Disclaimer: I have ZERO claim or creative control in official Twilight Saga content. All rights for the original content go to Stephanie Meyer. I'm just playing in this sandbox and only own my ideas and characters.

Word count: 4672

New Years Eve 2004: 3PM, Just South of Forks, WA

Forks, Washington. Home to 3,440 people. Make that 3,442, now. After three wild days on this road trip, we were finally home. Between telling Bella my secret, meeting Nick Burkhardt apparently for the second time, getting pulled over for showboating in my car by him, and just the road trip in general, I honestly believed it was more adventurous than the last three months.

And that was saying something given that a LOT of shit went on for us during the holiday season. From Holloween to Hanukka (not that we celebrated that) it was basically non-stop crazy. Thrown in Mom's wedding with Phil and all of the extra insanity of that, then deciding to move, planning to move, packing… Yeah. The last three months were an adventure all on their own.

But somehow, the intimate little road trip with my beloved sister trumped it. I knew it wasn't just any one factor from it, either. Yes, we felt bonded even more closely than we were before, YES, the absurdity of us both now knowingly meeting a "fictional character" was overwhelming, and YES, we were doing something fairly drastic for the sake of someone else's happiness (well, I kinda liked Forks, but I digress). But I think it was the unique combination of ALL of that which made the last three days match the last three months worth of "adventure".

After all, spending the better part of two decades doing it, the holiday crazies were rather normal. Moving across the country on a solo road trip filled with literally out-of-this-world revelations was a once-in-a-lifetime thing.

'Yeah, unless I go telling Bella the rest.' I thought to myself, giving her the side-eye and grinning as she stayed buried in my "financial plans" journal.

Deciding to switch up the mood as we passed the "Welcome to Forks" sign, I popped in an Eminem karaoke CD and started jamming to "Without Me" doing my own off-the-dome remix to fit with our homecoming.

"Two of the world's best twins come from the south side, from the south side, from the south side!"

Bella starts smiling as she realized my scheme, bookmarking her page and setting the journal aside as she eyes me with an incredulous look that's mixed with her playful grin.

"Two of the world's best twins come from the south side, from the south side, from the south side!"

She shakes her head in mirth and prepares, seemingly reading the lyrics from my mind as we both drop into the hook together.

"Guess who's back!"

"Back again!"
"The Twins are back!"
"Tell your friends!"
"Guess who's back. Guess who's back. Guess who's back. Guess who's back. Guess who's back. Guess who's back. Guess who's back."

Bella dropped out to listen to me instead as I improvised my own first verse, throwing in verbal snapshots of how we used to be "big" in Forks during our summers, and now took our road trip to come back permanently. I even included "So the PPD won't let me be" as a counter to Eminem's original "So the FCC won't let me be" and talked shit about not having the freedom to burn out down an empty street. It was great.

As we rode up the main street and the song continued, Bella joined back in for the hooks while letting me freestyle for the verses. We passed quite a few places we recognized and one or two new ones. After all, how much could a small town really change in two years?

I chuckled to myself at the inside joke. 'Most of the changes will be a ways down the road and hidden off the beaten path.' I thought, remembering two years ago when I saw three pale people standing outside the hospital as Dad drove us to Port Angeles Airport for the last time.

I signaled for a left about three-quarters of the way through town, only to be blindsided from the rear quarter as an iconically recognizable classic roadster FLEW up at what must have been at least 150 Miles-Per-Hour, causing me to panic and brake mid-turn.

I could hear the other car's tires squeal as it downshifted and then drifted by right in front of my bumper, likely sliding all four tires at what still must have been 100 Miles-Per-Hour. By now, my quirk kicked in, my heartbeat pounding away faster than I could consciously make it as I prepared to take a hit that wouldn't come due to the other drivers' apparent skills.

Nonetheless, the side benefits of my ability allowed me to take it all in with a sort of bullet-time perspective as I looked up and watched. A pale, blonde teenage girl looks up and sneers at me for a second before what seems to be recognition dawns on her face. She falters further as she seems to notice my eyes tracking hers, and I could feel the confusion on my face as we make eye contact. A split second later, she's back to sneering, now looking into the direction of her drift as the world snaps back into normal speed.

Her car -A fucking 1960s Shelby Cobra in classic dark blue with white racing stripes- straightens out and rockets away as I sit in the middle of the street, stalled out and partially blocking both lanes.

"Holy SHIT! She almost KILLED US!" Bella shouted in the passenger seat, watching as the blonde hair and blue car disappeared into the distance. I finally exhaled the breath I was holding as my heart rate returned to normal and I got the car started again, and now that the situation was over, I couldn't help but crack a joke to ease the tension.

