Chapter 2: Homecoming
Charlie was waiting patiently for Bella when the plane arrived in Seattle with a worried look on his face. Bella didn't have to be a mind reader to know that he was surprised and scared to see her on such short notice.
"Hey, Bells. How was the flight?" Charlie plastered a smile on his face, but it was unable to cover the worry that shone through his deep, brown eyes.
"Umm, it was ok, I guess." She didn't know how to tell him about the disturbance she had caused on the plane, but she figured if she was going to spend any real amount of time with him he would eventually figure it out. She honestly regretted bringing the chaos that followed her around into his life, but he was the only sanctuary that she had left.
"You ready for a long drive?" He wrapped one arm around her awkwardly. He still treated her like something made from glass, breakable and fragile, since her return from the hospital. She knew all too well how much it had hurt him to see his only daughter in that state and realized exactly what kind of a panic he had been in during the months when she was gone. It was not like Charlie to panic.
Bella sighed, "I guess so. Don't have much choice do we?"
"Not really," Charlie smiled. "Hope you don't mind having just me for company."
She could feel the uncertainty coming from him in waves.
"No, Ch. . . Dad. I like spending time with you. " She smiled in return, and the air around both of them lightened.
Even your thoughts are quiet Charlie. It's one of the only chances I have to relax without my mind sounding like Grand Central Station at rush hour.
Bella's head was buzzing from all the voices she was picking up in the busy airport. She was more than ready to get out of the place, so she quickly led her father to the baggage pickup to claim the one suitcase of winter clothes she had been able to scrounge up from her small wardrobe back in Phoenix. It was spring in Washington, so that meant she would need the clothes that she reserved for the dead of winter in Arizona.
The two of them quickly made their way through the huge glass encased foyer of the airport. Bella couldn't help but stare up at the large model airplane hanging from the ceiling. She had been mesmerized by the thing as a younger child during her summer visits to Forks, but Bella hadn't been to Forks in at least three years, not since she had become a teenager.
It was raining outside, and the patter of the rain on the metal roof helped to drown out the sounds inside her head. There were only a few more steps, and she would finally be outside. Somehow, the open air always made her feel a little less claustrophobic.
They easily found Charlie's cruiser in the parking garage. It always stood out like a sore thumb. If Bella was going to be staying here, she would definitely have to see about buying a car to avoid having to ride around Forks in anything so conspicuous.
Charlie loaded her suitcase into the trunk and walked around to open the door for his daughter. She could feel her head beginning to clear. This was one of the reasons she had decided to come here. She'd noticed the effect that Charlie had on her when he was finally allowed to visit her in the hospital. Whenever he was around, she couldn't hear anything he was thinking. She could only get a sense of how he was feeling. She guessed that since Charlie was naturally so quiet his mind must be quiet as well. It suited his personality to a T.
Bella climbed into the front passenger seat of the car and sat patiently as Charlie walked around to the driver's side. He started the engine and carefully pulled out of the parking lot onto the highway. After a few miles, her dad looked over at her, attempting to start a conversation.
"Want to listen to the radio?" He gestured towards the tape deck mounted in the dash of the cruiser. Forks was nowhere near large enough to afford new cars for their police department, not even the chief.
"No, Dad. I kind of have a headache." She rubbed her temples in small circles, attempting to soothe the pressure that seemed to have been building up inside her skull for most of the day. Already, the calm aura of her father was having some effect on it, but it wasn't completely gone yet.
"Oh, sorry. Want me to shut up?" He frowned slightly, placing his focus back on the road ahead of them.
"No, it's okay. Just no music right now, alright?" She smiled gently at her father. This was a lot more chatty than he normally was, and she knew he was trying to keep up his end of the conversation for her.
"Sure Bells."
They rode along in silence for awhile until Charlie decided to bring up the subject she had been dreading since boarding the plane in Phoenix this morning.
"I was kind of surprised when you called me yesterday to let me know you were coming. How long are you planning on staying?" His eyebrows raised slightly. She could tell there was more to the question than just the words he used to phrase it.
Bella considered her answer carefully before responding. She wasn't sure how much she wanted to tell him, but she decided the best thing to do would be to put all her cards on the table. Charlie wouldn't respond well if he thought she was hiding something from him.
"Well, umm . . . Actually . . . I was wondering if well . . . You wouldn't mind if I kind of stayed here with you for awhile. I mean Mom is kind of busy back at home, and I promise I won't. . ." She spoke quickly, her words stumbling over each other like stones tumbling down a hill.
