Charlie and I drove in a comfortable silence. Honestly there wasn't much to say to each other which hadn't already been covered in the hospital. Except for his slight oversight of Anabelle. After a short drive through the centre of Forks he pulled up next to a quaint two story house, it was a little way from any neighbours and from what I could see had a fairly spacious backyard.
I followed Charlie through the front door and was surprised when he appeared to be attacked by a miniature blond bullet which wrapped around his legs the second he crossed the threshold.
"Charlie, you're back!" A high pitched squeal echoed throughout the house.
"How's it going kiddo?" Charlie replied, "You have fun with Sue while I was away?"
"Yeah! We watched movies and had ice cream and made funny pictures!" At this the girl, who I assumed to be Anabelle, charged out of the kitchen only to return a second later towing a middle aged woman with one hand and a piece of paper in the other. She presented Charlie with the paper, a bright smile all the while.
Charlie took the paper and exclaimed, "Wow! This is really good, definitely one for the fridge." True to his word Charlie grabbed a magnet from the counter and proceeded to attach the drawing to the fridge. Anabelle was practically jumping up and down in excitement, while Sue looked on smiling.
I was feeling a little awkward at this point, they all looked like a happy family, even though I was sure Sue wasn't together with Charlie at this point from what I could recall. I couldn't help feeling like an intruder, so I coughed lightly in order to get the others attention and hopefully introduce myself. I hadn't even been in Forks for a day when I had my 'accident' so Anabelle hadn't met me before.
At my cough Charlie jumped and seemed to remember my existence, turning sheepishly he coughed out, "Right, erm well Damian this is Sue, a friend of mine from La Push." He gestured toward her.
She stepped forward and pulled me into a quick hug. She pulled back and regarded me with eyes bright with what appeared to be unshed tears. "Hi. It's nice to meet you again. I'm so sorry about what happened."
I suppose I shouldn't be surprised Charlie told some people about what had happened. In fact, the more I thought about it I realised that Sue was likely the person Charlie had leaned on whilst I was in the hospital. "Hello." I replied, I wasn't to sure what to say next so I went for something generic, "It's nice to meet you to. Thank you for your concern." It felt stiff and unnatural but honestly I had no idea what to say to this stranger.
Charlie chose to step in after a moment of awkward silence, and motioned toward Anabelle. "And this is Anabelle." He turned toward the little girl, "Anabelle, this is my son Damian. Say hi Belle."
At this my attention was drawn to to the young girl of around five who was now peeking at me around Charlie's legs. I crouched down to her eye level and looked into her face, she was genuinely adorable with large, clear blue eyes, a cute button nose and long blond hair. I slowly extended my hand to her and said in my softest voice "Hi there Anabelle, nice to meet you."
She walked slowly around Charlie and took my hand whilst looking up at me with the most adorably curious expression on her face. "Does this make you my new brother?"
I laughed quietly, already falling in love with the girl, "Only if you want me to be."
At this Anabelle's face lit up, she cheered loudly and proceeded to drag me out of the room to 'show you all my toys so we can play for ever and ever'. After a quick goodbye to Sue I stumbled out of the room in her surprisingly strong grip.
Soon hours had passed with Anabelle somehow occupying my time, almost but not quite forcing me to play dolls, drawing and the odd board game with her. Apart from the occasional interruption by Charlie and Sue we were left to our own devices, I assume so we could bond, and Anabelle could become comfortable with me quickly. Eventually she got tired, and after adorably trying to keep her eyes open for a while eventually she succumbed on the floor of the living room. Charlie soon bustled in and put her to bed.
Sometime later Charlie ambled back downstairs and put on a game of American Football. Honestly I had no idea what was going on, I'd lived in England my previous life, so the only football I knew actually involved kicking the ball, in fact being originally British I found it odd to have an automatic American accent.
Some time into the game Charlie muted the T.V. and turned to face me from his armchair. I perked up as from what I can remember from the books this meant something serious was about to be said. "First," Charlie started, "I'd just like to say how good it is that you seemed to be getting on with Anabelle, I realise it's not something you probably want, but I appreciate the effort."
At this point I had to cut in in order to ensure Charlie didn't worry about me and Anabelle, "Look Charlie, seriously, I'm happy she's here, she seems like a great little kid and I'll help you look after her in any way I can. Besides I think she might keep me grounded after what happened." I muttered as an afterthought.
I knew he heard me because he gave a kind of grunt-nod as his response. "Secondly. I had a talk with the school and because of your" he paused, "situation, they want to give you some tests to see what grade and classes you should be in."
I nodded along even though inside I was a little apprehensive, I knew I probably wouldn't struggle massively on these tests, it was just that I had no idea what grade my new sixteen-year-old body should be in. Honestly I was a little annoyed to start school again, I was eighteen when I originally died, and now I had to do more school. The only things I could see making it bearable would be the fact that the Cullens were here, and that (I hope) an American education would be different.
"Now it was New Years Day yesterday" he continued, "so you should be able to start in a few days, until then you should just get settled. I was also hoping that you would go out with me tomorrow to see if you can still drive?" he carried on quickly at my raised eyebrow," I mean you seem to still be able to do other things so we should give it a shot right?"
"Sure." I replied slowly, I'd learnt how to drive in the U.K. I was just hoping against hope that my skills would transfer easily when driving on the wrong side of the road.
"Great." And with that he was finished, turning back to the T.V. and becoming immersed once more in his game.
"Right" I muttered, "Erm, I'll just be going to bed then." Charlie responded with a grunt and left me to it. I was generally pretty happy with his non interference and practicality.
I slowly trudged up the stairs, playing with Anabelle all day, as well as the move had left me dead on my feet. I moved slowly past the only closed door, not wanting to wake my adorable new sister and moved into the room next to hers which I assumed was mine.
The room was… Simple. Blue walls, a single bed in the corner as well as a fairly empty wardrobe and a desk and chair with a laptop on it. I sighed thinking that I would have to redecorate and make the room my own If I was going to be here for another few years, I wondered if Esme could help me? I seemed to recall her being an interior designer in the books. I chuckled, sure I was getting too far ahead of myself, I hadn't even met any of the Cullens yet.
Eventually after gazing out of the window for a while I stripped down to my boxers and got into a freezing bed, I sighed after seeing a picture on my bedside table of what appeared to be Charlie and I holding a massive fish. I hoped he hadn't put it there on purpose to try and jog my non existent memories. Hopefully Charlie would accept the fact that my memories were gone sooner rather than later. Eventually I shut my eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
Authors Note:
Thank you for reading once again. Again sorry for the shortness and lack of Cullens. I really want to make sure the story is developed fully. Any reviews at all would be brilliant. Let's just say I'm writing whatever comes into my head with little structure.
-MM
