Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.
AN: This is the infamous chapter where Bella goes to the Cullen's for the first time. I have wanted to write one of these since I started writing Twilight fiction. I hope all of you like it.
Bella sighed in frustration as she looked for a place to turn the truck around. She had missed the turnoff to Emmett's for a third time. Her phone rang as she found a driveway large enough for her to fit the truck in and turn around. She picked it up glancing at it out of the corner of her eye. Emmett's name flashed across the screen making her heave a huge sigh of relief.
"Hey," she said, keeping her eyes on the road.
"Are you almost here?"
"I'm lost," she grumbled.
"Where are you?" he asked with a light chuckle.
"I'm on Wheelers Pond Road."
"Have you passed mile marker four sixty yet?"
"No, I just passed White Oak subdivision."
"The marker should be a quarter of a mile ahead on your right," he explained.
"Is that where I turn?"
"No, you'll figure out where you are in just a minute."
"I see the marker," she said with a sigh of relief.
"Take the bend of the road up ahead as slow as you can," he warned.
"Why?" she asked as she slowed to make the turn.
Emmett was standing at the turnoff when she rounded the bend. He shut his phone as she slowed to let him in. They were silent for the five minute drive through the forest. Like the last time she had been there every light was on, calling out like a beacon from a light house to welcome her. Since it wasn't yet dusk she had a chance to take in the house.
It was made of steel and windows surrounded the house instead of walls. She could see Carlisle in the living room when the truck finally came to a stop. The front door opened and Alice flitted down the stairs, her feet barely touching the ground. She stopped at Bella's door, ignoring Emmett's venomous glare.
"My mother would like to meet you," she said with a warm smile.
"I can introduce her to Esme, Alice," Emmett retorted.
"I was put in charge of keeping you in line tonight Mister. So no funny business," she said once her eyes met his.
She gave him a blank look before turning her attention back to Bella.
"Shall we?" Alice offered, gesturing to the house.
"Sure," Bella said with a quick nod.
Emmett took hold of Bella's hand, pulling her to him. Alice looked over her shoulder, giving him a warning look. He gave her an innocent look before rolling his eyes. He lifted his free hand to make the signal of a boy scout over his chest. Alice nodded her approval as they walked into the house.
"Okay big guy, you're going to have to let go of her. Mom said that she wanted to meet Bella without you," Alice said, giving him an apologetic look.
He let go of Bella begrudgingly before walking into the living room. Carlisle nodded in greeting before Bella followed Alice down an immense hallway. Pictures of the Cullen children lined the walls. The pictures expanded a century at least. She saw a few of Carlisle and Esme on their wedding day and also Edward and Rosalie on theirs.
"Are you and Jasper not married?" Bella wondered out loud.
"No, he hasn't asked me, yet," she said with a pout.
"I'm sure he will someday. It's obvious that he cares a great deal for you," Bella assured her.
"That's why I keep him around," Alice said in a singsong voice.
Bella smiled, glad that she felt comfortable enough to ask such a personal question. They walked through a door at the end of the hall and stepped into the kitchen. Esme stood at the stove stirring a pot while Rosalie was at the island chopping vegetables for a salad. Esme looked over her shoulder, her eyes brightening at the sight of Bella. She wiped her hands on a dish towel before making her way across the room. It was almost as if she were gliding on air. She pulled Bella in for a hug and the smell of gardenia's enveloped Bella like a blanket.
"Hello Bella," Esme said with a warm smile.
"Mrs. Cullen," Bella said politely.
"Please, call me Esme. I've heard so much about you that I feel like I know you already," she said.
"Emmett and Alice have told me about you as well."
"I didn't think that I was ever going to get a chance to meet you," Esme said as she led Bella to the island.
Bella sat at the opposite end from Rosalie. Not even Rosalie's silence could ruin the moment. Bella knew that Rosalie didn't think very highly of her, even though Bella had done nothing to earn her distaste. If things got worse she would talk to her about why she didn't like her.
"Don't let Rosie scare you off. She has promised to be on her best behavior tonight," Alice reassured Bella.
"I don't like that she has been giving you a hard time," Esme said, giving Rosalie a reprimanding look.
"Can't someone voice their opinion without getting chastised around here anymore?" Rosalie asked.
"Bella did nothing to earn your distaste in her. Emmett wouldn't be with her if he didn't think that she was worthy of his affections," Alice argued.
"You'll have to excuse her behavior. She and Edward were raised differently than the rest of us when they were human," Esme said, turning her attention back to Bella.
