Disclaimer: The Twilight series is exclusive property of Stephenie Meyer. Any reference to Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn, the unpublished document of Midnight Sun or the mythology therein is her creative property. No plagiarism intended. This is a fan-created story.
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Chapter One:
Welcome to Forks…Again
"It's time." Carlisle said, a soft sigh escaping him. Edward heard his guilt-filled thoughts. Carlisle had been pondering immortality again. He was wondering if he made a mistake, bring Edward, Esme, Rosalie and Emmett into this world. A world of hiding in the dark.
There was a long silence before Rosalie, her mouth turned down in a scowl, said, "I don't WANT to leave. Emmett and I just got married, can't we wait a little longer? I don't want to pretend to be so young yet!" Edward scoffed aloud, hearing Rosalie's mind fill with shallow thoughts of decorating the house her and Emmett shared. Should she go with beige for the kitchen…?
Rosalie let out a low snarl, interrupting Edward from his reverie. She barred her teeth and snapped,
"Get out of my head, or you won't have ears to hear my thoughts or anyone else's."
"Rose!" Esme chided. They were all used to the bickering by now, but Esme was the mother of this house-hold.
Edward just rolled his eyes. It wasn't his ears he used to read minds anyway, though he was sure she knew that.
Esme's eyes flicked to Edward,
"And you, young man-"
"I am over one-hundred year old and in that way older than you, mom." Edward reminded her with a slight smile touching the side of his mouth.
Esme sighed, but she looked amused more than annoyed.
"Just be nice." Rosalie started to gloat and Esme added quickly, "BOTH of you. And let the others speak for once!"
At that Edward and Rosalie both fell silent, and exchanged sheepish glances.
She's amazingly good at the guilt-trip. Rosalie thought, and Edward lifted an eyebrow in silent reply, knowing that was as much as an apology as he would get.
"How soon?" Alice's lilting voice questioned, ignoring the interruption like it had never happened. Edward supposed the whole family was used to him and Rose bickering, even Emmett didn't get upset with him anymore. Used to be Emmett took Rosalie's side no matter what. Turning his attention back to Alice, Edward heard her think wistfully of the idea of a "home". A place you could stay forever, not just until you got too old by human standards to still look like a teenager.
You may think Rosalie is shallow, but I get it. Imagine having a place that wasn't just a stop along the way. Imagine a place we could stay forever. No hiding, no repeating high school over and over. Wouldn't you want that? For all of us?
Edward met Alice's eyes, and saw sadness in them. He reached across the table and tugged gently on a lock of her short hair, his eyes soft as he tried to cheer up his favorite sister.
"Your hair's growing out. You should let Rose cut it, I liked the spikes. It gives you some much needed height."
Alice rolled her eyes, but he heard her suddenly thinking, I wonder if pink would be too much? I mean, Forks is pretty conservative…
"To answer your question, Alice, I think Edward would know best."
Do we need to have a 'family emergency' again, Edward?
Carlisle refrained from speaking aloud, not wanting to alarm the others if there was reason to leave quickly.
Edward looked at Carlisle and shook his head, indicating that he had no knowledge of anyone suspecting their true identities. Carlisle smiled his thanks and looked back at Alice, who nodded, seemingly a little perkier at the idea of a new hair style.
"Speak out loud." Emmett demanded. He was often frustrated with the silent conversations that went on in his family. "We're not all freaks like you two darlings."
Alice stuck her tongue out at Emmett and Edward faked a scowl.
"I'm seeing that we could have at least a two-week grace period, plenty of time for us to make our excuses to leave without arousing suspicion. Are you going to fake another job offer, Carlisle?" Alice asked, changing the subject, but not before shooting an annoyed but still loving glance at Emmett.
Suddenly the tension in the air fizzled like a candle before extinguishing, and everyone was filled with a calm assurance. It was impossible to be mad at Jasper when he did this, but Edward said,
"Was that really necessary, brother?"
Jasper, the quietest of them all, nodded.
"There's no sense in us all getting worked up over something that is inevitable. Let Carlisle speak his piece."
Oops. Three freaky siblings, I forgot…
Emmett's thought was meant for Edward to hear, hoping it would annoy his brother into a friendly confrontation, Edward pretended like he heard nothing.
Carlisle nodded his thanks to Jasper and leaned forward, looking at his family surrounding him across the large oval oak table.
"I do actually have a place and a job in mind. Washington state. I was thinking that we might go back to Forks. It's been decades, after all since we were last there. It's rather perfect for us, it gets the more rain than anywhere else in the country, and very little sunlight. Our lives could be practically normal. Plus, Forks Memorial Hospital needs a surgeon, and an Emergency Room resident. They've offered to give me both. It's not too far from Seattle, I thought that might make you, Alice and Rose, happy. You could go shopping during the daytime. More importantly there is a fair amount of game. Not only deer, but mountain lions, and a few species of bears that are over-populated in certain areas."
Emmett grinned, "You know how I like my grizzly."
Rosalie smiled at this, her usually cold and uptight face turning soft as she reminded him quietly, "And I know how much grizzlies like you." Emmett gave her a tender look, and Edward made a point of NOT reading either of their minds.
"The house," Esme asked quietly, hope in her voice, "Is it still there?"
"Yes, although it's not in the best condition anymore. No one has lived in it since the last time we were there. I thought we could add onto it. Make it more…homey. It's far enough off the main roads, so you could design it however you like."
