A/N: Okay so potentially upsetting/triggering scene in that first bit because of Rose's controlling father, but there's no altercation, mkay? Just dialogue that I didn't personally enjoy. We're not going to see a lot of him or scenes like that one because fuck that, but this serves to explain a lot of Rose's character. Again, pretty much a modernized version of how I feel her family could've wound up being based on her canon background, and we'll learn about her mother later.

Other than that, I adore this chapter. I'm screeching and I'm the one that wrote it. Hope you guys enjoy it as much as I do and oops I didn't really edit.

"What's his name?"

Blue eyes closed and her fingers stilled on the top of the soda she had yet to pull from the fridge. Her face was getting cold. Still, she took in a deep breath and finished her task. She opened her eyes just to stare at the stainless steel of the fridge, at her distorted reflection.

Did she really look so tired all the time?

"What's whose name?"

The rustling of the newspaper as he meticulously folded it, let the air grow heavier, as he swished his mustache and thought about what he wanted to say. She didn't care to see it again so she didn't turn around. She could already see it in her mind.

He cleared his throat like he hadn't spoken in years. Coughed.

And it clicked for Rosalie for the first time.

She was denying him his power move. Ignoring his display, because that's all it was. Display. And he was being robbed of it for once.

There was a thud on the table and she did her best not to jump.

"I walked past your room. I saw it. So I want you to tell me his name and how long this has been going on."

Her eyebrows scrunched up at her own reflection and she couldn't make out his features in the steel of the fridge, but she could swear the kitchen was colder than a few minutes ago. "What are you talking about?"

"You think I'm stupid?" His voice quaked and it occurred to Rosalie that she could be reminding him of her mother and all the fighting before their divorce. "That's not a girl's jacket."

Truth be told, she'd entirely forgotten Bella lent the jacket to her. Last week. She only really wore it when she went out at night and the dark threatened to consume her. Winter here was damn cold and the hoodies and sweaters she'd gotten didn't compare to Bella's.

So Rosalie took in a deep breath and hated that she wished it was a drag instead. "It is not a girl's jacket, but it still belongs to a girl. Said girl gave it to me because I forgot mine. I have since forgotten to return it."

The responding scoff made Rosalie's jaw tight.

"You really think I believe that?" There was a sigh and the sharp crack of the paper as he flipped it open, signalling he was done. "I wish you didn't feel the need to lie to me. Not only do you not want to follow in your mother's footsteps but you and I both know you don't have friends. There's only people you can use to move up and people you can't. Obstacles."

Everything else he said after didn't register to her. A ringing had come to her ears and her jaw popped. She swallowed back a retort. She swallowed back her entire life, shoved days and weeks and years into an overfilling abyss that had started bleeding into her lungs and her eyes so long ago she couldn't remember when it started. Habit had her turning and taking slow steps away from a voice that rose to follow her.

But the routine had changed to include a comforting jacket that kept more cold from reaching into her bones and weaving its way to her heart.

Rosalie Hale was not done.

Her shoe squeaked on the tile as she spun around and actually looked at her father for the first time in days. A particular lock of hair slipped forward and fell in front of her eye.

And he finally let his paper drift down to pay attention to her, even if his lips were still shaping the word he'd been in the middle of.

"She's not an obstacle or a fucking stepping stone!"

His mouth formed a thin line and his eyes narrowed, the motion pulling at the forming wrinkles around his eyes.

The soda can dented in her fingers.

A long, disappointed sigh. He started folding his paper. Shaking his head.

Rosalie straightened and brushed the hair from her face. She waited just until he opened his mouth. "She doesn't ask anything of me. And she won't."

He smiled. "You don't believe that, my fragile little rose."

The pressure built around her fingers as she all but crushed the aluminum as much as it could give without bursting and spilling the soda on the floor or cutting open her skin. "I don't and it's your fucking fault! You and her. You're both shit parents. Bella Swan is my friend, whatever that means."

"Give me your keys." He didn't blink at the change in her expression. He rubbed a hand against his forehead before pressing it against a red cheek. Then he held out the other one, palm up. "You heard me."

"Until when?"

"Until I say so. Keys."

"I have school tomorrow."

"You can take the bus and maybe learn some damn gratitude and respect."

"I don't even know what bus or when or where it shows up!"

"You wouldn't have to worry about it if you learned to listen to," he paused. Closed his eyes for a breath. "This is all bad enough but I explicitly told you the Cullens are off-limits. They aren't right. And whatever it is about them, you can bet that girl just wants to drag you in and leave you in a terrible situation. You know why? Because she doesn't care about you. I care and I want the best for you."

