Chapter Text
The seemingly everlasting heat surrounded Benjamin as he looked toward the horizon, hands in his shorts' pockets. His eyes skimmed through everything on the desert. Cactuses, lizards, rattlesnakes, sages, and their home.
"Hey, Benji," hearing his nickname, Benjamin turned, and standing in front of him, was his twin sister, Isabella Marie Swan, but she liked to be called 'Bella', "Would you miss here?"
She held a small pot of cactus in her hand, looking like her usual self. But Benjamin noticed the strain of her shoulders and the unsteadiness of her voice, she didn't want to leave Phoenix, which was understandable. She hadn't left her home for a long time.
Benjamin closed his eyes and inhaled, processing the question while taking in the dry and barren smell of the desert, he sighed, "No, I don't think I will."
The girl knowingly smiled and said, "Well, you never liked the heat."
"Damn right."
She'd been noticing the little things that her brother would do when he was happy. He talked to their mother and her husband Phil more, woke up earlier than usual, wore his lucky flannel shirt twice a week. Most importantly, he often smiled unconsciously when he was alone. All of these was because they were going to stay at their dad's.
"Speaking of heat, can we go inside? I feel like my skin's been burnt." Without receiving an answer, Benjamin put his arm on Bella's shoulders and leaded her home.
Benjamin had been excited to go back to his dad's place for weeks now. He went to Forks, Washington every summer to keep his dad company while Bella stayed in Arizona. For some reason, he was attached to their dad, Charlie, more than he was to Renee, and his twin sister was the opposite.
He once asked Bella why she never wanted to go to Washington, and she gave the lamest answer anyone could possibly think of: 'I don't really like the rain'. Bella then asked Benjamin why he liked Forks so much that he had to go there every summer, and the response was: 'I just really love the rain'. The awkward tension between them a second ago suddenly was replaced with an eye roll and teasing laughter.
Benjamin knew Bella had been hiding her true feeling about their father from him, and she obviously didn't want to talk about it, so the topic was never raised again.
But now, they would be taking a flight to Washington on Monday, and Benjamin silently wish to himself that time could slip away sooner.
In the cruise, Bella rode shotgun while Benjamin sat in the back. Charlie Swan had been asking about their life in Arizona, Bella provided short answers and Benjamin would elaborate and tell Charlie the entire story.
Let's just say the twins work together well.
''Your hair's long." Charlie said after he took another glance at his daughter.
"I cut it since the last time I saw you."
Benjamin raised his eyebrows and thought to himself, That must've been the longest sentence Bella has said in the car.
"Guess it grew out again." Charlie responded, and then, the chattering seized to a stop.
The father and the boy locked eyes in the rear-view mirror, and Benjamin only shrugged as a response to Bella's unenthusiastic behaviors.
Benjamin knew it would be hard for Charlie and Bella to have the father-daughter connection again since the two were terrible at opening themselves to others. It was like watching a meteor strike, you know if it lands, there will be casualties and damages; however, you can do nothing but let it happen.
Looking out the window, Benjamin smiled when he saw the familiar sign beside the road.
'WELCOME TO FORKS'
The boy whispered, ''Welcomed to be back."
Under a constant cloud of rain and humid, surrounded by a vast area of forests free from cultivation, there sits Forks, Washington. Population: three-thousand one-hundred and twenty people. Well, three-thousand one-hundred and twenty-two people now, plus the two new Swans.
Charlie pulled in to his usual parking space and helped carry the kids' luggage into their individual room. Benjamin didn't bring much stuff with him, so it only took him a few minutes to tidy up his space. He walked to his sister's room, only to see her sitting on her bed, depressed and nostalgic. He stood next to the study desk and tilted his head slightly, "Dad must've cleaned your room. Last time I was here, this room was covered in a blanket of dust."
"That's nice." Bella said, standing up and placing the cactus on the desk.
The boy sighed, "You know he's trying, right?"
"Yeah," the girl crossed her arms over her chest, "just takes time to warm up to him."
Benjamin patted his sister's head softly, seeing a faint smile flickered across her lips.
"Alright, I'll let you unpack your stuff in peace. Be downstairs."