DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS FROM TWILIGHT. THEY ALL BELONG TO STEPHENIE MEYER.

EPOV

Today had to have been one of the best days I've ever had. It didn't really even matter that it was my birthday. It was the fact that I was with Bella, being a normal teenager for once, which was something I never thought that I would be able to do.

I'll admit, I was a bit nervous when we met up with Bella's friends from school. Not really knowing them and not having spent any time at the school over the last eight months or so, I didn't really know what to expect of them. I didn't want to think that they had listened to the rumours that Bella and my family had told me that Mike Newton had been spreading about me and why I wasn't at school. I didn't want people to think about me in that way. But it seemed that my fears were for naught. They seemed friendly, although like me, they seemed a bit awkward, obviously wondering how to behave in front of me.

The meal that Bella had planned wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. I guess that I put that down to the fact that it was just Bella and I here. No one else. I mean, I love my family, but they were beginning to get to me a bit. They insisted on watching me as I ate and it unnerved me slightly. Well, more than slightly. I guess with Bella, it seemed so natural, as if we were a normal teenage couple. She left me to eat in my own time, not watching me, not adding any pressure. Trusting me.

I didn't pay much attention to the film. If you asked me what it was about I wouldn't have been able to tell you. If you asked me who was in it, again I would draw up a blank. I was just so preoccupied with Bella. Nothing else seemed to matter while we were sat there in the darkened theater, holding hands calmly, just content.

Nothing else would have made that night more perfect than it already was. I didn't know what the rest of the family were up to, nor did I care. All I cared about was the fact that I had Bella here, with me.

I most definitely wasn't expecting what we got when we walked through the door.

After spending such a beautiful, pleasant and quiet evening with Bella we got back to my house to find that the lights were off downstairs. This wasn't something that was uncommon as it was only an unused study at the front of the house. I began to get a little worried when we walked through the house and there were no signs of life until the lights flicked on and I got the shock of my life.

I had god knows how many people yelling "SURPRISE!" at me all at the same time. I think I must have jumped about three feet in the air due to fright. I looked around at Bella to see her grinning from ear to ear, showing me that she had obviously had a part to play in this.

"Happy Birthday, love." She walked up to me and wrapped her arms around my neck, kissing me softly. She looked up at my perplexed expression and a confused look came over her face. "What?"

"I'm just surprised that you were able to keep it from me is all." I grinned at her and she smiled sheepishly, the blush that I loved so much returning to her cheeks. "See? That's what I was talking about." She shrugged and kissed me again just before Alice bounded over to us grinning.

"Eddie," I groaned at the cursed name and she waved it off. "We have a surprise for you." She said in a singsong voice.

"Another one?" I was still recovering from the first one. I looked at her and saw her grinning evilly at me. "Alice?" I narrowed my eyes at her and she turned around, looking at the back of the room. I craned my neck and saw four figures standing, partially in the shadows. I wasn't sure who it was until Alice waved them over and I could see them properly. I felt my face morph into a huge grin as I saw the four people I'd gotten close to in the clinic walk out into the centre of the room. Claire, Diana, Michael and Shane. They all stood there, looked at each other and then looked at me again.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY EDWARD!" They cried and I couldn't help but laugh. I looked down at Bella and she grinned blushing again. I took her face in my hands and pressed my lips to hers knowing that she was the one responsible for their being here, seeing as she was the only one with contact numbers for any of them.

"Thank you." I whispered and she smiled at me.

I turned to look at who was there. I saw my family standing there grinning at me. I also saw Charlie, Bella's father, a dark-skinned woman that I hadn't met before - I guessed that she was Sue Clearwater, the woman that Bella had told me that her father had been seeing recently. There was also a boy and a girl there that, standing slightly behind her and I guessed that they must have been her children. They looked pleasant enough and I told myself that I would get to know them and thank them for coming. There was also another man that I didn't recognise, but knew by description from Bella. He looked around the same age as Charlie, but had the same coloured skin as the woman and her children. He was in a wheelchair and I instantly knew him as Billy Black, an old friend of Charlie's. Standing behind him was a boy, that I guessed was his son, Jacob. Bella had told me that the two of them would spend time together when she visited Charlie in the summer. I smiled and nodded at him but was met with a grave expression. I made a mental note to ask Bella about that later on.

