Thank you eeeeaud, xxFENRIRx2319xx, magicbustrip, and Nistereal for your reviews! They made it somehow easier to get through this chapter, even though it was a really strangely difficult one to write. I'll reply via PM shortly!

I'm just going to put this chapter here and slink off into the shadows. I hope everyone understands how Carys feels and no-one hates her! I apologise in advance for how bad it is. I know I've said that before, but this one really is.

Chapter 18 - Forks, Late November 2004

When Carys entered the diner that evening, she found her mum deep in conversation with Richard of all people. Amy could have become friends with a bunch of high schoolers and it would have been less awkward for her.

Not quite wanting to brave that situation just yet after spending a long afternoon with Sandra, Carys looked around for someone to 'bump' into for a few minutes. Her gaze fell on Charlie Swan just as he sat down in a booth by the window, and she almost felt sorry for him when he glanced up to find her staring at him with a pleading expression.

Having met at occasional dinners or drinks over the past year, they'd developed an... Understanding...

Understanding was a very loose term for it.

It was more of an unspoken agreement that if she was at a total loss, he would greet her so she at least had something to do for a few minutes, even if it involved standing in awkward silence as it sometimes did.

It wasn't as if they didn't get on otherwise - she liked him and she liked to think he liked her, they just hardly saw each other outside social gatherings... And those meetings were few and far between.

"Hi Charlie," Carys announced herself with as much false-cheer as she could muster whilst she slid uninvited into the booth opposite him. "Fancy seeing you here..."

Charlie sighed. He looked for a moment as if he'd rather be anywhere else until his gaze fell on the table near the back of the diner, and he sighed again. "Things still awkward with you and Richard, eh?"

"Things would be far less awkward if he wasn't sat with my mum right now," Carys replied quietly as she gripped the long strap of her bag and slid down in her chair in an effort to make herself less visible. She hadn't removed her bag or coat yet, not wanting to draw undue attention to herself. "He can't see me, can he?"

Charlie seemed to register that she'd mentioned her mum was there because he sat up straighter and stared at the back of Amy's head with a faintly amused expression.

"Don't think so. Might need to go over there soon, though."

"Why?" Carys questioned, ducking her head around the corner of the booth. Her eyes connected with her mum's. She swore under her breath and glared at Charlie as she began to slide out of her stolen seat. "Some sort-of friend you are."

Charlie raised his eyebrows and his moustache twitched as he fought a small smile. "You going to Monica's dinner next Sunday?"

Carys paused halfway out her seat, confused by the sudden change of tack. "Yes..."

"Could you fend her off for me?" He asked, staring at the ketchup bottle to the side of him.

"Why? What's she done?"

He sighed again, fiddling with the edge of his menu, and Carys grinned.

"What've you done?"

"Nothing. Just. Bells might be coming to stay." He spoke simply, referencing the daughter Carys had only heard about when he'd gone to visit her for two weeks over the summer. "Don't know yet, but Monica won't leave well enough alone. I just want a bit of peace is all." He shifted in his seat and cleared his throat, not meeting Carys' eye.

For someone who just wanted a bit of peace, Charlie seemed far too pleased with the prospect of Bella's arrival. In the moment before he shook out his menu and shielded his eyes completely, Carys wondered if she'd ever seen them quite so animated. The only time she could think of was when he'd come back from his summer trip and she'd overheard him telling a friend about how much Bella had grown since the year before.

She grinned again as she finally stood up. "I've got you, but don't pretend we don't both know how happy you are, Charlie Swan."

Carys heard Charlie's replying grunt as she headed over to her mum's table. Her smile fell when she noted her mum's gaze seemed fixated on Charlie, but at least Richard had rejoined his friends.

"You're not in trouble, are you?" Amy asked Carys in alarm as she watched her shrug her coat off and hang it over the back of her chair.

Carys met Charlie's eye as she sat down. She thought he might have been laughing at her, but she couldn't be completely sure.

