Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters; the all belong to the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.
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EPOV
I stepped off of the bus and onto the hard asphalt beneath my feet, my eyes taking in the building that will be housing our first show. I mean of course we are an opening act, but that was better then nothing. We had won this opportunity by winning a talent show that was held in Seattle for new and upcoming rock bands. My mom, Esme, just happen to enter us into the contest as a joke, we won by a landslide, it was a great feeling.
I was brought from my thoughts when I felt a slap across my back, making me stumble a bit. If Emmett wasn't so freaking strong it wouldn't hurt so much, but Emmett was like an ox, it was ridiculous. I turned on my heels, giving him a fixed stare; he just had a self-satisfied smile spread across his face. It took everything in my body to not lash out and slap that stupid smirk off his face.
"What was that for, Emmett" I said through gritted teeth.
"You were in my way and staring off into space. I figured I'd help you out and bring you back to earth" he said, his grin getting bigger. He was about to say something else when he was suddenly pushed out of the way. I looked behind him to see my bass guitarist and best friend, Jasper. He had pushed Emmett out of his way as he stepped off the bus. Emmett wasn't having it. After he righted himself, he spun around so quickly that I didn't even see it happen. He charged Jasper, Jasper braced himself for the wall of muscle coming straight for him. They both had shit-eating grins on their faces. Emmett collided with Jasper and they started to brawl with each other. It looked like it was too much fun and I really did like Jasper. I jumped onto Emmett's back, distracting him enough for Jasper to start landing some major punches to his gut. There was suddenly a loud whistle, it was so loud that it broke our brawl apart and made us cover our ears, cringing. When the whistling stopped we all looked up to see our manager and me and Emmett's father, Carlisle, standing there, he was flanked by my sister, Alice who was flanked by Emmett girlfriend and Jasper's twin sister, Rosalie. They were to his right and my mother flanked him to his left. They were all scowling at us. We all righted ourselves and stood their waiting for our rebuke.
"You guys are so immature" said Rosalie.
"Aww baby, don't be that way. We were just having some fun, releasing our nervous energy" he said. Using his puppy dog eyes, that always seemed to work on Rosalie. She just sighed and shook her head, but smiling all the while. The rest of my family just sighed and looked at us with exasperated expression.
"All right everyone, gather around, so we can discuss our schedule for the evening" my father said. We all walked to where he was standing and formed a circle around him. That was when I noticed that a certain brown haired beauty was missing. I started to look for my angel and lead singer of the band, not seeing her among our group; I interrupted Carlisle as he started to speak.
"Dad, where is Bella" I said. That was when he also noticed that she was missing. His eyes scanned our group looking for her as well. When he didn't see her he just shrugged his shoulders. We suddenly heard a crash and some very pretty curse words. Emmett busted into laughter, knowing all too well who had made such a ruckus.
"Are you all right, Bella" Carlisle shouted.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm coming hold on" she yelled back. I watched as she quickly made her way to the door of the bus and down the steps. Bella being Bella, she tripped on the last step, landing hard on the asphalt below. We raced over to her and helped get her standing straight again. When she was up right again and all dusted off, she looked up at me, her deep brown eyes staring deep into mine. I gave her my famous crooked smile and she blushed beautifully. Who knew someone who had such a magnificent voice could be so clumsy?
"Are you all right, Bella?" I asked her. She nodded her head yes and turned to look at Carlisle.
"Now that everyone is here, here is the game plan for tonight. We will set up the stage first; it should take no less than an hour to do. After that we can go and relax and grab a bite to eat…….."
I wasn't paying attention to anything my father was saying, I already knew the plan by heart anyway. I let my mind travel and ironically it traveled to the first day that I meet Bella.
~Flashback~
Emmett, Jasper and I were setting up for practice in my garage when a moving van pulled up into the drive way of the vacant house to the left of my house. My mother at the time was outside tending to her garden, when she looked up at the new neighbors, her brow frowning in confusion, she obviously did not know of the newcomers. She rose from her spot, where she was picking weeds and walked over to where we were standing.
