Special shout out to babylopez2008 who reviewed every chapter of this story so far - and my other one! Thanks so much!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight Saga.
Chapter Eight – I could spend my life in this sweet surrender
I could stay awake just to hear you breathing
Watch you smile while you are sleeping
While you're far away dreaming
I could spend my life in this sweet surrender
I could stay lost in this moment forever
Every moment spent with you is a moment I treasure
~:~:~
Don't want to close my eyes
I don't want to fall asleep
Cause I'd miss you baby
And I don't want to miss a thing
Cause even when I dream of you
The sweetest dream will never do
I'd still miss you baby
And I don't want to miss a thing
~:~:~
One week later…
EPOV
It had been one week since Bella had sprained her ankle and the six of us were hanging out on the beach. She still wasn't allowed to do anything and was confined to bed rest. But being Bella, stubborn as she always was, she had managed to acquire a wheelchair and we had wheeled her out to the beach to enjoy some sunshine.
Alice, Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett were playing two on two beach volleyball (it being one of the rare times none of them had a group activity to attend to) and I was lying in a hammock with Bella. She was reading a book (Wuthering Heights – I thought it was an awful book, I had no idea what she saw in it, but she seemed to like it anyway (AN: I'm not going to comment on the book as I haven't read it)) and I was playing with her hair, watching our friends as they disputed whether or not Emmett had purposely aimed at Jasper's head while he spiked the ball.
Bella sighed contentedly in my arms as I kissed her hair. She hadn't been out in the sun for a week and I knew she was happy to get some fresh air. Her cheerful mood made me happy as well.
Just then, one of the resort staff approached us.
"Mr. Cullen?" he asked.
"Yes, that's me," I replied, sitting up as much as I could manage in a hammock without tipping us over onto the ground.
"Could you please come to reception? There are two people asking for you."
I swapped a puzzled look with Bella before getting out.
"I'll see you in a few minutes," I said, kissing her forehead.
She nodded and I walked over to the reception.
As I entered the foyer, I looked around and was shocked to see the two people who I thought I wouldn't see.
"Edward!" my mom cried, running over to me and throwing her arms around my neck. My father stood behind her, grinning. When my mother eventually let go of me, he clapped my shoulder.
"Son, how are you doing?"
"I… uh… what… you two…?" I stuttered, not sure if this was a dream or not. What were my parents doing here?
"Well," my mom said, knowing what I was attempting to ask, "Carlisle had a conference here which ended here a few days ago and we thought we might as well look in on you to see how you're doing."
"Oh." I stared at them, still stunned about it all.
"It's really lovely here," my mom was saying, looking around. "So what have you been up to, Edward?"
"Um," I said, my brain starting to work again. My thoughts turned to Bella and my friends still on the beach. Crap, what was I going to say about Bella? She wouldn't be ready to meet my parents, especially like this when they obviously didn't expect me to jump into another relationship after what happened with Tanya.
What should I do? I couldn't well hide my parents from my parents, I didn't know how long they were staying. But if I introduced them to my friends… well, I wasn't sure what would happen, but it couldn't be anything good.
"Edward?" my father prodded. "Are you okay?"
"Fine," I replied, my brain now working furiously to come up with something. "Um… so when did you guys get here?"
"We only arrived about an hour ago. We just checked in and then asked someone whether they'd seen you. They said that someone saw you down the beach with some people. Are they your friends?"
I nodded.
"Can we meet them?" my mother asked excitedly.
I froze. Crap. There was no way out of this now.
My parents were staring at me, probably frightened about my odd behaviour. If I wasn't careful, they'd probably drag me to a psychiatrist to see what was wrong with me.
"Sure," I said, trying to go back to my previous cheerful mood. "Follow me."
I bit my lip as they followed me outside. Bella was going to kill me for this.
~:~:~
Lying close to you feeling your heart beating
And I'm wondering what you're dreaming
Wondering if it's me you're seeing
Then I kiss your eyes
And thank God were together
I just want to stay with you in this moment forever
Forever and ever
~:~:~
Don't want to close my eyes
I don't want to fall asleep
Cause Id miss you baby
And I don't want to miss a thing
Cause even when I dream of you
The sweetest dream will never do
Id still miss you baby
And I don't want to miss a thing
~:~:~
BPOV
My friends had just finished their third game of beach volleyball in a row and Edward still wasn't back. What could be taking him so long?
Alice came over to where I was lying on the hammock. I hated being so immobile, I was allowed to do anything. It was driving me crazy, just sitting around all day. Though admittedly, sitting around wasn't so bad when I was with Edward.
I handed Alice a bottle of water and she nodded in thanks.
