Title: A Summer in the Town of Forks, Washington
Fandom: Twilight Series
Characters: Ensemble. Pairing: Eventual Edward/Bella.
Summary: It is the summer before Bella's Junior year of High School. Renee has just met Phil Dwyer, and sends Bella to Charlie in Forks for the summer. Bella enjoys reconnecting with her father, but Bella being Bella, she soon lands herself in the hospital – where she is stitched together by Dr. Carlisle Cullen, whose son takes a special interest in her.
Rating: PG
Word Count: ~14 000
Chapters: Eight in total.
Spoilers: None, so long as you know that Edward is a vampire.
Author's Note: I wrote this in one sitting back in 2013 (the 22nd of January according to the Word document) and never got around to posting it. I have only looked it over briefly (mainly to make sure the italics and whatnot works) but figured if I didn't do it now, I never would. All mistakes are mine.
Distribution: Link only please.
Written: January 2013
Chapter One: Arrival
It was summer again. Bella sighed as she stepped off the small plane in Port Angeles; glad to see her father again after nearly a year, but not entirely happy to have to spend her whole summer vacation in the rainy town of Forks. But Renee had insisted, wanting Bella to spend more time with her father.
Bella thought her mother's insistence had more to do with her budding romance with Phil Dwyer, the minor league baseball player she'd met a few months ago at a party, than any real desire for Bella to further her relationship with Charlie, much less with Forks and the inhabitants.
So instead of their customary two weeks in California, a change Bella had insisted upon implementing only two years ago, she was to spend her time with Charlie in Forks once more. Only this time it would be for nearly seven weeks, instead of two.
The only upside was that she would have a great excuse to spend the whole summer inside reading; it was raining outside and she didn't know anyone. Another plus was that her father would continue to work his regular shifts at the police station for the duration of her stay; which meant that not only would he not hover, as much as Charlie could ever be accused of hovering, but he would be too busy with work to feel the need to fill their weeks together with constant activity in an attempt at elevating what he perceived as boredom on her part. Most of the activities he'd come up with in the past had been things neither had enjoyed, and it'd often prevented them from truly spending time together.
Even if she had to go back to Forks to do it, Bella was surprisingly looking forward to getting to know her father as he was when he was at home, without the added pressure of performance or lack of time.
Her father was waiting for her, thankfully outside the terminal and not inside where they would've had to exchange awkward hugs and pleasantries alongside much more vocal and emotional family reunions. Bella had always hated airports; her goodbye to her emotional mother had only reinforced that hate, and meeting Charlie was a relief.
He was leaning against his cruiser, but stood to help her with her bag when he saw her coming through the doors. His smile was wide, and he hugged her with one arm as he took her largest suitcase with the other; thankfully, it had been a roller case, or else Bella wouldn't have been able to carry it with her.
"It's good to see you again, Bells," Charlie said as he released her from the short, but heartfelt, embrace. "I'll take that one too." He motioned to the bag she had slung over her shoulder.
Bella released it to his care and watched as he expertly placed both bags in the trunk of his car. "It's good to see you too, Dad."
The smile he shot her was worth the time she'd spent conditioning herself to calling him dad instead of her usual Charlie.
The trip home was uneventful; it rained and Charlie did not speed.
"I had your room redone, sort of," he said as he helped her carry the bags up the steps to the front door. "I wasn't sure what you might like in terms of color, so if you want, we could go tomorrow to check out some stores in Port Angeles and get you some things. Like a comforter. Beds needs comforters, don't you think?"
He seemed nervous, and Bella couldn't help but smile at him as she recognized her own mannerisms, all the clearer now that she was paying attention. "That'd be great, Dad. I don't have a comforter at home, but I should probably get one here, since it's much colder at night even in the summer."
"Great. I'll move your bags up for you, then I figured we'd order in. You hungry?"
Bella replied in the affirmative as she followed him up the stairs and into her room. He left her with a small pat on her shoulder on his way out, closing the door behind him to give her privacy. Bella looked around the room; it looked the same as last time, but for a few key differences. The rocking chair from her nursery still stood in the corner, but the changing table with drawers (which had doubled as a temporary storage space for her clothes the last time she'd stayed there) that used to stand beside the chair had been exchanged for a proper dresser.
No rug covered the floor, and the hardwood had been beautifully polished; the image of Charlie Swan, mustache and all, kneeling on the floor as he waxed it with an old flannel shirt brought out a snort from Bella. Her old "big-girl" bed had been exchanged as well, for a larger bed; already made. Next to it stood a small bedside table, with a reading lamp on top.
