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BABY STEPS — JASPER HALE

austistic!oc/jasper hale | masterlist

CHAPTER ONE. concrete to grass

Grace lays horizontally on her sister's bed. Her legs swing in the air as she reads through her calculus textbook, silent in her movement but loud in her occasional self piteous sighs.

Bella sits at her desk across the room, scrolling through a Forks tourism site. The yellow desk lamp on her left provides ample light for the entire room. She's used to Grace's melodramatic attitude when it comes to math, so doesn't so much as pay her a glance when she sighs for the fifth time in an hour.

At her sister's complete lack of response, Grace huffs and drops the paperback onto the bed. Then, she turns onto her stomach and frowns at the site displayed on Bella's screen. "Why are you looking at hiking trails? We don't hike."

"I'm looking at Forks' visitor website."

Grace makes a face. "Why?"

Bella turns to her. "Just seeing if anything's changed since I last spent a summer there."

"And?"

"It hasn't."

"Yeah," Grace grins. "That's why I like Forks. Everything stays the same."

Bella blinks. Grace thinks she looks horrified. "Everything?"

Grace shrugs. "Well, not everything. Dad emailed me a month ago to let me know he was getting a new microwave. This one is grey. His old one was black."

Bella frowns. "Oh."

She doesn't look very comforted.

"They also opened that public swimming pool last summer." Grace points out. "It's gross, but it's there."

"Yeah," Bella closes her laptop and stands up. She pushes the chair beneath the desk before walking over to the bed. She nudges Grace over and lays down next to her. Their heads knock together gently.

"You don't have to do this," Grace says quietly. "I'd be okay moving to Forks on my own. I would."

"I know." Bella agrees. "But I'm coming with you anyway."

"I just don't want you to do this and then resent me for it later." Grace shifts to rest her head on Bella's chest. She presses her ear into her shirt and doesn't settle until she can hear her sister's heartbeat.

"Don't be stupid. I could never resent you." Bella denies. "Besides, this is my decision. I want to move to Forks. It'll be nice to spend some time with dad."

Grace hums, unconvinced. Bella's sudden change of heart is unsettling. Nobody goes from loathing a place to wanting to move there overnight.

A realisation abruptly strikes her. "Mom asked you to go with me, didn't she?"

Bella doesn't say anything.

Grace's throat tightens. "Oh."

Bella stays quiet, trying to find the right words. "Don't be mad at her. She just- she doesn't want you to be on your own."

"I won't be on my own." Grace tightens her jaw. She's clearly unsettled now. Her skin crawls. "I'll be with dad."

"And me," Bella says. She brushes a grounding hand through Grace's hair. "I'm going with you, Gracie. I've already made up my mind."

"You don't like Forks."

The sentence echoes like a broken cassette in Grace's head. Over and over.

"No, I don't" Bella admits. "But you're my sister and I'm not willing to put a two thousand mile distance between us."

"You don't like Forks."

"But I love you," Bella says easily. She keeps running a hand through Grace's hair, applying a grounding pressure on her scalp.

"You don't like Forks."

Bella hums. Softly. Kindly. "I know."

"You don't like Forks."

"I know."

Grace clenches her wet eyes shut and focuses intently on Bella's heartbeat and the hand in her hair. "You don't like Forks."

It's a mantra now. It consumes her until she can hear nothing else. Even as exhaustion sweeps her away from consciousness like a wave on a rocky shore, the words burn on her tongue.

Bella holds her as she falls asleep.

Two weeks later, Bella and Grace stand side-by-side outside Port Angeles airport. It's a small place, a lot like the plane they'd connected with from Seattle. There's a worn-down fidget cube in Grace's pocket that her mom had given her that morning. It's blue; her favourite colour.

"Do you think he'll be in the cruiser?" Bella asks with a wince.

Grace shrugs, pulling her knit cardigan closer to her body. Her hands are still trembling. She isn't scared of flying, never has been, but the loudness of the engines had provoked a handful of sensory overloads over past five hours.

"Probably. He is the Chief."

Bella grimaces. "I hope I'll be able to find a car before school starts. You think Charlie-"

"You should call him dad." Grace interrupts. "It makes him sad when you call him Charlie."

"Right," Bella takes a small breath.

Five minutes later, Charlie pulls up in the cruiser. Grace doesn't think twice before darting across the parking lot to hug him. He lets out a gruff breath when she throws herself at him, but reciprocates the embrace nonetheless. He holds her tightly.

His uniform smells like stale potato chips and gunpowder, but Grace couldn't care less. The pressure is amazing. He's always given good, solid hugs.

"Hey there, Gracie." He chuckles when she finally pulls away. "You have a good flight?"

"It was fine." She doesn't elaborate any further before climbing into the car. She curls up against the door and savours the absence of noise. She closes her eyes and takes a steadying breath.

