Grace had stacked as many advanced classes to her course load as she could. Mostly, she did it to make it up to her mom and show her she could be the studious kid she once knew.

Bella had gotten Grace settled into her AP European History course and moved off to English, Edward's hand on her lower back. He had given me a good morning and a smile and then stayed in contemplative silence as Bella gave her the low down about navigating Forks High.

Bella seemed incredibly comfortable in her new home of Forks even though she had only attended this school a couple months longer than Grace. Maybe it had to do with the fact that Edward was always by her side, a clear guiding rod through the chaos of high school. Grace suddenly felt cold.

After the bell rang, Grace gathered her things methodically and headed to the door. Bella turned the corner, Edward in tow beside her, when she looked over. Grace gave a small wave and Bella smiled back. They looped arms and Bella tugged her along down the hall.

"What's next?" Bella asked bumping her with her shoulder.

"AP Chem." Grace said matter of factly without having to pull her schedule from her pocket. "With Edward, if I'm not mistaken," she peered around Bella and met Edwards cool gaze.

"Indeed. With Mr. Hurmshore." He smiled down at Bella and carried the smile to Grace. It was starting to look a little more natural.

Grace took this as a good sign and when Bella stopped her at the door for AP Chem.

"Okay, you two. Have fun," she tripped over the word 'fun' and her mouth pulled up on side as she stifled a laugh. Grace rolled her eyes and turned into the classroom, leaving Edward and Bella to say their lovey goodbye.

She handed the teacher her slip and was guided to an empty lab table. When Edward walked in the room, he bee lined it for her. Grace raised her eyebrows in surprise-she didn't expect him to willingly take a seat next to her given her cool reception these past couple of months. He pulled out a notebook and flipped to an open page lazily and turned his head to meet her eyes.

"Here we go." he smiled.

Grace was surprised how quickly the class passed by. She was invested in the lesson, but tried to make small talk with Edward. She loved Bella and knew Edward was a significant part of her life. She wanted to know that part too. Her small talk seemed to be working. Edward was carrying on polite conversation with her and never tried to look away or grimace or pull his lips back over his teeth unconsciously.

They talked about Oklahoma and her friends there, how she was liking Forks so far, and what she thought of sharing a room with Bella.

"She's a pretty deep sleeper," Grace laughed. "She talks in her sleep, too. It's kind of great."

Edward smiled and jotted down a reaction from their lab experiment nodding his head, "I've heard that, actually."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, she told me one time that it woke her mother up when they were on a road trip together. Scared her half to death."

"Oh," Grace let out a chuckle, "Makes sense."

By the time they exited the class together, they were laughing at a shared joke. Bella was elated as they walked to lunch together at their new found friendship.

Bella introduced her to her group of friends—Angela, Ben, Jessica, Mike—and they fell into step. Grace always had an effortless ability to mesh well in a group. Her broad, bright smile, and warm welcoming demeanor always drew people in. She was able to read faces and body language in a way that allowed her to lean into their likes and avoid their dislikes. By the end of lunch, her and Angela Weber had exchanged numbers to talk at length about a book they were both reading and Jessica was trying to recruit her for the volleyball team.

September

The morning of Bella's birthday was extraordinarily foggy. Grace couldn't sleep and sat in the early morning hours on her bed looking out the large bay window waiting for the sun to rise. She picked at the bracelet that lay on her wrist, a constant comfort for her.

When Bella finally stirred at quarter past seven, Grace bounded over to her bed and bounced over top of her. "Happy BIRTHDAY!" she yelled, throwing her hands up in the air and shimmying her upper body. "You're eighteen, you're eighteen, you're eighteen today, hey hey hey!" she lilted in no particular tune.

Bella grinned and turned her head back into her pillow. "Okay okay okay. Thank yooou. It's my birthday, thank you."

"Wow, eighteen. You don't look a day older than seventeen." Grace laughed and paused for the bad joke to sink in.

"Ha ha." Bella pushed herself up, sending Grace toppling into the space next to her.

"Hey! Watch it. That's not how you treat someone who has a birthday gift for you."

"Oh no, you didn't. Grace! I told you, no-"

"No gifts. Yeah yeah, I got it. No one cares and I guarantee everyone got you a gift." Grace smiled unapologetically at Bella, "Get over it, dude."

Bella's mouth hung open, speechless.

"Anyway," Grace rolled her eyes and dipped a hand under Bella's bed to produce a small wrapped square.

"You hid it under my bed?"

"Work smarter, they always say," Grace shrugged.

Bella took the gift with a genuine smile and gently pulled the paper away to reveal a warm auburn colored leather journal that was stamped with the landscape of a mossy covered cliff face and dotted beach along the Washington coast. It looked not unlike La Push beach.

