I do not own Twilight or any of the associated characters.
CHAPTER 1: One Step at a Time
"Do you need any help with getting unpacked?"
I looked over at where Charlie was standing awkwardly in the doorway and chuckled a little.
"No, that's alright Dad. I've got it."
He nodded and hooked his thumbs in his front belt loops. "Alrighty then, I'll go get started on dinner." A hand reached out to ruffle my hair affectionately, and then he was off.
Alone now, my fingers nervously twisted into the hem of my shirt as I sank to the floor in front of my bed and tried to focus on breathing normally. Charlie and I had just finished unloading the cruiser of all my belongings, bringing them all up to the room I'd always had here in Forks.
It was slowly sinking in that I was actually away from Phoenix- and, more importantly, the people in Phoenix- with a new beginning ahead. Waves of indescribable relief trickled through me, and it was enough to bring tears to my eyes.
No more after school jobs to ensure the bills were paid on time because Renee spent all the money on her latest fad; no more going hungry in the morning before school because Renee didn't go grocery shopping. No more parenting my own mother.
No more of mom's sleazy boyfriends, either.
Phil was alright, I thought to myself as I closed my eyes and tilted my head back against the mattress. And really, I hope they work out. He seems like a good influence for her. But I couldn't do it anymore- I couldn't be my mother's keeper and her dutiful daughter all in one. Especially when she never gave anything back, never listened to my concerns.
So I decided to move here to Forks, just before the start of my junior year. Peaceful, sleepy Forks, with my steady, down-to-earth father who didn't need me to do everything from laundry to sending out the checks for the bills. My father, who'd seen my distress over his annual summer visit- the bruise-like shadows under my eyes, the weight I'd lost- and practically begged me to let him in, to let him help.
I hadn't wanted to at first. I'd spent most of my sixteen years looking after myself- and Renee - and just wasn't accustomed to accepting anyone's help. But at that moment, seeing the desperate concern on Charlie's face, I realized I didn't have to do it alone. And- dark eyes haunting me from across the room, Renee dismissing my concerns- nor did I want to.
It had not been an easy fight to win, and ultimately took a visit to court for Renee to let me go, but I was here. School started in a few days, and honestly, that was the biggest cause for my anxiety. I'd never really had any friends since the summers spent here visiting the reservation; school in Phoenix mainly meant pretending I couldn't hear the rumors about my mother sleeping with my math teacher, or the snarky comments about my second-hand clothes.
It's not the same here, I told myself sternly, forcing myself up off the floor to start unpacking. It was hard for me to be optimistic by nature, but I'd traded the sun I loved for the freedom and care I needed- and at this point, anything was better for me than Phoenix.
Later, I tentatively walked down the stairs, drawn by the smell of food. Charlie was standing at the stove cooking, and flashed me a smile as I came in the room.
"All done, Bells?" he said, cheerfully flipping a steak in the pan. Wedged into the back corner of the small counter top was a recipe book, open to a page on baking potatoes. A small smile pulled at the corner of my lips.
"Mostly, yeah," I said. "But, um," I bit my lip, not wanting to bring this up so soon after I'd arrived. Charlie quirked an eyebrow up at me, waiting, now reaching to stir a pot of something on the stove while the steaks sizzled in the pan.
"I think I need to go to the store for more winter and rain gear," I finally said slowly, gauging his reaction. "I don't have as much as I thought I did, sorry."
But Charlie merely nodded his head, unsurprised. "I'd figured as much, you did live in the desert, Bells," he laughed. "You okay to go tomorrow? I took off a few days while you get adjusted." An egg timer went off and he reached down to click off the oven, pulling an oven mitt over one hand.
A lump formed in my throat; that was already more than Renee had ever done for me. "You didn't have to do that, dad," I whispered, overcome, intently studying the table top.
It was quiet for a moment as he pulled the pan of baked potatoes out of the oven and then switched off the stove eyes. I heard him pull the other chair closer to me and sit down. His hands reached over to cover mine.
"Look at me Bells," he said gruffly, waiting patiently until I met his eyes. "One thing I need you to understand, is that life with me will be very different from how your mother treated you. You are not an inconvenience, or a burden. I love you, Bella, and I'm so happy to have you here where I can look after you."
The short speech was emotional and choked up, but uncharacteristically direct from my normally restrained father. Charlie and I were a lot alike that way, rarely showing our hearts on our sleeves, uncomfortable with displays of affection. But that shared aspect of our personality only meant we loved deeply and it made moments like this all the more cherished. It really wasn't a surprise I started crying, biting my lip to keep from actually sobbing while Charlie wrapped me up in the best hug I'd ever had.
I'd barely been in Forks for a day, and already I felt more loved than the last six years combined with Renee. The woman had never been deliberately cruel, and while she did love me in her own way, her priority in life had always been a good time.
