Someone Like Me Chapter 2, a twilight fanfic

Thank you so much to all the alerts/favourites/reviews from last week. Absolutely blown away by your support!

All the hugs and wine go to SparklyMeg, Iris and MidightCougar for their help with this.

So as you've guessed this will be a lil bit bumpy. Let's see how bumpy it's gonna be for them…

Chapter 1

10 years earlier...

Her POV

The rain falls in sheets so fast that when you first glance at it, it's like a blur. The odd crack of lightning flashes through the sky, disappearing as fast as it arrived. The weather's turned the night from easygoing to treacherous. I make a mad dash from my car to the house, knowing I'm gonna get soaked anyway, no matter how fast I run. Normally, I'd be grateful for the rain and the brief spell of cool air it brings with it.

Just not on the night I'd plans to go to a bonfire on the beach.

Inside, I slam the door behind me and turn on the light. It flickers, and I wonder how long I have before the power goes out completely.

"Mom? Dad?" Nothing but silence answers me as I head upstairs to my room to change. They'd mentioned they might go out for dinner, but I assumed the weather would've put them off.

I strip, throwing my soaked clothes into a pile on the floor and changing into my favorite sweats and t-shirt.

On my way back downstairs, because the darkness is making my stomach churn, I turn on all the lights. Dread settles deep in my stomach, making me feel like something isn't right, like that feeling when you're uneasy and you don't know why. Butterflies, but not the excited kind; the kind that make you want to throw up, and nothing will seem to settle them.

Like a child, I check every empty room, behind the shower curtain, and under the kitchen table. I check that the doors are locked, close the curtains, and flop onto the couch, flicking through the channels before settling on The Goonies. Perfect rainy day material.

Not long into the film, three sharp, loud knocks on the front door echo throughout the house. The abrupt noise goes straight through me, making me shiver. It's that feeling of dread again.

Knowing whoever is at my door in this weather can't be bringing good news.

Knock.

I get up from the sofa in a daze. I can feel my body moving, my limbs going through the motions, but I feel like I'm watching from the outside.

My hand shakes as I reach out for the door handle. I focus, squinting my eyes, trying to make it stop. It doesn't work until I place both hands on the handle. I rest my forehead on the door, take a deep breath, and then look through the peephole as I've always been taught—or maybe it's my way of prolonging some kind of inevitable—but all I see is a blurry image.

When I open the door and see my dad's deputy standing in front of me with his hat off, covering his chest and with a sympathetic, heartbroken look on his face, my world goes black.

**SLM**

"Bella? Bella, honey?" There's something cold on my forehead, and a soothing voice slowly wakes me. I blink a few times, and the blurry face coming into focus. I'm on my back on the sofa, its throw covering my legs.

The familiar face smiles softly, dabbing again at my forehead. "Hey, sweetie."

"Kate? What…? What's going on? Why are you here?" I quickly glance around the room. "What's Garrett doing here? Where's my dad?" My voice gets higher and higher, the words falling and tumbling from my mouth. "Something's happened, hasn't it? That's why he's here. That's why you're here."

Kate's the secretary at my dad's office and is engaged to Garrett, my dad's deputy sheriff. I've overheard enough stories from my dad to know that this many cops in once place can't be good news.

Kate crouches in front of me. I look down, focusing on how pale her skin is. Smooth. And with perfect red nails. Her voice hums in the background, and I know I should be listening. She's trying to tell me something important.

"You have really pretty nails," I blurt out. The room falls silent, and I can feel everyone's eyes on me.

"Oh. Thanks, Bella." She tilts my head up so I'm looking at her. "Did you hear what I just said to you?"

I shake my head.

"Can I sit here?" She gestures to where my feet are, and I sit up with my feet on the floor. She takes the empty space, facing me and taking my hand in hers.

"I… I'm so sorry, honey." She blinks a few times, as if trying to stop her tears. It doesn't matter, because I can see them anyway. "Your parents… There was an accident. They didn't make it." She chokes on the last word, tears spilling over while her words hit me like a wrecking ball.

I'm sorry.

Accident.

Didn't make it.

**SLM**

His POV

"I just need you to cover for me. I'll be back before they are. They won't even know I've gone out."

The condensation falls down the bottle as I bring it to my mouth. It's cool, refreshing, but nowhere near strong enough. I shudder as the liquid slides down my throat. My father may like the best scotch, but his taste in beer is awful.

"Nope."

"You're such a douche. You know they'll be okay if you come with me. Why can't you just help me out for once?"

I roll my eyes at her dramatics as she stomps her feet like the child she's trying to prove she's not.

