Bree POV

It had been a weird few days since the news of my father's arrest. My emotions were all over the place, just as they had been when I first heard the news. One minute, I was devastated at the death of my mother, and then furious at my father for lying, on top of all his other atrocities, and then I was empty or numb, too exhausted to feel anything. Things were better when Jasper was around – he could even out my mood slightly, and at least make me feel love and happiness when I was empty of all feeling.

I was thinking about the funeral – who would plan a funeral for mum? She had no family of her own, having been an only child, orphaned at a young age. I wanted to go to her funeral, but I didn't see how it was possible, and I wasn't even sure there would be one. Could we organize one? No, probably not. I'm not convinced even Carlisle and Esme could come up with a good reason for the authorities to give them mum's remains.

A knock at my bedroom door brought me back to reality from my thoughts. I looked up and saw Esme stood in the open doorway, leaning on the doorframe.

"Hey kiddo, I'm heading into Seattle today – there's some supplies I need. Is there anything you want? I'd invite you to come with me, but I don't think you're quite ready for that yet." Esme's eyes flicked to mine, and I knew she could see the strange amber colour they currently were. Not quite gold, but definitely not red anymore.

I thought for a few moments. "Some books? I don't really mind which ones so long as we don't already have them. And, some more clothes? I don't have loads. Alice will probably kill me for getting you to shop instead of her, but I'd kinda like normal clothes!" Esme laughed. "Oh, and I don't have a coat. I might need one of them at some point if I can handle being out and about with the humans." I grinned at Esme, and she smiled back.

"I'll see what I can do." She smiled. "Will you be ok here by yourself once the others go to school?" I nodded, then paused. This would be the first time I'd had the whole house to myself. I flicked my eyes towards the clock. It was currently a little after 6am. Esme followed my gaze.

"Carlisle is already at work, but the others won't leave for school for a couple of hours. Carlisle should be back around 12.30-1, and I will probably be back before the kids get in from school." She smiled encouragingly. "If you'd rather not be alone, I can wait until Carlisle gets back, or go another day?" She added, hesitantly.

"No, that's ok. I'll be fine for a few hours." I said, confidently. "There's plenty of things here to entertain myself with." I added.

"Of course. And it won't be long until you're able to come with me." Esme smiled warmly, and I couldn't help smiling back. She had far more confidence in my self-control than I did. I was worried about re-integration into the human world, and wanted to put it off for as long as possible.

"I'm not heading off until around 7. No point in getting there much before 9 as the shops won't be open." I grinned; the 3 hour drive was much shorter if you paid no attention to speed limits. "Do you want some company until then?" Esme asked, hopefully, and I couldn't help but accept her offer. Esme's desire to love and care for me was infectious, and impossible to turn down.

"Sure!" I grinned, and Esme smiled again. I loved seeing her smile. Seeing how much Esme enjoyed my company helped me feel valued. I felt like I'd discovered a purpose to my existence for the first time, here in this family. It felt nice to be wanted and valued.

"Shall we have a look through your clothes and see what you're lacking?" That seemed a good idea, and I led Esme across the room to my closet, which was massively oversized for the number of things in there, all of which were borrowed from my sisters, and some from Esme herself.

"I'd like some jeans, I think. Alice lent me a few pairs, but they don't quite fit right. And maybe a few t-shirts and jumpers. That's all I really used to wear…" I trailed off. I didn't want to ask for too much. My past need to be unnoticed and unchallenging still had a massive hold over me. I'm sure I needed much more than jeans and some tops, but I didn't know how to ask, and part of me wanted to do that shopping by myself.

"Is that all you want?" Esme asked gently, and her arm curled around my shoulders. It was like she knew my inner turmoil. "You don't need to hold back; goodness only knows my other children don't!" I smirked, thinking of Alice's closet that was better stocked than most clothes shops. But I still couldn't bring myself to ask.

