- CHAPTER ONE -

BELLA

I looked around the small bedroom in disgust and despair. My room was exactly as it had been when I had left Washington more than ten years ago. The bedspread was old and faded pink with big sunny daisies covering it. My walls were a faded out yellow and adorning them were posters tacked up from my embarrassing childhood days. A few Disney movies as well as a couple of kittens and puppies and was that, oh God! The Backstreet Boys.

My hand met with my forehead as I stared at the embarrassing evidence of my appalling taste in music as a child.

"How's it going Bells?" I looked up from my mortification and moved faster than I ever had before across the room, ripping off the boy band poster from the wall before whirling around and facing my older brother Emmett.

"Fine."

Emmett stared at me curiously then glanced down at the shredded poster in my hands. "Watcha got there?" he asked, raising one devious eyebrow.

"Kittens and puppies." I lied. Emmett glanced at the wall behind me and his eyes went wide a moment before a truly terrifying grin came across his face.

"Backstreet Boys?"

I whirled around and looked at the wall. There was a corner of the poster my frantic ripping hadn't snagged. It was a jagged corner of A.J. McLean's head. I turned back to Emmett and fought against my blush as he started laughing.

"How did you recognize that?" I asked smiling wickedly at him. That shut him up real fast.

"Dad wanted to know if you are hungry." He said glancing once more at the poster corner before focusing on me. I shrugged.

"Yeah I could eat." I balled up the poster and tossed it toward the white wicker wastebasket by the little white and pink desk. Em's eyes swept around the room and he shook his head.

"Your room needs upgrading." He noted. I nodded in agreement.

"How about yours?" I asked, shrugging on my jacket and following him to the staircase.

"Power Rangers, Pokémon and Speed Racer." He said glancing back at me. I chuckled.

"So nothing's changed."

He glared at me but then smirked when I started giggling. We walked down stairs to where our dad Charlie was standing in the living room awkwardly.

"Hey kids." He greeted. We both smiled at him. "Uh, are you two hungry? I was thinking we could go to the diner." He offered.

"Sounds good to me pop." Emmett popped the last 'p' in the word. I nodded silently, in agreement with Emmett.

"Great, uh, should we get going then?" He fumbled with the keys to his rarely used truck and we all nodded.

Dad's truck was old and rusted, a classic, as he called it. It was a 1954 Chevy that was once, I suppose, a cherry red, but had faded to a burnt orange over the years. Dad had had the truck longer than I'd been alive, though he didn't often use it; favouring the use of his police cruiser instead.

"I missed this truck." Emmett said as soon as we filed out the front door. Dad clapped him on the back as we descended down off the porch and headed toward the truck.

"She's all yours. I don't really have any use for her anymore and I know you two will need a car." He explained. Emmett grinned.

"Thanks." He exclaimed happily. Dad nodded and I saw his mustache twitch in a small smile. "Hop in Bells." Emmett opened the passenger's door for me. There was a bench seat up front and that was it, so I scrambled up to sit in the middle of dad and Em. Dad wasn't particularly big, but he was tall and he had enough muscle on him that people took him seriously as police chief of this small town. Emmett took after him in height, but exceeded him in everything else. Since we were kids, Emmett had always been huge. Now at 18, my big brother looked like he was easily in his mid twenties.

Squished between the two of them in the front seat of the truck, I felt dwarfed.

"Does the diner still serve Emmett cake?" My brother asked eagerly. I looked up at him and rolled my eyes. Right before we had left Washington, when mom and dad were still divorcing, we had spent an unreasonable amount of time at the diner. Emmett and I liked it because it was an escape and while in public our parents would at least pretend to get a long. One of the waitresses who worked there, Denny, had made Emmett a cake for his birthday, a curious blend of banana and chocolate cake with strawberry frosting and coconut shavings on top. Emmett, who had loved the cake more than anything, had asked Denny to start selling it at the diner. We hadn't been back there in a long time, but Emmett had never stopped talking about that cake.

"Of course they do." Dad huffed, pulling the truck slowly around a corner. The truck choked and lugged forward in what sounded like agony. "Denny and I have a slice every Wednesday." Dad glanced over at us and Emmett's smile was blinding.