"Yes, mum, I've spent the past fourteen months robbing banks and Charlie just can't pin it on me yet!" Carys shook her head and rolled her eyes with a smirk, earning herself a light swat on the shoulder. "I was just saying hello."

"Hmm..." Amy didn't sound entirely convinced that was the whole of it, but she let it go and waggled her eyebrows. "Richard seemed nice..."

Carys crossed her arms on the table and dropped her head down onto them. "He's the guy I told you about."

"Ah," Amy said, biting her lip as she glanced in Richard's direction, "and which one was that? You've told me about quite a few since you moved here. Like the doctor you completely downplayed at Ch-"

"The one who asked me out." Carys declared, horrified. She slid down in her chair as she realised she'd said that slightly too loudly, and tried to avoid Richard's gaze. She felt bad, but...

"Ah..." Amy repeated, nodding slowly as she seemed adamant not to lower her voice. "Well, you didn't tell me he was so handsome! Why did you say no? It wasn't because of the do-"

"Mum, I live here! Please!"

Amy laughed outright, bringing the attention of the rest of the diner to their table.

"Alright, I'll wait 'til we're at the house... But I know why you seemed to like him so much last Christmas. He is sexy, isn't he?"

Carys wanted the floor to swallow her whole. She covered her face with her hands and whined softly. The last thing she wanted was for her mum to announce to the entire diner that she thought someone in town was sexy, let alone Carlisle Cullen.

"Mum..." Carys lowered her hands just enough that she could see her and frowned sadly. "Please..."

Amy raised her hands in apology, then smoothed her top over her small bump.

Carys took the opportunity and dropped her hands to the table, tilting her head. "How far along are you?"

She was still upset neither her mum nor Findlay had thought to tell her about the baby, but that didn't impact her excitement at having a little sibling in her life.

"Five months," Amy related happily, smoothing her bump again. "I'm due in March!"

"March? But you didn't-"

"We wanted you to have your year here," Amy cut across, "before we told you."

"Because...?"

Carys wants sure why she was potentially making an issue of things in the middle of the diner, but she was. They were talking quietly enough now that everyone had gone back to their own meals, but it still wasn't something she'd usually do.

Actually, she did know why she was asking her there. It was so her mum couldn't have a go at her for bringing it up, and to get her off the subject of her dating life.

"Carys, it's not like that." Amy shook her head at her daughter dismissively.

Carys raised her eyebrows and sat up properly, crossing her arms on the table again as the waitress came across to take their orders.

Amy chose a turkey sandwich with extra pickles for herself and ordered a black coffee and waffles for Carys before she could say anything.

The waitress left as Amy sighed and leaned forward.

"Your grandparents need to move down south. We wanted to know what they were doing and how much you liked Forks before we talked to you."

"Why?" Carys raised her eyebrows in confusion and worry, pressing her lips together.

"Why don't we eat and then go back to the house?" Amy suggested with a wry grin. "We can have a nice night in front of the TV, and talk about this all tomorrow. And don't worry lovely, I'm not here to bring you back immediately. I'm not here to make you stay, either."

The waitress returned and Carys thanked her for her coffee before she turned back to her mum.

"I wasn't worried about that," Carys lied.

"Of course you weren't... Look, are you unhappy about the baby?"

"No! No, I'm happy! I'm so happy!" Carys pushed herself forward, her expression crumbling as she grabbed her mum's hand. That was the last thing she wanted her to think.

"So your problem is that we didn't tell you," Amy squeezed Carys' hand as she stared knowingly into her eyes, "not that you think we want you to come home. Not that you think we don't want you to come back either, and definitely not because you're upset about your sister. Stop overthinking things lovely."

Carys' whole demeanour changed in an instant. She wasn't entirely sure if you were supposed to jump around a table and hug a pregnant woman around the shoulders quite as tightly as she did, or do so as you squealed in her ear about having a sister, but her mum didn't seem to mind.


"I told you the sofa was a bad idea," Amy announced, shaking Carys awake the next day.

