PEACE | VIII.
"EMMETT CULLEN IS A PITY DATE?"
(' HOMECOMING NIGHT ')
"YOU KNOW I CAN TIE MY OWN TIE, RIGHT?"
Rosalie glares at Emmett as she continues the task at hand. He chuckles softly under his breath but doesn't say anything else as Rosalie finishes tying his tie. She smiles proudly at her work and pats Emmett on the chest.
"Make tonight special for her," Rosalie says as she looks up to meet Emmett's gaze, "She's been through a lot and she's looking forward to the dance."
"I still don't understand why I'm taking her," Emmett says as he turns to look at himself in the mirror.
"Because she chose you," Rosalie replies, watching as Emmett slightly loosened the tie.
He turns to look at her, "That's because the only options you presented her with were me and Edward. Of course she was going to pick me."
Rosalie's eyebrows furrow, "I'm failing to understand why you're confused then."
"Why didn't you present yourself as an option?" Emmett asks her, "And I don't want some bullshit answer about it being inappropriate. It's the 21st century, Rose. No one cares."
"You're implying that I like her," Rosalie states plainly, "And while I do find her company to be rather curious, I do not."
"Please," Emmett says rolling his eyes, "You've been interested in her since she arrived here. You may have disliked her at first, but she's grown on you."
"Like I said. I enjoy her company, but that doesn't mean I have a romantic interest in her," Rosalie tells him.
"If you say so," Emmett shrugs, "So I pick her up, take her to the dance, spin her around a couple of times while you and Alice make sure that her dad doesn't show."
Rosalie nods, "That's the plan."
"Sounds simple enough," Emmett replies as he grabs his suit jacket off the hanger, "Save me a dance?"
"No," Rosalie tells him bluntly, "You will be distracting Devyn."
"And what happens when Devyn gets distracted by you?" Emmett asks, raising his eyebrow slightly.
Rosalie rolls her eyes, "Devyn won't get distracted by me. She won't even be thinking about me."
"You know she watches you, right? She's the first one to notice when you enter a room."
"That's because she's observant," Rosalie states, quickly dismissing Emmett's words, "She figured out what we were just by watching us. Her staring isn't some big thing."
"Okay," Emmett says giving up, "You aren't interested in Devyn and she isn't interested in you."
"That's right," Rosalie tells him, looking at the watch on her wrist, "Your dinner reservations are at 7:30. If you leave now, that gives her mom time to take pictures."
"Again, why am I going on this date and not you?" Rosalie glares at him.
"Don't be late," is all she says before departing his room.
Emmett isn't late.
He gets to Devyn's house on time and takes pictures with her. He watches as Madison and Devyn take pictures and even takes pictures for Devyn's mother of the three of them together. He drives them to the restaurant, making it to the reservation on time.
"This is weird," Devyn says looking up from her menu. Emmett looks up from his own and raises an eyebrow at her. They had been sitting in silence since they arrived at the restaurant, which Devyn found to be a little too upscale for a homecoming date.
"Why is this weird?"
"I mean we don't really know each other," Devyn tells him, "Quite frankly I don't know much about any of you. I hardly know Rosalie."
Emmett lowers his menu, "Rose isn't the best at opening up to people. As for myself, I'd love to get to know you and vice versa. How about a game of twenty questions?"
Devyn laughs, "I'm surprised you know what that is."
"Hey, I'm down with the times," he tells her with a wide grin and Devyn laughs nodding her head.
"Okay, twenty questions. I'll go first. How old are you?"
Emmett looks up thoughtfully, Devyn watches as he does the calculation, "I suppose I'll be 97 this year."
"Wait," Devyn does calculations of her own, "You're the same age as Rosalie."
"Yeah, ironic, isn't it?" Emmett says, "My turn, what do you want to do after college?"
"Well," she begins, "I think that I want to be a publisher. I love reading and I think reading the work of people just starting out would be really cool. Maybe I'll find the next Lord of the Rings or Pride and Prejudice."
"Interesting," Emmett nods, "I've never been one for reading, but Rosalie loves it. Her room, filled with books."
"I've seen it," Devyn says, recalling all the bookshelves. Emmett looks at her surprised.
