Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Growing up Claudia and Renee could not have been more different. Claudia was the responsible older sister. She was smart, calm, steady. She moved out of Redding, CA after graduation to a town a little bit South called Beacon Hills to work in a plant nursery. She met a handsome deputy, fell in love, got married and immediately had a beautiful baby boy they named after Claudia and Renee’s father.

Renee was the younger wild child. Bright, vibrant but easily bored. Seeing her sister’s happiness she immediately went out and did the same thing. She moved North to Forks, Washington, met and married a deputy and had an adorable baby girl she named Isabella only a year younger than Claudia’s son.

Renee, however, quickly grew bored with her life in Forks and before long had packed up her little girl and her divorce papers and hit the road leaving the broken hearted deputy and his perpetually rainy little town. Claudia wrangled getting Isabella every Summer during which Charlie Swan was a frequent visitor to the Stilinski house. Bella and Mischief grew close as siblings in those early years.

When Claudia got sick Renee truly did the responsible thing for once in her life and rushed home to care for her sister. Bella spent a whole year in the Beacon Hills Elementary school with her cousin Mischief helping to facilitate a lifelong friendship between her cousin and an asthmatic boy named Scott. She’d hoped her mother would stay forever in Beacon Hills and she could grow up with the newly dubbed Stiles and Scott but 6 months after Aunt Claudia’s death once Uncle John had laid the bottle aside her mother joined an art commune in Florida and Bella was uprooted again.

Letters to Stiles were always delivered but letters back could miss Bella as her mother moved around. Bella was always meticulous at leaving forwarding addresses but still sometimes her cousin’s letters went awry. Thank goodness for the advent of technology. First texting on tiny Nokia phones, emails typed out on school and library computers saved the cousin’s relationship. They bonded over flighty/overworked/drunk/drugged parents. They shared recipes easy to make by small hands and short bodies. They told each other of lonely nights and empty houses and unpaid bills and grocery trips taken on city buses. They maintained a long distance friendship for years this way.

When Bella got an email from her cousin detailing Scott becoming a werewolf and all the hell that was Beacon Hills she could barely believe it but she did research long into the night keeping her cousin company on various messengers as they tried to figure out the supernatural together. Just fourteen when it started Bella could do naught but sit in New Mexico and fear for her hyperactive cousin who ran with monsters. Sometimes she was jealous but mostly she worried about the tentative thread connecting her to her best friend.

When the Nogitsune happened Bella was the first to know something wasn’t right with her cousin who sent her long nonsensical emails begging her to wake him up. She came very close to ditching her mom and getting on a bus to California but when her mom suddenly uprooted them again to Georgia spending their money like water even that option was taken from Bella. All she could do was send emails and call the empty Stilinski house and pray that her cousin would pick up. When he finally did her relief was palpable.

Through his recovery from the possession Bella was there for him over the wire and scrimped and saved for a plane ticket to return her to California to hug Stiles as tightly as she could but her mother found her stash and bought an obscenely expensive wind chime that she just as easily left with a friend when her and Bella moved to Arizona. Bella had been furious with her mother not that she’d noticed but at least Arizona was closer than Georgia and she started saving again. This time for a bus ticket. She’d almost gotten the money up even though Stiles claimed things had mostly calmed down and her older cousin was actually spending the summer in Washington D.C. as a FBI intern when her mother met the next ex-love of her life. A slightly too old pro baseball player named Phil who was nonetheless kind and friendly unlike some of her mother’s other boyfriends had been.

When they started talking about following the team Bella saw two more years of frequent moves, forever new schools, and began to fear she’d never see her cousin again. Then an idea came in a brightly wrapped present. In a small box with pink little girl wrapping paper came a birthday present from Charlie, her father. So out of touch but forever trying and Bella saw an opportunity.

She wasn’t stupid. She knew a big part of the reason she got carted around with her mother instead of living with her much more stable father was because of the child support checks Renee got each month without fail. Bella knew this for more than one reason because she’d been the one walking to the Western Union for those checks. Who’d been budgeting and paying the bills for years. When she’d been younger and they’d moved again just as she’d tentatively began making friends and she’d longed for a place to just be, to just stay she’d even convinced herself she had a more noble calling to take care of her wayward mother.

As she’d gotten older however she had begun to resent it. She resented the way when they left places people would say “Take care of Renee” to Bella but never expressed the reverse sentiment to Renee. Resented the way her brightly colored mother could sweep into the sunny places they moved to and make friends wherever she went while her pale dark haired daughter could only try to find a quiet place to sit and read.

Bella was proud that at the very least in those art communes being known as the quiet, pale girl with her nose in a book kept her away from offers of drugs and orgies that some of the other girls her age fell prey to as they desperately sought the attention they didn’t get from their narcissistic parents. She learned very quickly to spot the sort of men who preyed on lonely girls like her and was so very grateful for the Taser Stiles had sent her for Christmas the year she turned thirteen. It was enough to turn a person Goth and she certainly got called that a lot but after some research and some pirated downloads of the Goth music movement she stopped looking into black nail polish and fishnet sleeves. She detested fakers and while pretending to be a Goth might have finally given her a place to fit in she didn’t like the music and couldn’t pretend to be something she was not. Sure there was nothing special about the quiet pale girl with boring straight brown hair who looked at makeup like it would bite her and who dressed in jeans and her cousin’s lovingly handed down baseball shirts but it was who she was and at the very least she knew Stiles loved her just the way she was.

When she got the present from Charlie she immediately called him to thank him for the iPod and very leadingly asked about the possibility of spending the school year with him. He was surprisingly enthusiastic about it. It took a lot of work and bringing pressure on her mother she never had before but finally by the end of the summer right before her mother and boyfriend were intending to move again, this time to Alabama, Bella got on a bus for a 21 hour ride to Forks, Washington. Only 8 hours away from Beacon Hills.

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When she got off the bus she got a tight hug first from her father but then to her surprise another from her cousin who’d driven up just to see her. Stepping back she barely recognized the tall boy with broad shoulders and big hands who held her but he still smelt of curly fries and red vines and Bella loved him with all her heart. More than her cousin this was her brother and Bella had missed him so much.

They rode back to Charlie’s house in Aunt Claudia’s old jeep so Bella wouldn’t have to ride in the back of the squad car in the cage. Stiles was still as verbose and hyper as he’d always been talking about trees and fungus and ocean currents and jet streams while Bella watched him wave his arms fondly mentally noting the books he recommended off hand during his rambles.

