Ten months later

"What about this one, with my hair up?"

"Ehh, maybe."

"Where's that black shirt dress thing you wore the other weekend?"

"The satin thing that looked like pajamas? No way."

"What about this dress?" Bella put a gray sweater dress against her body in the mirror.

"No!" Kate, Irinia and Tanya said in vehement unison and Bella let out a groan, shoving it back into her closet.

"Save me!" she hissed at John who sat nearby on his dog bed, head on his paws. His eyes had been on the three sisters but looked up at Bella as if to say, 'What do you want me to do?'

She and Edward had been dating for about a year and officially for close to ten months. As per the deal that night at Edward's house all those months ago, they were taking things slow but Bella had agreed to take the next step - meeting the family.

Between everyone's jobs, social events on weekends, Peter's weekend sport matches and school schedule and not to mention Jake and Jessica living in another city - it took weeks but they'd managed to set a place and date. Now Tanya, Irina and Kate were in Bella's bedroom helping her choose an outfit for her dinner that night with the Cullens.

Forty five minutes later, they settled between a red dress or a gray top and black skirt.

At some point in the afternoon, Bella had opened a bottle of riesling for them all to share and Bella took a sip of her wine. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw John sitting up in his bed and she pointed her glass at him. "I think we should let John decide."

Irina scoffed. "He's just a dog."

Bella gave her a flat look. "How dare you."

Irina returned her flat look, mockingly. Bella patted her knee, motioning for John to come over. "John! Come pick an outfit for me tonight."

John walked past her, side eyeing her as he did.

"Come on," Bella coaxed, gesturing to the two outfits laid out on her bed. "It's for tonight to see Edward - your favorite guy."

"God. She talks to him as if he's a person," Irina mumbled over the rim of her wine glass.

"Right?" Kate replied. "It's so weird."

"I think it's cute," Tanya declared, smiling at Bella and John.

Hearing Edward's name, John stopped and turned back towards the bed, his tail wagging. "He is my favorite hottie." John lifted a paw and lightly touched the red dress.

"Good dog!" Bella said happily, rubbing his head.

"Great," Kate stated sarcastically and threw her hands up in the air. "Now tonight when the Cullens' compliment your outfit, you can reply 'Oh, thanks - my dog helped me pick it out.'"

"Why are you mad?" Tanya responded. "That's the dress you chose, dummy."

Kate looked affronted. "Don't call me a dummy."

John was still at Bella's feet and stood up. "That's my cue to leave."

"Take me with you!" Bella whispered to him and John headbutted her hand in response before leaving.

"Okay, okay.," Irina cut off Kate and Tanyas bickering. "Can we go back to focusing on the task in hand? We still haven't chosen shoes, earrings or how Bella is wearing her hair."

Another forty five minutes passed and they were done - outfit, shoes and hair all sorted. However, Bella's wardrobe and bedroom were a complete mess so the three sisters helped Bella clean up and put everything back in its place.

"I'm glad you and Edward are going strong," Kate said suddenly. "He's really grown on me these past few months."

"Ok, first - super random," Bella stated in amusement, taking a shoe box from her and placing it on her shelf. "Second - you didn't like Edward?"

"God, no," Kate said with a scoff and passed her another shoe box. "I thought he was completely wrong for you."

Bella nearly dropped the box in shock. That was news to her. "You did?"

She noticed Tanya had a grimace on her face at the same time that Irina said, 'Oh shit' under her breath.

Kate also looked shocked at her own statement and said hurriedly, "You know what? Forget I said anything-"

Both Tanya and Irina cut in, talking at the same time.

"She didn't mean it-"

"You know how Kate is with day drinking-"

"No, it's okay," Bella said. She turned to Kate and hoped she looked intrigued rather than defensive. "You…think Edward is wrong for me?"