"Whoa, wait a minute. I don't know, Bella. What did your mom say?"
"I haven't talked to her about it yet." Bella looked down at her hands folded in her lap. She hadn't spoken a word to Renée about her plan to stay here with Charlie. She expected that debate to go about as well as a root canal.
"Listen, sweetie. I don't mind if you want to stay with me forever, but you've got to run this by your mother before we decide anything, ok?" He reached an arm across the bench seat, patting her gently on the shoulder.
"Sure, Dad."
Bella's heart fell into the pit of her stomach. She wasn't looking forward to telling Renée that she just couldn't live with her anymore, but the feeling she was getting from Charlie helped lighten her mood. He was actually excited at the prospect of having her live with him. It made her feel wanted for the first time in quite a while.
Not that she didn't think her mother loved her. She knew it for a fact. She felt it every day, every time her mother looked in her direction, but she also felt the concern and the conflicting emotions. Her mother's new husband was going on the road, and she knew that her mother wanted nothing more than to be able to travel with him. However, Bella was still in school.
The car fell into silence again. Bella rested her head on the seat belt where it cut across her right shoulder and stared out of the window at the scenery passing her by. Washington was so green. It was a nice change of pace from Phoenix where nearly everything reminded her of him . . .
Bella felt a twinge of pain in her chest so she pushed the thought away and tried to focus on the swooshing of the windshield wiper blades. The rhythmic sound and the lack of intrusive visions inside her head soon lulled her off to sleep.
Charlie made sure not to wake her. She looked like she could use the rest. What had Renée been doing with the poor girl? She looked plain worn out when he had met her inside the airport, and her request had both thrilled and surprised him. Of course, she could live with him.
He watched her turn her head and mumble a name in her sleep.
"James…"
Who is James? Charlie wondered, but he decided to leave the subject alone. Probably some old boyfriend of hers from Phoenix. He hadn't had much occasion to keep up with her life since she and her mother had left Forks. When they had gone, a piece of his heart had gone with them, and his life had consisted of mostly going through the motions for the benefit of the people around him. Being the chief kept him busy during the day, but the nights were becoming impossibly hard to deal with. Bella being back at home felt like bringing some of the missing parts of his heart back into place.
Meanwhile, Bella's dreams had her reliving the night she had met him. . .
Bella was out with some friends at a party in Scottsdale. He had been standing on the other side of the room and was obviously checking her out. He was handsome with a rugged look about him like he spent a lot of time outdoors. His long blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. Her friends had urged her to go over and speak to the handsome stranger, and eventually she had caved. She walked over to introduce herself.
"Hi, I'm Bella." She stood in front of him nervously, but when she looked up at his face, he seemed pleased to see that she had come over to where he stood.
"I'm James."
"Nice to meet you, James." Bella stuck out her hand in a gesture of welcome. He took her small hand in his ow,n wrapping his cold fingers around hers. His grip was strong.
"You too, Bella. I just wanted to tell you that you look so scrumptious tonight." He smiled, flashing a shock of brilliantly white teeth.
Bella blushed at the compliment, and the rush of blood to her face made him grin again.
They had begun talking. He kept flirting with her, and the constant attention was making the blood come to her cheeks even more often than normal.
"Bella, do you want to get out of here and go for a walk?"
"Umm. I don't know. We just met and . . ."
"Aww, it's okay. You can trust me." He smiled warmly at her, and she felt the little bit of reserve inside her melt.
"Well, I guess so. Just let me tell my friends where I'm going."
She walked across the room to where her friends were gathered in a group watching a beer chugging contest.
"Guys, listen, I'm gonna go for a walk with James," she pointed at James standing by the door. "I won't be gone long so don't leave without me or anything."
"Sure thing Bells, see you in a little while."
She walked back over to the door and waved goodbye to her friends.
That was the last time any of them saw her for nearly a month.
Bella woke up stifling a scream. She looked drowsily out of the window and noticed that they had arrived in Forks. They were nearly at Charlie's house.
How long have I been asleep? At least I didn't scream.
She looked over at Charlie, who had finally noticed that she was awake.
"Sleep good, Bella?"
"Sure, Dad," she lied, no need to tell him that sleep was never good for her.
"We're almost home."
Home. That sounded good. She hadn't had a home in quite some time.