When they pulled into the house Bella hadn’t seen in years it was surprisingly comforting to see it hadn’t changed. Charlie had been steady in a life where everything could change in a moment. Bella gently smiled at the clean but unchanged room of her childhood. She only had one suitcase. Charlie didn’t hover. We were surprisingly similar in that respect. She’d certainly been told how much like her father she was growing up. Usually snidely. Stiles however had brought a box of outgrown superhero shirts and a few comics to go with them. He had burnt CDs and after Charlie had left the room finally sat down and explained sparks and mountain ash and how he’d already laid wards around the house to protect her.

“I’m probably paranoid.” He said self-deprecatingly.

“Given what you’ve told me of the last few years you’ve more than got cause to be. Thank you Stiles. It means a lot.”

“No problem.”

“This spark? Does it run in the family? Could I have it?”

“Maybe? I thought of that. I brought a small bag of mountain ash with me. You can experiment with it. Now unfortunately I have to go. You’re not the only one with school tomorrow. However I think Charlie has a surprise downstairs?” Stiles smiled mischievously.

The surprise was not only a rebuilt truck, sturdy and beautiful, but the reunion of another old friend, now too tall and nearly unrecognizable. Jacob smelt like oils, both of motor oil and something more fragrant that he used in his long dark hair. Stiles wiggled his eyebrows at her when he saw the way Jacob looked at Bella and Bella reached out to swat at him. “Say hello to Derek.” She told him and wiggled her eyebrows right back at her suddenly blushing cousin.

Bella had figured out that Stiles had a crush on the broody werewolf almost immediately despite Stlies’ denial. One of these days she was going to meet the enigmatic Derek and give him a shovel talk with a Taser about taking better care of her cousin.

Jacob took her over all the basics with her new truck. She’d had her license only a few months but never a vehicle that wasn’t some POS her mom had gotten because it was vintage or a pretty color. Bella had once lived out of the back of a van with a mosaic on the side. Sleeping in the passenger seat and ignoring the noises from the back. She didn’t know how to drive a stick and Jacob offered to teach her before being reminded by Uncle Billy yet again that he wasn’t old enough.

Jacob looked embarrassed by the reminder that he was a whole year younger than Bella. Bella didn’t help when she pinched his cheek and called him a baby. She hugged her old friend reminding him that he was still over a head taller than her and she’d bet he’d be a much better driver than her, confiding that one reason she loved her new truck was how durable it looked. “Unlike me who bruises every time I trip and I trip a lot.”

“Let’s go drive through the preserve. Not a lot of traffic on those roads. I’ll teach you how to drive stick.” Charlie looked proud and if Bella didn’t know better she’d think he was going to cry at finally getting to do this normal father-daughter thing with her.

Bella got in the truck with some dread after they bid good bye to Jacob and Uncle Billy. Learning to drive from Renee had been a nightmare. Not only because Renee was so spastic but because she was also a bad driver. Bella had instead signed up for driving classes at her, at the time, high school but hadn’t been able to finish them before Renee had moved them again.

She needn’t have feared though. Charlie was as calm and gentle here as he was in all other aspects of Bella’s life. They actually had a rather pleasant afternoon driving through the forest’s backroads as Bella learned to use the clutch and downshift as needed in the tough old truck. She learned a lot about the wet and icy roads they were prone to in this area that she’d not had to worry about in the dry, sunny places her mother favored.

Bella went to bed that night after eating some food from a diner her dad frequented. She had a sudden worry that could only have come from Stiles about the health of her dad’s heart, especially as the fridge and pantry seemed mostly empty of anything but Hungryman frozen dinners and beer. She resolved to stop off at the grocery store tomorrow. She shot off a short email to her mom that the woman probably wouldn’t notice for three days that she’d arrived safely and went to bed more quietly content than she had been in a while. Stiles was closer than he’d been in years. Her dad was surprisingly quiet and respectful, something Bella had had too little of in her life and she’d reconnected with her childhood friend Jacob too as well as friendly Uncle Billy who’d always told the best stories.

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The truck might be her favorite thing besides Stiles and her dad about her new home. It gave her a sense of autonomy she’d never had before. If she wanted to drive up into the forest and sit in the back with a blanket and just read until dark she could without having to worry about how she would get home or who would pick her up. A stop at the local library was planned for this weekend and she could see herself being happy in Forks. She wished she’d thought of this sooner.

Of course into every sunshine must come a little rain or a lot in the case of Forks. At least, as Bella got out of the truck and turned up her ipod, this would be the last time she was the new kid at school. She avoided the many eyes that were looking at her. She hated being the new kid. The weird little pale girl who didn’t talk and who read books all the time. She’d had more than her fair share of bullying over the years and resolved not to make eye contact and invite any ridicule as she headed for the office for her schedule and locker assignment.

She had finally got the combo working and was busy sorting out which notebooks she was going to use for which classes when a tall blonde boy with a big smile came up and started talking to her. She couldn’t hear him over her music and reached up to pluck out an ear bud. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t hear you.” Bella subtly shifted so her book bag was pressed between the locker below her and her leg. It wasn’t the first time someone had invaded her back pack wanting to know all about the freaky looking new kid.

“Oh sorry. Didn’t see the ear buds. What are you listening to? I’m Mike by the way. What’s your name?”

“Oh uh…just music.” Was her vague answer. Honestly she was listening to the soundtrack of a movie based on a beloved kid’s show that had completely bombed at the box office and that she didn’t expect anyone to really have heard of or care about but whatever the music was good. She wasn’t really the babbling kind though and would rather not invite the ridicule of still loving Josie and the Pussycats. “I’m Bella.” Bella meant beautiful in half a dozen romantic languages and she’d hated it for years but she hated the other shortening of her name, Izzy, even more so Bella it was.

“Bella!”

Bella jumped and half turned to see another boy, this one Asian with nicely styled black hair.

“That’s fitting. Means beautiful doesn’t it? I’m Eric.” He too had a big smile and he and Mike knocked elbows seeming to be in some kind of minor shoving match.