That didn't usually include seeing to all the "mundane" needs of her only daughter. And that neglect, I knew, had done a number to my self-worth that I might never recover from.
But here, in this bright yellow cozy kitchen, with Charlie trying to discreetly dab at the shine in his own eyes, Renee and Phoenix might as well have been a world away.
I pulled away from him, and watched him get up and start plating the food. "Thanks dad. I'll try to remember that, it's just going to take some getting used to, you know?"
"I know Bella. It'll take some time for me to get used to sharing the house again too, but it's something I'm looking forward to learning."
I smiled. "Me too."
And so passed my first night in this dreary small town. Charlie got me caught up on all the goings-on of people I barely remembered while we ate- the Blacks up in La Push, his friends down at the station. Afterward, we shared dish duty since there wasn't a dishwasher, and spent the rest of the night on the couch watching TV.
By the time I called it a night and dragged my feet up the stairs to bed, I was cautiously optimistic. Only time would tell, but maybe living with Charlie actually would be different from my time with Renee.
The next day saw the two of us rearranging the furniture in my bedroom so I could fit in a bookshelf. For the time being, my many books would remain boxed up until we could arrange to borrow a truck and pick one up from the second-hand store in town. Charlie was suspiciously evasive, mentioning swinging by the reservation on our way back from clothes shopping to see about borrowing Billy Black's old Chevy for the task.
In the end, we tucked my twin sized bed into the back left corner, leaving the desk to take up the wall across from it, to the left of the door. A small chest of drawers bracketed the other side of the door, right next to the small closet. The rocking chair from my baby days remained in the other corner, opposite the bed and next to the closet. I'd decided to eventually place my bookcase in that corner and turn it into a little reading nook.
Thankfully the large window looking out over the lawn let in as much light as was possible for a typically rainy Forks day.
Making the trip to Newton's Olympic Outfitters for my winter and rain gear honestly wasn't ideal for me, especially being in the cruiser, but neither of us wanted to make the trip to Port Angeles that afternoon, and options were limited in Forks. Charlie insisted that quality was key, and they'd find the most long-lasting things there.
Walking inside, Charlie waved at the blonde woman by the register and started leading me to the women's clothing section. Nearby, a boy around my age with spiky blonde hair elbowed his friend and the two stared after me as we walked by.
The looks on their faces reminded me of another pair of eyes trailing my every step, and my lungs suddenly constricted with anxiety. I purposefully ignored them and shoved my hands deeper into my jacket pockets. But now all I could feel was an itch between my shoulder blades, paranoia insisting that I was still being watched.
The store wasn't overly populated, but it seemed like everyone recognized their police chief, and their curiosity about the small brunette girl shadowing him meant they stared after us. Which meant my paranoia was skyrocketing with every second; I just wanted to vanish between the clothing racks. Instead, I made a concerted effort to control my breathing and keep the panic off my face.
The stares don't mean anything, I told myself repeatedly, nauseous. It was getting harder not think- about Phoenix, about my mother, about what happened last spring.
"Now Bells," Charlie started, jerking me back into the present. "You get yourself enough warm shirts and thermals to last a week or more. You'll need a good rain jacket, maybe a couple of hoodies, and a thick winter coat too. It gets a mite colder here than in Arizona."
He winked at me, and I sent him a shaky grin back. "That's not going to be too much…?"
"Don't you worry about that," he said sternly. "I've got plenty; it's one of the upsides of spending all my free time fishing."
I had to laugh at that, and set to browsing while he went off to get a buggy and grab some hats and gloves for me.
Honestly the options weren't so bad. I was already a jeans and T-shirt kind of gal, so tossing a myriad of flannels over top that was fine by me. +I grabbed several in a variety of colors- purples and blues and greens, along with the standard black, reds, and navy. The thermal shirts went faster as I just grabbed several in my size of a few colors. I didn't need to worry about sweaters, since I already had several.
By now my arms were getting full, and I still needed to get jackets. I wanted to get this done as quick as possible. Craning my neck and stretching up to my tiptoes, I slowly spun, looking for Charlie with the buggy. Not seeing him immediately, I smiled wryly. He probably got distracted by the fishing supplies-
The blonde boy was staring at me from a couple aisles over. He'd followed me over here. Irrational panic hitched my breath, even as I pretended not to see him and walked in the other direction. Logically, I knew he likely meant me no harm; I was the oddity, the new girl in town. There was bound to be interest. It didn't help the spike of nerves.
(Opening the bathroom door to a tall figure leaning smugly against the opposite wall; fingers trailing sickeningly across my back as he passed me; the bedroom door creaking open at night-)
I took a turn around the corner of one aisle too quick and my feet stuttered and tripped on the tile. In the next second I was falling to the ground, bracing for impact, the shirts exploding out of my arms.
