Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight obviously. A/N: I wrote this O/S based on the song Homeboy by Eric Church. For now this is all I have written. If you're interested in reading more let me know and I'll consider turning it into a full story. Thanks for giving it a chance! Please keep in mind that it is currently unbeta'd.
"Alright Cullen, you're free to go." The police officer inserted a key into the lock and turned it while pulling the bars open. I sighed in relief as I walked out of the cell and down a hall that led into the front lobby.
"Who bailed me out Sir?" I asked the officer.
"You'll have to ask Deloris at the front desk there. You need to sign a few things." He told me.
"I know, I know." I did know. I'd been visiting jail a lot since I'd moved to Chicago. My crimes were never serious, a stolen pack of cigarettes here and there. Several were from unpaid fines, bar fights, or public intoxication. Once I was arrested for trying to pick up a prostitute but that was NOT my intention. I was trying to get directions to a club. How was I supposed to know that it was an undercover cop? Like I said, I was trying to get directions but apparently she thought it was code for, "let's go fuck and I'll pay you."
I slapped my hands on the front desk and smiled charmingly at the gray haired lady sitting down behind it. She glared up at me with a "what do you want shithead" look.
"Name?" She asked in a monotone voice.
"Cullen."
"Full name, please." This time she gritted her teeth. Jesus, she must really hate her job.
"Edward Anthony Cullen."
Deloris thumbed through a few files on her desk before nodding and pulling up a folder that said 'Edward Cullen' on the tab. It was thick, like a small book. I snorted at the last thought. I was a shithead.
A page with a bunch of nonsense was slid in front of me and at the bottom there was a blank line for my impending signature. Without reading anything I quickly signed the sheet of paper and slid it back to the lady in front of me. She told me that I was free to go and to stay the hell out of trouble.
I rolled my eyes and nodded and started to leave. I then remembered that I wanted to know who had bailed me out. My legs carried me back to the front desk and I leaned down on my elbows.
"Uh, Deloris is it?" She was once again glaring at me, and her mouth was puckered as if she was sucking on something sour.
"Yes?"
"Could you tell me who bailed my ass out?"
Deloris reopened my file and looked down quickly then her eyes met mine again.
"An Emmett Cullen."
My eyes widened at the name that fell from her lips. Dammit. Shit. God dammit!
"Thanks I mumbled before running out of the small jail.
I pulled my hood over my head and pulled out a pack of cigarettes on my trek home. I felt my body relax after my second drag from the cigarette. My mind felt the exact opposite though. My older brother had bailed me out of jail. How did he even know I was there? I hadn't heard from anyone in my family for over a year.
I left that dumbass town two years ago and had been so much happier since. There I felt stuck, suffocated, and unchanging. Everybody was judgmental and close-minded. If you did anything different than what they expected then all hell would break loose.
My parents were appalled when I was busted for smoking weed. They acted like it was the end of the world that I would even think of doing that. They acted as if my dreams to be bigger than that town were wrong.
So I left.
Without a second thought I moved to Chicago with a couple hundred bucks, a pack of cigarettes, and my IPod. It was a three hour bus ride that I spent thinking about the future and not the past. Only occasionally would a pretty brown-eyed girl cross my mind.
I smiled to myself as I thought of Bella. She would hate me now I supposed. We'd been on one date and it went well so we'd naturally planned a second one. I figured she would have heard about my leaving by the time I'd arrived in Chicago. She'd know that our thing was over right?
I inhaled my cigarette a little deeper.
I wondered what Emmett thought about busting me out of the slammer. He was probably disgusted with me. Emmett was always the golden boy. Football star, loving boyfriend, and now loving husband I supposed. When I last spoke to him I heard that Rose was pregnant. That'd been about a year ago.
Wow. I probably had a niece or nephew by now. He…or she would be like two or three months old. Hm.
I decided that I needed to call Emmett and thank him for bailing me out even though it practically killed me to do it. The last thing I wanted was an earful from my sibling that apparently never did anything wrong. He was exactly what mom and dad wanted. He worked on the family farm, was married, and he now had a kid.
Like I said, he's a golden boy.
By the time my cigarette was finished I'd arrived at the apartment building where I lived. As usual I rolled my eyes at how ghetto it was. Everywhere you looked there was something shady happening. My grandfather would roll over in his grave if he knew that I lived in a place like this.
