it, but I'm gonna say it again. I'm really happy for you, Dani. I can tell you're really happy with Jasper and I'm just…really glad you guys found each other," he said sincerely.

Danielle felt a swell of emotion at his words. "Thanks, Tommy," she said, trying not to let him hear just how much his sweet words had affected her.

"You're welcome," he said. "Now don't think I don't know what you're doing by talking my ear off. You're trying to stall before going to see Momma Clark," he pointed out matter-of-factly.

Danielle cringed. Was there nothing she could get past Tom? "Caught me," she admitted guiltily.

"Course I did. What do you think I am, some kinda amateur? I know you better than you know yourself," he stated proudly, and she couldn't argue with him on that because he was probably right, just as he always was. "It'll be fine, Dani. Just go over there and talk to her. You can do it, I know you can."

Danielle sucked in a deep breath, then nodded. "Okay."

"Atta girl," Tom said encouragingly. "Call me after and tell me what happens."

"I will," she promised.

"Good luck, and I'll talk to you soon."

"Thanks, Tom. Bye."

Danielle ended the call and clicked the flip phone shut. She sighed to herself and looked to the window, allowing herself a moment to collect her thoughts and mentally prepare herself for what was about to take place. Finally, with Tom's encouraging words circulating through her mind, she went to the desk to grab her mother's wedding invitation before heading downstairs.

It was strangely quiet in the house, and though it had already been rather on the quiet side ever since Jasper, Emmett, and Edward had gone on their hunt, it was weirdly so today. Danielle paused at the bottom of the stairs to glance around, listening out for any sounds of movement in the house and wondering just where everyone was. Carlisle, she knew, was at work, but where were Alice, Esme, and Rosalie?

"Hello?" she called out. "Anybody home?"

When there was no response, she shrugged her shoulders and decided they must have gone out while she had been on the phone with Tom. With that thought in mind, Danielle headed into the kitchen and went to the drawer to the left of the oven, where they kept a notepad and a pen. She began to scribble out a note saying that she was going into town to talk to her mother, just in case the Cullen's returned and she was still gone. Just as she finished, however, a voice caught her by surprise.

"Going somewhere?"

Danielle jumped about a mile into the air, her surprised eyes swinging toward the entrance to the kitchen. Rosalie stood there with her arms crossed over her chest, staring unblinking back at her. "Er, yeah," she answered, setting down the pen she had been writing with. "I'm going to talk to my mom. I was leaving a note. I didn't think anyone was home," she felt the need to add, gesturing to the notepad.

Rosalie glanced at the notepad, then back at her. "Esme and Alice are out shopping, but I'll let them know where you went when they come back," she said.

Danielle nodded. "Okay. Thanks," she added.

Rosalie just nodded once in return.

They stood there in awkward silence for a few moments, before Danielle finally couldn't take it any longer. She stepped away from the countertop and moved to leave the kitchen, smiling awkwardly at Rosalie as she went past. Her purse and the keys to Jasper's car were on a table near the stairs that went down to the bottom floor – she stopped there to grab both items, shoving the wedding invitation into the purse, before sliding the purse over her shoulder.

"I'll be back in a bit," she said, fiddling with Jasper's keys as she glanced at Rosalie.

"Alright," Rosalie said.

Danielle started to make her way downstairs after that, but stopped only a few steps down when Rosalie spoke again. "Danielle?" the vampire called out.

"Yeah?" she asked, looking back at her.

Rosalie took a few steps closer. "I heard what you and Carlisle were talking about yesterday," she said bluntly. "About you possibly becoming one of us." Rosalie paused, then lifted her chin a little higher. "I just wanted to say that…I don't think you should do it," she stated firmly.

Danielle blinked at her in surprise and went back up to the top step. "What?" she asked unsurely.

Rosalie shrugged and crossed her arms over her chest. "Being like this…it's not as glamorous as you and Bella might think it is," she said. "This is not the sort of life I would have chosen for myself. I will never grow old. I will never experience the normal things that humans do in their lifetimes. I will never have children." Danielle did not miss the way Rosalie's voice broke a little on that last word. The vampire quickly pushed away whatever emotion had just swarmed her, though, and gave Danielle a firm look. "If I could choose between being like this or being like you, I would go with option number two," she told her with a nod.

Danielle was stunned by the admission, partly because it was completely unexpected, partly because it was possibly the most that Rosalie had ever said to her in one sitting, and partly because what she had said was so personal. "Wow," Danielle said dumbly, too stunned to think of anything else to say.

Rosalie sighed, her eyes turning away momentarily before meeting Danielle's again. "I know we aren't friends. And I know I haven't been the kindest to you, so maybe my opinion doesn't mean anything. But I just…felt like I needed to say something."

Danielle shook off her shock to frown at those words. "Your opinion does matter, Rosalie," she said with a nod, which seemed to surprise the vampire a little. "We're about to be family. It's time we started figuring out how to communicate with one another, don't you think?" she asked.

Rosalie thought about it, then nodded. "Yes, I suppose we should." She paused, then titled her head. "Do you really want to be one of us?" she asked, her tone betraying how baffled she was by the thought.

Danielle shrugged. "To an extent, yes," she admitted. "Not because I think it's glamorous, or any stupid, vain reason like that. I would want to be a vampire purely because of what it would mean for me and Jasper," she said honestly.

"Jasper loves you, and he will continue to love you regardless if you are a human or not," Rosalie countered.

"I know," Danielle said. "But I think we all know that everything would be a lot less complicated if Jasper and I were the same."

Rosalie looked like she didn't want to agree with that statement. She stared at Danielle for a few long moments, then sighed heavily. "Look, in the end, it's not my decision to make," she said. "But I will say this – being a Cullen doesn't mean you have to be a vampire. Unlike us, you have a choice in the matter. So just make sure you really think about this. Because once it's done, that's it. There's no taking it back."

Danielle nodded firmly. "I am. And I will."

Rosalie nodded, then turned on her heel to leave, signaling that their conversation had come to an end. Danielle watched as the gorgeous vampire headed upstairs without a backward look. "Good luck with your mother," Rosalie said over her shoulder, before disappearing from view.

Danielle raised her brows. Rosalie wishing her luck was probably about the nicest thing she'd ever said to her. "Thanks," she called back.

There was no reply, only the sound of a door being shut.

It was hard to decide if her conversation with Rosalie had been a good thing or a bad thing, so, in the end, Danielle decided it was best to just push it out of her mind for the time being. Considering she was about be facing her mother and could potentially be in for another horrid fight, Rosalie's opinion on her possibly becoming a vampire was the least of her concerns.

Danielle pulled into a parking space outside of her mother's bookshop, then turned off the engine. She had chosen to speak to her mother at the bookshop in the hope that being in such a public setting might reduce the chance of getting shouted at. For a few moments, Danielle sat there in the car, watching through the window as her mother helped a customer in the romance novel section, her heart pounding in her chest. It was the first time she and seen in her mother with her own two eyes in over two weeks, and quite frankly, she did not like what she was seeing.