We drove through town, (all two miles of it) and arrived at the diner. It was an old brick building with slightly yellowed windows and chipped green paint around the trim, but there was something distinctly comforting about it. This place, this crappy little diner in the middle of No-Where Washington, had once been a place of refuge for my brother and me. It was nice to see that even after all these years, this little sanctuary hadn't changed.

Inside the diner was packed as usual, and with a glance around the room I was able to confirm that yes, everything was still exactly the same.

"Evening Chief!" A slightly over weight woman with thick brown hair and warm brown eyes stopped in front of us and gave dad a hug. She had long fake nails attached to the tips of her fingers making her appear to have bright red claws, and her pink lipstick had started to bleed around the edges. She looked older than I remembered, but other than that almost exactly the same.

"Denny, you remember Emmett and Bella." Dad said hooking an awkward arm around my shoulders and nudging Emmett with his fist. Denny turned to us and her eyes went wide.

"My little Emmy!" She screeched pulling Emmett into a tight hug. Emmett let out a loud laugh and wrapped his beefy arms around her, picking her up off the ground. She let out a small shriek then laughed as he set her down. "Lord boy how you've grown!" She said when they pulled away. Emmett gave her an impish smile.

"It was all the good food I ate as a kid." He flirted. Denny let out a loud laugh and reached up to kiss his cheek before turning to me.

"Oh little Belly." Her grin was infectious and she pulled me into a tight embrace. I struggled a moment to breath, but accepted the hug gratefully. She smelled like coffee and cigarettes, just the same as I remembered. "Oh Bella you are so beautiful! How old are you now honey?" She asked holding me at arm's length.

"Uh, I'll be eighteen this September." I said shyly. Denny turned to Emmett.

"That means you are gonna be nineteen this year?" She asked. Emmett grinned and nodded and Denny whirled to dad. "Charlie how could you let my kids stay away for so long?" She cried dramatically. "Little Belly's almost an adult and Emmy already is. I can't believe it!" She pulled me against her again in a hug and dad let out a soft laugh then shuffled awkwardly.

"Can we get a table?" He asked. Denny looked at him and rolled her eyes.

"Calm down Chief, I saved your seat don't you worry." She snatched up a couple of menus then looped her arms through Emmett's and mine. "Come on kids, I want to hear about everything you've been up to since you've been gone."

Dinner at the diner was exhausting. After being grilled for nearly twenty minutes by Denny, she finally left to place our order. As soon as she was gone, others descended on the table, eager to meet the Chief's now grown kids.

"Charlie how's it going?" I looked up at our latest visitor in surprise. He was tall, almost as tall as Emmett, with the muscles to compete with my brother as well. His black hair was cut short and his white teeth gleamed against his tan skin.

"Jake, you remember Emmett and Bella right?" Dad asked, shaking the guy's hand. Jake turned to Emmett and smiled.

"Yeah, we used to play football down at the Res during summers." He said shaking Em's beefy hand. Emmett nodded.

"Jacob Black. You beefed up." Emmett observed with a smirk. Jake laughed.

"And you stayed beefed up." He noted. He turned his attention to me then and gave me a flirtatious smile. "And Bella. You look gorgeous." I glanced at Charlie to see what he made of Jake's flirting, but my dad was grinning like a fool. I shifted in my seat and smiled back at Jake. I vaguely remembered him from my childhood; a scrawny little kid who seemed to always be getting himself, and Emmett, into trouble. If I remembered correctly, he was about the same age as Emmett, maybe a few months older.

"Uh, thanks." I said awkwardly. Not even Emmett seemed to mind Jake hitting on me.

"So are you guys visiting? I don't think I've seen you since you left." He gave me one last flirtatious wink before turning to Emmett.

"Nope, we're here to stay." Em announced happily. Dad nodded.

"Jake you and your dad should stop by some time. We have to break Emmett in to living with men again." Dad joked. All three of them laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world.

"That sounds great Charlie." Jake stood up. "I gotta head to the garage, but we'll definitely stop by for the next game." He slapped hands with Emmett. They both nodded and Jake turned to me. "See you around Bells." I gave him a polite nod and breathed a sigh of relief when he was gone. Denny came over with our orders and placed them all in front of us, giving us warm smiles and telling us to eat up, before disappearing back into the kitchen.

"You know Bells, Jake owns his own garage." Dad said after taking a massive bite of his stake. Emmett looked up from his plate of ribs with wide eyes.

