A/N Thank you to Bloody Ale for reviewing to last chapter. You make me smile. :D

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight; I just play with its characters and make them do things that they wouldn't do in the real story.

BPOV

I woke up the next morning with my head throbbing lightly. My hand unconsciously went to my head and I winced when I hit my stitches. I decided to go downstairs and get some pain killers. I passed Charlie's room and saw that he was still asleep. I went to the kitchen and grabbed some medicine and poured myself a glass of water to chug it down with.

I went back upstairs and decided to check my e-mail. I saw that there was one from Renee asking how I was doing, how I was enjoying Forks, and what I had been doing. I typed my response:

Hey, Mom. I'm doing pretty well. Forks is actually pretty nice so far, although that might be because I haven't started school yet.

Yesterday, Charlie and I had breakfast with Billy and Jake and then we went back to their place. Quil and Embry joined us and we all hung out in his garage. I made Quil spill his drink all over himself and he chased me around Jake's house. Of course I managed to trip and cut my head open. I went to the hospital and got my head stitched up. We're planning on going back down to La Push today, so that'll be fun.

I'll make sure that I tell you all about my first day of school. Ugh. I hope that things are going well with you and Phil. I miss you guys and I love you so much.

~Bella

I decided to leave out the hot doctor and Jake asking me to be his girlfriend. Renee was never one to encourage romantic relationships with the opposite sex. She said that she didn't want me to repeat her mistakes; she wanted me to learn from them. I just hoped that Charlie wouldn't tell her about Jake.

After I sent the e-mail, I decided to take a shower. I let the hot water relax my muscles and I didn't get out until the water ran cold. I wrapped a towel around my waist and another around my head and walked back to my room. I pulled out a Bullet For My Valentine t-shirt and black skinny jeans and the necessary undergarments from my closet. I quickly dressed myself, leaving the towel on my head.

I walked back to the bathroom and decided to blow dry my hair to make it straight. It took longer to make it straight because I had a natural wave in my hair, but it always looked nice. When I was finished with my hair, I put on my usual black eyeliner. I brushed my teeth and then walked downstairs.

Charlie was sitting in the living room watching SportsCenter, which didn't surprise me very much; that man was addicted to sports.

"Morning, Bells," Charlie said when he saw me.

"Morning, Dad," I said and I internally praised myself for not accidently calling him Charlie. "So when are we going down to La Push?"

"I'll have to call Billy to see what time he wants us to be there," Charlie told me. "Are you hungry at all?"

"Not really," I said honestly. "Do you want me to call Billy for you?"

"That would be great," he answered. "Thanks Bells."

I nodded and walked over to the phone. I dialed the familar number and waited anxiously for someone to pick up.

"Hello?" Jake's voice asked.

"Hey Jake, it's Bella," I said with a smile.

"Hey Bells," he said, and I could hear the smile in his voice, too. "What's up?"

"We were just wondering when you wanted us down there," I told him.

"Let me ask Billy," he said. "Hang on a sec."

I heard him set the phone down and a few minutes later I heard him pick it up again.

"Billy says whenever you guys want to come over is great," he told me.

"Okay, we'll be over there around eleven," I said. "I'll see you then."

"See ya, Bella!" Jake said enthusiastically.

I hung up the phone and walked back to Charlie, who was still watching the television.

"I told them that we'd be over around eleven," I informed Charlie. "Is that okay?"

"Yeah, that's great, Bella," Charlie said.

"In the meantime, I'm going to go to the grocery store," I told him. "We are seriously lacking food around here."

Charlie pulled out his wallet and handed me some money.

"For the food," he said as he handed me the money.

"Of course," I said. "I'll see you soon."

I put the money in my pocket and left the house. I got in my truck and jumped at the loud engine. I laughed at myself and pulled out of the driveway.

The grocery store wasn't too far from our house which was nice. I got out of the truck and walked into the grocery store. I grabbed a cart and made my way through the isles. I grabbed the food necessities and put them in the cart. As I turned my cart down the chip isle I froze. Standing in front of me was the hot doctor from the hospital with a beautiful, short girl with short black hair and hazel eyes. She was dressed in a way that accentuated her curves and her tiny waist. She was almost more beautiful than the hot doctor - almost.

I started panicking. I didn't know what to do; I couldn't even remember my own name. I was stunned again by his beauty, which was accentuated by a tight green sweater that matched his eyes and dark jeans.

"Isabella Swan?" I heard the short girl's voice ask me.

"Yeah?" I asked shyly. I was sort of freaked out that she knew my name because I had no idea who she was.

"I'm Alice Cullen," she introduced, "and this is my brother, Edward. You're going to Forks High, right?"

"It's Bella, actually," I told her, "and yeah, I start tomorrow."

"Oh that's cool," she said. "What grade are you in?"

"I'm a senior," I said.

