Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

Chapter 22

Bella's POV/2 weeks later

I've been over to the Royal Five dorm building many times now. Demetri and I are getting to know each other better every day, and we're getting closer as well. I hang out with him and his family often and I spend every weekend with them as well. I'm heading there now.

"Miss Bella." the security guard acknowledged with a smile. I smiled back and said hello, and proceeded to go into the building and headed up the elevator to the third floor. I knocked on Chala and Hannah's door and Hannah answered, fully dressed in a casual outfit of jeans and a t-shirt.

"Good morning Bella." she greeted me brightly.

"Good morning." I said, and as I prepare to walk inside a pair of cold, strong arms encircled my waist and pulled me back against solid chest. I squealed in surprise and then dissolved into giggles as Demetri leaned down and whispered, "Hey Beautiful" in my ear. I turned with a grin and greeted him with a kiss.

"I have a surprise for you." Demetri said once we separated.

"What is it?" I asked curiously.

"We're taking you to meet our parents today." Demetri replied.

I felt nervous butterflies take flight inside my stomach. "Are you sure? What if they don't like me?" I asked, voicing my insecurity. Alec, Felix, and Demetri were perfect; tall, handsome, smart, and likable. Hannah and Chala looked nothing like them but we're still strikingly beautiful, athletic, and intelligent. I often felt plain in comparison to the Royal Five and was definitely nervous to see how the powerful Volturi adults perceived me.

"They'll love you." Demetri assured me, smoothing a hand over my hair.

"They're expecting you soon, so let's get going." Chala informed me, coming out of the closet with her Coach purse in hand. I sighed and allowed myself to be led downstairs. Felix and Alec met us in the foyer and then we all headed out to the SUV and piled in. I fidgeted a lot on the ride there, secretly thanking God that I had worn a decent outfit. I wiped imaginary lint off of my dark wash jeans and straightened my light blue blouse continuously.

"You look fine." Demetri murmured in my ear, causing me to shiver.

"Calm down, Bella. They are going to love you just as much as we do." Alec assured me from the driver seat where he sat next to Hannah.

"You love me?" I asked breathlessly, feeling my eyes sting with surprise and affection.

"You're family to us now, and even if you and Dem broke up we'd still see you as such." Hannah explained with a sincere smile cast over her shoulder. Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. I smiled, now comforted and calm.

Finally we pulled up in front of an enormous building that could only be described as, well… a castle. It was made of the same sienna brown stone that most of the buildings here and Volterra were made of. It was sprawling and grand and I felt my heart rate pick up as I surveyed it. "You guys live here?" I asked, feeling dumbfounded as Alec drove past the wrought iron gates and drove up the long driveway to park in a modern garage off the side of the castle.

"Yep, this is the place we call home when we're not at the dorm building." Chala answered as well all climbed out of the SUV. We entered through the grand double doors in the front. I half expected the place to be surrounded by a moat with a fire breathing dragon to match. That's the kind of air the place had. We walked down a long, dimly lit hallway with stone walls on either side. Eventually we arrived at a sort of reception area complete with a reception desk, armchairs, and a pretty receptionist with tan skin and long, black hair.

"Hello Gianna." Hannah and the boys said in polite but distant tones. Chala said nothing. Gianna looked up with a coy smile that was directed solely at the boys.

"I'm glad you all came to see me. Your fathers have me working so hard and they sent me out on errands in the rain and I got all wet. Do you think you boys could help me dry up?" she said in a lustful voice. I wrinkled my nose at her in disgust. Are you kidding me? I thought. She was pretty but obviously a skank and terrible at flirting.

"No, I'm afraid not." Alec said casually, pecking Chala on the cheek.

"Me too." Felix agreed, grabbing Hannah's hand. Both Chala and Hannah looked pissed.

Before Demetri had a chance to speak, Gianna turned her green eyes on him and flipped her thick, dark hair over her shoulder. "How about you, Dem?" she smiled, Demetri's nickname sliding off her tongue like butter, "Help me out."

