A/N: I realized I forgot this before:

Disclaimer: Mm hmm, I totally own Twilight…but only in my dreams :)

IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE END!

Previously…

"Don't hug me!" She said worriedly, "I'll wrinkle you!"

As we laughed, I told her "I don't care, come here you little shortie!"

And then it was time to go.

s

Chapter 7: Dinner With His Family

I walked to the library, where we had agreed to meet earlier.

When I walked in the door, he was already there. He stood in front of the huge fire. It must have been a pretty hot place to stand, but he showed no sign of even breaking a sweat.

He turned from the fireplace when I walked in.

"You look…presentable."

"Why, thank you. What a compliment." I said sarcastically.

He gave me an unfathomable look and held out his arm.

I looked at it dumbly. "Um…" What am I supposed to do? Does he want to keep me at arms length or something? Do I smell bad? I resisted the urge to sniff my armpits.

A look of comprehension crossed his face and he said in an impatient voice, "Take my arm."

Um…am I supposed to know what that means?

He showed me with surprisingly gentle hands how to take his arm properly.

"This is going to be harder than I thought" he muttered.

Well, that shred of hope I held that maybe, just maybe, hemight have a whit of kindness just died.

"Well," I said, "We'd best get going."

"Yes" he said distractedly.

I wonder what he's thinking about right now.

We walked down a short corridor that was cleaned and polished specifically for this "informal" dinner of his. If he'd asked, I would have probably lied and said I was ready, but the truth is that he didn't ask and I wasn't ready. Unfortunately, life goes on anyway.

He opened the doors.

EPOV (on popular demand XD)

When that girl—Bella, I told myself—walked into the library, she was a vision. Her curls cascaded around her face and her dress was a shade of blue that offset the ivory shade of her skin.

She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.

Moments later, she reminded me of her stupidity when she didn't know how to take my arm, one of the simplest tasks I could imagine for a lady to know. I decided it would behoove me to just show her how than comment on it.

Well, almost without comment. "This is going to be harder than I thought." Regret immediately washed over me when her shy smile was replaced by a fierce scowl. She's so much more beautiful when she's happy. I like it when she's happy.

Wait, what?

"Well," Bella said brusquely, ignoring my commentary, "We'd best get going."

"Yes" I said, not really paying attention to her words. I was much too preoccupied with trying to work out the reason for my sudden interest in her happiness.

I opened the doors to our dining room.

Bella's POV (sorry guys, but this part wouldn't have worked in EPOV)

"Sorry we're late everybody" Edward apologized smoothly.

There were a lot of people sitting around the table. A woman with caramel colored hair approached us. "Edward," the woman began, "I didn't know you were bringing a date," she teased, "and such a lovely girl, too." I blushed.

She turned to address me. "Hello, I'm Esme, Edward's mother. And you are?" She extended her hand cordially towards me.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Cullen. My name is Isabella Swan, but I prefer Bella." I replied shyly.

"She's so polite, Edward! Nothing like you," she winked conspiratorially at me. "But please, just call me Esme." She smiled at me.

"Thank you, Esme." I smiled back at her. How is such a pleasant and cheerful woman related to him?

"Now let me introduce you to the rest of the family. This is my husband, Carlisle." She said, gesturing to a tall blonde man. I was worried he would recognize me, but he just stood and said in a tenor voice, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Bella."

She moved clockwise around the table to another man with blonde hair just a shade darker than Carlisle's. "This is a business associate of Carlisle's, Mr. Jasper Hale."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Swan." He said in a soft southern drawl.

Next to him was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. There was an oddly large percentage of blonde people in this room, but even if the world was made of blondes, this girl would stand out. Her hair was platinum blonde and her eyes were periwinkle blue, like violets. "This is Mr. Hale's twin sister, Rosalie."

"It's very nice to meet you, Miss Hale." I said in the politest voice I could manage.

"Likewise," she said in a snobby voice. Why are all of the beautiful people so full of themselves? I wondered randomly.

A man next to her stood up. He had brown hair that was slightly greasy looking and dark eyes. My skin crawled at the way he looked at me. "And I," he said, "am Rosalie's fiancée."

"My name is Royce King."

A/N: I'm sorry for the wait. I didn't forget about this story, but I had all of my major exams and for the entire month of June I was put under major scholastic pressure. Besides, it makes more sense to wait for a good update than get a fast and crappy update. With that in mind, please don't flame me for the wait.

I felt like this was a little choppy. I hope not. As always, if there are any mistakes, please tell me and I will fix them.

Was Royce cliffhanger-y?

To respond to my anonymous reviewers (I love all of you guys too!):

CandyCornXOXO: You don't have a PM feature, so…here it is: I hope the update monster won't eat me! I want to finish this story first!

marypoppinscollar (): Thanks for the support and sorry for the wait. XD

Elvia(): Yes, we all love Edward more as a gentleman.

love ur story love mine tooo (): Thanks =)

iloveyou(): That's a great idea. I hope that this chapter is living up to your expectations. I really am trying.

If you all don't mind my asking, what's with all of the parentheses?

Anyhow, please give me feedback. Review please!