Rosalie more so tore her keys from her belt loop than unclipped them and threw her car key at his feet. Whatever he yelled at her went unheeded as she swung open the front door and left.

The hunter in her got distracted and she stopped, listening. Unfortunately for the tree she stood in, this meant she'd crashed into a sizable branch and sent it hurtling through more branches until it got stuck.

Venom pooled in her mouth to the point she had to spit.

She should go.

Go instead of listen to the harsh footfalls coming her way with a wild heart and shaky breaths.

Still, she found herself thinking of the last time something richer than animal blood passed her lips.

She spit more venom and focused. There was something instinctually wrong, even if she was struggling with morals.

A whisper carried itself on the wind and Bella was darting through the trees faster than she needed to. It was maybe a minute or two later that she dropped to the forest floor.

None other than Rosalie Hale was walking her way, though she didn't know it yet since she was looking off at a bird that had suddenly taken flight. Then she did look forward again and jumped half a foot in the air and stumbled back.

"Jesus, Bella." She took a deep breath to sort herself out. Crossed her arms to make it look like she hadn't been hugging herself this whole time. And even now, with red, tired eyes and shivers running through her whole body that made her voice shake, she made sharp eye contact.

Really, Bella shouldn't have approached her. There was a deer half a mile away screaming her name and she was far too aware of every beat of the heart in front of her. She swallowed venom instead of spitting it.

There was a shift in Rosalie a human wouldn't have had a hope of noticing as the silence hung between them. Rosalie's breath continued to come out in small puffs in the cold air and her arms remained crossed, but her pale eyebrows had drawn together just a touch. The corner of her mouth pulled down hardly at all, something particular crept into her eyes, a breeze slipped some of her hair across her face.

But there was no fear.

Another shiver made Bella move and it felt jerky, as if she'd been encased in stone and kept still for eons. Her gaze fell to a small patch of green on the forest floor. She took off her jacket slowly, like it would tear apart in her hands. Swallowing venom instead of spitting it was a conscious effort.

Rosalie didn't say anything, didn't make to move away when Bella took cautious steps toward her.

Even after she'd put the jacket over Rosalie's shoulders, she could feel that gaze boring into her, studying her, asking her to meet it. Still, she focused on that mossy patch. Bella could feel the stillness of her chest as the wind whispered across her body and she knew she should go, she knew she was too much right now, but she just swallowed venom.

At last, Rosalie cleared her throat, and her voice was raw even for her attempt at being casual. "You're making a habit out of this and I'm not sure what to do with that."

"You're the one running around in the cold." Venom almost spilled out her lips and she had to drag a hand across her mouth.

The rustling of her actually putting on the jacket.

Some part of Bella noted she should step back.

"So are you."

"Yeah, but I don't need a jacket."

Bella winced. Maybe they should just move. Or, better yet, maybe she should just leave. She didn't even have an excuse this time. No one really piqued her interest so she'd never had to worry about exposure from being too comfortable around someone, and before the Cullens, it didn't matter.

But now she just made mistakes left and right.

Damn, she hadn't even started breathing yet.

"Your eyes are...dark."

For some reason, that made her meet Rosalie's quiet stare with a smirk. "Just like my soul!"

"I doubt it."

Eyes drifting again, Bella ran a hand through her hair and shook it out, retrieving a twig in the process. She flicked it to the ground. "That's a mistake. Anyway, you—we—need to get out of the cold."

"Yeah, you're shaking like a leaf." Rosalie ignored the fact Bella squinted at her and looked around them. "So, here's a question. Where the hell did you come from?"

"Uhm, hell, clearly."

Blue eyes rolled and then Rosalie sniffed. "Clearly. Now go back."

"Nah, I'm thinking of bringing hell to you instead." She looked off. Taking Rosalie to the Cullen mansion seemed as much a bad idea as taking her home, if her guesses were anywhere near correct. Not to mention it was far and raised even more questions about her being here.

"Please do. It'll be a nice change of pace."

Her gaze snapped back to Rosalie, and for once the girl wasn't interested in eye contact. But what maybe bothered Bella the most was that she seemed so much smaller, so much more tired, as if she'd given up in some way. "Come on."

She jerked her head and started walking. The delay in Rosalie's footsteps joining hers was a short one.

What had she done to earn an ounce of this girl's trust? If anything, she shouldn't be trusted at all, especially after just appearing in the goddamn forest.