I went up the stairs and turned the knob to find it unlocked. I went inside and found my roommate Alice sitting on the couch watching Maury. Her short black hair was pulled into a small pony tail and held up by small bobby pins. She wore a spaghetti strap tank top and a pair of small boxer shorts that told me she hadn't been awake long.
"What did I tell you about leavin' the door unlocked Alice? Someone could just walk in here and hurt you." I scolded her. We'd had the same conversation so many damned times.
"Edward, hey. How was jail?" She asked nonchalantly.
"How did you know where I was?"
Her blue eyes met mine and she whispered, "Victoria told me."
Of course Victoria had told her. She'd been hanging off my dick all of the night before at the bar. I'd left the bar as drunk as I was because she wouldn't leave me the hell alone. Unsurprisingly she'd followed me and I'd run into a twenty-four hour mart to escape her. I guess I was a little loud and obnoxious and the police were called. I couldn't remember the details of course.
"That bitch is psycho." I spat.
"Yeah well you're the one who screwed her. Women get attached easily."
I shook my head. "Well that's the least of my problems. My brother bailed me out. I don't even know how he knew I was there. I haven't talked to him in a long ass time."
Alice's face paled and she looked back at the T.V.
"That's my fault." She muttered.
My eyebrows rose.
"You wanna elaborate on that?" I asked.
Her color returned until a blush formed onto her cheeks.
"I called him. I wasn't sure what to do; I mean that's like your third time in jail this month."
"Hold up. Why would you call him Alice? You don't even know him. I mean how the hell did you even get his number?" I ran my hands through my hair in frustration. She didn't understand the ramifications of her actions.
"He calls me to check on you sometimes." Alice said quietly as she wringed her hands together.
"What the…what the fuck Alice?" I growled. "So basically you're spying on me for him?"
"No!" She yelled. "I swear Edward it's not like that. You left your phone here once about seven months ago and he called. I remembered you said your brother's name was Emmett, and when I saw it on your caller ID I was worried that something had happened! I talked to him for a few minutes and he asked me to please watch out for you and to call him if you were ever in trouble! I swear I was just trying to help!" She began sniffling and tears fell from her eyes. I let out a breath and scratched my chin.
"It's fine Alice. I appreciate you looking out for me, okay? Just uh, please don't help like that in the future. I don't need that kind of information going out to my family."
She wiped her eyes and nodded. I patted her on the shoulder as I walked past her towards my room.
My hands shook as I pulled my phone from my hoodie pocket and searched through my contacts until the name 'Emmett' appeared. I took a cigarette out of my pocket and lit it with a lighter on my bedside table. After the first drag I pressed the call button and listened as the line rang. Once, twice, three times. Finally on the fourth ring someone picked up.
"Yellow?" The voice said.
"Hi Emmett." I said.
"Oh, Edward. Hey."
"Yeah."
"Need something?" It irritated me that he seemed to want to get off of the phone as soon as possible. Not that I didn't want to do the same. It just bothered me that he didn't want to talk to me.
"I just wanted to uh…I wanted to thank you for busting me out of jail this morning. I'll pay you back someday." I said.
Emmett sighed loudly and I heard the sound of shuffling in the background.
"Look Edward," His voice was noticeably quieter. "I didn't do it to help you out. I did it for mom and dad. They want you to come home."
I scoffed. "I'm not fucking coming home Emmett."
Emmett was quiet for a few moments. I took the opportunity to say a few more words.
"I left for a reason man. Things have been so much better out here. You're just too small-minded to even grasp that fact because you never left that little hick town. There are bigger and better things in life than high school football and plowing fields."
"You know what Edward? Fuck you! You're the small-minded one. You never gave this town a chance! You looked for the bad to give yourself a reason to escape. You were always too badass for this town in your mind! Driving around in Dad's Nova with rap blasting as loud as possible, tattoos, baggy ass pants, thinking you're the best damn thing that the town ever did see!"
My blood was boiling. That asshole had no idea what he was talking about.
"Like I said Em, you've never left that hick town. You don't even know what you're missing."
He laughed humorlessly. "You don't know what you're missing Edward. Someday you're gonna wish you were here when you can't be. You're gonna wish you were here fishin' with me or sittin' on the tailgate of my truck just listening to the sound of the cicadas and watchin' the sunset. Someday you're gonna be sad that you missed out on a girl like Bella Swan. Remember when we used to go muddin' after it had rained a lot? Afterwards we'd drink a few and hang out with everyone down by the lake. It was so much fun! Dammit Edward, why'd you have to leave like you did? Why did you change so damn much?"
