As everyone was helping with our luggage, Ana appeared at the door with the brightest smile on her face. My heart instantly twisted in my chest. Without another thought I let my suitcases sit on the ground and quickly moved up the stairs to the porch to wrap her into my arms.

Ana gently hugged me back, it was almost startling how weak her hold was around me. She also looked really pale. I had thought they said the medication was working? Why did she look worse than she did when I left? As we pulled apart, I got a closer look at her. She was so skinny, she always had been on the small side, but now she was just skin and bones. Her once, long pretty hair was now cropped short and I could see a patch at the top of her head that was thinned out so badly a bald spot was beginning.

Tears filled in my eyes. "How are you?"

Her face flushed a little as a few tears trickled down her sunken-in cheeks. "Forget about that, I want to hear everything about the city." Her eyes danced behind me in the direction of Edward, before she quietly gasped. "Is that your boyfriend, he is absolutely gorgeous." Her voice went to a whisper.

I laughed at her reaction. "Yeah, that's Edward. He wanted to meet everyone, officially."

Uncle Charlie and the boys all started making trips in and out of the house with our luggage. Edward followed them, helping them while Ana kept me company on the porch. We took a seat on the old swing to just chat a bit and catch up on things. Apparently, our mother was out at the bar with her new friend.

"I can't believe she just leaves you here alone, to go drinking. It's ridiculous." I grumbled, turning my sights back out towards the yard. The sun was still out, a gentle rain had started. That familiar tapping of the rain hitting the metal roof of the porch brought a sense of calmness to me. The air just was cleaner out here. I took a deep breath, attempting to relax a little. But my mother's actions had me in a foul mood. I was so disappointed.

"It's not that big of a deal you know. I am old enough to be on my own. Besides, Aunt Lucy checks in on me all day. And the boys have been helping keep this place clean." Ana defended.

She was so dainty, I didn't recall her being so weak and timid. It was as if life had been sucked out of her. I wondered if it was because of her medications. Or if she was depressed. It was difficult to get Ana to open up with her feelings, when it came to our mother. She's always been closest to mom. She followed her around, cleaned the house with her, cooked dinner with her. She was a mommy's girl. While I was closer to our father. I worked with him out in the fields. Tending the animals and helping with the garden.

"Look, if she keeps getting drunk and wasting her life away at the bar, she is going to end up in jail. Then who is going to take care of you?" I said folding my arms across my chest.

Ana sniffed, looking away. I could tell she was getting worked up. "Momma is dealing with a lot right now. I'm sure she will get better. She always bounces back. In the meantime, I have Uncle Charlie and Aunt Lucy."

"That isn't fair for them, to step in and take care of you. They have their own families to take care of. It's hard enough for them to keep the farm up and running." I sighed, shaking my head.

Uncle Charlie snorted as he made his way back onto the porch. "You and Ana are family. Don't you worry about the farm. We will handle it."

I knew I could count on Uncle Charlie, but this just wasn't right. My mother never gets held accountable for the mess she makes. They just allow her to keep ruining everything. And I was completely sick of it. She needed some tough love. And something tells me that I would be the one to be giving it. The very second she gets back home. If she was even coming home tonight. It was Christmas Eve.

The bar shouldn't even be open today. But of course it was. The old 'Cactus Pit' was the only bar in the area, it was only a few miles down the road. Truly in the middle of nowhere. It was packed full of people, at all hours of the day and night. Apparently, when my mother was younger, she used to work at that bar, she did a little of everything, cooking, cleaning, bartending, waitressing. That's where she met our father. I could recall the look on her face when she would tell us the story of their meeting.

She had been closing up for the night. A drunk patron was waiting outside for her. She was attacked, beaten nearly to death. But our father spotted them on his way past the bar. He flew out of his truck and went to her rescue. She was badly injured, but alive. But when our father was finished with the other guy, he was in even worse shape. After that day, they never parted… of course… not until the day my father passed away.

There were still scars on my mother's neck and face from where her attacker had sliced her with shards from her beer bottle. I'd always thought it gave her an intimidating look. But it never seemed to bother her in the least bit. She always would say, those scars helped her remember the dangers of the world and the man that would be there to save her from them.

I felt anger boiling hot inside me. I hated how things had turned out for our family. And I hated how I couldn't stop myself from pitying my mother. I didn't feel like she deserved the pity. She lost the love of her life, which I couldn't even begin to understand how painful that would be. But she has children that are depending on her. Why aren't we enough to keep her sober? Why is the alcohol the most important thing to her? And now she found herself a guy… I didn't even want to think of that part. The fact she was attempting to replace my father, had me livid.

