Disclaimer: These characters belong to Stephenie Meyer, and even though there are a lot of people out there who think they are Stephanie, I am not one of those people. Therefore, these characters are not mine.

Summary: Bella and Edward were friends since birth. Edward was always the stud and Bella was always the ugly tomboy best friend. Bella leaves Seattle to visit with her dad in Arizona for two years, leaving Edward to fend for himself. She comes back, and there's something…different…about her.

Random Stuff To Know That Will Be In This Story: AU, OC, OOC, ExB, AxJ, RxE, JxOC, a little bit of JxB, Mostly BPOV, maybe possibly will have some EPOV, Lemons, Language

Author's Note: I know, I lied and told you that two certain females would be appearing in this chapter, but bear with me, chapter 5 is on it's way. Give me another day or two, and I promise it WILL be up =D. AND I know that Charlie is really OOC here, but I totally always wished he was like this in the books. Sorry if this kinda bugs any of you guys.

Love you all, my darling readers. Here is your reward for sticking with me and putting up with my very very VERY slow updating. Enjoy your reading =D.

***

Chapter 4: Letters, Language, Curtains, All That Jazz

The plane had to stay airborne for another hour, because the Phoenix airport was congested. What an utter joy it is to be me right now. Fuck this shit.

The plane landed at four and I was pretty much the first person off. I rocketed out of there, feeling claustrophobic. The longer I stayed on the plane, the more I thought about going back to Seattle, and back to him. Not happening.

I scanned the airport wearily, exhausted from my stressful flight. Then my eyes landed on a tall man with a slightly protruding belly, wearing a police jacket, blue jeans, and…come on…a cowboy hat? Could he be ANY more ostentatious? I dropped my eyes to my blue-checkered vans, adjusted the strap of my backpack on my shoulder, and made my way toward him.

"Bells!" Charlie boomed as he grabbed me in a bear hug, my feet hanging limply about a foot and a half off the ground. "How is my little girl? I haven't seen you since you were 11! You haven't grown a bit have you? Here, I'll take your bag." And with that Charlie shut his loud mouth and grabbed my backpack off my shoulder. He glanced sideways at me and said, "You look good baby. Dressing nicely too. That way I won't have to worry about chasing these boys away. They're already looking at you too much as it is."

I looked around, trying to find these boys that Charlie was talking about. I snorted when I realized that what they were staring at was Charlie with his booming voice and cowboy hat. Why not let him have his fun and pretend the boys are staring at me? I know they never will anyway.

***

After we got the rest of my luggage, we got into Charlie's police cruiser and I decided I'm gonna buy my own car. Don't want to be driven around like a fucking criminal when I go to school and shit. We continued driving through neighborhoods where the houses looked more like barns, so obviously I expected his house to be like that. Nope. He kept driving and stopped in front of a fucking mini mansion.

"Uh, dad are you here cause you need to arrest some rich ass drug dealer or something?" He laughed.

"Silly silly Bella. This is my house."

I felt my draw drop. "No fucking way…"

"Language! And yes way, it is my house. Come on." I couldn't scramble out of the car fast enough. I ran up to his front door, bouncing on the balls of my feet impatiently, waiting for him to open the door. Then I saw him struggling with my bags.

"Oops!" I ran over and grabbed my duffel from Charlie, so all he had was the box. We made our way back towards the door and Charlie unlocked it, and once again my jaw dropped. "Whoa…"

"What can I say Bells, crime pays in a big city." He walked in and threw his keys into a basket by the front door. The first thing I saw was a massive spiraling staircase that went up to the next floor.

"I'll say…" Damn this house must have cost a fortune. We could probably sell mom's house, all the cars, and everything inside the house and STILL not be able to afford this.

"Go head on upstairs and pick any room you want."

I'm pretty sure I sprinted up the stairs so fast I left that little dust cloud like in the cartoons. I stopped on the second floor first and peeked into the room on the right. Nope, that's Charlie's room. I took turns looking into every single room on the second floor, but none of them felt right. I continued my way down the hallway, and found a branch that turned left. I peeked into the first two rooms down that hallway. One was a bedroom; one was an attached bathroom Hmm. Not too bad. I like the view.

