Hi, this is my first fan-fic, so please be nice. I'm searching for a beta and I'm not sure how to go about it. If any of you have any suggestions please PM me.

All character names and some of the phrasing belong to Stephenie Meyer. These personalities and this story line belong to me. Thank you for reading, your reviews will be greatly appreciated. I promise to update regularly. :)

Chapter 1

EPOV

They say hearing is always the first sense of awareness in life and the last in death. Nope, I'm not dead. The damn alarm was still assaulting my tympanic membranes. I reached over and slapped the snooze while waiting for my other senses to start tuning in. Ugh! Day of the week….ummm…..Monday? Okay Monday. What's on the agenda for Monday? Oh yeah, I'm moving to Forks.

The excitement started to seep through me. It was going to be nice ride, just me and the road, but my destination was what had me in tingles. Yeah, tingles, it's not like I said it out loud. It's defiantly not something the old Edward Cullen would have said last month or even last week. The old Edward would have thought this trip was to serve out my self-inflicted, Daddy C ordered internment camp. It's funny how things work out.

I had been going nowhere fast. I had been the prodigal child, completed my MBA at 23, groomed and geared to head Cullen Industries. I even had the seemingly perfect arm candy of a girlfriend.

Tanya, what a monumental fuck up that had been. I wasn't in love with her, though I thought maybe someday I could have been. We started dating my last year of graduate school. It was completely platonic. We had been pushed together by class and circumstance, mostly from her family's end. Her father was on the board at Cullen Industries, and at first, I thought I was doing the right thing by dating her. It was easy; she was groomed to understand the life of a corporate officer of a billion dollar company.

That was until the summer after my studies were complete and I decided to take some time off and spend it with her in Europe. The short story is, she was groomed just a little too well at being a corporate wife and followed in her mother's footsteps by taking a lover on the side. I actually caught them red handed – well, I actually only saw his white ass - when she flew him over to meet up with her in Paris. Fuck, and she actually thought that she was going to continue on with our relationship and keep him, too. What. The. Fuck? Anyway, I wasn't too busted up. The ironically funny thing is we never even had sex. What I was more upset about was how I had become disillusioned over how my future was planned out.

The biggest part of that future included Cullen Industries. Ahhh….Cullen Industries - the conundrum of my life. Carlisle's father, my grandfather, started this quaint little pharmaceutical company that put out a few choice breakthrough drugs, and the rest is history. It became an international corporation with serious bank-roll under the shrewd tutelage of Edward Cullen Sr. When my grandfather died suddenly, my father, Edward Carlisle Cullen II, and by association my mother, Esme, little sister, Alice and I were ripped from my childhood home in Forks, Washington, and submersed into the fast pitched, high rolling life of billionaire heirs. Ripping us from our childhood friends and home was not such a good thing. The trust fund, however, was pretty sweet. I knew it made Dad sad not to practice medicine anymore, but he had to take over what my grandfather left him, and he'd been doing it for so long now, I almost forgot he was doctor.

Anyway, after what I had dubbed Tanya-gate, I had given my parents a sob story, stayed in Europe, and decided to get wild, which I did, only all too well. Summer bled into fall. I came back stateside in the winter, only to pick up my partying habits in Chicago. My parents gave me a pretty wide berth, but I knew they were growing tired of it. Winter grew into spring, and here I sat, the first of April, all ready to accept the reality of my life. I knew if my father could take one for the family, so could I.

I knew that Carlisle had always wanted to be a doctor, in spite of his father's obvious successes. His motivation was to help save lives, and his gift was compassion. Growing up, we lived in a small town, and even though he was renowned and one of the most prestigiously educated doctors in Western Washington, he was truly a regular dude. His best friend was the Chief of Police. They hunted and fished together; they screamed obscenities at the TV during heated games, while downing their Vitamin R beer. Dad was a regular Joe, for a time, anyway. I was a little jealous that I might never have that. It helped justify some of my actions this past year, sort of. Over the last 10 years, Dad had turned into a workaholic more and more of carefree Dad slipped away. I missed that part of him. It was sad, but duty first, right?