"Yeah?" He asked through a mouthful of food. "Maybe I can see if he'd hire me." He mused. I nodded.

"That's a great idea Em." I said quickly. I didn't like where my dad was going with that particular piece of information, and to be honest, I didn't want to know. He opened his mouth to say something else but I cut him off. "I'm going to the restroom." I said scrambling out of the booth before he could say anything else. Dad nodded and turned back to his stake and Emmett hardly looked up from his plate. I headed off in the direction of the restrooms, dodging easily through the crowded diner. Lots of people looked at me but no one stopped me to say anything. I slipped past the restrooms and headed for the back door, pushing it open and taking a deep breath of cold Washington air. Emmett was a total ham and loved all the attention we got being back, but I hated it. Just this trip to the diner had my head spinning.

"Christ." I gasped shutting my eyes and leaning back against the wall of the diner.

"You okay?" A deep voice rumbled in my direction and my eyes flew open as my heart leapt. I looked over to see the most beautiful man I'd ever laid eyes on. He was tall and looked to be well defined under his leather jacket and loose fitting jeans. His face had perfect symmetry with a wide sharp jaw and high strong cheekbones. His eyes were the colour of bright green moss and his hair was the colour of a shiny new penny. He arched one thick brow at me and I realized belatedly that not only was I gaping at him, but he had asked me a question and I was just standing there like an idiot. I shook my head to compose myself and looked down at my sneakers.

"Yeah I'm fine." I mumbled, chancing a glance up at him. He watched me steadily a moment before nodding slowly and pulling out a packet of cigarettes from his pocket. He looked up at me and caught me watching his movements. I blushed and looked down at my ratty old converse again.

"Want one?" He asked, pulling out a cigarette and letting it dangle between his lips as he held out the pack to me. I looked up at him hesitantly and saw a small smile settle on his lips, like he was issuing me a challenge he expected to win. Squaring my shoulders I narrowed my eyes at him and stepped away from the wall, taking a cigarette out of the pack. I saw his eyes widen fractionally as I put the cigarette between my lips and cocked my head at him.

"Can I have a light?" I asked. He smirked at me and pulled a lighter from his pocket, easily flicking it open and stepping closer to me so that he could light the cigarette still between my lips. The cigarette flared to life and I took a deep drag, letting the smoke out slowly. I didn't often smoke and I didn't care for it all that much, but on the rare occasion that I did, it provided me with much needed relaxation and a moment of peace.

I brought the cigarette back up to my lips and watched as he pocketed his lighter then stepped closer to me. "Hold still." He mumbled. Reaching up with one hand, he held his cigarette still in his mouth as he leaned forward, and pressed the end of it to my lit one. Standing this close I could smell him clearly. He smelled like cigarettes and leather and pine and something else completely drool worthy. His perfectly green eyes stayed on me while he lit his cigarette and I refused to let myself blink. It became a staring contest between us and I refused to back down.

Finally his cigarette caught and he smirked at me, taking his own drag before stepping back and letting it out. My lungs were burning and I realized, to my great embarrassment, I had stopped breathing. I took another drag on the cigarette and looked back down at my sneakers.

I was a coward.

We stood out there until our cigarettes were burnt to the filters and not another word passed between us.

When I was finally done I dropped the butt into a small puddle by the door where a few more butts had been abandoned and turned to him. "Thanks." I said quietly. He nodded and turned away from me as I went inside.

I made a quick stop in the restroom to collect myself before going back to our table. Emmett and dad were nearly done with their food by the time I got back.

"What took you so long?" Emmett asked through a mouth full of baked potato. I cringed at his bad manners and shook my head.

"Got caught up talking to some folks." I said plopping into my seat and starting in on my burger. They both accepted the excuse and went back to their meals.

I kept looking around the diner for the guy I'd shared a cigarette with outside, but he never came in.

...

The next morning Emmett and I made a trip to the small hardware store in town. It wasn't anything spectacular, but they had a decent selection of paints, which was really what we needed.

Emmett settled on a dark red, which I had to admit, worked really well for him. I was about to select my old stand by, blue, when I spotted the paint sample that caught my eye. It was very nearly the same colour green as the boy's eyes that I had met yesterday at the diner. The colour called to me and beckoned me forward. I held the chip in my hand and tried to imagine my room surrounded by the colour.

