Title: The Best Of Times: A Lifetime in a Day
Chapter 1: Birthday Bitterness And Old Friends Make For A Long Day
Rating: T, some language later on, not so much now.
Disclaimer: I don't own any aspect of Twilight and all its proceedings, they continue to belong to Stephenie Meyer.
Summary: Ava Swan never expected to move to Forks, Washington permanently. Then again, she never expected to be imprinted on by a hot-headed shapeshifter. Eventual Paul/OC. No Bella-bashing. Follows New Moon (mostly). There's no way I can make this sound original, ever.
Notes: This isn't going to be a 'love-at-first-sight' fic because love doesn't exist, take it from me. Just kidding, the love and crap doesn't happen until waaay later in the story if I play my cards right. That being said, if you're expecting a 'Paul sees OC and falls in love, OC sees Paul and falls in love, thinks he's super hot, and they have a bunch of shifter babies' this ain't it and I would poke around elsewhere...Wellll, the 'Paul sees OC and falls in love' might be pretty spot on, if my knowledge of imprinting is accurate. Shape-shifters fall and they fall hard.

BUT, if you want an EXTREMELY slow burn, OC-insert story then I would read the first few chapters at least. I will mention that since this is a primarily OC-insert story, the chapters will focus mostly on the actual happenings of the film, the romance and junk will take a backseat.

I reiterate, no Bella bashing because, despite her seeming hatred towards her humanity, I like her. No vampire bashing either, that means no blatantly describing Edward as a stalker because...truthfully...I was all Team Edward when I was 13 and watched New Moon. This fic will take off where the film starts, so NOT following novel NM because I'm not about to dig that book up just to re-read it; I don't have time for all that.

If characters are OOC, just know that I don't care enough to nit-pick every single thing they do. I've already stated that there's no way I can make this sound original. If you have constructive criticism, it is very much welcome! And if you are itching to leave a negative comment, please do so but remember that no one will appreciate them as much as you apparently do.

And I leave you with these parting words: Grammar sucks.

first full edit: 07/16/2019

second full edit: 08/13/2019

AS OF August 13, 2019, I WILL BE CONVERTING THIS STORY INTO A DIFFERENT P.O.V.. I WILL BE REVISING THE CHAPTERS UNTIL CHAPTER 21 (which is where I officially start posting in third) INTO THIRD PERSON LIMITED. STARTING IN CHAPTER 21 TO THE END OF THIS STORY WILL BE IN THIRD PERSON OMNISCIENT.

Yeah, I re-edited. I'm sorry. Lol.

"Happy birthday to you~" Ava sang loudly, knocking repeatedly on Bella's door with her elbow. Trying to balance a box and two cupcakes was definitely harder than she had anticipated. "Bella!" She called again, kicking lightly with the tip of her sneaker.

At this rate, both girls were both going to be late for class. "Come on! My hands are full, can you please get up and open the door?"

"She still down?" Charlie came up from behind and eyed the shut door. Ava maneuvered the box as best she could to face him and lifted a shoulder halfheartedly. "I have no clue. Either she's out like a light, or the more plausible theory, she refuses to open the door for me."

"I got it," he muttered, giving the door a few more knocks and opening the door slowly, holding two presents in his hands. "Happy birthday."

He stepped inside and Ava followed, smiling widely before shooting her cousin a dry look. "Still in bed, I see."

"Isn't it my birthday?" Bella answered quickly, raising her eyebrows.

"Then I'll let this one slide," Ava replied, nudging her uncle forward for him to hand Bella his present. He took a few steps, clicking his tongue, and Bella frowned after noticing the boxes that they held. "I thought we agreed no presents."

Ava silently rolled her eyes behind Charlie as he responded, "well, the one from me s'not wrapped, so it doesn't count."

He handed her a digital camera with a small bow. Ava quickly took a large step to stand beside Charlie and leaned forward in anticipation. "I picked the color. Pink. Just like your bright, little personality."

"Ha, ha." Bella smiled slightly at her, toying with the camera in her hands before turning to her father. "That's actually great. Thanks, Dad."

He held out the next present. "Ah, it goes with this one from your mom. We coordinated...well, she coordinated me."

