Author's Note: I'm just so crazy about this story that I'm actually attempting to make two chapters in one day, which is an exponential improvement on my part.

Post-Edit: And it's better. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything about the Twilight series, unfortunately. Or any other copyrighted material that I may mention.


Previously:

"We're here." Bella said as we pulled into the driveway. It had been so long since I had last seen this house that I could hardly remember exactly what it looked like. It was very nostalgic to walk up the front steps of the house. Bella got her key and opened the door for me. I carried my small carryon and one of the larger pieces of luggage over the threshold behind me. The place hasn't changed a bit since I was last here. Charlie sure hates change, you can tell by the ancient couch and TV in the front room. Along with the smell of old house, this place is just perfect. Since Charlie wasn't home from work yet, Bella brought me up to her old room to show me where I'll be spending the next two years. I walked up the stairs dragging a suitcase up with me following the plain, brown-haired girl. I walked through the opened door to my new room and the memories of my childhood began to flood back to me at an alarming rate.


Chapter 2

This room...I thought as I walked across to the small rectangular room to look out the window. So many things have happened in this room. I traced the left side of the window frame with my hand before I turned around to see the strange looks I received from Bella and Edward who were still standing in the doorway. Each had their own distinct look and both were saying two different things. Bella looked nostalgic, more like how I was feeling myself, but Edward just had this smile plastered on his face as if he knew exactly what was going on in my head and having a little giggle about it.

"I suppose we should let you unpack, get comfy you know." Bella said as she pushed Edward out of the room, she was clearly eager to leave the small space. I looked at the two with a half-smile before I replied with an oddly disappointed tone,

"Bella, you're not going to help me unpack? You're not even going to bother to stay for a bit?" I'm not sure if I meant for it to come out that desperate but it was a pretty good depiction of how I was feeling in the moment.

Bella looked me over once before declaring in a more cheery tone,

"But you've got so much to do. We wouldn't want to be a disturbance to you." She tried to give me a little smile. "Plus, we have a few things that we need to sort out." She said looking up at Edward.

I sometimes honestly thought that Bella was a little slow. I hadn't seen her in years and she wanted to just ditch me twenty minutes after our reunion. I suppose they might have things to do, they've only been married a week now. I walked over to my largest suitcase, which rested upright next to Edward and pulled it next to the bed before I lifted it on to the bed with a loud grunt. It was a lot heavier than I remembered it was bringing it to the airport.

"C'mon Bella, you know that you're always welcome around me! It's not my fault you never want me to fly you out to visit me back East." I said as I opened the large piece of luggage, reached in and pulled out a Chanel cardigan. Pulling both my arms through it to my shoulders and pointed in the general direction of the kitchen,

"I really need some coffee or I'm going to fall asleep anyway. I'll unpack tomorrow or maybe next week. There's really no rush after all." I said as I pass through the two lovers to head back down the stairs.

Down in the kitchen, Edward fixed himself to one of the mismatched chairs at the table and Bella found the coffee for the percolator. I still had to learn where everything was since I had never really taken the time to root in cupboards when I was five, unless I was looking for a good hiding spot during "hide and seek" with Bella. I went to fill the decanter with water for the coffee maker, but before I could do so, Bella insisted I sit down and relax after my day of traveling. I sat down a little begrudgingly across the table from Edward. His chair was slightly pulled out so that he could watch Bella work her coffee making magic in Charlie's kitchen. You'd think that was the most interesting thing that anyone has ever done judging by the amount of attention he's putting into his observation. You could tell that he was crazy about her. I flashed a smile to the statuesque boy before leaning over in exhaustion while placing my head in my hands. This day has been too long... I thought.

"How was your flight, Claire?" Edward asked me. I was starting to get suspicious about all of his very convenient comments and questions. They were too well in-tune with my personal thoughts, unless I had been thinking out loud, which I have been known to do all too often. Before answering, I gave him a little messed up confused look. It pretty much just painted my suspicion all over my face, but I was really tired, so I assume that my odd looks are forgivable.

