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I'm hyperventilating. I'm about to explode. I'm about to lose my mind. In just less than an hour, Edward is coming to pick me up and take me to his house. I'm not ready! I'm not ready at all! Both mentally nor physically.
I quickly scramble towards my closet for something to wear. I can't decide if I want to wear something casual or a little more formal. This is my first time officially meeting Edward's whole family, so I want to make a good first impression. I spot my favorite khaki skirt in the back of the closet. I usually only wear it to church, but this occasion calls for an outfit with just the right balance of casual and formal. And as far as I have in my outfit collection, the khaki skirt will have to do. I also remember how Edward told me he was from the 1900s, and in that time, I'm pretty sure a female's normal attire was made up of skirts, so this outfit is perfect, right?
I take it off its hangar and lay it on the bed. Then, I find a black shirt with short sleeves to go with the skirt. With my outfit picked out, I change into it, slipping on a small sweater and some flats on my feet afterward. After doing my hair and freshing up a bit, I go and stand in front of the mirror. I actually look not too shabby if I do say so myself.
Beep! Beep! Goes a car horn.
He's here.
Gulp.
*Time Skip*
Edward drives me up to a large, fancy house in the middle of no where. At least, it feels like we're in the middle of no where since we've been driving through the woods for a while. I gaze up at the Cullens' house in amazement, utterly stunned. It's huge with glass windows and doors, as well as what appears to be a large garage. I'm thoroughly intimidated now just from the mere size of their home.
Edward gets out of the car first. I wait for him as he comes around to the other side of the car. He does it so fast that I suspect that he might have used his super speed. Edward is such a gentleman, not letting me spend a second of unsureness without him.
He opens the passenger door for me, and I get out. After closing it back up, he leads me to the front door of the house.
I suddenly feel completely out of place. This is a bit out of my comfort zone. "I feel so overdressed," I mumble.
Vampires have enhanced hearing, so anything I mumble, Edward can hear easily. "You look beautiful," he assures me.
He opens the door and holds it open for me. I step inside after him.
"This is incredible," I say, spinning around in a circle. The Cullens' house is so open and homey and modern. I'm jealous honestly. Their house puts our tiny house to shame.
"What did you expect, coffins and dungeons and moats?" Edward grins.
"I don't know what I expected," I say honestly. "But this is definitely not what I pictured."
Edward moves behind me. I blush as he helps me take off my sweater. He's the perfect gentleman alright.
I place my sweater on a chair by the door while Edward takes off his own jacket. He places it down beside my sweater. I follow behind him to a staircase.
I can practically feel his family's presence upstairs. Nervousness sets in my stomach. I stop short and don't follow him up the stairs.
It takes a second for Edward to notice. When he realizes that I stopped following him, he turns around and comes back down the stairs.
"What's wrong?" he asks, worry covering his face.
I can't look him in the eyes. "What if they don't like me?"
"So, you're worried, not because you'll be in a room full of vampires, but because you think they won't approve of you," Edward says sympathetically.
I keep my gaze on the ground, feeling pitiful and ridiculous. "I just know I'm going to embarrass myself. I always do."
Edward places one hand on my shoulder, causing me to lift my gaze. He rubs circles against the back of my shoulder.
"They're going to love you," he says. "You know why? Because I do. You're perfect, just the way you are. Don't tell yourself otherwise."
I feel really calm now, but also flustered at the sudden closeness and contact. A small smile forms on my lips. "Thank you," I say quietly.
Edward removes his hand from my shoulder. "Are you ready?" he asks.
I put on a brave face. "Ready." I nod.
This time, I follow him up the stairs. "This is the one place we don't have to hide," Edward explains as we go up. When we near what I think is the kitchen, Edward speaks up again. "I told them not to do this," he says in annoyance.
I stay close to Edward's side when we enter the kitchen. Rosalie is there, along with Emmett, Carlisle, and another woman I don't recognize. I have no idea where Alice and Jasper are though.
The unfamiliar woman walks up to me and Edward. She has the same pale, beautiful features as the rest of the Cullens. Something about her heart-shaped face and her billows of soft, caramel colored hair reminds me of the ingenues of the silent-movie era.
"Rebecca," the woman greets with a smile, "we're making Jewish cuisine for you."
I smile at her shyly. "Oh, thank you." I feel a bit flustered now. I already ate before I came here, whoops.
"Rebecca, this is Esme," Edward introduces. "My mother for all intents and purposes."
"It's nice to meet you," I say. My attention turns to Emmett at the counter who waves at me with a cooking knife in his hand. If he were a normal person, the gesture would be fine, but he's a vampire, and a vampire waving in greeting at you with a knife is pretty unnerving.
