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Mothers aren't fond of Mia Grey.

This has always been a problem due to her damned name. Usually, she wouldn't think too much about it as all it takes is time to get to know her and boom, they're head over heels for her.

Take Mrs. Weasley for example. It took a while for her to warm up to Mia, but after spending a summer with the Weasleys, Molly finally grew to like her and even apologized for being so judgmental.

The same thing happened with Hermione's mother and to her luck, she was off the hook with Harry's because, well, his parents are dead so... Mia just placed herself on their good side. She's just going to have to wait until she's in the grave to fully know if that's the case, but that's just minor details.

What is trying to be said is that mothers aren't a fan of her, which is truly making her much more terrified that Edward's mother won't like her. She might have met a few of the Cullens, but it's different being spoken about than living up to what's being said.

What if she doesn't meet her expectations? What if it takes just one look and she goes, "No, you're not good enough to be my son's best friend," and then Edward decides to listen and cut ties with her?

Through it all, Mia's choosing to be optimistic, because if she chooses to dwell on her overthinking, she would ruin it by panicking. Besides, tonight would be her first dance in this small town, so she's not about to wreck it by doubting her likeability.

As "Lovesong" by The Cure plays through the radio, Mia tries sending her worries to the back of her mind. She's not going to get them to like her if she keeps panicking, so what better way than to calm herself by singing one of her favorite songs?

"Whenever I'm alone with you, you make me feel like I am fun again!" Mia belts out the lyrics and Edward smiles at how incredibly off key she is. "However far away, I will always love you!"

Edward makes a turn into the forest road and lets out a chuckle as she applauds herself, "You completely butchered the song."

"Hey!" she snaps. "I felt the song and that's all that matters."

"Yeah, sure," he teases, earning an eye roll from her. He's just glad that her heart has stopped racing uncontrollably and her breathing has become steady. She's been a nervous wreck ever since he told her about this dinner and even if he's tried reassuring her that everything will be okay, her overzealous mind always wins against him.

Mia's about to give one of her remarks, but that's when the Cullen house comes to sight. It's unlike anything she could've imagined. The house is open and is made entirely out of large glass windows that run from floor to ceiling. Its architectural style is quite modern for the time and has a mixture of dark brown colors and gray tones. Surrounding it, the forest serves as a shield from the outside world that she starts imagining what it must look like inside when it's snowing or raining.

Edward parks in front of the driveway and walks out. He uses his vampire speed to open the door before she's able to walk out and places his arm around her to guide her inside. "Is Mia Grey at a loss of words for the first time?"

Her mouth hangs agape as she gazes around in amazement, "This is... not what I expected. It's so free and light."

"What did you expect? A castle with dungeons, cobwebs, and coffins?"

"Honestly, yes," she admits while following him up the stairs. "I expected a house like the Collinwood Mansion."

Edward raises a curious brow at her, not having expected her to know about a show that aired in the '60s. "You're talking about Dark Shadows?"

Mia stares at him like it's the most obvious thing, "Of course I am. I saw the show after I learned about vampires. I wanted to know how accurate the media portrayed them and let me tell you, Barnabas Collins was honestly the only one that came close."

He recollects having seen an episode or two, but it got annoying seeing what he is getting portrayed as some kind of spectacle that he turned it off – much to Emmett's dismay.

Quite frankly, he felt like a fraud that he's nothing like those vampires. He doesn't burn in the sunlight and his eyes change color when he's hungry. Well, he shouldn't complain that much since at least he can't get killed easily like some vampires that die through a stake to the heart.

"Did I pass your accuracy test?" Edward nearly regrets asking when she disagrees.

"You didn't, but it's great knowing there's more than one type of vampire," she admits while continuing to follow him past a narrow hallway. "At least you're not a cliche and aren't following the storyline where you find your reincarnated lover and only fall for her because she looks like her."

"Speaking of cliches, I didn't expect your kind to be like you as well."

She stares at him curiously, "Oh really? What did you believe witches were like then?"

"Honestly, I expected a gothic outsider that refuses to be friends with anyone. I imagined all black clothing, a pointy hat, lots of spell books, and a cauldron."