Carlisle's voice as he spoke to his wife and soul mate was soft, and Esme smiled back at him, her face lighting up the whole room with her love. As Edward watched the two of them he wondered if he would ever find that kind of devotion. He didn't want to be like Rosalie or Emmett, so in love that they forgot everyone else, or the quiet and over-protective love that Jasper felt for Alive. Carlisle's balance of his love for his career, his wife and his "children" was something to marvel at. His strength…Edward was the second oldest vampire in this household, but he was still amazed at Carlisle's ability to live almost human.
Caught up in his thoughts Edward missed the fact that everyone was looking at him. He blinked, and said cautiously,
"Yes?"
"Edward, you still haven't voice an opinion." Esme noted, her formally peaceful face carrying a worried frown. "Would you prefer to go somewhere else?"
Edward answered smoothly, "I have no preference. It seems our time here in done. We've graduated, had the wedding for Rose and Em. What more is there to stay for?" He ignored the sad look on his mother's face and continued, "We should get our stories straightened out. We'll have to be the rather outspoken the first week. We'll need you for that, Jazz. To make the human's calm enough to be around us to hear our back story. For that matter…what is our back story this time?"
Edward, that's asking a lot from him. Alice was in his head, pleading silently, He's so new to this. You must know how much I hate to ask this but…will you keep an eye on him. Surrounded by new smelling humans, especially the first week will be…dangerous. Will you?
Edward looked across the table at her and slowly rolled his eyes up toward the ceiling and back down toward the table in the eyeball equivalent of a nod.
Thank you.
"We moved down to Forks from Alaska. It'll help explain our skin tone and our ambivalence to the cold." Carlisle answered. "But we can figure out the rest later. I want to make sure everyone understands why we are doing this, and agrees."
Esme bit down on his lip, one of the human-habits that she still kept. She looked at her husband and partner Carlisle. He smiled reassuringly at his wife and looking away from his first son he said to the group,
"Another plus for Fork would be that we'd be very close to the Denali family. Kate, Irina…Tanya…" He paused and then added quickly, "So on the odd day that there is sun, we could always go for a visit."
"Carlisle…" Edward tolerantly, "Can we focus on something other than my love life?"
Edward was the only one in the family that was alone. There were Carlisle and Esme, Rosalie and Emmett, Alice and Jasper. And Edward, by himself. He knew his parents (well, 'parents' was the word Edward preferred over 'creator and his mate'.) dearly wished that he could find happiness with another of their kind. Esme especially hated seeing Edward alone, and Carlisle often wondered if he had changed Edward too young. He had been only seventeen when Carlisle saved him. The rest of them were somewhere near their twenties.
Tanya had made her intentions clear on many occasions, much to Edward's dismay. The Edward had made it clear that the feeling wasn't mutual. It wasn't that he didn't like the red-headed tenacious vampire. She was a kind soul, and her and her sisters shared the same values as their family, and the same eating habits. Tanya was attractive, you'd have to be blind not to notice, but there was no passion for him there. Nothing more than a familial bond.
Edward remembered when Rosalie had first joined their family, and Carlisle and Esme's secret hope that she would be the one for him. Most of the time Edward liked Rose well enough, but the most prevalent emotion he felt for her was simple irritation. Then she had found Emmett. Edward had always been grateful for Emmett, and his love for her. His love made Rosalie bloom, and kept most of her temper intact. Plus the appearance of Emmett in Rosalie's life had made any idea of Edward and Rosalie disappear.
Carlisle sighed, and Edward heard his silent apology. Edward nodded, his eyes softening.
"What about…you know, the Quileutes?" Emmett asked.
"I don't know if any of them will still remember the old ways… It was a long time in human years since we were last in Forks. And many first peoples tribes have strayed away from the old histories. I don't know if that would be the case for them, but either way, the treaty stands. We will not break it, so they have no need to bother us."
"They will remember." Alice said, her voice more dreamy than usual from her trance, "Some will hate us, a small few will refuse to come to the hospital, but I see no more trouble than that."
Carlisle nodded and with a deep sigh said,
"Well, if no one protests, it is time. It's not a choice, to stay, that is, and if we continue living here much longer someone will suspect. It's just a matter of time. We've had some close calls before."
Carlisle paused, and Edward heard them all remembering the over-active but dangerously accurate imagination of one lonely observant boy in a town they had lived in a few decades ago. They had made their excuses and left town the next morning. Alice and Edward kept tabs on the boy for a while, hoping that they wouldn't have to kill an innocent. Eventually the boy forgot about them, but ever since the Cullen family had been extra cautious.
"Then we should leave as soon as possible. There's no need to get that close again. That was a onetime thing, I'm sure. We'll be safe from suspicion in Forks." Edward said swiftly and without emotion.
Carlisle nodded and his voice was distant,
"We leave tomorrow."
*****
Author's Note: Hey, thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed this. Any errors are my own, and it's a little difficult because I'm working backwards from little tidbits mentioned in the books. The present year would be (unless I read wrongly) 2005, two years before Twilight, when Bella moves to Forks. I plan on writing just five or six chapters, detailing the first week or so of the Cullen's new life in Forks. I DON'T have a beta right now, if anyone is interested I would very much appreciate it.
Oh, and just to head this off. Stephenie, as far as I know, has never mentioned how things like hair work. But being that I watch a lot of creepy cop shows, I know that hair and fingernails keep growing even after death, so it stands to reason that the Cullen's COULD need haircuts and manicures.
The First Day coming soon…