"Rosalie let you in her room?" Devyn nods and Emmett lets out a hearty chuckle, "That's hilarious! Edward has yet to see the inside of Rosalie's room."
"Really?" Devyn asks, suddenly feeling special.
"Yeah," Emmett tells her, "Guess you're cooler than Edward."
Devyn grins, "Can't be that much cooler than him, I mean he can read minds."
"I can read minds," Emmett tells her, "Right now you're thinking about how awesome I am."
Devyn shakes her head, "Actually I was thinking about if I wanted to just skip dinner and get dessert, but that was a nice guess."
Emmett shrugs, "I tried. Your turn to ask a question."
"Right um, I guess I want to know why you're single?"
"Why?" Emmett's lips curl up in a smirk, "Interested?"
Devyn snorts, "I'm not gonna answer that."
"I'll take that as a yes. Anyway, vampire relationships are pretty complicated. We don't really date around, when we find someone, it's for life," Emmett explains, "Like Carlisle knew that Esme was the one for him, but he let her go until they met again. I guess I haven't felt that pull yet."
"What about Edward and Rosalie?" Devyn asks, more curious about the latter, "Have they felt the pull?"
"I know for a fact Edward hasn't and Rosalie, well she wouldn't tell anyone if she did," Emmett answers, and Devyn can't help the slight disappointment that sits in her stomach.
"Honestly, that sounds lonely," Devyn notes, "I mean I know you guys have each other, but it must be hard watching Esme and Carlisle and Alice and Jasper."
Emmett shrugs, "I mean yeah it can make you miss the simple intimacy of being with someone. Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever find that person, but if I don't, I'll be okay. I'll always have my family."
Devyn smiles at the words. Emmett was such a good guy. She really wanted the best for him, whoever it was or whatever it was.
"My turn to ask a question," Emmett says, "What's your ideal first date?"
It's Devyn's turn to smirk, "Are you interested?"
Emmett grins, "Maybe."
She knows he's joking, but she answers anyway, "I'd say a movie date."
"Seriously?" Emmett asks, "I haven't been on a date in nearly 70 years, and I know that going to the movies on the first date is a terrible idea. You don't really get to interact with each other."
"That's the whole point," Devyn says, "You can tell if you're comfortable with some by sitting beside them for two hours in silence."
"Who told you this?" Emmett asks.
"My mom," Devyn answers with a small smile, "She calls it the Movie Test. I've never been asked what I've wanted to do on the first date, so I've never been able to administer a Movie Test."
"Give me the Movie Test," Emmett tells her, "I'm good in all environments, quiet, loud, I've been told my presence is soothing."
"And who's told you that?" Devyn asks.
Emmett's lips turn upside down, "No one yet, but you can be the first after you give me the Movie Test."
Devyn chuckles, "Okay."
They finally order, still swapping questions back and forth. Devyn's surprised when Emmett gets something, recalling what Rosalie had told her about them not liking food.
"I thought you guys didn't eat?"
"We don't but I didn't want you to feel weird with me staring at you while you ate," Emmett tells her, "Plus I love the looks I receive when I go to a fancy restaurant and order chicken tenders."
Devyn laughs at the comment and Emmett smiles at her. They finish eating and make their way to the dance arriving just as things were getting underway and just as Devyn had predicted, everyone was staring at them, or specifically, they were staring at Emmett.
She's relieved when she spots her friends over by the table where everyone was casting their votes for Homecoming queen and king. Emma notices her first and a grin breaks out on her face as she rushes toward Devyn, wrapping her in a hug.
"You look amazing!" Emma tells her, "We just cast our ballots."
"I voted for you!" Ralph says as he comes over, picking Devyn up and twirling her, eliciting a giggle from her. He sets her down and looks over at Emmett. The two guys were surprisingly at eye level.
"Sup," Ralph says holding his hand out. Emmett looks at the hand and smiles at Ralph before dapping him up bro style. The sight was strange for Devyn since she knew that Emmett was old enough to be their grandfather.
"Devyn you look amazing," Justine compliments, "So here's a timeline for tonight. At 10 we're going to announce the winners, so don't wander off."
"Sounds good," Devyn says, she spots Nathan talking to someone else by the voting box, but she doesn't see Tristan anywhere, "Where's Tristan?"
