PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE BEFORE READING THE CHAPTER! VERY IMPORTANT!

A/N: Hey guys! So I know I must be crazy to start another story. I can't help it though! I've really gotten into seeing if I can write for Twilight. So this is what I'm gonna do…I'm gonna finish "In the Beginning," within a few days, keep working on "All Bets Are Off," and "Sick Sad Little World." But this story, "Back To Where It All Began," is something I've been playing around with for a while now. So I decided to post this first chapter and see what people thought of it. If I got some good feedback and people seem to like it, then I will continue with it. If not, then I will set it aside for a later date. Please let me know if you like the idea and if I should continue it.

And before you judge on just this chapter alone, please keep in mind that the next chapter will jump ahead three years in the future when Bella and Alice are in college at USC and the other Twilight characters will be introduced.

Big thanks to Morgan for all your help with this story. You know how much this thing means to me!

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters!

EPOV

"Edward, how could you do this?" Alice asked me. I rolled my eyes, not wanting to talk about this and lose my buzz. It was finally starting to get good.

"Alice, please; stop talking and go get drunk!" I laughed, trying to distract her.

"No Edward, I'm not going to stop talking. Not until you tell me what propelled you to end it with Bella. I just don't get it. And she won't talk to me at all. She's been locked in her room for the past two days!"

"Alice, you wouldn't understand; trust me," I mumbled, walking past her and into the backyard of whoever's house we were at. It was another high school party the weekend before graduation.

"Try me Eddie," she challenged, knowing I hated it when she called me Eddie. It seemed so juvenile.

"It's complicated Brandon. Now please, just drop it!" I roared, tired of this discussion already. Christ I was so ready to get out of this god forsaken town. Forks, Washington is like hell, just with colder temperatures. And who names a town Forks anyway? I wonder if there's a town in the South named Spoons. Now that would be funny!

"Edward! I'm not playing. Tell me right now what you did to Bella or I will make you regret ever walking on this earth!" she threatened. Alice and I have been best friends since we were fourteen when we met in homeroom. All homerooms were alphabetized within your grade. So Alice Brandon and Edward Cullen were in the same homeroom. In a school as small as Forks High, there weren't very many people in that homeroom. So naturally, we were drawn to each other. She claims it was my outcast personality. I claim it was her flashy, annoyingly hyper personality. Either way, we've been best friends since. And that meant knowing better than to tell her no when she threatens you. It's just, I don't know if I could tell her what happened. Sure, we're best friends, but so are her and Bella. Closer than me and Alice. Breaking the news to Alice will be almost as bad as breaking up with Bella.

"Alice, I'm not saying anything. You wanna know? Go ask Swan. I'm done with this conversation," I told her. I lit a cigarette and walked away from her, heading to my car. I've had enough of underage drinking for one night. I'm sure Alice is still there whining to one of those stupid girls they were friends with about me. Wondering why I ended it with Bella. They're no better than my parents when it comes to gossip and getting in other people's business. Christ, my father pisses me off. He just had to start in on me the other day after catching me sneaking in from Bella's house.

"Edward! It's four in the morning! Where the hell have you been?" my father, Carlisle Cullen, shouted as I tried to sneak in the front door. I just shrugged my shoulders at him, heading for the stairs when he grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled me back.

"Edward, this isn't healthy. You're this close to not graduating and instead of studying for your finals like you should be, you're sneaking over to Bella's house? What is wrong with you?" he demanded.

"Dad, it's not a big deal. I can pull A's on my finals like nothing. Don't worry."

"Don't tell me not to worry Edward. I've watched you and Bella do this for too long now. The first two years of high school were fine because you were just friends. But once you two got together, it was all downhill from there. It's like you can't see anything other than Bella. Do you even realize that?"

"So what? What's the big deal? So I like spending a lot of time with my girlfriend. Why do you even care? You've never cared this much before!" I shot at him.

"And what about next year? What are you going to do when Bella goes off to USC next fall and you go to UW? How will you handle that? Are you going to fail out of your classes because you can't be away from her and ruin everything we have worked for since you were little?"

And that was the beginning of the end for Bella and me. I'm sure it seemed so out of the blue. But it couldn't be helped. I pulled onto my street, glancing at Bella's house across the street from mine. That was the hardest part about this break up. Living across the street from her, knowing I couldn't do anything. I parked my car in the driveway and trudged to the garage for my lawn chair and stash of beer in the fridge in there. Taking the chair and the twelve pack, I walked into the middle of the cul-de-sac of my street and took a seat.

