GLADIOLUS || FELIX VOLTURI

one - a fresh start.

A sigh escaped Rowan's lips as she glanced at the digital clock in her car – only a few more hours left, and she would finally be in Forks. With the window down, cool air blowing through her dark hair, Rowan softly sang the words along to the current song playing on the radio as her finger tapped away to the beat.

"Come, let me love you. Let me give my life to you. Let me drown in your laughter. Let me die in your arms – Ah, shit. " The loud ring of her cellphone interrupted her singing of John Denver, causing the profanity to slip from her mouth. She glanced at the caller I.D. – Charlie Swan.

"Hey Uncle Charlie," Rowan said, turning down the radio while doing so. "Hey, kid, how long until you get here?" Charlie's staticky voice came through the phone, not very clear due to the poor service Rowan had.

"Eh, not too much longer, couple more hours – give or take."

"Alright, well, drive safe. Bella and I will be waiting for you when you get here."

A small smile formed at the corner of her lips at her uncle's words, "Thanks. I'll be there soon. I expect a full welcoming party and marching band upon my arrival."

Charlie's laugh echoed through the cheap phone, "Well, I'll see what I can do. See ya' later kiddo."

And with that, Rowan hung up, fingers once again tapping along to the beat of the song as she turned the radio back up.

---

Rowan pulled up to the Swan resident, smiling as she saw her uncle waving at her from the front door. It was apparent that her cousin was missing from the welcome party, but Rowan wasn't surprised. Charlie had informed her about her younger cousin's breakup and mentioned that Bella was secluding herself immensely since their breakup.

Charlie opened the car door and met his niece with a large hug. Rowan laughed as she hugged her uncle back, "It's nice to be back Uncle Charlie. It's been too long." Once they separated, Charlie gave her a nod, "That it has. I appreciate you comin' Rowan. Bella could...use a friend right now. I thought her cousin would be a good start." Rowan simply smiled and nodded. She didn't know the whole story but assumed she would figure it out eventually as to why her cousin was so distraught.

It took the next 30 minutes to get her bags unloaded from her truck and settled into the guest room next to Bella's room, but eventually, she was officially moved into her uncle's house. She met him back in the living room after unpacking a couple of bags of clothing and took a seat next to him on the couch.

"So, kiddo, how have you been? I know it's been a hard year ever since – well, you know..." Charlie trailed off. Ever since Charlie's older brother, James, died. Ever since her dad died. Rowan cleared her throat, hoping to clear the awkward air while doing so. "Yeah, it hasn't been easy, but he was sick. Thankfully he helped prepare me for this happening over the past couple of years." Rowan was grasping for some sort of bright side here, the only one being at least she wasn't blindsided by her father's death.

The subject was quickly changed, as it was one neither wanted to talk much more about. "So, you graduated early, right?" Charlie asked, taking a sip of his beer. That brought a small smile to Rowan's lips, one thing she could be proud of was her academics at the least. "Yeah, graduated a year early. I haven't decided about college yet, thinking of doing community college around here to save some money." Charlie gave her an approving nod, "I like the sound of that. Hopefully, Bella will do that. I haven't heard much of a thought about college from her." Rowan shrugged at hearing Bella's lack of college plans, "Don't worry too much. She'll figure it out. Didn't kill anyone to take a gap year," she stated with a laugh. The two continued to catch up while watching whatever sport was on the television, one Rowan didn't care too much about. The conversation stayed light-hearted for the most part, that was until the subject of Bella got brought up again.

"I wanted to apologize for Bella not being here," Charlie stated, taking another sip of his beer.

"Oh, don't apologize, I get it. I'd rather her be out having fun than here waiting for me to get here-"

Charlie shook his head, "No, if that were the case I wouldn't mind either. She's...changed. I'm getting worried. I want to be honest with you Rowan. I offered you to live out here because I care about you and want you to be in a safe and good home. But I won't lie, I hope you can help Bella out some too."

Rowan paused. Changed? Bella already was a loner and quiet. How much more of a loner could she have become since the last time they saw each other? "I appreciate it Uncle Charlie, and I'll try and touch base with her when she gets back. No promises that she'll open up to me though, but I will try," Rowan said with a small smile.

Charlie nodded, a tight smile upon his lips, "Thank you, Rowan. I know you're only a few months older than her, but she does look up to you, even if she won't say it."

