A/N: Glad everyone liked the beginning of this story. Since they have very much a brother/sister relationship after they get to know each other, I decided to start the story before any of that happens. Enjoy the new chapter! Let me know what you think.
Chapter 2 – Meet and Greet
Bella went to bed the night before trying to force her mind to think about Edward, but in the end she dreamt about Emmett again. Everything about him drew her in, but if she went by what her boyfriend had told her, it was only because he was a vampire. Everything about them attracted people to them, so why did she find herself thinking about Emmett more than Edward?
It was an ongoing problem since the day she had first seen him walking side by side with the beautiful blonde, Rosalie. Being informed that he was with the woman walking next to him did not keep him from feeling a spark of want, need, and something akin to recognition. When he had turned around and their eyes met, it was like they were the only ones in the room. The moment she heard that he was already attached, something in her chest hurt and broke a little. It wasn't possible that she was already attracted to him since she had just laid eyes on him; so she brushed it off and tried to forget about anything to do with Emmett.
All of the Cullen children piqued her interest and she found herself watching them, studying them. When Edward walked in, he seemed to know that the girls fawned over him, and he walked with an air of confidence that Bella had always found appealing in men. She told herself that she was not interested in finding anyone. She wanted to serve her time in Forks and then go off to college as soon as she could. Attaching herself to someone was the worst thing she could do for herself.
Walking into her science class, Bella immediately noticed Edward and that is where the teacher placed her. There had been something so wrong about him and she wondered what his problem was. Then he disappeared from school and life in general. She had no idea what happened to him, but as she covertly studied the Cullen table at lunch, she had to wonder if they did not blame her for their brother's departure. The looks she was getting from some of them told her that something had happened, but she couldn't fathom what it was.
Edward finally came back and decided to play the nice card. She wasn't sure what his game was, but she decided to play along to a point. She wanted answers and when she asked, she knew she was not given the full truth, but he was at least talking to her here and there.
As the days moved on there seemed to be a lot of one step forward and two steps back where Edward was concerned, but she couldn't deny the attraction that she was developing for him and was intrigued. He even saved her life at one point in time. He was her knight in shining armor, or at least he tried to be. He would say that they needed to stay away from each other and then she would find him right next to her. It was a bit dizzying; however, the more she was around him, the more questions she had for him and the more he would avoid giving her answers. If only she had stayed ignorant, but she was nosey and had to research, she had to have answers. She found her answers: Edward and the rest of the Cullen family were vampires.
When Bella realized what she was facing, her mind wandered immediately to Emmett. She thought about how her heart would skip a beat when she looked at him, but would not let herself think about anything beyond that. In fact, she forced herself to think about Edward and what he meant to her. Edward was kind, good looking, protective, and gentle. She didn't know anything about Emmett.
Confronting Edward about the secret was harder than what she thought it would be, but once it was out and she knew the truth, she felt oddly comfortable with the whole thing. She wasn't afraid or panicked, she accepted that was who he was and that was it. Edward had seemed relieved that she knew his secret and started to confide in her. She hoped that it would erase Emmett from her mind and bring her closer to Edward; well it did bring the couple closer at least.
Now on the eve of the day she was going to meet his family, Bella tried to influence her own dreams by thinking of Edward as she closed her eyes, but she lost. Emmett invaded her mind and she could do nothing but succumb to her subconscious as she gave in to her dream world.
"It is time to wake up Bella," Edward whispered as he brushed his fingers over her cheek.
Frowning as she started to leave the darkness of dreaming behind and come back to reality, Bella slowly opened her eyes to see her boyfriend lying on the bed next to her. She stretched and murmured, "Morning."
"Are you ready to meet my family?" Edward asked smiling. He was more than ready for her to be introduced to everyone, but if she was not ready, then he would not pressure her.
Emmett's face popped into Bella's mind and she immediately pushed it away, grateful that Edward was not able to read her mind at all. "Yah, I just need a little bit of human time to take my shower and get ready to go. Alright?" Bella replied with a smile.
"Take as long as you need."
Nodding, Bella got up out of bed and grabbed her clothes before making her way to the bathroom. She used her time away from Edward to get a grip on her thoughts and feelings. Arguing with her inner self, she stated in her head, "He has Rosalie and he is not interested in you. You have a wonderful boyfriend that adores you and wants to be in your life regardless of the consequences. You need to get a grip and stop thinking about Emmett. He doesn't want you and even if he did, it is not possible. You have Edward and he has Rosalie. She is beautiful and you pale in comparison. I refuse to devote any more of my brain power to thinking about him going forward."
As she finished her little internal discussion, she completed her shower and got dressed. She was ready to meet Edward's family, all of them, and Bella hoped that they liked her for Edward's sake.
Bella made her way downstairs where she found Edward waiting for her in the living room. Charlie had already left for the station and would be gone all day. When she made it to the last step of the staircase, Edward was already right there to greet her and she had to smile at his excitement.
