Disclaimer: No copyright infringement is intended. I don't own Twilight. I'm just playing with the characters.
Readers, before you read any further, please note that there are triggering topics referenced in this story including s/a, limb loss, and non-canoniacal character death. You've been warned.
Forks, Washington.
Gray, dreary, overcast, too green Forks, Washington.
It looked too similar to the day she left, and Bella wasn't sure how to feel about that. Did that imply the people hadn't changed either? She hoped not, or else it would be an endless week.
She'd gone straight to the rental lot from the airport, called Charlie before leaving Seattle (no driving on the phone with Charlie, even with modern, hands-free technology), filled up the gas tank, and drove nonstop to Forks. After five hours, she was more than ready to stretch her legs. Hopefully, across a massive hotel bed, but she promised to see her father first thing.
Charlie waited on the porch, grinning like a loon as she pulled her rental car behind his new cruiser. He was still dashing in his uniform despite a slightly rounded middle and far more gray hair than brown. She couldn't help but grin back at him as she climbed out of the car and carefully walked toward the porch. The familiar scents of Old Spice and Gillette aftershave enveloped her as he hugged her tightly.
Bella sighed and closed her eyes, absorbing his warmth and a feeling she hadn't felt in a decade. Home.
"Good to see you, Bells," he sighed. "So good to see you." Charlie gently gripped her shoulders as he leaned back to look her over. "You look sharp, kiddo. I didn't expect you to be blonde. It looks good."
Bella looked down at her sleeveless blouse and pencil skirt with a sigh. "I probably look very wrinkled. I've been in this outfit for about sixteen hours."
Guiding her toward the door, Charlie said, "I bet you're beat. I should've just let you go straight to the hotel."
Each looked up to find Sue stepping outside, grinning as she welcomed Bella with open arms. "So glad you've finally come to visit," she said as Bella returned the hug. "It's been far too long, Bella."
Bella had barely known Sue when she left Forks with Edward, only interacting with her a handful of times. The last time she'd seen Sue before her first wedding was the day of the newborn battle, an event that Bella had worked incredibly hard to forget. The thought of seeing the wolves - any of them - left her curling her trembling hands into fists, hoping to avoid Leah's wrath while here. The last she knew (now that Charlie was aware of them), many in the pack had stopped phasing, but the prior she-wolf was still not her biggest fan.
Bella smiled, hoping to mask her anxiety as Sue finally let her take a few steps back.
Charlie asked, "What time do you have to check in at the hotel?"
"Actually. I couldn't get reservations booked until tomorrow," Bella admitted. "I'm just going to hit up a motel for tonight."
"You could just stay here," Sue offered, smiling at Charlie before looking back at Bella. "Your old bedroom got entirely redecorated about three years ago, and the bed in there is fairly new. Unless you'd prefer the guest room downstairs, that is."
Bella said, "I wouldn't want to put anyone out…"
Sue insisted, "It's no problem. I'm sure you'd like to shower and sleep. You can get to bed sooner if you stay here. Are you hungry?"
Before Bella could refuse again, her stomach betrayed her at the thought of food and growled. Sue and Charlie chuckled at the sound as he slung his arm over her shoulders. "Come on, kid. Let's get you inside."
Bella reluctantly walked into the house with them, suspecting that if Charlie had his way, he would never let her leave.
She was unsurprised to find hot food already waiting inside. Fluffy dinner rolls sat in a cloth-lined bowl beside a crock pot filled with thick, hearty ham and potato soup on the kitchen counter.
It felt odd serving herself in the small blue and white kitchen. The once-yellow space was mainly her domain while she lived there. Asking where things got kept now made her feel more disconnected than ever. She did not, under any circumstances, want to see her old bedroom upstairs. No amount of redecorating would change the layout or the intrusive memories of her first husband. It had taken far too long to learn to sleep without him, even after their disastrous honeymoon.
Bella answered Charlie and Sue's questions in between bites, filling them in on the boring details of her life in the hopes they would stop asking. Bella washed her dishes after eating and excused herself to grab something to sleep in.
Once inside the car, she grabbed her cell phone from the console and ignored the rest of her messages to call Jack.
"Hey, honey!" He sounded cheerful and slightly drunk. "Bout time you called. Did you arrive safely and soundly?"
"Couldn't be safer or sounder," she said, hoping he could hear her over the noise in the background. "Are you at the bar?"
"I am at the bar in a restaurant following an extremely awkward first date," he said and sighed.
"Oof. I'm sorry, Jack."
"I'm not. I am just not into specific types. Lesson learned."
Laughing, she asked, "Do I even want to know?"
"No. You don't." He said dryly. "So, who have you seen so far? Daddy dearest, only?"
"And my step-mom. I'm staying here tonight. They sort of steam-rolled me right into it."
He barked out a short laugh. "And, what are you doing right now? Hiding in the car?"
"You know me too well," Bella said as she climbed out of the driver's seat and walked to the trunk for her luggage. "God, I wish I had a bottle of wine or something."
"You know, most people can sleep without it," Jack teased. "But, what do I know? I'm drinking whiskey tonight."
"At least my poison is more heart-healthy," she said, pulling a tank top and pajama pants from her suitcase. "I'm going to go change clothes and pass the fuck out, but text me when you get home, anyway."
"Will do. Wouldn't want anything to happen to your favorite Fern in my absence."
Bella threatened, "You be nice to my plants, Jackie, or I'll spike your drink when I get home and draw dicks on your face."
"You'd be less tempted to draw dicks if you'd seen one lately."
"Jack!" Bella cackled as she stepped back and closed the trunk. She pressed the lock button on her key fob as she headed toward the house, then cringed. It was much louder than she expected.
"Alright," he said, laughing. "Go get some sleep. I'll talk to you soon?"
"You bet. Goodnight, Jack." Bella pushed the phone into her pocket, watching where she stepped and not noticing Charlie as he waited in the doorway.
"Find everything ya needed?"
Startled, Bella gasped and then laughed at herself. "Yeah. I had to check in with my friend. He's watching my apartment while I'm here."
Charlie raised an eyebrow at that and asked, "Guy friend, huh?"
Bella laughed, instantly reminded of his sputtering at the diner when she was seventeen, trying to talk to her about boys. "Just my neighbor, Jack. For five years, now."
Charlie gave her a knowing smirk despite not actually knowing anything. Bella sighed and shook her head as she followed him into the house.