Ava sat down at the edge of her bed and stared at the bright yellow wrapping paper being torn away to reveal a scrapbook. "It's to put your pictures in from senior year," Charlie continued before heaving a sigh. "Senior year...how'd either of you get so old, so fast?"

"You're not going to start crying, are you?" Ava teased. She swiped her finger across the edge of the cupcake and licked it off, balancing the other on top of her gift.

"Your sympathy just warms me," Charlie drawled, crossing his arms across his chest. "It's just now you two are old. Time just flew by."

Ava was going to answer back when Bella suddenly shot her head up from the scrapbook. "I didn't." She frowned. "It's not that old."

Charlie leaned forward slightly, staring at Bella's hair. "I don't know...is that a gray hair?" He pointed at a few strands and Bella backed up. "No. No way." She quickly swung her legs around the side of her bed and stared into the mirror for a few seconds while Ava tried to contain her laughter. She sighed in relief and gave Charlie a dry look.

He held up his hands in defense and gave his daughter a small smile. "Happy birthday," he said before backing up to leave the room.

"That's really funny," Bella said sarcastically as Charlie fully exited. She flopped back onto her bed and held out her hand towards her remaining family in defeat. "Alright, let's end this. Hand it over."

"Excuse you." Ava pressed the present against her thighs and raised an eyebrow. "You're not getting anything until you sound a little more enthusiastic about receiving a gift."

"You want me to jump up and down?" She dropped her outstretched arm onto the duvet and followed it with her upper body, burying her face into the blankets. "Because I'm not doing that."

Lowering her head closer to Bella's ear, Ava answered, "maybe a nice, 'wow, Ava, you got me a super amazing present that you spent actual time on and a cupcake. Thank you for being the best cousin slash sister slash present-giver ever'."

Bella replied, her voice muffled by the comforter, "you're going to have to repeat all that."

Ava grabbed a stray pillow by her feet and smacked the back of Bella's head. "You know what? I hope you get a ton of gray hairs this year. You're going to age an extra 30 years."

Bella lifted her head up and frowned. "That's just mean."

"Here." Ava finally held out the box in front of her face. Bella straightened up, putting the cupcake to the side and tearing at the paper.

Ava didn't really want to buy anything extravagant, knowing that Bella would just be upset, so she settled for something with a more personal touch. She'd never done any artsy thing for anyone but she figured if she were ever going to start, Bella would be a good place. It was a relatively simple task, an abstract painting seemed easy enough. All she had to buy was a canvas and a few tubes of paint and all was set.

"I used colors that reminded me of you."

"I see black, white...purple?" Bella asked, looking up questionably. Ava hummed, appreciating the meshed colors and traced the slightly raised canvas with her fingers. "That one was all me, sister. I love purple."

Bella gave a small laugh and stared at the canvas for a few more seconds. "Thank you," she said, looking up and Ava gave her a curt nod. "No problem. Don't ask for another one though. I'm pretty sure I permanently stained my bedroom floor."

With that being said, Ava stood up quickly and tossed the pillow still in her hand at Bella's head. "Now hurry up. It may be your birthday, but I don't think Mr. Berty will take that as an excuse to miss first period."

After bounding back into her room, she made a quick check of her backpack to make sure she had her supplies and notebooks in tow. Knowing Bella wouldn't take too long to get ready, Ava made her way downstairs to grab some breakfast; swinging the freezer door open, she audibly groaned. "Someone finished all the waffles," she mumbled to herself.

Making a quick glance around the kitchen, she grimaced after spotting a slightly brown banana. Ava remembered Bella mentioning that spotted bananas were supposedly healthier for one's digestive system.

Or something.

Not sure why this popped into her head, she grabbed it off the counter and peeled it. Staring out of the window in the kitchen into the thick forest, she spared a glance towards the sky even though she could already guess the outcome. The overcast clouds causing it to be perpetually gloomy.

Ava thought back to her first week here only a month ago, and how absolutely miserable it was. After moving from her hometown, she didn't really know what to do with herself. She didn't know anyone other than Bella, her uncle Charlie, a few of his friends, Jacob Black, and a few of his friends. Having to start a new school with all new people was absolutely terrifying to her, and the fact that Jake wasn't going to the same school just made Ava think things were going to be that much harder.

Bella introduced her to her group of friends, and they were friendly enough. Quite the group, Ava had noted, curious as to how they formed initially; she had chalked it up to it being a small town with slim pickings.

