Bella

It didn't feel like I'd been asleep for very long when I was suddenly startled awake by the sound of a knock. I blinked, looking around, feeling my arms wrapped around something, and taking a solid minute to remember how I'd ended up in Edward's room with him.

He looked groggy, dragging his free hand across his face, "Come in." I couldn't lie – his sleepy voice was something I could get on board with. Deeper than usual, a little hoarse.

I was still trying to gather my bearings, not moving, finding that Edward was still just as much asleep as I was.

"We didn't see you downstairs. We just wanted to make sure..." Esme's voice dropped off, causing my eyes to widen right open, looking over to see that her and Carlisle were standing at Edward's doorway, observing their son and me in an extremely compromising position. Well, I guessed we were only hugging, but the fact that we were on his bed just made me feel ten times more scandalous.

"That you were all right," Carlisle finished for his wife, throwing his arm around her, "I think we've found our answer." He was wearing a smile on his face, and slowly but surely, Esme's expression was beginning to reflect his.

Not exactly the reaction I was expecting, but I wasn't complaining at all.

My mouth opened as I began to sit up, feeling completely awkward about what my next move would be, and thankfully, Edward swooped in before I could potentially say anything to embarrass myself.

"How was the party?" he questioned, sliding onto the edge of the bed, looking towards his parents, before glancing towards me and wearing a ghost of a smile on his face once seeing that I had gone beet red.

"It was okay…" his mother shrugged, seeming to want to say something else as she glanced between the two of us with a slight smirk. I had a general idea of how she'd wanted to end that particular sentence: probably not nearly as interesting as your night.

I was still wearing an expression resembling a deer in headlights, trying to look more natural and comfortable, but still having a difficult time as I continued to wonder what was going through their minds. I hoped they didn't think I'd corrupted their son, or something. We'd only fallen asleep together.

"Um," Edward cleared his throat, keeping his eyes on me, sensing my discomfort, "we should probably head back down there, anyway. Before the others realise that we went missing." He smiled a little, as my eyes widened and I nodded feverishly, immediately thinking about that image. I knew for a fact that Emmett wouldn't react nearly as calmly as Edward's parents had, to the two of us sleeping on the same bed, no matter how innocent it had been.

"Right," Carlisle nodded, looking towards his wife and giving her a nonverbal signal as she continued to stare at Edward and me, a smile fixed on her face. She immediately snapped out of it, understanding that they needed to move out of our way, nodding goodbye to the two of us.

"Goodnight," she sang, walking away with her husband as he shot us both an apologetic look for her enthusiasm, as I held back a smile, completely amazed at the fact that neither of his parents seemed disapproving in any way of me. In fact, I was beginning to get the impression that they supported his decision, and probably had been supporting it for a while.

Once I knew they were substantially out of earshot, I turned my gaze to Edward, biting the inside of my cheek, "Your parents knew?"

He looked a little uneasy, "It was kind of hard to hide, apparently. They knew right away, without me having to say anything." Then he hesitated, looking away, seeming to be stuck between giving me more information, or holding back on it.

"What?" I prodded, smiling a little at his apprehension, as his eyes flickered back towards me, "They actually… kind of held this dinner so that they'd finally have the chance to meet you." Immediately after the words left his mouth, he cringed, looking like he wanted to take them back.

The whole time I continued to stare unblinkingly at him, as his words began to sink in, before hitting me like a ton of bricks. My hands flew up to my face, "Oh… Oh God. They were evaluating me this whole time. I 'met the parents' and I didn't even know it. I didn't try to impress them."

Seeing my reaction, Edward's expression seemingly changed from being completely anxious to utterly amused. He began to chuckle, shaking his head, but looking... delighted about the fact that I was genuinely worried about what his parents had thought of me. "Trust me, they approve of you," he reassured me, reaching across to grasp both of my hands, still on my face, pulling them away and squeezing.

"Although, now I'm curious as to how you'd go about impressing them. You blew them away by simply being yourself," his answer came with a disbelieving shake of the head, as I began to smile, lacing my fingers with his.

"How do you know that they like me?" I wondered, lifting my eyebrows. Of course, both of his parents had been nothing short of pleasant to me, but I'd figured they treated all of Edward's friends or guests the same.

If possible, his smile grew, eyes shining with enjoyment at my curiosity, "Well, for one: my dad told me, word for word, that he approved of you. So, there's that."

I couldn't keep my smile, thinking about it, before prodding, "And your mom?"

He laughed a little, "My mom encouraged me to tell you how I felt." My eyebrows shot up; completely surprised that Esme had actually wanted Edward to be involved with me. I wondered why, when at that point, she hadn't known me enough to pass a proper judgment.