They still didn't feel right. There were two more rooms to look into. One was what looked like a study. I continued making my way all the way to the corner of the hall. There was another door. I opened it and gasped. This room was almost all windows. It had two real walls, and then it was two walls of window.

This was DEFINITELY going to be my room. I walked into the center and spun around in wonder. There was already a bed, but it was dusty and had no bed sheets or even a mattress. I'll just go borrow some from one of the other bedrooms and then I'll buy a mattress and bed sheets tomorrow.

Then out of the corner of my eye, I saw a little hatch in the ceiling. With a little pull cord hanging off. My curiosity got the best of me and I walked over to the cord and pulled. The hatch opened and out came a small staircase. You know, like the ones in those old movies and stuff.

I climbed up the staircase slowly, not sure what would be awaiting me at the top. When I stepped off the stairs, I was momentarily blinded by the sun, but my eyes adjusted to the light and I looked around.

It was the most spectacular thing I have ever seen. I was on the flat part of the roof of the house, and someone had taken the time to build a garden up here. With fountains and little ponds with fish and tall trees and everything. "Holy….SHIT!" I yelled with delight. I ran over to the small wooden bench next to the pond and ran my hand over it. If I could put a couple pillows here and there, I could make this so comfortable. It would be perfect for me to read my…uh…coughromancecough novel up here.

I raced back down into my room, out into the hallway, down to the first floor, and into the kitchen where Charlie was standing by the stove cooking…something.

"Oh my JESUS dad, who made that garden on the roof? It's freakin SICK! Can I move some pillows onto the bench by the tree up there? And is it ok for me to go up there?" I stopped to catch my breath as I realized that Charlie might not even want me up there in his garden, but my fears were quickly assuaged.

Charlie chuckled as he replied, "Yea sure Bells, whatever you want. My gardener, Jacob, manages the garden. He's a nice young man, lives down the street. He's your age I think, actually. He keeps it in good shape for me. I'm guessing you picked the room at the end of the hall, am I right?"

"YES oh my fucking God it is amazing! I fucking love your house!"

"Bella, language please. I don't want you talking like an immature, trashy male in this house. You are supposed to be a lady. Do your girlfriends talk like that too?"

Hah. If only he know my only three friends were all guys.

That's when I noticed the pot of whatever-the-hell bubbling and boiling over, and decided to draw his attention back to making, or more like ruining, dinner. "Uh…hey dad? Whatcha got cooking there? Smells…" Revolting, nauseating, repulsive, appalling, awful, disgusting. "…interesting."

"Oh, its just some spaghetti and sauce. I want my girl to be comfortable here, so I'm going to be cooking the meals, ok?"

"Umm…actually I like cooking, I'll do it from now on, if that's alright with you." I saw Charlie visibly relax when he heard those words come out of my mouth.

"Well, if you insist, Bells."

Yea. I do. "Ok so umm just give me the spoon and I'll take over for now. You can go watch the game. Make sure you record it, I want to see the Tigers kick some Bulldog ass." Soccer was my sport. Tell me all you want about football and basketball, but soccer kicks all their asses. Literally.

"Language, young lady. But I have to agree, Tigers sure can whoop some Bulldog fanny." Guess I can see where I got my love of soccer. Except who the hell says fanny anymore?

I turned back to the stove and attempted to rescue the ball of soggy spaghetti molded to the bottom of the pan. I heard a beep behind me and almost screamed. Charlie put a whole GLASS CONTAINER of spaghetti sauce in the microwave?? Jesus…I sure had my work cut out for me.

After I gave up trying to save the meal, I cut the ball of spaghetti in half, put it on two plates, and poured a heap of sauce on top. Lovely. At least now it doesn't look half as frightful. I walked into the living room where there was a 72" plasma, and stared in awe at the HD picture on the screen. Damn…why couldn't Phil be a chief in law enforcement?

I shoved the plate under Charlie's nose and plopped on the couch, too preoccupied with the game on the street to notice that I had almost dumped the contents of the plate (it's hardly a meal) on Charlie's shirt.

***

"No no NO the ball went IN godamn you! So not a foul! Stupid ref, go back to school! Stupid fucking pansy ass Bulldogs…" I threw my hands up in anger and almost smacked Charlie on the nose.

