Sorry it took so long! This chapter gave me some major issues, and just didn't want to be written.

Also, I want to point out that Carlisle and Esme are going to be OOC in this story.
And it doesn't hurt to listen to Bella's lullaby towards the middle of the chapter. It helped me a ton writing it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. I also apologize for any mistakes. It's one in the morning and I'm falling asleep.

Chapter 12
BPOV.

"Stop fidgeting, Bella. You look fine." Rosalie rolled her eyes at me, staring at herself in the mirror as she applied her make-up. Even though Emmett had invited her to meet the Cullen's tonight too, she didn't look even remotely as nervous as I felt.

"I don't see the big deal," she had said, when I'd told her I was nervous earlier. "We already know Emmett, Alice and Edward, and that's more than half the family right there. The only people we haven't met is their parents, and if they raised kids like the three of them, they can't be so bad, right?"

She was probably right. It didn't really make me feel any better though. With Edward our differences really hadn't been much of an issue so far. I knew it would be eventually, but right now it was almost possible for me to forget about his money completely, when we were having fun just going out to diners and movies. If it hadn't been for that article about the two of us in the gossip section of the paper I probably wouldn't have even be thinking about it now. But going to his house, and meeting his parents, was sure to remind me of this fact. In a big way. And just because he didn't seem to mind that I was practically poor and lived in a tiny apartment with my best friend, would his parents?

"You're not nervous at all?" I asked Rose, looking at her skeptically.

Her blue eyes flicked in my direction for a second before going back to the mirror. "Well, I'm a little nervous, of course. But it's not really that big of a deal."

"Says you," I muttered, glancing at myself in the mirror one final time. I looked pretty good. Rosalie had picked out my outfit, of course. I was wearing dark wash skinny jeans and brown boots that cut off just below my knees, and a dark blue top that flattered my figure nicely. I smiled, thinking of how Edward said he loved the color blue on me. Rose had straightened my hair instead of curling it for once. I looked casual but sort of sophisticated. At least that's what I hoped I looked like.

Rose looked great, of course. She was wearing white skinny jeans and a light pink top. She had straightened her own hair as well, and was wearing matching pink heels.

There was a knock on the door, and I jumped. Rose snickered at me and told me to go answer the door and to stop looking 'so scared to death.'

I shot my best glare in her direction and then hurried down the hallway to answer the door. My mood was brightened when I realized that it was almost positively Edward behind the door.

And it was of course, Emmett standing beside him, the two of them smiling when I opened the door. Edward's eyes ran over me, and his smile widened. "You look amazing, Bella," he told me, leaning over to kiss me.

"Thanks." I smiled, blushing a little. I told them to come in and make themselves at home, since Rosalie was probably going to be a few more minutes.

We watched the ending of some lame movie on TV and then Rosalie finally appeared in the hallway, ready to go. Emmett told her how amazing she looked, and then the four of us left. We all went in Edward's car. After some arguing about where everyone would sit, I ended up sitting in the back seat with Rosalie, while the two of them fought over who got to control the radio.

There was very little conversation on the ride over to their house, other than the argument over the radio, and the silence just made me that much more nervous.

"Almost there," Edward muttered, pulling into a long driveway. There was a tall elaborate fence around the property, and the gate had a "C" detailed into the wrought iron. The driveway was long, and finally it stopped at a very large house. It was three stories, and very modern, wide and open, with more windows than wall. I know I was staring at it, mouth open, as Edward shut the car off. I knew that the Cullen's would live in a nice place. But this...? Wow.

Edward got out, coming around to open the door for me. He took my hand as soon as I was out of the car, and he brought it up to his face and kissed it, smiling at me reassuringly. "Ready?"

I cleared my throat. "Oh, er, yes. Nice house, by the way." I tried to sound casual.

He smiled at me, but didn't say anything, instead he just led me up to the front door. Alice was standing there as we opened the door. "Bella!" she chirped, coming over to hug me. "It's so good to see you again! And wow, I love your boots. Your hair looks really good like that too. You should-"

"Alice," Edward said, in a disapproving voice.

She rolled her eyes at him, and turned to say hi to Rosalie.

"Dinners almost ready," she told us. "You have enough to show Bella around though, Edward."

