"Is Charlie in on this?" I asked, suddenly suspicious.
"Of course." He grinned, and then chuckled. "Apparently Tyler wasn't, though."
I gritted my teeth. I hadn't thought about Tyler in weeks, and there was no reason to start now. How he could be so delusional, I couldn't imagine. At school, where Charlie couldn't interfere, Fredward and I were inseparable—except for those rare sunny days. Just when I thought Mike was the densest guy possible, Tyler had to go and out-dense him.
We were at the school now; Rosalie's red convertible was conspicuous and in the parking lot. The clouds were thin today, a few streaks of sunlight escaping through far away in the west.
He got out and walked around the car to open my door, thrusting his hand forward towards mine.
I stubbornly sat in my seat, arms folded, feeling a secret twinge of smugness. The lot was crowded with my classmates in formal dress: my witnesses. He couldn't remove me forcibly from the car as he might have done if we'd been alone. I silently thanked my classmates, realizing that I wouldn't always have that security.
He sighed. "When someone wants to kill you, you're brave as a lion—and yet when someone mentions dancing... " He shook his head.
I gulped. Dancing. Somehow I'd forgotten all about dancing.
"Bella, I won't let anything hurt you—not even yourself. I won't let go of you once, I promise you."
I thought about that and suddenly felt much better. The thought of his arms around me constantly, existing for the sole purpose of keeping me from hurting myself.
"There, now," he said gently, "it won't be so bad." He leaned down and wrapped one arm around my waist. I took his other hand and let him lift me out of the car.
He kept his arm tightly around mmm, supporting me and huffing periodically as I limped toward the school.

487

Chapter 25

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