I met Edward when I was five, he was one year my senior. I had been shipped to my dad's for the summer as my mom was off travelling with her newest boyfriend, Dave. Dave was in a minor league soccer team and had to travel a lot and Mom decided to go with him whenever possible. I had grown up with the sun and the heat so being in Forks, which is quite possibly the wettest place in Washington, for six weeks was my idea of hell; even at five I hated and despised the place.

Flashback

I jumped out the cruiser, my new sandals splashing into the puddle I had evidently failed to see. I groaned, loudly, so my father, Charlie, would hear.

"Isabella, you've been here five minutes and you're already complaining. Please baby girl, I know you don't want to be here and that you would rather be back in sunny California but can you please try and enjoy it here. I don't get to spend a lot of time with you and whatever time I do should be precious." I held back a groan, secretly knowing Charlie was right.

"I will try daddy I promise. One condition though," He gave me a look that told me to carry on so I did, "You tell Mom about these sandals, she's gonna kill me." He laughed before ruffling my hair and making his way inside, my Barbie suitcase in hand

My room was a lilac colour. It had a small desk up against the wall, a bay window where I could sit and watch the world pass by, a small wardrobe to hang my clothes, a rocking chair that apparently was from when I was a baby and lived here and a bedside table with a Barbie lamp. Next to the lamp stood a picture of me and Mom, I placed it there so she was always near me while I slept. Charlie placed my suitcase on the floor, he said was going downstairs to start dinner and left me to unpack by myself, I remember feeling so grown up. I placed all my dresses and skirts on to hangers and then hung them up, looking back now I realise they were all crooked and that Charlie had probably re-hung them after. I folded my trousers, leggings and tights and placed them into the drawers at the bottom of the wardrobe. After I put my pants, vests and socks into the drawer on my bedside table and I was ready for dinner.

Charlie wasn't the best cook but his food was edible, most of the time. That night we had spaghetti bolognaise, my favorite of that time, and for dessert we had strawberry ice cream, another favorite. Charlie had tried his hardest to help me fit in and for once I didn't mind being in Forks. Once dinner had finished and the table had been cleared, Charlie and I watched a film. Soon after he tucked me into bed and kissed me goodnight before heading to bed himself. I fell asleep to the light sounds of rain hitting against the roof and the windows, it was surprisingly calming.

In the morning I was awoken to a gentle rocking,

"Baby girl, time to get up now." I sat up and wiped the sleep from my eyes,

"What's the time Daddy?" I asked, I was still much too young to read the clock.

"Its seven but Daddy's got to work. I'm going to drop you off next door with Mrs. Cullen. She's a lovely lady and I'm sure she will let you sleep." I nodded. Charlie picked me up in his arms and cradled me like a baby. I noticed he had already packed me a bag for today, including lunch. Charlie knocked hard on the door and soon enough a woman with brown hair answered the door. She was beautiful.

"Hey there cutie." She said to me as Dad placed me on the ground, I remember being tired and not very talkative so I simply just waved. She laughed, "She's a keeper Charlie, defiantly a morning person like her dad." She said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Thanks Esme, she hasn't had much sleep. I heard her tossing and turning in the night, I bet she's missing home. Would it be possible for me to quickly just settle her back down so she can sleep for a few extra hours?"

"Of course you can. I'll put her in Edward's bed, Carlisle took him out fishing early this morning and I doubt he will need a sleep once he gets back." Charlie thanked her then carried me upstairs. I remember Edward's room vaguely, I remember it was football themed but that was about as far as my memory stretched. He tucked me in and kissed my head once more. I heard a light humming noise and I was soon fast asleep again.

"MOMMY!" I heard a male voice shout. I sat up in bed and wiped the sleep from my eyes. I looked to my right to see a bronzed haired boy staring at me, I felt intimidated so I quickly pulled the blanket and hide underneath it. I heard loud footsteps walking up the stairs.

"What's wrong baby?" Mrs. Cullen asked the bronze haired boy

"There's a girl in my bed." He said,

"Yes Edward, I'm aware there is a girl in your bed. This is Isabella Swan, Charlie's daughter from next door. She staying the summer but Charlie has to work so I offered to look after her during the day; she was very tired this morning so I let her have a nap in your bed."

"Okay." Edward said and then he went back downstairs. I heard Mrs. Cullen laugh and I came out from underneath the quilt.