"Well. Almost killed you. I'm bulletproof or something, remember?" I asked, still half-drunk on the adrenaline. Bella groans at me and collapses forward, headbutting the dashboard as I get us rolling again. I couldn't fucking believe our first vampire encounter post-move was not only a likely-fatal almost-car-crash, but it was also Rosalie doing the driving.

Or, at least I assumed it to be her. She didn't look a thing like Nikki Reed from the movies. But she was definitely pale enough to be a vampire, definitely physically young enough and blonde enough that she had to count as Rosalie. No, the real fucking question was-

"Man, did you see that car, though!?" I asked on reflex, mostly rhetorically, not that it didn't reinvigorate Bella's ire at the whole situation.

"Really, you're focused on the car?" She asked exasperatedly.

"Yeah, She was driving a really RARE, expensive, and FAST collector's car." I said. Though, it was definitely a can-achronism. Which was my way of combining the idea of "canon" and "anachronism" because wasn't she supposed to drive a RED BMW M3?

Oh well.

"I hate you…" Bella said half-heartedly as I made the right onto the street where Dad's our house was at the end. Oh yes, another half mile down THIS road, at the end of the street, the top of the hill, and facing DOWN said street like a castle would overlook its kingdom was our two-story, now 2000 square foot house with what used to be a one-and-a-half-car garage converted into a master suite, courtesy of the remodel in '03.

And… Apparently some red-colored building off to the side in the backyard?

"Hey, did Dad buy a shed or something?" Bella piped up, voicing my own thoughts as I narrowed my eyes and descended into the slight valley between the beginning and end of the street.

"Guess we're about to find out." I replied, revving up my car and letting the anti-lag and two-step do their popping and banging and fireballs-out-the-exhaust thing to signal that we were here and this was our town.

Bella gave me another half-hearted incredulous and judgemental look as we leisurely rolled up to the house, flipped a U-y in the pseudo-cul-de-sac driveway, then backed the U-Haul trailer into the parking space next to Dad's police cruiser. The man himself jogged out of the house to greet us as I shut the car off and got out.

"It's about time you got here, I was worried I'd have to send the boys out to escort you in." He jested, giving me a strong and welcoming manly hug before Bella much more casually joined in with a side hug of her own.

"Come on, I was already speeding, aren't you supposed to be strict about the law or something?" I quipped back, getting a half-hearted stern look and the finger-point.

"Don't give me any ideas, young man…" He replied, deadpan for but a moment before we all started chuckling. "But seriously, how was the trip? Everything okay? Car make it fine?" He asked after our laughter abated.

"Of course. I built it. Did you seriously think it wouldn't make it, being the gearhead and perfectionist that I am?" I shook my head in disappointment, turning it up in "contemplation" a second later, which gave him a moment of concern. "I did swap out the summer tires for my winter set in Portland, though. Anything less than 45 degrees or so and the rubber compound just doesn't grip right." I mentioned, causing both him and Bella to roll their eyes at my mock-seriousness.

It was then that Bella decided to chime in with our mutual question from earlier. "Hey, what's with the shed in the back? Don't we have enough space after the rebuild?" She asked, raising a decent point. After all, we ALL busted ass on that renovation. Especially me.

"That is a surprise. For now, we need to get you guys unpacked so we can celebrate New Year's properly." Dad replied, putting off the discovery and rousing both our curiosity and suspicion by a factor of three.

Nonetheless, we knew he wasn't going to budge, and probably had it locked, too, so our only choice was to pop the trailer open and start hauling stuff in the house. Of course, being men, Dad and I carried the vast majority of it and all of the "heavy" stuff either ourselves or together, while Bella hauled the day bags, my journals, and a few of the lighter boxes and accessories.

Our suspicion was roused even further when, from the vantage point of Bella's room on the right side of the second floor, we noticed just how large the shed was. It had to be nearly 30 feet long and half as wide. Not to mention the pitched roof and standard height walls. It really looked like a small house of its own, to be honest. THAT coupled with the curtained windows on it and the distinct LACK of instruments and music gear in either of our bedrooms caused Bella and I to share a knowing look.

Alas, patience was a virtue, so we kept quiet as we brought in all the boxes, bags, and loose stuff from the little Uhaul trailer, and then went back downstairs. Dad met us in the living room with a HUGE grin as he rubbed his hands and became just a touch theatrical.

"So, I'm sure that by now you've seen the "shed" from upstairs and the lack of instruments you guys shipped up last month." He started, getting grins and nods from both of us as we began following him out the sliding door and into the backyard. "Then allow me to show you your homecoming present." He continued, pulling a set of keys out of his pocket and unlocking the very standard (read, "not belonging on a plain-ole shed") door and reaching in to flick the lights on.