I give Emmet an awkward, lopsided smile.
Carlisle turns around from whatever he was doing at the kitchen. "You've given us an excuse to use the kitchen for the first time," he says with a smile.
"I hope you're hungry," Esme says.
"Oh yeah, I am," I lie straight through my teeth. I cringe, just now remembering that I already told Edward on the way here that I already ate.
"She already ate," Edward says.
I'm about to glare at Edward for revealing that I lied when a huge crash startles me. I grab onto Edward's arm in fear.
Rosalie had broken a bowl with her hands. She huffs in annoyance, stepping over the broken glass shards on the floor. "Perfect," she scowls.
"I'm-I'm sorry," I stutter, gripping Edward's arm a bit tighter. I can feel him stiffen in anger at Rosalie for scaring me. "I-I didn't know you guys were making food. I-I just assumed since you guys don't eat that I should just eat before I came."
Rosalie is definitely the scariest out of the Cullens. I'm scared that at any second she'll pounce and attack me, which, being a vampire, she very well could if she wanted too.
"Of course." Esme smiles at me. "It's very considerate of you."
Edward looks down at my frightened face. "Just ignore Rosalie. I do," Edward says comfortingly.
I loosen my grip around his arm in response, trusting him.
"Yeah," Rosalie rolls her eyes, "let's just keep pretending like this isn't dangerous for all of us."
I shake my head quickly. "I don't wanna be a problem."
"She knows that," Carlisle assures, giving Rosalie a pointed look.
I just knew that not all the Cullens would approve of me. I just want to go home and never come back. If I could, I would dig a hole and jump inside it right now. I knew this was a bad idea.
Emmet rests his arm on Rosalie's shoulder. I almost forgot that they were a thing until now. Poor Emmett, I wonder how he puts up with her.
"Yeah," Emmett speaks up. "Well, the problem is, you two have gone public now, so . . . "
"Emmett," Esme scolds.
I feel like I just got stabbed in the chest. So me and Edward being together is a problem. I mean, of course it is. He's a vampire, and I'm not. That comes with a load of problems in itself. The thing is, we're not even officially together yet, and people are already talking. I wish our relationship could be more simple, but it can't. It never was simple, and it never will be.
"No, she should know," Rosalie insists, taking a step closer to me. I subconsciously grip Edward's arm tighter. "The entire family will be implicated if this ends badly," Rosalie continues.
I don't know what to say to that. I keep my head down as an awkward tension fills the air. So much for them all loving me. Rosalie sure doesn't. I wonder what her problem is, or maybe she's right. I am the problem. Duh, of course I'm the problem. I don't belong here. I don't know what Edward ever saw in me to think I was worthy of receiving their approval. Maybe not everyone is voicing their opinions aloud, but there's no way Rosalie is the only one who dislikes me. They probably all do. They're just hiding it well.
Out the kitchen window there's a large tree. I hear the sound of a tree branch bending. That's when Alice and Jasper appear. The two of them were outside and are now coming in through the window, using the tree as a stepping stool.
"Hi, Rebecca," Alice greets cheerfully. She and Jasper step off the tree and into the kitchen. Alice trots right up to me. "I'm Alice," she introduces. She pulls me in a for a hug which takes me by surprise. She's the first one to actually make contact with me.
"Hi," I greet awkwardly as she lets me go.
"Oh," she exclaims. "You do smell good." Despite her disturbing comment, she continues to smile sweetly at me.
I turn my head to the side. "Uh, thank you?" I say, not knowing how to respond to that.
Edward shakes his head at Alice in utter embarrassment. "Alice, what are you . . . "
"It's okay," Alice interrupts. "Rebecca and I are gonna be great friends." She says it genuinely like it's a fact, which, I guess it is since she can see the future. I'm kind of looking forward to that. Alice seems really sweet, unlike some people, cough Rosalie cough.
My attention then turns to Jasper who's standing behind Alice. He has a stoic expression on his face. I feel bad for him. From what Edward had told me, I know that he has trouble being around me more than the others. However, even Alice thinks my blood smells extra good. I wish I knew why, so being around them could be a bit easier for both them and me.
"Sorry," Carlisle apologies. "Jasper's our newest vegetarian. It's a little difficult for him."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Jasper finally manages to get out.
I smile at him. "Nice to meet you," I say in return.
Alice looks up at Jasper reassuringly. "It's okay, Jasper. You won't hurt her," she encourages.
A look of total embarrassment passes over Edward's face. The poor boy's family is just making the situation more awkward by talking about their resistance to wanting to attack me. It's totally understandable since they're vampires but weird and uncomfortable nonetheless. This has been the oddest meet and greet I've ever been through. That's for sure.
