I'm in it for the Long Run // Edge of Winter

01

Belle's Diary ~

Hi. My name is Belle Baker and I enjoy writing. I have long dirty-blonde hair and grayish-blue eyes. I have two step-brothers, Bradley and Caleb. Bradley and I are the same age, 15, and Caleb is 12. We get along pretty well, even though Brad can be a real buzzkill sometimes.

My mom died when I was 7, but my dad, Ted, started dating Bradley and Caleb's mom, Karen, a few years ago. They never actually got married, but they technically consider themselves together. This is the first time I'm meeting their dad, Elliot, and I think he might hate my dad, so I better make a good impression.

My dad and step-mom are sitting in the front seats of the car, while Bradley, Caleb, and I are all stuffed in the back with our luggage. My parents are going on a cruise, so they decided to leave us with Elliot. After all, this could be the last time he sees Bradley and Caleb before we move to London.

End of entry ~

Belle's POV

As we pulled up to the house, I wasn't too excited by the cosmetics of the outside. But I shouldn't be too harsh, because Elliot just lost his job and has had money issues in the past. Or at least that's what Karen says. Bradley opened up his door, and I followed him out picking up our bags on the way. I handed him his and then slung mine over my shoulder.

Caleb had joined us and we were walking up to the front door, followed by our parents. Caleb jogged up the stairs and gave a slight knock. As Bradley and I were walking up, the door swung open revealing a mountain of a man. I was surprised to see that Elliot was so big, because neither Bradley nor Caleb had inherited that gene. Bradley was just a meager two inches taller than me, while Caleb was about three inches shorter.

"He-hey." He greeted us all as he leaned out of the way to let us in. Bradley squeezed his way past, not seeming too eager to greet his father. I stayed behind with Caleb to introduce myself. Karen and Ted walked into the living room leaving just me and Caleb. "You must be Belle, I've heard so much about you."

He smiled down at me, but something about him made me anxious. I squirmed a little and shoved my hands into my pockets, avoiding eye contact.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Baker." I said.

"Please, call me Elliot. But if you're feeling brave, go ahead and call me dad." That was definitely not going to happen, but I nodded my head and walked towards Brad.

Bradley sat down on a chair, pulling out his phone and allowing all his attention to be absorbed into the small box. I nudged him and motioned towards Elliot.

"What?" He whispered.

"Dude this might be the last time you see your dad. At least try to enjoy it." He shook his head and put his phone in the back pocket of his skinny jeans. Caleb launched himself onto the couch as Karen and my dad left.

A few words were exchanged between Karen and Elliot, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. Not that it was any of my business, but I've always been a very nosy person. I heard the door shut and saw Elliot walk back into the room.

His beard was scraggly around his jaw and coming down from his sideburns, but the goatee area was extremely prominent on his face. His hair was blonde, but a few strands were a bit darker than the others. The top of his head was covered by a hat, though.

"Where are we gonna sleep?" Bradley started the conversation.

"Well I was thinking the three of you could sleep in my bed, and then I could crash on the couch." Elliot responded. The three of us nodded our heads, allowing an awkward silence to fall amongst us.

"He snores." Caleb accused Bradley.

"Well at least I don't wet the bed." He replied nonchalantly.

"Oh c'mon Brad, that was like three years ago." Caleb argued. That was one story I would want to hear. The small exchange of words made me laugh at the two bickering brothers.

"So, what do you kids wanna do?" Elliot broke the fight.

"Anything besides bowling." Bradley blurted out.

"He just doesn't wanna go because he sucks!" Caleb taunted.

"Shut up Caleb!" Bradley scolded.

"I always beat him." Caleb muttered to make sure he had the last word. "I'm hungry, got any pancakes?"

"We just ate." Bradley criticized again.

"Well he's a growing boy, and they've got to eat all the time." Elliot pointed out. "How about you Belle. Any ideas?"

"No. I'm really a 'go with the flow' kinda girl. I'm good with anything." I chirped. Elliot smirked and let loose a little chuckle.

"Alright. How about you three go unpack your stuff while I see what I can do about pancakes, hm?" He suggested.

"Ok." I picked up my bag and carried it over to the room. I was afraid that we wouldn't be able to fit onto the bed, but when I saw it I knew we would have no trouble. Thank god Elliot was so tall.

We started to unpack our stuff. Bradley got the closet up top to hang all his clothes, and I got the drawer underneath. Caleb had the other side of the room, but he threw something over at Bradley.

"Hey could you put that over there?" Caleb asked.

"Keep your crap on your own side of the room." Bradley immediately chucked it back, unable to hold his temper.

"Brad, calm down. This room's gonna be a mess by the end of today anyway. There's no point in getting upset over which side of the room you get." I tried to persuade Bradley, but his attention had been targeted at Caleb and what he was holding.

"Haha." Caleb snickered as I heard something click in his hands. As he stood up, displaying a gun for me and Bradley, my mouth dropped open.

"Holy--" Brad was unable to finish his sentence as he walked over to the gun. He snatched it out of his brother's hand, examining it closely.

"Woah." I leapt over, hovering over the weapon just as the other two boys had done. Caleb tried to take the gun back, and the two started arguing. I tried to quiet them down, because I had a feeling Elliot could hear us through the thin walls. Unfortunately, that feeling was right.

"What the fuck are you doing!" He burst into the room slamming the door against the wall and grabbing the gun from us. I was so petrified that I glued myself against the wall, just like Caleb had. Bradley had fallen onto the bed, but was now in an upright position.

Elliot glared at us with a crazy look in his eyes.

A/N
Ok guys this book is not going to be exactly like the movie was, because I don't have a photographic memory and I'm adding in a new character that needs to talk and have some action. Btw feel free to picture yourself as Belle, just replace 'Belle' with your name.

Here is the cast if you do not know:

Bradley: Tom Holland
Caleb: Percy Hynes White
Elliot: Joel Kinnaman
Ted: Shaun Benson
Karen: Rachelle Lefevre
Belle: You(?)

Thanks for reading and don't forget to vote & comment.
<3