Hello and welcome to Malibu Love and Forgiveness. This is not my first FanFiction; this is my second. My first was a bomb. I decided to try again. So here goes. I hope you enjoy my story. I am already working on the second chapter. Please review; that'll keep me writing!
Chapter One: Fresh New Start
BPOV
The waves crashed powerfully against the soft wet sand creating a line of foam separating the gulf from the beach. The seashells covered the miniature sandcastles the youngsters built. The ocean breeze blew though my long chocolate hair as I peered endlessly out into the setting sun on the horizon. I was mesmerized as it painted all the colors of the rainbow in a beautiful scene. Letting the ocean water kiss my feet as I sit and watch the waves roll in. I can hear seagulls behind me. I can taste the salty air and it ever so slightly calms me giving me a moment of relaxation.
Without looking up, I sense that I am no longer alone. I imagine it is my best friend; Alice. My toes still in the water, my body leaned back on my elbows and my head tilted upward letting the last few beams of sun strike my face. I take a deep breath and acknowledge her presence.
"Hey!" I exclaimed opening my eyes to see a petite raven haired pixie mirroring my setting. She was dressed in her usual beach attire; short shorts, flip flops and a fitted v-neck T-shirt.
"Hey yourself!" she cooed then added "Want to go grab diner at the dinner?"
I would love to stay here on the beach, but my stomach let out a horrific grumble so I heaved myself from the sand to an already standing Alice and agreed. "Mind if I changed first?" I asked, I could feel the sand on the back of my thighs and I detested flip flops anywhere other than the beach and they currently outfitted my feet.
"Sure." She answered. We made our way off the beach to our shared home. Once we were in the foyer of the house I quickly padded upstairs to my room to change. Alice made her way to her room.
"I'll be just a few minutes; I'll come get you when I am ready!" I called back to her as I entered my room.
"Ok" She yelled back. I shimmied out of my own shorts simultaneously flinging my flip flops across the room, one landing haphazardly in the doorway of my adjoining bathroom the other landing with a thump on my white down comforter.
Entering my walk in closet I chose a simple yet chic powder blue halter top dress that fell just above my knees pairing it with some wedge sandals while letting my long hair fall around my shoulders in waves. After coating my eyelashes with mascara and dotting shimmery lip gloss on my pouty lips I blew a kiss at the girl in the mirror and set off for Alice.
Crossing through the sitting room heading towards Alice's room on the other end of the house I noticed a sleek white envelope on the coffee table with the contents laid about on the side amongst the many gossip magazines Alice and I loved to read. It was typical Alice to get numerous amounts of mail so I paid no attention to it at first; however, there was something about the stationary that caught my interest. Knowing that Alice wouldn't mind, I rounded the coffee table, picked up the heavy weight paper and read.
Alice,
I am not sure if you have talked to your brother, but he will be relocating to Malibu in two weeks. He will of course stay with Jasper and Emmitt. I know that you two don't get along that well but, it would warm my heart if you both made an honest effort. I love you both so much. Dad and I will be in Thousand Oaks around the same time of Edwards's arrival for a convention your father has been invited to. We hope to see you and Bella!
Love always,
Mom
The letter was post marked two weeks ago yesterday. I had known that Alice had a twin brother and his name was Edward. What I did not know was why they did not get along. Placing the stationary back in its place I reluctantly pushed the thoughts to the farthest recess of my mind and wandered to Alice's bedroom.
"You may enter." I heard Alice squeal as I opened the door and stepped inside the confines of her room. Alice was the typical girly girl. Her unmade four poster bed sat cornerwise in her large bedroom with a hot pink, black and white geometrically designed comforter draping its sides with umpteen pillows cascading below the headboard. Her large armoire was positioned against a hot pink wall, a smaller dresser with neatly placed photo frames and commemorative knick-knacks on its surface sat opposite against another wall. Alice was sitting at her glass and marble vanity in the farthest corner of the room, her previously worn clothes strewn about the floor. She was now wearing a beautiful strapless golden yellow sun dress that showed off her delicate shoulders and not so surprisingly the exact same shoes as mine.
"Great minds think alike." I said as I gestured to her shoes. She looked down then back at her feet then her eyes met mine as we both began to giggle.
"Come on, let's go!" I said encouraging Alice to finish so we could leave. I was practically famished.
Moments later, I had grabbed my house keys, Alice her car keys and we were clambering into Alice's sleek yellow Porsche.
