All things twilight (characters, etc) belong to Stephenie Meyer
Chapter 1
He seemed to know that this girl was going to be the death of him. Edward sighed deeply as he watched her stumble over her own feet for what seemed like the thousandth time today. Here he was trying to save her life, and she was allowed to walk… by herself!
Bella Swan had no idea of the dangers her future held for her. Edward Cullen had been following her for a little over two weeks. He watched her now from the front seat of his inconspicuous silver Volvo. Well, it was inconspicuous most places. Not here in Forks, WA. Here it stuck out like a sore thumb within all the late model trucks and minivans that seemed to over populate this area.
Bella hadn't notice him though. This is what really mattered, he supposed. As long as the followed doesn't suspect then he was fine. She was very oblivious to the world around her. No wonder she didn't know her life was in peril, she didn't even notice her own bootlace was untied.
And he was supposed to save her?
He watched as she threw herself into her old red rusty beat up pick up truck and jerked it out of the parking spot in front of the store where she worked. He worried about her driving that decrepit piece of junk. It had to be older than she was.
He waited until she stopped at the stop sign at the end of the block before pulling into the street to follow. He let a minivan pull in between them as he followed at her snail's pace. Why couldn't he ever get a gig where he could follow a speedaholic like he was?
That was the one thing Edward loved about being in law enforcement. No speeding ticket.
Bella couldn't help but feel like she was being followed. She got goose bumps as she was climbing into her truck after leaving the store. She'd been working there on and off since high school. She took over Mike's manager's position when his dad retired early and left the boss position for his son.
"Has to take care of that brood, doesn't he?" His dad had laughed at her when she just nodded and looked at him like she was lost for the right answer.
She sighed as she pulled out of the parking lot. She should have been out of this one red-light town by now.
If it wasn't for Jake and Charlie she would be.
This made her eyes fill, but she refused to let the tears start now. She didn't have long enough of a drive for a break down. If Charlie hadn't gotten sick she would have been with back with Renee in sunny Florida by now. She blinked the tears away. She would be home to Charlie soon and couldn't let him see her like this.
She looked behind her in her rearview mirror and noticed a familiar glint of silver that seemed to be catching her eye oh so often here recently. Had she seen this Volvo before? No, she didn't think so. He seemed to be everywhere she was, but then again everybody was everywhere in Forks.
It was probably the fact that someone actually bought a new car that made him stand out to her. His face was familiar. Bella was bad with names and couldn't place his, but she knew that she knew him.
Thinking about this made her long for the hot, dry, crowded days of Phoenix. She'd been in this green, wet wasteland for almost a decade. Been with Charlie for almost a decade, but it felt like a lifetime.
Being there through high school had turned in to being there through college. Or at least in close proximity. The university of Washington in Seattle was the next stop for Bella, Angela, and Ben. Being the only three of her group of high school friends who moved on to college. Jessica had ended up pregnant and married to Mike before graduation. Then she had spent the whole of the ceremony sick in the bathroom sick because of it.
It seemed fitting to Bella. Jessica had been pretending to be Bella's best friend just to get closer to Mike. Mike had made Bella the object of his affections as soon as she moved here. Jessica had been so jealous she almost literally turned green. Now, they were both twenty-five and had four kids.
Bella shuddered. It wasn't that she didn't want kids, but… she let the thought trail off.
She pulled into the driveway behind the old cruiser. It never left the driveway anymore. Next to that was a black motorcycle. She smiled knowing this meant Jacob was here to give Charlie some company. She reached over into the passenger seat to grab her bag, looking own just in time to miss the familiar silver glint she had been seeing so much of lately.