Charlie turned the car down the familiar street. Nothing ever changed in Forks. At least that was a comfort. He pulled into the driveway that lead to the house that Bella had spent the first year and a half of her life in.
The house was the same shade of white that Bella had always remembered. She didn't know if Charlie had ever painted it in all the time that he had lived there. If he had, he managed to find exactly the same color so that the house remained a constant eggshell in hue. She looked up to find the window to her room, the same room that had belonged to her since birth. The curtains in the window were the ones that her mother had picked out and hung a month before Bella had arrived.
Bella shivered in the cold, damp air as she opened the door of the cruiser, stepping out onto the pavement of the driveway. She followed Charlie to the back of the car and grabbed her suitcase from the open trunk. He led the way to the front door, using the key located above the door frame to open the door and showed his daughter inside. The inside of the house was exactly how she had always remembered.
"Your mom will be worried about you, Bells. Maybe you should give her a call and let her know you got here safely." He gestured towards the kitchen where a familiar phone hung from the wall next to the doorway.
"Sure, Dad." Bella walked into the kitchen and picked up the receiver. She quickly dialed her mother's cell phone number from memory and waited patiently for her mother to pick up. Renée answered on the second ring.
"Bella, are you alright? I've been waiting for hours for you to call me! How was your trip? What took so long?" Bella was glad that her ability didn't work over the phone. She'd heard her mother worked up into a frenzy before, and it was nothing short of agonizing to keep up with the stream of thoughts and images that came from her agitated brain.
"I'm fine, Mom. It's a four hour drive from Seattle. My cell phone died on the way to the airport, remember? We just pulled in the driveway and got my suitcase in the house. I promise I went straight to the phone to let you know everything was fine." She tried to use a calming voice, knowing that her mother had forgotten most of these simple facts in her anxiety about Bella's well-being. Renée had always been a worrier when it came to her daughter, but since Bella's return it had become nothing short of annoying. She needed to know where Bella was at every moment; it almost seemed to her that she couldn't go the bathroom without Renee mounting a full scale manhunt for her.
"Oh, yeah. How was your trip?" She could hear the frantic tone creeping slowly out of her mother's voice as she realized that Bella couldn't have called her any sooner than right now.
"It was okay." Bella wasn't going to volunteer any more details than were absolutely necessary. This phone call was going to be hard enough without going into the incident on the plane.
"Okay? Are you sure you're alright?" She could hear the disbelief and worry.
"I'm fine Mom, really." She ended the sentence with a short puff of breath into the phone, trying to sound bored and exasperated with her mother's constant concern, just as any normal teenager would be.
"Okay Bella, make sure you email or call me every single day. I want to know how things are going while you visit your dad."
"Actually Mom I wanted to talk to you about that." Here goes nothing.
There was a pause on the other end of the line before Renée answered her, "About what?" The silence from her mother made Bella nervous. She knew that this was going to be one of the most difficult conversations she had ever had with her mother, so she took a deep breath and decided to just come out and say it, best to get the argument over with as soon as possible.
"Well, umm. I already talked to Charlie, and he said that it would be okay if I made this more than just a visit. I was thinking I'd stay here with him for awhile." Her words came out in a rush, and she was secretly hoping that her mother hadn't heard everything she'd said.
"So you're leaving Phoenix for good? Why? Bella, I love you so much, and so does Phil. You don't have to go anywhere." Renée sounded panicked, as though Bella were being kidnapped all over again.
"Mom, it's not that. It's just that there are so many things that remind me about . . . well, you know. . ." Bella didn't have the words to explain to her mother the thousand things that reminded her of him each and every day. The smell of the desert air itself, blowing its heat across the entire city, brought it all to mind with each fresh gust. The moonlight reflecting off the sand, the feel of the wooden floorboards of their house beneath her bare feet, all of them were constant cues to her memory.
"Bella you can't just up and leave us like that! Why couldn't you have said something about this yesterday?" Renée was nearly yelling, and Bella felt like a chastised child.
"I didn't think you would have let me leave. . ." She broke off her sentence in mid-stream.
"Damn straight I wouldn't have. You'll be miserable in Forks honey. You hate it there." Here was the heart of the matter, not only was it that Renée didn't want to lose Bella so soon after finding her again, she especially didn't want to lose her to Forks. Bella knew well what Renée thought of Forks. In her mind, it was nothing but a pit stop on the way to better things, or a place where things went to die. Renée had always told Bella how much she felt her soul dying each and every day, being killed by everything from the constant, overbearing rain to the stifling nature of the small town itself.
