Hey guys so this is my first fanfiction. I haven't perfected everything. Anything that will help me with my writing is welcome. Please no flames though.

Disclaimer: all characters are Stephanie Meyer's except for Edward Sr. and Lucas and Tasha Brandon (and some more to come)

Chapter 1:

"We'll be together forever…right?" Alice asked.

"Of course. Life without all of you would be plain boring." I smiled. My statement was followed by a series of nods. It was really late, way past our bedtime. I looked around the little circle my friends and I had formed. Next to me on my left was my brother, Emmett Swan. He was 8 years old: a year older than me. He had dark, curly brown hair and deep, blue eyes. His hair was my father's, Charlie Swan, and his eyes were my mother's, Renée Swan. He was the biggest of all of us.

To his left was Rosalie Hale, my best friend aside from Alice. She had long blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She looked exactly like her twin brother, Jasper Hale; although, he didn't have long hair. They looked like their father, James Hale. Their mother was Victoria Hale. Rose acted just like her: stubborn and confident. They were 8 like Emmett.

On Rosalie's left was her brother Jasper and next to Jasper was Alice Brandon, my other best friend. She was so tiny. We liked to call her a pixie. She had long, straight black hair and gray eyes. Her parents were Lucas and Tasha Brandon. She was energetic like her mom, but looked like her dad. Alice was 7, like me!

Next to Alice, was my best, boy who was a friend, Edward Masen. He had crazy, bronze hair and really bright green eyes. His parents were Edward Senior and Elizabeth Mason. He looked a lot like his mom. The only thing he really had in common with his dad was his name. He was also 7.

Then there was me, Isabella Swan, but I really liked to be called Bella. I had long, brown hair that tumbled down my back and chocolate brown eyes like my dad, Charlie.

We lived in Chicago and it was 1908. We knew each other because our mothers all met as children a long time ago. Our daddies all owned businesses. My papa told me that he had started a textile factory. I don't know what that is, but it's important. All my friend's papas did something like he did.

The moon was really bright and we started to hear yelling. We knew we would probably be in trouble because we were out so late. Hopefully, daddy doesn't spank us.

"Isabella Marie Swan and Emmett Carson Swan get over here this instant!" Emmett and I looked at each other, scared of what our parents would say to us when we got to them. Sighing, we both go up and said bye to our friends who were also being called by their parents.

"WAIT GUYS!" Alice screamed. We all turned around. "Promise!!??"

We shared looks and screamed at the same time, "PROMISE!" We were then hauled away by our exasperated parents.

Never would I have thought that we may not be able to keep that promise.

9 years later.

I smiled as I remembered when Alice, Rose, Em, Jazz, Edward, and I made that promise. Edward must have noticed me smiling because he kicked me under the table. I looked at him and he raised an eyebrow. I shook my head, saying it was nothing. Everyone else noticed this exchange by now and looked to me. I sighed and said "I was just reminiscing about when we made the promise to be together forever."

"Oh! I remember that! I'm still keeping that too all of you," Alice said looking at each of us pointedly.

"A promise is a promise Alice," Rose exclaimed, "whether it was made at 8 or 50."

Emmett bellowed, "Well we Swan's are known to keep our promises, right Bella?"

"Oh yes of course Emmett." I said.

Our parents had been silent the whole time as they watched our exchange. We were all seated around the dining table at the Hale's house. I was seated next to Edward and a cross from Rosalie. Nothing much had changed. We were all still the best of friends. Well, a few things had changed. The boys all had grown. Emmett, being the tallest, was 6'5. He had huge muscles and looked like such a scary man, but in truth he was a huge teddy bear. Jasper was 6'3 and was muscular, but definitely not as big as Emmett. He was long and thin. Edward had grown into a god. His hair was still a mess, but I like to think of it now as tousled. He had a strong jaw line and had grown to 6'3 like Jasper. He was more muscular and less lanky than Jazz, but still much smaller than Em. All the boys were handsome, but when I looked at Edward I couldn't help but get butterflies.

Rose, Alice, and I of course had grown as well. We all of course had developed breasts and curves. Alice was still a tiny, beautiful pixie. She was probably around 5'2. I was 5'6, and Rose was around 5'8. Rose was gorgeous. She had curves in all the right places and with her long hair and beautiful eyes she was almost perfect. Next to them, I looked like a nothing. I still had my boring brown hair and eyes, few curves, and pale skin. I was nothing but an average looking girl.

"So, shall we attend the Gardener's Ball tomorrow because I would love to go!" Alice exclaimed. Of course Alice would be excited. She loves parties, getting dressed up, and dressing other people up.

Knowing there was no use in declining, I agreed and was followed by other "yes's." She smiled and began to plan with Rosalie what we were going to wear. I was not known for my ability in fashion, so I excused myself from the table and headed outside into the garden. The smell of fresh roses filled my nose. I headed for the marble bench in the middle of a patch of tulips. I had always loved tulips. Once I sat down, I closed my eyes and let the moon shine down on me. I listened to the crickets as they communicated and just enjoyed the tranquility of the night. Suddenly, I felt a smooth hand on my shoulder. I jumped and looked up to see two magnificent green eyes staring down at me. I lost myself in them for a few moments and it seemed like he was lost too. Finally I tore my eyes away and blushed as I looked down. I felt him sit down and tilt my chin up. I once again looked at him, but tried to avoid his eyes. My eyes just fell to his perfectly sculpted lips. I began to turn red as I pulled my eyes away from them and looked back into his eyes. He was looking at me too. He started to lean closer and my breath hitched. I couldn't lie to myself and say I didn't feel something towards Edward; I knew I did. His sensitivity, sense of perfection, and beauty had me captured. I was scared though that if I did pair up with him that if things didn't go well, that my promise to everyone would be broken. Right when our lips were about to touch I turned my cheek, so he ended up kissing it. I looked at him from the corner of my eye and he looked hurt and pained.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to..well..I should go; I will see you at the ball tomorrow." Edward stuttered and got up to leave.