"Oh, hey…" Alice began, "My brother is moving in with Jasper and Emmitt this weekend." Jasper is Alice's boyfriend. He is somewhat the prankster and his partner in crime is Alice's other and older brother Emmett. "And, I forgot to mention, Rose is at Coogie's already."
"Good, I haven't seen Rose in a week, I miss her." I responded happy to see Rose. Rose is Emmett's girlfriend. They meet when Alice, Jasper, Emmett and I moved out to California about three years ago. Rose is a local, so she knew all the best places to eat, shop and party. Instantly Alice, Rose and I became best friends.
"Me too!" Alice exclaimed as we took the turn onto Winter Mesa Drive approaching Coogie's Beach Café. The quant cafe is warmly designed with vibrant colors and a casual, cheerful and comfortable environment. The menu is large, in this area not many places serve breakfast, lunch and dinner for the price. The avocado roll is my ultimate favorite.
From the front entry I see the back of Rose's head and point her out to Alice; Rose's thick blonde hair is set in curls and she is waiting patiently in a corner booth still in her scrubs from her day shift. Alice tells the hostess that we are meeting someone here and we don't need to be seated and we head towards Rose. As we approach closer to Rose she stands, turns and looks in our direction, a beautiful smile taking shape on Rose's otherwise beautiful face. She gives us each a hug; enveloping us in here floral scent and we settle into our seats to have our meal. Conversation comes easily for us as we wait for our entrees; until we reach the topic of Edward.
"So Alice, how do you feel about Edward moving down here?" Rose asks with a very interesting look about her face. I shifted my eyes towards Alice to see her breath catch in her throat. I could tell she was uncomfortable with the subject. I would not let her change the subject though; this was just too interesting to push under the rug.
"We are having such a great meal; do we have to talk about Edward?" She questioned. "Obviously you know that I am not the happiest about Edward moving here. He's done some things in the past that have hurt the family and I unlike my parents and brother have not forgiven him as of yet." She finishes taking a sip of her wine.
What? What kinds of things? She had only previously acknowledged that she had a brother. I did know they were estranged but, I did not know that he has caused her to have these types of feelings towards him. Normally, I would have brushed this off, seeing as how I wouldn't have to worry about such nonsense. But, since Edward was moving in with Jasper and Emmett, it was going to be hard to escape his presence.
"Alice," I begun only to have her hold her hand up to me to stop the thoughts about to spill forth from my mouth.
"Look, please don't misunderstand. I love Edward, after all he is my brother; my twin. Like I said, Edward has done some things in his past and he has apologized to Emmett and our parents, he has not however, apologized to me." She stated and took a deep breath. "Therefore, I have not forgiven him. I know that it is irrational to hold a grudge for however many years it has been but, I am sorry. Trust can be easily broken, but it is hard to regain."
Rose and I's eyes met and I could see that she felt the same emotion as I did; sympathy. But we knew each other well enough to know that when Alice wanted to talk, she would.
The rest of the meal was finished in silence. Alice paid for our meals; it was her turn. Each week when we meet we alternate who pays. We said our goodbyes as Rose climbed inside her black BMW and Alice and I pulled away. The car ride home thankfully short as, it was spent in eerie silence.
A little over an hour later I had showered, dressed for bed, prepared my clothes for the next day's work day, and was now crawling into bed waiting for peaceful slumber.
EPOV
A loud crackly sound awakes me from sleep. I jerk up in my seat, for a moment, forgetting where I am. Then the speaker starts to make sense.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Los Angeles International Airport. Local time is 11:00 PM and the temperature is a breezy 75 degrees."
"For your safety and comfort, we ask that you…" blah blah blah…"
I steal a few moments and make sure that my hair isn't any worse for normal wear and tow my things away awaiting the final words so I can get off this plane. The rather large lady sitting next to me is very impatient as she keeps pushing on my arm to let her out. I give her what I would like to call the "stink eye" and go about tuning her and the announcement out.
What felt like an hour later, which really couldn't have been a few minutes; several of the other passengers started to rise out of their seats, grab their overhead luggage and head towards the door. To the lady next to me's annoyance I was ill prepared to let her out and took a tad bit longer to be gone. With a huff she passed by me and set out on her way; thankfully. I grabbed my things from overhead and quickly made my way off the plane. Stopping momentarily to take my cell phone out of my pocket and power it up, I saw a beautiful blonde girl standing near the baggage claim.
"Hi." I said in my most sultry voice, I know the effect some of the things I do to others cause. And I was now standing to her right, my left arm brushing against hers slyly. She looked up and smiled at me.
