A/N: All characters are the property of Stephenie Meyer. No disrespect or copyright infringement is intended.
Family
I rubbed my hair with the towel, leaving it tousled to dry. I pulled on the ivory sweater with khakis; they seemed to lend a downy pliancy to my marble hardness, which was exactly the effect I wanted to present to Bella. I wanted her to know how my life was changed by her, even if my skin would never change.
I still had a few hours before I returned to Bella's room. The insistent tune growing in my head demanded a outlet, so I went downstairs to the piano. No sooner had I taken a seat than I heard Alice thinking about Bella.
Alice had seen Bella coming long before I did. When I'd seen the vision of Bella, I'd felt an odd fascination with her image and her words, but it wasn't until I'd sat next to her that I'd known the siren call of her blood, the obsessive draw of her blushes, and the fever emanating from her skin. Alice had seen my life and body intertwined with Bella's and the blossoming of our love that engendered the friendship between Bella and Alice. My growing love for Bella wasn't happening as quickly as Alice would have liked.
Alice was thinking about music, time with Bella and I together, and Jasper's control over his bloodlust as she approached the grand. I know you love Years of Pilgrimage. It's playing tomorrow in Port Angeles. Jasper has agreed to go with us and the box you like was available. You need to tell Bella. The hall filled with a rapt audience, all focused on a solitary figure at the piano pouring over the ivories occupied only half of Alice's thoughts. The other half was occupied with the warmth sleeting off Bella as she sat between Alice and I, enthralled with the concert. Alice was impatient, ready to set her friendship with Bella in motion.
"What time?" My fingertips lightly brushed the keyboard, whispering an echo of the song in my head.
The concert isn't until 4:00, but she'll come here first to meet the family. She had my immediate attention. I looked up to see her impish grin as she winked at me. It's all right, Edward, she just needs to know what she's getting into.
"Is that a good idea – I mean, so soon?" I trusted Alice's visions, but Bella was human. Surely, she had limits of what she could accept and what she could not.
My head was instantly barraged with images of Bella's interaction with each member of my family. Bella's casual acceptance of each member of my adopted family was nothing less than phenomenal. I would need to steer her away from Emmett's smirking and Rose's open hostility, but other than that, it would be a very pleasant afternoon.
"All right, Alice, I'll tell her tonight," I said, convinced by the veracity of her visions. "Thank you."
"It's my pleasure, Edward," she said, turning away from me and walking slowly towards the stairs. "Besides, if I left it to you, I might not meet her until she was thirty."
"If then," I muttered to myself, returning to the keyboard.
Bella's window stood open wide, though the weather was chill. Seeing the invitation filled me with a nervous excitement and longing that pulled me past the pane to stand inside the window. "Bella," I said softly.
She blinked rapidly, as if she were surprised, even though she had been watching the spot where I now stood.
"Are you all right, Bella?"
"Um, yes, I'm fine," she said, recovering herself a bit. "I'm always startled by your speed, I guess."
I shot to the bed to sit next to her, bending to whisper in her ear. "You mean this?"
"Yes," she shivered, closing her eyes. I kissed along her jaw, letting the warmth of her skin burn me. Her scent flooded my senses, and my internal struggle began. I wanted to taste her, to press the pulsating jugular to my lips – just to feel her life beneath me, I told myself – but my need began to mingle with my thirst and I was not sure which would win. I closed my eyes and reluctantly pulled my face away from her.
Her eyes fluttered open and a small pout formed at her lips. "Edward, I love it when you kiss me like that. I wish you didn't have to stop."
"So do I, Bella. You skin is sweeter than words can say," I fumbled. She was so much more than sweet: delectable, luscious, alluring, divine… "I simply must remember where I am when I'm kissing you."
That adorable, heavenly blush returned to her cheeks and she dropped her gaze in embarrassment. I was certain she had no concept of the effect this had on me. My body began an immediate response, and I knew I needed to slow my reactions so that I could do more than simply satisfy our mutual longing in a heated rush. I wanted time with her, devotion filled with hours of worship.
I saw the CD player on the nightstand and used it as my prop for conversation. "Bella, do you like music?" I popped open the machine and extracted the contents.
"Some," she said uncertainly. "It depends on the artist, I suppose."
"For Emma, Forever Ago. Yours?" She nodded. It was an unusual choice for such a young woman. "What do you like about it?"
"I don't know. It seems melancholy to me, sort of forlorn," she answered as if she were thinking aloud. "I don't know what was going on for him when he wrote this, but it sounds to me as if he'd been alone and sick or something." She was so perceptive. "Do you like Bon Iver?"
"I do. I believe when this album was written he was recovering from mononucleosis alone, in a cabin in the woods. I like it for its otherworldly, searching sound," I said. I placed the CD back in the machine and turned on Woods. I leaned close to her and sang "I'm up in the woods, I'm down on my mind…"
She shivered. "Your voice is beautiful."
