"I'm gonna miss you so much." I murmured into my older sister's shoulder as we hugged for the last time at the airport.

"You could come with me?" Bella suggested as we separated.

I shook my head with a smile. "I don't do well with the rain, you know that."

Bella and I were physically similar in many ways. We differed greatly, however, in our skin tones. I thrived in the dry Phoenix heat and the result was a light dusty tan. Our dark curls were the same, but mine were much longer. We have the same chocolate colored eyes, inherited from our dad.

Bella is extremely selfless. We're only a year apart, but we're more like mother and daughter. Our mom, Renee, tries her best, but she's simply too flighty and free-willing to be too incredibly grounded by children. I'm more like Mom while Bella's just like our dad, Charlie.

Our parents got divorced shortly after I was born. Mom took me and Bella to California to live with our grandmother. However, after she got a teaching degree she moved us to Riverside. When Bella was six and I was five we moved to Phoenix, where we've lived ever since.

My sister decided that she would go live in Forks, Washington with our father while Mom and I moved to Jacksonville, Florida to be with our stepdad, Phil. Normally, I probably would've jumped at the idea of living with Dad, but I've never really felt that welcomed in Forks. I have a feeling that I remind Charlie a little too much of my mom.

"You better go." I said after hugging Bella once more. "You'll miss your flight."

"Bye Soph." she smiled and then turned and walked towards the security check point.

I watched her in silence, waiting for her to disappear behind the check point before I left the airport. I slid my sunglasses on over my eyes and walked out to the car. Mom and Phil thought it would be best for me to drop Bella off. Mom's goodbye was extremely tearful and would have been way too hard to witness in a public place. It worried them a little that I'd be driving to and from the airport, but I assured them that I was a big girl and could handle myself.

"She's safe and sound on her way to Big Bad Forks." I told my mom as I dropped the keys into the colorful dish on the kitchen counter.

Mom smiled happily from her position in front of the stove. She'd been attempting a new recipe for the past few days. Bella was lucky; she got away from Mom's inventive recipes just in time.

"Your sister has a boyfriend!" Mom cheered happily from the phone.

I looked up from my Chemistry textbook with a raised eyebrow. I pulled my headphones out of my ears and asked my mom to repeat herself.

"His name is Edward and apparently he's smart and a total hunk." She giggled.

Bella would move to another state and get a hot boyfriend. Some girls just have all the luck.

"So you must be the smart hunk, Edward?" I smiled at the guy sitting diligently by my sister's bedside.

I was leaning in the doorway of the hospital room in Phoenix that my sister had been brought to after she took a tumble down the stairs and through a window. As catastrophic as it was, it didn't surprise me one bit. My sister's a bit of a klutz.

"You're Sophia." He stated.

That was the first time I met Edward. We met only a few times after that. Once when my sister came back from Europe with him and his sister after leaving without much of an excuse for our dad. The next was at her graduation.

"Come on, Sophie, we'll be late!" my mom tugged on my arm and pulled me through the airport.

We had to wake up super early to catch a flight from Jacksonville to Denver. The flight from Denver had a three hour lay-over and then we finally made it to Seattle. From there, we had to rush to the rental car and get to Forks. It was a three hour drive, but with my mother behind the wheel we'd make it in less than two.

Mom and Phil provided most of the conversation in the car. I mainly listened to music and tried to block out the fact that my eighteen year old sister was getting married in less than six hours. She's always been mature for her age. At ten she was the main bookkeeper in our house. At seventeen she was leaving everything she's ever known for the sake of our mom's marriage.

When we got to Forks, I read the directions Alice, Edward's sister, had emailed me. Mom followed the directions as best as she could, but she wouldn't be Renee if she hadn't got us lost a few times.

I sighed happily after climbing out of the cramped backseat. Phil chuckled at my antics and messed my hair a little bit before moving to the trunk to unload our luggage.

"Sophia!" I turned and smiled widely at Alice's approaching figure.

The same girl wrapped her pale arms tightly around me. I squeezed her back in a hug, trying desperately to ignore the rapid temperature change.

Before I could blink Alice had me upstairs getting ready for the wedding. My long dark hair was pulled and curled and braided until I was left with a half up half down masterpiece. My makeup was left mostly natural and light for which I was grateful. My dress was gorgeous and I was reminded yet again how fantastic Alice Cullen really is. I glided my way into the room they were keeping Bella in and grinned at my older sister.

"Soph," Bella gasped.

I smirked, "I know, I know. I plan on showing up the bride." I shrugged.

"I think you might." Bella replied, shaking her head at me and turning back to the mirror.

Rosalie and Alice smiled at me and then continued preparing my sister for the wedding. I waited patiently in the armchair in the room. Alice and Rosalie were amazing company and kept me well entertained for the hour it took them to finish her. Bella was silent most of the time.

"Oh Bella." I turned to see Mom standing in the doorway with her hands over her mouth. "You look phenomenal." She stepped into the room and over to my sister, but Alice stopped her just before they could hug.

"Don't smudge." She warned.

"She's right." Mom smiled. I quickly stood and handed her one of the tissues from my clutch. I'd been preparing for this since we received Bella's invitation in the mail. "Thanks baby." Mom smiled and dabbed at her eyes.

"Dad, wow." I glanced over my shoulder to see our father approaching us in a tux. I nodded in approval. Dad blushed and shrugged.

