Special thanks to Vancouver-Canuck Girl and Capricorn75 :-)

No Matter What

Chapter Nine

*X*-Bella Swan -*X*

"Bella, come on."

"I'm coming!" she shouted from the closet.

Edward huffed. He always prided himself on having patience, but this was getting ridiculous. "My brother throws hotdogs and burgers on the grill, and me and my cousins play the same games every week. It's not a big deal. Just put something on."

"No, I have to look pretty."

Without missing a beat, Edward replied, "Which you always do anyway. So I don't understand why you're delaying us leaving."

"All right." Bella emerged from her room, sighing. "Your compliment got drowned out by the whining, but thank you. How do I look?" She brushed her hands down the length of her sundress. "I mean, it's a 10 so it's a little snug, but the fact that it even fit—"

"I don't know what that means. But you look nice, like always. Can we go now? I'm starving."

Bella rolled her eyes and easily ignored Edward's attitude. He always got cranky when he was hungry, and there was no talking to him when he got like that.

What she didn't realize was the true reason behind Edward's mood shift was because he shared the same nervous thoughts as she did.

Bella had no idea what she would do if Mrs. Masen didn't accept her.

Meanwhile, Edward was worried about how Bella would perceive his family. Would she like them? If things didn't go as well as they both hoped, would that be their deal breaker?

That's all they could think about, and it caused a tension that followed them throughout their quiet and somewhat uncomfortable drive.

It wasn't until they pulled into Jasper's driveway that Bella spoke again. With a cocked eyebrow she looked over at Edward. "So, what does your brother do again?"

For the first time all afternoon, he chuckled. "Before he opened the garage, Jasper was into flipping houses. This place used to be a dump, but it was always huge. Despite what my brother might seem like, and you'll understand more when you actually meet him, his family—these little get togethers—mean everything to him. They mean a lot to my mom, too."

It was a small bit of information, a small clarification he offered without prompt. But Bella appreciated it for so many reasons. Mainly, it showed her where Edward got his loving sense of family from and she hoped, if even for one day, that the Masens had some room for her.

"Hey." Edward pulled on her hand before they got to the door. "I'm sorry about earlier. I'm just –"

"Hungry?"

"Nervous."

"Oh." Bella was taken aback. She knew why she was nervous, but Edward couldn't be worried about the same thing, could he? "Are you scared they won't like me?"

"What? No! I'm worried you won't like them."

"Why wouldn't I like them?"

"Well, why wouldn't they like you?" he countered, and he wasn't even trying to be snarky. Genuinely curious, he tilted his head to the side and asked again, "Why wouldn't my family like you?"

"I can think of a few reasons." She sighed. Edward shook his head and waited because no reasons came to mind. "Hi." Bella reached a hand out to him. "My name is Bella, and I got knocked up when I was 16."

Edward's jaw dropped. "You think my family's going to care about that? Wait … is that the real reason you didn't want to bring Bree?"

Bella knew she should have been honest about that from the beginning, but she hadn't wanted to hurt his feelings. Now, instead of looking sheepish, she lifted her chin and looked him square in the eyes. "I trust you, but I don't know your family. I need to meet them, and see what kind of people they are, before I let them meet my daughter."

"Well …" Edward laced their fingers together as they started to make their way inside. He understood the need for her to protect Briella, and didn't want to dwell on what could become an uncomfortable conversation regarding the fact that she was screening his family, in a way. "My mom is kind of quiet when you first meet her." He began to explain, but stopped and glared as the woman he was just speaking of approached them. "Not that thing again." He pointed to her wheelchair. "The crutches … where are they?"

"Relax. I was in the kitchen, standing and cooking just fine earlier. I just needed to sit a little bit to get my strength up. Now—" she faced Bella with a mischievous smile on her face "—I really hope you're Bella, because that's who he's been talking about non-stop for weeks."

"Ma," Edward murmured. Bella giggled; it was clear his mom was messing with him. It was sweet, and slightly lifted the tension in the air. "Bella, this is my mother, Esme Masen. She's a comedian. Mom, this is my girlfriend, Bella Swan."

