NOTES: Thank you to those who have reviewed, it means everything to me! Now on with the drama...

PS. SM owns anything and everything having to do with Twilight and it's characters.

Chapter Nineteen

Oddly Friendly Waters

Bella POV

As I stepped off the plane, and headed down the ramp, my nerves were getting the better of me. I thought I was supposed to be good at controlling my own emotions. If I were human, I'd be hyperventilating right now. If I were this wound up, Connor's mind must be doing cart wheels. I stopped and turned to face him before we reached the end of the ramp. A few passengers bumped into Connor as they passed by him. It couldn't have felt good to them. Bumping into Connor was like ramming yourself into a brick wall. I could hear swearing and see mean looks as they would walk away rubbing their shoulders.

He looked down at me, amused. "You okay? You know they could sue me if they wanted to for bodily injury."

"I'm just wondering if you're okay. I mean, I don't know who all is going to be there waiting for us at the end of this ramp. I worry about how all this is for you."

"Bella, your worrying for no reason." He grabbed my shoulders, bending slightly so that he could look at me in the eyes. "I knew exactly what I was getting in the middle of when I decided to come with you. I'm a big boy Bella. I'm over a century old! I even have my big man underwear on." He laughed as he turned me around, putting his arm over my shoulder as he guided me towards the end of the ramp.

When we reached the end, there were a lot of people pooled together in the airport as everyone got off the plane. Without really thinking I took in a deep breath. He wasn't here. I let out a heavy sigh of relief and Connor laughed lightly. He knew exactly what I had done.

"He's not here." He stated as he squeezed me closer for a moment.

"No."

I breathed in again, and I could tell Alice wasn't here either. That made me happy, however I was a little dissapointed because I could tell that Emmett and Jasper weren't here either. And they were the only ones that I was sure wouldn't judge me for bringing Connor. I was unbelievably thankful that Rosalie wasn't here. Really the only one that I could sense was here was Carlisle, but I couldn't see him yet with all the people. We snaked through the small crowd, further into the airport, and there was Carlisle. Sitting in one of the seats, waiting for us. He stood up as he saw me.

"I'll wait here for a second." Connor reasuured me as he gently shoved me in Carlisle's direction.

"Bella, my dearest daughter!" Carlisle greeted me with the tightest, most sincere hug as he greeted me. "I have missed you so much. How was your trip?"

"Um, it was fine. God, Carlisle it is so good to see you. I've missed you a lot."

"Your friend is waiting cautiously. Bring him over here so I can meet the man who's been taking care of our Bella."

I went to retrieve Connor and nervously brought him to Carlisle. His reaction was not one that I was expecting. Carlisle looked shocked. He looked utterly shocked. He quickly composed himself and brought his hand out to Connor.

"My name is Carlisle Cullen, nice to meet you." He greeted Connor kindly. Yet there was a hint of shakiness to his voice. In the time I had know Carlisle, he has never looked or sounded like this. Even with all the danger that was around us before I became a vampire, he was scared for his family, but he still never sounded like this.

"Hello Sir, I'm Connor. Nice to meet you too. Bella's told me a lot about you." He was even being more composed that Carlisle.

"Well I hope it was all good things, do you two have anymore bags?"

"No, we didn't bring much, we don't plan on staying that long." I answered. I wasn't sure how he, nor anyone else would take that.

"Well enough then, let's get you to Charlie's, Bella." His smile almost seemed forced.

Connor let us walk ahead of him. I'm sure he was wanting to give us time to catch up. "Carlisle, are you okay? Connor coming won't be a problem will it?"

"I'm fine Bella, and no, it's okay that he came. No worries." He smiled again and patted my back lightly as we exited the airport towards his awaiting Mercedes. I was relieved again when there wasn't anyone waiting in the car for us. I pretty much figured out that Carlisle had let the others know that it would be best for him to come alone. Connor wanted to still give us time catching up, so he instisted that I sit up front with Carlisle. It hadn't worked though, there was uncomfortable silence as the car started up to life and Carlisle took off towards Forks. After about another ten minutes of silence, Carlisle finally spoke.

"So Bella, what have you been up to?" What a simple, yet loaded question to ask.

"Uh, well, not much. I found a small house in Maine. It's nothing really. Enough for me. It's conviently located by some lush woods." I smiled. "I honestly haven't been doing much. I got a night job at a call center. Pays the bill I guess."

Carlisle nodded, then looked in his rearview mirror at Connor. "And you, Connor?"

