Dead and Breathing

Chapter 4

I looked around the neighborhood as we neared our new home. The whole place just screamed out 'money'. I knew I'd let Emmett and Jasper pick the house…but I didn't think they'd pick something like this. Not that it mattered. I was 18, everything my parents owned was passed down to me. And my mom being a famous singer, my dad being a novelist, and my grandparents investing money since they got married, that left me with a lot of money. Not to mention that the house at Forks was sold pretty high and pricey. Jasper pulled into a dark almost brown red house. It had a beautiful front lawn. The grass was green, with a small brick fence in the middle of the lawn. Inside the brick circle there was flowers. We got out the car and headed towards the front door. The door had some sort of lock around the handle. I didn't understand what it was until Jasper reached over and pressed number codes. I looked at him confused and he smiled."The retailer told me the codes. He said the keys would be inside." he said with a shrug. I nodded and saw him open the door. Seeing inside, the first thing that we saw were the wooden stairs. They laid towards the upstairs. To the left of the stairs was a small living room. There was a wall separating the living room though. We walked past it and found another living room with the kitchen in front of it. The kitchen was my dream kitchen. I had a feeling that Emmett and Jasper picked this house because of it. It was all black granite. Just how I liked it. I smiled and turned between the stairs and the kitchen. There was a hallway. We walked down the hall way and saw 4 doors. I opened one, it was an empty room. The next one was another empty room. The one next to it was a bathroom and the last one was the door towards the garage that could hold up to 4 cars. We went back to the living room and kitchen. There was a glass door. We could see the back yard perfectly from here. It was beautiful. I knew exactly what I wanted as I saw this yard."Can we get a dog….no two…maybe three. Huh? Can we?" I begged them. Emmett and Jasper looked at me grinning. Emmett kissed my forehead and nodded."What ever you want Bells. We can go tomorrow if you want." I nodded excitedly. Jasper cupped my cheek and kissed my nose. I giggled at the gesture.

"Go pick your room. You get which ever one you want.""Really?" I asked looking at them both. They nodded. I shrieked with joy and ran up the stairs. Emmett and Jasper laughed, walking behind me. I opened the first door I saw and knew this was my room. I could tell it was the master. It was a big empty space with a window on the front wall. To the right I saw another glass door that lead to a small balcony. In front of the balcony was the bathroom. The shower was glass but everything just looked beautiful. There was another door in front of the shower. I walked to it and found a walk in closet. It could have been half the size of the room. But I loved it. I smiled and turned to the guys grinning behind me. They knew.

"We'll go shopping tomorrow for your bed and things you'd like. Right now…I'm going to bring you a box up so you can shower. We're going to my aunt and uncle's house." Jasper said, ruffling my hair and leaving. I nodded and turned toward the shower. I turned it on to warm and stripped down. Emmett and Jasper had already left…but it didn't really matter. I'd gone skinny dipping with them before. Of course it should have been completely awkward. But there had been a time where I though I was in love with Emmett….so there was some sexual connection between us. That died when we started our senior year. We knew we'd be best friends forever, but that was it. Jasper came inside while I showered and left a box inside the room, pulled a towel out and left it by the sink, and pulled out my shampoo and body wash out. He gave them to me and turned to leave. I sighed and finished getting showered. Some how…I got the feeling this was almost a fresh start….a clean break.

When I got out the shower, I dressed in the nicest clothes I could find. Of course everything was nice, but I tried extra hard to make a good impression on Jasper's family. It didn't really matter though, since Emmett and I were his family. So I knew that no matter what, he wouldn't let anyone change his mind about who we were in his life.

I ended up with black skinny jeans, gray v neck, a black unbuttoned blazer, and black ankle boots. My hair was down in curls, drying quickly and turning into waves. I did no effort in make-up. I learned from Jen that I didn't need make up, that either way my blush would soon just make it unnoticed. They'd told me many times I didn't need it, that I was beautiful with out it. So wasn't so sure, but I trusted Emmett, Jasper, and Jen's comments. I walked out the door to find Emmett and Jasper both ready, showered, and dressed. Jasper wore black jeans with a baby blue button up with his sleeves rolled up and black vans. Emmett wore around the same thing except his shirt was white. We walked down the stairs and towards Jasper's car. He shook his head.

"It's just across the street Bella." so that was why he picked this neighborhood. I nodded and followed him. We crossed the street and headed 3 houses down. This house was almost like ours, just that this one was a light pink. Jasper reached for my hand, holding it tight and knocked on the front door. We didn't have to wait for long before someone opened the door. In front of us was a small pixie looking girl. She was around our age, but her height made her look adorable and younger. She had an oval face with a perfect button nose and green eyes. Her eyes were almost sparkling green. Her hair was short and spiked. It pocked out everywhere. It only added to my fairy image. She was beautiful.

"Hi. Can I help you." she asked. Her voice was high pitched, but pixie like.

