Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, all credit to Stephanie Meyer
The hour long flight from Seattle to Port Angeles landed 6:30 pm. I had already flown nearly four Hours from Florida to get to Seattle and I was not looking forward to the hour drive back
to la push. But I didn't need to worry about that right then because Charlie was nowhere in sight. I collected my bags and started to make my way out of the airport , looking anxiously
around for Charlie as I did. Well over an hour later it became pretty obvious that Charlie was a no-show. With a sigh I put on my backpack, picked up my two suitcases, lugged them down
the street and hailed a taxi.
The ride to Charlie's house was less than average. The driver kept trying to catch my eye in the mirror, making an attempt at small talk each time he did.
"So , were are you from?" he asked me when he had succeeded in getting my attention. "Florida" I replied flatly, hoping that my lack of enthusiasm would deter him. It didn't.
"Florida huh? Bit of a change in weather, you here for long?" It took under an hour to get to Charlie's. It felt like longer.
As the driver chatted away I stared out of the window, watching the trees go by. My mind wandered back to the first time I had made this same trip nearly two years ago. I was as
nervous now as I was then, worried about fitting in and making friends. And then I had met Edward and nothing else mattered. I had a sister in Alice and brothers in Jasper and Emmett.
And they were my life.
It hit me suddenly. The realisation that I was back and I was alone . I would not have Edward this time, nor Alice who I had come to rely on so heavily. No , the Cullens have left me I
thought and all that is left is this aching hole in my heart were my family used to be. To top it all of Charlie had taken it upon himself to re-enroll me at Forks high. The only upside to this
was that I would get to see Angela, who had kept in touch since I had left and had vacationed in Florida with me the past two summers. I would still have to endure Jessica and Lauren,
and the gossip and stares of the rest of the school. I was missing my friends in Florida already.
My thoughts where interrupted by the sudden stopping of the taxi.
"Well this is you" The driver said as he started to climb out of the car.
I looked around and at first saw nothing but trees. On closer inspection I could just make out a very long dirt track and to the side, barely visible through the trees a mailbox with the
number 16 on it. By the time I had registered that he was not planning on driving up the long, long driveway he had already unpacked my bags, dumped them unceremoniously onto the
road and was making his way back to the front of the car. I scrambled out of the cab, handed him the money through the window and he drove of, leaving me on the side of the road. It
was going on dark and I really did not want to be lingering around there after dark so I put on my back pack, gathered my suitcases and began the long trek to the house. I had walked
about a meter when out of nowhere a figure leaped out of the forest right in front of me.
"Aaggh!" I shrieked , dropping my suitcases and stumbling backwards
"AAGHH!"yelled the figure just as surprised.
Then, "Bella?" he questioned, shocked
"Quil?" I asked equally shocked
"Oh my gosh Bella!" he yelled and quickly swept me into a hug.
"What's all the yelling Quil, break a nail?" called a voice in the distance.
"Is that Embry" I asked excitedly
"Yep, we were racing from my place to Charlie's" he informed me. "I won" he added smugly.
"BELLA!" screamed a voice. Embry had just burst through the trees, and without pausing pulled me into a hug, lifting me off the floor.
"Can't breathe Embry" I choked
"Oh sorry Bella" he said, laughing as he put me down.
I took in the appearance of my cousins two best friends. Despite the chilly winter breeze both were wearing nothing but shorts and looked at least five years older than they actually
where.
"I cannot believe how much you guys have grown, I'm scared I wont recognise Jacob"
"We've been eating our spinach" Embry laughed
"Jacob too" Quil added.
"What are you guys doing here?" I asked
"The pack meets here most nights. Its conveniently located in the middle of all our houses." Quil replied.
"Its what we call the gang" Embry added in response to my questioning look a the use of the term 'pack'.
"You know Bella" Quil continued as if Embry had not interrupted, "Its great to have you back, but you should have told us you where going to be getting here early, we would have met
you at the airport."