"Are you all ready to go?" Edward asked her.
"No, I wanted to go ahead and eat something now since your diet is vastly different from mine," Bella said as she leaned in to kiss him before making her way to the kitchen.
Chuckling, Edward agreed, "That is very true."
Once Bella had eaten and the dishes had been washed, she turned to Edward, "Ok, I am ready to go now. Do you think I look alright or should I change?"
Walking up to her and pulling her in his arms, he stated softly, "You look beautiful and what you are wearing is fine. You are not having dinner with the President, you are going over to my house to meet my 'parents' and to hang out. Nothing more."
"Easy for you to say, you aren't the one meeting the parents today," Bella mumbled.
Edward leaned down and gave her a brief kiss, "No, I'm not, but trust me when I say you have nothing to worry about from Esme or Carlisle." What he didn't voice was that she might have problems with Rosalie and Jasper though. Shaking his head, he decided those two would not be a factor because he would be right there to protect her and he would stay by her side no matter what.
"Ok fine. Let's go to Vampire Manor then," Bella joked as she grabbed her purse and jacket on her way out of the house. She turned around to lock the door to see Edward trying to hold in his mirth, but he eventually lost and started to laugh. Pulling the front door closed and turning the lock, the couple got into Edward's car and drove off to his house. It was time to meet the parents, the siblings, and Emmett.
The closer the couple got to the house, the more nervous Bella felt. She fleetingly wondered if she was more nervous about meeting Emmett or the parents, but ultimately decided that it was the parents. Emmett was nothing to her and she was sure once she finally met him, the allure would diminish and nothing would remain but hopefully camaraderie.
Pulling up to the house, Edward was at Bella's door before she could unbuckle her seatbelt. He opened the car door and helped her out of her seat. Today was the day that he would introduce his girlfriend to his family and he had to admit that he was nervous about everything. This was the first time he brought a girl home before, and she was human to boot. This was not the most ideal situation and hoped that his family would support the decision he made regardless of their own feelings.
Edward and Bella walked into the house, and he could tell that she was surprised to see how open and airy it was. He had to laugh at her reaction, but she didn't seem to take offense and instead cracked another joke. Knowing that she was anxious to be presented to his family, he grabbed her hand and gave it a little comforting squeeze, "It will be fine and they will love you. Come on, they are waiting for us."
Bella nodded and gave him a small grin. She was ready to get this little gathering over with so that she could breathe easier. "Once I meet them face to face, I think I will feel better. It is that initial presentation that is making me feel like I am about to meet my maker. It will be fine. Edward is by my side and I have nothing to worry about," she told herself as they made their way through the house.
Edward led Bella to the living room where most of his family was gathered. He was not surprised to see that Rosalie and Emmett were missing, but that might have been a blessing in disguise. He knew that Rose did not like Bella for a medley of reasons and Emmett needed to be with her. Plus Edward found it a bit unsettling that he would hear thoughts of Bella come from his brother's mind. No, their absence was definitely for the best.
Clearing his throat, Edward decided it was best to get the introductions out of the way first, "Bella, this is Carlisle, my father figure, and Esme, my mother figure."
"It is so nice to finally meet you!" Esme gushed moving forward a step and taking the girl's hand in hers.
"I am happy to finally meet you also," Bella smiled genuinely. She couldn't help but feel disappointed that when she had walked in, Emmett was nowhere to be found.
"Welcome to our home," Carlisle addressed the young woman in front of him with a grin. He didn't know her very well, but he could already tell that she was special.
Gesturing to the other couple in the room, Edward stated, "And this is Alice and Jasper."
"I am so excited that you were able to come!" Alice exclaimed.
Jasper kept his distance, but he could feel slight disappointment coming from her and was curious about why that would be. It was something to keep in the back of his mind for future reference. "I am pleased to make your acquaintance."
The grin on her face grew ever so slightly, and she politely responded, "Thank you. It is nice to meet all of you."
Smiling at his girlfriend, Edward inquired, "Would you like a tour of the house?"
"Um yah, that sounds good," Bella replied as thoughts of running into Emmett while on the tour appeared in her mind. Thrusting those to the side, she followed Edward as he led her out of the room. Before she made it completely out of the room though, she turned around and addressed the four occupants, "Thank you, I am sure I will see you soon." She didn't want them to think she didn't have manners.
Jasper watched the girl leave with Edward and was once again interested in the feelings he felt coming from her. When his brother had suggested a tour, there was a slight surge of hope before it was tamped down. What could make her feel disappointment and then hope like that? Was it meeting everyone and then being able to get away? He wasn't sure, but he would be keeping an eye on her to see what happened next.
As they were finishing up their tour of the house and headed to Edward's room, the couple was bombarded by a blonde woman who seemed to appear out of nowhere. "Rose what are you doing?" Edward asked as he stepped in front of Bella.
"Well, you did bring her here to meet the family, didn't you? Am I not family any longer?" Rosalie sneered.
"Stop it Rose!" Emmett yelled.
