"Um. Okay, if you think that's best."

Charlie handed the phone over to Tyler.

"Who is it?" Tyler asked curiously.

"Just answer the phone, Tyler," Charlie demanded.

"Er...Hello?"

"Hello, Tyler, this is Edward Cullen." I used my friendly voice, but it had an undercurrent of threat. "I'm sorry if there's been some kind of miscommunication, but Bella is unavailable tonight."

"But...prom," he spluttered.

The undercurrent in my voice became prominent as I continued. "To be perfectly honest, she'll be unavailable every night, as far as anyone besides myself is concerned. No offense. And I'm sorry about your evening."

"But..." he began, but I snapped my phone shut while I smiled widely at the thought of him standing there, dumbfounded.

When I took in a deep breath I caught a concentrated scent of Bella's blood and looked over at her immediately. Her face and neck were the same color as Rosalie's dress. Her eyes were beginning to water slightly in anger.

Oops, I hope I didn't upset her, that was not my intention. Of course, she would have handled it with more finesse than me. "Was that last part a bit too much? I didn't mean to offend you."

She gritted her teeth before staring at me in absolute and utter belligerence. "You're taking me to the prom!" She shouted.

She caught me completely off guard. So it wasn't because of my threatening voice towards Tyler, it was because of prom! Once I took in her angry expression I tried not to laugh at her vicious kitten-y face. My lips pressed together tightly and my eyes narrowed slightly in an effort not to show my humor.

"Don't be difficult, Bella."

She jerked her head to look out of the window as it sunk in.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Her voice acerbic.

I raised an eyebrow at her and pointed towards my James Bond tuxedo. "Honestly, Bella, what did you think we were doing?"

The color in her cheeks only turned a darker shade of red as water spilled over her eye lashes and down her cheeks. She quickly wiped under her eyes and looked at her tear stained hand. After watching her reaction I couldn't figure out how the prom - of all the things for tears to be spilt over - was bothering her so much. Prom, of course, wasn't on my list of tear worthy subjects. She didn't even have this reaction when she met up with James in Phoenix. Her reactions now were just completely absurd!

"This is completely ridiculous. Why are you crying?" I demanded in frustration.

"Because I'm mad!" She shouted.

"Bella," I sighed, turning my gaze on her.

"What?" she muttered, folding her arms irritably.

Okay, it was time to try the dazzling trick. "Humor me," I requested while gazing deeply into her eyes.

Her shoulders hunched forward in defeat after a few seconds. "Fine," her lower lip jutted out while staring back at me, possibly trying to glare, but the tears were making it hard to read them. "I'll go quietly. But you'll see. I'm way overdue for more bad luck. I'll probably break my other leg. Look at this shoe! It's a death trap!"

She lifted her dress and pointed at her leg in horror.

"Hmmm." Her soft delicate skin was porcelain white and looked soft, warm and silky. "Remind me to thank Alice for that tonight," I teased.

"Alice is going to be there?"

Didn't Alice tell her? Didn't Bella see her?

"With Jasper, and Emmett... and Rosalie," I added.

Her eyebrows pulled together before she shook her head. I suppressed a sigh, longing to know what was going on in that head of hers.

Then, her lips pursed. "Is Charlie in on this?" She asked suspiciously.

"Of course." I grinned, and then chuckled. "Apparently Tyler wasn't, though."

Her teeth came together with an audible snap. It pleased me that his appearance at her house had a negative effect on her.

Finally, we pulled into the school parking lot, parking next to Rosalie's M3.

The sun was starting to set and the sky was turning a coppery color as the thin layer of clouds casted shadows down on the ground in odd angles turning the white fluff into red and orange. To the east the sky was showing some stars while turning purplish due to the setting sun. The sunset was beautiful, but when I got out to offer my help to Bella, the sunset was suddenly insignificant in comparison. I held out of hand and she tightened her folded arms and humpfed stubbornly. Her chin was jutting out with a superior smugness in her expression. I would have just picked her up but there were too many people in the parking lot.

I sighed. "When someone wants to kill you, you're brave as a lion -- and then when someone mentions dancing..." I muttered while shaking my head.

Her expression changed to fear instantly and she gulped.

"Bella, I won't let anything hurt you," I paused, "-- not even yourself. I won't let go of you once, I promise."

The fear washed away as quickly as it had placed itself on her glorious face. I was relieved at once.

"There, now," I said gently, "it won't be so bad."

Without effort I reached out pulled her to my chest, wrapping my arm around her waist and holding her hand in the other. Her warmth wrapped around my body as we walked towards the school. I held her firmly in my grasp, letting her place all her weight on me if necessary. Our progress was slow, but tonight there were no expectations and we were in no hurry.

Fork's High School prom was in their gym and as we entered Bella fully took in the decorations of balloon arches, pastel crepe paper and twisted garlands that were covering every inch of the walls. Her whimsical giggle shocked me. After all her anger, fear and constant pouting and shouting she was...smiling.

"This looks like a horror movie waiting to happen," she snickered.

Relief washed over me and I joined in with her humor.

"Well," I whispered as we approached the ticket table, "there are more than enough vampires present."

She looked over the ladies shoulder at the ticket area. On the dance floor, Emmett and Rosalie, and Jasper and Alice were floating fluidly around the enclosed circle of admirers as they danced gracefully around in their evening gowns.

That family makes me sick, look at how perfect they move.

My date probably thinks I'm ugly compared to these women.

Man I'd like to...

I shoved everyone's thoughts from my mind so I could focus on Bella. Looking down at her, she looked up at me with a look of conspiracy in her thoughts.