Danielle had always thought that Lynne was a beautiful woman. She was in good shape, she had a pretty face, and she always dressed well. But her real beauty came from how happy and cheerful she always seemed to be – she was the type of person that almost always had a smile on her face…unless, of course, you did something to make her mad, in which case she was downright scary. Thankfully, her bouts of flying off the handle were usually few and far between, which meant that, more often than not, she was just her kind-hearted, chipper self.

Right now, though, Lynne was very obviously not her usual self. Even from where Danielle sat, she could see that Lynne looked tired and haggard, completely worn down. Her hair wasn't done, she barely had any makeup up on, and she had traded in her colorful clothes for dark, old clothes that Danielle didn't even remember her owning because it had been so long since she'd worn them. Lynne just looked downright depressed, and to see her like that immediately sent an ache through Danielle's heart, because she knew that she was the primary cause for it.

Sucking in a deep breath, Danielle finally got out of Jasper's car and headed for the entrance to the bookshop. She pushed the door open with shaky hands, making the bell above the door jingle as it signaled her arrival. Her mother couldn't see her from where she was standing because there were bookshelves between them, so it was Patricia, the lady who worked for her mother, who greeted her. Currently, the woman was behind the checkout counter, her eyes trained on a receipt she was looking over.

"Hi, welcome to Much Ado About – oh." Patricia had finally looked up and realized she was there. Patricia looked nervous in an instant, her eyes darting to where Lynne was. "H-hey, Dani."

Danielle gave her a small smile. "Hey, Patricia. I'm, uh…here to talk to my mom," she said, pointing in Lynne's direction.

"Yeah, of course," Patricia said with a nod. "Lynne?" she called out tentatively. "Could you come here for a moment?"

Danielle heard Lynne excuse herself from the conversation she'd been having with the customer. She stood straighter, bracing herself for whatever was about to come. The moment of truth was upon her – would Lynne want to talk, or would she throw her out?

Lynne stepped around a bookshelf and came into view. Almost immediately, her gaze landed on Danielle, and when she saw her standing there, Lynne froze. For a few moments, neither of them did anything. They simply stood there staring at one another, Danielle with a guarded expression, Lynne with one of surprise. Eventually, though, Danielle offered a tentative smile.

"Hi, mom," she said quietly.

Lynne blinked. "Danielle," she said slowly. "What are you doing here?"

Danielle shrugged. "I was…hoping we could talk?" she asked hopefully. "If you're not too busy, anyway," she added quickly.

Lynne didn't answer at first. She stared back at Danielle, her brows furrowed together, then glanced at Patricia. Patricia was glancing back and forth between the two of them as if watching a tennis match, her expression both wary and one of interest – even the customer Lynne had been helping had come to see what was going on, the woman clutching a book tightly to her chest as she eyed the two of them.

"Patricia, can you take over for a minute while I talk to Danielle?" Lynne finally asked, looking to her employee with raised brows.

"Of course," Patricia readily agreed.

Lynne nodded, then looked back to Danielle and motioned for her to come with her to the back room. As relieved as she was that her mother was at least willing to talk to her, that did nothing to quell the nervousness still running rampant through her veins. Danielle shoved her hands into her pockets as she followed her mother through the store, her mind racing as she tried to remember everything she had wanted to say, but her mind was drawing a blank. She was suddenly terrified that she would do or say something wrong, that she would make things even worse than they already were.

She couldn't stop herself from fidgeting anxiously as they reached the back room, Lynne quietly shutting the door so that they had some privacy. Lynne turned to her, then motioned toward the little table set up in the center of the room, where they ate their lunch when on break.

"Why don't we sit?" she suggested.

Danielle nodded and went to sit down, setting her purse on the table and easing into one of the chairs. Lynne sat across from her, her hands clasped together on top of the table and her back ramrod straight. Danielle did not miss the way her mother's eyes darted down to her engagement ring, as if checking to see if it was still there or not. It was hard to determine what the look in her eyes meant when she saw it still resting on her finger in all its sparkling glory.

They sat in silence at first, partly because neither seemed to know what to say, but also because neither seemed to want to be the one to speak first. Finally, Danielle cleared her throat and gave her mother a questioning look.

"How…how have you been?" she asked to try to get the conversation going. It seems like a safe question to start on.

Lynne shrugged a shoulder. "I've been better," she answered honestly. "You?"

Danielle mimicked her shrug. "I have good days and bad days," she said.

Lynne nodded slowly in response to that. "How is your ankle?" she asked next.

"Getting better," Danielle answered. "Carlisle and I have been doing physical therapy as often as my ankle can tolerate it. With any luck, I'll be able to ditch this clunky thing by next month," she said, motioning to her walking boot.

"That's good news," Lynne said, a ghost of a smile finally making an appearance at the corner of her mouth. It was gone just as quickly, though, leaving Danielle to wonder if it had really been there to begin with.

"Yeah, it is," Danielle agreed with a nod.

There was another brief lull in conversation, until Lynne cleared her throat and shifted in her seat. "I hear the wedding is still on, then," she commented, her neutral tone and expression making it nearly impossible to guess what she might be thinking or feeling. "It's been the talk of the town for two weeks straight."

Danielle couldn't contain the sour expression that overtook her face. "Yeah, it's been the talk of the town alright," she said with a note of bitterness. "Not good talk, either."

Lynne frowned at those words. "Yeah, I've heard what people have been saying," she admitted. "Between your engagement and our recent…troubles...a lot of people seem to be jumping to the wrong conclusions. I guess that's the trouble with small towns," she said with a wry smile. "Gossip travels fast."

"That it does," Danielle agreed, nodding slowly. "We're doing our best to ignore it. I can let things roll of my shoulders pretty easy, but…Jasper's struggling with it. He's about had it with the crap people are saying," she said, thinking back to how angry those gossipy kids had made him a few days ago. "It's really starting to upset him."

"Can't say I blame him. I've about had my fill of it myself," Lynne replied, sounding just as displeased. "I try to squash the rumors as best as I can, but it doesn't always work. In fact, sometimes I think it just adds fuel to the fire," she said with a frown of consternation.

Danielle couldn't help but blink in surprise. With how badly Lynne had reacted to the news of their engagement, Danielle would not have thought she would be doing anything to show any kind of support for them. To hear she had been trying to dispel the annoying rumors surrounding their upcoming marriage was a huge shock.

"You've been defending us?" she asked, unable to keep the surprise out of her tone.

Lynne huffed, her expression offended. "I am your mother still, Danielle," she reminded her sharply. "Just because I don't approve of you getting married, that doesn't mean I'm just gonna stand by and let some idiot run my daughter's name through the mud."

Danielle frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. Part of her was happy to know that her mother was, to some extent, still on her side. But a much bigger part of her was troubled to hear that Lynne still did not approve of her and Jasper getting married. It shouldn't have come as a surprise – if her mother had magically decided she did approve, they likely wouldn't have been avoiding each other for so long. But still…it was disappointing to hear her say it aloud.

"You still don't want us to get married then?" she asked, trying hard to keep the edge out of her tone.

