Coming Home

"Delta Airlines flight DL 247 from New York City to Seattle is now ready for boarding."

Finally, I thought when I heard that. I was never a very patient person, but today my impatience seemed to be even bigger than usual. I was going home. I was finally going home to Washington and I would finally be able to see all my friends and family again.

But the best thing was that I got to take the only real friend I found in New York over the last six years with me. Although Alice lived in New York for her whole life she didn't have any second thoughts about leaving with me. Of course she loved New York and would miss it along with her parents, but she said that it was time for a new start somewhere else. Her parents, Mary and John, who saw me as a second daughter tried to persuade us to stay, but that was out of the question for me. Don't get me wrong, I love New York, but I simply loved Seattle more and after graduating from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism it felt like my time at the Big Apple was over.

When we were taking our seats in the plane my thoughts already drifted off to the new life we would lead in Seattle. As soon as my cousin Rosalie heard that I was coming back she called me and practically squealed her delight about my return through the phone. She immediately asked me to move in with her, but I refused, telling her I promised to share an apartment with Alice, but Rosalie wouldn't hear any of it and even though she never met Alice she offered her to move in with her either. To be quite honest I was happy about that as I got the chance to share an apartment with my two very best friends. I had no doubt Alice and Rosalie would get along, they had so much in common, like their passion for shopping, which I most definitely didn't share at all.

The only problem ahead of us was the fact that none of us had a job. Alice and I just graduated and had yet to apply for jobs, whereas Rosalie lost her job about a month ago because the company she worked for was bankrupt and had to close down. Rosalie was two years older than me and graduated two years ago with a degree in engineering from Stanford. Although Rosalie got a scholarship offer for Columbia just like me she turned it down because she preferred California's good weather to the unstable weather in the Northeast.

Luckily for the three of us Rosalie's brother Jasper, my best male friend, got us all a job at a coffee shop until we found a better job. I was looking forward to seeing Jasper again. He was the complete opposite of Rosalie. Where Rosalie would squeal, scream and jump around, Jasper would merely smile and stay calm. I don't know how he did it, but his calm demeanor always made us calm down either. Jasper worked for one of Seattle's biggest companies, Cullen Inc., and just like his twin sister he graduated from Stanford, only he got a degree in business analyses.

But Rosalie and Jasper weren't the only people I missed. I also missed my uncle and aunt, Rosalie's and Jasper's parents, Lillian and Richard who were like parents to me. They took me in and brought me up after my parents, Renée and Charlie, died in a car accident when I was five. I don't remember them well, but Lillian always said that her sister, my mom, was very much like her, outgoing, ecstatic, friendly and hyper, whereas Charlie was a lot like Richard, quiet, calm, reserved and slightly grumpy from time to time.

I continued to think about my family until a very annoying and hyper little pixie interrupted my daydreaming.

"Bella? BELLA!!! Finally! I thought you'd never snap out of it. What were you thinking about? I've been calling your name for the past five minutes," Alice said a little disgruntled.

"I'm sorry Alice. I was thinking about my family actually. I really missed Rosalie, Jasper, Lillian and Richard."

"Oh! Don't worry, I understand. By the way, how do Rosalie and Jasper look like?"

"They are both very tall, blond, have ice-blue eyes and basically look like supermodels, so long story short, they are the complete opposites of me."

"Beeeellaaaaa, we already had that part. Stop being so self-conscious! You are a beautiful young woman and you apparently don't see yourself clearly."

"Wait till you see Rosie and Jazz, then you'll know what I'm talking about."

Alice just grumbled something under her breath that sounded a lot like 'ridiculous' and 'someday she'll see'. I knew Alice was in a foul mood, so I had to distract her.

"Oh! You know what Alice?"

"What?"

"You know, I was just thinking that my cousin Jasper would be exactly your type. He even has a slight southern accent cause my uncle's from Texas."

"A southern accent?" Alice asked and I knew I had her distracted. If there was one thing Alice couldn't resist it was a guy with a southern accent.

"Yep. I guess I have to introduce you two very soon."

"You better."

We were quiet after that and I could see very clearly that Alice was picturing Jasper from everything I told her about his looks. I even noticed a dreamy look on her face and had to suppress a giggle. I knew that look. Alice had a crush. It was the same way she looked at some celebrities she thought were hot. She must have noticed me staring at her because the next second she looked at me questioningly.

