Chapter 5:

Disclaimer: Same as Prologue

A/N: I am sorry if this sounds like it was written by a five year old or gets confusing anywhere, because I happened to be falling asleep and backspacing a lot during this one. Sorry :(

I pushed the food around on my plate absently. My thoughts had been preoccupied by Tanya all day since the bookstore. I hadn't been able to figure out how my luck just wished for me to find another vampire here-a whole coven of them, actually.

The questions that flew across my mind were fast, repetitive and constant. Was I going to be running into them constantly during my stay up here in Alaska? Would they attempt to befriend me? Would it be like the Cullens all over again? Would they even contact the Cullens after they found out who I was?

Or, would it be simple? Was my meeting with Tanya just a chance? Was she actually just being polite to me in the store? Perhaps, she felt bad for when we ran into each other, and wanted to make up for it by asking questions?

The last thought was so weak that I didn't even understand it. Why would she ask question after question if she just wanted to apologize? We did agree to disagree after all on whose fault it was.

"You alright there, Bells?"

I jerked my head up to Charlie as he watched me carefully. His brow was raised in question. I nodded, quickly stabbing my fork into a piece of mashed potatoes. "Yeah, I'm fine, Dad."

He hummed. "You sure about that?" he asked, scooping peas onto his fork. "You haven't really been focused ever since you got home. Are you sure nothing's bothering you?"

I nodded slowly. "I'm fine just...thinking to myself."

"About what?"

"Huh?"

"Well," he said with a small huff, "if you are thinking to yourself there must be a subject that you are thinking about. So, what is it?" He stuffed the forkful into his mouth.

I blinked, putting a piece of food into my mouth to give me just a little more time to think of a response. Charlie had despised the Cullens for the past two years. He had ever since the day they left.

I had sobbed in the forest for so long that I became exhausted. I had passed out and was there till night. No one had seen me or heard of anything of where I was. They had sent out parties around town to help find me, and I was found by Sam-the Alpha of the La Push Pack-unconscious on the forest floor.

He carried me back to my house, and gave me to Charlie to take care of. He explained where he had found me in the woods and after they heard my story of why I was there, Charlie was pissed. He despised the Cullens for leaving me in my time of need. He hated Edward for breaking my heart and just leaving me in the woods like there had never been anything between us at all as I cried my heart out.

Now, after two years, I was pretty sure that he still hated them. He wasn't as verbal about it now, but I could see the flicker in his eyes every once in a while when there was a reminder of what happened. The news about the Denalis wouldn't settle well on him.

I swallowed my bite slowly as he waited for an answer. I replied in the most casual way possible, "I ran into this woman at the bookstore today with Frank."

He nodded. "What about her?" He stuffed another mouthful of peas into his mouth. He barely chewed them before he swallowed, waiting for my explanation.

I took a drink of my V8 to moisten my suddenly dry mouth. "We kind of ran into each other, literally." He smirked here a little. "And I thought she looked kind of…familiar." It was the best way to put it without saying she was a vampire.

He raised his brow. "You met her before?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No, but after she told me her name I realize why she was so familiar," I explained. "Her name was Tanya. Tanya Denali."

"Like the town?"

I nodded. "Yes."

"Why does that explain why she looked familiar? Have you seen her on the street or something?"

I shook my head. "No," I said. I pushed the peas on my plate around for a second. I then scooped some onto the fork. "It's just that…Edward once told me of some cousins they had up here in Denali."

As I expected, Charlie's posture stiffened. His hand froze its movements of bringing the fork of mashed potatoes to his mouth. He looked at me. "You're saying that this…Tanya is the Cullen family's cousin?" he asked stiffly as his eyes narrowed a little.

I nodded. "Yes, I think so."

He hummed, scowling a little. "Have the Cullens told them about you? Did she know who you were?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I don't think so. I just told her my first name, though. She might know who I am, but she just didn't make the connection without the last name."

He hummed again, now putting the fork in his mouth. He swallowed and then said, "Well, I see why you would be thinking of her." He looked at his plate for a moment before he continued. "Is she going to cause any trouble?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. She shouldn't. She just asked if we would see each other again in town," I said. Along with pretty much everything there is about me.