"Oh, um, I don't really do much at all. I kinda wander around. Do a lot of traveling." He answered.

"Where are you from?"

"From?" Connor didn't know what he had meant.

"Where were you born? As a baby and when you changed." Carlisle was getting a little nosy, but I didn't say anything. I chalked it up as him being fatherly.

"Ah, well, I don't know where I was born. I grew up in an orphanage my whole life until the age of 18. Then I left and went out on my own. Don't really remember much after that. I do remember being sick and then waking up changed. I woke up alone, but I had a note in my pocket. It wasn't signed, but whoever wrote it was the one who changed me. All it said was that they were sorry, that it had been a request of my father and that they knew that I would be strong enough to stay away from humans until I knew I wouldn't hurt them. I was told to feed on animals and to not go out in sunlight. That was it." Connor had recounted his life in a short and sweet fashion. I turned and looked back at him.

"You never told me this."

"You never asked hun. If you would have asked, I would have told you. It's not a sad story to me. It's okay.", he countered.

I turned back in my seat and leaned against my door, looking out the window. What father would request that his son be turned into a vampire? Was his father a vampire too? If so, the meant that either his father did not survive eternity, or his father is somewhere in this big world. No, his father wasn't a vampire because we couldn't have children. So his human father asked for his own son to be changed? Why? It was odd.

"Wait, Carlisle? Connor said in his letter, whoever changed him told him about feeding on animals. Not many vampires are vegetarians, so that kinda narrows the pool doesn't it?"

Carlisle glanced at me quickly, then returned to watching the road. "Well, yes, but-"

"It's okay Bella. I'm really not interested in the least bit on finding out who changed me. It was a long time ago and I don't even think about it. Anyways, you're getting a little distracted don't you think? We have your father's funeral to attend and you also need to show me around the wonderful town of Forks."

Carlisle quickly agreed. "He's right dear. There's a lot on your mind right now, and you can't add more to your plate."

I huffed as I folded my arms in defeat and went back to looking out the window. Something about his story didn't sit well with me. It seemed like such a horrible way to be changed. And how cowardly was the vampire who turned him to just leave him alone with nothing but a letter? Now, there was Connor's story that reminded me of Edward. Edward's mother had asked Carlisle to change Edward. But Edward was sick and dying. And I was right about the vegetarian thing. To me, that narrowed it down. I only knew of a small group of us that didn't feed on anything but animals. The Cullens, the Denalis, and maybe a hand few of others. It seemed really weird to me, and I didn't want to let it go. Once we got to Charlie's house, and I had Connor alone, I would ask him more about it.

We had already passed the 'Welcome to Forks' sign and had soon passed the police station. I watched it as we passed by, seemingly in slow motion. This brought on a wave of sadness. I let it sink in finally. Doing what Carlisle and Connor wanted me to do. I finally let my mind think throughly about the fact that my father had just died. I was so glad that I couldn't cry. Charlie was actually gone. When I got to his house, he wouldn't be there to greet me. To give Connor as hard of a time as he gave Edward. I wouldn't have anyone anyone to cook for. Charlie was the only one who knew. Who knew just about everything about me and the Cullens. It was something that I needed, and he was able to give me. Acceptance of what I had chosen, and acceptance of Edward and his family. Rene couldn't know because she would go crazy. Literally. And now, I had no one in my human family that knew anything about me.

"Here we are." Carlisle said as he pulled into the driveway of Charlie's house. It hadn't changed a bit. Not that it would, it had only been a little less than a year. It was just the it so little had changed, that it seemed like I had only been gone for a week at the most. Connor and Carlisle got out without hesitation, but I couldn't open my door. Yes, this was my father's home, but it felt foreign. I felt scared. I knew that once I opened that front door, it would be final. There would be no greeting from Charlie. No more beers. No more days of me walking in to see Charlie sitting at the table cleaning his guns. I wouldn't hear the sounds of his t.v. playing his favorite game. There wouldn't be anymore accidental burnings of food when he tried to cook. No, I couldn't open my door. I didn't want to. Carlisle came around to my door, and opened it for me. He knelt down to my level, rubbing my arm.

"Bella hun, you don't have to stay here if you don't want to. You can come to out house if you think it would be easier."

I looked at Carlisle like he was crazy. "Carlisle you know we can't stay there. Even if Connor hadn't have come with me, I couldn't stay there. It's too weird right now."

"I understand." He agreed reluctantly.

