A/N: This is my first ever fanfic. I've been a reader for a year now but never brave enough to try my own. Please let me know what you think and if anyone would like to be a beta I would be eternally grateful! I'm such a virgin to this!

Twilight not mine, unfortunately.

The Handyman

Chapter 1: Cracks and Fissures

"Dammitt," Bella cried. She hated South Florida. This was the fifth waterbug she had encountered in the past two days. The huge, flying beetles creeped her out and in a perfect world she would not be the one chasing after the prehistoric looking insects with a can of Raid. It should be Jake performing this duty. But Jake was on a boat somewhere in the Bahamian Islands "working". Bella knew she was being unfair, as a gunnersmate in the U.S. Coast Guard she knew that Jake was actually there for work but his emails often recounted tales of casinos, riding on 4 wheelers in sand dunes, and partying with this fellow coasties rather than busting drug smugglers.

As Bella disposed of the disgusting flying insect in the garbage she calmed herself with images of home. Her home. Even though Bella and Jake had been raised and married in Forks, Washington she thought of San Diego, CA as her home. She loved the rough beaches, the laid back beach towns, the temperate climate, and her friends. She and Jake had married in Forks right after high school. They had known each other all their lives and it was just assumed they would be married. Jake proposed at prom, in front of all of their friends and teachers. As soon as Bella saw Jake get down on one knee she started to feel light headed and clammy. But it was not from excitement. Bella felt she had to say yes to Jake. It was expected, it made sense, it was safe, and she didn't see how anyone else would ever propose. She was plain, slender, with long brown hair that frizzed in the Washington humidity and brown eyes that, while flickering with a great deal of intelligence, were not as captivating as bright blue or a startling green. And Jake was very handsome and good man. He turned quite a few heads with his tall and muscular build, dark russet hair, and boyish face. He took care of his wheelchair bound father and was active on the Quilte Reservation. Despite her level headed reasoning, Bella could not help but wish for something more. Later that night as she stared at her small but tasteful diamond ring she blamed her feelings on her frequent readings of romantic Victorian literature. Heathcliff and Romeo and Mr. Darcey were characters. They were not reality and she lived in reality. Bella resolved to make her marriage to Jake the most successful endeavor and as she shelved her current reading material, Jane Eyre, she resolved to push her feelings aside and move forward.

Jake enlisted in the coast guard right after graduation and a small wedding in the town chapel. After a summer spent apart where he had his basic training in North Carolina they got their orders to San Diego, California. Bella was nervous to leave her family and home behind. While Charlie, her Chief of Police father, had always been a bit taciturn and absent and her mother, Renee, was flighty and emotional, they were Bella's family and she loved them. But she was a wife now, a military wife, and part of putting aside her silly feelings was to charge ahead to San Diego without a tear or trepidation.

Bella loved San Diego. As soon as she stepped off the plane, she instantly felt calm. It was a balmy 75 degrees and her hair stayed smooth and sleek in the mild weather. They had base housing in Point Loma, a sleepy beach town right on the coast. Bella enrolled at the University of San Diego, a small private university with an excellent literature program while Jake began his coast guard career. They lived modestly but were content. Bella's days were filled with school and working at a bookstore in the mall. There she became good friends with her boss Angela. Angela was smart, independent, and loved books almost as much as Bella. They spent a lot of time together; especially as Jake was often deployed. Angela often questioned Bella if she was lonely. Angela couldn't believe how much Jake was gone; she would never have been able to deal with that. Bella hadn't really thought about it before but Angela's frequent discussions made her realize that no, she wasn't lonely when Jake was gone. She enjoyed their time together when he was home; exploring southern California, eating dinner together, and their occasional lovemaking. It was all nice but nothing that she missed when he was gone. She loved her time alone, sitting at sunset cliffs watching the sunset, walking through Balboa Park to the museums and gardens, and attending her classes and working on her thesis. She worked hard at school and was going to apply for graduate school at Columbia. She knew that after their three year tour in San Diego Jake could apply for a transfer and he said he would put in for New York so she could attend the grad school of her dreams. Bella was content. And that was good enough.