Bella wondered if they were nudging each other to egg one another on in some kind of prank. She leaned back into her locker a little more as yet more people came up to introduce themselves. Her head spun with names as she tried to remember them all. Jessica, Angela, Lauren, Mike, Tyler, Eric. They talked and talked and asked questions that Bella tried to answer. Where she was from? All over but recently Arizona. Was her dad the Sheriff? Yes. She even eventually ended up having to tell them what she was listening to when Lauren picked up her ear bud to listen and declared the music totally awesome. Turns out Jessica and Lauren totally loved Josie and the Pussycats too so that was nice but Bella was more than a little overwhelmed.

She’d never been a social butterfly or an extrovert and though everyone seemed really friendly and genuinely welcoming she could feel the anxiety crawling up her back as they seemed to press in from all sides. She was relieved when the bell rang. She shared the next class with Eric and Angela and agreed to walk there with them. She could handle two of them.

As the day continued she seemed to share every class with at least one of her new, dare she call them, friends. They seemed to be friendly people anyway. Bella was more than a little weirded out though. This was not the type of new school experience she was used to.

A typical first day at a new school at lunch would have seen her at the empty end of a table with her ear buds in and a book held in one hand as she ate. Occasionally she’d scope out the room trying to see if she could spot someone similarly introverted that maybe she could sit quietly beside tomorrow and who maybe over the course of several weeks and a few tentative book and movie discussions that she might even be able to call a friend. Sitting at a big round table surrounded by brightly clothed extroverts was completely out of her realm of experience but she’d noticed Angela was relatively quiet as well and had managed to sit next to her.

She continued to field the occasional question.

“Aren’t people from Arizona, like, really tan?” Jessica asked.

“Yeah.”

“Why aren’t you then?” Lauren asked.

“Lauren! That’s rude! She didn’t mean it like that Bella.” Mike said with a toothy smile directed at her.

“Umm…” Bella decided to ignore Mike. She was sure he was someone’s dream guy being some perfect trifecta of athletic, handsome, and friendly but he was a little too…eager for Bella. She just had no idea how to take him. She addressed Lauren instead with a bit of a wince. “I’m originally from here. I don’t tan. I burn. The cloudy weather is kind of a relief to be honest.”

“We certainly have that here. You know Forks is actually one of the rainiest places in the congruous US? We get more rain here than anywhere else.” Eric chimed in. Bella kind of liked Eric. He reminded her of Stiles.

“Which is why we’re all so very very pale.” Jessica complained with a roll of eyes.

Bella looked around the table noticing that it was true. Everyone was pale in Forks with the obvious exception of the Black, Hispanic, and Native students. Maybe that was why for the first time in her life Bella wasn’t being ostracized. She wasn’t the weird pale girl here. It was an oddly refreshing thought.

A cool breeze hit her back and Bella looked over her shoulder to watch five of the most beautiful people she’d ever seen walk in. Two couples and a lone boy took a table seemingly reserved for them at the side of the cafeteria. The lone boy met her eyes and frowned. She turned around. She noticed most of the table, hell, most of the school had watched them walk in. This, she surmised, was the popular crowd. It was something of a relief. She was starting to believe she was in the popular crowd which would have been just too difficult for her to believe.

“Who’re they?” She asked Angela but Jessica answered.

“Those are the Cullens. All totally gorgeous. The blondes are Hales and the brunettes are the Cullens. They’re all adopted by Dr. Carlisle Cullen and they’re together. Like together together. Which is weird considering they’re all adopted siblings.”

“The tall muscular brunette man is Emmett and he’s dating the drop dead gorgeous blonde Rosalie. Her brother Jasper is dating the tiny girl with a pixie cut, Alice. Edward is Alice and Emmett’s brother and he’s not dating anyone. No one around here is good enough for him apparently.” Lauren looked more than a little insulted by that.

Bella chanced another glance at the ultra pale Cullen/Hale group to find the lone Edward staring at her still. He was quick to look away and looked down at his untouched food with a disgusted curl of his lip. Bella could see why Lauren was insulted but Bella didn’t let Edward’s offensive dismissal bother her. She’d expected that sort of behavior after all. They looked like precisely the sort of people Bella should avoid like the plague. She had noticed Alice in the back in one of her classes but none of the rest of them. She hoped her luck held for the afternoon. Alice at least shot her a smile.

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No such luck as her very next class, Biology, had her walking in and finding the only empty seat was next to an appalled looking Edward. She winced and tried to ignore him as she was directed to sit down by the teacher. It was difficult however when Edward did everything in his power to be as offensive as possible. He scooted his chair away and turned his head with a revolted look. Bella began to wonder if her deodorant had failed.

At least Edward didn’t attempt to talk to her. If she pretended he wasn’t there it was almost like being alone and admittedly she needed some alone time after lunch to recharge her batteries. Biology seemed a bit behind her last school’s curriculum and Bella started to daydream about dinner. Something simple yet filling and hardy. Potato soup maybe? Cheesy potato soup? She began to write down the ingredients she needed to pick up at the store in the margin of her notebook along with a few staples she’d noticed Charlie was missing like milk and cereal and peanut butter. She’d need to stop by the Sheriff’s department and pick up some money for groceries. Charlie had said he’d get some money out for her while she was at school.

She noticed over the course of the class that Edward, who wasn’t taking notes either, had leaned over to peer over her shoulder at what she was writing. She gave him a weird glance but let him look. It wasn’t like it was some old family recipe or something. Just something she’d gotten off the internet. She noticed he had the same pretty amber eyes that Stiles did and it made her smile thinking of calling her cousin after school and telling him about her bizarre day.

Edward however apparently thought her smile was directed at him and could not have been more repulsed. As soon as the bell rang he was out of the classroom so fast it was almost like he teleported. Her next class was Spanish, which was a mistake she explained to the teacher. Living in Florida and Arizona she’d taken Spanish already and given the neighborhoods she stayed in and how many of her mother’s friends spoke the language she was actually fluent in Spanish. She was hoping that her language credits from her last school would transfer but was told she’d need to take at least one more language course here. Given how close they were to Canada the French classes here were pretty good she was told and resolved to go transfer. She got an excuse from the Spanish teacher to go to the office.

There she ran into Edward again who was apparently trying to get moved out of her Biology class. Bella blushed as he was refused and sneered at her as he left and complained out loud about having to put up with it. She began to hope transferring to French class would change her own schedule enough to get her out of Biology. No such luck. Instead her morning Geometry class would be switched with her Spanish time slot. She finished up the day by her original schedule and was surprised when Mike asked her out on a date as she’s walking to her truck.