"LANGUAGE, Bella."

I glanced sheepishly over at him. "Sorry dad."

"No biggie Bells. Oh, darn, the game's over. Well, it's rather late, I'm going to start going to bed. I think you've got some unpacking to do, young lady."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Dad, stop calling me that, ok? I hate it."

"Calling you what?" Charlie looked genuinely puzzled over my request…or rather…demand.

"Young Lady." My fingers formed quotes in the air as I copied his term of endearment.

He laughed, a big, hearty laugh, as if I had cracked the funniest joke in the fucking world. "Whatever you say, bud." He grinned at me as he stood and began making his way over to the kitchen, his and my plate in his hands.

He turned and mock-glared at me when he noticed I hadn't gotten up from the couch just yet. "Go!" He jerked his head in the direction of the stairs, trying to keep a straight face.

I threw my hands up in the air and huffed. "Fine, Jesus. Don't go getting your panties in a bunch, father dearest." I adjusted the god-awful jeans I was wearing and made my way up the stairs, down the hall, and into my bedroom.

I grabbed my backpack off the floor and unzipped it. I pulled out my little soccer player figurines and the mini cars and looked around for a place to put them. All that was in my bedroom was a bed with no mattress; a little mini table that I'm guessing was supposed to pass as a nightstand, a bookshelf, and a…door? Huh. I never really noticed that door before. I walked over and turned the knob experimentally. Seemed to be working.

I cracked the door open and looked in. Unable to see anything, I yanked it all the way and looked in. Fucking fabulous. A walk-in-closet. What the hell was I supposed to do with it? Not like I have enough clothes in order to—are those SHOE racks?!?! Who in their right mind would own 1…5…13…27…45 pairs of shoes?! Jesus, the average American woman never ceased to amaze me. 45 pairs of shoes…when would you ever have time to WEAR that many shoes? Damn. Am I the only sane female on this planet?

I left the walk-in-closet alone and went back to my unpacking, putting the various trinkets of mine in place on the nightstand. I dug around again in my backpack until my hand came in contact with…a jar? I pulled it out and my heart sank into my stomach. His lava lamp.

I debated with myself over whether or not to hide it away in a box somewhere. I ended up just leaving it on the nightstand, off to the side so I actually had to try to look for it in order to see it, rather than having it in front of my face all the time.

I left my room and entered the closest bedroom and pulled the blankets and pillows off that bed. I picked up the mattress, sheets and all, and moved it into my room. With some difficulty, I might add. When the thing you're moving is about quadruple the size of you, no matter how light it is, you're gonna have some problems. Then I put the blankets and pillows back on the mattress and stepped back to view my handiwork. Not bad. Might wanna get some new sheets though, these are pretty worn out.

I continued unpacking my backpack and, when I was finished with that, moved on to my duffel. Except now I was unpacking very slowly and lifelessly, knowing that the more I get settled here, the farther I will be from Edw-No Bella, the farther you'd be from Jazz and Emm. I won't allow myself anymore thoughts of that pigheaded, brainless, poor-excuse-for-a-best-friend asshole.

I grabbed my pile of tees and walked grudgingly toward the closet. The walk-in-closet. Gah. I found a shelf in the corner and put my tees there, then went back to my duffel and grabbed my underwear and PJ's. I shoved each onto its own individual shelf, and was about to pick up my sweats when I noticed the messy pile they were in. I may be a tomboy, but I'm a SEMI organized tomboy. Within the first month or so, I'm very immaculate. Then I stop giving a shit.

I sat on the ground and pulled them out, refolding one by one. Took about two minutes since I only brought a few pairs. I picked them up and walked back into the closet and put them a shelf above my tees.

Box time. I slouched over to my box of books and other useless junk when a white flash caught my eye. A small piece of paper lay by my duffel. I picked it up and recognized the beautiful writing instantly. It hit me like a punch in the stomach. Fuck, I shouldn't be this weak. Still, I was curious to see what was in the letter. I opened it and began to read.

