Guys, I know this is my first fanfiction, but seriously: 5 reviews for 2 chapters ? Oh, come on. You can do way better than that. And, for all of those who don't review but still read, be aware of the fact that not getting any reviews doesn't motivate me at all. So it's up to you.

In this chapter ? Talk with Carlisle, Jasper and... Edward!

Disclaimer: I still don't own it. (Guys, do I really have to do this for each and every chapter..?)

Bella POV

As I walked to Carlisle's office, I heard the four Cullen talking. Well, more like whispering.

"I'm just telling you what I saw! Unless you do something really stupid, it'll end up this way and you know it!" It was a feminine voice – it had to be Alice.

"Alice, really, how could she even be in love with me? You saw her reaction earlier tonight. Everybody did. She hates me with every single fibre of her being. Nothing's gonna change that." Smooth, velvety voice. Edward. But who in the world was he talking about?

"Oh, please, Edward. She's just not used to you yet. Give her some time to get to know you and you'll see that I'm right."

"Actually, Edward… I wouldn't bet against Alice." Deep, sure voice. Emmett, for sure. "Bella just needs time. Plus, she's pretty. Perfect for you, actually."

Wait – they were talking about me? Me and Edward? As in… An item?

What the hell?

They stayed silent for a couple of seconds before Edward started talking again. Whispering lower than ever.

"She… she is beautiful. More than beautiful. But nothing changes the fact that she hates me."

His words hurt me more than I thought possible. I was far from hating him. I was just afraid of him. And… he thought I was beautiful? Beautiful would have been Rosalie. Surely, he must be in need of glasses.

"Edward… I'll try to work with her. I talked to Esme about it, and she thinks Bella will agree to have some therapeutic sessions with me. Now, I'm bound to patient-doctor privacy, but I will make sure that she trusts us. Just give her some time to come around. She will. And she seems nice. She's the one who looks like she's afraid, so don't be afraid of her. Just… try to be extremely gentle with her and she should respond to you."

Before things would get to awkward, I decided to knock on the door. I didn't know what to think. I guess Alice must have had a vision of me being romantically involved with Edward… maybe it would happen, maybe not. I decided to ignore it for the time being and let things work themselves.

"Doctor Cullen? Could I have a word with you?" I asked, feigning ignorance.

"Of course." He appeared at the door and let me in. "Here, have a seat, Isabella."

As I sat on a chair, I corrected him. "Bella, please. I hate Isabella."

"Well, if I have to call you by your nickname, then you'll have to call me Carlisle, I'm afraid." He gave me a full smile, showing me his perfectly white teeths. I couldn't help but smile back. "Now, Alice, Emmett, Edward, I'd like to talk alone with Bella here, so if you could leave my office…"

With that, they walked away, and Emmett closed the door, sending me a wink.

"So, what brings you here, Bella?" he asked me, feigning innocence.

"You shouldn't play dumb with me, Doctor Cull…" he held his finger in the air, as if he wanted to correct me. "…Carlisle. Esme talked to me and told me about your offer."

"Well, what did you think of it?"

I hesitated before answering him. This was… harder than I thought it would be.

"I… I'll take it."

"Good! When would you…"

"But," I interrupted him, to make sure we were clear on the subject, "I need you to promise me that you won't tell a soul what I'll be telling you in these sessions."

"Of course, Bella. I'm tied to this type of confidentiality. Anything else?"

"Don't take any offence in that, but I don't want this… arrangement to change your opinion of me."

He raised an eyebrow at me.

"What do you mean?"

"You don't know what I will tell you. And I know that some of the things I will tell you will certainly not please you. But I don't want to be judged, Carlisle. I just… want to be helped. Can you promise me that?"

"I don't have any idea of your background, Bella, but I'll tell you this." He breathed deeply, as if he was about to tell me the tale of his 400 years old existence. "About 50 years ago, I worked in a mental aisle. There are all types of problems you could ever ask for in this type of place: addictions to drugs or alcohols, suicide attempts, sexual problems… It's not easy to work with these people, because you never know what they have to offer to you. You never truly know where they come from." He took a pause, to find the right words. "Bella, I can see just now that you're a nice and smart woman. Whatever your story is, it is behind you. What you have now is a present. And you can't live in the past eternally. And, if you're as messed up as you pretend to be, then I know that it was long, long ago, and that it is far behind you. You just have to let it go. Because, from what your family told me, you're a pretty amazing person."

I was speechless. I barely knew the man, and he was so… so… so kind… and honest, too. I didn't need my power to know that he wasn't even close to thinking about lying about what he said.

"Th-thank you, Carlisle."

"No problem, Bella. So," he said, gaining back his warm smile, "when would you like our first meeting to be?"

"I don't know… It's the end of the summer, so right now I don't have any classes. Just fit me somewhere in your busy doctor schedule and I'll take it." I smiled back at him.

"What about tomorrow at nine in the morning? Would that be okay?"

"It would be perfect, Carlisle."

"Then it's settled!"

When I walked back to the living room with Carlisle by my side, everyone except Rosalie, Emmett and Tom were there. I sat on Jasper's lap, since there were no seats left, and Carlisle stayed on his feet. Jasper got closer to my head and whispered to me.

"You're feeling happy and relieved. What's going on?"

I looked at him, not knowing how to say this. I finally got closer to him and whispered in his ears as well.

"Well, Carlisle… he made me an offer. He saw that something was wrong when I took off earlier, so he proposed me to have sessions with me, so that he could help me. As in, me being a patient and him being the doctor he usually is. I… I took it."