Edward began to bite the inside of his cheek, seeming to recall something else, "Also," he smiled, making me smile at the fact that he was clearly trying hard not to laugh, "during the very brief span of my last 'relationship'" he made air quotes with the word, showing that he was using it very loosely, "there were a couple of instances where she came over to work on assignments with me. My mom never allowed us upstairs."

I tried my best to control my reaction, but my mouth still opened slightly, understanding the meaning of his words, as he began to rush in, "Not that anything would've happened without the interference. Ever," he emphasised, for my comfort, causing me to bite my lip, holding in a laugh this time.

He shook his head, clarifying, "She just hated the fact that I was wasting my time on someone I didn't have feelings for."

He shrugged, "She sees the difference with you," he smiled then, "which is probably why she didn't throw a fit when she walked in on us."

So, I had been right, then. Esme wasn't simply one of those lenient parents who didn't mind the idea of a girl sleeping over with Edward. She simply… approved of me. The idea caused a smile to fix its way onto my lips, realising the insinuation there – that I'd been the first girl to be in Edward's bed.

Also, I guessed she must've trusted the both of us enough to know that nothing would've actually happened on said bed.

Without another word, I began to tug on his hand, standing, indicating that it was probably time for us to head back downstairs, to which his response was a slow shake of the head.

Just as I began to raise an eyebrow, he tugged me towards him, wrapping his arms around my waist as I let out a soft giggle, immediately wrapping my arms around his neck. The fact that I was standing provided me with just enough height that I had to dip my head down to meet his lips as he reached up.

We decided to keep things short and sweet, and Edward allowed me to lead him out the door, before heading down the stairs with me in tow. And thankfully, once we made it back into the darkened living room, we were met with the sight of four sleeping bodies, completely oblivious to the fact that either of us had left at all.

We both breathed simultaneous sighs of relief, smiling before separating to our respective places. As I silently slipped back under covers, seeing that Rose was still breathing deeply and regularly, I turned to look over at Edward.

"Sweet dreams, Bella," he smiled.

"Goodnight, Edward."

It took just a little longer for me to drift off without the feel of Edward's arms around my body. To help me relax, I recalled the sweet sounding melody he'd sung to me before, finding my breathing gradually grow slower and slower as the room finally dissolved.

The next time I opened my eyes was voluntary, yawning softly and rubbing my eyes awake as I looked around to find that almost everyone else was currently getting up.

It was only then that I noted the distinctly wonderful aroma of breakfast food, deciding that it had probably been the cause of all of us waking up at the same time. I pressed a hand against my head, unable to believe that Edward's mother had gone for round two, preparing yet another meal for the group of us. Was she even human? I wondered, knowing that in her position, I would've been much too exhausted after last night's meal to cook another for at least a few days.

Another glance around the room told me that Emmett and Edward were the only ones still sound asleep. I blinked a couple of times, a smile stretching across my lips as I observed Edward's closed eyes and peaceful expression. I decided then that it was definitely right up there on my list of favourite things to see.

Peering over at the girls, I almost laughed, spotting Rosalie beginning to shake Emmett awake, "Babe, wake up. Breakfast's ready."

He groaned, turning over, away from her voice, as she began to lock her jaw, "Emmett Swan, if you don't get off this couch right now..."

Before I could hear the end of her threat, I began sliding off the mattress, saying a quick 'Good morning' to Alice and Jasper, who were both heading off to brush their teeth.

I was in front of Edward's sleeping body in no time, kneeling down so that I was just about at eye level with him. My smile widened as I began to reach out, placing my hand on his face, seeing it twitch, but noting that he was still keeping his eyes closed.

Slowly, I began to slide my hand from his cheek, into his tousled hair, watching his lips move ever so slightly as he tried to fight off a smile.

"Edward..." I lowered my voice, seeing him continue to fight off the smile, but failing miserably.

"Bella..." he responded easily, his eyes fluttering open, green meeting brown as my face began to hurt from smiling so much.

He reached for my hand, planting a soft kiss onto it, before sighing deeply, passing his free hand across his eyes, blinking as he began to wake up. We both turned at the sound of Emmett moaning loudly, "Five more minutes," earning a frustrated sigh from Rosalie as she began using physical force, tugging him off the couch. He continued to whine, causing Edward to chuckle and me to smile, thanking the Lord that he hadn't been nearly as hard to get up. Then again, I probably wouldn't have minded touching his face for a little longer.

In one swift motion, he shifted into a seated position, standing and pulling me up along with him.

"Good morning," he greeted me with a grin, looking down as I shot him another smile, "Good morning."

