"Yes!" Alice shrieked the moment Bella walked in through the front door. "Come in, come in! Take a seat!" From the living room, she pointed strongly towards the sectional. All around her were swatches of white fabric, and thick large boxes—some of which were partially open, others wrapped with elegant bows. There were headless mannequins with half-pinned up skirts with glittery veils draped over them. A makeshift circular podium was at the center of it all, right next to a wooden privacy screen.

Esme followed Bella into the living room, where Bella seated herself upon the cushion Alice indicated.

"We have six dresses to try on," Alice said, a hand on her hip, sweeping a finger around the room, at the boxes littered all around. "I also have sixteen pairs of shoes, and four veils to choose from. Are you ready?"

Bella only watched her with a neutral expression, attempting to temper down a powerful bout of resentment.

"But I do need you to leave, Esme," Alice said sweetly. "We don't want to ruin the surprise."

It wasn't about the surprise. Though Esme had already seen the bandage on Bella's neck this morning, Alice didn't know that. From Alice's perspective, Esme had no idea of any blood contract.

But Esme still lingered, showing her nervousness too easily. If Jasper didn't want Bella alone with Alice, then it was clear that she didn't either.

"I agree. We shouldn't ruin the surprise." And Bella could weep at that voice. Jasper was now seated at the loveseat, right at her periphery.

Esme smiled. It was a good one; surprisingly convincing. "Enjoy, Bella."

And Esme Cullen was gone.

"Our first option," Alice began, hopping over to one of the large boxes, "is an a-line. Fitted to your waist, but the skirt isn't as dramatic as a full ball gown." Tossing the lid to the side, she slowly raised the dress by its straps, revealing a complicated leafy pattern at the bodice with the skirt swishing beneath it. "Let's try this on, shall we?"

Bella could feel Jasper's eyes on her as she stood and took the dress, draping it over an arm. Its weight was significant as she dragged it behind the privacy screen.

"Don't bother to zip it. We'll clip the back!" Alice called.

It was robotic, the way Bella stripped out of her jeans and turtleneck. She managed to put herself through the dress, sticking her head up through the skirt and bodice. Clutching the straps at her shoulders, she padded out and climbed the podium, where Alice approached her with two big metal clips. With a tug, Alice had the fabric pulled taut, securing the dress tightly at the back. There was no mirror to look at herself, so Bella simply stood as Alice made rounds around her.

Bella watched two birds flutter about by the window, jumping from branch to branch, a hand absently coming up to scratch at the bandage at her neck. The wound hadn't healed fully, which was unusual. When she had changed the bandage this morning, she had expected the bite to be a faded, indistinguishable mark that would gradually disappear throughout the day. But there was stark bruising on her neck that had her reaching for another turtleneck.

Either Jasper had bitten her too hard, or the skin at her throat was too fragile. Both things could be true.

There was the sound of a camera shutter as Alice took pictures, flipping her phone this way and that.

"Pull your hair over your left shoulder," Alice instructed.

Bella did as she was told, and realized it was to hide the evidence of her wound. Alice continued to snap pictures.

All the while, Bella's eyes would occasionally skim past Jasper. He was intently reading something on his phone, hardly present.

"It's pretty," Alice said flatly. "Not too constricting. Jasper?"

"She'll tear through it," he said automatically, not even looking up. He had said this many times before.

"You have no faith in her," Alice scolded. "Come on, Bella. This is custom Dior. All of these are. Smile a little."

Bella showed her teeth, and Alice snapped another photo.

"Okay, next."

Bella disappeared behind the privacy screen and reappeared in a mermaid style gown with satin detailing, and a sprinkle of gems crossing the front. She could hardly take the step up to the podium with how constricting the fabric was at her legs.

"I do love how it hugs your figure," Alice complimented, raising her phone, after clipping the dress at the back.

Click, click, click came the pictures.

"Jasper?" Alice prompted.

The response was immediate, and crisp. Bella didn't even catch him looking. "No."

Alice sighed dramatically. "He's very hard to please, isn't he?" She turned around to another box, and pulled out yet another dress. This one looked similar to the current mermaid cut, but—

"A little too revealing, Alice," Bella said, clearly disturbed by the way her waist at either side would be visible. The skirt and top were held by a thin strap of fabric that would descend down her back and belly button.

"The cold won't bother you when you're dead, silly," Alice said, extending the gown to her. "Show us."