"Hey, dad," Bella says after Grace shuts herself in the car.

Charlie gives her an awkward one-armed hug. "It's good to see you, Bells."

When he releases her, she doesn't even manage a single step before stumbling over her suitcase. He automatically steadies her. "You haven't changed much. How was the flight?"

"Loud," Bella frowns, shooting a concerned look at the cruiser where her sister was sitting. "But fine otherwise."

"Good." Charlie nods, grunting as he lifts their suitcases into the trunk.

Bella climbs into the passenger seat.

The drive back to Forks is only around an hour-long, but the traffic on the highway extends their journey by a good forty minutes. Grace doesn't care much, but she can tell Bella is getting antsy.

"I found a good car for you. Really cheap," Charlie says, about twenty-five minutes into the quiet journey.

"I can't drive," Grace says. He knows that.

"I know. I found it for your sister." Charlie looks at her through the rearview mirror with a smile. "I got you a little something too, though."

Grace reciprocates his smile before refocusing on her fidget cube.

Bella squints, sceptical. "What kind of car?"

"Well, it's a truck actually. A Chevy."

"Where did you find it?"

"Do you remember Billy Black down at La Push?"

"No," Bella shakes her head.

"Really? Do you remember Jacob?" Grace asks, baffled. The shaggy-haired Quiliuete was a stand-out memory from Grace's time in Forks.

"No," Bella says, again.

Grace is visibly thrown.

"He used to go fishing with us during the summer," Charlie explains.

"Ah," Bella flinches at the memory.

"He's in a wheelchair now." Charlie says, "so he can't drive anymore, and he offered to sell me his truck cheap."

"What year is it?"

"Well, Billy's done a lot of work to the-"

Grace tunes out of the conversation, gazing out of the window. She watches as grey slowly shifts to green, concrete to grass. Her heart flutters in suppressed excitement.

Forks holds a special place in her heart. Memories of summers spent with her dad were magical; chasing butterflies with Mike Newton, attending enormous bonfires at the Reservation, swimming in the sea with Jacob and going on fishing trips with her dad and Billy. Bella never enjoyed any of it, she was a city dweller at heart, but summer was Grace's favourite time of year for a reason.

"Do we have any waffles at home?" She asks, out of the blue. She hopes Bella and her dad are finished with their discussion. Interrupting is one of her more vexatious habits.

"Yeah, I got you your waffles," Charlie assures. He smiles brightly in the mirror-like she's made him the happiest man alive. She blinks in confusion but attempts to imitate the expression. She's certain hers resembles more of a perplexed grimace, though.

Bella purses her lips to conceal a fond smile. It's amusing, sometimes, how unaware her sister can be. They'd been in Forks for less than two hours and Grace was already referring to the place as home; no wonder Charlie was thrilled.

Charlie stops at a red-light. "So, you two looking forward to starting school?"

Bella shrugs, not sure what to say to that.

Grace, however, nods. "I like school. Did you make sure they got our transcripts?"

"Sure did." Charlie nods. "I went in and spoke to Sarah Cope yesterday. They've got everything they need. Your records, personal information. All of it."

"Did you remember to get a copy of Grace's class schedule?" Bella asks. It's a weighted question.

"Sure did," Charlie says. Bella nods in relief. Grace simply smiles at her dad in gratitude. "Don't worry. I made a list of everything I needed to do to make sure I wouldn't forget anything."

"Good idea." Grace offers her genuine support at his preparation technique. "Lists are great. I love lists."

"Yeah," Charlie nods. His eyes are soft as he glances at her over his shoulder. "I know."

Grace settles back into her seat, content.

---

When they pull up outside of the familiar house, Grace shifts in her seat at the sight of the unfamiliar truck on the drive. She'll get used to it soon enough, but in all the years she's been alive her dad has only ever owned a cruiser. The development is unnerving.

They're quick to get out of the cruiser, everyone eager to stretch their legs after their respective journeys. Grace reaches down to touch her toes, stretching her tailbone. She stands up when she hears Bella gasp in delight.

She walks around the cruiser and sees the genuine joy on Bella's face as she examines the red Chevy.

"Wow, Dad! I love it! Thanks." She exclaims, eyes wide as she investigates the vehicle.

"I'm glad you like it," Charlie says, gruffly, clearly embarrassed.

Grace eyes the old truck warily. "It looks loud."

Charlie pats her shoulder. "There's a pair of noise-cancelling earmuffs in the glove box. Best on the market, according to the woman down at Buy'N'Save."

Grace smiles, so does Bella.

They drag their luggage into the house, Grace's suitcase significantly lighter than Bella's. She already has clothes at Charlie's from last summer, whereas Bella doesn't.