"It was fine." I said kind of shortly, "No screaming toddlers or crying babies, no one kicking the back of my seat for hours on end. It was probably the most peaceful flight I've ever experienced." I said very casually but partially into my hands.

When the coffee was ready, Bella broke the somewhat awkward silence of the kitchen by jumping over to the counter. She poured the piping hot liquid into two cups and placed one in front of myself and in front of herself, having already gathered the cream and sugar, she sat herself back down. "So..." she said trying to start up a conversation again. What exactly can three terribly awkward people talk about? But you knew when she finally got a flash of genius because her face light up so brightly. "Remember that time you fell off the roof."

I looked at her a bit confused, until it finally hit me.

"Oh, my God. I can't believe you remember that!" I said in pure and tragic disbelief, I of course blocked the horrific memory from my mind until someone like Bella reminds me about it. "I never was able to fly like Super Girl, no matter how many times I would jump. And it wasn't the house; it was off the old shed." I remembered the hospital trip that accompanied that grand stunt. Stupid Laurence for ever making me think I could fly. I thought about my older half sibling. Laurence was always getting me injured, even though we were closest in age, you could say that he's tried to kill me the most out of all my siblings.

"What about that night we slept in your new Barbie tent in the backyard?" I said before taking a long sip out of my mug. "You couldn't have run any faster back to the house Bella. You big chicken."

"I was only eight and I was still scared of the dark." Bella replied as she tapped my shoulder jokingly.

"Well I was only six. And I stayed out there all by myself all night long." I declared as if I were very proud of my six year olds self's accomplishment. "I would have taken anything over having to go home though." My tone had definitely changed with my last remark. Bella looked down to her mug, her hand clenched to it in a vice grip. She knew exactly what I meant by that.

My childhood was never that great. A few things from it continue to haunt me until this day; those things are mainly my siblings. My family was strange. My mother and father both came from previous marriages when they fell in love. Eight months after they met, they were wed. One month later, I was born.

My mother was Juliana Swan-Walker-Brown, she was Charlie's younger sister. She's how I'm related to Charlie and Bella. Her first marriage was more of a sham than anything. My grandparents and her first husband's parents arranged their marriage when they were very young, part of some deal the Swan family and the Walker family had. The details were always kind of fuzzy to me. She had three children by the age of 28, Emma, Dylan and Laurence. The divorce was finalised when she was 30.

My father was father was Neil Brown, Head of Brown and Co., heir to the Brown fortune and trapped in an arranged marriage just like Juliana. He was pressured to marry his first wife very early in his life, he was only twenty years old. He had two children when his marriage ended, Shelly and Jonathan. His divorce went through when he was 32.

When my parents met, it was love at first sight, or so they said. My mother was aging gracefully, at 32 and my father was newly 34, a very career oriented kind of man. It seemed that the two were a match made in heaven, which may have been the case. All I know is that I've never seen two people more in love than my parents were. My mother was 33 by the time she had me. Although I'm technically an only child, my half siblings have made my life a living hell, especially over this past summer.

My parents had been vacationing in Italy this past June, I agreed to stay home because of my finals in school, and rather I was forced to stay home. They both know how important it is to get your education. I was also able to spend some quality time with my boyfriend, Sebastian. All my half siblings were staying at their respective houses or parent's house. I had my house to myself; it had the potential of being the best summer vacation ever; house parties, spending the days by the pool, just living it up. That is up until that stupid phone call anyway.

Ring...Ring...Ring...

That infernal ringing, would it ever stop?

...Ring...Ring...Ring...

Apparently it wasn't going to. I mean, who even calls at this hour anyway?

I rolled over to the right side of my bed and reached over for the cordless phone on my night stand. When I finally had the source of the evil noise, I hit the talk button and held it up to my ear. "Hello?" I said very groggily into the receiver. 4:23am, far too early to be anything close to awake.

"Is this Miss Claire Brown?" The man on the other end sounded distant and his English was dripping with an Italian accent.

