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Previously:

I started planning that very night.

Ten weeks later, one day before Thanksgiving break and one day after my mom and Phil had a courthouse ceremony and left for their overseas honeymoon, I packed my bags and moved to Forks.

Chapter 3
BPOV

Although I had originally worried that my dad wouldn't easily agree to my coming to live with him, I was immediately reassured by his ecstatic response. Within a week of our first phone call, he had already made the arrangements for my flights and school transfer. Since I was a bit of a nerd and therefore ahead in my classes, it was set up so that I could take some extra credit to finish up my current semester early, before I moved, and then have a break until I started at my new school after the winter holidays.

Charlie also took on the challenge of convincing Renée that this move was in my best interests. He played off of her need for excitement and adventure by hinting that with me out of the house, she would be free to travel with Phil as much as they wanted. I was torn between feeling disappointed yet relieved that she didn't put up much of a fight.

My transition to Forks was relatively seamless. The cool, rainy weather was much kinder to my pale skin than the Phoenix sun had ever been. I still had my own room, although I had to share a bathroom with Charlie – which wasn't so bad since we were both low-maintenance.

The first night, my dad tried to make me a welcome-home dinner, claiming he had been practicing. Somehow he forgot to put water in the pasta pot and left the top on the jar of sauce that he had stuck in the microwave. Luckily, I came to check on him before anything caught on fire. We ended up ordering pizza that night, and both agreed that I should take over the cooking duties. I was perfectly happy to do it, now that I had someone else to cook for who would actually sit down to a meal with me.

Thanksgiving was pretty low-key: we kept it to just the two of us, since I had just finished moving in. Christmas, however, was a completely different story. As small as the town was, everything seemed to get hyped up for the holiday season. There was an elaborate tree right in the middle of downtown – you couldn't possibly miss it, seeing as "downtown" was only about three square blocks – and decorations, caroling, and various festivities ran rampant.

Based on the success of our Thanksgiving turkey (especially compared to previous years without me), Charlie decided that we'd have his best friend Billy Black and his son Jacob over for dinner. Billy was Chief of the local Native American reservation just up the road from Forks, and he and Charlie had been thick as thieves their whole lives. Although they still went fishing together every Saturday, I hadn't yet had a chance to meet him. Apparently, I had played with Jake as a child during some of my summers in Forks, but I couldn't really recall much. All that seemed to come to mind was the fact that we were about the same age, along with a blurry memory of long dark hair and jumping (or tripping, in my case) through tide pools on the beach.

When the doorbell rang early evening on Christmas Eve, I nervously smoothed down my skirt – one of only two that I owned – and went to answer the door. As it swung open, I was not at all prepared for the sight before me.

Tall, dark, and handsome was not an understatement.

The man in front of me – because there was no way he could be called a boy – was turned back towards the driveway, so I was able to catch a quick glimpse of the long silky hair he had tied back in a ponytail before he was suddenly looking right at me. He must have been at least a foot taller than me, with strong, chiseled features and a toned body that did perfect justice to his beautifully tanned skin.

He grinned at me, and it felt as though the sun had decided to come back up for the night.

"Hi, you must be Bella! I'm Jacob. These are for you." He handed me a small bouquet of daisies. "I'm just gonna go grab my dad."

Jacob bounded down the steps and I watched as he helped his father into a wheelchair and rolled him up to the house. I stepped out of the way so they could maneuver inside. Billy introduced himself in the hallway, and I showed them both to the living room where Charlie was propped up with a beer and his eyes focused intently on the football game.

I slipped out into the kitchen to finish up dinner, and was surprised when Jake followed me. "Sorry, do you mind? I figured I'd leave the old guys to their gossip, and maybe we can get to know each other a little." He grinned again, and any possible hesitation I'd had – not that there was much – was completely blown away.

"Sure, Jacob." I smiled tentatively back at him.

Our conversation started out awkward, but quickly became easy and comfortable. He told me things about Forks in general, reminded me about some of the messes we'd managed to get into as children, and regaled me with crazy stories of our fathers' escapades. When they finally joined us in the kitchen for dinner, it was as if we'd been close friends our whole lives, laughing and joking together. I didn't miss the poorly hidden glances and smirks our dads kept shooting at us and each other. Obviously they thought something might happen between us, and I didn't actually want to argue with that. I already felt closer to Jacob than I'd ever felt with any other guy. It was the first time I'd actually thought about what it would be like to be in a relationship.

At the end of the evening, after he helped his dad back into the car, Jacob stood on the porch with me for a few minutes saying goodbye. He shuffled his feet a little before looking up at me somewhat nervously.

"Hey, um, Bella. Would you … ah, would you like to hang out sometime? I mean, can I take you out on a date?"

His words were rushed and stuttered, and if both the night and his skin weren't so dark I would have sworn he was blushing. I'm sure my cheeks were an even darker shade of red than usual.

I really liked Jacob, and I wanted to spend more time with him, so I agreed. "Um, sure. Yes, I would like that."

We both smiled stupidly at each other, then he quickly leaned in and pecked my cheek before rushing down the steps and into the car. I waved a little as he backed down the driveway, then held my hand over the spot he'd kissed, staring out into the dark.

I jumped when my father's voice came out of nowhere. "So … you and Jake, huh Bells?"

I laughed nervously, wondering what my dad might think about me going on a date, and with his best friend's son. "Yeah, is that ok?"

He smirked at me. "Just make sure he keeps his paws to himself until you're married."

My blush increased a hundred fold. Sure, I wanted children someday and knew enough about what had to happen in order to have them, but I guess I never really thought about it in that context.

After that night, I saw Jacob almost every day until school started up, and then at least a few times a week after that. He introduced me to his friends on the reservation – the stoic Sam, hot-tempered Paul, sweet and silly Quil and Embry – and I quickly became a tag-on to their little group. I spent so much time with them that I never really got close to anyone at my own high school. I was somewhat of a novelty for the first couple weeks, being the new girl in town, but that seemed to quickly wear off once people noticed I pretty much kept to myself. I found it much easier to be around Jake's good-natured group than the slightly more judgmental people of Forks.

Jacob and I continued to date through the spring semester, and then through summer and the following year – our last year in high school. We had a sweet, secure relationship that slowly but surely developed into the kind of love that only best friends can share. We talked about all the important things: how we both wanted to stay in the area, our desire to start a family, our hopes and dreams. Jacob was next in line for Chief after Billy, so it was crucial that he build solid roots in the area and have his own heir to the tribe, per say.

Christmas Eve of our senior year, we had another small dinner with just the four of us. It was there, on my father's porch, exactly one year after he'd asked me on our very first date, that Jacob proposed. I accepted with joy, tears in my eyes, and he picked me up and swung me around before planting a sweet kiss on my lips. We heard cheering from inside the house and both turned to find our fathers spying out the front window, giving us the thumbs-up.

It was the perfect end to the evening, and the perfect start to our life together.

Jacob had gotten a job working at the local auto shop – he was great with cars, and they got quite a lot of people who came from miles away looking for a place that loved their cars as much as the owners did. The manager recognized his talent and he was on the fast-track to becoming a partner in the business. That type of job would also leave time for him to stay involved in the tribe's affairs.

I didn't have anything I particularly wanted to do for a career, so I chose to put off college for at least a few years. We wouldn't be rich, but we had enough to support us. For now, I wanted to get settled in and start our family, and then maybe I'd consider going back to school.

We married the summer after graduation – a simple ceremony out on the beach – and immediately got started with the fun stuff: trying to make a baby.