Bella's mind raced, even as she took the dress. The bruising on her neck was not the only problem, and she fought frantically for an excuse. "It's not traditional enough for Edward."

"Show us, Bella," Alice said annoyedly, turning around to a mannequin, fluffing up the veil attached to the top.

Swallowing, Bella slowly, agonizingly, stepped down from the podium, reached back to unclasp the clips, and scurried behind the screen.

Eyes low, she reemerged with the new dress, taking small steps lest she topple over with the fabric hugging her legs. She felt the chill of the room descend on her bare waist. When she got up on the podium, Alice finally turned around with a fresh set of clips in her hands. And then she paused.

A slow smile spread on her lips, but her eyes… They were furious.

And that's when Bella noticed it. The closer Alice prowled forward, Bella saw that the amber in her eyes was darker. In better lighting, they might even look slightly crimson.

Alice is drinking from a human.

She disappeared behind her, tugging at the dress to secure it. When she yanked, Bella almost lost her balance. And that was when Bella caught the slight tilt of Jasper's head. She knew he couldn't look away.

"A little rough, were you, Jasper?" Alice murmured as she secured the dress.

Of course, after their morning together, Bella had been sore. Deliciously so. And the evidence of it on her hips, outer thighs, and waist was even more prominent this morning. Light purplish marks colored her skin, their pattern invoking fingers. And now, with the slitted gown, it was all on display.

Bella wished she could say something reassuring. It was nothing. It wasn't a big deal. On the contrary, a little bruising after sex was something she welcomed. Seeing the aftermath so clearly painted on her this morning only heightened the memory she so desperately wanted to preserve.

But still, Bella avoided Jasper's eyes. She feared what she would see in them.

She feared what Alice would see.

Say something, she pleaded to him. The silence was damning as Alice simply stood there. Was she watching, waiting for a reaction?

"They color so easily," Jasper finally mused, his eyes dismissively sliding back to his phone.

Alice cocked her head to the side, attention on the gown. "That they do."

But did she catch the stiffness in his tone? The disapproval that Bella hoped was wiped clear from his expression?

It would take a great loss of control for me to hurt you.

"How's that bite at your neck, sweet Bella?" Alice purred, circling the podium. "Purple and yellow, too?"

Bella prevented herself from reaching up to the bandage, knowing full well that Alice was correct.

Alice hummed, attention keen on Bella's throat. "How delicious." And then she placed her phone back in her pocket. "Maybe it's tasteless to document this. A little whorish, don't you think?"

"The dress?" Bella said, unable to stop herself. "Absolutely."

Bella stumbled forward when Alice grabbed her wrist, her strength not punishing, though the threat remained. Her smile was frightening as she clipped through gritted teeth, "Then if you don't want to wear it, don't act like a whore, and don't piss me off."

And suddenly, Bella could see it. A show of strength, a surge of triumph, as she would reach a pale, dead hand out, and rip Alice's head clean off her shoulders. It would be absolutely fucking beautiful.

"Hello?" Alice said, snapping a finger. "Change before I lose my patience. We have three more."

There was only a single instance of reprieve in the next three hours. One moment, Alice was snapping pictures of Bella's veil and its glimmering train cascading behind her, and the next, she was frowning at her phone. Then, Alice Cullen was gone.

And Jasper was on his feet.

It was hard to turn her head with the weight of the veil, but Jasper began to circle Bella as she stood on the podium. After two full rounds, he paused before her, hands deep in his pockets. The current gown she wore was one of the biggest, most obnoxious ones—the skirt puffing out past the radius of the stage.

Jasper then extended a hand in offering. Cautiously, with a glance behind her towards the front door, Bella placed her hand in his. Jasper seemed to examine her skin, shifting her to rotate this way and that. He couldn't see the bruising on her neck through the bandage, though his attention kept bouncing to it. And the dress covered all of his finger marks down her waist and below.

He shook his head. There was an unmistakable apology in his eyes.

It's okay, Bella mouthed.

But in response, Jasper only slipped her a note.

She tucked the folded paper into the top of her bodice merely seconds before Alice reappeared, and Jasper was back on the loveseat.

He flicked a thumb over his phone.

Business as usual.

Later, in Esme's car, Bella pulled out Jasper's note from the pocket of her jeans. It read:

I run a predictable perimeter for surveillance. It overlaps with your woods.

Do not trust texts.

