A/N: I don't own Twilight or its characters; they belong to Stephanie Meyer. This is just what they got up to in my mind. I do not own any publicly recognizable entities herein. No copyright infringement is intended.

Edward and I agreed it would probably be best to meet my parents somewhere neutral; mainly, because I didn't fancy Edward meeting my dad anywhere near his gun collection.

That was how we ended up in Sue's rustic little café in town. As soon as we walked inside, I spotted my parents sitting in a booth seat, both sipping from mugs and deep in conversation.

I took hold of Edward's hand, partly because I needed the reassurance from him and partly to show unity to my dad. I wasn't here for his approval; I just wanted my father and boyfriend to get along.

My parents turned when they heard us approaching and my dad's face didn't exactly light up when he saw Edward and me holding hands. My mom however squealed a little too obviously before clapping her hand over her mouth and excitedly standing up.

I introduced them both to Edward, even though they already knew him; I hoped it would help us all start afresh.

Edward was on his best behavior today, shaking my dad's hand and calling him Sir. Anything was worth a try to sweeten him up.

"We haven't ordered yet," my mom said as we took the seat opposite them. I resisted the urge to bury my head in the menu and hope this lunch was over already.

We made small talk while deciding on what to eat and then placing our order. Edward then excused himself to use the restroom before the food arrived.

"Oohh, Bella, that boy's smitten with you," my mother shrieked when Edward was barely out of earshot.

"Mooooom," I moaned, sounding like I'd regressed to my teenage years.

"I can tell," she continued unperturbed. "He was looking at you when you were ordering, such a sweet look. I know these things, baby."

"Oh lord," I groaned under my breath, silently willing Edward to hurry up so my Mom would change the topic. Hopefully. Although, knowing her, she'd carry on talking about Edward right in front of him.

However, she didn't need to because she made the most of our time alone to continue "There's such chemistry between you two…"

"I'd rather not know about my daughter and her boyfriend's chemistry," Charlie grumbled, making my mom roll her eyes affectionately at his grumpy nature. I would have been embarrassed, but I was just pleased my dad was finally referring to Edward as my boyfriend. Maybe, just maybe, he was coming around to the idea.

Or, maybe not, because when Edward sat back down the questions started.

"So, what are you kids up to today?" While we certainly weren't kids anymore, I let that one slide; we had bigger issues to deal with. I glossed over the fact that I'd spent the morning in Edward's shirt, lounging around with him on the sofa, reading and talking while he stroked my bare legs and I ogled him in nothing but his jeans.

I thought it was best to start after those events.

"We had a quiet morning. We might go shopping later, I need a dress for Jess's wedding."

"Hmmm, dress shopping? Edward must really like you to spend his Saturday in dress shops."

I didn't have a chance to complain to my dad that he didn't have to talk about Edward like he wasn't here because Edward spoke up himself.

"I do, sir. I'm sorry if I'm not the person you'd have chosen for your daughter but I promise I only want the best for her."

My dad took in a deep breath and finally looked at Edward properly. "Edward, I don't have a problem with the man you are today. By all accounts you're an upstanding citizen and a good guy. I just don't like knowing what I know about your past."

Edward sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "With all due respect, that was a while ago. Now, I've changed. I hope, in time, you'll see that I'm not a kid anymore. I can't pretend that part of my life didn't happen. In a way, I'm pleased it did. My arrest shook some sense into me. I was headed down a dark path. You slapped some fear into me and made me never want to be on the wrong side of the police again."

Charlie nodded. "It's nice to know you learned from your mistakes."

"I did." Edward confirmed unequivocally.

Our food arrived and broke the serious tone of the conversation. While I was busy stealing a fry off Edward's plate, and checking out his cute grin when he caught me, my dad swallowed a mouthful of steak before he cleared his throat.

"You coach the town's soccer team, right?" Where was my dad going with this? I hoped it was somewhere good, I was desperate to avoid refereeing between my stubborn father and reformed boyfriend.

"Yes, sir," Edward replied proudly.

"Top of their league I hear," my dad continued. I knew my dad had zero interest in soccer so he would have had to go out of his way to find out this information. My mom looked over to me with raised eyebrows, clearly she thought the same thing.

"Yep, we're aiming for promotion for sure."

"Good. A guy I work with on the force, his younger brother's on your team, Quil?"

"Yeah, he's a good player." Edward nodded his head as Charlie continued.

"He said you're a good guy, fair, hardworking…I guess I've been a bit hard on you. I just want the best for Bella. You get that, right?"

"Sure. Of course."

