*many things are similar to the original draft but I still made a few changes*
"Raymond! Ray!" The soft hum of a voice distracted the teenager.
He looked up from the twirling stand of baggage claim to find a pale skinned brunette rushing his way. She was short, with chestnut colored hair and big, coffee eyes. Her pink lips were vibrant against her alabaster skin. The genuine happiness and pink tints to her cheeks was alluring almost as much as the grin etched to her features. She tripped over her luggage slightly walking his way and that was that—the mystery was solved.
It was Bella Swan.
Ray hadn't seen her since the middle of September. It was all a blur back then, solemn faces and many apologies. He still didn't understand why everyone said sorry to him, why they thought it was their fault his mother had died. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time that was all, still they felt compelled to come up to him with tears in their eyes and say, "I'm sorry for your loss," like they'd left him without a mother. The look upon their faces for weeks still bothered him to no end, except Bella and Renee were different.
The mother and daughter had shown up the day after it had all happened, a day earlier then his own father, Renee had taken over the funeral arrangement with a strong stride. She'd lost her best friend since childhood and yet the women didn't she'd a single tear in front of Ray, she didn't even mention it, she hugged him once, told him she would take care of everything and left it at that. He could hear her soft cries at night from the couch he slept on though, and Bella's comforting words to her through the paper thin walls of his apartment but even so he refused to mention it.
Bella on the other hand was his backbone, she knew exactly how to comfort him, how to speak to him, and most importantly how to keep others away. He didn't speak for a long time after Maria Palmero's death, and Bella knew why, it was his method of mourning. The brunette would make sure he ate, showered, and then laid in bed next to him for hours on end until there was something else to do. She had the maternal instincts to do so even under the worst of situations.
"Goose!" He called out to her tenderly, feeling her own arms wrap around him. A soft chuckle left her lips and tapped against his chest as they held one another in the middle of the Seattle airport. There was people murmuring around them, some stopping to stare at the sweet encounter and others grunting out in annoyance at the exchange but the pair did not care. It'd been a long time since they'd seen one another in a happy setting.
They were long lost best friends who were finally joining once more.
They pulled away and if possible Bella's cheeks had grown even more scarlet, pushing her hair back—it was a trait she'd taken to doing when she was young and embarrassed. Ray smiled at her, his dimples predominant.
"I was hoping you'd forgotten that nickname giraffe." She muttered softly.
"Not as much as I'd hoped you'd forgotten that one." He winked back, tapping the tip of her nose when she least expected it. Bella smacked his arm away in annoyance, although she was too slow as his hand was already down be his side. A slight chuckle left his lips once more as Bella cleared her throat and looked down to the dropped bags.
Ray followed her eyesight and was quick to pick the bags up, Bella lowered herself and plucked the backpack up, previously having been slung around her shoulders. "You don't have to get those..."
"What kind of best friend would I be if I didn't?" He questioned, rolling her bag. He took a moment to take in the scene and then realized that Bella was actually in Forks which amazed him—Bella hated Forks. From the moment they could speak properly she'd always talked about how dreary the raining town was, it was quite a spectacle to see her even near the town. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming to visit?"
"I'm not actually, I'm staying here... with my dad." She explained, a loose strand of her chestnut hair falling across her face and momentarily blocking her vision. "I expected you'd be here already."
"I needed to pack everything, and also our dads kind of felt bad so he waited until winter break to officially move me." He responded, running his hand over the back of his neck as he felt the conversation growing near dangerous territory.
He knew Bella better then anyone even with all the years they'd spent separated which is why he could tell just when she grew uncomfortable. She cleared her throat and looked down as she looked for the right words. "Ray... how's everything?"
"It's okay Bella." He spoke with a slow shake of his head and a small shrug.
She nodded slowly, eyes finding the courage to look over his face and ask, "really? Like really, after everything's settled. Charlie says you haven't exactly cried."
"Why cry? Mom died happy and enjoying her life, she wouldn't want me to cry." He answered, and Ray wasn't lying. Since his mothers death he had not felt the need to display such an emotion. It was definitely a weird sensation and certainly something he'd thought over the last few weeks but it was simple, death happened to everyone and dwelling over it helped no one.
Bella Swan heard the sincerity in his voice and chose to end the subject there, her eyes flickered towards where luggage was being pulled off and pointed. "Maybe you should get you luggage before we are stuck here all day."
Raymond nodded, setting her bags down beside her and pointing a finger. "Stay. I'll be right back, I bet our dads carpooled."
Bella gave a swift nod as Raymond turned back, neither noticed the other do this but after they'd turned away one another's shoulders relaxed, maybe Forks would not be as bad as they'd envisioned.
|•|•|•|•|•|
Finding Charlie Swan and Marcus Thompson had not been difficult, it was easy to spot a pair of cops in a crowd of families. They were awkward, with identical stances and the same cup of coffee in their hands. The pair were best friends just like their ex wives were, even sharing the same tragic fate of divorce and solidarity. Luckily, it seemed that they'd fortified a bond that went beyond simple friends and the once partners in crime had turned to real life partner in life a few years after their divorces. Their ex wives had been a little stunned at the news, but nevertheless accepted the situation for the sake of their relationships and children. It had been an ongoing joke that their respective relationships had crumbled to unveil the foundation Charlie and Marcus' love.