"No," Kate responded straight away and then scrunched her face up and lifted her shoulders. "I mean, not anymore? It's just…" she hesitated and continued in a rush, "he cheated, Bella. when you told us about Edward's past, it just sounded so awful and we all thought you could do better-"

"We all?" Bella repeated, taken aback and glanced between Tanya and Irina.

Kate pointed at her two sisters. "They agreed with me."

Both Irina and Tanya groaned in unison.

"You idiot-"

"Seriously, Kate?"

Bella slumped back slightly against her shelves, her chest sinking. "None of you like Edward?"

"We do now," Kate insisted and then placed her hands on her hips, indignant. "But Bella, come on - he admitted to being a serial cheater. Major red flag. Major!"

"What Kate means is -" Tanya shot her sister a meaningful look and then glanced at Bella softly. "It was just a shock to hear about his past, that's all."

"And that's putting it lightly," Irina said and then continued with a slight grimace. "Bella - he got married at nineteen, cheated on her multiple times - then married one of the girls he cheated on her with, only for her to leave Edward for a guy she was cheating on him with. Does that sound like the kind of guy you want dating one of your best friends?"

Bella gaped at her friends. Were they right? Was Edward a walking red flag?

"Look." Kate waved both her hands around in a breezy manner. "None of that matters anymore because Edward's proved what a great person he is and what a great boyfriend he is -"

"The best boyfriend," Tanya interjected in firm agreement. "He may have been a red flag when he was younger but now he's the definition of a 'green flag' boyfriend now. He's nice and caring and kind and -"

"- and he makes an effort!" Kate cut in. "When you guys eat out, he always makes sure to pick out a place that has enough vegetarian options for you to choose from." She pointed at Bella. "You've told me that before."

"Plus, there's the money thing," Irina added.

Bella frowned, not following. "What money thing?"

"Bella," Irina said, pointedly with raised eyebrows. "There's four of us standing in the walk-in closet of your master bedroom that takes up a whole floor of your downtown, three floor penthouse apartment surrounded by designer label clothes, handbags and shoes with your top of the range Tesla parked in the building's garage downstairs."

"Some of this stuff are knock offs," Bella mumbled, fiddling with a shirt next to her.

Irina pressed on, ignoring her. "You clearly make more money than Edward and it doesn't seem to phase him."

"Big green flag energy," Kate declared.

"Totally." Tanya said with a nod, then added. "And we work together so I know you make buttloads more money than him. 'Jennifer Lopez ass' sized buttloads more."

Bella cracked a smile at that and the conversation quickly shifted to something else. However, the girls' opinions of Edward sat with Bella for the rest of the afternoon. She ran on autopilot while she got ready and even when Edward picked her up for dinner, she kept relaying the girls' words over in her head.

Cheater.

Red flag.

"Bella?"

Bella blinked and turned in her seat to Edward. He had parked in a side street and Bella recognized it as being near the restaurant.

"I said you look great in that dress."

"Thanks," Bella replied and looked down at herself. "The girls came over today to help but John picked the dress out."

Edward smiled and they got out of the car, walking hand in hand toward the restaurant. Bella's thoughts raced in her head and her heart thumped wildly in her chest as if it was moments from giving out.

You're dating a cheater.

Red flag.

Your boyfriend is a serial cheater.

Red flag

He'll do it to you.

Red. Flag.

Once a cheater, always a cheater.

RED. FLAG.

Bella stopped walking and dropped her hand out of Edward's grip at the same time.

"I need to tell you something," she blurted out.

She did?

Edward eyebrows knitted together. "You do?"

"I just…i needed to - to tell you-" Bella fumbled and then trailed off, not knowing what she wanted to say to him.

Edward was still staring at her. "Tell me what?"

I can't do this.

She swallowed the words back, chickening out at the last second and instead said, "that i'm only with you for the sex."

Edward threw his head back and laughed. Making him laugh felt like winning the lottery. Whenever she did that, made him laugh at something she said - even if he were laughing at her - there was no feeling like it.

Edward's eyes danced. "I knew it."