"Welcome to your very own music studio!"

Oh my good heavenly God. This man has officially outdone himself. Based on the look my sister now wore, I knew she was thinking the same thing. "B-but what? HOW!?" She blanched uncomprehendingly as we took in the well-decorated, well insulated and constructed, and even well-ORGANIZED music studio we now had, complete with the myriad of instruments and accessories -and a few pieces of furniture- that we'd acquired over the years. It even had its own little A/C unit.

"I concur with Bella. How did you afford this? Aren't us kids supposed to be the irresponsible ones?" I asked, a megawatt smile nonetheless plastered across my face as I took in the interior design and cataloged the fact that indeed, ALL of our stuff except what we hauled with us was indeed in here.

"Well, that's the thing. Given how gifted you two are with both maturity and musical talent, I figured it was worth it to give you something that reflected your potential." Dad explained. "Not only that but… Well… I love you guys. You're my kids… And for being such good kids, you deserve something nice once in a while." He trailed off, getting just a little awkward with the heavier emotional stuff.

Bella was just about to seemingly protest that there was a huge difference between "something nice" and this but Dad beat her to the punch with; "Besides, the state increased our funding at the station, and the county gave me specifically, a fairly sizable bonus this year, so it's not like I dipped into the savings that much to do this."

Bella stuttered for a second, trying to find the words, but now it was my turn to interrupt her with a shushing and a finger wag. "No. Just enjoy it, sis. This, as they say, is a sign."

"Yeah, a sign that our Dad is crazy." She mumbled with no heat to it, the 'Now I can actually believe he and Mom used to be together…' going unheard by Dad, and even still, barely perceived by my own hearing as I fondly grinned, right along with Dad.

"So, with that out of the way; Who's up for steak?" Charlie asked, causing us both to moan in anticipation. Fast food honestly got old for me after 3 days straight of it, even IF Chipotle was a nice treat that I didn't think I'd get to have before something supernatural happened to me.

"Only if David cooks it, though." Bella half-snarked, causing Dad to mime getting shot in the chest and me to chuckle.

"You're gonna be hit, today. We've still gotta run errands." I told her, causing Dad to smirk in victory and pump his fist while my sister groaned. Man was a purist when it came to steak. HAD to take three hours and HAD to be done on a grill. With REAL wood, not charcoal. In this regard, he was a perfect match for my last dad, but despite that AND Bella's protests, his steaks did still come out great, if not simply more charred on the outside and not as evenly medium-rare on the inside like a reverse sear produced.

"I'll get the fire going, then." Dad stated, darting out of the music studio with the both of us right on his tail so we could all get what we needed to done or started, ideally before the daylight ran out in another half hour.

I paused for a moment as I took notice of exactly what that meant, eying the pretty reds and pinks of the final bits of dusk behind the horizon of trees. "Huh… It's twilight…" I mused quietly, chuckling at the irony as Bella "huh'd?" me.

"Nothin'. Let's get going. The big gas station had other Uhaul stuff there, so that's where we'll turn in the trailer." I explained, unclipping my car keys from a belt loop and twirling them around my finger as we got into the car and drove away.

Given how small the town was, it didn't even take ten minutes before we were pulling into the main gas station. A classic Ford Bronco painted somewhere between maroon and candy red was pulling out as we swung around in the parking lot to back the Uhaul trailer into a spot next to the others. The roar of its big block engine as it sped off on 40-inch mud-terrain tires had me whistling in appreciation and Bella sighing in defeat. It seemed there were more car people in this town than she either wanted or anticipated.

And I already knew who some of them were.

After a whopping ten minutes -sarcasm, by the way- at the station, we had the trailer returned and a full tank of gas in the Corolla, not to mention ingredients for smores and a few other nicks and nacks for the night. Particularly a pack of firecrackers, cap guns, and bottle rockets. Pulling out of the station and heading back home we, of course, got caught at the main intersection's traffic light. Almost out of nowhere, a grey sedan with limo tint ran down the yellow and disappeared into the distance as I mumbled "What's your hurry, Murray?" to which Bella chuckled at the familiar quote.

Another five minutes later and we were pulling in the driveway, this time frontwards and sans-trailer. We grabbed the stuff and hauled ourselves into the kitchen to set it all down before proceeding into the backyard where Dad had the fire pit blazing and the chairs and table already set out. Bella dipped back into the kitchen to grab our spoils-of-Citgo as I moseyed out and finally just took it all in.

