- CHAPTER TWO -

EDWARD

The instant I walked into the house I knew that I shouldn't have come home. Mom and dad were both in the living room reading on the love seat and Alice was sprawled across the sofa with a thick magazine in her hands.

Sure it wasn't unusual for my family to all gather around in the living room to read, but at five o'clock on a weeknight when mom was usually making dinner and dad was usually still at work and Alice was usually at ballet, something was definitely off.

"Hello Honey." Mom looked up from her novel to smile at me. Everyone's eyes traveled toward me and I stared back silently. "Did you have a good day?" she asked setting her novel on the table in front of her. I shrugged one shoulder in response and that was a good enough answer for her. "We've all been waiting for you to get home." She continued with a warm smile. "We're all going out to eat in Port Angeles. As a family."

"Can't." I said immediately. "I've got a massive paper in English." While I did actually have a paper to turn in soon, I had finished it weeks ago. Still, as much as I loved my family, I didn't want to spend an evening out with them. My family members were social magnets. Everyone who had ever even seen them felt the need to come over and talk with them while we were out. It was exhausting and frankly annoying as fuck.

"Oh Honey are you sure?" Mom asked, trying out her patented Esme Cullen Pout. I shook my head looking away from her face. That pout had cracked me hundreds of times over the years.

"Yeah I've still got tons of work to do on it and I have to turn it in tomorrow. You guys go have fun." I said moving out of the living room toward the stairs.

"I told you he wouldn't come." Alice huffed, flopping back on the sofa.

"Be nice." Mom scolded.

"I'm going to call Jazz and invite him." Alice announced. I was certain now there was no way I was going. It wasn't that I hated my sister's boyfriend, I just didn't like him. I mean by all standards he wasn't a bad guy and he was actually pretty quite which I liked, but after catching them in a number of compromising positions over the years, I've learned that even getting close to Jasper would be a bad idea as I'd probably try to strangle him the first opportunity I could. It wasn't anything personal; it was just my hard wired protective instincts at play.

I ran up to my room and groaned when I realized that I would have to go back out now in order to keep up the lie to my family.

Grabbing a novel off my bedside table, I stuffed it into my pocket and went back down stairs, making sure to grab my backpack as well.

Jasper had arrived by the time I got downstairs and I gave him a silent nod. I think he understood why I couldn't be around him too long and respected that, which made me like him just a tiny bit more.

"Where are you headed?" Dad asked eying me from the couch.

"Library." I grunted.

"Honey, make sure to eat something alright?" Mom intercepted me on my way to the garage. I stopped as her tiny hands came up to cup my face.

"Yeah mom, don't worry." I said quietly. She sighed heavily and patted my cheek once.

"Okay Honey. I love you. Have a good night. I hope you get all your work done."

I gave her a small half smile and reached down to kiss her cheek.

"Thanks mom. I'll see you guys later."

I drove around for a while, not sure on exactly what it was I wanted to do. I was craving a cigarette but I had a strict rule for myself of no smoking in the car, so I pulled over behind the tiny crappy diner in town and walked out toward the dumpsters where most employees took their smoking breaks. I was just reaching into my pocket to pull out the pack when the back door flew open and a girl I'd never seen before came rushing out. She stopped and leaned back against the brick of the diner, shoving her head in her hands and breathing out the word, "Christ."

I stared at her a moment shamelessly. She was beautiful, from what I could see. She had long brown hair soft pale skin, and I couldn't be sure of her body under all those clothes, but I liked what I could see of it. She was wearing jeans and a hooded sweatshirt and a simple pair of sneakers. She wasn't wearing any make up that I could see and her hair, while full and beautiful, wasn't styled. She wasn't like the typical girls here in town and that was refreshing. I wanted to know more. The band on her sweatshirt alluded to good musical tastes and that intrigued me further. She must be passing through because I was sure I'd never seen her before.

"You okay?" I asked, surprising myself. I almost never spoke to anyone outside my family, and I certainly didn't ask if anyone was okay.

She seemed startled by my question and I assumed she hadn't realized I was here. She looked up at me and I caught sight of her eyes. They were perfect swirls of brown; big and soft like a deer's. She was even more beautiful than I had realized before. A faint blush covered her cheeks and she looked back down at her feet. I couldn't help my smirk.