Suddenly two muscular arms, rock hard, were wrapped around my shoulder and waist, holding me up. My hands automatically grasped them to help steady myself.
"Woah there, darlin'. You alright?"
I lifted my head and stared into the most beautiful face I'd ever seen. Amber eyes set into a pale, roguishly handsome face; soft, honey-blond curls framed his strong jawline and ended just above his collar. Perfect, pale pouty lips with a dimpled chin.
"Er- yes, sorry," I stammered, flushing instantly. "Thank you for catching me." Slowly, so I wouldn't trip all over again, I pulled out of his arms, trying to subtly blink away the dazzled feeling I had. He let me go, hands hovering for a moment to make sure I was steady, before pulling away completely. I knelt down to start picking up my clothes, and to my surprise he leant down to help too.
"You're welcome," he said, and this time I caught the slight southern lilt to his words. It was musical. He handed me the shirts he had, and then grasped my elbow as we stood back up, retreating as soon as I was steady. I craned my neck, just realizing he stood almost a foot taller than I. "Is everything alright? You took that corner pretty fast."
Footsteps behind me cut me off before I could think of an excuse, and I felt my nerves spike reactively. Amber eyes narrowed a fraction and then darted to the person coming up behind me.
"Hey, there, you alright? That looked like it hurt!"
It was the blond boy. I could see now that he had on a blue employee's vest, with a name tag that read "MIKE" on his right breast. Mike's hand came up to my shoulder, and I unconsciously took a step out of his reach, closer to the handsome stranger. I felt my smile become fixed on my face.
"I'm fine, thanks." Out of the corner of my I saw the stranger take half a step closer to me, and I turned to face him. "Thanks again for the help, but I've got to go look for my dad."
Mike cut in before the other boy could respond, and my heart jumped into my throat in panic. "You're Isabella Swan, right? The Chief's daughter? I can help you find him-"
"Actually," my savior said coolly, "I just saw him a couple aisles over. I could show you, ma'am, and that way you can get back to work, Mike. We wouldn't want to take up your time." He arched an eyebrow, and Mike immediately pursed his lips, unhappy. I jumped at the opportunity though, eager to get away.
"That would be great, thanks, um-" I paused, realizing I didn't know his name.
"Jasper," he supplied, amused.
"Jasper, then. I'm Bella." I gestured ahead of us. "Lead the way."
He did, and I didn't spare a single glance back at Mike as I followed him. With every step it seemed my anxiety was draining away. My embarrassed flush cooled too, and I could breathe much easier.
"Thank you," I whispered, once we were out of earshot.
"You're welcome, again." Jasper glanced back over his shoulder as we walked into the sporting goods section. "Did he do something to you? You looked 'bout ready to jump out of your skin."
I bit my lip. "Honestly, not really. He just…" I trailed off, trying to find the words to explain it without making me seem crazy. "He made me uncomfortable, the way he was staring and seemed to be trailing me. But I probably just overreacted."
He looked at me for a moment. "It's always better to listen to your gut than not, I find, so I wouldn't feel too bad about it."
I smiled up at him. We rounded another aisle, and there was my father, talking to a dark-haired older teen who was built like a linebacker. Jasper chuckled next to me as we got closer.
"That's my brother, Emmett," he said. "He likes to debate sports with your dad when he sees him- no one in our family is as interested in it as him." I laughed.
"Bells!" Charlie called, catching sight of us. "I'm sorry, honey, I got completely distracted."
"It's alright dad," I said, dumping my picks in the basket. "I've still got to go get the jackets but I ran out of arm room."
"Hi there," the brunette, Emmett, said, sticking out a hand. "I'm Emmett Cullen." His eyes were amber too, a few shades darker than his brother's.
"Bella," I said, shaking his hand; it was shockingly cold.
"You buying a whole new wardrobe or something?" He asked teasingly, a bright grin on his face. I couldn't help but smile back.
"Yeah," I laughed. "My Arizona-winter wardrobe doesn't quite cut it for Washington."
Emmett chuckled and even Jasper seemed amused. "So you're moving here from Arizona, then?" Jasper asked. "What year are you going into?"
"Junior year," I said. I cocked my head, realizing the two were close` to my age. "What about you two?"
"I'm a senior," Emmett said at the same time Jasper said "Junior."
"Well maybe you'll have some classes with one of them, Bells," Charlie said, nudging me with his elbow, before he looked back at the two boys. "You two have two other siblings in junior year too, right? And that Rose-girl is a senior?"
"Rosalie," Emmett said, nodding. "Edward and Alice are juniors too, yeah, so you might have classes with them."
The four of us chatted on for another minute, mostly the friendly Emmett and Charlie finishing up their conversation about last week's basketball game. Then the brothers were heading off in one direction, and us back to the women's section for the last of the shopping.