So I really was ready to accept responsibility, buck up and take my position at Cullen Industries. But nooooo, somehow my partying ass took it one step too far and broke the preverbal camel's back. My thoughts drifted back to the events that lead to my now life altering path.

I had been drinking as usual, I mean shit, I'm 24, I look damn good if I say so myself, and I do. So what's a guy to do… drink and fuck, even though the fucking had lost some appeal? That's what I do and I'm fucking good at it too. I was out with some buddies at this club looking they were looking for the flavor of the night and I had a pretty good buzz going on. All my buddies had made their way onto the dance floor, when I spotted a chick eye-fucking me. She was a red head and looked like she was sporting some whopping D's, curvy, and easy. I hadn't been with anyone since Carlisle had me do a mandatory ahmmm testing, which I was, of course, clean. No matter how fucked up I was I always wrapped my shit. I guess it wouldn't hurt to see what was up with the red head. I was about to get up from our table when some blonde dude slid in and said…

"Whasup?" Something about him seemed remotely familiar but I couldn't quite place it. His dirty blond hair was long and was pulled back into an unkempt ponytail.

"Nothing much, just heading out onto the floor," I replied flatly but friendly.

"You targeting that redhead?" He nodded his chin in the general direction of D cups.

"I was thinking about it. Is she yours, man?" Not wanting to hit on someone's girl, there were plenty of others to choose from. I did a quick size up in case he thought I over stepped my bounds. He was probably few inches shorter than me, had a wiry physic. I was pretty sure I could take him.

He just laughed and said "Nah, man, had her. She's good though. She can suck a golf ball through 50' of garden hose." I smirked at his remark and relaxed back into my seat and took another swig off of my beer.

Feeling pretty confident that he had no beef with the chick I asked "Hey, do I know you from somewhere? You look familiar."

"Na, you wouldn't know me, but I'm pretty sure I know you." His eyes narrowed a bit and his grin got a bit wider.

I'm not sure why but that kind of pissed me off, "Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah, you're the next fuck head that's gonna take over your family's little drug dealership, kill millions and make billions, while your pansy ass drives around in cars that cost more than most people's houses."

"What. The. Fuck?"

I felt my fist clenching. Who the fuck was this asshole to sermon me. Me! I'm Edward fucking Cullen the III. I squared my feet under me.

And the fucker continued…"You heard me, ass-wipe, trust-fund baby. How does it feel to know you'll be a murdering scumbag?"

God, this had gone just way too far.

"Listen here asshole, I don't know who you are or what your problem is but get the fuck out of my face NOW!" I spat out at him.

"Or what? You gonna smack me with your overweight wallet," he chided like a four year old.

Is this guy for real? I jumped forward grabbing the front of his shirt with my left hand.

"You need to shut the fuck up and back the hell out of here, before you really piss me off," I threatened.

"Yeah, I'll just back the fuck outta here and park it in your sister, Alice's, back end, how'd that be?" he gloated.

Wrong thing to say.

My fist hit his face before he finished his sentence. My hip caught the table knocking it over, shattering beer bottles and spraying warm sticky backwash everywhere. All I saw was red. This fucker knew my sister's name. He knew our family. I landed another on his jaw before his arms flew up in defense. What? In defense? Not offense? Somewhere I saw the flash of a phone camera or two. Wasn't he picking a fight? Why is he not hitting back? I glared down at the asshat and he was grinning ear to ear. Oh fuck me…

I slapped the snooze as it blared again. No, I wasn't headed for Cullen Industries today. Today, I was traveling far from the party scene that had been my playground of self destruction. Today was going to be a good day, a new day. I sat up and swung my legs over the side of my comfy ass king size bed, walked across my toasty ass penthouse master bedroom to my en suite luxurious bathroom. Striping out of my boxers while I let all six shower heads run to temp, I was ready to kick start, so to speak, a whole new adventure. Although I fully regretted my actions that night, because I fucking knew better, I just couldn't help still feeling a bit excited of what awaited me in Forks.