"Do you want me to bolt the doors so you can massacre the unsuspecting townsfolk?" She whispered.

My brow raised. "And where do you fit into that scheme?"

"Oh, I'm with the vampires, of course," she collaborated.

Though I was happy she was in better spirits, I was afraid that this conversation would turn into a 'let's turn Bella into a vampire' argument. Trying to read her face, I smiled reluctantly. "Anything to get out of dancing," I assumed.

"Anything." She smiled.

After purchasing the tickets I began pulling her to the dance floor. She literally dragged her feet. Pursing my lips, I stared down at her.

"I've got all night," I informed her, not in the least bit worried that she wouldn't fold.

Finally, her stubbornness subsided and we moved onto the dance floor next to my family. This was my first time going to the prom, though my siblings went every chance they got. Alice loved to dress up and so did Rosalie, mainly because of the stares and compliments she received.

Bella stiffened at my side and I looked down at her.

"Edward." She croaked. "I honestly can't dance!" Panic was obvious in her tone.

I sighed in exasperation. "Don't worry, silly," I whispered in her ear. "I can."

Gently, I pulled her close to my chest, her feet leaving the ground before I placed them over mine, and wrapped her arms around my neck. Without effort we twirled around the dance floor with my family and even though I tried to dispel all thoughts, the boys in the audience were also crooning over Bella. I felt smug with pride.

"I feel like I'm five years old," she giggled after several minutes of us waltzing.

Her hair was blowing around lightly with the slight breeze we were making with our dancing and her cheeks were flushed the perfect pink. "You don't look five," I breathed in her ear, hugging her closer to my body.

I'm a genius! I mean, just look at that dress on her. Alice thought as she watched us twirl around. Bella caught her eye and smiled back at Alice's grin. I think she might actually be enjoying herself...

Before Alice finished her thought another thought burst into my head. He was arguing with himself. As I twirled around to see who it was, I realized it was Jacob Black.

I can't believe I'm about to do this. Seriously - he's here with her, what does my dad expect me to do? Go up to her and tell her to leave him right here on the dance floor... but my car, I really want my car up and running. Stupid master cylinder.

"Okay, this isn't half bad," Bella admitted to me, but I was too busy glaring towards the doors where Jacob was leaning.

I can do this. I can do this. I can do this. Jacob chanted over and over in his head. Why did she have to be here? Argh! He hesitated on the dance floor. Master cylinder, he reminded himself....just remember driving around in your car, his lips twitched up....maybe Bella in the passenger seat. The mental image was enough to make him move closer to our dancing forms.

Bella and I continued to spin without effort on the dance floor, but my eyes never left Jacob for more than a fraction of a second. My possessive side started to creep up as I watched him walked towards us.

Bella noticed my distraction. "What is it?" she looked at me curiously.

I didn't answer. She looked over her shoulder and then continued to try and focus her eyes through our continuous gyrate. Jacob continued to move towards us. His face displayed his thoughts of distress and discomfort.

Come on, Jacob. Pull yourself together! He frantically tried to calm himself. He's not actually a vampire.

He was wrong about that.

Just do it. Ask if you can cut in. I can just relay the message from dad. Jacob looked at Bella. Wow! She is positively the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. He blinked to clear his eyes, trying to get a better visual on her. Man, this is going to suck. I'm sorry, oh man I am so sorry, Bella.

A snarl came burning up my throat, but I was able to stifle most of the noise.

"Behave!" Bella hissed at me in reproach.

Behave? I wanted to argue but he was only two feet away.

Just cut in and get it over with. This is so embarrassing. Jacob's eyebrows pulled together in concentration. 'Hey, Bella. Just break up with your boyfriend...please.' He shook his head. This isn't going to be good.

Anger boiled under my cold skin. "He wants to chat with you." The severity of my thoughts was obvious in my voice.

You made it this far. Just ask. Jacob was now standing next to us.

I stopped our dancing, trying to...behave.

"Hey, Bella," Jacob addressed her, completely ignoring me. "I was hoping you would be here." Jacob lied as he smiled brightly at Bella.

"Hi, Jacob." Bella beamed back. "What's up?"

Why did she have to return his smile? She never greeted other males so warmly. What was so special about this...Jacob Black? She was just being polite. That was all.

"Can I cut in?" he asked hesitantly, swiveling towards me.

I gritted my teeth. Behave...behave...behave, I chanted over and over in my head in Bella's delicate voice. This planned conversation was angering me and now he was asking me to break my promise to Bella.

Refusing to let Jacob see my growing irritation, I kept my face absent of emotion. I knew if I were to open my mouth words not appropriate to say in front of a lady would spill out. So, instead, I just carefully placed her back on her feet and took a step backwards, my teeth still clenched tight enough to crush diamonds.

"Thanks," Jacob said pleasantly. That was easier than I imagined.

Taking a steadying breath, I nodded once and turned to walk away. Moving through the crowd I positioned myself so I could see and hear their exchange.

Venom filled my mouth when Jacob put his hands on her waist. Jealousy ripped at me when she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Without thinking, I was pushing my way back through the crowd. I was irate.

"Emmett," Alice nodded towards me. "Stop him."

He's just a kid, Edward, she reminded me.

Before I reached them, strong arms were binding me to the spot. Emmett chuckled. "Tisk tisk, bro. Here? In this crowd? Can't you pick another time to rip his arms off?"

He let go when I froze.

"I'd like to do that now," I glanced quickly towards Alice's twirling form.