After a short while, Edward and the boys came back out onto the porch, each wearing a vibrant smile. It was nice to see that they appeared to be getting along.

"We're glad you're home Bell," Matthew said, giving me a salute as he walked down the porch steps. Daniel followed behind him, giving me a simple bob of his head.

"You guys aren't sticking around for a bit?" I asked with a raised brow.

"Nah, the old lady wants us home for dinner tonight," Scott smirked at me as he also followed after his brothers. "But don't worry, we'll be back early in the mornin'."

Uncle Charlie raised a brow, running a hand through his messy hair. "Yins' got chores to do too, let's not forget that." He turned to me with a warm smile. "Don't go too hard on your mother, kay' but uhh, call me if yins' need anything."

"Alright, see you all tomorrow then." I waved to them nicely, watching as they all filled into their trucks and took off down the road.

Edward nicely took a seat across from us on the swing and his eyes traveled out to the fields. There was a look of contentment on his face. "It's lovely out here, very peaceful. And quiet."

"So, the city is probably nothing like this huh?" Ana asked with a shy smile.

"Nothing even remotely close." Edward nodded, before holding his hand out to her. "You must be Ana, it's really nice to finally meet you."

Ana's face went red as she took his hand to give him a feeble handshake. Quickly she withdrew her hand to bring it up to her face. She coughed for a little while, which seemed to make it a little harder for her to breathe.

"Are you alright kid?" I asked quietly as I wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer to my side. That seemed to bring a smile to her face as she cuddled into me.

"I'm much better now," She sighed, looking just as blissful as Edward. She turned back in his direction. "I heard there are millions of buildings that are so tall you can't even see the tops of them. Is that true?"

"Yeah, there are far too many buildings to be honest. Lots of people. Lots of noise. Cars line up for miles on the roads. The pace of the city is so fast." Edward said with a thoughtful look.

Ana seemed completely invested. "What an awesome place that must be. I've always wanted to live in the city."

"You aren't missing out on much." I said with a chuckle. "If I could, I'd come back home."

Ana rolled her eyes. "Come on Bell, there is nothing here in Plum. Nothing to do. Nothing exciting. And let's not even get into the issue with available boys my age. I'm related to over half the entire town."

Ana has always been a little crazy about boys. She wanted a boyfriend. She had dreams of getting married and having a large family. Ever since she was a kid, that's all she ever talked about. On the other hand, what I always wanted was much different. I wanted to be out in nature, my happy place was in the forest. Somewhere quiet to paint. I wanted to support my family with my artwork and live out a comfortable life. If I found a man that wanted to share this life with me, that would be fine. I wasn't overly concerned about it. As for children, that was the very last thing on my mind. The thought of becoming a mother filled me with terror. I'm not sure if it was because of tension surrounding my relationship with my own mother, or if it was something else.

Edward's smile widened. "I highly doubt you would struggle finding love in the city. But there are downsides as well."

"Like what?" She asked with a raised brow.

"Well, there is a lot of crime, muggings, shootings, rape," Edward said with a frown. "Not to mention how expensive everything is, while the jobs offer very little in wages. It makes living there comfortably really hard."

That was an understatement, I still couldn't believe I was able to live in Boswell on my meager salary at Bubba's Diner. Well, that is using the term live, lightly. I starved most of the time and lived in awful conditions in my old apartment. That was something I really didn't miss. Especially dealing with Tina. Things were much better now that Edward came into my life. I had no complaints at all.

Ana made a face, before going into another coughing fit. She hunched over for a moment as she covered her mouth. Her tiny body trembled, as if she was cold. I held her a little closer, waiting for her to finish.

"Maybe we should head back inside." I suggested once she was quiet again.

She stubbornly shook her head. "I told you, I'm fine, fresh air will do me good. Besides, I'm getting to know your boyfriend here." Again, she turned her sights on Edward. "You don't happen to have a good-looking younger brother as well, do you?"

Edward snorted, leaning back in his seat to fold his arms across his chest. "I wouldn't say he is good looking, or even remotely decent to look at. But yes, I do have a younger brother."

Emmett wasn't far from my thoughts. After the truth was brought into the open at that party, he has been avoiding everyone. Not Edward, they still seemed just as close as before. But Emmett made it clear that he didn't want to speak to Esme anymore. In fact, Katlyn mentioned hearing Emmett make the remark that he may just end up quitting his job. He didn't want to work at the company anymore and risk the chance of running into Esme. He was really hurt. And this was just how he has decided to deal with things for now. I couldn't blame him for feeling this way. Esme had kept this secret for a very long time. Emmett had a different mother, Esme only raised him because that's what his father had wanted. I'm sure he had a lot of questions. But he just wasn't ready to ask them yet. I knew Edward was a little worried about him, but he decided it's best to let Emmett deal with this his way.

