BPOV

I didn't have any idea how serious Edward was about the whole doing things we'd never done before in Seattle pact until he called me up around noon Sunday afternoon. I was still basking in the glow of hanging out with him the day before, and I was pretty excited to see his name light up on my phone as I was eating my brunch of Pop Tarts and hot chocolate. I answered the phone, hoping my voice would sound sexy and not scratchy like I had just rolled out of bed, which in truth I had.

"So, I was trying to think of something I had never done in the city and an ad popped up for the Seattle Repertory Theatre," Edward told me. "They're doing a performance of 'Streetcar Named Desire' on Tuesday and, since it's so soon and they still have tickets left, the tickets are pretty cheap. We could get a seventh row seat for under thirty bucks."

"Does it still count for you if I've never been to the theater before?" I asked curiously.

"I'm sure there will be crossover," Edward shrugged. "If you listened to my sister you'd think I never left my apartment. I mean, I work from home and I live here, so yeah, I'm here a lot. But it's not like I'm a stranger to the sunlight. Well, I am pretty pale but…"

"We're all pretty pale," I pointed out. "Anyone in the Pacific Northwest with a tan has either spent a lot of time in a tanning bed or was just born with darker skin. I honestly think you could spend a summer in Seattle and not get more than a couple extra freckles. Of course, that's just a guess. I don't think I could tan if I tried."

"We should start a support group for the freakishly pale," Edward agreed. "Or maybe an advocacy group, you know? We don't need support. We just need to treat people who live our lifestyle with equal rights. You know, we're here, our skin is translucent, get used to it."

"So, when is this play?" I asked.

"Tuesday night, around seven," Edward said. "I know it may go late, but its supposed to be a really good play. We could go out to dinner beforehand… I could pick you up from your place, give you some time to do some things around your apartment before we leave…"

"Alright," I conceded. "So, in the mean time, should I be thinking for something new to do in Seattle?"

"Sure," Edward said. "I guess anything you wanted to do after Tuesday would be fair since it'll be your turn then and all."

"I am glad you took me to the park," I told him. "I really enjoyed last night.

"Me too," Edward said in an awkward voice. "You know, spending time with you…Mom wants me to bring you around ever Sunday night for family dinner now, but I mean… you don't need to feel obligated. I don't want you to feel rushed or anything… Mom and Dad really like you… not that they wouldn't have any reason not to… I really like you… I mean, you can come if you want… or not… I'm going to shut up now."

"It's fine," I laughed. "Unless there are any unforeseen circumstances, I think I could swing some Sunday night dinners. You know, unless it would make you feel uncomfortable…"

"Why would it make me uncomfortable?" Edward snorted. "My family makes me uncomfortable. The fact that you're there is the only thing that has made some of those dinners bearable."

"I'm sure they don't get that bad," I laughed.

"I once wrote out a pro and con list on my napkin about drowning myself in Mom's pea soup because Alice spent thirty minutes talking about her shoes," Edward said. "I'm giving you advance warning now because you can still back out, Bella. Dad likes to talk about gross medical stuff and the dinner table, which everyone else treats as normal. Alice has literally given the minute-by-minute of her week including the gory details of her bikini wax. I'm pretty sure my mother's dog is possessed by a lesser demon of Satan and sometimes Jasper gets so quiet I actually wonder if he has spiritually left his body and is existing on another plane."

"Exactly. Why wouldn't I want to come to a dinner like that?" I said. "You should try dinner with my crowd. If I eat with Rose and Emmett, it usually turns into some sort of hump fest or double entendre making contest. My dad thinks dinner is time for silent reflection while you drink beer. And my mom will spend the entire meal trying to get a reading on your aura, find out who you were in another life, or giving you an in depth lecture on the horrors of the American meat industry."

"Can stories about the meat industry really be as bad as surgeries gone wrong?" Edward asked.

"I should send you the video my mother's vegan group has depicting cow slaughter via sledge hammer in slow motion," I replied.

"How did we get to this point in our conversation?" Edward asked.

"I think you were inviting me over for family dinner," I said.

"So, yeah," Edward continued. "I mean, if you want to come, that's great, but I understand if you don't. And I don't want things to be weird since my family practically wants you to move into the house and I haven't met any of your family."

"Mom is hard to track down these days… and Dad… well, it's a four hour drive to see him," I said. "And he would probably want to know we were coming well in advance."

"So he could take off from work?" Edward said.

"So he could borrow every gun in town and have them all lined up in the entry hall so you know he means business," I snorted.

"Well… set something up… I mean, if you're up for dealing with my family on a weekly basis the least I can do is get some face time with your dad," Edward said.

"Seriously? You want to trek out to rainy Forks to meet my dad?" I said. "You do know there is a good chance he might try to have you killed."

"Yeah, well, if he did that I'm sure my parents would file a missing persons report or something," Edward replied. "At least then I could get out of wearing a Confederate uniform to my sister's wedding."

"Always the optimist, Edward," I laughed.

"I try," he smirked.

"So… if I'm going to weekly dinner with your family and you're braving the rain to meet my dad… what exactly does that make us?" I asked Edward.

"What do you mean?" Edward said.

"It's just… I don't know…" I sighed. "Rose has been on my ass about things being Facebook official and what not…"

"I take it Rose likes labels," Edward said.

"She is a total Type A personality with a law degree," I shrugged.

"I'm also guessing you haven't checked your Facebook recently," Edward said.

"Well, not since last weekend, but… how did you know that?" I asked.