Dear Bella,

After you ran from my house, I realized I couldn't let you go without saying goodbye. I will miss you dearly my friend, and I hope you will miss me too. I do genuinely hope that you have a great time in Arizona with your dad. I know you miss him. It was cruel of me to attack you as I did, when you did do everything you could to try and stay. I apologize for my brash behavior, and hope you will forgive me. I love you, little tomboy. You're my best friend, and you better call and talk to me often, or I will stalk you in every possible way until you do. Love you, midget.

Edward

PS. For a good time, call (206)567-8901. Don't hit me.

I laughed as I read the last line. So Ed. I picked up my cell phone and started to press 2 (he's on speed dial). Then I thought about it. Huh. Why not let him sweat it out a little bit. The lovable jerk-off deserves it. Today's Saturday. I'll call him on Tuesday.

I looked at the lava lamp on my nightstand and smiled. I moved my other little doodads out of the way and put my lava lamp in the middle. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and raked my hand through my choppy hair. I think I might actually like it here.

***

I woke up to bright sunlight streaming through the window. I glanced over at the clock that was sitting on the nightstand and groaned. Shit. Seven o'clock. Note to self: buy curtains. Like now.

"Morning sunshine! Are you still in bed? Jeez, you're a slowpoke. Hurry up and get dressed and you can come make breakfast for us. We have some stuff we need to buy for you little lady. Hurry hurry hurry hurry!"

ffghifjgheihfva. Of course. Exactly what I need. A dad who is also a morning person. Life could not get any fucking better. "Kiss my ass." I mumbled into my pillow and closed my eyes for another few blissful moments of sleep, when all of the sudden my feet became rather cold. Then… "AARGH! Stop dad! Stoooooooooop!" I was laughing so hard from the tickling that I couldn't even talk. "Stop godamn you!"

Thankfully he stopped, allowing me to sit up and glare at him. "Up," Charlie demanded.

"Fine. But if I fall asleep in the stores it's your freaking fault." I grumbled as I made my way to the bathroom. I splashed water in my face to get rid of the sleep still lingering in my eyes and picked up my toothbrush and looked around for toothpaste. Bitchface. Tell me why I didn't pack it again? Whatever. I bent over the sink and brushed my teeth toothpasteless. Another Note to Self: buy toothpaste.

I sauntered downstairs and into the kitchen where Charlie was sitting at the island, drinking coffee.

I cracked open the fridge and peered in, looking for something to make. Nothing. Okay. "Do you have cereal, dad?"

"Yea sure, it's in that cabinet over there." I walked over to that cabinet and opened it. I grabbed a couple of boxes that looked good and put them on the island. I went back to the fridge and grabbed the milk carton, and then I asked Charlie where the bowls and spoons were. He pointed them out and I went and got them. I opened the pantry door and grinned ear to ear. Thankfully, my dad's sweet tooth seemed to be just as big as mine. I grabbed the Froot Loops, Lucky Charms, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch and poured them all into one bowl with milk on top. Whenever Ed and I had sleepovers, this was all we would eat.

"What?" Charlie was staring at me with his mouth open.

"How can you eat all those cereals at the same time?"

I shrugged and dug into my breakfast, and soon Charlie grabbed the box of cinnamon toast crunch and started eating too. We finished and I went upstairs to change out of my pajamas and into some normal clothes. I grabbed my favorite navy sweats and my black and red Nirvana shirt. There. Finally, I'm comfortable. No more jeans for me. I made my way back downstairs where Charlie was standing by the front door with keys in his hand. We were going out to buy some stuff for my room and some toiletries that I needed.

***

We pulled into the parking lot at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, and I hopped out of the car. We walked through the massive sliding glass doors and we were in. One by one we walked up and down aisles and picked up things that I needed. Like curtains, toothpaste, and bed sheets, a new mattress. Wall paint, too. I forced Charlie to buy this dark rich plum purple, which will look AWESOME when it reflects the sunlight from the bay window. There was also a really sick purple and white carpet that caught my eye, so I got that too. It was tedious and time-consuming, but at least I'll be able to make my room look livable. In the end, we had two carts overflowing with…miscellaneous things. Charlie paid, we piled the stuff into his cruiser, and drove home.

