Aileen's outfit ⬆️⬆️

Chapter Playlist: Come Back Home-Sofia Carson

Chapter One: Come Back Home

AN: Bold Is Aileen, Italics is the other line!

Aileen's POV:

"Lafayette!" I call to my mostly-black German shepherd. "Here, boy."
He jumps into the passenger seat of my '75 Chevy Silverado. I shut the door and grab my suitcase. A framed photograph falls out.
Leaning down, I grasp it. A tear slides down my face, when I see who's in it.
It's me, Laf, Moses, my son, and Will, my late husband.

I gingerly touch the glass, suddenly, I'm down a rabbit hole of memories. My ringing phone, yanks me out of them.

Fumbling, I answer it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, little Lahote."

"Must I remind you, Samuel, I'm older than Paul by two minutes?"

"Haha, whatever. Anyway, what are you up to?"

"Just going for a drive with Laf. How about you?"

"I'm about to head over to Jake's. How are you holding up?"

"Uhm....I keep telling myself I'm fine, but I'm really not. I gotta go. Bye Sam."

"By-"

I hang up, which cuts him off. I dry my tears and hop into the truck.

I turn to Laf and pat his head. "Ready to go, boy?"

He barks in response.

****Timeskip brought to you by me, because I wanted to****

I look to my right to see the "WELCOME TO FORKS! ENJOY YOUR STAY!" sign. I take four rights and a left and finally end up at my new school aka Forks High.

As I pull into the parking lot, my phone starts ringing. I grab it from my pocket, the screen reads "Cassie:Luke's Girl"

"Hello?"

"Aileen, Luke, he um..." I cut her off.

"He's not dead. Tell me he's not dead."

"He's not, he's really hurt. They're transporting him back home."

"Oh. Let me know when he's back home, I'll be there."

"O-okay."

I hang up, jumped out of the car, and walk into the building.

"Oh...interesting." I hop out and put on Laf's harness, its green and says "DO NOT APPROACH  MILITARY DOG AT WORK!"

I check into the office then walk to my first period, AP English. I knock on the door.

I knock loudly to see a student answer it. She's blonde and looks friendly enough.

"Thank you." I say and make my way into the classroom.

"Class, this is our new student. Why don't you introduce yourself?" The middle aged teacher gestures to me.

"My name is Aileen. I'm from the Marine Corps, Semper fi  'till I die. Any questions?" I ask as I place Laf between my legs.

The girl who opened the door raises her hand. "Mackenzie Forge. Where were you fighting at?"

"I was in Iraq, I had to leave because something happened."

A brunette raises his hand. "Edward Cullen," He mumbles. "Did you bring back any awards?"

"Yes, I received a Purple Heart and an honorable discharge."

"Jasper Hale, ma'am, how did you acquire a Purple Heart?" A honey blonde boy asked. When I looked into his eyes, it was as though nothing mattered but him and I.

Imprint

Vampire

The words burned behind my eyes.

"I, uhm, I was shot 6 times." I swallowed thickly.

"Rosalie Hale. Are you married?" A beautiful blonde girl asks, eyeing the ring on my left ring finger.

"I..no. I'm not." I blink twice.

The bell rings signaling the end of the class. As the students clamor out, I make eye contact with  Edward. My message is clear.

This isn't your land. Go back to where you came from.

Ringggg! Ringggg!

"Hello?"

"Aileen! Luke's back in Cali, he's really hurt." Cassie, my friend Luke's wife says from the other line.

"Don't worry, Cass, I'm on my way right now." I hang up and run into the parking lot, and then into my truck.

Aileen's POV: (After the plane landed)

I jumped out of the taxi and ran into the hospital, "I need to see Lance Marrow!" I urged the receptionist.

"May I have your name?" The blonde woman asked.

"Lieutenant Aileen Gray-Lahote." I tapped my foot as I gave her my name.

"You're on the clearance list." She looked back up. "He's in room 246."

"Thanks." I sped to the elevator, when I finally got to the room, I burst through the door.

"Luke!" I exclaim.

"Aileen!" He weakly replies.

"What happened? Are you okay? Has Cass been to visit yet? Was anyone else hurt?" I throw a million questions at him.

"We didn't react quick enough is what happened. I can't feel my legs right now. Yes, she's talking to my dad. Uhm, Ali, Frankie...he didn't make it." He looks towards the celling.

"Luke, I'm so sorry." I hug him before turning towards the door. "Get some rest."

I walk out of the room to find Cassie holding Moses on her hip.

"Cass! Moses!" I hugged them both before taking Moses.

"Hi baby, mummy missed you." I coo at my six month old son.

"He's missed you too." Cassie looks at me with bloodshot eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Cass." I hug her. "I would love to stay longer, but I have to be back on the Rez by tomorrow."

I hug her one last time before walking back to the elevator with Laf and Moses.

I dial the one person I can count on for anything in the world as the elevator goes down, my younger twin brother Paul Lahote.

Mackenzie Forge belongs to SunsetMercer

Published: 3/16/25

Edited: 3/21/26