Ana smiled widely. "Is he in the market for a sickly girlfriend?" She teased.

"Ana," I narrowed my eyes. "That's not funny."

"Lighten up Bell, everyone has been walking on eggshells around me for the last few months. But I'm just stating the facts. I have cancer. And I'm living with it. Doing the best I can with these circumstances. I'm allowed to make light of it, now and again."

Ana was always one to use humor to deal with bad situations. The problem with that, was no one ever knew when something really bothered her. She would just laugh things off. She never wanted anyone to feel bad for her.

"You told me that your medications have been working good, so why do you look like you're knocking on death's door?"

She flinched at my choice of words, instantly she hung her head, her playfulness extinguished.

"Yeah, the medication is working perfectly. It's just a really strong dose. It doesn't just kill the cancer cells, it kills everything. Even the good cells. Like the red blood cells. So, I'm anemic now. That's why I'm so pale and weak. And now my white blood cells are getting affected as well, so my immune system isn't doing so good. I just recently got a cold. That's why I'm coughing so much." She sighed, slowly letting her hands run through her short hair. "It's also killing the cells that help produce hair follicles. So, I'm starting to go bald. This is all to be expected with this new medication. The doctor even said so himself."

"I can't wait until you can stop taking all these medications. I hate what it's doing to you." I commented quietly.

"I can't even imagine an end to this hell. I've been in it for so long, I don't know what life looks like on the other side of this. But it has to be better than this." Ana said quietly, before peeking over to Edward.

"But with the thought of a potential handsome guy waiting on the other side of this, it motivates me to keep going." She had brought the topic back into a more cheerful tone. Again, trying to lighten this situation for the sake of those around her. This time, I let it go.

Edward chuckled. "Please, my brother doesn't deserve someone as wonderful as you. There must be someone much better out there waiting."

Ana blushed as she met my gaze. "He is charming, I see why you fell for him. You're a lucky girl."

I gave her a little squeeze, before standing up. "Enough of all the boy talk. I don't expect mom to come home in time for dinner. So, let's head inside and I'll get something started."

"Alright fine, but I'll help." She said as I helped her back up to her feet.

"You can set the table, I'm not letting you near an oven after last time you decided to help with dinner." I snickered at her look of utter humiliation.

Yes. That's the face I've been looking forward to seeing the most. My little sister, completely embarrassed. It was the most adorable thing. Her big wide eyes, the shock and outrage. The way she would cover up her face to hide just how embarrassed she was. As her older sister, nothing filled me with more joy than seeing that.

"Bella, shut up. You promised you wouldn't bring that up again." Ana hissed at me as we walked inside.

I gave her an innocent look. "Must have slipped my mind." Without hesitation I went straight to the kitchen, taking note of the house. Nothing had changed. The same old oak floors, the yellow dated wallpaper. Shelves full of knick-knacks that mom had been collecting and dusty family heirlooms dating back to the civil war. There was a gun anchored to a wall in each room you entered. Of course, most of them were just for decoration, they weren't for actual use. But the one kept in the kitchen was one that is well used and often brought down every year for hunting season. Uncle Charlie, or one of the boys would get it down, do maintenance on it and take it out to the woods. It had been my father's gun. He never was one to condone violence, but he had a passion for hunting. Every year we could look forward to deer meat, or even bear from time to time.

I noticed Edward staring at it as the three of us got into the kitchen. "Have you ever… went hunting?"

He raised a brow. "Actually yes, a very long time ago. Stenton mentioned a few years back that he had been an avid hunter. He really wanted to get back into the sport of it. So, for his birthday, I purchased him a rifle. The two of us went hunting together that year."

"Who is Stenton? Another hot guy?" Ana asked with an eager grin.

The two of us laughed as we exchanged looks at each other. "No, Stenton is a much older gentleman. He works at the same company as us." I explained.

"Stenton is… well he is a good friend of mine. I trust him with my life. But, I can't say that I enjoyed hunting. It just feels too… personal." Edward admitted quietly.

That made sense. After all, any animals that would die around him, would then become a source of food. That's all that was in soul stones. The souls of animals. So in a way, I'm sure Edward might have mixed feelings about it. The same can be said for a regular human having a hard time being the one to kill the animal they were about to eat.