He nodded, and put on a slight smile. "Well, maybe we won't run into her too often. Who knows, maybe she's never heard of you."

I nodded with a weak smile. "Yeah," I agreed. "Maybe…"

I walked down the stairs the next morning with a yawn. I rubbed my eyes to get the rest of the sleep still clotted in them out. I hadn't really dreamed last night, or at least I didn't remember what I had dreamed last night very well.

I rolled my arms to stretch my muscles with a small grunt as my head lulled back and forth to stretch my neck as I reached the bottom stair. I placed my feet on the ground and headed towards the kitchen.

When I walked in, I found a can of V8 already set out for me on the counter. Next to it was a note from Charlie. I walked towards the counter and grabbed the V8. I grabbed the tab with my thumb and forefinger, pulling it back to open it before I pressed it back down. I took a drink from the can as I picked up the note.

Bella-

Went to the store with a few of the guys from the prescient. We might be out later than just an hour, so I'll call you if the plans change.

(I left you something in the fridge for breakfast.)

-Best Dad Ever

I rolled my eyes at the end of the note, but crumpled it up in my hand and threw it into the garbage. I took a drink from the V8 as I walked to the fridge. I grabbed the handle and pulled the door open, going down to look inside to see what it had.

I saw the plate of eggs and bacon almost right away. I reached in and pulled it out, feeling that the plate was still warm. He must have just left the house.

I pulled the plate out of the fridge and closed the door as I set it on the counter. I walked to the drawer we kept the utensils in and pulled out a fork before I sat in front of my plate. I set down my V8 and took a chunk of the eggs off the plate to stuff it into my mouth.

I took in a breath as I thought about what I was going to do today. I guessed that I could maybe go to the bookstore again. I could find some things that I had missed in my rush to get out of the store that had the vampire in it.

However, if I did and Tanya was actually that interested in me, was it possible that she would be there waiting for me? Surely not, right? I scowled a little at the thought in how it made my stomach churn.

I guessed I could go to some other places in town. Frank pointed out a small little café it had that he enjoyed. He said it was kind of a hole in the wall, but it was really good and they hoped to get the business going just a little faster soon by expanding.

I looked around the house as if to confirm there was nothing to do.

Café it was.

I opened the door to Stella's Café with my bag slung over my shoulder. I had a book I had recently bought stuffed in it to read while I drank my coffee. It would hopefully give me some time to relax by myself that didn't look depressing-such as staying in my house all day in my pajamas watching Days of Our Lives.

The café was a quaint little place. There were a few people spread through it, but not many. Most of them were on their computer doing some type of work or a few were talking with the group they were with. The place had a slight rustic look to it that I kind of liked with the decorations. The music playing in the background was a nice touch, too; it wasn't just popular stuff.

I walked up to the counter and the young man behind it looked up at me. He was probably about my age based on his facial and physical features. He was definitely considered attractive, but the small look in his eyes gave me a small waver that he leaned more towards the snakes rather than the cats.

"Hi," he said.

I smiled. "Hello."

"What can I get you? Cappuccino? Latte? Frappe? The choice is yours, milady," he said, giving me a bright smile.

I couldn't stop the smile that spread across my face with his. "I'll have a vanilla latte, please," I said.

He nodded, punching in the order. "Anything else?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No, that's it."

"Alright, then, you're total is five dollars and ninety cents," he said with the same smile in place.

I took out my wallet and sifted through the bills in the pocket. I pulled out a ten and handed it over. "Here you go," I said with a smile.

He took it with a small nod, putting it in the register. "Out of a ten so you're change will be four dollars and ten cents." He grabbed the needed money and held out the four dollar bills first. "First your dollars." I took it and he placed the dime in my palm. "And now your dime."

I smiled. "Thank you."

"Welcome. I'll bring your drink over to you when its ready," he said.

I nodded with a smile and turned to find a place to sit. I found a nice little table in the corner of the room. There was a lamp hanging directly over the table and it was a nice little spot to stick to myself and read. I walked over to the booth/table and slipped in on the booth side so he could find me easier.