"She's probably by the swings," Justine informs her, her eyes drift to Devyn's date, "The two of you should go cast your votes."
"Sure thing," Emmett says, guiding Devyn over to the table.
Emmett grabs a ballot for himself and then one for Devyn. She takes it and grabs a pen. She doesn't even look at the options as she writes Emma's name and Ralph's. They deserved to win, and Devyn was simply happy with being nominated.
She places her ballot in the box, watching as Emmett does the same.
"I voted for you," he tells her with a smile.
"Thanks," Devyn tells him.
"You're welcome," Emmett responds, "Also no sign of your dad so far. I don't think he'd come to something that has so many people."
"I wouldn't be so sure of that if he was stalking me at school," she looks up at Emmett, "You don't think he'd go after my mom and sister, do you?"
"No, I think his efforts are focused mainly on you," Emmett tells her, "But Jasper's keeping an eye on them, just in case."
Devyn looks over and notices a figure in the dimly lit playground area. She knew it was Tristan and figured that she should go over and talk to the other girl to prevent things from being weird.
"Will you excuse me?" Devyn asks Emmett, who nods at her.
She makes her way across the park away from the dance toward Tristan. She stops in front of the empty swing beside Tristan, "Hey, is this swing available?"
Tristan looks up at her and nods silently. Devyn takes a seat and looks over at Tristan who wasn't wearing a dress but rather a black jumpsuit with combat boots. The look was so Tristan, especially since she was showing off her neck tattoos.
"I didn't know that you liked me," Devyn says.
"It's not as though I broadcasted the information," Tristan says as she looks at Devyn.
"Right," Devyn mutters, "Tristan I am-"
"You're into Emmett," Tristan shrugs, "It's cool."
Devyn chuckles, "I'm not into Emmett. He's only my date out of sympathy."
Tristan's brows furrow as she looks at Devyn, "Emmett Cullen is a pity date?"
"More or less," Devyn tells her, "I've been going through some family stuff lately and things have been pretty crazy."
Tristan shakes her head, "You don't have to explain anything to me. I get it, but if you really wanted a pity date, I would have volunteered."
Devyn smiles, "Well there's always prom."
"I'll keep that in mind," Tristan tells her she looks back at the makeshift dance floor, "You should get back to the dance."
"Are you coming?" Devyn asks as she stands.
"I'll be there in a minute. Save me a dance?" Tristan asks and Devyn nods before heading back toward the dance. She moves between the dancing bodies and back to the voting table where she knew that she would at least find Justine.
"Hey," Devyn greets, and Justine looks up at her, sparing her a momentary glance before looking back at her clipboard.
"Talk to Tristan?" Justine asks.
"Did you know too?" Devyn asks and Justine nods, once again looking up from her clipboard.
"I just thought that you didn't like her and was pretending not to notice."
"That's rude," Devyn states, slightly appalled at the thought, "I would never do that."
"Well, I know that now," Justine tells her, "Also, not to alarm you or anything, but your date's sisters are here."
"Rosalie and Alice?" Devyn asks.
"Yep," Justine answers, "I mean not that you would be alarmed since you and Rosalie are supposedly friends, but I have no idea what you and Emmett are and everyone used to think that Rosalie and Emmett were together-"
"What?" Devyn asks, "Rosalie and Emmett?"
"Yeah," Justine says, her eyes drifting to the dance floor. She points a finger and Devyn follows it to see Emmett trying to get Rosalie to dance with him. She knew there was nothing going on between the two of them, but the sight still left her unsettled.
"Huh," Devyn says looking back at Justine, "Have you seen Ralph?"
Justine's eyebrows furrow, "Are you about to do something irrational?"
"No," Devyn asks, "I just want to dance with him."
"Are you doing it because Emmett is dancing with Rosalie?"
Devyn's eyes flicker over to Rosalie and Emmett and back to Justine, "No."
Luckily, Ralph finds them, a wide smile on his face, "My favorites ladies. Why aren't you on the dancefloor?"
"I'm working," Justine tells him, "But Devyn here hasn't been twirled yet."
Ralph grins and holds a hand out to her, "Then allow me to be the first."