Three days ago

"Edward, how could you?" my mother said sadly.

"Page two, Edward. Page two of the Chicago tribune!" My father slammed yesterday's paper in front of me.

We were sitting at the dining table in their posh Highland Park home. I could hear Alice pacing like a poodle on speed in the kitchen. Okay, in my defense, I was going to point out that it was page two of the local section of the Tribune. But I didn't think that point was going to earn me a bonus right now.

"Mom, Dad, I'm sorry. God, he was just goading me, and the shit he was saying. Ugh, I don't know. Fuck, I'm sorry. Okay."

"Edward, language," chided my mother with a slanted side glance. I was waiting for my father to go ballistic, yell some more, do something, but he just sat there looking somewhere past the French doors onto the terrace.

"Dad, look, I only got a misdemeanor. Demetri is that good!" I remembered trying to hide my smirk. Demetri, our family attorney that has been in retainer for three generations of Cullens, cut one hell of a deal and got some charges dropped. Thank God all my other legal fuck ups had been when I was a juvenile, or at least the ones I was caught at. I did have somewhat of a learning curve, you know.

Carlisle kept staring over my head; Mom kept rolling her eyes and shaking her head like she had a tick. The silence was only broken by the clicking of Alice's Jimmy Choos. Jesus, I was a metro sexual. How'd I known that? After what seemed an eternity, he finally spoke.

"Son, I'm sorry."

He's sorry, huh. This is going better than expected. Way to shoulder the blame Daddy C.

"I've given you and your sister way too much lee way. I don't know how I let it get so far out of my control. You kids have no work ethic, no appreciation, no …. "

He didn't finish, but just sighed and looked at my mother.

"Alice, you may as well get in here," he said loud enough for her to hear.

Alice peaked her head around the corner, slowly made her way into the dining room, and plopped her little pixie frame onto the chair next to mine. We now sat across from our parental units in generational solidarity. Dad began again with an exacerbated sigh.

"Alice, I just paid your AmEx card this month."

Oh God, what did she do now?

"Twenty-seven grand, Alice! What the hell did you absolutely have to have that cost twenty-seven grand in one month?"

I glanced at Alice with my eyebrows rising conveying my question of "really?" She shrunk a bit in her chair and gave a slight shrug. Well, there goes the good kid, bad kid routine. Geez, twenty-seven grand, for shoes and shit? I knew we had black unlimited cards, but outside of major purchases and travel, I don't think I'd ever hit that high in a month. Or had I?

"Last month, it was almost eighteen thousand dollars, Alice!" he barked.

"It's not the money or the amount, we are very fortunate to have these things. It is, however, the frivolous purchases and the lackadaisical attitude you both have adopted. Your mother and I are sorely disappointed, and yes, it is partially our fault." He sighed exasperatedly.

Oh shit, eyes just shifted back to me.

"Edward, while you excelled in your academic career and graduated with honors early, you have done nothing but gallivant around, pissing away your education, partying till all hours, disrespecting women and therefore yourself, for the past year. I expected so much more."

I absorbed that as he turned his attention back to Alice. My head hung a little lower.

"You, my darling daughter, have jumped from discipline to discipline and have yet to declare a major. Need I remind you are a twenty-two year old college sophomore? Are you on the eight year plan?" he chided in a loud and harsh tone.

Alice gasped, and we looked at each other with wide eyes. Our father never raised his voice. This was so out of character. Or was it? Heck, I don't even remember my dad's character. I didn't see him enough to make that judgment, really.

Our mother rested her hand on top of Dad's. This wasn't good. They were uniting their front. It reminded me of Red Rover Red Rover, send so and so right over.