"I know, I'm hot." I chuckled. "Soph, Esme was wondering if you could help her downstairs." I nodded, ever eager to please my sister's new family.

"I'll see you down there, Bells." I smiled and kissed my sister's cheek.

I hurried down the stairs and met Esme outside. She directed me to the front and began introducing me to some of Edward's cousins and other people I didn't know yet.

I stood at the front of the aisle talking quietly with Emmett, Edward's brother, and their cousins Tanya, Kate, Carmen, Eleazar, and Irena.

"So you're Isabella's younger sister?" Carmen asked with a small smile.

I nodded. I found that I wasn't capable of making complete sentences in front of all of these beautiful people. The gene pool was insane and I almost wished I had moved to Forks when Bella did.

"Sophia is the baby swan." I grinned up at Emmett.

He and I had gotten close when I visited for graduation not that long ago.

During the actual ceremony I sat in between my parents. I chuckled when my sister refused to let go of Edward during the kiss. My dad shifted awkwardly and glared down at me playfully. When they finally separated I stood with everyone else and clapped. Emmett and I both let out similar cheers and grinned across the aisle at each other afterward.

"Sophia!" I turned to see my dad approaching me. "I want you to meet some people." He gripped my elbow gently and led me over to a man in a wheelchair, a woman, and a teenaged boy. I assumed he was a teenager anyway, his body screamed grown man, but his impish grin and wide playful eyes made it seem much younger.

"Ah, Sophia!" I smiled brightly at the man who I now recognized as dad's longtime friend, Billy Black.

"Hey Billy." I leaned down and hugged him.

"Sophie, this is Sue Clearwater and her son, Seth." Dad gestured towards the woman and the man child next to her.

Sue must have been Harry Clearwater's wife. Bella told me about his death when I came to visit.

I smiled at the both of them and reached out to shake their hands. Sue smiled back at me and shook my hand politely. Seth, however, beamed and hugged me. I laughed and hugged him back, not expecting it at all.

"You may not remember, but we used to play a lot when we were younger." He explained.

"Oh yeah! We buried your sister…Leah! We buried her in the sand on First Beach." I grinned.

Seth nodded eagerly as Charlie and Sue rolled their eyes at our antics.

"Sophie," I turned to see Emmett grinning at me. "Come dance."

I smiled and took his awaiting hand. He dragged me onto the dance floor and almost immediately began spinning me around. It was easy for his massive form to manhandle me and force me into whatever position he wanted during our impromptu and quite sloppy waltz.

After being mortified by my parents' speeches I decided to take a stroll around the reception area. The Cullen's really did have a beautiful home, but the forest surrounding it interested me much more. I frowned a little, however, when I saw my sister and Edward standing in a tense standoff with a group of Native American men near the edge of the forest.

"Bells?" I called out to her.

I stepped down the stairs and easily over to the couple. Edward moved to my side without leaving Bella and ushered me behind his back.

I stared up at him and waited for him to explain what the heck was going on. Edward ignored my stare, however, and remained tense. When I decided I was getting any answers from my brother-in-law I gazed across the invisible division and at the tall men. I noticed that Seth had joined their forces as well.

"You should go back to the party, Sophia." Edward told me without taking his eyes off of the other group.

I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms. "Not until you tell me what the heck is going on."

"It's nothing, Soph." I turned to my sister. She smiled at me reassuringly, but a blind person could see when Bella was lying.

I looked over at the group of men and switched my gaze between each person. I didn't recognize any of them except for one.

"Jacob?" I smiled when he looked up from the ground. "Oh my god!" I slipped away from Bella and Edward and over to my childhood friend.

Jacob caught me easily as I threw my arms around him.

"Hey Sofa." Jacob whispered as he hugged me back tightly.

I despised that nickname. He'd insisted on calling me Sofa since we were little kids and he couldn't pronounce Sophia.

I heard two distinct growls from opposite sides and pulled away from Jake immediately to search for any wild animals.

Jacob dropped me down so that my feet could touch the ground, but kept his arms around me in a protective grip.

"Jacob." I looked around Jake's body to see a man, obviously a bit older than everyone else watching the two of us tensely.

I followed his line of sight over to another one of the guys on Jake's side of the division. He had shaggy dark hair and russet colored skin, but his eyes caught me by surprise. They were brown and to anybody else that's all they would see, but after looking deeper I could see small flecks of gold and green. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other while holding my gaze. I turned my eyes away from him and back to Jacob. When I looked over again, however, the light kind look they'd had before were replaced with a harsher glare.

"I gotta go, Sofa." I frowned at Jacob as he gently forced my arms away. He guided me back towards Edward and Bella.

I stepped over a root and rejoined my sister and her new husband. Edward bushed me behind him yet again. I watched in confusion as Jacob and the others ran into the forest. The boy with the eyes hesitated and continued to stare at me.

"Embry!" he sighed and followed the others.

"You guys have a lot of explaining to do." I told the both of them after the group of men were gone. I stepped away from my sister and Edward and headed back to the party.

After Edward and Bella left for their honeymoon Mom and Phil returned to the hotel. I went with Dad, however, back to his house in Forks.

"So can I convince you to stay for a while, Soph?" Dad asked as we both dragged ourselves down to breakfast the next day.

"I think so." I replied over my bowl of cereal.