The Twilight Saga Twist

Chapter 17. Explanations

  MASSIVE thanks to CassandraLowery and StellaPurple for editing! You guys are THE best!! :D

After a few miles of running, there was some thinning of the woods, and we were suddenly in a small meadow, or was it actually a lawn? The gloom of the forest didn’t relent, though, for there were six primordial cedars that shaded an entire acre with their vast sweep of branches. The trees held their protecting shadow right up to the walls of the house that rose among them, making obsolete the deep porch that wrapped around the first story.

I couldn’t believe what I was actually seeing. A family of vampires living in what seemed like a mansion?! It was way beyond my expectations.

The house was timeless, graceful, and probably a hundred years old. It was painted a soft faded white, windows and doors were either part of the original structure or a perfect restoration. I could hear the river close by.

“Wow.” It was all I could say when we reached it. I had stopped running abruptly, and I probably looked like an idiotic princess who sees a castle for the first time.

"You like it?" He smiled.

"It's...amazing! How can you even get this?"

"We matriculate a lot." He walked beside me, looking at his house with me. "Carlisle's earns a lot of money."

"Has he always been a doctor?"

"Yes. He is really a lot like a father to us. He cares and loves us, treats us like we're his own family, and he tries to give us a normal life." He sounded like he was just talking to himself.

"You're lucky to have a dad. I wish I still have one," I said softly, not even knowing that I really said it. There was a pause, and I felt Edward look at me. I didn't look back and just continued to look at their house.

But he broke the silence first.

"We really do have a lot to learn about each other...."

I smiled slightly, then he was in front of me.

"And we have a lot of time for that," he continued. I looked at his amber eyes, dazed. I still couldn't believe it. I, being the helpless romantic for decades now, and being a hater of love, was actually officially in love. When I didn't say anything, he smiled and took my hand easily, without thinking about it. "Ready?" he asked, opening the door. I hadn't realized that we had walked to his door.

I smiled and nodded. I took a deep breath, and I knew he could feel my tension; his thumb rubbed soothing circles into the back of my hand.

He opened the door for me.

The inside was more surprising, less predictable, than the exterior. It was very bright, very open, and very large--probably ten times as large as our house.

Everyone was sitting in the living room, their attention towards Lisa and Carter. They looked up when they saw us coming in and Lisa smiled.

Across her sat Alice and Jasper; Emmett and Rosalie were leaning on the wall, and behind the couch where Alice and Jasper sat were Carlisle and Edward's mother, I assumed, since she was the only one of the family I'd never seen before. She had the same pale, beautiful features as the rest of them. Something about her heart-shaped face, her billows of soft, caramel colored hair, reminded me of the silent-movie era. She was small, slender, yet less angular, more rounded than the others. They all smiled in welcome, but made no move to approach us.

Edward led me towards them, his hand pulling me. I felt weak, nervous. I was meeting his family. They had known me for quite a while but not as a vampire. How was I going to explain that to them? How was I going to explain why I didn't tell them earlier? Because your son was quite rude and unfriendly to me and I couldn't find a way to talk to him nicely? No, too absurd.