Mimic | Jacob Black

10. What Comes After

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"Easy does it," River said as he helped Bella walk down the stairs.

"I'm not gonna trip, relax," Bella assured him. The leg cast was poking out from under her dress. Bella didn't really own any Prom worthy dresses, so she had to borrow one from Alice. "Can't believe we're actually doing this."

River tugged at the collar of his maroon suit. "Tell me about it. This is so uncomfortable, I'm never wearing a suit again after this."

As they descended the stairs, they saw Edward sitting with their parents. He looked visibly uncomfortable under Charlie's gaze. The three of them turned to look at the teens.

Bella sighed. "Yeah, I know, I look–"

"Beautiful," Edward interrupted. Charlie shot him a look and Julie smiled at them.

"Do you have anyone to go with, River?" she asked hopefully.

"Yeah. Myself."

She sighed and opened her mouth, but opted out of whatever she was about to say, just shaking her head instead. "You could have at least styled your hair."

River brushed his hand through his hair again, the blond locks somewhat messy. "No, I'm good."

"You kids have fun," Charlie said as they walked to Edward's car. Bella struggled slightly to get her cast-covered leg into the car, and needed help from River and Edward.

"Sorry, this is my fault," Edward said once she was comfortably seated in the passenger seat.

River rolled his eyes as he and Edward hopped into their own seats. "Seriously? Are you really doing this again? It wasn't your fault."

Edward was still convinced that he was the reason the two teens had gone through so much trouble, as if they wouldn't have been sandwiched by a van had he not stepped in to save them.

"It is your fault that I'm doing this, though," Bella said with distaste.

"Prom only happens once. It's a right of passage." Edward smiled. "I didn't want you to miss anything."

"Yeah, whatever."

"I mean as long as there's food," River said.

After driving for a while, they made it to the school parking lot. There were a lot of other students dressed up, all heading towards the school gym, where the dance was being held. They followed the others inside. The gym had balloon arches and twisted garlands covering the walls.

A wide gap had formed in the centre of the dance floor, where two couples whirled gracefully. The other dancers pressed to the sides of the room to give them space–It seemed no one wanted to try to match the impact at which the couples carried themselves with. Emmett and Jasper were intimidating in classic tuxedos. Alice was striking in a black satin dress with geometric cutouts. And Rosalie was in a vivid scarlet dress that seemed to catch almost everyone's attention.

"We're not actually going to dance... right?" Bella asked Edward.

"I'm afraid we are." Edward tried to sound sad, but hints of amusement could be heard in his voice.

"You two have fun, I see some snacks," River said as he spotted a long table adorning a variety of foods at the other end of the gym. He walked over to grab some bites before spotting Angela, Mike, Jessica and Eric. He moved to meet them.

"Didn't think you'd actually be here," Mike said when they noticed River, an exaggerated look on his face as if pretending River was a celebrity.

"That makes two of us, or well..." River stole a quick glance at Bella. "Three of us."