The firm ground beneath each step of her boot made a sharp pain shoot from her feet, the amount of time she had spent walking today, checking the trails and marking off which would be safe heading into spring and those that would need maintenance was more exhausting than it usually was. Roman had walked these woods for most of her life, she knew them better than any other, and as she looked over the nearest trail, bending low to observe the practically destroyed bush and soft, broken up dirt, she furrowed her brow and followed the tracks of the trail.

There have been reports of bear sightings that have been collecting at the station that was making her mother begin to worry, and as Roman followed up, confused on what any bear would be doing so far away from their dens so early in the season, towards where they knew people would be. She followed it inwards to where the trees grew a little thicker, the roots pulling up and twisting together, and as the ground sloped into a small, steep descent, Roman slid down with a bent knee and a hand on the dirt, unconcerned of the mess she was making of herself.

Pushing herself up, she wiped her hand and kept forward, yanking her hat down so it sat better over her ears. Her eyes blew wide, a startled gasp escaping her as she swooped down, fingering the edge of the giant print in the ground and fumbled with the walkie attached to her belt, pressing the call button as she yanked it towards her mouth.

"Roman to Marnie," she says, letting go of the call button as she waits.

"What's wrong?" Her mother calls through immediately and she wonders what the woman could be thinking. There have been only a few instances that she thought it necessary to call in instead of just reporting when she got back to the station, and each time had been some sort of emergency.

"I've got marks here that are too close to the beginner trails," she says, placing an open hand in the center of the print, finding it still not big enough. "But mom, you know those bear reports? Whatever it is, it's bigger than a bear."

"What's your location?" She could hear the beginning of rustling movement before the walkie cuts off and Roman answers, saying she'll wait here until someone else arrives.

She pulls out her phone as she waits, checking the poor service through the trees and opens her camera instead, taking a few quick shots of her hand at the center and then her foot at the side of size comparison. Roman moves forward a bit, not going very far as she checks for any other signs and finds more pressed into the ground a few feet away.

The stride was impossibly long, longer than any other animal she has seen before and a thrill of fear ran down her spine despite how curious she was. Part of her wished her mother thought to bring Chief Swan along with her.

Roman took out her map and a pencil, marking a few things down as she waited - which trails needed maintenance and which were safe enough to open if they were going to actually open anything around this area to begin with. She had half a mind to just mark the entire zone as unsafe, to go back and reevaluate the other trails just in case.

She heard her mother before she saw her, chattering low as she worked her way toward where Roman waited.

"Mom?" She shouts, standing and waving her hand around above her head, catching their attention.

"Here she is. This way Charlie."

"Watch the slope," Roman cautions, offering a hand to them so they wouldn't have to slide down as she did.

"Where is this print?" Her mother asks, cutting directly to the point, and the girl nods, guiding them to the tracks she had found and let them examine them on their own.

Roman points. "There's a few this way as well."

They spend the better part of an hour in the area. Roman trekked through bushes, worked her way through roots and climbed trees upon request, working to gain a better visual advantage in finding what must be some sort of radioactive super animal that was haunting the forest and scaring the hikers.

"Thanks, Ro. You can go on home now if you want. We should be here for a while," Marnie dismisses her and Roman nods, pursing her lips and climbing her way back up the slope.

She tried not to feel bitter at how her mother was prone to belittling her, dismissing her without a second thought at times. She knew, obviously, that her mother cared for her, loved her as a mother does her child, but there had always been a distance, a hesitance between them since she had started junior high. This job had been one of the many attempts made to bridge that gap, but it didn't work as she had hoped. Roman was happy to have the job though. It was perhaps the best thing in her life.

Or it was until the Edward showed up, and then Bella.

Roman swallowed the lump in her throat, breathing deeply through her nose and jogs down the path, holding up her phone to try and get a cell connection. Thinking of Edward made her eyes water and her lungs squeeze as though she had held her breath. She had barely spoken to him, perhaps a few words in passing, but her heart still raced all the same when she recalled how sickly sweet his voice was like the nectar of the gods waiting to burn her alive or turn her to gold. Roman was happy she hadn't had the chance to speak to them together Edward and Bella, or she was sure she would have died from the stress of it all.

Her phone twinkles a musical chime as soon as she gets back into range and she can't fight back her smile as she comes to a stop, holding the device close to her face as she reads through the missed texts from Bella -- a series of questions asking about her day and her plans leading off into concern.

Dialling the number, Roman continues on her walk, listening to the ring as the parking lot came into sight between blurred branches.

"Roman! Hi," Bella answered with a gasp. There was the odd banging in the background along with raised voices and laughter.

"Bella, hey, I got your messages," she says, coming into the parking lot and she approaches the ranger truck that she was permitted to use as the only one working there that didn't have a car.

"Yeah, I hadn't heard from you in a while and got a little worried."

Butterflies are in her stomach and she ducks her head as her cheeks burn despite knowing no one was there to see her. "Sorry, I didn't have a signal."

"It's okay. It's just, at work these two guys were talking about this bear they had seen on one of the trails and I got worried," Bella tells her and Roman's knees nearly go weak at the sincerity of her concern.

"We got a few notices about the bears, actually. Your dad has too. He's here now with my mom to check out the marks I found," she says, holding her phone to her ear with her shoulder as she digs in her pocket for the keys and tosses her belt onto the passenger seat. "You wouldn't believe the size of these things, Bella. I didn't actually see them but I saw a paw print and the length of the stride, and it's absolutely huge."

"How huge?"

"One paw has to be bigger than my foot, it's bigger than my hand at least. Don't worry though, Charlie's fine. The trail isn't fresh from what I can tell."

"You should be careful when you're out in the woods, though, Ro."

She smiles shyly, letting her head fall to the side of the truck with a thud. "I always am, Bell's. Always am."