And then Bella introduced her boyfriend, Edward Cullen. He was nice. A little odd, but Ava knew plenty of awesome people who were slightly odd. Bella being one of them.

His family was also, almost painfully, polite. Not really Ava's crowd. But Bella seemed to like them very much, sitting with them every day during lunch.

But despite all this, she had settled into a nice routine. Ava went to school, did her work, hung out with Bella and Jacob and, every now and again, Edward by association. She even tolerated the spontaneous shopping trips that Jessica and Angela dragged her along on, knowing that Bella would just turn them down since she spent a good chunk of her time with Edward.

"Ready?" Ava was jolted out of thoughts as Bella swung her backpack on, giving her a strange look. "You okay?"

She finished off the banana and nodded. "Yeah," she muffled, speaking around her full mouth. Ava pointed to the front door as a silent direction to head out. Passing a random bush outside, she flung the banana out onto the open grass.

She heard Bella clear her throat and look at the peel, pointingly.

"What?" Ava laughed. "It's good for the environment. Biodegradable." She threw the passenger truck door open and climbed into the seat. "When are you going to let me drive her?"

"Right after never," Bella answered, starting her up and pulling backwards onto the road. "I'd let you drive my car," Ava innocently said, fiddling with the seatbelt. Despite having her own vehicle, she still preferred the drive to and from school with Bella.

Ava spared a glance at her car that was sitting in the small driveway, relishing in it's clean exterior that she managed to obtain after an hour of scrubbing top to bottom. Kind of pointless, she noticed, watching the large rain clouds cover the sky.

Somehow, Charlie managed to send it along with Ava when she moved to Forks. Imagine her surprise and utter elation when she woke up the day after her arrival and her car was sitting in the driveway; it felt like she still had a part of her old self. She could only guess how much it would cost to send a car but after looking it up, Ava closed it out quickly to preserve her sanity.

The rest of the ride was left in mostly silence like it usually was, other than the radio playing lowly.

'Another missing hiker brings the total to three presumed dead. Rangers are searching for the killer animal-'

Ava quickly switched the station. "That's depressing." She frowned. "And sad. Imagine disappearing out of nowhere." Shaking the thought from her head, Ava glanced at Bella staring at the road absentmindedly. She raised an eyebrow and poked her upper arm. "Did you even hear me?"

Bella snapped her head towards her and gave a small smile. "What? Sorry," Bella answered sheepishly. "I'm kind of out of it."

"Maybe it's your age," Ava teased. "You're losing it."

"Shut up."

Once they pulled into the school parking, Ava met the eyes of her group of friends standing in the parking lot next to Angela's car. "Aren't they usually inside by now?" Bella said quietly, shooting them a nervous look.

"Usually," Ava agreed. "Maybe they heard it's your birthday."

"Hmm." Bella tugged at her hair nervously. "Hopefully not." She quickly shifted attitudes and gave them a smile as she opened her door and approached the group.

Jessica pounced. "Today's the big day, girls." Bella immediately gave her a panicked look and Jessica stuck out her neck slightly to continue, "the R & J essay due?"

Bella looked at Ava in relief, not noticing her cousin's reaction, and smiled nonchalantly back towards the group. "Oh, yeah."

Mike held out an arm and in a poor Shakespearean accent, called out. "Wherefore Art thou, Bella? Ava?"

She must have looked sick because Angela waved her hand in front of Ava. "You okay?"

Snapping out of it, Ava shrugged despondently. "Yeah...I just forgot that we had that stupid thing due today." She scratched the back of her head. "It's sitting on my laptop in my room, yet to be printed out. I'm dead meat."

"Ava, seriously? I'm pretty sure it's, like, 90% of our grade." Jessica huffed, crossing her arms and giving her an exasperated look. "You're going to fail and watch us all graduate without you."

"Jess-" Mike tried placating her, before holding out an arm in suggestion. "I could give you a ride back to your house to get it." Ava shook her head quickly. "That's okay. I'll just...fail," she finished lamely. "Or convince Mr. Berty to give me an extension or something."

"If anyone is on Berty's good side, it's you," Eric pointed out. "Just say you had food poisoning. Or like, your dog ate it. Hm?" He looked to Angela, his eyebrows raised at his suggestions.

