Chapter|1

I was being sent away, again. Only this time it was permanent. Renee wasn't going to pick me up when she felt like it. She was going to leave me here, with a man I barely knew.

Renee has this habit of dropping me off at the closest neighbors house, friend, co-worker, you name it, to go off with her latest boyfriend to do God knows what.

But now she was getting married and everything was different. Phil Dwyer was a local ball player, and fell madly in love with Renee. He's younger than her, closer in age to me than to her, but they seem happy. He's a nice guy, but a new boyfriend, fiance, meant that I was going to be shipped off a again.

I was surprised when my mother told me that I was going to be spending some time with him while her and Phil got used to 'married life.' She said I would be gone for 4 or 5 months. That was too long in the cold, moss covered backwoods town, in my opinion. I grew up, mostly, in Phoenix. The sun was my constant companion, and the sun barely peaked through the trees surrounding Forks.

So there I was, waiting for Charlie, my father, to pick me up at the airport in Seattle. I only had two suitcases, minus the carry-on; one with clothes and the other with miscellaneous objects. I was used to the moving around, only taking what I could fit in a bag, so I only ever kept the necessities. I wore my favorite white lace eyelet under my heavy winter parka. It was a reminder of my time back in Phoenix, but the chill lingering in the airport made goosebumps rise on my skin through the thin material. But it wasn't practical for the ever present winter wind of Forks, and I found myself wearing it to preserve some kind of hold onto my old life.

But my life was in Washington now, and I had to accept it, no matter how hard it was.

Charlie showed up dressed in his police gear and a shy smile on his surprisingly young face. We hugged in an awkward loose armed hug that maybe lasted for a few seconds. He smelled like cologne and a feint hint of gun powder. He smelled like a cop, I guess.

He took my bags and led me to the cruiser. The drive was long and silent, only except the occasional polite questions and compliments.

"How did you like Phoenix, Bells?"

'You're hair looks nice cut like that."

"So, is this, uh, Phil a nice guy?"

I answered all his questions with mostly one word answers. I wasn't trying to be rude or anti-social, it was just how was I supposed to be perky and happy to see my dad who hadn't bothered to call me, write me, or anything since I was 12. I stopped visiting him after my mom and dad had it out about all dragging around my mom did to me. He didn't approve of all her boyfriends that she would move mountains for, and in return, she didn't approve of his recluse behavior and forbid me to ever enter the "depressed and dingy" town of Forks. Father be damned.

My parents are just lovely. One's too harebrained for her own good, and the other was too much of a social pariah.

I guess I knew where I got my quiet, shy manners from. Thanks Charlie Swan.

"We are here, Bella." Charlie cut me out of my self-wallowing as we pulled into the small white house's drive way.

The house looked so much like I remembered. The old hardwood floors creaked as Charlie hauled my suitcases in. Pictures of me littered the built in shelves around the obviously brand new flat screen tv, the only new addition to the living room. Fishing magazines were on the water stained coffee table, and a fish mantled above the front door. It looked like my old home, and an old sensation of relief to be somewhere stable and familiar comforted me.

Charlie let me take my stuff up to my old room. It was still purple, but my old twin bed and toys were replaced with a comfy looking queen sized bed and a mahogany computer desk. It was a perfect place for me to place my fancy Macbook that was a departing gift from Phil. He was pretty well off, even for a semi professional baseball player. Maybe that's why my mom loved him. Stability. And it helped he was 'ripped' and had that whole blonde, scruffy look to him.

All the old pictures I tacked onto the wall of princesses from coloring books were taken down leaving small, almost unnoticeable holes in the plaster.

"I hope you like it, the woman at the store said girls like purple." I jumped at the intrusion.

I looked at him stupidly for a couple seconds before I realized he spoke. "Oh yeah, um, purple's nice. Thanks."

"Good. I'm really glad you came home, Bells. I really missed you." Charlie said with a surprising amount of warmth. I guess the chief did have some kind of heart beating in that body.

"I missed you too Char- Dad." I said. And I mean it. He was quiet and shy, just like me, and I felt more a bond with him then I did with my mom. I love her, but Charlie always did understand me just a bit more.

We stood awkwardly for a minute, not used to having a heartfelt moment, before he left and I silently clicked the door shut behind him.

The room became dark after light from the hallway was shut out. I opened the dark curtains, hoping some of the light from outside would shine in. It was no use, the sun doesn't shine unless the constant wall of clouds cleared away. I clicked on the light on the small nightstand next to my bed and returned to the window. A small downpour blurred out all the green moss and the tall trees.

But through the rain, a shiny silver Volvo drove by, quickly disappearing into the wood surrounded road.

Hi guys, this is my first fanfiction, so please bare with me. Leave a review please. ~o~