"Maybe we could start over?"

"I'd like that," Edward answered, sounding pleased and relieved as I squeezed his thigh under the table, grateful he was being so gracious.

We continued to eat, the conversation slowing now that our mouths were full of Sue's amazing home-style cooking.

Once my dad finished his meal, he pushed his plate into the middle of the table and sat back with a groan, placing his hands on his belly. "That was delicious," he declared and I'm fairly certain Edward's presence was the only thing stopping him from licking the plate.

"So, Edward," he started. Oh boy, where was this going? "Why journalism? After everything that was printed about you in the papers, I'd have thought you'd want nothing to do with the media."

Edward sat up straighter in his seat, turning serious as he cleared his throat and rested his hands on the table top. He too had cleared his plate, leaving both my mom and me to finish eating as we listened.

"I wanted to stop people from going through what happened to my family," he answered simply. "We were put through hell. My parents' house and earnings were scrutinized; their colleagues, neighbors and so-called friends were interviewed. The press tore into our lives without ever thinking of the real people behind the headlines. I wanted to be an honest reporter; a voice of reason perhaps. I know as one individual I can't make much of a difference, but if just one reporter had shown my family some kindness and humility, it would have made a big difference to us."

I reached over and rested my hand in Edward's, touched by his words.

"I always thought your family were treated badly in the press. How are your parents these days?"

"Good, thank you. They seem to have found a new lease on life since becoming grandparents."

My mom coughed on her mouthful of chicken pie as Charlie's eyes went wide.

"That's nice, but dear God, please don't make us grandparents, yet! I know I'm warming up to this relationship, but that would be more than my blood pressure could handle right now!" He spoke in jest as I saw his softening expression and caught the glint in his eye.

"You're all good, Dad," I reassured him.

He nodded and accepted the bill from our approaching waitress.

Before Edward or I could object he'd handed her his card, holding his hand up to silence us.

"This meal's on me. Take it as an apology for the way I treated your relationship up until now. I can see how much you care about each other and any guy who looks at my daughter like she's the only girl in the room, well, he gets my blessing."

"Thanks, Chief Swan," Edward answered, sounding pleased.

"Call me Charlie," he replied.

Shortly after that we left for our afternoon of dress shopping. I'd practically skipped out of the restaurant. I was amazed that my dad had accepted our relationship and thrilled Edward was coming to Jessica's wedding. With me! As my date! Ha ha! Finally I could rock up to one of these events with a hottie that I hadn't paid for. (I'm kidding, I didn't quite go that far for Lauren's wedding.)

So, having established that I could save my wages and bring Edward for free, I had some money for a new dress. Every girl wants to look hot at their friend's wedding, right?

That's how I ended up in a dress shop, carrying a bundle of dresses, all various styles and colors into the changing room.

I left Edward waiting near the underwear and bras. He stopped his eyes bugging out of his head by burying his face in his phone and muttering about desperately needing to message Emmett.

Back in the dressing room I squeezed myself into various dresses. The first few weren't flattering but my favorite emerald green backless choice was up next.

I smoothed it over my hips and dared to look in the full length mirror.

Huh. I quite liked it. It was fitting and flattering while still adhering to the wedding restrictions of not being too showy or revealing.

I took a selfie and texted it to Edward, complete with a happy face and sad face emoji and a question mark.

He replied almost immediately with a thumbs down.

My heart sank a little as I examined myself in the mirror, trying to place what it could be that Edward didn't like about the dress. Or maybe it was me that was the problem, not the dress. Maybe it was a bit too tight. Or short. Or both?

Before my heart and self-esteem could sink all the way to the floor, he sent me another text.

"That one's not right. You look far too hot for other men to see. I'll spend the whole day chasing guys away. Good thing I learned some self-defence moves in my youth!"

He was cute. But was he serious? "Really? I'm not sure now." I replied.

"Don't make me come in there, Swan. You look great in that dress but it'll look even better on the floor."

Gah! "Maybe I'll try it on again at home. Just for you."

"Maybe I'll look forward to that. A lot."

"But seriously, is this the right dress for the wedding?"

"Absolutely."

Edward's reply was much more convincing his time. I took another look in the mirror, smiling again. I didn't need to try on the other options. I knew this was the one. The color matched Edward's eyes, and with my hair and makeup done, and the right shoes I knew I could make this work.

I emerged with the green dress folded over one arm and a grin on my face. "Wanna help me find some shoes to match?"

Edward groaned. "You're killing me, Swan."

"I'll make it worth your time," I promised as I dropped a chaste kiss on his lips.

