Authors Note: This chapter is a back story for all the characters, their lives outside of their friendships and the problems they face. I thought if you had read it, you would understand them better.

Road trips and Reunions.

Rosalie.

"Get up short stuff. You're the one who told me to be up early. Look, I'm parent presentable and everything." I shook her petite shoulders as her head pressed deeper into her pillows.

"Mmmphhhggrrr" She mumbled, though it was obvious she was telling me to go away.

Psh, like that's gonna happen...

As if she read my mind, which was usually the case with Alice, she pushed herself up slowly, her arms shaking with her sleep-induced weight. She screamed as she dropped back to the bed and her head shot up. She looked round and smiled at me.

"Perky pixie?" I asked. She giggled and jumped from the bed, pulling me out of her room and running back inside. The door slammed in front of my face before I could say a word. My foot tapped impatiently against her wooden floor. "Hurry up Pix; we got to hit the road." I shouted through the door, the clock on the wall above her bathroom stating it was already 10:30. We're never gonna make it in time.

Alice opened her door and walked out, wearing a lot of layers, just as I was. We knew Forks. We knew it was freezing everyday. We knew it hardly ever didn't rain. We didn't need any warnings.
Her arm hooked into mine and we walked down the stairs, towards the kitchen.
While she grabbed the cake from the fridge, she asked me; "Have you eaten anything?"

"Gah, stop being polite. Its 10:45! Grab your keys and let's go!" Her eyes widened and she ran from the kitchen, grabbing my arm as she passed me, making me fly off of my seat and trip into the front room. She frantically began grabbing things, keys, her phone, her money, a toy frog. I would question that later, she was in a rush. She stuffed her grabbing's into her bag and pulled me through the front door.

"Get in the car please." She barked, walk-running towards the car. The car jerked forward before my door was closed. Once Alice was sure I was perfectly safe, the car zoomed out of the driveway and onto the road, were Alice seemed to calm down. "It's gonna be a long ride, buckaroo." She laughed and turned the radio up, while I opened my window fully, letting the cool air whip my hair around my face. She laughed. "You look like a monkey!"

"Shut up, pix stick." I laughed and shoved her.

Half way through our journey, Alice sighed and shook her head. I looked over to her and a tear had begun its journey down her cheek.

"What's up, buttercup?" I asked, trying to cheer her up. It wasn't normal for her to be down.

"Do you remember Bella?" Instantly, a small ten year old girl, with flowing brunette hair, and doe brown eyes flashed across my vision, and I smiled.

"Yeah ..." I sighed, remembering all the good moments we shared. All three of us, as sisters.

"He's so pretty!" Bella gushed, her cheeks turning bright pink as we giggled at her exclamation.

"He's old! Like twenty five or something!" Alice gasped as she realised the age difference.

"I don't care! I think he likes me to..." She blushed more, and we giggled together at her crush on Mr Cullen, the doctor who had come in to show us about hospitals.

"I heard he's married ..." I whispered, not wanting to make Bella sad, but knowing he had a wife.

Bella sighed and shook her head.

"I know. But it's not illegal to have a crush. He has the best hair!" She exclaimed, quickly beginning a gossip circle between us three.

"Do you remember her crush on Doctor Cullen?" We laughed together, and Alice shook her head.

"Yeah, and she didn't stop talking about him for weeks..." She giggled again. I laughed along, and we continued to remember our childhood friend through the rest of our journey.

Once we had pulled up to her house, her sister Cynthia ran out of the open door and threw the car door open, dragging Alice out and squealing as she hugged her.

"Hey baby girl. Miss me much?" She laughed and nodded. Alice lifted Cynthia onto her hip and turned her to where I could see her properly. "Cynthy, you remember Rosie-Bear, right?" Cynthia smiled up politely at me and shook her head, her hair covering her face as she pushed it into Alice's shoulder. I didn't expect her to remember me. She was a baby the last time I saw her, and I didn't really ever get to met her again.

"Alice?" Mrs. Brandon stood at the door, a wide smile shining on her face. "And is that you Rosalie? Oh gosh, come in girls. Come in. I've missed you!" She exclaimed as she brought Alice, still holding Cynthia, into her arms, squeezing her to her chest. I looked at them, a perfect Kodak moment. They honestly were the picture perfect family.
I looked out the window, in the direction of my childhood home.
I wish I had that...
I sighed as Alice dragged me towards her mother, who had her arms wide open, ready to encase me, as always. I laughed and stepped into her arms, sighing once again, this time at the warmth of her motherly love. Mrs. Brandon always had enough to go around to everyone, and then some to spare. She was a mother to everyone, creating bonds with each person she meets. Her hands gripped my shoulders and she looked at me from arms length. "How have you been?" She asked, looking directly into my eyes, making me feel very shy and self conscious.