I also saw Irina standing there with a huge smile on her face. This Denali sister I liked. From what I had gotten at the clinic, she was the complete opposite to her sister. Standing next to her was a man, who looked ever so slightly unsure of himself, as if wondering why he was there. Bella had told me about Irina's boyfriend, Felix, so I guessed that that was him.

Alice bounded away from me and turned up the large stereo-system we had in the room. Everyone jumped at the sound and began laughing and chatting to each other. Jasper walked up to both Bella and myself and handed us a drink each, grinning.

"What do you think?" He asked.

"I think....." I pondered this a moment. "I think that I'm going to have to kill a certain pixie sister of mine." He and Bella both laughed when I said this and I couldn't help but grin. It was nice to see my family so relaxed.

"I'm just going to go get some food." Bella said, kissing my lower jaw.

"We just ate a couple of hours ago." I told her and she pouted.

"I know." She whined. "But I'm hungry again." I rolled my eyes. "Want anything?"

I thought about this for a moment. "I'm alright at the moment." I saw Jasper raise his eyebrows at me. "Honestly, Jazz." I told him, rolling my eyes. "I'm fine." I saw that he wasn't going to believe me on this. "I'll get something a bit later on. Okay?" He narrowed his eyes at me, but I didn't break my gaze from him. He seemed placated as he walked off. I looked back at Bella and I saw that the smile had disappeared.

"I'll talk to him." She whispered, kissing me on the lips gently and walking off to find where Alice had hidden the food. I shook my head at her, smiling.

I turned and saw Irina walking towards me, with a huge smile on her face. She knew that hugging me probably wasn't the best idea, so she stopped and grinned at me.

"Happy birthday Edward." She said softly.

"Thank you Irina." I said, smiling back at her.

"Edward, I'd like you to meet Felix." She turned around and held out her hand. He walked over and took it, seeming slightly more at ease than a minute ago. "Felix this is Edward. Bella's boyfriend."

"The one who was at the clinic?" He asked and I nodded. I knew that he wasn't pointing it out in a nasty way, just as a way of clarifying who I was. "Yeah, Irina told me about what happened with Tanya." He shook his head. "I'm sorry about that man." He gave me a small smile.

"I'm going to leave you boys to chat." Irina said, giving Felix a swift kiss and moving off to talk to Rosalie. I looked after her slightly bemused and Felix laughed.

"So," I said, taking a sip of my drink. "You sound like you've had experience with the whole Tanya situtation."

He laughed and shook his head. "More than once. I remember when I first met Tanya, it was like, even though Irina was sat right there next to me, she was all over me." He sighed, grimacing slightly at the memory. "I swear that girl doesn't know the meaning of the word no."

"You know, you say that. I had exactly the same experience with Tanya." I took another sip of my drink. "I was sat in the main room, with Bella actually sitting on my lap, so you know it's pretty obvious that we're together and she came over and.....I don't know." I shook my head.

"Tried it on?" He asked knowingly and I nodded. "I swear, the amount of times Irina has almost ripped her head off for trying it on with me. I know I sound bigheaded when I say this, but ..... I don't know what it is. Maybe she just has a thing for guys who are in relationships."

"She wants what she can't have." I said and he nodded.

"You know, when Irina said that we were coming here tonight, she begged and pleaded to come. The look on her face, man, I hate that look. It creeps me out." He shuddered and I could tell that it wasn't for dramatic effect. "I was so glad when Irina told her that she wasn't coming. I didn't really understand why she wanted to come so badly but then Irina explained what happened at the clinic." It was my turn to shudder now and he grinned. "That bad huh?"

"I guess that you're the only one here who has any kind of idea." I said and he nodded knowingly.

"Edward!" I heard Alice cry as she bounded up to me, grinning. "Come on, I want you to meet the Clearwater's and the Black's." She looked between Felix and myself. "Sorry to end your little manly chat."

"No you're not." I retorted and she shrugged. This earned a laugh from Felix and from the look on his face, I could tell that he had siblings as well. Before I knew what was happening I was being dragged by Alice towards the group of people I didn't recognise.

"Edward, this is Sue, Seth, Leah, Bily and Jacob." She pointed to each of them in turn. "Everyone, this is my brother Edward."

"Hello." I smiled, trying to be as polite as possible whilst wanting to rip my little sister's head off.

