A/N: Sorry for the delay! I am almost done writing chapter 17 so I thought I'd let this guy free for you lovely ladies. The major events I had in mind for this story are finally starting to take place!

My beta's MadelineJade and twilight-is-lovee are amazing! I don't what I'd do without them.

This chapter is dedicated to TeamMidnightSun who always give me a big kick when I'm suffering from a writers block.

All Characters Belong To Stephenie Meyer.


I was awakened by the sound of my apartment door opening. The sound of the locks were anything but subtle. Once I realized that Bella was no longer in bed with me, I panicked, and my head quickly went to a negative place. I worried that she wasn't satisfied with me and wanted to flee before I awoke. But I simply couldn't—wouldn't—let her go!

I got out of bed quickly, not bothering to put any pants on over my boxers, and made my way to the door as fast as I could. What I found angered me more than it surprised me. There stood Bella, in nothing but my t-shirt, at my front door with my parents.

"Esme? Carlisle?" I asked while trying to rub the sleep from my eyes, hoping that maybe, just maybe, this was a bad dream.

"Edward?" they asked, shocked by my appearance.

I had not seen my parents in almost 4 years. I was sure they were as taken aback by my appearance as I was by theirs.

In place of my long, straight locks and clean-shaven face from way back when was a much shorter haircut and a shit ton of scruff.

They looked aged as well. My mother's laugh lines stood out more on her almost wrinkle free face, and I could see the flecks of gray that blended almost flawlessly in my father's blonde hair. We had aged. We had drifted apart so far that neither of us recognized one another.

"Can you meet Bella and me at Orlin? It's a little café on St Mark's and 2nd avenue. We'll be there in 15 minutes."

My poor girlfriend was still standing at the door. I could tell she was trying to mask her terror, but I could read it plainly on her face. Bella was mortified to meet my parents that way, and I couldn't blame her.

"Of course, son, we will see you there," my father said as he took my mother's hand in his and proceeded down the hall. I could see the relief wash over Bella's face immediately, as I closed the door for her.

"Ugh," she said as she smacked her palm against her forehead. "They must think I'm some kind of whore."

I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around her, happy that my earlier assumptions were incorrect. Last night, when she had told me that she loved me, I'd frozen. That wasn't the first time this had happened, and I'd immediately shut down. In every situation before her, I'd shake my head 'no,' apologize, and then get shit thrown at me. But not with Bella.

Her face was pained when she moved to grab her things to leave. I snapped out of it as soon as her hand touched the doorknob. I didn't know what the fuck love was, and I wasn't about to spew some 'I love you' bullshit back to her. I cared about her more than I cared about anyone before her, and I told her that, because I could afford her that much.

"Let's get dressed and go to breakfast. They will love you," I assured her as I placed a kiss atop her head.

"Yeah, yeah," was all she said as she wiggled free from my grasp and made her way to my bedroom to get ready.

--

We walked to Orlin in silence, our hands locked together as we smiled at one another nervously. I could feel the slight trembling of her nerves as her hands shook slightly. I was just as anxious as she was, but I'd become a professional at hiding my feelings. I needed to be calm for her.

As we approached the restaurant, we spotted my parents sitting under the outdoor canopy, and we entered it through the small gate.

"Carlisle, Esme, this is my girlfriend, Bella," I introduced her as I took my seat.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, darling." My mother greeted Bella with a hug, which shocked the shit out of the both of us. My father smiled in agreement and shook Bella's hand lightly. We sat in silence, looking over our menus before the waitress sauntered up to the table.

"Hi, my name is Jenna, and I'll be your server today. Do you know what you'd like, or do you need a couple more minutes to decide?" She asked as she licked her lips in my direction, which did not go unnoticed by Bella.

"I'll have the breakfast special, and he will as well," Bella said as she rested her hand on my thigh. She was fucking marking her territory, and I wanted nothing more than to kiss her.

After all of our orders were taken, I felt it was finally time to stop with the awkward bullshit. I wanted answers.

"You guys never gave a shit about me," I said with a sigh.

My parents looked stunned by my words. My mother's face was pained, and my father just looked really pissed off.

"Watch your mouth, Edward. Your mother and I care deeply about you. It was your choice to leave and come to New York. You never returned our calls or made an effort to see us," Carlisle said angrily as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"You said I wasn't your son! Don't act like I don't know what went on between the two of you. There is a huge fucking chance that I'm not your son!" I growled in a low tone, making sure that our conversation stayed private.

"Edward Anthony!" my mother scolded.

The food arrived shortly after, effectively ending our conversation and left us eating in mostly awkward silence save for a few questions directed at Bella. Bella was a champ and remained courteous and amiable through it all. I wasn't sure if my parents were genuinely interested in Bella, but I was grateful to them for at least pretending.