"I- …. I don't know." I said finally. "I don't know what I want. I've – I've never been able to have…stuff… before." My voice had dropped to a whisper by the end of the sentence, and Esme's hand squeezed my shoulder comfortingly. I looked up at her and saw sadness in her golden eyes.

"That's ok. If you like, I can just get some essentials today, and then when you're ready to come shopping, we can go on a massive spree." Esme paused thoughtfully. "We might have to let Alice come on that though, I don't think she'd ever forgive us if we didn't!" I laughed and thought happily of going on a shopping trip with my sister and mother. Like a normal family, I thought. I was equally sad and joyful at the thought.

"That sounds good." I said, my voice small. Esme gave my arm a reassuring squeeze, and then walked further into my closet to flick through my few items of clothing. I followed suit, and within a few minutes, we had a list of things that I really needed.

After Esme headed off, I went downstairs to join my siblings until they went to school. The boys were all crowded around a TV screen, watching an English Premier League soccer match that was apparently on live. Alice and Rosalie were at on the sofa too, but weren't captivated in the same way as their brothers. I couldn't help but laugh at the gender stereotypes embodied here. Alice and Rosalie looked up at the noise and beckoned me over. I bounded across the room in three big leaps and then propelled myself through the air to land neatly on the sofa in between them with a grin. I would never get tired of the powerful, graceful movements that were natural to our kind.

"What is this I hear, that you're letting Esme do your shopping and not me?!" Alice questioned with a mock hurt. Rosalie laughed.

"Oh you've done it now!" she grinned.

"I'm only letting her buy me basic essentials." I said quickly. "Saving the fun stuff for when we can go on a shopping trip together."

"Nice save." Alice said, slyly, playfully pushing me over until I was sprawled over Rosalie. Rosalie wrapped her arms around me, trapping me in a loving embrace, which I did not even bother attempting to free myself from. We stayed that way for a while, Alice reading a fashion magazine, and Rosalie twirling a lock of my hair around her finger as I leant back on her chest.

"How much longer will it be until I can go out near humans?" I asked suddenly. Alice looked up from her magazine.

"I've seen us go shopping together, all the girls. But I don't know when it is. It's a rainy day, but that means nothing in Washington."

"How long have you been a vampire for now?" Rosalie asked

I quickly tallied up the months since my change. I knew it was just before my 16th birthday, which was in March. It's now July. "About 5 months."

"It depends on the person, but it's often about a year." I slumped slightly. I wasn't sure I could take 7 more months of being confined to the house most of the time.

"It can be less though." Alice chimed in. "There's lots of factors at play. Your lack of desire to actually kill humans, even as a newborn, will probably help you here." She mused.

"We should probably get going." Edward's voice interrupted our conversation, and I realised the TV had been turned off. Rosalie finally released me from her arms, and I shifted so she could stand up.

"See ya later, squirt." Emmett called as he walked towards the door. "No parties while you're home alone, and try not to burn the house down." He joked, and I stuck my tongue out at him.

I heard the car doors open and close, the engine start, and the sound of tyres crunching down the gravelly drive. I was alone. I looked around the room, and pondered what to do. My eyes settled on the piano, and I curiously wandered over to it. I'd never played an instrument before, but I loved music, and the piano looked inviting.

I sat down on the stool and gently poked a couple of the keys. The sounds lingered for much longer than I expected, thanks to my enhanced hearing, the gentle ringing floating around my head. I wasn't sure what else to do. I'd watched Edward play before but he had almost a century of practice, and there was no way I was going to be able to replicate that any time soon. My eyes flitted to the nearest bookshelf, where all the music was kept, and after a few moments of searching, I spotted an old, battered book entitled "Piano basics". I eased it off the shelf an opened it to the first page, set it on the stand, sat back down, and began to play.

Big thanks to everyone who's reviewed, it literally makes my day to hear people like it!

Sorry for the massive delay in updating, i'll try to be better at remembering to post!