"Well," Sue said, looking me up and down. "I can see why Bella likes you." She gave her daughter a slight smile and I felt my brow furrow in confusion. "Come off it, honey, you're gorgeous." I felt myself going slightly red at this remark.

"Aww, you made my widdle bruvver all embawwassed." I heard Emmett shout from behind me. He grinned at me as I glared at him. "Ah, come on Eddie, you know she's right." I could tell that he was resisting throwing his arm around me as he said that, knowing that I would probably freak out if he did. Not something that I really wanted to do, especially in front of a load of people that I'd only just met.

"Emmett, leave him alone." I heard the one voice that I wanted to as Bella appeared beside Emmett, elbowing him in the ribs, earning herself a look of mock hurt from him. She walked up to me and wrapped her arm around my waist and squeezed gently. I smiled down at her and placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Bella!" I heard Alice cry as she grabbed Bella's arm and pulled her away from me. I raised my eyebrow at Rosalie and she shrugged at me, also turning to watch where our sister was dragging my girlfriend. I sighed and shook my head, moving to sit down on the sofa.

I was watching everyone around me for a moment when I felt the weight of someone sitting beside me. I looked around to see Charlie sitting there, obviously trying to pretend to do the same thing as I was.

"Edward." He started off, unsurely.

"Yes, sir." I replied, my upbringing coming out again. Even though Bella had told me to call him Charlie, I didn't want to press my luck. This was the first time that I was talking to him properly, and I didn't want to give off the wrong impression.

"Well, Edward, you see." He sighed, obviously unsure of where to begin. "Well, Bella....she....she's never really had any boyfriends before, and I know she really likes you. More than I would like actually." I frowned, not sure where this was heading. "Look, I guess what I'm trying to say is that, she may be seventeen, but she's still my little girl, and I will always be there to protect her."

"I understand, sir." I nodded, seeing what he meant. He was trying to give me the "you hurt her and I'll hurt you" speech, but not really succeeding. "I would never even dream of hurting Bella."

"I know you wouldn't." He looked at me and smiled. "I know." I turned to look around the room. "And Edward." My head snapped back round to look at him. "I just wanna say, that Bella told me what you've been through," I nodded. I knew that Bella had told him. It was only fair that she did, seeing as she was spending so much time away from him, just to be with me. "And, I wanna say, that I'm proud of you. I mean, you've managed to turn your life around. After years of.....of.....well." I nodded knowing that he was referring to my years of self-harm and starvation, and somewhat grateful that he didn't mention it out loud. "And it takes a lot to do that. You've proven that you're strong. Stronger than I think anyone here would have admitted. I'm proud of you. I know it probably doesn't mean much coming from me, but I am."

"It means a lot. Thank you, sir." I smiled at him, reassuring him that it was okay.

"Please, call me Charlie."

"Charlie." I nodded as he stood up and walked over to his friend Billy. I sat there for a moment, looking around at the people surrounding me.

It was a mixture of people that I loved and people that I would like to get to know. They were all mingling and getting to know each other and that made me smile. I couldn't see Bella anywhere. She had no doubt been kidnapped by my little sister and was being subjected to goodness knows what. I had discovered years ago, when Jasper and Emmett tried to stop one of Alice's makeover sessions that that plan of action does not end well so I refused to let myself be subjected to what they went through. All I can remember is lipgloss, lots and lots of lipgloss. And screaming. Which is worrying when it's coming from your brothers.

I looked around again and saw that Billy's son, Jacob was sitting on one of the other sofas in the room. I had almost decided on whether or not I was going to speak to him when I saw his expression.

He was staring at me. No, make that glaring at me. For what reason I had no idea. Just then, he looked around and stood up slowly, and made his way over to where I was sitting on the sofa. Standing in front of me, he didn't say anything, but just looked down at me with a look on his face that I could only describe as .... hateful, maybe. Why? I hadn't done anything to this guy. I hadn't even met him before.

"Can I talk to you?" He asked in a low voice. "Outside?"

I didn't really know how to respond. All I knew was that whatever I did, it was going to be interesting.

*Still wonders if it is safe to come out of hiding yet.*
This was originally going to be one chapter, but it got so ridiculuously long that I had to split it into two chapters.
Second part to the party will be coming up soon :D
Please review you must know how much I loved them by now.