It had been over half a century since I’d been back to this place; Forks. It still looked almost exactly the same. I was surprised they hadn’t done much remodeling. I drove past an abandoned building and it took me a moment to realize it was my high school…or the high school I had spent my most life changing years; And my last years of life.

It had taken me a while to see why Charlie had loved this place, but now I could see it. Even in this century it remained virtually untouched by the outside world. I’d been all over the United States, Asia, Europe, and South America but there was no place in the world like here.

I knew I was getting close to my destination now. Sixty years was a long time and I didn’t know if this trip would go the way I wanted it to, but I hoped that it would. It had taken me years to get up the courage to come back to this place, but I couldn’t put it off much longer or it would be too late. With a last glance in the rearview mirror I brought the red mustang to a stop in front of the reservation.

________________

Ten days. 240 hours. 14,400 minutes. 864,000 seconds. And then I would be married. It was an odd thought, one that still made me grimace. I really didn’t want to get married…at least not yet. I was too young. Charlie had made sure I knew that. I could still remember the conversation.

“I'm getting married.”

He spit out the coke he’d been drinking. “What?!”

I attempted a smile and shrugged.

“You’re joking. I hope to God that you are joking. You’re only eighteen.”

“I know.”

“You just got out of high school, Bella. You’re so young.”

“I know,” I repeated.

I winced as I waited for him to yell at me; to tell me that I was making the biggest mistake of my life and that he would never allow it. But the words never came. I glanced up at him and tried to read his expression. His next words surprised me.

“Are you sure this is what you want?”