"Your grandfather, may he rest in peace, as you know, left you both very sizable trust funds, which have been generously affording you both your extravagant lifestyles. However, your mother and I are the guardians and executers of those trust funds until said time." He turned business like.

He kept switching his focus between me and Alice now. I shifted in my seat. Alice was visibly squirming.

"He also left us a loop hole, where we can rescind your entitlement as we see fit."

Really? Fuck. I knew I screwed up, but come on, my trust fund?

"I'll work; I'll work at the company," I barked out trying not to sound desperate.

"Yes, you will be working, but not for Cullen Industries."

Huh?

"Kids, I'm sending you back to Forks," he says with a smile.

"What!" screamed Alice.

I would have probably yelped that out, too, if I hadn't already sounded like a twenty-four year old douche. Christ, I'm a legal adult. What the hell, being sent away like a pregnant teenager. But still, Forks, I had good memories of Forks. Wait. What the heck was I supposed to actually do in Forks? Work at a convenience store; sell bait? Carlisle's facial expression became sterner.

"You guys remember the Swans?" We both nodded.

How could we have forgotten the Swans? Emmett Swan was my best friend from diapers or some shit till we left for Chicago when we both were thirteen. We did everything together. The woods were our second home, aside from each other's. We'd pretend like we were some of the last survivors of an apocalypse and had to figure out ways to survive. Heck, the Boy Scouts had nothing on us. Of course, most of our time we spent evading Alice and Emmett's little sister, Isabella. Boy, was she a shit. She was Alice's age and could rival her tenacity. Bella constantly wanted to follow us guys around, while Alice would harp on her to play Barbies or some shit. Bella's idea of Barbie play was with GI Joes on Brier horses with full artillery. They worked it out, but they still ended up spending an extraordinary amount of time annoying the hell out of us boys. I knew there was something else I was forgetting about Bella.

Man, I missed Emmett, though. We had kept touch over the years, though it was somewhat sporadic. I'm afraid that I was mostly to blame for that. It always seemed something or another was going on in my schedule. I still felt a pang of guilt that I didn't fly back with our parents when their mom, Renee, passed away from cancer. I had called and given my condolences. Shit. That was a pretty crappy thing to do. Fuck. And for what? I was eighteen at the time, and I had lied to my parents, saying that I had a project due for college. In reality, I just didn't know what to do or say, and my conquest at the time had promised me some action. Man, I really was a looser.

I do remember how excited I was when I heard his name go first round in the NFL draft after he played for the University of Washington. I met up with him when the Seahawks had come to Chi-town. It was a short visit. We did a little catch up, promising to keep better in touch. Then, I remember hearing from mom about the injury that ended his career. I spoke with him briefly, but I guess he wasn't up to socializing much. I think I called and left a few messages after that. He never got back to me.

"Do you guys remember the property in the mountains that the Swans and us shared and spent most of our vacations at?" Dad reminisced with a bit of lost happiness in his eyes.

Sure, who could forget that? Oh right dickhead, me, I sort of forgot about it. Dad and his best friend Charlie, Emmett and Bella's dad had some unique opportunity through Charlie's grandfather to purchase an exorbitant amount of land, complete with a forty acre lake in the middle of the Olympic national forest. It was unique in the fact it was the only private land allotment within the confines of the national forest. Because of some homesteading laws and grandfather clauses, in which Carlisle had Demetri check upon, both jumped on the opportunity and snatched it up. This all happened before we all were born. Charlie had put up his grandfathers inheritance money and Dad paid the other half. There was an old hunter's cabin that we fixed up but mostly we just camped out by the lake.

"Well," he continued, "there have been some developments that have been going on there that I have been happy to be a part of."

Developments? Like in housing? How the heck? It was an hour drive into the property from bum-fuck Forks and only by 4 wheel drive, up old logging roads, through washouts and that was only if you didn't have to wench a deadfall tree out of the way. Carlisle must have sensed my questioning and gave a little chuckle.