Lynne scoffed incredulously. "We've already been through this, Danielle," she said, her tone verging on impatience. "It's not that I don't want you two to get married. It's that I don't want you to get married now."

"And I still don't see what difference it makes," Danielle countered. "Whether we get married now or five years from now, the result is the same either way. We still end up married."

"It makes all the difference," Lynne rebutted swiftly, her voice raising slightly. Lynne stopped for a moment to pinch the bridge of her nose and take a calming breath, before dropping her hand from her face and pinning Danielle with a determined stare. "You're still so young, Danielle," she said, her tone more controlled now. "You may think you're an adult, but you're not. Getting married will complicate everything, it will tie you down with responsibilities you aren't ready for yet. You need to finish growing up first. You need to go to college. You need to work. You need to enjoy just being young and living life to its fullest!"

Danielle leaned forward to brace her elbows on the table, her eyes filled with just as much determination as her mother's. "And who says I can't do all of that and be married to Jasper at the same time?" she demanded. "We are gonna go to college. Together. We are gonna travel and have fun and grow up. Together. Being married won't change any of that. In fact, I think it'll just make everything even better."

"And what happens when you get pregnant and can't finish college?" Lynne countered. "What happens when you grow up and realize you've turned into two very different people? What if those different people don't even know or love each other anymore? You'll end up divorced before you're even thirty, and then you'll look back on this and wish you had done everything differently," she said with a nod. "Trust me on this. I'm speaking from experience," she added vehemently.

It was in that moment that everything clicked into place. Everything that her mother had just said, everything that she was afraid Danielle would go through…it was exactly what Lynne had gone through with Danielle's father. They had married young, had had her young, and though they had been very much in love at the time, it hadn't lasted. The responsibilities of having a child so young had proven too much for her father to handle, which had driven them apart and resulted in them going their separate ways. They had not seen one another again, and Lynne had spent all of the years since as a single mother, which had not always been easy for her. Danielle now knew exactly what Lynne was afraid of – she was afraid that she would end up like her.

Danielle sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Mom…" She dropped her hand from her face to give her a look. "I get why you're worried. I really do. But Jasper and I are not you and my father," she said. "If you're afraid I'm going down the same path you went down, then you don't need to be. Because I'm not."

Lynne shook her head. "You can't possibly know that."

"But I do," Danielle insisted. "What Jasper and I have? It's for life."

Lynne scoffed. "That's easy to say when you're still in the honeymoon stage," she said. "I thought the same thing, you know. When I married your father, I thought we were in it for the long haul, too. Look how that turned out in the end."

"No offence, mom, but you made a bad choice," Danielle said, her patience slipping a little. "I've heard you say a thousand times how immature and worthless my father was. How he never took care of you, how toxic he was. How the only good thing he ever did for you was give you me." Danielle shook her head. "Jasper is nothing like him. He's good. He's sweet and kind and he's never done anything to hurt me. He takes care of me. He's the exact sort of person you've always said you wanted me to end up with. So why can't you just be happy for me?" she demanded.

Lynne laughed humorlessly. "How can I be happy when you're this close to making the same mistake that I did?" she asked, her tone full of frustration now. "How can I be happy when I'm going to spend every day from here on out fearing that you're going to end up alone and broken hearted because you jumped into things way too fast?"

Danielle shook her head in disbelief. "Your lack of faith is just astonishing," she said sarcastically.

"Don't get sarcastic with me," Lynne retorted.

"Then stop shitting all over our relationship!" Danielle argued back.

"Hey! Watch your language!" Lynne said with a stern point of her finger.

Danielle frowned and dropped her face into her hands. This was exactly what she had worried would happen – this conversation was going absolutely nowhere, because her mother was clearly determined not to accept or support her marriage to Jasper.

"This isn't how I wanted this to go," she muttered, more to herself than to her mother.

"What?" Lynne asked, evidently having not heard her.

Danielle lifted her head to give her mother a sharp look. "I said – this isn't how I wanted this to go," she repeated. "I came here to try to fix things. To try to talk to you like normal. But you're so determined to believe the worst that you can't find it in yourself to even consider setting your pride to the side and just give things a chance."

Lynne bristled. "My pride? My pride?" she repeated. "This isn't about my pride, Danielle. This is about me trying to knock some sense back into your head!" Lynne pointed an index finger at her. "All I've ever wanted was for you to have a life that was better than mine, and if you think I'm just gonna quietly stand by and let you jeopardize that, then you've lost your mind!"

Danielle surged to her feet, which seemed to catch Lynne by surprise. "What about what I want, mom?" she asked loudly. "What I want is for my mother to accept that I'm old enough to make my own decisions! What I want is for my mother to actually be by my side as I plan to marry the love of my life. What I want is to have my mother in my life again!"

Lynne slowly shook her head, the anger and frustration in her eyes melting into something quite different. "You're the one who left, remember?" she reminded, her tone betraying the hurt and the pain she felt.

Danielle felt a swell of guilt. She sighed and raked a hand through her hair, trying to find the right words to say. "I know," she said quietly. "Look, I said and did things that I shouldn't have, and I'm sorry for that. I really am," Danielle continued with a nod. "It's been killing me to not have you around. To not even talk to you. Hasn't it been killing you too?"

"Of course it has," Lynne said without hesitation. "I didn't want this, Danielle," she added, motioning between the two do them. "I never wanted us to be like this."

"Neither did I. But what choice did you give me?" Danielle asked with a helpless shrug.

Lynne rubbed her face for a moment. "I wasn't trying to give you an ultimatum. I was just…trying to protect you. I was just trying to do what's best for you."

Danielle nodded slowly. "Mom, you have always done right by me. You took care of me. Provided for me. I've never wanted or needed for anything. Because of you I've had a really happy life, and I will always be grateful to you for that." Danielle paused and gave her mother an earnest look. "But you can't protect me from everything, mom," she continued. "Me marrying Jasper is not a mistake…but even if it was, it's my mistake to make. You say you want what's best for me, but the only person who can decided that is me. This is my life, mom. Not yours. I'm not a kid anymore. You have to let me live my life the way I want, regardless if you agree with the choices I make or not."

Danielle stood straighter and gave her mother a firm look. "I'm going to marry Jasper," she said with finality. "I love him. He loves me. We want to be married so we're getting married. Can you just…try to accept that and support us?" she asked, her tone one of pleading.

Lynne was quiet for a very long moment. She turned her gaze elsewhere, her brows furrowing together as she thought long and hard about what Danielle had said. Finally, she looked back to Danielle and sighed.

"I just…don't know if I can," she said with a shake of her head.

Disappointed rushed through her. Danielle nodded slowly, doing her best to ignore the sudden sting of incoming tears. Pressing her lips together tightly, she grabbed her purse and put it back on her shoulder. She was feeling a swell of emotions and couldn't decide if she wanted to cry from disappointment or shout at her mother for her stubbornness. Since neither option sounded particularly enjoyable, she decided it was time to go, before either of them had a chance to do or say anything to make things worse.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that," Danielle said as neutrally as she could. Reaching into her purse, she grabbed the invitation she had brought and leaned over to palce it on the table in front of Lynne. The woman did not move to pick it up. "Your wedding invitation, just in case you decide you want to come. It's next month," she said, which made Lynne's eyes widen. "Jasper and I both really hope that you come," Danielle concluded with a nod.

