Title: The Best Of Times: A Lifetime in a Day
Chapter 4: Seasons Of Love And That Damn Second Story Window
Rating: T, for language I guess. If the rating changes, you'll be the second to know after me.
Disclaimer: I don't own any aspect of Twilight and all its proceedings, they continue to belong to Stephenie Meyer.
Summary: Ava Swan never expected to move to Forks, Washington permanently. Then again, she never expected to be imprinted by a hot-headed shapeshifter. Eventual Paul/OC. No Bella-bashing. Follows New Moon (mostly). There's no way I can make this sound original, ever.

Notes: Heads up, I decided to split up the months following Bella's rescue (is that the right word? lol) from the other chapters. Makes it neater, in my opinion, and I'm a stickler for neatness. That being SAID, the next chapter will be uploaded maƱana since this one is so short. And thank you to whoever has reviewed! I'd mention your usernames but you're on guest, but nonetheless, I thank you.

first full edit: 07/16/2019


October.

You pressed your ear against the door, straining your hearing to pick up any sort of noise. It seemed like you were doing a lot of this lately.

Ever since Bella was found by Sam, she had completely folded within herself. She'd never been the type of person to express herself with a lot of emotion but this was a new extreme. She stayed in the same position every day; the same chair, staring outside into the thick forest that she had been found in only weeks earlier.

You'd tried your best to ease her outside. Even just outside the room, but she wasn't giving an inch. If you were lucky, you'd get an empty fleeting glance.

Billy Black was right. The Cullens left town. It seemed from one day to the next, they were wiped from the town and there was absolutely no trace of them. In a last ditch attempt to help Bella, you had even gone to their old house, hoping that Edward would be there. Maybe gathering some last boxes that they had left behind, and he could at least talk to her to no avail.

Seeing her this way upset you. More than you could even describe. She was your best friend, your self-proclaimed sister, and seeing her so broken and beaten down was upsetting you beyond comprehension. And the fact that even you couldn't get through to her, had you bewildered and angry.

Once Halloween neared you managed to coax her into watching a scary movie with you...and by coax, you mean you set up the DVD player in front of her and played the movie with children occasionally knocking on your door to ask for candy.

Every time they did, you'd pause the movie, grab the candy bowl and answer the door; once you got back inside, you recounted the costumes the kids were dressed in. A witch, a clown (shudder), a ladybug, another witch, a few teenagers that weren't actually dressed as anything but insisted on a handful of candy, a princess, a mushroom funnily enough, a vampire...you stopped talking as Bella shifted when you named the last one.

You thought you imagined it at first, she hadn't moved a single muscle from what you saw these past weeks, but she had. You didn't know what it was but you were glad for the slight movement.

You smiled a little wider, "...and that was just this round," you finished, playing the movie, "hopefully no more clowns."


November

You raked another huge pile together, pausing to breath in the crisp air.

"Don't make me do all the work," Charlie joked, moving his rake back and forth gathering a pile, "this is a two man job."

You cast a side glance at the Second Story Window, "or three man," you muttered, stepping on a damp leaf with your boot. No matter what you had tried, nothing was working and you couldn't get through to Bella.

It seemed like failed attempt after failed attempt just made you more bitter towards the situation.

Towards Edward.

Towards Bella.

Towards Charlie.

Even towards yourself for not being able to do more. Day after day, you slowly stopped asking Bella to go out anywhere with you and left your physical interactions almost to a minimum.

But that didn't mean you stopped everything altogether. You would sit outside the door and wait for her to get up. Even staying there throughout a chunk at night, hoping to catch her using the restroom.

That's what you were reduced to; waiting for her to use the restroom just to make sure she was getting off that damn chair.

"Come on, kid," Charlie sighed, leaning against his rake lightly, "can't give up now."

"I know," tou frowned, "time, I guess."

"Time," he echoed, nodding his head once in the direction of the window, "just takes time."


December

You attitude towards Bella rejuvenated as December rolled around.

Your eyes widened against the Second Story Window, your breath fogging up the cold glass. You smiled to yourself and drew a snowman.

"Bella~" you sang, tapping at the glass, "snow~! Which means snowmen."

You didn't think Bella would insist you build snowmen all day and for once, you didn't feel the pang of disappointment in your chest. Snow was one of your favorite things. Despite the cold fingers and wet socks you got from spending an afternoon outside, you loved it.

"Hey, remember that one year we were both here randomly during the winter? And we made Jake into a snowman?" You giggled at the thought of Jake with a bright red nose and his teeth clattering loudly, "his dad was so mad when he found him buried."

"You know, I bet I can make a life-size snowman," you thought aloud, "or...snowwoman, I suppose."

These days you didn't wait for any sort of reply from Bella, not even a sign of acknowledgment that you were in the same vicinity as her.

You bid her a good-bye and a command to watch you through the window. You positioned yourself in the perfect place that Bella could see and you began your project. Building three snowmen may not seem like a hard thing but when it's just you and mountains and mountains of snow to work with, the difficulty level was raised substantially.

When you finished you took a few steps back to admire your handiwork and laughed at Charlie's pebble mustache. You looked up at the Second Story Window and Bella was staring blankly, almost straight through you.

You waved and pointed at the snowmen watching her gaze move lazily towards them. You swore you saw at least a tug of a smile cross her lips.

So worth a runny nose and soggy socks.


Favorite, Follow, and Review

Incorrect Quote(s) of the Chapter:

Bella: I'm sad today.
Charlie, breakdancing softly: What's wrong, my daughter.

.+.

Ava: Are you okay?
Bella, lying in the middle of the road: I'm having me time.

.+.

Ava: Heartbroken? Isn't that just a fancy word for feeling 'bummed out'?
Bella, standing on the roof: Ava, you ignorant slut.

.+.

Bella: I can't believe you read my diary.
Ava: To be fair, I didn't think it was your diary.
Ava: I thought it was just a very sad, handwritten book.