Air, thick with moisture and almost piercingly cold filled my lungs as I closed my eyes and allowed the sensations of what I considered my second home to wash over me. Yes. Everything was different and it being winter was only the tip of the iceberg. YES. I was still living in a fantasy world with vampires and other supernatural things afoot. And yes, I finally told someone my secret.

All of that was true, and it all had to be dealt with, eventually… But for right now… For at least the next eight hours or so… I was just a teenager having a New-Years cookout with my family…

New Years' Eve 2004: 11:57PM

It'd been a good five hours since we ate dinner and had smores. Since then we've spent our time catching up with Dad and quietly jamming out some good tunes. We told him more about the jobs and apprenticeships we'd been taking the last couple years, sharing more personal stories about how certain days stood out from others. Like the time when I was given the responsibility to teach a sophomore from a different school how to arc-weld some simple pieces and he insisted and failed at doing it his own way for a good half an hour before he finally accepted my guidance.

Or when Bella singed off a few inches of her hair in the fryer vat after her hairnet slipped back when she was working at Phoenix City Grill.

I also went on a tangent where I described my entire build of the Corolla in excruciating detail, even down to the "why" I did or didn't do certain things or only took it as far as I did. After that, we just kept the fire going and quietly enjoyed each other's company. Dad drank his beers while Bella and I clinked glasses of chocolate milk over smores and set about making some ambient music to reflect the mood. We ended up passing the drum machine and mini keyboard back and forth while primarily focusing on Violin and Cello. With the music studio having power ran to it, we didn't even need to string out a whole bunch of extension cordage to run the amps and speakers. Given our proximity to the fire and the lack of rain we also didn't need to worry about being too cold or damaging the equipment.

It was a damn perfect night, and as the countdown played loud over the TV from the living room, I wondered what tomorrow -or Monday, for that matter- would truly bring. 'Worries for another time.' I thought with a smile, calling out "HAPPY OLD YEAR!" as per tradition and tossing the whole pack of firecrackers into the fire pit, box and all, while Bella lit all the bottle rockets sequentially. Once our hands were free, we all picked up a cap gun each and let off until the toys went 'click' instead of 'bang' while dancing around like happy idiots.

Coming down from the emotional high, we huddled around the fire pit as a breeze passed through from the West, Bella and I shivering slightly as she -free of her obligation to hold out for the ball dropping- decided it was time to pack it in and head inside. Of course, that was when I heard it. A guttural low growl from the woods not 60 feet away, and higher than one would expect from an animal.

In three seconds, before either of my two very averagely human family members could even fully compute what I was doing, I had one of the shotguns in my hands and was proceeding to stalk towards the forest, my heart shooting from 'slightly elevated' to 'shit's about to go down' as I strained my enhanced senses to the max. I racked the shotgun halfway back, checking the chamber, and sure enough, I had one of my hand-loaded dragon's breath shells in it. I flicked off the tang safety with my thumb and tuned out everything that wasn't directly in front of me as I leveled the weapon towards the danger.

The growling picked up again, louder this time, though perhaps that was just my perception… I heard a muted thump, followed by the creaking of a branch. "You can't!" a voice whispered, pleaded aloud, seemingly in desperation but nonetheless eliciting another growl from what I now assumed was one of the vampires. 'Why? HOW!? They're fucking EARLY, dammit!' I thought bitterly, wondering what to do in this situation and who in the FUCK had the gall to come spy on me out of all the Cullens.

"It's her scent!" The growl spat out, tension evident in its animalistic words that could barely be considered English, let alone human… Fuck me… It's Edward…

My eyes snapped open and I raised the shotgun further. Everything I could sense and know beforehand would point to them being in the trees. Of course, they're in the fucking trees. But at this point, I was at an impasse. I didn't know what to do. I didn't even know if Dragon's Breath rounds would be enough to discourage a vampire or if I'd have to then fight one hand-to-hand while it's on fire… I didn't want to reveal that I knew this early on, but fuck…

There goes my plan and timeline. I make my decision, hearing a gasp from the woods before a heavy hand on my shoulder startles me out of my tunnel vision, and my finger twitches, leaving the most minute of dents in the side of the weapon's receiver. "Looks like trigger discipline saves the day again…" Dad says, chuckling at how he'd foolishly startled me while holding a weapon. "Come on, son… I don't think the bears are gonna be in the trees, and the cougars aren't gonna come out with the three of us here and you this alert." He assures us, completely unaware of just how close we are to a potentially gruesome death.

I turn my head the slightest amount, only to reassure him that he's been heard. "Bella, go inside. Now. Dad and I can put shit away." I say, my tone outright commanding and leaving no room for debate given who just took a dump on my good mood.

