Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

HOME, to Isabella Swan, had never really been a singular place, or even a group of people. Growing up, she’d been forced to move so many times that the rooms all started to blur into each other, and every face she’d ever met was just a singular blob she’d never gotten to know the name of. Home, to Isabella Swan, was honestly one large social construct.

And sure, maybe it was a cynical way to approach things, but someone in her life had to be the adult and it sure wasn’t going to be her mother, Renee, who had been the driving force of the many moves she’d had to go through in all her glorious, insignificant, seventeen years of life. To Bella–call her Isabella and she would be sure to hit you over the head–it was the realistic approach, to never get attached because then you’d have nothing to lose. It had worked well most of her childhood, bouncing around the great state of Arizona from one house to the next, saying goodbye to classmates and neighbors she’d only talked to in passing, no feeling of remorse ever passing through her as she slowly started to unpack in a new place; that’s just how life was , really.

Except, life wasn’t like that, not at all, and Bella didn’t even realize it until the ninth grade, when she’d finally made a friend and realized that maybe there were some benefits to sticking a place out. So, she’d put her feet down, threw the most epic tantrum Renee Dwyer had ever seen, and managed to get the two of them to stay in Phoenix for her high school career.

It was great; it was different. It finally felt like everything she had ever missed.

And then, because of course , came Phil. He was young–probably closer to Bella’s age than Renee’s–and played minor league baseball. He was everything Renee had ever wanted, and suddenly, Bella had a new step-dad who wanted to move the three of them out to Florida in hopes of finally advancing his career. And at first, her mom stayed behind, switching jobs and calling her husband every night on the phone while Bella dutifully went to school every day, but she knew it wasn’t working. Renee was miserable, Phil was miserable, and Bella just wanted to stop feeling so damn guilty for ever choosing herself in the first place.

So now she was here, in the Phoenix airport, her suitcase handle gripped firmly in her hands; her knuckles were white and she honestly felt kind of sick, but she plastered on a smile as her mom wrapped her in a bone-crushing hug.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Renee asked, pulling away and brushing a strand of Bella’s hair away from her face.

She shook her head, and hoped her voice was convincing enough as she said, “Really, Mom, this will be a good thing. I’ll get to spend some time with Dad before I graduate.” And there it was: the source of all her recent late-night panic spirals. Bella had, in all her teenage wisdom, devised a plan so atrociously bad it was honestly laughable; to make her mom happy (and stop feeling so nauseous anytime she caught Renee staring longingly at a picture of Phil) she would move in with her dad, Charlie, for her junior and senior year of high school, leaving Renee free to flounce over to Florida to watch Phil play baseball. Nevermind that she didn’t really want to go, that she hadn’t seen her dad in any significant amount since she was twelve, or that it went against everything she had ever wanted for herself.

Nevermind any of that; home was never much of anything, she just had to keep reminding herself.

“It’ll be good, Mom,” Bella said again. Her grip on her suitcase was almost painful. “I’ll be fine.”

“If you’re sure….” Renee’s pocket buzzed and she pulled out her phone, face lighting up in that way it did when Bella lost her attention.

She sighed, biting the inside of her cheek, and smiled halfway. “Is that Phil?”

“What–oh, yeah,” her mom grinned, looking up from her phone. “He says hi, and he’s excited to meet me in Florida.” Despite herself, Bella felt a twinge of worry flare in her gut at the reminder her mom would be flying to Florida, alone . 

She shifted on her feet and creased her brow in concern. “Mom, do you have everything you need for your flight tomorrow? Are you finished packing–?”

“ Yes , Isabella,” Renee interrupted, playfully rolling her eyes. “You worry too much, that’s my job, remember?”

A completely different feeling settled in her stomach, and Bella nodded along, forcing another smile onto her face that felt tight. “Right, yeah. Look, I gotta go now, my flight’s boarding soon.” It wasn’t; she’d gotten them here two hours early. “I love you.”

Tears welled up in her mother’s eyes. “Oh, I love you too, sweetheart.” Renee pulled her in for another hug, pecking her swiftly on the cheek as she moved away. “Be safe. Say hi to Charlie for me.”

“Will do, Mom.” Bella started walking, rolling her suitcase in front of her. “Bye.” She didn’t wait to hear what else her mom had to say, disappearing into the sea of people with her head down low. Unbidden, tears sprang to her eyes and she blinked them away; she would not lose her cool over moving in an airport of all places; she was self-sufficient, and she’d moved before, so obviously, she could do it again.

Nobody paid her any mind as she went through security, nearly tripping over herself as she tried to put her shoes back on. Face only a little flushed, she splurged on an overpriced tea, and made it to her gate in record time; the plane hadn’t even landed yet.

Satisfied, and content to people-watch, Bella sipped her scalding tea and pretended that she wasn’t making the worst decision of her life, that really, home was never a place, or its people, and she would be just fine wherever she ended up.

Maybe, if she repeated it enough times, she’d believe it was actually true.

BELLA COULD count on one hand how many times she’d visited her father in his own town. It wasn’t something she was proud of, necessarily, but rather something that just happened on its own; once her dad had realized how much she hated the cold and the rain (basically all of Washington state’s weather ever ), his time was spent taking her on mini vacations, usually around California, where it was warmer. Then, even those visits became less frequent, and then suddenly it was only ever a stilted card on her birthdays.

So, all of that to say, when she arrived at the Port Angeles Airport, still over an hour away from her dad’s hometown of Forks, Bella was feeling more than slightly overwhelmed by the alieness of it all.

She stepped out onto the tarmac and was immediately accosted by a harsh wind that caught her breath in her lungs; she shivered and burrowed further into her jacket, wishing she’d thought to buy something a little heavier for the different weather. Walking with her things to the front of the airport, it felt like she was on a different planet, surrounded by tall, green trees and low, gray sky. A part of her wondered why it was so miserable, since it was only September, but the majority of her brain just accepted her new fate with a weary sigh.

Bella scanned the thin crowd for her dad, half expecting not to even recognize him from how long it’d been. And would he even recognize her? Surely, Renee had remembered to send him pictures after the visits stopped, or at the very least, Charlie had managed to log onto Facebook to see all the updates her mom posted there . She’d almost worked herself up into a panic when she spotted the vaguely familiar cop car, parked across the street. It was old, and the paint was scratched up, barely leaving the words “Forks Police” legible, but most of her attention was drawn to the man standing in front of it.

Charlie Swan looked exactly how she remembered, if not a little older. He still had his bushy mustache, and his hair was a little thinner than it used to be, but it still curled around the edges like hers did. Growing up, Bella had always been told she looked a lot like Renee; they had the same heart-shaped face and full lips, the same pale skin. Though, secretly, she’d always thought she looked a lot like her father, and standing across from him now, it was all but shoved in her face; the slightly-curly brown hair, dark eyes, awkward stance.