"Hi. I'm Jasper, is my aunt Esme and Uncle Carlisle here?""Oh. Your Jasper…they told me that their nephew would be here soon. Esme's out working and Carlisle went to buy the grocery's for her. Sorry, come inside. Edward's here." Jasper nodded and followed her. I walked behind him, holding his hand, but letting his back shield me from everyone. I was suddenly nervous about this. Jasper turned and gave me a smirk.

"Hey…don't worry. They'll love you." he promised. I nodded and turned behind me to Emmett. He winked at me and pinched my butt."EMMETT." I squealed, slapping his chest. He laughed and shrugged. We walked into a living room much like ours, just full with furniture and things. There was a guy sitting on the couch. He was beautiful beyond compare. He had a fit body, with wide shoulders, lean and tall. I could see from the way his shirt clung to him that he had muscles and great abs. His lips were rose red, and he had high cheek bones. But I think what caught my attention the most was the bronze sex hair and the emerald green eyes. He glanced at us and a breath taking smile spread on his lips. I gasped lightly and I knew Jasper and Emmett heard. A blush spread on my cheeks as I tried to look away. Emmett took me into his arms and leaned down to whisper into my ear.

"He might be Jasper's cousin, but he told me his bad news. You can't fall into him." he whispered to me. I frowned and nodded. He left his hands on my waist, letting Jasper and Edward meet. They hugged it out and slapped each other on the back."Jasper. It's been a while man. Aren't you all grown up. Puberty hit you pretty good didn't it." He joked. Jasper rolled his eyes and turned to us. He reached for my hand and I took his. He pulled me to his side, letting Emmett keep one arm around my waist. The green eyed god turned to me. A smirk replaced his friendly smile. He looked me up and down. From what I've heard from Adrian and Jason…I was something good to look at. What ever they meant by that. But seeing Edward…I saw he had the same look that I'd seen millions of times from Adrian, Jason, Mike, and even Emmett before. He took a longer time staring at my face.

"So who's this?" Edward asked. The smirk had spread on his voice. I swear I wanted to kiss him there and just make him say my name over and over again. Emmett saw this and squeezed my side. I turned to him and giggled. He rolled his eyes and kissed my forehead. He did it on purpose! I knew he did. He didn't care that Edward could make up his own little story of who I was, he didn't care that Edward would think I was either with Jasper or him. He just wanted the kid away from me. I saw it in his eyes."This is Bella and Emmett." Jasper introduced us. I smiled at him.

"Hi."

"Hey." he smirked. I was aware of the awkward silence I felt around me from the look Edward was giving me. After a while, I turned towards the pixie that was observing us.

"Hi." I waved at her. She giggled and waved back."I'm Alice, Edward's best friend.""I'm Bella, Emmett and Jasper's best friend." I took the hand she offered and shook it. Edward heard this."Best friend?" he asked turning to Jasper.

"We grew up together. Me, Emmett, Bells. And…." he stayed quiet thinking of Jen. I looked away and at Emmett. He knew the pain that was pricking at my heart. He wrapped his arm around me and pressed me against his chest. I tried to hold the tears and stay strong. With a deep breath and turned back to Jasper and the others.

"We grew up together since we were in diapers. And now we're just stuck like a family." I chimed, hugging Jasper's waist. He smiled and kissed the top of my head.

"I didn't know you had a girl that meant to you that much." Edward said, frowning when he guessed I was with him. I rolled my eyes and elbowed Jasper to tell him the truth."We're not together Edward." Jasper said, narrowing his eyes at me, warning me to stay away. I gave him a silent nodded with my eyes and he smiled, turning to him.

"Emmett and Bella had a thing back in junior year, to see if there was something there. But they knew there wasn't. aside of that…she's just really important to us. We love her, but that's as far as it goes with our girl. Always the center of attention. You spoiled brat." he teased me. I rolled my eyes and shrugged."It's not my fault I'm the young one. Mom just had me 2 minutes later." I joked. He chuckled and rolled his eyes."2 minutes later? What do you mean?" Alice asked.

"From…my twin." I gulped. Jasper hugged me tight, giving me courage.

"Twin? Where is she at?" Edward asked. I felt a lot of pain coming back to me slowly. I turned and left out the door. I needed fresh air before I broke down. I stood outside, feeling the cool breeze hitting my face. Emmett was standing behind."Still hurts huh punk?" he asked, holding my hand."I feel like this pain just doesn't go away." I whispered."It will…slowly. Well it'll always be there, just…it won't be the strongest thing you feel Bella."

"I just….I feel like part of my is missing Em. Like Jen, mom, and dad took a piece of my with them. And I can't find it."

"We will. But it's going to take time. Some days you'll feel like hell, some you'll be happy with joy, and some days you'll feel like your life is a waist of time. But through every day, Jazz and I are going to be there for you. No matter what." he whispered and placed a sweet kiss on my lips. It meant nothing more then just affectionate. I sighed and kissed Emmett's cheek.

"You and Jazz are the best friends any girl would be lucky to have." I whispered. "your going to make a girl very happy when you marry her."