A/N: Wow. Awesome response. Thanks to the 9 people who have added this story as favorites and 43 who have added story alerts (so far!).

Thanks to my reviewers: brucue, spenceandash4ever, Jits, Kyraaah1992, The Fool, CullenGirlBrazil, and TheMonkeySong!

To The Fool: Don't worry Alice will definitely be the "go for it" type very soon—right now she doesn't even know who this girl is or if she even exists yet. And the chapters should get longer as we go.

Bella

I had no particular attachment to Arizona and I couldn't find any reason I needed to stay. I could however find many reasons I did not belong in Forks. But fortunately for both of my parents, my dislike of Forks, Washington was far outweighed by the guilt I felt for anchoring my mother down in Phoenix. I knew that as much as she loved me, what she really wanted was to be on the road with her new husband Phil. Of course, she would never tell me that herself, so it was up to me to suggest this new arrangement.

I talked to Charlie first—and he approved the plan immediately. I was his baby girl and he missed me more than he was willing to admit. We always did the requisite holiday switch-off and summer visits well established by the kids of divorced parents, but we spent more time missing each other than we did together as father and daughter.

My mother hadn't needed much convincing either. She thought it was the perfect way for Charlie and I to bond—and also gave her the opportunity to follow Phil's minor league baseball career wherever it might take them. And so here I was, Isabella Marie Swan, arriving in Seattle, Washington with only a little baggage and few hopes for what Forks might hold for me.

I stepped out of the airport's automatic sliding doors dragging two suitcases (bright red—not exactly my taste) and with my orange JanSport backpack draped over my left shoulder. It felt like a scene from a movie where the new stepparent ships off the unwanted kid to boarding school. Of course it wasn't like that with Phil, but it didn't change how it felt.

It wasn't hard to spot Charlie. He was leaning, arms crossed across his chest, on the side of his Police Cruiser right outside the baggage claim. "Bells!" he flagged me down. He quickly grabbed my bags from me as I approached and tossed them in the trunk. "It's good to have you here, Bells," he told me as he pulled me into a half hug. Neither of us was very affectionate.

"It's good to be here," I lied in return. In a show of chivalry, my father opened the passenger side door for me. "Thanks." This was awkward.

The ride to Forks was silent. It wasn't an awkward silence, but it wasn't particularly comfortable either. "Your hair is longer," Charlie finally commented, barely glancing over from the road.

"I've gotten it cut since I was last here," I replied. I wasn't trying to be rude, just stating a fact.

"Hmm. Guess it must have grown back out."

"Guess so," I conceded and we lapsed back into silence. A few minutes later we were in Forks and Charlie was pointing out the only slightly familiar sights to me as we passed.

"There's the station where I work. And I don't know if you remember, Bells, but there's the diner we always used to eat it at. I thought we could go there for dinner tonight after you get settled in."

"Sure, Dad," I agreed.

"Great, it's Thursday. They have berry cobbler tonight. We can get that for dessert."

The car ride faded back into silence until we reached Charlie's house and he pulled into the driveway. It was a small two-story house. Two bedrooms, one bathroom. Perfect for a bachelor. A little harder for a bachelor to share with his teenage daughter.

"Run on inside," Charlie told me as he unbuckled his seatbelt. "I'll bring your bags inside."

"Thanks, Ch—Dad." I wasn't used to shows of chivalry. I drew the hood of my navy blue raincoat over my head and hopped out of the cruiser, running towards the front door. Charlie followed closely behind carrying a suitcase in each hand and looking like an overgrown high school student with my backpack draped over his shoulders.

"It's a little wet," I commented, removing my raincoat and beginning to drip dry by the front door.

"Usually is." Charlie set my suitcases down. "You'll get used to it."

"Mmm." That was the best response I could muster. I couldn't imagine ever getting used to the daily storms and rain showers. I just hoped there was something here I could learn to love enough to make up for this terrible weather.

A/N: Thanks for reading! As always, I appreciate reviews!