"Or," Angela began, looking at Ava supportively. "You could be honest and say you'll turn it in tomorrow?"

"I'll see what I come up with," she sighed, already racking her brain for a good enough excuse to keep her average in the class.

Bella had her hands shoved in her jacket pockets before a moment of realization passed across her face. She slipped out her new camera and glanced at it. "Let me take a picture of you guys. My mom wants me to put together, like, a scrapbook full of memories." She shook her head lightly, as she spoke.

"Oh." "Cool, yeah." They answered back. "I take them. I'm not in them," Angela mumbled, trying to snake to the side but Eric quickly got a hold on her. "No, no, no. Come here."

Bella held up the camera. "Well, you are today."

Ava was fine with just watching, until Bella nudged her towards the group.

"You already took one of-" She managed to mumble lowly before Eric grabbed Ava's upper arm to move her in the middle of him and Mike.

Ava sighed and plastered a smile onto her face as both boys threw an arm around her shoulders.

"You'll photoshop this if my nose looks big, right?" Jessica asked, propping a hand on her hip and smiling. Ava could see Bella roll her eyes at the girl and she shot her a discreet wink. Jessica was a nice enough girl, just cared way too much about how other people saw her. Ava never really understood how Angela became friends with her, they were pretty much polar opposites.

"Don't worry, I'm in the picture. No one will be looking at you guys," Eric said before Bella lifted the camera.

"Say cheese," Ava said through her smile right before the camera went off.

"That's good." Bella smiled, looking down at the photo. Ava straightened herself up and saw a familiar Volvo pull into the parking lot. It seemed she wasn't the only one, as Mike let out a sigh. "Oh good. Cullen's here," he said sardonically; Ava slinked to Bella's side and Eric let out an unenthusiastic cheer.

"Well," Jessica said. "Talk to you guys later. See you in class."

"Yeah, bye." Ava waved as the group moved towards the entrance.

She usually stayed with Bella throughout the morning figuring that since she didn't sit with her at lunch, she'd just hang around until the first bell. It'd become a habit since Ava started here and she wasn't deterred by the company of any of the Cullens.

Turning with Bella to welcome her boyfriend, Ava immediately noticed the change in her. Her eyes brightened up and a smile graced her face. Bella wasn't one for smiling very much but she noticed that the minute that Edward was in the vicinity, there was very little that would dampen her mood.

He approached and stopped in front of Bella. "Happy birthday," he said immediately.

Bella shook her head, looking elsewhere. "Don't remind me."

Edward smiled at her and gave Ava a nod of acknowledgement. "Good morning, Belinda."

"Morning," she answered, rocking on her heels back and forth.

For some reason, Edward took to calling her by her middle name. She didn't mind; she liked it, but he was pretty much the only person who called her that regularly. Edward leaned closer to Bella; they didn't dive too deep in the PDA when she was around which she was grateful for, but today being Bella's birthday, she doubted they'd give her the courtesy.

"Bella, your birth is definitely something to celebrate," Edward replied, his attention fixated on her. Bella gave a small scoff and looked up at him through her lashes. "Yeah, but my aging's not."

Ava rolled her eyes at Bella's melodramatic answer. She'd been so weird about her birthday this year; normally she at least placates the presents, cake, and birthday mentions but this year she seemed bitter. Ava just assumed it was her turning eighteen and being considered an adult.

Even Edward seemed to note her attitude. "Your aging?" He chuckled. "I think 18 is a little young to start worrying about that."

"I agree," Ava interrupted. Both their eyes darting to her and she took a step backwards towards the front of the school, sensing that they wanted to speak privately. "I'm going to head inside. Gonna try to convince Berty to extend the deadline by a day."

"Alright," Bella answered. "Maybe if you cry, he'll extend it?" She suggested with a straight face.

"Bella, your sense of humor never fails to amaze me. I'm not going to cry, I'm going to charm," Ava joked, taking a few steps backwards.

"Good luck with that," Edward chimed in, holding up a hand in good-bye. She gave him an unamused snort and they turned their attention back to each other. Just as Ava walked a ways out of earshot, she felt someone grab at her waist.

Letting out a gasp of surprise, she whirled to the side only to face Jacob. "Hey!" She smiled instantly, bumping him lightly with her fist. She glanced back at Bella to see that she was still talking to Edward, not paying anything any mind.