She turned to leave after that, swallowing thickly as she did her best to keep a reign on the emotions threatening to consume her. Danielle started to open the door, but paused before leaving. With her hand still on the door knob, she glanced back at Lynne, smiling sadly. "I love you, mom," she told her sincerely, which had Lynne pressing her lips together tightly. "I always have and I always will. No matter what."

Then she finally opened the door and left. As soon as she was out of the bookshop, the tears finally came. She cried all the way back to the Cullen house.

"It could've gone worse, right?" Alice asked later that night as she and Danielle hung out in Alice's room.

Danielle sighed, resting her chin on her knees as she sat on the floor in front of Alice's sofa. Alice was sitting cross-legged on said sofa directly behind Danielle, her nimble fingers expertly twisting Danielle's red curls around and pinning them into various places. Somehow – Danielle still wasn't sure how, exactly – Alice had convinced her to let her try out a few potential wedding hairstyles. She really wasn't in a great mood after that conversation with her mother and had planned to spend the evening shut away in Jasper's room, but Alice had refused to let her wallow by herself, so now here she was. In truth, she really didn't mind as much as she thought she might – Alice was good company, and having her hair played with was proving to be very relaxing.

"Yeah, but it certainly could've gone better, too," Danielle said with a sigh, watching Alice through the mirror that the vampire had propped up in front of them. The vampires golden eyes were focused on the task at hand. "It's never been like this between us, Alice. We've fought before, but never like this. I'm starting to really worry that we might not be able to fix this."

"You'll fix it," Alice said with confidence, her eyes finding Danielle's in the mirror. "I know you will. I still see your mom coming to the wedding, which means something will get better between now and then. Will the two of you be back to normal by then? Maybe you will, maybe you won't," she said with a shrug. "The important thing right now is that you finally talked to each other, and that's the first step toward making amends," Alice concluded matter-of-factly.

Danielle pursed her lips doubtfully. "I hope you're right," she said, because while Alice seemed pretty confident, Danielle definitely was not.

"Of course I'm right," Alice retorted smugly.

Danielle just smirked at her through the mirror.

Alice pushed one more pin into place, then sat back and held her hands out. "Voila!" she exclaimed. "What do you think?" she then asked eagerly.

Danielle turned her head to the left first, then to the right, eyeing her new hairdo in the mirror. Alice had pulled her shoulder length curls into a low style, so that her hair sat in intricate little designs at the base of her head. The front part of her hair had been parted on the side, and the side with more hair had been delicately braided to the right and then trailed back into the style in the back, so that most of the hair around her face was out of the way. She had left a few tendrils down for softness, though, which Danielle definitely liked. It was soft and pretty and not too overdone, which was exactly what she had had in mind whenever she contemplated how she wanted to wear her hair.

"I think this looks great, Alice," Danielle said with an enthusiastic nod. "I think just add a little bit of hair bling on the side without the braid and we're good to go."

"I couldn't agree more," Alice said with a nod. "Between me, Rose, and Esme, we've got tons of beautiful hair decorations for you to choose from. We have definitely got you covered there."

"Perfect," Danielle said with a nod.

Alice started to take her hair back down, smiling to herself and humming a song that Danielle didn't recognize under her breath as she worked. Danielle watched her quietly, noting not for the first time just how beautiful Alice was. The vampire wasn't just physically beautiful, however – she was just as beautiful and radiant on the inside, too. Was she a little zaney from time to time? Sure. Did she get a little crazy when it came to planning? Absolutely. But she was also kind and caring and loyal, and probably one of the most selfless individuals Danielle had ever met. And as Danielle thought about how accepting and supportive she was, and how hard she had been working on the wedding, she felt a sudden, and very strong, surge of affection for the Alice Cullen.

Danielle reached back to still Alice's hands, then turned around to give her a serious look. "Thank you, Alice," she said sincerely. "I can't possibly begin to explain how grateful I am for all that you've done. Not just for me and Jasper and the wedding, but for…everything. You're a great friend," she told her with a nod.

Alice smiled, looking slightly bashful for a moment. "You're welcome," she said. "And just so you know, you're a pretty great friend, too." Alice frowned. "No, not friend. You're a great sister," she corrected with a grin.

Danielle blushed, feeling a little bashful herself at the compliment. "Never had a sister before," she commented.

"Well, now you've got two," Alice said, referring to herself and to Rosalie. "Though I'm definitely the cooler one."

Danielle laughed. "Can't argue with that one," she said.

Alice shrugged as she made Danielle turn forward again so she could resume taking the pins out of her hair. "Rose will come around," she said with a nod. "She just has to do it on her own time."

Danielle made a sound of understanding. "I think we actually might have made a little progress today," she revealed, thinking back to the encounter with Rosalie earlier that day. "Before I left to talk to my mom, Rosalie and I spoke for a couple minutes. She told me she knew I was thinking about becoming a vampire and that she didn't think I should do it. We kinda…talked it out a little. Then she wished me luck with my mom," Danielle recounted. "Maybe not the best conversation, but at least it was civil."

Alice sighed and shook her head. "She shouldn't have told you that," she said disapprovingly.

Danielle shrugged. "She's entitled to her own opinion," she said in Rosalie's defense. She then looked at Alice curiously. "Just out of curiosity, what do you think about me turning?"

Alice smiled gently. "I'm completely for it, so long as it's what you want."

Danielle smiled with relief, glad to know that she could now add Alice to her list of supporters. "Good to know," she said.

Alice smiled at her for a moment longer, then turned her attention back to Danielle's hair. When she had finished removing all of the pins, she clapped her hands and then patted Danielle on the shoulders. "Alright, sis," she said. "It's bed time for you. You have a dress appointment at ten a.m. sharp, which means that you need to get to bed and get some beauty rest. I won't have you looking like a zombie while you're trying on dresses tomorrow."

Danielle smiled and mock saluted Alice. "Ma'am, yes, ma'am," she said.

Alice laughed, then got off the couch and extended a hand to Danielle to help her up from the floor. Once Danielle was standing, she wrapped Alice up in a hug. The vampire seemed a bit surprised at first, but then quickly hugged her back. "Thank you again," Danielle said as they parted.

Alice nodded. "You're welcome. Now go get sleep."

"Alright," Danielle said as she turned and headed for the door. "Night."

"Good night," Alice said back.

It took a long time fall asleep, but that wasn't much of a surprise considering the events of the day. Danielle tossed and turned until well past midnight, her mind racing a mile a minute as she thought about everything from her mother to the wedding to the things Rosalie had said to her. It wasn't until she snuggled up to Jasper's pillow, longingly breathing in the scent of pine that clung to the fabric and forcefully telling her mind to just shut up, that she finally fell asleep.

