This is something I've wanted try for awhile - it's a mix of my two favorite novels. I'm sure it won't take you long to guess what the other one is. Anyway, let me know what you think, it might be hard to fit the characters and plots together, but it should be fun for me at the very least. Reviews make me smile!

Everything belongs to SM and JA.

The Space Between
Where you're smiling high
Is where you'll find me if I get to go
The Space Between
The bullets in our firefight
Is where I'll be hiding, waiting for you
The rain that falls
Splash in your heart
Ran like sadness down the window into...
The Space Between
Our wicked lies
Is where we hope to keep safe from pain
Dave Matthew's Band - The Space Between

Chapter 1 - BPOV

"Bella? Bella!" I awoke to the sound of my mother's shrill voice calling my name. I groaned and rolled onto my side, weakly reaching over to shake my sister Alice awake. We shared the same bed, and unfortunately for us, the same morning routine.

"Alice, come on." I sighed as I sat up, throwing my legs over the side of the bed. I rolled my eyes as Alice moaned, pulling the blankets over her face. I threw my pillow at her as I got up.

"Don't normal families get to sleep in on weekends?" she asked. Her tone was bitter, but I knew there was no malice behind it. I watched as she made her way unsteadily to our dresser, almost tripping right into an open drawer.

"You look like me." I grinned, pulling a t-shirt over my head. "Now, let's grab the bathroom before everybody else wakes up and then get the laundry over with."

Alice and I were part of a noisy, cluttered, rambunctious, and slightly poor family living in Forks, Washington. We had three younger sisters, Lauren, Angela, and Jessica. Our father Charlie was a quiet but kind man who worked hard every day at a small factory outside of town. Our mother, Renee, was a slightly overbearing woman who constantly gave Charlie migraines but he had a good sense of humor, despite everything. He was constantly amused, and somewhat baffled, by the six females in the house.

Our home, which Renee had inherited from her Uncle, was large enough to house us comfortably although we all had to share bedrooms. It was a very beautiful, dated home on a large acreage that sat far back from the main highway that ran through Forks.

"Alice, did you grab the girl's laundry from their room?" Renee was bent over a wash tub, scrubbing hard on a pair of Charlie's jeans. Alice spun around and headed back up the stairs without a word.

Laundry in the summer was our least favorite chore. Because our washing machine was bordering on being considered elderly and apparently used far too many resources, we were banned from using it when the weather was nice enough to hang dry our clothes. Thankfully it rained often enough in Forks where this wasn't a weekly occurrence, but today the sunny sky was being kind enough to bestow it's warmth on our small town, and therefore hand-washing it would be.

"Bella, you take over the washing. I need to start breakfast. Your father picked up an extra shift today so I'm going to have the send the girls outside to do yard work. It's supposed to rain tomorrow and somebody needs to weed out front while we can."

I smiled as I turned to have a try at Charlie's grease-stained jeans, imagining Lauren and Jessica's faces when they were given that chore. Usually Saturdays were the easiest for them, besides clearing the table and sewing whatever clothing needed to be sewed, they got off easy on the weekends. School wasn't as easy for them as it was for Alice, Angela, and I, so they were allowed to spend their time on homework – which basically meant they did whatever they wanted.

I frowned as I worked on the stubborn spots in Charlie's clothes, remnants of the factory that he had no choice but to bring home with him.

"Alice!" I called impatiently, "It doesn't take ten minutes!"

Alice bounded downstairs, followed by our three sisters. Angela, who was sixteen, already looked alert and awake. She was a silent and very bright girl, who most closely resembled me. We were brunettes with large brown eyes, both traits from our mother. The biggest difference was our height. Where Angela was tall and lanky like Charlie, I was much closer to an average height.

Behind Alice trudged a sullen looking Lauren and Jessica. I couldn't help but laugh at their typical expressions. Although we were all basically separated by a year, they were even less than a year apart. Currently Jess was fifteen and Lauren was fourteen. Jessica had been born in January and Lauren was born in November of that same year. Renee and Charlie had managed to get them into the same classes all through elementary school. They were best friends, and bitter rivals.

"Yard work?" Jess made a disgusted face, wrinkling her freckled nose.