"I don't know, Mom. I guess I just need a change of scenery." She couldn't find any better way to explain her need to escape everything that Phoenix represented.
"A change of scenery? Bella be serious. There are a thousand better places for a change of scenery." Bella understood her argument.
"I don't know. I just couldn't think of any other place I wanted to go. Besides, Dad needs me here. He's lonely." Bella knew that Renée still felt a little guilty about leaving Charlie so suddenly the way she had, and it was this guilt that she was relying on to soften her mother's heart about the entire situation.
"How long do you plan on staying?" She could hear the resignation begin creeping into her mother's voice. She had planned on a much longer argument, but bringing up Charlie must have hit a softer spot in Renée's psyche than she had expected.
"I don't know, Mom. I have got to figure some things out. Just think about it this way. At least now you'll be free to travel with Phil when he goes off next week. You'll like Florida, and I'll be fine here with Charlie." Bella breathed a sigh of relief. Renée knew that if Charlie could be trusted with anything it would be the safety of their daughter. She had seen that first hand when Charlie had come down to Arizona to assist in the search himself. He'd been the most tireless of the group and the last to stop looking, even when the local police had long given up the search.
"Well, you know you are always welcome to come back here. Even if I do go out with Phil, all you have to do is make one phone call, and I will be on the first plane back here. Or, you could always go out on the road with us." Bella knew that Renée really wanted to go spend time with her new husband, but she also wanted to be with her daughter. It was constantly tearing her in two directions. Now, Bella was offering her an opportunity to do what she really wanted without feeling guilty about dumping her off in an unwanted situation.
"You know I really don't like travelling, Mom, but if I need you, I promise to call. Don't worry about me."
"I can't help it Bella. You make it hard for me not to worry about you. I think I will go with Phil next week, but I meant what I said. One phone call is all it would take…" Bella knew Renee meant every thing she ever said.
"Sure thing, Mom. I love you."
"Love you too, Bella."
"Bye, Mom."
"Bye, Sweetie." Bella heard the click of the receiver being hung up on the other end of the line and stood there listening to the silence for just a moment before she hung up the phone and walked slowly back into the living room. It was so quiet here. It was a nice change. Charlie was waiting for her in the living room with an expectant look on his face.
"Well?" He put the remote down on his lap, looking up at her with the question in his eyes.
"Mom said it was okay if I stayed here with you for awhile. She is going on the road with Phil." No need to tell him the rest of the conversation. She could tell from his expression that he had heard most of her end. It would have been difficult not to hear in this tiny house. The entire thing was composed of only five rooms: living room, kitchen, bathroom and two bedrooms.
"Okay, I guess it's settled then. We'll go shopping for some things for your room tomorrow, and we'll get you registered for school."
School. Bella hadn't been back to school since her disappearance. She had been recovering at home, and her teachers had sent her work to keep her from falling behind.
"Sure, Dad. Can we go look at cars too? I have a little money saved up, and I'd like to use it to get a car." She mentally calculated how much of her small stash of cash she could spare to pay for a used automobile.
"Bells, you know I can drive you anywhere you want . . ." She stopped him before he could complete the thought.
"Dad, I don't want to ride around in the cruiser all the time. Just keep an eye out for something cheap and reliable that I can drive, please?" There was no way she was going to spend the next however long being chauffeured around in the police cruiser by her dad, especially not if she was going to have to attend school here in Forks. It would be hard enough to fit into a new school during the middle of the school year, much less so if she arrived the first day in the chief's car.
"Okay, honey." He looked around the room awkwardly as though he didn't quite know what to say next.
"I'm gonna go unpack now. See you for dinner?" Bella wanted to spend a little time getting her things in place before settling down for the night.
"Sure."
Bella turned and walked up the stairs to her room which overlooked the front lawn and street. The walls were painted a familiar blue. The room was exactly how she had left it three years ago, the last time she had been for a visit. The bed sheets were even the same ones that had been on the bed then. She wondered if anyone had even been in there since the last time she left.
-x-x-x-
Strong, cold arms were holding her. They were moving so quickly through the desert that the surrounding scenery was nothing but a blur in the night.
"It's okay. You're safe now. He won't hurt you again."
