Thankfully, the small town of Forks, Washington didn't have a high crime rate. The radios were quiet the day I went to pick Bella up from the airport. I knew she hated this town, she made that abundantly clear three years ago when she refused to come here for our annual vacation. We went to California instead. I can't say I blamed her, though, Forks was a cold town and the poor girl hardly has any meat on her bones.

I still wished she could love this town like I do. It's all I have, at this point.

When I saw her come off the plane, the grey skies seemed a little brighter. I was quick to rush close after she stumbled on the bottom stair, and it ended up turning into a hug more awkward than I'd hoped. When she was upright, I took one of her bags. "It's good to see you, Bells," I told her, "You haven't changed. How's Renée?"

I could already tell by her vacant expression that she was disappointed I brought the cruiser to take her back home. She tried to smile anyway. "Mom's fine. It's good to see you, too, Dad."

I wanted to ask more about her mother, about Phoenix, about Phil, her new fiancé, but I know that would only end in an aching chest. I didn't want to make anything worse for Bella here, especially on her first day living here.

When all her things were in the trunk, I started up the car and began the hour-trip back to Forks. Since the radio remained off, the quiet was equal parts tense and oddly comforting. I was just happy that Bella was here with me, despite whatever she must have been thinking.

"I found a good car for you, really cheap," I told her, which perked me up with hope.

"What kind of car?" She sounded suspicious, at first.

"Well, it's a truck actually, a Chevy."

"Where did you find it?"

"Do you remember Billy Black down at La Push?" La Push is the tiny Indian reservation on the coast.

"No."

"He used to go fishing with us during the summer," I reminded her, but I figured fishing wasn't the most endearing of her memories. "He's in a wheelchair now," I continued when she looked out the window in silence, "so he can't drive anymore, and he offered to sell me his truck cheap."

"What year is it?"

This was the part I was nervous about. "Well, Billy's done a lot of work on the engine — it's only a few years old, really."

"When did he buy it?" She didn't seem to have that much trust, but the only reason I was trying to be vague was because it probably didn't look the way she'd like.

"He bought it in 1984, I think."

"Did he buy it new?"

"Well, no. I think it was new in the early sixties — or late fifties at the earliest," I admitted, straightening my back.

"Ch — Dad, I don't really know anything about cars. I wouldn't be able to fix it if anything went wrong, and I couldn't afford a mechanic…"

"Really, Bella, the thing runs great. They don't build them like that anymore."

The first thing I thought about when I looked for a vehicle for her was that it was safe, and that's what she got from me.

"How cheap is cheap?" she asked, as if she expected to pay me back or something.

"Well, honey, I kind of already bought it for you. As a homecoming gift." I smiled at her

"You didn't need to do that, Dad. I was going to buy myself a car."

"I don't mind. I want you to be happy here." As much as I wanted to look at her when I said that, I did need to watch the road. Upon reflection of how I said that, though, I probably could have been more sincere. The message was what was most important, I hoped she knew.

"That's really nice, Dad. Thanks. I really appreciate it." At least I had that from her. One thing that she wasn't miserable about.

"Well, now, you're welcome," I was truly relieved. I knew Bella never asked for much and didn't complain, but it was going to be difficult for her to adjust to the new environment. I understood that well enough.

The rest of our talk was rather simple; she asked me if the weather was always this wet. It was. For a girl so pale, I didn't expect her to miss the sun so much. She did comment on how beautiful the trees were, though. That was the best thing Forks was known for.

When we finally made it back home, Bella was met with some familiarity. It was the house I'd bought with her mother, for the short time that we were married, but I never found myself to leave it. Over the years, the more that Bella had stayed and made her room her own, a room I didn't dare to change at all, it was more of a comfort to me. It was less sad, anyway.

Bella's eyes caught sight of the truck we talked about, parked right beside the curb. It was a faded red color, with big, rounded fenders and a bulbous cab. Her eyes lit up as she looked at it up close, running her hand over the hood. "Wow, Dad, I love it! Thanks!"