"Yeah I'm fine." she mumbled, glancing up at me through her lashes. I watched her a moment, trying to figure out what the hell it was about this girl that had me so immediately captivated.

Deciding that it had just been too long since I'd had sex was probably the reason for my uncomfortably tight pants; I nodded and reached into my jacket to pull out my cigarettes. I glanced back up at her and saw that she was watching my every movement carefully. I couldn't tell if she was repulsed or intrigued, and a sudden need to challenge her swept over me when she blushed again and looked back down.

"Want one?" I asked, pulling out a cigarette and letting it dangle between my lips as I held out the pack to her. She looked up at me hesitantly and I couldn't help the small smile that itched its way across my face at the challenge. She seemed surprised by my offer, and to be honest, I was too.

I watched her a moment as she stared at me hesitantly before squaring her shoulders, looking me dead on with what was probably the sexiest glare I'd ever received, and stepped away from the wall to take the proffered cigarette and dangle it between her lips. She gave me a sexy little smile before cocking her head to the side and speaking.

"Can I have a light?" Her voice was pure seduction and I fought to keep my hands to myself. My pants, which had been just fine moments ago, were strangling me and it took all my will power not to push her up against the wall and fuck the shit out of her. She was sex, pure and simple and I wanted her like I had never wanted anyone.

Instead, I smirked at her and pulled a lighter from my pocket, easily flicking it open and stepping closer to her so that I could light the cigarette still between her lips. The cigarette flared to life and she took a deep drag, letting the smoke out slowly. My eyes were glued to the movement of her lips and I had to fight back the small whimper building in the back of my throat. I didn't fucking whimper. Ever.

What the fuck was with this girl?

She brought the cigarette back up to her lips and watched me with big brown eyes. I pocketed my lighter, having an idea of how to be closer to her. "Hold still." I mumbled stepping closer. Reaching up with one hand, I held my cigarette still in my mouth as I leaned forward and pressed the end of it to her lit one. It was all I could do not to reach out and touch her. We were standing so close and I could smell her over the scent of cigarette smoke. She smelled like strawberries and honey and something I couldn't identify that was simply mouth watering. I wanted to devour her.

Standing that close to her, I looked her in the eyes and watched as a myriad of emotions ran through them too fast for me to understand. Who the fuck was this girl and why was I so interested?

Finally my cigarette caught and I smirked at her, taking my own drag before stepping back and letting it out. I needed space from this vixen in front of me, needed room to clear my head. She let out a long breath before taking another drag on the cigarette and looking back down at her shoes.

We stood out there until our cigarettes were done and not another word passed between us.

When she was finally done, she dropped the butt into a small puddle by the door where a few more butts had been abandoned and turned to me. "Thanks." She said quietly. I nodded and turned away from her as she went inside.

Emotions started racing through me at light speed; lust and anger being the strongest, closely followed by curiosity. Who was that new girl and please god let her be staying in town.

After finishing my cigarette, I decided I wasn't up for any more bull shiting and just went home. My family had all left for Port Angeles by then so it didn't really matter if I was actually out or not.

Parking in the garage I stormed into the house and up to my room on the third floor.

Mom and dad had been generous enough to allow Alice and I each our own floor of the house. Alice's had consisted of an extra large room with a massive closet and a design studio for her art along with a few guest rooms and mine had consisted of just my room which was about the length of the house. I had divided it up into sections where I housed my piano and music collection and books.

Immediately I went upstairs and flopped down on my old leather sofa, lifting the remote to my stereo where it was laying on the floor and flicking on my music. Guns n Roses came blasting on and I settled back on my sofa sighing.

I heard everyone come home a few hours later though I made no move to go greet them. Eventually dad came upstairs and asked rather redundantly if I'd been able to get all my work done. He knew that I was a straight A student and that despite my rather hilarious reputation for being a rebellious "bad boy", I was actually quite dedicated to my studies.

Dad came and left and eventually I surrendered to sleep after lying on my sofa staring at my ceiling and thinking about the brown-eyed girl I'd met today.

...