In five hurried steps, Bella stopped in front of her dad. Her hand ached from how hard she was holding onto her suitcase. She licked her lips unnecessarily, suddenly ridiculously nervous. Again, that same errant fear that he wouldn’t recognize her anymore flared, before she pushed it down and forced out, “Hi, Dad.”

Charlie, for his part, ducked his head as he grinned. “Hey, Bells. Too big to give your old man a hug?” Something sour churned in her gut, and she thought back to her mom, but Bella smiled back, unwrapping her hand from her bag and quickly giving her dad a hug. It was weird; her arms fit around him better, and she was taller than she’d been the last time they’d hugged. He still smelled faintly like stale coffee and beer, and his rain jacket brushed uncomfortably against her face. Neither of them were the best at physical affection though, and broke away after only a moment.

Her dad stared at her, furrowing his brows. “You’ve gotten so old.”

“That’s kind of how time works, Dad,” she tried, the joke landing flat. Bella’s nails dug into her palms, and she shook her head. “Unless you’ve found some way to live forever out here.”

It got a chuckle out of him, finally . “Alright, smart aleck, com’on, let me help you with your bag.” He went to grab her suitcase as Bella wrinkled her nose. Her hands, it seemed, without anything to occupy them, were content to drill into her palms, her nails breaking the skin. As Charlie slammed the trunk to the police cruiser closed, she blinked, took a deep breath, and got in the car.

Get a grip , she scolded herself. She just needed to get some sleep, wash the plane ride off her, and get settled; once she was in her new– old –room, surrounded by boxes she’d shipped up the week before, she’d feel more at ease. Moving she could do. Small talk, she could not.

“How was your flight?” Charlie finally asked, after a long stretch of silence, and the car was already on the highway.

Bella looked away from the blur of evergreens towards her dad, who was staring determinedly at the road. She shrugged anyway. “It was fine–I watched some Grey’s Anatomy , uh, ‘cause it’s in Seattle.” Secretly, she just really enjoyed the medical drama, but if anyone asked, she was set in telling them it was purely for research purposes; what was actually educational about Grey’s Anatomy , Bella would never know, but that was for her to keep to herself.

Charlie did look at her for that comment. “Don’t think it’s all that accurate, Bells.” One eyebrow of his rose a little too.

She shrugged again. “It was interesting, anyway.”

He hummed in response. “And, um, how’s your mom?”

“She’s fine,” Bella replied plainly. “She says hi.”

“That’s–that’s nice,” Charlie said gruffly. “Well, tell her I said hello.”

Bella fought back the urge to sigh, to point out that she wasn’t with Renee anymore, and that was kind of the whole point of her being in Washington in the first place. But she didn’t. She just swallowed back the sick sort of feeling she’d been carrying for months now, and said, “Sure.” The trees outside her window blurred in a mess of green. “Of course.”

FORKS, Washington was located on the Olympic Peninsula, a really small town surrounded by thick, tall, and dense trees that stretched all the way up to the low, bleak sky. It rained a good ten out of twelve months. When packing, Bella had gone through all her belongings and mourned every tank top she’d no longer be able to wear, outside the one sort-of-sunny day they got in July her dad always bragged about; she could see a lot of sweaters and long sleeves in her future.

It had started to rain by the time the police cruiser pulled into a familiar driveway. Bella didn’t have much time to stand and stare at the house, catalog all the changes, and all the things her brain had warped over the years, before booking it to the porch, which was miraculously covered by an overhang, sheltered from the wet weather. Charlie caught her sour expression and laughed, one hand above his eyes, the other lugging her suitcase up the front steps.

“It’s just a little rain, Bells.”

“I lived in a desert,” she said as he unlocked the front door. “We get like, one summer storm a year– maybe .” She blinked as Charlie flicked the lights on, taking in the entryway, mostly consisting of the staircase to upstairs. She spotted several old photos of her in elementary school, some others of her and Charlie on vacation, and even a few of him and Renee.

It was a little startling, and kind of heartbreaking, that even after all these years, he still kept them up, that he was still in love with her mom. The house felt quiet, and small in a way that made Bella’s chest seize with that familiar brand of guilt, that she’d somehow gotten in the way of her father’s happiness.

“Your bedroom’s still upstairs,” Charlie said, startling Bella out of her reverie. “I got some bed sheets and stuff, and moved out some of your old toys, but your boxes are all up there.”

Bella swallowed thickly, surprised. “Oh. Thanks, Dad.” She smiled. “Really. I can, uh, I can take my suitcase up.” She was itching to be alone; she wanted to close her eyes, text her best friend, and forget that any of this was her new reality.

Charlie, thankfully, was no more of a people person than she was. He nodded along tiredly. “Sounds good, Bells. I’ve got an errand in a bit, and I can pick up dinner from the diner on the way home.”

“Oh, that’s not really necessary,” she said, frowning. “I can cook–”

“Nonsense, kid. You just got home. Go rest.” He looked at her so honestly, said it so simply, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Bella felt like her brain was buffering a bit, and it was then that the tears she’d been fighting since Phoenix decided to make their grand entrance.

She blinked rapidly, swallowing unnecessarily, and jerkily picked up her suitcase, nearly tripping over the first step in her haste. “Thanks, uh, I’ll be in my room.” She didn’t really wait for a response–not sure she would even get one–and climbed to the top of the stairs. Finding her bedroom was easy, and she was pushing her way in and closing the door in an instant.

A shaky breath escaped her, and pathetically, Bella found herself lowering to the ground, back against the wooden door. Her childhood bedroom swam around her as finally– finally –she let herself cry. Over the move, over her mom, over upending her whole life for some self-imposed moral mission to be the best daughter to the worst mother. And stupidly, she cried over her dad, who was practically a stranger, and yet loved her regardless of anything. Tired, cat-like sobs wracked her shoulders, and for a long minute, Bella let herself wallow in every feeling she’d ever had.

Then, like she always did, Bella wiped away the tears, squared her shoulders, and stood up, properly taking stock of her surroundings; she had some moving in to do.

Home had never felt like Phoenix, Arizona, in all its sprawling sparseness and oppressive heat. But, despite herself, as Bella slowly unpacked her things, she listened to the spattering of the rain and pretended it was the rumbling of her mom’s washing machine down the hall, aching for something she’d never missed.

Chapter Text

SHE WAS in a meadow, someplace secluded and sunny–somewhere Bella was confident she’d never been before. The edges of the field, with all its budding and blooming flowers in warm spring colors, were blurry, and distantly, she knew she was dreaming. Bella walked around, hands drifting over the tall strands of grass, letting them brush against her fingers pleasantly; she’d had dreams this vivid before, sure, but it was always interesting to see how much she could feel while asleep.