I gave a quiet sigh of relief and nodded to her. "I'm glad you like it."

It only took one trip to get all of her things upstairs. Bella's always had the west bedroom that faced out over the front yard, ever since she was born. The wooden floor, the light blue walls, the peaked ceiling, the yellowed lace curtains around the window — the colors were Renée's decisions and I didn't have the heart to change them. She had a desk, now, that held a secondhand computer, with the phone line for the modem stapled along the floor to the nearest phone jack. The oldest thing in her room was the rocking chair in the corner, which I'd thrifted when she was a baby. I kept telling myself I was going to sell it, but I kept forgetting.

Bella was seventeen now, she didn't need me to hang around and help her get settled in. When I left her to unpack and make herself comfortable, I finished the rest of the dusting downstairs and started an easy dinner - Salisbury steak with mac & cheese out of the box. Every so often, I'd hear her move around, most likely from her room to the bathroom, but she came down the stairs eventually and sat down at the kitchen.

I was never one to sleep very well to begin with, but worries especially kept me up that night. This wasn't just a two-week vacation like always, Forks was Bella's new life now. This hadn't been her permanent residence since before she knew how to walk, and I was just afraid for her struggle to fit in here. The kids here were a little loud and weren't too used to outsiders. The rain eventually was a useful enough white noise for me to doze off into a dreamless sleep.

The fog was heavy in the morning, and I was up early, already dressed in uniform before I made breakfast. Worry already begot me, but I reminded myself how sturdy Bella's new truck was. She'd be able to find her way to school just fine, even with the limited visibility. When she woke up, I'd already made her plate and made sure she knew the directions to the school before I had to leave her for the day.

The secretary could clearly see the worry etched into my face, and she put a cup of coffee in my hand and pat me on the shoulder. "Your daughter's gonna be just fine, Chief," she said with a bright smile. She was usually more of a stern woman, but she knew what to say and how to say it.

I still didn't want to seem like I was too overcome with worry, so I nodded to her and just responded with a, "I know, Maud," and I unlocked my office to get to work.

For the first hour, it was easy to zone out with the lack of activity going on. The distant tones of phones ringing and the coffee machine were an odd comfort to me, like a faint reminder that I kept stressing over nothing. The presence of Maud at my doorway made me jump slightly, and I chuckled to brush off how ridiculous I was being.

She adjusted her thick, square glasses before speaking. "Karen just called. She said she caught a shoplifter down at the sports outlet, and she wants you to take care of it."

I let out a deep sigh. "She didn't hurt them, did she?" I felt compelled to ask; Karen Newton did like to show people that she was a tough business owner, no matter how much she didn't need to.

Maud gave a shrug. "Just said that she wanted you to take care of things, that's all."

I grabbed my radio and holstered my gun, then drove down to Olympic Outfitters to assess the situation. Thankfully, it didn't seem like much of a ruckus from the outside, until I'd realized Karen had locked the front doors. I could see her give a sigh of relief as she saw me, and let me in.

"It's Waylon again. He's off his rocker on the bottle and he thought he could get away with two catcher's mitts and a Seahawks jersey," Karen complained, stabbing her thumb in the direction of a defeated man in a chair behind the register.

I shook my head slightly. Waylon Forge was probably the worst of the town's worries as far as I was concerned. I felt pity for him, the way he slouched forward with a frown that seemed sunk permanently into his mouth. "He didn't damage anything, did he?"

Karen shook her head as she crossed her arms. "I'm thankin' my lucky stars he didn't. You were there when he bashed in that car 'bout half a month ago with a Louisville Slugger, right?"

"Yeah, I was there," I confirmed, stepping forward to grab the drunk by his upper arm. Pulling him to his feet, I turned my head away so I didn't have to smell the alcohol on his breath. Before I left, though, my eyes caught sight of something rare; not many had seen Carlisle Cullen away from his job before. But there he was, watching me from the hiking section. When our gazes locked, I felt frozen for a moment until he looked away, and I was left blinking back into reality.