“Uh-what?” She pulled her ear bud out even though she hadn’t had any music playing.

“Oh sorry. I need to watch out for those things. You must really love music. Maybe we can go to a concert sometime? Anyway I was wondering if you were free tonight? We could go to the diner, maybe catch a movie, what do you say?”

Bella didn’t know what to say and she was positive she looked like an idiot staring at Mike with her mouth open giving him a deer in the headlights look. A date? She’d never been on a date. Never been asked on a date either. Finally she blurted out something about having to get home and make dinner for her dad.

“Oh okay. Maybe this weekend then?”

“Um….sure?” She finally answered. What was happening? Had she stepped into the twilight zone? She needed to call Stiles. She caught sight of the Cullens across the parking lot all getting into fabulously nice cars just as gorgeous as they were of course. She chuckled and kind of felt like snapping a picture to show Stiles later.

“I’ll check out what’s playing and we can talk about it tomorrow sound good?”

Bella looked back up at Mike before stepping backwards and stumbling before she grabbed the side of her truck to steady herself. Her face blazed in embarrassment but a glance at Mike revealed this kind of dopey smile like he’d just seen a kitten trip or something. “Yeah that sounds good. I have to go meet my dad at the Sheriff’s station. Talk to you tomorrow.” As she climbed into her truck she spotted Tyler and Eric waving from the front seat of a van. She waved back, still a little weirded out by how friendly everyone had been. Lauren, Jessica, and Angela seemed to all be in Lauren’s car and they waved as they left the parking lot as well.

Bella started her truck and made her way to the Sheriff’s station in a state of bemusement. After getting approval for cheesy potato soup, her dad seemed surprised that she could cook but pleased, she headed to the local grocery store chain. She was poking through the Vidalia onions when Stiles called. She knew he had lacrosse practice. He’d said he’d call her afterwards.

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“Hey.”

“Bell-a!” He said in mimic of an episode of the magic school bus they’d mutually streamed a few months ago.

She laughed. “Mieczyslaw.”

“Hey hey hey. Don’t go throwing the Name around Isabella.”

She rolled her eyes as she grabbed the onion she wanted and headed over to the fresh greens for some scallions. “How was school?”

“Boring. Just the way I like it. You?”

“Bizarre. Like literally nothing else I’ve ever experienced on a first day.”

“Oh what happened?” Stiles sounded concerned. Unusually so and Bella remembered weird days for Stiles usually meant someone was bleeding.

“Not bizarre like that. Like your kind of bizarre. Like…I’ve been the new kid at a lot of different schools. There’s a formula to it. Keep your head down, don’t draw attention to yourself, scope the place out, try to find another introverted kid you can sit next to quietly and pray you don’t come to the attention of the bullies. I’ve found if you’re quiet and quick and don’t make eye contact most of the time people will leave you alone. Today was nothing like that.”

“You were bullied.” Stiles sounded…weird. She wondered what his face looked like right now. He sounded…dangerous which is not an attribute she’d have ever assigned to her gangly cousin.

“I have been. At other schools.” She shrugged. Bullies were just a part of life. “Today however? This guy, Mike comes right up to me before classes start and just…starts talking to me…like he introduces himself. Smiles. I know that sounds harmless but it was so weird.”

“Yeah no I get that. That’s weird.”

“Right? And then like six other people come up as well. Mike, Eric, Lauren, Jessica, Angela, and Tyler. And they surround me and it’s just overwhelming.”

“Did they hurt you?” Again with the drop in pitch. The dangerous tone.

“No! That’s a little why it’s Strangeville up here. They were all super friendly and welcoming. No one was mean or belittling or anything.”

“What are they? Pod people?” The jovial tone that she knew so well was back thankfully.

“I don’t know. I think they might be genuinely kind and friendly people.”

“Nonsense. Such beings are not of this earth.”

“Maybe they’re aliens.”

Stiles laughed. “Maybe.”

“But yeah they talked to me in all my classes, I sat with them at lunch and get this.”

“What?”

“Mike. Asked. Me. Out. On. A. Date.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“The horror! The nerve! What did you say?”

“Well I mean…” Bella sighed. “I kind of tripped and almost fell on my ass to be honest.”

Stiles laughed.

“Oh yuck it up. Like you aren’t just as big a klutz as I am.”

“This is true.”

“Then I told him I had to get home to make dinner for Charlie, which is true. The fridge is empty. I’m at the store right now.”

“Whatcha making?”

“Cheesy potato soup.”

“Yum. Ooo grab some mushrooms to put in it.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Makes it really hearty. Delicious.”

Bella detoured back towards the produce section. “So anyway he asked if I wanted to see a movie this weekend and I said sure because I had literally no idea what else to say.”

“Do you actually want to go see a movie with him this weekend?”

“Eeehh. I mean I don’t not want to go see a movie with him this weekend. I’ve never been on a date. Never been asked on a date for that matter. What, even, just….uh! Ya know?”

Stiles laughed at her loss for words. “I got nothing. I have just as much experience as you do in this.”

“You’ve dated before though. Malia?”

“Ehhh Malia’s different. Her idea of a date was catching me a vole and wanting to make out with the blood still on her hands. I tried to take her to a movie and she yelled at the screen. We went to dinner and she asked for her meat rare and I almost got sick. The sex was…okay. Kind of rough to be honest. She’s sweet but I was kind of relieved when we broke up.”

“Oh yeah. She was the…” Bella trailed off. Honestly Malia sounded like a weird combo of scary bitch/lost child/wild animal.

“Feral. The word you’re looking for is feral.”

“Yeah.” Bella winced. “What about Lydia? You were telling me things were looking up with Lydia?”

Stiles sighed. “Yeah in a ‘I love you so much you’re just like my brother’ kind of way. Which I’m surprisingly okay with. Like we kissed finally and kind of tried dating for like a week but finally we had to sit down and be like I love you but not like that. It was mutual too. Hand to God. I know I’ve been obsessed with her forever but like…”

“You built her up in your mind and the reality was a let down?”

“Not at all. Lydia is every bit as fantastic as I ever made her out to be but…it was kind of what I imagine kissing you would be like. I love her. I love you. I would absolutely lay down my life for either of you but I don’t want to sleep with you. Or her.”

