Summary: In a modern twist of Romeo&Juliet, Edward, Bella and their feuding families fight to overcome deeply set prejudices against one another in hope of finding love, friendship and forgiveness. AU, AH, E/B, J/A, EM/R.

A/N: So this is the first chapter to "Love Story" a Twilight fic. I just want to say that the chapters for this story is going to be much shorter than what I usually push for, but that will make it a lot easier and faster for me to post. This story was inspired partly by Taylor Swift's song, "Love Story" and partly by EclipseoftheTwilightMoon. Thank you, EclipseoftheTwilightMoon, for encouraging me to write again and I want to dedicate this story to you. Oh, and I suppose I owe a thank you to Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" for further inspiration.

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or any of its characters. I also don't own Taylor Swift's song, "Love Story."

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Love Story

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We were both young when I first saw you.
I close my eyes and the flashback starts:
I'm standing there on a balcony in summer air.

See the lights, see the party, the ball gowns.
See you make your way through the crowd
and say hello;

Little did I know
That you were Romeo; you were throwing pebbles,
And my daddy said, "Stay away from Juliet!"
And I was crying on the staircase,
begging you, "Please, don't go."

And I said,
"Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone.
I'll be waiting; all there's left to do is run.
You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess
It's a love story - baby just say 'Yes.'"

So I sneak out to the garden to see you.
We keep quiet 'cause we're dead if they knew.
So close your eyes; escape this town for a little while.
'Cause you were Romeo, I was a scarlet letter,
And my daddy said "Stay away from him Juliet!"
But you were everything to me; I was begging you, "Please, don't go."

And I said,
"Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone.
I'll be waiting; all there's left to do is run.
You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess
It's a love story - baby just say 'Yes.'

Romeo save me - they're tryin' to tell me how to feel;
This love is difficult, but it's real.
Don't be afraid; we'll make it out of this mess.
It's a love story - baby just say 'Yes.'"

I got tired of waiting,
Wondering if you were ever comin' around.
My faith in you was fading
When I met you on the outskirts of town,

And I said,
"Romeo save me - I've been feeling so alone.
I keep waiting for you but you never come.
Is this in my head? I don't know what to think-"

He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring and said,
"Marry me, Juliet - you'll never have to be alone.
I love you and that's all I really know.
I talked to your dad - go pick out a white dress;
It's a love story - baby just say 'Yes.'"

Oh, oh.

We were both young when I first saw you...

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Chapter 1: Supreme Overlord of the Galaxy

Bella POV

"Bella. Bella! Bella!"

I was startled abruptly out of my dazed thoughts as a slender hand shook me roughly back and forth. I blinked in surprise before looking up to meet the concerned, yet annoyed, azure eyes of my stepsister.

"Sorry, Rose," I apologized, smiling sheepishly as I closed my well-worn anthology of Shakespearean plays with a muffled snap. I had been halfway through Act 2 of Romeo and Juliet before I had started to zone out, daydreaming about the unrealistic love that the Capulet and Montague had shared.

Getting up from my reclined position on my bed, I tucked my coveted book into my overfilled bookcase before turning to face the ever impatient Rosalie. She stood almost an entire head taller than me, mostly due to her impossibly long legs that seemed to go on for forever. She had a body that would bring a bikini model to shame and her face was flawless, comparable only to the airbrushed faces of celebrities on magazine covers. Needless to say, I felt like a frumpy, box-shaped gremlin standing next to her. Despite my shameful envy of her good looks, she was still my sister (blood-related or not) and one of the best friends I could ever hope for.

"I can see that you've been succumbing to the guilty pleasures of your addiction, yet again, Bella," she drawled, rolling her brilliantly blue eyes exaggeratedly. "What was it this time? Twelfth Night? A Midsummer's Night Dream?"

"Romeo and Juliet, actually," I sniffed haughtily, thrusting my nose in the air like a snob. She giggled softly at my actions, her laughter pleasant and musical.

"Honestly, Bella," she muttered, shaking her head with a small smile on her face. "With your obsession with that play, you'd think that your view on love wouldn't be so cynical." I simply shrugged in reply, a wry smile on my lips. Although Romeo and Juliet was definitely one of my favorite plays by Shakespeare, I found it hard to believe that a love like that was possible anywhere, except in the world of fiction. To me, "Love at First Sight" was merely an excuse to cover up lust and infatuation.

"So," she started, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning against my desk. "How come you aren't getting ready? You are the guest of honor today, remember?"