"Its fine, nothing she has ever said has offended me."
"I can if you'd like," Rosalie said with a frigid smile.
"Okay, I've heard enough. It's time that I come in and referee," Carlisle said, pushing open the door.
Rosalie went back to what she was doing, her eyes cast down. Carlisle went to the stove, picking up the spoon to test what Bella realized was a red sauce of some sort.
"I hope you like Italian," Esme said with a smile.
Bella nodded encouragingly, watching as Carlisle dropped spaghetti noodles into a pot. Edward came in and walked to a cabinet to pull down dishes. He went about setting a table that expanded nearly the entire length of the room. Alice put a hand on Bella's shoulder to get her attention.
"How about I show you where to find Emmett while we finish dinner?" she offered.
"That would be great," Bella said with a light laugh.
Bella followed Alice back down the long hallway, looking again at the pictures on the wall. She found one of Emmett kneeling on one knee in front a tree, his hands on his knees, he was looking at the camera from underneath his eyelashes and he had a serene smile. He was wearing a white button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up and black slacks. A grey newsboy cap rounded out the outfit. Even though the photo was black and white it didn't hide the fact that his uncovered skin was glistening like facets of a diamond in the sun.
Alice stopped a few feet ahead of her. She looked over her shoulder to look at Bella endearingly. The picture was her favorite of Emmett. Jasper had been lucky to get the picture just as the sun was lowering over Emmett's left shoulder. He looked almost ethereal.
"I can just tell you where to go. His room is on the third floor-"
"There's no need to do that Alice," Emmett said from the end of the hall.
Bella looked over Alice's shoulder to see him standing in the foyer. Alice moved aside so that Bella could walk to him and he held out a hand for her to take. He led her upstairs stopping at different pictures to explain their meanings. They came across a board of fabric and Bella stared at it, trying to decipher what it was. A smile tugged at her lips when she realized what it was.
"Graduation caps?" she asked, looking at Emmett out of the corner of her eye.
"Yeah, we've accumulated a lot of them," he said with a sheepish smile.
Bella nodded, letting him pull her to the next floor. His door was open as they came to it. His room was bare, but modestly furnished. A black and chrome desk fit into a corner with a laptop open on it. Her eyes paused on the computer, seeing a picture of her. She wasn't looking at the computer so she knew that the person had taken it without her knowing. Where had it come from?
"Where did you get that picture of me?" she asked quizzically.
"Alice took it when we weren't talking. I should have told you," he apologized.
"Now I want one of you for my computer."
"That can be arranged," he said with a smile.
She took in the room slowly. There was a black leather couch along the far wall and a shelf that held a state of the art sound system, and there was a large flat screen TV overtop of it. The room was void of books.
"Do you not read?"
"I do, but not that often."
"Who's your favorite author?"
"Emerson."
"Emerson? You read poetry?" she asked, impressed.
"You're the only person outside of my family who knows," he answered, giving her an even look.
"You're secret is safe with me," she said with a wink.
"Who's your favorite author?"
"Like you, I like the classics. Bronte, Hemmingway, Shakespeare, Austin…I could go on."
"I read Shakespeare, Edward shoved him down my throat until I caved. He's not so bad."
"What's your favorite?"
"Julius Caesar. What about you?"
"I've always been partial Romeo and Juliet."
"It's good that we're talking like this, you trust me enough to let your guard down."
"I do tend to keep to myself. Kudos to you for sticking it out," she teased.
He laughed heartily as he crossed the few feet to stand in front of her. He wrapped his arms around her and she looked up at him expectantly.
"Look at us, we couldn't be more different yet more alike if we tried," he observed.
"That's why we work so well."
He nodded in agreement as she laid her head on his chest. He placed his chin on top of her head, content to let silence fall between them. He couldn't believe that she had come to the house. There were times when he thought that things wouldn't work out between them. Looking back now, he didn't know why he had worried so much.
XXXX
Alice came to tell them that dinner was ready an hour after they had gone upstairs. The smell of garlic and tomatoes wafted up the stairs as they made their way back downstairs. In the kitchen there was only one place setting at the one end of the table and there were candles spread throughout the room. Bella looked up at Emmett in confusion.
"They wanted us to have some time alone," he explained.
"They did this for us? That is so nice," she said in awe.
