Okay, here it is! I don't want to give away too much back story because it'll be much more fun for you to discover along the way, but I will tell you that although this story is not AH, Edward, Alice, Rosalie, Jasper, and Emmett are not vampires. Oh, and they aren't related. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Read on!

Introduction:

I could feel it. The tugging in my belly pulling me towards a dart on the map. Forks. It started on my birthday, the feeling. And it hadn't gone away since. I couldn't fathom why I would feel the urge to go there, of all places. It's not like going to my parent's hometown would bring them back to life. Would it? No. Of course not. But still, the feeling was there, increasing in urgency by the moment. And the longer it stayed there, the more I knew I wouldn't be able to resist. I laid down on my bed and, reaching under, dug out the old scrapbook that held all I had left of my family-my real family. And just as I remembered, on page three was a photo of my father Charlie and his friend, Billy Black, a middle-aged Quileute living on the La Push Reservation, right on the edge of Forks. Down beneath in the caption box, I saw his address and phone number "just in case" I ever needed it. It was things like this that made me wonder if my parents knew they were going to die…but I couldn't think about that now. I had a job to do. Pulling out my cell phone, I dialed and waited impatiently for him to answer. Finally, on the fifth ring, a gruff but kind voice picked up.

"Billy?"

Chapter One:

"Phil!" I called down the stairs. I was putting the finishing touches on my outfit for the day-shorts, a fitted tee-shirt and a cardigan. Yanking a brush through my hair, I left my room and peered over the balcony into the living room. "Hey, Uncle Phil!" I said, louder this time. No wonder he hadn't heard me the first time; a game was on. He looked up at the sound of my voice and smiled over his shoulder at me.

"Hey there. What's up?" Now that I had his attention, I didn't know where to start and I bit my lip uncertainly. Sensing my apprehension, Phil muted the television and patted the seat next to him. "Wanna talk about something, kiddo?" I nodded and made my way slowly down to where Phil was seated. He had taken me in eleven years ago when my parents died…how was I supposed to tell him that I wanted…needed to leave him now?

"I'm not sure where to start." I admitted as I took a seat next to him. He patted my hand gently with a soft smile.

"Bella, what have I always told you, ever since you moved in with me?" I took a deep breath.

"'Be open, be honest, and I won't get mad'," I quoted with a grin. Phil had started me with that policy early in life so that I knew that no matter what I did, felt, or thought Phil wouldn't punish me for it. He didn't believe in spankings or groundings or things like that. According to Phil, that taught children nothing except that one action on their part caused a certain reaction on the parent's part. It didn't teach them how to think or reason between right and wrong. It didn't help them make smart decisions in the long run. So if I ever (by some miracle) did something Phil didn't approve of, he would sit me down and we would talk about why it wasn't okay and what a better action would be instead. Hey, it worked for us.

"That's right. Now tell me what's bothering you." Phil prompted. With a sigh, I ran my hand through my hair. I couldn't put it off any longer; I had to tell him.

"Ever since I turned sixteen last week…," I paused, gathering strength. "I've felt this strange…pull to go home." I froze, waiting for Phil's response. Would he laugh it off? Tell me there was no way in hell I would be allowed to go?

"But you are home," he insisted in a puzzled voice. He didn't get it.

"No, I don't mean like this house…. Phil, these years I've lived with you have been absolutely amazing. I've learned so much about myself and the outside world, and you're a great parent, it's just…I feel this pull to go home. Back to Forks."

I could see my words simmering in his head as he slowly comprehended what I was telling him. "But, Sweetie, you lived in Forks for less than a year when you were born. Your home is here, in Phoenix."

"I can't explain it, Phil. I just…I feel this need to be there. And I've been trying to resist it, honestly, but I can't help it. It's making me restless. It's driving me crazy," I held his hand tightly in my own. He had to believe me. "Please let me go." I whispered. His exhale was audible and he sat back, looking deep in thought for a few moments.

"If this is what you feel like you need to do, Bella, you know I'll support you. But you're sixteen, which means I can't legally send you up there to live by yourself…," He trailed off, obviously trying to come up with a solution. Luckily, however, I had it covered and my face lit up to prove it.

"Actually, you don't have to worry about that. I called my dad's old best friend Billy to ask around about ideas on where I could stay and out of nowhere he offered to take me in!" I exclaimed. I still couldn't believe how well that had worked out in my favor.

"Ahh, yes, I know Billy. He's a good man. Of course he'd ask you to stay with him, of course." He was speaking more to himself than to me, so I kept my mouth shut. "I…I guess if you have it all worked out…then there's no stopping you." He gave me a huge grin and pulled me in for a hug. "When are you planning on leaving?"

"This weekend, hopefully. I mean, I exempted all my finals, so I'm already done with my sophomore year. I guess the sooner I get there, the better."

