Disclaimer: I own none of these characters nor do I own the concept. The rights are all reserved to Mrs. Meyer and ITV.
Chapter nine: The Cullen residence.
Mpov
I started to shiver.
He'd bet get here soon, or I'll barricade myself in the house. See how he gets me out of there. Hah!
Just when I was about to get up and walk back to the house, he was next to me.
"Are you ready?" he breathed.
"Not in the least, but what choice do I have?"
"The choice is all yours."
"I already said I would go, so I'm going," I sighed.
I got up and walked to the passenger side of the truck. I unlocked the door and held it open for him. He frowned.
Oh, right he hates to sit next to the driver. Well, though break Eddie.
I smirked and motioned him to get in. When he didn't respond I rolled my eyes and threw him the keys.
"Fine, you drive." I muttered before I got in.
He slid into the seat next to me before I could blink and stared at me. I could tell he wasn't breathing and secretly I was thankful for it.
"What?" I asked him.
"Are you sure you want to go with me?"
"Yes, Edward. I'm sure about meeting your family, but you can't blame me for being nervous."
He drew in a breath and flinched. Without thinking I put my hand on his, which was balled into a fist. It was freezing cold, but I had expected that. What I didn't expect was the tingle that shot up my arm. He looked up at me in surprise and there was something else in his eyes that I couldn't quite identify.
"Let's go." I whispered as I pulled my hand back.
Epov
Bella's truck was absolutely infuriating. It wouldn't go past sixty and I had to force myself not to growl at the loud engine. I flexed my hand, the one she had touched. There was something strange about that touch. It was warm, which was only natural, but after she had removed her hand it felt like the warmth lingered and traveled up my arm slowly.
We had just passed the town's boundaries and I knew I should ask her some of the questions I had while we were alone, but I had trouble finding the right way to start.
"Edward?"
Her soft voice dragged me from my reverie.
"Yes?"
"Don't you have at least one question?"
I glanced at her and was taken aback by the intensity in her eyes. I took a deep breath and immediately regretted it, because her scent hit me even stronger than on that first day in Biology. I gripped the steering wheel tighter and gritted my teeth.
Bella tensed beside me and cranked the window open, despite the fact that it was cold outside. She huddled into her jacket and from the corner of my eye I could see that she was still looking at me.
"Thank you," I murmured.
"Does it help?"
"Yes, it does." I smiled slightly at her. "Do you mind telling me why you moved to Forks, despite the fact that you know that a large vampire coven lives here."
She bit her lip, just like she had done a little while ago, and again it distracted me completely from what I had asked her.
"I didn't know until I saw you and your siblings on my first day of school," she said in a low voice.
I wish she had looked me in the eye when she said that, that way I could have at least checked is she was telling the truth.
"How could you tell?" I continued.
"You and you siblings are not related, right?"
"Right."
"But you all do have the same eye color and skin tone."
"Yes."
"People seem to stay away from you, yet feel attracted to you at the same time."
"You're very perceptive," I noted.
She shook her head. "I just know what I'm looking for."
I couldn't fathom what she meant by that, but there was a sadness in her eyes that stifled my questions.
We arrived at the turn for our house and we spent the last three miles in silence.
Mpov
What on earth should I tell them? I am destroying everything that Stephenie Meyer created and I haven't got a clue how to prevent it from falling apart further.
I'm going to have to lie through my teeth. At least I don't blush as easily as the original Bella.
Maybe I can pull this off, but I'd have to come up with a good story.
Hmmmm….what to say? How to explain the unexplainable….Dang, I sure hope Alice won't see my decision to lie.
Would she be looking for anything like that? Should she be? Or is she busy trying to see what will happen if they let me, the pesky little human who knows too much, live?
I didn't even realize I was drumming my fingers on the seat until Edward captured them in his hand. He squeezed my fingers lightly and then released my hand.
We reached the house and I gasped at the sight of it. As a reader I never had much patience with descriptions of houses or rooms or objects, so I never really imagined how the house would look. Now that we were parked in front of it though, I could only stare, my mouth hanging open.
Epov
I chuckled when I saw Bella's jaw drop. She was staring at our house in obvious wonder and interest and I was glad I was there to see it. It was funny to watch the changes in her face as she looked the place over from top to bottom, left to right. Her eyebrows raised, then knit together and raised again. The corners of her mouth twitched, bent down and finally turned into a broad smile.
"Do you like it?" I asked.
"It's better than I expected," she whispered, without looking away from the house.
A/N: I'm going to be mixing up the POV a lot in the next couple of chapters to really give you an idea of how the other members of the family take in the arrival of Bella a.k.a. Monica.
It ought to be interesting.
