Altered Ego

a/n: For months this story has been jumping up and down in my brain until, finally, I could no longer ignore it. So – here it is, cheese and all – I hope you enjoy it!

Loves to my proofreaders Wonderfully Bedazzled and Mylittle Bakersdozen (who are educating me in the finer points of grammar and providing the spit-polish), WoahNow for ensuring my Brits are British, and my pre-readers: LasVegas TowGirls; KikiTheDreamer; Jade GreenEyes; and Nikka Bella. What a great team of people who patiently allow me to obsess over plot and encouraged me when I was uncertain about how this Fic would be received.

Thank you, Stephanie Meyer, for allowing all of us writers in the fandom to play with your characters. Obviously, I am not she, and I own nothing Twilighted.

Chapter One: Hardcore

EPOV

Turning my head, I looked at the clock on the nightstand.

Blink.

6:55 am

The ceiling looked like it needed to be repainted.

Blink.

6:56

Looked like it will be another sunny day in Los Angeles.

Blink.

6:57

Turning my head, I gazed at the pristinely made left side of my bed. There were no wrinkles in the bedspread and no dent in the pillow.

Blink.

6:58

Flipping back the covers, I sat up and swung my legs over the edge of my bed.

Blink.

6:59

I stretched with a groan and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes before running my hands through my sleep-mussed hair. I needed a haircut.

Blink.

7:00

I deftly switched off my alarm clock as soon as the annoying, penetrating blare began.

Picking my shirt up off the floor, I pulled it over my head before hobbling off to my attached bath. Hello, Monday morning.

I dressed into my usual jeans and tee, pulled on some socks, and headed down the hall to my son's bedroom. I gave the door a few raps as I opened it.

"Hey, Dominic, Buddy, time to get up," I said, walking over to the side of his bed. Leaning over his sleeping form, I gently rubbed his side, "Hey, come on Buddy, we have to get up and get to school."

Nic rolled over, blinking his green eyes blearily at me. "Is it morning, Daddy?" he asked groggily, squinting at the light coming into his room as I opened the curtains on his window.

"Yes it is, bud, so get dressed okay, and I'll see you downstairs. Oh, and remember to put on clean underpants," I said to my little man, as I walked out the door. I headed downstairs and went right to the kitchen. Opening the freezer, I pulled out a box of Nic's favourite, chocolate chip waffles, and popped two into the toaster. While they toasted, I started on his lunch.

I heard the soft padding of Nic's feet entering the kitchen just as I was placing his peanut butter and jam sandwich with a juice box in his red and black Spiderman lunch box. Looking at him over my shoulder, I suppressed a laugh. "Your shirt is on backwards, little man," I told him, keeping a straight face. Nic had zero sense of Ha-Ha in the morning - his developing ego tended to be a touch volatile when he was not quite awake.

I got Nic set up at the breakfast bar with his waffles, and then packed away his lunch box in with his school books in his Spiderman backpack. Smiling inside, I brushed imaginary dust off the bag, pleased that he was still little enough for cartoon characters. I wonder when he starts grade three next year if Spiderman will still be cool. Does anyone say cool anymore?

Shaking my head at my own internal musing, I leaned against the counter, sipped at my coffee and checked over my agenda for the day that my sister Alice had e-mailed me. There wasn't much - a few reminders of business calls that I needed to return and a note that she would be over this morning to do some research with me on my new project.

I was truly blessed to not only have an excellent working relationship with my sister, but we were close too. In reality we weren't siblings at all. Alice's father and my own grew up together, went to medical school together, double-dated when wooing their future spouses and ultimately worked together in the same hospital. Our two families, Cullen and Brandon, were bound by ties of affection and deep friendship.

Alice and I were born the same day, one year apart; her parents are my god-parents and vice-versa. We practically shared the same back garden and have been pretty much inseparable since nappies. She was best friend, my strongest advocate and was never afraid to kick my ass when I needed it.

I was fortunate to have her as my personal-assistant slash micro-manager. She stepped into the role when my life was in chaos, with both my career taking off and the role of fatherhood thrust unexpectedly and literally into my lap. She even made the move with me from Britain to the USA, giving me family, home and stability.