When they get inside, Charlie takes her class schedule off of the fridge and Grace spends the next hour revising it before putting it back up. She hangs it with one of the magnets she'd painted during her 'magnet making' phase a few years ago.

Dinner is a quiet affair. They're all tired and grouchy. So instead of cooking or venturing out to the diner, they order Chinese takeout and eat in front of the TV before Grace snuggles into Bella's bed beside her and falls asleep before eleven pm.

The next morning, Grace finally hauls her suitcase upstairs and puts it in her room. It's smaller than the other two bedrooms in the house, more of a boxroom than anything else, but it has just enough room for a double bed, a wardrobe, a desk and her yoga mat. She has a window overlooking the woods, the walls are painted light grey and the floor is wooden. Unlike her room back in Pheonix, she knows she can get a good night sleep here.

Breakfast goes something like this. Bella makes toast without opening the back door and sets off the smoke alarm. Charlie drinks four mugs of black coffee and Grace briefly frets over his caffeine intake. Bella manages to shut up the fire alarm with some violent tea-towel dancing. Grace cooks three waffles in Charlie's new microwave and approves of the new appliance. Before heading to work, Charlie offers them both good luck for their first day. Bella does the dishes while Grace packs herself a simple lunch of carrots and cucumber sticks.

Then, with one last inspection of the house to ensure they've not left any outlets on or windows open, they climb into Bella's new truck. It's raining, not heavily but not lightly either. It's typical Forks weather and Grace, for what its worth, doesn't work herself up over the hazards of driving on wet roadways without experience. Bella is a good driver; cautious and aware. There's no reason to worry.

Grace puts on the earmuffs before Bella turns on the engine and offers a thumbs up in approval. She can still hear the rumble of the engine, but it's faint. If anything, it's actually soothing. Bella fiddles with the radio for a few minutes before they set off.

Forks High School is far smaller than the last school they'd attended, but it's still extensive. Bella pulls into a marked out space in the middle of the already crowded lot. A few heads turn to stare and it makes Bella shift in discomfort. Grace isn't bothered by it.

She keeps her hands in the pockets of her raincoat, one hand playing with her fidget cube and the other just keeping warm. Her hood is up too, hair tucked into her sweater to protect it from the rain.

She and Bella meet at the tail end of the truck. Bella laces her arm through Grace's and together they walk through the parking lot like wild animals being led to an enclosure. Everyone stares and a handful of overly confident people whisper. Two people wolf whistle, but Grace is deaf to it and Bella is too flustered to say anything.

The office is overly warm, there are potted plants everywhere and a small seating area that looks absurdly uncomfortable. Bella approaches the desk while Grace stops to look at the notice-board. She's not usually a fan of extra-curriculurs, but it's always nice to know what's on offer.

"Here," A few minutes later, Bella taps her shoulder to draw her attention away from the plethora of flyers. She hands over two pieces of paper. "There's another copy of your schedule. And a map." Then she hands over a small piece of card. "You need to get this stamped by all of your teachers."

"Do we have any classes together?"

"No. We have lunch together though"

Bella's a year and a half older than Grace and takes mostly AP classes, whereas Grace is below average in everything other than Art, where she exceeds AP levels. Her mom had tried to get her tutors, but her efforts had been in vain. Renee had been self-conscious of her bad grades as if they were her own. It was weird.

Grace studies the map as they walk out of the office and back out into the parking lot. "There's a lot of buildings here. This place is bigger than it looks."

"I wonder how many students they have."

Grace looks at her sister. "Three hundred-thirty-eight. They have it posted on the notice board."

"Oh," Bella's eyes grow wide. Their last school in Phoenix had upwards of four thousand.

Grace looks at the schedule in her hands. "I have calculus first."

"You'll be fine." Bella insists as they reach the truck again. They still had ten minutes to waste before they'd need to head to class. Sitting in the truck and shielding from the rain was a better plan than awkwardly hovering in the corridors. "You've been studying really hard."

"Okay." Grace ducks into the passenger seat and waits for Bella to get in the drivers side before continuing. "But what if they only have blue ink pens?"

"You have three black ink pens in your bag." Bella says. "I have two spares if you somehow manage to lose them all before the end of the day. If you text me, I'll bring you one."

Grace nods. "Okay."

Bella fixes her sister with a gentle smile. "That everything? We've still got a few minutes."

"I can have my fidget out in class?" She asks. Bella nods. "Okay. That's everything."

Bella reaches over and squeezes her hand. She holds on for a long time. The constant pressure melts away the tension that'd built in her shoulder.

She sinks against the seat and watches the rain beat down on the windscreen.

She's not nervous. There are no metaphorical butterflies in her stomach. No, she's just apprehensive.

Change is tough, but with her sister by her side and her fidget in her pocket, there's nothing Grace Swan can't do.

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