"I wonder who they are" she asked. We all just shrugged our shoulders. When the van came to a stop and the engine was cut off, the driver side door of the van opened and out stepped a man who appeared to be in his late thirties early forties. He walked to the front of the van and stood their, looking up at his new house. The passenger side door opened and closed with a bang. What walked out from the side of the van, were the door was just slammed, was what had to be an angel. She was the spitting image of the man beside her; she had the same color hair as the man beside her, but hers appeared to be a bit richer and a deeper shade of brown, almost a mahogany color, it fell to the middle of her back, curling slightly at the ends. She had a heart-shaped face with the features only a goddess could have. Her figure marveled that of Aphrodite herself. She was absolutely stunning and beautiful. She must have felt me gawking at her because she turned her head in my direction, her gaze meeting mine. We stared at one another for about a minute, when she suddenly looked away and down to the ground, blushing. It made me wonder what my face looked like. Emmett and Jasper saw my face and were snickering behind me. My mother saw my face as well and was smiling. She walked over to Emmett and Jasper and whacked them over the head with one of her gardening gloves.
"Leave Edward alone" she said. They both rubbed their heads and mumbled something about momma's boy.
"Come on lets go introduce ourselves to our new neighbors" she said. She led the way as well followed behind her. When we reached the fence, the man who was standing in front of the van looked to us and smiled at our greeting.
"Hi, how are you. My name is Esme Cullen and these are my boys Emmett and Edward and their best friend Jasper" at this we all waved. "We live next door and we wanted to come over and welcome you to the neighborhood. My husband Carlisle should be back soon with my daughter Alice and Jasper's twin sister Rosalie. They had to go out and get something real quick. If I had known we were getting new neighbors, I would have baked something for you" she said to the man. The man just laughed and waved off her offer.
"It's quiet all right Mrs. Cullen" at the word of her formal name, my mother snorted and said "Please call me Esme" she said.
The man chuckled at my mothers demand and said "All right Esme, it is so nice to meet you and your boys. My name is Charlie Swan and this is my daughter Isabella Swan" he said gesturing to the shy girl standing to the side of him. She looked up from the ground and smiled towards us and waving. We waved back. Charlie looked back to him and rolled his eyes.
"Come Bella and meet the new neighbors" he said. She slowly walked to stand next to her father. Esme spoke next.
"Hi dear, how are you" she asked. Bella looked up at her and a beautiful smile spread across her face at my mother's warmth.
"I'm fine Esme, just a bit stiff from the ride that is all" my mother just shook her head in understanding.
"How old are you Bella, you look to be Edwards and Alice's age. What grade are you in" she asked.
"I am seventeen years old and I will be starting the eleventh grade when school starts up" she said. At her words, I felt my heart speed up, she was my age and in my grade, I hope I have some classes with her.
"Well maybe you will have some classes with Edward and Alice. They both are in the eleventh grade and Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie are seniors this year, so I doubt you will have any classes with them" my mother said to Bella, Bella shaking her head in return.
"So where did you come from and what made you come to the small town of Forks" my mother asked. Charlie was the next to speak.
"Well we came from Arizona and I got the position of police chief of this here lovely town" he said. My mom's eyes lit up in recognition.
"Oh, you're the new police chief, well I can already tell that Forks is in better hands" she said. Charlie just blushed and I knew exactly where Bella had gotten her blush from. I was staring at Bella and I watched as she watched my mother talk to her father. Her gaze suddenly adverted in my direction and we gazed with one another. I could feel the intensity within our gazes, it was unreal. We were brought from our fix of each other when we heard the sound of wheels and concrete, we all looked in the direction of the noise. I saw my father pull into the drive way with his black Mercedes. He turned the car off and my mother went over to greet him. The passenger and back door behind the passenger side of the car opened up and out stepped Rosalie and Alice. They looked from us to the Swans, Alice immediately smiling, Rosalie frowning a little. My mother walked back to us with my father's arms around her waist, Alice and Rosalie following behind them. When they were standing with us again, my mother began to introduce the rest of her family.
"Chief Swan this is my husband Carlisle, he is the head surgeon at the hospital" she said. My father extended his hand and Charlie reached his over the fence grabbing unto my father's, shaking it.