"Yeah" Embry said " We weren't expecting you until the fifteenth"
"I'm not early it is the fifteenth"
Both boys looked shocked at the realisation that they where running a day behind the rest the world.
"Oh" they both said and without another word began to pick up two suitcases, I reached for my backpack and had it snatched from my hands by Embry .
"I've got it Bella" he said
"No it's fine you've already got one of my suitcases" I protested
"Seriously Bella it's ok" he insisted and he started to followed Quil up the driveway, carrying the load I had struggled under effortlessly.
I questioned the boys on their interesting attire Quil blushed slightly but Embry laughed it off. "It gets hot running" he stated matter of fact.
Despite the overcast weather typical of La Push and Forks, both of which are under a near constant cloud of rain, I was sweating when we finally reached the top of the driveway.
An there it was. Double story, freshly painted white and blue with a verandah extending all the way from the front through to the back; Charlie's new house. It was beautiful.
There was an old porch swing on the right side with purple and gold cushions and throw over blanket made up of different shades of purple. I felt suddenly emotional when I saw that.
Charlie new that purple was my favorite colour, which meant that he must have gone to a lot of effort to pick out the cushions and blanket, just to please me. It was a small gesture but it
meant a lot, especially coming from Charlie.
As we walked up the stairs of the front porch, I heard the voices of at least six people coming from inside the house. Stacked haphazardly by the door was a pile of shoes, presumably
belonging to the crowd gathered inside. I began to feel nervous about having to face such a large crowd so early, I was only expecting Charlie.
One of the boys opened the door and we entered the house, Embry first, then Quil and lastly me. "Look who we found!" Quil announced loudly. The talking quieted and everybody looked
around as we entered the room.
"Bella!" Charlie exclaimed, rushing over from his seat in front of the tv to give me a hug. "What are you doing here? Your not suppose to be coming until the fifteenth."
"Yeah It kind of is the fifteenth Charlie" Embry informed him, scratching the back of his neck and looking at the floor awkwardly.
Charlie looked stunned. "Bells honey I'm so sorry. How did you get here?"
Before I could respond, I was distracted by a yell from the top of the stairs.
"BELLA!!" Jacob yelled as he thundered down the stairs two at a time
"Oh my gosh JAKE!?" I screeched back rushing forward to meet him, tripping over one of my bags that had been placed on the floor as I did. Jacob laughed as he swiftly caught and
steadied me. Only it wasn't Jake at all. This set of arms came from behind me. But it was definatley Jake that had laughed. The atmosphere in the room changed suddenly becoming tense
as I turned to see who had caught me.
He was tall and extremely muscular and had fairly dark skin, similar to that of someone who spent a lot of time in the sun. But that wasn't what caught my attention. It was his eyes.
Deep brown pools of chocolate stared at me with such intensity that I could not look away. I held is gaze shocked as I realized he still had not let me go. I felt my cheeks burn and could
imagine the shade of red they had started to turn. He seemed to sense my discomfort and let me go, I broke my gaze but he continued to stare at me.
"err Bella this is Sam" Charlie said breaking the uncomfortable silence
"Hi" is said talking more to the floor than to him
"Hello Bella" he said in a deep velvety voice.
"Um , Jake why don't you help Bella to her room? Give you guys a chance to catch up"
"Sure Uncle Charlie" Jake said eagerly, looking amused "We have alot to talk about."
And before I could say anything he picked up all of my luggage and led the way up the stairs.
So there it is! Sorry it took me so long to update, Hope it was worth the wait! Thanks heaps to everyone who reviewed: gottaloveva, Gothic Saku-chan, SensuosVampier, tenten16
(Sam appeared as requested) and Robin D. You guys are awesome! I really appreciate your feeedback.
Thanks also to everyone who added me as favourite author/story. You made my day!
Review and let me know what you think!
Love dasha xx