I'd decided that the only way to get through the day would be to keep myself as busy as possible, Greg had already left for work, he had to work a lot longer hours now he was manager, which meant he was at work most days before I was even awake and wasn't home until late. I knew if this was in Jacksonville I would have been furious with all the hours he'd been working; but for some reason I was strangely serene about it, Greg knew better than to talk about it unless he wanted a fight, so the topic never came up, and that was probably for the best- as I knew if he brought it up, I would never be able to explain myself.

The kids were loving life in Forks, I've never seen them so happy. They've made countless numbers of friends, and they absolutely adored their new school.

The kids were up by now happily eating some toast with jelly, looking forward to going to their new friends house for the day.

" Beth...Ben are you ready yet?" I shouted up to them, "In a minute, Mom!" they bellowed back to me full of enthusiasm.

I filled up the sink with water and quicky washed the breakfast pots. "Were ready." Beth said suddenly behind me, I turned around and grabbed my coat "You don't need a coat, Mom.." Ben said "..It looks really nice outside " I looked outside and he was right, the sky was a lovely blue colour and not a cloud in sight. "Ok. " I conceded, taking my coat back off and placing it back on the hanger.

"OK... lets go." I mumbled to them.

We left the house, locking the door behind us and headed to the black sedan parked in the drive, which was now mine since Greg got his new company car.

I opened the rear doors and strapped Ben and Beth in the back, then I carefully got in and made my way into Forks.

The children were going to see there new friends, Carrie-ann and Aaron, they were twins who were just shy of a year younger than Beth. They all got on surprising well and had lots of things in common.

I slowly pulled up to their house and the kids jumped out of the car and ran to the front door, I got out and hurridly tried to catch up to them.

The door opened and a smartly dressed lady answered the door "Hello, you two" she cooed kindly, then looked up to me, I smiled and held out my hand "Hi.." I said casually "..I'm Bella, thanks so much for inviting Beth and Ben over to play."

"No problem" she answered, smiling warmly "My names Jessica- Jessica Stanley, and I'm sure you'll just love it here.." she gushed "Me and my husband Mike have lived here all our lives, and its the best place in the world to bring up children. "

I smiled kindly back, but I was really quite annoyed, how would she know if this is the best place to live? I thought to myself, having never actually lived anywhere else but here.

"So what time shall I pick them up?" I asked, trying not to let my annoyance show up in the tone of my voice.

"Bout 6ish" she countered calmly. "Ok then... See you at six, have fun!" I added.

Beth rushed up to me and gave me kiss and a hug "BYE!" they bellowed as they ran back to the back garden.

I returned back to the Sedan, climbed in and made my way to the centre of Forks to the Thrifty, the only convienience store in Forks, to pick up some essentials.

I drove up and slowly parked the car in the only available space just off the sidewalk, got out and entered the store, I meandered around the store as lethargically as I could, trying to pass as much time as possible. I made sure to go down every aisle purposefully and spent as much time as possible looking randomly at the vast array of products been sold.

I decided to make steak and salad for dinner, and also thought it would be good to bake some bread, just what i need to take my mind off things I thought to myself, it takes absolutely ages to make, and theres nothing better than the smell of fresh bread baking.

I picked up the ingredients and smooched over to the till quickly glancing through the magazines near the counter.

"That'll be thirty dollars and twenty-four cents." chirped the clerk, smiling at me. I gave him the money and set off out of the store.

As I got outside I noticed instantly that the weather was changing, big grey clouds were sweeping over the sky, filling it with the misery that was suddenly washing over me. I knew it wouldn't last I thought to myself triumphantly,.

I'd reached the sedan by now and was fumbling around trying to get my keys out of my pocket unsucessfully, a big gust of wind blew in my direction, blowing my hair straight into my face, impairing my vision. I instinctively turned my head to escape it when behind me I heard a CRASH.. I quickly turned around to see a silver Volvo crashed into the front of my sedan, I looked to see a young man staring at me, his furiously deep black eyes burning a hole through me.

I looked away, redness naturally filling my cheeks, why do I get embarressed so easily?

I laid my shopping carefully on the floor and approached the Volvo "Are you O.k?" I asked apprehensively, resting my arms on the Volvo's open window.

"Yes.. Fine thankyou " he barked aggressively. I stood there staring at him, He was very handsome, un-naturally handsome almost, and i found it difficult to escape his gaze.

The wind blew again and my hair swept across my face, I lifted my hand to brush it back into place and glanced at him again, smiling. He seemed really agitated, his hands were clenched into fists on the steering wheel, and he'd turned his head away from me in what can only be described as disgust. Instantly upset, I edged backwards slowly, moving quietly away from the Volvo, "Sorry" was the only word that would come out of my mouth, with that he reversed quickly and before I could blink he was gone.

