Chapter 2: A New Home, A New Start

Our house is bigger than the one in Forks. I have my own bathroom this time, and the kitchen is ten times bigger. It's also decorated much better. No ugly hunting and fishing decorations hanging through the walls. No pictures that bring up too painful of memories, for both Charlie and I.

It's just an empty white house. Minimal furniture, some weird ass paintings, and a really dusty attic with two trunks that are too heavy for me to move.

I like it.

It's easy to unpack all my things. I'm not really a material type of person. I have a lot of books. Which is good, because there's a bookcase on the far right wall of my blue room, and it's filling up quickly.

Night had fallen by the time all the rest of the things are unpacked. Charlie orders a pizza from a local grill, and we curl up in front of our new TV on our new couch and watch a movie.

"We can repaint if you want," Charlie says halfway through the movie. He looks nervous. Picking at his plaid shirt then picking at his empty plate. "Anything you want, Bells. I just want this place to feel like home."

I smile.

And this time it's real.

"It's a nice place, dad," I say to him softly, "It'll take some time, but I'm sure it will be home soon." And I really hope it's true. I hope that Mystic Falls will be the place that helps me mend. A place where I'll be able to pull back all the broken pieces that I have become.

But for right now.

At this moment.

I'm quite content to pretend.

It's 2 am and I can't sleep. Not something unusual. Ever since he left me I've been having trouble sleeping, and when I do finally drift off I have nightmares where I wake up screaming.

Because going back to sleep is not an option, I get out of my bed and quickly change into a pair of jeans shorts and a black shirt.

I need to go for a drive. Clear my head and think. Maybe then I will be able to fall asleep.

I sneak down the stairs, being extra quiet as I pass the master bedroom where Charlie sleeps. He's a deep sleeper, so I'm not that worried. Still, I take my time shutting the front door quietly so he doesn't wake.

I make my way over to the new car Charlie bought. We couldn't bring my truck. He said it would never make the trip all the way to Virginia. So he bought me a new one.

I guess Mystic Falls' police chief gets better pay than Forks' police chief.

I don't relax until I turn right onto another road. I slowly make my way through the back roads of my new town. It's almost as small as Forks. The only difference is that instead of rain, Mystic Falls seems to have a fog problem. It's everywhere. And it's making me drive even slower than I usually do.

I'm turning around a bend when I'm forced to slam on my brakes. I don't know how I saw it, but through the fog I could see something lying on the road. It took me two minutes of blatant staring to realize that it was a person staring up at the sky.

Slowly I got out of the car and headed over towards them. It's a stupid idea and I know that Edward would be scolding me for this, but I can't help myself; I want to get closer. Besides, I feel completely safe. If I didn't, I would have been out of here quicker than you could say Mississippi.

At least—that's what I told myself.

I'm close enough now to see the rise and fall of the person's chest. I'm also close enough to see that it's a man staring up at the sky. A man with shaggy black hair and a face that was almost as beautiful as Edward's. I can't see his eyes though. They're closed.

What I do next is crazy.

Absolutely batshit crazy.

I don't know what compels me to do it, but I slowly lie down next to the stranger with the closed eyes and messy black hair. I don't look at him though. I just stare at the night sky through the fog and count all the stars I can see.