Crossroads

T W E N T Y

The sound of the doorbell ringing caused Bella to jump. She felt her body tensing as she heard Charlie greet Billy at the front door. Bella sighed. She knew she had to face him sooner or later. There was no use in running.

However, there was something else that caught her attention. Her ears perked up once she heard an unfamiliar female voice start to speak.

"You look good, Becca. Glad to have you back."

"Aw, thanks uncle Charlie. I'm glad to be back."

Rebecca. Bella peaked out of the kitchen to get a glimpse of her. She could only pray she wouldn't talk too much about any of their childhood adventures as she didn't properly remember her or her sister. She was a beautiful woman, Bella noticed. A bright smile with warm eyes. Those brown eyes flickered towards her leaning against the kitchen door frame.

"Bella!" She all but shouted, happily walking towards her.

Becca wasted no time wrapping her arms around Bella. Bella was proud of herself for not tensing up too much. She reached up and loosely hugged the other woman back.

"It's good to see you," Bella said shyly as she pulled away.

Becca smiled widely as she looked Bella up and down. "You're looking good girly."

Bella flushed. "So do you."

"Nah, you're too sweet."

Jacob appeared behind Becca's shoulder scowling. "You can't hog her the whole time."

Both Becca and Bella laughed.

After throwing a wink towards her, Becca turned towards her younger brother and said, "Well if that doesn't bring up old memories I don't know what does. Jacob was always mad at me and Rachel for stealing you from him."

Both Bella and Jacob flushed, yet the scene of him floundering for a response caused Bella to start laughing. "It wasn't like that! She was my friend first. You guys always stole my friends."

"It wasn't our fault people liked us better. You were always such a little green gremlin."

Bella heard Charlie laugh. "Looks like some things never change. No matter how old they get."

Bella turned to see both Charlie and Billy watching with amused grins as the two continued to argue back and forth. Bella noticed Billy's smile turned down some as he made eye contact with her. The sight caused her throat to tighten and her heart to start hammering wildly. Whatever thought had crossed his mind, Billy shook himself free of it as Bella stepped forward.

"Bella, it's good to see you."

She could tell by the softer tone of his voice that he meant it. This caused her to slowly release a breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding in. Bella felt something uncoil in her stomach as she flashed him a small smile, her body losing its tight strain. She had been so worked up and sick thinking about seeing him again that she had started to spin wild, horrible scenarios in her head about what would happen when she saw Billy again after their last confrontation about the Cullen's secret. Bella imagined everything from him flat out ignoring her to lecturing her on how reckless and stupid she was for continuing a relationship with Edward after finding out the truth.

Although she still had doubts floating around in the back of her head, Billy didn't act any different towards her. Throughout the night, Bella felt herself slowly relaxing more and more.

She and Jacob stood off to the side talking. He couldn't believe she was going to prom.

"No way. There's no way."