I went to the front of my car, not quite sure what had just happened and saw a small dent in the bumper, at least theres no real damage I thought to myself and returned to where I had earlier placed my shopping, I picked it up, placing it on the passenger seat and got in the car, as I drove home my mind was playing back the whole incident, he was so rude I thought, how could he just sit there angry at me when he crashed into me?, Rage was starting to bubble under my skin, why did he look at me like that I wondered? I couldn't understand it, we were complete strangers, you can't hate some-one you don't know...can you?. Before I knew it I was home, I looked at the clock on the dashboard 12:49, Oh great I thought just another 5 hours to fill before I have to pick the kids up.

I got out the car and headed for the front door, once inside I placed the shopping on the counter.

"AARGGH" I ranted at myself , Why was I letting a complete strangers behaviour affect me so much, I thought to myself.

The afternoon dragged by, even baking bread seemed quicker than when I had made it before, and before I knew it I was thinking about him again, but my mood had changed from that of anger to curiousity and strangely enough fascination. I wondered what was on his mind, how he was feeling right now and if he was thinking about me as much as I was thinking about him and most importantly how I'd upset him.

I couldn't even understand quite why I was thinking about him so much, I mean, I'd never even seen him before today, I didn't even know his name, at that point my stomach started twisting up inside and I felt instantly uneasy, I'd had felt this feeling before, but usually after one of those dreams. A slow realisation started to come over me that, although I'd never seen him before I started to recognise his voice, I know he'd barely spoken a word to me but for some reason I was becoming certain that I knew that voice from somewhere, I couldn't yet work out how. Then from out of nowhere a flood of emotions came over me and I could feel myself beginning to well up, then the tears started to fall slowly at first, then faster they came filling my clasped hands up like a well, I was surprised by the force of the tears as I still didn't really know why I was crying or why I was even upset. I felt helpless to control my emotions so I sat there for a while just letting them flow as they wished.

I glanced up to the clock on the kitchen wall 5:45, " Crap!" I yelled, now I'm going to be late to pick the kids up, I quickly picked up my coat and car keys off the couter and headed out of the door.

I had managed to compose myself by the time I reached Jessica's house, I rushed out of the car and sprinted to the front door. I knocked once and Jessica had answered. " Hi, sorry I'm late " I said quickly

"It's fine" replied Jessica "they've all had a wonderful time." , with that Beth and Ben came bounding towards the door, arms sprawled out ready hug me. I bent down and gave them both a huge hug,

"Hi you two" I gushed happily " are you ready to go, now?". Both of them nodded their heads in agreement and thanked Jessica for having them."Thanks so much for having them round" I said gratefully

"No probs- anytime" she replied"Oh and I was thinking.." she continued "..we were planning on having a little get-together next weekend, inviting the locals round for a barb-e or something if your interested ? "

"Sure... why not?" I replied trying to sound excited, which obviously I wasn't, parties of any kind scare me enough as it is, without me not actually knowing anybody who will be there.

"Great" she beamed "Next saturday then, shall we say 6 ish",

"Great" I repeated "See you next week then, bye." I turned around making my way back to the car where the kids were already waiting patiently .

"Oh by the way.." she added "..Don't forget to invite Charlie and family, will you". I nodded in agreement and slipped into the front seat of the car and drove off.

I pulled into the drive and rushed the kids inside, eager to get the steak marinading, which I'd forgotton to do earlier. The kids ran to the flatscreen and turned on some cartoons and sat in a heap on the floor, I left them to it while I continued preparing dinner.

Greg returned home slightly earlier than usual, whistling as he walked through the door

"Hi hun" he called and gave me a kiss on the forehead

"Hi" I mumbled back "Dinner will be ready in five" with that he made his way to the table and sat down.

"DAD !" the kids bellowed in unison rushing over to the table to give him a hug.

I served up the steak and salad and placed the plates on the table, then I sliced up the fresh bread and placed it on a plate in the middle of the table. "mmmm fresh bread " Greg quipped tucking into a large crust.

We talked menially through tea about how each of our days had been, I neglected to tell him about the incident outside the store and instead told him about Jessica's party next week, which he was really happy about, that was Greg though, always the eternal optimist.

By the time I'd finished the dishes, it was time for the kids bath, which conviently Greg had already run for them. I went up and washed their hair, making sure they both had brushed their teeth too, and tucked them in bed. Exhausted from their fun-filled day, I kissed them each gently on their forehead and whispered "Goodnight".

I went to our bedroom where Greg was getting ready for bed and began brushing my hair vigorously, trying to detangle it as quickly as I , I looked out of the window and there in the darkness, standing on the very edge of the garden, near the forest, he stood. The moonlight was eminating seductively off every part of his body. I couldn't move, I stood there gazing at this incredible being, the anger towards him that I had felt earlier had gone completely by now and all I felt was awe, I was in awe of this beautiful creature who had crashed into my car and made me cry, it did not matter anymore. I was instantly happy.

"Bells " Greg chuckled, looking at me sheepishly "You coming to bed, hun".With that I turned to see Greg in bed with the cover held open for me. I sighed and glanced back out of the window, but just like a thief in the night, he was gone.