Chapter 27

I knew they were up to no good, I thought to myself as I carefully navigated to the stairway in the Hawkins' house.

I'd just spent the better part of the early afternoon in the hands of the Hawkins' women in Halibell's enormous bathroom, feeling like a Barbie doll as they worked me over.

Then I was run through all three women's closets, manhandled into outfits who's names I couldn't even begin to pronounce or read before they settled on one they thought was perfect.

The end result was me wearing what felt like a ton of make-up, my long, dark hair pinned, curled and braided into such an elaborate style that I knew I'd have to come back to have it undone, and wearing a dark blue, corset-style gown made of silk and fine lace with, thank you Morgan!, black-lacked wedge sandals for extra height. Heels and me didn't get along.

I felt like a fool as I carefully descended the stairs, praying to whatever gods would listen that I wouldn't stumble and fall. By the time I was half-way down, Connor was there.

And he made it all worth while.

"Wow," I breathed as my eyes drank him in. His hair was slicked back into an elaborate braid similar to mine, his eyes slightly darkened with a little eyeliner. He wore black slacks, a black leather vest over his black tuxedo shirt, the top two buttons undone to reveal a tantalizing glimpse of his chest, the barest hint of blue flames shimmering from the leather.

He greeted me with his hands outstretched, bowing low and kissing each hand, making me giggle. Josephine started snapping photos immediately, not waiting for poses and I fought not to blush.

Josephine had me turn around to take a picture of my hair and Connor, who was standing one stair up, leaned in close and I closed my eyes, breathing him in deep, my enhanced sense of smell noticing more and more variances to his fragrance. When he leaned back, I felt something around my neck.

"For you," he whispered, turning me around so I could look into the full length mirror on a near-by wall.

I gasped as I gazed upon the gift. It was a necklace made of white gold, its links flat and as large as my pinky nail, tiny crystals hanging off of each link leading down to a fire opal the size of a quarter. It sat perfectly at the base of my neck, the vibrant opal sitting in the small hollow of my throat. It also perfectly matched the crystal drop earrings I was wearing, a gift from my dad.

"Its beautiful," I murmured, touching it hesitantly. I'd never touched, much less worn, something so beautiful in my life. I felt my eyes starting to burn and quickly looked up so they wouldn't spill over and ruin my make-up.

"Do you like it?" he asked and I nodded, unable to form words to truly express myself.

"Who's is it?" I asked, wondering if it was borrowed just for tonight.

"Yours; its something I've been working on for a while now."

I couldn't help my expression of incredulity. "You made this?"

"No, but I designed it specially for you and had a friend of mine make it; there's no other one like it in the world."

I reached out and caressed his face, since I wasn't comfortable with kissing him in front of his family yet, enjoying his expression as he leaning into my hand, Josephine continuing to snap pictures the whole time.

She made us do a couple of actual poses before we headed out, something I was a bit nervous about; I didn't photograph well. But it made her happy so we stood and posed as she directed until we could escape, Connor draping an embroidered velvet wrap around my shoulders as we stepped outside to his waiting car.

"Feeling a little ostentatious tonight?" I asked as we approached his Spyder, its paint glistening merrily in the fading light.

"It's a special occasion," he crooned to me as he helped me in, being very careful of the silk and lace.

The effects of the vampire blood were still strong enough to see him move around the car to the driver's side and get in. It was a little depressing to think that their gift was wearing off, that I would soon return to being a normal, fragile human, but I couldn't see a way out of it without possibly coming off as a junky or worse.

"You look so handsome," I murmured and he smiled his crooked smile as he slid into his seat, once again stunning me with his rugged beauty; I hoped it was something I never got used to.

"And you are so beautiful," he grabbed my hand, holding it to his warm lips; they'd all gone hunting earlier today so that they wouldn't be distracted.

"Yeah, your family had a field day with me," I said with a smirk.

"It was nice to see Halibell get involved. I was surprised," he admitted.

"Me, too." Truth was, ever since the fateful day of my almost death, she didn't seem to abhor me as much. I'd tried asking Josephine about it but she hadn't known either. I was willing to bet that it was because of Chadwick, but I wasn't sure.

I heard his phone ring, surprised despite the fact that he'd had one ever since we'd gotten back. He pulled the tiny, black chrome device from his vest and looked at the caller I.D., a smile on his face.

"Hello, Bobby," he said and leaned into the phone so I couldn't hear; he'd already turned the volume on the speaker down to the point where all I could normally catch were stray words.

"Dad?" I asked quizzically and he nodded.

"Yes, we're on our way now," he spoke. "Of course, quite a few actually and I'm sure I can get your address from her." He listened for a while, completely ignoring me as he drove down the long drive, nodding and murmuring agreements. "Yes, sir, I'll make sure she sends you all the details. Bye."

"What was that about?" I asked suspiciously, wondering why my father had called him instead of me.

"Oh, he just-" we were interrupted again by another call, though he seemed confused this time. "Hello, Claire," he said warily.

"Oh, great," I sighed and almost ran my fingers through my hair, remembering just in time what my hair looked like.