There was a ring of trees surrounding the meadow, tall and stretching towards the sky. It was different than how they’d seemed just hours ago, on her way home, nearly swallowed by nature that wasn’t hers. Something about it now though…it felt familiar, and comforting, in a way she didn’t understand.

Bella took a deep breath, the smell of lupine and lavender filling her lungs. The sun was warm against her exposed skin–in a dark red tank-top, of all things–and she felt her shoulders relax. Then, slowly, against her conscious will, she found herself turning around. It was alarming; in dreams like this, ones in such clear and startling detail, she was always in control. It was a relief, maybe, having something solid for her to hold onto, even in unconsciousness. But she was turning, and her heartbeat remained steady, and Dream-Bella never once faltered.

She turned around, back towards the edge of trees, towards the shadows just beyond them. Bella didn’t know what could possibly be in there that was more important than the meadow, but she found her lips pulling into a smile, mouth opening as she called for someone.

The shadows seemed to grow then, swarming from the trees out towards her, blurring everything and swallowing the name on her lips. The sun disappeared and the ground fell out from under her, and suddenly, Bella was falling.

She was falling, she was falling, and then she was waking up with a harsh jerk upright, gasping for air, head swimming.

The rain overhead pattered almost mockingly, and all thoughts of the strange dream fell to the back of her mind.

SCHOOL STARTED two days later, and in that time Bella could safely say she still wasn’t a fan of the rain. She woke up after a night full of tossing and turning to the steady drum of rain on the roof, and petulantly, she glared up at her ceiling a little as if that would magically make it stop.

Charlie was already downstairs by the time she was ready, sitting in the tiny kitchen sipping from his mug of coffee. One eyebrow rose as he took in her borderline scowl. “Rough night?”

Bella huffed, brushing her hair back with one hand. “Rough every night.” At the look he was giving her, she shook her head, sighing. “It’s just first day jitters, I’ll be fine.” It wasn’t–in the slightest; Bella hadn’t had first day jitters since she was eight–but it was the nicer option, compared to admitting she still wasn’t used to how abysmal everything felt here.

Charlie nodded, appeased. He stood from his chair with a quiet grunt, and set his mug down. “Well, I’d better be off to the station. You sure you know how to get to school?”

“Just off the main road, I got it.” She grinned. “Plus, I’ll finally get to christen The Thing.” The Thing being her new old truck Charlie bought as a homecoming present. He’d shown it to her the first night, having picked it up from his friend Billy down on the reservation. It was big, and rusty, and the engine was loud enough to wake the dead, but Bella loved it; a heavy sort of happiness had welled up in her throat when he’d given it to her, and she couldn’t shake it, even now.

She’d never had a car back in Phoenix; she’d taken the bus, and drove Renee’s car whenever it needed to go to the repair shop. Sometimes, she’d borrow her friend’s car and the two of them would drive aimlessly through the empty backroads of Phoenix with the windows down; those were some of the few times she could remember where the tight feeling in her chest had absolved enough for her to just exist outside of something.

The Thing was hers , in a way nothing had ever been before. Her dad had thought it’d be a nice way to say welcome home ; Bella still thought she was in some strange, alternate reality, one where parents were parents and the landscape was green instead of brown. The jury was still out on whether she liked it or not.

Charlie left for the station then, leaving her alone in the house; he’d left her alone a lot, over the past two days, she realized, too used to his habits to change them for her now, so suddenly. It was fine, she reasoned, as she poured herself a bowl of cereal. It was fine, and she was used to it, and if she really got lonely, she could always talk to the dozens of photos scattered across the walls.

Eventually, the antsy feeling of a hundred frozen stares in a too-quiet house got to her, and Bella grabbed her backpack to leave for school; half an hour early wasn’t too early, she was just prepared, right? Tossing everything into the passenger seat of her truck (and it wasn’t so much of a seat instead of a bench, all connected in the front), she started the engine, everything rumbling to life in the still, foggy morning. Blasting the heat, Bella pulled out of the driveway, and started to school. She hadn’t been joking when she’d told her dad she knew how to get there; the roads were all fairly straight forward, everything branching off from the main street like roots in a tree. She simply…followed the winding path into town, and turned into the parking lot labeled Forks High: Home of the Spartans.

The school wasn’t much; back in Phoenix, her old high school had been two stories, sprawling gray and glass, with security systems and a personal police officer. It had been so easy to get lost in the crowded halls, especially if you got caught in the stairwells during lunch period. Here, Bella’s new school looked like every other building in town, except for a strange cone-like building near the front office. Everything was low-built, and brick, the sidewalks littered with soggy leaves from the heavy rainfall the night before. Thankfully, she could already see several other cars parked in the student lot, and The Thing fit right in.

She got out of her warm cab with a resigned sigh, knuckles white from how hard she clutched the strap of her backpack. Finding her way around wasn’t difficult, and she only sneaked a glance at her schedule once before locating her first period class and sliding into a seat. Bella hoped–naively–that since it was the first day, no one would notice her, and she wouldn’t have to go through all those “New Girl” questions like she’d done a million times in the past.

Of course, it was then she was immediately accosted by someone, despite school still having a good fifteen minutes left before the bell. It was a boy, with limp, black hair that hung lower in the back like the beginnings of a mullet. He wore a Star Wars shirt over a plain white tee, and he was sending her a smile that could blind the sun.

She blinked. “Uh, hi.”

“You’re new, right?” the kid asked, fingers drumming on the back of his chair, which she realized was the one right in front of hers.

Bella grinned tight-lipped, letting out some weird combination of a laugh and a sigh. “That obvious?”

The boy waved her off good-naturedly. “Not really, but we don’t really get any new kids around here. The last ones were a couple years ago, from Alaska.”

“Oh, wow ,” Bella’s eyes widened. “That’s kinda weird–my old school had at least ten thousand kids in it, and we just…kept getting more.”

The boy mouthed the words ten thousand as if they were a foreign concept; for him, it probably was. Then, he was smiling at her again. “I’m Eric. The eyes and ears of Forks High. And, uh, President of the Anime Club.” His face flushed a little at that, and he ducked his head down.

“Bella,” she offered in the pause, offering him a tentative grin in return. “President of no club.”

“Oh, that’s an easy fix.” Eric started talking a-mile-a-minute about how simple it was to join or start a club, and Bella couldn’t even open her mouth to tell him how that was so not happening; she just sat there and nodded along, the faint sound of her own heartbeat thumping faster under the social pressure. So sue her; no matter how many times she went through the first day at a new school, she would always be done-in with small talk.

She was saved by the bell, then, and Eric gave her one last enthusiastic smile before turning around to face the front. As the teacher started introducing themselves, he whispered,

“I’ll show you around today, just give me your schedule after class.”

And Bella could only nod.