Rowan simply nodded at hearing that. She knew Bella once did, when they were younger. But from the sound of it, Rowan may not even recognize the new Bella. She prepared herself for whatever state her cousin was in after whoever apparently broke her heart.

---

Rowan was sitting in the living room with Charlie, the game was on and Rowan was reading a book while they both waited for Bella to get home. Rowan was told that she was hanging out with Jacob Black, an old name Rowan remembered from visiting when she was much younger.

Rowan pulled her head out of her book upon hearing the doorknob jiggle with the sound of a key in it. She was surprised at how nervous she was feeling. She truthfully missed her cousin dearly and missed the somewhat close bond they once had as kids. A part of her worried she wouldn't be able to repair that somewhat distant relationship at this point.

Lost in her thought, Rowan didn't realize Bella had fully stepped into the living room. She didn't look up until she heard the door shut. Much to both her and Charlie's surprise, Bella had a small smile on her face upon seeing her cousin there. "Hey, it's been a while," Bella said, shrugging her coat off. Rowan returned her smile, going ahead and even standing up to meet her cousin with a hug. It was quick, not long enough to make Bella uncomfortable. "It's nice to see you Bella, it's been too long," Rowan said while stepping back toward the couch.

"I, uh, gotta shower. I've been working with Jake on repairing an old bike. But after, maybe we can catch up?" Bella asked. Rowan gave a firm nod, "Yeah. No rush. I'm not goin' anywhere. Just holler down where you're ready."

Charlie couldn't help but smile at the interaction. It wasn't much, but it definitely was better than how Bella had been acting the last couple of weeks.

---

Rowan and Bella had caught up later that night. The subject of Bella's ex wasn't spoken of, more so they spoke about Jacob Black, Bella called him Jake – Rowan quickly learned, and how Bella enjoyed hanging out with him. She seemed happy when speaking about him. Bella's schooling was mentioned, but it seemed like she was doing decent enough that Rowan didn't seem concerned. A group of friends from school was mentioned, but Bella didn't spend much time on them.

Since Rowan had already graduated, she mainly caught Bella up on how she was looking around for a job in Forks, hopefully, a plant store since she planned to study botany. She skipped the part on how she came to hopefully help Bella feel better and focused more on starting over after her Dad's death. They didn't spend much time on that subject either, though Bella did offer her condolences.

They spoke for nearly an hour, which to Rowan was a success since she didn't expect Bella to so much as acknowledge her from what Charlie had mentioned she had been like the past few weeks. It made Rowan feel somewhat better thinking her cousin she once was close to was still there. As Rowan got ready for the night, she curled up in a lounge chair in the corner of the room that Charlie had got her before moving in, since he knew of her love of reading. Soon hours passed and it was nearing the middle of the night. Rowan was getting ready to call it for the night, that was until she heard a deafening scream. It caught her completely off guard, shooting her nearly out of her chair. It took her a second to calm her thoughts, but once she did, she realized it was Bella screaming, causing her to sprint from her room to the hallway between their rooms.

Charlie was already sprinting up the stairs, he didn't acknowledge Rowan as he ran into Bella's room to wake and comfort his daughter. Rowan stood in the hallway, unsure of what to do. She didn't want to eavesdrop, but surely she couldn't act like that didn't just happen? As Rowan was standing in the hallway, pondering on what to do, she heard Charlie's soft voice attempting to comfort Bella.

"You know, sometimes, you gotta learn to love what's good for you. You know what I mean?"

A pause filled the air. Rowan held her breath so as to not make a sound.

"Of course, what do I know? I'm just a terminal bachelor. Famous ladies' man."

Rowan quickly slapped a hand over her mouth to stop her laugh from being heard. His attempt at getting Bella to laugh failed, but it sure nearly blew Rowan's cover from the hallway.

Charlie exited Bella's room a few moments later. Rowan locked eyes with him as he simply nodded and made his way back down the stairs to the couch. Rowan let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. She stared at her cousin's door, questioning if she should go say something or leave it be.

"Ah, shit, whatever," Rowan muttered to herself. She quickly went to grab the book she was reading and made her way to Bella's room. She knocked on the door and waited. She didn't hear her cousin say anything but went ahead and cracked the door open. Rowan poked her head into Bella's room and saw Bella with her back to the door. Rowan noticed there was a desk and a chair, so she quietly made her way to the desk. She sat down there and flicked the small desk light on, positioning it away from Bella so the light wouldn't bother her too much as she tried to sleep again. Rowan didn't know much of what to say verbally to comfort her cousin, but she thought she could at least physically be there to comfort her if another nightmare occurred. It was what her dad would do for her whenever she had bad nights, so it's all Rowan knew to do.