"Morning Isabella." She smiled as she held out her hand to help me out of bed,

"Morning Mrs. Cullen." I hopped out of Edward's bed and walked over to the Barbie bag that Charlie had packed me for today.

"Would you like help getting changed Isabella or would you like some help?" I smiled but kindly rejected her offer.

Charlie had packed me a white vest, a white butterfly top, a denim waist coat, a denim skirt, some white wooly tights and then some white ballet flats. He had good fashion sense for a man. I had a wash and brushed my teeth, just like Mommy had taught me too and then I got dressed. By the time I was done, I was feeling quite proud of myself. I pulled my hair up into a pony tail and went downstairs.

As I entered the living room, I got a weird look from Mrs. Cullen,

"Come here Isabella, let me help you." As it turns out I had the shoes on the wrong feet and I had done the buttons up on the waistcoat wrong but other than that I had done a pretty good job getting dressed. She also fixed up my ponytail for me, it was a little wonky.

I sat down at the kitchen surface and Mrs. Cullen handed me a slice of jam toast. When I was little I always loved jam toast but the jam had to be evenly spread and the toast had to be golden brown, Mrs. Cullen always made it the best. I ate it very carefully, making sure I didn't drop any on my top. Me being my clumsy self managed to drop half the slice down the front but Mrs. Cullen offered to wash it for me. In the meanwhile I had to borrow one of Edwards tops, I soon learned that Edward was an only child.

For the rest of the day, Edward and I watched TV. We spoke for hours mostly about random stuff that I couldn't even tell you about because to be frank I don't even remember it myself. However I did learn that he loved fishing with his dad, that he wanted to be a doctor like Mr. Cullen when he was older, he loved to play baseball and his best friend was called Emmett, who lived next door to me on the other side.

We ended up falling asleep on the sofa and the next thing I remember was Charlie waking me up after work to take me home. I said goodbye to Edward that day knowing I had made a friend for life.

End Flashback

That summer was the best I had had until that point and it was followed by many more. I tried to visit Charlie every summer and with moms forever moving boyfriends it wasn't that hard. Every day of every summer was spent with Edward and our friendship grew stronger, I eventually made friends with Emmett and the three of us had our own little group. We would go for adventures every day, exploring forks was like venturing into a land civilization never knew of. It was mossy and green everywhere, every patch of land looked the same but it was the most fun I could remember having.

My childhood was the best until I turned 8. Renee had given up on me and spent all of year exploring the world with her new boyfriend, Phil. That left me, I had nowhere else in California to go to so I was shipped to Forks permanently. It was a dream come true, I had wished I could spend every day with Edward and Emmett ever since I had met them and now I could.

I remember running into Charlie's house so fast that I smacked my head straight of the front door, I was such a clumsy kid. Carlisle had picked me up from the airport, I thought it was weird Charlie hadn't but I didn't think anything of it. That was until I walked into the living room and saw my frail father sitting in his armchair. His skin was translucent and his hair was gone, I knew then that it was bad. I may have been 8 but I wasn't stupid. I rushed to his side and hugged him gently, I thought if I hugged him hard like I wanted it, he could break. That summer Charlie died. He had a long history of liver cancer in his family and unfortunately he had been struck with it. Charlie was usually a fighter but with this he seemed to give up. Edward and Emmett came with me to the funeral, it was the saddest day of my life and always will be but somehow having Edward and Em there made it just that much more durable.

I knew I still had my mom but in my eyes I was an orphan. Mum was never around and I loved the summers with my Dad. I had tried to phone my mom many times during the last few weeks but she never answered or was too busy to talk and didn't listen to what I had to stay. I eventually manage to tell her about Dad's death and what did she say, "Oh so you're coming home?" She didn't ask how I was or how it happened; she just wanted to know if I would be ruining her fun. I told her that I didn't need her and that I could cope without her, this was a lie and I knew it as well as she did.

Mrs. Cullen offered to take me in, she talked to my mom and she agreed. She'd do anything if it meant she didn't have to leave her fantastic life to look after me, I was a burden to her and nothing more. I didn't mind if I had to live with the Cullen's in fact I would like it a lot, they were practically family. That was 6 years ago and right now I'm sitting in my room listening to Edward blasting out his drums down the hall, Carlisle is making busy phone calls and Esme is downstairs arranging another wedding. I loved my life and there wasn't much I would change except Charlie's death but I couldn't change that so I had to deal with it. I thought that life couldn't get any better, turns out it could and this is the story of how it happened.