"Yeah, so - y'know, no need for us to do this dinner," Bella said with feign breeziness and jabbed her thumb back in the direction of his car. "We can just head back to your place and have all the sex."

"All the sex?" Edward repeated, amused.

"Yes. The sex. All of it."

"As great as 'all the sex' sounds," Edward began and he placed his hands on her waist, one on each side and Bella's hands went to his chest on instinct. "Here's the thing - I'm not with you just for the sex. I'm with you for the long run - hence why we're having this dinner with my family."

"Okay, sure, but - here's the thing for me," Bella began to say, staring hard at his shirt collar as Edward ran a thumb over her cheekbone, trying to get her to look at him. "The thing is…"

"What's the thing, Bella?"

The words tumbled out of her in a whisper. "The cheating."

"Oh," Edward whispered back, all traces of amusement gone from his face. "That thing."

"It's the girls' fault," Bella said with a grimace and she stepped out of his embrace but stayed close without touching. "They got into my head with all this talk about - about cheating and red flags and - and -"

Her rambling stuttered out as Edward's facial expression pinched, clearly distressed and upset.

"Bella -"

She interrupted him, finally saying the words out loud. "I don't know if i can do this."

Bella knew that was what she was really freaking out about. In part, it may have been about the cheating but for the most part - she was not ready for this. Not able to even conceive the idea of opening her heart to anyone. She had learnt to build a shield around it and was not ready to take it away.

"Bella…" Edward regarded her for a moment and then ran a hand over his face and up into his hair. He continued, his tone and expression serious. "I will never ask you to do something you don't want to do. So if you don't want to do dinner with my family or if you don't want to be together and for us to end things, then that's fine -"

Bella's heart jolted at his words and she inhaled shakily but Edward kept talking.

"I need you to know I want you. This. Us. Completely and in any way you'll have me. Maybe it's true that I'm someone who only wants what he can't have. But what if the thing that I want is the girl I'm supposed to end up with? I'm crazy about you. I'm in love with you and I will always choose you."

He paused to take a breath and Bella remained quiet. She let his words sink in and they terrified her. She was terrified of not being ready to be open with someone…but she was also terrified that she might never be.

"I'm being a hundred percent truthful here. I choose you," Edward declared and he looked the most sincere she had ever seen or heard him. "If tomorrow they invented some sort of science algorithm thing that decided that I wasn't your soulmate and I'm meant to be with some other girl out there, I'd still choose you. I'd choose you every time."

She considered him and realized that she also wanted him. Completely and definitively, in any way she could have him.

Bella gave him a faint smile. "Science algorithm thing?"

Edward shrugged, the tension in his body loosening. "It could happen. They're making new breakthroughs every day. There could be another girl who's scientifically a perfect match for me. Or maybe my soulmate's a guy. I could swing that way."

She took a step towards him and Edward put his hands on her waist again. "You love me?"

"Yeah," he said and stepped close to her until his face was all she could see. "Is that okay?"

"Yeah. I…can't say it back," she admitted. "Not yet. Is that okay?"

"Yeah."

"I don't want to break up with you," Bella told him firmly.

"Good. Great."

His eyes moved over her face and he wrapped his arms all the way around her waist and pulled her closer.

"There are people around," Bella whispered.

"I don't care."

He kissed her and she slid her hands up to his shoulders for support. It was heady stuff, being kissed by Edward Cullen. He kissed her like he had done many times but it suddenly felt deeper. Every movement meaningful and infused with emotion.

"I meant what i said," he told her, when they broke apart, breathing in time with each other. Quick. Slow. Quick, quick, slow. "We don't have to do dinner tonight. We can go home."

She rested his forehead against hers, eyes half closed. They stood there for a moment, just breathing in each other's presence.

"I'm okay," she told him. "I can do this. But I'd feel better if we made out a little more," she added and a slow, radiant smile covered his face and kissed her.

