Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. I own a free Ed Hardy tshirt and a bottle of Jose Cuervo.

Chapter Fourteen

BPOV

It had been a week since Edward had so sweetly asked me to be his girlfriend. I had been so surprised, first because this sexy god had to ask like a middle school boy with his first crush, and second because that same sexy god was asking me.

It was wonderful being with Edward. He took the same attention to detail he had in the bedroom into every aspect of his life. I didn't seem him as much as I would like, with his busy hospital schedule, but the time we did have together Edward made sure was special. He took me hiking to a beautiful meadow in the hills outside Seattle, we had dinner at some of the finest five-star restaurants, and of course fucked like there was no tomorrow. Those times were my favorite, especially since I felt so comfortable with Edward in bed.

I've been doing better with having confidence in our relationship all the time, but there were instances where I could feel myself shaking with nerves and fear again.

Like right now, as we drove up to his parents' house for dinner.

Even if I could get over the fact that I was having dinner for the first time with my boyfriend's parents, I would never get past that his parents were the Cullens. Dr. Carlisle Cullen was a medical legend, head of surgery at the same hospital Edward worked at and creator of some very innovative techniques for organ transplants. Esme Cullen was a legend in her own right, on the board of several of Seattle's charitable organizations. I'd met them before, but only as Alice's roommate, and each time I had been stuttering with embarrassment at being in the company of Seattle royalty.

This was sure to be even worse, because now I was dining with them as their son's girlfriend. All the attention would be on me, and I would definitely crack under the pressure.

Edward saw me beginning to hyperventilate and put his hand on my knee. "Don't worry, babe. They're going to love you."

I tried to smile for him, but I'm sure it came across more like a grimace.

He pulled into the long driveway and parked behind a beautiful Mercedes even I could appreciate. He got out and helped me out of my door, and as I got my first look at their… castle, because "house" could never describe it… my mouth dropped open. This place should be on MTV's Cribs! It was a piece of gorgeous architecture, with white columns and large glass windows. Though obviously modern, it blended into the surrounding landscape nicely.

Edward put his hand on the small of my back and led me forward. "Are we allowed to touch the furniture?" I asked.

He chuckled. "Yes, Bella. You know Alice and I grew up here."

"I thought maybe there was a servants' quarters in the back, where they kept you two until you got old enough to appreciate Oriental rugs and Revolutionary War-era end tables."

He laughed again, the sound easing my tension slightly. "We do not have either of those things." He thought for a moment. "Now that I think about it, the dining room table we'll be eating on is a favorite antique of my mother's. I'm not sure when it dates to, though."

"Great!" I exclaimed sarcastically. "Now I can just worry about leaving water rings and stray lettuce on the old table Esme Cullen loves."

He stopped before we knocked on the door. "Bella, don't think of them that way. These people are simply the parents of your boyfriend who you've already met before anyway." He leaned down to kiss my forehead before knocking gently, keeping his other arm around my waist.

The door opened, and I felt Edward stiffen beside me. I looked at who had answered the door, and my heart sank. This wasn't Esme Cullen.

This was a goddess, a modern-day Helen of Troy with waves of cascading strawberry blonde hair and a body built for sin. Her curves should have danger signs attached, though where they would fit on her impossibly tiny dress I had no idea. Her face would have made Botticelli cry with the futility of recreating it.

"Edward!" the strange woman enthused, and reached out to give him a very big hug. With lots of hands and rubbing. Well, isn't this awkward, I thought, as I was unceremoniously pushed aside for her to lead Edward in. She obviously knew him well.

He pulled himself from her grip and reached back to get me, an apologetic smile on his beautiful face. "Tanya, this is my girlfriend Bella."

She looked blankly at me. "Girlfriend?"

He sighed. "Yes, girlfriend," he said firmly, taking my hand and pulling me right up next to him. I tried to smile at her, but I could only feel dread in my stomach. Who was she?

Our little tête-à-tête in the foyer was interrupted by a musical voice. "Edward!" This time it was only Esme, though any relaxation I had forced myself into was long gone. This night was going to be utter hell.

She kissed him on both cheeks and then turned to me. "Bella, so nice to see you again," she said politely, though I could see curiosity burning in her eyes. She must be wondering what her god-like son was doing cavorting with the mortals.

"Yes, thank you for having me in your home," I replied. "It's so beautiful."

She smiled. "Thank you. I've put a lot of work in over the years."

"Yes, you have!" Tanya cut in. "I remember when I was here last, the garden was a dreadful mess. Edward and I could barely walk through it!" She laughed. I glared. Whoever she was, she used to be something to Edward, and I didn't like it.

