A/N: Glad you all found the Charlie encounter to be interesting :)

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Chapter 20

Bella

The rest of the dinner, thankfully, began to progress nicely after the Clearwaters had arrived, easing a great deal of tension that had been present before. With Seth's joke-cracking, and Jacob's easygoing demeanor around me, I truly felt like things were slowly beginning to go back to how they'd been before Jacob and I had started dating.

And of course, Leah's eyes remained glued to Jacob throughout the entire night, and unsurprisingly, he seemed to be enjoying the attention, while my hand remained clasped in Edward's.

Slowly, but surely, after realizing Edward's obvious interest in football and other sports-related things, both Charlie and Billy began including him in their conversations, making my shoulders relax and a few sighs of relief escape my lips.

The thing is, Edward wasn't even faking it for my father, he genuinely enjoyed various sports and – thankfully – shared an allegiance to my father's favorite baseball team.

I noticed it throughout the dinner - the subtle softening of his brown eyes that were slightly darker than mine, as he looked Edward and I over, before glancing over at Jacob and taking note of his amazement that Leah could hold her own in car talk.

It happened while Edward was helping me with the dishes, and Charlie was just shutting the front door after waving goodbye to Billy and Jacob – who had waved goodbye to me and Edward, still a bit awkward with the way things had worked out, but slowly beginning to accept it.

"Listen… Edward," Charlie cleared his throat as I bit my lip, and Edward gave me a wide-eyed look before composing himself and turning around to face my father.

"Sir?" he answered, furrowing his eyebrows, expecting a second wave of the interrogation to occur. I was prepared to pull us both out of the fire if that were to happen, since I'd had just about enough of Charlie's antics for one day.

But deep down, I knew that he wasn't going to intimidate Edward this time.

"I, um. I'm not good at these things, but… you're okay. For Bella. I mean, I approve of whatever you two have going on. With Billy being my good friend and all, we always wanted our kids to stay close to each other, and Jacob's a good boy, so I liked the idea of him being Bella's boyfriend," he really wasn't helping Edward's self-confidence so far, and I hoped to the Lord that this conversation was going to turn around.

And it did: "But it's clear that neither of them truly want to be together, and I shouldn't force it anymore. I shouldn't have forced it in the first place, really. I just want my daughter to be happy, and you do that for her. Plus, you seem like an okay guy personality-wise, so... I'm sorry for everything. You too, Bella. I'm sorry for springing this dinner on you. I guess I got a little wound up."

I blinked several times, trying to make sure that this wasn't all some wonderfully twisted daydream that I was about to wake up from.

One peep at Edward to meet his look of shock was all I needed to know that that hadn't all been my imagination.

Edward shook himself out of his stupor before me, taking a deep breath, before slowly nodding, moving forward, "Thank you, for your approval. And for the apology." My father smiled awkwardly, patting Edward on the shoulder before meeting my eyes, silently wanting to know if he was off the hook now.

I rolled my eyes, smiling, as I walked over and wrapped him in a hug, "Even though you can be a little too much sometimes… I love you, dad."

He embraced me for a few seconds before letting go, and signaling that he was calling it a night.

"So… two parents down, two to go," I smirked, as Edward tugged on my wrist, pulling me against him with a smile.

"Well, if it's any consolation, you don't have to worry about my parents interrogating you. I think they're just going to be more thrilled than anything that I've finally found someone I care about."

I swear I melted like butter every time he said stuff like that – he seemed so brutally honest about it, as well.

It got me thinking back to this evening when Jacob had sprung his accusations on me, and Edward had remained rather calm about everything. And even with Charlie, he'd remained nothing but respectful.

"You're pretty incredible. You know that, right?" I smiled, watching as he gave me a look of total surprise.

"No… enlighten me," he chuckled, still holding onto me as I looked down to the tiled floor, before meeting his eyes.

"Things could've gone so much differently. I know you said you wouldn't, but I'm still kind of amazed that the Charlie and Jacob encounters didn't have you running for the hills, because those were both pretty exhausting," I sighed, momentarily reliving the entire experience as Edward's fingers brushed against my cheek.

