A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews. I am glad that everyone seemed to think it was a good start. Hopefully Bella's chapter will be as well received! Special thanks to SkylerBlack for her idea for a Texan Bella.

Chapter Two ~ "Lights of My Hometown"

(BPOV)

The closet door opened with the slightest creaking noise. I closed my eyes and braced myself against the onslaught of falling objects that would inevitably follow the opening of the door. When I realized that I hadn't been knocked out by falling shoes or even the Barbie dream car that had attacked me last summer, I slowly cracked one eye open. The sight that met me caused both eyes to pop open and my jaw to drop. There was nothing there. The closet was empty with the exception of about fifty hangers awaiting my clothes.

I turned around with my mouth still gaping open to see my twin sister sitting on her bed shaking with so much excitement that she was actually bouncing a bit. I continued to stare at her without saying anything. Her impatience with my response got to be too much for her and she asked, "What do you think?"

"I don't know what to say, Alice. You did this for me?" I asked amazed.

"Of course I did Bella. I am so excited that you are finally moving back home. We haven't lived together except for vacations in almost fourteen years. Giving up my spare closet is the least I can do to have my sister back with me. Cleaning it took me a whole week too," responded Alice. She had stopped bouncing as she talked and I took that as my opportunity to go to sit by her and give her a hug.

To anyone seeing us sit next to one another, we would appear to be more identical than we actually are. When we sit we are the same height and our bodies are both very thin but toned. Our hair is just a few shades different, mine is dark brown with a touch of red and Alice's is even darker with no red, though hers is cut in a stylish bob ending above her shoulders and mine flows to the middle of my back. Our faces are similar, yet different enough that we could never switch places and confuse people who knew us. Alice's features are a bit more angular than mine, but we both share our dad's brown eyes. We are both pretty, but we don't let it go to our heads.

Our differences start to appear when you hear us speak. Alice has no hint of any type of accent, and I on the other hand was raised in Texas. There is a definite twang to my speech and Alice likes to tease me and say I'm a 'Southern Bella.'

Once we stand up you can really tell the difference between us. Even though neither of us is tall, I have five inches on Alice's tiny four foot eleven inch frame. My legs are long and Alice insists that I showcase them often in short skirts, which apparently now had a place to hang in the once overflowing closet.

After I hugged her, I raised my eyebrows and asked, "How is it that it took you a whole week to clean out that tiny closet? I know there was a lot of stuff in there, but it shouldn't have taken more than a day or two."

Alice blushed a bit as she uncharacteristically started to stammer, "Uh, yeah, well, you see I didn't exactly clean it alone. Emmett helped and we may have gotten distracted a few times."

I smirked at her and she blushed an even darker shade of red. I stood up and put my hands on my hips and said sternly, "Mary Alice Swan," she cringed and crinkled her nose upon hearing her full name. Ever since she had been teased on the playground in preschool with kids chanting 'Mary, Mary quite contrary' she had insisted on being called Alice. I tried really hard not to laugh at her response as I continued to pretend to scold her, my southern accent thick with condemnation. "You let your boyfriend 'distract' you in Daddy's house? How dare you! What would your Momma say?"

Alice looked up at me and shrugged her shoulders and said with a twinkle in her eyes, "So, how was it?"

I burst out laughing and nodded my head and responded, "Yeah, that's exactly what she'd say. In fact that is what she used to ask me when I got home from dates with James." My smile quickly faded and was replaced by a frown. I stared at nothing in particular for a few seconds. Slowly I raised my eyes to look at Alice and she gave me a half smile, her eyes full of worry. I sighed and gave her a small smile in return. Then I shook my head as I took a deep breath and looked around the room.

My eyes rested on my bed and I turned toward Alice with an exasperated look and asked, "You didn't fuck him on my bed did ya?"

She bit her lip and tried to give me an innocent look. "Allllllice," I whined.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry. I did get you a new comforter and sheets," she said sheepishly. As if buying me new bedding would make up for the visual images I was going to have every time I looked at my bed. She would pay for that one someday.

I glared at her and replied, "Just keep your sexual exploits on your side of the room from now on, and preferably not while I am in it."

She laughed at me and said, "Deal. Now let's get your stuff unpacked so we can make something special for Dad for dinner."

As we unpacked and organized my things, I realized just how truly happy I was to finally be living with my sister again. Our parents divorced when we were four, each taking one of us to live with them. Alice threw a huge fit about moving away from Forks, so in the end I was the one who moved with Momma to San Antonio. Alice would visit Momma and me during winter and spring breaks and one month every summer and I would spend two months each summer with Daddy and her. We talked on the phone every day and we laughed and fought as if we were living together, but it wasn't really the same.

Momma and Alice were both relatively free spirits, while Daddy and I were both pretty grounded. Alice was less flighty and absentminded than Momma, and I was less serious and quiet than Daddy. I think in the end, even though we hated to be separated, we were both what each parent needed in their life to keep their balance. Then Momma met Phil and he provided her with the balance that she needed. Once he came into her life I was able to become a regular teenager.

Last year I met James and we started dating. We had a lot of fun together and I was falling in love with him. Momma and Phil got married at the beginning of summer and decided to move to Jacksonville. I told James at their wedding that I was going to move back to Forks to be with Daddy and Alice. That was the beginning of the end of our relationship.

"Hello? Earth to Bella." Alice's voice interrupted my thoughts. We were making baked ziti for dinner and I was chopping the onions and fresh basil. I looked down and realized that I could have stopped three minutes ago. Everything was finely minced. "What were you thinking about just now?" she asked me hesitantly. I am sure that the look on my face had let her know exactly where my mind had been.

I swallowed and moved to add the onions and basil to the mixture on the stove. "Momma's wedding and James," I said quietly, still lost in my memories.

Alice's eyes flashed with anger but her voice was sympathetic as she asked, "Do you still miss him?"

I shrugged and thought about that question. Did I miss James? That was the million dollar question. I focused my eyes on Alice and said, "I miss the James that I thought was my boyfriend. I don't miss the real James."

Alice put dinner in the oven and then pulled me to the table where she had us sit across from one another so she could look me directly in the eyes. "Bella, I know James hurt you and that what he did and said was unforgivable; but don't let him ruin you, don't let him win. He is a bastard and you are way too good for him. There is someone out there who is so much better for you and actually deserves to be with you, someone who will love you as much as you love him. I'm so glad you moved home," Alice said with tears in her eyes.

"Thank you Alice. You're right, I'm not gonna let James win; I'll just keep lookin' for the right guy. I'm ready to move on with my life. I'm so glad I moved home too," I said as I got up and gave her a big hug.

After dinner, Alice decided that I needed to get out and see Forks, or at least get some ice cream since there really wasn't much to see in Forks. We drove downtown in the new black pickup truck that Momma and Phil had bought for us. Of course it had rained earlier in the day and the street lights reflected off the rain soaked roads. Kids ran on the sidewalks, families enjoyed a break from the rain and I sat outside the ice cream shop and talked with my sister.

I saw the lights of my hometown and I realized I had never appreciated coming to Forks as much as I did that night. I could have a fresh start to my life in Forks; it's where my life originally began, so it would be fitting that my life could start again here. I felt comfortable and at peace as I looked around the small town. I was home.

A/N: "Lights of My Hometown" by Aaron Lines

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Next up, Jasper sees a mystery girl!