"Where'd Edward go?" she asked. Alice's attitude to Edward had changed in the past week. Ever since he told her what he went through with that bitch Tanya, she'd been a lot nicer to him.
"I don't know. Max came and told him some people were waiting for him at reception a few minutes ago."
Alice bit her lip as our friends came over to join us, Emmett and Jasper still debating loudly over the game.
"Hey," Rose said, pointing in the general direction of the reception, "who's that with Edward?"
My head whipped around to look where she was pointing and I saw Edward walking with couple holding hands. They looked oddly familiar but I couldn't quite place where I had seen them before.
"Everyone," Edward said when he arrived, taking my hand gently, "I'd like to introduce you to my parents, Carlisle and Esme."
My jaw dropped. These two people, who looked like they could have easily passed off as famous celebrities, were his parents.
Shit.
Of course I'd seen them before. When Edward was in Forks on his holiday. It had been Carlisle himself who had looked in on me on my last day in the hospital. Edward's father, was still incredibly handsome and had blonde hair and brown eyes. He was tall like Edward and had a smile on his face. Esme was equally as stunning, her long caramel hair in waves down her back and her eyes were glinting with happiness and excitement. It was hard to believe that they had a son in his twenties, they easily looked as if they themselves were in their thirties.
I gulped. How the hell did Edward just expect me to go along with this? What were we going to tell his parents? Would they even remember who I was?
"Mom, Dad, this is Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie," he said, pointing to each of my friends in turn. He then looked down at me, smiling and somehow, my tenseness melted away. Almost. "And this is my girlfriend, Bella."
If his parents were surprised, they didn't show it. Instead they gave me a genuine smile and Esme bent down to hug me.
"Ah yes, I remember you. You're the girl that Edward always spent time with when we were in Forks for our holiday. Do you remember Carlisle?" she said, looking around at her husband.
Jasper and Emmett stared at me curiously, they didn't know about my 'history' with Edward beforehand.
Carlisle's eyes glinted as he said, "Yes, I remember the first day when I saw you in the hospital. What happened this time Bella, did you break your leg again?"
"Yes," I admitted, relieved that they were trying to make some of the tension disappear.
Esme and Carlisle then turned to my friends, greeting Alice like she was a long-lost friend that they hadn't seen in years.
"They like you," Edward murmured in my ear, running his hands through my hair.
"How can you tell?" I whispered back as they laughed at something Emmett said.
"Who couldn't like you?" he replied.
"So they don't hate me for the fact that they had no idea that we were seeing each other?"
"Bella, you had no idea what that break up with Tanya did to me, what I was like. I didn't even exist. I was just an empty shell with no soul inside. My parents are just happy that I'm happy again and I'm back to my normal self. And besides, they liked you before when we were teenagers as well."
"That's a relief then," I said, smiling up at him.
"Hey, you two lovebirds," Emmett called to us, "let's head back inside and then we can get ready for dinner."
I blushed in embarrassment but luckily, Edward's parents didn't comment.
"Honestly, you should see these two sometimes. I swear, it's almost creepy how they interact; they always have these silent conversations and never notice what's going around them. A volcano could be erupting and they wouldn't notice," Jasper laughed.
Everyone laughed along with him and Edward and I just ignored them as he helped me into my wheelchair to wheel me back to my room.
"Okay, that's enough teasing them for now," Esme chided, although you could see her straining not to laugh herself.
"We'll see you later," Edward nodded at our friends before hugging his mom.
Soon after, we made it back to my room and Edward lifted me out of the wheelchair and set me on the couch, sitting next to me.
"Is your father still a doctor?" I asked him after a short silence.
"Yeah," he replied. "He still works in Chicago but his work is so well known now that he often goes away to conferences to talk about his work."
"Is that what they were doing here?"
He nodded. "I still can't believe that they just turned up like that. I honestly wasn't expecting them to."
"I think it's nice of them. They just wanted to look out for you."
"So you don't hate me?"
"Why would I hate you?"
"Come on Bella, it's hard enough for someone to meet their boyfriend's parents when they're expecting them, much less when they arrive unannounced."
"Alright, it surprised me a little bit."
He raised his eyebrows at me.
"Fine, a lot. But how would you have known that they were coming anyway?"
"True," he said as he kissed my hair.
"Well," I sighed, "now that we've told one set of parents, I guess it's time to tell mine now."
Edward stared at me and shook his head. "No way, Bella. I remember your dad. Tell me if I'm wrong, but isn't he a cop? The chief of police? A man with a gun?"
I laughed at him, he seemed so scared of my father. Okay, sometimes Charlie could be really scary sometimes, like that time when he found out I went cliff diving with some of my friends, or that time when one of his colleagues told him I'd been speeding on the highway on a motorbike. But he was really a nice and quiet guy.
