I don't own Twilight. What I own is my character's behavior, personality, background, and plot of the story.
Thanks to my Beta MadMooey18 for her constant support and help in making this story what it is today.
Bella leans back in her seat and closes her eyes. She takes a deep breath, counts to five then exhales slowly.
"Nervous?" Bella looks to her left and finds Edward glancing at her for seconds then returning his eyes to the road.
"Of course not. I am awesome and everyone will like me," Bella as she takes a compact mirror out of her clutch.
"That's my girl," Edward replies as he rubs her shoulder with his free hand.
The car slows down then takes a left. "That's a lie, I don't think I feel anything."
Edward barks a laugh at that and asks her, "Is that even a thing?"
Bella shrugs and tells him, "Don't know, but it has happened a lot to me."
"So what? You keep being numb?" Edward asks intrigued as he takes another turn on to a much smaller road.
"Yep," Bella tells him, popping the P.
"You're weird," Edward tells her, smiling at her.
Not offended, Bella asks him sarcastically, "You're only realizing that now?"
"I mean, I have always had an inkling, but not to this extent," he tells her jokingly.
She turns to face him and leans her hand on the arm rest and asks, "Is it too much for you to handle?"
"Hold that thought," Edward tells her, and gets out of the car to punch in the code to the gate then gets back in the car. "I think I can handle it, if you give me enough time to get used to it," he confesses with a sigh theatrically.
"Should we take a break to like, explore other options and see what we want? I mean, I hope you don't mind if you don't get me back. There won't be any hard feelings, right?"
Edward quickly kisses her hand and tells her, "Where is this break talk coming from?"
"Are you sure your family wants me for lunch?" she blurts out.
"You're nervous? I never thought I would see the day Isabella Swan was nervous about anything," Edward laughs as he parks the car.
Bella glares at him as he takes his seat belt off and tells him emphatically, "This isn't a funny matter. Alice was the one who rushed you into inviting me. What if I am imposing? I do not like to be where I am not wanted." By the end of her rant Bella is rubbing her hands and turning to her right refusing to look at him.
The words her mum used to tell her ring in her head. "Never be were you are not wanted."
"Bella?" He gently tries to get her attention.
Don't turn to look at him. He mocked you.
"Bella can you please look at me?" he asks her softly.
When she doesn't any indication that she will, he resorts to begging. "Bella please. I didn't mean to sound like an ass."
Bella swings around and confesses angrily, "I know what it's like to be where I am not wanted. I would rather die than be made to feel that way again!"
Edward's face drops as he realizes he has driven the woman he loves to tears.
"Can I hug you?"
Bella gives him an irritated look.
"Please, I feel awful, and I want to hug you. Can I?"
Bella rolls her eyes at him and then meets him halfway. She doesn't reciprocate by hugging him back, and he doesn't let it bother him.
"I would never do that to you," he whispers as he tightens his arms around her. "If anyone makes you feel unwelcome, they will have to contend with losing me."
Bella opens her mouth to reply but feels a lump in her throat and swallows then nods her head instead. They pull apart and Bella grabs a tissue paper from the glove compartment. She places it directly under her eyes then blinks so the tears would be absorbed by it and not smear her makeup.
Why the hell are you crying like some insecure girl?
It must be because I didn't sleep last night.
"Better?" he asks once she folds the paper and places it in the paper cup between them that holds trash.
"Yeah," Bella tells him, her voice feeling hoarse.
"You know, the Bella I know would have punched me in the face for laughing at her, not crying," Edward tells her subtly digging for information.
"Well, the Bella in front of you has a child with an ear infection that kept her up at night, and she is too tired to get angry. It's straight to tears."
"And you still came with me? Shouldn't you take him to the hospital?" Edward asks her worriedly as he turns on the car engine ready to take her back.
"Wait!" A hand lands on his arm causing him to stop him shifting the gear. "I took him to the ER and got it sorted out."
"Doesn't matter. Peter needs you," he mutters and switches gears as he internally beats himself up for not seeing the signs earlier. Now that he sees all the signs of her exhaustion, he can't unsee it. He should have asked her why she was tired earlier.
Bella switches the gear before he can pull out of the driveway and tells him, "No can do. Peter has Seth so he'll be fine. We aren't missing your family lunch."
"My family will understand," he mutters.
"Or they will think that I am taking you from them." If her gut feeling is right, his family isn't very happy with the fact that he's not an official part of the family business, and if she is right then no matter how nice they are, they don't like her. Music is the enemy since it drives him away from the mafia business. Being a model makes her someone who drives him to music more.