Do not skip breakfast.

Write to me.

Bella flipped the note around. "Do you have a pen?"

Smiling, Esme produced one—Bella couldn't tell exactly from where. With the moving car, Bella wrote, with the best of her ability:

Passing notes? Romance isn't dead for the dead after all.

Tonight, before dusk.

Bella didn't even have to ask. Esme simply plucked the note from her lap when she was done, and continued to drive.

The sun was emitting its last few rays when Bella made it out to the woods. Dirt crunched beneath her boots, fingers curled into the sleeves of her turtleneck sweater. A light breeze brought chills down her spine—or was it because she knew she was being watched?

It was seconds later that Jasper came out from between two trees. "I can't stay for long," he said.

Bella figured as much. "Alice is monitoring you, too."

Grimly, he nodded. "Unfortunately, if I start fading from her visions, she will know I'm with you."

Or it could also mean he was dead, but Bella didn't want to consider that possibility too closely. It meant the world to her that he would even risk coming by. "You're worried."

"Her diet has severely altered," he said, frowning. "And the Cullens are noticing."

So her perception today was correct. Alice's eyes were getting redder, and redder. "Do you think it's still… a taunt?"

"I don't know. But I don't want her around you. Not alone." And then Jasper looked her over. Once. "The bruises, Bella. I didn't intend for them."

She gave him her sweetest smile. "I don't mind them."

"I do. You were harmed, and now there is evidence."

"They will fade, Jasper. They always do. Humans heal."

"Let me see your neck."

Sighing, Bella tugged down her neckline and lifted the bandage. Jasper stepped closer, peering at the bite, the skin likely a shade transitioning from purple to yellow.

As she covered the wound once again, Bella asked softly, "Is it really so bad that you lost a little control?"

"Yes."

"Jasper."

He paced back, and his anger was sudden. "Do you understand that you aren't mine? By law and decree, you belong to Carlisle, and Alice could easily report to him that I've hurt you. She could tell him I'm not fit for this role, and that I should be kept away indefinitely."

Bella grew colder by the second, and it wasn't because of the darkness setting in. "Then why hasn't she? She wants to keep you away from me, doesn't she?"

"If she reports this to Carlisle, he will want to come home." He thought for a long moment. "And whatever Alice is doing with her humans… that would have to stop." He sighed heavily, defeated. "I don't know, Bella. I don't know what Alice is doing."

And it sounded like it was driving him mad.

He took out his phone, glanced at it, and then tucked it back into his pocket. "Tell me you'll shower after this."

"Shower?"

His red eyes were trained on her. "Tell me: Yes, I will shower."

"Yes, I will—"

And then his hands were in her hair, and his lips were on hers. Slowly, gently—as if nibbling, tasting, savoring—Jasper kissed her. Bella recognized the caution and hesitancy in his movements as his hands slid down her face, brushing over the bandage and the fabric of the turtleneck. His lips were agonizingly slow as his fingers trailed down her shoulders and her arms, lightly pressing into her skin as if still assessing her, testing for damage. And then his arms wrapped around her, palms flat on her back as he held her to him.

There was something about the way he clung to her. There was something about the way his fingers returned to her jaw when she pulled away for a breath, only to draw her back in. It was beautiful, it was breathtaking. It told her that this was something he needed today. And she was happy—so happy to give.

And when he finally pulled back, Bella was grinning like a fool.

Predictably, he wasn't. A commanding reminder, "Shower."

Because of their scents. Of course. Bella could kick herself. "And what about you?"

"There's a lake nearby."

"A lake?"

Bella caught the brief flash of a smile before he disappeared.

She touched her fingers to her lips, and her heart fluttered with a sort of glee she knew she wasn't allowed to feel. And in her other hand, there was a note. One that had been pressed into her palm.

Unfolding the paper quickly, she squinted at his handwriting in the darkening woods:

Alice is drinking from at least three. I haven't been able to verify if she is keeping them alive or disposing them.

Our contract is still valid. Come by tomorrow, and continue your studies, but know that Alice will be there. Always be prepared for her presence from now onwards.

Under no circumstances should you allow her to be alone with you. Promise me this, Bella.

Esme will monitor your house if I can't. Use her as a messenger.

Burn all of our notes. I left two candles in your mailbox.

Sleep well.

A/N: I can't believe we've made it to 50 chapters! Thank you for your support, and your lovely reviews.