A/N: So, this chapter is a little longer than the others because there was a lot I wanted to get out! I hope you enjoy it, and please remember, reviews help me write! Also, I'm currently looking for someone who would be interested in editing my story as I go. The person would (of course) get the chapters before they're posted, as well as my undying love for all eternity! If anyone is interested, please email me at Thank you! =)

Love Story

Chapter Three

I paced the length of the living room, pausing only briefly to glance out the window. I thought about calling her, wondering if she had forgotten, but then realized that I didn't have her number. Damn Charlie for not investing in a caller ID. It certainly would have come in handy!

I sank down on to the couch, , dropping my head back against the cushion with a sigh. I reached for the remote, figuring I could find something on TV to occupy my thoughts until she arrived, but before I could hit the 'On' button, there was a faint knocking at the door.

I jumped off the couch, cursing inwardly when I caught my leg on the corner of the coffee table. "Hang on!" I called, trying to rub the pain away before I limped to the door.

"Hello Bella," Alice greeted cheerfully. "You are awfully clumsy, aren't you?" She asked with an amused smile on her painfully beautiful face.

"Yeah, yeah," I grumbled. "Are you ready?"

"I'm always ready to shop. I think the more important question is: Are you ready?"

"Ugh," I groaned. "I'm going to regret this, aren't I?"

"Of course not," she said, before pausing. "Well," she amended, "maybe just a little. Yes, you will regret agreeing to come with me. But by the time Friday night rolls around, you will be kissing the ground I walk on."

"And why is that?"

"Because I'm going to introduce you to Edward. Now come on, we've got a lot to do today."

I felt a shiver course through my body, though whether it was due to the mention of her brother or the fact that I was willingly offering myself up for a day of torture, I wasn't sure. I allowed a soft groan to escape my lips before I took a deep breath and stepped out into the chilly air before I closed the door behind me.

xoxoxoxox

"Did ya have fun, Bells?"

I groaned as I kicked the front door shut behind me, my feet screaming for freedom from my shoes. "There are no words," I gasped, "for how torturous that was!"

Charlie allowed a boisterous chuckle to escape from his lips. "That bad, huh?"

"Don't get me wrong! Alice is great. I had a lot of fun with her. But really…how many different pairs of shoes does one need? And accessories? Are you kidding me?" I flopped down on the couch, dropping my head back against the cushion.

"There's some pizza in the kitchen if you're hungry," he informed me. I lifted my head, giving him a glare.

"Please don't tell me you had pizza for dinner again." All I got in response was a sheepish grin. "Fine," I said, throwing my hands up in the air before I pushed myself to my feet. "But no more pizza for the rest of this week. Do you have any idea how bad that stuff is for you?" I asked with a scowl. I didn't wait for his response as I headed into the kitchen, though I heard him chuckling lightly from the living room.

I shook my head and grabbed a plate from the cabinet. I wasn't exactly thrilled about having pizza, but I was starving. I had just placed the plate in the microwave and grabbed a cup out of the cabinet when the shrill ring of the telephone startled me, causing me to drop the cup.

I hissed as the glass shattered and reached for the phone, eager to silence the offending sound. I heard Charlie calling for me from the living room, asking if I was okay. "I'm fine!" I called back, before I lifted the phone to my ear. "Hello?"

"Bella?" I could hear her trying to contain her amusement. "Is everything okay?"

"Fine, Alice," I responded with a sigh. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to call you about Friday. I'm going to come by and pick you up. I don't have a lot of faith in your truck," she said. "I'm not quite sure it could survive the trip out here, to be quite honest."

Immediately I was on the defensive. "Now wait a minute," I responded. "My truck's just fine! There-"

"Please just trust me on this," she said. "I'll be there at six on Friday. And if you would, please wear something blue. It will look positively lovely with your skin tone. Much better than the ugly shade of brown you wore today."

I pulled the phone away from my ear, looking at it incredulously. "Bella, please," I heard her say. Frowning, I put the phone back to my ear. "Stop pretending to be offended. This is what friends are for, right? To prevent one another from making terrible fashion decisions. Nevermind though," she responded. "I will see you at six o'clock on Friday evening."