Alice was even more energetic than usual at breakfast the next morning. The vampire had been looking forward to dress shopping with her since before she and Jasper had even gotten engaged, so the fact that they were finally going was basically the equivalent of Christmas coming early for Alice. All while Danielle ate, and even when she got up to go to the sink and wash her dishes, Alice yapped ear off, talking so quickly and so enthusiastically that Danielle's mind only registered about every fifth word. Esme and Carlisle, who were hanging out in the kitchen with them, just laughed whenever Danielle looked at them for help.

"And if the place we're going to offers alterations, don't even bother," Alice said as Danielle finished with her dishes and dried her hands on a towel. "I'm an excellent seamstress, and I'll be able to knock out any alterations you might need faster than any of those silly humans and their slow hands," she said. "No offense," she added with a smirk.

"None taken," Danielle said. "You seem pretty sure I'm gonna find a dress today," she added, taking the chance to finally get a word in now that Alice had stopped talking.

Alice rolled her eyes. "I'm not an amateur, Dani. I've already seen what dress you pick. Did you really think I wouldn't do my research and find out exactly which store carries it?" she asked pointedly.

Danielle's brows raised. She couldn't help feeling impressed. "One of these days I'm gonna learn to stop underestimating you," she mused aloud.

"Please do," Alice said. "The sooner you realize I'm the Cullen who's really running things around here, the better," she joked, sending a teasing wink at Carlisle and Esme.

The two vampires said nothing in response, merely rolled their eyes good-naturedly.

Alice suddenly cocked her head to the side, before she smiled and clapped excitedly. "Bella just got here," she said. "C'mon, ladies!" she said loudly, looking from Danielle to Esme. "Those wedding dresses aren't going to try on themselves! Let's go down and – oh," Alice suddenly said, her smile falling abruptly.

Danielle quirked a brow at Alice's shift in demeanor. She then glanced at Carlisle and Esme, who were both looking in the direction of the front door with unreadable expressions. Clearly something was wrong, which made her frown with concern. "What is it?" she asked them uncertainly. "Is everything okay?"

All three vampires looked to her, but it was Carlisle who spoke. "Bella isn't alone."

Danielle frowned with confusion, unsure what he meant by that. Before she had the chance to ask, however, the doorbell rang. Carlisle and Esme immediately got up to answer the door, disappearing in a flash. Danielle stared at the spaces they had just occupied before looking to Alice again, who was staring back at her with furrowed brows. Unsure what was going on and unable to handle the suspense any longer, Danielle finally left the kitchen and went to the stairs, able to hear Carlisle and Esme greeting Bella and whoever else had come at the door. It wasn't until she was about halfway down the stairs that she finally saw who had come, her body freezing with surprise.

Lynne was there, standing just inside the doorway with Bela, Carlisle, and Esme and looking beyond anxious. Danielle was beyond shocked to see her, too – after the way their conversation had gone, she hadn't anticipated she would see or talk to her mother again anytime soon.

"Mom?" Danielle asked when she recovered from her surprise. She went down to the bottom step, her brows creasing with confusion. "What're you doing here?"

"I…came to talk," Lynne said, her smile jittery and nervous. "Do you have a moment?"

Danielle glanced at Carlisle and Esme, who were watching her carefully, then at Bella, who nodded behind Lynne in encouragement. She looked back to her mother, cleared her throat, then nodded. "Sure," she said. "Carlisle, can we use your office?" she asked, looking to her soon to be father-in-law.

"Absolutely," he agreed without hesitation.

Lynne smiled at Carlisle and Esme politely, then joined Danielle on the stairs. Together, they went up to the second floor, both of them glancing at Alice as they passed through the living room. Alice smiled at them in what seemed like an encouraging manner. Danielle quickly led her mother into the office, and once they were both inside, Danielle shut the door behind them.

She turned around to face Lynne, crossing her arms over her chest. "I didn't think you'd come here. This is…unexpected," she admitted.

"I know," Lynne said. "And I'm sorry to barge in like this, but…I've been thinking about the things you told me yesterday all night long, and I just…had to come over and get a few things off my chest."

Danielle pressed her lips together, unsure if what was about to happen was going to be good or bad. "I'm listening."

Lynne nodded, then turned away from her to suck in a deep breath and walk a little further in Carlisle's office. When she turned back around to face Danielle, her face was full of guilt.

"You were right," she said first and foremost, which had Danielle's eyebrows raising. "You're not a kid anymore. If I'm being honest, you haven't been a kid for a long time," Lynne admitted with a shake of her head. "It was hard, raising you alone. We've never had a lot of money. Never had nice cars or nice things. I had to work so many odd jobs over the years to support us, jobs that meant weird hours and late nights and a lot of time away from you. Me being gone so much meant that you were on your own more often than I liked. You had to learn to take care of yourself while I tried to make enough money for us to make end's meat – and there were so many times where it was you taking care of me, as well. You've always been mature," Lynne said with a nod. "You've always been so strong and so…grown up. It wasn't fair of me to suggest otherwise."

Lynne wrung her hands together, sighing heavily. "I meant it when I said that it was killing me that you haven't been around. You're not just my daughter, Danielle. You're…you're my best friend. It's always been us. You and me taking care of each other, having fun together. I may regret a lot of the things I've done in the past, but I have never, for even one second, regretting having you. I've loved every single moment we've shared together. I've cherished our time together, because having you with me is the best, most special thing to ever happen to me."

Danielle pressed her lips together, able to feel tears coming on already.

"I told you yesterday that I was afraid you would end up like me," Lynne continued. "That was true…but it wasn't the entire truth. I think what really frightens me, even more so than the fear of this marriage between you and Jasper not working out, is the thought of…losing you."

Danielle frowned and shook her head in confusion. "Losing me?" she echoed.

Lynne nodded. "When Jasper came into the picture, things began to change. I could see how much you loved him, even before you knew that you loved him. I wasn't the most important person to you anymore. He was. And I know that's normal. You were always bound to start loving someone more than you love me. I just…didn't think it would happen so soon," she said with a sad smile.

"After what happened in Phoenix, I realized how quickly this world could take you away from me," Lynne said next, her expression turning to one of pain as she thought back to what had happened in March. "It was terrifying. I can't stand the thought of living in a world that you aren't in. If anything happened to you, I would never, ever recover from it, Danielle. Never," she said adamantly. "I made a promise to myself that I would keep you close. I was lucky that you hadn't been taken away from me, and I was determined to make the most of every moment we had to together." Lynne frowned now. "But then you got engaged. And I realized that no matter what I did, no matter how hard I fought…I was going to lose you anyway. Because now you have Jasper. And once you're married, you're not gonna need me anymore."

Danielle immediately shook her head. "No. That's not true. I'll always need you, mom. You're my mother," she insisted. "Jasper is important to me, yes. And I love him more than anything. But you're important to me, too." Danielle moved so that she was right in front of Lynne and grabbed both of her hands. "You say I'm your best friend? Well, I feel the same," she said, which had Lynne making an emotional sound in her throat. "I love you, mom. You took care of me. You made sure I had everything I needed and that I was happy. You are a wonderful mother. You keep saying you don't want me to end up like you, but…you know what? I'd be damn proud if I ended up being even half the woman you are."

