Heavenly

Chapter I

Face the Music

AN: Hi, this is my first Twilight fic. Hope you enjoy. Warning: it is M/M (Male OC/Edward Cullen) with LGBT+ characters so if you don't like that, then don't read. Also, it's an AU with a few canon differences, where vampires will actually burn up if in sunlight rather than sparkle, also Ed and Bella are supposed to have married like at the beginning of Breaking Dawn, however in this universe they never had a baby. Sorry if that annoys you. Now, Bella and Edward have previously split up, and Bella is with Mike. This is just the first chapter, so apologies as the characterisation might take a while. As always, I'll still be continuing all my fics, and constructive criticism is allowed but it must be phrased politely. P.S. Ik the course set-up thing is a bit strange, just to explain it can be done by any ages and it's inspired by the OU courses that kind of allow you to mix and match what subjects you want to study. Anyway, sorry for all that, but without further ado, I hope you enjoy this!

Liam had decided that Forks was a strange place. But that wasn't unusual for him – the very town he had lived in for most of his life before, Patney in England, had been strange, filled with a collection of people with strange attitudes. Since Liam moved here 4 months ago, he had been very lucky at getting out of doing anything; he had graduated from high school years ago and dropped out of university. He hadn't had to get a job, but recently something had become clear to him. In university he had been studying Psychology, and his interests still resided there, somewhere in the scientific route. Forks high school had been advertising their new 'Eclectic Studies'. Despite the stupid name, it was actually a viable option – if he enrolled on that course, he would be able to almost mix and match the subjects he wanted to study and receive an extra qualification at the end of its run. Sure, it might not have been a first-class degree, but it was something, and it sounded like it would at least be interesting. There was, of course, the majorly obvious problem for him – he would have to go back to school. What was even more embarrassing was that he would have to do it at 21 years old, in front of all the teenagers. 'What will they think?' Liam had panicked at the time. It was an issue of his, he wasn't able to easily ignore criticism and often worried about how people would see him. Now, however, as he stood outside the gate of Forks high school for his first day, he had to face the music.

The walk along the path into the academy felt like a journey and a half. Liam drew a couple of stares from people that were clearly recognising he was new. Thankfully, no one was outright glaring at him with negative intentions, but it was still a little awkward. It was over soon enough, though, and it became a blur in his mind quickly, as before he knew it, he was sat in his first class. The room was very, very bleak, and even that was an understatement. Its walls were painted a blue-grey colour, the seats were not-very-comfy, hard, plastic stools, just like the ones he had had in science classes when he was younger. The strip lighting above was very dimly lit, and in the middle of November in a town like Forks - where it was practically always miserable outside – there was almost no natural light entering the room through its one large window that stretched across the back wall. It was a school; it was a prison.

Liam had been one of the first people to arrive, apart from two others that had been chatting amongst themselves when he had entered the room. He had gone to sit at the back of the classroom on a table that was currently unoccupied, and unpacked his bag, ready for the lecture on 'Freud's Psychosocial Theory' to begin. He had studied all of this before (and, as many young psychologists did nowadays, gritted his teeth through learning about the nonsense that Freud spouted), so this lecture was going to be a bit of a repeat for him, although it would at least serve as a bit of a refresher. Being his typical nosy self, Liam tried to listen to what the two other students were saying to each other – he knew it wasn't very ethical, and he was annoyed with himself for doing it, but he had been this way for years, now. He had been hurt a long time ago by a man, and it had left him so scarred that he had been devoid of a social life - by his own choice. Instead, he now enviously eavesdropped on others and the social situations they discussed. He wasn't exactly sure he could make out what they were saying, however he could tell it was something intriguing. One of the pupils, a boy with slightly spiky, short, brown hair, was complaining about a girl named Bella.

"Ugh, Mike, I'm sorry, but I think you've been made second best here. She's still in love with Edward. I know it might sound insensitive, but… I think you should let go of her," the other pupil, a girl with mid-length, straight fair brown hair, told him.

"Jessica, she's my girlfriend! I'm not just gonna let go. This has been the moment I've dreamed about for years. But she's seemed so… distant lately…" Mike trailed off. Unfortunately for Liam, the pair must have sensed somebody was sneakily listening in, as they both turned around slowly, almost in unison, to find Liam looking at them, trying to hear. Liam rapidly stared downwards at his laptop, blushing. 'God, I'm such an idiot! I can't believe I got caught…' he scolded himself in his head. Jessica and Mike continued their conversation, making sure to do it a lot more quietly this time.

