UPDATE: I have tried to clear out all of the original character names, but if I missed some, please let me know. Thanks!

So I wrote this puppy about a year ago. It was my original story line and had original characters, but it wasn't doing anything but sitting in my computer. I changed the characters and moved the location to Forks. There weren't enough original characters to include everyone, so for now there is no Alice or Jasper, but who knows what the future may hold? There will be some lemony goodness in later chapters. I will tell you now, this story is sub-par. The plot is rushed and it could use a LOT of work, but it was my first, so I'll always have a soft spot for it, lol.

Oh yeah, Stephenie Meyer owns everything Twilight related. Yadda yadda yadda.

Welcome Home

Procrastination. Webster's defines it as intentionally and habitually putting off the doing of something. I firmly believe that no one person can ever be defined by words, but right now, that word defines me perfectly. I am procrastination personified. Huh, I also assume that this makes me a hypocrite. I cannot be defined, yet it defines me.

This is what happens when my mind is left to wander aimlessly. Thoughts build on thoughts, questions on questions. It's times like this that I think things like whether or not someone could get drunk by introducing alcohol directly to their blood stream versus imbibing.

I cannot escape my inner crazy.

I lay flat on my back looking up at the ceiling fan. Watching it twirl out it's slow rhythm. If I stared at it long enough the blades would appear to temporarily change direction. This was something I thought was more worthy of my time than the two boxes of clothes that remained yet untouched since I arrived.

I let my head loll in their direction and tried to give myself a mental pep talk. In my head I envisioned myself a prize fighter doing the customary boxing warm up dance as I like to call it. I could even hear the Rocky theme playing through my head. I told myself I was a champ, nothing could stop me now. I told myself to get up and get moving, which was followed by the cheers of a large crowd.

My body didn't listen.

Honestly I would have been content to stay in that one spot for the rest of the week, but I knew that would never happen. The only thing that made me move again was the sound of my mother's car pulling in to the driveway. She didn't need to see me laying upside down on the bed wallowing in my own self pity.

I had quit my job and moved home at the ripe old age of 24. After finishing college I had decided to take a full time job at a photography studio at the nearby mall. I had no idea what I wanted to do for the rest of my life so I took a job that would help me explore one of my former interests. It turned out it was just that, a FORMER interest. The parents forcing crying children to sit still and expecting to get a perfect picture of their little "angels" (most were like little devils when forced to sit under a hot light and fake a smile) had cured me of any desire to have a future in photography.

I forced myself to keep working there long enough to save up a decent amount of money and when the time came that I couldn't bear the thought of going in to that job one more day, I quit. I hadn't bought any new cars or used any credit cards so I had no debt during that time other than one quarter of my monthly rent and utilities.

That was another thing I had been cured of. Ever wanting a roommate. Too many girls in too small of a space makes for hard living if you ask me.

Since my mom was gracious enough to let me move back in with her I didn't have any rent to pay, and that meant that I could take my time until I figured out what I wanted to do. Well, I don't know if gracious is the right word, lonely was probably closer to the truth. Ever since my father had died two years earlier she hadn't been home much. I think it was because the house seemed so empty when she was here by herself.

I had just gotten the lid open on the next to last box when she knocked on the door.

"Hey. How's it going in here?"

My mom and I looked so much alike that it was a bit creepy. Her hair and eyes were a different color, but other than that we look just alike. Well, given the 25 year age difference and an inch or two difference in height (all in her favor). My coloring came straight from my dad.

"It's going. I've just got these two boxes left and then I'll be done. How was work?"

My mom was a nurse at the local hospital and worked most of the time to keep her mind occupied. I had to admit that she was very attractive for 49. I never could figure out why guys never asked her out. I'm sure there was no shortage of available men at work.

Esme Swan was one of the nicest and most sincere people that anyone could ever meet. She always gave it to you straight, but also nicely. That woman could sugar coat a death sentence so much a convict would be happy to die. I imagine that if she'd been alive before the civil war she would have made a perfect southern belle.

"It was work. I got to help in the nursery today because three of their people called in sick at the last minute. Now I remember why I stopped having kids after number two."

She grinned that special grin that only my mom had. In one pull of the corners of her mouth you could always tell that she was somehow making a gracefully hidden dig at you.

"And I'm sure your deciding to not have any more kids had nothing to do with me being the perfect angel that I was, and deciding that you just shouldn't try to top perfection. I mean it wouldn't have been fair if a third child couldn't live up to the hype I created would it?"

She laughed out loud, "I always did like your sense of humor. Did I ever tell you that you are my favorite daughter?"

It was my turn to laugh. "Did you happen to forget that I am your only daughter?"

"Well, you're still my favorite. It could be worse, I could not like you at all."

"Please. You never had a chance. One wink of these beautiful brown eyes and you are putty in my hands."

"Bella, I couldn't deny you anything if I wanted too. You know all my secrets too well."

"I should. I'm the only friend you have."

"If you knew how true that was you wouldn't have moved back home. I might not ever let you leave again."

"Free rent, home cooked meals, I don't have to get a job, and I don't have to do laundry? You might not ever be able to make me leave again. If I have learned anything living on my own it's that you don't look a gift maid in the mouth."

It was easy talking with my mom like this. We joked our way through everything. The entire town thought we were crazy when we started laughing in the middle of my father's funeral. All those people giving us their half-hearted condolences for days, plus a lack of sleep, didn't make it easy for us to ignore when the preacher kept using the wrong name during the funeral. When I told my mom "Wow, dad really screwed up his business cards," she just cracked up, and then so did I. It felt good, and right, because my dad would have wanted it that way.