"It is a pleasure to meet you Dr. Cullen. I will warn you ahead of time that my dear Bella will be visiting you quite often in the emergency room" Charlie said, laughing. Bella's eyes went wide and her face turned multiple shades of red. Her blush was instantly my favorite thing about her. I was brought from my stupor by Carlisle's laugh.
"Well why would you be in the emergency room so much" he asked towards Bella, her face turned another fifteen shades of red.
"I am sort of a klutz Dr. Cullen" she said softly. Carlisle just laughed and said.
"It's all right Bella, nothing to be ashamed off" he said. Bella just smiled and blushed more. Alice was the next to speak.
"Hi Bella, my name is Alice" she said, her excitement showing through. I could already tell that she liked Bella.
"Hi" was the only thing that Bella said.
"So Bella, will you be attending Forks High and what grade are you in" asked Alice. Bella just stared at the little pixie, with wide eyes. I could tell that she had never met anyone like Alice.
Bella shook her head yes to Alice's question and said that she was in the eleventh grade. At Bella's answers, Alice began to squeal and jump up and down.
After Alice's squealing was over, there was a second of silence, Esme finally breaking it.
"Well do you need help with moving your stuff in? I'm sure the boys would be glad to help you out" Esme said. Charlie looked at us and said.
"That would be great, that's if you don't mind" he said, looking our way. We all just shrugged our shoulders and nodded our heads.
"Well after your all done and settled in, why don't you and Bella come over for dinner? I am making spaghetti" she said. Charlie looked to Bella, who just shrugged her shoulders and nodded her answer. Charlie looked back to Esme and said.
"That is very thoughtful of you Esme, thank you. What time should we be over" he said.
"Well I am actually going to get started on dinner now. I'm sure by the time you and the boys are done unpacking and unloading, it will be ready" she said.
Charlie looked at his watch and said "we should be done by 5:30, does that give you enough time" he asked. My mother just answered by nodding her head.
We walked over to the Swan's and started to unload the van. We were done fairly quickly and by 5 we had everything in the house and set up. I had just put the last of Bella's boxes in her room. I then noticed that she had a guitar on a stand in the corner of her room. My curiosity got the best of me.
"You play the guitar" I said pointing to it in the corner. She looked over to it and a sad look spread across her face.
"I used to but not anymore" she said looking back to the box she was unpacking. I wasn't going to press her for anymore information, if she wanted to tell me, then she would, not that I had a right to know her secrets, I just met the girl for Christ's Sake .
"All right, I think that's the last of your boxes, I am going to head home and freshen up for dinner, I guess I will see you in a little bit" I said to her. She just shook her head okay and thank me for helping her. Not once did she look up at me, I wonder why that was.
I started my way down the steps, when I got to the bottom I saw Charlie standing there, unloading some dishes. I walked up to him and said that I was gonna head home and freshen up. He thanked me for helping him and I told him I would see him in a little while. I walked out of the Swan house and walking across their lawn to my lawn. When I got to the front steps, I looked up to the house and saw that Bella was standing there looking out of it, a blank expression on her face. She must have felt my stare, because she looked at me and when she saw that I was gazing at her, she quickly turned away. I just shook my head and walked into my house.
Esme had everything ready. I quickly ran upstairs and into my bathroom, washing my hands and face, removing the dirt and sweat that came with moving. When I went back downstairs, I saw that Charlie and Bella were already there. We all sat at the table, eating and chatting. Everyone appeared to be having a good time, everyone except Bella; she just gazed at her food, taking little bits here and there. The only time she ever spoke or looked up was when she was being addressed or asked a question. My gaze kept flicking to her every now and then it would stay on her face. Once she caught me. She looked up from her plate and locked gazes with me, she quickly looked down to her plate again, a slight blush on her face. After we ate our dinner, Bella helped Alice clean up. Everyone then had dessert and went out to sit on the patio to finish chatting, Alice and Bella finally joining us. We were all laughing and having a good time, the summer air making everything comfortable. I would look over to Bella a couple of times, she was just gazing out into the black forest, she looked lost. She suddenly got up and said she had to use the restroom. I watched as her form retreated into the house. She was gone quite a while; I got up to walked into the house, thinking maybe she was lost or something. I walked into the kitchen and stood for a moment trying to see if I could hear her footsteps. That was when I heard the keys on my piano being played out of tune. I quickly walked into the living room, but was stopped did in my tracks at the sight before me. Standing at my piano was Bella; her fingers were grazing the keys softly. She looked to be at war with herself, probably trying to decide whether or not to play it. Finally she took a seat on my piano bench, her choice made up. I was about to walk up to her and asked her what she was doing. No one touched my piano except me. I was stopped dead in my tracks once again when I heard a softly and sad melody being played by her fingers, I was even in more shock when I heard her start to sing.