I groaned loudly, throwing myself back onto my bed and burying my head into my pillows. "Please, don't remind me!"

I felt my bed dip slightly as Rosalie sat beside me, her hand coming to rest gently on my back. "C'mon, Bella," she persuaded, rubbing my back reassuringly. "You promised us that you wouldn't complain this time. 18 is a pretty big year; you're finally an adult!"

I sighed at her words, knowing that there was no way I would be able to prevent this. I had promised them and it was way too late to back down now: the party was scheduled to start in a few hours.

I cringed at the mere word, hating every aspect of it, but buckled down my resolve for the night. I wouldn't break my word. Though, God, I regret the second I made that promise. In my opinion, their attack had been deviously calculated and utterly ruthless, leaving me a stammering, defenseless mess as they mercilessly plucked the prize from my weak grasp.

They had been patient, waiting silently for the opportune moment to pounce. Like a stalking tiger shadowing a baby gazelle, they had watched me, their lingering stares penetrating the thin layer of my nerves and causing my clumsy nature to increase tenfold. And that had been their plan all along. Psych out the prey until it slipped up, crumbling under the pressure and falling victim to the triumphant jaws of the hunter.

I had been doing laundry, carrying a basketful of folded clothes upstairs to be exact, when things started unraveling.

Although I was the youngest in the house and the others were very much capable of doing their own laundry, I had grown a habit of doing everyone's laundry when I did my own. It was something that I had developed when living with my mom, Renee, during the summers and I found no problem in continuing it when I came back to Forks, especially since Rose and Jasper's mom's death a few years ago.

It just so happened that the laundry basket was filled with Jasper's clothes so I had struggled up the stairs and into his room.

Jasper was my older brother and was also Rosalie's twin, making him just as breathtakingly gorgeous as her, though with masculine features. He shared her shimmering blond hair, but whereas her eyes were a brilliant azure color, his were a deeper cobalt blue. He had sharper, more angular facial features than Rose, though the similarity between the two was impossible to deny.

I had entered his room, kicking lightly at his door to let him know I was coming in, and found him sitting at his desk working on a school project. He glanced up from the intricate, complicated looking model that he was building and flashed me a smile.

"Hey, Bells!" he had said, eyeing the basket I held in my arms. "Thanks, I was going to do it myself but I got distracted with my assignment."

I had rolled my eyes at his words; the day Jasper did his own laundry was the day I was declared the Supreme Overlord of the Galaxy. Making my way over to his dresser, I had felt his gaze boring into the side of my face which had caused me to get somewhat anxious. All week long, Rosalie, Jasper and even my dad had watched my every single move, leaving my nerves a frazzled mess.

It was only inevitable that in my state of acute nervousness, I would combust into a billion gory pieces, showering Jasper and his room with my blood and guts. Well, it was close enough. In a feat that only I could pull off, I had tripped over air as I had passed Jasper, the extra weight of the laundry basket making it impossible to catch myself. Throwing the basket away from my body so as not to hurt myself more as I fell (I knew a lot about the proper way to fall due to all my experience), I had rolled as I met the floor.

I had heard Jasper's cry of concern the same moment I had heard something crash to the floor with a rather sickening crunch followed closely by the delicate tinkling of metal bouncing off the hardwood floors.

Looking up from the ground, my eyes had flown past the worried expression of Jasper who was hovering over me and had zeroed in on the mess of metal parts on the floor behind him. My eyes had widened in horror and I was up and crouching over it in an instant.

"Oh my God, oh my God!" I had exclaimed, trying uselessly to put together the pieces of Jasper's project with shaking hands. "Jasper, I am so incredibly sorry! Oh my God, Jasper, what have I done!" The guilt had been overwhelming and I had been able to feel the tears at the corners of my eyes. Jasper was very serious about his work, he had to be if he wanted to be a successful architect, and I knew just how much effort and passion he put into each project. And I had ruined it. With one simple act of clumsiness, I had ruined his entire project. I had never hated my klutziness more than that moment.

He had simply picked me up off the floor, gently pulling the broken pieces of his project from my fingers and dropping them with the rest before cradling me on his bed. I had clutched his shirt, curling into a tiny ball and had muttered "I'm sorry" over and over while he silently comforted me. Being almost 6 years older, Jasper and Rosalie had always babied me, especially with my tendency to fall all the time and I couldn't help but feel comfort in their concern. Jasper had enthusiastically embraced the role of the protective older brother to me, since Rosalie was way too independent to rely on her twin for protecting, and he had always been there for me ever since I could remember.

