Three: Family Reunion

Lily

Rain. That was the first thing I saw when Rebecca and I walked out of Forks Airport and into the freezing cold car park (although it's cold parking lot here in America). I pulled my hood up and followed Becca to the police cruiser, where Charlie Swan (soon to be step-father) waved awkwardly at us.

"Hey girls," he said, taking our bags and putting them into his car boot "how was the trip?

"Long." Rebecca answered simply and got into the front passenger seat while I got into the back, waiting for Charlie to get into the driver's seat.

The only thing I liked about this town was the nature, I used to love going to First Beach with Jake as a kid or hiking in the forest… those were some great times.

The memories of Jake returned in vivid flashes - his cheeky smile, lanky build and shoulder length raven coloured hair with those amazing brown eyes.

Ugh! I needed to stop thinking like that, Jake and I weren't friends anymore and he was with Bella. Oh Jesus, I'm going to be living with the girl who stole the heart of my first crush and she'll also be my stepsister!

I know I'm already going to hate her, there's no other way to look at it. Bella was one problem to deal with, the other was my estranged mum. I glanced at Rebecca, who gave me a reassuring smile and I returned a smile that didn't hide that I was dreading seeing Mum again.

"You okay?" Becca asked gently, looking at me with concern and I nodded feebly. My heart fell to my stomach, seeing the my new house coming into view and the blonde hair of our Mum was clearly visible as I saw her standing on the porch.

"MY BABIES!" Mum bawled as soon as we walked onto the porch, carrying our luggage and she threw her arms around me. I half-heartedly returned the hug as she pulled back and hugged Rebecca as well "I've missed you so much!"

You could've fooled me.

Mum and Rebecca were more similar in looks, but I did have Mum's eyes and possibly her nose.

Once we were inside and sitting at the kitchen table, Mum poured us all coffee and Charlie went to answer the house phone as it began ringing in the living room.

"So, where's Isabella?" Rebecca asked curiously, looking round the room as if half expecting Bella to appear out of the dishwasher. Mum shrugged, but the pride was obvious in her facial expression and the frown on Becca's face showed that she regretted asking.

"Oh, she's out with Edward," Mum said casually "I can't wait to introduce you, she's a lovely girl."

"Cool…" I said lamely, taking a sip of my coffee and grimacing in disgust when I tasted that the coffee was black - it was way too strong.

"I'm sorry I haven't spoken to you two in a few months," Mum sighed, looking regretful and I seriously had to fight the temptation to roll my eyes.

"Phone call, text, Skype… there's no shortage of means to contact us for a chat, Mum." Becca said firmly and Mum flushed red with embarrassment.

"I know, but planning the wedding and dealing with Bella's depression…. It's not been easy, sweetheart." Mum tried to explain and I thought back to our last phone call. Bella had gone through some terrible depression and everyone was really worried about her, I'll admit that I was as well - we may not know each other that well, but Bella was going to be apart of our family and I was concerned for her. All this was caused when Edward left her, but now they're back together and Bella is doing a lot better.

Speaking of, the front door opened and a brunette girl with light brown eyes walked in, hurrying upstairs and stopped when Charlie's voice called.

"Seven on the dot, is your boy trying to brownnose me now?"

"He has a name," Bella said shortly "now he's too punctual for you?"

Bella walked into the living room and I couldn't believe her attitude towards her father - I wouldn't dream about talking to Dad like that.

"So, what has…" Mum began, but suddenly Bella stormed into the room and was closely followed by Charlie who glared at her as Bella nodded to me and Rebecca before glaring daggers at Charlie.

"Dad, there's nothing you can say, Edward is in my life!" Bella said firmly and I realised that this could be our first ever family argument… well it had to happen sooner or later, so why not as soon as Becca and I moved in?

"Yeah, I'm gathering that," Charlie said in exasperation "but how about this? You're not grounded anymore, if you use your new found freedom to spend time with other people… like Rebecca or Lily, you girls are going to be stepsisters soon and I think you should get to know each other.

Quality time with soon-to-be-sister Bella… I guess I can do that, be the bigger person and all that. Rebecca was another story - whereas I gave Bella a small smile, Rebecca just gave a small nod that had no hint of a smile.

"Or Jacob," Charlie continued and I suddenly looked at him in shock, listening for completely different reasons "he's having a hard time right now, his Dad's really worried about him… I remember when that was you and you needed a friend, Jake was there."