Lynne looked like she was on the verge of tears. She sniffled loudly and squeezed Danielle's hands. "I'm supposed to be the one making big speeches here," she said in an attempt to make a joke and lighten the mood a little.

Danielle just smiled, her own eyes feeling rather on the watery side by this point.

Lynne sucked in a deep breath, then squeezed her hands again. "I should've aid this yesterday, but…I'm sorry. A mother is supposed to support her children, and I haven't been doing that. Not even close." Lynne gave her a small smile. "I can't promise you that I won't still worry, because you're my daughter and I only want what's best for you. But like you said, this is your life. You're of age now, and you should be free to make your own decisions. In the end, all that I really want is for you to be happy, Dani," she said with a nod. "If marrying Jasper is what makes you happy, then…I won't stand in the way of that."

Danielle was almost afraid to believe what she was hearing. "So you're saying…?"

Lynne smiled. "I'm giving you my blessing to marry Jasper. And if you'll have me, I would love to be in attendance when you become husband and wife," she said.

Danielle couldn't help it. She was so overwhelmed with relief that she burst into tears, unable to speak as she hugged her mother tightly. Lynne began crying as well, wrapping Danielle up in a bone crushing hug, pressing a number of kisses to Danielle's hair as they embraced. When they finally separated, they both wiped at their faces and sniffled loudly, before looking at each other and letting out watery laughs.

"God, we're a mess," Danielle said, still wiping at her eyes.

"Yes, we are," Lynne agreed. She swiped at one last tear, then paced her hands on Danielle's shoulders. "I'm sorry, sweetie. I'm sorry for everything. Can you forgive me?"

Danielle smiled. "Of course. But only if you can forgive me for being a brat and basically running away from home. Deal?" she asked.

Lynne nodded. "Deal."

They hugged again, laughing now. Danielle was smiling so widely she thought her face might actually split in two – after how catastrophic their conversation had seemed the day before, the last thing she had expected was for her mother to seek her out and have such a meaningful heart to heart. But something must have gotten through to her and made her see things in a different light, because now here Lynne was, spilling her heart out, and now everything had suddenly and drastically gotten so much better between them. Danielle smiled to herself as she hugged her mother even tighter. Alice had been right about her and her mother after all – all she had needed to do was be patient and wait for it to happen.

"Where's Jasper?" Lynne asked when they separated again. "I'd like to talk to him, too."

Danielle shook her head. "He's gone camping with his brothers. They won't be back until tomorrow."

"Oh, okay," Lynne said, though she seemed a bit disappointed not to be able to make amends with Jasper straight away. "I'll just have to talk to him another time, then," she said, which made Danielle nod. "Anyway," Lynne continued, smiling now. "Word on the street is you're going wedding dress shopping."

Danielle nodded. "You heard correct," she confirmed. "I have an appointment in an hour."

Lynne grinned and raised her eyebrows. "Mind if I tag along?"

Danielle smiled at once. "I thought you'd never ask."

As weird and uncomfortable as everything had been between Danielle and Lynne for the last two weeks, now that they had cleared the air, everything had immediately gone back to normal. There was no lingering awkwardness between them or anything of the sort – everything felt good again. Everything felt right.

The entire ride to Port Angeles was spent updating Lynne on all the wedding details, from the flower arrangements to the song they had picked for their first dance to the honeymoon they were going to take in South America. As opposed as she had been to the idea of Danielle getting married, it was rather amazing how quickly Lynne got excited as she heard about all the wedding plans. In the end, she demanded that she and Alice start letting her help them with the planning and offered up her checkbook for any expenses that needed to be paid. Danielle and Alice, of course, were happy to agree to let her help, though Danielle told her to keep her money since almost everything was paid for already.

When they finally reached the dress shop, they were all bubbling with excitement as they stepped in. Even Bella looked a lot less frightened than Danielle had expected – the good mood must have been rubbing off on her, too. They checked in for Danielle's appointment, and after they were greeted by an employee name Mary, Alice quickly took charge of picking out dresses for Danielle to try on and headed with Mary to start hunting down the perfect dress. Danielle took that opportunity to start perusing bridesmaid's dresses with Bella, while Esme and Lynne wandered off to look for dresses for themselves.

"I'm glad things are good with you and your mom again," Bella said with a smile.

Danielle glanced toward Lynne, who was laughing at something Esme was saying, then smiled at Bella. "Me too," she agreed. "Thanks for bringing her along with you today."

"It was her idea," Bella admitted. "She came over to talk to me about you, then basically demanded to come along when I told her I was coming to see you. She was pretty determined," she said with a smirk.

Danielle grinned at that, feeling even better as she heard how set Lynne had been on finally fixing things between them. "She's pretty headstrong when she sets her mind to something," she said with a nod.

"Sounds like someone else I know," Bella said pointedly.

Danielle just shot her a smirk, then turned her attention back to the dresses.

"Oh, Daaaaaniiiiii," a singsong voice interjected, making both her and Bella turn around. Alice was practically skipping toward them, a huge smile stretched across her face. The vampire was having an absolute blast already, and they hadn't even gotten to the good part yet. "I've got dresses for you to try on, so get your butt in that dressing room," she said, grabbing her gently by the arm and then shoving her in the direction of the fitting rooms.

"What about Bella's dress?" she asked.

"Already on it," Alice said, before turning to the nearest clothing rack and beginning to quickly flick through the dresses.

Danielle glanced at Bella, who looked alarmed now as Alice began holding up dresses next to her and talking a mile a minute. Bella shot Danielle a 'help me' look, but Danielle just laughed and shrugged, before leaving the two behind and continuing on to the fitting room, where Mary was waiting. As she stepped into the fitting room, she saw four bags hanging from a hook on the wall, which meant that Alice had pulled four dresses for her to try on. With Mary's help, Danielle put on the first one, which was a strapless, mermaid style dress that clung to every single curve she owned. As pretty as the dress was and as flattering as it made her figure look, Danielle knew straight was that it wasn't the dress. It was a little too sexy, whereas she preferred classier styles.

When she went out to show off the dress, and found her group of supporters lounging on a couch in front of a platform surrounded by three mirrors. They oohed and ahhed when she stepped into view, but when Danielle told them she didn't think it as the right dress, they seemed to think the same thing – they all mutually agreed it was pretty and looked good on her, but that she should definitely keep looking.

Danielle quickly went back to the fitting room to try on the next one. The second dress was a massive ball gown style, with a huge skirt that weighed a ton and more tulle than Danielle knew how to handle. Even as she and Mary struggled to get the thing on and secured, she could feel herself beginning to sweat a little. Once the dress was on, she somehow managed to squeeze through the door to go and show the rest of the ladies.

"Oh, that's pretty!" Lynne said excitedly when she caught sight of her. No surprise there, since gaudy, flashy things tended to catch Lynne's eye.

Danielle managed to get up onto the platform without falling over, and once she could see herself in the mirrors, she examined herself critically, one brow inching upwards. "I look like a cupcake," she finally concluded.