I finished up my coffee at the same time that Nic finished his breakfast. I sent him upstairs to brush his teeth and hair while I searched out my car keys. I pulled a ball cap onto my head and slipped on my favourite pair of sunglasses. In no time the two of us were out the door, in my family-friendly Volvo, and on the road. It had taken a bit, but we now had our morning routine down.

The drive through morning Los Angeles traffic to Dominic's private school always took longer than I liked, but, all in all, it was acceptable. It was a good school accustomed to housing and protecting students of a certain stature. Other than traffic it was in reasonable proximity to the gated community in which we lived.

I pulled into line behind the other shiny high-end vehicles and the odd limo in the drop-off horseshoe of the school, glancing around per usual at the rush of people. I let out a sigh of relief that it was the usual collection of parents, children and teachers intermixed with both the private and school security.

When it was our turn, I reached behind me and handed Nic his backpack as he unsnapped his seatbelt and began pulling his body out of the booster seat that he still needed.

"Alright, Buddy, you have a good day today. Daddy will be getting you after school, alright?" I told him, barely getting a response as he was already pushing open the door, eager to get going.

"Hey Nic, what did I say?" I pressed.

Nic stopped and rolled his eyes, which caused my eyebrows to rise in surprise. "You are picking me up today," he replied in a rush.

"Thank you. Love you Buddy."

"Love you too, Daddy. Bye!" With that he was out the door and I was alone in my car. I rubbed, absently, at my chest. It wasn't necessarily anxiety, but something akin to it that I felt every time I left him. My little boy was growing up.

Nic turned as he trotted away and waved. With a grin, I waved in return, my chest swelling with pride. My grin turned to a grimace with the sight of his teacher Miss Stanley rushing towards me. Her face was beaming and she waved enthusiastically at me. While she never really crossed the line of professionalism, her attempts at flirting had always made me feel awkward. In her own bumbling way, she was relentless.

The large shiny Lexus behind me honked its horn, saving me, and with an apologetic smile and short wave I quickly drove away. Jessica was pretty and pleasant and my son adored her, but even though it had been forever since I had a lady friend of any sort, dating simply was not on my radar.

Traffic was slightly eased as I made my way home. The usual paps were stalking the main gates but didn't bother me overly much as I punched in the code and drove on. Opening the gate to my home with the remote in my vehicle, I entered the laneway and parked beside Alice's car. She obviously had arrived while I was taking my son to school.

"Alice?" I called out, as I entered my home, dropping my keys and removing my, albeit, feeble attempts of maintaining anonymity. I combed my fingers through my hair to remove any trace of hat hair, resulting in more of a mess.

"Kitchen," she yelled from the bowels of the house.

I walked into the kitchen and found Alice sitting at the granite-topped island. She had both my lap top open as well as hers. Pouring myself a cup of coffee from the pot, I stepped up behind her and looked over her shoulder. What I saw made me gasp and choke on my gulp of coffee, as it slammed into my windpipe, causing me to start coughing roughly.

"Bloody hell, Alice, what are you looking at?" I spluttered, still coughing. She shushed me with an annoyed hand wave, absorbed in whatever she was looking at. Finally catching my breath, I dared another look over her shoulder.

Alice had multiple windows open on each screen. What. The. Fuck. There were pictures of me. Well, kind of, because I sure as hell didn't remember being in any photo shoots like that. Shifting the laptop closer to myself, I started flipping through the variety of windows.

There were photos of me that I was familiar with, from promotional magazine shoots, red carpet events and other galas, as well as quite a few of the much abhorred paparazzi photos. It was the nudes, however, that had me reeling. I was assaulted with dozens of photographs from mild to extreme levels of nudity, cock shots aplenty.

"Seriously, Alice, what the hell?" I croaked out, pointing at the screen.

She glanced over quickly, "Those are photo manipulations, Edward. Your face on another man's body." Well duh, I have looked in the mirror lately, but why? "And you are looking at pornography with my face - why exactly?"

"Just checking in on the Edward Cullen fandom"

"What? This is crazy. Where do they find all this bollocks? What is that?" I asked, gesturing to the window of text on her laptop.