"Really, Bella. It wasn't anything I couldn't handle. It's going to take a lot to scare me away from you," my cheeks went up in flames and Edward leaned to kiss both of them, that soft smile gracing his lips.

I felt like the moment was as perfect as it could get – to tell him, to get it out into the air - but my throat felt constricted. I was too nervous. I couldn't tell him that I loved him. The possible reactions were making me nauseous.

"So, what are the plans for tomorrow?" he asked, as we returned to packing away the clean dishes.

"I'm not sure yet. We can sleep in, and then, tour around a bit? Forks is pretty dull, and Port Angeles isn't a whole lot better, but we might find more stuff to do there."

We ended up waking up at eleven o'clock on Wednesday morning, spending most of the day at home, relaxing and watching movies, before heading out for some lunch in Port Angeles. We'd ended up using my rusty old red Chevy pick-up, which Edward was shocked could even still turn on.

And besides that, I was pretty relieved that we didn't have any more awkward run-ins with classmates from high school, or anything of that sort, though I didn't expect Edward to really pay a lot of them any heed.

Bright and early on Thursday morning, Charlie, Edward and I piled into the police cruiser, on our way to the airport an hour away.

The flight time to Chicago wasn't too ridiculous – it was about four and a half hours – so by the time we got into the state, it would be around one o'clock in the afternoon.

Goodbyes with Charlie were never overly emotional, unlike my mother, who was practically weeping when Edward and I had left for Forks.

"I'll see you for summer, alright?" I reassured him, as he cracked a small smile, nodding his head.

"Edward?" Charlie called after us, right when we'd begun to make our way through security.

"You're a good man. Take care of her," he wasn't threatening, but more insistent that Edward followed his orders. And I was grateful that he'd loosened up around my boyfriend, seeing as I didn't plan on letting Edward go for a very long time – not ever, if that was in the cards.

"I will. I promise," Edward turned to me, with a look on his face that said he was being completely honest, wanting nothing more than to make sure I was always happy, and safe.

I waved goodbye to Charlie, threading my fingers through Edward's as he pulled me forward to the last meeting we'd be making for this trip.

Edward's mother insisted that I refer to her as Esme, buzzing around the two of us as she offered her hand in carrying some of our luggage.

I laughed, "Esme, really, I can handle this."

Her eyes softened and she stopped in her movement to look over at me, "Are you sure, dear? I feel useless. Let me at least carry your hand luggage."

Edward just continued to grin away at his mother's antics as I relented, finding some comfort in the fact that my hand luggage barely weighed a thing.

"Your father is on call for the majority of the afternoon, but he'll be home in time for dinner. What are you two feeling to eat?" she smiled politely, her caramel hair blowing in the wind like something out of a shampoo commercial.

Edward had gotten his eyes from her, though his were a darker, more intense green.

He had mentioned that her field of work was interior design, so when we pulled up to their three-story mansion after driving through a more secluded section of town, I wasn't too taken aback by the home décor assaulting my vision.

"Your house is beautiful," I whispered, meaning for only Edward to hear, but smiling a little when Esme threw back a "Thank you!" from inside of the kitchen.

"How does chicken and sweet potato curry sound?" his mother began scouring through the refrigerator as Edward glanced over at me, shrugging.

I gave an eager nod, as he chuckled, "Sounds amazing, mom."

"Alright, well I'll whip up something for you to eat in the meantime, and then I'll head over to the grocery," she beamed at the two of us, as Edward's hand slipped around my waist.

She eyed the gesture, looking like she was holding back a smile, fixing her green eyes on me as I blushed.

"Bella, do you have any food allergies, or any particulars?" she waited for my response of a simple headshake, and a "No, I'm not really picky when it comes to food" before digging through the pantry.

I just continued to watch her movements in amazement, finding it strangely delightful how she seemed to be the picture perfect image of a mother. It was foreign to me seeing someone besides me working in the kitchen with such ease.

"I'm going to load our stuff upstairs. Do you wanna come?" Edward's emerald orbs gazed into my eyes, and rather than follow him around, I decided to continue watching the cooking show happening in front of me.

"I'm alright," I allowed him to pull away from me, before turning to him again, "Unless you want my help?"

