A/N: Hello there, thank you for the wonderful reviews, Kristen Stewart Is My Life, Shirley and Yeye85 :)

To Shirley: I knew the moment I told you about it it was a bad decision! But that's alright :P I'm glad I'm FINALLY posting chapters that you haven't read before ;) Hope your day at work wasn't too sucky :( I know how you feel ;)

To Yeye85: I'm glad ff got their act together too :) Wouldn't want to be in their shoes when you would have written that letter ;) Thanks for reviewing! :) Hope you like the meeting with the Cullens :)

Hope you all enjoy this chapter, lots of Cullens involved ;) Let me know what you think! :)


Meeting the Cullens

At exactly two o'clock the doorbell rang and I wasn't nearly ready. I had no idea what I was supposed to wear and was currently still in jeans and a sweater, this was how well I had planned it all. I slowly walked downstairs towards the door and opened it. Alice was standing outside with a broad smile on her face. She was carrying some sort of package and she was nearly bouncing up and down in excitement.

"Hi Bella! I'm so happy you agreed to meet my family! They're all eager to meet you too!" she said enthusiastically the moment she saw me.

"Hi," I replied tentatively.

"I figured you might have some problems figuring out what to wear so I brought you something, I hope you like it!" Alice gushed as she walked past me into the hallway.

"What?" I asked baffled.

Alice danced towards the living room and made herself comfortable on the couch before she put the bag on her lap and started taking out the content of it.

She held up a blue blouse triumphantly. "I'm sure you have something nice to match this don't you?" she said cheerfully.

"How did you know?" I asked still taken aback.

"It's my gift," she said smugly while winking at me, I laughed. "No, I figured you might be nervous and I've seen what you were wearing the last times and I thought it might help you if I made the decision for you," she said shamelessly.

"Wow, that's very nice of you," I said softly, not sure if I was supposed to be offended by her last comment but at the moment I was just grateful. I really liked Alice, she was a bit weird but that made her even more fun to be around, it wasn't hard to feel comfortable around her.

I went upstairs to change and I decided my denim skirt would go nicely with this blouse, I wore one of the few pairs of heels I owned with it and put my hair in a braid to finish it all off. "That's as good as it's going to get," I muttered to myself before I made my way downstairs again to be submitted to Alice's judgment.

"Very nice," she complimented me the moment I came into the living room.

"Thanks," I said blushing heavily.

I thought I heard Alice say "I'm sure he'll love that color on you," but it was very soft so I couldn't be certain.

"What if they don't like me?" I asked uncertainly the moment we left the house. I didn't even know why I cared; I was going there to get more insight into these strangers and to see if they had anything to do with the story. Or at least that's what I told myself.

"They'll love you Bella! Don't worry about it!" Alice replied enthusiastically. "Now, let's go!" she urged.

I didn't understand why but I let out a sigh in relief at Alice's words. Alice smiled at my response before leading me to her car.

"Wow! You drive that?" I asked a little impressed as well as appalled by the expensive looking black Mercedes that was waiting for us on my dad's small driveway. I had never been in a car that looked more expensive than my dad's house and I was scared to death to break it.

"It's my father's car, I borrowed it," Alice said while shrugging.

"Oh," I said softly.

I didn't know much about cars, actually I didn't know anything, but I knew that this couldn't have been a cheap car and it looked like it was brand-new; there was no scratch on it whatsoever. I felt ridiculous for even stepping into the car, it was nothing like my beloved truck, this car was royalty and my truck was just a farmer. I sat down in the passenger seat nervously.

"Relax Bella, I told you, they'll all love you!" Alice said, misjudging my nervousness.

"Right," I just muttered as I shifted my weight slowly and carefully.

Alice drove like a maniac, she drove too fast and too soon we were at the exit to her house. The white house was hidden quite well and I was sure that no matter how many times I would come here, I would never be able find it on my own. Not that I would be coming here often, hopefully I would get all the information I needed in one or maybe two visits.

Alice opened the door to a house that was even more outrageous than the car. It was huge and white but for some reason very comforting.

"We're here!" Alice yelled when we entered the house.

We stepped into the living room and there were 5 people waiting there. I first noticed a lovely looking woman, she wasn't very old but she looked like the mother of the family.

"Bella, this is Esme, our mother," Alice announced.

On the way over, Alice had explained the family dynamics to me. Her mother had been unable to have children of her own so she and her husband had adopted Alice and her two brothers. Later they adopted two other children into the family, a brother and sister, Alice had apparently fallen in love with the brother and her brother had fallen in love with the girl. It sounded like something out of a romance novel.