"You okay, Chief?" Karen asked.

At first, I checked to make sure Waylon was still there, and he was. "Yeah," I mumbled, and I escorted him to toss in the back of the cruiser. I stayed around for another minute and saw the good doctor once more with his wife. He'd smiled at me rather warmly, and I wasn't sure why, but I was able to get my focus back quicker and drive back to the station and place Waylon in a holding cell.

The other officers and secretaries only offered looks of pity and disappointment at the prisoner. For as many times as he'd been here, he had a strangely positive outlook. Maybe it was because, despite people feeling bad for him, he was met with backhanded kindness, but kindness nevertheless.

Waylon was safe behind bars for the day to be released tomorrow, and Maud did me the favor of calling his wife. I didn't even make it back to my office before I was approached once more from one of the officers.

"There's been a report that someone's hunting down on the Quileute reservation," he told me, his voice quiet as if he expected me to yell at him. He knew how close I was to Billy Black, as was practically common knowledge in the community, so I assumed he expected me to immediately get angry.

Instead, I just nodded. "I'll take care of it," I responded, and headed back out to the cruiser. At least this would give me a reason to visit the Blacks, which I always counted as a plus. The reservation was deeper in the woods without paved roads. Before I drove passed the beach to where the Blacks lived, I kept a sharp eye out for anyone in the woods.

Eventually, I stopped by an old Ford with a rifle in the back, and I turned my lights on to see if that would attract whoever was out here. I tread out about a quarter of a mile, following footsteps until I found the trespassers. Two men from Mason County down south who weren't aware of the territory lines. They were irritated, but compliant after the threat of a fine, considering they hadn't caught any game yet.

Once they were gone, I circled around the territory just to make sure they wouldn't just park and set up anywhere else. Lucky for the both of us, it seemed the trespassers had wandered off for good. When I got closer to the border, though, I spotted something odd from the distance.

Stepping out of the car for a moment, I walked off the trail and found what looked like small dirt mounds at first. When I got closer, though, it seemed something had gotten a hold of some roaming deer and, to my surprise and discomfort, gave minimal effort to burying them. I brushed the dirt off with my foot and found a sizable bite on the throat on each of them.

Now, I'd seen cougars, bears, and even wolves in these woods, but they've never buried their prey before. They'd usually rip the thing clean of meat. I wasn't sure of what to do, so I left the deer where they lay and continued onto Billy's house. I wasn't sure if it was much of a serious matter.

When I finally arrived, his son was outside wrestling in the yard with the older boy from the Uley family, but they stopped to wave at me when they saw me pulling up.

Billy wheeled himself out onto the porch. "Did you take care of those gunshots I heard?" he asked, though he had a smirk on his face.

"Yeah, it was just some yahoos from a few towns over," I told him, waving a hand in dismissal. "Nothing to worry about."

Billy's smile grew. "How's Bella likin' her new truck? I know she's a clunker, but Jacob did a real fine job fixing her up."

I turned back to Jacob's direction, who had a proud smile on his muddy face. "She loves it," H answered when I turned back to Billy. "I can't thank you enough. You two should come down and have dinner or something one night, come say hi to her. Might make her feel more welcome here."

Jacob walked up from behind, dusting loose dirt from off his jacket. "Would she even remember us? It's been...what? Five years since we saw her last?"

"It'd be a good opportunity for her to thank you," I reminded him, giving him a pat on the shoulder. "Besides, I need someone to come put snow tracks on soon."

Billy gave half a shrug in contemplation. "I'll get back to you on that. We don't go down to Forks proper much these days, and I especially don't because-" He glanced down to his wheelchair.

"I get it, Bill. But I wanted to let you know that you're always welcome anyway." I tapped my foot against one of his wheels playfully. "Jake should be getting his permit soon anyway, right?"

