Chapter Seven:

I've been at the Cullen home for one week, and although both Carlisle and Esme have been so nice and welcoming, I'm so ready to go back to England. I never thought I'd be the type that felt homesick, I've certainly never really felt it before when I've been on trips overseas, but this time… ugh, I just wanna go back to London. Honestly, if it was acceptable, I'd be tallying the days on the wall, like you see them doing in prison in movies.

Seven days down… only three weeks to go.

I'm sat in the living room with a strange cooking show on the television, that I'm not really watching and flipping through a fashion magazine when the front door opens and a supermodel walks in through the door. He closes the door behind him and takes off his shoes, and then he opens his mouth and his voice is even sexier than his face, and I am about to melt.

"Mom! I'm home!"

Wait, what?

It's just as he walks into the living room that he spots me sitting in the chair at the back and stops in his tracks. His eyebrows pull together in confusion, and I blush under his scrutiny.

Esme flies into the room from the kitchen and flings her arms around him. "Edward! You're back!"

He hugs her back and his gaze lifts from glaring at me, so I go back to looking at my magazine. "Hi, Mom."

They talk quietly together for about a minute, before Esme must remember I'm in the room too. "Oh!" She spins to look at me. "Bella, this is our son, Edward." She smiles. "Edward, this is Bella."

I stand up from the chair and walk over to introduce myself properly. This guy is tall and even better looking close up. Oh my.

"Hello." I hold out my hand, and he takes it in his. As soon as our hands touch, I feel a shock run up my entire arm, like I've just gotten a static shock. I go to pull my hand back, in a reflex, but Edward grasps my hand tighter. The shock goes away as quickly as it came, and I'm overcome by a sense of… belonging.

Huh.

Esme watches the exchange between us with a curious expression on her face. Edward lets go of my hand, and one side of his mouth lifts up in a crooked smile. "Pleasure to meet you."

I blush, and he grins. "And you too."

I'm trying not to stare, at the same time feeling like I can't look away from him.

"Ahem," Esme coughs and we both turn our heads to look at her, and she smiles knowingly. "Shall we get your luggage in from the car?"

Edward blinks, as if he'd forgotten. "Um, yeah, sure."

They turn and leave the room, but before walking out the front door he turns to look at me again and smiles.

I avert my eyes, trying to calm my blush down and go to sit back down in the chair I was in. I pick up the magazine again and hold it in front of my face to hide my enormous grin wondering what on earth just happened.

xoxoxo

Riley comes into the room about five minutes later and sits down in the chair next to me, he picks up the remote and changes the channel. I don't look up from my magazine, but jokingly say, "I was watching that!" I look up after saying it to find him glaring at me and I laugh.

The front door opens again and Edward and Esme walk back into the house, with Edward carrying most of his luggage.

Riley whistles quietly as he walks in. "Who is that?!"

Edward turns to look, obviously having heard Riley, and he frowns. I smile, but he doesn't smile back and just carries on walking up the hallway.

I bite my lip briefly, wondering about the sudden change in his demeanour. "That is Carlisle and Esme's son, Edward."

Riley's eyes go wide, this is obviously new information to him too. "He is fit."

I snort, and roll my eyes. Riley winks at me. "You obviously think so too!"

I shake my head. "We shared… I dunno, a moment, when Esme introduced us. We shook hands and it felt like he was full of static electricity, but then… I just felt like, I was home." I sigh.

Riley just smiles at me almost knowingly. "Maybe it's a good thing we came here after all then."

I shrug my shoulders, and turn to look at the television. "Maybe."

It sounds like he goes to answer me again, but changes his mind. The front door opens and Carlisle walks inside. He smiles at us in greeting. "Es?"

Instead of Esme, Edward appears in the hallway and he greets his father with a hug.

Carlisle turns back towards us, and says, "Have you been introduced to Edward?"

I smile and nod my head, but Edward isn't looking at me.

"Ah, good." Carlisle smiles, and they walk back up the hallway together.

My eyebrows pull together in confusion, wondering what's suddenly made his behaviour change from when we shook hands, not even ten minutes previously. Did I imagine everything that just happened?