AN: Once upon a time, about seven years ago I wrote this fanfiction called Halcyon. I reread it out of curiousity recently and was a little bit embarrassed at it - I mean I was only 19 when I wrote it. I adopted it out to Bella xo Italiana who hasn't updated it in a couple of years so I am taking ownership of it again. I still liked the concept of the story, but there are some things that I would change so think of this as a reboot. I figured with the quarantine, what else do I have to do? I hope that my writing has improved and matured. Enjoy.

Anything in italics and bold is sign language.

Song of the Chapter: Home - Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

Chapter 1 - Home is wherever I'm with you...

About 2 to 3 out of every 1,000 children in the United States are born with a detectable level of hearing loss in one or both ears so it seems from the start that Lily Swan was born to be different.

Her family was relatively normal - her mother, Renee Higgenbotham was a flighty free spirited hippie, while her dad, Charlie Swan, was more on the dryer side, more serious. They met their senior year of high school at Forks High in Washington and fell hard and fast. After high school Charlie became a cop and despite protests from their parents that they were too young, they should wait and explore the field, they got married when Charlie graduated from the police academy. Nine months later, Isabella "Bella" Swan was born. The girl was loved by both parents who tried their hardest with her, though it was difficult being new parents at twenty years old. Charlie worked a lot to provide for her family, Renee stayed home with Bella, which weighed heavily on happiness and energy. She felt bitter and full of resentment, though she tried to make it work for Bella's sake.

Two months later, Renee found out she was pregnant again, this was the straw that broke the camel's back. She was about to be a mother of two children, less than a year apart, all before she was legally allowed to drink.

Renee took Bella and booked it out of Forks, Washington as fast as she could. Renee would tell her daughters that she had loved their father, but felt trapped in the small town, having dreams that she knew she could not accomplish there. They bounced around the west coast a bit before settling in Arizona, where Renee found work as a daycare worker. This gave her the opportunity to still look after Bella while working.

Nine months later, she gave birth to another girl, Liliana Swan.

Charlie was heartbroken when Renee left, but determined to still remain a part of his kid's lives, which Renee would not deny him. They were determined to remain civil so he was there for many of the ultrasound appointments. 'Looks like you just make girls,' Renee had joked to him when they had found out they were expecting another girl. The week of Renee's due date, he flew down to Phoenix to help her out and be there for the birth. He always held out a little hope that he and Renee would get back together in the future.

When it was noticed that Lily didn't cry or react to loud noises like her sister did, her parents knew that something was wrong. The first few months of her life were filled with tests and doctors appointments. Through those tests, the doctors diagnosed that Lily was deaf in both ears.

While they were sad at this, they were determined to make sure Lily was prepared through life and they did not treat her any different from how they treated Bella. Fortunately with Charlie's insurance, they were able to put Lily into speech therapy and they all learned sign language to communicate with her. Sign was Lily's preferred term of communication.

Through the years, being so close in age, Bella was Lily's protector and best friend. The Swan girls were on the shy side, while they had some friends at their schools, they were not the biggest social creatures. They remained friendly with classmates but mostly kept to themselves. While their mother was great and they were not starved for love, she was a bit flighty and forgetful, causing the Swan girls to help take care of their mother. The water bill was sometimes forgotten to be paid on time causing the girls to have to sneak into school early to shower. The girls took after Charlie more, who they visited up until Lily's thirteenth birthday where instead they picked a destination for him to meet them.

Lily, while facing some difficulties in a hearing world, always told Bella that being deaf wasn't all bad. She didn't have to deal with 'awkward silence', she didn't have to worry about teachers calling on her in class, and there was also that little extra thing she has. She didn't know if she was some Miss Cleo psychic medium or whatever, but she always had these feelings. Whenever something bad was going to happen. She felt a chill go down her spine, her her heart would speed up, her breathing would shorten, and a picture would appear in her mind.

Renee was driving to their new apartment, five year old Lily sat in the backseat of the car, flipping through a picture book. Six year old Bella sat next to Lily in the backseat a map spread out on her lap. "It says I should go straight?"

"Yes," Bella answered, "then left a mile down the road."

Renee accelerated on the gas, about to clear through a light when the book slipped out of Lily's hands, her back tensed up and she let out a panicked scream of, "STOP!"

Renee was so startled by her normally quiet child's panicked scream, she slammed on the gas, screeching to a halt right at the light. She was about to turn around and ask Lily what was wrong, when she saw a car speed through the red light. A car that would have t-boned them, and with the speed they were going, the accident wouldn't have ended well.

Renee immediately turned around to check on the girls, Bella was breathing a little heavy and face white with shock. Lily mirrored her sister, though looked a little sheepish as well, reaching down to pick up the dropped book.

"Bella, are you okay?" Renee asked, receiving a shaky nod in return. Renee then reached out and got Lily's attention. How did you know, baby? she signed to Lily.

Lily shrugged, opening back up her book and resuming looking through it.