Rosalie turned on Emmett and growled, "Stay out of this. She needs to know that she is a risk and danger to this family. For that reason, she needs to get lost now. That little human bitch doesn't deserve to be around us, and she sure as hell shouldn't be welcome into the fold with open arms!" Bringing her attention back to Bella, she glared at the girl that was taking refuse behind Edward's back, "He can't help you honey. You need to get lost and stay away from us. You won't bring anything but problems. A human could never belong here."
"Shut up Rose! If you threaten her again…" Edward started to threaten her.
"You'll do what?" Rosalie huffed as she threw her hair behind her shoulder.
Glaring at his adopted sister, Edward spoke in a low menacing voice, "You really don't want to know what I would do. Leave her alone and stay away from her. She hasn't done anything to you, so back off."
Emmett grabbed Rosalie around her middle, locking her arms to her sides and apologized to the couple in front of him. His cargo was screaming and trying to bite, kick, and wiggle her way out of his arms, but Emmett was stronger and was able to hold on as he made his way to their room. He was disgusted by her display in front of Bella and wanted nothing more than to pull Bella into his arms to comfort her. That was Edward's job though.
"That was Rose and Emmett. Sorry about that," Edward uttered softly, still a little surprised at Rosalie's audacious display.
Bella's heart was going a mile a minute and she knew Edward could hear it. Was it seeing Emmett that had done it, or was it being threatened by Rosalie. She wasn't sure, but it could very well possibly been a combination of the two.
A knock at Emmett and Rosalie's door moments after they entered, interrupted the high pitch ranting that Rose was doing at the moment. When Emmett answered the door, he found Carlisle and Jasper on the other side. Opening the door wide enough for them to enter and then shutting the door immediately after, the three men listened to Rosalie start on her rampage once again. Sighing Emmett faced the other two men, "Sorry about this. She is not happy about the way I basically dragged her off as a Neanderthal when she was in the middle of her speech to Bella."
Jasper felt the longing coming from Emmett when Bella's name was spoken and was surprised. He knew that Rosalie was not his true mate, and that the bigger man had long ago stopped having feelings for his wife, but was it possible that he had feelings for the human that was currently dating their brother. This was a sticky situation if that was the case. He would have to wait and see what happened on both ends. He was beginning to think that maybe Bella had been looking for Emmett earlier. He just wasn't sure and he would have to observe for now. "We heard the yelling and decided to help out if needed, but by the time we got here, Bella and Edward were ensconced in his room and Rose was gone. We figured you brought her here, of course her ranting led the way for us to find you," Jasper smirked.
Shaking his head, Carlisle looked at Emmett, "Is everything alright?"
"It will be when princess here realizes that the world does not revolve around her and that you can't control who you are attracted to," Emmett glared at the only woman in the room.
Jasper was hard pressed to hold in his snicker, but he managed before saying, "Do you need anything from us?" Emmett was right, but he wondered if the younger man was ready to admit who he was currently attracted to. "I hope he has given more thought to what I told him yesterday," Jasper thought to himself.
"Nah, she is going to be like this for a while," Emmett declared already getting fed up with everything that was spewing out of Rosalie's mouth. The word "shrew" came to his mind when he thought about his current partner.
Carlisle was feeling very uncomfortable listening to Rosalie curse anything and everything. He knew that she didn't particularly like the fact that Edward was dating a human, but that was not her choice. He trusted Edward to be safe and if he was willing to trust Bella, then Carlisle would trust her also, "If you need us, we will be downstairs."
When both Jasper and Carlisle were gone, Emmett rounded on Rose, "I TOLD YOU YESTERDAY TO STOP IT! I am sick of your attitude and the poison that spills out of your mouth. The world does not revolve around you and we do not make our life choices based on what you tell us to do. You are not queen here and you do not rule this family. You need to back the fuck off and leave them alone!"
Rosalie was stunned silent. She couldn't believe that Emmett would yell at her like he just did. As she watched him, she could see that he was breathing hard and that his eyes were completely black. She had pushed him too far and now he was enraged. Starting to shrink back a little in fear, she stopped herself and held her chin high, "How dare you talk to me like that!"
"I can talk to you however I see fit. You are not my boss. You think you can talk to me the way you do, I will talk to you the same way. I am sick of being your door mat and it ends now! Get over yourself, and leave them alone. If I find out that you looked the wrong way at Bella, you will regret it," Emmett threatened as he made his way to the window and jumped out. He wasn't sure he would ever do anything to Rosalie because she had saved his life, but he also couldn't stand by and let her talk about Bella like that. Hearing the way she had talked to the young girl and the things she said had made him snap and he had to lash out. Now he needed space from everyone in order to get his head on straight again. He would just take a moment and breathe and calm down; then everything could go back to normal again. Rose would back off from Bella and all would be right with the world again. Unfortunately, Bella's face kept creeping back into his mind along with the conversation he had with Jasper the day before. Would anything really be back to normal again?