Whatever she was saying had his eyes going round and a grin splitting his face.

"Seriously, no kidding?" he asked as he pulled out onto the driveway.

"What now?' I groaned but he wasn't listening.

"I guess it's a good thing she was at my house all day then. Yes, I'm sure it was. Thanks for the head's up. We'll see you later." He ended the call with a huge smirk on his face, tucking his phone away and speeding like usual down the road.

"So?" I said, gesturing for him to get on with it.

"Oh, nothing. Bobby just wanted to know if we took pictures and, as you heard, I've promised him a full accounting of this night, so behave." I just glared at him, which I shouldn't have done; I'd forgotten he enjoyed it, his pleasure like waves of warmth as they touched me. "Oh, and Claire was letting me know about the visitors that have been knocking on her door all afternoon." Feeling confused, he took pity on me. "You do know where we're going right?"

"Prom, though I'm not sure why; I didn't figure you for the school functions type."

"You're right; but I wanted to take you. It seemed appropriate. That and Morgan has been pestering me non-stop for weeks now." The last was said in mock annoyance; not that I thought she hadn't annoyed him, but that he actually didn't mind it as much as he made out. I could still feel their emotions, which gave me an advantage.

"How do you even know I can dance? And are you sure I wanted to go? What if I'd wanted another recounting of the Valentine's Day dance?" I said this all in a reasonable tone, not that any of it wasn't true and I was enjoying the thought of dancing with him; the questions just needed to be asked.

"I've seen you dance before, though the circumstances weren't what I would call typical and I actually kind of felt bad. You weren't protesting too hard at any point today, nor have you given a negative response to the thought. And you already know just about everything about us, why would I want to go hiking again?" He'd matched my tone perfectly, sounding more than reasonable and I couldn't help but giggle, though I did look at him crookedly for it.

"So, back to the people who were annoying Claire all day?" I prompted and his smirk returned.

"Did anyone else ask you to the prom?" he asked slyly.

"Yeah, why?" He let me stew in silence while he attempted to find a parking spot away from everyone else. I couldn't see what that had to do with anything, unless... "Don't tell me that they all came to my house," I said and he nodded, grinning hugely as I groaned. I'd been asked by several guys after my return to school and had turned all of them down. The worst part of it was, everyone knew Connor and I were an item; I guess they'd assumed he wasn't a school functions type either. "Who?" I asked, wanting to know so that I could avoid them and try to save face; I'd told everyone that had asked that I wasn't going. How was I supposed to know Connor would take me?

"Jeremy, Austin, Brandon, Sam and Michael." His tone was light and conversational, but it didn't help. Now I really didn't want to go. All of them were Seniors who had asked me at least twice.

"I guess the 'shiny new toy' syndrome still hasn't worn off," was all I could manage to say. "I hope they found other dates, because I'll feel really bad otherwise. I told them I wasn't coming."

"It was their own fault, let them suffer." Finally satisfied with his parking spot, he turned to me one last time. "Would my lady like to accompany me to the prom?" His voice was a purr that gave me chills.

"It would be my pleasure." I checked my make-up and jewelry one last time in the visor mirror as he rounded the car, opening my door and extending his hand in an old-fashioned gesture that made me smile.

I carefully lifted the skirt over me knees to swing my feet out and I watched his gaze fall.

"Remind me to thank Morgan when we get inside," he said, caressing my legs with his eyes.

I blushed and took his hand, allowing him to support me as we slowly crossed the parking lot. My leg was healed from the break, but the muscles got a bit stiff if I sat too long and I'd been sitting most of the day. That and I was afraid I'd trip on the uneven concrete.

There were people in formal dress everywhere and I waved at some, trying not to feel self-conscious when people stared, the atmosphere one of excitement.

"Don't worry, you look stunning and very beautiful," he whispered soothingly as he paid for our entrance fee and we proceeded into the gym.

"Holy-! This looks like a B-movie gone bad," I whispered as we passed under the balloon arch and into the main room. "This would make even the Pillsbury Dough Boy puke. Pastel and crepe; bleh."

He snorted, startling a couple of girls.

"Shall I bare the doors, hit the lights and herd?" I asked conspiratorially, gesturing at the crowd of students dressing in bright colors.

"Well, there are more than enough monsters present." He nodded to the middle of the room, where his siblings were dancing in a style completely at odds with this era. "You in?" I nodded enthusiastically.

Both Chadwick and Davis wore formal tuxes, though their shirts matched their dates. They were stunning, the black contrasting nicely with their pale skin.

Morgan looked more like a pixie than ever, her black dress resembling a ballerina's bodice before flaring into a large spiky poof about her hips and upper thighs in this bright green color that perfectly matched her eyes, her punk boots laced tightly to her knees.

Halibell was devastating in her crimson halter gown, her flawless, pale skinned back bared to show a beautifully airbrushed set of wings, her golden locks piled atop her head to better see it. Diamonds adorned her ears, throat, wrists and even toes.

I pitied every female creature, myself included.

He led me reluctantly to the dance floor and I really began blushing. Nobody else was even trying to dance with the spectacle going on before them. I couldn't blame them.