"It's so nice to meet you Bella," the woman named Esme said sweetly.

"It's nice to meet you too," I replied while returning her smile. She seemed like a very warm and caring person to me and I felt sad for her that she hadn't been able to have any children of her own.

"This is my husband Carlisle," Esme introduced the man who was standing on her right.

The man apparently named Carlisle was very handsome and there was something about him that made me feel very safe around him.

"Hi Bella, it's a pleasure to meet you," Carlisle said while extending his hand towards me.

I shook his hand and smiled tentatively. "Thank you for having me here," I said politely.

After that Alice introduced me to her siblings. Her sister was a very attractive, blonde haired girl named Rosalie and her appearance intimidated me more than a bit. Standing next to Rosalie was Alice's big brother, his name was Emmett and he reminded me of a big bear, but a sweet one. The moment Emmett was introduced he had grinned at me, looking a little like a child, and he had greeted me enthusiastically. Lastly Alice introduced me to Jasper, the love of her life as she had put it; Jasper was a blonde haired, handsome guy, he seemed a bit uncomfortable around me, he kept his distance and hardly looked at me. "Jasper is just a bit shy," Alice explained when she saw I had noticed his response.

I glanced around the room and I felt a surge of disappointment as I noticed that Edward wasn't there.

"He's upstairs," Alice said. "Why don't you go ask if he'll come downstairs?" she suggested.

Alice explained where his room was and I started walking up the stairs slowly, uncertain. What if I was interrupting something important? He would be mad at me. I didn't want that. But on the other hand I wanted to see him, there was no point in denying that anymore; the disappointment I had felt the moment I noticed he wasn't there had been great enough to show me that I was eager to see him again.

So I slowly made my way to his room but before I could knock on his door, the door flung open and Edward stepped outside. It startled me and I let out a high squeal.

"Sorry," Edward said with a crooked smile that made him look even more handsome than he had done when I had first met him.

"That's alright," I stumbled the moment I had regained my sanity.

"I was listening to some music so I didn't hear you come in, I was just coming down to check if you were already here," Edward said kindly.

"Oh," was my brilliant response.

"It's good to see you again." His velvety voice made my heart jump and my head started to spin. What was going on with me?

"It's good to see you too," I replied shyly.

"Why don't we join the others again?" he suggested with a smile.

"Alright," I said tentatively.

He led the way back downstairs and we joined his family in the living room.

"Ah you found him," Emmett said jokingly the moment he noticed us. "It's strange that he didn't come running downstairs the moment you walked in; he has been talking of nothing else ever since he met you the other day," he added while grinning broadly. I blushed heavily and quickly dropped my gaze to the floor, unable to find a proper response.

"Great, thanks Emmett," Edward said angrily. "Don't listen to him, we think somebody must have dropped him on his head repeatedly when he was a child," Edward added to me.

I let out a nervous giggle. Then I noticed something flying through the air with high speed and it hit Edward straight in the face. I looked over to Edward in shock and I noticed that it had been one of the pillows that had been on the couch.

"What the…" Edward started.

"Boys!" Esme interrupted sternly. "Behave! We have company!" she warned them.

"Sorry mom," they both said simultaneously.

"So Bella, tell us something about yourself," Esme said while she motioned for me to take a seat on the couch.

"What do you want to know?" I asked self-consciously, I didn't like all the attention to be on me but it seemed like this was just going to be one of those occasions where I had no choice.

"Everything," Edward said softly and I looked over to him in surprise.

"Why don't we start with something a little more simple," Alice suggested with a playful smile.

"We've never seen you around Forks before, do you come here often?" Esme asked kindly.

"Not anymore, I used to live here with my dad throughout high school and university but I recently moved to Seattle for my job," I replied automatically.

"Didn't you want to live with your mother?" Esme asked surprised. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to pry," she added quickly.

"That's alright," I assured her. "I had been living with my mother ever since my parents got divorced but my mother remarried," I said.

"And you didn't like the husband?" Jasper asked interested.

"No that's not it! Phil is great! But he's a minor league baseball player and he travels a lot, it was making my mother unhappy to be away from him so long every time because she had to stay home with me. I decided to go live with Charlie so my mother could be with Phil," I explained. I didn't understand why they were all so interested in my boring life but luckily I felt comfortable here and I didn't have any trouble talking to them.