Sighing, Bella shoved her hands into her pockets even though she wasn't cold. She slowed her gait to pretend to look at something long enough that she dropped behind Rosalie a couple steps and switched sides with her to try acting as a buffer for the random winds. "How long have you been out here? You must be freezing."

Out of her peripherals, she saw Rosalie shrug.

Bella just nodded.

It was a little quieter today. Though, that might've been because Bella had been running and hunting a little before and scared off a number of animals.

The thought brought a burning to her throat that she couldn't swallow down.

"Where are we going?"

Bella looked up in time to see the girl shudder. "Charlie's. It's not far."

"Charlie who?"

"Charlie Swan." She froze midstep when Rosalie stopped walking and frowned at the distrust staring back at her. "What?"

"Charlie Swan as in Police Chief Swan?"

Bella's eyes moved away and back again. "Yes?"

"Why are we going there?"

The jerkiness of Rosalie's shrug unsettled Bella. Made her skin itch. But the slight curl to those lips and the fact she looked like she didn't know Bella at all bothered her. It dragged Bella half a step back, led her eyes to the thinning trees. "Because it's close by. Because it's where I came from. I'll take you home if you," she blinked at the jump in Rosalie's heartbeat, "if you want."

Rosalie started walking again. "No thanks."

The cold was coming in faster as night approached. It pulled a sigh from Bella's lungs and brought an almost wistful furrow to her eyebrows while she turned her face up toward the bits and pieces of the sky she could see through the trees. More than the sun, she missed clear nights of counting stars. And she nearly said as much to the girl trudging through the forest with her, but chattering teeth and a downward stare kept her lips shut.

She could feel blue eyes burning into her back as she went straight up the back porch and opened the door like she lived there.

"Note to self: Bella doesn't lock doors." The lock clicked into place behind Rosalie.

"Hey! I...forget." It was true enough even though it would've been more accurate to say she didn't need to worry about locking doors. She wandered down the small hall with a small shrug and entered the kitchen. She spun on her heel, words freezing on her tongue as Rosalie narrowly avoided walking into a chair.

A low curse passed Bella's lips. The polite thing to do would've been turning on at least one light, but no.

She was terrible at being human.

So she tried making up for it with a strained smile as she leaned to the side to turn on the stove light. "Hungry?"

While Rosalie's teeth had stopped chattering and she no longer held onto herself for warmth, she still stood in one spot, unmoving, and her eyes barely investigated the room. "No, it's okay."

"You sure? I have to cook anyway."

A pale eyebrow arched.

"Charlie can't cook to save his life and I kinda destroyed him at monopoly the other day so it's an apology dinner."

Rosalie nodded with a slow hum, eyes wandering around at last. "So, I don't care for gossip, but what is with you and Chief Swan. Eh, Swan?"

"Well, Hale, you see, I dunno. I thought it was cool we had the same last name and here we are."

"I thought it was a stretch that he was actually your father, but I'm not sure what to do with that information either way. And yet I'm not surprised."

"Yeah, yeah, you want food or nah?"

Rosalie shrugged and pulled out a chair from the kitchen table before sitting. She scratched at a groove in the dark wood. "What are you cooking?"

"Good question." Fingers curling around the handle of the fridge, Bella stopped. Cursed herself internally. She went to turn on the kitchen light and glanced at her company. "Thirsty?"

The chair scraped against the floor as Rosalie shifted and a frown flickered across her face. "I'll have water if that's okay."

Bella's teeth cracked together in an attempt to keep herself from staring. From silently asking. From vocally asking. It was a conscious effort not to tear the door handles off the fridge and freezer as she opened them both. She spoke through her teeth, "You sure? There's juice. Coke. Dr. Pepper."

"I'll take a pepsi and a cigarette."

Wordless, Bella set a coke in front of Rosalie before making her way to the door. She avoided the creaky step going down out of habit and pressed on her key through her pocket to unlock Edward's Volvo. Its flash of light and little beeps invited her to drive in one direction until she ran out of gas, but she just went to the glovebox and locked the car again and went back inside. Ignoring blue eyes, she carefully placed the unopened pack and a lighter next to the soda.

She moved back to the fridge.

The clock hanging in the corner felt louder.

"Pasta?"

There was a delay. "Nah."

Bella scoffed, closing the fridge and turning to lean back against it. "You don't get to be picky with free food."

"Excuse you. I'll be picky with whatever I want." Her fingers tapped the tabletop before swiping the items in front of her. The chair scraped back as she stood and her gaze avoided Bella, but she tilted her head a fraction as she moved toward the door. "Join me?"

Bella did.