"Thank you, Bella. Thank you for sharing this with me," I whispered, brushing her hair away from her ear and over her shoulder. She wore a navy strapped tank over her slight frame. The bareness there was nearly impossible to resist. "There are so many voices I'd like to share with you. Do you think you could spend tomorrow with me, so that I could share some of my favorites with you?"
Her heartbeat was wild as she replied. "Sure, Edward, uh, where do you want to go?"
"There's a concert in Port Angeles. I have tickets for you and I, as well as my brother and my sister. And I believe I owe you a trip to the city." I bent forward to kiss her shoulder just as she pulled away.
"Your brother and sister? Are they," she inhaled a deep breath before continuing, "like you?"
I pulled back and looked into her eyes. "You mean, vampires? Yes, all my family are vampires. None of us, however, drink human blood."
"I'm sorry," she sputtered. "I didn't mean –"
"Bella, you don't have to apologize. We are vampires, after all. I would worry if you weren't concerned."
"It's not that, really. I just wanted to be sure they knew I was human. You know, maybe they don't like humans. Maybe they won't like me…"
Incredible. "So, you're not worried that you'll be in a house full of vampires… You're worried whether they'll like you," I said. I was a little stunned, and a surprised chuckle escaped my lips as I shook my head. "You'll be fine. Alice has already decided you two will be the best of friends. Will you accompany me?" I looked into her eyes from below my brows.
"Yes, uh, I mean sure," she answered, shaking her head slightly as if confused. "What should I wear?"
"It's not formal. You could wear your new top, if you'd like. That color of blue is particularly beautiful on you." The pallor of her skin pulled me to her shoulder once again and I closed my eyes, inhaling her. So delicate, so frail… So giving beneath my lips…
Suddenly, Bella wasn't there; she dropped down to the bed away from my embrace. "Bella, what is it?" I became immediately tense and concerned; had I pulled some invisible trigger that had frightened her? Were Alice's images changing? Bella's eyes were far away and unfocused.
"Nothing, it's just…" She turned to me. "Edward are you sure?" Her body was tense and still, and her heart beat shallowly in her chest.
"About you, Bella? Yes. I have never been more sure in my entire existence," I said, trying to understand her concern. "But I sense this isn't about my feelings. Bella, tell me," I lifted her chin to look in her eyes. "Please tell me what's bothering you."
"This," two fingers swung between us, pointing first to herself and then to me. "I know it's new for both of us. Does your family know about, um, us having, uh… sex?"
"Bella," I whispered, trying to soothe her concern, "my family knows I am happier than I've been in over a hundred years. They know there is some physicality to our relationship, but I've not spoken of our intimacy to any of them. That is ours. It's private," I said, leaning in to kiss her. "But I suppose you should know that Alice sees our relationship as a part of our future, and most likely shares that with her husband, Jasper."
"And they're going with us tomorrow?" She seemed to pale and blush simultaneously.
"Yes."
"Okay, good to know. The rest, though," she looked to me for reassurance once again.
"I've consulted with Carlisle to understand the effects the venom would have on certain interactions with you, although I've not elucidated on exactly what's transpired. He may have shared that with his wife."
"Great, so your parents, your sister and her husband know. Great."
"Uh," I stammered, unsure how to break the rest to her.
"There's more?" Her eyes were wide with horror.
"Well, you may have noticed that we have heightened senses," I started. "Emmett and Rosalie sort of, well, smelled you on me the other day."
"When?"
"The day we went shopping."
"Oh." I watched her face as she began to recount the day's activities and put it all together. "Oh!"
"Bella, breathe," I said, listening to her racing heart. "It will be all right. There's no judgment in my family. They're all very happy we're together." Almost all of them, I thought to myself.
She inhaled a sharp, ragged breath, and blew it out. "Okay. At least I know what I'm walking into." She shrugged and snuggled down beneath the covers. "What time tomorrow?"
"I can call for you at noon, if that would be acceptable," I said, stretching out next to her and pulling my arm beneath my head.
"That would be great. Noon. I can tell Charlie…," she trailed off. I waited for the finish to the thought, but her rhythmic breathing told me she'd fallen asleep. I watched her face, amazed at the trust and comfort she had around me to fall asleep before her predator. Her eyelids fluttered as her body shifted and she curled around me laying her head upon my chest.
"Sleep, love. Sleep while I watch over you." I pulled the comforter over her and began humming the insistent melody as she began to dream.
I always wondered how someone who hated being dirty could spend so much time under cars and how Emmett could stand watching her.
"Look, just take it easy on her, that's all I'm asking," I pleaded, listening to his outlandish plans to extort everything I held dear from me in return. Emmett seemed fixated on my box seats for the Seahawks. "You can have the season tickets, Emmett, I don't care."
You are such a wuss, Edward. I would have been cool without them, you know.