I've been looking in the mirror for so long
That I've come to believe my soul's on the other side.
All the little pieces falling shatter.
Her voice was amazing; it was like nothing I had ever heard before. It was like there were a thousand angels singing all at once in perfect harmony. Who know that this shy girl had such a powerful voice? I stood there, in the middle of my living room, dumbfounded.
Shards of me
Too sharp to put back together
Too small to matter
On certain parts of the song, she would hold the words, she held the note that she was singing at the perfect pitch. I watched as a few tears fell from her closed eyes. I wanted to run to her and whip them away, but I forced myself to stay were I was, wanting her to finish her song.
But big enough to cut me into so many little pieces
If I try to touch her
And I bleed
I bleed
And I breathe
I breathe no more
I continued to watch her play and sing. The song that she was singing was so sad. I wonder of she wrote it herself.
Take a breath and I try to dram from my spirits well
Yet again you refuse to drink like a stubborn child.
Lie to me
Convince me that I've been sick forever
And All of this
Will make sense when I get better
But I know the difference, between myself and my reflection
I just can't help but to wonder
Which of us do you love?
I was so lost in the words and music, that I did not hear my family approach me. When I heard light sniffling, I turned my head to see Esme, shedding tears quietly, Bella's word taking a toll on her. I looked to the other side of me and saw Alice, Emmett, Jasper and Rosalie all staring at her in shock. They obviously had no idea that Bella could sing or play the piano. I looked back behind my family and saw Charlie leaning against the doorframe, he had his head down, and I could tell that there was a small tear falling. It made me wonder what horrible tragedies happen to cause this family so much pain. I looked back to Bella and watched as she shed more tears; she now had her head up towards the ceiling her eyes still closed.
So I Bleed
I Bleed
And I breathe
I Breathe no…
Bleed
I Bleed
And I breathe
I breathe
I breathe
I breathe no more
She ended her song with a soft piano solo. When she played the final note of the song, she brought her hands away from the keys and hung her head, letting out a long breath. She stood from the piano bench and turned around. When she saw all of us standing there, her eyes went wide and her face turned a bright red. Her shock was suddenly replaced with sadness and a fresh bout of tears started pouring from her eyes.
"Excuse me" she said, bringing her hand up to her mouth, to cover up the sob and ran out the door. I started to run after her but when I felt a hand on my shoulder I stopped. I looked back to see that it was Charlie's hand. He had the saddest look on his face.
"What's wrong with her" I asked him. The sadness on his face deepened and he looked down.
"Why don't we go back outside and I can tell you what happen" he said. I just nodded my head and followed him outside, my family behind me. When we were all seated, there was awkward silence between everyone, the tension evident. Finally Emmett was the first to break the silence.
"Wow, Bella sure can sing. I would have never thought that she could belt out such a lovely voice" he said. Everyone agreed with him. Charlie just chuckled and said.
"She used to sing a lot, she even sang before she talked. She got her voice from her mother, Renee. Renee also taught her how to play the guitar and piano, it runs in their genes. She sure as hell didn't get it from me, I couldn't hold a single not to save my life" he said chuckling, we all laughed as well. I watched as a pain expression crossed his face once again.
