Chapter 1 - Observation

It all started with a window.

"Lips, legs, curves, it's like she's one of a kind."

The song played loudly in my ears as I made my way out the door, my morning yoga class calling my name at 8am on a late August morning in Portland, Oregon. It was my favorite time of the year. Late summer and early fall excited me.

"She's got the look. She makes me feel. I'm slipping out of my mind."

The studio where my yoga class was held every Sunday came into view a few blocks away from my apartment. My best friend stood outside bouncing around in excitement as soon as she saw me, it was even more exaggerated than usual.

"You do know it's not healthy to smoke crack this early in the morning, right?" I teased.

Alice chose not to respond until we entered the building together, "Tell me! Tell me! How was your date?"

I rolled out my yoga mat and sat down silently trying to form my reply properly.

When it came to Alice, some things were better put delicately and simply. She could get really worked up over some things. I mean this in the best possible way, but to put it lightly she is a bit of a pusher. And, I don't mean a drug pusher or anything of the sort. She likes to inflict certain things, certain activities if you will, on her friends and if you don't take to it well you hear about it for a while.

"Are you going to answer me or what? How was your date!?" she sounded even more excited now. I think she mistook my silence as a good thing.

Well, time to spit it out regardless of how it sounded. "I didn't actually go."

Her face instantly fell, "What do you mean you 'didn't actually go?'"

Before I could even respond, Irina, our no-funny-business instructor, entered the room and class had begun.

Yoga was one of those things that Alice had dragged me to a year prior. I happen to be an extremely uncoordinated person. It's a curse. So, one could say that I did not expect to be good at it or be able to maintain any of the poses. But, on the contrary, I surprised myself and Alice by pulling it off with ease. It was almost like yoga was my calling, I was that good. Plus, it was an activity that I actually enjoyed partaking in. Sure I could go hiking, ride a bike, paddle a canoe, or go on a jog around the neighborhood but those activities required me to be in a certain mood; a mood that I typically wasn't in. I once considered taking one of Irina's dance classes later in the day, but the blonde Russian bombshell was a bit of a handful. If she had it her way everyone would give 200% in their workouts. That just screamed trouble to me.

Class felt longer today and I could not complain. It gave me time to think of what to tell my best friend. She had been looking forward to this date the entire week and I had failed her last minute by ditching. My coworkers and friends know that I haven't been going out with men lately. Therefore, there has been no sex whatsoever in any way, shape, or form in a long time. The last relationship I had was with a man of the name Laurent Jacobs. We were together for a matter of months and I thought we were going to become something serious, but apparently he had some other plans because that isn't how things ended up at all.

Alice instantly began to badger me once class had finished. By this point, we were halfway down the block from the studio when she spoke, "Seriously, why didn't you go out with Ben?"

"I didn't want to go. I don't know him, we've only spoken on the phone a few times, and I wish you and Rose would stop pushing me him on me. How do you even know this guy?"

"He's one of Emmet's cousins," she answered as if I should have known that piece of information on my own.

We made it to the end of the block where we part ways.

"I would stay to pester you some more, but if I don't get home to shower I'm going to go nuts!" She took off on a jog toward the north side of the Pearl District. "But, don't think we're done talking about this, Bella!"

I rolled my eyes and walked the next three blocks to my home. Living in downtown Portland was beautiful and I adored it.

A moving van parked on the side of the road in front of the apartment complex next to mine. Two men struggled to get a table out of the back, the taller of the two had his back to me and all I noticed was his disheveled bronze hair, a color I'd never seen before. The other was blonde and handsome, even as he grumbled swear words under his breath.

My apartment sat on the third floor of the building. I wouldn't call it elegant by any means; it was just a simple one bedroom apartment in the Pearl District of downtown Portland. I kept my home uncluttered and clean. I liked how my kitchen opened up into the living area, how the bedroom and bathroom were tucked in the corner of the space, and most importantly I liked how the morning light filtered in from the windows. This apartment was practically made of them and that was one of the things I loved most about it. I was a morning person. I didn't necessarily rise when the sun did, but I certainly opened my home to its natural, comforting light the moment my feet touched the floor.

My phone rang as soon as I set my mat down beside the couch and threw my keys onto the coffee table.

"Alice, I just saw you five minutes ago. What do you want?" I sighed and sat down on the sofa, "I sense a lecture coming on here."

She chuckled, "No, no, no! Bella, I didn't get to tell you about my date with Jasper last night!"