"You went to university?" Emmett asked.

"You only just realized that?" Jasper asked jokingly.

"No!" Emmett replied while rolling his eyes at his brother. "I was going to ask what she had studied! Duh!" Emmett stated quickly, a little offended.

I laughed softly. "I studied journalism, I did my internship at the Seattle Times and that's where I'm working now," I told Emmett softly.

"Wow, that's pretty cool, what kind of journalism?" he asked.

I shifted my weight nervously as I tried to come up with the best way to answer this question. "I want to be an investigative reporter but I'm not there yet, I only just started and I have to work my way up the latter by doing more boring stories first." I settled on telling him the truth for most of it, I didn't want to share the information about the current story though.

"You said you already got your first investigative job didn't you?" Alice asked surprised.

I had completely forgotten that I had told her that I was in town to work on a local crime story.

"Right, that's just a one-time thing though," I said quickly blushing heavily, I had never been a good liar, I figured I'd have to get better at it if I wanted to keep working in this particular profession.

"You're working on a story now? That's so cool!" Emmett said enthusiastically. "What's it about?" he asked, genuinely interested.

"It's all a little vague right now, it's just a local crime story," I replied. I wasn't here to talk about my story, I was only here to work on my story.

"Isn't that dangerous though?" Edward asked seeming genuinely concerned.

"Not really," I shrugged, hoping he'd buy it. "My dad's a cop, I'm just hoping I've inherited some of those genes," I added jokingly.

Edward laughed along with the rest of his family but for some reason he didn't seem convinced, I couldn't quite figure out why he would bother. Maybe he didn't care and maybe I was just making it all up, I didn't know.

"Well I think it's really great that you're a journalist, I'm sure you're a very good one!" Carlisle spoke up for the first time.

"Not yet," I replied shyly.

"I'm sure that's just modesty, they wouldn't let you have a local crime story if you weren't ready for it and you've only just started so you have to be pretty good already if you ask me," Carlisle said confidently.

"Thank you, but I'm guessing it's just more luck than anything else, that's how I got my first big story anyways and I guess it's just luck that I happen to have lived in Forks and that I'm the daughter of the chief of police so that I would be the best reporter for the job, even if my skills aren't as developed as most of my colleagues," I replied while shrugging.

"I'm sure it's more than luck," Esme chimed in and I couldn't say anything, I just smiled at them thankfully for being so kind to me.

I spent the rest of the afternoon just chatting and getting to know the Cullens, I found that they were very easy going and, aside from the obvious beauty they all possessed, there was really nothing scary about them. So I had a hard time believing that they had something to do with the terrible disappearances and the deaths that have been going on here but it seemed like just too much of a coincidence that they moved here around the same time that all the killing started.

"I should really go back home and start making dinner for Charlie, the things he has been eating ever since I moved out, it's a miracle he's not in worse shape than he is," I said jokingly.

"It's a good thing he has you to take care of him now again then," Esme said smilingly.

"I guess so, but I can't stick around forever, he really needs to start taking better care of himself," I said ruefully.

"He's a big boy, I'm sure he'll be fine," Alice said lightly.

"I hope you're right," I said a little doubtfully.

"You haven't known me very long but I'm always right," she said confidently.

"Shorty's right," Emmett said. "It's quite annoying really, she drives me crazy with it!"

"Bella, I'm sorry but I don't think I can drive you home though, I promised Jasper I'd help him out with something," Alice said suddenly.

"Really?" Jasper asked incredulously.

"Yes!" Alice said while throwing an elbow into his ribs when she thought I wasn't looking. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh!" he exclaimed. "Right," he added a little pathetically.

"But I'm sure Edward wouldn't mind driving you home, would you Edward?" she asked sweetly.

"You don't have to really, I'm sure it's not that far walking," I said tentatively.

"You're not walking!" Edward stated firmly. "I'll take you home, let's go," he said a little more softly while shooting a meaningful look in Alice's direction, she just smiled back at him smugly.

Once I'd said goodbye to all the other members of the Cullen family, Edward guided me towards his car and to my surprise he walked with me to the passenger side. I looked at him incredulously when he opened the door for me.

"What?" he asked, a little confused by my staring.

"Nothing," I muttered weakly while dropping my eyes to the floor.

"Please tell me what you were thinking," he said more sweetly now.

I looked up to meet his gaze again and I was left completely dazed, not only was his voice extremely compelling but his golden eyes were staring straight into my soul and it felt like I had no other choice but to tell him what was on my mind.