There was a flurry of activity at school the next morning. I didn't honestly care what had the entire student population in such hype, but it was rather annoying. People were buzzing and stopping in the middle of hallways to talk, effectively blocking most of my routes to class. Even though no one spoke to me directly I was able to glean some information rather unintentionally. Apparently the chief of Police had kids who had been MIA with their mom for the past ten years. For a reason I wasn't able to understand, they were back in town living with good old Charlie.

Their names, Emmett and Isabella Swan.

I wondered all day if Isabella was the girl I had met yesterday outside the diner. I could only hope so.

School passed in a tedious haze of gossip. It seemed even the teachers were rapped up in all the drama as they seemed unable or unwilling to even attempt to control their students, the exception of course, being Mr. Banner, who was about as strict as they came. Of course he was a fair teacher and really brilliant, as long as you played nice with him and did all your work, he was nice to you. I greatly appreciated teachers like him.

He reigned in the gossip in the class, laying down the law after handing out detention slips to Jessica and Lauren for gossiping while he was trying to lecture. The looks of shock and disbelief on their faces were priceless, and based off the small smirk I saw on Mr. Banner's face, he agreed with me.

When school finally let out, I made my way to my car. Alice was leaning against the side, talking animatedly with Rosalie and Jasper. I approached slowly, unsure as to what was going on. Alice never met me after school. She had her life, and I had mine, and they certainly didn't cross paths at school.

"Edward!" She shouted as soon as she spotted me. I glared at her and hurried to her side so she wouldn't scream anything else. Like we needed to draw more attention than we already were. She reached out to grab hold of my arm as soon as I was close enough, and I looked down at her hand, raising an eyebrow. She ignored my very annoyed look and gave me a brilliant smile. "Have you heard Charlie's kids moved in with him?" She asked. Of course she was on a first name basis with the chief. She knew everyone in this tiny fucking town. I looked up at her and didn't respond, but she didn't really need me to. She kept on going without me. "I'm going to try to meet Bella this weekend, she's Charlie's daughter," she pointed out rather redundantly. "I'm going to invite her and her brother to lunch and a movie in Port Angeles. We're all going. Would you like to join us?"

I was surprised by Alice's invitation. She usually kept me out of her plans, social or otherwise. We may have been twins, but we weren't all that close. At least, not since we moved from Chicago.

I gave Alice an even stare and she sighed, deflating just a tiny bit. "Yeah," she grumbled. "I didn't think so." She let go of my arm and for a moment I felt a twinge of guilt from the sad look on her face. "We're gonna go." She mumbled, turning away from me. I watched her wrap an arm around Jasper's waist while he pulled an arm around her shoulders and led them away to his car. Rosalie, who hadn't moved, gave me a cool glare. I glared back at her and she raised one eyebrow at me. Rosalie was one of the few people in this town who wasn't afraid of me. It was appreciated and annoying as fuck at the same time.

"What?" I snapped, pulling the door to my car open. She slapped her hand over the door to stop me yanking it fully open. I could have knocked her hand away, but the look she was giving me made me second think that move. I had no doubt that below that beauty queen exterior laid a fighter. I knew she could kick my ass, and since I refused to hit a woman, it'd be a pretty ugly beat down.

"Take it from someone who knows," Her voice was cool and low, dangerous even. "Family is the most important thing you'll ever get in this world. Don't fuck it up." She snarled. Her words struck me painfully, in ways I'm not sure she even fucking understood, and I took a deep breath to calm myself so I wouldn't hit her. I had already fucked up, but she didn't need to know to what extent. No one did.

"Mind your own fucking business." I growled out when I managed to finally get a hold of my voice. She rolled her eyes at me.

"Alice is my best friend." She shot back. "And watching her heart break because her fucking twin is an asshole is my business." Her words were venomous and cut me until I felt the need to flinch. I didn't give her the satisfaction though and held my ground. "You're a fucking asshole Cullen, but that girl is the most loyal person in the world and she's standing by you even though you keep shoving her away." Rosalie stared at me as if she didn't understand what Alice was thinking. I couldn't understand either. Rosalie was right, of course, but I'd rather give up my left nut before I fucking admitted it. "So stop fucking breaking her heart." She snarled. She gave me one last deadly glare then turned on her heel, marching away like she'd just won a fucking war.