“Okay.”

“I know it’s weird.” Stiles sighed.

“It’s okay. I think I understand.” Or at least she’d read enough that she thought she understood. Real life experience pending.

“Thank god. Scott doesn’t. At all. But then he’s a horn dog. He and Kira broke up and now he’s dating Malia which is, to use the word of the day, bizarre. I’ve been informed they have a very active sex life. Which I’d think was a dig at me but Malia just does not have a filter and has no idea…” He sighed. “She told me it’s nice to not have to be so gentle with Scott.”

“Oh Stiles.”

“Yeah. Spark or not I’m still by far the most fragile of my friends. Everyone has to be careful with me. It sucks. The only one who is still kind of rough with me is Derek but it's Derek. Slamming me up against a wall and getting in my face is how he says hello.”

Bella laughed. She’d been treated to more than a few tirades on the gorgeous growly Derek and his resting murder eyebrows. She was checking out and got asked about a rewards card. She grabbed the pamphlet and told the cashier she’d think about it.

“Should I let you go?”

“No I haven’t told you the best part.” Bella got to the truck with her cart and waffled. “Okay maybe. I need to load the truck, get home, get the soup on, homework, then I’ll call you back. Sound good?”

“Sounds great. Hey if all else fails I can always grab someone in the pack and we’ll head up there and make it a double date so you’re not alone.”

“Sounds great. Talk to you later.”

After dinner which Charlie devoured gratefully and with much praise to his blushing daughter they sat down on the couch to watch TV and Bella started texting Stiles. Eventually she kissed Charlie’s cheek and headed upstairs to shower and get on Skype with Stiles.

“So best part?”

“The Cullens and the Hales.”

“O-kay?”

“They’re ultra pale, ultra beautiful teenagers all but one in relationships with the others. All adopted. And when I say ultra beautiful I mean no model anywhere even comes close. They almost seemed to be glowing.”

Stiles looked concerned. “Huh…that sounds…familiar…”

“Think they’re supernatural?”

“Maybe…” Stiles pulled up something on the screen and Bella could tell by the way his eyes were moving that he was reading something. “What color are their eyes?”

“I didn’t get close to the others but the single one, Edward, sits next to me in Biology and has amber colored eyes like you. He’s an immensely unpleasant individual despite being unearthly beautiful. He spent the entire class acting like I’d rolled around in shit before immediately leaving and asking to be transferred out of the class. I heard him say something about having to ‘put up with it’. It being me I guess. Which sucks given how gorgeous he is. Not that he’d ever be interested in me.” Bella stared off into the distance and came back to see Stiles giving her a look.

“Concentrate Bella. Remember you were just calling him a creep. Sounds like his glamour is trying to take hold.”

“Glamour?”

“Yup. You went from ‘hey these might be supernatural creatures and one was a huge douchecanoe to omg he’s so gorgeous I wonder if he’ll date me…’ in the same breath. Yeah that’s got glamour written all over it. Must be a gradual thing.”

“Well how do I guard against it?”

“Well if they’re what I think they are…I mean they definitely sound fae. So don’t tell them your name. Your full name that is. I have a sigil around here somewhere.” Stiles got up and went to knock around a bookshelf against the wall returning with a relatively new looking book. “Okay. Got a sharpie? Actually start with a magic marker then trace over it once you get it right.”

Chapter Text

Bella was met with smiles and waves the next morning as she pulled in the parking lot. She glanced over to where the Cullens were leaning against their fancy cars and was glad she was still in her truck because she couldn’t help but stare. The sigil was working alright. Whatever glamour the Cullens projected was missing. The unearthly beautiful Edward now looked sick. Really really sick. Like he was three days into a weeklong flu. Jasper Hale looked like he’d been put through a woodchipper and then meticulously put back together but the seams didn’t quite fit. The other three were still fairly good looking. Rosalie even still looked like a model but they didn’t seem to glow anymore.

Well that confirmed they were definitely something. She brought up her phone and texted Stiles about the sigil working and tried to snap a picture of the Cullens but as the camera was focusing she noticed they were all suddenly looking right at her. She raised an eyebrow at them. “Huh? Is…taking a picture an act of aggression?”

The rest looked a little shocked but Alice kind of grinned at her before giving her a hand motion that meant kind of. Bella put the phone down. “Okay…You can hear me?”

Alice nodded.

“Okay. My cousin runs with a werewolf pack. We were just kind of trying to figure out what you guys are. You seem peaceful. Can we talk? I’m just curious.”

Alice looked off into the middle distance before frowning and giving Bella a considering look. She looked frustrated for a moment before just walking over to Bella’s truck.

Bella opened the door with a bit of trepidation. Up close Alice looked a little too thin like she wasn’t eating enough or like her puberty had been stunted. Very different from the vivacious pixie she’d projected yesterday.

“Sorry. I didn’t know how to convey ‘I need to talk to someone and get back to you.’”

“No problem. Want exchange numbers? We can text.”

“Sure.” Alice rattled off her number.

“Sorry about the pic. My cousin wanted one if I could.”

“It’s a bit rude to take someone’s picture without asking regardless really.”

“That’s true.”

The bell rang and Bella climbed the rest of the way out of her truck. “Do I have first period with you?” She seemed to vaguely remember the girl in the back yesterday.

Alice gave her a little smile and nodded. “Shall we?”

Bella was treated to a running fashion commentary as they walked to class. Angela joined their walk with a wide eyed look at Bella that seemed to be trying to convey something about Alice.

It wasn’t until lunch Bella was interrogated about talking to Alice this morning. Apparently the Cullens didn’t socialize outside of their family unit very much.

“I was trying to take a picture of them and she came over to ask me to delete it.”

Tyler winced but Bella noticed everyone seemed a little shifty. “Yeah they really don’t like that.”

“They’re so pretty. You wouldn’t think a little picture would hurt anything.” Lauren muttered.

“Maybe they think the camera will steal their souls?” Eric said jokingly.

Bella laughed with them. She’d actually read about a demon that could be trapped like that but she didn’t think the Cullens were like that. Maybe they had some kind of eye flare like werewolves.

“You said yesterday you were born here. How old were you when you moved?”

“Only like four or five? I spent a few summers here but mostly with my aunt down in Beacon Hills, California.”