"Speaking," I said as I threw my legs over the side of my queen sized bed in an effort to wake myself up a bit more. "Who's calling?" My words dragged out so long, the man on the line probably thought that I was drunk.

"This is officer Dantino, of the Rome police department. I have been informed that your mother, Juliana Brown, and father, Neil Brown, were involved in a head on collision with another automobile earlier today." The man sounded as if he were trying to pick his words very carefully, although it wasn't helping my emotions at that moment. The shock of this news hit me as if I had just jumped off the roof of the shed again. The nervousness climbing as I flew through the air and finally the realization as I hit the ground.

"Are… Are they okay?!" I managed to stutter into the receiver. My breathing became shallow and short as I waited for the man to reply.

"They are currently in the intensive care unit at..."

I didn't hear the rest of the statement. The phone slowly dropped to the floor as time seemed to have stood still.

"They're...They're..." I couldn't bear the thought that they wouldn't make it. I could hear a faint noise coming from the phone on the floor. I finally realized I dropped the phone.

When I bent down to get it, I could hear someone yelling in Italian.

"Hello! Hello!" I shouted into the phone, hoping that he would talk to me again.

"Your parents, they are in a critical state. The doctors think that their chances of making it through the night are very slim."

I couldn't react. I didn't want to react. I was going to lose my parents and I wouldn't even be able to see them before they died.

"Is there anything you would like to say to them? I can pass any messages on. I'm so very sorry that you cannot be here." The officer tried to sounds as sympathetic, but it was still terribly hard for me. I finally broke down to tears.

"Can you tell...them that...I love them a lot...and I'll take care of everyone...and everything here...And that they...don't have to...worry about me... If they can hold out for just a day I'll be there!" I managed to say between sobs.

"I will tell them." He said affirmatively "If there's any news I will call back." He finally finished, hanging up his side of the line. I didn't know how to react; I knew I had to be strong because I was going to suffer the wrath of my half siblings. I grabbed my laptop quickly from my desk on the other side of my room and quickly searched for flights to Rome. If I could leave this morning, I might be able to see them one last time. Not the best results, so I started to do the next best thing. I packed a bag and started to head out to the airport, just as I was putting my hand on the knob for the front door, the evil sound cut through my rushing.

Ring...Ring...Ring...

I quickly answered the phone.

"Miss Brown? I'm so very sorry to inform you..."

I once again dropped the receiver once again, not capable to pick it up again. I cried loudly, filling my room with the yelps of a hopeless child in need of her parents love and protection. When I managed to pick the receiver back up, the officer was actually still on the line.

"Sir, I would just like to let you know that I'll be in Rome later today. Someone has to bring them home…"

"Remember that time when your dad caught you kissing Rob Sinclair?" Bella asked half laughing a forced laugh at the thought herself, my mind finally snapped back to reality. Judging by the look of concern on her face, she knew that I had zoned out. It would have been obvious that I had lost myself in my thoughts. I half smiled at her for bringing up that horrifying thought of my first kiss.

"Is that my Bella that I hear?" The deep, booming voice of who else but Charlie filled the kitchen. I jumped up quickly from the table, my face recovered, I plastered on a big smile as Charlie walked into the kitchen.

"Claire!" he shouted as I stood up and waited for the bear hug.

"Uncle Charlie!" I said as excited as I could get. I was really excited to see him, really. He was definitely like a second father to me and I'm sure he'll enjoy the extra company since Bella isn't living with him anymore. We exchanged the usual pleasantries, how was your flight, you've grown so much, you haven't changed a bit, etc., etc.

Then out of nowhere he comes out with this little gem:

"You'll never guess who was asking about you today?" Charlie said as he sat himself down at the table, practically ignoring Edward sitting at the other place.

"Oh?" I asked genuinely curious, "Who's that?"

"Robert Sinclair!"


Post-Edit Author's Note: So, I decided that the original author's note that was down here sucked so much, I had to change it. I hope that any new readers enjoy the edits and are tolerating any discrepancies between the chapters. Hopefully the edited version of chapter 3 will be up shortly.

Please don't forget to review!