"But the best laid plans…." Needless to say Bella's contentment had not lasted. After his tour in San Diego Jake put in for a transfer to the MSST program in Miami, Florida without telling Bella. He had discussed the option with her but she knew that if he joined MSST (the swat team of the Coast Guard) he would be gone at least 300 days of the year and would most likely have to go to Iraq. His work would be very dangerous and she was concerned for him. The Coast Guard had changed Jake. He became a gun enthusiast, something Bella abhorred, became obsessed with working out and his body, and his middle level political and social views leaned further and futher to the right as the months passed. Bella knew that since they married at such an early age they were bound to both change but she always hoped that they would fundamentally stay the same person. She believed she had. However, the biggest change in Jake was his desire to have children. They had discussed children before they were married and both agreed that if they were to have children it would be after Bella was done with graduate school and well situated in a career. Bella did not want to ever have her child feel the resentment that she often felt roll off of Renee whenever she recounted her early foray into motherhood. Jake agreed that they would have plenty of time for a family when they were older. As the years passed Jake became obsessed with starting a family earlier and earlier. He wanted a little son or daughter to run and jump into his arms when he came home from a deployment, an offspring to brag about at work, and all the benefits without the hard work that Bella alone would have to endure. Jake was becoming pushy and mean, he took his testosterone filled attitude that worked so well on the base and bringing it home to Bella. Looking back, Bella saw the cracks and fissures were beginning then. The move to South Florida just spread them even further.

The sound of the door opening brought Bella back from her musings. Bella heard Alice, her temporary roommate kick off her shoes and drop her keys into the bowl in the entryway. Bella was glad Alice was back from her yoga class, she needed some company to drag her out of her melancholy. Alice was living with Bella for the next three months while her husband, Jasper, was deployed to South Carolina for training of new MSST team members. The head trainer had to have an emergency surgery so Jasper got the job.

Bella had met Jasper and Alice one month ago at a welcome party for the new MSST members. Bella was sitting on one of the park tables trying to ignore Jake while he schmoozed with his new captain and consumed his seventh beer of the afternoon. She would be driving after all. As she contemplated an excuse to leave early she felt someone sit down next to her and dreaded a likely inane conversation with another coast guard wife about diapers, candle parties, and how awesome their coast guard husbands were. Instead she was greeted with silence. She turned her head to see who had sat next to her and was greeted by a gorgeous petite woman. She had dark hair cut into an A-line bob with big dark eyes and sharp cheekbones.

"Hi, I'm Alice," the petite woman greeted softly.

"I'm Bella, nice to meet you."

"I hate these things, don't you? I wouldn't be here if my husband wasn't a part of the training staff. That's him over there, Jasper," Alice said as she pointed to a tall blond man over by the barbeque. He reminded Bella of the surfers that populated Ocean Beach in San Diego; lean, tan, and always looked like they were up to something. "Which one are you the designated driver for?" she asked with a smirk.

"The one standing next to the captain holding his seventh Miller Lite," Bella replied with her matching smirk.

"Ah. So where are you from Bella?"

"San Diego. Well Forks, Washington really but I call San Diego home. That's where we were stationed before moving…..here."

"You sound so excited about it," Alice grinned.

"Well it's….I didn't want to….It's complicated," Bella mumbled.

"I understand," Alice said, "I wasn't too excited when Jasper got transferred to Miami and I almost hit the roof when I found out it was for the MSST program. Luckily he is on the training staff so he doesn't deploy much and has pretty normal hours, but still…Miami….yuck" Alice laughed softly.

"Yeah I'm still not used to it," Bella said. "Where were you and Jasper before Miami?"

"Oh well I'm from Mississippi and Jasper is from Texas. I went to Texas for college and met Jasper there when he was stationed at Corpus Christie. It was lust at first sight, and love the next day," Alice smirked.

As Bella and Alice chatted about the hassles of moving, their shared hatred of Miami weather, and their equal distaste for the Coast Guard deployments Bella started to feel something she hadn't felt in a long time….excitement. Bella was typically a bit of a loner and besides Angela and a few acquaintances she didn't have much in the way of girlfriends. While she didn't seem to have a lot of common with the vibrant Alice she felt a sense of kinship and honesty that she hadn't experienced before.

"Well looks like Jasper can finally get out of here, would you like to exchange numbers? Maybe we could hang out sometime, get pedicures or coffee or something?" Alice questioned. She seemed as eager for a friend as Bella. But Bella was a bit hesitant, she was heartbroken when she had to move from San Diego and leave Angela and her other friends behind. Perhaps it was safer to stay more removed and keep herself from getting hurt when she had to move again. And she would have to move again. She was a military wife.