They leaned against the porch rail, silence between them as well as the three feet of distance Bella had given her. A curtain of blonde hair would've kept Bella from seeing Rosalie's face if she'd ever looked at her. But she didn't, she just stared out at the street, stared out at nothing.

Fragile memories blurred in her mind and voices she couldn't remember said things she didn't hear. The feeling, however, remained. It burned in her chest in a way that would've made her heart loud and wild if it could still beat. Instead, it dripped down the void inside of her and clawed up her throat at the same time.

Blood and ash filled her nose.

"You smoke?" Rosalie didn't look away from the ground or move to lessen the space between them.

"No."

"Good. You shouldn't."

"Neither should you."

Something between a snort and a chuckle left Rosalie. "Shouldn't be a lot of things."

Her phrasing made Bella frown at her.

"But I'm quitting." A breeze tossed their hair around and Rosalie tucked hers over her left shoulder. "Trying to, I guess I should say. Can't say I'm quitting when it's been close to a year."

"Few things in life are linear. That time at school was the first time in a while, wasn't it?"

"Nineteen days."

Bella nodded and clasped her hands over the rail, studying her knuckles. She swore she saw dried blood on them but it was gone in the blink of an eye. "That's good. You're doing fine."

"I don't feel fine."

Apparently the confession shocked them both because Bella froze up to keep from whipping her head to the side to look at her and Rosalie's heart stuttered in her chest and a small, choked noise came out her mouth.

"Will you light it?" She started fussing with the pack, but whether it was the cold numbing her fingers or pure anxiety, she couldn't catch the thin strip of plastic to open it.

Bella took half a step closer to reach over and take it and the lighter from her and barely managed not to make physical contact in the process. As the soda let out a pop of carbonation at being opened, Bella reminded herself to breathe again and set about retrieving and lighting a cigarette. She surrendered it without saying anything.

After a couple drags, Rosalie sighed. "How the fuck do you do that? It takes me five minutes to light up in this damn town."

"Oops?"

"'Oops' my ass. I'm going to kick you in the teeth."

A snort gave way to a laugh before Bella could smother it. She held a fist against her mouth and let her eyes wander while the shaking of her shoulders died down. Instead of joking that Rosalie would have to catch her first, she found herself stopping at Rosalie's expression.

It was soft. Curious and astonished, as the cigarette almost fell from her parted lips. Her eyebrows were raised just slightly and blue eyes were so open it almost seemed like she was looking at Bella for the first time in place of scrutinizing her.

It vanished with rolled eyes and a scoff.

"You're not cooking pasta."

Bella hummed and stretched her arms out before settling them back on the rail. "Steak and potatoes?"

"I guess." A drag. "Are you eating too?"

"Ah, no. Already ate."

"I'll pass, then."

She glanced to see Rosalie was halfway done. "Why?"

"Because I'm already intruding. This isn't even your house."

Bella waved a hand. "Charlie wouldn't mind. How do you like your steak?"

"Done just a bit more than medium rare. You?" She flicked away some ashes and looked at Bella.

Actually looked at her.

There was less ice to Rosalie for some reason, and the barrier in her eyes was thinner just like her posture was a little more relaxed.

The arch of an eyebrow reminded Bella they were having a conversation and she jerked a hand up to her hair with a vague laugh that bordered on a nervous chuckle. "Oh, just medium rare, I guess. I kind of just, you know, enjoy beef."

Blue eyes slid away and back, as if Bella was being weird because she was. "Yeah, I'm not really crazy about chicken."

Bella made a noise in the back of her throat. "Tastes so damn meh. Come on." She waved a hand in the air and turned, but she slowed her stride when she saw Rosalie rushing to put out the last of her cigarette as subtly as she could. "Taking it to go or no?"

Rosalie locked the door behind her and took a sip of her coke, watching Bella start to open cabinets. "That your way of casually suggesting I get lost?"

"No, no." Bella pointed a skillet at Rosalie. "Telling someone to get lost is your job and I would never take that away from you."

"A wise decision."

"Gotta have some wisdom after all this time."

She missed the look from Rosalie because she reached into the fridge.

"You can play some music, Rosalie. You're glued to your earbuds as much as I am to mine."

Rosalie cleared her throat. "I don't have my phone."

Cold fingers stilled on the burner dial and she blinked at it before turning her head to stare over her shoulder.

"Don't." The twang of her playing with the tab of the coke finalized her demand as much as the sudden edge to her tone did.

