Hello everyone, this is my first attempt at a fanfic, so please provide advice in any areas that need improvement. I have a very thick skin, so I wont get offended. :)

I decided to write this fic, not only because of the idea was interesting to me but because it gave me the opportunity to write a different type of Bella, 'cause I'm going to be honest with you, I find the normal Bella characterisations infuriating. Bella's often depicted as having a serious case of narcissism and its subset people pleasing syndrome, and she makes me want to punch her in the face - quite a feat considering she is a fictional character. Edward isn't much better, fitting the profile of a sociopath. I want character's with faults that they have to overcome, not necessarily one's with personality disorders.

So I'm going to be upfront with the fact I'm a wolf pack girl. They are, after all, the healthier choice. I also don't mind Jasper, that's the only Bella/Vampire relationship I can see working in the long run. Anyway, enjoy. :)

CHAPTER ONE – Little White Mouse

Thank God this shit was almost finally over. I had done my duty, played my part, and I couldn't wait to get on with my life; there was just this final act to get through.

"Bella, I don't want you to come with me," Edward said.

Good, 'cause you smell like roadkill. I'd lost count of the number of times I had seriously been tempted to pull a page out of The Silence of the Lambs handbook and place ointment under my nose just to be around him, but it might have given me away.

"You…don't….want me?" I said in the most pathetic, china doll impersonation I could muster. That pseudo-personality trait really did seem to flick his bic, and I hoped that staying true to character wasn't going to change his mind.

"No" he said, trying his hardest not to let any emotion show.

Hey, no skin off my nose.

"Well, that changes things."

So far everything was going according to plan…

I sat on the forest floor and idly wondered how long I would need to act all emo to pass for an having had an acceptable morning period when losing the supposed "love of one's life".

I had crumpled here in melodramatic fashion after Edward left to keep up the pretence of heartbreak just in case he was watching from afar, but after about an hour my arse was getting all numb from sitting on the cold dirt. Also thinking of my dead cat Gizmo, who had found her untimely end under the rims of the my next door neighbour's car when I was eight, no longer had any effect on my ability to produce tears, which didn't leave me much else to work with so I decided to call it a day.

I got up and slowly trudged my way back towards the house, this time without the accidently-on purpose attempts to catch a few roots with my toes along the way – there was no longer any need to play the damsel in distress.

The driveway was still devoid of the police cruiser when I got home - that gave me some time to clean up before having to deal with Charlie. Making my way upstairs, I eagerly grabbed my toiletries and some clean clothes and ducked into the shower. I let the hot water kneed my cold skin. I hate the cold - that was one of the few things I didn't lie about.

After I finished I went down stairs and was making dinner in the kitchen, the typical and unexciting combination of steak and potatoes, when I heard the front door open heralding Charlie's arrival home.

"Hey Bells, smells good." He said as he hung up his gun belt.

"Yeah, almost done" I called out "Can you set the table?"

Charlie entered the kitchen with a strange expression on his face.

"Ur, sure."

I smothered a chuckle at his obvious confusion at my request as he started to grab cutlery out of the drawer.

Some would say my dad was easy going and that's why we got along so well. I however thought it was more along the lines of him having a bad case of apathy. I mean really, was it too much to ask for him to participate with helping me in small ways with dinner rather than simply going and watching TV while I served him. I had often felt as though I was nothing more than a live in maid and cook. The only time we ever had any real interaction was when he tried to go all dictator on me and tell me not to do something, or give me his negative opinion on my choices. Like that was going to fly without having established any form of meaningful relationship; a couple of weeks over summers didn't cut it. Don't get me wrong, I loved my dad, but his behaviour only seemed to provoke my human tendencies towards teenage rebellion. It wasn't something I had tried to rectify at first due to the Edward situation, however things were going to change now that he was out of the picture.

I served up dinner and we both sat eating in an uneasy silence, Charlie throwing speculative glances my way.

"So anything new going on with you, Bells. You look…different."

I didn't realise my demeanour had changed so much now that I was free to be myself. Perhaps I was a little too peppy, I might need to tone it down a bit, at least until the end of the week. That's all it should take with my memory being "no more than a sieve" and all – pretentious prick. Ah, there we go, I was now angry enough for my expressions to pass for angst.

"Edward and I broke up. The Cullen's are moving."

"Oh…I guess I'm…sorry to hear that." Charlie said in an epic fail to comfort.

I couldn't help it, I snorted. "Yeah right dad, I know you hated him."

"I did not hate him - dislike immensely perhaps, but not hate."

My dad always did have good instincts, I was no longer going to encourage him to ignore them. I sighed.

"Well, you don't have to worry about that anymore."

"You going to be okay?"

Charlie was clearly uncomfortable. We were heading into territory where emotions were going to be discussed. To him this was akin to describing the draining of a boil on a fat and hairy man's backside, a necessary evil.

"I'll be fine."

"That's good to hear," he said before quickly engaging in shovelling food down his throat again in the hope that it was the end of the discussion.

"I was thinking though, now that I've got lots of free time and all…"

"Hmm."

"We should start having daddy daughter dates."

Charlie almost choked on his potatoes.

"You know setting aside a specific time for us to do things together, just the two of us."

I took a long sip of my drink watching him contemplate my suggestion.

"What sort of things?"

"I don't know, maybe we could go shopping…"

Charlie's face had morphed into a mask of pure terror before I had even finished the sentence. Shopping - another evil.

"…at the hardware store for some paint."

"What do you want to get the paint for?" He asked with such obvious relief it was hysterical. I had to use all my training to keep a straight face.

"Well, I'm eighteen now, but my room looks almost exactly the same as it was the day I was born. I thought perhaps we could celebrate my turning of age by renovating my space together, make it look a little more adult."

While it was true that I wanted my room to reflect my personality a bit more, the main reason I wanted to redecorate was so I could rid of the stench that now seemed to have permeated even the walls.

"Okay, we can do that." Charlie knew it could be worse, and this was a perfectly acceptable way for a man to bond with his daughter without looking like he was losing his balls.

I quickly finished dinner, and washed up my own dishes, leaving Charlie to do his own.

"I've got a ton of homework, so I'll see you in the morning dad."

Charlie just nodded as he placed his own dish in the drainer. "Okay Bells, have a good night," he said as he moved off towards the couch and whatever game was currently on television.

As soon as I got upstairs I quietly closed my door and pulled my desk chair over and wedged it under the handle. One of the first things I was going to do was install a lock on my door. I also went and checked the window, making sure it was locked and the curtain was pulled across.

When I was positive I wouldn't be witnessed, I opened up the bottom drawer of my desk and removed the false bottom to reveal my tiny Mac Air laptop. Plugging in the mobile broadband, I dialled up, and logged on to my account. Then, after a moment of contemplation I began to type up what I expected to be my last mission report.

If only life was that convenient!

AN: I've yet to decide whether this will be a Jacob, Paul or Embry pairing. I love them all for their own reasons. Tell me which you would prefer seeing this secretive and feisty Bella with when you review.