He pulled out her chair for her then walked to the stove and came back with a plate of salad. She ate quietly, used to being the only one to eat. He cleared her plate before she could put her fork down once she was done. He placed another plate piled high with spaghetti and garlic bread. She looked at the plate with wide eyes.
"Do you plan on fattening me up and cooking me in the oven?"
"You're too pretty to be Gretel," he said with a teasing smile.
"Hansel and Gretel was my favorite story when I was little," she said with a shy smile.
"Mine too," he agreed.
Once she was done he mentioned that there was desert if she wanted it.
"I cannot eat one more bite," she said in protest.
"Then you can take it home with you along with everything else."
"What?" she asked with a nervous laugh.
"We aren't going to eat it, we thought that you could share it with your dad," he rationalized.
She nodded in understanding as he cleared her plate. He went about cleaning the kitchen, putting the extra food in containers and then he loaded the dishwasher.
"This is the first time that the dishwasher has been used," he said with an amused smile.
"I'm glad that I could christen it."
Carlisle came into the room, clearing his throat to get their attention. They both looked at him in confusion.
"I was wondering if I could talk to Bella, alone," he broached.
"Sure," Bella agreed.
Bella followed him to the top floor which was his office. The room expanded the entire floor. One wall alone was devoted to pictures. Country sides, castles, farm houses, pictures of animals, no picture was exactly alike. He sat at the desk which was in the center of the room and he gestured for her to sit down across from him. She sat down, wondering what he had to say.
"I wanted to explain a few things to you. Things that Emmett would not be able to," he started.
"Alright," she said with a nod.
"I came here from Italy in the sixteen hundreds, I'm not originally from there but where I am originally from is not of importance right now. The reason I am telling you this is so that you are fully aware of what you are getting yourself into."
"Okay," she said slowly.
"I was changed by accident. The vampire who sired me meant to kill me but he wasn't able to finish the job. I won't go into details but the process is gruesome and terrifying. I tried to fight what I was; I even tried to kill myself thinking that would put an end to my misery. I eventually found people who I thought were like me. Yes, they were vampires but they did not have the same views that I had," he explained before standing.
He walked to the wall of pictures with his hands clasped behind his back. Bella followed him with her eyes, wondering what would happen next.
"Do you see this picture?" he asked gesturing to the largest picture of all.
She stood to stand next to him so that she could get a better look at the picture. The picture depicted a room full of people. At first glance all of them looked completely normal but her eyes drifted to a man hunched over on the floor, his arms stretched out in front of him. The three men in front of him sat on thrones. One turned his head, looking away from the man. Another looked positively bored, like he didn't want to be there. But the man in the middle scared her; he looked like he was enjoying what was happening.
"The three men sitting down are the lawmakers of my kind. All of the people that you see are the most ruthless, most cunning vampires known to lore."
"You were one of them?"
"That is me, in the top right corner," he said gesturing to a point in the picture.
She listened to him tell a story of how he had never wanted to be like them and he had eventually left out of shame. He made the decision to live life on his own terms. He was not going to let someone else dictate what he could and could not do. There were other vampires like the Cullen's, just not that many of them.
"I think we have an eaves dropper," he said with a smile.
Bella looked to the door to see Emmett push it open.
"It's almost time for her to go home."
"I'll let the two of you have some time alone."
Emmett came into the room to sit in Carlisle's chair at the desk. He propped his feet up on the desk and rested his hands behind his head. She smiled, before shaking her head. He motioned with his head for her to sit with him and she slowly made her way across the room. She sat on the desk within reach of him. She placed a hand on his leg as he gently rocked back and forth in the chair.
"Thank you for inviting me over tonight," she said.
"It was my mom's idea, I just went along with it," he said with a shrug.
"Well, thank you none the less," she said with a pleased smile.
"Thank you for coming."
"You're welcome," she said rubbing his knee.
He closed his eyes, lost in the feeling of her touch. She lost track of time and before she knew it she only had ten minutes before she had to be home. She said goodbye to everyone quickly and Emmett followed her out to the truck. He would drive her home so that she wasn't late.
At her house he opened her door for her then pinned her against the door once it was closed.
"What are you doing? I'm going to be late," she said in protest.
"Your dad is already asleep. He'll never know if you were a few minutes late. I want a proper goodbye."
"I can't give you a proper goodbye, you know that," she said sadly.
"I'll take what I can get," he said, wrapping his arms around her waist.