Bella snorted at that, while the others just laughed and shook their heads. "A very beautiful cupcake," Esme offered.

"But a cupcake nonetheless," Alice said. "Next!" she then ordered with a wave of her hand.

It was back to the dressing room, where she struggled for a solid five minutes to get out of the huge ball gown. Once she was free of all the fabric, Mary unzipped the bag for the third dress and pulled it out to show Danielle. This one was made purely of satin and had very little embellishment, the neckline was a modest boat neck style and the sleeves went down to her elbows. As she put it on, she decided it wasn't a bad dress – it was cut well and very classy, yes, but it seemed too simple. When she stepped out to show it off, the others agreed.

"Too simple," Alice and Lynne said at the same time.

"Agreed," Esme said, while Bella just nodded.

With that being said, Danielle went back into the dressing room for the fourth dress. As Mary unzipped the bag it had been in and Danielle was able to see the last dress that Alice had pulled, she felt her breath catch.

It was, hands down, the most beautiful dress she had ever seen.

Mary the employee helped her into it, and once it was on, all Danielle could do was stare at herself in awe. The top was fitted and lacy, with a v-neckline and lace cap sleeves to cover her shoulders. It cinched in at the waist to flatter her figure, but then flowed out from the hips into an a-line skirt that had just enough poof to be fancy, but would still allow her to move freely and not need help whenever she would need to go to the bathroom. It was modest and elegant and romantic, with the right amount of embellishment to give that extra bit of fanciness and just enough cleavage to have a hint of sex-appeal.

It was perfect.

Danielle stared at herself for a moment longer, then grinned at Mary, who had a knowing look on her face. "Let's go show them," she suggested.

Danielle nodded, then followed the employee out of the dressing room. When she stepped into view and the others were able to see her, she was immediately met with the sounds of awed gasps. Danielle couldn't stop herself from grinning as she stood back up on the platform in front of the mirror, loving the dress more and more the longer she looked at it.

"Oh, Dani," Lynne gushed. It wasn't surprising to see that there were tears in her eyes. "You look so beautiful."

"You really do," Esme agreed, looking just as emotional as she and Lynne clutched one another's hands.

"It's great, isn't it?" Danielle asked, running her hands along the fabric in amazement.

"It's better than great," Bella corrected with a smile.

Alice suddenly appeared by Danielle's elbow, a knowing smile stretched across her face. All while she had been trying on dresses, Danielle had been watching the vampire's facial expressions to search for that look that would tell her when she had on the dress that Alice had seen in her vision. Right now, as she wore this beautiful, perfect dress, that telling look she had been waiting for was shining out of Alice's eyes clear as day.

"What do you think, Dani?" she asked, her brows raising meaningfully.

Danielle glanced at herself, then nodded. She simply couldn't imagine finding anything she would like better than this one. Anything she saw from here on out she would only compare to this one. This one felt right, and she was always one to go with her gut her instinct.

"This is the one!" Danielle announced excitedly.

The next thing she knew, she was being bombarded by cheers and hugs and, on Lynne's part, tears of happiness. Danielle laughed, taking the time to hug each person in return, laughing and tearing up and just generally feeling overwhelmed. Finally, Alice stepped in and began to shoo everyone away.

"Easy now! We don't want to mess up the dress!" she said, waving for the ladies to step back and give Danielle some breathing room. "Let's go get you changed, before anything catastrophic happens!" she said, turning to Danielle to help her down from the platform. "Then it's Bella's turn!" Alice added with a wink.

Bella just groaned, while everyone else laughed.

Finding Bella's dress was the easy part. Danielle and Alice had already known what color they were looking for, so it was only a matter of deciding which style suited Bella best. In the end, they picked out a dark green strapless dress with a fitted top and a flowy skirt, which flattered Bella's shape and her skin tone. They finally finished up after that, insisting to the employees that they pay in full and take the dresses with them rather than keep them in the store. Thankfully Danielle's wedding dress had not been too over the top pricey, though that hadn't stopped Esme from insisting on splitting the cost with Lynne. After several minutes of going back and forth, they finally reached a compromise – Lynne paid for seventy percent of the dress, while Esme covered the rest and paid for the veil that Danielle had chosen.

After they left the dress shop, they decided to celebrate by going out to eat. It was a happy occasion, full of laughter and conversation as they spent several hours there just hanging out and enjoying each other's company. Danielle sat next to her mother, who hugged her several times and squeezed her hand under the table every so often – she had always been affectionate, but she seemed even more so now, as if she felt the need to make up for all the affection she had missed out on the past few weeks. Danielle didn't mind the attention one bit.

When they realized how long they had been gone for, they decided it was time to leave the restaurant and head back home. Once again, Esme and Lynne battled over who would cover the tab, until eventually they agreed to split it right down the middle. It was late in the afternoon by the time they returned to the Cullen house. As they piled out of the car they had taken to Port Angeles and stood around in the driveway to squeeze in some last minute conversation, Danielle couldn't help the warm, happy feeling engulfing her. It had turned out to be one heck of a good day. Not only had she and her mother finally sorted things out, but she had also found her wedding dress. It was almost a disappointment to have to end what had been such a perfect day.

"You're sure you don't want to come home tonight?" Lynne asked as they stood a little ways away from everyone else.

Danielle smiled, but shook her head. "Jasper and his brother's will be coming back from camping soon, and I'd hate to just up and leave while he's still gone," she said. "But how about he and I come by for dinner tomorrow night?" she suggested. "You can even invite Charlie if you want."

Lynne smiled and nodded. "That sounds nice, but let's just keep it to us three. I'd like to make sure things are completely smoothed over with Jasper before I drag Charlie into it," she said.

"Alright," Danielle agreed.

Lynne stepped forward to hug her, and Danielle readily returned the embrace. Lynne pulled back and smoothed her hair down affectionately. "I'm happy for you, sweetie. I really am. The wedding is going to be amazing, I just know it."

"It'll be even better now that you're gonna be a part of it," Danielle said with a nod.

Lynne grinned, then kissed her on the cheek. "I love you, Dani."

"I love you, too, mom," she said back sincerely.

They hugged once more, before finally letting go. Lynne and Bella decided it was time to head home after that, so after a round of goodbyes and a good deal of hugging from all included, the two finally got back into Lynne's car and pulled out of the driveway, honking once as they disappeared down the road. Danielle stood with Alice and Esme, holding her dress in its protective bag, smiling to herself as she watched them go. It was only after the taillights of Lynne's car disappeared that they finally began to head inside.

"Wow," Alice said, grinning to herself as they stepped inside. "What a great day."

"You could say that again," Danielle agreed with a big smile.

She looked down at Esme when the kind vampire squeezed her hand. "I'm so glad you and your mother are on good terms again," Esme told her.

"Me too," Danielle agreed.

Esme smiled, then gave her a meaningful look. "If you decide to move back in with Lynne, that's perfectly understandable. But know that if you decide you'd like to stay here, that will be just as fine," she said with a nod. "You're one of us now. You're free to live here as long as you want to."

