A/N: There's a bit of homophobia in this chapter, so here's your warning. Chapter title is taken from the song Instant Crush (feat. Julian Casablancas) by Daft Punk.
My mother and I – the iconic duo of Renee and Bella – drove to the airport in total silence, which was beyond unusual for us. It was uncomfortable for me because I was used to her chatting up a storm 24/7, and because the silence was apparently my fault.
Before I came out to her as a lesbian, we'd had an incredible mother-child relationship, but then I blew it, believing she loved me enough to overcome her homophobia. As it turns out, I was entirely incorrect, as usual. After several hours of heated arguing (it didn't get physical, thank the gods), we both came to the conclusion that I would have to leave the house and live with my father, although we had different reasons for it...
I wanted safety and support, and my mother wanted nothing to do with me anymore.
As soon as I climbed out and had everything, she drove off – no goodbyes, nothing. Not even asking me to call her when I arrived in Forks, Washington, which was my current destination. I stared after her for a bit, not sure of how I should feel, but decided to ignore it for now and left. I definitely knew not to come out as nonbinary or Pagan to her too, at least.
I took a nap on the plane to cope with the stress, and when I woke up, I was actually happy for the first time in my life that I was so far away from Renee.
My father was the chief of police in Forks, and he'd arrived with the cruiser to pick me up. Even though I hated the police with a fiery passion for so many reasons, I was glad to see Charlie again, because I knew that he was the kind of cop that actively fought against the injustices committed by the force. Also, he was less likely to hate me because of my orientation, despite living in a small town – Charlie had never seemed to care about that sort of stuff at all, while my mother was overly invested in it.
All around, he was a pretty cool dad, and I sincerely regretted not visiting him more often.
"Hello, Bells," he said gruffly, giving me a small grin that emphasized his thick moustache.
"Hey, dad!" I was a bit more visibly enthusiastic than him, jumping in for a quick (awkward) hug before asking him to help me place my luggage in his car. When that was done, we climbed in and drove off.
The drive was mostly silent, but this time, it was welcome. I'd inherited a great deal of social awkwardness from my father, so we were used to sharing comfortable silences with each other. I also didn't really want him to question me about why I came here, as I'd lied about it to him on the phone, just in case. I'd said that it was because Renee was going with her new husband "Phil" for some sporting event that would take a while to complete, and I wasn't really in the mood to travel all over or stay home alone for ages. I didn't like lying to him, and I knew I would tell him the real reason eventually.
"Bella?" Charlie spoke up at some point along the way, breaking the silence. "Just wanted you to know that it's nice to have you here again."
"Aww, thanks. It's nice to be here with you again, too," I replied, giving the man a small smile. He flushed a bit at that, but seemed pleased. Poor Charlie still wasn't used to receiving compliments, which was terrible and awful, so I decided then and there to help build his confidence a bit.
"Umm, I got you a car as a gift. More of a truck, actually..." he spoke up again after a bit.
"Wait, really?" I was awestruck. I'd always loved the idea of having a truck, and almost couldn't believe my ears. "Thank you so much! I've always wanted one. You're the best!"
Charlie actually started blushing, but he had a large grin on his face this time. "No problem. Got it cheap from Billy Black, since he can't really drive it anymore." Billy Black was one of my dad's best friends. I hadn't seen him in a while, but I remembered him being very fun-loving, so I supposed it would be nice to see Billy again.
"What happened to Billy?"
"He was in a car accident a couple months ago, and now he's paralyzed from the waist down. Not really in the position to be driving a truck."
"Oh... He's doing alright now, though?"
"Yup. He actually wants to come with Jacob to see you tomorrow after school. Remember Jacob?"
Jacob Black had been one of my best friends when I was a kid, and I had visited him and his father with Charlie often on the nearby reservation. When we were younger, I had known him by a different name – a different gender, even – but that was never very important to me. "Of course. How's he?"
"From what I can tell, he's doing okay. He actually helped fix up your truck."
"I'll have to thank him, then."
"You do that, Bells."
We spent the rest of the ride in silence once again, and got to the house in a couple of minutes. It had been a while since I was last here, but it looked more or less the same as it had looked for my entire childhood. My father didn't spend enough time at home to care much about its appearance.
Then, I spotted it - an old, rusty Chevy truck. My eyes grew wide in wonder, and I ran towards it. I was so excited that I began jumping up and down, touching its surface. I didn't even care how old it was; it was marvelous regardless. "Oh my gods, I love it! Thank you so much again!" I ran to Charlie and gave him another hug, but this time it was longer-lasting and less awkward. We'll get used to it soon enough... Maybe.
"Anything for my Bells," he chuckled after getting over his surprise at my growing affection, letting go. After that display, we headed inside, and he showed me the keys for the Chevy.
We carried my luggage upstairs into my old bedroom, which looked mostly the same but slightly cleaner than usual. Charlie didn't hover, which I was grateful for, so I finally had the opportunity to sort through my emotions after packing everything into place. I ended up silently crying myself to sleep.
