Asteraceae

TWENTY FOUR

He wondered if the man saw his expression yet chose to continue to talk. He also wondered for a bit why exactly he had chosen him out of all the other single, bitter loners that were dining to come up and chat about his only child coming down to live with him. He didn't think he was approachable, but then again, he was still technically new to Forks, the Chief of police had yet to meet him, and he understood that he might've been a bit curious about the young man that managed to snatch the attention of the women within the small town.

"I'm just glad she's coming down for a change, I had wondered for a while if I was really ever going to see her again, but I'm glad my thoughts were proven wrong." He had his usual Steak, while Joshua had chosen a simple salad. He was full of the big lunch Alice had made him, but he felt like he still needed something in his stomach.

"She hasn't been down here before? Weird." Crazy even, he's came across many girls would usually fall over themselves just to please their fathers, daddy girls one may call them, "why she's moving down here now?" He took a bite out a cherry tomato, glancing at the man's physique he could also use a tomato or two.

"She said something about wanting to get away from her mother and her new boyfriend." He didn't seem to care that the girl really only was leaving just so her mother could do what she wanted. He didn't see that she wasn't coming down to form a relationship with him.

"Oh, so it wasn't because she wanted to be close to you." A flinch was there, but it was ignored, a smile still presents on his face even if it had dimmed just a little.

"Unfortunately not." He continued to eat though, the two of them enjoying a bit of silence for a little before curiosity started to eat away at the officer.

"So, why did you come down here...besides your grandmother dying and everything." He tried to sound a little less nosy about the entire thing, but the trait runs in the family, and he wasn't going to pretend he was curious.

"Wanted something different to worry about. She ended up giving me her house here, and since a job was open, I decided to stay a while and see if I like it here." He would've left ages ago, but he could not just up and leave the pixie without saying anything despite how much his mind screamed at him to do so.

"Liking it so far? I mean we don't have much down here, but it's something."

"So far." The place was lovely, he'll admit that. He enjoyed the weather, nature, the quietness, and even a few of the people that he saw almost every day, but maybe that was simply because of what he was. Of course, creatures like him would love being surrounded by trees, and mountains, that's simply in their biology, but he was smart enough to know that it extended a bit far beyond that.

"Have you been shown around yet? There are a few good bars that a lot of the men your age like to hang around, and the beach down by La Push is great whenever the weather is good." He had heard about kids going surfing a little in the years, and he himself had gone down by the beach to enjoy a good fish fry that the residents were throwing.

"I have, Carlisle Cullen is a neighbor of mines, and he took it upon himself to show me around on one of his off days."

"Interesting family they are, but we're all grateful that they decided this was the place they wanted to settle in. Carlisle's work is simply amazing, but so is yours." They all were grateful, no matter how weird the Cullen's seemed, or how mysterious Joshua was, they were all a major help to the community.

"Flattering words, from a man your age." Damn right, he was surprised that he even stayed this long. The school needed some work done on it, and the kids needed some type of extra help, because the education they were getting right now was borderline pathetic compared to their neighbors, Seattle.