Ebb and Flow (Twilight x Reader)

Bella had been quiet the whole car ride. Normally I wouldn't question her lack of speaking—she liked to keep to herself, something that she and I had in common. But this silence was loud.

I knew that she hated Forks. She'd made it very clear since day one that she disliked our routine summer visits there. It became even more apparent when she finally stopped returning when she was fourteen and made our dad come visit us in Arizona instead.

When we got to the airport, our mother addressed Bella first.

"Bella," she said, "you don't have to do this."

"I want to go," Bella argued. Anyone could see the blatant lie in her words, but our mother was either too empty-headed to realize that or she just didn't care.

I've never gotten along too well with Mom. It was just her inability to be realistic that got on my nerves. It was like she didn't know how to take care of herself—I couldn't count the number of times I had to make sure the bills got paid on time or check the gas in her car or make a quick grocery run because there would be nothing in the fridge for dinner. It was like there were three children in the house instead of two.

But she had Phil, now, so hopefully he'd be able to make sure she stayed on her feet.

The rest of our goodbye was brief, and then it was time to board the plane.

It was a four-hour flight from Phoenix to Seattle, another hour in a small plane up to Port Angeles, and then an hour drive back down to Forks. Flying didn't bother me; the hour in the car with Dad, though, I was a little worried about.

Dad had really been fairly nice about the whole thing. He seemed genuinely pleased that we were coming to live with him for the first time with any degree of permanence. He'd already gotten us registered for high school and was going to help us get a car.

But it was sure to be awkward with Dad, not just because of him. He and Bella didn't have the best relationship. Neither of them were what anyone would call verbose.

When we landed in Port Angeles, it was raining, and Dad was waiting for us with the cruiser. Bella stumbled her way off the plane and gave him an awkward, side-armed hug. I embraced him wholeheartedly, and when I pulled away his smile was a little bit bigger.

"Good to see you girls. How's Renee?"

"Mom's fine," I answered. "It's good to see you too."

Bella and I only had a few bags—our wardrobes consisted of mostly short sleeved and tank tops as well as shorts. Not exactly things to bring to a place like Forks. Nonetheless, all of our luggage fit easily into the back of the cruiser.

"I found a good car for you girls, really cheap," Dad announced when we were strapped in.

Bella piped up. "What kind of car?" I could hear the suspicion coloring her voice.

"Well, it's a truck actually, a Chevy."

"Where did you find it?"

"Do you remember Billy Black down at La Push?"

"Yeah," I answered at the same time Bella said, "No."

"He used to go fishing with us during the summer," Dad prompted. When Bella didn't respond, he continued, "He's in a wheelchair now, so he can't drive anymore, and he offered to sell me his truck cheap."

"What year is it?" Bella asked.

"Well, Billy's done a lot of work on the engine—it's only a few years old, really."

"When did he buy—"

I cut off the rest of Bella's interrogation. "It sounds perfect, Dad. Thank you."