A couple hours later, I awoke to my dad knocking gently on the door. "Bells, dinner's ready!"
"I'll be down in a minute!" I shouted back, waiting for him to walk back down before rushing to the bathroom and cleaning up. I didn't want him to worry about his child crying so soon, so I tried to cover up my puffy eyes to the best of my ability.
Just as I was finishing up, I heard my father start having a conversation with someone downstairs. The voice of the other person was like heaven to my ears. "Alice! It's nice to see you."
"Hello, Charlie," Alice replied excitedly. "It's nice to see you too! Is Bella here already?"
"Yep. Bells, hurry up! There's someone here who wants to meet you!"
I didn't need to be told twice, so I ran down the stairs as fast as I dared (hoping to all the gods that I wouldn't fall). As soon as I saw the stranger, I stopped and gawked. I could swear my heart had skipped a beat or two in that second.
Alice was a tiny, almost-translucently-pale, East-Asian pixie-like being wearing designer clothing, with short, spiky hair such a dark brown that it was almost black, and striking facial features, such as beautifully long eyelashes and shining golden eyes (I didn't know if it was physically possible for someone to have a natural eye color like that, so I assumed there were contact lenses involved). All in all, probably the most beautiful human being I'd ever laid my eyes on. No, scratch that – definitely the most beautiful human being I'd ever laid my eyes on.
"Hello, Bella Swan! My name's Alice Cullen!" I was met with a tight hug, a (unfortunately) platonic kiss on each cheek and a gorgeous smile that lit up the world. This was the fastest crush I had ever developed in my entire life (which was saying something, considering how quickly I'd fallen in love with complete strangers before).
"Umm, hey, Alice, my name's Bella – wait, you already knew that..."
"It's nice to finally meet you! Mr. Swan told us so much about you," Alice replied after giggling at my response briefly. Even the fairy's giggles were divine. "May I ask what your pronouns are? Mine is she/her, by the way."
"Oh, nice to meet you too. And, uh, I'm okay with any pronouns, I guess. Thanks for asking." I knew I was blushing furiously, but she didn't seem to notice. I was surprised to hear her ask about pronouns, and that just kind of made me fall harder for her. I seriously needed to slow down. I barely knew her!
"You're welcome!" she cheered. Just then, I noticed she was carrying a container of spaghetti. "Oh, I brought you a little gift! My mother, Esme, and I made this together for you. We assumed you liked pasta because your name sounded Italian." She handed it out for me.
"Oh, thank you!" I took it from her carefully, snorting at the last comment.
"Such an elegant little piglet," Alice teased, her eyes twinkling as my blush somehow deepened. "Anyway, again, it's so nice to meet you! If I'm not mistaken, we'll be sharing most of our classes when you start school tomorrow. Exciting, isn't it? I'll be showing you around, just so you know. Oh, I'll also introduce you to all my siblings! They're really cool and I know they'd adore you. I'm certain we'll all be great friends soon!"
"Uh, yeah, thanks... Glad I have at least one person I know at this new school already." I was taken aback at the speed of Alice's words leaving her mouth, wondering if she'd breathed even once during all of that. "See you tomorrow?"
"Of course! Buh-bye, Bells!" She winked at me, squeezing me into another hug. "Goodbye, Mr. Swan! Have a lovely night!" I said goodbye back, and then she was gone. And then she came back with a beaming smile. "One more thing: you smell really good, Ms. Swan! Bye again!" Then she was truly gone, and I was both blushing and confused.
"Goodnight Alice!" I heard Charlie call from the kitchen, turning around to see he'd left us alone while we'd talked. Sneaky man. He'd also taken the container of spaghetti from me without my notice, and was dishing it up for us. I must have been really distracted...
We sat at the dining room table and ate, once again in a comfortable silence, up until my curiosity forced me to speak up. "So, dad, how do you know Alice?"
"Oh, she's Dr. Carlisle Cullen's youngest daughter. He's the town doctor and I've worked with him on several cases. Really nice person, and his family is great too. Although, a lot of people in this town seem to have issues with the Cullens for no damn reason. These small town closed-minded folks drive me up the wall sometimes, I swear."
"Oh, okay. She's really nice. I like her," I admitted after Charlie'd finished rambling. I secretly wondered if that's the most words he's ever spoken to me at a time.
As soon as we were done with supper, we worked together to clear and wash the dishes before I headed upstairs. "Night, dad. Love you!" I called down.
"Sleep well, Bells," he replied, more cheerful than I'd heard him in a while. "Love you too."
Almost as soon as I'd gotten into bed, I passed out, but not before thinking about Alice. She was just so lovely and beautiful and– zZzZzz. On a serious note though, I was so excited for school the next day, which was probably the most shocking realization for me to have. I'd always hated public schooling, but maybe with that little sprite hanging around, it could be a ton of fun. I genuinely smiled widely for the first time in days at the thought of her before closing my eyes.