Chapter 9

I stood by the mirror, turning around for the 1000th time, inspecting myself in the dress. I wasn't really keen on wearing a dress and in fact it was a piece of clothing I rarely wore. But the Cullens always had an air of elegance around them and I didn't want to risk being underdressed in case we ended up at some fancy restaurant. I still felt out of place wearing the dress though so I put on a cardigan over the dress to feel a bit more like myself. I figured that would be enough and went downstairs to wait for Edward to come pick me up.

Charlie was sitting by the TV in his chair as I entered the living room and sat down on the couch. He looked up and smiled at me. "Ehum… You look really pretty, Bells", he said a bit awkwardly. "Thanks, dad", I said and giving it my best to give him a sincere smile. I definitely didn't feel pretty, more like I was out of place and someone was going to blow my cover anytime now. "So…" Charlie said and took a sip of his beer. I was already sensing that he was about to say something that was going to make us both awkward so I braced myself for it. "Yes, Charlie?" "Well, should I ask him in when he comes to pick you up? I don't really know what to do in situations like these, seeing as I haven't had a dating teenage daughter under my roof before. I'm not gonna bring out my rifle or wear my badge or anything, but what would Renee…" "Dad, dad! Whoa!" I interrupted him, "This is NOT a date. It's me and Edward and his siblings catching a movie and some dinner in Port Angeles. Unless we were living in an Amish community there's no one who'd consider this as a date, so you can relax."

Charlie looked relieved and laughed an awkward laughter. "Boy I'm glad I dodged that bullet. I love having you live here with me, Bells, don't get me wrong. But I'm not sure I'm ready to have a dating teenage daughter under my roof just yet, not even a sensible one like you." He took another sip of his beer as to relieve himself a bit more from the awkwardness he'd created. "We're good, dad", I assured him, "I don't plan on dating anytime soon, so we're good. But if I do decide to date you'll be the first to know." "That's all I ask!" he said and sunk back into his chair, looking as if I'd lifted a big rock from his chest.

At the same time I heard someone coming up the stairs to our front door and the doorbell rang. "That's probably them", I said and walked over to open the door. As I'd suspected Edward had dressed up a bit too much for it to be just a regular dinner-and-a-movie-evening and I was glad that I'd opted for the dress instead of my regular jeans and sweater. "Hey, Bella", he said smiling brightly at me, "You look great, I like the dress." "Um, thank you", I said and cringed awkwardly at the comment. Why did I get the feeling this was more of a date than I'd bargained for? "I'll just get my jacket and we can leave."

"Hey there, Edward", Charlie said. He stood in the hallway to the living room and smiled brightly at Edward, hardly playing his role of the protective father very well. "Good evening, Chief Swan", Edward said and smiled brightly towards Charlie. I'd never quite understood how Edward managed to get away with dorky lines like that, pleasing the parents but still not alienating himself from people his own age. The mystery remained… "So you kids are going to sling some cocaine and rob a couple of convenience stores this evening I hear?" Charlie said and looked way too pleased with himself. I had to stop myself from drawing a deep sigh of embarrassment, but Edward only laughed good humoredly at Charlie's dad joke. "Well it is a Friday night, Chief Swan. I hope you'll bail us out when the Port Angeles PD calls you up in the middle of the night", Edward said with a straight face. "You bet!" Charlie said, still looking as he enjoyed his joke a bit too much, "I'll be picking you up with my rifle in the backseat. Can't promise I'll take you home though." Okay, so that's enough.

"We should probably get going!" I interrupted as I put on my jacket, "Port Angeles is a bit of a drive and we want to get there in plenty of time to eat before the movie. I'll see you later, dad." I gave him a kiss on the cheek and headed out the door. "On a more serious note, I'll be sure to have her home by eleven at the latest", I heard Edward say to Charlie behind me. Edward probably hadn't caught up on the fact that Charlie loved that I was hanging out with him and his siblings on a Friday night instead of sitting at home and making him nervous. He probably wouldn't have argued even if Edward had said that he'd be bringing me back at dawn.

I saw Edward's siblings Emmett and Rosalie sitting in the back seat of the car and I went over to it and opened the door to the passenger seat. "Hey guys", I said as I sat down on the passenger seat. "Hey, Bella!" the both said in unison. "I'm so glad you wanted to come with us to Seattle this evening. It's gonna be so much fun", Rosalie said excitedly and leaned closer to me where I sat, "And more fun for Edward not having to hang out with the two of us alone." "Yeah, about that. I thought Jasper and Alice were coming too?" I said, feeling a bit awkward about the fact that this once more resembled a date rather than hanging out. "Oh, Edward didn't tell you?" Rosalie said, suddenly sounding a bit strange, "Jasper has been accepted to this art school in New York. Not a lot of people know that about Jasper, but he's quite the artist. Anyhow, it all happened quite out of the blue and the arrangements had to be done in a haste, but he and Alice have gone to New York for the weekend. I imagine she wanted to help him settle in in a new town. Esme and Carlisle weren't really thrilled about it, but Carlisle arranged for him to stay at the house of a friend so I think it'll all work out for the best. And I think it was a good thing actually, Jasper has never been good with small towns. I think he'll be better off in a new environment."

When she said the last sentence Emmett shot her a look that I couldn't quite figure out, but my thought was interrupted by Edward opening the door to the car. "So what happened to your war about getting to ride shot gun, Emmett?" Edward said with an amused tone to his voice. "Nah, I figured you two lovebirds would wanna snuggle up in the front seat", Emmett said pointedly with a big grin and nudged Edward's arm. Edward looked uncomfortable and smiled awkwardly at me, but somehow I got the feeling that it wasn't only me who'd gotten the feeling that this was more than a regular Friday night hang out session…