That was all that she had to say and I was racing for the shower. I could get ready in minutes if something excited me, and I needed to hear what had happened to her. Her tone had been very nonchalant, albeit forced nonchalance. That was Alice code for: Hurry your ass up! THIS IS IMPORTANT! So, by the time I was out of the door and walking to her house a total of thirty minutes had passed. I swore that girl was psychic because she yanked open the door and ushered me inside before I had even knocked.

She smiled, "We are totally hitting it off!"

My face fell, "What? That's it? I rushed over here just for you to tell me that?" Her laugh caught me off guard as she sank onto her couch. "I mildly hate you right now. I'm getting coffee."

"Help yourself!" she shouted after me as I entered her kitchen, already grabbing a mug from the cupboard.

Jasper had been a guy she met through one of her other friends and they had been going on dates for a while now. I have yet to meet the man, but from what Alice told me I liked him already. He is a gentleman, born and raised in Texas and knows how to treat a woman with respect. Since that is a hard thing to come by these days, I encouraged her even more to pursue it and continue to date him. Not that she needed my permission of course. That girl only does what she wants to do and she doesn't let anyone tell her what those actions can and can't be. She makes her own rules and she changes them to suit her needs whenever it pleases her. That was something I envied about her, she was known for her spontaneity. I liked my schedules and my routines and when those get messed up my entire day goes down the drain. I'm not a control freak; I just appreciate structure and organization.

As I sat beside her she began to recount her night for me, "When he came over, I expected to be going out to eat but when I opened the door he had an armful of groceries and candles. He made me lasagna and it was delicious!"

"Oh no," I interjected. "He cooked you a romantic meal? You totally gave it up!"

Her attempt at composure failed miserably and I couldn't help but laugh at her.

"I hate you for knowing me so well."

I smiled widely at her.

Alice's expression changed and she leaned forward towards me, "I have to ask you something personal and I really don't want you to get mad at me. We haven't talked about it really and I think it's time that we do."

I tensed up waiting for her question, "Okay?" This was coming out of nowhere.

"Why haven't you dated since Laurent? It's been over a year."

My palms began to sweat as I mulled the question over. "I don't want to be led on again." It was silent for a few moments and I quickly stood up to leave. "I'm sorry, Alice. I have things I need to do so I have to go."

She instantly frowned and looked at me apologetically, "I didn't mean to upset you, Bella. I-I just want you to know it is okay to talk about what happened. What he did to you was just-"

"Alice, I'm fine." I cut her off before she finished her sentence and was out of her apartment in seconds and heading towards my home.

In the end, my day was fairly uneventful. I kept myself holed up in my home after grocery shopping. When I wanted to busy myself, I either baked or read a book. This time I was baking a double chocolate cake and reading a warn copy of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Why didn't men like Mr. Darcy actually exist? Eloquent, intelligent, and romantic were qualities the male species nowadays seemed to lack. Maybe I'd grown up in the wrong era.

The sun was beginning to set in the distance and the warm glow of its rays has finally vacated my home, leaving the vast room looking dim and gray. I made my way to the window on the far eastern wall beside the bookshelf to close the curtains when something caught my eye. The building next to mine had a similar structure with the same basic layout. The apartment opposite mine could look directly into my home if the occupants wanted, hence why I had a habit of always closing my blinds when it started to get dark outside. I got extremely paranoid if I felt someone was watching me. The lights in the other apartment were all on, illuminating everything inside the space. From what I could see, boxes littered the floor while pieces of furniture sat randomly about as they waited their proper arrangement. As I reached to pull back the curtain something happened that I could never let myself forget. A man approached the window and stared vacantly out at the ground below, his hair in a tangle and his blue shirt clinging to his broad shoulders from perspiration.

All it took was one glance and I was transfixed. This had to be the man from the moving truck earlier; his hair was the same strange bronze shade. For a moment I panicked when he began to move his gaze upward, worried that he would catch me gawking and then I realized there was no possible way he could see in when I had no interior lights on. But, I still felt my stomach twist uncomfortably when his gaze moved upward and stopped; his eyes appeared to be looking directly into mine. I watched as he backed away from the window pane and took a seat and began to open the boxes around him, seemingly sorting out what things were going to go where and putting them in their appropriate piles to tend to at another time. Time passed by quickly and I hadn't been keeping track. All traces of sunlight had completely disappeared long ago. It hit me then like a ton of bricks, it was ten o'clock at night and there I was standing by my window in the dark staring at the new man in the neighborhood for two hours. I hadn't moved since he caught my eye.

I had reached an all new low.

Note:
This is my first attempt at a fan fiction. This first chapter is short, I know, but that will change. So bear with me on this journey please. Feel free to review and let me know what you think so far, even though it's just barely started. Thank you!