chapter┊ ✦. :: zero
♡ ﹙welcome to Forks﹚  ❋ ˚ ݂ ꛒ

Flee. Lydia repeated to herself over and over again that she wasn't running away, but she was only lying to herself.

In reality, she was fleeing, fleeing from her past and all those people who had hurt her. But it was okay, at least that's what she forced herself to believe. She was going to start a new and boring life in the town where she was born, and everything would be completely normal and simple. Far from the noisy city... far from her biggest dreams... far from the prestigious hospital she had worked so hard to get into.

Of course, that didn't matter now, now everything was just memories of the past. Something she had to forget for her own well-being.

And there she was, driving halfway across the country. Lydia liked road trips, but she didn't like being the one driving. There wasn't a particular reason, she just hated it because she did. However, she reminded herself that she had chosen to travel on the road for days to spend time with her own thoughts.

The journey would help her reflect a bit on her life and the life that was about to begin. Since she got into her car, she knew there was no turning back. And she forced herself not to look back even once, because she knew she would regret it immediately.

She was only a few hours away from her destination, having traveled from Minnesota to Washington, and it had certainly been quite liberating. She had plenty of time to be alone with her thoughts and to decide not to turn back. Most likely, by noon she would already be at her parents' old house.

Every time she saw the boxes filling her car, it was a reminder that she wasn't on a nice vacation traveling the country for fun. She was really moving. She was really starting a new life. It still felt like a dream.

The house she would arrive at used to belong to her parents; they never sold it even though they both decided to move to a warmer place. So, they told their beloved eldest daughter that she could use it whenever she wanted. It was a weight off Lydia's shoulders because she wouldn't have to look for a place, and besides, that house was somewhat familiar to her. The only probably bad thing was that she had to paint and restore it because no one had lived in it for years.

She only lived in that house for fourteen years; then they sent her to study in London, and when she returned, she started her medical studies, so going back to Forks was never an option, and it wouldn't be. But after what happened, the girl needed a fresh start. She had only visited that house a couple of times for Christmas or special occasions. But when Lydia's parents moved to Florida, it was as if she had completely forgotten about that little town.

At least she was already accustomed to the humidity and the cold. One less thing to worry about.

And just as she predicted, at noon, she was in front of the dilapidated house. There was grass everywhere, and the amount of dust was impressive despite the constant rain in the area. She sighed tiredly as she got out of her car and put on the hood of her coat. It was barely raining, but it was definitely very cold; the air alone burned her cheeks.

She looked at the house across the street, where she noticed there was a patrol car parked. She remembered Charlie Swan, that nice guy who had come to dinner a couple of times with her and her parents. She also vaguely remembered that he had a daughter a few years younger than her. Charlie and her father were good friends, or at least that's how she remembered it. Sometimes both men went fishing together, and at dinner, they ate store-bought fish because they couldn't catch enough for everyone.

After thinking for a while about the past, she gathered the courage to enter the house, but when she tried to open it, she realized she had forgotten her keys in her old apartment. She cursed quietly and looked around. The last thing she wanted in the world at that moment was to go to sleep. The trip had been exhausting, and she wasn't going to drive for days again just because of some stupid keys she hadn't realized she had forgotten. It wasn't even convenient for her to travel by plane or have one of her neighbors send them by mail. That would take too long. In any case, breaking a window to get in was a better option.

She thought about asking Charlie for some help; maybe he happened to have a spare key or the number of a locksmith. That way, she wouldn't have to break anything in the house.

She walked under the gentle rain to the other side of the street and knocked on the wooden door a couple of times, hoping that the sheriff was home. Since the patrol car was there, it was very likely that he was.

The door opened, revealing a man. Lydia quickly recognized him; he was a little older and now had a thicker mustache, but he was the very same Chief Charlie Swan, only without the uniform, just a basic gray t-shirt and a blue plaid shirt along with rather old-fashioned jeans.

The man looked at the girl with a furrowed brow.

"Can I help you with something?" he said, not surprised that he didn't recognize her. It had been quite a while.

"Chief Swan," she greeted with a smile. "I'm Lydia, Lydia Knox... Marcelle's daughter."

The man seemed to be processing the girl's words, and it was only a few moments later that a big smile lit up his face, happy to see Lydia after so many years.

"Wow, it's really you, huh? The last time I saw you was like five years ago."

Lydia smiled.

"Yes, more or less. Sorry to bother you on a nice Saturday, but I wanted to know if you could help me."

He looked at her curiously.

"It's no trouble at all; I'll help you with whatever you need."

"The thing is, I'm going to start living in my parents' house for a while; I just arrived a few minutes ago, but I realized I forgot the key to the house. Do you happen to have a spare key or the number of a locksmith?"

Charlie smiled.

"I'm sure your father left me a key when he left, but I'm so absent-minded that I have no idea where I put it," he sighed, putting his hands on each side of his waist. "I think I have some tools. Come on in. I'll go get my toolbox."

The man went into his home, and Lydia followed closely, noticing how outdated his home was. It was all quite impeccable, of course, but the walls and the décor just looked plain boring. She continued looking around the house until the man returned with a toolbox and a big smile.

Charlie was truly happy to see Lydia; he had also watched her grow up and was very proud that she had become a doctor.

"Mr. Swan, by any chance do you know anyone who fixes interiors?"

The man thought for a minute as they walked towards the girl's house.

"I think Mrs. Cullen does that; I'll look up her number and give it to you," he cleared his throat. "By the way, call me Charlie. I feel old just seeing you, and I don't need you to call me sir."

Lydia smiled.

"Alright, thanks Charlie," they arrived on the other side of the street, "Who is Mrs.

Cullen?"

Charlie set the toolbox on the ground and looked at the wooden door in front of him.

