Hello, Lovelies!

This is Episode One of my new collab fic with Dani! I'll post the first few chapters here before only posting on our collab account, Darling Jill. Give us a follow so you don't miss any more episodes!

We (Dani and Jill) are so excited for this new adventure. Like Joey putting together jam on one hand and girls on the other hand, this is a collab that is proving to be just as fun!

We couldn't do this without our beta Fran and our prereaders. It's easy (and fun) to write something like this but it's also just as easy to lose perspective. These people help reel us in if we've glossed over information that we unconsciously assume Friends lovers know, and help us make it all make sense!

Please read our author's note at the end for more information!

And, without further adieu, here's the Disclaimer we absolutely need for this one: Friends and Twilight do not belong to us. If they did, we would not be writing this for free.

Enjoy!

Episode One:

The One Where It All Begins

One...Last...Stretch…

And she's free.

Not just from the bathroom window she has unsuccessfully squeezed herself through, but also from the life she realized too late wasn't what she wanted.

She's so close to freedom she can almost taste it; she can feel the warm September air against her arms as she wriggles her body through the open window. One final move is all it takes, one more push, and she can leave Mike Newton and everything she's ever known behind - if she could just fit the rest of her damn wedding gown through the thin frame.

The white silk, mocking her as it catches around the ledge of the windowsill, stops her in her tracks, making the tulle beneath the silk scratch against her legs. Her body pitches forward, but the material stays put, and she catches herself against the wall just before she finds herself dangling upside down, from a bathroom window, in a church in downtown Seattle.

"No, no, no," she mutters out loud to herself, bending awkwardly to tug the dress back into place. Of course, the place the dress should be is standing next to Mike at the altar, but that would mean she would have to make promises she suddenly feels are like fingers wrapping slowly around her neck, choking her into feeling things she hasn't believed in years.

She wanted to love him. Mike. She was supposed to love him. Their families had known each other for years, at first through business ventures and then around the country club, and when Mike had asked her to marry him last year, it became the event of the decade. All of Seattle has been invited - and they now sit in pews, oblivious that the bride is counting backward from ten to find the courage to leap from this bathroom window to a mound of soft mulch.

At least she hopes it's soft.

With one final exhale, she closes her eyes and prepares to find out for herself.

The fall, while seemingly easy to the eye, is impossibly hard. She's jumping into more than just mulch - she's jumping into a steaming pile of the unknown, and for a second, she wonders if that is scarier than settling and marrying Mike Newton.

Definitely not.

As her bare feet land in the earth beneath the window, the smile on her face lights up the dark rain clouds that pour down on her as she runs to make the phone call she never expected she would need to make.

"Rose?" She breathes once she has run eight city blocks, borrowing a phone from a poor older man who didn't know what to do with a hysterical, wet woman dressed in a wedding gown. "Hi. It's Bella Swan."

f.r.i.e.n.d.s

It all comes down to an umbrella.

One unsubstantial, black fucking umbrella.

It leans against the wall near the door to the apartment, alone, much like the man staring back at it with a look of defeat plastered on his face.

This is it. This is all he has left to take with him.

Just the umbrella and a sour heart are what he has left to bring to his new place. This apartment, the one he stands in now - wondering where it all went wrong, how he missed the signs - is no longer his; or theirs.

The apartment is empty now, no longer belonging to either of them anymore, and he can't help but think back on all the years they spent together between these walls. They were happy once, and he tries his hardest to hold onto those memories every time he remembers he signed the divorce papers earlier this morning.

It's official now. It's real. It's over.

The rest of his things, sans umbrella, are in a truck on the way to his new apartment. He told the movers he would be right behind them, but instead, the reality of his life has derailed him. He wants to think it's only temporary, this derailment, but he already knows it will be a long time before he feels like himself again.

The umbrella is a perfect example. Just like his role in his marriage, the umbrella is an afterthought. It's something people use only when necessary, and sometimes, not at all. It is battered and worn, having survived many storms, but it was the final storm that had proven to be too much.

It's brought them both to this moment as they wallow in the silence surrounding them, him wandering the space in slow circles, the umbrella waiting for him to find the balls to walk the fuck out now before he lets the grief wash over him.