"I'm not coming home." I said dully.
"Alright man. I won't be bailing you out again though, you understand?" Emmett said sounding sad.
"Yep. No problem." I said sounding detached. This phone call was exactly why I never called home.
I heard a small cry in the background followed by the sound of Emmett's name being called.
"I gotta go. It was good talking to you Edward." He said.
"Yeah." I said. The cry sounded again in the background and I felt myself wondering about it. "Wait, Emmett?" I said before he could hang up.
"Yeah?"
"Did you have a boy or girl?"
"Boy. His name is Jared."
My heart squeezed which confused the hell out of me.
"Uh congrats."
"Thanks. Bye Edward."
He hung up and I pulled the phone away from my face. I flopped onto my bed and buried my face into the cheap pillow. My head hurt badly, not just from my hangover, but from literally forcing myself to have a conversation with my older brother.
"Fuck." I groaned. Emmett's words rushed through my brain. I would never wish for any of those things he listed. I did not miss small town bullshit like fishing and Bella Swan.
There was a knock on my door and then Alice poked her head in.
"You okay?" She asked while looking guilty.
"I'm fine." I lied.
"James texted me while you were on the phone. He said there's a party tonight at his place. Wanna go?"
"Why do you date that jackass? He treats you like shit." I asked.
She ignored me and continued. "So do you want to go? It seems like you need to get your mind off of things."
I nodded.
"Yeah, okay. I'll go."
oOoOo+HB+oOoOo
Several hours later I found myself walking to a party with a scantily dressed Alice. Her skirt barely covered her ass and I had the urge to remove my hoodie and wrap it around her waist. The girl was like a sister to me and she brought out my protective side.
We arrived at another set of crappy ass apartments where James lived. His place was on the bottom corner of the building. The music was loud and bumping, setting the perfect mood for a party. As soon as we walked in I could smell sweat, weed, cigarettes, and alcohol. I welcomed all of those smells as they meant I would be forgetting everything, the phone call today, a shitty night in jail, and my own name.
James sauntered up to Alice and looked her over once. "Damn somebody's getting their ass pounded later." He laughed to himself.
Alice's cheeks were rosy and I hated that she looked pleased with his reaction. The girl did everything she did because either James liked it that way, or would like it. It was one of those times when I wished my friend Jasper would have come with me. He and Alice would have been perfect together.
Jasper, I hadn't thought about him in a good long while.
I didn't want to think about anything anymore except how to lift a bottle to my mouth, and how to light up my smokes.
I guzzled beer after beer, smoked a little weed, and eventually my memories of the day faded away until it was just a complete blur. I felt Victoria dancing against me to the beat of the music. I knew I was supposed to care but in my state I just accepted it and part of me hoped to get laid. Someone handed out shots and I downed them quickly as if I was a thirsty man receiving water for the first time in days.
The hours seemed to go on and the party got wilder. Around midnight people started yelling out and I assumed a fight had broken out. My mind was sluggish from lack of sleep, alcohol and weed. It wasn't until someone closer to where I was shouted out about the cops being there that I reacted.
"Fuck." I slurred. I realized I was inside of a bedroom and on the wall opposite of the door was a window. It took a second but I was able to get it open enough to where my body could fit through.
I smiled to myself proudly thinking I had escaped unlike several other partygoers. A few seconds later I was slammed against the apartment building, a pair of hands twisted my arms together.
"Search him Reeves." The first voice said.
A pair of hands patted my whole body while I was too drunk to react. I thought I was being mugged.
"I don't haaave any money." I slurred.
The voice belonging to the other person chuckled. "That's probably because you spent all of your money buying this."
A baggy was shoved into my face. It was a bag of weed.
I tried to tell them that it wasn't mine but they didn't buy it. It really wasn't mine though. Sure I'd smoked some weed that night, but the baggy didn't belong to me. "Victoria." I spat.
A pair of handcuffs were placed onto my wrists and I was led to a police car in the front.
"Edward!" A familiar voice called out to me. Even in my drunken stupor I realized that it was Alice.
"No, no, no!" She cried. "Not again!"
I knew that I should tell her something. Instantly a feeling of sobriety took over. I was worried about Alice.
"Don't forget to always lock the door Alice!" I yelled.
She watched as I was read my rights and then shoved into the car. Her face held worry, sadness, and disappointment.