He nodded, looking eager to get away from his siblings. "Let's go," he murmured to me, leading me further into the house. It was all just...stunning. Everything about it. It was too much to take in at once, and only a few things registered. Pictures of the Cullen's as small children. I smiled at the pictures of small bronze haired Edward, murmuring something about how cute he was to him. He rolled his eyes at me and lead me up a staircase. We bypassed the second floor and continued up to the third, and then down a hallway. He opened a door and led me into a room. The walls were painted gold, and there was a wrought iron bed, with a matching gold comforter. The walls were lined with shelves full of CD cases, and a huge stereo system. One wall, the one that his bed rested against, was just a large window, and it over looked the Cullen's land. It was amazing view of trees, and a small pond and a bridge going over it. It looked like something out of a magazine.

"Wow," I breathed.

"This is my room," he said softly.

"It's amazing, Edward. And that view is just...wow."

He chuckled a bit. "That's why I choose this room. For the view."

I smiled at him, and wandered further into the room, going over to the shelves and running my fingers lightly along the CD cases. "You have so many CD's."

He shrugged. "I like music."

Like? I smiled. "How is it arranged? By your favorites? Or...?"

His eyebrows raised at my question, and then he shrugged. "No order, really. Favorites, I guess. The ones on the higher shelves is stuff I rarely listen too."

I nodded, turning away from the shelves to smile at him.

"Come with me, there's something else I want to show you," he said, reaching out of my hand again and leading me back down the stairs. He lead me into a room that was probably best described as a family room, though it was way more elaborate than any family room I had ever seen before. The room was light and airy, like the rest of the house, but what caught my attention the most was the baby grand piano, which was set up with place of honor, stealing all the attention.

He let go over my hand, walking over to the piano and sitting down. He ran his fingers over the keys for a minute, and then started playing something. I recognized the piece vaguely, but enough to remember the name of it. It was beautiful though. Edward played...he was amazing.

He played that for a few minutes and then shifted into another piece. He looked up at me, smiling that crooked smile. "I put this together over the last few weeks, actually. I wrote it for you."

---
EPOV.

She stared at me, open mouthed, as I started to play her song. I liked this piece more than anything I had ever done before. It was slow and haunting in the beginning, and slowly built into so much more. I knew it well, I had played it over and over again the last few days. It was the only thing I could focus on to play when I sat down at my piano. Because all I thought about was her.

She was watching me play, memorized, her breathing heavy. She looked like she was about to say something, then thought better of it, not wanting to interrupt the music. I continued to play, humming along gently to the music, until I had played the final notes and turned to see her reaction.

"You...wrote that...for me?" she asked, her brown eyes widening in amazement.

I nodded. "Yes, I did. Did you like it?"

"Like it...? Edward, that was the most amazing I have ever heard in my entire life. And you wrote that? For me?"

I chuckled a bit. "I'm glad you liked it, Bella." I motioned for her to come over to me, and she sat down at the bench beside me, sliding close to me.

"That was amazing, Edward. Thank you," she breathed. I crushed my lips to hers, wrapping my arms around her waist. Her hands moved up to twist in my hair as her lips moved with mine. I pulled her roughly to me, wanting her closer.

Someone cleared their throat in the doorway, and Bella sprang away from me, sitting up and fixing the hem of her shirt and fix her hair quickly.

It was Mom standing in the doorway. She had probably come to find us to tell us dinner was ready. She was watching us with amused smiles. "You must be Bella."

Bella blushed a deep red. "Er, yes, I am."

"I'm Esme, Edward's mother. It's nice to meet you, dear."

"It's nice to meet you too, Mrs. Cullen."

She laughed. "None of that, dear. You can call me Esme."

"Yes, Esme," Bella amended.

"Well, dinner is ready, and everyone is waiting for us..." she trailed off, and I nodded, standing up. I grabbed Bella's hand, and we followed Mom into the dinning room. I had hoped we would just eat at the table in the kitchen, but of course she wanted to use the dinning room. I frowned as I glanced around the overly done room. Bella seemed a bit overwhelmed by the house, and I hadn't to make her feel that way anymore than necessary. She seemed okay in here, though.

Carlisle came into the room, his eyes running over both Bella and Rosalie.

"Bella, this is my father, Carlisle. Carlisle, this is Bella Swan," I introduced.