"Yeah, I guess I could understand that." Ana nodded as she began pulling out some plates from the cabinets.

I watched her closely, making sure she was being careful. I didn't want her to overdo it and end up getting hurt. I wouldn't hear the end of it if I let something happen to her. Assuming my mother won't be drunk off her ass when she gets home.

Dinner was going to be a challenge. Judging by the lack of food in the fridge. The only thing in there was cans of beer. One stick of butter. And a head of cabbage, probably harvested from the garden.

"Ana, what have you and mom been eating here? You have absolutely nothing in this house to eat?" I grumbled as I began searching through the other cupboards and cabinets.

She shrugged her shoulders with a nervous look. "Sometimes she brings leftovers home from the bar. Or Aunt Lucy will send us over some of the dinner she made."

"Why didn't you tell me you guys were struggling? I would have sent more money." I was getting frustrated.

Ana could sense it. "Thing is, you have always sent more than enough for my medications and for groceries. It's just… momma is drinking all the money away. I almost didn't get my medications this month because she went and had a long weekend with her new boyfriend."

I squeezed my hands into fists. This shouldn't even be considered surprising to me. The second I heard she had started drinking I knew this would be coming. She was out of control and needed to be hit with a dose of reality. I was planning on waiting around for her to show up. But I wasn't sure if I could just sit here and wait. I wanted to find her. And let her hear what I have to say.

Edward moved to my side, pulling me into a warm hug from behind. I felt his chin at the top of my head. Almost immediately I felt a little calmer. "Don't worry, I'll head into town and get some groceries. It won't be much of a Christmas dinner if we don't have any food."

I sighed, resting my head back against his shoulder, breathing in his sweet scent of jasmine. "Are you sure?"

"Of course, leave it to me," His lips just barely grazed my neck before he released me. "Is the store far from here?"

Ana hobbled over to us with a small smile. "It's about a mile, you can use my bike, it's right out front against the porch."

Edward gave us a sheepish grin. "Actually, I think I'll walk. I don't know… how to ride a bike." He admitted quietly.

It made sense, Edward never did seem like someone that would ride bikes in his free time. In truth, I didn't know much of Edward's childhood. He didn't have a father-figure to teach him things like that. And well, Esme wasn't the type of parent that wanted Edward to live a normal human life. I should have known.

"Alright, well, be careful." I said, giving his hand a squeeze.

He nodded, leaning in to peck my lips, before walking out of the kitchen.

Ana sunk to the chair at the table. "You two are adorable together. I have to admit, I'm a little jealous."

"Edward is great, I'm lucky to have found him." There was a light fluttering to my heart at my own words. I slowly sat down across from her. "But that's really not what I want to talk about right now."

"What do you want to talk about?"

"I want to know how you have been, really."

Ana sighed, moving her eyes to the open kitchen window. "Things have been… really hard lately. With the medication and with mom." She said without meeting my gaze. "I've been thinking of moving out…"

"You're only sixteen, you can't be out on your own yet. And you really shouldn't be alone with being so sick."

She snorted, her mood souring. "I'm old enough to make my own choices."

"You're still a child. You know nothing of the world outside of this farm."

"That's why I want out of here. I want to see the world. I want to live in the city. Once I get this mastectomy, I'm leaving this farm. And never coming back." She said with a glare. Tears started in her eyes.

I hated seeing her cry. I swallowed back the guilt I was feeling. "And where will you go? How will you make money? You don't even have a high school diploma. You won't be able to get a job without that."

Ana was fuming. "I'll figure it out. It's not even your business. You ditched us for the past year. I've been dealing with mom by myself. I didn't need you then and I don't need you now."

Her words cut. I struggled not to react. I didn't want to show how deeply that actually hurt. Ana didn't usually have a temper. She was always happy and easy going. Things at home must have been worse than mom was letting on. I wonder what has been happening. Whatever it was had Ana in an awful mood.

"Analeise Grace" I said firmly. "I only left to make money for your medications. Which might I remind you, I never wanted to leave home. I loved my life here at the farm. But saving your life mattered more. We lost dad. And I wasn't about to lose you too. So, yes I ditched you to deal with mom and I'm sorry you had to do this all on your own. But I'm here now. And I'll do anything to make it up to you."

Ana dropped her head, her tiny frame trembling as she sobbed. "N-no, I'm sorry I said all that. I didn't mean it. I know you had to leave. And it means so much to me. It's not your fault that mom is so… frustrating. It's been a nightmare at home. I just… I can't… stay here." She sounded desperate.

What could have possibly happened? Why was Ana so upset?

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Leave a review with your thoughts...