"About three months ago, Bella had an audition at a very prestigious school in Phoenix; it was a school for the arts. Her mother had gotten her an application and told her to fill it out and send it in. Her mother always told Bella that she had no idea what life had in store for her and that everything happens for a reason. Bella did what she was told but she didn't have high hopes that she would be accepted into the school. When she got the letter, telling her that she had an audition she ran through the house screaming at the tops of her lungs. She was so happy, I had never seen her so happy. The day of the audition, Bella's mom had gotten off of work early to go and watch her audition, I was suppose to meet them their. It was raining very heavily and you could hardly see through your wind shield. Apparently Bella's mom did not see the on coming truck. The truck hit her dead on" at his confession, he chocked up. I turned to look at my family and saw the women with tears in their eyes and their men consoling them. It was then that I noticed I had a silent tear falling down my face. I wiped it away, hoping no one saw it. Charlie continued with his story.
"The ambulance tried everything that they could to save her but she was killed on impacted. I was the one to tell Bella. She was devastated; her mom was her best friend. After the funeral a few day's after the accident, Bella tore up all of the music sheets that she had written her songs on and completely destroed everything that had any resemblance of music and her mother. She blamed herself for her Renee's death, she went into a deep depression and I myself went into one as well, but I didn't let her see that. I decided that it was a god idea to get out of Phoenix and start a new life somewhere else. When I got the job as police chief for Forks, I was ecstatic; I was born and raised here, so I knew it would be a great start for her. She wouldn't have to worry about seeing things and them reminding her of her mother" he said, trailing off. Everyone was at a complete silence, no wonder Bella looked so sad, I couldn't even imagine losing my mother. I promised myself that I would give my mother a hug everyday and tell her that I love her. Charlie cleared his throat and began to talk again.
"So that's why we are here. I was shocked when I heard her singing, she hasn't sung in so long, it is good to hear her voice again" he said softly. We were all silent again, Charlie finally breaking the silence once again.
"Well I should probably head off. I start my first day tomorrow, wouldn't want to be tired" he said. He stood and as well as everyone else. We all said goodbyes and Charlie thanked Esme again for dinner. We all walked Charlie to the door, saying our goodbyes to him. After the door shut behind Charlie, we all just stood their quietly, looking at it. My mother was the next to speak.
"Well I am going to head of to bed now" she said quietly. She hugged us all and kissed all goodnight and we watched as she ascended the stairs, my father following closely behind her. My siblings and I continued to stand their. Finally Alice broke the silence.
"We are going to watch a movie Edward, you are welcome to join us" she said. I just told them that I was tired and that I was going to head to bed. They shook their head okay and all walked into the living room to watch the movie. I headed up to my room. I entered my room and immediately went to my bed. I fell unto it, my stomach hitting the mattress. I closed my eyes briefly. When I reopened them, I looked out my window and saw that my window looked straight into Bella's room. I saw her sitting on her bed face in her hands, her shoulders shaking as she cried. It broke my heart to see her cry, an angel shouldn't cry like that. I watched as she looked up from her hands and then got to her feet. She walked over to the window and shut the curtains, cutting off my view of her. A minute later her light cut out. That was the last thing I remember before I fell into my slumber. My dreams consisted of a brown haired beauty and her sad eyes.
~End of Flashback~
I was brought back from my memory, when I felt someone shaking me rather hard and yelling.
"Edward snap out of it" I heard Alice yell. I shook my head and looked down at my sister. She was staring back at me, a worried expression on her face.
"Are you all right, Edward" she asked. I just shook my head.
"Yea I'm fine. I was just lost in my thoughts, that's all" I said to her. She shook her head slowly, not believing me. I just gave her a reassuring smile. I watched as she ran ahead of me to be with the family. I followed her with my eyes. When she finally reached the family, she turned back to me and then turned her attention back to the group. That was when I saw that Bella was staring at me. She also had a worried expression on her face, I just gave her the same smile that I gave Alice and she smiled back, her smile genuine. She waved for me to join her. My smile got bigger and I walked to meet up with her and the rest of my family.
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Well what do you think? My inspiration for this story came from my playlist on my Ipod.
The song that I used is by Evanescence. It is called Breathe No More. It is quite a beautiful song.
Please read and rate.
P.S: I am trying to figure out the next chapter to One More Try At Happiness and Starlight. It is taking longer than I hoped it would. I am sorry for the lateness, I have just been so busy with other stuff that I really haven't had the time to get start to write it. I hope you can forgive me and I will try to get those chapters out soon. The only reason I was able to write this one was because it stayed up for hours and typed it, I had already had everything down in my head.