AS IT TURNED out, Bella only had English–her first class of the day–with Eric, who was more bummed out about it than she really thought was necessary. She put her foot in her mouth when she asked to sit with him at lunch, effectively throwing out her library plan, but, oh well; it made Eric happy, and something settled in her stomach as his easy-going smile returned. She also learned she had a few classes with a girl named Jessica, who, like Eric, was a professional yapper . Her light brown curls bounced behind her as she talked in the halls, walking with Bella to their shared class.

Jessica, as Bella very quickly learned, was captain of the volleyball team, lead actress in the drama club, and ran a surprisingly popular social media account. She was also friends with Eric, so, when it came time for lunch, Bella found herself sandwiched between her two new acquaintances. It made her miss her best friend, Julliane, from back home; Bella knew Julie would have hit it off with Jessica immediately, the lulls in the conversation Bella was contributing to disappearing in an instant.

Missing Julliane was slowly becoming the hardest part of the move, Bella realized. All day, she’d been turning over her shoulder, ready to make some side comment, only to realize her best friend wasn’t there. And it wasn’t like Julie was her only friend–she had other friends–but the two of them understood each other better than most.

And standing there, listening to Jessica Stanley talk about some kid named Tyler, Bella wished she could turn over her shoulder and find the support of the one person who’d ever bothered to put in a little effort in her life.

Honestly, it was kind of overwhelming. She picked whatever she saw first from the lunch line and followed the other two teenagers to an already-full lunch table in the middle of the cafeteria. She fought back a wince and sat down in an empty seat, everyone’s eyes falling to her.

Jessica quickly claimed the seat next to her and said, “Guys, this is Bella. She’s from Arizona.” She smiled at her large spread of friends, clearly pleased to make the introduction.

“Arizona, wow,” a blond boy chimed in, blue eyes staring intently at her. “What’s it like there?”

“Well, it’s–”

“It’s the desert, Mike,” Jessica interrupted, scoffing. “What do you think it’s like?” The brunette stabbed into her salad then, and Bella pressed her lips down in a thin line, letting out a slow exhale; so much for a civil first meeting.

Mike, unfortunately, seemed completely unaware of Jessica's sudden hostility, and kept talking with a lazy-sort of smile. “Tumbleweeds, sun, hot babes –”

“Oh, real classy, dude,” Eric said, sitting down in a chair across from Bella. He turned to face her, face brightening. “Comic Con’s there, right?”

Bella shifted uncomfortably, her left hand, hidden under the table, clenching in a nervous fist. “Um, maybe? I’m not really sure.” The way they were all talking to her–it was like they hadn’t spoken to someone from out of town like, ever ; weren’t there those other kids from Alaska? Why hadn’t they ever gotten some of these questions out on them?

Jessica apparently had enough of the roundabout impromptu interview session, and got the table’s attention with some new gossip she’d gotten from the drama teacher. Bella sagged in her seat in relief, finally poking around her lunch with mild interest. It was easy letting the conversation wash over her, familiar in the way she had to chime in only very little, only occasionally giving her opinion whenever Mike wanted to talk to the new kid again.

She had admittedly zoned out for a second, and was surprised when she heard someone calling her name; she startled back into the lunchroom, blinking as Jessica stared at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Earth to Bella?” she asked, though it seemed that her previous aggression had dissipated, which was nice.

Bella tilted her head in response. “Yeah?”

“ Edward Cullen is staring at you.” Her gray eyes sparkled with excitement, and she leaned closer, grinning knowingly.

“Uh, should I know who that is?” Bella began to turn her head around to look for whoever Edward was, but was stopped by nearly everyone at the table, in various degrees of seriousness.

Jessica’s eyes widened, and she held her hands up in pause. “Right, you’re new. ”

“They like to pretend they’re Forks’ personal main attraction,” a blonde girl snipped, glancing up from her phone.

“Think The Plastics ,” Eric added.

“But like, isolated…and incestuous .” Jessica shivered dramatically as her friends made noises of disgust.

A girl to Bella’s left, who had been quiet up until then, said, “Jess, none of them are really related.”

Bella sighed loudly, exasperated. “Guys, who are we talking about?”

“Oh! Right.” Jessica clapped her hands together, and pushed her lunch aside. She gave Bella a serious look. “Okay, so the Cullens, right? They moved here from Alaska a couple years back–”

“ They’re the Alaska kids?” Bella interrupted, startled by the revelation that Forks High’s only other new students were the same ones who had garnered such a strong reputation among her peers. Again, she tried to look for them, but Jessica was faster, pulling her back into the conversation with a stern glare.

“Yes. Anyway, their dad’s like this, super hot doctor at the hospital, and their mom designs homes.”

“She redesigned our kitchen last winter, after my dad burned it down,” Eric added, mumbling an “ okay ” after a shush from the table.

Jessica flipped her hair over one shoulder, continuing. “There’s five kids–all adopted. And get this ,” she leaned in, conspiratorially grinning, “they’re all, like, together .” She sat back up straight, staring at Bella expectantly.

Bella furrowed her brows, frowning slightly as she thought it through. “And when you say together… ?”

“Like, there are two committed relationships between those siblings!” Jessica squealed, shaking her head as if she couldn’t believe it herself, despite being the go-to for all its gossip. “Like, that can’t be legal.”

“Oh,” Bella said, face scrunching up. “Huh–I mean, if they’re not related…that’s gotta count for something,” she tried, trying not to jump to any conclusion, even though it was pretty strange. 

“Sure, I guess .” Jessica agreed, not agreeing at all. Her eyes darted to a spot behind Bella, and she sighed. “Ugh, Edward’s still staring at you–you know him or something?”

“Jessica’s still bitter after the last rejection,” the blonde from before snickered, lips pursing together.

Jessica’s face flamed pink. “Lauren, shut up.”

“I don’t even know what he looks like,” Bella said, redirecting the conversation away from Lauren’s hostility. Jessica perked up again, a gentler smile flickering over her face before she got back into the mood.

“ Gorgeous ,” she said. “But totally unavailable. And a dick.”

“Is he in one of those committed relationships ?” Bella asked, one part genuinely curious and two parts proud of herself for staying engaged in a conversation with basically strangers for so long.

“Nope,” Jessica sighed, “single.”

Deciding to try her luck again, Bella snuck a glance behind her, and this time, Jessica didn’t try to stop her. At that point, it was almost pathetically easy to spot the Cullens in the crowded lunchroom, despite never having seen them in her life. And when she did, Bella’s eyes widened on their own accord; the five of them were unfairly gorgeous, looking more like runway models than high school students. They were each positioned like mannequins or magazine covers, posed to be the picture-perfect image of kids enjoying lunch.

Admittedly, at first, Bella had been apprehensive over all the talk surrounding them, but one glance told her they really were Forks High’s personal group of Mean Girls; they looked like they reaped every single benefit of pretty privilege.