"Don't be so scared of him, Edward. He'll like you, I'm sure."
"Uh huh. Right," he said sceptically. "Just what he wants, his only child to fall in love with some guy who she knew when she was seventeen and he thought disappeared from her life forever."
"Charlie just needs time to adjust like all dads do."
"Fine, we'll tell him," Edward finally agreed. "What about your mom, Bella?"
I rolled my eyes. If only he knew.
"Renee will be fine with it. As long as I don't fall pregnant or get married any time soon, she'll be all for us."
He still looked unsure about it so I kissed him to make him relax.
"Hey, relax. Everything's going to be okay."
And in my heart, I knew it, because as long as I had Edward, everything would turn out right.
~:~:~
I don't want to miss one smile
I don't want to miss one kiss
I just want to be with you
Right here with you, just like this
I just want to hold you close
Feel your heart so close to mine
And just stay here in this moment
For all the rest of time
~:~:~
Don't want to close my eyes
I don't want to fall asleep
Cause Id miss you baby
And I don't want to miss a thing
Cause even when I dream of you
The sweetest dream will never do
Id still miss you baby
And I don't want to miss a thing
~:~:~
EPOV
Bella had fallen asleep in my arms and I was watching her sleep talk. I found it so amusing that she talked in her sleep, sometimes saying the most randomest of things. But mostly she just said my name which made my heart soar every time I heard that.
The sun was setting, turning the sky into a palette of pinks and blues. I heard a knock on the door and I got up to answer it, making sure that I didn't wake Bella up in the process.
"Hey Alice, Rose," I greeted them.
"Hi Edward," Rosalie smiled back as Alice pushed past me to go find Bella.
"What, I don't even get a 'Hello Edward'?" I called after her.
"Well, normally you would, but seeing as you're not my best friend who is currently in a cast and who needs to meet her boyfriend's parents, not today," she called back.
Alice and my relationship had improved dramatically. After I had revealed what he really happened between me and Tanya, I think most of her doubts that I either didn't love Bella or I would leave her had disappeared.
I was glad for all of my friends. Although I had not known them very long, they involved me in their group like I had been with them for years and years.
"Now, may I ask what you're doing here?" I looked at Rosalie who had an amused look on her face.
"To kick you out," she replied, hitting my arm and shoving me out the door.
"What?! C'mon Rose, why do you need to do that?"
"Because I'm sure Bella wouldn't appreciate you hanging around and making her more nervous about dinner with your parents, which, I remind you, is in a few hours," Alice said, coming back out into the hallway.
"Alice, leave him alone," I heard Bella call from the living room.
"Bella, don't you dare give me the whole 'I don't need your help, I'm fine,' crap because you have a sprained leg and you cannot possible get ready on your own," she said.
"Fine," I sighed. "Go ahead and kidnap my girlfriend."
"Thanks Edward!" both girls said before locking the door behind me.
I leaned against the wall of the hallway and ran my hands through my already unruly hair. I decided to go visit my parents but then realised that I had no idea where their room was. I walked to Emmett's room and knocked on his door.
"Hey man, got kicked out?"
"Yeah. Anyway, do you know where my parents' room is?"
"Sure. Up the stairs, down the corridor, third door on the left," he told me.
"Cool. Thanks Emmett. See you at dinner."
"See ya."
I then went to my parents' room and knocked, hearing my mother's voice telling me that it was open.
"Hi mom."
"Edward! What are you doing here, we thought you'd be with Bella."
I chuckled, "I got kicked out of her room."
Esme raised her eyebrows at that but didn't comment any further, instead dragging me over to the couch where my father was watching TV. I started counting down the seconds before my mother would start interrogating me about Bella.
One…
Two…
Three…
"So how is Bella anyway?" Esme asked casually.
"She's well. She just needs to rest because of her sprain but it's hard to get her to stay still."
"She's such a nice girl. What does she do here?"
"All of them work in the resort helping with the activities and stuff," I told her.
"She's good for you Edward," Carlisle said. "And it's obvious how much you care about each other. Hold onto her."
"I will," I promised.
I'll hold onto her forever.
~:~:~
Don't want to close my eyes
I don't want to fall asleep
I don't want to miss a thing
AN: Ha ha ha, who was expecting that? Lol, ha ha ha.
Well, hope you liked it. Please review, especially today. Could I please have some more reviews on my birthday? Pretty please? :D
Two more things: I will not update again in two week cause I will be on holidays so you won't get the regular update in two weeks. Sorry guys, but I'll be on holiday and won't have time to write another chapter. And second thing, voting for the Epic T Rated Contest will start on June 22 so please vote for my story, 'Hide and Seek'. If you haven't read it, please go read!
Anyway, thanks guys! Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me...