These things continued through her life, though she tried to keep them more discreet, lest someone think she was insane. Bella was a bit clumsy, always tripping her own feet or knocking into something and breaking it. She would usually get the feeling before then and was there to help catch her sister lest she cause total destruction. Lily would joke with herself that it was the universe's twisted sense of humor - let's take away one sense and see what happens.

Feeling a tap on her should, Lily turns around to see Bella standing there, looking a little concerned, are you ready to go?

Lily nods and stuffs the final item in her backpack - a copy of Fellowship of the Ring she plans on reading on the plane. Slinging her blue backpack over her shoulder, she follows Bella out of the bedroom, sparing herself on last glance at the doorway. Like the Fellowship, her and Bella are embarking on an adventurous journey - moving to Forks, Washington to live with their father. This is unknown territory as she hasn't been there in three years and when they did visit in summers, they would mostly stay on the La Push reservation with Charlie's best friends, Billy Black and Harry Clearwater. This is an adventure though and she finds herself a little excited at the prospect at moving to a new place. They didn't really have anything keeping them anchored to Phoenix so the decision wasn't that hard for Lily. The only thing they were really going to miss from this place was the weather - she got cold pretty easily.

Lily smiles at her old room and goes outside, seeing Phil loading up the car with their luggage. Renee met Phil Dwyer, an amateur baseball player, and like Renee does all things, dived headfirst into the romance. He's a little younger than her, though Lily and Bella agree that this is good for her - an older man wouldn't be able to handle her. This was the reason that they are moving to Forks with their dad, Phil and Renee are moving across the country to Florida, where Phil will play baseball. Knowing that they didn't really want to impose on whats still their honeymoon state, Lily and Bella brought up the prospect of moving to Forks.

Lily slides into the back of the car as Bella does the same. She sees Bella looking a little nervous and catches her attention, signing, it's an adventure.

Bella smiles at her sister and nods, right, an adventure.

Lily reaches out and grabs Bella's shaky hand, holding it all the way to the airport.

This is one of the few instances when Lily is glad that she is deaf.

The airport was fine, they found Charlie relatively easily, were thankful when their luggage was not lost and sent to timbuktu, it was only when they got to the car that things turned a little awkward. They saw that Charlie had brought his police cruiser, meaning that one of them would have to go into the backseat, where they put the criminals. Lily volunteered and Bella went to the front, where from the way their lips were moving, they were stumbling through an awkward conversation. Lily winced a bit for her sister and took the book out of her carry on, picking up where she had last left off.

Like Bella, Lily was an avid reader, able to lose herself in her books and - embarrassingly enough - pretend that she was in them. She could pretend that she was an original character in the book, smart and fierce, helping the protagonist along in their journey. She would get lost in her daydreams, Bella having to shake her out of them. Like now, as they pulled up to the house and she didn't even know it.

The door opens, startling her a bit as Bella stands there, looking a little relieved that they are finally at the house. We're here, she signs and Lily nods, slinging her bag over her shoulder and sliding out of the car. The house looks exactly the same as it did three years ago.

Charlie opens the trunk and grabs two of the suitcases, Lily and Bella grabbing the remaining ones as they follow him into the house. The inside is outdated and definitely decorated by a man given the fishing and sports memorabilia scattered around the house. It's a smaller house, but Lily notes that it's cozy and can find herself liking it here.

Despite the house only having one bathroom, it has three bedrooms which both sisters are thankful for. Their rooms are right next to each other and Lily goes into her bedroom, dragging her bags in. Renee, Bella, and Lily had spent about a week going through old clothes, diving what to donate and what to bring to Forks since they didn't want to have to bring - and pay to bring - a million bags with them. Lily felt quite accomplished that she was able to pack her entire life into three bags. Charlie follows her into the room, bringing along her remaining bag.

Lily is actually surprised when she glances around the room, which is the smallest in the house - it used to be Renee's "arts and crafts room" when she lived here. It used to be painted a very bright yellow with flecks of paint splatters all over the walls. Now it's painted an off white with a very light pink comforter on the twin bed. She smiles and reaches out, touching the comforter, feeling that it's quite nice and soft. Looking back at her dad, she keeps the smile on her face as he stands there a little awkward and signs, Lady at Home Depot recommended the paint. I remember that you always liked pink, is this okay?

While Bella is not a tomboy given her ability to trip over her own feet, she's absolutely not a girly-girl, having an aversion to the color pink. It's always been Lily's favorite though and she is touched that Charlie remembers.

She smiles softly and nods, It's perfect, dad. Thank you.

He nods, his face going into that mask it usually does if something becomes 'too emotional' for him. Good. Pizza okay for dinner?

Lily nods again and asks, extra cheese?

The corners of Charlie's lips quirk up, You got it.

Charlie leaves, allowing Lily her first moment of privacy of the day. She takes a couple of deep breaths, glancing around the bedroom a little more. Since it's so tiny, there's not much in here. The twin bed is pushed into the corner by the window, a little end table next to it. A small desk by the othe window across the room and a small closet. Flopping on her bed, which is actually - to her delight - quite comfy. She delays unpacking a for a bit, giving herself some time to breathe.