"Uh, the Cullens moved to Forks three or four years ago. One of them, Carlisle, is a doctor, and his brother is a lawyer. I think his name is Ivan or something like that; his wife is Esme, and she's the one I'm talking about."

Lydia looked at him confused by the strange explanation but nodded.

"Great. If you give me her number, I'll call her."

Charlie looked at the door again and leaned in to inspect the lock.

"Lydia, if you want, you can go buy a new lock while I remove this one, and it'll be quicker to install the new one."

"Of course, I'll go right now. Do you want me to buy anything else?"

"No, that'll be enough."

"Then I won't be long."

She saw the man nod as he took out some tools, and she ran to her car. She vaguely remembered where each establishment was; after all, it was a small town, but still, she had to look twice to make sure she was in the right place.

She bought a lock and then decided it would be a good idea to bring some food, for herself and to thank Charlie. She opted for Chinese food, and only a couple of hours later, she was back at the house. Swan had already removed the lock and was on the porch steps drinking a beer.

Lydia got out of the car after parking with the groceries. Charlie didn't take more than fifteen minutes to install the new lock.

"Thank you so much, Charlie. I really don't know what I would have done without your help."

He smiled, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Don't mention it. Whatever you need, never hesitate to tell me, okay?"

"Alright," she smiled, "By the way, I bought Chinese food. I hope you like it."

The man let out a short laugh.

"I love it."

"I would invite you in, but..."

"It's okay; let's go to mine. There are many things we need to talk about," they started walking to the man's house, "How is Marcelle? It's been a while since he called. I'd like to go fishing again with him."

🫀

Lydia and Charlie settled at the small kitchen table to eat. The first few minutes were spent catching up on everything that had happened in the last few years, and although Lydia omitted some details, she was delighted to tell him about her parents and how happy they were living in a less cold place.

"What about Isabella?" the girl asked after taking a sip of her drink, "That's her name, right?"

Charlie nodded.

"Yes. In fact, she'll be coming next week and staying for a while."

"That's fantastic. You must be very happy."

"I am. I'm really glad to have Bella home. I don't think it will be easy, but as long as I have my little girl near me, that's enough."

Lydia smiled tenderly.

"Well, I hope someday the three of us can have dinner together."

"Of course," Charlie spoke very excitedly, "Bella will surely like having a familiar face around."

Lydia let out a short laugh.

"I don't think Isabella will remember me; I barely do, but I'm sure we'll get along."

"I hope so. She'll be the new one around here, and I want her to feel comfortable and welcomed."

"You'll see; everything will turn out great. I don't have much to offer her, but if she needs a girl-to-girl conversation, I'll be happy to help anytime."

Lydia got up and began to collect everything because they had both finished their meals.

"Don't worry about that, Lydia. I'll take care of it," he took the dirty dishes from her hands, "You have a house to fix, so I'll handle these dishes."

She smiled embarrassedly.

"At least let me clean up a bit. I showed up out of nowhere, and I can't leave a mess for you."

"I insist. Go and rest. Now."

There was no way to continue arguing.

"Thank you, Charlie. See you later."

"Sure," the girl was about to leave when Charlie called her, "And Lydia."

She looked at him.

"Yes?"

"Welcome to Forks," he smiled with a nod.

Lydia returned to the house. She hadn't entered before, and now she was excited. When she opened the door, she looked at her old home. It was just as she remembered it, but with fewer furniture, much fewer furniture. And everything was dusty, besides, it seemed like something was going to break at any moment. Still, she smiled and turned on the lights. At least she had electricity.

It was going to be a very long day, and she had no idea where to start.

Surely it was a terrible day for cleaning, but actually, it was strange that there was a good day in Forks. Lydia had no choice but to adapt to the circumstances and get to work. The lack of furniture was both an advantage and a disadvantage. It would be faster to clean everything, but it also meant more expenses, and although she had already found a job at the Forks hospital, she still had to save some money.

She decided it was better to start cleaning before unloading the boxes from the car.

The ground floor was easy to clean, and the upstairs took longer. Downstairs were the living room, dining room, and kitchen along with a half bathroom. Upstairs, there were three bedrooms and a full bathroom. The room that used to belong to her parents was completely empty because they had decided to take everything from that room to their new home.

The room that used to be Lydia's was also empty; she had told her parents they could sell everything since she didn't plan to return to that house after they left. Now she regretted it a lot.

The third bedroom wasn't much better, and she found out it was where her parents had stored everything they decided not to take with them. It really was all junk, but she had to carefully review what to throw away and what not to. The bathroom, on the other hand, was nice, although at that moment, it needed a very good cleaning, but Lydia loved the bathtub it had.

It was almost midnight when the house shone, and it had a wonderful pine scent. Lydia was totally exhausted, but she made an effort to take the boxes out of the car and bring them into the house. Fortunately, she had brought a small inflatable mattress. She had forgotten the keys, but not that mattress.

She took all the blankets and quilts she had to avoid being cold and finally settled into her makeshift bed. With the house empty, it was freezing, but she could bear it for that night.

Sunday was dedicated to organizing her things a bit, but she had nowhere to store them, so she simply decided to organize them according to their use. She took out her white coats and hung them on some hooks to have them handy, as well as her medical uniform and some clothes for the next week.

That day she didn't want anything more than to rest, and she would have time to go shopping for furniture another day or, in any case, she would order them online. But she would worry about that another day.

In the afternoon, she received a visit from Charlie, who brought a pizza box to share. Lydia really appreciated it because she had actually forgotten that she needed to eat something.

"By the way, this is Mrs. Cullen's number," he handed her a very nice business card.

"Thank you very much, Charlie."

And then everything was relatively normal until Monday arrived, and her problems began.

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