"What is it, Bella?" She asked confused when I didn't answer immediately.

"Well, Alice, is there any possibility that you already have a crush on my cousin, though you've never met him before?" I asked her, smiling angelically.

I only heard her grumble, but then she smiled.

"Maybe. If he really is as great as you said then which girl wouldn't be dreaming about him? Although I bet you're biased."

She was right. There were always a lot of girls chasing and flirting with Jasper, but he never seemed to notice them. Of course he dated a few girls, but nothing serious. As far as I know he has never brought a girl home to meet his parents.

"Yeah, maybe I'm biased. Why don't you just wait and see? Oh, by the way, Jasper doesn't know I'm coming home. Rosalie wanted to surprise him. I guess it's just another reason for her to throw a party at his house. She prefers to do it there cause then she doesn't have to do the clean up."

I laughed when I thought of the last time Rosalie planned a party at Jasper's house. She didn't tell him and held the party while he was away on a business trip. What she didn't expect was for him to come home a day early. It is very rare for Jasper to ever get angry, but when he came home that morning, totally jetlagged and exhausted from his trip to Europe, and saw all the trash lying around along with a few people who passed out drunk the night before he lost it. I never heard Jasper scream before and I have never seen Rosalie so scared. He all but kicked her out of the house. She wasn't allowed inside his house for months.

The rest of the flight passed rather quickly and before I knew it I was staring at Seattle's cloud cover outside the window. I felt the excitement spread through me. I loved these kinds of days. I always felt protected and safe with the cloudy sky and the dim light in Seattle. There was no way to describe the way the bright summer days in New York made me feel restless and always on edge. But the weather outside did not just bring excitement, but also a sense of homecoming. I finally was back where I belonged.

"Hey Bella, what's up? Your eyes are shining like you just won the lottery."

"I'm home." That was all I said, but Alice seemed to understand. I told her all about the different aspects of Seattle and Washington in general I loved.

"Is there anyone picking us up from the airport?" Alice asked as soon as we had landed.

"Yeah. Rosalie called and told me that either her or her parents are going to pick us up as Jasper is still somewhere in the south on a business trip. I think he's supposed to come back tomorrow."

As soon as we got our luggage and stepped through the doors to get to the hall where all the people were waiting for their family and friends, I started looking for a sign of my family. Alice tried to help me, but after ten minutes we gave up.

"You're sure they know it's today?" Alice asked me.

"Yeah, at least I e-mailed them the exact date and time of our arrival."

We moved our bags a bit further away from the door as new passengers from another flight tried to get through it and that was when I heard the shrill squeal.

"BELLSY!"

I turned around and saw none other than my supermodel cousin Rosalie running through the crowds towards me. I also noticed that a lot of men turned their heads in her direction as she was running. I immediately dropped my bags and ran to meet her. As soon as we did we hugged each other tightly. It was so long ago since we last saw each other and I couldn't hold back the happy tears of reunion and when I heard a strangled sob from Rosalie, I knew she felt exactly the same.

"I missed you so much Rosie. You can't even imagine how much," I said as soon as we broke away from each other and looked at the face of the other.

"Believe me Bella I can, I really can. I missed you so much, too. Welcome home!"

"It's good to be back."

"So, where is that friend of yours who's going to move in with us?"

"Right over there. ALICE! Come here, I have to introduce somebody to you."

Alice appeared by my side faster than I thought possible.

"Hey! I'm Alice! Are you Rosalie?"

"Yeah, it's good to meet you Alice."

After Alice and Rosalie exchanged a few more words we got our suitcases and put them in Rosalie's car, a red BMW M3. Rose loved her car and she did all the work on the engine herself.

All my worries that Alice and Rose wouldn't get along vanished on the car ride to our new apartment as Alice and Rosalie kept up talking about their hobbies. To my dismay I was right that their two favorite hobbies were shopping and doing makeovers. Seems like a few more sessions of Bella Barbie would be coming up soon.

"Here we are. Welcome to your new home!" Rosalie said as we arrived in front of a nice looking apartment building.

Home. Yes, that's exactly what it was.

Alright, here they are! All 18 chapters rewritten!