I opened my mouth to reply, but before I could do so, I heard the dial tone in my ear. I laughed to myself as I thought about just how quirky little Alice was proving to be before I replaced the phone on the receiver. I couldn't ignore the warm feeling that spread over me as I recalled her words. This is what friends are for, right? Friends. I really liked the sound of that.

xoxoxoxox

Friday Evening

"You're going to wear a hole right through the carpet," Charlie complained as his eyes watched me pace back and forth, stealing glances out the front window.

"I hate waiting around for someone," I huffed as I sank down on the couch, careful not to wrinkle my skirt. As requested, I had chosen a blue sweater, one of my nicer pieces of clothing and paired it with the only skirt I owned, a knee length khaki number. I had pulled my hair up in a sleek ponytail, and though I couldn't quite bring myself to experiment with the make up that Renee had bought for me last Christmas. After all, I was attempting to go for a casual yet sophisticated look and I wasn't sure I could pull that off with my face painted up like a circus clown.

I glanced at the clock for what felt like the millionth time, and frowned. 6:01. She's late. She told me she would be her at six o'clock. Not six-oh-one. I pushed myself to my feet once more and pulled the curtain back to get a good look. I was taken aback by that stupid, shiny Volvo sitting in front of the house. Why hadn't I heard it pull up?

I hurried to the door and pulled it open before Alice even had a chance to knock.

"Eager much?" She asked with a tinkling laugh before she peered around me to peek at my father. "Good evening, Chief Swan."

He lifted his hand in greeting, before giving me a meaningful look. "Oh. Right. Dad, this is Alice. Alice, this is my dad Charlie."

"We shouldn't be too late, Chief Swan. I imagine the open house should be over around 9:30. I'll have Bella call if we're going to be too late."

"That'll be fine Alice, thank you," Charlie responded.

"Okay, if we're done talking about Bella like she isn't even here," I ranted pointedly, "then we should probably get going. Dad, there's stuff for sandwiches in the fridge on the top shelf. No pizza," I reminded him sternly before I turned to Alice. "Let's go."

"It was nice meeting you, Alice," Charlie called out as we headed out of the house. I shook my head and turned to Alice.

"I was starting to think you'd forgotten me," I told her.

Another tinkling laugh. "Never," she responded. "I had some…unforseen issues before I left the house,"
she said cryptically. "Namely in the form of my older sister, Rosalie. But it's all been taken care of and here I am!" She eyed my ensemble as I climbed into the car. "And I'm glad to see that you took my advice. Just as I thought, the blue looks lovely on you. I'm sure Edward will think so too."

xoxoxoxox

I felt as though my heart would beat right out of my chest as we pulled into the parking lot of the gallery. I could see the silhouettes of numerous bodies through the heavily draped front windows, and I could feel my heart speed up even more.

"Bella," Alice laughed, "I'm going to have to ask you to calm down. No one's going to eat you or anything," she said. "Honestly."

"It looks like there's a lot of people in there," I responded weakly.

"There are. And most of them are stuffy old men and women who wouldn't know good art if it bit them in the rear. The men mostly show up for their wives and the women… well, you'll understand after you see Carlisle."

I took a deep breath as I pushed the door open and stepped out of the car. I shivered involuntarily as the cold air surrounded me. Even with my heavy sweater, I felt chilled. I glanced back at Alice who apparently hadn't even noticed the way the temperature had dropped. She was wearing a sleeveless black shirt and hadn't so much as shivered.

"Well," Alice said, giving me a dazzling smile, "let's do this."

I took a deep breath as I fell into step beside her, trying to calm my trembling hands. There's nothing to worry about, I chanted inwardly, having adopted it as my mantra. There's nothing to worry about, there's nothing to worry about, there's nothing to-OH!

When Alice pushed the door to the gallery open, I was immediately taken aback by exactly how many people had fit into the cramped space. Even more amazing was the fact that it didn't feel cramped at all. Though I had felt incredibly apprehensive in the parking lot, I felt all of my anxiety melt away, and a smile immediately formed on my relaxed face. I felt Alice tugging on my sweater gently, and she immediately pulled me out the trance I had apparently gone into.