"Hey." She said. She was cute, tall, blonde, blue eyes, slim figure, and nice rack; the important things to a man.
"Are you from around here?" I asked with my famous crooked grin.
"Yes, born and raised. What's it to you?" She replied. I was momentarily taken aback. I did not expect the small thing in front of me to be so moody. I was perplexed.
"Would you stop doing that?" She asked somewhat annoyed. My eyes shot to hers; confused.
"The tongue ring; please stop making that clicking noise." She seethed. Damn!
I didn't realize I was doing it. The ball of my tongue ring was now protruding past my lips and I was moving my tongue unknowingly from left to right making the tongue ring clash with my viper bite emitting a clink each time they touched. I usually did so when I was nervous or slightly embarrassed.
"I'm sorry." I responded. "I didn't mean to upset you. Quite frankly, my approaching you was to ask you for coffee or lunch tomorrow."
"Oh," She looked away momentarily and then looked back. "I'm Tanya." She said. Tanya…nice.
"Edward." I stated, smiling.
"Well, Edward, if you like we can meet tomorrow for lunch." She said; a smiling forming on her lips once again. "You can have my number and you can text me the time and place." She pulled a business card from her purse and handed it to me. She quickly turned and walked away.
Glancing at my watch, I realized I was ten minutes late on securing my rental car and I needed to book it to make it on time. I scurried toward the rental kiosk and rented a nice SUV. Emmett had texted me his address earlier so I programmed it into the navigation system once I had packed all my things inside the Tahoe. My pocket vibrated a text message. Withdrawing my phone from my pocket it was a text from Emmett.
*Hey lil bro, I left a key under a hideous plant outside the front door. - EM*
*K, thanks. Off Plane. Just got car. Headed ur way.-E*
*Rose said Al wasn't happy. Mayb talk 2 her?* I sighed. I knew she was still upset about what had happened. I had hoped that in the last three years she had somewhat gotten over it. I suppose she hadn't. Hopefully my moving here won't be as bad.
*yeah I'll give it a shot.*
Shoving the phone in my pocket, I pulled out of the parking lot heading to Malibu. In forty five minutes to an hour, I hope it would be the start of a new life; a clean new life.
I never meant to hurt Alice. Why won't she forgive me? I have apologized. I moved away. Ran. Ran is more like it. Everyone else is happy I am back. Why can't she just accept that I made a terrible mistake and while I can't take it back, I can only go forward and I need her support. But, if she continues to push my away, what can I do?
Suddenly I was furious. I started to drive faster. No clear clue as to why. I was just angry. My fury only deepened as I noticed the shinning red and blue lights in the review mirror. Shit! This is not good. I haven't even been in this state a good two hours and I am already in trouble.
I pulled to the side right before a closed down gas station. The officer pulled up behind me, still flashing the party lights and stepped out of his vehicle. I rolled down the window and was nearly blinded by the flashlight being pointed into my eyes.
"Have you had anything to drink tonight son?" The burly cop asked as he motioned me to step out of the vehicle.
"No sir." I answered as I undid my seat belt. The officer stepped back allowing me space to open the door. I did so and planted my two feet firmly on the ground. I looked up into his eyes and nearly cried.
"Emmett!" I shouted. "What are you doing?" I exclaimed. I wasn't mad, no; relieved.
"Well, first.." He hugged me, one of those man-bear-hugs. He abruptly pulled back and held me at arm length, both hands firmly on my shoulders. "Wow, you've been hitting the gym." And then he guffawed, smiled and exposed the dimples. When I was younger I use to hate "the guffaw" as Alice and I called it. Surprisingly it was welcome at the moment.
"Yeah, a little." I agreed and then smirked.
"BS! You must live there. Anyway lil bro – I have to finish my shift. Would you please slow down? You're almost home." He asked somewhat pleadingly.
"Yeah." I said as I ambled back into my car. Emmett turned on his heel and was clambering into his cruiser.
Wow, Emmett a cop. I really was away far too long. It seems I have a lot to catch up on. The navigation system said I only have fifteen minutes left before I reached my destination. This thing had better be telling the truth. I was tired and bit shell shocked at Emmett's career.
Not fifteen minutes later, I was stopped at the gate that led to my new home. So close to the beach, so close to my estranged family and so close to a new start. I was frightened. But, I would do my best. Considering the weight my parents hung heavily over my head; a deal I could not afford to break.
Chapter End Notes:
First I would like to say: Thank you for reading, Second: I am sorry if you noticed any errors, and Lastly: …you can press review…it won't hurt you… I promise J