Tomorrow, her and Bella would start school. Growing up, she was glad that her and Bella were "Irish Twins" born within a year of each other because they were always in the same grade. People would always ask if they were twins and sometimes they would say yes because it was easier than having to explain that your mom got pregnant again only two months after giving birth. The nervous feeling in her gut appears. A new school, new people, new teachers, new assignments, a whole new routine to become accustomed to.

A whole new adventure, Lily reminds herself with a smile, and Bella will be with you. It's just high school. What could possibly go wrong?

Man, it's a lot easier to feel confident up until the actual moment.

Lily and Bella stare at the school from their new car, well Bella's new car. Billy and Jacob Black had come over yesterday to drop it off, Charlie's welcome home present to the both of them. Despite it being a little steps higher than a bucket of bolts and not the most beautiful car, it meant that they didn't have to take the bus or ride in Charlie's police cruiser every day. It was pretty much a Maserati in their eyes. While, it's not against the law for deaf people to get their license, Lily has just never gotten the hang of the driving thing, failing the practical test by jumping up on the curb during the parallel parking part and deciding to never try again.

She and Bella glance at each other a couple of times, daring each other to make the first move to go into the school. When Bella had turned off the car, there must have been a loud noise because Lily felt a jump and everyone turned to look at them in amusement. The curiosity only grew when they saw two unfamiliar faces in the car.

While Lily had comforter herself with the thought that new student novelty only lasted a few days in Phoenix, she forgot that her old high school had a population of 3,000. That was the entire population of Forks, Washington. The stares here might last a little longer than a couple of days.

Bella loses their game of chicken and grabs her backpack, reaching for the door before smiling at Lily, a new adventure, right?

Lily smiles back at her sister and nods, a new adventure.

Straightening her back, she grabs her own bag and slings it over her shoulder, following her sister into the school. As the stares grow, so does Lily's anxiety as she wonders if her hair looks fine, if she had chosen the right outfit, if her fly on her jeans was down. Looking at Bella, she sees that her sister chose to stick with her usual style of a long sleeve green shirt, jeans, and her sneakers. Her brown hair was straight, reaching her ribs, and she had forgone any makeup on her face.

Lily had decided she wanted to make a good first impression, choosing her favorite light pink blouse, her comfiest jeans, and brown boots. She applied her usual makeup - little bit of mascara and blush - and let her brown hair relax in its natural wave, bangs covering her forehead.

Lily and Bella have very similar facial features, same brown eyes, same lips, same heart shaped face - Renee always complained that they took all of Charlie's looks and none of her own. The only real differences between them was that Bella stood two inches taller than Lily at five-foot-four and Lily was a little bit tanner than Bella (like that was saying anything). This was how they were able to get away with the whole twins thing.

They hurry into the main office, finding it right by the entrance to the school, and Bella speaks to the lady at the desk to get their schedules and locker combos.

Over the years, Lily has gotten quite good at reading lips, which makes it interesting as she can eavesdrop on conversations that are out of 'hearing sight'. She watches as the receptionist explains everything to Bella, where the gym is, where the cafeteria is, where their homeroom is, she then turns to Lily and smiles, explaining that a sign interpreter will meet her in her first class. Bella looks to Lily confirming that she understood to which Lily nods, signing a thank you to the receptionist.

They compare schedules on their way to homeroom seeing that they share most of their classes sans Biology (different periods), English (Bella's in the Advanced Placement class), and Calculus (Lily is a math nerd taking a senior class). As soon as they walk into their homeroom, all eyes turn toward them and they quickly go over to take two available seats. Just as they sit down, a nerdy looking Asian guy sitting in front of them turns around. "You must be the Swan sisters, Isabella and Liliana. I'm Eric, the eyes and ears of this fine establishment."

Lily reads his lips as he reaches out to shake Lily's hand before doing the same to Bella, "It's just Bella and Lily."

"Bella and Lily. Anything you guys need - tour guide, shoulder to cry on, lunch date, I'm your guy," he smiles a cheesy grin to which Lily can't help but smile back at. He's an interesting character, if maybe a little overly helpful, but she can't fault him. "Where's your first class?"

Handing over their schedules, he smiles wide, "I'm in that class, it would be my pleasure to escort you ladies there."

Lily and Bella glance at each other, having a silent conversation as Eric watches before Bella nods, "Sure, thanks."

"Are you guys twins?"

Bella shrugs, "Kind of."

Eric looks genuinely impressed, "That's so cool, can you guys read each other's minds?"

Lily nods, signing something to Bella which makes her laugh and roll her eyes.

"What did she say?"

Bella is now bright red and looks to Lily, who smiles, urging her to tell him. Bella rolls her eyes before she tells Eric, "She said she can read everyone's minds and to stop thinking about how hot twins are."

Eric's eyes actually go as wide as saucers, Lily amused that she actually got that right as he looks over at her, his face a little scared but intrigued. Lily just shrugs at him with a smile.

The morning announcements begin causing Eric to turn back around. Bella continues to blush bright red, now resembling a tomato as Lily signs to her, smile still on her face.

I think everything is going well, right?

AN: Thanks for reading.