I was met with his dazzling crooked grin, "No, Bella. I'll be fine."

His lips touched my cheek as he left the room, and my eyes followed him, before refocusing my attention on Esme.

She had paused in her movements of dicing the carrots, her eyes drifting from the door to me.

Her smile resembled one of Alice's teasing ones that she saved for whenever I got all googly-eyed over Edward, not even realizing that I was practically drooling all over him.

"I'm not going to lie. I was a bit wary when Edward told his father and me that he'd met someone. I'm sure you know that he hasn't had many before you – actually, he hasn't had any interests before you… Anything serious, anyway. I've never met any of his dates, so when he said that he wanted us to meet you, I knew that you were different," Esme shook her head, biting the inside of her cheek.

"And I was right. You're the girl I told him to wait for," she sighed as I inhaled sharply.

"You seem like a wonderful person, Bella. I'm happy my son has found you," her words rang out with clarity, completely genuine, matching the smile on her face.

I was having a hard time remembering how to use my mouth and form words.

"Thank you" seemed completely insufficient for what she'd just told me, but unfortunately, it was all I had.

"That means… a lot to me, coming from you. I'm the happiest I've ever been in my life since meeting him," she didn't seem surprised by my words – as if she'd already figured my feelings out. I looked from the counter to Esme's actions of cutting up the broccoli, and I did a mental face palm.

"I'm sorry, do you want some help?" regardless of her insistence that I sit down and relax after the flight, I went over to help her finish the vegetables and the pasta sauce, as she began to wipe her hands against the striped apron.

"Thank you, Bella. You really didn't have to," Esme took a seat next to me, gently touching my forearm, again projecting me to some weird visions I'd had as a child of what a mother is supposed to be like.

Not that I didn't love my mother – because I do. She just… wasn't much of a mother to me. The age difference had always made it feel as though she was more of an older sister.

"I can see the way he looks at you, and I see the way you look at him. That's all I've ever wanted, Bella. For him to find someone who cares about him as much as he cares about them," we both heard the footsteps on the wooden staircase, and Esme quickly stood up, beginning to offer me something to drink.

"Sorry I took so long. I ended up getting a call from Emmett, and he just talked my ear off," Edward rolled his eyes, seeming annoyed, though I could tell that he was happy to have heard from his best friend.

"What's cookin'?" he wondered aloud, peeking through the dishes on the stove as his mother swatted his hand away.

"Vegetable alfredo. It'll be finished in a minute," she busied herself by grabbing the plates and setting each of them down on the marble counter. Then, precisely one minute later, she began turning off the stove, placing spoons into each of the dishes as she allowed us to have our meal.

Both Edward and I had been starving from the flight, but we'd hidden it pretty well, until catching a whiff of Esme's cooking and practically stuffing our faces.

Her only response was a cocked eyebrow and an amused smile, before she grabbed her keys, deciding that she had better run off to the store to get the rest of the ingredients for the curry.

One vegetable alfredo later and I was washing the deliciousness down with a glass of water, while Edward began to work on finishing his second plate.

"Your mom is so sweet," I took a deep breath, and Edward's lips twitched.

"What were you guys talking about? You know… before I came down," Edward's eyes twinkled with entertainment as I squirmed.

"Nothing," I shrugged, looking away, trying to act casual. But I knew I had failed, even before Edward began laughing.

"You're lying."

Rather than dwell on this subject, I cleared my throat, looking at Edward's empty plate, "Are you finished with that?" He licked his lips before tucking his bottom lip in between his teeth, hesitating to hand it over to me. Eventually he did, following me to the sink.

"You do realize you're going to tell me. Sooner or later," Edward wrapped his arms around my waist, shifting my shirt up so that his hands grazed my skin, moving higher and higher up my torso. He was pretty lucky I'd already placed the dishes down, or else something might've slipped out of my hand.

"You just enjoy torturing me, don't you?" I said shakily, amidst feeling his lips press against my neck.

"A little."

I cracked.

"So, where exactly..." the question died on my lips as Edward pulled me into a room resembling a library, with shelves upon shelves of books, CDs, records – you name it.