"Mmmm," Bella moaned, too weak to even form words. Her eyes searched for the face of her savior, but all she could make out were a pair of topaz colored eyes reflecting the moonlight that surrounded them. Behind them, she could hear the screams of the members of James's coven as the flames licked higher and higher in the building that had once served as their stronghold and now their tomb.
The sounds slowly faded from her hearing, and she felt them slow down significantly. In the distance she was able to hear the sounds of a busy highway. She felt the arms lay her down on the cool night sand and heard the key tones of a phone being dialed.
"Yes, hello. I wanted to report a young woman lying out in the desert off Interstate 10. She appears to be unconscious."
"No, I am a doctor. She is breathing, but she looks like she's been hurt. Send an ambulance right away."
She then heard the sound of a cell phone snapping shut. By the time she had found enough strength to look up to find out the identity of her rescuer, he was gone. All Bella wanted to do was sleep, so she laid her head on the desert floor and let unconsciousness overcome her weakened body and mind.
Bella woke to the morning light rushing in through the open yellow curtains of her bedroom window. She glanced over at the clock on her nightstand and the tall, red numbers indicated that it was already ten in the morning. Bella stretched and sat up on the purple sheets she had picked out with Charlie the summer she was twelve. She looked around the room. The walls were bare except for a picture of herself and Renée at one of her many failed ballet recitals. At this particular recital, she had tripped over thin air and taken down an entire row of five year old ballerinas.
She rubbed her head, remembering her dream from last night. It was the first time since returning home that she had been able to sleep a full night, and while she'd still dreamed of her ordeal, it had been a comfort rather than a nightmare. She tried to remember the features of the face of the one who had delivered her broken body from the home of her torturers, but nothing would come to her except those oddly colored eyes. They were nothing like she had seen before. The eyes were more than human, but something other than vampire.
The eyes of the members of James's coven had been a brilliant red, darkening to black when hunger overcame them. These eyes were liquid gold, the eyes of an angel.
The police had tried to trace the number of the cell phone the angel had used to call 911, but all they had been able to do was trace it to a prepaid phone that had been purchased in a Phoenix convenience store. The phone itself was found a few feet from Bella's body in the desert. No fingerprints or DNA could be lifted from the device. It was almost as if no one had ever touched it.
Bella rose from her bed and found her way to the one bathroom that she was to share with Charlie. He had cleared a shelf for her things, and she found this oddly comforting. It was nice to have someone looking out for her. She had always had to take care of Renée, even after her return. Renée had been so distraught after her daughter had been found in the Arizona desert, and it had taken all the strength Bella had left in reserve to comfort her.
Charlie on the other hand had always been so strong and silent. Her parents couldn't have been more different. It made her wonder what had drawn them together in the beginning. She certainly understood what had driven them apart.
Bella turned on the shower, waiting for the temperature of the water to warm up to a comfortable level and climbed into the falling stream of water, feeling it wash away the last of the tension in her small frame. She simply stood there for a few minutes allowing the water to flow down her head, shoulders, and back. Sometimes, her mother would find her standing in the shower long after the water had gone cold, simply sobbing. This time she reached for her shampoo and began the ritual of preparing herself for the day.
After her shower, Bella found her way downstairs to the kitchen. The bright yellow walls welcomed her, and she began to forage for something to eat. She found a box of cereal in the cupboard and poured a bowl full. She grabbed the milk from the sparsely stocked refrigerator, pouring a river of it over the crunchy cereal before sitting down to begin eating.
On the table, she found a piece of paper with her name written across the front in Charlie's careful handwriting. She opened it and found a note:
Bella,
I had to leave for work early this morning. There was an accident over in Port Angeles, and they needed some extra help clearing up the case.
I have a surprise for you. Billy Black and his son should be over sometime this morning to deliver it. Hope you like it. I'll be home late tonight, so don't wait up.
Charlie
P.S. I am going to stop by the school while I am out today and get you registered for tomorrow. I don't want you falling behind.
Bella groaned. She was not looking forward to starting school, but she supposed she had no choice. It wouldn't look good for the only daughter of the town's police chief to be a dropout now would it?
Bella sat at the table, finishing her cereal before taking the bowl to the sink and rinsing it out. She placed it carefully into the dish drainer and turned to walk back upstairs to her room. Halfway upstairs, she heard the doorbell and had to turn around to answer it.
When she looked through the peep hole, all she could see was an oddly familiar looking Quileute boy with long black hair and clear copper skin. She saw him reach for the doorbell again.
