So, once again, it's OCs only which belong to me. So I'm making things up here - I'm British, not American so I'm going to be writing in that style. I figured it'd make more sense, especially since my OCs are British and I'd probably just sound stupid if I started to change words so...Hope you enjoy.

They spent the day sorting out the house. It was cold, with all the windows open, but they hadn't sorted out heating yet, so they pulled on jumpers.

"I'll call the heating company up tomorrow; get this blasted heating system working. I didn't bring that many jumpers with me." Darren grumbled. Arianna smirked. Darren liked the heat; he'd have preferred to go to Florida or California or even Texas; somewhere hot. She'd always preferred the cold. She figured that it was easier to put more layers on than to take layers off. Especially if you didn't have many on to begin with.

"At least it gets rid of that God-awful smell." She said, standing with her hands on her hips and looking round the room. They hadn't done anything in the kitchen, and had just moved a couple of chairs round in the living room. "We'll need to go shopping tomorrow as well - we need food."

"I promised we'd see Billy as soon as we arrived – we could always go round his for supper." Darren got out his mobile.

"Darren!" Arianna looked aghast. "You can't just ring someone up and demand to go round theirs for dinner, it's rude." She considered the problem for a second. "Let's eat out somewhere; we can invite Billy along too." He looked at her thoughtfully.

"I knew I had a reason for keeping you around." He said, before pressing a couple of buttons on his phone and turning away. "Hi, Billy? Yeah it's Darren. Oh, I'm good thanks, how 'bout you? The drive wasn't too bad, a bit long but what do you expect..." Arianna tuned him out. They'd dealt with the ground floor, she figured she'd go and grab a room whilst Darren was busy. She took a moment to find her bag, picked it up and slung it over her shoulder. She walked out of the room and up the stairs.

When she reached the landing she grimaced slightly. They hadn't opened the upstairs windows yet and the musty smell still lingered. She made a mental note to do that after choosing her room. She opened the first door on her right and walked into a bathroom.

"Not really what I was looking for but..." She smiled at the sight of a shower but backed out of the room. The next door was a fairly small bedroom; the room next to that looked the same. There was a small office at the end of the landing. She turned around and opened a door on the left side of the corridor. She could still hear Darren talking with Billy downstairs. She walked into the room. It was larger than the other two bedrooms she'd been in, but she didn't particularly care about the size. What was important, however, were the windows. This was a good room; it had three windows, on two different walls. She liked it, but went and checked the next room anyway. That one was larger, but only had two windows. She left it for Darren.

Going back to the room she'd claimed for herself, she dumped her bag on the floor, walked to the first window, unlatched it and pushed the glass up, drawing in a deep breath of fresh air as she did so. She moved to the other two and did the same, flooding her room with the cool, clear air that smelled of sea and pine trees. She went into the other five rooms and opened their windows too.

As she stepped back onto the landing she noticed that Darren had stopped talking.

"Chosen your room?" A voice asked from behind her. She didn't jump, she'd gotten used to Darren and his attempts to creep up on anyone and everyone.

"Yep, yours is the one over there." She pointed to his room. "It's the biggest."

"But yours has the most windows." He replied, raising an eyebrow.

"Hey, I like to have windows. There is nothing wrong with that." She said, slightly affronted.

"You keep telling yourself that, sweetheart." Darren chuckled as he walked to his room. Before he opened his door, he turned back.

"We're picking Billy up at 5; he says there's a pretty good diner about 10 minutes away." Darren paused for a moment. "Actually, it's the only diner in La Push, but he says it's still pretty good." He grinned and walked into his room, humming some tune.

"Guess I'll get changed then." Arianna muttered.

"That'd be good. I'd say have a shower, but we haven't got any towels." Darren called from his room.

"Use an old top if you have to." Arianna called back.

"Humph." Darren fell silent for a few minutes and Arianna made her way back into her room. She knelt on the floor and unzipped her bag. She was already wearing jeans and a long sleeved top, with a hoodie on for warmth. She pulled out a vest and a shirt, deciding they were good enough for a diner. She scampered to the bathroom before Darren could get there, locking the door once inside. She removed her hoodie and top, and then splashed her face with water, before pulling on the vest and shirt. She eyed her reflection critically for a moment, and then pulled her hair back into a low ponytail. She gathered up her clothes and unlocked the door, but she must have used too much force, because the lock came away from the door with her hand. She looked at it, bemused for a moment.