"This is great. Thanks Gracie. I was actually hoping for something like this." Bella flipped through the hand cut pages and gave Grace a reassuring look.

Just then a knock sounded on the door and Charlie pushed it open with more gifts in his hands.

"Haaaappy birthday," he said gently.

"Told yah," Grace said.

Bella was a resistant birthday girl, but went along with the wants of others nonetheless. Alice had invited Bella to the Cullen home that night for a birthday dinner after handing her a perfectly wrapped green and black velvet gift. Grace had been back at her locker grabbing a few things, but Bella had told her afterwards.

"Is that okay? I know you and Charlie wanted to take me to the diner." Bella looked at Grace almost with a pleading look.

"Of course! We'll do it Friday night instead. No big." Grace hadn't had much interaction with most of the Cullens. They had kept their distance from her even though her and Edward were becoming fast friends.

Grace hadn't really thought much of it, but it felt like a clear line was being drawn. Maybe she was reading too much into it.

As Bella waved from the passenger side of Edward's car in her green dress before heading off to the Cullen's for her party, Grace couldn't help but feel a sinking weight settle in her. She shook her head to try and clear the feeling and plopped herself on the couch next to Charlie. She pulled a tangle of threads before her and set to the meticulous task of practicing the intricate braiding she once knew as a child.

The TV hummed in front of her and she tucked her feet under her grey baggy sweatpants, pushing loose strands of hair away from her face that had fallen from her low hanging ponytail. She readjusted the green flannel button up and brushed some loose crumbs from her black tank top. Charlie's hand loosely grasped a beer hanging of the side of his recliner. Every now and then Grace glanced up at the gentle glow of the TV. The quiet that hung between her and Charlie was calming. It made sense then that she didn't realize when she had fallen asleep and woke to the click of the front door.

Charlie's snores emanated softly from his recliner.

"Bells?" Grace whispered leaning up to look over the back of the couch toward the front door.

Bella either didn't hear her or chose not to answer her as she climbed the stairs toward their room. When Grace picked herself up off the couch and reached the bottom of the steps, she saw light filtering under the closed bathroom door at the top of the landing. Grace quietly climbed the stairs and let a gentle knock on the bathroom door.

"Bella? You okay?"

"Yeah, fine. Just getting changed" Bella's small voice was almost covered by the sound of running tap water.

"Okay." Grace looked at the door with worry and went to climb into bed. She was dozing off by the time Bella made her way into the room-she tiptoed in and tried to make as little noise as possible, hoping not to wake Grace most likely and talk about the evening.

The next day was worse.

Grace donned her raincoat and shuffled out the door, only to be confronted by Bella standing on the steps looking out at the street.

"You okay? Where's Edward?" Usually Edward would pick up Bella and Grace would take the truck in. Sometimes they all rode together, but Grace appreciated the time alone to think in the truck on her way to school.

"I'm not sure." Bella's voice was dull and her eyes searched the street.

"Come on, let's get in the truck, it's cold." Grace ushered Bella into the truck and looked down the street one last time before climbing in the driver side.

"Did something happen last night?" Grace asked as she turned on the engine and brought her mittened hands to her face to warm up. Bella was staring out the windshield, her eyes far away for a moment.

"N-no. I mean, I cut myself cutting the cake last night" Bella touched her upper arm gingerly and trailed off. "Let's go, it's fine." She said with more resolve. Grace nodded and they glided off down the rain slicked roads that were threatening to turn to ice.

The school day filled Grace with worry. Mostly because in between classes, Bella drifted further and further away from herself. The far away look in her eyes deepened and it seemed like she was shuttering. Grace was able to pull her from her reveries momentarily each time but she could see a small panic rising in Bella.

When they got home, Edward was waiting on the lawn, his hands shoved in his pockets and head down. He seemed to be wearing the same outfit as the night before. Grace looked over to Bella who was frozen in place for a moment. She gave Bella a look.

"It's okay, I'm going to go talk to him. Don't wait up." Bella pushed out of the truck and Grace waited while she crossed the lawn to him, stopping a little short. Edward made eye contact with Grace, a look of confirmation or acknowledgement, before nodding toward the forest. Grace could clearly make out the word "walk" from his lips. Bella nodded, looked over her shoulder at Grace and gave a weak smile before traipsing into the woods after Edward.

Grace started for a second, she almost followed them. The pit in her stomach grew again and she had to catch her breath. She wanted to call out 'Wait!' but the sound never came. She sat in the truck, cold, eyes focused on the darkened space where they had disappeared through the trees until her teeth chattered so hard she had to retreat into the house.

Her stomach flipped as she closed the door and fell back against it.

As night drew in, Grace paced the living room floor, raincoat still on, waiting. How long would she wait to go after her? There was no way they could still be in the woods, it had started raining, sleeting almost. They'd be freezing. But Bella would have come back home if they had finished talking.

