Beacon Hills, California. Everyone would expect it to be warm, sunny, have beaches filled with surfers and bikini babes, but it was anything but that. Beacon Hills was no L.A. It was in fact so much like Forks, Washington. It had a constant overcast, was always cold and damp, and it rained ninety percent of the time. It was part of the lower part of Northern California. It wasn't a place one would think Bella Swan would venture to, but despite the cold and the miserable sky, she had loved spending every holiday there. The town itself was nice, the weather was less than desirable, but it was the family that resided there that Bella loved. Her aunt Claudia, Uncle Noah, and her cousin Stiles lived there. She used to look forward to visiting. She'd spend every summer with her dad and every vacation and holiday with her aunt and uncle. But just like her dad it eventually stopped. She stopped visiting Beacon Hills, stopped spending time with her family there. She had been so close to her cousin, who was more of a brother than a cousin. The two were so different. He was spastic, energetic, outgoing, loud. She was always so quiet, reserved, distant. They balanced each other out. They also shared the same paternal instincts, the need to look after their parents as if they were the children.

Bella had dealt with a lot this past year. She expected her uncle and cousin to not respond with her request to live with them. It had been years since she had last seen them, but they welcomed her with open arms as if no time had passed. She could remember the exact moment she had stopped visiting. It was around the time Claudia died. It had been so hard on them all. Noah shut himself off from everyone and it left Stiles to take his mother's place. It was Stiles that cleaned, cooked, and looked after his father. He became the parent. Bella tried to spend time with them, to help them, but it was so hard to see a once so happy family all but fall apart. Claudia had been her mother's sister, Noah was only her uncle by marriage, but she had loved her uncle dearly. To see him drowning in such grief had been heartbreaking, so she stayed away.

She was glad to be coming back here. She needed to get away from Forks. Get away from all the reminders and she knew she couldn't move down to Florida with her mom and Phil. She loved them to death, but they wouldn't have understood and Bella couldn't go back to the way things used to be. She needed a fresh start. Her uncle offered that.

Now, standing in the bedroom that she had always used when she visited, she finally felt somewhat like herself. "We repainted the walls." Stiles tells her, practically bouncing from beside her. The walls were a pale orange like a sunset with a tint of peach mixed in. The furniture was all black. There was a desk, a vanity desk with a matching stool with a cream cushion on it, a dresser, a big bookshelf, a nice window seat with a cream colored cushion, and a queen sized bed with cast iron head and footboard. The sheets were a dark orange and the quilt had multiple shades of orange and yellow striped on it with birds and flowers on it. The different shades of oranges didn't clash together, but, in fact, molded well together. There was also an oversized comfy armchair tucked in the corner with a matching oversized footstool. The chair was a dark orange, but like the other shades of orange it all just seems to go well together.

The curtains were a pretty beige color with a black bird sitting on a branch of berries on them. The closet was huge and a walk-in. There was also a bathroom that connected to her bedroom. The floors were a honey colored wood. The room was big and beautiful. The colors were bright, reminding her so much of a beautiful sunset. "I love it. Thank you." She tells Stiles, causing her cousin to beam at her.

The two looked a lot alike. They both had dark brown hair, his being buzzed short and hers now almost half way down her back, and they both had that same dark unique brown colored eyes. They were both pasty pale, but Stiles was covered in moles, while Bella's skin was flawless. While Stiles was thin and lanky, Bella was more slender and willowy with gentle curves. They both were a bit of a klutz, but Stiles didn't care about making a fool of himself, he just went with it. Bella always envied Stiles for that, his ability to just roll with whatever issue he was dealt, she hated being the center of attention.

"You must be hungry. How about you unpack and I'll go make us some dinner? Dad should be home soon."

"Okay." Bella smiles at her cousin. He shared her love for cooking. They both took the responsibility to look after their parents regardless of the stress it sometimes causes them. They were caretakers through and through. Now that Bella was here though, she was going to help Stiles. She wasn't about to let him put the entire responsibility of his father on himself. She was going to do her part. "But I'm cooking for us tomorrow night."