Edward cleared his throat while Esme had the grace to look uncomfortable. "I didn't know Tanya was going to be here," he said to his mother.

"Oh, there was a horrible fire at my apartment in town!" Tanya told him. I had yet to be acknowledged. "Everything I had went up in smoke. Your parents were kind enough to offer me a room here until I find a new place and get some furniture together."

Edward looked at his mother, seeming as though he were trying to communicate through his eyes. "I'm sorry to hear about your apartment," he said finally.

"I'm not sad about that place, it was a dump! I'm more upset about all the personal stuff I lost, like my clothes and shoes and movies."

"You can replace all that," Esme said. "You're lucky you weren't there when the fire happened. You can't be replaced." She smiled at her, a mother's smile. Esme had always been very loving.

Tanya came over to Edward and put her hand on his free arm. "I can't replace all of it," she said to Esme. "Like all the pretty notes Edward used to write me. Or our lovely engagement pictures."

All of a sudden the room seemed hazy. Engagement pictures? Love notes? I was about to hyperventilate again.

Edward turned to me. "Tanya and I used to be engaged," he said quietly. "It's been over for awhile."

I couldn't look in his eyes, though I could feel his on me. How could he have meant all those beautiful things he said to me, when he used to be engaged to a goddess? There was no way I could even begin to compete. I suddenly had a vision of the rest of the night: me, crying silent tears, as Edward, Tanya, and his parents laughed me out of their house for even beginning to think I was good enough to date him. My heart sank even further.

Before I had to say anything, however, I heard Dr. Cullen come into the room. "Edward, Bella!" he said. "It's so nice to see you both." He came over and hugged his son and smiled at me.

"V-very good to see you, too, Dr. Cullen," I stammered out. How was I going to make it through this dinner? I couldn't even leave, Edward had driven us.

"It's Carlisle, Bella," he said kindly. "And I believe dinner is ready," he added, gesturing for us to proceed into the dining room.

I tried to follow, still working out how to get the hell out of Dodge, when Edward tugged me back. He waited until everyone else had left the foyer before speaking. "Bella, look at me." I continued to stare at the ground. He sighed and put a finger under my chin to lift it, forcing me to look at him.

"Bella, I promise I had no idea she would be here," he began. "If I had, I would have asked my parents to get rid of her for the night. I can't believe she's back here after all this time," he said to himself.

"It's okay, Edward," I found myself saying. It's not okay! "I'll just call Alice and have her come get me. I'm sure you guys have lots to catch up on." This was heartbreaking- we were over before we barely began.

He laughed, causing me to look at him again. "Bella, don't be absurd. I don't want to catch up with her! She's been out of my life for years now."

"But you were engaged to her?"

"Tanya was my college sweetheart. We were graduating when I decided I should propose before I had to leave for medical school. It was a very short engagement, because when I sat down and really thought about it I realized she wasn't the woman I wanted to spend forever with. To be honest, I'm surprised we lasted as long as we did. I think we held on mostly for sentimental reasons," he assured me, rubbing his hands up and down my arms.

"But she's so beautiful," I mumbled, still unconvinced Edward could go from someone like her to someone like me.

"Bella, she doesn't even hold a candle to you," he swore. I heard the conviction in his voice, and it warmed me a little.

"Obviously she hasn't gotten over it," I told him. What an understatement- ever since we'd walked through the door, she'd been on him like white on rice!

"That doesn't matter. I'm here with you, Bella. I'm introducing my girlfriend to my parents, and an old family friend just happens to be here too," he said, gazing at me intently. I couldn't say no to those piercing green eyes of his, and he knew it.

"Alright," I sighed. He smiled his crooked smile and kissed me, sealing the deal. There was no way I was leaving now.

He grabbed my hand and led me into the dining room.

"I was beginning to think you'd forgotten the way!" Tanya said, laughing. "Come sit by me, Edward," she added, pointing to the empty chair next to her.

He led me to the other side of the table, where there were two empty chairs, and pulled one out for me. Then he sat next to me and reached for my hand, keeping it on the table as if to give a physical reminder of our relationship.

"So, Bella, how's school?" Esme asked, obviously trying to relieve some tension.

Tanya snorted indelicately. "Trolling among the undergraduates, Edward?"

I was going to ignore her, but Edward jumped to my defense. "Actually, Tanya, Bella is a high school English teacher. And she is still taking classes to get her Master's, but she can only go at night, so it's taking longer than it should."

"It's good, Esme," I continued. "We're doing a Romance Unit right now, and it's encouraging because even some of the boys are really getting into the unit project. I've seen some nice poetry from them, which I assured them would do well with the ladies."