"Six years ago, several small log cabins were built, and the Swans have been operating a small scale guide service. Clients stay in the cabins, and can hike, hunt, fish, mountain climb, trail ride by horseback, etc."

Huh? Really? That's kind of cool. Must be something Charlie was doing on the side.

"The guests are treated to some of the best Northwest cuisine," Mom chimed in with a smile and a glance over to her partner in crime.

"A few years ago, the Swans sent me a proposal," Dad started again. "I have to say, this business plan was one of the best and thoughtful proposals I had ever seen." Again, another smile from Mom.

Okay?

"The plan consisted of building a main lodge and expanding the guide services. The real gem is that everything was to be done green. Since it is located miles from any power lines, all power is alternative, and the ranch is completely sustainable," he said with a note of pride.

Wow, that really is kind of cool. I mean I'm all up for 'green is good' and all, but I wasn't the best recycler in the world. Wait. Is this some sort of hippie thing? Did Charlie quit the force and is now growing weed up in the mountains? Oh shit. Now I have visions of women with unshaved armpit hairs wearing long patch quilt skirts smelling like patchouli.

"The main lodge was completed last summer and your mom and I were some of the first guest."

When was that? Where was I last summer? Oh yeah, being a drunk ass chasing tail on the French Riviera.

"I have to say, I was more than impressed," my dad gloated as he squeezed my mother's hand.

"Things are really picking up and they are acquiring a respectable number of clientele. They are going to need some extra hands around there this summer." He glared at us.

And here is the kicker….

"Edward, you will be leaving Monday." What, Monday? Like in 3 days? What the hell? It's only the first of April.

"But Dad you said summer…." I whined.

"You will leave Monday," my dad began again "You will put that MBA to good use and help out with all the books. That includes budgeting, marketing, payroll, and anything else that entails. And you will be working directly with the ranch manager. You will have a consensual operating plan implemented before the start of the season. You will help integrate the rest of the expansion plans, and hopefully do some good with all of that creative genius you have," he said sternly. "You will see it through till the end of summer. Six months. If you comply and do as well as I expect, then when you return, you can work for Cullen Industries and your trust will revert completely back into your hands, without my management. While you are working, you will receive a fair salary. Your room and board will, of course, be provided. You can bring ONE vehicle and whatever you can pack into it, or you fly with one suitcase and are without transportation. These are the terms," he stated without emotion.

Well fuck. My apartment was really Gramps' penthouse for late work nights in the city, but it's still in Dad's name, so any chance of just skipping out there was a no go. I maybe had a few grand in cash hanging around, but that wouldn't last long. I was running out of escape plans and did I really want to escape.

"Alice, you will finish up whatever classes in underwater basket weaving you are taking this semester and will join your brother at the end of May. Your exact job description has yet to be determined. Until then, you will remain living in this house, travel to and from school, and will be allotted a fair allowance for your basic necessities."

I looked over and saw Alice's lip begin to quiver. I quickly scanned the parentals for any signs of relinquish from the awesomeness that is Alice's full on pout and cry mode. They weren't cracking. They were holding steady. Come on girl, let them rip. She let a tear fall and I saw my mother look down. Do we have a taker?

"Alice, this is for your own good," he said with resolve "For both of your own good," he finished looking into my eyes.

I glanced at my mother. Her eyes were soft but her lips remained tight. No, no takers tonight.

"Do either of you have any questions?" our father asked in a gentler tone.

I was sure I did, but I couldn't formulate them at the moment. We both solemnly shook our heads 'no'.

"Well, alright then we'll have dinner in less than an hour, a somewhat last family supper before Edward takes off."

With that, my mother headed for the kitchen, but not before stopping and kissing each one of our heads. Carlisle had the shit eating grin of victory plastered on his face while he sauntered off to his study. Alice and I continued to sit there in silence for a while, until I heard a sniffle.

"What are basic necessities?" she mumbled.