Right in the centre of the room, much in contrast to everything else, sat a sleek, black grand piano. Edward guided me to the seat, where he plopped down, and patted the space beside him for me to sit.

I vividly remembered one of the first conversations we'd shared, when he'd told me about his connection to music, and how he spent much of his spare time composing.

Sliding the protective cloth off, he placed his hands on the keys, eyes focused on the sheet music in front of him as he began to press down. I found myself dazed at how smoothly his fingers seemed to move across the notes, as if this was second nature to him – which I guess it was.

"I missed this," he stated, referring to the instrument, "That was the main downside about leaving for university. Leaving this behind."

I couldn't hide my smile, completely loving the way he spoke about his piano – with such reverence.

"Alright, Beethoven. Play me something else, then," I encouraged him, earning a shake of the head and a slow grin.

He shuffled around the papers, before freezing in his movements, setting them down.

"Actually, I want to play you something that I've been working on," he visibly gulped, and I wondered where on earth this nervousness had come from since he seemed to be nothing but comfortable before. I guess it was different playing something you had written, as opposed to something from a book. More pressure.

Tentatively, I placed my hand against his on the keys, seeing his head turn to me, and gaining the perfect opportunity to press my lips against his, "It's just me. You don't need to be nervous."

He sighed against my lips, pulling away, but not altogether right away.

I could feel his eyes burning into mine, and I wondered what that look meant. But before I could even begin to decipher it, he had placed his hands back onto the keys, closing his eyes briefly, humming the opening keys before playing.

And I couldn't stop staring – couldn't get my ears to fully wrap around the beauty of this piece. It wasn't bouncy like the other one; it had more of a flow to it, like water rushing through a river.

The melody was breathtaking, so much so that I felt my breath hitch, and my jaw drop.

I didn't want the song to stop, it was so soothing, peaceful. My eyes shut on their own accord, only opening after the last note hung in the air.

His eyes were fixed on me, seeming to be most interested in my reaction to his piece.

"Could I download that?" I asked, in all seriousness, watching the first signs of Edward's lopsided grin appear.

"You like it?"

"Edward, that was… beautiful. I can't believe you composed that. I'm a bit speechless," I laughed a little, and his lips all of a sudden were pressed against mine, moving slowly against them as if he were trying to savor the moment.

"It's your song," he whispered against my lips, making me retract.

"What?" I was more than a bit breathless, wondering what exactly he meant by 'your song'.

His smile was small, but still dazzling, "You inspired it, Bella. When I met you… when we started going out… I couldn't get this tune out of my head."

If I'd been silent before, I'd gone completely mute now.

I physically had to force myself to snap out of it, still trying to grasp the fact that he had written a song for me.

I traced my fingers along his cheek before pulling his face towards mine, meeting his lips once more in a passionate, over-the-top kiss, that hopefully shared my feelings for him more accurately than words could.

"Bella," Edward managed to breathe out, while we were both still panting away.

"I –"

The sound of a male voice notifying his presence at home caused Edward to stop himself mid-sentence, resembling a dog that'd just been run over.

"Let's go meet my dad."

I was pretty desperate to know what he'd been about to say before the interruption, but I didn't want to press him on the matter, knowing that he'd tell me in time if it was that important.

"Son," a man with white-blonde hair greeted Edward with a big hug, before turning his grey eyes to me.

"It's nice to finally put a face to the name. All I ever hear anymore is Bella, Bella, Bella," his father feigned exhaustion as Edward gave him an unamused look complete with narrowed eyes, and I stifled a giggle.

"I'm sorry about that," I wasn't really sure how I was meant to respond to something like that, but Dr. Cullen seemed appreciative of my effort.

"Don't be. It's refreshing to see him like this," Dr. Cullen shook my hand, a familiar-looking smile on his face – I later realized that Edward had gotten his crooked grin from his father.

"So… dinner? Is it ready, honey?" he called out, hearing his wife's response from the kitchen.

"Patience, darling."

I already loved the two of them.

"So Bella, you're studying sociology, right? Are you enjoying it?" Carlisle asked after digging into the food. I'd made the mistake of referring to Edward's father as Dr. Cullen and he had cringed, shaking his head, "Please, call me Carlisle. There are no titles at home."