"Deal." Stiles says before walking out of the room. Bella didn't pack much. She took all the clothes she came to Forks with, leaving behind everything that Alice had once bought her. She hung her clothes up in the closet and placed the few pairs of shoes she owned beneath the racks, the closet looked pretty empty due to her small wardrobe. Bella had picture frames filled with family photos that she put on top of her dresser, but all photos of her friends or the Cullens from Forks were gone. The only person from Forks outside of her family that she kept was Angela. Angela was and always will be the only true friend Bella has from Forks. Bella put a nice picture of the two of them dead center of her dresser.

She put her laptop on her desk, plugging it in to charge, doing the same to her phone and putting it on her nightstand by her bed. She put her backpack filled with school supplies beside her desk on the floor and places her empty bags on the shelf above her clothes in her closet.

Unpacking didn't take long with how little she had. She was done in less than forty-five minutes. She decided to take a quick shower before returning to Stiles downstairs. She hated flying and hated the smell it left. She took a quick warm shower and changed into a fresh pair of jeans, a long sleeved shirt, her worn out converses, and she slips on one of Stiles' flannels that she had stolen moments ago. She blow dried her hair and left it down before heading down the stairs.

"Bella." She smiles at her uncle, all but running to hug him. She had always felt more comfortable around her uncle than her dad. She loved Charlie, but they were so distant from one another. He felt more like a stranger than family. Noah, he felt more like a dad to her and Claudia always felt more like a mom than Renee. Renee was more like a sister or daughter to Bella with how much of an airhead and irresponsible she was, but Bella loved her mom no matter what. She just couldn't lie and say that she didn't feel more at home with Uncle Noah and Stiles than she did with either Renee or Charlie. "It's so good to see you, kiddo."

"I'm sorry I haven't visited."

"Don't be. I'm just glad you're back." He kisses the top of her head, causing her to relax fully in his arms. She felt safe and cared for. She hasn't felt that in such a long time. "How was your flight?" Noah asks as Bella pulls away.

"It was okay." She smiles. "It wasn't too long or bad."

"Dinner's ready." Stiles says as he puts the dishes on the dining room table.

"Great, I'm starving." They all sat down at the dining room table and Stiles started serving everyone. "So, Bella, are you excited to be starting school tomorrow?" Noah asks as he accepts the bowl of salad that Stiles handed to him with a frown.

"Not really." Bella admits, taking a sip of her water. "I hate being the new kid. At least this time it's not in the middle of the school year."

"Well, you don't need to worry. Scott and I will be by your side." Stiles says, causing Bella to smile.

"I just hate attention."

"I know." Stiles says.

"You'll do fine, Bella." Noah takes her hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze. She could feel the tension leave her as she looked at her uncle.

"So, how has work been for you?" Bella asks.

"It's the same as it usually is. You'd be surprised how busy a small town can be." Noah tells her, causing her to nod.

"Charlie was pretty busy a lot of the time too." Noah never blinks when Bella refers to her parents by their first names. Maybe because he understood just how detached Bella is to them. Neither was ever mom or dad. They never were the parent type. Renee was a child that needed guidance, Charlie was better, but he still needed someone to take care of him. Noah understood how hard it was for Bella growing up. A mother that made it impossible to be the kid, a father that works himself into an early grave and never really eating properly. Noah was like Charlie in some ways and in others he was nothing like Charlie. They both were dedicated to their work, but Noah was also dedicated to his family. He was there for Stiles whenever he needed. He talked to Stiles, showed his emotions, and had real conversations with him. Charlie was emotionally constipated.

"Yeah, dad worked late tonight. He normally works late, but it's all good. He's doing his duty as sheriff, I'm proud of him." Stiles smiles, causing Bella to smile too. She was always envious of Stiles and Noah's relationships. They were so close and while they were very different from one another they loved each other wholeheartedly.

