Hello, welcome to my first Twilight Fanfic! I'm not an experienced writer but I thought this would be fun to do, so I'm giving it a shot. I noticed that with a lot of fanfics, they focus so much on the pairing and romance and not on the actual life of their characters outside of that, so I wanted to try and write a store that I think has a good balance of romance, friendship, and personal interests for my character. I don't want her to be another one dimensional, love-struck little girl. I wanted her to have interests and flaws, and I wanted to change some of the characters in the books as well to give them more personality, which is why Bella will seem off in my version of things. There will be a pairing, but I'll leave that part a secret for now I think. I'm open to suggestions and critiques so leave a review if you want, it's very appreciated! Thanks for reading!

Eloise Swan loved driving. She also loved her dog, so to her, it was no big deal that she had to drive all the way from Arizona to Washington just to bring her dog and car with her to her dad's. Her parents, however, felt differently.

Charlie had said multiple times to wait and he'd make the drive with her, or at least have her younger sister, Bella, come along for the ride. But really, she didn't think it was that big of a deal! She drove the same distance just for a concert once, this was no different to her. It took a long time for her to convince them to let her make the drive, and she understood their concerns, but really what other choice did she have but to drive?

Her mother was worried about her falling asleep behind the wheel, so Ellie agreed to get a hotel halfway through the drive to make her worry less. Her dad was more worried about her safety than anything, but she assured him that her 110 pounds, half German Shepherd half-Rottweiler could handle just about anything. She was actually amazed that he was letting her bring him along, but her dad knew how attached to her dog she was, and he always had a soft spot for dogs anyway, so he eventually caved.

With all of her most important belongings shoved into the trunk and front seat of her little 99' hatchback, she was just about ready to make the journey up to Forks. Bella had left the day before, but Ellie decided since she was driving on her own she wanted an extra day to gather hers, and some of Bella's things, and make sure the car was in tip-top shape.

All that was left to get in the car was her giant baby of a dog, but he was taking his sweet old time finding a spot to pee.

"Seriously, Persei? Pick a spot already!" She snapped to the dog, who just glared over at her before continuing to sniff.

"You know, you could always wait until me and Phill can drive with you?" Her mom said, worry clear in her eyes. Ellie sighed.

"Seriously, it's fine mom. Bella's already there and I don't want to make her start school without me, I'll be fine. I know you're worried but Bella and I want this." Lies, all lies, and her mom knew it too. Bella hates Forks, and while hate was a strong word, Ellie wasn't thrilled. She understood why Bella's wanted to go though, and she wouldn't let her go alone. After all, who else would look after her clumsy little sister?

She knew that Bella wanted to leave because she felt like a burden, and she understood why. Lately, she'd been feeling that way as well The two girls discussed it at length and decided that for their mom's sake, and their own, it'd be best if they spent some time with their dad in Forks.

While she wasn't as gloomy about it as Bella was, she was still sad. All her friends were here, and she'd miss them a lot. She's had the same group of friends for almost twelve years, and it was hard to leave them, but she'd do anything for her sister, so her following her to Forks wasn't a question.

She felt a cold, wet nose poking her hand, breaking her from her thoughts. "Done, Persei?" She scratched his neck, smiling when he stretched his head out and made a silly face. "Time to load up." He turned and trotted to the car, hopping into the open back seat and made himself comfortable. She would have had him ride up front, but he was just too big.

"Well, we're heading out mom. It'll be ok, I promise." She reassured her mother again. She hated it when she worried.

"I know, I'll just miss you." She started to tear up.

"Mom, stop it. I'll call you all the time." Ellie felt her eyes start to water. She loved her mom, as airheaded as she was, and it hurt to see her upset. "I'll come visit all the time. I can take a train instead of driving when I come back if it makes you feel better."

"Ok," she sniffled. "I love you, Ellie. You better call me while you drive!" Ellie laughed.

"I will, I promise. I love you, mom." She hugged her mom tightly for a few seconds before pulling away. "Alright, I need to go, mom." She needed to go before she got too emotional.