"Sure," Bella said, "That would be great." And she meant it.

"Ewwww, it smells like Raid," Alice whined," another water bug?"

"What else," Bella grumbled. "I am so sick of the humidity, bugs, lizards, and well everything. And get this, the kitchen sink is leaking so I had to call Carlisle to come out and fix it. There is a huge puddle in the cupboard under the sink so we'll probably catch something from mold and die too!"

"Melodramatic much? What's the big deal, you're just renting, Carlisle will get it fixed, probably get you a brand new sink in the process and we get to watch the hot doctor bent over in our kitchen getting all sweaty and ……" Alice trailed off.

This was one of the reasons Bella loved having Alice living with her. She didn't put up with Bella's dramatics and always managed to point out the bright side of any situation. When Alice found out that Jasper had to go to North Carolina for three months she was furious. The lease on their apartment was almost up and she hadn't wanted to rent or buy a place without Jasper around. Jake was going to be gone for three months at the same time so Bella suggested Alice move in with her to keep her company and then when Jasper got back they could find a place together. Alice was so grateful but the truth was Bella relished the idea of living with her best friend and hoped it would make Miami more palatable. Jake and Jasper both liked the idea of them living together and felt it would be safer. Jasper was really fond of Bella and thought she was a great friend to Alice. Bella and Jasper bonded over their love of the ocean and indie rock but Bella always got the sense that Jasper didn't care for Jake. Alice always insisted that he had to maintain a distance because he was on the training staff but Bella didn't quite believe it. When Jake started drinking heavily or got particularly mouthy and possessive with Bella she saw Jasper's usually relaxed countenance tighten up.

As Alice was in the middle of summarizing Jasper's latest love email to her, Bella's cell phone started ringing with her tone for Carlisle, her landlord, "Hot Stuff." Alice started laughing at her and almost fell off the couch but Bella just ignored her and answered the call.

"Hi Carlisle, how are you?" Bella politely asked.

"I'm good sweetheart how are you? Minus the leaky sink of course. What kind of place are you renting, your landlord must be a real scumbag," he teased.

Bella really lucked out finding Carlisle and Esme as landlords. After the initial shock and anger had worn off regarding their move to Miami Bella threw herself into planning their move. She found a neighborhood that had all the amenities she needed, was close to the beach, and had great rental properties. Carlisle and Esme owned the 2 story, 3-bedroom townhouse that was situated on the intercoastal and when they found out her husband was in the military they gave her a reduced rent price and waived the security deposit. Ever since they moved Carlisle and Esme had acted more like parents then landlords. Esme often came by to work on the front lawn (since Bella managed to kill any plants in her vicinity) and talk about books over iced mochas and Carlisle was constantly upgrading the townhome for her.

"Yeah he is but his wife is a real hottie so I don't mind," Bella teased back.

"Yeah, Yeah, must be one lucky son of a bitch. So how about I come over tomorrow morning to fix it after the gym? If you have plans I can just let myself in and get it taken care of for you?"

"Sure, that's great. I don't have any plans so I'll probably be here. Alice has a meeting with a client that morning but I'll be here all day. Just come whenever," Bella said.

"Sounds good. Also, my son Edward might be with me. He just moved down from Chicago and starts work next week. We're spending some quality time together," he chuckled.

"Ah, so in other words you're going to have him do all the heavy lifting?" Bella laughed.

"Pretty much. Okay well see you tomorrow Bella. Tell Alice I said Hello from Dr. McHottie," Carlisle laughed as he hung up.

"Dr. McHottie says 'Hi'," Bella laughed at Alice.

"Oh God, I can't believe he heard me say that when he and Esme were over last week. I'm mortified." Alice groaned.

"No you aren't, you slut," Bella laughed. "You weren't exactly discreet about it!"

"I know but Esme got a kick out of it and well, he is a hottie! And a heart surgeon at Mt. Siani to boot!"

"You better zip it or I'll email Jasper that you're looking around while he's up in the boonies yelling at new recruits." Bella laughed as she trudged up the stairs.

"Bitch!" Alice replied.

Bella just laughed and grabbed the newest Martin Amis novel and headed to take a bath. As she filled up the tub with hot water she wondered briefly what Carlisle's son would be like.