And, she realized with a start, true to Jessica’s word, one of the Cullens was staring right at her. Edward , her mind chimed in, had unruly ginger hair, a stray strand falling into one of his light eyes that were locked intently on her figure. The way he stared at her…Bella clenched her jaw and turned back around to her friends.

“Very pretty,” she admitted, then, sharing a look with Jessica, “but totally a dick.”

The bell rang soon after, and even as Bella tossed her trash and grabbed her backpack, she could still feel the unfamiliar, piercing gaze of Edward Cullen on her back.

Chapter Text

THE QUIET girl from lunch introduced herself on the way to their shared fifth period as Angela, pushing a loose strand of hair back behind her ear as she began to talk.

“That was nice, what you did for Jess back there.”

“What?” Bella wrapped her arms around herself tighter, confused.

Angela shook her head slightly. “Lauren–she and Jess don’t really get along. It was nice, you got her to stop bugging her about Edward.”

“Oh.” A warm blush crawled up her face, and Bella squeezed her midsection even tighter. Angela seemed unaware–or she chose not to comment–on her sudden distraction, and breezed into the classroom in front of them. Bella hesitated for a second longer than she really needed to, and then followed her into fifth period AP Biology. It was a fairly standard science classroom, with workbenches as desks and stools for chairs. The walls were lined with posters of animal dissections and there were several small jars on shelves in dubious shades, their contents murky. Already, she could spot past years’ projects displayed that she’d already done at her old school, and felt the nervous weight lift off her chest as she realized it would be an easy class.

Displayed from the projector was a seating chart, and Bella glanced at it quickly, rekindled spirits already sinking as she found her name; there, written over a workbench, were the names Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen. Unwillingly, her eyes scanned the room, once again finding Edward immediately. He, as she maybe should have guessed, based on previous behavior, was staring right at her.

It was the kind of stare that stopped Bella in her tracks, her breath caught in her throat. The phrase if looks could kill filtered briefly through her mind, before discarding it as quickly as it came; yes, Edward Cullen looked downright pissed , but there was also some sort of disbelief in his eyes, if she could dissect the crinkling of skin around the corners properly. It was entirely confusing, and Bella wondered what exactly she’d done to harbor such a strong, innate reaction. And then, as quickly as that thought came, she shoved it aside; there was no reason for her to believe that it had anything to do with her, right?

And so, as composed as she could, Bella walked right over to her desk, and sat down. Next to her, Edward shifted a little in his chair, angled so he could reasonably talk to her; the image of friendliness was ruined, of course, by the way his hands were clenched tightly into fists. Bella glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and furrowed her brows, only looking away as the bell rang and the teacher, Mr. Banner, started roll.

“Issac Anderson?”

“Here,” a boy with messy brown hair said, two desks in front of Bella.

“Paige Cooper?”

A girl behind Bella raised her hand slightly, saying, “Here.”

Mr. Banner glanced up from his attendance sheet as he said, “Edward Cullen?” For a brief– ridiculous –moment, Bella thought Edward wasn’t going to answer, content as he was to sit and glare at the tabletop.

And then, very simply, he answered, “Present,” never looking up once. His voice was smooth and crisp and Bella really hadn’t expected to be thinking about that, but there it was. She glanced at him again, once, but he never looked up from the table top.

“Micheal Newton?”

“Just Mike, man,” Mike said over a few snickers, and Bella resisted a groan when she realized the over-exuberant boy was in the class too; the slight movement of her shoulders hunching in caught Edward’s attention, intense eyes flicking briefly over to her before sliding away, uninterested.

Eventually, Mr. Banner got to her own name, reading it out with a slightly furrowed brow. “Isabella Swan?”

She bit the inside of her cheek, said, “Here,” and hoped whatever it was that made him pause had nothing to do with her. But of course, because there always had to be the one teacher, it had everything to do with her.

“Are you by any chance related to Chief Swan?” Mr. Banner asked.

Bella felt her face heat up. “He’s my dad.” If no one had known she was related to one of the town’s only cops before , they sure did now, and she half hoped the ground would crack open and swallow her whole so she wouldn’t have to bear any more of the conversation.

That, unfortunately, didn’t happen, but Mr. Banner seemed relatively appeased enough to continue with roll. Bella let out a relieved sigh, and out of the corner of her eye, Edward Cullen shifted in his seat again. It was hard to pay attention to another boring syllabus, one that she was sure contained most of the things she’d done last year back in Phoenix, but especially so with what felt like eyes trained on her side profile at all times.

She tried not to scowl, but seriously , what was Edward’s problem? Bella knew he kept glancing at her, probably thinking he was being subtle about it in that way guys did, and it was immensely frustrating. What she had originally thought were simply face-value assessments from Jessica at lunch were proving to be true: Edward Cullen was a dick .

Or, it could just be her temper, the more rational side of her brain tried to reign in. He could just be looking–or glaring, partially–at a poster on the opposite side of the room. Maybe he had a bad lunch, or got stuck with a really crappy teacher, who knew? Bella spent the rest of the class period rationalizing the strange behavior next to her and paying very little attention to whatever Mr. Banner was telling them about their introductory unit. It wasn’t the best use of her time, and she was fully aware of it, but the anxious voices in the back of her head kept her from stopping the irrational behavior.

Bella had finally managed to calm herself down enough that by the time the bell rang, she was fully willing to give Edward the– very large –benefit of the doubt, only to have him ruin it in less than five seconds flat.

He was up out of his seat and out the door in a blur, leaving behind the faintest scent of woodsy cologne. Bella blinked, baffled. One hand was still clenched tightly around her backpack from where she’d only just begun to open it to put her things away.

The blond boy from lunch, Mike, the one she was sure was only interested in her because she was from out of town, came over to her then, raising his eyebrows a little. “Damn, what’d you do to make Cullen so pissed?”

Bella frowned, blinking out of her stupor to put her notebook away. “Is that not how he usually acts?”

Mike shrugged. “He looked like you killed his cat.”

“Well, I didn’t,” she huffed uselessly. “Whatever, it’s not like we’ll keep these seats all year.” Bella wished she had enough courage to go and ask Mr. Banner for a seat change preemptively, before things got worse, but even the thought of it made her stomach churn uneasily. She started walking out of the room, startling when Mike appeared right at her side again. “Uh…,” she said slowly.

“What class do you have next?” Mike asked, walking next to her with a grin. Jessica’s face popped up in her head and Bella’s stomach churned faster.

“PE.” Stupidly, she hoped the disdain in her voice would be enough to deter Mike from further conversation, both from her least favorite class of the day and talking to him; don’t get her wrong, Mike seemed…fine, but Jessica clearly liked him and Bella did not want to get on her bad side one day in.