In the middle of our giggles she crossed the room and hugged me. I hugged her back tightly and held on until we both quieted down. She pulled back and held me at arm's length and said, "I sure have missed having you around kiddo."

"I've missed being here."

"You wanna go get some dinner tonight? My treat."

"Sure. After that though I'm supposed to meet Rose in Port Angeles."

Rosalie Hale had been my best friend since middle school. We didn't see much of each other while we were in college, but we still talked at least once a week. She had also recently moved back, but it was because she had taken a job here whereas I had given one away, so this was kind of like our "welcome back home" celebration for each other.

Rose was naturally gorgeous and everyone knew it. Luckily she didn't. She had that typical girl disorder where your reflection automatically looks ten pounds heavier and your face about ten degrees less attractive than what other people see when they look at you. And of course that made her the girl all the other girls loved to hate. Pretty and nice, a bad combination when you tried to make friends in a small town.

She was a couple of inches taller than me and very thin. She was blessed in ways that most girls pay for. What made it worse was that she had a natural muted olive tone to her so her skin had a warm look to it even in the dead of winter. I loved her like a sister, and I envied the hell out of her.

I was looking forward to spending some quality girl time with her, but knew that I would feel like a troll beside her all evening. Not because of her, but because of all the guys that would interrupt our conversations and somehow not manage to see I was sitting there. One time we were out getting lunch at a Wendy's and a guy actually almost sat on me because he didn't notice me sitting across from her.

Hopefully, since we were in our home town, and most people knew us, it wouldn't be a problem tonight. Forks, Washington was a VERY small town. It had a grocery store, but we had to drive all the way to Port Angeles for a decent bar or restaurant.

"Okay. Let me get a shower and change and then we can go." My mom had interrupted my internal monologue and it took me a moment to remember what we had been talking about.

"That's fine, I still have two boxes left to unpack then I need a shower too, so take your time."

She turned and walked out of the room, leaving me to finish up. The last boxes only took a couple of minutes since they were nothing but clothes. I didn't have much in the way of personal belongings. I got that from my dad. Light living meant light moving. Unpacking should only have taken about a couple of hours, but because I am a procrastinator, and tend to avoid things, it took most of the day.

I dug out my favorite pair of jeans (that coincidentally happened to be the pair that made my rear view look like a million bucks) and a dressy blue top, and headed to the bathroom. Realizing that I had forgotten to get underwear, I turned around and went back in to my room. I opened the dresser drawer and immediately grabbed the first pair of cotton briefs I could find. I didn't even bother with anything nicer because I knew there was no chance of anyone seeing them unless I was in a car accident and my pants had to be cut off.

I had lived the last two years swearing off men. I didn't want to try and figure out anyone else when I could barely figure out myself. Men were the last thing I was interested in at the moment. Maybe after I got a good job I would start dating again, I just didn't think that "Hey, I'm unemployed and living with my mother" was the best way to attract a good man.

I went back in to the bathroom and turned the shower on as hot as it would go. I let the steam fill the room before I took my clothes off. The wall length mirror wouldn't allow me to miss the weight I had gained recently. Not that I was fat by any means, but I didn't work out as much as I should anymore and the hard lines of muscles had turned a little soft. Adding even the smallest amount of weight to a 5'4", 125 pound frame made a noticeable difference.

I took my hair out of its ponytail and let it fall. I was never big on change so I didn't bleach, dye, or use highlights. I only cut my hair about once every 6 months, so it hung to my waist. It was a nice dark chestnut color, with natural touches of light brown and red scattered throughout, and matched my eyes exactly. I ran a brush through it to get out the tangles and relished the silky weight as it fell back on to my skin. If there was one thing that I was always secretly proud of, it was my hair. It would shine like hair in those shampoo commercials if I put any effort in to taking care of it.

I got in the shower and let the hot water run over my back for a few minutes, just clearing my head. I thought of nothing while I bathed other than concentrating on what I was doing.

I heard a quiet knock on the bathroom door, "Honey, can I come in for a sec?"

"Sure mom."

"Hey, so I have something that you might need to know."

"What?"

She didn't answer me. I peeked out around the curtain, "Mom, what?"

She looked up at me and smiled, "Oh, they um..., might have an opening at the hospital in a few weeks if you're interested. I can talk to someone in Human Resources for you, if you want."

"Doing what? I'm not gonna have to, like, move dead people am I?"

She laughed. "No, one of the girls that works in the nurses' station in the pediatric ward is leaving for a new job in about a month. She just works with charts and helps the nurses out. Nothing glamorous."

"Okay, I'm willing to try anything. Who knows maybe I'll end going back to school for nursing."

"Well, just make it a cheap one. I wanna be buried with all of the money I can take with me."

I peeked out at her again. I smiled because I knew something good was coming. "Now why would you choose to take my inheritance to the grave? I might need it to support my lifestyle of the broke and jobless."

"Well, I'm sure there's plenty of good looking ladies in heaven, and I'm gonna need something to bribe them with to stay away from your daddy." She chuckled.

"Mom, I think you were the only angel dad ever cared to love. Now, stop coming in here fishing for compliments, I need to finish so we can get going. Rose is going to kill me if I'm late."

My mom got up and walked out. I know that she was joking, but I could tell that she still missed my dad a lot. She always tried to put on a brave face, but I know that she was trying hard not to let anyone see how sad she was. I wished that I could help her.

As usual my mind started moving on to inane random thoughts and I settled in to a relaxed mood. I decided that I was ready to get out of the house and have a good time. I turned off the water and started getting ready to leave, looking ahead to my first Friday night back in town.