Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Twilight or Vampire Diaries. Those rights are reserved for Stephanie Myer and L.J. Smith. Thank you.
The near seven-hour flight seemed like it took forever. Bella had tried to fall asleep on the plane, but then quickly realized that she shouldn't fall asleep in public in case her nightmares made an appearance. Instead, she just looked down in a magazine. She never turned the page, but she pretended like she was interested. She hoped that Alaric hadn't realized that she was just zoning out, caught up in her own thoughts. Mystic Falls…She thought to herself. It had a great sounding name. Better than Forks. When the plane finally made its descent, her nerves started jumping around again. What if she couldn't find a place in Mystic Falls? What if she was too broken to start over again? A lot of thoughts raced through her mind, but it was Alaric's voice that broke her out of her weary train of thought.
"Bella, everyone is going to love you. You're going to be just fine," Alaric said, as if he could read her thoughts. His voice was warm, caring, and very calming. She tried a small smile for her uncle and then they were exiting the plane and heading through the airport in Norfolk. They would still have a drive ahead of them, but they were that much closer to Mystic Falls, and a new home.
Alaric found his car in the airport overnight lot. It was a newer SUV, black in color, and the seats were heated and leather. There was snow on the ground outside. She forgot that it was winter for a second. She was so used to being cold that she didn't really notice that the temperature around her was freezing. She shivered slightly and pulled her jacket around her tightly as she ducked inside the SUV. He smiled at her and started the engine. "You'll be staying with me and Jenna. She has a niece, Elena, and a nephew Jeremy. The house is quite large, and I promise you won't have to share a bathroom with so many people." He said with a half laugh.
Bella smiled. "Thank you." She murmured and turned her head and looked out the window and watched the trees and other cars go by.
Everything seemed to go by in a daze. Soon they were pulling up to an older, plantation styled home. It was large, but nothing too extravagant. It reminded her of Jessica's house back in Forks. She knew that it had so much space just by looking at its exterior. Alaric parked and helped Bella out of the SUV and grabbed her bags. She packed light, so there wasn't so many things.
"What do you think?" Alaric quizzed.
"Well…it is…big," she tried a chuckle, but it came out awkward. Alaric didn't press her anymore and led her up the steps and into the house. Jenna was in the kitchen. Bella assumed it was Jenna because she appeared to be around Alaric's age. Her auburn hair was tied up in a bun on top of her head and there was an explosion of papers all around her at the kitchen bar. She had one socked foot hiked up on the other barstool and she was looking down at the papers in front of her intently. She glanced up when she heard Alaric shuffle in and kiss the top of her head lightly.
"Oh! You're back!" she said and was bouncing up from her seat and hugging him. She then turned her eyes on me. Her green eyes shone bright and the giant smile plastered on her face made Bella feel so much better about being here and intruding on their space.
"You're Bella! Oh my! Welcome to Mystic Falls!" she said and was bouncing over to Bella now and pulling her in quick for a strong hug. Bella's face had a look of surprise as she looked over at Alaric who was grinning stupidly and shaking his head. Bella smiled at Jenna as she pulled back.
"Oh, I'm Jenna by the way," she said quickly and was then standing beside Alaric.
"Hi Jenna. Thank you for opening your home to me," she said quietly with a small, sad smile.
"It is no problem at all! Come now, I'll show you to your room!" she said quickly and took Bella's hand in hers. She pulled her up the stairs. Alaric was following behind with Bella's bags. They stopped at a door.