The house phone goes off, causing Noah to sigh. They all knew it was no doubt the station calling him in for another case. Noah got up and made his way into the kitchen to answer, while Stiles nudged Bella. Bella looks over at him with a confused look, while Stiles motions towards the stairs. She raised an eyebrow, causing Stiles to huff and literally pull her out of her chair and up the stairs to Noah's bedroom. "Stiles, what are we doing?" Bella asks as Stiles hurries over to the second house phone. "Stiles, what-"

"Shh." Stiles whispers before picking up the phone and putting it to her ear. Bella's eyes widened as she realized what he was doing. Stiles listened to the phone call that his dad was having. Bella couldn't make out what was being said, but the look on Stiles' face said it all. With each passing minute Stiles' face was lighting up more and more with excitement. He quickly puts the phone back down once the call ended and dragged Bella back downstairs.

She was still stunned with what just occurred when Noah came back into the dining room. "Hey," He sighs, sitting back down in his seat. "I hate to do this, but the station needs me to head out. There's…" Noah trails off, a look of concern and worry on his face before he schooled his features to look expressionless. "There's something I have to take care of. I don't know how long it'll take. So, don't wait up for me. Dinner was good, son, I'll finish it when I get home. I'm sorry I have to go." He gives a quick kiss to the top of Bella's head. "Welcome home, Bella." A bright smile comes to her face. Home. She truly was home. "I'll see you both after school tomorrow."

"Bye." The chorus. As soon as he was gone, Stiles jumped up out of his seat and started hurryingly putting everything away.

"You will never believe what I just heard Bee." Stiles says, the old nickname slipping so easily from his lips.

"What, Sti?" She asks, uneasily. She didn't like the idea of listening into Noah's phone calls and she knew she was going to like what Stiles said next even less.

"Two hikers found a dead body." Stiles says with great enthusiasm with wild movements to add to it. Bella opens and closes her mouth several times.

"A… Dead body?"

"Yes! That's where dad's going now. It was found in the preserve."

"But… But if they already found the body…"

"They only found half." Stiles was now bouncing up and down ridiculously. "Half of the body. They're sending in every available officer and even state police! To find the other half!"

"Stiles, calm down."

"You, Scott, and I are so going there."

"What?!" Bella shouted in shock.

"We are going body hunting."

"Are you insane? It's already ten o'clock, it's pitch black, and you want to go look for a body in the woods? What if we're caught? What if the killer's still in the woods? What if-"

"Stop with the what ifs Bee. This is going to be an adventure!" Bella closes her eyes and counts back from ten.

"Stiles, this is dangerous. Either we get killed by the same thing that killed that body or your father kills us."

"Bee, what is life without a little risk?"

"A good life." Stiles pouts, his excitement starting to die.

"You know I wouldn't let anything happen to you, right?"

"Stiles, this is an invasion of privacy in your father's life. Plus, it's dangerous."

"He'll never know and I'll protect you." Bella scoffs.

"He always knows."

"Please, Bee? Please." Bella bites her lip, trying to stay strong under Stiles' pleading expression. It was dangerous. They could get caught. They could get killed. Noah would be so angry if he found out. "It'll be fun. A real adventure and you'd get to meet, Scott. You two never really got to meet before. Good friendship building activity." After everything Bella has gone through she just wants a normal and peaceful life. No more dead bodies. No more danger. No more craziness. In this moment, she envied Angela and her constant ability to never get caught up in the craziness that always infected Bella's life. "Please."

"Fine." Bella caves, causing Stiles to cheer. "Only because I know if I say no you'll go without me anyways and it'd be easier to watch out for you if I'm with you." Stiles scoffs.

"What out for me?"

"Your menace to yourself." Bella sighs. "Let me grab my coat." Stiles grins and just like that the two are going on an adventure that very well could lead to their deaths. "Yippee." She mumbles before starting out for Stiles' jeep.

Bella hates the cold. Let that be noted. She was not a fan. Not at all. Beacon Hills is not the sunny beachy area that one expects out of California. It has dropped down to forty-five and Bella was freezing. She stayed in Stiles' jeep while he went to get Scott. Bundled up in a blanket that Stiles had in his jeep, and tucked into a corner with the heater on full blast, she was still shivering.