But, it seemed that Mike’s obliviousness knew no bounds. “Great! I have that next too.” His blue eyes brightened and he began to walk with lighter strides.

Bella closed her eyes briefly, a stress headache already pricking in her forehead. She opened her eyes again and offered a wan smile, gesturing to the hall ahead of them. “Lead the way.”

BELLA’S REACTION to seeing her truck in the parking lot after school was more appropriate to those old photos of couples reuniting after war than, well, a sixteen year old getting to climb into her beat-up truck after a tiring day at high school. PE hadn’t been too brutal, as it was mostly introduction work, but she hadn’t been able to shake Mike all period, even with the short break the class took to get assigned lockers. Between him and Edward the period before, on top of the general stress of a first day, she was exhausted ; all she wanted to do was go home, curl up in bed, and stare at the wall. Maybe read a little bit if she was feeling ambitious enough.

She tossed her backpack onto the passenger side of the truck, climbing in and closing the door with little fanfare. For a minute, she just let herself sit there, head resting on the steering wheel that’s leather faintly smelled of mint, decompressing. It wasn’t until she felt the familiar prickling sense of being watched that she looked up, vision slowly refocusing on a car parked across the lot.

It was shiny, and silver, and a whole lot nicer than most of the other cars parked around it. She couldn’t have guessed its brand even if she tried but it looked just a tad too fancy for a high schooler to be driving. Standing outside of the car, looking much calmer than she’d last seen him, was Edward Cullen. By no means did he look friendly, but less murderous, and that was a win, possibly. His hands were shoved into his jacket pockets, and Bella realized, impossibly, he was staring right at her.

Fleetingly, she thought he looked kind of pretty. Then, she shivered, and turned the engine on with a shaking roar that pulled all her attention away from the boy across the lot. Bella left quickly after that, and the feeling of being watched didn’t leave until the school was far behind her.

Dark clouds rolled in over the sky, uneven shadows cutting across the road as she followed her path back home. It wasn’t a quiet drive by any means–her engine made sure of that–but it was isolating, in a way that stole Bella’s breath away just a little. She focused on the road, taking the turns slowly, and watched as the dim blob of sunlight was swallowed by the perpetual cluster of clouds; she thought back to how she’d spent the first day of school last year, back in Phoenix: she’d gone over to Julliane’s house, and the other girl had invited a few others over, and they spent the late afternoon sitting and splashing around in the pool.

“ To new beginnings ,” Jules had said, and she’d nudged her elbow into Bella’s arm with a carefree sort of side smile.

Bella, nearly sixteen years old and full of longing for something more than what she’d been given, had smiled softly back.

Now, living out of the product of her decisions, her new beginning stared mockingly at her in the form of ten-foot evergreens and gloomy skies.

Blinking dazedly out of her thoughts, she had just managed to park somewhat decently in her driveway when her phone buzzed in her pocket. Turning the engine off with one hand and fishing her phone out with the other, Bella sighed when she saw who it was; it seemed that thinking about home had summoned what made her run away in the first place. Putting on an unnecessary smile, she answered the call.

“Hey, Mom.”

“Isabella Marie Swan!” Renee nearly interrupted, voice coming out loud and as stern as she could ever manage through the grainy speaker quality. “It’s been three days since you got to Charlie’s and you haven’t told me anything. That wasn’t the deal.”

There was no deal. There had never been a deal; the whole thing had been Bella, one-hundred percent acting out of teenage angst and whatever other drive that thrummed right in her heart. Still, she sighed a little into the receiver. “I figured you’d be busy with the move–I–” she chewed on the inside of her cheek, screwing her eyes shut “I’m sorry.”

“Oh, well, the move was stressful ,” Renee started, and Bella could picture the way she tossed her hands up in the air as she spoke. “I swear, I’d lose my head if it weren’t attached to me…”

“Yeah,” Bella chuckled tightly, and she moved to pin her phone between her shoulder and her ear, hands already itching to grab her things and leave. “Look, Mom, I’d love to chat but I just got home, and–”

“That’s right! How was school? When did you start?”

Bella grabbed her backpack and pushed her door open before answering, still awkwardly juggling her phone on her shoulder. “Started today, and it was–it was fine, it was school. Not a lot happened today, y’know?” She tried to close the door with her shoulder, nearly tripping from the added weight of her backpack. Finally, she gave up and just kicked it shut; it was an old car already, it’s probably seen worse. She sighed sharply and fumbled with her keys to lock the door. “Honestly, Mom, I was just waiting for something more to tell you.”

She wasn’t. She was kind of enjoying Renee-free time if she were being completely honest , and had admitted so to Jules quietly late her first night in Forks. And really, it’s not like anything interesting was bound to happen here anyway, in the smallest, stillest town known to man.

“Hmm, sure. Oh!” Renee perked up, and asked, “Any cute guys yet?”

“ Mom ,” Bella clenched her jaw together, finally giving up and just shoving her keys into her jacket pocket so she could hold her phone tightly with both hands, almost like she was throttling it. “It’s been one day. Hold your proverbial horses, please .”

“Oh, Isabella, I’m just teasing, lighten up.”

Bella’s shoulders curled inwards. She sighed for what felt like the hundredth time since answering the phone. “Right, of course. Uh–” she faltered, the cool creeping feeling of being watched crawling up her spine for the third time that day. Her pulse quickened, and she realized she had just been standing in her driveway, surrounded by thick forest, for the past five minutes. “Uh, I’ll call you back, later,” she amended, wincing. “I have a lot of stuff I need to get started on.”

“Oh, alright,” Renee sighed. “I’ll talk to you later. And keep me updated on any boy business, Bella Marie, I swear–”

“Yeah, ‘course.” she said hurriedly. “Love you, bye.”

“Bye, hon.” As soon as her mom hung up, Bella rushed to the porch, eyes scanning the sprawling trees once more for good measure. The uneasy feeling had disappeared as fast as it’d come on, and all that was left was a dense forest and a girl standing in front of her house. Still, she couldn’t shake how her skin tingled from the feeling of eyes on her, and how it all felt like a pair of light, almost golden eyes from a boy who might just hate her.

Bella Swan hurried into her house, thinking unnecessarily about the eyes of Edward Cullen, and how his gaze haunted her even after only just one meeting.

It was only the beginning, and when she sat down at an empty table the next day in Biology, she couldn’t even begin to understand just how much everything was going to change from a single, frustrated look.

Chapter Text

“DID YOU THOUGH?” Jessica asked, walking next to her in the halls towards the parking lot. “Kill his cat?” she clarified after a moment. Her gray eyes glinted with curiosity and amusement, curls bouncing animatedly around her as they walked.

Bella groaned, glancing over at Jessica. “You and Mike share a brain.”

“We do, don’t we?” she smiled widely, the thought seemingly pleasant to her. “And anyway, it's a valid question–the Cullens don’t like, outright hate anybody without good reason.”