Ten minutes later, they entered the restaurant and Bella's heartbeat kicked into high gear as the restaurant host led them to their table. While the conversation with Edward outside the restaurant had been intense, being inside the restaurant and seeing their reserved table - it suddenly became the scariest place in the world. Her body felt like it was at the starting line of a race, tension and energy building in her muscles.

She excused herself to go to the bathroom but went to the bar instead and ordered two shots of whiskey. She knocked them back, and exhaled hard, her muscles easing. She made her way back to the table where a group of people were milling around and she realized it was them: the Cullens.

When she was close enough, no one took notice of her but she overheard them talking about...her purse?

"Jess, look." Esme pointed at Bella's handbag that she'd left behind at the table. She'd only taken her small makeup pouch to the bathroom/bar with her. Bella had seen enough photos of all of them to know their names.

Esme glanced at Jess, awed. "She has a Hermès."

"Wow.'' Jess and Esme inched closer to Bella's seat, and looked at her handbag but didn't move to touch it.

"You guys," Jake remarked, mirroring the girls' awed tone. He nudged Jasper who was next to him. "It's a Hermès."

"Do you even know what a Hermès is?" Carlisle questioned with an eye roll.

Jake grinned. "Nope."

"It's a designer label handbag," Esme explained.

"The average cost of one is about ten thousand dollars," Jess piped up.

"Ten thousand dollars?" Edward repeated, alarmed. "What the fu-"

"It's a knockoff," Bella found herself saying and they all turned their attention to her. She felt an anxious skip in her heartbeat and continued with a stangled laugh. "I wouldn't actually spend ten thousand dollars on a handbag. I'm not that crazy." When no one responded, she swallowed and added. "Um...I'm Bella."

There was another beat of silence before they all talked at once.

"Hi! How are you?"

"Do you really have a dog the size of a pony?"

"Can you do a magic trick for us now?"

"Yeah! Do the coin one again!"

"No - show us photos of the dog pony!"

"Is it really a knock off?"

Edward mumbled something under his breath and shot his family a wary look. They all took their seats whilst making introductions. For the next hour, it was a flurry of drink and food orders, peppered with the Cullen's asking her questions and Bella trying to answer them all.

While the attention to her was somewhat overwhelming at first and the family's presence was a lot to take (it felt like they were sucking all the energy in the restaurant) - the Cullen's were all genuinely amazing humans.

It was like meeting real life people out of an animated Disney movie. Jake in particular with his bubbly personality and thousand watt smile. Even the females, Esme & Jess radiated positivity and while Jess was quiet, Bella wouldn't be surprised if birds flew into their rooms to help dress them each morning. She couldn't stop smiling, her chest so warm and full it felt like she had swallowed the sun.

Somewhere in between the main course and dessert, Bella had been talked into doing one of her magic tricks. Simple tricks at first, turning the napkin rings into candles, then the candles into two, three wick candles.

"That's so cool!" Pete declared, grinning widely. He was sitting directly opposite her and watched as Bella blew on the candle and kept blowing until all three wicks lit up.

Carlisle, a few seats down asked, "How do you make things just appear?"

Maybe it was the alcohol getting to her but she was starting to enjoy the attention that this beautiful, 'Disney perfect' family was giving her.

Bella shrugged, shifting to her left as a waiter appeared and began refilling their wine glasses. "You start small -"

She leaned forward to Pete and pulled out a $1 coin from his sleeve.

"OoOo," the table chorused impressively as Bella turned it over in her fingers.

"Then bigger-" Bella placed the coin in her palm, closed her fingers over it and then opened it to reveal a crisp $10 note.

"Ahh," the table chorused impressively again.

"And bigger-" She closed her fingers, repeating the gesture and turned the $10 into $50. She did it again, turning it into $100.

She placed the $100 note on her (relatively clean) plate in front of her and placed her hand over it.

"And bigger."

She lifted her hand, revealing what was under it and the table erupted again, all speaking at once.

"Holy shit!"

"Cool!"