If he doesn't get out now, he'll let it consume him.

As if sensing his despair, his phone vibrates in the back pocket of his jeans, and he reaches to answer it.

Coffee house?

It's his sister, Rose, knowing how difficult today would be for him, asking him to join their friends at Perk's Place for a quick cup of coffee before heading to his new place across town. He probably shouldn't, considering the movers will be waiting for him, but a fresh brew with a bunch of friends looking to help make him feel better isn't something he can pass up.

Sighing one last time, he retreats from the living room, taking it all in before grabbing the umbrella. He hates this old thing, broken and flying open at the worst times, but for today, he holds on to it like it's the last thing he has on Earth.

It hits him as his feet hit the puddles outside on the sidewalk that this area, this street, the newspaper stand on the corner he goes to every morning on his way to work won't be his neighborhood anymore. He'll have to meet new neighbors, frequent new corner stands, find new places to eat.

It all sounds too overwhelming, too much for him to wrap his head around, so he tightens the light jacket he has on and sloshes through the rain towards the coffee house. He's walked this path so many times he could do it in his sleep, which is pretty much what he does now as he thinks about the new life ahead of him.

He doesn't know what to do or where to begin.

When he closes his umbrella and pushes the door open to the coffee house, he hopes his friends will help him find the answers he so desperately needs. With so many things in his life up in the air, it's comforting to know he doesn't need to search for them once he's inside. He knows he'll find them right where they always are, spread comfortably around a large, mahogany coffee table, lounging in the familiar orange couch and chairs some would find quirky and misplaced. These pieces of furniture have heard it all when it comes to the things he and his friends have confessed over the years.

He doesn't want to interrupt, as all four of them are laughing at a dream Jasper is sharing, so he approaches the worn velvet structure of the couch quietly.

He should have known Rose would sense his presence; the two have always been close, ever since they were kids. They were tied together like most only saw with twins, but him being a few years older never changed that.

Shifting when she sees him approach the group, Rose tilts her head at the sight of her broken brother.

"Hi," he offers sullenly, and the four of them stop talking amongst themselves and offer him a place to sit on the couch between Rose and their friend, Alice.

"You okay over there?" His friend Jasper asks from his spot in a chair near the couch. He has a small table of his own next to him, and he carefully balances the steaming mug of coffee onto it as he asks.

"I'm fine. Just my marriage falling apart, that's all."

The waitress comes over to him on the other side of the couch and asks for his order, which Rose takes advantage of as she fills the rest of them in.

"Edward and Tanya finalized the divorce this morning," she says, keeping her voice down out of respect for her brother.

"And the apartment is empty," Edward adds, the waitress already heading back to retrieve his drink.

"We're sorry, Edward." Their friend, Alice, chimes in before reaching into the air above Edward's head to cleanse his aura with tiny little pinches of her fingertips. He doesn't let her keep at it for long, as his patience is paper-thin and his word filter even weaker.

"I just never saw this happening," he says to them once he's gotten Alice back into her own space. "No one is ever prepared for a marriage to end, but this all happened so fast."

A chuckle interrupts the somber atmosphere in their corner of the coffee house. "And you had no idea she was a lesbian?"

It's their friend Emmett, known for dropping inappropriate comments and always at the wrong time, who can never deviate far from the fact that Tanya, Edward's now ex-wife, is now an out and proud lesbian.

Alice slaps his knee in response. "If she didn't know, how would he know?"

"Sometimes, I wish I was a lesbian." Jasper ponders, his lips poised to take a sip of his coffee. He freezes when he feels the intensity of four pairs of eyes staring at him. He looks back at them in a panic, "Did I say that out loud?"

Shaking his head, Emmett taps Edward on the leg and leans forward. "Look, Edward. You're sad. Angry. Scared. I know the perfect place to go to get it all out," he offers in all seriousness.

"Yeah?" Edward asks, leaning forward towards his coffee the waitress had placed in front of him on the rectangular coffee table.

"Strip clubs!" Emmett exclaims as if it's the most obvious answer in the world.