“They just float aloofly through the halls hating everybody indifferently, right?” Bella guessed flatly, pushing open the door and shivering at the abrupt change in temperature. She burrowed further into her jacket, an old gray one that had been sitting mostly unworn in the back of her closet in Phoenix.

Jessica laughed. “You’re catching on quickly. Okay, run me through exactly what you said to him yesterday, and don’t leave out any details.”

“I want to go home,” Bella complained, already thinking that bringing up Edward at all was a big mistake; sue her, when he didn’t show up to class on the second day of school, especially after making such a big fuss, she was a little curious. It had been like fate then, for Jessica to show up after PE—most likely to talk to Mike—and start a conversation.

Jessica hit her arm lightly. “Shut up. You can’t be like, Edward Cullen might hate me and then not give me the details. That’s like, a death wish.”

“There aren’t any details, Jessica,” Bella waved a hand in the air dismissively. She smiled a little ruefully then. “Besides, it was more of a side comment anyway. Just a passing thought.”

“The day Edward Cullen can just be a ‘passing thought’ is the day hell freezes over,” Jessica scoffed. “Seriously, give me the details.” They’d reached Bella’s car at that point, and she leaned against the truck bed and sighed, resigned.

“Fine, okay–” a smile tugged at her lips as Jessica clapped her hands together in excitement “—I got to class and he just sort of…stared at me.”

“Ugh, still?”

“Yep,” Bella ran a hand through her hair, shaking her head lightly. “I thought maybe he was going to say something to me, but as soon as the bell rang, he dipped.”

“Huh,” Jessica said, frowning. “That’s unexciting.”

“I’m probably just making something out of nothing,” Bella dismissed, and she turned her head a little, looking over the parking lot as Jessica stewed in the lack of good gossip. She caught sight of another bright, fancy car, different from the silver one that had been there the day before. It was red, with a convertible top, and Bella watched as one of the many gorgeous Cullens—the blonde girl, with a perfect body and stone-cold glare when she caught Bella looking—got into the driver's seat; she frowned a little to herself.

She saw a lot more of that fancy red car in the coming days. It always parked in the same spot, paint polished so well that it gleamed even in the overcast weather, and four unfairly pretty people always got out of it. None of them ever said anything to anyone about their missing brother, and that was that.

As the first week of school slipped into the weekend, Bella was remarkably alright with the missing desk partner that was Edward Cullen; she got the work done herself in record time and didn’t have to force her way through any stilted small talk. He was on the back of her mind, at most , especially since she had her seventeenth birthday to worry about that Sunday. It creeped up on her, like it did most years, and she spent most of Saturday night tossing and turning anxiously dreading the next day.

Isabella Swan hadn’t always hated birthdays, but she sure as hell did now. The reason why lurked in the back of her mind, slinking out of the mental box she’d tried to shove it into, and it had led to a very rough night’s sleep as she tried to forget about it. 

When she woke up that Sunday, it was to several birthday texts from her friends back home. Bella smiled softly to herself and sat up in bed, brushing her thick hair out of her face to respond. Buried underneath them all was a text from Jessica, asking about Spanish homework, and ridiculously, Bella was immensely glad she hadn’t let any of her new friends know when her birthday was. 

There wasn’t anything from Renee, but that had been expected. Her mom was never good at remembering important dates, or deadlines, or…much of anything that had ever been important to Bella. What shocked her, however, was that when she finally stumbled downstairs it was to the overly-sweet smell of pancakes on the griddle. She stopped in the kitchen doorway, absolutely befuddled by the sight of her dad cooking pancakes at ten-thirty in the morning.

He was wearing an apron that said What a Catch with a fish in a chef’s hat embroidered on it, and looked up at her when she ventured further into the room and offered her an awkward grin. “Morning, kiddo. Happy Birthday.”

“I…What is this?” She stood at the island, across from her dad, hands twitching aimlessly with nothing to do.

He shrugged. “Figure I’d surprise you with something a little special. You still like chocolate chips in your pancakes, right?”

For a second, Bella didn’t respond. It felt like, for a moment, her heart had lodged itself right into her throat, blocking all sound. Then, finally, she managed, “Yeah, I do.” And she hadn’t even known her dad could cook, but he still somehow remembered she liked chocolate chips in her pancakes and had stumbled his way through making them. They ate in relative silence, and spent the day relaxing in the living room. She was gifted a new, thicker, jacket in her favorite color, and they had pasta for dinner.

As birthdays went, her seventeenth was a pretty good one.

Another week passed and Bella was feeling remarkably okay with her new living situation. School had settled into a familiar pattern, and nights with her dad were a pleasant addition to her own solitary habits. September was passing by in a blur of repetition and rain, and Bella foolishly let herself get comfortable.

The next Monday, of course, was different. It was different, in the fact that the red car was gone from its spot across the parking lot. It was different, because now, the stupid silver one was back in its place. Bella stared at it for a moment that morning with a frown, a vague sense of trepidation crawling up her spine.

BELLA WAS IN the middle of a very pleasant chat with Angela about a new TV show they both liked when Jessica grabbed both of them by the arm and practically dragged them to their lunch table.

“Ow,” Bella said, wincing as her elbow knocked into the table. Angela readjusted her glasses and sent Jessica a side look. The main offender was, naturally, unbothered by it and leaned forward in her seat with an eager grin.

“Edward’s back,” she said.

Bella stared at her for a moment, debating internally how she wanted to go about it all; she had a feeling giving Jessica any more ammunition about the whole thing would make it exactly that—an ordeal —and she wasn’t quite sure she wanted that. So instead, she made to work getting her lunch out and saying very simply, “I saw.”

“That’s it ?” Jessica asked indignantly. “What happened to the passion and mystery from last week? Bring that Bella back.” Next to her, Angela snickered quietly at the word passion , and Bella sighed, a rueful smile pulling at her face anyway.

“There was no passion or mystery, Jessica. I saw his car in the parking lot this morning, so I kind of figured he was back.” She shrugged.

Jessica wagged her eyebrows suggestively. “So you know what his car looks like.” 

Bella laughed. “I’m over it.” As she took a bite of her salad—a little wilted, she’ll admit—she could feel a pair of eyes on her back, and if she had to bet her money on anything, it was that Edward was back to staring at her; it seemed he wasn’t quite over whatever had possessed him the week before.

Well, neither was Bella, if she were being completely honest.

Lunch passed quietly after that, with Jessica managing to pull her and Angela into conversation despite neither of them being much of a talker, and when the bell rang, Bella sighed, eyes finally darting over to the now empty lunch table where the Cullens sat. She shook her head lightly, reminding herself that she didn’t care about any of them—she shouldn’t ; it wasn’t any of her business, and all that was different was now she had a seat partner in Biology again, like everyone else. She had no clue why it felt like a lie on her tongue, or so foreboding.