Looking down at her attire, she takes note of her black draped gown that hugs her figure in all the right places. A slit lays on her left leg, which is impractical considering it's freezing outside, but it's a sacrifice she's willing to make to look good. "Well, I'm wearing all black so maybe you're right in that."

Instead of laughing at her joke, he stares at her all adoringly. Right when he first saw her when picking her up at her house, he had become completely mesmerized by how beautiful she looked. She always looks incredible, but tonight, she's a million times more.

She notices how starstruck he is and gets frustrated when feeling her face start burning up. The look he's giving her is one that she's never received. This one fills her with a deep fluster that ignites a burning flame within. He makes her feel so seen and it's getting hard not to mention how dashing he looks in that perfectly fitted tux.

Suddenly remembering why they're here, Edward breaks off his trance and continues guiding her upstairs, "Umm, before we go in there, I want you to know that they're going big with this dinner. They don't know how to cook, so prepare yourself for a hopefully not salty meal."

She smiles at the fact that they went through the hassle of cooking for her, "They shouldn't have bothered. I would've been happy with anything."

Both of them start walking closer to the kitchen and Mia's delighted when getting a whiff of the delicious food. Her mouth starts watering with haste and the savory delights start making her impatient as all she wants is to taste the delicious goodness.

Right as they enter the kitchen, she sees Rosalie, Carlisle, and Emmett. A woman with light brown hair and golden eyes walks over to her in such an elegant way. She's extremely beautiful and her presence is enough to evoke a comforting feeling into the air.

"Mia, we're making risotto and spaghetti alla parmigiana for you," she tells her in a soft and soothing voice.

"Oooh, that sounds amazing! Thank you!" Mia loves Italian food and wonders if Edward told them since she's pretty certain of having mentioned it before.

"Mia, this is Esme, my mother for all intents and purposes," Edward introduces them as Emmett waves a knife in the air in greeting.

"It's nice to finally meet you," Esme expresses and welcomes her into an embrace. "I've heard so much about you that I just had to insist this dinner happened already."

Carlisle places a tray into the counter and walks forward, "You've given us an excuse to use the kitchen for the first time."

"I hope you're hungry."

"Starving," her response makes the Cullens smile.

Rosalie places a glass bowl on the island and walks down the small step towards her, "It's about time Edward brought you home to officially meet us."

Emmett laughs and steps forward, "You know, he's been spending a lot of time in the music room practicing the song he composed for you."

"A song?" she glances at Edward in surprise, especially since this is the nicest thing anyone's ever done for her. "You have to play it for me."

"Thanks, Emmett," Edward clenches his teeth and shoots daggers at his brother. He looks down at her and chuckles nervously, "It's still not done, but when it is, I'll play it for you."

"I'll be holding you accountable for it," she smiles and turns back to the family.

"You look absolutely radiant!" Esme compliments her and gives her a quick twirl. "I know I haven't seen the others, but I know you're the best dressed out of everyone."

"Well, thank you," Mia gives another twirl and showcases her dress. It's different from the first one she got since the other one didn't make her feel as great – thanks to those pricks at Port Angeles. After having returned it, she bought this one and is quite grateful for having found a better one.

Alice suddenly jumps down from a large tree branch outside the window. Her pixie haircut is as perfect as ever and her eyes are radiating such a blissful sentiment, "Hey, Mia!"

Jasper walks down and follows after her. He's more serious than the others, but she guesses it must be due to not being used to being around humans as much. Edward told her last night just to prepare her that he might be more distant, but not to take it personally.

"You look amazing!" Alice compliments her and leans in for an embrace. She gets a whiff of her and wonders how her brother is able to resist, "Wow, you smell really good."

Edward cringes at his sister's comment, "Alice, seriously? What are you-"

She cuts him off, "Don't worry, brother. Mia and I are going to be great friends."

"Exactly," Mia agrees, earning a wink from her.

Jasper remains quiet and focuses on not losing his self-restraint. It's taken his brother a long time to open up to someone that he'd be damned if he ruins it for him.