Strangely, I'd felt pretty relaxed through the whole thing. But as we got further away, it seemed my anxiety started seeping back in- not nearly as bad as before, though, so I just tried to focus on picking out the things I needed. It was easier without that employee hanging around.
We finished up quickly, and as we were loading my purchases into the cruiser, I caught sight of the two brothers walking over to a Jeep. Jasper was already looking this way, and smiled at me when our eyes caught. I smiled back, suddenly flustered. I turned to get into the cruiser too quick and tripped again, catching myself against the door, face burning. Out of the corner of my eye, I could have sworn I saw him laugh as I crawled into the passenger seat.
Charlie chuckled at my clumsiness, and then we were off, heading over to the res.
Riding in the cruiser slowed down all the traffic on the way there, and reminded me why I wanted to find a car for myself as soon as possible.
"So Dad," I started, "Have you heard anything yet about any cars for sale?"
I saw him eyeing me out of his peripherals. "Well, it's funny you should ask, Bells."
"Why?" I asked, suspicious.
"As it happens, Billy is trying to get rid of his old Chevy I told you about. He's in a wheelchair now, and his son Jacob doesn't want it, so he's offered to sell it to me for cheap." He paused, and when I didn't respond, he carried on.
"Now, it is an older truck- early sixties or late fifties- but Billy rebuilt the engine a few years ago, so it runs just fine, you shouldn't have any problems."
"How cheap is it?" I asked, thinking about the money I'd saved, stashed between my mattress back at the house.
"Well," Charlie paused, all of a sudden looking even more uncomfortable as we drove on to the res. "I, uh, already bought it for you. As a welcome home gift."
I looked down at my hands, deeply touched. I wasn't used to someone so thoughtful about my needs. "Thank you, dad. I'm sure I'll love it."
"You're more than welcome, Bells."
The rest of the drive was quiet, and as we pulled up to the Black's place, I caught sight of the Chevy. Immediately, surprisingly, I loved everything about it- from the bulbous, rounded front and cab, to it's faded, rusty red color.
"Wow, Dad! It's great!" I smiled and jumped out of the cruiser, heading over to peer in the cab window.
A deep laugh brought my attention to the home's front door. An older man, roughly around Charlie's age sat in a wheelchair in the doorway. His russet skin had deep-set wrinkles and laugh lines. His eyes twinkled beneath his brow.
"Charlie was quite worried you wouldn't like it, Bella," Billy Black said. He leant forward, resting his weight on the chair's arms. "But I told him you'd like anything better than driving around in the sheriff's cruiser."
I chuckled, flushing, and looked over at Charlie sheepishly. That was exactly why I'd wanted my own ride around town. Charlie laughed it off.
"I would have felt the same way as a kid," he said wryly. "How's it hanging, Billy? You remember Billy, don't you Bells?"
I greeted Billy softly and thanked him and Charlie for the truck again. The two men got to chatting about their fishing plans next week, and I took a closer look at the truck, running my hands over the rusted metal and smiling to myself. The thing looked durable, solid- which made me feel much more comfortable about driving it. I did, however, mourn how quickly my savings were going to disappear gassing this up.
Eventually, I wondered over to the two men as their conversation wound to a close. Billy fished a set of keys out of his shirt pocket and tossed them to me with a grin.
"You shouldn't have any problems with it, but if you do, bring it up here for Jake to look at," Billy said. "That boy basically built the engine himself."
I laughed. "I will then, thanks."
Charlie looked up at the sky where the sun was starting to set. "Alright Bells, time to load up, or we won't make that second hand store on the way home."
I grinned and speed-walked over to the truck, hopping in and excitedly jamming my key into the ignition. The engine ignited with a roar that made me jump, and I followed Charlie back to Forks.
It only took a few minutes to stop at the store and pick out on of the few bookcases they had, but longer to load it into the truck bed. By the time Charlie and I got the thing upstairs to my room, I was more exhausted than I had been in a while- happier, too.
Charlie called out for pizza and we spent the rest of the night setting up the bookcase and organizing my shelves, him teasing me over the wide variety of books I had. I couldn't remember the last time I had such a good time, with Renee or any one else.
I hadn't realized how desperate for positive interactions I was. And the fact that it was with Charlie, my father, made my chest feel light with happiness. Life was already so different, so much better with him than it was in Phoenix- I couldn't believe it. Nor could I help but worry that it was only this way because of how new the whole situation was for us. But that night I fell asleep with a smile on my face, hope in my chest, and listening to the sound of rain drizzling outside.
It's been a long time since I've written anything, and this is honestly the first I've been inspired or confident enough to do so in a while. This is just for fun, but if any of you like it or have any constructive criticisms, feel free to drop a comment below.
-I.C.