Devyn accepts and allows Ralph to drag her onto the dance floor. She's prepared to just mess around and let Ralph twirl her around, but a slow song begins to play, and everyone begins to couple off around them. She looks up at Ralph who is looking at her, leaving it up to her whether they slow dance or not.
She reaches up, wrapping her arms around Ralph's neck. She feels as her wraps his arms around her, keeping them respectfully on her lower back. They sway in tune to the music and Devyn looks around and frowns when she looks at Emmett and Rosalie.
Rosalie's golden eyes drift over and land on her and Devyn instantly looks away. She can't look at Rosalie, not when she has all these tangled-up feelings within. She doesn't like Rosalie or Emmett, not like that, so why can't she stand the idea of them together?
"I love this song," Ralph mutters, "Ed Sheeran is like a songwriting god."
It's the first time that Devyn actually recognizes the song that's playing which is Kiss Me by Ed Sheeran. She can't help but laugh at Ralph's comment.
"It's a good song," she tells him.
He looks down at her, "Are you having a good time?"
"I thought tonight was going to go much worse than it is, so yes, I am having a good time."
Ralph takes her hand and spins her away from him before pulling her back in, "What did you think was going to happen?"
The truth was that she thought her father was going to show up and threaten to kill one of her friends if she didn't come with him. Then she'd be dragged off to whoever and wherever the Volturi were and then she'd learned why they wanted her and why they had used her father.
There was still time for all of that of course, but Devyn wasn't going to think about it. She felt normal dancing in Ralph's arms and that was a good thing.
"I thought that maybe I'd embarrass myself," Devyn tells him, "Trip and fall or something like that."
"If you fall, then I'll be lying on the ground with you," Ralph tells her, and Devyn smiles as she rests her head on his shoulder. The song comes to an end before going to something more upbeat. Devyn steps away from Ralph.
"Thank you for twirling me."
He takes her hand, "Thank you for allowing me to twirl you."
He brings her hand up to his lips and places a kiss on it, causing Devyn to roll her eyes as she pulls her hand away from Ralph's, the football player chuckling at her reaction. She shakes her head at him a smile on her lips.
"Devyn," the smile quickly slips away as she looks up at Rosalie.
"Rosalie," Devyn searches her brain for anything to say and comes up with a simple, "Hey."
"Hey," Rosalie says.
Devyn looks at Rosalie's dress, which looked straight off the runway, worn by a model who failed to do the dress justice the way that Rosalie was right now. It was an annoying thing just how beautiful Rosalie was.
"I'm gonna go bother Emma and Nathan," Ralph tells her before sliding in between the two who had been dancing crazily together. Devyn laughs as she watches the three of them jump around together.
Beside her, Rosalie shakes her head, "Teenagers."
"Now is not the time for your superiority complex," Devyn tells her, "Besides you were dancing with Emmett earlier."
"He was trying to get me to have fun. Which is impossible at these school dances," Rosalie says crossing her arms over her chest, "Someone is always crying, and a girl always dances with everyone but the one person she's supposed to."
Devyn looks at Rosalie curiously, "Speaking from experience?"
"Maybe," Rosalie answers, "Straighten things out with Tristan?"
"She might be my pity date to prom," Devyn says with a laugh, "If I live that long."
"You will," Rosalie tells her immediately, "And you don't need a pity date to prom. Get you a real one."
"Yeah," Devyn wants to test something, "Maybe I'll take Emmett."
Rosalie raises an eyebrow, "Really? Did dinner go that well?"
Devyn shrugs nonchalantly, "It did. He told me more about vampire relationships."
"And what exactly did he tell you?" Rosalie asks her.
"About the pull. The one Carlisle felt for Esme. The one Alice felt for Jasper. The one you, Emmett, and Edward have yet to feel. I suppose I get why you're so pessimistic all the time," Devyn states and Rosalie rolls her eyes, shaking her head as she looks at the teen.
"I'm not pessimistic," Rosalie quickly rebuttals.
"But you haven't felt the pull, have you?" Devyn asks. Rosalie's eyes avoid hers as she begins to look around the crowd. She places a hand on Rosalie's shoulder, ignoring her own misplaced disappointment, "Rosalie, you can't lose hope. Whoever they are, they're out there."
Rosalie sighs as she looks at her, "Ever the optimist, aren't you?"
