Just so everyone knows, we've got roughly 14 (including this one) chapters to go until we hit January 2005 and Bella arrives in Forks when things will pick up as they say. If all goes to plan, that'll be 2 weeks away!

Chapter 9 - Forks, January 2004

Carys locked her car and crossed the small driveway to Sarah's house about an hour after arriving back in Forks and getting ready for the small party Sarah was throwing just after the new year. She was about to knock when the door was flung open and she just had time to register her friend was wearing a black bodycon dress completely unsuited to the outside temperature before a steaming cup of hot cider was thrust into her hands.

"Well, thanks!"

"You can get your car tomorrow, but you're not driving tonight!" Sarah announced with a grin Carys took to mean she'd already had one or two of the drinks herself. "Come in and I'll introduce you to everyone!"

Carys laughed as she was just allowed enough time to step inside and toe-off her shoes before Sarah took her by the arm and pulled her straight into the large lounge. All conversation stopped for a moment as Carys stood awkwardly in the doorway, still wearing her coat, and looking faintly shocked at the eight or nine people milling around. Then laughter burst from across the room and everyone joined in.

"What part of 'take the coats and don't scare the guests' don't you understand, Sarah!?" A red-headed woman complained as she crossed laughingly to Carys and grabbed her cup from her, giving her enough time to pull her coat from her arms before she returned it to her. "I'm Monica-"

"More like Moan-ica," Sarah mumbled under her breath, earning herself a long-suffering roll of the eyes.

"Mon-ica," the shorter woman repeated, and Carys felt slightly uncomfortable for a moment when Sarah grabbed her coat from her and sidled away before the woman turned a smile on her again. "You must be Carys. I'm sorry to say we started without you."

"It's nice to meet you, and it's fine - I'm sorry I'm late, my parent's flight got delayed so I didn't get back as early as I thought."

"No problem! You look great by the way."

"So do you," Carys told her, thinking she was quite underdressed in her silk camisole top, short cardigan and jeans versus the long-sleeved green dress Monica was wearing.

"Ah, thank you sweetie! Now. As Sarah's disappeared god-knows-where, let me introduce you to..." Monica turned to face the room and seemed to be making a far bigger decision than who to say hi to first. "Charlie!"

The moustached man Carys had disturbed on his way out of the diner a week and a half before stepped away from the conversation he was having when she called over to him and came across with a faintly frowning smile on his face and a beer in his hand.

"Charlie here is our Chief of Police, my boss, and a very eligible bachelor," Monica told her, leaning in and stage whispering the last. Carys couldn't hold back her laughter when the man in front of her looked more stoically resigned than happy at the title. "Charlie, Carys works with Sarah at the hospital. She's English. Have fun!"

"Well, I don't think this could get much more awkward," Charlie told her solemnly, watching as Monica left them and headed off back to join her circle. Carys smiled and stood by his side in silence as they focused on their drinks, watching the room and trying desperately to think of something to say.

She settled for "I'm Carys," after about a minute. Charlie looked down at her and then turned back, nodding slowly to himself.

"Charlie," he told her with a sigh. "Charlie Swan."

"So... Lived here long...?" Carys winced as she asked the question a few seconds later.

"All my life." Charlie nodded again, neither of them looking in each other's direction as they lapsed into silence once again. Carys looked around the room and then settled her gaze on a spot on the floor.

"I just moved to town in September..." Carys spoke, not completely sure if she was talking to him or herself.

"I know," Charlie replied before he raised his beer to his lips. "It's a small town. Sarah seems to like you."

"Yeah, she's nice."

A minute or so later, Carys didn't think she could take much more of the awkwardness and wanted nothing other than to escape. He seemed nice, but Monica's introduction and sudden departure hadn't really given them much to speak about and Charlie seemed more of the silent type, to begin with.

"I... I think I might..." Carys began, gesturing with her now half-empty cup of mulled cider. "Erm... I might go see what Sarah's up to..."

"Oh thank God," Charlie muttered quietly enough that she didn't think she was supposed to have heard it. "Well, it was nice meeting you Carys."