Connor spoke up this time. "Well I could stay here and you could stay at the Cullens if you think that would be easier."

"No! Both of you stop it. I'm staying here. That's the end of it." I raised my voice.

They both just nodded as I got out, letting Carlisle shut the door behind me. I slowly made my way up to the front door of the quaint house, and Connor started to follow me.

"Give her a minute." I heard Carlisle tell him behind me.

I opened the door swiftly, staying on the porch for a long moment before walking in. Charlie's scent was still very strong in the house. I took a deep breath and let it out loudly as I passed through the threashold. Everything was pretty tidy for Charlie. I knew that him and Sue and gotten closer, so I figured that she had started keeping the house clean for him once I had left. Everything was as I had left it. I walked into the living room, dropping my bag to the floor. I bent down, grabbing hold of the remote control, and turned on the tv. It was like God was trying to comfort me, because sure enough, there was a game on it. I put the remote back down on the couch as I smiled to myself. I kept looking around at everything, making my way into the kitchen. Even though he was gone, I still wanted to make sure that his food supply was well stocked while he was alive. As I went through the cabinets and the fridge, I heard Connor come in. I didn't bother greeting him. I was still surveying things. I made a mental note to myself that I needed to make sure to thank Sue for taking such good care of Charlie. She needed to know how much I appreciated her.

"You doin' okay Bella?" Connor asked as he came into the kitchen.

"Yeah." I exhaled. I closed the fridge and turned to look at him. I ran my hand exasberated through my hair and let my hands fall to my side. "Everything looks good here. He was well taken care of."

"Were you hoping for something different?" He asked me, one eyebrown arched up.

"Of course not. I know Sue took good care of him. I was just making sure."

Connor glided quickly to me, wrapping his arms around me, kissing me tenderly on the lips. "So, where are we sleeping?" He asked me, kissing me again.

I wiggled my way out of his arms and went to go upstairs to get a pillow. "You will be on the couch. I'll be in my room. We are not going to be doing anything while we are here. And we don't sleep."

He laughed heartily, "You know what I meant." Connor followed me upstairs. His relfexes were to be expected as he caught the pillow I tossed at him. I paused in front of my bedroom door before opening it quick and painlessly, like a bandaid. Not one thing had changed. It was still as messy as could be without tripping on things. All the doodles and drawings were still scattered on the wall above my computer. The computer itself was extremely dusty, not having been touched in so long. Oddly enough though, my bedroom window was open. I didn't bring my curiosity up to Connor though. My bed was the only tidy thing in the room and I was ready to just lay there and take everything in. Alone.

"So, this is the infamous Bella's room." I turned to face him.

"Yes, now get downstairs, and I'll see you in the morning." I kissed him quickly, but affectionately, as I jokingly shoved him out of my room. I watched as he decended the stairs, and waited until I heard him plop down on the couch, turning on the tv. I shut my door and quickly turned back around to face my room. He had been here. That's why I didn't say anything to Connor. Connor hadn't met Edward, so of course he wouldn't know that that was his scent. I felt a rush of excitement mull around in my stomach as I moved effortless, yet quickly to the open window. I looked out into the lowering sun as it lit up the sky in brilliant colors of oranges and reds. Something glinted in my perepheral vision and I swiftly turned to look. Nothing was there though. I sighed, bringing my head back into the room. I thought once I had moved out for good, that Charlie would have done something with my room. Maybe turned into some special gun room. Or at least just taken out all of this stuff so that it could be a spare room for someone. I noticed another flash of light and my body twirled quickly to see what it was. It was coming from my computer. The light was a green, flashing light from the processor. It was on? It was so dusty though, there was no way it was used recently. Upon closer inspection, I saw that even though everything on the computer was dusty, the keyboard and mouse had been disturbed.

I listened for Connor, sure that he was still downstairs. I sat down lightly in the chair and turned on the monitor. It brightly came to life and it was in stand by mode, waiting for whomever to put in the password to log back on. I typed it in quietly and waited for the old computer to log back on. After about three minutes or so, the monitor showed off my screensaver with the muliple desktop icons scattered across the screen. The first thing I noticed though, was a program that was still open in the task bar titled 'Bella'. I clicked it and it magnified to full screen mode. I gasped softly as it finally occured to me that someone had typed up a short note to me. That someone had been Edward.

AN: Wow...so...um...yeah...I saw that look Carlisle! And just WHAT did Edward do!? Review and find out!!! XOXO