Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight.

Thanks to MeteorOnAMoonlessNight for being my beta and Sara aka Nikki Black and Sukiethree for pre-reading!

oOo

"Bella?" I heard Edward call me from his office.

"Yes, Edward?" I asked as I entered his office, preparing myself for whatever insane tasks he had for me now.

"Could you take a seat? I need to talk to you about something non-work-related." He sounded nervous.

"Okay, is something wrong?" I asked in concern.

"Not exactly wrong. It's just that my parents are visiting for Thanksgiving and I may have told my mother that you're my girlfriend," he said sheepishly.

"Okay, that's not a huge deal. I mean we are dating, so—"

"I may have told her that we're living together and that it's quite serious between us," he said quickly.

"Oh. Can I at least ask why you'd tell her that, and just how long they're staying?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

"You've met Alice! Imagine someone almost double, no, triple as intrusive as Alice. And then she started in on how she was worried for me, and that I needed companionship and to not work so much, and that Katie needed a good female influence, and I just kind of... snapped." He ran a hand over his face.

"I see. You didn't answer my other question."

"I know." He sighed.

"Well?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, uh, two weeks," he said so quietly I almost couldn't hear him.

"Two weeks!" I exclaimed, then took a deep breath and asked, "Okay, well, what does it mean to be in a serious relationship with Edward Cullen, as opposed to just dating him?"

"Well, the main thing is, you'd be staying in my—our—room. I can sleep on the couch in there if it makes you uncomfortable. I'm sorry for roping you into this, I can call her back and—"

"It's fine. We're both adults, I think we can share a bed. When are they going to be here?"

"Tomorrow," he said quietly, avoiding my eyes.

It seemed that there was someone aside from Katie who had Edward Cullen wrapped around her finger: his mother.

oOo

"Well, that seems to be everything," I said as I walked out of Edward's enormous walk-in closet. I had just moved all of my belongings out of the guest room I'd been staying in and into Edward's. He had more suits, day clothes, and shoes than any other man I had ever met.

I was honestly feeling a little unsure about this whole thing. I knew basic information about Edward and we had shared a few heated kisses, which all seemed normal for having just started dating, but now we were going be throwing ourselves into a quasi-serious relationship. I was hoping that this would have a positive effect on our relationship and not a negative one.

"That didn't take very long. Is this really all you have?" he asked, concern written on his face.

I shrugged. "This is it. Everything else that wasn't clothing or essentials is in a storage unit now, thanks to Alec getting my things from Jake. My clothing is limited since Alice dresses me every week and I return the clothes I wore the week before to the closet at work."

"You return them?" He narrowed his eyes at me for a moment before softening them. "Why are you returning them? If you want them, they're yours, Bella."

"Do you know how much those clothes cost? I can't keep them, Edward! What do I need a five thousand dollar skirt for?" I asked, gesturing at the skirt I had on.

"Well, this may seem a little forward, but for one thing, it makes your ass look amazing." He grinned.

"Edward! That may be so"— I smirked—"but there's still no reason to keep it. I'm going to get changed for bed," I said as I grabbed my pajamas and headed into the bathroom.

If I thought the bathroom attached to the guest room was extravagant, I was extremely wrong. I walked over to the bathtub and ran my hand over the smooth porcelain. It could fit at least three people, and I could just imagine taking a long soak with a good book. But then there was the shower; it was huge, and there were jets that could hit you from all different angles. That could be... fun. I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts as visions of Edward and myself in the shower filled my head. I quickly changed into my pajamas and headed back out into the bedroom.

As I climbed into Edward's oversized bed and lay down beside him, I realized it really wasn't as odd or uncomfortable as I'd imagined.

"Edward?" I said, getting his attention. He was sitting up in bed, his laptop open.

"What do you need, Bella?" He glanced over at me.

"Well, I'm meeting your parents tomorrow. Is there anything I should know about them?"

He gave a small chuckle, closing his laptop. "Right. My parents. Did I ever tell you that I grew up in a small town in Washington state?"

"No, I didn't know that," I said, sitting up a bit more with him.

"I grew up in a town called Forks. It has a little over 3,000 people. My parents still live there. They'd still be in the house Alice and I grew up in if I hadn't insisted on buying them a new home. My father is a veterinarian and close to retiring; my mother was a high school teacher for many years."

I stared at him. A veterinarian and a high school teacher? I expected his father to be a surgeon or something much more extravagant and his mother to be off planning dinner parties.

"How did you end up where you are?" I asked.

"A lot of hard work. I never slacked off in school. I was the valedictorian, you know," he said with a grin. "I always loved fashion; it's like art to me. Some people see beauty in photography or in paintings; I see beauty in the textures and patterns of fabrics, the intricate stitching, those things." He shrugged. "Anyway, I applied and received a full scholarship to FITNYC, and I eventually took a part-time position at Nordstrom as a salesperson—to cover living expenses that my parents couldn't—and eventually made my way up to a stylist. About a year before I graduated, one of the stylists from Soigné called and needed help with a few pieces and they sent me to them. A few weeks later, the fashion director from the magazine called and offered me a position. I just continued to climb the ladder from there."

"Wow. Your parents must be really proud of you."

He reached over and laced his fingers with mine. "They tell me they are. Which really is all that matters to me; that they, Katie, and, well, now you, are proud of who I am."

"Well, aside from how demanding you are at work, I'd say I'm proud to be your girlfriend." I smirked.

"Hmm, I really like the sound of that. My girlfriend," he said with a smile.

"Yeah?" I said quietly.

"Yeah. Can I kiss you?"

"Oh, you're actually asking this time?" I teased.

"I am," he said as he glanced down at my lips.

"Of course you can," I said as he pulled me close to him, tilting my face up to his as he pressed his lips against mine and kissed me deeply. I moaned softly, threading my fingers through his hair as he slipped his tongue past my lips, curling and stroking it against mine.

He laid me back slowly, hovering above me and never breaking our kiss. I wrapped one of my legs around his waist. From that position, I could feel every inch of his hard cock straining against the thin cotton of his pajama pants. He groaned, grinding himself against me, his lips suddenly leaving mine. "We have to stop. The things I want to do with you, Bella—"

"You're not the only one who wants those things—" I sucked in a deep breath as he pressed himself against me.

"As much as I want to Bella, and fuck, I really, really want to... we can't, not just yet." He pushed out a deep breath.

I groaned, feeling the loss as he rolled off of me. I knew he was right; there was still so much we didn't know about each other, and it would just complicate things further. That being said, it didn't mean that I didn't want to rip his clothes off and mount him.

"No, you're right." I sighed heavily.

"Come here," he said as he held his arms open and I curled up against him. After basically dry humping, being wrapped up in his arms was almost just as good.

Almost.