"Nice to meet you t- and he's gone." Carys ended the statement and swallowed a large gulp of her drink as Charlie headed quickly back to his friends.

She found Sarah in the kitchen with Richard a few minutes later, having wandered through the hallway, admiring the pictures which graced the walls. Sarah bit her lips together at the expression on Carys' face and filled her now empty glass without prompting.

"Who'd you get first? It wasn't the Yorkies, was it? They mean well, I swear, they can just be a bit intense when it comes to their son. Oh god, don't they didn't corner you about him, did they?"

"No, erm... Charlie Swan?" Carys made the statement into a question as she leaned a hip against the counter and fiddled with her hair, tucking one side back over her shoulder.

"Oh, but he's lovely!" Sarah complained, bending down to check the oven. "Don't tell me you didn't like him!"

"Yes," Carys conceded with a nod, trying to find the right words. "He's lovely, but..."

"Monica didn't tell you how single he was, did she?" Richard asked, grinning. He snorted with laughter when she nodded awkwardly.

"I just didn't know what to say! And he wasn't saying anything. And so we just stood there for ages not looking at each other, not saying anything, and wishing it was over!" Carys told them quietly, sinking down to rest her forearms and head on the kitchen counter. "It was so awkward!"

Sarah laughed and dropped her oven mitt on the side before taking another swig of her cider and shaking her head. "Oh Carys, you poor poor baby."

"What'd'you mean?" Richard asked, looking between them in confusion even as he laughed.

"I think Carys has a problem talking to good-looking men," Sarah told him with a chuckle.

"Well that doesn't bode well for me, does it?" Richard asked in a self-mocking tone.

"I can talk to you," Carys reminded him, thinking of the conversations they'd had so far.

Richard's response was to look as if she'd just thrust a knife between his ribs as he scoffed. "Well. Wow. Great."

"What happened there?" Carys asked, standing up straight to stare her confusion at Sarah when Richard hurriedly left the room.

Sarah shook her head and held her hands up as if to say 'I'm not getting into this' and went back to her drink with a smirk.

The next morning, Carys woke up with a pounding headache and thanked her lucky stars drunk-her had thought to bring a large glass of water with her to bed.

The party had been quite fun in the end and she'd stayed to help clear up a bit once most of the guests had left, earning herself a ride home from the Yorkies who apparently lived two streets away and did, in fact, have very high hopes for their son's future college and career prospects.

She liked to think she'd got on well with everyone, but she'd still been surprised at the end of the night to hear Charlie Swan had told Monica that he thought she was nice and seemed interesting. She'd been even more surprised that Richard had avoided her for half the night before pulling her off to the side and starting a long conversation with her about how much more there was to do around town once Spring came.

As she searched for the ibuprofen in her bedside table, Carys sifted through her tired and hungover brain to try and remember some of the things he'd talked about, but she honestly couldn't find much other than "great hiking trails".

She spent most of that day lazing around in bed and then on the sofa nursing her hangover. After walking across town to retrieve her car the next day, she focused on cleaning the house after she'd unpacked and organised her clothes. Though she didn't like the thought of cleaning, she tended to get quite into it once she'd started, and it amazed her how much she ended up getting done before returning to work the day after.


Carys didn't really speak to Dr Cullen again for the next few weeks though they saw each other often in passing and she'd one day dropped a note on his desk to thank him again for the coffee he'd given her at Christmas. It might have been her imagination, but she thought he seemed happier the next time she saw him.

As January passed by and she got into the proper swing of things at work and with the town, she found herself feeling homesick for her parents and spending more time sitting alone or going for drinks with Richard, Sarah, and Monica than in the company of the blonde doctor who'd begun to occupy more and more of her thoughts.

By the end of the month, she wondered if Sarah hadn't been more wrong than either of them had known when she'd suggested Carys would get over her attraction to Dr Cullen soon enough. It seemed to her that the longer she spent not getting to speak to him, the more she wanted to.

A/N: let me know what you think of the chapter and of meeting Charlie! I hope you like it and the story so far! Always thankful for a review even if it's not 100% positive! I lost a few follows etc after the last chapter, so I hope it's not as bad as that one must have been.