He groaned again. "Lead the way!"

ooooooOOOOOOoooooo

At Jessica's wedding one month later, Edward looked super-hot in a black suit and a tie that matched the green of my dress. The wedding was memorable for me for two reasons. One, because it led to the best sex of my life (let's just say Edward really liked that green dress), and two, it was also the evening he asked me to move in with him.

I was surprised, we seemed to be moving fast, but I knew it felt right. I didn't hesitate, and neither did he. We agreed that night (after the amazing sex) on renting somewhere new, somewhere we could make a home together.

I left it to the last minute to tell Charlie and baked another apple pie for that conversation. I needn't have worried though; true to his word, he had given Edward a fresh start and found they had a lot in common. They were both fiercely loyal, and both had moved on from their pasts.

ooooooOOOOOOoooooo

One year.

It had now been one whole year, almost to the day, since I'd reported from the Fall Festival.

Last year's event had changed my life, so much so that this year I'd walked through the entrance holding hands with Edward. Partly so I didn't fall on the uneven ground but mainly because I was madly in love with him and pleased to be working on a story together, for once.

The next day we'd woken early, keen to read our published pieces.

"Here." Edward tossed me the paper as I sat up straighter on the bed, getting comfortable against the pillows. I turned to the relevant page and scanned the pictures to see which ones had made the final edit before I skimmed the article.

Edward meanwhile was bent down, looking around on the floor by my side of the bed.

"What are you doing?" I asked, continuing to read his article.

"I dropped my phone," he replied, now on his knees on the floor.

As I reached the end of the article, I noticed some sentences that were most definitely not in his final draft (not that I had snuck a look before he pressed send on the email. I'd never do that. Well, almost never). I slowed down my skimming and read the last paragraph properly.

Then I gasped and turned to Edward.

He was now down on one knee, a ring box open in one hand and a serious expression on his face.

I squealed and clasped my hands over my mouth, knowing I was bound to say something stupid at such a crucial time. I sat up straighter. "Yes! I will! I do!"

Edward chuckled. "I haven't asked you anything yet!"

"I know, but I want to marry you, Edward. So much."

"Hey…" Edward turned serious. He reached out to me and held my face, looking me directly in the eyes. "I only intend on ever doing this once, so can you just let me do it properly?"

"Sorry." I tried to calm down my grin, but I knew it wasn't working.

Edward smiled and then took a deep breath. "So...Bella...will you and your big mouth marry me?"

"Yes!" I laughed, watching as he slipped the glittering platinum ring on my finger before standing up. He leaned over, kissing me as I pulled him further on top of me.

"You wrote your proposal in the paper?!" I gasped as reality set in.

"Thought I'd carry on my annual tradition of making a fool of myself for you and giving the town something to gossip about," he groaned good naturedly.

"What if our parents read this? They'll know before we get a chance to tell them!"

Edward grinned sheepishly at me. "They might already know," he whispered.

I rolled up the paper and whacked him with it. "What?"

"Well, I asked your dad for permission and judging by your mom's squeals, she heard, too. And, I kinda told my parents what I was planning." He shrugged.

I guess that made sense, and at least this way they wouldn't read about it in the paper. Still, I whacked Edward a few more times with the rolled up paper until he pinned down my arms and kissed me into submission.

"Mrs. Banner is gonna love to gossip about this at her chess club," I whispered.

"Can we not talk about Mrs. Banner right now?" Edward groaned, thrusting gently on top of me, making me moan.

"Okay, it's just us two."

"Just us," Edward agreed with a grin and another soft kiss. "Always, just us."

A/N: So that's it for these two! This story is now complete. Thank you to everyone who has read it. Please let me know your thoughts on this story. I absolutely love readers reviews.

This story is was featured on at TwiFanFictionRecs and voted 6th in the Top 10 Completed Stories in May 2017. Thanks to anyone who voted.

If you enjoyed this story and haven't read my complete multi-chapter fic, Tougher Than the Rest, please give it a go and a review or two.

I do have some other stories in mind so be sure to put me on author alert to get notifications of future stories.

I'd like to give a final thanks to SarcasticBimbo, EdwardsFirstKiss and RebAdams for their time and help with editing and improving this story. Also thanks to M-Sparkle for the awesome story banners she's made for me.

I can be found on Twitter as KoalaLouWrites and on Facebook as Koala Lou. I have a Facebook page where I'll post photos, links and teasers for my upcoming fics and chapters. It's called KoalaLou Fiction so please look me up if you're interested.

Bye...for now x