The sound of shouting has her peaking around the front seats and she nearly scrambled out in the cold when she saw Stiles hanging from the roof, her heart racing in fear of him falling and getting hurt. Another boy stood on the porch with a baseball bat in his hands, it had to be Scott. She couldn't make out much from this distance or in the dark, but she could tell he had dark hair and eyes. He was tall, but that was about all she could make out from him.

She watched as the two talked for a moment before Stiles motioned to his jeep, no doubt talking about her. Bella pulls her legs up to her chest and rests her chin onto her knees, watching the two boys in the dark. They make their way to the jeep and Bella's heart jolts just a little. She was awful at talking to new people. She may have heard a lot about Scott, but she never met him. She didn't know him.

"Scott, this is my cousin, Bella. Bella this is Scott." Stiles introduces them once they were all in the jeep. Bella gave Scott an awkwardly shy smile.

"Hi, it's uh, nice to meet you."

"You too." Now with the light of the jeep, Bella can make out Scott's features better. He had a strong, but crooked jaw, a large nose, a cliffed chin, almond shaped dark brown eyes that were even darker than Stiles or Bella's, and he had a thick mop of dark brown hair. He was charming in a way, but Bella wasn't overly affected by his appearance besides that. He was dressed in sweatpants and his red lacrosse sweatshirt.

"Alright, let's get going." Stiles says, breaking up the awkward silence that had started.

"Yeah." Bella mumbles, going back to her corner and shivering.

"Why is the heat on so high?" Scott asks.

"Bella gets cold." Stiles shrugs. "It's best to just let it run. She'll die of frostbite if you don't."

"Hardy ha ha." She mumbles sarcastically. Stiles just chuckles and starts driving down the road. She watches the trees pass as they go. This small town wasn't as woodsey as Forks was, but it did have a good number of trees. The preserve was the main area of forest and it was pretty big. She always did like nature, but the forest didn't tend to like her. Always tripping her or hitting her in the face. If it wasn't for that then she'd probably spend hours in the wooded area.

"Are we seriously doing this?" Scott asks, interrupting Bella's thoughts as they pulled up to the preserve and got out. Bella sighs and climbs out, leaving her precious blanket behind. She shivers in the cold night, but she ignored it and followed Stiles.

"You're the one always bitching that nothing ever happens in this town." Stiles points out.

"I was trying to get a good night's sleep for practice tomorrow." Scott argues.

"Right, because sitting on the bench is such a grueling effort."

"Be nice." Bella whispers.

"No, because I'm playing this year." Scott says, not having heard Bella. "In fact, I'm making first line."

"That's the spirit. Everyone should have a dream. Even a pathetically unrealistic one."

"Stop." Bella says as she hits Stiles' arm. "Don't be mean. What makes it so unrealistic. I'm sure Scott will do great." Scott gives Bella a grateful smile.

"Scott has severe asthma." Stiles informs her. "I'm sorry, buddy, but there's no way you can play. You can't even run across the field in one go without needing your inhaler." Bella gives Scott a sympathetic look.

"I've been working on it." Scott argues.

"You can't work on asthma. It's there, it won't magically go away."

"Can we not argue?" Bella asks. Stiles sighs and nods. Scott nods too.

"So… Just out of curiosity, which half of the body are we looking for?" Scott asks. Bella looks over at Stiles, who hesitates for a split second.

"Huh. I didn't even think about that." Bella sighs.

"And, uh, what if whoever killed the body is still out here?"

"That!" Stiles jumps in to say. "Is something Bella thought about."

"And?" Scott asks.

"He dragged me out of the house before I could get any sort of weapon." Bella admits as they start up the steep hill.

"It's comforting to know you planned this out with your usual attention to detail." Scott pants.

"I know." Stiles says, sounding a bit out of breath himself. Bella was used to running, so she had great endurance. She wasn't out of breath the slightest as she climbed the hill.

"Maybe the severe asthmatic should be the one holding the flashlight, huh?" Scott pants, taking a minute to get a puff from his inhaler. Bella stays back to help Scott the rest of the way up the hill, tripping at the last second and face planting the ground. "Are you okay?" He asks as she groans.