He turned his head to look at me. He was no longer whispering.

"Seriously?"

"Yes."

I smiled at him and he beamed at him. He hugged me powerfully, in one of his brotherly hug.

"Bella! I'm so glad!"

I laughed. I knew he would be happy. "I'm glad too, Jazz."

He kissed me cheek and stood up, leaving me alone in the loveseat.

"Well, I'll let you get to know everyone else, Bella. And… I'm really proud of you."

He walked off and I smiled, feeling truly happy for the first time in a century and a half.

Bella POV

2 weeks later

It had been two weeks since the Cullens moved in. I had had five sessions with Carlisle. I told him about my past, and he never came close to judge me. He helped me, just like he promised he would.

Meanwhile, I got closer to Carlisle (obviously, our little meetings helped us getting closer – I felt like he could really relate to me, and that helped), Emmett, who was like this big teddy bear who would always give me bone crushing hugs, and Alice, who made my days shine.

Carlisle and Esme were now officially together. The most amazing thing about it was that I was the one who made them go out in the first place.

"Well, Bella", Carlisle said, "I think we're done for today. You really are making a lot of progress. I'm proud."

"Thanks, Carlisle. Oh, by the way, how do you like living here? Are we good hosts?" I asked, smiling at him.

"Oh yes, I love it. Actually, we love it. You're all amazing towards us and we feel more than welcome."

"Well… I see you've been spending a lot of time with Esme."

"Yes… she is a… a lovely person." He responded, smiling shyly.

"You know, if she's that lovely, you should probably ask her on a date or something. I know she wouldn't refuse."

He looked at me, unsure. "Are you sure of that, Bella?"

"More than sure. Don't forget: no matter what she tells me, she cannot lie."

He smiled at me and got out of his hospital office, on our way home. Practically running.

Ever since that night, they have been together. Needless to say, I was pretty proud of myself.

I thought about what Jasper said before the Cullens arrived. That I could ask Edward for some piano lessons. The thought had grew on me, and I figured it was a good way of getting closer to him. We hadn't talked – at all – since the incident of the first night they got here. I felt guilty, but at the same time, I didn't know what I could say to make things better.

I knocked on his closed door. He was listening to music – to a band I had never heard of before.

"Alice, I told you I didn't want to talk about…" Edward said, before I interrupted him.

"It's me."

We stayed silent for a couple of seconds.

"Bella?" he asked, surprise evident in his tone.

"Yes."

"Well… come on in."

I opened the door. It was the first time I came into his bedroom. It was simple, yet beautiful and elegant. Just like him.

There was a large, golden bed in the center of the room. A window that covered a complete wall showed a perfect view of the forest. Another wall was filled with CDs and vinyls of all time period. There was also a small piano – well, small. It was huge, but a lot smaller than the one located in the music room. There was also an extremely sophisticated stereo, just beside a nice, elegant black sofa, which Edward was sitting on.

"So… what brings you here." He turned off his music, probably to focus entirely on me.

"First… I wanted to apologize."

He looked at me, not understanding.

"Whatever for?"

"Well… the first night you got here, I might have… confused you. I don't hold any grudge against you, I want you to know that."

"Good. I thought you hated me." He looked at the floor. I lifted his chin so that his glorious eyes could meet mine.

"I. don't. hate. you."

His eyes were smoldering. "Thanks."

"Do you accept my apology?" I got my hand off his chin to place it back in my lap. "I know it's a little late, but I figured it was better than nothing."

"Of course. I'm glad. I'd like to apologize too. I was rude with…"

I shook my head and stopped him. "No, you weren't. It was all me. So… let's start over. Friends?" I extended my hand for him to shake.

He took it, a large smile on his face, and shook it. "Friends."

"Good. Now, the second reason why I'm here is… well… I've always wanted to learn the piano."

"Really?"

"Yeah," I answered, laughing. "Ask Jasper. It's my childhood dream."

He chuckled. "That's nice."

"So… I was wondering…"

"Yes?"

"…if maybe…"

"Maybe?..."

"IwaswonderingifyoucouldteachmetoplaybecauseI'veheardyouwereprettyamazing?"

His eyes popped out of his head.

"Sorry, Bella… I didn't catch that." He chuckled, again.

"Okay. Lisa told me you were an amazing pianist and… I was wondering if you'd like to teach me."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, well, if you don't want to, it's okay, I'll under…"

"No, I'd love to teach you."

He beamed at me, showing his perfect white teeths.

"When would you like to start?"

"Whenever you're ready."

"How about now? I could show you some of the things I'm able to do and you could tell me which things you'd like to try."

"That sounds nice."

"Okay, well…" he stood up and extended his hand for me to take. "…follow me."

I looked at his hand and then back at his eyes. I knew I was afraid of taking it, but with all my will, I intertwined my fingers with his, while his eyes were smoldering more than ever. I got lost in them for a few seconds before he started to walk, my hand in his.

I knew I couldn't ignore him longer.

I had fallen for Edward Cullen.

Author's note

So... she already likes Edward! Well, obviously, she does, WHO WOULDN'T? But it will take more than one or two chapters for them to get together. They have to develop a real friendship based on trust before that. But it will come, don't worry.

Also, this is IMPORTANT: If anyone here plays piano, could you indicate me songs that are easy to play when you start to play ? As in... the two first years of learning? It would help me here.

Now, if you want next chapter to come tomorrow... all you have to do is REVIEW!