"Now, I tried to guess at what you would like. Elena helped some since you two are about the same age. I hope everything looks okay," Jenna rushed her words and was flinging the door open smoothly. Bella stepped inside the well-lit room. There was a full bed, white wrought iron from the looks of it with a soft blue bed spread that had some hints and swirls of green in it. The fluffy pillows matched the comforter. The furniture was an antiqued grey color. A dresser with a mirror, chest, and a full-size armoire. It was more than what she had back in Forks. She noticed a bay window with a seat that you could sit in and look outside. The curtains were a soft blue, like back home, but they were not lacey at all. They wear a sheer fabric, that sort of shimmered as the sun hit it. A matching bookcase was empty near the window and then there was a door, that she assumed, was the closet. The floors were a light-colored hardwood, almost a mix between a grey and pecan. A turquoise shaggy rug was at the side of the bed and the side table had a simple, white shaded lamp.
"So…what do you think?" Jenna asked nervously.
Bella walked around the room some. She even opened the door she saw, and it was indeed a closet. A closet big enough to fit a twin-size mattress in. She wasn't sure she would ever have enough clothes to fill it at all. "It's perfect Jenna. Thank you. Blue is my favorite color," she said softly and with a real smile this time. The pressure that she was feeling in her chest was slowly fading.
"Oh, thank god!" Jenna let out a breath that she was holding. Alaric chuckled behind her and then pushed into the room gently and set the bags down in the floor. "Alright kiddo, we'll leave you be. Elena and Jeremy should be getting home soon. We'll have dinner down at the Grille tonight because in all of the planning, we forgot groceries." He said and Jenna gasped. Before she could ramble on, he steered her out of the room and then winked back at Bella.
Bella watched her uncle usher her out of the room and back downstairs. She took a look around the room again and took a deep breath. This was it. She was finally not in Forks anymore. This was a new start. She went to her bags and started putting things away, not paying attention to the time.
Bella hadn't realized that the time had flown by so much until Alaric was knocking on the door frame. He leaned against it with his arms crossed lazily. "So, you settling in okay?" he queried.
She smiled. "Yes actually. This is the first time…" she trailed off as her eyes went to the floor.
"Yeah…I know. Listen, Charlie isn't gonna make it this week," he started.
"I know." She said simply. "I know he has to finish his work in Forks. I knew you guys were trying to make it easier on me for leaving."
He just nodded and then pushed off the door frame and walked into the room. "Listen, if you need to talk…I'm right here. I know it's been a while, but I'm always going to be here for you Bella. You know that." His voice was soft, and she could tell that he really meant what he said.
Just then the door opened, and closed downstairs and the bubbling voices of teenagers were emerging up the stairs.
"That would be Elena and Jeremy," Alaric said. "Right on queue." He said with a smirk.
Suddenly a brunette girl appeared with a tall brunette boy right behind her. "Hey! You must be Bella," Elena's voice was light and friendly.
"Hello," Bella said softly and smiled. Elena was beautiful. Her eyes were dark brown like her hair. Her skin was flawless, and she was a little bit taller than Bella. Jeremy was taller than Bella and Elena. His dark hair was shaggy in the front like Alaric's. His eyes were a chocolate brown like Elena's and his build was very muscular, like he worked out a lot.
"Hey, I'm Jeremy." He sounded off and came into the room fully and reached out a hand. Bella shook it gently and then pulled her hand back gently and hugged her body tightly. Elena noticed how nervous she looked and smiled softly at Elena. "Hey, it's okay. You're family now. If there's anything that me and Jeremy can do for you, please don't hesitate to ask us," she said, and Bella nodded.
"Alright kids. We're eating at the Grille for dinner because- "Alaric was cut off.
"No groceries again," Elena said and rolled her eyes with a smile. "Come on Bella, you can ride with me and Jeremy down to the Grille. Bye, Alaric," she said as she took Bella's hand and pulled her out of the room. Alaric started to protest but saw that Bella was okay with being tugged along. Jeremy rolled his eyes at his sister and then followed them out.
"Meet you guys there! Don't be late," Elena called behind her as she led the way to her crimson small sized SUV.
Bella wasn't sure what to make of Elena yet, but so far, she was just happy that she was being accepting of her. She was afraid that her intrusion would make others not like her so much. They were finally in the car and headed off toward the Mystic Grille.