And… now we have chapter 5! Perhaps I am putting too much of Lily's world into the Twilight universe, but I wanted to make them blend together so that it's unlike other stories and to set it up for a different ending. As always, I love constructive criticism and reading your comments, so please continue to do so!

I don't own Twilight, but I own my OC's.

Chapter 5

It took a little bit of convincing, but Uncle Charlie sent us off with well wishes and us promising to keep in touch the whole trip for safety reasons. I don't know quite know why we had to convince him but I have a feeling since I mentioned it to Uncle Brian in an email earlier this week and Bella talked to her mother he probably heard from them and was upset that we didn't mention it to him first. To be fair, my cousin didn't want to worry him and I was just so used to coming and going that I didn't think to consider it. After all, we were both of age, and neither Bella nor I suffered from nightmares about the attack anymore. I had gotten in touch with a friend from back home and we talked through a lot of things. Bella still had occasional nightmares about Edward leaving her and a few things she still wouldn't talk about that probably concerned both him and his family.

Bella and I donned on the cashmere sweaters- I wore the black and she wore the burgundy. She had on some black jeans, while I had on some light blue jeggings. We both had on good running shoes. She let me do a little bit of makeup on her and clip the top layer of her hair back. It was 5:30 am when we made our way downstairs. Of course Uncle Charlie had already been up waiting for us, the screen held some sort of sports game. What was unexpected was the fact that there was a simple breakfast laid out- two strips of bacon, a side of yogurt, and a pancake on my plate with a coffee, and Bella had two pancakes plus a banana. She had a soda placed there as well.

"Figured you girls needed some food before you went. I didn't burn it this time either." Uncle Charlie looked very pleased with this fact.

"Thanks Dad." Bella smiled before she began eating and I nodded, following with "yes, thanks Uncle Charlie!" as I cut my pancake up before drizzling syrup lightly onto both my pancake and bacon.

"Ew, that is so gross!" Bella shuddered.

"Only to those who haven't tried it". Uncle Charlie sat down with us while we ate.

"Lily, sometimes I don't know how we share a similar gene pool." I laughed lightly when Bella said that.

"Ditto!" I affirmed and continued eating.

"You both look really pretty today." Uncle Charlie complimented.

"You can thank Lily for that. She dolled me up a little more than I'm used to."

"Hardly Bella. I just decided to help highlight your already amazing features. I'm almost jealous of your eyes. Unlike me, you can actually wear eye shadow and it show up- plus, they have way better shape that mine. And... you aren't as light sensitive. I swear that is the worst part of having lighter eyes." She grinned, almost self-consciously, and shook her head.

"No Bells she's right. You're my daughter. And- thankfully you took a lot after your mother. You have her complexion and large eyes." He began to grab our plates.

"Don't worry about the dishes. It's almost 6, you two should start heading out. Make sure you have jackets, wallet, keys, licenses, phones, etc. Oh- before I forget…" Uncle Charlie took out a few hundred dollars and handed them over to Bella. "For uh… Shopping. Just save some for emergencies. And drive the speed limit!" He stared hard at both of us.

"Yes sir. I have the gps up and running, a full tank of gas, mapped stopping points for gas stations and where we switch off, and the addresses written down for where we plan to go. I have car chargers as well to ensure that our cell phones stay alive. I have emergency funds and everything. We'll call you when we stop for gas and when we get there." He hugged us goodbye and we finally headed out.

It took awhile to get into town and we did as promised. Bella had taken over up until we got into Seattle. Big city traffic wasn't something she was used to. Even being from Phoenix, she doesn't drive the best in more than two lanes of traffic. Too bad she didn't mention that beforehand...

We headed to the first rock shop and I found everything I needed there. There were even strings of beads that I needed. This was a blessing since the others looked fairly barren. I also was able to get some cages for pendants out of a few of the tumbled stones. I found more things at the art supply stores. We had finished everything by 2 pm. Bella opted for a drive through and after eating and letting Uncle Charlie know we'd be heading out and should be home by 6, we were back on the road. I wish I could say our girls trip was more exciting but honestly Bella was happy to be along for the ride helping me run errands. There was one place I stopped on a whim though.

A reputable tattoo artist that was in between Seattle and Forks. Bella looked nervous but I wanted to know something. We stepped inside to the counter where a lavender haired girl eyed us curiously. I couldn't help but admire how beautiful she was.

"Hello. I was wondering if Lucas was working here still?" The girl's aquamarine eyes lit up in recognition.

"You must be Lily!" She extended her hand in greeting which I accepted, noting how cold she was. "I'm Luna. Lucas told me a lot about you. He said you guys were childhood friends. Oh- I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to be rude. Who's your friend?"

"I'm Bella. Lily is my cousin." She stated simply, clearly out of her element.

"I can almost see the family resemblance. It's nice to meet you." The two exchanged handshakes before Luna turned back to me. "So were you in the neighborhood just dropping by or did you want something done?"

"A bit of both actually. I wanted to get my third set of earrings put in. I know Bella talked about getting her ears pierced too…."

"I think we can get you in and out pretty fast. After you fill out paperwork and show me your ID's. Lucas will be back here in a minute or two." She handed us the forms and went to answer the phone. I turned to Bella.

"Thanks for going along with this. You don't have to pierce your ears if you don't want to. You just mentioned it awhile back."