"I … uh, it's wonderful to meet you, Ms. Esme."

Bella fidgeted, unsure how to greet Mrs. Masen. Was she a hugger? Would it make her uncomfortable if Bella had to bend down to meet her in the chair? Should she give her a kiss on the cheek?

"I've heard so much about you." Esme braced her arms and pushed herself up. She was a few inches shorter, and definitely much smaller, than Bella. But when she reached up she gave Bella a tight hug that showcased her strength.

"How are you feeling? We brought these for you. Well, Edward bought them, but here." Bella thrust a bouquet of flowers at her.

"They're beautiful, thank you."

"Where's Maggie?" Edward asked, looking around.

"Believe it or not," Carlisle answered, as he came into view, "she's sleeping. Hi! You must be Bella."

"And you must be Edward's stepdad." The room froze, making Bella wonder what she'd said wrong. That's how Edward had always referred to Carlisle, whom he'd described as having blond hair and blue eyes. That fit this man to a T. "I'm sorry, you're Carlisle, yes?"

"Y-yes." He cleared his throat, trying to hide the misty look in his eyes.

Edward pretended he didn't notice.

"Jasper must be outside. Let's go see what he's up to."

As he pulled her along, Bella whispered, "Did I say something wrong?"

Edward laughed. "No, you basically just made his day. I never call him my stepdad to his face."

"Why not?"

Edward shrugged. "I never saw the need to."

"So, then what do you call him?"

"Just Carlisle." Confused, Bella looked at him and raised both eyebrows in question. "I could never call him my stepdad because he and my mom never got married. Even if they did, he's just so much more than that. As for ever calling him my dad—he's not. And it's not a term that holds a lot of weight to me anyway. I wasted years calling someone Dad who never deserved it. So, Carlisle is just … Carlisle. I don't need to give him a label."

"No matter what you think someone knows," Bella placed a hand against Edward's chest, "it never hurts to tell them." He could hear the double meaning in her words and opened his mouth to address them, but Bella took a step back. This wasn't the time. "So, which one is your brother?"

"That one." Edward pointed to the blond manning the grill. Fingers laced together, they walked over to him and stopped a few feet away from the smoke.

"Jasper," Edward called to get his attention. He looked up, but didn't smile. Nor did he acknowledge Bella at all. Apparently, the warm reception began and ended with Esme, she thought. "This is my girlfriend, Bella."

"Hey." Jasper nodded. Still no smile. "You're not a tofu fighter are you?"

"A what?"

"He means a vegetarian," Edward clarified in a tight voice, more than annoyed by Jasper's cold reception of Bella and the annoying nickname he gave Alice. He had a way of coming off as a jerk sometimes. Edward assumed he was going to rein in it tonight. "Jas."

"'Cause his ex was," Jasper continued, ignoring the warning in Edward's voice. "Actually, she was a vegan. And that annoying little shit made barbecues hell for everyone. If you can't eat a burger, you're just gonna have to starve. Sorry."

"Well." Bella shrugged. "One look at me and you can tell I'm all for eating cow. In fact, I probably look like I ate the whole cow these days."

Jasper's attention finally snapped to her with expressions of embarrassment and remorse etched on his face.

Served him right, Edward thought. But he needed to talk to Bella immediately. "We'll be right back," he cut off whatever Jasper was about to say. Once they were off to the side and away from prying ears, he frowned. "What was that?"

"What?"

"The cow comment— what the fuck was that?"

Bella flinched at Edward's words and tone of voice. "I was just … I blurted out the first thing that came to mind. Your brother made me nervous."

"I'll talk to Jasper. But, Bella, don't do that again. Don't ever put yourself down like that again. Not around me. You understand?" Wide-eyed, she nodded, unsure how to answer. Her reaction made Edward's voice soften and cup her cheek. "I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying. I'm fine. I told you—I'm just nervous."

"Don't be. Come on; let me introduce you to some people. Then we have to go check on Maggie."