After breakfast was paid for, I invited my parents over to my place out of obligation. If I was going to heal myself, then I needed to start where it all began. Bella excused herself after breakfast, stating that she had some things to get ready at her apartment for her parents' arrival. Thanksgiving was next week, which had us all on edge. Families weren't happy wonderful things to Bella and me, but this year, we were making an effort.

I sat in my writing chair when we entered the apartment; I needed the connection to Bella to help me through this.

"Edward, I have said things that I am not proud of. I am your father; I don't need some DNA test to prove it. I love you very much, and I regret that my actions in the past have not shown you that. From now on, we will be a family. I promise to be a good father to you. I know it may be too late, but I will put all of my effort into this. I am so very proud that you're happy, that your music career has been successful, and Bella is a wonderful girl. I promise from here on out to be nothing but supportive, son." Carlisle looked into my eyes during his entire speech, and his tone was unwavering. He said all this with absolute certainty.

I wanted to brood some more and even argue, but his soliloquy left me at a loss. I was at a loss for words to speak back, but he did leave me with much to think about.

I could forgive him, try to move on and be a real family with Esme, Carlisle, Alice, and Emmett, or I could tell him to go fuck himself, and be alone once again.

No, I didn't want to choose the latter. I was tired of being an asshole. I suppose the old adage was true, you get what you give. I needed to start giving more.

"I'll try to call more often," I responded with as much of a smile as I could muster. My mother was beaming with pride that her boys had worked out their differences.

--

The rest of the afternoon with my parents went better than I had expected. The past would never be forgotten, but I had a feeling that we could move forward and learn from our mistakes. Who knew? Edward fucking Cullen was growing up.

"Open the fucking door, Eddie! These drums are heavy as shit!" I heard Emmett yell at my front door. I opened it for him immediately.

Jasper and I decided to ask Emmett to drum for us at our rehearsals to get a better feel of the songs. At least that's what we told him. In actuality, we were secretly auditioning him for a permanent place in our would-be band. Jasper strolled in after Emmett with his bass in hand, a smirk upon his face. He was excited to jam with Emmett.

"You're drumming like a boner, Emmett. Put some damn feeling into it," I growled at him after he once again threw Jasper and I off. His tempo was god-awful, and despite his muscular body, he was barely hitting the drums.

"Like this?" he asked before he began to pound on the drums, his tempo flawless. Emmett had managed to turn the tables on Jasper and me. Who knew that my brother was a fucking genius drummer? "Can't bullshit the king of bullshitters, Eddie and Jazzy."

Jasper and I both rolled our eyes in his direction. "I'm tired of playing. Let's go down to the bar and have some celebratory drinks," Jasper suggested, and we all nodded in agreement.

--

We walked into the bar and took seats at the counter. As usual, Kate was behind the bar with James. He and I were never going to be friends, but Bella drilled it into me that we had to be at least civil with one another. And what my girl wants, my girl gets.

"Katie, I need a round of Blue Moon for my brothers," I ordered with a smile as I slid her a 10-dollar bill. I noticed Emmett and Jasper smirk at the fact that I referred to them both as my brother, because let's face it, Jasper was my fucking brother, too.

"Here's to the Cullen family band!" Emmett said as he raised his beer to us before taking a swig.

"We are not calling ourselves that," I replied, shaking my head.

"I'm not a Cullen, Emmett," Jasper said with a laugh.

"Oh you totally are, Mr. Alice Cullen," Emmett commented.

We were interrupted before Jasper had a chance to respond.

"Edward, Emmett?" We turned our heads to acknowledge the person.

"Ben?" I asked curiously.

"The one and only," he responded with a smirk.

"Benny boy!" Emmett exclaimed as he pulled Ben into a hug.

"Jasper, I don't think you've met our cousin, Ben. Ben, this is Alice's boyfriend, Jasper," I introduced the two once Emmett had released Ben.

"What brings you here, man?" I asked Ben as he took a seat beside me.

"My girlfriend, Angela, works here," he answered.

"Angela is my girlfriend, Bella's, roommate, actually," I commented. I couldn't help but smile at the mention of her. I was totally whipped.

"She's fucking hot, dude," Ben said as Emmett and Jasper nodded in agreement. "I heard you and Jasper started a band. Wasn't there a guy here to check you out?"

"Actually, we just added Emmett to the line up on drums. If we do get signed, we wouldn't want some random rotating band members filling in to play songs that require a full band," Jasper responded.

"If you guys need a lead guitarist, let me know. The band I was with before just split up."

Jasper and I looked at each other—the same thing running through our minds, I was sure

"Well, let's go back to my place. We can play some stuff and see if this works out," I offered as I slid some singles towards Kate for a tip.

The four of us immediately clicked when we began to play our instruments. It just felt right. And in the blink of an eye, Emmett, Jasper, Ben, and I became a band.

I promise to try and finish 17 as soon as possible. Your reviews are incredible and floor me every time, leave some more cause I could use the push!