Esme laughed. "I bet you're a great teacher."

"She is," Edward said. I smiled at him, touched by his encouragement.

We dug into the food then, and I complimented Esme on the delicious stuffed chicken she'd made for us. We stuck to polite conversation, with Edward and Carlisle sharing stories about the hospital and me telling amusing stories from my school, while Tanya stewed in silence, barely contributing. We got all the way to dessert before she cut in.

"So, Bella, how long have you and Edward been together?"

I swallowed my bite of pie, unsure how to answer. We'd first had sex over a month ago, but we'd only really been together for a week. For me, though, we might as well have been together that entire month for how much attention I paid other guys, even Jacob, who was nice enough to take me out a couple of times while I daydreamed about Edward the whole time. I finally said, "About a week."

"And you're already introducing her to the parents?" Tanya asked Edward. "That's a little serious, don't you think?"

"I'm pretty serious about Bella." He looked at me and winked before continuing. "I feel like I've known her for more like a month than a week."

I choked back a laugh and Esme looked at me curiously.

"Well, I've always known Bella was a sweet girl," Carlisle said. "I'm sorry to say I don't know you better, considering how long you lived with Alice."

"Well, I was pretty shy," I said.

"It seems Edward isn't the only one changed by your relationship," Esme said cryptically.

"I'll say," Tanya snorted. "I don't think Edward's actually called a girl his girlfriend since me, and that was six years ago." Her gaze turned to me, and it was anything but friendly. "And he's been with plenty of girls."

"Tanya," Edward growled warningly.

"What, Edward?" Tanya tried to look innocent. "There's a reason you've been named Seattle's number one bachelor in the society pages for three years straight even though you were technically living on the east coast. You managed to cut quiet a swath here."

I tried to hide a confused frown. I hadn't fooled myself into thinking Edward was an innocent… obviously not, considering everything he did to you that night… but I didn't realize I was dating such a hot commodity. Who had evidently gotten around.

"Tanya, why don't you help me gather the dirty plates?" Esme asked, standing. God bless that woman's social graces.

Tanya stood, huffing, and grabbed a few plates before following Esme into the kitchen. Carlisle was shaking his head at the table, and Edward's grip on my hand tightened.

"Don't listen to her," he whispered anxiously. "She's just trying to jab at me."

I nodded, not knowing what to say. How do you ask your boyfriend if he was a man whore?

Does it really matter if he was? my internal voice asked. He's obviously not now.

So you think, the devil's advocate inside me said.

After Esme and Tanya returned, we all trooped to the foyer to say goodbye. I thanked Carlisle and Esme for a nice time and they invited me back anytime. I completely ignored Tanya, which was moot because she was only staring broodingly at Edward.

He helped me into the Volvo, and I still didn't know what to think. So much had happened tonight, none of which I had expected.

"Bella?" Edward asked after we pulled away.

"Yeah?"

"What are you thinking? You being so quiet is driving me crazy."

I shook my head. "I honestly don't know what to think. It's not every day you find out your boyfriend is Seattle's number one bachelor."

He laughed half-heartedly. "That title is a joke."

"Obviously not to all the women who chase you." I couldn't quite cut the bitterness out of my tone.

"Bella, Tanya was only trying to hurt me by hurting you. She has no idea what I'm like now, we haven't spoken in years."

"So you haven't dated that many women?"

He paused. Uh oh.

"How many is 'that many?'"

Bigger uh oh.

"I don't know, Edward, I'm not good with these things. I've dated four guys since college, none of them very serious. How does your number compare?"

He was quiet for a moment. "It's a little higher than yours."

"How much higher?"

He pulled up in my driveway and turned off the car. He stared at the steering wheel before looking at me with pain in his eyes. "To be completely honest, Bella, I don't know the number."

"It's that high?"

He shook his head sadly. "I never really 'dated,' Bella. I had dates here and there, but rarely more than two or three with any single woman. No one held my interest."

I took that in. I guess I was lucky for getting a whole week. I even got a title. Besides, what he did before didn't matter. He was with me now, and committed to us.

I think.

"Please, Bella, don't hold that against me. I swear I'm different now."

I looked at him then, the urgency in his voice moving me. "Edward, you told me that my crippling shyness didn't bother you. I'd be awful hypocritical if I let your past get to me."

He grabbed my hands and kissed them. "Thank you."

"As long as you aren't kissing anybody but me," I warned, half serious.

He grinned. "I wouldn't dream of it."

Then we went inside and Edward demonstrated just how much he liked kissing only me.

AN: I know this is a little long, but there was a lot of information for me to cover in this chapter. We're just past halfway done with the story. Thanks for reading and review if you please! :)