“Woo California?” Jessica asked eagerly.

“Not that kind of California. Beacon Hills is smaller than Forks. This little town in the middle of a forest preserve. It’s like a few miles south of the Oregon border. My cousin drove up to see me a few days ago. We’re close.”

“What’s she like?” Eric asked.

“He plays lacrosse, and baseball and track and cross country. Ya know for being such a nerd he plays an astounding amount of sports. He’s really smart. He did an internship this summer with the FBI. His dad is the Sheriff of Beacon Hills actually and he wants to go into law enforcement too.”

“Do you?”

“No. My dream is actually to be a copy editor. Like a person who checks books and articles for errors before they’re published? It's lame I know but I can totally work from home and read books before they reach the publishers.” Bella shrugged.

“Hey if you like to read, that sounds like a dream job.” Angela chimed in. “I want to be a lawyer but not like a fancy trial lawyer you see on TV. I want to do like law review. It’s all quiet organization and obscure law facts.”

“I’m gonna take over my family’s sports equipment store.” Mike chimed in with a grin.

Tyler chimed in with something to do with photography. He didn’t know what yet.

Jessica was going into computer engineering. Lauren was looking to become a social worker. Eric, who seemed so level headed, wanted to be a stuntman.

Bella glanced over her shoulder at the Cullens. She’d be worried at being found staring but she’d noticed that most of the school seemed to shoot them a longing look or two every few minutes. Bella was staring less than yesterday. Probably due to the sigil inked into her thigh with a permanent marker.

Edward was staring at her again. He didn’t turn away when she looked over. Alice was smirking at him from under Jasper’s arm.

Bella noticed that while they’d each gotten a tray of food none of them seemed to be really eating anything. She made a mental note.

After lunch she was again sitting next to Edward in Biology. He looked just as disgusted as yesterday and seemed to be holding his breath. His lips even seemed to be turning blue.

The teacher was still on the same topic so Bella started writing in her notebook and waited until the teacher’s back was turned to push it over to Edward.

“Is it something about me or bio in general that puts that disgusted look on your face?”

“Your scent.” He wrote back quickly before shoving it back towards her.

Okay. Bella knew she asked but rude much? “I think my cousin might have something to stop it. I can ask him tonight?”

“Yes please.”

Well at least he said please.

The next day Bella came in with another sigil inked on her thigh and when she walked in and sat next to Edward he breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you.” He said quietly.

“You’re welcome.”

Chapter Text

Bella was glad it was finally Friday and Stiles was coming to see her. Apparently he was bringing someone to double date with her and Mike who’d confirmed that they were going out that night. She’d teased him about Derek but knew it was probably Lydia or Allison.

So she was surprised when she got home to find her hyperactive cousin on her bedroom floor carving something into the underside of her windowsill. A tall broody werewolf was sitting in her computer chair and staring at her cousin a little too intently in her opinion.

He looked up when she walked in and his nose flared with a frown.

“You must be the infamous Derek. Stiles gave me a scent blocker sigil. Whatever the Cullens are something about the way I smell is disgusting to them.” Bella closed her eyes and concentrated. The sigil, which had been slightly warmer than her skin cooled down as she turned it off. “There we go. Better?”

Derek took in a lung full of air through his nose before sighing it back out with a nod.

Stiles didn’t glance at them but asked. “Smell anything weird Sourwolf?”

Derek shook his head. “She smells like cacti and cocoa butter. It’s not disgusting.”

Bella sat down on her bed. “What are you doing?”

“Updating your wards. Not usually a call for protection against fae. At least not in a house that doesn’t have small children.” Stiles pulled back to look at his work before rolling over and sitting up. “That ought to do it.”

“Will I know if anything nasty comes calling?”

Stiles rolled up and plopped down beside her on the bed wrapping one long arm around her. “No…I will. You must have a bit of sparky talent or the sigils I gave you wouldn’t be working. So let me train you up a bit and then I’ll tie you into the wards.”

“Sounds good.”

“What movie are we going to see?”

“Well Mike suggested a romantic comedy but they’re also running a horror movie marathon this weekend. Like old movies. It’s literally an invitation to go all Mystery Science Theater 3000 in an actual theater.” Bella grinned.

“That sounds awesome. What’d ya say Sourwolf? Wanna spend the weekend?”

Derek shrugged.

Stiles rolled his eyes at Bella. Bella kept her eyes on Derek though who looked softer whenever he focused on Stiles.

Bella rode in the back seat of Derek’s Camaro to the local theater. Mike was waiting outside and looked confused and worried as Bella walked up with Stiles’ arm around her shoulders.

“Hey Bella?”

“Hi Mike. This is my cousin Stiles and his boyfriend Derek.”

Mike relaxed for half a second before Stiles reached one big hand out and must have squeezed a bit too hard.

Bella elbowed him.

“So Mike ready to be scared?” Stiles asked with an evil grin.

“Scared?” Mike looked at Bella questioningly.

Bella rolled her eyes at Stiles. “He’s trolling you. We’re gonna stay after our date and watch the horror movie marathon. You’re welcome to stay if you like.” If Mike liked making fun of horror movies then that would at least be a thing they had in common.

However from the look on his face she could immediately tell that wasn’t the case. Points to him for trying though. “Yeah that sounds…awesome?”

“You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to Mike.” Bella told him kindly.

“No. No. It really sounds kewl. You…uh…like horror movies?”

“Well…I like mocking horror movies.” Bella admitted.

Stiles chuckled.

“We should get our tickets. What are we watching?” Derek asked having been looking at the movie times.

Mike indicated the two romances and asked Bella which she preferred. She shrugged. She found most romances to be pretty cliché and trite…on screen anyway. She loved reading romances where she could get a more in-depth view of the nuances and growth of the character’s love and affection. Then she saw they were showing the film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.

“Pride and Prejudice.” Bella and Derek said at the same time. They looked at each other.

Bella smirked at him. “Very well Mr. Darcy. We shall bow to your superior taste.” She mocked him with a faux English sounding voice.

Derek raised his eyebrow. “What makes you think I am Mr. Darcy?”

“What you mean you don’t stare longingly at the oblivious object of your affections silently with a resting murder face on?”

Derek frowned fiercely at her.

Stiles laughed. “She’s got you pegged Sourwolf.”