All throughout high school, this is what Alice, Bella, and I did on weekends. We gave up on regular high school parties where Mike Newton would get so wasted, he would start grinding up on Lauren instead of his girlfriend, Jessica. And then we would have to watch as Jessica would slap him across the face and then watch when Mike would throw up on her shoes. It happened almost every time. You'd think the girl would get smart and find a new boyfriend!

Anyway, every Friday and Saturday night, we would sit out on our lawn chairs, drink beer that the girls didn't even like but it was the only alcohol I could get with my fake ID from the corner gas station, and watch the nights go by. It was also the place we solved all our problems. Anytime something big would happen, or something heartbreaking, or even if one of us failed a test, we would lug the lawn chairs out from my garage along with the beer and sit out under the stars until whatever problem was solved.

So here I am, sitting in the cul-de-sac, or "the sac" as we always called it, trying to solve my problems. I was half expecting Alice and Bella to climb out Bella's bedroom window and tip-toe past her mom's bedroom window before breaking into a sprint to meet me like they always used to. Instead, I leaned back in my chair and sipped at my beer, watched the stars, and listened to the silence.

********

BPOV

"Bella, you still up?" I heard Alice ask from outside my room. Our parents were best friends growing up in Phoenix, so when my parents decided to move back to my dad's hometown the summer before freshman year of high school, Alice convinced her parents to let her move with us. She's been living with us ever since.

"Bella, can we talk?" she asked, poking her head through my door. I raised one hand from where I was and waved her in. This is the Alice that kind of got on my nerves. Party Alice I can take. Shopping Alice doesn't bother me that much anymore. Hyper, bouncy Alice is actually kind of funny. But overly concerned sympathy Alice gets on my nerves.

She took a seat at the edge of my bed and uncurled my legs from the fetal position I was lying in. I was kind of thankful for that, my legs were starting to cramp up.

"Bells, I saw Edward at the party tonight," she whispered. Why she was whispering was beyond me. She knew my parents were heavy sleepers. It's not like her talking at normal volume would wake them. Hell, they never even woke up when we would come stumbling in from the cul-de-sac at two in the morning every weekend. And drunken Alice is even louder than hyper, bouncy Alice.

"What's your point?"

"He wouldn't talk to me. He wouldn't tell me what happened. So I'm gonna need you to tell me. Tonight," she said. I rolled my eyes. I didn't want to talk about him or what he said to me when he broke up with me. How many times do I have to tell her that?

"Alice, please just drop it. I don't want to talk about it. Okay?" I pleaded. She just nodded her head at me. I'm guessing the pitiful look in my eyes convinced her to leave me alone. There was just too much to say and I wasn't sure I could say it all. It was just better to leave it alone. Let it go.

Okay, so I'm a bad liar. I can't just let it go. I mean, it's Edward we're talking about. The love of my life. I'm pretty sure there will never be a day that I don't love him. Just thinking about it depresses me. I'm so glad it's almost graduation. That means just another two months before Alice and I are out of here. On our way to the University of Southern California. USC. I can't wait. Alice is so excited to decorate our dorm room we're sharing.

All I have to do is survive the next two months without running into Edward. Easy right?

********

APOV

This is really sad. It's my last night in Forks. Tomorrow morning, Bella and I are making the drive to California in my beat up old Honda that I bought with the money I made from working all throughout high school. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited as hell to go to Cali. I can't wait. But it's kind of bittersweet. Ya know? I moved to Forks with Bella, Charlie, and Renee when I was fourteen right before our freshman year. Bella and I grew up together in Phoenix. We lived next door to each other since we were five. I'm pretty sure we're closer than biological sisters can be. So when Charlie and Renee announced that they were moving back to Charlie's hometown of Forks, Washington, Bella and I convinced our parents that I had to go with them. Something about us not being able to live without each other. I still speak to my parents at least once a week. They still send money to Charlie and Renee to help with the general cost of having another teenager in their house. I just couldn't be without my Bells.

So tonight, our last night in town, I knew what we had to do. And I also knew she wasn't going to like it. I glanced out the window and looked down the street to see it deserted. Perfect!

"Hey Bells, what do you say to one more night in the sac?" I asked, glancing at her lying on her bed once again. That's all she did this summer besides one or two shopping trips with me in Port Angeles and pack for tomorrow.

"No," she mumbled. I grabbed her guitar that she never plays anymore and yanked her off the bed.

"Come on Bella. He's not down there. Just one more night," I begged. She rolled her eyes but still slipped her slip on Vans on that I hated and opened her bedroom window. Thankfully we live in a one story house so I don't have to throw the guitar to the ground. She slid out of her room and waited for me to hand her the guitar. Once she had it safely in her hands, I climbed out of the room. We snuck quietly past Charlie and Renee's bedroom and then broke into a run for the sac. Our house is about three houses down from the cul-de-sac. Once we reached it, she stood in the middle of the road while I crept as quietly as I could into Edward's garage. I grabbed two lawn chairs and a six pack of beer out of the fridge and then walked back to the street.