"Close the door, but don't leave the living room. A third pair of eyes watching the WHOLE yard will definitely keep them behind the tree line." Dad added, finishing his 4th beer and depositing the empty can in the garbage can next to the music studio back and to my left. I retrain my ears forward as I keep my shotgun trained in the direction of the threat.

Just before I begin taking slow, measured steps back, I hear the first voice whisper again. "You can't… She's his SISTER… They're a family… He'd never forgive you for hurting her…" It said plainly, a pause lingering in the air until Bella closed the sliding door of the house, which caused a much more restrained, and dare I say strangled growl to come from what I assume to be Edward before there's a rustling, two thacks, a thud, and then a whoosh.

'Guess he ran off…' I thought to myself, lowering the shotgun and re-engaging the safety. I hear another creak before the first voice whispers again. "Did you… hear all of that?" it mused, seemingly to itself as my heart skipped a beat when I thought I'd been caught with my pants down. My gut reaction was to raise my weapon once again, but I slammed the brakes on that and forced myself to act like nothing happened, turning about and walking back to the fire pit where I leaned the shotgun against an amp and helped Dad reorganize shit and put away the musical stuff.

I damn sure didn't stop peeking at the woods, though, and my heart rate never DID go all the way back to normal as I tried to keep an ear peeled, too. I wasn't going to be caught off guard with Bella and Dad's lives on the line. I'd use every ounce of my enhanced strength, and even if I do go down, I'll be damned if it isn't fighting for either my own or my family's survival.

Within ten minutes we had everything packed away and the fire put out. A light mist set in just as we were making it inside and I was genuinely surprised it wasn't snow given the temperature. Emotionally and physically exhausted, I made my way upstairs as Bella and dad said their goodnights. While they were occupied, I snuck into Bella's room and jammed some dowels in her windows before locking the mechanisms for good measure. It might not stop any intruding vampires, but any breakages would quite quickly alert me to their presence, and I was pretty sure I could move just as fast as one of them when properly motivated.

They decide to catch me or my family by surprise and they'll be sorely mistaken thinking they have the upper hand in anything but sheer numbers. Nonetheless, I would be taking no chances nor shortcuts, tonight. Not after Edward's little growl-sesh in the woods. Nope, it was going to be an open window, literally hugging my shotgun to my chest kind of night. 'Fucking lovely…' I thought to myself, darting across the hall silently just as Bella turned up and started ascending the stairs.

Out of pragmatism, I reluctantly also declined the relaxation that came from taking a warm shower in the winter. With a scowl on my face and another double-checking of my weapon, I slid my own window open and crawled into bed with the shotgun. Bumping my own heart rate up a bit, I kept a super-sensitive ear peeled for ALL the goings-on around and in the house. I didn't hear the whispering voice speak up again the whole night.

I knew I wouldn't sleep well after what happened. I also simply could not relax no matter how long I went without hearing anything suspicious outside and was resigned to not sleeping at all. One could say it was "too quiet," which gave me the feeling that the whisperer stayed behind to stalk us; we were being watched. Alas, one can only fight unconsciousness for so long, especially when being essentially in a meditative state and only focusing on the sounds around you. As such, sometime after 4:41 am -the last time I looked at my bedside clock- my body must've succumbed to passing out.

A/N:

Much smaller chapter this time, I know. Also much later at damn near 4 months, and for that, I'm sorry. The good news is I've decided to double-update. You guys will get the next chapter Monday, and as I write this A/N (and after putting the finishing touches on this chapter) I've already broken off 500 words that would've been a part of the -forever unfinished because of writer's anxiety and motivational/aspergerian faffs- continuation of this chapter.

Don't worry, I KNOW I can bust out 4k more in two days, PLUS I know exactly what the next chapter is doing. I've written a good 3k a day off the rip, so… Just hang tight and have faith. This fic is FAR from abandoned. Oh, right, a teaser…

The next chapter is gonna be called "Premeditated Preparations" and includes… A strange request or two of Bella by our resident SIOC. Not to mention another cameo or few.

We… shall… SEE!

Also, Sanford9687: It was explained from the start that David reincarnated into Twilight and is an SI/OC as Bella's twin brother. I was planning from chapter 1 (and I believe hinting from at least chapter 2) that he was going to tell Bella about it, eventually.

Lastly, but certainly not leastly: Join me on KLL'S DISCORD for discussion. I have my own channel there for all things Destiny Saga, including FACE CLAIMS for the characters, car pics, explanations for any changes you might see to canon lore, and so on.

Link: gg/CBHnaEPTn7