Checking on Maggie ended up taking twice as long as the introductions. She was feeling sick, which made her clingy, and when she saw Edward she didn't want to let him go. After the third time reading the same book to her, Bella decided she would leave them to it and went outside for some fresh air.

The first person she ran into was the last person she wanted to see.

Jasper.

"Bella." He stopped her. "Can I talk to you?"

Bella tilted her head to the side and waited; her nervousness from before had subsided and transformed into aggravation. Jasper didn't even know her, but for whatever reason had decided he didn't like her. This pissed her off for Edward's sake. He had to know how important it was to his little brother that they at least tolerated each other, and if their initial meeting was any indication, he wasn't even up to trying.

"What do you want, Jasper?"

"I feel like I should apologize."

"Because you mean it or because you feel obligated?"

"Both," he admitted honestly. "My brother …" Jasper started, then stopped. "I don't know you, but since you're important to him, I want to get to know you. I'm sorry if I made you feel like shit earlier. You did nothing to deserve it."

"Jasper." Bella's hand shot out when he started walking away. He said his piece, now it was her turn. "I accept your apology, but you're wrong. You don't owe me anything. However, you do owe it to your brother that when I do come around, you have to respect me. Comparing me to Alice, good or bad, doesn't help anything."

For a brief moment, Jasper's eyes widened. "So he told you about her—about what happened between them?"

"He didn't tell me everything." Bella shrugged and looked down at her feet. "But … yeah, I mean …"

"Hey," Jasper spoke softly and tapped his palm to Bella's shoulder. He felt the need to defend his brother—set some of his comments straight. "Edward doesn't keep things to himself to be secretive. He just worries too much."

"What's he so worried about?" The question came out before Bella could stop herself. She quickly backtracked. "What I mean is he has no reason to worry. I've promised him I'll always do my best to understand."

"Edward easily has one of the biggest hearts of anyone I've ever known. Because of that, he always sees the good in people even when no good exists. He has a habit of falling for the wrong women who don't return the favor. That's what he's worried about. It's what we're all worried about. I'm sorry … the rest is his story to tell."

"But I'm already returning the favor. I see nothing but good in him."

The conversation ceased when they both noticed Edward walking over with a slightly confused look on his face. "You have ... company?"

Jasper's face paled. "Who is it?"

"Oh, I think you know exactly who it is," he laughed.

Before Edward could finish his sentence, Jasper was running into the house. Well, that certainly explained why things had been awkward at work.

"Is everything okay?" He turned to face Bella. "Jasper wasn't bothering you, was he?"

Bella shook her head. "I can handle Jasper, babe. Don't worry about it."

"Babe?" Edward leaned back with a smile on his face. "Is that my new nickname or something?"

"Well, I ... It just slipped out."

"No, I like it. It's cool. I didn't think you were a pet name person."

"I like nicknames." She shrugged, taking a sip of her drink. She continued looking in her cup, as she mumbled, "What about you and the girlfriend thing you've been saying lately? Is that a nickname, or ..."

"It's whatever you want it to be," Edward whispered, tilting her head up to look at him. He hadn't thought much of it. Like Bella's pet name, it had just slipped out. But she was his girlfriend, wasn't she? They spent all their time together; he wasn't seeing anyone else. He'd never had to outright discuss terms and conditions of relationships before. It was always implied. Now, he was nervous.

"Well, I like the literal meaning." She rushed out. "If that's how you want it to be, I mean."

"That's exactly how I want it."

"Good." Bella smiled.

It was about time that was settled.

Yes, it was! :-)

Thanks for reading!

Until Next Time

~Lo

Meanwhile, I got another REC ... this is one for my slash readers.

Backstage Pass by Mina (MinaWritesSlash)
Summary: Riley has only one last chance to see his favorite band live before he is up to his eyeballs with medical textbooks, and he's willing to do everything to make it happen. When the day finally arrives, Riley will get more than he could have ever imagined. Could a chance meeting and a special request be the key to make his dreams a reality? All Human. O/S Edward/Riley