"Oh my God-"

"Is that someone's wallet?!"

Everyone at the table's initial shock quickly turned into amusement, joking about who's wallet it could be. They began checking their pant pockets and purses but Bella remained frozen, still staring at the plate, unable to hear anything over the roar of blood in her ears.

She hadn't done that trick in years. Close to a decade. She was so caught up in the moment with her trick, caught up with the happiness of actually getting along with Edward's family, that she acted on reflex - taking whoevers wallet was on her left.

"Oh, it's my wallet," she heard Jasper say and it brought her back. He was sitting on her left, Edward on her right.

"I'm so sorry -" she began saying.

He laughed lightly, pocketing his wallet. "It's fine-"

"Wrong wallet, Bella!" Jake cut in loudly, grinning at her, "you gotta go for Esme's wallet next time! Everyone knows she makes the most money in the family."

Next time.

Bella's head felt so light, she thought she might pass out. She stood up at the same time two waiters appeared with their desserts for the table.

"I'll - be back in a minute," she said haltingly but everyone had already started talking amongst themselves, distracted by the arrival of the cakes.

She quickly grabbed her purse from behind her chair and Edward suddenly reached out and put his hand over her fingers, stopping her. He looked at her, brows furrowed.

"Just going to the bathroom," Bella mumbled and he nodded, letting go and turning back to the table.

Bella made a beeline for the bar, making sure she was out of sight from the table.

"A finger of whatever scotch you've got," she told the bartender. The bar wasn't busy and he served her straight away. She knocked the drink back, with big gulps, squinting at the restaurant's ceiling.

The bartender raised his eyebrows and Bella grimaced, gasping out a "thanks," and then rushed out of the restaurant.

She stood to the side, back against the wall and bent over slightly, her breaths coming quick and shallow.

Stupid, stupid, stupid, stu-

"Hey."

Bella jumped, and Jasper spread his hands apologetically.

"They're serving dessert," Jasper declared, then added, "the chocolate cake?"

"Right. I - came out for a smoke," Bella told him and then immediately winced, remembering that she had left her cigarettes at home in order to make a good impression with the Cullens.

"Do you do that a lot?" Jasper asked and nodded back at the restaurant.

Bella frowned. "I mean, I'm not a pack a day smoker, but -"

Jasper cut her off. "I meant the trick with the wallet."

Her pulse ratcheted up and nerves in her stomach reappeared. "Not anymore," she told him honestly and her brain felt like it was filled with white noise.

Jasper nodded, looking thoughtful and then suddenly asked, "how was your day?"

"My…day?" she echoed, caught off guard.

"I spent most of my day in the car," Jasper declared and then began describing his day to Bella. How he needed to get poster boards for a Pete's school project and it needed to be blue and orange, but a specific blue (not too light and not too dark) and he drove to three stores before finding the correct shade of blue. And then he did some grocery shopping and went to the mall to pick out a new shirt for tonight's dinner.

"It's a nice shirt," she told him when he had finished. She meant it, but she was still confused as to where that tangent had come from.

"Thanks," he replied with a nod. "Do you feel better?"

"Um?"

"Sometimes if we're stressed or in a panic, it helps to do something mundane to redirect the stress or to take the edge off," he explained kindly.

He was right. Her heart had calmed down to a respectable pace and even though they had only been chatting for no more than five minutes, it helped significatnly.

"I'm okay now. Thank you," she said sincerely, then added meekly, "and I'm sorry about the trick and taking your wallet."

"You're welcome and don't even worry about it," he held the restaurant door open for her and said, "you wouldn't have gotten much anyway. I'm broke as hell."

Whew! A lot of opinions on Edward's past in the last chapter…

While I don't want to necessarily spoil where this story is going - what I will say is that Edward's past is not integral to the plot of this story [we won't actually hear about it in this much detail from here on].

However - Bella's past? Those details are more important and it will catch up with her soon enough…

Thanks so much for reading! I really love hearing your thoughts and feedback.