She shook it off and followed Angela to class.

HER BAG DROPPED unceremoniously on the floor as she scraped her chair out far enough for her to sit down. The class was bustling with chatter, and as she’d walked in she’d been cornered by Mike, asking her why she hadn’t sat with them all at lunch today. She’d fought back an eye roll (her opinion towards him had seriously deteriorated over the last week) and told him Jessica wanted to talk to her and Angela about girl stuff; that got him to shut up pretty quickly and head over to his own desk.

Angela had sent her a sympathetic look from across the room and Bella grinned, shaking her head in exasperation. Pleasantly, she was surprised that she’d made friends with Angela and Jessica so quickly, settling into Forks even better than she’d imagined.

Still grinning faintly, Bella pulled out her notebook, and when she looked back up, Edward Cullen was angled towards her. His shoulders were relaxed, his hands unclenched, and he looked…well, Bella wasn’t blind . It was the first time she really got a good look at him, when he wasn’t pissed, and it really was unfair just how pretty he was; his reddish hair was tousled lightly and his eyes were a strange combination of brown and blue (that must have been what gave them that golden hue, right?) that stared directly at her. His jawline was smooth and sharp and wow Bella really couldn’t believe she was thinking all this, sitting right in front of him. Someone who, in the very little time she’d known him, had acted pretty incredibly strange.

She was staring at him too, just a little. And then he opened his mouth.

“Hello. My name’s Edward Cullen.”

She fought back the insane urge to say I know ; she’d only been talking about him with her friends for a week. Instead, she managed, “Hey, Edward.” She dipped her head down a little with a small smile. “Nice to meet you.”

Somehow, he managed to appear more relaxed than before. He even grinned a little too, and wow , wasn’t that kind of breathtaking? “I’m sorry I was gone for so long. I was sick.”

“Oh,” Bella said, a bit unsure of how to respond to that. Her fingers tapped rapidly along the cover of her notebook. “Do you need the notes or something?” Or something —god, she was so awkward.

“That’s alright.” Edward smiled briefly. “I’ve gotten them from my sister.” She nodded along politely, and watched as he followed the movement, lips pulling down at the corners. “I’m also sorry–for how I acted before. It wasn’t cool.”

Something about Edward saying cool felt entirely wrong, and Bella couldn’t help but laugh a little, flushing when he looked at her confused. “No, it–it’s fine. I was a little weirded out, to be honest. But–it’s fine. No harm done.” God, Jessica was going to murder her when she found out about this conversation; it was the only thing keeping the girl from going insane, she thinks.

Edward dipped his head, frowning. “I am really sorry about that.”

“It’s okay,” Bella said again, “everyone gets sick sometimes.”

“Right,” he said, frowning just a little deeper. Before he could say anything else however, the bell rang and Mr. Banner quickly began going through the attendance list, only pausing very briefly to give Edward a swift,

“Welcome back, Edward.”

Class continued pretty regularly after that, and Bella could almost forget there was someone next to her; they were taking notes, and Edward was nearly still in his seat. Sometimes, she would catch a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye, and his hands were clenched back up into fists before he caught her staring and he relaxed again. It wasn’t until Mr. Banner had passed out a worksheet for the class to do that he spoke again.

“How are you enjoying Forks?”

Bella paused in writing down her answer for the first question, turning her head to look over at him. “Uh….” Her jaw clenched, flustered, and Edward was quick to continue.

“I just meant…,” he tilted his head down slightly, “I’d heard you moved.”

“Right,” Bella agreed, slowly, fingers pressing harder into her pencil. She flashed a small smile. “It’s fine, I guess. A lot different from home, but, y’know, not bad.”

He laughed faintly, and at her puzzled stare, elaborated, “That’s quite a shining review of the town.”

“What did you want me to say?”

“No, no, Forks isn’t my favorite either,” he agreed swiftly. Edward’s eyes flicked out to the window for a second before back to her, with startling attention. “Not at first, at least.” For a second, Bella wanted to ask him all the questions she’d heard around school since her arrival; had his family really moved from Alaska? Why move to Forks, of all places if Dr. Cullen was so fantastic at his job? For a second , Bella was grasped by this strange, pulling desire to know everything about the boy sitting next to her, in a way that didn’t totally feel all her own.

And then she was back to herself; her leg bounced up and down underneath the table, hitting against her chair.

She offered a little half-smile, and asked, “What changed?” It was the one question she could bring herself to ask. After all, it’s what she was still wondering herself; how could Forks feel like home when nowhere else ever did?

“I’m not sure,” Edward mumbled softly, and his brows had pulled together like he wasn’t quite happy with that answer but it was the one he was giving anyway. Then, he shrugged lightly, and grinned. “It might be the rain–I love it.”

Bella laughed, startled. “That has got to be the biggest lie I have ever heard.”

“What, not a fan of the perpetual rainfall, Bella?” He was smiling, gently, and she realized it was the first time he’d ever said her name; she ignored how her heart practically leapt into overdrive, sternly pushing all thoughts like that far, far down.

Instead, she shook her head, scrunching her nose up in distaste. “Not my style, no.”

“Well, then what is?”

“Um,” Bella blinked, thrown for a moment by his genuine look of curiosity, before continuing, “sun, probably. Or just heat in general, I don’t know.” She frowned then, looking back down to her unfinished worksheet. “It’s kinda complicated.”

“How so?”

She huffed; she couldn’t very well go and explain to this practical stranger—non, sudden behavioral change aside—all the ins and outs of her tumultuous relationship with her mother, and how Phoenix, and the bright sun, and the burning heat was all tainted through association and how she couldn’t stand any of it, even though she really did love the sun and the heat.

He would think she was crazy.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry,” came Edward’s soft voice through the sudden fog in Bella’s brain. She blinked, and looked over at him, at his unreasonably pretty face which was pulled in apology. “I tend to ask too many questions–I like knowing things, though I apologize.”

Bella swallowed the lump in her throat that always rose when she thought about Renee. “It’s fine. You just need to be at least friend level five to unlock that backstory.” She smiled a little at her joke, and watched slowly as some of the tension released from Edward’s shoulders.

“I’m impartial to the sun myself,” he said after a moment, when they’d both already returned to their work. Bella’s eyes darted to him and she made a short noise of question for him to continue. “My opinions on it are, as well, very complicated.” His eyes remained trained on his paper, body suddenly stiff again as if revealing that one piece of information had cost him everything. Bella, who could relate to the desire to hold every card incredibly close to her chest, chewed on the inside of her cheek, and nodded.

She turned her head to face him again and said, “Level five friendship thing, right?”

 Edward Cullen laughed, a bright and carefree sound, and Bella Swan swore she felt something in her heart shift.