"After Friday night… well… I was just hoping you hadn't checked your Facebook," he said. I headed into my bedroom with the phone and pulled open my laptop. "I mean, I kind of felt stupid after I sent it, but Facebook doesn't allow take backs as easily as you would think… I'm sure my mother, sister and all their high etiquette friends would be appalled that I did this over Facebook…"

I logged on to my account and found I actually had several requests. One was a friend request from Alice and another was from Jasper. Others were various Farmville requests from Emmett, who, believe it or not plays that game religiously. However, the one that made my heart pound and nearly sent me into a giggle fit was the one at the very bottom, a relationship status request from one Edward Cullen. I quickly clicked the accept and realized the entire time I was giggling over my relationship status change, Edward was still talking.

"…I guess asking over the phone isn't much better because I sort of blew it with the online thing," Edward said, "but I mean… there's like no real set way of doing it. And I don't want to be one of those lame guys who like gets down on their knees and is all 'will you be my girlfriend' and crap because that frankly creeps me out… Besides, I'm not really good at this sort of thing… I'm sure you can tell, but… I mean, I just wanted to... I don't know… you can ignore it if you want… I would totally understand. I mean, what type of girl wants to go out with a guy who doesn't even have enough courage to ask her to be his girlfriend face-to-face, let alone some coward that does it over Facebook…"

"Edward, I just accepted your request," I told him.

"Wait…what?" Edward said.

"Go look on your wall," I told him, clicking on the link to his page myself. I had to say, very few things made me as giddy as seeing "Edward Cullen is now in a relationship with Isabella Marie Swan" on Facebook.

"Wow," Edward said. "So…uh… Do we have to start changing all of our profile pictures to coupley ones, because I don't think Alice has posted a picture of just herself anywhere since she and Jasper started dating."

"No," I said. "I mean, yeah, pictures together would be cool, but I kind of like yours."

"Alice picked it," Edward groaned. "She gave me a 'Facebook makeover' three months ago. Apparently, if I'm not going to wear the itchy designer sweaters she buys for me the least I could do was let her revamp my Facebook image."

"You let her on your Facebook?" I laughed.

"No, she hacked it," Edward grimaced.

"How did your sister hack your Facebook? Aren't you like a computer guru or something?" I snorted.

"Yeah, well, my password was the name of my pet goldfish as a kid," Edward shrugged. "Hey… I have friend requests from Rose and Emmett… why is Emmett's profile picture him in a sombrero and wearing a poncho with a fake mustache?"

"You know how we were talking about costumes? Well, one of Emmett's buddy's had a costume-party themed bachelor party when he got married last year," I sighed. "Emmett went as 'dirty Sanchez."

"That does seem up his alley," Edward snorted.

"Rose has tried to get him to change it again and again, but he said he'd only change it if she would pose in the picture in a bikini with him," I said. "Not going to happen. Rose is very conservative with her Facebook. Doesn't want anything to come back to haunt her if she becomes the first female president or something."

"Smart plan," Edward nodded. "I like your picture though."

"Rose took it… that's on First Beach near where I grew up from last summer," I explained. I perused his pictures. "Wait… Mary Alice Brandon Cullen… Edward Anthony Masen Cullen… Where do you and your sister get off having two middle names?"

"You know how my family is weird?" Edward snorted, "Well, Mom and Dad wanted to keep some family tradition alive. Alice is named after our maternal grandmother, Mary Alice Brandon Platt, and I'm named after dad's father Edward Anthony Cullen and his mother, who was Elizabeth Masen Cullen. Grandma Platt died when we were in high school, so Alice always went by Alice. It was too confusing have two Marys in the family. Since I was a boy, I guess I got the paternal grandparents and Alice got mom's parents because she's a girl. It is kind of annoying having two middle names, especially since most people only have one. And it was torture in kindergarten when we learned to write our names. Most kids were finished and I was still trying to figure out how to write Anthony. My name has twenty-four letters. Twenty-four! That's almost the entire alphabet!"

"I think you lucked out of if that's your biggest problem," I snorted.

"What's wrong with your name? It's traditional. It's pretty," Edward said.

"Yeah, well, luckily Dad convinced the hospital staff Mom was too doped up to name me and chose a sensible one," I snorted. "Mom and Dad still argue about my name. Mom wanted to name me Seraphina Moonbeam Starcatcher Higginbotham-Swan."

"You dodged a bullet," Edward agreed. "I can't imagine having to write that out on everything… your taxes, college applications…"

"I'm surprised Dad was as creative as he was coming up with something like Isabella Marie," I said. "In later years, I learned Marie was after my grandmother Higginbotham and Isabella was after a character on Days of Our Lives, the soap opera my parents were watching when my mother's water broke."

"No joke. That is hilarious," Edward laughed.

"Yeah, well it won't be so funny if it was you," I snorted.

We chatted for a while before Edward decided he should probably eat lunch and start in on the work he had been neglecting all weekend. I did laundry with Rose and then we did our usual Sunday afternoon cleaning thing together. It wasn't until that evening that I really got some rest and relaxation time in. I couldn't help but excitedly pull up my Facebook and look at the nice little "Isabella Marie Swan is in a relationship with Edward Cullen." There were four likes: one from Alice, one from Jasper, one from Rose and one from Edward himself. I was tempted to click the little like button myself when a new comment popped up from none other than Emmett McCarty.

"Cool! You guys practiced making any babies yet?"

I was ready to delete Emmett's comment when I noticed it had just received a "like":

"Renee Higginbotham likes this."

I was seriously going to consider deleting both my mother and Emmett from my friend's list. It was a good thing Charlie still couldn't work the Internet.