Ditching the first family meal they get invited to won't make a good impression. It will be seen as her putting even more distance between him and his family and that is the last thing Bella wants. That is the last thing Edward needs.
Edward rolls his eyes and tells her, "Of course not. They won't be happy, but they will understand."
"Be real with me for a moment. Have you ever missed having lunch with your family?" Bella demands.
Edward quips, "I cancel lunch with my family all the time."
"That wasn't my question," Bella tells him.
"No, but..."
Bella interrupts him by smashing her lips against his. She places her hand against his cheek and pulls at the one on the gear with her other hand and intertwines their fingers together.
A minute later, her breath fans over his face as she whispers, "As much as I find it hot that you are willing to ditch your family for me, you don't need to. It's okay."
Cheeks flushed, maybe from the heat of the car, or the heat of the kiss, Edward whispers, "You know, I really, really, really like you."
I love you was at the tip of his tongue as he barely stopped himself from saying it. If he was a man with lesser self control, he would have.
Bella pushes his hair back as she tells him, "I know. I am right there with you." A part of Bella thinks that it's too early, that she should wait until she is sure that Edward is trustworthy. As if there is a test for that, but she doesn't care. At this moment, she can't imagine that there is anyone out there that cares for her more than Edward.
Edward smiles widely at her and kisses her lips lightly. "We should get out of the car, right?"
"I am fine either way, so I don't mind if we stay in the car for the next two hours. However, I do recall a certain someone telling me that he is hungry and didn't have breakfast," Bella reminds him then shrugs her shoulders.
"I can't get my mum to bring our meals to the car, can I?" he muses out loud almost to himself.
"You would know her better. She is your mum."
Edward pulls away from her and turns the car off, but before he can open his door, Bella hands him a wet wipe. "What's this for?"
Bella points at her lips. He laughs in embarrassment as he wipes the lipstick off his lips and then asks her, "Why do you have wet wipes in your bag?"
Bella raises an eyebrow at his ridiculous question and answers, "Mum, remember?"
"Of course," he mutters to himself as he opens the door. He walks to her side suddenly finding himself nervous.
What is wrong with him? This isn't the first time that his family met Bella, and it's not like he is worried that she will make him look bad in front of his family. Bella is the kind of person who impresses people.
With a sinking feeling in his stomach, Edward realizes what he is nervous about. He's concerned about what Bella will think after seeing his family. Every single time that Bella has met them so far, it has been a large gathering with people, so his family knew to conduct themselves properly. Now, it will be just them. They will have no reason to rein themselves in. For the first time, Bella will truly see how little respect his family has for him.
"Is everything okay?" Bella asks him as they stand in front of the door waiting for someone to let them in.
"Why wouldn't it be?" Edward replies as he kisses her temple and gives her a small smile.
Bella opens her mouth ready to call bullshit on the drastic mood shift of his, when she is interrupted by the swing of the door. "Finally! What took you two so long?" Carlisle demands as he opens the door wider to let them in.
"Dad, we arrived five minutes early," Edward replies, giving him a pointed look.
Carlisle gives his son a quick hug then does the same to Bella. "Everyone is here and the table is all set. All we need is for you to sit and eat."
"If you are gonna blame anyone, blame me. Peter is sick, so it took me longer than usual to get ready," Bella tells him, taking some heat off Edward.
Carlisle's hard look softens as he turns to Bella and tells her, "I hope he is okay."
"He's better now, but he didn't sleep a wink last night," Bella tells him as Edward helps her take off her jacket and then hangs it in the coat closet.
"Good. That's good," Carlisle tells her as he nods his head then excuses himself to take a phone call. Any other parent might have taken the moment to reminisce about when their kids were that age, but not Carlisle. While his kids were sick, he was out eliminating competition.
"You didn't have to put yourself in front of the cannon ball," Edward whispers as he takes off his jacket.
Bella rolls her eyes as she tells him, "It's not a big deal, babe."
"Thanks."
"What's a girlfriend for, if not to use her non relative privilege to get you out of sticky situations?" Bella asks him as she wraps an arm around his waist.
Edward smiles as he feels his insides twist. She shouldn't have to do that. His father shouldn't throw a fucking hissy fit because he didn't arrive earlier when he arrived early.
God forbid that his father respect him for once in his life.
His family greets both of them and once his father finishes his phone call, his mum ushers everyone to the dining table.
Their lunch is a lively affair with everyone at the table volunteering news about their work. "On Thanksgiving, we tend to have our extended family and associates, so we don't talk about personal matters," Edward whispers to her between bites after she tells him she's surprised that everyone has something new to share given that they only had dinner yesterday.