"Just great, I got a job. Alice is fine!" I shouted, trying to divert the attention away from me. Alice smirked and shook her head, her tiny arms crossed across her chest.

"She already got to me!" She sang. I laughed and turned to her mother again.

"I've been fine." I said, as honestly as I could. The pressure of finding a job had been nagging me for a while, and Mrs. Brandon had found that out through Alice, but apart form that that, I was coping really well with living on my own, much better then when I lived with my parents, which is why she continues to ask how I am, every time I see her.

"Really?" I nodded, honesty painting my entire face. "Then, that's great!" She exclaimed, and hugged me to her again, before flitting off to the kitchen.
Like mother, like daughter.
I laughed and walked over to Alice, who was playing with Cynthia, tying her hair, while she babbled about her friends in her nursery class.

"AND!" She exclaimed for the fifth time, making Alice and I laugh again. "My teachers the greatest! Her name is Mrs. Whitlock, and she's really nice, and when we're good, she gives us treats! AND! She said I'm a really pretty little girl with a bright future ahead of me" She exclaimed, imitating her teacher's southern styled voice. We laughed and Alice lifted her onto her hip again.

"Sweetie, its way past your bed time." Alice whispered into her ear. Cynthia whined and struggled to try and get out of her grip. "Come on, if you go to bed now, Rosie and I will come and meet your friends and your teacher tomorrow." She promised. Cynthia, whose eyes had become heavier, looked over to me for reassurance, so I nodded. "Time for bed, Cynthia." She whispered, and she nodded and closed her eyes, her little head leaning on Alice's shoulder. I laughed.

"She's so cute!" I squealed after Alice had closed the door and we were halfway down the stairs. Lice laughed and fell onto the sofa.

"She's so tiring! She's juts this bundle of energy. It's so hard to keep up with her!" I looked at her incredulously.

"Really? You're actually saying that. Really?" She nodded and laughed. "So we're going to see her teacher tomorrow? As in, I-have-to-get-up-early-tomorrow?"

"Yes! She's really happy about it, and she's trying to get to know you. Don't be a meany!" She hissed. I looked at her, her childish words contradicting her scary tone. We both giggled then and trudged our way upstairs. The day had been long and I needed some beauty sleep.

Bella.

"What do you mean, we can't go yet? Why can't we go yet? What's happened?" Edward ranted. I sighed into the phone, and looked towards the sky from the room of my fathers hospital bed.
I had called Edward to tell him we would have to cancel our honeymoon until a later date, because of a drastic event and he was already freaking out.

"My dads in hospital again. He fainted on the job again, there staring to get worried." I whispered, my voice beginning to quiver. Dad had been very ill lately, his blood levels dropping lower than normal, which was causing him to faint a lot. He has been in this hospital more times then I can count. And the thought of losing my father petrified me.
I heard Edward sigh and curse into the phone, telling me he would be at the hospital as soon as he could.
"Thank you for all this." I whispered into his chest once he had arrived. He pulled away and looked into my eyes, his emeralds piercing me with sincerity.

"Don't thank me. I love you, so much. I'd do anything to make you happy. And if that means no honeymoon, then screw the honeymoon! It's just a holiday. We can do it some other time. This is more important, okay?" I smiled as tears rolled down my cheeks, a reddish tint staining my face at the love his voice held.

"You know I love you too, right?" I asked, standing on the tips of my toes as I connected my lips to his. His arm wrapped around my waist and he pulled away, a dopey grin marking his beautiful lips.

"Yeah, you wouldn't kiss me like that if you didn't." I giggled and we walked to my father's room. He looked sternly at us, until he felt the need to bust out a grin.

"You do realise how adorable you too look, don't you?" He asked, his words shocking me.
It was so un-Charlie like of him to be okay with Edward.
Before our marriage, all I ever herd from my father was "Edward isn't good for you..." or "Edward isn't as gentlemanly as he make himself out to be, I was his age once to, ya know..." I still shudder at that memory. It began the inevitable sex talk I had avoided for the past seventeen years. My point is, for Charlie to give a compliment towards our relationship, he knew something was wrong. It seemed as if Edward had picked this up too, though he smiled in thanks and guided me to sit in the chair next to his bed, standing behind me protectively, with his hands securely on my back, out of the sight of Charlie.
As he rubbed up and down my shoulder blades, I smiled at my father, who proceeded to tell me about his day, the food he ate, the nurses and their witty banter with him. I laughed and I smiled in all the right places, though in the back of my mind, a sentence replayed over and over again.

My father is going to die...