"What else are you going to do?" Renee asked from the kitchen. "School's out, there's no reason for you two to sit around while we're all busy. If it weren't for your father being at work you wouldn't have to do this, but we need the money now don't we?"

Lauren sighed and muttered something explicit under her breath. I gave her a look of warning. The last thing I needed to deal with this morning was another family fight. She rolled her eyes at me but eventually made her way outside.

Alice and I worked quietly for a long while, only taking breaks to hang up the clothes on the line outside. Although we couldn't afford vast wardrobes, there were still plenty of dirty clothes to wash with eight people in the house. Most of the time Jess and Alice turned thrift store hand-me-downs into masterpieces. They were both very talented at sewing and fabrics and managed to always look like they had spent hundreds of dollars at the mall, rather then 30 dollars at the local Salvation Army.

Alice was the oldest of us all at eighteen, and the smallest. Her hair, which was originally a dirty blonde, was dyed black and cut fairly short. She was absolutely stunning, but even more unaware of her beauty. Alice could be very serious at times and incredibly ridiculous at others. Although I loved all of my sisters, it was Alice who I considered my best friend. Without her I only felt like half of myself.

"So are you excited for your senior year?" I asked her, wringing out a t-shirt.

Alice shrugged, massaging her hand gently with the other. "It's not like I'm going somewhere different. Wait to ask me until I actually graduate." She smiled.

I smiled back at her but inside my heart broke. I was only going to be a junior in school this year, and I had no clue what I was going to do if Alice left right after graduation. I knew with her GPA she could get into any school she wanted, it was just a matter of getting to go there for free. I wanted her to get a scholarship, but life without her would be close to unbearable.

My thoughts were interrupted by a loud knocking at the front door. I quickly dried my hands and made my way into the front parlor just as Renee was opening the door.

"Mrs. Newton!" Renee exclaimed, taking a step back to let our small bird-like neighbor in. "Why don't you come talk to me in the kitchen while I make the biscuits?" I quickly lost interest and returned to the tub, knowing they were going to spend the next hour gossiping.

"Do you think Mrs. Newton talks about Mom the same way she talks about everybody else?" Alice asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Probably," I laughed, shaking my head. "Those two are going to get what's coming to them someday."

We continued to wash until our hands were sore and wrinkled. Finally, after the last shirt was hung on the clothesline, we made our way into the large kitchen, sitting down at the long wooden table.

"You're kidding?" Renee was saying, her head in the oven as she bent down to retrieve her biscuits. "Moving here, to Forks?"

"Yes, apparently they've already closed on that house back in the woods behind the school. There's also a friend of the family who's going to be staying in their guest house." Mrs. Newton was talking so fast I could barely keep up.

"Wait, what?" Alice asked with her head in her hands. I could tell she was only half-interested in the conversation.

"There's a family that's moving in as we speak. Apparently it's a doctor and his wife who are originally from Chicago." Renee said it like it was a dirty word. "The kids are your age." Her gaze fell on Alice and me. I groaned internally, wondering what kind of ideas were floating in her mind. Renee was constantly dreaming up ways to get her daughters married off to nice, rich young boys. It was too bad for here we lived here.

"Yes, this boy was orphaned a few years ago and this family took him in. He is supposedly worth millions. It must be nice to get an inheritance like that!" Mrs. Newton chirped. Alice made a face.

"Oh yes," I said sarcastically. "Who wouldn't want to give up their own parents for mon-"

"Bella go call the girls in." Renee ordered, giving me a sharp look.

I more than happily got up, walking out of the side door and following the crumbling sidewalk to the front garden where I found Angela by herself, dumping a handful of weeds into a large bucket.

"Where are Lauren and Jess?" I asked, putting my hands on my hips.

Angela shrugged. "They ran off, something about some guys who drove by in a sports car? I have no clue."

I sighed and put my hand over my eyes to block the glare from the sun as I searched for the girls. My head whipped the right as I heard giggling coming from behind a grouping of trees on the side of our property. I marched over towards the noise, grabbing at a blonde braid.

"Ouch! Jeez Bella, relax." Lauren cried, yanking her head forward. "We were just taking a break."

"I bet. Anyway, breakfast is ready. Hurry up and you can hear Mom and Mrs. Newton talk about the new boys that have moved to-."

I laughed as they both took off running towards the house before I could even finish my sentence.