She basically had.

I knew she was right and that pissed me the fuck off. Alice was my twin sister and one of my best friends, and I'd been an absolute nightmare to her for the past four years. I felt awful about it, but I just couldn't bring myself to change. The shit that had gone down in Chicago four years ago still haunted me, and I couldn't put that on Alice. She was too sweet, too good to be burdened with my fucking problems.

Letting out a sound that somewhat resembled a snarl, I got in my car and ripped out of the lot, barely slowing enough to avoid other cars. I sped out of the school parking lot and headed south on the 101, just needing to get out of town.

I drove until I hit Olympia, a good three-hour drive away. The way I was driving, I made it in one and a half.

Olympia was way bigger than Forks, but in the grand scheme of things, it was tiny. Just another speck on the map in Washington.

I stopped downtown at pretty great Thai restaurant that I loved called Lemongrass, and walked in, enjoying the scent of curries and spices that hit me.

"Hi hi!" The tiny waitress, Mimi, greeted me with a warm smile. I offered her a small smile in return and she brought me out a coke and set in front of me, already knowing what I liked. I thanked her and she grinned at me before scurrying back to the kitchen to bark out orders at her husband who was the main chef. I relaxed in my seat and took a deep breath, tracing lines of condensation on my glass. My phone rang and I fished it out of my pocket, glancing at the caller ID. I sighed and answered.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Edward, we were wondering if you're going to be home for dinner?" Dad's voice was quite and subdued, like it had been for the last four fucking years. I looked around the restaurant and sighed my relief that I'd bailed out of town.

"No."

There was a small pause and dad sighed.

"Alright son. Drive safe. We'll see you when you get home." He ended the call and I tossed my phone down on the table. I loved the freedom my parents gave me. They both knew that I was a good student, and I didn't ever go looking for trouble, and rarely found it, so they were okay with me taking off a lot. So long as I got my shit done and didn't get arrested.

Mimi brought out a bowl of yellow curry for me and I smiled at her.

"Thanks." I murmured. She patted my shoulder and gave me a warm, motherly smile.

"Enjoy sweet boy." She gestured to the bowl again and grinned before going back to the kitchen. The food was sweet and spicy and absolutely delicious, as it always was.

I finished off the entire bowl in record time and Mimi laughed at me. "Hungry boy!" she cried. I smirked.

"Not anymore." I patted my stomach for emphasis and she laughed. "Thanks Mimi." I told her. It was so much easier to be nice, charming even, to people who just didn't know me. Mimi was easy going and never asked personal questions. It was one of the reasons I kept coming back here.

"Good. You are a good boy." She patted my arm again and took the bowl away, brining out my bill and a fortune cookie. I chuckled at the fortune cookie and paid the bill. I cracked the cookie in half and pulled out the slip of paper, turning to read it while I munched on the cookie.

When all else seems to fail, smile for today and just love someone.

I glared down at the fortune in my hand. What kind of bullshit was this? Where were the standby fortunes of luck and prosperity? What fresh hell was this?

Aggravated again, I shoved the paper in my pocket and stood to leave, giving Mimi and Frank a wave as I left the restaurant.

I drove around Olympia for a while longer before deciding that I should head home.

I drove only a little slower heading back, stopping once in Aberdeen to appreciate the birthplace of Curt Cobain, before heading back to Forks.

By the time I got home, it was nearly midnight and everyone was asleep. I walked into the house silently, setting the alarm before heading up to my room. I paused outside of Alice's door on my way but then shook my head and continued up. Alice understood why I was the way I was. She didn't need to hear excuses or apologies for it.

Instead I went upstairs to my room and ripped off my shirt and jeans before flopping down on my bed and sighing. My eyes started to shut and dark images of a girl with brown hair and big scared eyes filled my mind. I sat up, swearing under my breath.

Wanting to block out all the nightmares I could feel clawing at my head, I headed downstairs and grabbed a bottle of whiskey, taking it upstairs with me. I hated drinking myself to sleep, but some nights, it was all I could do.

Knocking back a shot of the whiskey, I sighed and settled on my bed. Tonight was going to be a long fucking night.