"I'm hoping so, Chief." Jacob straightened his posture.

Billy tapped me back on my arm. "You better get outta here. Shouldn't Bella be coming home soon?"

I nodded. "I'll see you around, Bill." I ruffled Jacob's long, straight black hair before heading off once more. I wanted to be in a good mood, but I couldn't help but wonder about why Billy seemed nervous when I mentioned coming down.

The town was quiet for the rest of the day, with the others taking patrol shifts instead. I made it home early so Bella didn't have to be home alone for too long, but there was still a pang of guilt that I wasn't there to welcome her when school ended.

Nevertheless, she wasn't wrought with misery. In fact, she was more on the positive side, and greeted me with a smile from the living room.

After I hung up my belt and jacket, I sat next to her on the sofa and took a quick glance at the book she was reading- Wuthering Heights. "What's for dinner?" I asked, seeing that the oven was on, and there was a hearty smell in the air. I couldn't say I was too surprised that she knew how to cook, considering Renée tried to experiment in the kitchen. It usually didn't end well, to everyone's misfortune. But the smell from the kitchen was simple and pleasant.

"Steak and potatoes," she answered. She chuckled to herself when she noticed that I was relieved, and stuck a bookmark between her pages before returning to the kitchen to finish cooking.

She called me over to the table once the food was ready, and the first few minutes were quiet, just enjoying the nicely cooked meal. It was a comfortable quiet, somewhat similar to eating alone, but just beside someone else.

My curiosity got the best of me, though, and I looked up from my plate. "So, how did you like school? Have you made any friends?" I asked, trying not to bombard her with too much all at once.

"Well, I have a few classes with a girl named Jessica. I sit with her friends at lunch. And there's this boy, Mike, who's very friendly. Everybody seems pretty nice." It was as much as I'd hoped, but I tried not to keep my expectations too high.

"That must be Mike Newton. Nice kid — nice family. His dad owns the sporting goods store just outside of town. He makes a good living off all the backpackers who come through here."

"Do you know the Cullen family?" she asked, awkwardly chewing on her lower lip.

"Dr. Cullen's family?" My fork sank deep into a potato, remembering that gaze that made me freeze up earlier today. "Sure. Dr. Cullen's a great man."

"They… the kids… are a little different. They don't seem to fit in very well at school."

I leaned back in my seat with my brow knotted. I didn't know the Cullen family personally, it was hard for anyone to get to know them at all with how elusive they seemed, but I wished that Bella could have had something nicer to say about them. "Dr. Cullen is a brilliant surgeon who could probably work in any hospital in the world, make ten times the salary he gets here," I spoke up, slightly surprised at myself.

"We're lucky to have him — lucky that his wife wanted to live in a small town. He's an asset to the community, and all of those kids are well behaved and polite. I had my doubts, when they first moved in, with all those adopted teenagers. I thought we might have some problems with them. But they're all very mature — I haven't had one speck of trouble from any of them. That's more than I can say for the children of some folks who have lived in this town for generations. And they stick together the way a family should — camping trips every other weekend… Just because they're newcomers, people have to talk."

I must have intimidated her with how much I talked; she was used to me being a man of few words. "They seemed nice enough to me. I just noticed they kept to themselves. They're all very attractive." Her smile slowly returned, albeit crookedly.

"You should see the doctor." The words escaped me without even thinking, and I laughed at myself. It was better to play it off as banter. "It's a good thing he's happily married. A lot of the nurses at the hospital have a hard time concentrating on their work with him around." Clenching my jaw, I stood up to get seconds so Bella wouldn't notice the heat that flushed across my face.

The rest of dinner went just as quietly as it began, and Bella took it upon herself to do the dishes. I made a mental note to try looking into buying a dishwasher, although the chances of me remembering in the near future were slim. I just retreated to the living room to watch the game before bed.