I removed the old mattress, dusted off the bed, and put the new mattress on. I pulled the purple, black, and white bed sheet over the mattress and put the blanket, comforter, and pillows on it. There. Now it looked like a bedroom. I pulled open the packaging of the carpet, and laid it out in my room. I had to lift the shelf, bed, and nightstand in order to properly put it down, but I managed. It fit snugly from corner to corner, so none of the hardwood floor was visible. I put all my toiletries away in the bathroom, and walked downstairs to spend some time with my dad. I have a month and a half until school starts. What am I to do until then?

***

Tuesday. It was Tuesday, the day I promised myself I would call Ed. It was 8:30 PM, I think I put if off long enough. Why was I feeling so nervous and antsy that he still hadn't forgiven me? He sent me the fucking letter! Godammit…why do my female hormones decide that now is the right time to make an appearance? I looked down at the phone we bought for my room, and sighed. I need to do this now

I dialed the number that I've had memorized since 6th grade, when Edward got his cell phone. My heart raced at an unhealthy speed as the dial tone gave way to the ringing that meant the call was going through.

I heard his laugh before I heard him put the phone to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Hey! Ed it's me." I twirled the phone cord anxiously around my finger, waiting to hear what he would say.

"Bells? HEY GUYS ITS BELLS!"

I heard Jazz and Emm scramble over to the phone when they grabbed it from him and shouted "Hey Bells!"

I chucked and replied "Hey guys, what the fuck you been up to?"

"Dude Bells where the hell did you disappear to? Is Arizona as much of a shithole as we think it is?" I could tell Emm had had more than one Red Bull, because the words stumbled out of his mouth at an almost unintelligible speed.

"Actually its pretty cool. My dad's house is fucking huge, and I have this badass room with like two of the walls being floor to ceiling windows. It's pretty sick. Plus he has a fucking MASSIVE HD Plasma screen with surround sound. I played some PS3 on it earlier, it's damn amazing." My dad sure knew how to spend his money.

I heard the three boys hiss in envy at the TV and surround sound. There was a clatter and Ed's voice saying "Ok guys, lemme talk to Bells, yea?" I heard the sound of a door being closed, and all the sounds of the video games they were playing in the next room were shut out.

"So Bells, how have you been?" I sighed inwardly at the beauty of his velvet voice. What the fuck is wrong with me? I mentally slapped myself and replied

"Shit, pretty good. Charlie can't cook to save his ass, but he made up for that with this freaking badass house. It's big enough to be some freaking Mafia boss's house."

"That's really good, I'm happy for you. I'm sorry I gave you so much shit for leaving. I know I was in the wrong because it wasn't your choice and I'm sorry."

"Ed, its cool. I can't hate you too long, you know that. We've gotten into fights before; it's not a big deal. So um, you excited about school starting without me?"

"Hell yea, I'll finally be able to have fun with the girls cause you won't be breathing down my neck all the time" I heard the smirk on his lips as he spoke.

"Yea, yea, you know that Jazz and Emm won't let you do anything stupid either. So don't even try."

"I NEVER said anything about doing something stupid. Just doing stuff with the girls you never let me even look at."

A flare of jealousy appeared in my chest, and I quickly shoved it down. I'm as good as one of the guys; he would never look at me twice. So what the fuck am I doing feeling jealous? I should be happy for him and trying to keep him out of trouble, that's it.

"Well try to at least make sure you don't get anyone preggers before I come home, yea?"

"God Bells, ruin my fun why doncha? Alright, alright, I can feel your glare through the phone. I swear I'll be good…to some extent."

"Ugh, well, I'm guessing that's the closest I'm gonna get to making you behave. Just don't fuck things up so bad that I have to come back and fix 'em."

"Will do Bells."

I heard Charlie call my name from downstairs. "Dude, Ed, I gotta go, the game's on. I'll call you later, yea?"

"You better, or I'll hunt your ass down and make you call. Later!"

"Bye fool." I hung up feeling satisfied. Now that Ed and I are back to normal, I can actually try to enjoy what's left of summer and the rest of my two-year sentence here in Arizona. I scampered down the steps and joined Charlie in the living room, excited over what was to come. Who knows, might not nearly be as bad as I thought.

***

OH if you guys wanted to know what I meant by two of the walls being bay windows, visit this site: it gives a pretty good example. Ignore the furnishings and everything, that is NOT how Bella's room looks. It's just the window I want you guys to look at.