"When it comes to love, yes," Devyn tells her with a laugh, "Now will you pretty please indulge in some immature teenage behavior?"
Rosalie shrugs, "I guess I can."
"Want to start by drinking Mike Newton's spiked punch?" Devyn asks with a laugh.
"I'll have to pass," Rosalie tells her.
"Right," Devyn says, "Alcohol probably has no effect on you."
"Oh, it does, but it takes a lot," Rosalie tells her and Devyn smirks at the new piece of information.
"You shouldn't have told me that because I plan on getting you, drunk Miss. Hale. Maybe then you'll tell me all of your secrets," Devyn teases and Rosalie smiles, shaking her head. The music seems to get louder, so Rosalie leans closer to Devyn, allowing her to smell the delicate scent of Rosalie's expensive perfume.
"You can try, but I'm not telling you anything."
Devyn swallows and looks at Rosalie before quickly glancing away, hoping to not draw attention to her flushed cheeks, "I'm always up for a challenge."
"As am I."
They share a look which is interrupted as Justine takes the stage, "Hey everyone! The ballots have been counted and I am happy to announce Forks High's homecoming king and queen!"
The audience cheers and Justine holds up the first result card, "This year's homecoming queen is...Emma Belmont!"
Devyn smiles and applauds as Emma goes to take the stage. Justine grabs the crown before placing it onto Emma's head along with a sash and a bouquet of flowers. She notices Devyn in the crowd and offers her a sympathetic look, which Devyn waves off.
"I love you, Emma!" she shouts, earning a laugh from the homecoming queen.
"And this year's homecoming king is...Ralph Lee!"
Ralph rushes up to the stage and gives Justine a bear hug. The student body president smacks him on the arm and smooths out her dress before grabbing Ralph's crown and sash, handing him both.
"A round of applause for our king and queen!"
Devyn claps for her friends. She looks over to see Rosalie standing with arms crossed over her chest and elbows her. Rosalie frowns as she claps along unwillingly.
The music returns to playing and Devyn can't help but feel happy. The night was nearly over and there had been no sign of her father. Her friends had won homecoming king and queen and Rosalie Hale seemed to think that she was the only interesting person at the dance, it couldn't get much better than this.
"Devyn Wilde!" Emma says, rushing toward her. She takes her crown off and places it on Devyn's head, "Do not complain. This crown is yours."
"I didn't win!" Devyn says with a laugh.
"You should have and you're a queen in my book," Emma tells her, "Besides, you know what they say. Heavy is the head that wears the crown, so enjoy the extra weight."
Devyn laughs as Emma skips off, getting lost in the crowd.
"She's right," Rosalie says from beside her.
"Heavy is the head that wears the crown? I don't think that applies to homecoming queen," Devyn says with a chuckle as she adjusts the crown on her head.
"You should have won," Rosalie says, "I mean even I voted for you."
Devyn fakes a gasp, "Rosalie Hale participated in an election?"
"I am never complimenting you again," Rosalie tells her, walking away, but Devyn grabs her wrist, tugging her back.
"Wait, don't go," Devyn says, looking at Rosalie, "I like compliments from you."
Rosalie laughs as she reaches up to fix the placement of the crown on Devyn's head. Her eyes drop to Devyn's eyes as a soft smile graces her lips, "You look beautiful."
"Oh," Devyn says surprised. That was not the compliment she had been expecting and now her body felt hot, a little too hot, "I'm gonna go outside and get fresh air."
Rosalie fixes her with an amused look, "You do know we're outside and surrounded by fresh air, right?"
"I want air that other people are not currently inhaling," Devyn says with a nod, pretending that sounded any better from her previous statement. She doesn't give Rosalie a chance to respond as she moves away from the dance and toward, the empty swing sets. She takes a seat and attempts to gather herself.
"You always did get distracted by a pretty face."
Devyn's heart nearly stops in her chest as she looks up from the swings. A shadow stands before and Devyn knows exactly who it is.
"Dad?" she asks.
He steps forward, his face lit dimly by the streetlamps of the park. Her father had been a handsome man, but vampirism did nothing but improve his looks. He smiles at her showing off perfect white teeth.
"It's time that we talked, Devy."