{Prologue}

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I'd never given much thought to how I would die.

But dying in the place of someone I love...

Seems like a good way to go.

So, I can't bring myself to regret the decision to leave home. I would miss Phoenix. I'd miss the heat. I would miss my loving, erratic, harebrained mother... and her new husband. But they want to go on the road, so I'm going to spend some time with my dad. And this will be a good thing...

I think.

- - - / - - - / - - - / - - - / - - -

In the state of Washington, under a near constant cover of clouds and rain, there's a small town named Forks. Population... Three-thousand, one hundred and twenty people. This is where I'm moving.

My dad's Alejandro. He's the chief of police. Everyone knows and respects him. To me, it was almost like he was a stranger.

"Your hair's longer." He stated, looking over to me from his spot in the driver's seat. He didn't look any different from the last time I saw him; still exactly the same as I remembered. Except, his hair was a little more grey and he had a few more wrinkles under his eyes. Not too many; he wasn't that old, yet. He was wearing his police uniform and he looked handsome.

Me and Alejandro were similar in many ways. We were both extremely awkward and didn't like the spotlight. Attention wasn't important to either of us. Although it had only been around a year and a half since the last time I'd seen him, it was awkward. The tension was so thick, you could cut it with a knife.

I could tell he didn't really understand my reasoning for wanting to come and live with him, but he seemed excited about the thought of me staying with him permanently, so didn't question it. The word 'permanently' actually scared me. I hated Forks. I'd made that very clear to him and my mother; I'd never tried to keep it a secret. He was definitely bewildered, but he didn't ask, so I didn't tell.

It was sad that he had to talk to me about my hair, because he didn't know what else there was to converse on, but I understood. Again, we were very alike and apart from now, the ride from the airport to my new home had been quiet.

"I haven't cut it since the last time I saw you." I replied, not really knowing what else to say. I looked down at my hair, taking a few strands between my fingertips. It was much longer than the last time we saw each other. He didn't seem to like it when my hair was long.

He grunted, "Guess it grew out again."

- - - / - - - / - - - / - - - / - - -

I used to spend almost two weeks here every summer, but it's been years.

The police cruiser pulled up into the driveway of the same house he'd lived in since before I was born. He didn't see a need for change and probably liked having the old memories. Whether he admitted it or not, he was still in love with my mom. He wasn't ready to let go as of yet.

The house didn't look any different. In fact, nothing really did. It was exactly the same as the last time I'd seen it... three years ago? Four? I can't even remember. He helped me grab my things from the trunk, though there wasn't that much to actually grab. With Phoenix being such a warm place, I didn't actually bring many clothes. I threw in all the winter clothes I had and a few casual outfits for the warm days, but it still wasn't much. I only had a few bags.

Alejandro helped me carry all of my things through the house. In a way, it was scary... because absolutely nothing had changed. It wasn't even just a sense of 'oh, he hasn't changed the furniture.' It was more like 'oh, literally everything is exactly how it was before and nothing has moved.' Everything was in the same place as it was before I left.

We carried my things up to my room. It had always been my room. Unlike every other room in the house, things were a little different in there. Mostly because the last time I'd been in it, I was much younger. I now had a large bed and a desk, with a second-hand computer thrown on top of it. I didn't hate it, but it wasn't like my room back at home.

"I cleared some shelves off in the bathroom." Alejandro told me, almost causing me to frown.

"Oh, right." I replied. One bathroom.

Alejandro set my things down beside the door inside my room, giving me space to decide where everything was going to go.

I noticed more things about the room. There was a brown board on the wall opposite my bed that had random pieces of paper stuck to it. They were silly things. One of them was from when I was younger. I had put black paint on my hands and basically just stomped it on a piece of paper. I remembered quite a few things off of there.

The curtains were thin and white, not the best for blocking out light. I didn't really mind. I wasn't really much of a day-time sleeper, so I didn't need to block the light out. I'd take any sunshine I could get in this place. All around the room were random things, that were quite childish. I'd think about removing them later. However, it was creative in a sense.

"The sales lady picked out the bed stuff... you like purple, right?" Alejandro asked, referring to the comforter that was covering my new bed. It was pretty. It wasn't fancy and I liked that. It was simple. It was me. I placed my bag down on the floor and turned to look at him.

"Purple's cool." I replied, honestly. "Thanks." I added, seeing him awkwardly smile. Like me, he didn't know how to handle these situations. I looked down at the small plant pot in my hands, still not figuring out what exactly the right thing to say was. In the small plant pot was a cactus. I'd taken it from Phoenix, to remind me of home.

We both stood there awkwardly, as he continued to glance around the room. He had his hands on his hips, another sign that he was uncomfortable. I didn't say anything, just continued to stare at nothing. "Okay." He mumbled out of nowhere, giving me a small smile, before heading towards the door.

One of the best things about Alejandro...

He doesn't hover.

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