"She's fine." Stiles waves off. "She does that all the time."

Bella huffs and lifts her face. "Uh, is that…"

"Yup."

"Stiles, we should turn back-"

"No way. We're so close."

"Stiles-"

"Just wait."

"We're going to get caught. Your dad is literally a couple of yards away. We're so dead."

"We'll be fine."

"Maybe Bella's right, Stiles, we should turn back. It's not too late-"

"Go, go, go." Stiles says as she scrambles to his feet and takes off.

"Seriously?" Bella whispers.

"Stiles!" Scott whispers, the two racing after him. "Stiles!"

"Stiles!" They shout together, causing Stiles to stop and look back at them. Bella's eyes widen as she watches a dog lunge at Stiles, barking it's head off. Scott grabs Bella's arm and pulls her quickly, causing her to slam her back against the tree. Before she can really get her bearings straight she feels Scott press his body against hers, trying to have both of them hide behind the one tree. Her eyes widen in shock, her face turning bright red as she feels him right against her.

"Hold on, hold on. This little delinquent belongs to me." Scott either doesn't notice or chooses not to notice as he isn't looking at her, but around the tree at where Stiles was.

"Dad, how are you doing?"

"So, do you, uh, listen into all of my phone calls?"

"No." Stiles says before correcting himself. "Well, not the boring ones."

"Now where is your usual partner in crimes? And please tell me you did not drag your cousin out here."

"Who, Scott? Sc-Scott's home. Said he wanted to get a good night's sleep for the first day back to school tomorrow. And Bee? You know she hates the rain and cold. She refused to go out in this. It's just me. In the woods. Alone."

"Scott, you out there?" Scott moves his head back behind the tree, which put his face literally an inch away from Bella's. His eyes widen when he suddenly realizes their placement. "Scott?" Bella swallows nervously. "Isabella?" She flinches automatically on the full name. If he ever found out that she was out here then she'll be in so much trouble. "Scott! Bella!" Noah sighs and Bella sees the flashlight's beam fall. She and Scott both stayed perfectly still just to be sure. "Well, young man, I'm going to walk you to your car and you and I are going to have a conversation called invasion of privacy." They didn't move apart until the sound of feet passed them. Once in the clear, Scott jumped back from Bella as if she burned him.

"S-Sorry." He stutters as she keeps her eyes on her feet.

"Let's get out of here." She whispers. "I didn't want to be here to begin with."

"Yeah, me either… come on." They start back the way they came as the sound of a wolf howling sounds off in the distance. Bella shivers as flashes of a large red wolf comes to her mind. She squeezes her eyes shut in pain. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She mumbles. She forces herself to keep walking, shivers running down her body. Scott stops them, a hand on her arm, as he stares further into the woods. "What is it?" He takes his inhaler out to inhale, his eyes never leaving the area of woods. Just as he's about to take a puff, a herd of deer come storming out of the woods and nearly tramples them. They fall to the ground, shielding their faces.

"God." Scott pants.

"What was that? Animals don't normally behave like that unless they feel endangered."

"I dropped my inhaler." Scott says, not listening to what she said as he begins to look for it.

"Something was after them… Scott, we have to get out of here. Now."

"I need to find my inhaler. Those things are expensive."

"Scott, forget the inhaler. We'll find it in the morning. We need to get out of here."

"Bella, we're-ahh!" He screams as he shines his flashlight right onto the dead body. He stumbles back, knocking right into Bella and sending them both down the hill. She cries out as her ribs hit the tree that Scott had used to lean on when they were climbing the hill earlier. She rolls down the hill and hits her head hard on the ground, causing her to groan and feel dizzy. "Bella? Bella! Are you okay?"

"My head." She tried to sit up and cried out at the pain in her ribs. "I think, I think I might have broken a rib or at least severely bruised it."

"Bella, you need to get up."

"Give me a minute."

"Bella, get up, now!" She froze as she suddenly heard a light growling coming from right behind her. She turned and her eyes locked onto a pair of crimson red eyes. She didn't even have time to scream before it lunged at her.