There was also a desk, tucked in a corner, with a comfortable, if old looking, chair. There were no curtains in the room, and Bella assumed this would have to be purchased the following day. More than likely, Charlie had none to spare that hadn't been for her childhood room or was severely outdated. And now, at almost seventeen, he probably figured she would rather spend one night in a room without any curtains than the alternative. And it wasn't as though she would be unable to sleep; the streetlamps were far and few between even in the best of cases and the evenings were dark even in summer.
Bella sat down on the bed, surprised at how soft it was, and looked around the blank walls. The room felt fresh, and she realized Charlie had probably aired the room out when he'd cleaned it for her arrival. Bella was thankful for it now, as it was too cold out to keep the window open for any length of time - at least for her, used as she was to the constant Arizona heat.
She unhitched her carry-on from her back, and unzipped the bag. Inside, she carried the most important items she'd brought with her; the first was a photo of Bella with her parents, taken the year before. What had been, to Bella, a stroke of good luck, her mother had been able to go to San Francisco to pick Bella up, and spend a few days in the city with her daughter, so Charlie wouldn't have to go back to Arizona to drop her off. Though Bella knew her parents would never get back together, it was nice that they had reached a point in their relationship where they could spend the day together as friends, which they had done on Charlie's last day with Bella. The photo had been taken down at Fisherman's Warf, and all three wore big smiles as they enjoyed the sunshine and the seals.
Bella placed the frame on her bedside table, where it was quickly joined by two more which she arranged as best she could on the small surface. One frame contained a photo from a masquerade party she'd gone to with her mother; Renee had dressed up as the Wicked Witch, and Bella as Dorothy, complete with red sparkling no-heel shoes and a stuffed dog she carted around in a small wicker basket. The other frame had been a gift from her best friend in Phoenix, Ryan. It held a photo of the two of them, taken one week before Bella left; in it, they were smiling and their happy faces filled nearly the whole frame.
All three photos made her smile when she saw them, and as she couldn't have Ryan or her mother with her in Forks, it was the closest she could get to seeing them every day as she was used to.
She had only known Ryan for a year, ever since he moved into the house next to hers with his family. Despite their short friendship, they had quickly found each other; Bella was a shy and awkward teenage girl who took care of her mother more than her mother took care of her, and Ryan was a gay teen afraid to come out to his strict military father.
Neither felt as though they fit in, for different reasons, and they had both been outcasts in school; by their own choice as much as by the choice of the "popular" crowd. Everyone, including Ryan's parents, thought they were dating; everyone but Renee, who'd thought the same up until she attempted to have The Talk with Bella, right before Christmas. It had been awkward for everyone involved, and Ryan had agreed to let Renee in on his secret.
Ryan and Bella had both played up the rumors of their teenage romance in school, finding it much simpler to go along with what everyone else already through than to try and explain their friendship without outing Ryan in the process. In the end, it had made their friendship stronger.
Bella spent the next twenty minutes unpacking her stuff; mainly clothes, but her luggage also included several books, and were the reason for her needing a large roller case for the trip. She used the desk to shelve her books, and was just putting the last one, a battered and well-loved copy of Pride and Prejudice in place when the doorbell downstairs rang.
Figuring it was the food, Bella exited her room and walked down the stairs just in time to see a boy, not much older than her, leave the doorway, cash in hand. He turned to say something to Charlie, when he spotted her and his eyes lit up as he took her in.
"Goodbye, Michael," Charlie said firmly, closing the door on whatever the boy had been about to say to her.
Bella smiled as Charlie carried the pizza into the living room, looking at the closed door. Had it been her mother, she probably would've invited the boy inside to help Bella "talk to the opposite sex".
She followed her father, watching him as he placed the hot pie on the table. He'd already collected plates, napkins and a pizza cutter from the kitchen, and he wasted no time in slicing up the pizza. She sat down on the sofa, feeling awkward. The TV was on, but she wasn't sure who was playing; she wasn't even entirely sure what sport Charlie was watching, as the screen was currently occupied by the commentators.
At least Charlie had ordered her favorite pizza; cheese and mushroom. She knew he preferred pepperoni.
"Thanks, Dad," Bella said as she plated a slice up for herself.
Charlie said nothing, but smiled in reply.
They spent the evening eating pizza in comfortable silence, watching European soccer. Bella wasn't sure who won the game, but she enjoyed the quiet downtime with her father. It was why she'd agreed to go to Forks in the first place; to be with him in a casual and familiar setting, where he would feel less obligated to entertain her constantly.
Bella went to bed when the game ended, in her old nursery without curtains. The last thing she saw before she turned off the bedside lamp, were the three photos she'd placed by the side of the bed. They made her smile, and despite the strangeness of the pitter-patter of the rain on her window, and the odd creak from the old house she was unaccustomed to, she passed her first night back in Forks in a deep sleep.
Chapter Two: Port Angeles