Carlisle, taking notice of his son's tension, decides to take control of the situation. "Sorry, Jasper's our newest vegetarian. It's a little difficult for him."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Jasper finally says after the longest seconds. "It's nice to finally meet the person my brother keeps talking about."

She gazes up at Edward and her smile becomes wider when seeing his embarrassed expression, "Hopefully good things."

"Believe me, it's lots of good things," Rosalie confirms and it makes Edward cringe even more. Seems asking them not to embarrass him had been too much to ask as apparently, they're all determined on exposing him.

"You know what? How about I take you for a tour of the house?" Edward switches the topic of conversation as he locks his fingers with hers.

Mia's hesitant in leaving just yet – especially with the food smelling as delicious as ever. "But what about the risotto?"

"It will be waiting for you when the tour is done," Esme assures her, hugging her one last time before Edward takes her upstairs.

"I'll see you around!" Alice hollers and Mia nods at her through a smile.

Edward glares at his family one last time before walking away, "Was it weird for you like it was for me?"

"It was just you. I think it went well," she argues. "Well, I hope it was good for them too. You can read minds, so tell me, do they like me?"

"We do!" The Cullens yell from downstairs in unison, causing her to sigh in relief that it wasn't all in her head.

"How about some privacy?" Edward yells back, shaking his head disapprovingly at them.

"Serves you right for reading our thoughts!" Emmett argues through a laugh.

"Don't worry, Edward. We'll give you two some privacy," Carlisle reassures him and Edward waits until his siblings have left the house to continue.

"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "I told them not to be weird and here they are doing the complete opposite."

"I don't mind. I like them and I love seeing your family dynamic."

Edward chuckles, "Of course. Only a weirdo like you would be alright with this."

She scoffs in disbelief, "Says the bunny eater."

He leans his head back and groans in annoyance, "I knew you were going to bring it up one day."

"Who wouldn't?" she teases, causing him to scoff in offense. "You would too if it had been me."

"Maybe. Maybe not," he softly says as he continues guiding her up the stairs.

She comes to a stop when noticing a huge canvas made up entirely of graduation caps. There's mixtures of blues, yellows, maroons, and a few black ones. She's aware the Cullens have been alive for a very long time, but it still surprises her how many times they've gone to high school. God, she can't even imagine repeating her school years for an eternity. Sounds like torture if she's being honest.

"Nice use of your graduation caps," she points out while continuing to stare attentively at the giant frame.

Edward chuckles, "Yeah, it's a private joke. We matriculate a lot."

"How have you not gone insane? I would lose my mind if I had to repeat school over and over."

He lazily shrugs, "The younger we start out in a new place, the longer we can stay there."

Now that Mia's thankful for. She can't imagine what she'd do if he had to leave because people start suspecting him and his family. Sure they can try long distance, but if it's hard maintaining contact with her friends back home, what's to say things will be different with him?

"Come on," Edward says and she follows after him while continuing to look around. Like said earlier, his house is not at all what she expected. It's so liberating and extremely expensive looking. "Yeah, this is my room."

Mia takes a step inside and gazes around. The walls are the same white as the rest of the house, there's tons of books sprawled all around, a few shelves and a stereo resting against the wall, and his windows are massive. They run from the floor to ceiling and take up the majority of his room. A television is beside the door and under it, there's a stand holding various cassettes and more books. On the opposite side towards the end, the balcony doors are wide open and sitting comfortably in the middle is a white cushioned storage bench.

And no bed.

Edward studies her expression and follows her in. Not being able to read her mind is both a blessing and a curse. It's refreshing having some silence around her, but the greater part of him is longing to know what she's thinking.

She's looking around like she's studying for a test, like she's trying to analyze a poem, or trying to decipher a secret code. Her fingers are intertwined with the other, her brows are cinched together, and she's scrunching her nose the way she does when she's concentrating. What is she thinking? Does she like his room? Does she not?

"I know you don't sleep, but not seeing a bed still surprises me," Mia cuts the silence short and heads to the stereo. It's paused and her curiosity in knowing what he was listening to makes her press play.

