All characters and recognisable items belong to their owners respectively.

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[Broken Mirrors]

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'He is his own best friend, and takes delight in privacy

whereas the man of no virtue or ability is his own worst enemy and is afraid of solitude'

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"The Giants sure are kicking Cincinnati's ass," I couldn't help but comment as I swung my legs from side to side on the heavy grey recliner.

Charlie did nothing but nod and sip his cheap beer, too football induced to even look in my direction. "They'll come up, you wait and see. It's only the second quarter."

Yeah, second quarter and they're already getting pummelled.

"Sure," I drawled as I rolled my eyes and kept on swinging my legs in an attempt to amuse myself.

"Football is more of a game of numbers. Each pass, each yard and each tackle is measured. Cincinnati may be down on the score board but their stats tell a whole different story."

God, I hated when Charlie got in his Jerry Maguire frame of mind. Grunting a reply I picked at my nail bed in an attempt to bite my tongue.

"Hey, ain't you meant to be going out with Edward tonight?" my step father asked mockingly, assuming what everybody else in the small minded town assumed about me and my best friend.

Leaning my head back I glanced at the old ugly pale peach clock on the wall which read both the time and date like something out of a bad seventies movie.

Edward was already twenty minutes late and had this been an actual date I would have been cussing and bad mouthing the so called jerk.

"I am," I responded snidely as I stretched out my hands over my head and pointed my toes, easing some of the built up tension in my joints. I was still hurting from the mornings dance routine and my ankle still buzzed a little from having it completely strapped.

"He's late," Charlie stated matter a factly which made me want to shove the beer bottle down his throat.

"Yeah. I told him to pick up some condoms from the store on the way. You know, just in case."

Now that got a rise out of my oh-so-calm step father. Choking on his beer Charlie placed the bottle down on the coffee table and kicked the bottom half of the recliner back, in an attempt to get to his feet.

"Ah - getting another beer. You, you want one?" he stuttered, finding any plausible reason to change the subject. Teen sex probably didn't even exist in Charlie's vocabulary. He was a cop for crying out loud, surely he'd had his fair share of dry humping teens in the back of their cars on the most deserted hang out point they could find.

"I'm seventeen Charlie," I frowned, tisking him like my mother would.

"Right," he nodded, his face looking slightly pale and the corner of his lip twitching in nervousness.

As soon as he scurried toward the kitchen I chuckled quietly to myself. It was always so easy to embarrass the chief of police that it was also a crime not to bait him.

"Hey Lee, have you seen my dad?" Bella, my fourteen year old step sister asked as she came flying down the stairs like a bat out of Hell. Standing at barely five foot the poor girl was nothing but big doe eyes and thick brown hair.

"What the fuck happened to you?" I exclaimed through my laughter, noticing her fingers smeared with PVC glue and small pieces of scrap paper stuck to their tips.

Being Bella, she flushed at my choice of language and tried to diddle her hands behind her back in an attempt to hide her accident prone self from my amused view.

"Uh- school project," she muttered shyly as she headed to the kitchen in search of Charlie.

Before I had time to contemplate a way to bring my shy, introvert, slightly weird step sister out of her cocoon, the knock I'd been waiting for finally came.

Untangling myself from the couch I sprinted to the door, making sure to wear my signature glare as I pulled open the pine.

"You're late," I scowled as I looked up at my lanky best friend who had grown at least four inches over the summer. I didn't even have time to comment on his ugly brown sweater before he picked me up and spun me in tireless circles around the porch.

Laughter exploded from my lips as he spun me, his head digging into the crevice of my boobs, the same ones I'd been trying to hide under baggy clothes since I was fourteen.

"Edward, Edward," I shouted, whacking his shoulder, "Put me down you idiot."

Within seconds we were face to face again, my feet unsteadily on the floor while his chest heaved wildly and his green eyes sparked through his blue framed glasses. "You're calling a future Harvard graduate an idiot?" he said cockily as he shot me that Cullen lopsided grin that he shared with his sister Rose.

"What?" I gaped, holding steadily to his shoulders as his arms still braced my waist. "Get the fuck outta here!" I squealed, launching myself at him and squeezing him impossibly tight.

