Hello guys :) I hope you are enjoying the story so far. We are in present day now so the story will be picking up the pace. Please please please review and let me know your thoughts! I love getting feedback from you guys :)

Disclaimer: Stephenie's creation, my artistic licence ;)


Gloomy weather is often expected at a funeral. However, it was a warm and cloudless morning in Chicago as I stood in the cemetery, bidding a final goodbye to the woman who had become a mother to me in every way. Liz moved to Chicago and lived with Edward after her condition deteriorated, so naturally she was buried here too.

Tears are often expected at funerals too, but I shed none. I have never been afraid to cry but I was never one to force tears if I didn't feel them. In all honesty, I was more relieved than anything else to know that Liz could finally be in peace and not in pain. Instead, I closed my eyes and held my face to the breeze, imagining her watching me from her new resting place.

I felt a squeeze on my shoulder and turned to see Jasper beside me with a small tear in his eye. He wasn't one for showing emotion but the news of Liz's passing hit him hard. She was a mother to Jasper also, even if I was more open to showing my endearment than he was. As I expected, Alice and Jacob agreed it would better for Jasper and I to go on our own and provide support to each other since it was more personal to us.

Unfortunately, Jasper and I had missed the burial due to his catastrophic navigation technique. If I ever visited Chicago again, I would definitely forgo the road trip and fork out for a simple four hour flight. Even so, I still didn't think it would be right to go to the wake without stopping to pay our respects to a women we loved so dearly. Guilt was eating away at me when I thought about how I hadn't stayed in touch with her when she was healthy, nor visited her when she was ill. It was too late to change that now.

Of course, there was another reason why I wasn't rushing to go to the wake.

Truth be told, I was nervous about seeing Edward again after nine years. As a teenager, I saw him as a dreamy high school hunk to drool over. Now, Edward was a twenty-seven year old man with real abs and possible facial hair, and if his heartbreakingly good looks at eighteen were anything to go by, I would imagine he would be dangerously attractive as a grown-up.

And what would he think of me? Would he still see me as that frumpy seventeen year old, the sister of one of his friends? Or would he see me as the dazzling young woman I had become over the years, with great hair and amazing legs in my little black dress? Hang on, why did I want Edward to look at my legs? It was his mother's funeral for God's sake, and I shouldn't care what he thinks of them anyway. I had a man at home to take care of that.

I was clearly in denial at this point, because deep down I knew Edward would always be the one whose opinion mattered. After all, he was my first crush and potentially the first man I ever loved. It still seemed important to me that for just one moment, he could see me not as the friend or the sister but as that girl. At least a girl could dream.

'Come on B,' Jasper said, tugging on my arm. 'Time to face the music.'

Indeed.

The wake was being held at the Cullen house. Emmett Cullen was Edward's closest colleague at the law firm where he worked. His parents had become Edward's for all intents and purposes when his mother's condition was at its worst.

Jasper and I exchanged looks when Edward's directions led us into what seemed to be a private road, but as we drove up the stone driveway we were taken aback by the grandeur of the Cullen house. It was a huge structure and very modern, with strong wooden beams providing a platform to keep the property suspended and huge glass windows at the front filling the kitchen and living room with sunlight. The front garden was decorated with white rosebushes and a small pond bordered by smooth grey pebbles. The Cullens were obviously quite wealthy.

'Wow,' Jasper whispered next to me in the passenger's seat, the word being a huge understatement.

We got out of my truck, approached the house and rang the doorbell. The large white door opened to reveal a small woman with a heart shaped face framed by caramel brown hair and equally brown eyes. She wore a black and white two piece suit in a classic style reminiscent of Jackie O, and was carrying a large tray of chocolate brownies.

'Hello, is this the Cullen residence?' Jasper asked politely.

'Why yes, please, do come in,' the lady answered as she ushered us into her beautiful home. 'Are you relatives of Edward?'

'No, actually we're old friends of Edward from high school. I'm Jasper, and this is Bella, my sister.'

'Ah, so you're Jasper. I thought I recognized you from the pictures Edward showed me. I'm Esme Cullen,' the woman said warmly as she greeted both of us with a hug. 'And Bella,' she smiled, stepping back to take a good look at me. 'You're even more beautiful in person. The camera does you no justice.'

In that moment, Esme had officially become my new favourite person.

Esme led us into the kitchen, where I could heat up the lasagne I prepared for the wake. It was one of my favourite dishes which Liz taught me to make, so I thought it would be fitting to bring some. As we walked in, we met with a middle aged man with blonde hair washing his hands.

'Carlisle, come and meet Edward's old friends, Jasper and Bella. Jasper, Bella, this is Carlisle, my husband,' Esme said as she introduced us. Carlisle had strong blue eyes and movie-star good looks, making him seen younger than he must have been. I was beginning to get the impression that this family was very attractive.

It's nice to meet you both,' Carlisle said warmly. 'Particularly you, Bella. Liz often spoke about you while I treated her. At first, I thought she was hiding a secret daughter!'

'Carlisle is a doctor,' Esme explained. 'When Liz made the move up here, he became the main doctor to treat her at the hospital. It was nice for her to have someone familiar to take care of her, especially in the final stages.'

I simply nodded. Did he know that it had been ages since I had seen Liz, or even spoken to her? Probably.