"How'd you sleep?" he wondered, making my heart stammer, seeing how seriously interested he was in hearing my answer.

"Fine," I smiled, "Not as nicely as the first time, though." I felt myself blush as Edward grinned, seeming completely and utterly pleased with my answer.

After a moment, I could tell he was hesitating about whether or not he should do something else, settling for wrapping his arms around me briefly before letting me separate to take care of my hygienic needs.

I knew that he was wary about showing a great deal of affection to me in front of the others - not because he was uncomfortable with it, but I guess he wasn't completely certain that I was comfortable with it. And to some extent, he was right. This was all very new to me, so it'd take some getting used to. But, I knew that eventually it'd get to a point where I really didn't care about what anyone else was thinking. After all, blocking other people's opinions out was a necessary skill in order to survive in Hollywood.

Plus, the rest of our friends were all very much hands-on with one another, which made me highly doubt that any of them would be opposed to a little bit of PDA from Edward and me. Sure, Emmett would be slightly unnerved at first, but he'd seen me with other actors on screen and he'd gotten over it after the initial shock.

Once I was finished brushing my teeth and splashing a bit of water on my face in the guest bathroom, I rushed back out to meet the others, who were all thankfully only now moving into the kitchen.

The group of us simultaneously complimented Esme based on the smell of the food, thanking her once again for going out of her way to keep us fed. As expected, she completely waved us all off, encouraging us to help ourselves.

I was surprised, but also incredibly delighted after noting that Carlisle was acting as her sous-chef of sorts. It was amazing to see how well they complemented each other - Edward was awfully lucky to have grown up around that kind of example of what a marriage should look like.

"So, there's eggs, bacon, pancakes," she motioned towards the various items as we all gathered our plates, taking our turns to serve ourselves. She continued, "Juice is on the table already."

We all took heed of the information, heading to the kitchen table once we'd finished gathering food for ourselves. There was a silent understanding that it was only right that we wait on Edward's parents before starting – Emmett was the only one who had a bit of difficulty grasping this concept, and restraining himself from stuffing his mouth.

Edward, seeing this, reassured us that we all could start eating without them, but even he kept his knife and fork off to the side, following our actions exactly. Soon enough, his parents gathered their meals, taking their places at the table and looking completely taken aback by our lack of starting.

"Oh, you all are ridiculous. Please stop starving yourselves and dig in," Esme shook her head, looking peeved, though there was a touch of underlying flattery in her expression. And of course, that was all the permission Emmett needed to begin cutting into his pancakes, filling his mouth as the rest of us took our time eating like normal, civilised people.

"Bella, I hope you don't take this the wrong way," Esme began, cutting through the comfortable silence that had settled among us as we continued to eat. Despite my best effort, I tensed in anticipation for her question, mentally preparing myself after the way she'd phrased the start of her question.

It didn't exactly help the situation when Edward began crinkling his eyebrows, shooting his mother a quizzical look as she ignored him.

"Do you normally allow yourself to eat meals like this? I hope I'm not forcing you off of a diet or something," she seemed genuinely anxious that I was only clearing my plate to appease her, as I immediately relaxed, almost letting out a sigh of relief as I laughed.

"No, you're definitely not forcing me off of a diet," I smiled, explaining, "Um, to be honest, I hardly ever restrict myself unless it's necessary for a film. With Catching Fire, for instance, I had to work with a personal trainer, and all he did was switch up some of the carbs in my everyday diet for protein, to enhance muscle mass. So, even then, it wasn't like I was only having oatmeal and salads."

Almost everyone around the table, except Emmett, seemed visibly surprised by my answer.

"So, you eat pasta and stuff on a regular basis?" Jasper seemed thrown, "Honestly, I was under the impression that people in L.A. only drink pressed juices and eat kale."

I almost choked on my bread, wanting to be offended by the stereotype, but knowing that there was a great deal of truth behind it, "You're not wrong. I know quite a few people who are… obsessed with 'clean eating', but I don't know, I never fell into that. Everything in moderation, I guess." I shrugged, as they all began to nod, seeming satisfied with my answer. Edward appeared to be particularly relieved as he looked over at me – probably at the fact that I really actually wasn't pushing myself to eat anything on the table.

I'd enjoyed every bit of it thoroughly, and felt entirely content by the time my plate was finally empty.

Conversation began to shift from random topic to random topic, until Jasper cleared his throat, informing us that his parents would be due to arrive within the next hour at the airport, so he'd have to get moving.

Rosalie, of course, would be collecting her parents as well, so with that piece of news, the group of us all shared a look, deciding that it was time we left the Cullens to spend some time as a family as we spent some time with ours.

