Just Say Those Three Words

The ride to the Cullen's house was spent in a comfortable silence. I knew Jacob was tense from letting me be so close to vampires, but he tried not to show it as we neared their huge house in the middle of the woods.

Jacob sighed as he opened the door for me. "I'll be within hearing distance, so if they say anything I don't like, expect a visit."

I nodded, rolling my eyes slightly. "You are making way too big a deal out of this, Jake."

"Do you think that'll make me change?"

I smiled and shook my head, raising my hand to knock on the door. Before I could, Edward opened the front door, a graceful scowl on his face. "Delilah," he smiled, making my name sound like a song. "Glad you could stop by."

I smiled and nodded, awkwardly standing halfway into the doorway. Jake held onto my hand protectively, staring coldly at Edward. "Should I drive home and have you meet me there?"

He nodded once, then pulled me easily into a hug. After kissing the top of my head, he walked towards the woods.

Edward smiled at me and led me inside, shutting the door behind me. "So how's life with the wolves?"

"Great."

He smiled, chuckling slightly and leading me into the family room. I first saw Mrs. Cullen curled up on the couch, leaning on Mr. Cullen. The both smiled warmly at me, standing up when they saw me. Alice was sitting on the floor at Mrs. Cullen's feet, and immediately jumped up and crushed me in a hug.

After holding on for a minute, I patted her on the back and said, "I'm still really fragile, honey. I kinda need to breathe."

She immediately let go and smiled sheepishly. "You smell funny anyway."
Mrs. Cullen laughed and hugged me gently. "You know, you can visit every once and a while. Don't be a stranger. We missed you."

"I missed you too, Mrs. Cullen," I smiled.

She looked at me seriously, "Call me Esme, or I'm going to kick you out."

The other three laughed as I nodded vigorously. "Sorry, Esme. And I guess you'll say the same thing, right, Carlisle?"

"Wow, fast learner, eh?" he smiled. "So, how's life on the res?" he asked.

I knew he was discreetly asking the same question Edward asked. "I love it."

"Jacob's being a good boy?" Bella asked, still sitting in the chair she was in when I arrived.

I raised my eyebrows. "Why wouldn't he?"

"He's not upset he ended up with you?"

Esme glared back at Bella icily. Edward's eyes widened and Alice closed her eyes and brought her hand to her forehead. "Bella," Edward scolded. "That was completely unnecessary."

"Well he said he didn't want to imprint on anyone, I was just being curious," she said, glaring at Edward.

I rolled my eyes. "He's perfectly fine with being stuck with me," I answered, hoping it would change the subject.

She scowled and nodded.

Alice smiled and looked at me. "I miss having you in Baker's class. Math is so boring without you."

"Well how many times have you taken that class now?" I asked, smiling back.

"A few, thank you very much," she said, blowing a raspberry at me and crossing her arms across her chest.

The room laughed, and I immediately relaxed a bit more as Edward ushered me to an empty leather recliner, offering me something to drink and whisking away my coat.

The Cullen's seemed to be more relaxed now than they were when I hadn't know what they were. They didn't concentrate as hard on breathing, or moving around every once and a while. Especially for Alice, she didn't refrain from sitting next to me in fear of accidently touching me and revealing her body temperature. Their smiles also seemed more radiant; and even Bella seemed to be having a good time by the end of Carlisle's ER stories.

I looked outside and noticed the sun had started to drop below the trees outside, and I sighed.

"Time for you to head home," Edward said, standing up and getting my coat from the closet. We both walked to the entrance hall, and I paused for a moment

"Yeah. And Edward," I said, taking my coat and slipping it on. "The guys are having a bonfire tonight. Jake wants Bella to come."

"I know, you've been thinking that all day."

I nodded, slightly thrown off by his statement. "If Bella even wants to go, she's welcome to, but if not, he'll understand."

"He wants her to go, and you don't care?" he asked, confused. In his voice was a hint of malice.

"I want him happy. I don't care if he wants to marry her, if that's what will make him happy, I'm happy. That's called, love, Edward." I said, upset that he'd need that explained. "If you can't do that for Bella, then I don't know what you're thinking you have together."

He nodded, visibly shocked by my subtle outburst. "Should I drop her off at the border at 8?"

"Yeah."

He sighed and closed his eyes. "His mind his racing now," Edward said, looking out the window into the thick woods.

"Jake's?"

He nodded. "He's surprised that I would agree so easily."

"He asked me to ask you for a reason. I know you, Ed," I said, giggling when he cringed at my nickname. "I know your weakness. Your love for Bella is unconditional. You'll do anything to prove that to him."

He smiled and gave me a hug. "I'll see you at 8."

I smiled and waved, walking back to the car, my smile not leaving my face the whole ride back to LaPush.