"You sure he's not here?" Bella asked quietly.

"Yeah. His car wasn't in the garage!" I lied. It so was! I hoped he would hear us and come spend one more night with us before we left. We took our seats in the middle of the sac and popped open a beer each. Taking that first sip always made me cringe. But after that it wasn't so bad. I reached over to Bella's lap and grabbed the guitar from her. She was the better player, but she had taught me a few songs on it. I strummed along, playing the tune to "Bend and Break," by Keane. Bella bobbed her head along with it as I heard those quiet footsteps come from behind me. A smile slowly made its way to my face. I could hear the third lawn chair scraping against the ground. I know Bella heard it too but she hadn't made a move, just tensed in her seat.

"Breathe Bells, it's okay," I whispered to her. Edward appeared at that moment, setting his lawn chair next to me, farther away from Bella and didn't say a word, just grabbed a beer from the six pack and popped it open. None of us said a word. I don't think we really needed to. We all knew what tonight was. Despite whatever happened between Edward and Bella two months ago, this was goodbye. Goodbye to a friendship that lasted a lot of things. Fighting parents, water balloon fights during the summers, weekend nights in the sac, tagging each other's car windows to see who could write the best messages, sing-a-longs in the sac while Bella played guitar. I just hope I don't cry. They always make fun of me when I cry.

I started strumming the guitar to a different tune; Jimmy Eat World's "Hear You Me." The three of us have always been fans of Jimmy Eat World. Especially this song. As I got to the first verse, I could hear Bella softly start singing the lyrics.

There's no one in town I know
You gave us some place to go.
I never said thank you for that.
I thought I might get one more chance.
What would you think of me now,
so lucky, so strong, so proud?
I never said thank you for that,
now I'll never have a chance.

I've always loved her voice. She just had this raw sound that I found intriguing. Before I knew it, I joined her in the next part.

May angels lead you in.
Hear you me my friends.
On sleepless roads the sleepless go.
May angels lead you in.
So what would you think of me now,
so lucky, so strong, so proud?
I never said thank you for that,
now I'll never have a chance.
May angels lead you in.
Hear you me my friends.
On sleepless roads the sleepless go.
May angels lead you in.
May angels lead you in.
May angels lead you in.

I don't know if it was because it was our last night in town or what, but I don't think I've ever heard Bella and I sing with such raw emotion before. As we started the next verse of the song, Edward chimed in from his spot next to me.

And if you were with me tonight,
I'd sing to you just one more time.
A song for a heart so big,
god wouldn't let it live.
May angels lead you in.
Hear you me my friends.
On sleepless roads the sleepless go.
May angels lead you in.
May angels lead you in.
Hear you me my friends.

I almost didn't catch the sadness in his voice. He was good at hiding it. The last few lines we kept the same as we always did, Bella ending it for us.

On sleepless roads the sleepless go.
May angels lead you in.
May angels lead you in.

Anytime we sang that song together, Bella always ended it by herself. I'm not sure why we did that. It was just one of those things that was.

"That was good," I commented, glancing back and forth from Bella to Edward. Edward just nodded his head and Bella took another sip of her beer. I laid the guitar on the ground gently and settled back in my chair to look at the stars like we always did.

"Yall leaving tomorrow?" Edward asked quietly. I nodded my head and glanced at Bella. She didn't move.

"Me too. Headed to Seattle."

"I know," I whispered, sadness dripping in my voice.

"I'm gonna miss you guys," he said. Bella didn't look at him, just stood from her chair and started walking back to her house. I shook my head, this was probably a bad idea.

"I'm gonna miss you too. Even if you were Doucheward this summer instead of our loveable Edward!" I laughed quietly. He just shook his head at me. He always hated the little changes I made to his name when he was being stupid. Doucheward is just one of many.

"I love you Alice," he chuckled, leaning over to hug me sideways.

"I love you too Jerkward!" I replied, earning another laugh from him.

"Thanks. Well, I should probably get inside. Early start tomorrow and all," he said, trailing off on the last words.

"Yeah, me too. So, I guess this is it huh?"

"No, this is just the beginning! This isn't goodbye Alice. It's just I'll be seein ya!" he smiled. I stood from my chair at the same time he did and hugged him tightly.

"Okay, I'll be seein ya Dickward!" I whispered in his ear, earning a pinch on my shoulder from him. And that was it. He let me go, grabbed the three chairs and the three left over beers and walked away. I watched him walk up his driveway and into his garage before heading back to my house. Right before I climbed back into Bella's window, I glanced at the sac. That was one place I would miss.