'Please help yourself to some food in the next room, and I'll take this for you,' offered Esme, as she took the lasagne from my hands.

We made our way to living room which was full of people, all dressed in the standard black attire. I wasn't aware that Edward or Liz had a large family so I assumed many of the attendees were Edward's colleagues and friends, as well as some acquaintances of the Cullens.

It was while I was helping myself to some delightful potato salad at the buffet table that I finally heard that velvet voice which instantly turned my heart to mush.

'Isabella?'

I took a deep breath before I turned around to face the Greek god that was Edward Masen. He looked older but the effect was still the same, better even. His face was more angular, his jaw chiselled and hosting a five o'clock shadow. He had a swimmer's body, lean and lanky yet muscular. And of course, he still possessed that unruly bronze hair and shocking green eyes.

In short, Edward was hot, and here I was ogling him at his own mother's funeral. May the good Lord strike me down for my scandalous behaviour.

'Hi Edward,' I mumbled, with my blush right on cue.

'Wow Isabella, you look great,' Edward said, his eyes taking me in slowly like a tall glass of water. The thirst was real.

'Thanks, you don't look so bad yourself. And it's Bella now, by the way.'

'Ah, Bella. Very fitting, I must say,' Edward noted, with the same crooked grin I was used to. 'It seems like you're no longer the little girl I used to know.'

'Edward, you were a year above me in high school,' I scoffed. That hardly gives you the right to call me a little girl.'

'I guess you're right,' Edward agreed. 'I've just always seen you as my little sister anyway.'

There was that word again – sister. Yet why did I care about that when I was getting married in a mere eight months' time?

'I'm really sorry…for your loss,' I began. You know how much I loved Liz too.'

'Thank you, I appreciate that. You know, she was always asking about you. You should have gotten in touch, or maybe given us a little visit now and then,' Edward said, a sad smile haunting his features.

'Yeah, about that – '

'Masen, who's the new girlfriend?'

I looked over Edward's shoulder to see an ape of a man coming towards us. He had short curly brown hair and the same blue eyes as Carlisle. Although he was huge in stature, the childlike glint in his eyes showed that he was anything but threatening. On his arm was a blonde haired, brown eyed beauty with curves that effortlessly fell in all the right places.

'Emmett, Rosalie, I'd like you to meet Jasper's sister, Bella Swan,' Edward announced. 'Bella, this is Emmett Cullen, my workmate, and his wife Rosalie.'

'It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Bella,' Emmett said with a nod of the head.

'Bella Swan? As in the editor of Loom Magazine?' asked Rosalie.

'Guilty. Do you read it?'

'Absolutely!' Rosalie gushed. 'I loved your article on 60's style icons. And that Alice Whitlock is a genius when it comes to putting together gorgeous outfits.'

'Well, looks like we'll all have to meet up and talk fashion,' I suggested.

'So Bella, how about letting me hook you up with Edward while you're in town? He's a very eligible bachelor in the Windy City, I'll have you know,' Emmett asked cheekily, which only earned him a slap on the head by Rosalie.

'Ow! I was kidding you know! Obviously, it would be highly inappropriate, not to mention the fact that you're already spoken for.'

All eyes flickered to my left hand, where my engagement ring weighed ten pounds on my fourth finger.

'Wow Bella, congratulations,' Edward said, his eyes never leaving the ring. I blushed and said my thanks, glad that it didn't turn into an awkward conversation.

I spent most of the afternoon talking to Emmett and Rosalie and getting to know them more, while they shared stories of how they met Edward. Emmett and Edward met in law school and went on to work in the same firm. Edward dealt with commercial transactions while Emmett handled the beefy litigation claims. Rosalie started dating Edward first until they both embarrassingly admitted that they weren't really attracted to each other. I was shocked at that one – Rosalie was a very beautiful woman, so it took me by surprise that Edward wasn't remotely interested. Rosalie studied mechanical engineering in college and was now running her own successful car shop in the city.

They were both very friendly and conversation flowed easily with them. They promised to show Jasper and I around the city for the duration of our stay in Chicago. Esme and Carlisle also invited us for dinner on our last night, which I thought was very hospitable of them.

Although I didn't speak to Edward much throughout the wake, I could feel his eyes on me. Even when he was with other guests, I caught him glancing in my direction several times. Did I like it? Yes and no. I did like the attention from him, since I had craved it for such a long time. On the other hand, I hated the way he still affected me. It was like I was a junior in high school all over again, getting flustered over the mere though that Edward was watching me. It looked as though nine years could not erase the incredible pull I felt towards him.

'It was great seeing you again, Bella,' he said to me, once Jasper and I were ready to head off to our hotel. 'Don't leave it so long next time.'

'I'll try not to,' I promised.

'Maybe next time, you can bring your fiancé too and introduce us. Or husband. Whichever comes first.'

'Yeah, maybe.' I deliberately didn't mention that my fiancé was Jacob Black in case he remembered him from high school. That was yet another awkward conversation that I was trying to avoid.

We stood there for a few seconds just gazing at each other, the tension palpable between us. In the end, we parted with a weird half-hug but the small buzz of electricity was still there, even when we parted.

As I left the Cullen house that night, I felt Edward would be sticking around for a while in the chaos that was my life.