She laid her head on his shoulder, burying her face in his neck. She breathed in his scent, wondering how she had ever managed to get through her day before she had met him. Her mom had explained to her what love felt like when she was younger. From what she knew she had fallen for him not long after meeting him. Why couldn't she tell him? What was she afraid of? Her parent's problems were only part of the problem. She had plans and goals for her life. She didn't want to be tied down. Now she found herself wanting things that she had never thought she would want. She pulled away with a sigh. He looked down at her in confusion.
"I should go inside," she said just above a whisper.
"What's wrong?"
"As soon as I think I've got everything figured out you make me realize that I have no clue what I am doing," she said with a groan.
"You're in love. I can tell you whatever you want to know," he said with a smile.
"How can you be so at ease?" she asked, awestruck.
"I am not at ease. I'm just better at dealing with it than you are," he said running a hand through her hair.
She laughed shakily before pulling away from him. He reluctantly let her go, watching her as she walked up the walk. She looked over her shoulder as she opened the door. She waved over her shoulder before walking into the house. He pushed away from the truck and headed for home, thoughts of her swirled through his mind as he raced through the woods.
Alice and Edward were waiting for him in the living room when he came in. He shook his head, silently daring them to push him. He settled on the couch in his room with a magazine but closed it five minutes later. He paced his room until he heard everyone else settled down for the night. He looked at his watch realizing that it was only midnight. He had to get out of the house or he was going to drive them all crazy. He could not seem to get his mind off of Bella.
He stalked down the stairs to be met at the door by Edward.
"Whatever you're going to do it's a bad idea," he warned.
"I think that he should go see her," Alice chimed in.
"What if Charlie wakes up? What if she wakes up and you scare her half to death?"
"I don't see either of those things happening," Alice interjected.
Emmett gave his brother a condescending look before throwing open the door. He traced his steps back to Bella's scaling the tree outside her room and silently opening the window. He sat next to her on the bed facing, not jarring the bed as he sat down. He took in her sleeping features sentimentally. He should have done this a long time ago. Carlisle had given him permission to come over while she slept weeks ago. He didn't know how he had managed to hold out as long as he had.
He placed a gentle hand on her exposed shoulder, not wanting to wake her. She flinched under his touch and he quickly pulled his hand away. He watched her with wide eyes as she turned over in her sleep. He let out a sigh of relief, immediately regretting it. Bella's eyes fluttered open before she sat up on her elbows.
"What are you doing here?" she asked her voice thick with sleep.
"I missed you," he answered honestly.
"How long have you been here?"
"Long enough to blow my cover," he muttered.
"I wasn't talking in my sleep was I?"
"No why?"
"I was dreaming about you," she said with a dreamy smile.
"What was I doing?"
"You mean we if I tell you it won't happen."
"Was it something that we do all the time?"
"No, we've never done what I dreamed about before," she said with a shake of her head.
"It's going to bug me until I figure it out," he said, his face a mask of concentration.
"Tell you what, if it happens, I'll let you know," she bargained.
"You've got a deal."
"You missed me?" she asked, moving over to make room for him.
"I haven't been able to get you out of my head since I dropped you off," he said with a sigh.
She placed her head on his chest and draped an arm over his stomach. She was getting better at not thinking about how cold he was. Luckily this time there was a blanket and his clothes between them. He ran his fingers through her hair lazily before tilting her chin up so that she was looking at him.
"I want to try something. But you're going to need to stay still," he warned.
She rolled over on her stomach to support herself on her arms. He pushed her onto her back the leaned over her silently. He leaned down, stopping when his face was inches from hers. He gathered his confidence then brought his lips to hers in a gentle kiss. Bella was still beneath him but not because she wanted to be. She didn't want to scare him off. He pulled away after a few seconds with a smile on his face.
She smiled back as he leaned down once more. This kiss was needier and lasted longer than the first. His hands were at her sides, gripping her shirt in his fists. She moaned against his lips making him pull away with a groan.
"Now that we know that we can do that I'm going to want to do it more often," he said huskily.
"Me too," she agreed wholeheartedly.
"Go back to sleep, maybe I'll get lucky and you'll start talking in your sleep," he said kissing her forehead.
He rolled off of her and she rolled over onto her stomach once more. She rested her head on his chest and he drew lazy circles on her back to lull her back to sleep. She was asleep within seconds and he contained his excitement. He couldn't believe that she had let him stay. He couldn't believe how wonderful it had felt to kiss her. It was more intense than anything he had ever known. He was going to be careful and made a vow never to take her for granted. It was a vow he would keep until the end of the world.