"I just got the letter. Full scholarship," he grinned as he squeezed me in response and pulled back. "I leave for Boston in two months."

Frowning I pulled back and looked up at his hopelessly ecstatic face.

"Boston?"

"Yeah," he laughed tugging me toward the porch seat. "I'll be staying on campus in the dormitories. Mum and dad wanted to get me my own apartment but I told them I wanted to have the whole college experience. You know, sweaty roommates, parties in the halls, sneaking girls in after hours" he chuckled as he tugged me over his lap and braced my side against his chest.

I felt small in his arms, sitting like a child over his lap as he blabbed on and on about the awesomeness of college. Edward had been talking about Harvard since we were young, wanting to follow in his father's academic blights and be the next in a long line of doctors in the Cullen family. I knew this day had been coming for a long time and yet, hearing him announce his soon to be departure, it felt new and unwanted.

Maybe if I'd been I little brighter I'd have realized Harvard wasn't just a short drive away or a bus liner ticket in distance. Harvard was in Boston, as in on the opposite side of the country and literally a lifetime away.

"Hey," Edward whispered tugging on the sleeve of jumper. "You're awfully quiet over there."

His voice was soft, quiet and so overly comforting I wasn't sure what I would do without it. I still had a year of high school left and in that time Edward would become a man, live his own adventures and probably get a new best friend. A best friend closer, in Boston itself, leaving the small town friendship we had for the vultures to pick at.

"I didn't realize Harvard was in Boston," I replied seriously as I watched my mother's car pull in the driveway.

Untangling myself I sat to Edwards's side.

"Where did you think it was?" he asked as he twirled his pointer finger through my messy pony tail, tugging on the ends when I didn't respond immediately.

"I don't know. Seattle?" I mumbled, as I pushed Edward's large hands away from fiddling in my hair. It was a habit he had, one that annoyed me to no end.

"I know it seems really far away, but I'll come back every holiday. Plus there's email, the phone, even web cam if you're up for it," he chuckled until he noticed I wasn't laughing with him. "I thought you'd be happy for me, I've wanted this forever."

"I know," I whispered as I ran my hands up my face and through my hair. "And I am happy for you but - I'm just gonna miss you, you know. It's always been just the two of us. Now it's going to just be me here and you there."

"Well...," Edward stuttered as he pushed up his glasses, "Once you finish school you can come to Boston and it will be the two if us again. Just Tiny and Cullen, I promise."

I tried to smile as my mother walked up the steps and did my best to wipe the stray tears away, even though the smile turned into a grimace and the tears were wiped with heavy hands.

"Hey kids."

"Hey Ms Clearwater"

"Hi mom"

"Are you two okay?" she asked, her motherly alert peaking immediately at the sight of my tears.

"Never better," I sniffled. "Edward got into Harvard."

"How exciting for you honey. I'm sure you're parents are over joyed," my mother said warmly, squeezing my best friends shoulder and ruffling his messy copper hair.

"Thanks Sue. They are," he beamed, happy with my mother's approval. I wanted to slap them both. "I just wish my best friend would be as happy as I am."

"Whatever," I grumbled as I pulled up my legs and hugged my knees.

Edward couldn't understand. He was going away, off to an exciting new place with new experiences while I had to stay here in Forks and rot with the rest of the small town losers.

"I'll leave you kids to talk," my mom said giving Edward another reassuring shoulder squeeze before slipping inside.

"You wanna talk about it or just sulk?" Edward huffed as he shifted in his spot.

"I'm not the one leaving," I grumbled, hiding my face in my knees.

Gently tugging on my collar Edward rested his chin on my shoulder and threw his arm over my back.

"What do you want me to do Tiny? You've known how much I've wanted this. I've worked so hard for this and you're making me feel really bad. Will you please look at me?" he asked quietly.

Turning to the side, our noses brushed as his warm breath blew over my lips and cold, tear stained cheeks.

His green eyes darkened for only a second before he cleared his throat and pulled back a little.

"You'll always be my best friend Leah. Always."

Somehow, that's the one thing I dreaded.