It was silent for a few moments and she takes that time to climb into the driver seat, shuffling herself around briefly before she buckles herself in, sitting quietly as she waits.

"I, uh, I'm in La Push right now with a friend. You're welcome to come over for a bit if you want," Bella offers, and it's whispered softly, gently as though each word was caressed tenderly before spoken and Roman nearly coos despite herself.

"Are you sure I wouldn't be interrupting anything?"

"No! Definitely not!" She assured in an almost yell. "I was actually going to ask if you wanted to come with me, us, tomorrow to pick up a few things."

Roman grins. "Is this your way of asking me on a weird day date?" She teases, unable to help herself, imagining the way the girl she loves must have flushed at the insinuation, words jumbling together as she tries to speak.

"Yes," Bella squeaks. "Maybe, kinda."

Giggling softly. "Well I'm not doing anything now, and I'm free tomorrow, so I guess I'm all yours."

"Great. I'll text you the address."

They end the call and Roman squeals, wiggling around in her seat happily as she taps her hands against the wheel -- shaking her head around before she sighs, drooping forward and grinning stupidly to herself.

It's clear in her mind that maybe this was an incredibly stupid idea, this showing up on the reservation only slightly announced to see the girl she loves and her friends, but Roman is always painfully aware that she is completely and utterly love struck with Bella, so wonderfully devoted that at times her heart feels as though it was beating just for her at times, and lime so cheesy teenager she was prone to dumb ideas for the sake of love - because if Roman had things right then Bella was her true love, at least one of them, and she wasn't going to lose another one (even if logically she knew that she had to have had him in order to lose him, but what was logic to the teenage psyche?). Her soul was split in two, owned by both of them, and with half gone already - Roman shivered at the thought.

Already pretty close, it didn't take her long to drive out to the reservation, nor that long to find the house along the way, recognizing it as one of the places she had visited when she was younger with her mother, trailing along and listening with a rapt attention as they discussed different concerns they might have had for the forests and hiking trails. Roman could remember learning much from the older men about the fundamentals of hunting and had even gone fishing with them on the occasions that her father was home.

Billy Black, a close friend to Chief Swan and her father at one point, was surprised to see her through his window as she pulled up to his home, smiling kindly and she gave him a little wave as a greeting. He waved back, pointing in the direction of the garage.

Drumming her fingers against the wheel to psych herself up, she slowly pulled herself from the truck, nibbling at her lip and wringing her hands as she approached the open garage. She could hear the chatter from her and the occasional clank of metal on metal, and among it was the twinkling sound of high laughter, chiming brilliantly and it was like a weight lifted from her chest.

She stuffed her hands into her pockets instead, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth and lets her feet drag slightly. There are two motorcycles set back a few feet from the entrance, a tall, russet-skinned boy with long hair was bent over one of them,  a wrench in hand that he waved around as he spoke to one of his friends that was standing nearby, a buff boy with a mop of dark curls; another boy was off to the side, long silky hair resting on shoulders that shook softly with laughter. Bella is seated off to the side on a toolbox, jacket pulled down to cover her fingers as she rests her hands on her knees.

"Bella!" She calls, and the girl snaps her head to face her, a grin splitting her lips as she jumps up and meets her halfway.

"Ro, you got here faster than I was expected."

"I wasn't too far off," she shrugs.

They stop in front of each other, awkwardly standing and Roman wants to hug her, to reach out and hold her until her limbs shake, but restrains herself in fear of startling her.

"Do you want to come and meet Jake?" Bella asks, clearing her throat and motioning with her head.

"We've met before, I think, but I don't know him very well," she tells her, following her along anyway.

"Well, you can meet him again. The other's too-" Bella places her hands in pocket and shrugs- "And stop chewing your lip before you split it again."

They look up to them as they come in, freezing mid-conversation, and Roman almost laughs at how funny they look like they've never been around so many girls before.

"Hey, there- " the shorter one with curly hair winks- "I'm Quil Ateara," he announces, acting as though he was a grand affair. 

She chuckles. "Hey, I'm Roman Elders."

"Roman Elders? Like for real?" The one at the bike asks eyes narrowed in disbelief.

"Yeah, for real. My dad liked it and I don't think they realized until it was too late."

"Ro, this is Jacob and Embry," Bella cuts in, introducing them with a simple gesture, and she nods in acknowledgement, greeting them appropriately before she's guided to sit the toolbox chairs.

It takes a moment but they slowly turn their attention back to the bike and Roman takes the time to get more comfortable - removing her jacket briefly to take off the light brown button up with the Forks forest ranger crest on the chest and pulling against the camisole that stuck to her skin before slipping her jacket back on, folding the shirt and placing it on her lap.

"Long day at work?" Bella asks.

Roman scoffs. "They had me climbing trees to see if I saw anything even if I told them it didn't work like that. I think they were just nervous because of how close to the parking lot it was on one of the most frequented trails."

"Charlie had you climb a tree?" She laughs.

"Believe it or not it was my mom that suggest it. I think Charlie would have rather go back later after organizing a hunting party."

"That's probably the better choice than sending you to track the thing."

"They might get me to anyway. I'm the best at finding things, you know," Roman brags playfully and she receives a nudge in the ribs.

"You talking about the bear sightings?" Embry asks.

"What bear? There is no bear," Quil shot back, a laugh in his voice.

And just like that, the three boys erupted into an argument that was slowly leading to a free-for-all.

"Wanna order pizza?" Bella whispers, nodding to the entrance.

"Yeah, I'll show you the pictures I took while they work something out."

"Bigger than your hand, right?"

Roman nods with a grin. "Bigger than my foot even."

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Sorry for the wait guys! But i hope you enjoy!

Unedited

2019-03-21

repost 2019-06-12