Edward looks down at me. "Alright, uh, I'm gonna take you on a tour of the rest of the house," he says with a sigh of annoyance at his family. He turns and begins to walk down the hallway. I turn and follow him.
"Well, I'll see you soon," Alice says.
"Bye," I say with a small wave, glad that whole awkward situation is over.
Edward looks back at his family one last time and rolls his eyes. We begin going up another flight of stairs.
"Your family seems nice, mostly," I add, referring to Rosalie.
"Was that as weird for you as it was for me?" Edward asks.
"Yeah, I thought I was gonna die," I say sarcastically. Then I realize that I really quite literally could have died. Gosh, what type of world have I entered into?
Edward chuckles at my response.
I admire the decor on the Cullens' walls when a large art piece catches my interest. It appears to be a bunch of graduation caps all lined up on one big canvas.
"That's cool," I comment, pointing at it.
Edward stops walking and leans against the wall beside it. "Uh, yeah, it's a private joke," he grins. "We matriculate a lot," he explains.
"I could never imagine going to high school more than once," I say genuinely. I smile. "Once is enough for me," I say with a laugh.
"Yeah, but the younger we start out in a new place, the longer we can stay there," Edward explains. There's a heaviness behind his words. A part of me wonders if he's hinting that he can't stay here in Forks as long as he wants, even if he wanted too, which is probably the case.
"Come on," Edward gestures, moving along forward up the stairs. We reach the next level of the house. There are so many rooms and beautiful views out the windows. I love it here.
Edward slows down. He stops at the door of a room. I peak inside. The room is somewhat messy with large windows giving it an open feel. There's a white couch with miscellaneous things cluttered on it. A large bookshelf lies to the right with all sorts of movies, books, and music CDs inside. There's also a small shelf to the left with more books along with a desk in the left corner. A flat screen hangs above the desk.
"Is this . . . "
"Uh, yeah, this is my room," Edward says.
I have to say, his room is not what I expected it be. In fact, it's a lot better than I expected it to be. He may be a hundred something years old, but he still has the heart of a regular teenager, as far as I can tell from his room.
I walk past him and step inside the room, looking all around me at his things. "This is not what I expected." I shake my head in amusement.
Edward joins me in his room. "Are you disappointed?" he asks, almost jokingly.
I turn to look at him. "No." I shake my head. "You're so, you're so normal. I mean . . . " I bite my lip, feeling flustered. "If I didn't know you were a vampire, after seeing your room I wouldn't think that you were anything more than a normal person."
Amusement appears to fill Edward's eyes.
"You fit in well, I mean." I immediately try to change the subject after that awful spiel. "Where's your bed?" I ask upon noticing that his bed is no where in sight.
"I don't have a bed," he answers slowly. "Uh, I don't . . . I don't sleep."
"Oh, is that like a vampire thing? You guys don't need to sleep?"
"We don't sleep at all actually. We can't, even if we wanted too," Edward explains.
"Oh," I mumble. I try to think of something else to say but can't think of anything. So instead, I move over to the large shelf on the right side of the room. "You have a lot of music," I muse. I want to see what Edward was last listening to on his music player, but I'm too shy to touch his things.
Edward probably notices my longing stare at his music player. He walks over and asks, "Do you wanna listen to some music?"
I smile. "Yeah, sure."
I get out of his way as he walks over to the music player and presses play. An unfamiliar yet familiar piano tune begins to play. It sounds beautiful.
"What is this?" I ask curiously.
"It's, uh, Debussy," Edward says. He smiles shyly at me, almost in embarrassment.
"It's beautiful," I breath out.
My breath hitches in my chest as Edward takes a cautious step towards me. I take a step back out of habit. That doesn't stop him though. He takes yet another step towards me, smiling as he grabs my right hand gently. His hand feels cold to the touch. However, all I feel is warmth inside my stomach. I meet his eyes and focus on them, mesmerized by their beauty.
With his other hand, Edward grabs my left hand. He pulls me gently closer to him. My body so close to his now. I feel small next to him.
He starts to sway slowly from side to side, and with both my hands in his, I have no choice but to sway with him. He pauses. Lifting my right hand above my head, he twirls me around.
I shake my head, realizing that I've let this go on for too long. I don't actually know how to slow dance. I've never been taught, and I really don't want to embarrass myself, not with Edward.
"What?" Edward questions. He has a big smile on his face which makes me feel bad for stopping.
I look away from him. "I don't know how to slow dance," I admit awkwardly. I bravely look him in the eyes again, peaking at him from under my lashes. I'm such an embarrassing, awkward mess of a human being.