"What'd you settle on Bells?" Emmett asked coming up behind me. I held out the chip to him and he cocked his head. "Really?" He asked surprised.

"I don't know, I'm thinking so." I said quietly. Emmett shrugged.

"Like there's not enough green in this state?" He asked chuckling. I nodded and started to drop the chip. He was right, I was being silly. "It's a cool colour though. It would look awesome in your room." He said as an afterthought. I nodded and focused again on the chip. It was a stunning colour, light enough to be warm but blue enough to remind me of the evergreens outside. I smiled and pulled two tubs of it off the shelf before heading over to Emmett. A small pot of gold caught my eye and I snatched it as well, thinking of the lovely accents I could make with it.

We quickly paid for the paint and supplies we needed, before heading out to the truck.

"Anything else you need today Bells?" Em asked pulling out of the lot. I shook my head.

"No, let's go home and paint. I can get everything else another day." I said shaking my head. Emmett nodded and drove us home.

I spent the better part of the day painting my room. I had managed to rip down every poster and sticker from the wall and gotten most of the furniture out of the room so that it would be easier to move around in. I taped off the ceiling and windows before setting a drop cloth down and getting to work.

The green turned out even better than I had expected once it was up on the walls, and I couldn't help but admire the colour. There was something serene and safe in it that made me feel warm.

Taking the gold paint, I cracked it open and got to work on a quote that would rest above my bed.

"Freedom lies in being bold?"

I turned around to see dad eying my wall curiously. I gave him a small smile.

"Robert Frost." I said by way of explanation. Dad nodded.

"Your room looks good." He said looking around. I smiled at him.

"Thanks dad." He nodded and sat there awkwardly as I turned to continue painting the trimming around the windows gold.

"So I was thinking we'd do pizza for dinner. Wanna run with me to pick some up?" He asked. I set down my brush as I finished the last of the frame and nodded.

"Sure dad, let me just clean up."

He nodded and pushed off from my doorframe, moving to Emmett's room next. I moved about the room, quickly cleaning up the paint things before pulling on a hooded sweatshirt and slipping on my sneakers. I met dad downstairs and he smiled at me. "Emmett is still painting." Dad said when I asked if my brother was coming. I nodded and followed dad out to the cruiser.

Dad had already called ahead to order the pizzas, so picking them up was all too easy. He ran in and paid then brought them out and set them on my lap within minutes.

"I need to make a quick stop by someone's house." He said pulling away from the pizza parlor. I nodded and yawned.

"Sure."

We drove in silence for a while, and when we didn't reach whoever's house we were going to in five minutes, I arched an eyebrow at him.

"We still in Forks?" I asked eyeing him. Dad rolled his eyes at me.

"Yes, but not for much longer. He lives just inside the limit." Dad explained. I nodded and settled back into my seat.

Eventually dad pulled off the road and up a winding driveway that snaked through trees ominously. I was about to ask again where we were going when we came upon a large white house nestled into the trees. The first floor had a huge wrap around porch that housed several swings and all the windows looked large and inviting. It was a stunning house and it seemed so strange to find it here, hiding in the forests of Forks.

"Whose house is this?" I asked gazing up at the beauty before me.

"Dr. Cullen and his wife. I just have something I need to drop off." Dad said sliding out of the car and walking quickly up the steps to the front door. The door opened and a petite woman with soft caramel hair greeted dad with a hug and waved him in. From where I was seated, I could see dad shake his head and gesture back to me in the car. The woman looked past him toward me but I couldn't see her all too clearly. I watched as dad interacted with her before handing her a small envelope and accepting a kiss on the cheek from her. He came back to the cruiser and I spotted a blush high on his cheeks.

Being one to easily blush myself, I spared my dad from questioning.

"So the doctor lives out here?" I asked as we started back. Dad cleared his throat and nodded.

"Yeah, he's a good man Carlisle. He and his family moved here about four years ago. He's got this daughter who could make the angriest person happy." Dad glanced at me and blushed a little more for gushing. "She's your age Bells. She's really excited to meet you, hasn't stopped talking about it since I found out you and Em were moving back."

There was something proud in my dad's voice and I looked over at him realizing that he had probably told the whole town we were coming back. For some reason that thought warmed my insides. I was happy that my dad was happy about us being back.