My father, Charlie Swan, and Renee had gotten divorced when I was barely born; Charlie chose to stay in Forks where he had been raised while Renee left with me to Florida. I had been almost one when Renee had started steadily seeing Phil, some baseball player that she had met through a friend. They had clicked and 6 months later were married. For their honeymoon, they had left me with Charlie while they vacationed for 2 months.

Charlie had also been seeing someone, so by the time Renee had dropped me off, Amanda Hale and her barely 7 year old twins were already constantly over. I didn't remember much of my younger years, but I had been told that Charlie and Amanda had gotten married when I was three and that Jasper, Rosalie and I were inseparable since I had been spending increasingly more time with them while Renee and Phil had gone on their excursions. Finally, when I was 5, Renee had given Charlie full custody so that she and Phil could travel around the world.

Unfortunately, Amanda had died 4 years ago in a car accident. Charlie had taken it badly and had devoted himself completely to his job as the Head of Fork's Police Department. Although I loved both Charlie and Renee deeply, the only family I really had for support were Jasper and Rosalie, and I would not give them up for the world.

"Bella," Jasper had murmured, rubbing my back comfortingly. "It's okay, Bella, I'll just build it again. It wasn't hard to do." Jasper's soothing voice had made me even guiltier and I couldn't help but let a few tears fall.

"Jasper, I'm so sorry!"

"What happened here?" We had both looked up to see Rosalie standing at the door, a perfectly sculpted eyebrow arched in question as she eyed the laundry all over the floor as well as the shattered remains of Jasper's project. Seeing me wrapped up in Jasper's arms, Rose had instantly come over to join us, engulfing both of us in a hug.

"Bella had an accident and unintentionally knocked over my model for school," Jasper had explained, meeting Rose's eye over my head.

"I'm so sorry!" I had wailed again, wedged between my two best friends. "I'll do anything you want, Jasper! I promise I'll make it up to you!"

"Really, Bella, it isn't that big a deal," Jasper had reassured, a hint of exasperation in his voice. "You don't have to do anything for me."

"Actually," Rosalie had said, her tone of voice making both me and Jasper look up at her in confusion. "There's something that you could do for him…" She had trailed off, looking pointedly at Jasper who then "Ah!"ed in realization.

I had pulled back so that I could see both of their faces and I had grown suspicious at the matching grins on their faces.

"What do you want me to do?" I had asked warily, eyeing the two of them cautiously. And that was when they had sprung.

"Oh, well, in a few weeks there happens to be a very special occasion that will be occurring," Jasper had started innocently, his cobalt eyes twinkling mischievously.

"Okay," I had answered slowly, confused as to where they were heading.

"And we want to… oh, I dunno, celebrate a little bit," Rose had continued, sweeping her silky hair absentmindedly over a shoulder. I had frozen, quickly doing the math in my head and mentally groaning as I was submerged in dread. No. They wouldn't.

"And we know you go all crazy when we try and enforce a little bit of celebrating so…" Jasper had gone on, ignoring my look of utter dismay as I felt sick to my stomach. They loved me. They wouldn't do that to me.

"We want you to promise to take whatever we might give to you and attend whatever we might plan for you on the 13th of September, without a word of complaint!" They had grinned at me evilly and I could practically hear them cackling in those devious little heads of theirs. I should've known they would.

"But-but I hate parties! Let alone birthday parties dedicated to me!" I had whimpered, throwing on my pleading, puppy-dog face. But it had been no use. They were merciless.

"Bella," Jasper had sighed in mock sadness, shaking his head and looking away from me. "And here I thought you were sorry that I had to go through all that work again. I really liked the way that model was turning out too…"

"I-I…" I looked again at the mess on the floor and another wave of guilt hit me. "Fine. I promise." And that was when they had made the kill. With triumphant smirks, they had high-fived each other, ignoring me as I had curled up on Jasper's bed to wallow in my grief.

"Hello? Earth to Bella!" I groaned again as Rose started bouncing on my bed. "C'mon, Bella, we've got to get you ready!" I let loose a tremendous sigh before forcing myself to sit up and face my sister.

"Ok, ok. Let's get this over with."

A/N: I hope you enjoyed that and I would greatly appreciate any feedback. I'll post the next chapter as soon as I can!