Charlie was the first to step forward, finding his daughter easily next to Raymond. He walked fast, pulling his daughter into a warm embrace as he breathed. "Bells!"
Bella Swan awkwardly hugged her dad back, the petite girl patting her father. The Swan's weren't much for embraces but it seemed that for this they would make an exception.
Marcus Thompson was a little slower, stepping up to his son with a blank stare. If he was being honest he didn't quite know how to greet his child, his son had lost more then he had ever lost at his age. Maria, his ex wife, had left him long ago but his heart still hallowed the moment he'd received the phone call of her untimely demise. Marcus and Charlie had dropped everything that very moment and flown to see his son. Raymond had been as void of emotions those days as he was now, greeting his dad.
"Ray, its good to have you here." He firmly spoke, nodding his head at his tall son. They were about the same stature, well over 6 feet.
Ray's tightlipped smile was forced as he nodded, "great to be here dad."
"I'm sorry—"
"It's okay." Ray cut his father off, lifting his hand and shaking his head. He knew exactly what was going to come out of his fathers mouth and if he was being quite honest he wasn't in the mood to hear it. He had enough of the condolences and pitiful looks back in New York, enough was enough. "I'm just happy to be finally be here."
Lie.
He was lying to everyone and himself because truthfully he hated having to move, he hated having to switch his entire life around, he hated everything. Still, somehow he managed to keep a perfect smile on his lips even though inside him the walls were crumbling away the longer he kept the lie up.
"Raymond," Charlie Swan stepped towards the boy, the shorter cop stuck his hand out. Raymond loved Charlie, partly because he was almost the carbon copy of Bella with a dash of sass but also because, like his daughter, he knew better then to press touchy subjects. Charlie had likely heard the conversation between son and father but chosen to not speak on it as instead he had an awkward smile on his lips. "It's nice to know my two favorite kids are here for good and you were there to help Bells before she tripped over the luggage."
Raymond laughed seeing Bella's cheeks turn a bright pink from the corner of his as she was encased in Marcus's congratulatory hug. "Knowing you and dad you both plotted this coincidence."
"Did you expect anything different? Your father is as cheesy as they come." Charlie deadpanned, elbowing his husband.
"Hey!" Marcus retorted, gently slapping the back of his partners head. "Don't put the whole blame on me! You were the one hell bent on being early!"
Charlie elbowed his partner in the stomach, massaging his head softly. "Okay! Okay! Let's get going before we end up with broken ribs again."
Bella looked over towards Ray, a childish grin on both their lips as their fathers helped them with their bags and continued to act like entertaining children, maybe Forks wouldn't be so bad, certainly not with company.
"Come on Bells, let's see if we can con them into buying us Jack in the Box." He threw his arm over her shoulder, pulling his best friend closer.
|•|•|•|•|
The road trip home hadn't been so bad, it mainly consisted of an hour of Charlie and Marcus bickering over the way one another drove through the snow and then their children in the back silently cackling while eating their food.
It wasn't until they'd finally arrived to the Thompson/Swan residence that Ray realized just how drastically his life was changing. He stared up at the old home he'd only seen during the summers, when the trees were a brilliant green and he only had to be present for a month, now it would seem like an eternity. His father came up next to him, sliding his suitcases to a halt. Bella and Charlie had already walked inside, discussing the new changes to her room.
Marcus could see his son was struggling, although the young boy was much like him with a stern face he could tell that Raymond wasn't handling any of this well. The problem was he had no idea how to actually talk to him about it, how to tell his child that even though he'd possibly lost the most important person in his life it wasn't the end. Charlie hadn't been the best at advice when he'd brought it up on the drive to Seattle, the only thing he managed to advise was that they would need one another more then either could imagine.
Instead of ignoring the problem Marcus simply placed his hand on the teenagers shoulder, Raymond's coffee brown eyes looking his way. Marcus felt lost for a second, blanking on what to say... how to even help cope until finally he just sucked in a breath. "We'll do this together Ray, I promise."
Raymond cleared his throat, turning away from his fathers eyes before he actually shed a tear and stood taller. His voice was deeper as he nodded and kept steady despite the crumbling walls inside. "I don't have any other choice but too."
•••••
If you've read the first few original drafts of this Charlie and Marcus were just best friends but that never seemed to fit right in my head which is probably one of the reasons why I never wanted to finish this book so yes they are a couple in this one. Also, I understand that Bella is not everyone's favorite character in twilight (myself included) but I do love her relationship with Raymond and she will have more personality and time with Raymond then anyone else. Despite them having grown up separately they are siblings to one another.