A/N: I like this chapter, we get a little Emmett time, and I love me some Emmett. Enjoy.

Ch. 8

The Cullens

Dating Edward was wonderful. He was always there when I got out of class somehow, ready to walk me to my next class, take me to lunch, or go to one of our dorms. We spent every moment together. We turned a lot of heads. Apparently Edward was pretty popular on campus, which was understandable considering his looks and his status. He never noticed, though. He only had eyes for me. No one else did, of course, I was a nobody, just one of those theater kids, and not even the on-stage kind. I was invisible.

I still wasn't talking to Jacob. I wanted him to know I was serious about this, and serious about Edward. He needed to learn his place in my life. He couldn't control me or tell me who to date.

After we'd been together for almost three weeks, Edward announced to me that he was taking me to his house to meet his family.

"What?"

"To meet my family," Edward repeated. "I've already told them all about you. They're really anxious to meet you. You'll like them a lot."

"Oh…ok."

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I'm just nervous," I said honestly. I was picturing an awkward sit-down dinner where I was all dressed up in a skirt and blouse and Edward was introducing me to Mr. and Mrs. Cleaver as his girlfriend. I could picture myself making all types of messes and tripping over my feet, not knowing what to say. The image in my head was horrifying.

"You have no reason to be nervous," assured Edward. I snorted, and he raised an eyebrow. "They'll love you."

"Edward I'm going to look like an idiot. Do you know how big of a klutz I am? I'm bound to break something."

He laughed. "I'll hold your hand the whole time. You won't have to move."

"Oh yeah, that'll look good. 'Hey Mom, Dad, meet Bella, my girlfriend who's incapable of moving without my help.' They'll be so impressed."

He only laughed harder, so I glared at him.

"Come on Bella," he said softly into my ear. "Do it for me. And I promise, no matter what you break, I will still love you."

My breath caught in my throat. It was understood between us that we were in love, but neither of us had actually said the words.

"Edward," I said breathlessly. He took me into his arms and kissed me softly but passionately. We were getting better at it, so I was able to kiss him back without getting out of control.

"I love you, Bella," Edward murmured into my lips.

"I love you, too," I said softly.

"And I want my family to meet you. I can't keep you to myself anymore."

I sighed. "Well, when you put it that way."

He grinned crookedly and kissed me again. How could I possibly argue with him when he did that?

So there we were, standing in front of the biggest, most beautiful house I'd ever been to. I wasn't dressed up in a skirt and blouse, just jeans and a nice shirt. I don't even know what Edward wore, no one looked at his clothes. It's hard to care what his clothes look like when his face is so completely distracting.

"Ready?" Edward asked. I could tell he was painfully excited.

I rolled my eyes. "Ready as I'll ever be."

His whole family was going to be there, Carlisle and Esme, his adopted parents, Emmett, his big brother, and of course Alice, who I had already met on several occasions. Rosalie was going to be there as well, since she was soon going to be part of the family, and Jasper, since he was Rosalie's brother and Alice's boyfriend.

Edward opened the door. Alice was there, waiting. I could tell she was trying hard not to tackle me. Edward had given her a firm talking to about that.

"Hello, Bella," she said, bouncing up and down.

"Hey, Alice," I laughed. "Energetic as usual, I see."

"Always!" she said cheerfully. I could see Edward shaking his head out of the corner of my eye. "The family's in the sitting room." And with that she grabbed my hand and pulled me toward a door, practically skipping. I looked back at Edward, silently pleading with my eyes for help. He just smiled and shrugged.

"Everyone!" announced Alice before I was even in the room. "This is Bella!"

I was shoved into a room full of people, barely refraining from falling on my face. They all chuckled, and I blushed.

"Thank you, Alice," said Edward stepping into the room behind us.

"Bella," said a woman I assumed must be Esme. "It's so nice to meet you. Welcome to our home." She crossed the room and gave me a warm, gentle hug. "I'm Esme. This is my husband, Carlilse, and our son Emmett. This lovely lady here is his fiancé, Rosalie, and I think you've already met Jasper?" I nodded. And of course I recognized Rosalie from pictures around campus, but they hardly did her justice. She was drop-dead gorgeous. But then again, so were the rest of his family members. I felt very common amongst them all.

"It's nice to meet you all," I said politely.

Edward slid his arm around my waist. I heard someone laugh. I looked over and had to try very hard not to jump. I hadn't really noticed Emmett yet. He was positively frightening, he was so huge.Edward gave him a look.

"Well, dinner's ready," said Esme. "Whenever everyone else is."

"I'm ready," said Emmett loudly, getting up and heading toward the dinning room. The rest of us followed.

Dinner was nothing like my nightmare. It was very loud and fun. Emmett was a riot, Alice was energetic, Jasper was quiet and polite, Rosalie was reserved, Esme was sugary sweet, and Carlisle somehow managed to hold it all together. Edward couldn't take his eyes (or hands) off me. His left hand never left my knee.

"You know," said Emmett after dinner, "I'm surprised."

"About what?" I asked nervously. It was just me, him, and Edward. Rosalie, Alice, and Jasper had already left and Carlisle and Esme were doing the dishes together. They were the cutest older couple I'd ever seen, they still acted like newlyweds.

"I always thought Edward was gay," said Emmett casually. My eyes widened in shock and Edward spit out his drink. Emmett's roar of laughter filled the room.

"Why?" I asked.

"He's never really had a girlfriend before," he said.

"I didn't know that," I said quietly. I looked over at Edward. His eyes were watering and he was trying to catch his breath. I tried not to laugh.

"Yeah, I've been trying to hook him up with girls for years," Emmett continued. "But he never showed the least bit of interest."

"Maybe that's because you kept trying to hook me up with harlots," growled Edward.

This time I really did laugh. Edward shot me a look, but after a minute he laughed too.

"What?" he said. "Don't give me that look."

"I've never seen you embarrassed," I said. "Hell, I've never even seen you surprised."

Emmett laughed. "I know, right? He's always so unnervingly calm. I love trying to get a rise out of him."

"Well you're pretty good at it," I complimented him.

"Years of practice," he said haughtily.

Edward slid an arm around my waist and kissed my forehead. I blushed and smiled at him.

"Gag!" shouted Emmett. "You guys are way too cute. I guess you were right, Edward. I just wasn't picking the right girls. She's perfect for you."

I blushed furiously now, but Edward smiled proudly.

"I couldn't agree more," he said.

A/N: Hope you guys liked it!

I've got Blossoms of Love: The Unnamed Story on hold for now due to extenuating circumstances, but I just started another story called Standing Still that I hope everyone will like.

On a more relevantnote, I can't guarantee there will be updates every day for a little while, it's going to be a slightly busy week, but I can promise that I'll try. Just bear with me.

Someone mentioned in a review that Jake was getting a little stalkerish, and I agree, but there is a reason. I think Jacob is frustrated at Bella for refusing to date him for so long, but he really cares about her, so his overprotectiveness and jealousy banned together to create Stalker-Jake. I love Jake, but he is a tad unreasonable sometimes.

Lots of Love! Thanks so much for reading, and thanks to my reviewers, I love you all! Review por favor!