I situated myself in the booth as I pulled the strap from my bag over my head. I began to stuff the money into my wallet, making sure it was organized in the bills before I zipped the pocket and snapped the strap on it shut.

I placed it back into my purse and pulled out the book I had recently bought-Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie. I set it on the table and turned myself to be facing the book, crossing my legs under the table. I opened the book to the page I was currently on and began to read.

When I was halfway through the page, I heard, "Here you go." I jerked my head up to see the same guy setting down the latte in front of me.

I smiled at him. "Thank you…" I trailed off when I realized I didn't know his name in order to thank him.

He seemed to catch on as he smiled and stuck out his hand. "The name's Max," he said. "I don't think I've seen your around here. And trust me, I know pretty much everyone around here."

I chuckled as I took his hand, giving it a shake. "I'm Bella. My dad Charlie and I just moved up here about six weeks ago. We're staying in a friend's house," I said.

He nodded as we released each other's hands. "I see. Are you going to be staying here long or not? I'm guessing that the friend's house is just a temporary arrangement."

I shrugged as I took a small sip of the coffee. "We don't really know. It could be for a few months or a year. We haven't really gotten a good estimate on how long we'll be living up here," I said.

He nodded. "What brought you up here in the first place?" he asked.

I pursed my lips a little. "An issue came up, and we're hoping that moving up here for a while will help it," I said.

He nodded and then cocked his head. He studied me for a moment before he replied, "You wouldn't happen to be a cancer patient of Dr. Ford, would you?"

I blinked in surprise. I was actually taken aback that he had picked up on it at all. Yeah, I was pretty underweight for my height class, but usually my head of natural hair through people off. "I-I am yeah…"

He nodded, giving a smile. "He's a good man, Dr. Ford. He helped my sister when she was struggling with cancer. It wasn't bad, mind you, but he still got her through it and cancer free. That had to be-oh, I don't know-six or seven years ago."

I smiled. "I've heard a lot of good things about him."

He smiled. "I'm sure you did. He really deserves the praise," he said. His eyes got a little dreamy and I put another point in the column that he leaned towards snakes.

I looked around the café and then back at him. I motioned to the seat in front of me. "Do you want to sit down?" I asked. Max seemed like a nice enough guy; he might be some good company and a good friend to make up here if not acquaintance.

He thought a second, looking around the café quickly before he smiled and nodded. "Sure." He sat down in one of the chairs in front of me and scooted in towards the table. He set his elbows on it and said, "Let's do a Get to Know You Game."

I raised a brow. "Like what?" I asked.

He shrugged. "We each ask five questions. I ask my five first, and then you ask yours. Deal?" he asked.

I nodded. "Deal."

"Okay, I'll go first. What's your favorite color?"

I raised a brow, but answered, "I don't have one. It changes every day. Today it's red."

"How old are you?"

"Twenty."

"Relationship status?"

"A happy single."

"Adopt or give birth?"

"Adopt, there are too many homeless kids in the world."

"That's a good answer."

"I thought so."

"Favorite kind of ice cream?"

"Chocolate."

He hummed. "I'm more of a strawberry kind of person myself," he said. He then waved his hand. "You're turn."

"Alright, what's your relationship status?"

"Nothing at the moment, though there is a guy I'm wearing down at the moment. I'm sure I'll be at him by next week."

Aha, so he was gay. Point for my gaydar. "Good luck."

"Thank you."

"Favorite color?"

"Green."

"Age?"

"Twenty."

"Family?"

"Mom, Dad and sister along with a brother-in-law."

"Adopt?"

"Bro, I'm a gay guy with a dick. I'm pretty sure that I'm gonna have to adopt unless my future hubby and I can find a surrogate mother."

I couldn't help it as I snorted. A wicked grin pulled onto my lips. "I guess that's a good point," I said.

He smiled and then said, "I'll go again." He looked down at the book on the table that I had closed with the bookmark sticking out of the page. "How much do you like to read?"

"Too much for my own good."

