A/N: Hey, kids. Thanks to super-beta Hannah for fact checking this against the rest of the story for me. I hope it stands with my plotline, but if something is amiss, please let me know so I can correct it. I've been working on Ch. 15 of ETS as well, just need to tweak and get it edited and you should have it soon. This is, once again, short, but all of my updates for this story are rather one-shot-ish, so that probably shouldn't surprise you by now.

In other news… I GRADUATED! Now I just need to get into the program I want for the fall, and my hell can begin all over again. But still… I GRADUATED!

This shiz doesn't belong to me…

Chapter 25

"Is all that for me?" I asked Edward, gesturing to the massive amount of food he had loaded his lunch tray with.

"Don't be ridiculous," he replied, flashing me a dazzling smile, "I need to eat too, you know."

I gasped in mock horror and brought my hands to my throat, arranging my face into a melodramatic expression of terror, and regretting the joke instantly as his carefree demeanor melted away before my eyes. Shit.

"Edward," I said quietly, moving closer to him as he paid for the tray of food before stalking away from the lunch line, "it was a joke. A joke, Edward. Please don't be upset. Please—"

"Edward," trilled a bell-like voice behind me, and I immediately spun around out of surprise, though he, I should note, did not.

"Hello, Alice," he replied, still not turning to face his sister.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" she inquired, flashing me an endearing smile and taking a cautious step towards me, seeming to measure my reaction to her proximity.

"Not today, Alice. Not right now."

"Don't be an ass," she replied flippantly, addressing his back as he still hadn't turned around. "I'm Alice," she said, re-directing her attention to me. "It's so wonderful to meet you, Bella."

"It's nice to meet you, too," I stammered, offering her my hand. She regarded it for a moment, smiling softly to herself, nodding, before accepting it without hesitation and taking it gently within her own. Her skin was just as cold and hard as Edward's, but it was to be expected.

"You'll eat lunch with us, of course," she said to me, releasing my hand and bouncing up and down on her heels.

"Alice—"

"Don't be an ass," she repeated, ignoring Edward's protest and lacing her arm through mine, guiding me to the table that I had been so obsessively observing since my first day at Forks High.

Part of me was happy, ecstatic, that Edward's family was alright with me. Wanted to get to know me. Was willing to accept me. It was touching. A much larger part of me, however, was terrified. Did they know that I knew? Did they know everything that had happened between us? Would they like me? Would they think I was worthy of him? Would they—

"Everyone, this is Bella," Alice announced happily, and I looked up to realize that I was standing directly in front of their table. "Bella, this is everyone."

Oh holy hell.

I looked at them and they looked at me. I had observed them from afar many times, but this… up close was entirely different. They were indescribable in their beauty, their perfection. Their skin was as smooth and flawless as Edward's, their features as fine, their eyes as bright in their amber glow. They were… oh holy hell. I don't know if I can handle this.

"Bella," Alice said quietly, her voice hinting at laughter, shaking me gently, bringing me back to the real world, "Bella sit."

"What? Oh… yeah," I replied artlessly, dropping down into the one seat at their table that had always been empty. "It's nice to meet all of you," I added, trying to pull it together.

"You, too, Bella. We've heard a lot about you," replied the biggest one, grinning at me and waggling his eyebrows.

"Emmett," warned a familiar voice beside me, and I turned to find Edward seated next to me. In my mini-breakdown I hadn't heard him sit.

"What?" Emmett asked innocently, grinning more broadly and wrapping his arm around the blonde next to him. "You don't shut up about her."

"Bella Swan, I'd like to introduce you to my family," Edward said to me, ignoring his brother's comment and placing a hand on my thigh, making my face blush and my mind race with rather inappropriate thoughts. "This is Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper, and I believe you've met Alice," he continued, gesturing with his free hand to the rather tense faces around the table.

I examined them each with as much stealth as I could manage, trying to discern their reactions to me. Emmett clearly couldn't have cared less. He seemed like a rather kind soul, in spite of his rather formidable physical stature, and clearly cared about Edward. Rosalie refused to look at me, focusing her attention on her meticulously manicured fingers and audibly sighing on occasion. Jasper was difficult to read. His posture was tense, as though he was expecting something terrible to happen at any moment, and his eyes relayed a mild sense of panic, but when Alice placed her hand in his with an understanding smile, his discomfort seemed to melt away.

"Don't worry, Bella," Alice said cheerily to me from across the table. "We don't bite."

Edward froze, his hand tightening on my thigh, his jaw locking. Indeed, the entire table froze. Everyone glared at Alice, shocked by her comment. But Alice kept her eyes on mine, a faint smile playing across her lips.

Without warning or even realizing I was doing it, I began laughing hysterically, earning more than one incredulous glance from Edward's family.

"Well, at least the kid has a sense of humor," Emmett barked, laughing with me now.

"You have no idea," Edward replied, gazing at me in awe before cupping my face between his hands and leaning forward to kiss me.

"Edward," I stammered uncomfortably once he drew away, still uncertain about his family's feelings about us, "if you kiss me anymore today, people will think I've drugged you or something."

"Ah, but you did," he murmured quietly in my ear, his cool breath sending a delicious shiver down my spine. "You've become my addiction, Bella. And what a marvelous addiction it is."

I blushed furiously, wishing my body would quit reacting to him so readily. Really, it took all my willpower not to jump him then and there. The unbidden image of him and I writhing naked on the round table in front of us popped into my mind, and I pushed back against it furiously.

"Fuck, Edward, get a room," snapped Rosalie, glaring at him in irritation.

"Seriously, man," Emmett agreed, nodding.

Edward merely smirked, drawing my chair closer to his and arranging the tray of food in front of me before leaning back in his seat, his arm draped possessively across my shoulders. There were more than a few minutes of terse silence at the table, and I ate as quickly and discreetly as I could, more than a little off put that I would be the only person at the table doing so. Then again, I reminded myself, I was the only person at the table.

"So, Bella, what do you think of Forks?" Alice chirped, smiling at me.

"It's, ummm… it has its merits, I suppose," I replied, blushing.

"Apparently," she said, nodding towards Edward and smiling more broadly.

"It's just so damn rainy all the time, though," I blurted, trying to keep some sort of conversation going. "I mean, Phoenix was so sunny all the time. It was beautiful. And this—" I stopped myself, realizing that I was bitching about a lack of sun to the wrong people. "I mean…"

"I know what you mean, Bella. I love sunny days, too."

I looked back at Alice, a surprised smile creeping across my face. She gave me an encouraging nod before continuing.

"Edward says you like to read."

"I do. I love it."

"Well, who're some of your favorite authors?"

"Show me yours and I'll show you mine," I joked, feeling the tension that had plagued me since I'd sat down melt away.

This wasn't so bad. They weren't so bad. They were just a family. They were just a family like any other family. I could do this. I could get to know them. I could like them. And maybe, I hoped… maybe they could like me, too.

Yes, I decided. They would definitely like me, too.

A/N: Reviews make amazing grad gifts. Just saying…