"I'm not going to some loser high school party just so you can hook up with your guy of the moment." I shake my head. "Seriously, Al. He's a deadbeat loser."

She stomps her foot again, making me smirk. "You don't even know him! And don't laugh at me. It's not fair! They're not letting me go 'cause they think I'll end up a mess like you."

"Wow. Sweet talk. Way to get me to go with you." She huffs and smacks the back of my head as she passes. I leave her to her dramatics, 'cause that's all it ever is.

Moments later, she's back next to me, and the car keys are dangling from her fingers. "I'm going anyway."

"Of course you are." I take another drink.

"I am."

"Okay."

"Well? Aren't you coming?"

"Nope."

"What will you do if they come home and I'm not here?"

"Tell them where you are."

"You wouldn't."

"I would." I turn to face her. "Look, I haven't been home in a while. The weather sucks, so the party will be a total blow out. How about we order in some dinner, throw on a movie, grab our covers, and set up a fort in the living room like we used to? With all that thunder, it's the perfect night for watching a horror movie. It'll be like when we watched them with the lights off as kids."

"You're such a loser, Edward."

I roll my eyes. Was I this dramatic in high school?

"Better a loser than a wannabe."

She huffs and stomps to the door, the keys jingling in her fingers. "If I get in trouble tonight, it's your fault."

Alice leaves, slamming the door behind her, the thud almost echoing in the silence. Guilt flashes through me, though it's gone in the same instant. I'm here to prove how much I've changed to my parents, not to my little sister.

The silence left in her wake feels deafening.

Like it's trying to tell me something.

I sit and watch the door, willing for her to return.

**SLM**

Jacksonville summers are hit or miss. You can have the kind of day that everyone raves about: dry, humid, sunny. Perfect. Or you can have the kind of day we're having: monsoon-style rain, stormy skies, and wind strong enough to knock you off your feet.

The rain batters the front of the house, the noise weirdly soothing as I sit in almost silence in the living room.

Pitter-patter.

The TV provides the only light as it plays in the background; some old sitcom I'm not even paying attention to. Shadows from the screen flicker across the floor as if dancing with the ones on the wall made by the trees outside. The wind's so strong that my mom's favorite tree by the window is almost bent in half.

It covers the window, but one branch already snapped most of the way off. Back and forth… It's like it's waving at me.

Taunting me.

It's daunting.

And for some reason, it makes me feel uneasy.

The lights go off, plunging the room into darkness. My heart pounds as I check my phone, desperate to hear from Alice.

I knew I shouldn't have let her leave. Part of me knows I'm overreacting. As much as she acted like a kid earlier, she's still smart. Nothing will happen, but with the weather acting as bipolar as it is, something could happen.

And it'd be my fault for letting her leave.

Thunder rumbles once, twice, and a third time, almost shaking the house, before lightning flashes through the sky, basking the room with light for mere seconds.

Something outside is knocked over, banging against the front of the house.

Bang.

It takes me a few minutes to realize the noise is someone knocking on the front door.

**SLM**

The living room is crowded, like my parents have thrown a party, but they're the last to arrive. I don't know anyone here; people I haven't met before and most likely won't meet again. The officer by the door is the most intimidating; tall, looming over his other colleagues, and standing as still as a statue with his arms folded over his chest. The rest of them buzz around like ants, wanting to make sure I'm okay. Can they get me something to drink? Is there anything I want? Do I want them to try my parents again?

I shy away from them all, telling them I'd rather be alone. It's not rude or a lie; it's the truth. They can't drop something like that and expect me to be normal.

Like I haven't just been told my sister's been in a car accident.

Like I haven't been told she's never coming home again.

"Edward, is there anything I can get you?"

The petite blonde hovers as though she's afraid I'm going to do something. I'm not, and her presence pisses me off, but I just have to deal with her until my parents return.

"I'm fine."

Liar.

Soon, the lights from parents' car hit the front of the house. Everyone falls silent as I stand and make my way to the front door, with blondie close behind me.

My mom is through the door first, almost unrecognizable. Her normally put-together appearance has fallen apart. Her hair's out from the elegant updo she had, strays whipping around her face in the wind. Her mascara is smudged under her eyes, and her face is the palest I've ever seen it. All traces of her makeup are gone.

"Edward?" My name's a whisper on her lips, and I barely make it to her in time before she crumbles.

I fall with her, both of us dropping to the floor in each other's arms. My dad's close behind, and I feel his arms around me.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

**SLM**

Thank you for reading! See you next Sunday!

Fic Rec: Kairos by Sparklymeg - Kairos - from Ancient Greek - the right or opportune moment - the perfect timing. Age is just a number, but timing is everything. Originally written for the May to December Romance Contest