Hoping into her car, she buckled herself up and made sure he CDs were easily accessible and waved one more time to her mom before pulling out of the driveway.

Ellie sighed and flicked her cigarette butt into the pop can in her cup holder, and pushed her glasses up. She'd been driving for about seven hours now, and she was already getting tired. She still had six hours to go before she could stop for the night though. She still didn't regret driving though, she loved seeing all the different landscapes and towns. She did stop often, not only so she and Persei could do their business, but to look around in some of the small towns and little shops. Her favorites so far were the little bookshops, candy shops, and occult shops she found. It was a secret she kept well guarded, but she found herself drawn to Wiccan and took to practicing it a couple of years ago, so she loved to visit new occult shops whenever she could.

A whine from the back seat caught her attention, and she sighed. "Time to stop, big man? Alright, I'll pull off on the next exit, I'm getting hungry again anyways.

Taking the next exit, she drove for about ten more minutes before she came to a large rest stop, the kind that had stores and restaurants inside, which was perfect because she didn't feel like relying on vending machines for food.

Ellie pulled into a spot and hopped out, then went along to the back door. She opened it and quickly hooked on Persei's leash before letting him out. Persei always attracted a lot of attention due to his large size and intimidating look, so it was no surprise that she got a lot of looks as she walked him to the dog area of the rest stop. She knew that it looked odd to see a massive, black, wolf-looking dog being walked by a teenage girl who was only 5"2, but she knew how to handle her dog, and he was very well trained. Really, he was just a big baby. Persei was the definition of a gentle giant unless he felt threatened or was told to be on guard, and he loved almost anybody he met. It was a shame people were so scared of him for his size, but not much could be done about that.

Ellie let Persei go about his business as she pulled out her phone, deciding now would be a good time to call Bella. It rang twice before Bella picked up, and Ellie smiled at the sound of her baby sister's exhausted voice as she greeted her. "Hey, Ellie."

"Hi, beautiful! How's Forks treating you?"

"It's cold and wet and green and I regret it already," Bella grumbled, making Ellie laugh.

"Come on man, I'm sure it can't be that bad! At least pretend to be happy, you don't want to hurt dad's feelings."

"It'd be kind of hard to hurt his feelings when he's not here."

"Really? Is he back to work already? You've been there for like, a day, or something. I hope he's not working when I finally get there."

"Well you'll be getting here late as hell so he'll be at home, but we're going to wait up for you."

"Aww, do you miss me that much Bella? It's only been a few days but you're just dying to see me already, huh?" Ellie teased, and she could practically hear her sister scowling as she snapped back a quick "No!"

"Yeah, yeah, you know you miss me."

"Whatever. Anyways, how's the drive doing? How's Persei?"

"It's going ok, I'm waiting for him to pee right not but he's taking forever, as usual. He's been sleeping for most of the drive. I'm so glad my car holds six CDs, changing them out while driving is such a bitch."

"Speaking of cars, you won't believe what dad got me!" Bella suddenly sounded much more alive, making Ellie smile.

"Oh? Let me guess, a car?"

"Yes! Well, a truck. It's old and rusting and I love it. It's a tank, it could wreck your car."

"Yeah, dad emailed me a picture of it last week. I told him you'd be fine sharing my car, but he wanted you to feel more at home."

"And you didn't even tell me? I see how it is, Ell. I'm never telling you any secrets again, since you couldn't bother telling me."

"Jesus Bella, he made me promise not to tell, stop being so dramatic! Anyway, I'm glad you like the truck, I knew you would. Persei's done doing his business so I'm going to go eat, I'll call you at my next stop."

"Love you, Ellie. Drive safe."

"Always." She smiled before snapping her phone shut. She led Persei into the rest stop and tracked down something to eat, before heading back to her car. She got Persei settled into the back seat before taking her spot in the drivers and clicking on her seatbelt. She had a long drive ahead of her.