Danielle squeezed the vampire's hand gratefully. "Thank you, Esme. I'll think about it, okay?"

"Alright," Esme agreed.

As they went inside and trudged up to the second floor, Carlisle stepped into view. "How did it go?" he asked with interest.

"Great!" Danielle said with a nod. "Bella and I both got our dresses!" she added, holding up the bag containing her wedding dress.

"That's wonderful news," Carlisle said with a grin and a nod.

Alice suddenly glanced up toward the top floor, before sharing a grin with Esme that Danielle didn't quite understand the meaning behind. Before she could ask, Alice turned to Danielle with expectant eyes. "I'll take that from you now," she said, gesturing to the wedding dress.

Danielle held the dress tighter, almost possessively, unwilling to part with the beautiful garment just yet. "Already?"

Alice nodded. "Yep. I need to get started on alterations, and it needs to be kept in a safe space so that none of the boys try to snoop," she said.

Danielle pursed her lips, but then sighed with defeat and handed the dress over. "Alright," she said, frowning sadly when Alice took the dress from her and cradled it carefully.

"I'm going to take this to my room," she said, already heading up the stairs. "Make sure Jasper knows he's not allowed to see it before the wedding," she called as she left.

"Will do," Danielle promised.

Once Alice was gone, Danielle started to head into the living room to relax on the couch. Before she could get far, however, Carlisle raised his brows at her. "Something arrived for you while you were out," he said, making her pause in surprise.

"Really? What is it?" she asked curiously. What could have possibly come for her? Were people sending gifts already?

"I cannot say for sure," he said with a shrug. "But I put it in yours and Jasper's room if you would like to see what it is."

Danielle nodded, then, her curiosity getting the better of her, she changed directions and headed for the stairs. Once she was on the top floor, she made a beeline for Jasper's room, pushing the door open once she reached it. Any confusion she had been feeling disappeared the moment she saw what was waiting for.

It wasn't a wedding gift or anything of that sort.

The surprise waiting for her in Jasper's room was Jasper himself. They had come back early!

Danielle froze when she saw him standing right smack in the middle of the room. And God, did he look good. Hunting had put a little color in his cheeks, and his eyes seemed brighter than normal. He was smirking as he stared back at her, and it was obvious he had been waiting there to surprise her.

"Hello, darlin'," he greeted.

A huge grin split Danielle's face, and before she knew it, she was hurrying over as fast as her boot would allow. "Jazz!" she said excitedly, before literally throwing herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.

He laughed at her enthusiasm, but stopped when she pressed her lips against his. He moaned with pleasure instead and wrapped a hand into her hair, keeping her lips against his as he eagerly returned her kiss. When they pulled apart, his eyes were dark and Danielle's expression was dreamy.

"If that is how I'm going to be greeted whenever I come back from hunting, I might have to leave more often," Jasper murmured, nuzzling his nose against hers.

"You will not," Danielle denied at once. "I missed you way too much."

Jasper smiled. "I missed you, too."

He pecked her lips once more, then set her back down on her feet. Danielle stayed close though, keeping her arms wrapped around his neck as she stared up st him with a love-struck grin. "Did you have fun?"

Jasper nodded. "It was fine. I would have happily returned after the first day, but Emmett forced me and Edward to stay," he said with a shrug. "I want to hear about what you have been doing, though. Carlisle didn't go into detail, but from what I understand, you've had an eventful couple of days in my absence," he said, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," she agreed with a sigh. "I had a nightmare about James and Victoria," she revealed first. "I think I freaked everyone out, because they all came to see what was going on. Even Rosalie came," she said.

Jasper frowned deeply at that. He never liked it when she had nightmares. "I'm sorry I wasn't there," he said, touching her cheek gently. "Are you alright?" he asked with concern.

Danielle shrugged. "I wasn't doing so great, but Alice stayed with me, so that helped. I'm good now."

Jasper hummed and glanced toward the bed. "So that's why our bed smells like Alice," he commented. Danielle nodded in confirmation. "What else happened?" he asked next.

"I, er…might have hurt my ankle a little," she said. Jasper's eyes immediately filled with worry. "It wasn't anything serious," she added quickly. "Alice was trying to wake me up during my nightmare and I guess I kinda fought back. I kicked her in my sleep and then my ankle swelled up a little."

"But it's feeling better now?" Jasper asked.

"It's fine," she said reassuringly.

Jasper looked relieved. "Good. Now," he said, moving on with the conversation, "do you want to explain why your mother's scent is downstairs?"

Danielle quickly launched into the retelling of her conversations with her mother, first the catastrophic one at the bookshop, and then the wonderful, heartfelt one they'd had in Carlisle's office. By the time she was done, Jasper was grinning. "Darlin', that's wonderful," he said with an earnest nod. "I'm so happy to hear that you two have finally worked things out."

"Me too," she agreed. "For a second there, I was really convinced it wouldn't. I can't even begin to describe how relieved I am to have her back."

"I think I have an idea," he said with a meaningful look, obviously hinting that he could feel her relief.

Danielle smiled at that. "If you're up for it, she wants us over for dinner tomorrow. She wants to smooth things over with you next. You game?" she asked.

Jasper nodded. "Sure. I can suffer through some human food it means getting back on good terms with your mother," he agreed.

"Great," Danielle said with a nod of approval. "I'll call her in the morning to let her know we're coming."

"Sounds like a plan," Jasper said. He glanced toward the door for a moment, then looked back down at her, his brows raising a tick. "One last question – did I hear something about a wedding dress?" he asked with interest.

Danielle smiled slyly. "You did. As it just so happens, I bought myself a wedding dress today."

Jasper grinned widely. "Did you now? Any chance I get to know what it looks like?" he said with a waggle of his brows.

"Absolutely not," Danielle denied with a firm shake of her head. "You're under strict instruction to keep away, otherwise Alice might hurt you."

Jasper clicked his tongue in disapproval, though he didn't really look that disappointed. Considering how traditional he was with just about everything else, she had a feeling he wouldn't have wanted to see it until she was coming down the aisle anyway. "I tried," he said with a shrug.

"You did," Danielle agreed.

Jasper grinned at her, then let out a long exhale and pulled her closer. Danielle felt her heart skip a beat, then begin to hammer faster in her chest as one hand slid around to her back, slowly trailing up her spine until it was on the base of her neck. Jasper looked at her intently, his eyes sweeping all along her features as if memorizing them, before they settled firmly on her lips. She couldn't help but lick her own lips in anticipation, which made his eyes darken a tick.

"You'll have to forgive me, but I think I'm finished with talking for now," he said, his tone more gravelly than usual. "It has been three very long and very torturous days without you, and I think we've got some lost time to make up for."

Danielle pressed closer, her arms sliding around his neck as a smile tugged at her lips. "I think you just might be right about that." They'd have plenty of time to talk later, she decided – right now, she just wanted his lips on hers.

Jasper smirked and leaned down so that his mouth was a hairsbreadth away from hers. "Kiss me like you miss me, darlin'," he said, using her exact same words from the night he had left.

And Danielle was all too happy to oblige his request.

Hope you liked it!