"Awesome," she said with a smile. "Maybe we'll have some classes together. Edward over here is in college, the lucky bastard."

I found myself giggling with her. I had almost forgotten about the hot doctor - I mean Edward - during our conversation. I was strangely at ease with Alice, something that I wasn't used to.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow then," she said with a wave.

"Yeah, bye Alice," I said.

I let out a breath that I didn't even know that I was holding in. That was easily the strangest thing that had ever happened to me, and there had been a lot of strange things that had happened to me. I shook my head and grabbed the chips that I came down the isle for.

I finished my shopping and went up to the check-out line. I saw a big male with curly black hair and brown eyes at the counter. He looked really intimidating because he was very muscular, and I felt myself shrinking closer to my cart. I put my items on the table without looking at the guy.

"Are you Isabella Swan?" he asked me while scanning my items.

I begrudgingly looked up at him and saw that he had a smile on his face and he had adorable dimples. How strange.

"Yeah," I told him.

"My sister wouldn't shut up about you when I checked her items out a few minutes ago," he informed me.

I blushed at his words; I had no idea that I had made such an impression on her.

"Yeah," he continued. "She was going on about how you two were going to be best friends."

I didn't know how it was possible, but I blushed even further at his words.

"Wow," I said. I wasn't sure what one was supposed to say after something like that.

"Yeah, that's Alice for you," he said. "I'm Emmett by the way, her twin brother."

I felt my jaw drop as I thought of the two of them being twins. Alice was short and tiny; Emmett was tall and huge. It just seemed completely illogical.

I heard him laugh and say, "We get that kind of reaction all the time."

He finished bagging up the items and put them in my cart.

"I'll see you at school tomorrow," he said with a smile. I returned the smile and headed out of the grocery store.

I had changed my mind; that was the strangest thing that had happened to me. Ever.

I put the bags in the truck with me because I was afraid that the items would fly out onto the highway. I would have to invest in a cap for the back of the truck. I pulled into the driveway, grabbed the groceries, and walked inside the house.

"I'm back," I announced while closing the door.

"Hey Bells," Charlie said. "How was your trip?"

"It was very interesting," I said. "I met the Cullens."

"I am forever thankful for Dr. Cullen and the one son - what was his name? Edwin? I don't know, but they were the ones to fix you up yesterday," he told me.

"Really?" I had asked. Edward didn't seem like he recognized me. "I wish I had known that when I saw them. I'll have to make a mental note to thank Alice tomorrow."

I left to go put the groceries away in the kitchen. The Cullens weighed heavily on my mind as I put the groceries away. I was now able to put a name to the face which was nice - I felt very silly thinking of him as the hot doctor. I actually liked Alice a lot, and Emmett didn't act as scary as he looked; he seemed pretty nice. But I couldn't understand why Edward was the way he was and that frustrated me to no end! I tried to understand why his siblings were so nice and friendly while he was so elusive. It just didn't add up. Something was wrong with him - and I was determined to find out what it was.

"Hey Bella," Charlie called from the living room. "We should probably leave to go to La Push soon."

I had completely forgotten about La Push because of the Cullens. I shook my head, hoping to clear it of its speculations. I walked back to the living room where Charlie was starting to get up.

"Do you want to grab a snack before we go?" Charlie asked.

"That's probably a good idea," I said.

I went back into the kitchen and grabbed myself a banana. I walked back to the living room.

"Okay, let's go," I told him.

We left the house and got in the police cruiser again. I really hated riding in the cruiser, but Charlie - although he would never admit it - was afraid of my truck. I couldn't understand his apprehension about it; a tank could run over it and it would be fine. My truck was unstoppable.

We pulled into Billy's driveway where they were waiting for us. I got out of the car and was immediately engulfed into a huge hug.

"Can't...breathe," I managed to get out.

"I'm sorry," I heard Jake say. "I just missed you."

"I missed you, too," I told him once I could finally see him. He was wearing a tight black t-shirt that showed off his muscles and jeans.

"So what do you wanna do?" he asked me.

"Wanna hang out in the garage?" I asked.

"Sure," he said while grabbing my hand. We walked towards the garage with huge smiles on our faces. Things were just so uncomplicated with Jake.

Jake got in the driver's seat of the Rabbit and I sat in the passenger seat. The seats were very comfortable and I reclined mine more so I could relax.

"Are you nervous for tomorrow?" Jake asked conversationally.

"Definately," I said, being more truthful than he realized. "Although I met the Cullens today, so I won't be completely alone."

"Are you talking about that Edward guy?" he asked, a slight edge in his voice.

"Yeah," I said. "You don't like him?"

Jake sighed and said, "There's something about that guy that just rubs me the wrong way. I mean, I'm thankful for him helping you with your head, but he was such an asshole to you when we got lost at the hospital. I just don't like him very much."