"Fanfiction. Now shush! It is just getting to the good stuff," she said with another wave off. I leaned over her shoulder, and if I thought the porn was bad, what I saw her reading left me completely speechless.

"Again, bloody hell Alice! Are they doing what I think they are?"

Alice looked at me over her shoulder with a smirk, "Been that long, Edward, that you don't recognize the act even when written in such vivid detail? I will bookmark this, you might learn something." I am sure I looked at her with something akin to horror.

Alice sat back in her seat and turned to face me, her head tilted and her face perplexed.

"Seriously, Edward, have you never googled yourself?"

"What? No! And what the fuck is fanfiction?" I asked, shell-shocked.

"It's a whole new world, big brother. Your fans and the media have changed since you filmed the first movie seven years ago"

"I can see that…it looks really…um…hard core," I said with a gulp.

~~~AE~~~

Alice and I spent the rest of the morning exploring the so-called 'Fandom'. She was concerned that the producers would want to utilize both it and the fan base it engendered for promotional purposes. She left me with a kiss on the cheek and instructions to explore a list of links, which she left with me, to familiarize myself with my fans. I had thought the paparazzi were ruthless. This was a whole other universe.

The rest of the afternoon went by in a blur. After Alice left, I quickly made my required phone calls, looked over extensive project notes and timelines, and before I knew it, it was time to pick up Dominic from school.

The rest of the evening followed a strict routine of homework, dinner and one-on-one time. Dominic had a full-time nanny, but when I was between shoots, like now, I preferred to do all the parenting myself. It was important to me that Nic had the most normal life possible. It was the least I could do for him and for me.

Only after my son was bathed, which for some reason had become a battle point lately, and he was asleep and secure in his bedroom, did I approach the laptop still sitting on the kitchen island. With trepidation, I raised the screen and woke the machine up with a few flicks of the spacebar.

Ten years ago, I was just a normal boy. Well, not really. I was never the football or rugby type like my cousin Emmett. Rather, I was the glee and chess-club type, tall, soft-bodied and awkward.

Nine years ago, I had, overnight it seems, grew into my stature, lost the baby fat and suddenly was pretty. Geek to pretty-boy never really felt like a step up to me, but it did get me cast as lead in the community production of Othello.

Eight years ago, I was founded, cast and portrayed the lead in a small-budget movie based on a little-known fantasy novel about vampires. It was my big break.

Seven years ago, the movie was released and my life has never been the same. Suddenly I was a celebrity, a movie star and a father.

Since then I have tempered the initial frenzy, in no small part to the help of Alice and other members of my family. I had managed to establish a life for myself and Dominic and even created a stable acting career.

Now, it looked like the frenzy was due to start all over again. When I made that movie, there was only one book. Now that harpy had gone and written a sequel. I, in my wisdom of all of twenty years of age, had signed a contract that obligated me to perform in any future sequels

With a sigh, I clicked open a browser window and typed in the first address Alice had written down.

~~~AE~~~

BPOV

It was raining. In Forks. Big surprise. I knelt down in front of Elizabeth and helped her to button up her fire-engine red rain coat. She had just received a rainy-day essentials package from her Grandma Biers, in ready-to-go size seven. As soon as Elizabeth saw the ducky umbrella, she wanted to go play outside. I was more than happy to oblige.

Once Elizabeth was decked out in her new splash pants, slicker, hat and rain boots, I handed her the umbrella. "Okay, sweetheart, now you go splash away, but stay in the backyard."

"Okay, Mommy," she replied. Her eyes, which are so much like mine, were bright and shiny. Really, if it wasn't for the fact that I knew without a shadow of a doubt that Riley was her father, one would think she was an immaculate conception. She looked just like me at the same age.

Shutting the door behind my daughter, I turned and headed into the kitchen. I checked the clock on the stove and confirmed that I had just a couple hours left until Riley would be getting home from work at the station. I had already prepped the roast, so I turned the oven on and set about peeling the potatoes at the kitchen sink where I could watch my little girl play in the rain through the window.

After the potatoes, I peeled carrots, cut them both up and added to the roasting pan with the beef, covered it with some tinfoil and put it in the oven. I loved one-pan meals. It made clean-up so much easier.