"Hey yourself! What happened to, 'I'll come by La Push, don't worry Jake'," he mimicked her, raising his voice a few octaves.

Ava shoved his shoulder with a warning look on her face. "Okay, one: I don't sound like that and two:" She shoved him again a little harder. "What happened to, 'I'll come hunt you down if you don't come see me'? Two-way street, my friend."

He raised his hands in surrender. "Alright tiger. Keep that up and I'll have to file for harassment."

"Then I'll just have to shut you up, won't I?"

"You? You're a wimp."

Ava scoffed and squeezed her biceps jokingly. "Shut up. I can handle myself."

He laughed, throwing his head back. "The fact that you genuinely believe that, scares me. You're not just a wimp, but such a dork."

"Well you're friends with me, so what does that say about you?"

"My capabilities of choosing friends is low? Guess we'll have to stop talking to each other."

"Oh, I wonder how I'll survive," she said, wiping a mock tear before giving him a serious look. "Easy."

"You know, words like that." He tapped his chest. "They hurt me. Really."

"Jake, don't you have someone else to bother?" Ava suggested, jerking her thumb behind her. "Maybe wishing a certain Miss Swan a happy birthday. Charlie mentioned that he told Billy. And since you're concerned about all things Bella, I'm sure he told you."

"She's making out with Cullen. I'd rather not get in the middle of...that." He shuddered dramatically, eliciting a laugh from Ava. "And I'm not concerned about all things Bella. I'm concerned about all things friends, you know. You're included in that too."

"So is Edward included?" She teased. "You stare at him certainly enough."

"Ha, ha." Jacob rolled his eyes and frowned. "I just don't like 'em."

"Yeah, yeah." She waved him off. "You've gotta get over your unwarranted hatred. He's not that bad a guy."

"Not just him, all the Cullens," Jacob corrected, before changing the subject. "But really, when are you heading over to see me. You know how far your house is from mine? Far. Like, really, really far. I can't keep up this one-sided friendship."

"Yet somehow you managed to make it all the way here to wish Bella a happy birthday," Ava mentioned again, nonchalantly.

She knew that Jake had a little crush on Bella. Had for a while, if she was being honest. Bella had been the topic of conversation from time to time on quite numerous phone calls before Ava moved here. She never minded though, Jake was a great guy and Bella was actually pretty sweet when she wanted to be.

Growing up, Bella grew acquainted with Jake through her, but they never became as close as Ava was with them separately. Now that Ava lived in Forks, she noticed happily that they had become closer.

There was a time when Ava herself had harbored a small crush on the boy, back when she was 10 years old. She didn't know where the hell her reaction came from, but from that moment to the day after her 13th birthday, she pined after him. At this point though, she didn't feel anything towards Jake other than a close friendship. If anything, he acted more like an annoying younger brother.

Ava's family would come to Forks nearly the entire summer as she grew up. Then, once she turned 10, they decided that year they wouldn't be traveling. She doesn't remember clearly why; it was either work or the timing not being right, but she begged them to let her visit even if it was for a small amount of time. After that, they sent her off to Forks for one week out of the summer, always falling into the same time Bella would be visiting her father.

"Hey, watch it. You shouldn't bully other people you know."

"I am not bullying. I am making an observation," Ava shot back and quickly checked her watch.

She had less than five minutes to get to class and beg for an extra day, glancing back she saw that Bella and Edward weren't...attached anymore.

"Well, now's your chance," she suggested, brushing past him and shoving him in their direction. "I gotta split."

Jacob took the hint and took a few steps.

Ava turned on her heel, walking a few feet before Jacob called out. "Hey!"

Turning around, she slowed down and walked backwards carefully before he continued, "you have to come by and see me! Help me with the old Rabbit."

"If you want me near that car and something goes wrong, that's on you."

"I'll take my chances." He gave her a thumbs up and jogged towards the couple. Edward, noticing his impending arrival, turned away to leave Jacob and Bella to converse alone.

Ava turned around finally with no distractions and wondered, what the hell was with those two?

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Incorrect Quote(s) of the Chapter:

Ava: I got the cake!

Edward: That says, Happy 18th Birthday Bailey.

Ava: Oh, shit, she's gonna be 19, isn't she?

Edward: Her name is Bella.