He came over and held his hand out to her. "It's nice to meet you, Bella."

"You too, Mr. Cullen," she replied politely, smiling tentatively at him.

He didn't correct her to call him Carlisle, and he smiled briefly before moving over to say hello to Rosalie. When he was done being introduced-even though he had met her before at various parties-and he sat down, I sat down next to Bella, across from Rosalie and Emmett.

It was a simple dinner, and for that I was grateful. We all started to eat in an awkward silence.

"So, what is it that you do, Bella?" Mom asked.

Bella swallowed. "I work at for a newspaper. The same as Rosalie, actually. I do current news, though."

Mom nodded. "I"ve probably read your articles before," she smiled.

Bella smiled back.

"Where are you from?" Carlisle asked.

"Both Rose and I are from a small town in southern New York. Our families still live there, but we moved here after college."

"Oh, so you guys have known each other for a while?" Mom asked.

Rose nodded, and smiled. "Our entire lives. Bella's more like a sister than just a friend," she explained, and Bella smiled back at her.

Mom smiled. "That's nice."

The rest of dinner went smoothly. My parents asked more questions about Rosalie and Bella's childhood, and about their jobs. My parents seemed happy with their answers, and Bella even started looking sort of comfortable. But then again, maybe that was just the wine.

We stayed for desert, and then since it was late, Emmett and I drove Rosalie and Bella back to their apartment.

"I hope that wasn't too bad," I said, helping Bella out of the car. She stumbled a bit getting out, and I couldn't help but smile. My beautiful clumsy girl.

"Oh, no, it wasn't too bad," she smiled at me, as I helped her regain her balance. "As good as meeting the parents can be, right?"

I opened the door to the building for her, following her inside.

"I think they liked me," she said.

"Of course they did, Bella." I couldn't imagine anyone not liking her.

She shrugged, seeming unsure. "Edward, do you think..." she stopped, biting her full bottom lip.

"What?" I asked. We were at her door now, but I wasn't about to let her go in.

"It's nothing," she insisted, shaking her head. "Not important."

I frowned. "It is important. Please, tell me," I pleaded softly.

She frowned. "It's just...do you think money is going to be...important? You're....well, Edward freaking Cullen, and I'm just Bella, and I'm pretty much poor, and always have been, and I'm not sophisticated, or refined, or anything like that, and you are."

I swallowed hard. This is what I had been afraid of. Money hadn't been too much of an issue before. But seeing the house... and my parents. I sighed. "No, Bella, it's not important. Really. I don't care about any of that stuff. I don't want that stuff, I want you."

She stared up at me, her lips twisting up a bit when I said that I wanted her. But she didn't seem reassured. "I know. I know you don't. But what about your parents?"

I frowned, because I honesty couldn't be sure about that. I liked to think my parents didn't care about that. That they could look past money and names and all of that and see that Bella was a wonderful girl, and that I liked her more than any other girl I had ever been with. But they could be shallow. If Bella had just been some girl I was dating...they wouldn't care. But they knew I was serious about her. And I just...didn't know.

"I'm sure they feel the same way I do," I lied, hoping that it was true. "They'll see that you are an amazing girl, and that I'm crazy about you, and that's what's important."

She didn't look certain, but she nodded. Then her face lit up into a lopsided smile. "You're crazy about me, huh?"

I laughed at her, running my fingers down her soft, warm, cheek, as the blood rushed up to her face in a blush. "Silly, beautiful girl," I teased. I leaned close to her, and I could feel her breath on my face. Her brown eyes shut as I got closer to her lips. I crushed my lips to hers, putting my hands around her waist as I sucked on her bottom lip.

Her hands came up to tangle in my hair, as she pressed herself closer to me, her mouth moving against mine. She tasted better than anyone, and I couldn't get enough of her.

Finally we both pulled away, gasping for breath. She smiled at me, her fingers still tangled in my hair. "I should go in," she said, still breathing heavy.

I smirked. "Yeah, probably."

"Call me tomorrow?"

I leaned in for another kiss. "Of course."

She grinned, kissing me quickly. "Goodnight, Edward."

She walked into the apartment, turning to smile at me before shutting the door.

"Night Bella," I murmured as the door shut.