I washed my hands at the kitchen sink, took another look at my daughter out the window, and then dried them with the dishtowel. Dinner was in the oven and the kitchen was tidy. Smiling to myself, I skipped across the linoleum to the kitchen table and opened up my laptop. While my computer booted up I collected my iPhone from where I had it charging on the counter.

Riley had given me the fancy phone for Christmas. I friggin' loved it. The apps were cheap and it had everything I could need or want. It was loaded up with all my apps, had text messaging and even a few games. I had also downloaded some activities for Elizabeth to enjoy, which was very handy when waiting at the doctor's office or during the long drive to Seattle to visit Riley's family.

Phone in hand, I returned to the kitchen table and opened up my browser, directing it to my favourite social network site, while I simultaneously checked my Twitter feed on my phone. Most of the chatter today was over potential locations for the filming of Morning Dawn, the sequel to Eternal Midnight.

I checked through my messages, made a few comments, and got caught up scrolling through some new photos of Edward Cullen, the star of Eternal Midnight. The pictures were grainy, obviously taken from a distance, and did not do him justice. In fact, with his ball cap and dark sunglasses on, you wouldn't know it was him if you didn't know what to look for.

I knew to look for the fact that he always wore the same sunglasses, for one, and his swoon-worthy cut-glass jaw was hard to hide. I closed the link and stood to look out the window, again, to check on my daughter.

It seemed ironic that my daughter and Edward Cullen's son shared the same birthday. Somewhere, near in time, across the continents, he got one floozy pregnant while I also got pregnant acting like one. Not that in a million years would I wish Elizabeth away, but…it was okay to wish for another kind of life, right? Coming back to Forks to stay certainly wasn't how I had planned ending my freshman year of college.

My best friend, Jake, had given me a copy of the book Eternal Midnight as a baby shower gift, something new to read during those sleepless nights with a newborn. I read it cover-to-cover five times in those first few months.

When the movie came out, I wasn't able to go since I had to stay home to take care of Elizabeth. So Riley bought me the movie on DVD as soon as it was released. Both came to replace my tattered copies of Austen and Bronte as my sanity-savers in those early years, as I settled in as a mom and Riley and I set up life here in Forks.

The years have gone by quickly. Despite the surprise of a baby, when we were barely even dating, Riley stepped up to the plate eagerly. He was just finishing his degree in criminology and Charlie got him on with the police department here in Forks.

His family, however, has yet to forgive me for 'holding him back' and regelating him to a two-bit town with no real opportunity for advancement career-wise. Ah, well they spoiled and loved their grand-daughter with equal fervour to their condescension towards me. It could be worse.