Bella replied "I don't mind. I honestly want to do something different. I don't feel like me anymore. Not the old me when you first got here, but not the same as I was before he left. I want to just… do something to show I'm not the same me. I don't think I will go crazy. But I definitely want to get this done. And maybe get my belly button done like yours…." She trailed off and went back to her paperwork.

"That's actually not a bad idea. Just don't go too wild. I'm supposed to be a good influence on you." I pouted slightly which caused my cousin to bust out laughing.

"Eh.. You tried. So you've known this guy a long time?" I nodded.

"Yeah. Lucas is Jim's younger brother. Don't ask him about that if you can avoid it. He did my second set before he left to come here. I heard this was where he set up shop from another friend of ours."

We turned the paperwork back in to Luna just as Lucas walked in. His dirty blonde hair was almost to his shoulders now and was styled to look messy. It also looked like he had stayed muscular too. Lucas finally trained his one blue and one brown eye on me and Bella.

"Hey Lucas. I came to get the third set. Figured since you did so well on this one it's only right that you do the third. This is my cousin Bella." I introduced them and he looked down after their hands broke.

"I don't mind doing that. Your cousin wants her ears pierced once… and a belly button ring?" Bella opted for a nod instead of speaking, and a light blush stained her cheeks.

"I have someone coming in for a tattoo here in about fifteen minutes, but I can squeeze you in beforehand. I wish you had given me a heads up so we could visit more…. I know we spoke on the phone a few times but this is the first time I've actually seen you since my brother's funeral. I didn't realize that you decided to cut your hair. And you have layers now. If I'm not mistaken, you became a china doll too. Guess you never actually outgrew your cosplay days from high school." He grinned pointedly, our old joke still being a thing.

" And you became a skinnier less buff version of the surfer boys we used to poke fun of at school when they wanted to pay us to do their homework. But you aren't wrong. Forks makes me paler than normal." Bella and I followed him back and he got to work.

He marked me first and made sure I liked where the alignment was before piercing my ears with a needle. It didn't hurt and was over almost instantaneously.

"You know what to do and make sure your cousin follows suit. I have to tell her the rules by law though." I nodded and he lined her up before doing the belly button first per Bella's request. I held her hand as she relaxed.

"See, no pain right?" Bella nodded and smiled at Lucas. "Alright, now the ears."

"I'm sure you hear this a lot, but I never thought a younger and more attractive version of David Bowie would be piercing my ears." Bella mused as Lucas shook with laughter.

"Holy shit Lily! This girl is actually related to you. That's exactly what you told me when I did yours. " I grinned widely and laughed along with them. Once the laughter died down, Lucas finished up getting her ears done and told her everything she needed to know about aftercare. We thanked him and started to head back to Luna.

"Keep in touch this time. More than a couple of sporadic calls or visits. And let me know if you want to come with me in a few weeks to visit his grave."

Bella walked further ahead so that we could have some privacy. When she was out of earshot, Lucas continued in a hushed tone.

"I haven't heard from Sebastian. I'm not even sure he's still alive. I'd heard he died, but you and I have both seen him since then. Not sure if there will be some Phantom of the Opera type gift on his gravestone or not. The whole thing is so confusing. Have you seen or heard from him since everything happened?"

I shook my head.

"No. It's part of why I dropped by when I heard you were here. You were closer to Seb than any of the rest of us were. But I'll let you know if I learn anything new."

"I'll do the same." His tone returned to normal as we approached the front. "And let me know if you need anything else done. I'd be honored to do more work on you. On both of you. Maybe you'll finally let me do that tattoo I have in mind. Hey Luna- don't charge these two. It's on the house." I wrapped Lucas in a final hug of goodbye and let him know I'd be in touch.

He kissed my cheek and forehead and we hopped back on the road. Uncle Charlie was with Billy in the living room still watching a game when we got back.

"Hey girls, glad you guys made it back in one piece. You're a little later than I thought you'd be."

"Sorry Uncle Charlie! We got hungry and decided since it was so late to go ahead and eat at some Mexican place near here." He nodded and noticed our ears.

"And you apparently got… piercings." He scrutinized us for a minute before Bella spoke up.

"Yeah. Her friend has a shop a few towns over and we stopped in. What do you think? You aren't mad, are you?"

"It looks okay. It's different. I just didn't expect you to get one I guess. Did you have a good time?"

"Yes" both me and Bella said in unison as I set our bags at the table.

"I told you we'd be okay Uncle Charlie. I don't know about you guys, but I personally am exhausted so I'll just take these up to my room and head to bed if you don't mind." I began to gather everything up and wished everyone a good night. I had forgotten how draining being in a car most of the day really was…. I heard Bella make a similar statement and she headed upstairs as well.

"Hey Lily, wait up." She grabbed my sweater lightly and waited for me to turn around.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for today. I know it may not seem like it, but you being here and being so kind to me really helps. You're helping me to become someone better. I just hope one day I can be as strong as you and your friends. Lucas was really nice."

"Don't mention it. I hate going to places alone- harder to make memories that way. I think that you're strong enough without my help. But thank you for saying that. Hopefully we can continue to make more memories later. Maybe go hiking or something after school this week?"

"Yeah. Maybe. We could also go to the beach and visit Jacob. Billy said he asked about us and wanted to know if we wanted to hang out with him sometime."

"Sure; it sounds like it might be fun. But first, I must sleep. Goodnight Bella, I'll see you tomorrow after school."

"Alright Lily, goodnight."

I headed to my room to crash into bed and embrace the oblivion. I will never take a trip like that on a Sunday again.