"Emmett, really?" Rose rolls her eyes at him.

"What?" He shrugs. "It'll work!"

Maybe it would work for some guys, but not for Edward. Even if the strippers themselves knew the location of some unknown fossil, this paleontologist would still shrug and opt to stay home and wallow.

He is allowed to wallow, damnit.

"I don't want to go to a strip club," Edward says eventually with a sigh. "I just want to be married again."

At that moment, as if his words flew straight to God's ears, the doors to the coffee house fly open, bouncing against the walls with intention.

All five of them stare at the sight in front of them, speechless, as a woman, drowning in the wet of the rain, stumbles inside, and into their lives, wearing nothing but a white wedding gown.

Jasper is the one to break the silence. "And I just want a million dollars!"

Ignoring him, Rose makes her way from the couch and heads over towards the bewildered bride. "Bella?"

The bride turns at the sound of her name, relief washing over her face when she recognizes her friend from long ago. "Rose!" She pulls her in for a hug. "Oh, thank God."

"It's great to see you," Rose smiles once they pull apart. Seeing Bella Swan's name appear on her phone was the last thing she thought she'd ever see, but they had been best friends growing up, so she didn't see the harm in answering the call.

"I know, I know. It's been, what, ten years?" Bella asks, excited and nervous energy hovering in the air between them.

Contemplating the years in her head, Rose eventually nods and points Bella in the direction of where they are sitting. "About that, yeah." She puts a friendly hand on Bella's shoulder. "Come on over. I'll introduce you to everybody."

"Okay."

Trying to hide the nerves making her hands shake and her knees knock together beneath her soaking wet wedding gown, she follows Rose to four other people staring at them expectantly.

Rose smiles at both Bella and the group of friends before motioning to the newcomer standing next to her, looking as out of place as a runaway bride should look. "Guys, this is Bella Swan, another survivor of Forks' High School. Bella, this is Emmett, Jasper, and Alice." She points over to Edward sitting on the couch with a distant look on his face. "Do you remember my brother, Edward?"

He looks over at Rose and Bella at the sound of his name and sees her, really sees her, for the first time. He stands hastily as Bella answers Rose.

"Yes, of course!" She says and reaches a hand out towards him in greeting.

But instead of shaking her hand in return, his stupid, fucking umbrella opens between them, splashing Seattle rainwater over them both.

Once his umbrella is properly closed, and their hands meet in his favorite coffee shop, he realizes he is too late.

His umbrella has serendipitously opened them into a never-ending trajectory towards each other.

Can we BE any more excited for this story?! We've been planning and plotting this story for what feels like forever, and after we watched the reunion last week, we couldn't contain ourselves any longer. We hope you enjoy our spin on two of our favorite worlds: Friends and Twilight.

That's exactly what it is: our spin. We talked about "casting" these characters into specific roles, and what worked and didn't work. We both agreed that Emmett had to be Joey - but if we wanted him with Rose, she would end up being Phoebe...but it turns out we had a hard time picturing Rose as a Phoebe. So we had to make some changes and ended up with Rose being our Monica. Alice definitely seems more like a Phoebe, and Jasper we felt was fluid enough to hold his own as the ever-witty Chandler.

And ultimately, we couldn't picture anyone else in our heads as Ross and Rachel other than Edward and Bella. We can absolutely picture this Rossward as we're writing him.

Since we're trying to stick to canon couples, Bella is definitely "his lobster".

We're taking the classic story lines, iconic characters and one-liners, but also are throwing in some of our own scenes and scenarios as well. We hope you enjoy them!

Give us a follow so you don't miss our updates. We will be posting teasers in our Facebook groups as the story progresses, so join us!

Dani Darling's Facebook Group: DaniDarlingxx Fanfics

Lily Jill's Facebook Group: Lily Jill Fics

Just like Friends once aired, we'll be posting this story on Thursday's.

We want to hear from YOU! Tell us how you liked the first chapter, and what iconic moments YOU want to see in this story!

Trust us, our list grows everyday with iconic moments, lines, and story arcs. Let us know your favorites and we'll try to get them in somewhere along the line!