Carys groaned, rubbing her neck as she tried to shift enough to sit up. Her calves hurt from a night spent with her legs dangling over the arm of the small sofa, and she didn't think her neck would forgive her for the angle she'd forced it into as she slept.

"You're growing a human in you, the least I can do is stop you from being squidged up like the baby!" Carys waved an arm and cried out as she tried and failed to move. She smiled briefly as her mum took pity on her, moving her legs to the floor and pulling her up, despite the pained noise that ripped from the back of her throat.

Amy eased herself into the seat beside Carys and sat back a little, forcing her daughter to turn her entire body in an effort to see her.

Carys didn't think it was entirely fair that Amy found the situation so amusing, especially as she was having to cup the side of her neck to stop it from hurting so much.

"Why're you up so early?"

"It's 10.30, Carys."

Carys raised her eyebrows and blinked slowly her mother before she repeated herself. "So... Why're you up so early?"

"It's Saturday," Amy laughed, plumping the pillow behind her back. She had to cut over Carys when she started to repeat herself again, "and I thought you promised Monica on the phone last night that we'd be at her house for 12?"

"Oh... Shit, yeah." Carys had forgotten. One thing she hadn't forgotten, though, was the conversation she was supposed to be having with her mother. She groaned and gripped the side of her neck as she settled back against the sofa. "So what's going on? With... Everything...?"

"Ah, yes, that..." Amy sighed, her lips twitching as if she was fighting off a smile. "Well... Findlay just got a big promotion at work. With the baby and his parents and everything, we wanted to wait until it was confirmed before we told you about any of it..."

"So...?" Carys prompted when Amy fell silent.

"So... We're moving! We're buying a house!"

Carys squealed, and then shrieked when her neck pulled. "That's amazing! Congratulations! Where is it!? London or Surrey!?"

"California!"

"What?" Carys stared in shock, stopping midway through an excited flap of her free hand.

Amy didn't seem to notice as she continued. "Findlay's talking to his parents about coming down with us, getting a place nearby so they can see their granddaughter as often as they want. The rub of it all..."

"Yes...?"

"We kind of need to sell the house."

Carys felt as if the rug had been pulled from under her.

"I... You're... Oh."

"Not immediately!" Amy continued, her hands flitting about her, showing her excitement as Carys had moments before. "Findlay's work's paying for all the relocation costs, and a place for us to stay for the first year and a half-" She took a breath and nodded. "-but yeah, we're going to need to sell."

"When?"

"We'll probably put it on the market around Christmas next year? The stress of moving and selling at the same time wouldn't be great for me or the baby."

"So. a year?" Carys confirmed quietly, smiling as she tried to emulate her mum's excitement.

"A year, just like we planned. Then... Maybe you'd like to come live with us again for a bit before you go back to London? Things are cheaper where we're looking, we reckon if we get a good price for this place we could get a four-bedroom!"


Six hours later, Carys waved goodbye to her mum with a grin that fell as soon as she drove out of sight.

Amy had loved Monica and Sarah after their lunch almost as much as they loved her, and Carys had spent the whole time smiling until her cheeks hurt to pretend she wasn't trying not to cry.

By the time they left their house, Amy had two new best friends, the promise that she'd be kept updated as to any new goings-on in Forks, and the additional promise that she'd be the first to hear if Dr Carlisle Cullen ever did get a girlfriend.

Carys left with a newfound respect for her own acting abilities, and a sense of sadness which was only compounded by seeing her friends.

She felt horrible to think it, but she loved Forks. She loved the life she'd made for herself there. Yes, she already loved her baby sister, and yes, she was incredibly happy for her parents...

But that didn't change the fact that when her parents managed to sell the house, she wanted - no, needed - to stay.

A/N: Don't know why, but it was really difficult to write this one, and it went through about four rewrites. So... We're just going to collectively ignore any skips or glossed over conversations, and the fact there's not really much Sarah and Monica time after all, and no Carlisle time, because it just couldn't come to me after that. Sarah and Monica will be back next chapter for their Christmas party so we can see them then, and there'll definitely be Carlisle time which I'm 100% sure everyone will like.