"There are friends, there is family, and then there are friends who become family."

-Unknown

***

I don't exactly know what I was expecting of Esme and Carlisle... but this was not it.

First of all, they were so young! Carlisle didn't look a day over 23, but I knew that he was because of how successful he is as a doctor. And that he adopted five teenagers.

"Carlisle, Esme, this is Courtney Swan." Alice introduced, and I shyly waved. Meeting new people is my weakness. I get all blushy and shy. It's probably safest to stay with Alice and pray for this to go well.

"Courtney! Dear we have heard so much about you!" Esme exclaimed, rushing over and engulfing me in a bone-crushing hug. I faltered, not expecting this greeting, but hugged back nevertheless. Esme pulled back, her brown hair framing her pale face.

"It's nice to meet you, Courtney." Carlisle extended his hand, which I shook firmly. His skin was also very cold, it was comforting though. "It's nice to meet you too, Dr. Cullen."

"Please call me Carlisle."

"Hi guys!" Emmett's booming voice echoed around the house as the rest of the Cullen's, Minus Edward, entered the large house. Emmett bounded up behind me like a golden retriever, and ruffled my hair. I swatted his hand away. "Leave me be."

Emmett stuck out his tongue. "No."

I rolled my eyes at the immature man, and discreetly took a step in the other direction that Rosalie and Jasper had gathered. Carlisle laughed. "Stop tormenting the poor girl, Emmett." He teased, and Emmett pouted, before grabbing Rosalie's hand and bounding up the stairs.

Leaving me alone with Alice, Jasper, and the young parents.

***

Jasper's POV

I hate this.

I hate everything about it.

I hate how drawn I am to her.

I hate how much my family likes her.

I hate how much I want to sweep her up in my arms and kiss her.

I hate that I can't risk getting close to her.

I hate her soft, shiny brown hair, I hate her chocolate - colored eyes. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it!

And of course, by hate, I mean love.

I love everything about her. There is one thing I hate though, I hate that her smell doesn't cause me pain like it did at first. I hate that when she walks past me, and her hair blows in the breeze, I am intoxicated by her scent, she smells like the grass after it rains on a spring day. Like grass for one, and the mix of wildflowers. It doesn't make me thirsty, it just makes me want to hold her close to me. And I hate that I can't be what I want to be with her.

"Jazz." Carlisle waved his hand in front of my face. "Are you okay?" He asked, furrowing his brow. "You look... odd."

I cleared my throat, although I didn't need too. "I-um."

Esme's face turned sympathetic. Sympathy, one of the emotions I hate more then anything. "Honey, are you okay?"

I took a deep breath, another thing that I didn't need to do, and managed to nod my head. "Yeah... Yeah I am fine."

POV CHANGE

"You know... you would look really good in purple."

I laughed, looking down at Alice from my spot on her couch. It was impossibly soft, and felt like I was laying on a cloud, she must love sleeping on this.

"And you would look very good in blue."

Alice pouted, her childlike features making her look like a five year old. "Cordie!"

I rolled over on my back, choking on my own giggles. Cordie was the nickname that the Cullen's have adopted me as. Emmett really has an impact on my name. Quite annoying really.

"I'm serious, you told me that you don't have enough clothes, so I am going to take you shopping! But first we have to find the colors that best suite your skin tone and enhance your eye color."

"Very cool, Alice." I muttered, not lifting my head off of the soft pillow. "That is simply fascinating."

Alice huffed indignantly, throwing a pillow at me with such force that it knocked me off of the couch. "Ow!" I yelled, although I wasn't hurt. Alice smirked triumphantly, as the door was slowly pushed open.

"Alice, are you seriously trying to kill your friend the first day you met her? I hear that isn't how you become popular."

Alice scoffed, glaring at her two brothers. "Shut up, Emmett. You are becoming a bad influence on poor, innocent, Jasper."

Jasper grinned, leaning against the door frame. "He is corrupting my sweet mind."

Emmett rolled his eyes, shoving his brother into the room. "Shut it pretty boy."

"I am honored that you think I am pretty."

I turned to Alice, my cheeks probably painted a light shade of pink. "This goes on every day?" I asked, as the two tall boys bickered in the back round. Alice sighed dramatically, "This is them being normal."

"Stop bullying us, Ally." Emmett joked, releasing Jasper from the headlock he had him in. "Without us, your life would be dull."

"And much more productive." She muttered under her breath, pulling me into a sitting position and running her fingers through my hair. "Watcha doing?" I questioned, my scalp tingling from her cold skin. Alice hummed. "I am doing your hair." She answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "It's thick."

"That's what she said."

We all leaned over in unison and slapped Emmett, who backed away, cackling at himself. "You are so dumb." Jasper muttered, running his fingers through his own hair. "I'll hit you with a baseball bat."

"My bicep would break it."

"Sure." I drawled out the word, so long that Emmett groaned and fell onto his back. "Hey, don't blame me for my pessimistic attitude. I have been playing baseball since I was five, and when I was thirteen I got a concussion from a baseball bat."

Alice shrieked a giggle from behind me. "How did that happen?" She asked, tangling her fingers in my hair. "I don't remember!" I defended. "All I know is that this bitch Kelly Davidson both hated me, and was really bad at batting."

Jasper raised his eyebrow. "That was a truly, touching, story." He stated sarcastically, playing with Alice's rug. I made a face. "If you think that was touching, I once broke my leg by falling off a waterfall."

"I am not even going to ask how that happened."

"Smart move."

Alice sighed, tugging at the ends of my hair. "You have such an interesting life."

I shrugged, slightly taken aback. "Uh, not really- I mean, um, I am just really accident prone. Danger likes me." I joked, and saw Jasper visibly stiffen next to me, and Emmett traded a look with Alice. I chuckled nervously, "What?"

A ding from my phone interrupted the awkward silence that enveloped the room. I pulled it out from my jacket pocket, and groaned when I read the text from Bella. "I gotta go now... my dad is really into Bella's cooking talent." I rolled my eyes, standing up and grabbing my bag.

"Thanks for having me." I said to Alice, who grabbed me and distributed a bone-crushing hug. "Thanks for coming!"

"See you, Cordie!" Emmett copied Alice's energy, picking me up and squeezing me. "Emily-can't-breath." I managed to choke out, gasping for air when a smirking Cullen dropped me. "Sorry." He mocked innocence, batting his eyelashes. I rolled my eyes at the hyper man.

"Em, what are you doing to Courtney?" Rosalie's angelic voice floated into the room. "Just bidding her goodbye."

Rosalie bit her lip, leaning her weight on to her side. "Sure, and I shop at Target." She teased, and I gasped in mock-offense. "I love Target!"

"We do not have time for this!" Jasper quickly intervened, holding his arms up. "You can discuss Target tomorrow at lunch."

I playfully winked at Rosalie as I exited the room. "See you soon, Rosie." I joked, and she rolled her eyes, a small smile on her perfect lips. "Don't call me Rosie!" She called as I walked out. "Fine. Bye Ally! Bye Emily! Bye Texas!" I called, followed by a series of goodbyes as I exited the house.

I walked down the long road until I got to the street connected to it, where Bella was waiting in our truck.