Anxiety raced through Grace. Then, she heard Charlie's cruiser pull up the drive and she stopped pacing for a moment. She tried to calm her body, but when Charlie crossed the threshold, he took one look at her face and the worry was clear.

"What's wrong?" He looked alarmed around the room. "Where's Bella?"

Of course he knew.

Grace was sitting on the porch with her head in her hands as the collection of volunteers rushed around the lawn. Harry Clearwater was the first to arrive, assuring Charlie that he'd sent a local party out into the woods to begin looking for Bella. Charlie had grilled Grace about which way Bella had left into the woods and confirmed at least ten times that it was Edward she left with.

After she had confirmed loudly for the tenth time, Charlie had made a small involuntary noise.

Now, as rain misted Grace's hair and the crackle of the police radio echoed across the front lawn, she was kicking herself for not going after her. For not stopping her when she felt that feeling in her stomach. This night couldn't get any worse.

"We're going to find her Charlie." Billy Black's voice reached too close. Her head shot up and she stood too quickly, blood rushing quickly from her head. She wobbled slightly on the step which caught Billy's eye and he nodded, a stern almost unforgiving look on his face. Jacob stood close by. "You said you saw her go into the woods last, for sure?" Billy confirmed.

"Grace did, she said he was there after they got back from school and Bella left with him through that small path clearing." Charlie's head was bent over the map of the woods. Grace tried to take a step down, but stumbled, her head still swimming. She couldn't feel the bottoms of her feet.

"Jake. Stay with her will you?" Billy nodded his head toward Grace and Jacob jogged the short distance across the lawn to meet her. She cleared the bottom step just as he came up on her and stood next to her.

"Are you okay?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, sorry just woozy."

"K, well stay next to me. I don't want to get in trouble when you fall and smack your head on the pavement." He grinned and placed his hand under her elbow guiding her over to sit in the bed of the truck. He wrapped his arm around her waist and gently hoisted her up onto the lowered truck bed door. She didn't protest, but was surprised when he hopped up next to her and pulled her raincoat hood gently up over her head.

"Thanks." Grace said weakly.

"No problem." he breathed out looking around. "How long has she been gone for?" he asked nonchalantly, as if Bella was just off running an errand.

"A solid 8 hours. She left immediately after we got home from school," Grace recited as she clutched the side of the truck.

"That dude she's dating kind of creeps me out. He doesn't seem right," Grace tilted her head to look at him and he quickly corrected himself saying, "For her I mean. Like he just doesn't seem like her type."

"Oh?" Grace raised an eyebrow, a little annoyed. "And who is her type?"

Jake moved a little uneasy. His long dark hair swayed in front of his face, a curtain separating them. She had the undeniable urge to reach out and run her fingers through it. She could smell that familiar warm wood smell emanating from him that she for so long associated with home.

She didn't realize how long she had been staring, zoning out and not quite hearing Jake's explanation of exactly who Bella's type was until he looked over at her,

"What are you staring at?" He said a little taken off guard.

"Oh, sorry. Nothing, just lost in thought. I'm having trouble staying here with all this going on. What were you saying?" Grace tried to regain some normalcy in her movements and keep her eyes focused on the ground, her hands, anything to keep from staring at Jacob Black any longer. She heard him chuckle just then and turned to look at him. How calming and odd it was that Jacob, during this insane moment of chaos, could be so at ease, asking questions, so sure that nothing could be wrong or at the very least give off the vibe that nothing was wrong.

"What?" Grace asked.

"It reminds me of that time when we were little and my mom took us to that children's center right off the rez. You somehow snuck away when she was checking us in. You were supposed to be holding my hand, but you got distracted, got this far away look in your eye and wandered off. When they found you down by that small creek behind the center, you said you had trouble staying put." He laughed a little. "Do you remember that?"

Familiar warmth rushed through Grace. While she didn't remember that moment, she remembered that feeling. Letting go of his hand and slipping away.

"My mom was so mad," Grace shook her head smiling. "Why'd you let me let go of you?"

Jake sighed, "I don't know," he stated simply. "Lesson learned." he bumped his shoulder against hers and Grace let out a sigh of relief. All of the tension had left her body during their conversation.

"Charlie!" A call came from the south side of the trees on the opposite edge of where Bella had disappeared through. Grace and Jake's heads snapped around and they hurried over behind Charlie who was hustling toward Sam Uley.

"She's alright," Sam declared, holding a lifeless looking Bella in his arms. Charlie immediately went to grab her from him.

Grace left out a soft whimper of relief and her left hand moved of its own accord to grip Jacob's forearm and steady herself.

"She's alright," Jake said quietly and pulled her in into a tight hug. Grace nodded her head in his chest, gripping onto his shoulders, tears stinging her eyes.

She's alright.