"Yes, very much. I think it's the one subject that really holds my interest, so I'm sticking with it. I'm in my second-to-last year," I smiled, seeing him and his wife nod and Edward match my smile.

More conversation ensued, some expected, some completely out of the blue – "Do you like art?"

"Excuse the observation, but you seem very mature for your age," Carlisle began, before pausing and looking around, "I'm not the only one who thinks that, right?"

Both Edward and Esme shook their heads vigorously as my cheeks heated up.

"We mean that as a compliment, I assure you," Esme cleared the air as I laughed easily.

"People have always told me that. I don't know, I guess it's because I had to grow up really quickly with my mom still being a teenager herself. You can't really have two teenagers in a house, right? Someone has to be the adult." Carlisle and Esme both nodded, seeming to understand all too well.

I could feel Edward take my hand in his under the table, and I smiled, "My dad was a little better, but he still has the potential to burn the house down if he tries to cook something."

Everyone laughed deep belly laughs at that, and I could tell that there were parallels between my father and Edward's father in the cooking area since Esme was giving him a pointed look, completely teasing.

The rest of dinner passed by in the same sort of manner. The Cullens continued to ask me about myself, but it didn't feel like an interview, and I was extremely grateful of that fact.

As Esme began to collect the dishes, heading into the kitchen, I stood, deciding to offer her my assistance, which she reluctantly took after some convincing.

The men continued discussing something medical-related as I began scraping off food into the garbage bin, and wiping the washed dishes dry for Esme to pack away.

A couple of minutes later and we had successfully packed the leftover food into some containers, placing them into the fridge.

"Bella, dear, would you mind asking those two if they want some apple pie and ice-cream?"

In the meantime, she began taking the pie out of the freezer and sticking it into the oven, certain that Carlisle would be up for dessert even if Edward wasn't.

I waltzed out of the kitchen, about to round the corner into the dining room, when a few words caught my attention.

"Have you told her as yet?" it was Carlisle asking Edward about something that he had or hadn't told me – I was assuming they were talking about me, but I didn't want to be too egotistical.

I listened in for a bit longer.

"No," Edward sounded defeated, "I tried to, today. But we got interrupted." I could practically hear him shake his head at his father, and I knew for sure that he was referring to the thing that he'd been about to tell me right before dinner.

"It's a great opportunity for you. I'm sure she'll understand. A year apart could even strengthen the relationship, you know? Absence makes the heart grow fonder," Carlisle continued, and my eyebrows wrinkled.

Opportunity. Year apart.

What was he going on about?

"I'm not promising you anything. I'll think about it. And I need to make sure Bella would be okay with it," Edward sighed, and at the mention of my name, I – embarrassingly – jumped, almost knocking over a very expensive-looking vase.

Though nothing had broken, I did end up calling a bit of attention to myself, as Carlisle and Edward shuffled in to see what had happened.

"The vase is okay," I laughed nervously, "I was just coming to tell you both that Esme is making some apple pie and ice-cream."

"Mmm. My favorite," Carlisle sighed, shaking his head, completely oblivious to the awkward tension in the air between Edward and me. I could practically feel him burning a hole through me.

When Carlisle left to help his wife serve the dessert, I chanced a look over at Edward, and I just knew that he knew I'd been listening in.

He looked like I had just stabbed him in the chest, and there was so much guilt on his face that I got ridiculously worried about the entire subject that Carlisle and him had been discussing.

One forced smile from Edward and I could already feel a talk coming on.

A/N: Hmm.

So, I think you are all anticipating this massive apology for the really long wait: I'm extremely sorry! But hey, I still managed to post this on the 28th. I feel bad though, cause I feel like I rushed this. Sorry if I did!

My exams are officially over, but of course I'm entering a new semester so I'll still be at school :/ but hopefully this term will treat me better than the past one.

I can't believe we've made it to chapter 20 of this story already! Thanks so much for sticking with it :) please feel free to drop me a review letting me know how you find the story to be progressing, if you liked this chapter… you know, all that good stuff.

Xoxo

LoveACullen