"Thank you for a wonderful dinner and breakfast," Alice hugged Esme and Carlisle, as the rest of us began to follow, with me being one of the last to say goodbye.

Esme almost instantly pulled me in for an embrace, reminding me of our initial encounter, as I smiled into it. She spoke much too softly for anyone else to hear, "I can't tell you how happy I am that you stumbled into my son's life. You're a truly beautiful person, Bella." I felt my eyes widen, holding my breath and letting it out slowly as I somehow managed a reaction, squeezing her into the hug.

I pulled away with a soft smile, matching her volume, "Trust me, I'm the lucky one, here. Your son is… a marvellous person. You and your husband did a great job raising him."

I cleared my throat, pausing, "I also wanted to apologise about last night…"

She cut me off with a shake of the head before I could continue, "Oh, Bella, trust me, I was more thrilled than anything that you reciprocated his feelings. I wasn't worried at all about…" she rolled her eyes, "I know that you're not a bad influence." She seemed amused at the prospect of me being a bad influence, shaking her head with a laugh once again, as I felt my shoulders drop, letting out a sigh.

"Thank you, Esme," I felt the need to give her another hug, as she squeezed me this time, "I know that you'll take care of him." Her tone of voice told me that she truly believed in her statement, causing me to feel overwhelmed once more.

I shut my eyes briefly, confirming, "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't." And I meant it. I meant those words with every fibre of my being. The thought of hurting him in any way sent a sharp pain through my chest.

As she released me for the second time around, she settled for a goodbye, as I moved onto Carlisle, who had politely averted his eyes from our conversation to allow us some privacy.

I gave him a hug, which he reciprocated, "I'm sure we'll be seeing you again soon, Bella. It was lovely meeting you." There was a great deal of contentment his eyes – a familiar, but deeper green than Edward's – and I thought about how satisfied I felt in myself, seeing that neither of them held any sort of malice in their eyes looking upon me.

If I hadn't been convinced before by Edward's explanation, I was certainly sold by now that they didn't hate me.

"Definitely," I smiled, "I'm looking forward to seeing you both again."

As I turned away, seeing that the others had already left to head outside, my eyes gravitated towards Edward, waiting patiently near the front door, glancing every so often in my direction until he noticed that this time I was looking at him.

I crossed the room easily, his eyes following me the entire time, a smile stretching across his face as I made it in front of him, looking up.

I bit my lip; "I'll see you?" it came out as more of a question, causing him to chuckle.

"When?" he asked, making me gather that he didn't mean when next we'd be seeing each other, around friends. Because that would be tomorrow evening, when we were all meeting up for a movie.

Edward wanted to know when he'd be able to take me out on a date.

"Um, tomorrow I have work stuff," I admitted dejectedly, knowing that in order to make the movie, I'd have to take care of some e-mails, and approve of a couple of things with my mom and the rest of my team during the day.

"Saturday is perfect, though," I continued with a nod, causing him to cock an eyebrow, posing me a responding question.

"I'll pick you up at three?"

I smiled, nodding fervently, before looking out at the others, noting that Emmett was discussing something with Rosalie as Alice kissed Jasper goodbye, before walking across to her house.

I turned to face Edward once more, debating what my next move should be, and seeing a sly grin make its way across his face, as he seemed to understand my internal consideration. Swiftly, I reached up, planting a kiss on his cheek, causing his crooked grin to appear, as I hurried away, wandering down to Emmett's Jeep.

Despite everything that had happened last night, a kiss on the cheek still felt pretty affectionate to me, especially because I hadn't meant it at all as a casual greeting with Edward. And he knew that.

As I jumped into the passenger side, Emmett hopped in soon after, starting the engine, and grinning towards me, "So you and Edward, huh?"

I blushed, looking through the windshield towards him as he watched and waited for everyone to pull out of his driveway safely. I couldn't fully wrap my head around everything that had happened, and if it weren't for the dazed expression on Edward's face, mirroring mine, I almost would've thought that it all really had been a dream.

"Yeah," I smiled, "Me and Edward."

A/N: So guys, I'm not even going to lie, it's probably going to be a whiiiile until you see some drama happening in this story. First time I wrote it, it was mainly fluff, fluff, fluff, so I'm going to have change a couple things, but we'll get there!

And honestly, when I say 'drama'… it's not even going to be drama, really.

Anyway, stick with me! I start back classes in the next week, and um, I'm kind of in medical school so updates are probably going to be infrequent. I'm trying to write as much as possible right now so that I don't leave you guys hanging!

Xoxo

LoveACullen