"Against All Odds" by Phil Collins resumes. She glances in his direction and notices he's become bashful on his music choice. It's an incredible song, so she doesn't understand why he looks like he's been caught listening to something he shouldn't be.

"You can turn it off if you don't like it."

"No," her sudden rise in volume takes him by surprise, causing a meek smile to tug at the ends of her lips. Her eyes constantly switch in between the stereo and him as she internally scolds herself for how fiddly she's acting. "I'm very fond of this song."

Edward walks over to her and her breath hitches when his hand holds hers. Every time they touch, electricity courses through their veins and makes the blood rush to their heads.

As if a reflex, he rests his other hand on her waist to pull her closer to him, causing the tension in her body to loosen and follow the guidance of his hold.

Her heart pounds against her chest, which makes her wish to know what he's feeling. It's quite a disadvantage that he's able to hear her racing heart when she can't even know what he's thinking.

Edward raises her hand and gives her twirl, making her hair create a perfect circle. She giggles as her body slams into his chest and her breath gets taken away. Her entire being emanates in intense passion that she can't prevent herself from pushing herself back and taking the lead by giving him a twirl as well, resulting in a fit of laughter as they're now competing on who gets to lead.

"You're a terrible dancer," he taunts when she accidentally steps on his foot.

She stomps on his foot just to spite him, "It's not like me stepping over your feet is going to hurt you."

"But you're ruining my shoes that I bought just for tonight," Edward glances down at his black dress shoes, pretending to be bothered by it when in reality he couldn't care less. He just loves seeing her adorable vexed expression, "And they're expensive."

Sensing the teasing in his voice, she follows his lead, "You're ruining my very lavish dress by holding it. How about you let go then?"

He leans closer to the point they're able to feel their breaths on each other, "What will you do if I don't?"

His low voice sends shivers down her spine. She clenches her jaw and tilts her head slightly as if considering a bold measure. Her hands start moving themselves to his shoulders, softly brushing the delicate texture and adjusting the collar of his tux. She entangles her arms around him and shortens the distance between them even more. Her lips nearly graze his ear as she says, "How about you find out?"

Smirking, he lifts his hand to lay it under her chin and raise it. He closes his eyes, allowing her dulcet aroma of lilies to consume his entire being. Her scent locks him into a trance, permitting him to continue learning every part of her movements, her breathing patterns, and sound of her complicated yet harmonious heartbeats.

Slowly, he opens his eyes and is relieved to find her alluring gaze on him already. Without intending to, his eyes begin tracing down to her lips. Those perfect, beautiful, and desirable ones that leave him wishing for a taste. He cups her face and leans closer to the point where he could feel the heat radiating through her skin.

No one has ever made him feel so helpless, so weak, so vulnerable, but he absolutely loves it. These emotions that he believed were gone were now resurfacing and it's all due to her – and he couldn't be more grateful.

Mia was starting to feel less composed and it was taking everything not to scurry off. She knew that by moving forward, her world could become tilted on its axis. She already has lots of complications that adding more would seem incomprehensible, but it was gnawing at her to feel him against her. One time couldn't hurt, right?

She closes her eyes, allowing the electrifying feeling to shock her veins. The tips of their noses were brushing against the other and his hand was laying against her cheek so delicately, almost as if being afraid of hurting her. She follows his movements and urges him to make the first move, but he seems just as desperate for her to do so.

Swallowing harshly, she musters up the strength to speak, "We should... probably head back."

Edward nods but doesn't stop his tempting touches, "We should."

She takes a deep breath, "Then let's go."

Staring directly into her eyes, he whispers against her, "Are you sure you want that?"

The sound of his tempting and alluring voice puts her in a trance. She's left frozen, wondering if this is what it feels like to become consumed by someone. This is unknown territory for her that she can't help from craving for another second.

With just one look, they come to a mutual agreement to move forward. All these fantasies were finally about to become true and nothing was going to prevent it.

Only that's when the sound of his family's voices and footsteps were heard from downstairs, making them separate from each other.

Edward is the first to break the silence, "We must go."