It hovered in Bella's throat, but she obliged anyway with stiff motions and clenched teeth. Her phone hit the table a little harder than she meant it to. A crack threatened to form along her jaw but she couldn't stop herself, it was all she could do to keep from breaking anything she touched.

She was good enough at ruining things without being emotional.

So maybe it looked a little too slow and precise when she pushed up her sleeves and finally got to cutting the potatoes.

One of RED's albums started drifting through the air, pulling some of the tension from Bella's shoulders.

Eventually, her nose crinkled at the food, but it passed. It smelled how it was supposed to, and definitely better than that garbage at the school. Potatoes browning, she set a steak to cook. The tip of the other one sizzled against the skillet, but it paused there, suspended in the air between her fingers.

The room was quieter for some reason, which didn't make sense because the music was still playing.

She shook her head and settled the steak into the skillet and went to the sink to wash her hands. Where the habit came from, she didn't know, but she held one hand under the water to wait for it to get hot.

Rosalie cleared her throat gently. "Do you think I could bother you for a favor?"

Bella could physically feel her discomfort, so a joke seemed like a good idea while she stirred the potatoes. "I'll get lost after the food's done."

"No. Bella." A frustrated sigh and the denting of aluminum.

Blue eyes were elsewhere when Bella turned around. "What do you need?"

Lips kept starting and stopping and then there was a huff. Her words came out in a rush, "Will you give me a ride to school?"

"Okay."

The simple response made Rosalie's gaze jump to her. It was almost accusatory, and something like resigned.

A full minute went by before Bella realized Rosalie was waiting for her to name a price.

Bella turned around and told her the food was done.

It was strangely domestic. And also strange.

But the vampire found it comfortable nonetheless as she silently sat at a table with a human eating food she'd cooked. They didn't make a lot of eye contact and Bella mostly stared at nothing before mentally kicking herself. While Rosalie started scrolling through her music since the album was almost done playing, Bella pushed herself to her feet to go to the fridge.

A lull came to the music and Rosalie made a noise so quiet Bella nearly missed it. She'd decided on a Dr. Pepper when the girl spoke, subdued.

"Alice, The Most Amazing Ever asked where you are with a lot of sad faces."

Bella's head bumped the door of the freezer. Her walk back to the table was a slow one as she studied the change in Rosalie. Some of the ice was back and she felt farther away, but she hadn't sounded jealous. She sat down precisely, gingerly, like she was trying not to startle an animal. The soda popped open and she jerked her chin toward the phone even though Rosalie wasn't looking. "She'll keep texting because I totally space out on notifications, so just tell her I'm with you."

After a moment, Rosalie stopped scrolling and her fingers were slow in following through with Bella's request. Meanwhile, Bella was preparing herself to not make a face at drinking something other than blood.

Alice's answer was near instantaneous and made Rosalie snort. "She said she'll pray for me."

"Rude," Bella mumbled into the soda can. The liquid sloshed into her mouth. Disgusting, but at least the bubbles felt interesting.

The music switched to Paramore, and they didn't really say anything else.

They didn't need to. The next twenty minutes zipped by and so did another bout of time of them just sitting at the table in their own heads while music filled the air.

Casually, as if they'd done it a thousand times, they walked out to the car and as they waited for it to warm up, Rosalie tucked the pack and lighter back into the glove compartment. Rosalie had put her address into Bella's GPS instead of directing her.

Once they were in her driveway, Rosalie's seat belt came off slowly as if a mirror of her thoughts. She didn't look away from the windshield. "See you tomorrow?"

The unsaid part of her question didn't go unnoticed by Bella. She hummed.

"Okay, good. I put my number in your phone and I expect you here at 7:20 so be here at 7:15."

"You're like fifteen minutes from the school!"

"Don't be late." Rosalie utterly ignored Bella's groan and exited the car.

Bella put the passenger window down with a simple, "Hey!"

It made Rosalie pause and rock back and forth on her feet, clearly caught between acknowledging Bella or not. She took half a step toward the house before turning back around. An eyebrow arched, bored, as Rosalie graced her by leaning into the window. "What?"

"I'm bad with time. What if I am late?"

"If you're late, I kick you in the teeth, obviously."

Bella grinned, feeling like an absolute fool as she did. "See you at eight."

"No. 7:15."

"7:21?"

Blue eyes rolled and Rosalie scoffed, but Bella had already seen the beginning of a smirk before she straightened up. She flipped her hair over her shoulder as she went up the driveway. "Get lost but find your way back here on time!"

It didn't occur to Bella that Rosalie still had her jacket until Edward pulled at her sleeve later on and tsk-tsk'd her.