One week later I was sentenced to six months in prison.
My first night in my new home, a tiny jail cell, I found myself feeling numb. I didn't want to feel the regret that I knew would come.
A week into being in prison I started thinking about my life. Emmett's words about how I would someday wish that I was at home fishing with him haunted me. I closed my eyes and my face fell into my hands as the mental pictures of home flashed through my mind. I remembered times in high school where I would cruise around with my best friends, and we'd all drink down by the lake.
I remembered my first date with Bella Swan. She was always so damned uptight. I'd gotten her to drink her first beer, to drive her old truck through mud puddles out in the country, and sing out loud to classic country songs. I smiled to myself as a picture of her laughing floated through my mind.
I wondered if she'd loosened up at all. Was she living somewhere else now? Was she married? Did she have kids?
I blew out a breath as I realize that it saddened me. Emmett was right.
Every time I ate a disgusting prison meal I remembered my mom's cooking and how delicious it was. Did she still cook meatloaf and mashed potatoes every other Sunday?
There was a pond just in the distance of the fences outside. When I was outside I would sit on a picnic table and stare at it as I thought about fishing and wading my feet on hot summer days as a kid.
Something inside of me was resolving itself. I was so sick of jail, of living in shitty conditions, and eating shitty food constantly. My life wasn't where I wanted it to be when I left that little town two years before. Determination built inside of me and decisions were made.
Six months came and went. When I was released I took public transportation to the apartment that Alice and I had shared. I wondered if anything had changed.
I knocked at the door when I arrived and was pleased to find it locked.
The door opened a minute later revealing a smiling Alice. She threw her arms around me and hugged me as tight as she possibly could.
Neither of us said anything as she led me inside. Everything looked the same as it had when I'd last been here. It was the same only cleaner.
"I have something for you." She whispered.
"What is it?" I asked. Alice held up her index finger and left the room. She returned a second later with a white envelope. She handed it to me and looked at her questioningly.
"Open it!"
I tore open the white paper and put my hand inside. I pulled out a slightly thicker piece of paper that was long and rectangular in shape. My eyes scanned over it until it registered that the paper was a ticket, a bus ticket to my hometown. My stomach lurched and I felt myself begin to shake a little.
"Where did you get this?"
"Your brother sent it a couple of weeks after you went to jail."
"Shit." I stared at the ticket as my mind raced. "What do I do with it?"
"Use it." Alice smiled.
I started to shake my head but couldn't fully say no. A large part of me wanted to say yes and use the ticket. Another part of me, the part of me leftover from two years before said hell no to the ticket.
"If I go back Alice, it means I'm saying that I was wrong. I miss my family but I don't think I was entirely wrong. I don't want to be stuck in that town for the rest of my life."
She grabbed my free hand and squeezed gently. "You don't have to go back forever Edward, but you do need to see your family."
My heart was racing as I looked at the ticket again. "Okay, I'll use it." I said quietly.
"Good! You better start packing, there's a bus leaving in an hour."
"Fuck." I breathed. I hadn't expected to leave so fast.
I packed everything I could fit into my black suitcase and then rushed out to meet Alice in the living area.
"Ready to go?" She asked as she put on a pair of hot pink Ray- Ban knockoff sunglasses.
"Let's go."
My bag was loaded underneath the bus and everyone else had already boarded. I stood at the front of the bus and hugged Alice goodbye. It was hard to let go of someone that felt lie family.
"What are you going to do? Can you afford that place by yourself?"
Alice smiled softly. "I'm asking James to move in with me."
My mouth dropped open minutely.
"Alice…" I warned.
She held up her hand. "Edward, I love him. I swear that he won't touch your stuff."
I just nodded because nothing I said would change her mind. Alice couldn't see James clearly.
"You better get going." She said sadly.
"Don't forget to-"
"I know, I know. Don't forget to lock the door." She smiled. I gave her another hug and walked to the side of the bus. The doors opened for me and I gazed at the steps in front of me.
This was me swallowing my pride. It hurt. I felt lighter. I felt confused. I felt sad. I felt happy.
One step, two steps, three steps, and the fourth step landed me onto the bus. I took an open seat towards the middle of the bus. A few moments later the bus began to move forward and it slowly left the bus station.
I wasn't sure whether I was going towards my past, away from my past, towards my future. All I knew was that I was going home.
Home.
A/N: If you'd like to, leave me a review and give me your thoughts. Thank you for reading!