"Come on," she said. "Esme will be glad to see you. And then I can introduce you to Carlisle."

Though nearly everyone in the room towered over little Alice (myself included, which trust me, was no easy feat as I was a shrimp in my own right!), she had absolutely no trouble navigating through the crowd until she located her adoptive parents.

I was immediately taken aback by the beauty that was Carlisle Cullen. I understood now what Alice had been saying about the women coming strictly for him. He was standing serenely, his arm wrapped securely around Esme's waist. His blonde hair was slicked back, giving him an old-fashioned look, though it did not detract from his beauty. Much like Esme, he looked incredibly young, way too young to be a father (even adoptive) to one, let alone five children. Alice had said there were five, right? I was sure she had.

"Ah," he greeted, his voice deeper than I had expected. "You must be the famous Isabella Swan," he said, his eyes twinkling. Was that a hint of a British accent I detected? "I've heard so much about you."

"It's nice to finally meet you Mr. Cullen," I responded.

"Please, call me Carlisle. And, if I'm not mistaken, you prefer to be called 'Bella', correct?"

"Yes sir."

"It's so nice to see you again Bella," Esme said. "I was so pleased when Alice told us you'd be joining her here tonight. I'm so very glad you could come."

"I wouldn't have missed it for the world," I told her sincerely.

"Are the others here yet?" Alice asked.

"Just Jasper," Esme responded. "Though I suspect it won't be long before they arrive. Perhaps while you wait, Bella would like some refreshments?" She asked, gesturing to the table near the window. "Help yourself dear," she said, giving me a maternal smile.

Following closely behind Alice, still not comfortable enough to stray far from her side, we made our way through the crowd towards the refreshment table. "Listen," she began, as I helped myself to a chocolate chip cookie, "there's something I should probably fill you in before they get here. And before I introduce you to Jasper."

"What's up?" I asked, taking a bite of the sweet dessert.

"Jasper and I… we're… well, we're kind of together. A lot of people think it's weird, but it is what it is. Rose and Emmett are together too."

Alice had filled me in briefly about her family during our shopping trip to Port Angeles, but she hadn't exactly mentioned this fact. But the thought didn't bother me. I could understand why someone would think it was weird, but after all, it's not like they were really related.

"I don't think it's weird. I am glad you told me in the event you start shoving your tongue down your brother's throat and all but, it's not weird. It's not like there's any blood relation."

Her smile absolutely lit up her face and I was seriously beginning to think that no matter how much I was around Alice, I'd never get used to her unnatural beauty. "I just knew you would understand," she said, beaming at me.

She glanced up, as if someone had called her name before she turned her attention back to me. "Before the others get here, I'd like to introduce you to Jasper."

The uncomfortable feeling of my heart beating against my chest returned as we made our way through the crowd once more. This time, instead of leading me to where I had met Carlisle, she was leading me to the back of the gallery, where I knew the phone was located. "Jasper is not a fan of crowds," she said. "But he wanted to be here for Esme." She pushed the door open to the back room, and immediately, the earlier feeling of peace settled over me.

"Hello Bella."

xoxoxoxox

I had the distinct feeling that I was more comfortable with Jasper than he was with me. Alice had assured me that it had nothing to do with me, though I couldn't quite believe that. He had stood a good distance away from me, as if he didn't quite trust himself to get as close as Alice.

"Trust me," Alice said, "the more he's around you, the more comfortable he'll become. He's just got to er… get used to you."

"Is the rest of your family going to be like that?"

"Well," Alice said, turning her attention towards the door that had just opened. "I guess we're getting ready to find that out."

I followed her gaze, my breath catching as the remainder of the Cullen clan stepped into the gallery. However, I quickly realized that I was not the only one who had been shocked into shyness. It seemed that every head in the gallery turned at the same time, their eyes coming to a rest on them.

They were painfully beautiful, but at this point, I had come to expect no less. The woman (and really, that's the only way she could be described) had surpassed even lovely little Alice in her beauty. Though she (like the rest of the family) shared the pale skin and purplish bruises under her eyes, her hair was long and wavy, not to mention blonde, like Carlisle and Jasper. The biggest difference, however, was the look on her face. Her nose was turned up, as if she had smelled something foul. And when she turned her honey colored eyes on me, the look of disgust intensified. Oh boy.