"Edward, I.., " But he was already heading back to the house. I felt terrible, and I so wanted to kiss him. I couldn't; at least not yet. I would talk to him tomorrow at the ball. I had to.

After sitting outside thinking about the previous events, I realized how late it was getting and walked back inside. Alice had left and so had Edward. Once my parents saw me they tore Emmett away from Jasper's new telescope and we left in our car.

Once we arrived home, I ran up to my room and my maid, Louise, helped me take off my dress and change into my nightgown. After washing up, she helped me into bed.

"Goodnight Ms. Swan," was all she said before she blew out the candles and left. I turned on to my side and closed my eyes before falling into a sleep.

The lights shone brightly into my eyes as Louise pulled open the drapes.

"Rise and shine Ms. Swan. Ms. Brandon sent a messenger over all but 10 minutes ago. She says that she expects you over at her house by 10 o'clock." I couldn't help but groan knowing exactly what we would be doing. "Ladies don't groan Ms. Swan. Let's go out of bed. I have already chosen a dress for you."

I sighed and slowly rose out of bed. I washed my face and walked over to Louise who had my dress draped over her arm. I slipped off my nightdress and pulled on my blue dress. I slipped on my black heels. Louise put my hair up in a simple bun and handed me my purse. I walked downstairs, ate a simple breakfast, got into my waiting car and was driven the short way to the Brandon's estate.

Alice greeted me at the door and we walked up to her room where an impatient Rosalie sat.

"Finally! Bella we have been waiting for a half an hour!"

"I'm sorry; Father wanted to speak a little longer at breakfast."

"It's alright. Let's get started. We all know that Bella is going to take a while. We will meet Edward, Emmett, and Jasper over at the Ball. Girls, I have been wanting to tell you for a while, but I think I am developing feelings for Jasper," Alice stated.

"Well we all have feelings for Jasper; he is my friend and Rose's brother," I answered.

"No, no, I meant romantic feelings," Alice clarified.

"Really? My brother. Well, I think you should tell him. Since we are talking about this subject, I would like to share that I have romantic feelings for Emmett. Bella, I really want to pursue them; I hope you aren't mad," Rose said. Alice squealed.

I stared at them shocked, not because of Rosalie's statement, but because I was so worried of continuing things with Edward because of all of our friendships. It seems as though the thought hasn't even crossed their mind. "Rose, I don't mind that you have feelings for Emmett, actually I think you would be perfect for him," at this she smiled, "but, aren't you girls afraid that if things don't work out that it will wreck all of our friendships?"

"Well, there is always the possibility, but I have a feeling that this is only a step in the right direction. I feel as though the risk is worth taking," Alice answered.

"Even if the risk turns out negatively and ruins everything for all of us?" I asked.

"I have enough faith in my feelings for him that I don't believe that will happen." Alice confidently stated.

"I agree with Alice. Bella it seems like you have put quite a lot of thought into this. Has someone developed feelings for Edward?" Rose suggested, wagging her eyebrows.

I blushed and looked down. "Yes." I then thought about the events that occurred last night. What if he never wanted to speak to me again? After hearing what my friends had to say, they convinced me that I was being too cautious. I suddenly felt silly about my childish actions last night. I wish I would've let him kiss me. What if he hated me? What if I would be alone the rest of my life because I turned him down? I felt a tear slide down my cheek. Rose and Alice noticed because they hurried to me and threw their arms around me.

"Oh Bella, what happened?" Rose inquired. Alice rubbed my arms soothingly. I looked up to my best friends, took a deep, shaky breath and told them what happened.

"Bella, I'm sure he doesn't hate you. He probably just feels embarrassed and hurt. He probably thinks you hate him. Just tell him how you feel and explain your concerns to him tonight. He will understand. He is Edward for goodness sakes." Rose reassured.

"I don't know. How about if he doesn't? He probably doesn't even want to see me."

"Bella, really. Just speak with him. He will understand."

"Are you sure?"

"We promise; things will turn out for the best." Rose smiled at me. I sighed and wiped my eyes. I turned towards the nearest mirror.

"Oh look at me," I laughed. Rose and Alice giggled.

"Don't worry, you will look amazing by tonight." Alice said. They then set to work on me.

By 5:45, we were all ready to go. I looked in the mirror. They had taken a few strands of hair in the front and tied them back. There were some flowers weaved in to the pulled strands of hair. The rest of my hair naturally waved down my back. My dress was midnight blue and it had a fitted bodice. The skirt flowed gently down to the floor. Around the neckline and around the skirt, it had loosely hung garlands of the same color flowers that were folded into my hair. I also wore midnight blue heels. The color of the dress looked great against my skin. Rose and Alice lightly traced my eyes with a black crayon and glossed my lips with some pink. I actually looked somewhat beautiful tonight.

Alice wore her hair in a loose, lower bun and also had some black crayon around her eyes and glossy pink lips. She wore a lovely violet, chiffon dress. She looked amazing.

Rose had her hair in a beautiful updo and had similar make up except her lips were red. She wore a red gown that was embroidered with silver hearts and white roses. She looked beautifully gorgeous.

We walked downstairs to find that Alice's parents had already left for the Ball. We climbed into the car, waiting for us outside, and drove off in the direction of the ball. I didn't know what held ahead for us by the end of the night, but I do know that we hoped to come home each with a new budding romantic relationship with the three boys we had known our whole lives.

So, that's the first chapter. Please tell me what you think. I'm working on getting a beta set up.