I had had enough. I stepped in front of Demetri and crossed my arms over my chest. "Hello, Gianna. I don't believe we have met. I'm Bella, Dem's girlfriend." I said tightly, holding my hand out for her to shake. Everyone except Gianna laughed.

Gianna ignored my offered hand and looked back at the boys with a pout. "Guess I have no takers-" she started before Chala interrupted.

"Damn skippy." she snapped.

Gianna scoffed in disdain and turned back towards the boys. "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted by the little idiot-" Gianna started again, only to be cut off when Chala lurched towards her angrily. Alec grabbed her before she could attack Gianna and held her tightly as she struggled towards her.

"Give it a rest, Pipsqueak," Gianna said, rolling her eyes. "Your fathers are waiting for you in the throne room." We all gladly walked past the desk.

"Bitch." Chala snapped.

"Oh go to hell." Gianna snapped back.

"See you there, skank." Chala called as Alec pushed her along and out of the reception room. Chala kept up a steady string of complaints about Gianna while Hannah merely looked angry but didn't say anything.

"I hate that bitch." Chala said, just as we walked through a huge door into a cavernous and ancient looking room.

"Chala Knechele, language please." a deep and pleasant voice said.

"Hey Daddy." Chala said as she sprinted forward. I was so nervous that I couldn't even look up. I clasped Demetri's hand tightly.

"Who are you talking about, Sweetheart?" the same angelic voice asked.

"Gianna," Chala responded, "She's such a whore. She acted like Bella, Hannah, and I were not there while she attempted to get the boys up her short skirt. Plus she called me names and told me to 'go to hell.'' Please fire her." Chala whined.

"Ah, Isabella is here." a light, lilting voice said, ignoring Chala's complaints.

"Wonderful." replied a third voice. I gulped and looked up. There were six ancient but ornate looking thrones sitting on top of a raised platform across the cavernous room. Three were being occupied. All three of the men were beautiful and had pale, papery looking skin and golden colored eyes. One had shiny black hair that hung to his shoulders. He didn't look much older than Felix, maybe mid-twenties. The man next to him looked older, perhaps in his mid-forties, with white hair pulled back into a short ponytail. Chala was sitting in his lap. The last of them looked maybe 19 or 20, and had long, curly black hair. He wore a somewhat bored expression, and Hannah stood beside him, her hand resting on his shoulder. The man with the shoulder length black hair stood and beckoned me forward.

I walked up to him timidly. Although he was young he had an air of wisdom and authority around him. "It is very nice to meet you, Isabella. I'm Aro." he said.

"Bella." I corrected him with what I hoped was a friendly smile.

Aro smiled. "Okay, Bella. This is Caius," he said, gesturing gracefully towards the white haired man, "And that is Marcus." he further explained, motioning again towards the bored looking one.

"Welcome to our home." Caius and Marcus both said in unison, their angelic voices blending together like music. My head reeled from all the perfection around me. I had never spent so much time around such extraordinarily beautiful people before.

"Thank you." I said politely.

During the rest of my visit I met Demetri's extended family; cousins Jane, Renata, and Chelsea. Demetri's adopted mother's name was Athendora, the wife of Caius, and his aunts were Didyme, wife of Marcus and adopted mother of Alec and Hannah, and Sulpicia, wife of Aro and adopted mother of Felix. Each and every one of the people I met were pale, beautiful, well-spoken, and graceful. Hannah and Chala stuck out like sore thumbs with their darker skin, but seemed to fit right in, talking and laughing like they had known these people forever.

I had a good time, though I felt strangely nervous the whole time. Demetri says we'll be visiting quite often. I don't know how I feel about that. It's hard to be around so many strangely perfect people all the time.

Please review. Thanks for reading! Please check out a story I co-wrote called One Life To Live. You'll find it under the account Twilight Chicks. If you like this story, you'll love that one. Thanks again