"I just didn't think there were still guys alive that actually opened doors for someone," I said shyly while blushing heavily.

"That wasn't so hard now was it?" he asked jokingly and I just shook my head, still unable to break my gaze from his. "But I guess you're right, it's a little outdated but it's the way I was raised," he added while smiling a lovely smile at me.

I smiled back timidly before climbing into the car clumsily.

It wasn't long before Edward was in his seat and he revved the engine. He drove even quicker than Alice had done this afternoon and I was holding on to my seat feeling like I would die the moment I would let go.

"Do you mind?" I asked, a little frustrated by the speed.

"What's wrong?" Edward asked shocked.

"You're driving like a maniac!" I exclaimed. "You do know my father is a cop right?"

"I never get caught," he said with a smile in his voice.

"That's not what I'm worried about!" I exclaimed, still too panicked to lower my voice.

"Nothing's going to happen," Edward assured me.

I wasn't convinced. "Please?" I asked.

"Alright," Edward gave in and he slowed down to just a little above the speedlimit.

"Thank you," I said softly.

"Anytime," he replied. He was smiling at me but I could see the chagrin in his eyes, he clearly didn't like driving normally.

"Your family is really nice," I said after a moment of silence.

"They seemed to really like you too, we don't have visitors over that often so it was a nice change for all of us," he said kindly, the chagrin had disappeared from his face as well as his voice and I felt a wave of relief.

"Alice told me you were all adopted by Carlisle and Esme," I said, eager to learn more about Edward.

"Yes, my parents died when I was young and Carlisle and Esme took us in," Edward said quietly.

"I'm sorry," I said sadly, Alice hadn't told me why they had been adopted.

"Thank you, but it happened so long ago, I still think about them every now and then but Carlisle and Esme have been my parents for so long and I love them."

"It's very nice of them to take in so many children, especially as young as they are," I said, my voice full of admiration.

Edward smiled at me and it sent my heart into overdrive, it didn't make any sense to my why he had this effect on me but I wasn't going to get worked up over it. I'm only here for the story. I reminded myself firmly. "They're wonderful people," Edward said, his voice full of love for his parents.

We drove onto Charlie's driveway and it was almost time for us to say goodbye, I didn't know when I was going to see any of the Cullens again and that thought made me a little sad.

"Alice really likes you, I've never seen her act this way around anyone that wasn't our family," Edward said out of the blue.

"I like her too, she's really nice," I said smilingly.

"She can be a little blunt every now and then though but she means well," he said almost apologetically.

"I've noticed," I replied jokingly. "But that's alright, I like her energy," I said sincerely.

Edward stopped the car in front of the house and he turned off the engine. "Good," he said thoughtfully.

Edward was staring at me again, he didn't say anything and it seemed like he was concentrating very hard on something but I couldn't understand what that would be.

"What's wrong?" I asked after a little while.

"Nothing," Edward said while smiling absentmindedly at me. "I'm sorry."

"That's alright," I said while blushing uncomfortably. "I should get going," I continued reluctantly.

"I guess so, hold on one second," Edward said while he opened his door and got out of the car.

I did as he asked and remained in my seat staring incredulously at the beautiful boy walking around the car to my door.

He opened my door and held out his hand to help me out of the car. I took his hand while blushing heavily, it felt cold and hard but it wasn't unpleasant, but I was surprised at the smoothness of his skin and stared at Edward for a moment before regaining my sanity and climbing out of the car.

"You know I'm perfectly capable of opening my own door," I said jokingly.

"I told you, it's the way I was raised, so if you don't mind, I'd like to keep holding the door open for you," he said with a crooked smile that sent my heart fluttering.

"I don't mind," I stammered.

"Good," he said contently.

Edward walked me to the door in silence.

"Well, I had a great time," I said sincerely.

"Me too," he replied.

"I'll see you around?" I asked uncertain.

"I'm sure we'll meet again," he replied with a smile.

The anticipation of our next meeting was already building up in my body and I still couldn't quite understand why, I had never been this excited about meeting a source for any kind of story so why would this be different. I liked the Cullens but this didn't make sense to me whatsoever.

"Bye Edward," I said while opening the door.

"Goodnight Bella," Edward replied before turning around and walking towards his car.

He looked back once more and waved at me, I waved back shyly and before I knew it he was gone.


A/N: That's it for today :) Hope you enjoyed it :) I'll be back tomorrow with more :)

Xxx

Thari