“Oh yes. Just call me Charlotte. I know everything. Don’t I Lizzy?”

“Yeah. I- Wait…” Stiles stared at her for a moment. He narrowed his eyes. “I’m not Lizzy.”

“Sure about that?”

Stiles glared at her. As did Derek who seemed to be trying to say something with his eyebrows alone.

Bella rolled her eyes. “Come along Mr. Collins. Let us get our ticket to the great farce.” She stepped forward to take an increasingly confused Mike’s arm.

“What was that about?”

Bella rolled her eyes. “Just two obstinate people being deliberately obtuse.”

Mike nodded slowly. “Ah right. So the Pride and Prejudice movie?”

“Yup. Have you covered it yet in English here?”

“Uh no I don’t think so. It’s a movie we watch in class?”

“It’s a book we read for class but Jane Austen’s works are in the public domain so there’s been a ton of movie and TV adaptations. Everyone’s favorite Pride and Prejudice adaptation is the 1995 one from the BBC with Colin Firth but my personal favorite is the 1980 BBC one. I feel it’s much more faithful to the source material. This one’s supposed to be really good though.”

Mike nodded again trying to look interested.

Bella glanced behind her to see Stiles looking at Derek speculatively while Derek was trying to look anywhere else while glancing back at Stiles seeing him still staring and immediately looking away again. From here Bella could see the tips of the werewolf’s ears turning red.

She bit her lip with a muffled giggle and turned away with a smile.

Chapter Text

After the movie Mike seemed to be in on the joke comparing Derek to Darcy and Stiles to Elizabeth.

Derek’s ears were definitely red and he seemed to be trying desperately not to growl at the cousins.

“Bella!”

Bella turned to see Jacob walking towards them trailed by a few of the teens from La Push. He didn’t hesitate to wrap her up in his arms and lift her off the ground with a grin.

“Hi Jacob.” Bella said as she returned the hug and chuckled with an oof as he lifted her up.

“Here for the horror film marathon? It’s gonna be sick. We come every year.”

“Yeah. Stiles and I are going to stay. And Derek, Stiles’ boyfriend.” Bella was absolutely gonna milk that introduction until it was true.

“Nice to meet you.”

“And I’m Mike. Bella’s date.” Mike said tightly. He seemed uncomfortable for some reason. Probably the arms Jacob still had around Bella.

Jacob smiled a little tighter as well and nodded to Mike.

Bella shot Stiles a desperate look over Jacob’s arm and Stiles looked like a light bulb had suddenly lit up over his head. He started to snicker before bending at the waist to laugh uncontrollably as everyone stared.

Derek sighed and reached out to help Bella, pulling her from a surprised Jacob’s arms and away from Mike.

In his deepest voice he intoned. “My dear Miss Bennet, Miss Lucas. Shall we dine before the start of tonight’s festivities?”

That shut Stiles up and he glared at Derek for a second before he looked at Bella and started laughing again.

Derek sighed and grabbed Stiles’ arm. He looked at Mike. “Bit of advice?”

“Uh okay?”

“Staying to watch something that makes you sick isn’t gonna impress anyone. Go home.”

Bella raised her eyebrows at Derek. Wow he had worse social skills that she did. Mr. Darcy indeed.

Mike looked at Jacob who looked a tiny bit smug. He looked about to steel himself for it anyway when Seth, an even younger boy from La Push, spoke up to a girl who looked like his sister, gleefully showing Bella his phone exclaimed. “Look at all the blood. I hear they used like 70 gallons of it for the effects.”

Mike looked vaguely ill. “Uh Bella?”

“Hmmm…?” She said glancing up at him from where she was trying to make Stiles stop laughing.

“Uh…I had a really nice time.”

“Oh.” Bella glanced at Stiles. “Me too.”

“We should do it again sometime.”

“Umm maybe yeah?” Bella glanced at Stiles again but he just grinned at her having finally stopped laughing. She looked back at Mike and suddenly felt very sorry for him. Somehow she didn’t think he imagined ending their date standing between Stiles and Derek and a bunch of La Push boys she was going to watch horror movies with while he went home alone. Unfortunately she also realized she had zero idea what to say to make this better and nowhere near the social graces to fix this. Stiles was clearly no help either and she knew enough about Derek to not even ask. “See you Monday?”

“Yeah. Yeah. I’ll…see you Monday.” Mike stepped forward then back before looking cringed. “Uh nice to meet you Stiles, Derek.” He turned to Jacob and nodded before finally turning and walking away.

“So…Burgers?” Stiles asked.

Derek nodded.

Bella waved at Jacob. “We’ll see you guys in there.”

Jacob smiled back. “I’ll save you a seat.” A few of his friends jeered and punched at his shoulders teasingly.

Back in the Camaro Bella slumped. “Oh my god that was so awkward.”

“Super awkward.” Stiles agreed.

“You didn’t help. Laughing like a hyena. What was that about?”

“You’re the hot girl.”

“What?”

“You’re the hot girl that every guy wants.”

“No I’m not. What are you even talking about?”

“You know in movies? The new girl at school. Super hot. Every guy flocks to her and tries to get her attention. You’re the hot girl.”

Bella seemed stunned. She glanced at Derek and was surprised to see him kind of smiling and chuckling. “No. I’m not. You’re delusional.”

“First day of school. What happens? Mike, who is clearly a popular guy, comes up and introduces himself. He’s immediately followed by the other guys who also try to jockey for your attention. Mike immediately asks you out. And just then with Jacob. I mean you were pretty clearly on a date and he comes up and hugs you shooting Mike an aha look cause he’s your friend and already on hugging levels whereas Mike can’t even hug you goodbye yet. I bet you anything that Monday you’ll get grilled by the girls about your date with Mike and that either Tyler or Eric or Mike again will ask you out. Or someone else will. That’s how it was when Allison first came to Beacon Hills. Everyone was clamoring for her attention.”

Bella looked horrified. “I-I- What?! What am I gonna do?”

Stiles turned in his seat and seeing she was really upset reached back to grab her hand. “Hey it’s okay. It’s not a bad thing.”

“Of course it’s a bad thing! Stiles I’m not ready for that kind of attention! I will never be ready for that kind of attention. I am an introvert. I like books and one on one conversations and quiet. I’ve never wanted to be popular. It just seems exhausting. Having to face that-that-that level of awkward all day every day. No. I refuse. Isn’t there a way I can make it stop? Some kind of sigil?”