Edward lets go of my hands. He gazes down at me and sighs. "Hmm, well, I could always make you."
His words cause me to blush a deep red color. I tear my gaze away from him. "You wouldn't actually do that, " I say, more so trying to convince myself of that than him. I look back at him.
Edward chuckles at my response. He smiles to himself, admiring my bravery and assuredness. "Well, you really shouldn't have said that."
Without warning, Edward grabs me and pulls my body onto his back. I yelp as he leaps out the far window and into the air. As we fly through the air, I scramble to gain a hold around his body. My arms clutch around his neck while my legs wrap around his waist. It feels awkward to do so with only a khaki skirt and flats on, but I'll just have to make do.
Edward lands gracefully on the side of a tree. We're high in the air, making my adrenaline run wild.
"What the heck?!" I exclaim.
"Well, you said you didn't think I would make you." Edward smirks.
"This isn't dancing!" I yell.
Edward turns his head back and looks at me, completely disregarding what I just said. He smiles cheekily. "You better hold on tight, spider monkey."
"No!" I beg. "No, no, no, no, no!"
Edward pays no attention to my pleas. He instead climbs further up the tree until we reach the top. He crouches in the top branches. I tighten my hold around him.
"Do you trust me?" he asks.
"Not really anymore!" I cry sarcastically.
"Then close your eyes," he suggests.
With a mighty leap, Edward jumps off the tree and sails through the air. Instead of closing my eyes, I somehow manage to keep them open. A gasp escapes my lips as the wind brushes past my face. He lands on another tree easily, starting to climb it within seconds of landing.
He takes me to the very top of the tree, where he lets me get off his back. I carefully balance on a tree branch, holding onto two other branches with my hands. With my body in a safe position, I look out into the distance. We're in one of the tallest trees in the forest, so it's pretty obvious that Edward has been in this tree before and that's why he chose to take me up this one. There's also a beautiful lake in the distance. I'm guessing it's the same one that Edward took me to the other day.
After looking all around me, I finally get the guts to look down. Below us there's nothing but beautiful green forest. This is definitely the highest I've ever been in my life, other than in an airplane of course.
"This is amazing," I gush. "Thank you for taking me here." I smile at Edward.
He readjusts his position in the tree to where he's practically hovering above me. "So you're not still mad at me?" he asks, sounding genuinely concerned.
I shake my head. "No." I don't say anything else. Instead, I look out into the distance again.
Wanting a better view of the lake, I step onto another branch. I reach out with my left hand towards another branch to steady myself but miss it. I scream as I begin to lose my balance. My flats fall off my feet and down to the forest floor in the process.
Edward quickly reacts by putting his arm around my waist. He settles my body back upright.
"Are you all right?" he asks.
The terror of almost falling made me lose my breath. I take in a few deep breaths of air before answering his question.
"I'm okay."
Edward looks down, noticing how my feet are now bare. "You lost your shoes," he says with concern. "Here." He slowly snakes an arm around my waist and another under my legs. He lifts me up bridle style.
He lowers me down to settle me on a branch that I can sit on when suddenly the realization of how close our faces are hits the both of us. We gaze into each other's eyes, getting lost in them.
Much to my surprise, I'm the first to say the words that we're both thinking. "I love you," I whisper, heat rising to my cheeks. I know how cheesy it sounds, but it's true.
Edward smiles, the biggest smile I think I've ever seen him make. "You brought me to life," he says. "I love you."
He sets me down on the branch, and I eagerly sit on it. It feels much safer to sit than having to stand. For an unknown amount of time, Edward and I remain in the tree, just talking and laughing. Of course, when the conversation dies down, we enjoy each other's presence by staring into each other's eyes and smiling. Edward more so than me since he enjoys making me blush like crazy. He finds my reactions endearing and adorable.
Later that day, Edward takes me to another room in the Cullen house. This one has a large piano in it. I lie on a couch while he plays a lullaby that he apparently wrote just for me. Every note of the song makes my heart beat with love, desire, and admirance. I feel like a princess laying on the couch with my khaki skirt on and bare feet. That would make Edward my handsome prince, playing for me a song to bring me pleasure and display his love for me.
I eventually go over and sit next to him on the stool. I admire his graceful, strong hands as they glide over the piano keys. He may be a vampire, and I'm just a mere human. But that doesn't change the fact that I am unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.
manip by -followtheleader-
Author's Note: Don't be a silent reader! Remember to vote, comment, share, and give me your theories and thoughts! Constructive criticism and any criticism for that matter is always welcome! Know any other Twihards? Let them know about this story!