"Well, luckily, he is in college, so I won't see him," I said, and I hoped that Jake wouldn't hear the disappointment in my voice. "His brother Emmett and his sister Alice, however, are both seniors. I think you'd like them a lot."

"Well that's good," Jake said while nodding. "Maybe I'll get to meet them sometime."

"Maybe," I said.

We continued talking about whatever popped into our minds. We stopped when our stomachs were growling. We walked inside his house where Billy and Charlie were watching the Cleveland Browns play the Pitsburg Steelers. I didn't understand much about football, so I ignored the game. We walked into their kitchen and made ourselves some sandwiches and walked back to the garage. We ate our sandwiches silently because we were both hungrier than we thought we were.

"Do you want to go to First Beach?" Jake asked when we were done with our sandwiches.

"Yeah, that would be nice," I said.

First Beach was close enough to Jake's house that we decided to walk there. We held hands the whole way there. When we go there, I gasped at its beauty; I had forgotten how beautiful First Beach was.

When I would visit, we used to come up to the beach all the time and sit on the rocks and watch the waves. It always allowed me to think clearer. We also used to go to the little playground by the water and swing on the swings. I was suddenly overwhelmed with desire to swing again; it'd been a long time.

"I know this sounds like a stupid idea, but do you want to swing?" I asked Jake.

"I don't think that's a stupid idea," he told me. "Let's go."

We walked over to the swing set where a little boy with blonde hair and blue eyes was watching us in wonder. I got on my swing and immediately started swinging myself back and forth. I held on to the swing for dear life as I swung higher and higher. Jake got on his swing, too, and watched my face as it lit up with happiness.

"I feel like a younger version of myself right now," I confessed to Jake. "So carefree; like there are no problems in the world."

"I'm glad," he said, smiling with me.

We stayed on the swings until our butts started hurting. We joked around that we were getting old because we couldn't stay on a swing for more than an hour.

"Well how old does that make us?" I asked him.

"Hm, well, I've got to be at least thirty," he informed me. "You are about twenty-three."

"Twenty three?!" I exclaimed. "How in the world does that work out?"

"Well, you're really short, so I had to bump you down a few years," he told me. "I started us both at twenty-five. I am about a foot taller than you, so I added 5 years to my age."

"But that's so unfair!" I said. "Five foot four is not short; it's completely average. It's not my fault that you're a freak."

We laughed and continued to debate our ages. Neither one of us were conceding, so we dropped it. We decided to sit on the rocks and look at the waves. Jake sat down and I layed down and put my head in his lap. He stroked my hair absently while he stared out at the waves. It was silent except for the waves, and I was insanely curious as to what he was thinking.

"What are you thinking?" I asked him, unable to hide the curiousity in my voice.

"I'm thinking about how I got so damn lucky," he told me. "I've never been a lucky person and yet, somehow, I managed to get you. What is it about me that you like so much?"

Part of me wondered where that all came from, but I focused more on answering his question. "Well, I like that you've always been there for me - since we were little. I like that you accept who I am and don't try to change me. I like that I'm always in a good mood when I see you, because you make me happy. And it doesn't hurt that you're sort of beautiful, too."

Without warning, Jake adjusted me so that I was facing him and he kissed me. We kept our eyes opened, and I could see that he was trying to communicate something with his eyes. I decided to ignore it and keep kissing him; I really liked kissing him. We broke away after a while, panting.

"You have no idea what that means to me," he told me once his breathing steadied.

"We should probably head back soon," I said while looking at the sky. Somehow, it was starting to get dark.

"Yeah, Billy and Charlie are probably worried about us," he said.

We both got up and stretched hugely. I was sure that we looked stupid; I felt stupid. But that feeling went away when he grabbed my hand. We walked back to his house where Billy and Charlie were sitting and talking.

"It's about time you kids got back," Charlie said. "We were getting worried about you."

"Sorry, Dad," I said. "We just lost track of time at the beach."

"Well next time, tell us before you go," Charlie told me. "We didn't know where you were."

"Sorry," we said in unison.

"Well, let's get going, Bells," Charlie said. "You've got a big day tomorrow."

"Ugh, please don't remind me," I begged him. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep if I thought about that.

I hugged Jake goodbye and we left his house. We got in the cruiser and waved to Jake and Billy as we pulled out of their driveway. We drove home silently, both of our minds preoccupied. We pulled into our driveway and got out.

"I'm heading to bed," I told Charlie. I felt exhausted.

"Okay, good night, Bella," he said.

"Good night, Dad," I replied.

I went upstairs and changed into a large t-shirt and pj bottoms. They weren't the most attractive things, but they were really comfortable, and it wasn't like anybody but me or Charlie were going to see them. I got in my bed and squirmed around until I found a comfortable position. I let my mind wander to how strange yet wonderful today was. I was actually excited to see the Cullens tomorrow, even though their brother was driving me insane with curiousity.

It didn't take me long to succumb to sleep.