"What are the two of you whispering about?" Emmett asks them from the opposite side of the table.
"I was telling her that she should try the green bean casserole before you finish it," Edward replies, not missing a beat.
Emmett huffs in frustration. "Only in this family. I make one small mistake and I am never allowed to forget it."
"Darling, there is nothing small about you, especially not your mistakes," Rosalie tells him which prompts Alice to snicker.
Bella looks at Edward and murmurs, "I feel like there is a story behind this."
Edward laughs lightly and says, "There isn't a lot to tell. About two Thanksgivings ago, Emmett decided to take the casserole out of the fridge and hide it in his bedroom so he could eat it later, alone. We searched the house from top to bottom looking for it and couldn't find it.."
He turns to Rosalie then and asks her, "Would you like to finish?"
Rosalie nods her head eagerly. "I asked Emmett over ten times if he took it, but he kept denying it. Heck, I even told him that I would lie and say I took it, if he wanted, but he swore that he didn't. Then a month later on Christmas we arrived with our luggage since we were planning to stay for two days, and the stench in the room, you would think a rat died or something. I searched the room for the smell, and what do you know? The idiot stole the casserole and then he forgot to eat it!"
Everyone around the table breaks into laughter. Even Emmett chuckles behind his napkin as he pats his mouth dry.
"Amazing food, as always mum," Emmett tells his mother as he gets up.
Standing up, Carlisle gives his other two sons pointed looks. Jasper nods his head and gets up but Edward stares at his plate as if it has the answer to his dellima. Should he endur his father's rash? Or let Bella know how much of a spineless coward he is?
"Edward?"
"Yes," he replies, looking up from his food.
"Family meeting, now," Carlisle demands. Edward glances around the table wishing he could give his father an excuse. Bella's worried eyes make the decision for him.
"Oh no, I'm good," Edward replies then continues eating.
Everyone freezes in the room as they turn to look at Edward. You never tell Carlisle "no" in this family, not if you don't want to have a gun between your eyes. Carlisle runs this family with an iron fist, and while he likes to pretend that it's a democracy by not forcing Edward to drop music, he still expects him to do as he says. No questions asked.
Edward has never refused an order, but that's the past. Edward will not let his family disrespect him anymore, especially not in front of Bella. Bella knows he wants nothing to do with the family business, and he will be damned if she dumps him because he can't stand his ground.
Carlisle glares at him as he tells him, "That's not a request, it's an order."
Edward shrugs his shoulders as he answers, "I don't see the point. I am not part of the business. I don't need to join the meeting."
Carlisle takes a step toward him looking ready to punch him, but Esme's hand on his wrist returns him to his senses.
"You're part of this family and our business will one day be your legacy. This conversation isn't over," Carlisle states in a controlled tone and then whirls around and marches toward his office.
"Not if I have anything to do with it," Edward mutters under his breath, too low for anyone but Bella to hear.
"Edward!" his mother exclaims once Carlisle is out of reach.
"What? Don't give me that look. He can't keep going around like a dictator. I am almost 30 for heaven's sake. He should know me well by now," Edward exclaims angrily, throwing his utensils on the table.
Sensing that the discussion is for family only, Bella whispers to Edward, "I'm going to the bathroom, so you can talk in private."
"You don't need to. There is nothing I want to hide from you," Edward tells her, holding her hand.
"I know, but I think your mum wants some privacy," she whispers. She kisses his cheek then leaves the table and heads to the bathroom Esme pointed her towards earlier.
She takes her sweet time washing her hands and then retouching her makeup figuring that she will give the family as much privacy as she can while not appearing to do so.
Finally, she returns her makeup to her small bag and opens the bathroom door.
As she takes two steps toward the living room, a loud thump followed by an angry voice stops her in her tracks. "You can't beat him into submission, dad. For years, you have given Edward a long leash. You can't pull at it now and think he will follow orders. Nothing you can do will force him to join. He has to want it. If you think that beating the shit out of him will get him to follow orders, you might as well kill him."
Hello lovely people of the internet,
To the weirdo who left an anonymous review about needing to share his review with five people or I will die, you are trying to scare the wrong girl my friend. I host horror movie marathons for my family. I am the OG horror fan, and frankly, your trick has been done by 30 movies already. it's not that interesting.
That said, I am looking forward to next attempt. Surprise me!
Reviews make my writing process better. The back and forth of ideas makes my writing both challenging and interesting. If you have any ideas, don't be too shy about dropping them in a review. Every reviewer will get a sneak peak in their PM.
Until my next update,
Stay Safe