"Erh, we might have to buy a new lock when we go out shopping tomorrow Darren. This one's decided that it doesn't want to be attached to a door anymore." Darren emerged from his room and his eyes zeroed in on the lock in Arianna's hand.

"What did you do, decide that it wasn't good enough?" He laughed as he took the lock from her hand and examined it. "It wasn't that great anyway; see, it's all rusty." He chucked it backwards through his open door. "You finished in the bathroom?" She nodded and he brushed past her, a new shirt over his shoulder. The door shut and a moment later Arianna heard the sound of a tap running.

"Damn it. I'd better ring the water people tomorrow as well – the bloody water's cold." Arianna laughed as she walked back to her room. They had some furniture downstairs but it was all a bit old and a bit too...fragile. It'd do for a couple of days though, until they got some new stuff. Upstairs was a different story. All the rooms except the bathroom were empty; they'd be sleeping on the floor tonight.

Arianna checked her phone; it was 4:30. Plenty of time to start a list of what they needed. Otherwise, they'd arrive at the shop and leave without something important. Like a bed.

Darren popped his head around the door 20 minutes later; to find Arianna sprawled on the floor, sheets of paper scattered around her, a notepad in front of her, half filled with writing.

"What are you doing?" He asked, walking over and bending down to peer at what she was writing.

"Making lists – we'll forget something we need if not. I was going to get you to check them over, make sure that I haven't forgotten anything." She pulled out her phone and checked the time, then pushed herself to her feet. "Time to go?"

Darren nodded and she grabbed her coat from on top of her bag and walked out. They left the windows open; no one was going to rob them in La Push.

They went outside, Darren locking the door before following Arianna down the drive and into the car.

"Do you know the way?" She asked curiously.

"Billy gave me some rough details...and let's face it, there are only 4 or 5 roads round here. He can't live that far away."

At exactly 5 they stopped outside a small, slightly lopsided house. They'd gone the wrong way, and only a bit of speedy driving had gotten them to the house on time. The front door was open, and as they got out of the vehicle a man's voice floated through the house, telling them he'd just be a minute. Arianna leaned back against the car. The house was like a mini version of theirs, surrounded by the forest.

The sound of wheels caught her attention. She looked up to see a man in a wheelchair coming out of the house. Although he was seated, she had the impression of height – she guessed that if he could stand, this man would be tall. He had a weather-beaten, coppery face, with laughter lines around his mouth and eyes. He looked to be in his late forties or early fifties. His dark hair was tied back and his eyes were a warm, chocolaty brown and filled with laughter. Arianna immediately understood why this man, whom she presumed to be Billy, got on so well with Darren.

"Darren! It's good to see you my friend." The man said, holding out his hand. Darren clasped his arm and leant forward, clapping the man on his back.

"It's good to see you as well, Billy. It's been too long." Darren let go and stood back, putting his arm around Arianna's shoulders. "This is my niece, Arianna." She smiled, and stepped forward to shake Billy's hand.

"It's nice to meet you sir." She said politely. Billy grinned at her, with mischief in his eyes.

"Darren, you didn't say she was so pretty." He laughed, as did Darren, whilst Arianna blushed, but refused to look away.

"He didn't say you were so bold, sir." Billy laughed harder.

"I think we'll get on nicely, Arianna. Your name's a bit of a mouthful though. Mind if I call you something shorter? Ari, maybe?" She nodded her approval and stepped back to allow the process of getting Billy into the car to begin. It seemed that Darren knew what he was doing; Billy was seated in the passenger seat and his wheelchair was folded up in the boot before he knew it. Arianna got into the back of the car and stayed quiet, letting the old friends talk about times before she was born. As she listened she didn't notice the young man standing in the tree line, watching as the car sped away.

I know everything's moving slowly at the moment and that Paul wasn't in this one til right at the end but some things might clear up in the next couple of chapters, and Paul should be in the next one. Thanks for reading.

PS :)