Dinner had Natalia working to put on a better show with Charlie than she had to with Jacob. Charlie grabbed his food and made to head to the couch before pausing at the end of the dinner table. He put down his plate, grabbed his beer from beside the couch, and came to sit across from Natalia. Awkward silence stretched between them as they ate, the only noise other than their cutlery being the tv which was still on some game.

She noticed that there was always mindless noise in this world, while there was silence at the table nothing was ever truly silent here. Something was always humming, whirring, or otherwise making sounds big and small. It was beginning to get grating, if only just a little.

"So," Charlie cleared his throat, "how was La Push."

"Good, Dad, just needed some air."

The 'silence' was heavy around Natalia. This was par for the course for Bella but back home meals together were always boisterous in some way. While there was noise here it was so impersonal. Back home someone was always sharing a story or a joke or just something, anything more than stilted silence especially when it was family eating together. Natalia needed to find a way to slowly act like Bella was coming out of her shell for her own sanity. She prayed that if she was in Natalia's body her family would actually bring her out of her shell before she came back.

"I talked with Jacob Black a bit." She hoped that was short enough to be authentic; she was going crazy with the silence.

Charlie grunted, "he's a good kid."

Silence. Again. Natalia was getting fidgety.

"Bells." He took a deep breath. Natalia was just happy he was going to say anything but hid it as best as she could.

"I won't get mad," he paused to collect his words. "Why were you so deep in the forest yesterday?"

Oh right that. Well shit what was she supposed to say. If only the truth didn't sound batshit insane.

"Edward and I had gone for a walk to talk about...stuff." Smooth, real smooth, real convincing he's definitely going to let things go now.

"Bells if he hurt you, you can tell me."

"He didn't Dad, not physically I promise. He just said some hurtful things and I got upset and lost. That's all."

"How could he be so careless leaving you in the woods like that? When I get my hands-"

"Dad please," Natalia wrapped her arms around her torso and feigned heartache as best as she could. "It's done now he's gone. Please just forget about it."

Charlie's mouth set into a line. He didn't like it but he accepted it. They both went back to eating dinner quietly. She probably used more words than Bella usually did but Natalia felt like Charlie deserved some sort of explanation.

When he got up he gave her a quick side hug before going back to his game. Natalia headed up to her room to get a start on her meditating. With the setting of the sun she could feel the faint call to the hunt come back and she wanted to utilise it.

Getting through Bella's night routine quickly she turned out the lights and sat on the floor in the middle of Bella's room. Clearing her mind, she focused on only the faint call of the hunt. She spent a long time simply trying to pull the call from the back of her mind to the front. Very very slowly she felt restlessness start to spread. Not nearly as strong as in her own body with beast blood, but it was a surge of power nonetheless. Her arm began to itch which she attempted to ignore. When she went to scratch it however all her attention was turned to the bite she only just noticed on her arm.

"The fire! Someone stop the fire!"

"Carlisle! Her hand!"

"He bit her."

Bella had been bit by a vampire. Natalia couldn't stop staring at the bite, stroking it and taking note of the texture difference between her unmarred skin and the bite. There was a small amount of venom still in the bite. It had hardened it and made it cold but hadn't spread.

Bella's heart ached a little and then it clicked. The bite! Edward had marked Bella, if unintentionally, and now her body longed for him to be near because of it. Oh that stupid child how could he leave her with this? Over a century under his belt surely he could recognize the devastation he'd leave in his wake by leaving Bella alone with his essence still in her?

Natalia mulled over the bite. Vampire venom holds magic properties back home, perhaps here it could be the same. Alteration wasn't a school of magic Natalia specialised in but she didn't have many other options. Maybe if she could use the venom somehow she could get her powers back and break the hold Edward had on Bella's body. She spent the rest of the night trying to feel anything coming from the bite.

The next day Natalia woke up ecstatic and ready to take on a new day. She absorbed all the wonders of this world as she got ready for her Saturday shift at Newton's. Electricity, the shower, all the kitchen amenities, Natalia took in everything she couldn't appreciate the days before. Her small success had her revelling to herself all morning.

"Look at you huh, you're alive!" Mike said dramatically as Natalia walked into Newton's store.

"I'm alive." Natalia wasn't actually sure if Bella was alive but she didn't dwell on it.

"You know I never liked you and Edward, he always looked at you like you're something to eat."

Mike continued to ramble about his dislike of Edward. She found her joy only slightly strained by him. He was a nice boy, very sweet to Bella. No doubt extra sweet because of Bella's new dating status. Like a golden retriever, after pulling on the memory of what a golden retriever is Natalia had to agree. She amended her earlier thoughts about Jacob being like Hjoromir, Mike definitely beat him out with his eager personality. Only instead of licking adventurer's boots for the chance to go with them, Mike was licking Bella's boots at the chance of dating her.

Mike followed behind Natalia as she stocked shelves and put pricing labels on. He was supposed to be manning the counter but with an empty store he decided to continue their conversation instead. Mostly he rambled on about things like bio homework being unfair and mindless chatter about friends, happy to hold the conversation as Natalia remained mostly silent. She was starting to zone out.

"-with me?"

"Huh?" Natalia looked at him confused before realising she had zoned out completely. She offered a sheepish apology, one that'd hopefully make Bella proud.

"I asked if you wanna see a movie on Friday, with me."

Natalia raised an eyebrow, "like a date?" She met his eyes and hoped her implication was clear.

"N-no of course not I meant we'll invite the whole group I was just asking you now since you're here and we're on shift together ya know? Definitely not a date that'd be way too soon. I'm not trying to be a rebound obviously." Mike was very visibly flustered at the end of his ramblings. "I'm going to go man the counter. I think I heard someone come in."

No one had come into the store, they were still alone. Natalia worried her look had been too harsh to be something Bella would do. Oh well what's done is done she'd just have to hope he didn't think it was so weird that he stops being Bella's friend or something. She really hoped this hadn't already made a mess Bella would have to clean when she got back.

Eventually Mike warmed back up and was chatting like nothing happened. The rest of the shift passed by amicably.

Mike turned the sign on the door from open to closed. "So about that movie-"

Natalia folded Bella's vest and put it under the counter. "Why don't we talk about it at lunch on Monday, with everyone." She tried very hard to be softer this time and it seemed to work.

Mike nodded, "sounds good. See you later Arizona."

Mike was born in California, "back at you, California." Natalia said playfully and then immediately hoped she wasn't over compensating for her earlier harshness.

Mike beamed as Natalia left the shop and headed home. She is relieved when she finds that Charlie is on a late shift that night and she'll have the house to herself. She immediately sets out a plate of food for Charlie to reheat, wolfs down her own dinner, and then gets to work training her temporary body. She couldn't stand feeling so weak and small and was going to change that asap.

When she was spent physically she sat at Bella's desk and made a tentative gameplan. Everyday she would find time to exercise and start eating more to build muscle mass. Every night would be spent meditating, serving the dual purpose of working on calling her magic back to her and calming her after a day of pretending to be Bella. She had no plans for how to return home and spent a moment quietly missing her family.

The key to getting back home just had to be in getting her Magicka back to a decent level. With a strong resolve she took up the same position she had the night before and began to meditate.