I quickly looked away, to the sibling on her left. I saw the way his hand rested gently on the blonde woman's back and assumed this to be Emmett. He was big, taller than even Carlisle and Jasper, his muscles bulging under the gray sweater he wore. Though he looked like he could be a formidable opponent, the look on his face was friendly and warm.

I felt Alice nudge me so I turned to look at her, my eyes wide. "Come on," she said in a stage whisper. "I'll introduce you to Edward."

Ah, Edward. My eyes shifted back to the third newcomer. Edward. Though the painting I'd seen of him earlier in the week had been quite lifelike, it simply hadn't done him justice. His topaz colored eyes sparkled, his coppery hair in casual disarray. And unlike in the painting, he wore a crooked smile which sent my heart into spasms in my chest. He was simply breath-taking. So much, in fact, that for a moment, I think I forgot to breathe.

"Come on," Alice whispered again, nudging me. Startled, I nodded, and followed after her, once again sticking close by as we made our way through the crowd.

"Isabella Swan," she announced, grabbing my sweater and tugging me closer, "this is Emmett and Rosalie."

"You're a brave soul," Emmett announced, a grin forming on his handsome face. "Not many people would voluntarily subject themselves to a day of shopping with Alice here."

"Brave?" Rosalie asked, her nostrils flaring. "Or simply ignorant."

Oh boy. Yep, she was definitely not going to be the president of the Bella Swan fan club. No chance in–

"And this, Bella, is Edward."

I held out my hand dumbly, waiting for him to take it. I watched as a look of amusement formed on his beautiful face as he glanced down at my waiting hand and then back up to my face. "Er… Right," I said, lowering my hand awkwardly. "It's… it's very nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you."

Though I wasn't quite sure what to expect, the reaction I got certainly wasn't it. "You have, have you?" Edward asked, his velvety voice laced with steel as he narrowed his eyes at the lovely Alice. He turned his attention back to me once more before a growl escaped his lips and he shook his head as he stalked away, murmuring under his breath as he did so.

I was sure the shock was written all over my face as I turned to Alice. "Alice I'm… what did I say?"

"You'll have to excuse him. He's incredibly moody at times. Of course, I had hoped he'd be a little more… in control of himself tonight," she said through gritted teeth before her lovely smile returned. "But forget about him for now," she said. "Esme just got some lovely pieces in, and I'm sure you'd love to see them."

xoxoxoxox

By the time the evening had come to an end, I couldn't exactly pretend I wasn't glad. The evening had been awkward, at best. Though Carlisle and Esme had been extremely kind, and of course Alice had not left my side, I couldn't help but let my gaze wonder to Edward every so often. However, whenever I did, I was met by a scowl, met with a triumphant grin from Rosalie. I wasn't sure exactly what was going on, but I was under the impression I was missing something important.

Once I had Alice to myself in the car, I decided to ask her about it.

"Alice… I'm not… I got the impression that your family was less than thrilled to have me there tonight."

"That's not true, Bella. Esme told you she was glad you came. And Carlisle was absolutely delighted to meet you."

"I don't mean them and you know it. Did I… Did I do something to offend them?"

"Of course not," she said with a vehement shake of her head. "To tell you the truth Bella, they're more upset with me than they are with you. We're all… we're a very close family, Bella. Even when we were still in school, we didn't venture outside of our little circle. They're not happy that I've decided to branch out now," she said. "Truthfully, they feel a little threatened by our friendship."

I frowned at the explanation. They were threatened by our friendship? Apparently, Alice could see the look on my face because she quickly spoke once more. "There's nothing to worry about," she assured me. "It's going to take a little more time than I originally thought, but it won't be long before they absolutely love you. I promise."

There was something Alice was not telling me. I could tell. Though she kept her pretty little smile in place, it didn't quite reach her eyes. I wasn't blind. However, I knew it was a subject Alice wanted to drop. So, being the good friend that I was, decided to follow her lead and let it drop. At least for now.