Where is she? Hope she didn't go anywhere. Otherwise, what am I gonna do with this thing?
Finding nothing menacing in his thoughts, she reached for the handle and slowly opened the door. He smiled when he saw her face as if they had been friends all their lives. She returned his smile with a quizzical look.
She doesn't remember me. . . I guess it's been awhile.
His smile faltered a little, and he held out his hand in a friendly manner saying, "Hi, umm. . . I'm Jacob Black, Billy's son. We used to make mud pies together when we were kids."
"Oh, sorry, yeah . . .um. . . I kind of remember you. You have two sisters right? How are they?"
"They're good. Rachel is studying at Washington State, and Rebecca is married to a surfer from Samoa."
"Married, wow!" From Bella's recollections, Rebecca was barely a year older than herself. Bella could hardly imagine herself married at such a young age, but things were a little different on the reservation. It wasn't uncommon for girls to get married straight out of high school.
"Yeah, well. . . Your dad asked me to deliver something for you."
"What is it?"
"Come out to the driveway and see."
Bella followed him out into the driveway. The only thing she could see was an ancient red pickup truck parked there. That must have been how he got here, but where was her surprise?
"Tada."
"Where is it?" She looked around, peeking in the back of the truck to see if there was something waiting for her in the bed.
"There," he replied, pointing to the truck. "What do you think?"
"Are you serious? Charlie got me a truck?" She stared in disbelief
"Yeah, it was my dad's, but since he's in a wheelchair he won't be needing it anymore. It's all yours now." She could hear something in his voice, sadness.
"You don't want it?"
"No," he said laughing. "Actually, I'm working on a car of my own right now. You don't know anyone who has a spare master cylinder for a 1986 Volkswagen Rabbit, do you?"
Bella laughed for the first time in a long time. She hadn't done much laughing back in Phoenix, but being around Jacob made her feel as if she couldn't help but laugh.
Jacob flashed her a smile. Man, she's pretty when she laughs.
Bella was taken aback by the thoughts that now circled around Jacob's mind. He was a teenage boy, so his mind went the obvious route.
Bella and Jacob lying in the back of the red truck, kissing. Jacob's hands meander around her back slowly finding their way to the hem of her shirt. His hands creeping slowly back up along the skin of her back. The contrast of his dark copper skin on her pale white skin beautiful in the moonlight. She moaned against his mouth as he explored the more sensitive regions of her skin under her shirt.
"Mmm. . . Jacob."
Bella reaches down and pulls her shirt over her head exposing her bare breasts to the moonlight. Jacob reaches out and pulls her back to him covering her mouth with his and allowing his hands to roam freely over her now bare skin.
"Eghh Hghmm," she coughed to distract him from this train of thought, "so you gonna give me the keys or what Jacob?"
He laughed and tossed her the keys. This wasn't the first time Bella had been subjected to dirty visions of herself in someone else's mind, but it was the first time she really didn't mind. Jacob was sweet and what he was thinking was actually kind of romantic.
"You need a ride home?"
"No, my friend Paul is coming to pick me up in a little while. Besides, I don't think you want to drive all the way to La Push and back this afternoon. So, you starting school soon?"
"Uh, yeah tomorrow. You go to high school on the reservation right?"
"Yep." He replied, shoving his hands in his pockets and kicking at something on the ground.
"Too bad. I was hoping to know somebody there."
His eyes brightened at her words. Hey, maybe she does like me a little. Sweet!
She smiled to herself.
"Well, I guess I gotta go. I told Sam I'd meet him in town, it was good to see you again, Bella. See you around?"
"Sure Jacob. You should come over with your dad the next time he comes to visit Charlie." It would be nice to have someone to talk to when Charlie and his friend got involved in whatever game they were watching.
"I'd love to, Bella. See you later." With that, Jacob turned and began walking towards town, leaving Bella alone with the keys to her new truck and feeling like she might have finally found a friend.
-x-x-x-
A/N: Hope you like what you've read so far. The Cullens are coming soon. Just to answer a few questions I've had from people. No, Bella isn't Edward's singer. No, it wasn't Edward who saved her. No, Bella and Jacob aren't going to hook up. No, Bella's not a vampire.
If you want to follow me on Twitter you can. I'm CereuleanBlue everywhere (Skype, Google, Twitter, you name it), and I have a blog at cereuleanblue (dot) blogspot (dot) com, if you'd like to keep up with my randomness there. Thanks for reading.