"Favorite book?"

"Wuthering Heights."

"Favorite author?"

"Don't make me choose, there are too many."

"Okay, then what is your favorite genre?"

"Recently I've enjoyed more realistic fiction more. You know, kind of like John Green books, but they don't have to have romance in them. Just something that's realistic with humor."

"I can get that."

"I would hope so," I said with a smile, picking up my cup of coffee. I took a sip from it and let the warm liquid slither down my throat and spread through my body. It felt good having the warmth on my hands.

"Good coffee?"

"Delicious."

He smiled. "Alright, what other hobbies do you have?"

I cocked my head as a small smile pulled on my lips. "Well, I like to play the piano and listen to music. I love music, actually. It is right up there with reading and sleeping," I said.

He nodded. "What kind of music do you enjoy the most? You know, like alternative, indie rock, straight rock n' roll, metal, jazz, blues, pop? What's your favorite?"

"Well," I said with a snort. "I hate it when all people listen to is pop. It annoys me that they won't listen to any other kind of music since there are so many good songs out there."

He lifted his hands. "Finally!" he called, making a few customers look at us. "I hate it when I meet people like that. It's like you want to hit them and shove their face into some quality music and artists that doesn't require a curse word every two seconds."

"Exactly," I agreed with a nod. "It doesn't make sense to me. I mean artists like Daughter, Sylvan Esso, Florence and The Machine and others are not even getting noticed and they have hundreds of good songs."

"I love Sylvan Esso," he said, his eyes glittering. "Their music is great to dance to. I'm a dancer's brother, so I would know. What do you think about The Mowgli's?"

"Who couldn't love them?"

"I know right?"

I smiled widely at him when I noticed the customers in the store giving the two of us strange looks. I let my eyes drift over his shoulder towards a couple with their brows raised at us curiously. Max noticed my change in interest and looked over his shoulder.

"What do you think they're looking at?" I asked aloud, cocking my head to the side. Oh no…don't tell me I have another coffee mustache. I did a quick swipe of my finger on my lip and sighed in relief.

That was a close one.

Max smirked as he turned back around in his seat to be facing me. "They just can't believe that two extremely attractive adults are able to sit in a booth together, and have a sophisticated conversation while sounding like complete fangirl."

The laugh bubbled out of my chest was unstoppable as a faint blush painted my cheeks. I ducked my head slightly. "Or it could be that they see you interacting with the new girl Mr. Gay-Guy."

He shrugged with an impish grin. "What can I say? I'm so good looking people can't imagine me being gay at all. I'm just too damn cute for anyone to resist."

"I'm feeling pretty resistant right now."

He snorted and waved his hand dismissively. "Just wait," he said, "you'll soon feel the Max Magnet working and it'll all come crashing down."

I smiled at him when the door opened and the bell above it jangled. Max looked over his shoulder as a woman and her son walked in, going to the counter.

He stood up from the chair, pushing it back into the table. "I have a costumer, I'm afraid. Maybe we can continue this sophisticated conversation later."

I nodded with a smile as I grabbed my book. "Sure."

He turned and walked back to the counter as I took another drink of my coffee as I went back to reading. My eyes took in the words on the page hungrily, immediately becoming enthralled with the story. It was about a guy whose little brother had leukemia and how the family got through it.

I know, a little kid with leukemia sounded depressing and sad, but it wasn't depressing, it was happy and the guy was hilarious.

I know, I know, I sound like I'm in The Fault in Our Stars (why did I keep bringing that story up?) but I'm not. I was not going to be going to Amsterdam (sadly) any time soon to visit the author and I was mostly reading this because it was, well, hilarious.

Really.

I took another drink of my coffee when the door opened again. I didn't pay attention to it at first as I kept my head down. I set the coffee back down and flipped the page. My eyes continued to scan over the page that I was currently on.

I moved to the next page and heard, "Bella?"

Holy.

Fucking.

Shit.

I raised my head up from the book to find not one, not two, but three vampires standing in front of the table I was seated at, just behind the chairs. I blinked a little at the one smiling at me brightly. "Tanya."