_*()_*()

I found myself, with two suitcases in hand (all of my other things had already been shipped) at the airport that Saturday. Phil and I shared our tearful (on my part) goodbyes and promises to keep in close contact with one another. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, all I knew was that the pull in the pit of my stomach was getting more insistent by the second and I simply had to be in Forks. Immediately.

Security and check in went smoothly, and before I knew it, I was on a flight out of sunny Phoenix and into rainy Forks. As the flight landed in Seattle, I could already see heavy rain droplets pouring from the clouds.

"God," I muttered to myself. "What was I thinking?"

_*()_*()

I stood outside, trying to stay as not wet as possible as I waited for Billy Black. I tried not to get too caught up in worries about what my new life would be like. I could worry about that after I made it to Forks. After a short wait, a beat up red pick-up truck pulled up by the curb next to me and the passenger side window rolled down.

"Are you Isabella Swan?" I leaned in to get a view of the face behind the deep, rough voice. A young man-maybe 20?-sat at the wheel. He appeared to be tall, with deeply tanned skin and shortly cropped hair-obviously a Quileute. He was shirtless and I spent a few minutes heavily entranced by his firm biceps, and muscular chest. My gaze traveled downwards, towards his yummy abs and- "Umm…Miss?" It took me a second to snap out of it and realize he had spoken.

"Right, oh, I'm sorry. I'm Isabella. Well, Bella. I mean, yes my real name is Isabella, but I really prefer just Bella. Unless of course you prefer Isabella, because you can call me whatever you want…," I trailed off, getting lost in a fantasy that was probably way inappropriate for me to be thinking about this much older man. He chuckled at my ramblings before leaning over and opening my door for me.

"Get in, Bella," he grinned, so I just nodded and hopped in next to him. We were both silent as he peeled out of the parking lot.

"So, um," I began after a while. "Why are you shirtless?" It probably made me sound like an idiot, but the question had been plaguing me since I first saw him. And besides, it's not like we had anything else to talk about. That reminded me… "And I was kind of expecting you to be…older." The driver busted out in complete side-spitting laughter.

"I'm Jacob, Billy's son." He explained when he finally calmed down. It didn't go unnoticed by me that he ignored my first question.

"Oh. When Billy told me he had a son, I was expecting him to be like…twelve." This earned me another chuckle-a sound I was starting to really enjoy.

"I'm eighteen, Bella. And you are…?"

"Sixteen." I told him, in shock that he was only a couple years older than me. I guess that made it okay for me to ogle him then…

The rest of the drive passed between easy chatter and us alternatingly scoping each other out. I was sure he was just trying to take in my appearance; there was no way this total god could be checking me out. I knew I wasn't ugly and I had had my fair share of offers while in Phoenix, but none had really interested me and I was certainly no blonde haired, blue eyed Beauty Queen. I was average height, about 5'3" with wavy dark hair that fell halfway down my back. My eyes were the same color-boring brown. Despite living in Phoenix for fifteen years, my skin was very pale white and I had a few golden freckles ghosting over my cheeks.

Nothing special.

_*()_*()

"Bella?" I was broken out of my reverie by Jacob Black. I looked up and realized that we were stopped outside a small cottage-looking house of yellow painted wood. It wasn't anything grand, but it looked cozy and welcoming. "We're home."

"Home." I muttered softly. I liked the sound of that. Jake helped me take my luggage inside and down the hallway to the second door on the right.

"The one on the left is dad's, this first room is mine, and the door at the very end of the hall is the bathroom you and I will share." He explained as he set down my things. The rest of my boxes were there already, just waiting for me to unpack them.

"I feel like I'm invading your space." I said unhappily, taking a seat on the unmade bed. I didn't stop to think about how Billy's son would feel about me, a total stranger, moving into his house.

"Don't say that." Jake replied softly, taking a seat next to me. "Both of my sisters moved out a while ago. It'll be great having another person here to spend time with besides Dad. You'll be like…another sister…?" He let the end of his sentence hang there, and he gazed into my eyes as if asking my permission to call me sister. Personally, I really had no desire to be Jacob's sibling, but if that's what he was offering…

"Yeah. Sure." I gave him my best winning smile and he left then to scrounge us up some dinner. I lay back on my bed, feeling a whirlwind of emotions crashing down on me. I had gotten what I wanted; I was back in Forks (La Push was close enough). The feeling in the pit of my stomach had finally gone away. But I knew absolutely no one here, aside from Jacob, and I was never the best at making friends. And what was I supposed to do, now that I was here? I hadn't come here for no reason…I had a purpose and I knew that. Now all I had to do was figure out what exactly that purpose was.

A/N: So this was probably pretty boring seeing as it was mostly travel scenes, but next chapter Bella meets-who else?-Edward! Let me know what you think in a review and maybe we'll meet him tomorrow…?