"Are you certain? Alice saw it a bit differently," I said.
"Yeah, well, she isn't always right," Emmett muttered under his breath.
"I'm counting on that. Thank you, Emmett," I said, patting him on the shoulder. I turned to face Rose as she slid out from beneath the jeep.
"Is there something I can offer you, Rosalie, anything? I need this to go well for Bella."
"You don't have anything I want," she said. Her thoughts were as cold as the expression on her face. She slid back beneath the car.
"Rose, please. Could you just do it for me, then? I'd owe you one." I didn't like owing Rosalie anything, but I wanted Bella to be safe and comfortable when she came here.
"Don't worry. I won't embarrass her." She immediately began thinking about sex. I couldn't stomach her images and she knew it. It was her way of repulsing me.
"Thank you, Rose," I said, turning away from her before grimacing. I hopped in the Volvo, raced the engine, and sped up the winding road to bring Bella back.
"Bella, this is Esme, my mother, for all intents and purposes," I said as I led Bella into the room.
"Bella, it's so wonderful to meet you," Esme said, leaning forward to embrace her. "Thank you for coming."
"Thank you for… having me," she said. Her heart was thumping in her chest, although I'd assured her all the way here that she would be very welcome.
"You remember my father, Carlisle," I said as Carlisle stepped up behind Esme.
"Yes, I do. It's good to see you again, Dr. Cullen," Bella replied.
"Please call me Carlisle, Bella."
"Uh, okay, I mean, thank you," she said, unsure of how to respond to the informality.
"Do you remember Rosalie and Emmett from school?"
"Yes. I saw you at the cafeteria. It's nice to meet you," Bella said, getting a hold of her nervousness.
Emmett smiled. "We've heard a lot about you," he said without the faintest hint of leering. We've gotten quite a whiff of you, too, and you do smell good. "Edward was telling me about you at the last Seahawks game." Last one you'll see for a while, bro.
I put my arm around Bella, hoping to pull her away to my room.
Edward. Rosalie thought my name in a very deliberate manner, trying to get my attention. I turned to face her, and saw she stood at Emmett's side, his arm around her. If you tell Emmett, Bella will regret it.
My expression must have conveyed my confusion. A small smirk lifted the corners of her mouth and her mind exploded.
Rosalie stood in the center of the room, her hands tied above her and her legs spread below. Her perfect legs balanced on black heels, her body forming a perfect, naked X. Hands came from behind her, slowly appearing up her sides to cup then knead her breasts. Emmett's legs appeared behind her, also naked. He pulled her close to his body and Rosalie moaned.
I felt desperate to get away, but Emmett was chatting up Bella. "Yeah, Edward's the musician of the family, but I'm the sports nut…" Rosalie's sex fantasies were always graphic and sickening. I tried to keep the revulsion off my face and the tension out of my grip; I needed this to go well for Bella. I looked at Rosalie, begging her with my eyes to stop. Her innocent smile grew as she glanced at Emmett. She turned back to me.
Emmett was fully erect and pummeling Rosalie from behind. His face was lost in pleasure as his shaft sawed in and out, lifting Rosalie off her feet. I didn't want to see this, but Rosalie was shouting at me in her thoughts. I swallowed hard. Bella looked up at me for reassurance; I tried to smile. The picture shifted and I could no longer see the front of Rosalie's body; in her mind, I saw my face, grunting and panting as I forced myself into her anxious body. Emmett still stood behind her, his face lustful and raw. He bit at her ear as he smiled at me. I was sure I was going to be ill. Rosalie simply let her smile grow. I could feel Emmett's cock sliding against mine as we both fucked Rosalie, tied and unable to resist. I leaned down and licked her nipple, nibbling and biting as we continued to pump her.
Emmett's story was coming to an end and I had never wanted to run away as badly as I did that moment. I was furious with Rose and yet completely unable to do anything about it. I felt Emmett's marble length slide against my own through Rosalie's membrane. Emmett and I both began to come, pumping Rosalie harder. She cried out as we came, and I saw Emmett's mouth moving toward mine…
Don't ever tell me that "you'll owe me one", Edward. Ever. Next time you want something from me, Edward, you better offer me something I want.
I nodded quickly, turning Bella away as Jasper and Alice came into the room. Alice danced up to Bella. "Hi, Bella! I'm so happy to meet you! We're going to be great friends." She quickly embraced her and turned to me. "It's time!" Just ignore Rosalie, Edward. I always do.
"We'd better go," I said, moving Bella quickly out of the house. "We can finish introductions in the car."
A/N: Just to clear a few fuzzy points: Rosalie's fantasy was simply to torment Edward when he could take no action. She used what she knew he hates the most - her mental images. Emmett was blithely unaware of Edward's torture by Rosalie's thoughts; Alice saw what Rosalie would do, but not in enough time to warn Edward.