Mia nods in agreement and starts walking out into the hall. Her chest heaves uncontrollably as the sound of her heels fills the tense atmosphere. Her heart races like never before and the blood pounds against her skull. She doesn't look back and walks with her head held high, deciding to put this moment aside and keep it locked away in her vault of secrets.

"Hope we didn't interrupt anything," Emmett teases with a smirk and it makes the pair freeze like a deer caught in headlights.

Alice narrows her eyes at them suspiciously. She looks at Mia and Edward, but focuses more on him. It's obvious something happened, but could it be the vision she had?

"Come on," Esme wraps her arm around Mia's shoulder and guides her into the dining area. "Let's not keep you waiting any longer."

She follows her into the room, but is unable to prevent herself from looking past her shoulder at Edward. His stare follows her all the way to her seat and it sure doesn't help that he's sitting right in front of her.

For the first few minutes, it's the typical 'getting to know you' conversation. Since there's no more secrets between them, they're able to talk freely about anything. She explains any questions they might have about magic, talks about her friends, her home, and if she's planning on ever returning.

"Well, the plan is that by the end of next year, I can move back," she tells them once finishing up her plate. "Moving here was only temporary, so I'm hoping that it's soon."

The mere thought of never seeing her again is more terrifying than anything. Of course he's known about her wishes to move back home, but he didn't think she was actually hoping it would be sooner. He hoped that with their time together, she would maybe have a change of heart, but he knows that he can never be selfish with her as all he wants is for her to be happy. If moving back grants her that, then he would choose to stay back.

"I might sound like a terrible person, but I'm really hoping you stay for a long time," Alice voices what he's thinking and he's grateful for it considering if he can't say it, then his sister would be able to for him.

Mia softly smiles and takes a sip of her drink, "Yeah, well, I guess we'll have to wait and see."

"You know, I've always wanted to go to London," Esme glances over at Carlisle. "Carlisle actually visited this year. That's where he met..."

Edward is unable to be attentive to the conversation. For the first time, the world around him goes silent as all he can bring himself to do is focus on her. She's smiling at whatever it is his family is saying and those beautiful eyes are shining like the stars. He can't help from wondering how he'd be able to deal with not seeing her again. If she moves back home, there's a chance the distance will come in between them and before he knows it, they'll never hear from each other.

He takes a deep breath before reaching for his glass of wine. It's becoming harder pushing this unease away and the more he keeps looking at her, the harder it is to imagine being apart.

"Isn't that right, Edward?" Carlisle asks, making them redirect their attention to him.

Slowly, Mia looks ahead and when she sees him, every fiber of her body tenses. A blazing fire pumps through her veins, inflicting a high dose of adrenaline that makes it harder being this close to him yet also too far.

"Yes, that's right," Edward answers, but doesn't look away from her.

Alice suspiciously stares at him while taking a drink. There's definitely something more than just friendship here and now it's not just her that sees it, but everyone else as well.

"I think we should head to the dance now," he rises from his seat at the same time Mia does, the others following behind.

"Wait," Rosalie takes the camera from Esme's hand and gestures at them to pose. "It's a miracle my brother is being social for once, so this needs to be documented."

He rolls his eyes, "I would have expected it from Alice, but never from you."

Mia softly laughs, but her smile gradually fades when feeling his hand on hers. She hates how often she's tensing at his touch, but at the same time can't help but love it.

He comes closer and stares into her eyes, almost like he's able to look into her soul. She averts her gaze to their hands and moves closer, causing him to place his arm on her waist as they turn to the camera.

"Now, show us the love!" Alice encourages them and once they smile, Rosalie begins snapping various pictures.

After this impromptu photoshoot, the pair start heading to the vehicle. It's colder out and already knowing Mia's cold, he places his jacket over her shoulder. She nuzzles deep into it and sits herself on the passenger seat, admiring the way he walks to the driver's side and starts the engine.

As he drives to the dance, the memory of nearly kissing plays on loop. It's becoming the first step for them to begin realizing that things are changing between them, but as expected, they're too afraid to do anything about it. It's not like they're willing to speak about what almost happened, so in complete silence, they drive into the night.

Not knowing the next hours will change the course of everything.