Chapter 2: First Day

Port Angeles Airport was so small it didn't have a dedicated arrival terminal, so people got to experience walking down the ladder on the runway and waiting for the luggage to be taken out of the belly of the plane. As Bella reached the bottom stairs, she was so busy looking at the man in a small-town police uniform that she missed the last step and practically fell into his arms. "It's good to see you, Bell's," he said as he caught and automatically steadied her. "You haven't changed at all. How's Renee?" "Mom's good. It's nice to see you too Ch... Dad." I had noticed Bella's slip up as I'm sure Charlie did as well, but he chose to ignore it. Knowing it wasn't Bella's fault that they didn't form the family bond when she was still young. Charlie and Renee went through a very messy divorce before Bella was even old enough to remember her father. Charlie wanted full custody of Bella when the divorce happened, but Renee had the courts on her side as the mother. Charlie had to admit that she wasn't neglectful towards Bella and without that fault, the courts were always on the side of the mother in custody cases. Renee wasn't the only one at fault though, Charlie could have left his job as a police officer in Forks to move closer to Bella so he could see her more than 2 weeks a year, but he felt a responsibility towards the people of the town he grew up in. It was a simple story of the choices made when young. Looking at me I can see Charlie's eyes widen. "Wow Thomas, do you ever plan to stop growing? You look like a beast kid; you are going to be bigger than your dad before you hit 18 at this rate." I blush at his words. "I... I don't know Uncle Charlie. Not like I can control my height." I truly wasn't ashamed about my size; I just didn't think it mattered that much. Plenty of guys at my old gym were bigger than me. Little did I know how much I would stand out in a small town like Forks. "Well, if you grow much more you won't fit in Bella's truck, I bought her." Bella took a surprised breath at this revelation. "You didn't have to do that Dad; I had some money saved up to get me a vehicle." We were interrupted by the arrival of our luggage. Though it didn't take long to find ours. The lack of heavy clothing in Phoenix limited our ability to prepare for the cold winter of Forks. We planned to go shopping not long after we came to Forks to fill out our wardrobe. As we loaded the suitcases in the back of Charlie's cruiser, Bella started asking about her new truck. She wasn't too pleased to hear it was an early 60's vehicle but I could see Charlie's thought processes on the whole thing. As accident-prone as Bella was, it was just good math to put her behind the wheel of something that would demolish a new age Fire truck and maybe bend her fender in the process. It reminded me of an old episode of a show called Night Court where a female attorney had gotten in a wreck in the vehicle her dad had bought her and demolished the garbage truck that hit her, but all that happened to her vehicle was that it unstuck her gas gauge. We settled into a mildly uncomfortable silence as Charlie drove us to our new home. Unfortunately, nothing slowed traffic like a police car, so our silence was a long one. After a time, I broke the silence. "Listen, Uncle Charlie, I can't thank you enough for making room for me. You really didn't..." Charlie interrupted the speech I had been working on in my head for the past 20 minutes. "Shut up Kid! You are Family and that's all that matters. Don't ever think of yourself as a burden to me." This took me by surprise as I knew Charlie had just as much trouble expressing his true feelings as Bella did. "If you can't rely on your family, then what use is this word anymore?" Silence fell once again after Charlie's impassioned speech. I started looking out the car window more as I saw Bella do the same. The trees were close to the road, and everything was green and wet. The canopy of the forest made by the trees was intercepting the rain that fell, taking what it wanted of the water before letting the drops fall to the ground. The brown trunks were marred at intervals with moss growing. My first thought was that it looked foreign but after looking for a time I found it strangely inviting and calm. Before I knew it, we pulled up to a little white house with a red truck in the driveway. As we got out, I went to the trunk for the luggage and Bella gravitated towards the truck and I could tell that she liked it despite herself. She wasn't dumb enough to not realize that she was clumsy and more steel around her was a good thing, well for her anyway. I was happy as well, it meant we didn't have to get a ride to school in the police cruiser come Monday. I carried Bella's suitcase into the house as well as my own with no effort and put it in the room Charlie told me was hers. It looked rather childish in its furnishings, and I knew Bella wouldn't stand for that for long. Resigning myself to helping her make the changes she would want eventually, I went to the door opposite of hers and looked at what would be my sanctuary against the world for the foreseeable future. After we got ourselves settled in our individual rooms both Bella and I went downstairs and started to rummage around the kitchen. The prices for food in the airports were too frightening to consider and me being a heavy eater, my belly was beginning to act like my throat had been cut. Bella and I both went through the cupboards and to our mutual horror we found them mostly empty, except for some spices that had expired 8 plus years ago, and only the coffee was well stocked. We both cast Charlie an accusing stare as he blushed. "I thought we would go to the Lodge and eat tonight, and I would take you both shopping tomorrow." Bella laughed. "Dinner at the Lounge should be fine, but we will definitely need to stop for some food tonight or Cereal killer here will be unbearable tomorrow come morning." Seeing her point at me I blushed. "We can't all live off a single package of pop tarts for the day like you Bell's. Besides, breakfast is the most important meal of the day until it's over, then the next one is the most important meal." Bella just shook her head. "Whoever convinced you that second breakfast was a thing better hope I never find out who he is. I promise extreme violence on his head and shoulders if I find him." Charlie just watched us with a lost look on his face. "I will drive, you just give me directions on what we want first." "Well Dad, I want to spare you the pain of shopping with a Hungry Thomas, so I suggest dinner first and once you see him eat you will understand. Unless the grocery store closes soon, if it does, we need to stop there first." Bella tells Charlie. We head towards the Lounge for dinner, and everyone greets Charlie as a friend and looks at Bella and me as if we are juicy gossip. Bella orders a burger and Charlie orders a steak. I order both a steak and a burger then the smell of fish enters my nose, and I can't help but ask for a side of the catfish I smell cooking. Charlie hears me order and says, "Slow down Thomas, we will hit the store after dinner, no need to order enough to take home for tomorrow." Bella chuckles, "Sorry Dad, but that is a normal dinner for him. I was surprised he didn't ask for more considering he hadn't eaten since we left home this morning. He will eat almost double what we eat each day." I turned a deaf ear to Bella's accurate explanation of my appetite. I take a deep breath and let it out as I suddenly realize that I don't feel smothered by people here. I still look for every exit as is my normal when I enter a room, but I don't feel the pressure of the other people in the room. I begin to think that I am safe and can relax a little. But then I feel my body tighten up and my nerves go tight, being relaxed is not an option.