The teacher was nowhere to be found right now, but as time went on, the room started to fill. A few people came over and joined Mike and Jessica, and the other tables became occupied. However, nobody came to sit next to Liam – he wasn't surprised or really even saddened by this fact, it had been mostly the same way at uni. What he was surprised by was what happened next. Out of seemingly nowhere, a girl who he had seen flashing a few glances at him and then turning back to talk to her friends, walked up to him.

"Hi, sorry if this seems weird, but I thought I'd warn you that this is the Cullens' table," she said, as if the latter part meant something important.

Liam wasn't really sure how to respond to that. He didn't know who the Cullens were. "Oh… um… thank you?" he simply replied with a faint smile.

The girl, who had long blonde straight hair that went all the way down past her neck, chuckled. "You're new here, aren't you?" she asked. Liam nodded – he had been able to start his course in year 2, as his university credits had technically given him enough 'prior experience' to let him skip the first year. "You're also… English?" she questioned upon recognising his accent.
"Correct," Liam commented, impressed that anyone here had actually figured out where he was from. He didn't intend to sound offensive, but most of the people he had met in America had been unable to determine he was English, due to him having a northern voice rather than the posh, southern, London one that most had associated with the UK.

"OK, well, you weren't in this class last year, but the Cullens always sat here. I've never actually talked to them, but they're kinda… odd, is the best way I can describe it. I mean, they're beautiful. Like, unnaturally beautiful for a human being. But I wouldn't wanna get in the way of them, if you know what I mean," the girl informed him. "By the way, my name's Summer. And nope, it's not just because I have blonde hair," she added.

Liam laughed half-heartedly. "I'm Liam," he introduced.

"Nice to meet you," Summer said, shaking his hand firmly. "You can come and sit with us if you'd like," she offered generously.

"Oh, thanks, yeah," Liam accepted with a grin, picking up his laptop and a few of his other stationery to take to Summer's desk. Her friends, Samantha and Claudina, also seemed to be very kind, greeting him politely, and welcoming him to the school.

It took a while before the teacher came in, but eventually, he did. "Sorry, sorry I'm late. Is everyone here?" he wondered. "Ugh, the Cullens again…" he muttered under his breath, ironically considering his tardiness. Though in all fairness, they still weren't there until a few minutes later, when they strolled in as if they had been on perfect time. Interestingly, after badmouthing them, the teacher didn't actually say anything to them about their lateness when they showed up. They all wandered over to the table Liam had previously been sat at and settled there. None of them said a word to each other.

Summer tapped Liam's shoulder. "You see what I mean?" she queried.

"Yeah…" Liam agreed, but secretly he couldn't see it – yet. Was them not saying anything, to anyone or each other, really that big of a deal?

The other girls were whispering and giggling, although Liam couldn't completely hear what they were talking about, and the irrational part of his brain was beginning to get worried they were saying something nasty about him for being the new guy. In a burst of insecurity, he asked "You're not laughing at me, are you?" Samantha and Claudina exchanged a confused look with one another.

"No… we were actually just saying how hot Edward Cullen is," Samantha clarified. Liam cocked his head around to see if he could decipher who they meant. Truth be told, he hadn't paid much attention to the Cullens' physiques earlier. He didn't know which one of the Cullens was Edward, but Samantha had been right – all of them were very pretty. Although Liam found a lot of guys attractive, so he had a very low bar for what made someone beautiful. Just then, he realised he'd heard the name Edward recently before Samantha had mentioned it. Liam cast his mind back to the conversation he'd overheard earlier, questioning if this Edward was the same one Mike and Jessica had been chatting about.

The rest of the lesson had gone rather smoothly, although things were a little awkward between Liam, Samantha and Claudina thanks to his earlier outburst. 'God, I can't believe I did that,' Liam chided himself mentally. He was riddled with nerves, however, which were partly to blame for his behaviour today. Eventually, the end-of-class bell rang out, and Liam said a rapid goodbye to Summer and the others before he dashed out of the room. Luckily this was the only class he had today, so he could just head straight home – it wasn't a long way away, so he'd decided just to walk. Besides, the fresh air would do Liam good, as he often spent days on end couped up in his bedroom, with a few exceptions. On the other hand, the journey back was gonna be a wet one, as the ever-ominous dark clouds showed no sign of disappearing. No matter, it was only rain, and Liam had gone out and gotten soaked many times in this sort of weather before. However, just as he was going to set off, an unknown voice intruded…