I ran my hands over the lightly chipped Formica countertops, checked on dinner and called Elizabeth inside to do her homework.

~~~AE~~~

I eyed the flowers I had placed in the vase, sitting in the centre of the table, warily. It never bode well when Riley came home with flowers. They were always intended to soften me up. What was it to be tonight? Announcement of a visit to his parents? Perhaps he just wanted to get laid?

"So, me and some of the boys from the station are heading over to the Legion tonight to watch the game on the big screen. Babe, is that okay with you?" Riley said, sopping up the last of his gravy on his plate with half a roll. Ah, a night out with the boys.

"Sounds like fun," I replied, my tone neutral. Seriously, between work and the Legion, Riley was rarely home. He had even started fishing on the weekends like Charlie. It was like being a single parent except that I didn't work. With the exception of walking Elizabeth to school and running to the grocery store, I hardly ever left the house.

"Hey, don't be like that, Babe," he whined, leaning over to give me a peck on the cheek. "I promise not to be too late and I'll tuck in Elizabeth before I go." I rolled my eyes and smiled in acquiescence. Really, he worked hard, who was I to complain if he spent some time out.

"Oh, you got some mail today," he said, rising and walking away from the table. He returned shortly with a large white envelope. "Looks like your latest course package arrived," Riley explained, handing the envelope to me.

I took the package from him with a giddy grin. With a smile brightening his handsome features, Riley gave me a kiss on the top of the head. "I knew that would brighten your day," he said, still smiling. "So what are you taking this time, another writing course?"

"No, this is an office management course," I told him, eyeing the envelope and then laying it down on the table.

"Office management?"

"Yeah, you know, stuff that secretaries or assistants need to know. I can't just keep taking courses willy-nilly just because they look fun. Time to buckle down and do something that can help me get a job," I explained, starting to clear the dishes from the table. Elizabeth had pushed all of her carrots to one side of her plate. I pushed half of them back to the centre, I indicated to them with a point of my finger and a raised brow. She let out a huff and pouted but began to grudgingly eat.

Riley followed me into the kitchen. "You already have a job, Babe, and you don't need to worry about that stuff," he said, wrapping his arms around my waist from where he stood behind me, as I started to run the sink. "I love you having your hobbies, but there's plenty for you to do around here, and I make enough for us, don't I?" Riley spoke lowly, resting his chin on my shoulder.

Ah, yes, I had forgotten that my classes, which I took through extended education, one at a time, were but a diversion. Taking a deep breath, I resisted the urge to sigh, rather I let it out slowly. "It just looked interesting is all. Never know what the future holds."

"Making plans without me?" Riley's grip on my hips tightened.

"No, just exploring," I said, with feigned nonchalance. "Besides, I have already taken all the liberal arts classes they offer."

"God, you're so smart. I love you, Babe," he breathed into my ear, pressing his lips to my neck and his hips to my backside.

"Riley," I hissed, glancing over to the table. He muttered something then stepped away from me.

"Are you done with your dinner there, Pumpkin? A pretty bird reminded me that it's time for my princess to have her bath." Riley smacked me on the rear, grinning, as he went to collect our daughter for her bedtime routine.

While Riley bathed and settled in with Elizabeth to read her a book, I washed up the dinner dishes. By the time our little girl was asleep and Riley was out the door, I was firmly ensconced in my online world. Forks may be a small town out on the tip of the Olympic Peninsula, but with my laptop and wifi, I had the world at my fingertips.

After the release of Eternal Midnight, I found blogs and fan sites dedicated to the movie, the book and the actors. That is when I first started crushing on Edward Cullen. It seemed silly and inconsequential at the time.

Then last year, a sequel to the book was released. The publication of Morning Dawn changed everything. While Eternal Midnight was an innocent story of impossible love between a vampire and a teenage girl, Morning Dawn was anything but. The first book had a cult following and it seemed that both the author and the publishers realized that those once teens who bought the book off the shelf and attended the movie in droves were now all grown up.

There was certainly nothing PG about the second book, and it was reported that the movie would have an R rating, much to the titillation of the dedicated fans.

Over the years, the nature of the fan sites had changed as well. There was even an entire social network dedicated just to us Nightwalkers, avid fans of the story. I was a founding member. Riley was aware of my interest, but the only person who knew all my secrets was Jacob Black. He even knew that I wrote fan fiction. He is the only one that knows that Bella Swan has an alter ego, that I am also known as Eternally Beautiful.

I wrote for a bit on my newest story. When I looked at the clock and saw that it was after ten o'clock. I packed my laptop and cup of tea to the bedroom and got ready for bed. I settled down in our double bed, laptop on my knees, and glanced at the empty side that Riley used. With a sigh, I resigned myself to the fact that he probably would be a few hours yet.

I logged into the Nightwalkers social network and checked my messages and explored the threads to see if there was anything new. Discussion around the possible filming locations now included rumours of Washington State. Now that would be interesting. I bit my lip at that thought. Dream scenarios drifted through my mind.

I was pulled from my reverie by an indication on my screen that I had a new friend request. With a tap on the touchpad, I opened the link. Midnight Solitude? I looked over the information: female; single; lives in Los Angeles; loves vampires. Well, duh. What was unique was that not only did we have no friends in common, but she did not have any friends at all. A newbie. There was an attached message with the request, reading, "I really enjoyed your story."

With a shrug, I accepted the friend request and closed the window. Closing my laptop, I placed it on the nightstand and clicked off my bedside lamp.

Laying my head down, I allowed images of being swept off my feet by one Edward Cullen, via a chance meeting while filming on location near Forks, Washington. Hmm, that would make a good plot.

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