Bella shifted in bed, tossing and turning for a couple more minutes before sitting up and staring at her cousin. Rowan glanced up from her book to lock eyes with her cousin, noticing the look of embarrassment on Bella's face. "Listen, if Charlie asked you to sit in here..."

Rowan raised her hand to stop her cousin. "He didn't. He actually didn't say anything," Rowan went ahead and dog-eared the page she was on before returning her attention back to her cousin. "You don't need to be embarrassed Bella."

Bella simply looked away, her hands nervously running up and down her arms. Rowan sighed. She took a moment before speaking softly, "You're not the only one who has nightmares often, Bella. I just don't talk about them. It's okay."

Bella slowly looked up at her cousin, before taking in a deep breath and nodding. "I believe you. Thanks. For trying to make me feel better. And for being here," Bella said, before rolling back over onto her side. Rowan turned to go back to the book she was reading. Bella may have another nightmare, but at least Rowan would be there to wake her up.

---

It was a quiet afternoon. Charlie was at work, Bella was out riding dirt bikes with Jake, and Rowan decided it was time to fix up Charlie's awful excuse of a garden bed. It was fall, so Rowan wouldn't be gardening anytime soon, though she could fix up the actual structure of the bed and clean it out before Spring.

While she was in the middle of repairing the wooden structure, humming away to herself, she heard a truck slowly pull into the driveway. Assuming it was Bella, she never looked up from her task. She yelled out once she heard the door shut, "Hey Bella, how was riding the bikes?"

She eventually looked up once she heard a second door shut. Her head shot up from what she was doing, and she looked back at the truck to see both Bella and who she assumed was her friend Jake standing by the truck, walking towards the door. Rowan quickly noticed Bella looked like shit.

"Hey, what the hell happened?" Rowan said, quickly running to her cousin's side. Jake sheepishly looked at Bella, who sighed before lowering the ice pack from her head. "It was just a little accident, nothing major, I promise," Bella said, before attempting to walk towards the door, Jake quickly returning to her side to help her back inside.

Rowan, who quickly had to calm her annoyance and frustration, kept quiet as Jake helped Bella to her bed. "Hope it's not a concussion," Rowan muttered to herself as she watched them enter Bella's bedroom. Rowan waited for Jake to return downstairs, her foot quickly tapping away against the wooden floor. The second she heard the creaking of the steps, her head snapped to look at whoever was making their way downstairs.

She was sitting on the couch, staring as Jake made his way to the living room. "Uh, hey, Rowan. It's been a long time," Jake said awkwardly, giving another sheepish smile. Rowan deadpanned stared at Jake for a second, before sighing. "I know how she can be, so I'm just going to assume she stupidly wrecked, and you did the best you could," Rowan said, motioning for Jake to join her on the couch.

Jake let out a sigh himself, "Uh, pretty much. I probably shouldn't have let her on the bike in the first place though."

Rowan snorted at the thought of Bella actually listening to someone, "Hilarious you think Bella Swan would have actually listened to you." She cared for her cousin deeply, but she also knew Bella was the most stubborn person she knew.

As silence engulfed the room, Jake finally spoke, "I don't know if anyone has told you about him. The Cullen guy. But he messed her up. My family, they wanted me to warn her against him and I didn't get what they meant but, maybe they had a point."

Rowan raised a brow at Jake, "What are you trying to say? Sorry, I guess I don't understand. He's gone, isn't he?"

Jake nodded, "Yeah, but I guess I'm just trying to say thank you for being here. I don't know exactly what he did but, it seems like it hurt her deeply."

Rowan nodded with a small smile, "Well, give yourself some credit too. Charlie told me you're the one who is really helping her."

They both continued to catch up for a couple more minutes before Jake realized the time. Rowan ended up taking Jake home since both he and Bella used Bella's truck to get to the house. It was a nice trip down memory lane, from when Rowan was young and used to ride with her Uncle and her dad to Billy Black's house. Things have changed in Forks, that much was apparent to Rowan. But the more time she spent in the small town, the more she realized, that maybe this town would be good for her.