Author's Note: Hello everyone! Just a TWO IMPORTANT notes before the story starts. This takes place pre-Twilight, so Bella is not in Forks yet. She might make an appearance near the end. Also for the purposes of this story, Esme does not exist. Therefore, this makes Edward AND Carlisle the only ones in the Cullen family without a mate. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything that is recognizable as being from the Twilight books by the amazing Stephenie Meyer.

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Sometimes I wondered what drove me to return home to Forks after college. It wasn't like there was anything to go back to anyway. My father had died of cancer when I was a sophomore in high school and my mother during my freshman year of college. All that was left in Forks was my elderly grandmother, who could not see more than two feet in front of her.

Like any normal high school student, I wanted to escape; to get out the monotony of living in a small town. I wanted to get away, away from my parents, my grandmother, the friends I had had since I was three years old. I wanted to see new things, have new experiences, and not have to be constantly worried that someone was looking over my shoulder. To finally find my place in the world.

High school was easily the very bane of my existence. I had a small group of friends, with whom I would spend countless hours with discussing our brilliant plans for the future. Allie was going to move to Los Angeles and become a movie star (I don't think that worked out so well for her). Kaitlyn was going to be an artist (last I checked that was working for her). Noah was going to be a music teacher (the least ambitious of us all and he was actually succeeding).

Noah was the only one out of the group that I still talk to on almost a regular basis. He was my best friend and my only true friend. I could tell him almost anything; everything from my poor self-image to my lack of love life throughout high school and then in college. Sometimes, I felt like it was easier to talk to a man about these sorts of things. They give you a new perspective that girls cannot always give. Noah was able to give me both views, however, since he was homosexual. This fact gave an ease to our friendship because we could be just that, friends.

So after high school, I choose to travel out east. Well sort of east since when you live on the western most portion of the United States, everything is east. I would soon find myself enrolled at Saint Mary's College in northern Indiana; a prestigious all-women's college in the middle of no where. Well, that is not entirely true; the University of Notre Dame was on the other side of the highway. However, when five of the eight months of the school year you are buried under a foot of snow, it's hard to go anywhere.

I became a nursing major, mostly because my grandmother always felt that was the only reasonable profession for a woman. Since, she was helping to pay for my tuition, I felt like I needed to choose a field that she would approve of. Then again, I had always wanted to be a doctor, like my father. However, I didn't have the time or the money to go to college and then medical school. So, I enrolled in the college's accelerated nursing program, where I would become a registered nurse by the time I graduated.

After spending four years in Indiana, I decided that I needed to get out of there as well. It was my hope to go to a bigger city like Seattle or Portland but things hardly ever worked out the way you want them to. By this time, my grandmother's health was not what it used to be. Maybe that is why I moved back to Forks, so I could take care of her. This would be the reason, I would find myself back in my childhood house with Grandma.

I arrived in Forks late afternoon on a Sunday. Noah, who now actually taught at Forks High School, picked me up and took me back to my house.

My Grandma was waiting for me on the front porch in her housecoat and slippers. Her silver curls were cut short and pinned back out of her face. She did, however, look exactly what people would think an eighty year old woman from the "old country" would look like. She had a stern tough exterior, but underneath was a soft heart. Throughout college, I had called her at least once a week. And even if the conversations only lasted at most five minutes, it would easily make her day.

"Natasha!" she exclaimed the minute I stepped out of Noah's car.

I beamed widely when I saw her, dashing to go greet her. She caught me in hug as she held me tight. Pulling away, we touched our noses together, like we always did when I was a kid. We were the same height at a whooping five feet and four inches.

My bright sapphire blue eyes met her pale blue ones and I knew that my return had meant a great deal to her.

She quickly ushered me into the house with Noah trailing behind us with my bags.

"Why don't you take those up to Natasha's room, Noah? I am sure you remember where it is?" Granma remarked turning her head back as she led me into the kitchen. Noah just nodded his head in response and as soon as we were in the house, he headed upstairs.

Entering the kitchen, I noticed it was the same as it always was. Pale green wallpaper adorned the walls and forest green curtains hung in the windows. It was open, warm, comfortable, and familiar. There was no mistaking the smell of warm honey and walnuts cookies baking in the oven.

I hated to admit it, but I did miss it here. I missed this old house, I missed Noah, and I missed Grandma. There was something comfortable about home. Maybe I would be able to find my way here, even though that is why I went away in the first place. Well, I might as well start at the beginning again to maybe find the way of things.

I sank down into one of the four worn kitchen chairs around the small round table. Grandma busied herself around the kitchen, placing a pot of water on the stove to heat for tea. At this point, Noah had returned down stairs and he too had taken a seat at the table.

He reached out a hand, taking mine in his and giving it a gentle squeeze.

"It is so nice to have you back, Tasha," he said with a wide grin.

"I am very happy to have you back, too," put in Grandma as she placed a tea cup in front of me and Noah.

"Yes," I agreed, "it seems like I was away for a lot longer than I really was."

There was a long pause as Grandma poured us both tea and placed a plate of the warm, sweet-smelling cookies in front of us.

I had just sunk my teeth into one and was enjoying the way it melted against my tongue, when Noah started speaking again.

"So, have you found a job yet?" he asked casually.

"I did at Forks Hospital."

I remembered that hospital so well. I had spent many days there as a kid, sitting in the waiting room after school, waiting for my father is get off of work. I always imagined him doing great deeds behind those heavy wooden doors. For the most part, I think that is what compelled me into nursing. I wanted to be like my father, to help people when they needed it the most. Later, I spent my summers off from college there doing various internships. I knew that hospital like I knew myself. It was the one place I could go back to and feel comfortable.

Grandma smiled wide, obviously pleased by the choice.

"I hear they have a new doctor there now too," she said as she took a sip from her tea cup.

This sparked my interest. There had been no new doctors come to Forks for years and I had had my fear that no one was going to come.

"Oh really? How long has he been here?" Maybe I had seen him at the hospital before and just hadn't taken any notice.

"Only about two or three months," Noah offered. "Young guy from what I hear."

"Do you know his name?" I asked, hoping to get a little more information out of these two.

"Oh gosh!" Grandma exclaimed, pinching the bridge of her nose trying to remember. She tended to forget things rather easily. "I know both his names started with C's and his first name is something very old-fashioned that I haven't heard in years."

I turned to Noah, raising an elegantly shaped eyebrow.

"I couldn't tell you what his first name is, but I know his last name is Cullen. I have two of his adopted children in one of my classes."

Then Grandma gasped loudly. "Ah yes! That is it. I remember his name now."

"What is it, Grandma?" I asked, hoping that she would just offer the information already.

"Carlisle. Carlisle Cullen," she said with a firm nod of her head.

TO BE CONTINUED....

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Please let me know what you thought! Any questions/comments/observations are always welcome and appreciated! Thank you! :)