Stiles winced. “I don’t think magic can fix this Bella.”

“Then what can? I am not going through that again. Not with Mike or anyone. I don’t want to. Maybe I could just refuse. Just say no to all dates going forward.”

“That won’t work. They’ll just keep trying to get your attention hoping you’ll give them a chance.” Derek told her as they pulled up to the drive thru.

Bella whimpered and pulled her feet up so she could hug her legs. “Stiles?” She asked. She was legitimately distressed. She’d avoided this kind of thing for years. Now suddenly boys were interested in her and it was just overwhelming and confusing and No. She wasn’t gonna do this. She wasn’t ready for this.

Stiles was quietly thinking. “Hmmm what if she already had a boyfriend?”

“Could work but who? She just went out with Mike. How’s she gonna mysteriously get a boyfriend between now and Monday?” Derek asked.

“Scott!” Stiles exclaimed.

“Scott?” Bella questioned.

“He and Malia broke up a few days ago. He’s perfect. You already know him really well so you won’t have to pretend to like him or make anything up about him. He lives in Beacon Hills so you won’t have to parade him around Forks. It’d be beyond easy to get pictures of him to show off.”

“And how did they become so reacquainted before Monday?” Derek asked.

“Easy. Scott loves horror movies. We called him about the marathon and he decided to head up here to spend the weekend with us. Hell we could even make it true. What do you think Bells?”

“Let me get this straight. The plan is I go to school Monday and what? Tell Lauren, Angela, and Jessica that my date with Mike was okay but then my old friend Scott came up with my cousin Stiles and we hit it off and now we’re dating?”

“Sure. Then they’ll circulate it around the school and the guys will leave you alone and the girls won’t get jealous over you stealing the guys’ attention and you can become just another girl with a boyfriend in another town.” Stiles explained between curly fries as Derek drove them back to the theater.

“What about Jacob?” Derek asked.

“What about him?”

“He’s gonna be at the theater. He’ll know Scott didn’t come up here.”

“Is he really a concern? I mean we’re friends. Him I could just tell I want to remain friends.” Bella explained and watched Stiles wince. “What?”

“Kiss of Death. The ‘let’s just be friends’ talk.”

“Yeah because news flash sometimes a girl just wants to be friends. I’m not obligated to like someone just because they like me.”

Derek reached out and smacked Stiles lightly on the shoulder. “Hey! Sorry Bells. That was a dumb thing to say.”

“It’s okay. Do you think Scott would be okay with this? Me using him like this?”

“Scottie? Oh yeah. You remember what a complete puppy dog he is. You want me to go ahead and call him?”

“I don’t know. You said he just broke up with Malia right? What if he’s not ready for a fake relationship after just getting out of a real one?”

“One way to find out.” Stiles held his phone up to his ear.

“Hey Stiles.”

“Hey Buddy. I need a favor.”

“What’s up?”

“You remember Bella?”

“Of course. Your super cute cousin you’ve been gushing about moving back close to here. How is she?”

“Eh…she’s in a bit of a bind. You remember when you became alpha and you were suddenly the hot girl?”

“Yeah?”

“Well Bella really is the hot girl. There’s like four guys at her school who want to ask her out. This native guy who wants to ask her out. That fae dude is probably gonna want to ask her out. Etc.”

“Okay? How’s that a problem?”

“Bella’s shy. She’s an introvert. She super doesn’t want all this attention. It makes her really uncomfortable.”

“Okay. So what do you need me for?”

“How would you feel about being Bella’s out of town boyfriend?”

“Her what?”

“You know. Guys come up and ask her out and she can be like,” Stiles pitched his voice to a high pitched breathy tone that sounded nothing like his stoic cousin, “I already have a boyfriend. He’s super cute and his name is Scott and he lives in Beacon Hills so I can’t go out with you because Scottie wouldn’t like it. Tee hee.”

“Oh my god Stiles I don’t sound anything like that.” Bella swatted at him from the backseat but she had a smile on her face laughing at her cousin.

“Oh…okay. Yeah sure. That’s fine. What about, like, school dances and stuff? Does she want me to come up and take her out occasionally? I will. I like dances.”

“If the situation calls for it, sure. Mostly she just really doesn’t want a repeat of tonight’s awkward date with Mike or any of the other guys chomping at the bit to date her. She’s not ready for that kind of attention.”

“Sure. I’m fine with that. Can I still date? Like if Kira or Malia want to get back together will Bella be upset?”

“I don’t think so.” Stiles turned to face Bella. “This is all gonna be fake. It still kewl if Scottie dates other girls?”

Bella nodded and flashed a thumbs up trying to convey that she didn’t care. Her mouth was full of cheeseburger.

“She doesn’t care although bro I think the ship has sailed there and by that I mean I think Kira and Malia are more interested in each other.”

“Ugh…maybe they’d be interested in a threesome?”

Stiles rolled his eyes. “You are such a horn dog. You’re lucky you’re not really dating my cousin or I’d slap some kind of impotence spell on you.”

“If I was really dating Bella I wouldn’t be talking about other girls. I’m not an asshole.”

“I know dude.”

“So you coming back tonight or tomorrow?”

“Nah the theater Mike took Bella to is running this horror movie marathon. It’s a Mystery Science Theater 3000 invite and it’s running all weekend.”

“Oh man that sounds awesome! Hey ask my fake girlfriend if she’d mind her fake boyfriend crashing at hers?”

“Knew you’d wanna come up. I doubt your mom will let you borrow the car all weekend though.”

“No problem. I’ll run up and then ride back with you guys on Sunday.”

“You’re gonna run 700 miles up the coast to watch some movies?”

“Sure why not?”

Stiles turned to Derek. “Can he do that?”

“Do what?” Bella asked around the straw of her soda.

“Run from Beacon Hills to here.”

“Run? Like run-run, like what?”

“Yes. If he sets a steady pace, not too fast, and moves in alpha form he could be here by morning.” Derek told them.

“Alright. I’m gonna grab a change of clothes and head on up there.”

“Alright dude. Call us when you’re close. Remember to stop and check GPS every now and then.”

“It’s like straight North from here. How lost can I get?”

Stiles rolled his eyes. “Just stop and check your GPS moron.”

“Yeah yeah. See you soon.”