twenty-five : fireworks

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"I told Edward sending that invite would be a bad idea

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"I told Edward sending that invite would be a bad idea." Alice rolled her eyes. "Honestly, does he really even think Jacob would've come?"

"I dunno." Claudia frowned. "But it's been a week, and he still hasn't come back yet. The guys say they can hear him sometimes, but usually he's just focusing on being a wolf-not a human."

"I'm sorry, Claudia." Alice wrapped an arm over Claudia's shoulders. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She nodded. "As long as Jake's alive, I'm okay." Alice nodded. "Okay, enough sad shit. Why'd you want me to come over so badly today?" Alice's face immediately brightened up as she shot to her feet, her hands clapped together.

"Well, obviously, everyone has to look perfect for the wedding." Alice smiled. "So, I may or may not have taken the liberty of getting a few dresses for you to try out. And don't worry if we have to do alterations, that'll be easy."

———————

"That sounds so boring." Quil snorted. "Thank god I'm not getting dragged along to this stupid thing." Embry hit his arm.

"You're still gonna have to go to Sam and Emily's wedding, you know." Embry pointed out, and Quil groaned.

"It's free food Quil, it can't be that bad." Claudia pulled her knees up to her chest, looking down the beach at the rest of the pack. "Speaking of, has Paul really eaten all of the hot dogs already?"

"Course he has." Embry snorted. "Emily's got some shoved into the back of the fruit drawer inside so he couldn't find them, don't worry." Quil perked up, looking towards Emily's house. A few seconds later, Emily walked out with Claire at her side.

"Claire's up, I'll see you guys later." He started moving down the beach towards them. Claudia could hear Claire's excited screams, making her chuckle. That girl idolized Quil, it was adorable.

"So, you gonna tell me about your day or what?" Embry scooted closer, his arm wrapping over her shoulders.

"All I did was try on dresses and argue with Rosalie about my hair, trust me it wasn't exciting." She chuckled, looking up at him. "Alice told me she got a few, but I lost count after 50. Seriously, I don't know what her deal is."

"50?" He raised his eyebrows. "Did you even manage to pick one out?"

"No!" She threw her hands up. "There was way too many, so I narrowed it down to ten. Alice gets to choose from there. She must've spent thousands-no, tens of thousands on those dresses and she's still gonna change them afterwards. It's insane."

"Jesus..." He mumbled, and she giggled, nodding.

"Also, she wanted me to pass along her warning that if you don't also look good, she won't let me bring you to events anymore." He rolled his eyes.

"I'll be sure to head that, then." She shook her head lightly, looking out at the water. The sun had finally set, meaning the fireworks were due to anytime. "Come on, let's go." Due to Claudia's new-found sensitive hearing, she and Embry and decided to go out to their meadow and watch the fireworks from there. It only took them a few minutes to reach it, and by the time they'd laid down and gotten comfortable, the fireworks had just began to start. 4th of July-and New Years-were the best holidays to be on the rez for. Mostly just because of the rez fireworks you couldn't get anywhere else.

Bright, brilliant shades of red, blue, green and purple filled the sky, illuminating the trees and grass around them in bright flashes. The loud booms in the distance didn't bother Claudia's ears, thankfully. Embry's fingers circled on her arm, leaving warm trails around her skin. Claudia looked over at him, watching the colors flash agains this face, and the fireworks reflected in his eyes. Even if things weren't exactly perfect, they were close. And she couldn't ask for anything more.

———————

"Ow, Alice!" Claudia huffed, looking down as Alice adjusted the pin. "I'm not indestructible, you know?"

"I'm well aware." Alice mumbled, flitting around to Claudia's other side. She put in a few more pins before stepping back. "That's a big improvement, for sure." She nodded lightly, her hand on her chin. The bedroom door opened, and Rosalie entered. "What do you think, Rose?"

"It's not bad, definitely better than before." Rose's posture almost mimicked Alice's. "Are you married to the idea of long sleeves though?"

"You know, I was thinking the same thing." Claudia rolled her eyes as Alice started working on the sleeves, Rosalie following closely to give her input.

"How long do you two think you're going to take?" Claudia glanced over her shoulder, as the pair of vampires had begun discussing the shoulders of the dress. "I kinda promised my mom I'd be home tonight."

"You'll be there, just shut up and stand still." Alice mumbled. Claudia rolled her eyes, looking forward again. "What if we take the sleeves completely off?" Alice suggested.

"I'd stick with at least straps, but you're onto something." Rose agreed. Claudia tuned them out, letting her eyes roll back. Thankfully, she'd learned how to contain her visions to only herself. She was back on the beach, at sunset, with Embry. They didn't talk, but she cuddled up to his side and watched the water. Her happy place was quite literal in her mind.

"Wow." A voice brought her out of it, blinking a few times until her vision cleared. Bella was standing in Alice's doorway. "Claudia, you look incredible."

"Oh, thanks." Claudia then glanced down. "Jesus Alice, this looks like a totally different dress now."

"What can I say? Inspiration struck." Alice shrugged, standing in front of Claudia. "And when you go into your head, you're very still. Super easy to work with. Now." Alice clapped her hands together. "I have a few more alterations I'll do before the wedding, and you're all set. Also, I'm going to get you some matching shoes tomorrow."

———————

"You really didn't need to give me a ride, Bella." Claudia stared around at the car in awe. Bella's truck had finally given out, so Edward had bought her some crazy, super fancy car in the meantime. Claudia had never sat in something so expensive.

"I know, but I wanted to talk to you a little." Bella said. "I just...I wanted to say sorry, about Jake."

"You don't have to apologize Bella." Claudia waved her hand dismissively. "Jake's just being a drama Queen, he'll be fine. Don't worry about him. You have your wedding to enjoy, don't spend it thinking about Jake of all people." Bella groaned lightly.

"Yeah, don't remind me." Claudia chucked lightly.

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