chapter 2

The first week of Lily's new, and first, job was almost over. Saturday had arrived and this particular brunette found herself relieved. Lily wasn't used to being around people, and in social situations, quite as much as she been this week and as a result she felt physically and mentally exhausted.

Thankfully, it had all gone smoothly. Apart from a few mishaps the new waitress to Fritz's Diner had had a good first week. Lily didn't speak much to the other workers except Maria, the owner. She wasn't very good at initiating conversations with new people and none of her co-workers had attempted to befriend her. So, the only person she had spoken to was Maria, and that was only when she spoke to her.

Grabbing her bag and coat, Lily said goodbye to the elder woman and exited the building. The other good thing was her first week had been all day shifts. Lily had been informed they would shift. One week would be day shifts and the second would be nights. So when she exited the diner, the sky was still light. Grey, foggy but light.

Not having a car, or even knowing how to drive, the woman was set to walk home. Not that she particularly minded apart from the slight ache in the back of her legs. When she reached the half way point Lily felt her phone start to make noise. Frowning, she stared at the random number showing up on her phone. Heart beating wildly, she contemplated whether she should answer or not. She didn't know whose voice she would hear at the other end.

Lily didn't get a chance to make up her mind when the call ended. Relief filled her for all of three seconds when her phone went off for a second time. Breathing heavily, Lily slowly answered the phone.

"...Hello?"

"Hi!" a perky voice greeted back and Lily sagged. Alice. She would recognise that pixies voice out of anyone's. She had never met anybody that could literally emit positivity from the voice the way Alice could. "Hope you don't mind, I got your number from my mother?"

"Oh, no, that's fine." Lily responded awkwardly. Realising she had stopped still the moment her phone had begun ringing Lily continued on her journey home. Her hands were beginning to turn red from the cold air.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to spend the night together? We could paint our nails, watch movies, I could do your hair..." Alice went off on a tangent of all the things the girls could get up to that night whilst Lily stayed silent. Fumbling for the keys in her bag she fought inside her mind on whether it was a good idea.

She couldn't keep avoiding people for the rest of her life, it was making her miserable, but on the other hand she didn't know how to be around others and that made her uncomfortable.

"... please say yes!" Alice's happy voice drifted back and Lily quickly forced herself to agree before she could reject the upbeat girl and spends the next three weeks thinking about this conversation and berating herself for doing such a thing. Alice squealed in happiness and told her she would be right over after asking for her address.

And that was how she found herself with Alice Cullen's presence for the next week. She would either randomly turn up at the house or would be texting and calling at all hours of the day. Lily didn't mind, she found the company rather nice. After all, it had been years since she had had a friend.

The week after their first initial meet up, Alice has managed to worm her way into Lily's house yet again. A movie was playing in the background as the shorter girl fiddled with the others hair. Lily had always loved her hair being played with and Alice loved doing people's hair. It was a win win situation.

"We should invite Jasper."

"What?" Lily frowned at the abrupt statement.

"My brother, you met him not too long ago remember?" There was something in Alice's tone that left Lily suspicious, but she couldn't exactly work out what the other girl was hinting at.

"I remember." she mumbled.

"We should invite him. He loves history or horror movies." Alice said happily. Not wanting to be rude Lily agreed to the suggestion and twenty minutes later the tall blond haired boy had joined them. It would have been a lie of Lily's if she said she wasn't uncomfortable, for a plethora of reasons but every now and then she felt an overwhelming sense of calm and relaxation that she forgot about her negative feelings of the newcomer and found herself welcoming his presence.

Two days later, lying in bed, Lily received a surprised text from a particular blond boy she had allowed into her home. What he was texting her for she didn't know, and he didn't seem to either because there was no reasoning behind it. They simply talked, and the brunette enjoyed it. He seemed rather shy whilst in front of her but behind his phone he opened up and let go slightly and Lily liked what she found, which is why she continued to message the teen for the rest of the week until Sunday rolled around and they agreed to meet up.

Deciding just to go for a walk Lily was now aware, standing beside him, just how tall Jasper Hale was. He had to of been over 6' tall, and she was only 5'5. His eyes were gold, the young woman noted. What was with this family and gold eyes? It was weird.

Talking about anything and nothing, Lily felt at ease. Jasper was very easy to talk to, even if he wasn't that much of a talker. He seemed to be the type of guy to keep to himself, only speaking when needed and not caring what other people thought of him. Something she envied quite a lot.

He was still weird however, still staring at her like she was a puzzle. Or grimacing every now and then, pulling away if she got too close. Lily tried not to feel offended, she didn't know why he behaved the way he did, but she did feel offended. But whenever this emotion washed over her, Jasper would do something to make her smile. Whether that was telling a lame joke, or an embarrassing anecdote and she felt better again.

An hour into their walk Lily felt utterly awful. Her head started spinning causing her to stop walking to keep her balance.

"Are you alright?" Jasper asked, a worried frown marring his brow. Lily gave a strained smile as she nodded.

"Just tired, made me a little dizzy that's all." she explained weakly. Jasper didn't look convinced but he stayed silent, reaching over to place his hand on her back so he could lead her over to a nearby bench. Lily flinch at the overpowering feeling of his cold hand before she relaxed. That was another thing about the Cullen family. At least from the ones she had met, they were all unnaturally cold.

"You should sit and relax for a moment before heading home. Maybe a nap would do you some good. Sleep and some food." Jasper prescribed making Lily smile at his obvious distress. That frown hadn't left his face so it was clear to the young woman he was genuinely worried about her. Lily agreed with his assessment, so when she felt strong enough they walked back to her home.

Waiting until she was inside, Jasper backed up and headed to his car. Smiling goodbye Lily gave him a small, shy wave as he opened the car door. Jasper waved back, a smile playing at his lips. Entering the house Lily made her way to the kitchen where she made herself a sandwich.

Sitting down at the kitchen table she took a bite before groaning. Ugh, she so wasn't hungry but she had told Jasper that she would. So, with that in mind Lily forced herself to eat as much as she could until she felt she may vomit if she ate any more. Chucking the rest away, Lily weakly made her way to her room and simply dropped down onto the bed with a heavy sigh.

She was so tired. Sleep was calling to her like a lover, caressing her into a dreamless sleep as the rain began outside and started making music when it came in contact with her bedroom window. She didn't awake until the next morning.

Thank you to the anyone for liked or followed this story. The beginning will seem a bit slow but once it settles slightly I promise it will be worth it (I hope)!

RR! - if you want :)

Stay Beautiful x