Oh God, what happened to Jake? Was he okay? Bella's face fell and her eyes were brimming with tears, which told me that whatever it was… it was bad. I knew I had to just swallow my pride and make a trip to La Push as soon as possible, Jake was my oldest friend and I would have to put mt hurt feelings aside to be a friend to him.

Bella

Jacob hadn't spoken to me in weeks… I wanted to fix things, he just wouldn't give me a chance. I sat in my bedroom, reading through the words that were written on my last letter from him and my eyes filled with tears.

Yeah, I miss you too, but it doesn't change anything - Jake.

I couldn't help but remember Jacob's hurt eyes when we last saw each other and I told him that I loved Edward and if I had to choose between them, it would always be Edward. Edward was my life, my future and I wanted to spend eternity with the man I love… Jake was a good friend and I wanted to keep him in my life, but I needed to speak to him and get our friendship back on track.

Grabbing my car keys, I crept out into the deserted hallway and downstairs, keeping my breathing silent as I snuck out the front door.

As soon as I was standing on the porch with the cool evening air blowing my hair, I sprinted to my beloved red truck and jumped inside. I slammed the door shut and turned to key into the ignition, it sputtered but the engine remained still. I tried again and the engine tried valiantly to start, but died and I sighed with frustration.

What the hell? The truck was perfectly fine a few hours ago, what was going on?

A cool breeze blew my hair and I turned to see Edward sitting silently beside me, causing me to jump with fright at his sudden appearance.

"You scared me," I breathed shakily, but Edward's furrowed brow told me that something was clearly wrong.

"You going to the Reservation?" Edward asked sternly and I would have thought he'd had figured this by reading my mind, but I was the only human that he couldn't read and we both knew this.

"How did you-?" I began, but the answer came to me and I muttered bitterly "Alice."

Alice could see the future, so she would have seen my decision to go see Jake and warned Edward straight away. Could I not decide who I am friends with?! How far would he go to stop me from seeing Jake?

Break my truck's engine…

"Did you do this to my truck?" I demanded angrily, glaring at Edward.

"Bella, your safety is everything to me…" Edward began seriously, but I cut across him.

"Jacob's not gonna hurt me!" I said firmly, but Edward shook his head gravely.

"Not intentionally, but the wolves have no control."

He didn't see what this was doing to me. Jake was my friend and I cared about him, but as soon as I turned into a vampire… I would lose him.

"Edward, I have until Graduation to see him and then I'll be one of you, and he'll hate me forever…" I said sadly, but Edward's golden eyes remained on me with no hint of changing his mind.

"I'm sorry, but…" Edward began, but his eyes widened in horror as he looked outside my window "who is that?"

I looked over to see Rebecca standing on the porch, brushing her blonde hair behind her ear as she frowned at us in concern and crossed her arms over her chest. She clearly knew Edward and I had a rocky relationship, but at least she wasn't rushing to Charlie and telling on me.

"Rebecca, Samantha's oldest daughter and my stepsister… well, almost." I looked back to Edward, seeing his face completely frozen "what is it?"

"Nothing," Edward shrugged, avoiding my eyes and only looking at me to brush his lips briefly across mine "I'll be hunting tonight, but I'll make sure to come by afterwards… do you want me to stay tonight?"

I nodded, knowing that I couldn't stay mad at him for long and watched as he got out the car and walked away at a normal human pace.

"Everything okay other there?" Rebecca asked as I stormed past her, but she grabbed my wrist and pulled me back.

"What?" I snapped at her, but Rebecca just raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not going to grass you up," Rebecca said firmly, but rolled her eyes when she saw I didn't understand what she just said "that's a British saying which means 'I'm not going to tell on you' Bella. But just be careful, to be honest I'm not a fan of yours but we're nearly family and we have to start acting like it."

"Whatever," I shrugged, not caring what she was saying.

"And let Lily and Jake sort out their stuff, she's known Jacob a lot longer than you have and I don't want him hurting her because of you." Rebecca said firmly and I glared at her, these British girls really had no idea what this town's secrets were.

"I know Jake better than you and I'll see Jake when I want, regardless of whether it'll upset Lily or not." I told her, but the look of anger on Rebecca's face shocked me "Lily should just stay off the Reservation, it's for her own good."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rebecca asked, but I turned and marched back into the house and into my bedroom.

I made sure to leave my window open as I curled up into bed, waiting for Edward to hold me gently against his chest and tried not to think of Jacob's dark brown eyes.

Author's Note: Thanks for reading and make sure you leave a review :)