LET DOWN

two.            the attic

▬ "I'M INNOCENT. I swear. You got the wrong guy." Cori mumbled, shifting in the backseat of Charlie's police cruiser. Charlie's thick brows pinched, a small smile tugging at his lips as he watched his youngest in the rearview mirror.

"You put yourself back there." Bella stated, twisting in her seat to look back at her sister. "I offered and you tackled me out of the way."

"Because I'm a criminal."

"So you're not innocent?" Charlie raised an eyebrow as he looked back at the wet pavement in front of them and Cori's jaw fell open as her blue eyes widened.

"You incriminated yourself."

"Damn it." She huffed, sinking into her seat a little as she adjusted her seat belt so it wasn't digging into her neck.

"Weirdo." Bella chuckled and Cori's first and only response was to stick out her tongue. It was a childish rebuttal but it got her point across. Charlie chuckled at the two, glancing back at Cori, who now looked out the window with a wide smile on her face. She had her nose pressed into glass, her breath casting a sheen of fog in front of her. She giggled to herself as she pulled back and started dragging her finger through it.

Then he looked over at Bella, who shook her head slightly as she turned around in her seat, her dark eyes taking in the small town as they came to a stop at a stop light.

"Your hair's longer." Charlie stated, motioning to Bella. His voice a low mumble, like he wasn't sure quite what to say and that was all he could think of.

She looked down, holding the ends of her hair between her fingers. "I cut it since the last time I saw you." She mumbled back, still toying with her hair.

"Oh." He hummed, settling his eyes on the road ahead of them as a semi crossed the intersection in front of them. "Guess it grew out again." He internally groaned and pressed his foot against the gas when the light turned green. An awkward silence filled the car, though the youngest Swan seemed to be completely oblivious as she leaned towards the window and let out a huff, her breath fogging up the glass once again before she drew a smiley face with her finger.

"Cori, don't-"

"Don't ruin my fun." Cori held her hand up, stopping her sister from continuing and Bella closed her mouth, turning back around in her seat.

"Glad to see you two haven't changed." Charlie smiled, he could remember them having a similar conversation when Bella was eight and Cori was seven.

They were visiting for Christmas break, one of the rare times Charlie got the girl's for the holiday and Cori loved to doodle on the window in the condensation. Bella, on the other hand, didn't and she scolded Cori for it every time they got in the car that winter.

"I'll never change." Cori grinned, meeting his eyes in the rearview mirror and he hummed, nodding his head. He hoped she never did. He hoped she would never lose that child-like wonder she had. He hoped she would never lose the way she saw the world, because she really did see the best of everything. "Eyes on the ride, mister." She pointed a stern finger at him and he chuckled, well, it was more of a gruff acknowledgement, but he listened and the rest of the ride was mostly silent. Albeit Cori's humming or when she would point out a familiar face, which then led to her rolling the window down and shouting Hi! It's me, Cori! Which got more than a few laughs as they waved back at the girl.

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▬ CORI COULDN'T CONTAIN her smile as Charlie pulled up to the house, on the front steps sat one of her favorite people in Forks. She was out the door before Charlie even fully put the car in park, her converse splashing in the mud, not that she cared, even as the rain-soaked-ground stuck to her shoes and the water soaked through the flimsy cloth material, her toes would be frozen soon but that was a problem for later.

The boy stood up, laughing at the way she barreled towards him and before he was even up all the way she had jumped into him, arms and legs wrapping around him like a koala. He stumbled backwards, but steadied himself before he tipped over, his arms encircling the girl.

"What are you doing here?" The girl asked, her face tucked into his shoulder, mostly because he gave off this insane amount of warmth but also because she hadn't seen him in person for nearly two years.

"Charlie said you got in today, I waited." He told her, his thick arms tightening around her small frame and she squeezed him harder, her smile permanent. And she didn't mind that his body heat pushed away the chill that raked over her when a rain-soaked breeze blew past them.

Charlie looked over at the two as he opened the trunk of his car, his thick eyebrows pinched slightly but a small smile tugged at his lips. "Hey, Paul, mind helping me take some of these bags in?"

The duo pulled back, Cori still very much wrapped around him as they looked towards the car where Bella stood with a bag over her shoulder and her tiny cactus in her hand.

"Of course not, Chief." He shook his head and moved to put Cori down, to which she sighed and untangled her legs. Paul simply chuckled at the girl before ruffling her hair, to which she swatted at his hands, her eyes narrowed. "I missed you, Munchkin." He told her, his smile seemingly permanent and all she could do was beam at him as she moved closer to him and wrapped her arms around his torso as they continued towards the car, passing Bella and Charlie.

When they got to the open trunk, he pulled out her back pack and slipped it into his shoulder before grabbing the two other bags that laid on their sides. She just watched him, her smile growing, and it was then she noticed the subtle differences. Though she had known about the hair cut, him having skyped her after he did it – she'd had a big reaction. She gasped and when she finally found her voice she yelled, mostly because she loved his hair. She loved that he let her braid it when they hung out, she loved how soft it was and how neat he always kept it despite the fact that he played three sports, spent most of his time on the beach, and worked on cars in his spare time for a little extra cash here and there. She eventually got over it.

But seeing him in person, she noticed what skype had hidden. He was taller, not by much, just an inch or two. His muscles were bigger, like he had lived in a gym. And despite the fact that it was freezing – well, not freezing but cold enough to turn the end of her nose red – he wore only a pair of cut offs, a thin t-shirt and a pair of muddy shoes.

She didn't want to make comments about his muscles, she knew he'd give her that smirk and make a comment that would leave her a blushing mess. She didn't really want to mention his height, he'd just turn it around on her and call her a short-stack of pancakes. So she settled for the hair, which though she could admit looked good on him, still bugged her just the tiniest bit.

"I still can't believe you cut your hair." She mumbled, slamming the trunk closed and following him towards the house as she tugged her sweater around her torso.

He laughed, glancing over his shoulder at her, not even struggling a little with the bags he held and one of them was filled with books. "I thought we were past this."

"I was." She nodded. "But seeing it in person is different. I'm still processing."

"God, I missed you." He hummed and her cheeks flushed, turning a deep shade of red. She ducked her head and moved in front of him to open the door for him, keeping her head down and her hair hanging forward so he didn't notice the effect he had on her. Especially since he had gushed many times about his girlfriend, who just happened to be one of Cori's closet friends. Despite feeling the slightest bit jealous, Cori was happy for them. His smile as he talked about her, the way his eyes lit up, she knew that he was in love with her. It had crushed all of her dreams of the two of them ending up together, but she could get over her crush if he was happy and in a loving relationship. Besides, two of her favorite people found love in each other. How could she not be happy for them?

"Okay." Charlie clapped his hands and he made his way down the stairs, meeting the two by the door and Cori pulled it closed, basking in the warmth of the house. "You ready to see your room?" He asked, his eyes on the blue-eyed girl as a smile tugged at his lips.

Her brows pinched, confusion written all over her face. "My room?" She and Bella had shared a room when they were little and though Charlie always talked about adding to the house so they could each have their own space, when Bella stopped visiting it wasn't really necessary.

"You're gonna love it." Paul told her, his grin wide as he looked down at her, still showing no sign of struggle with her bags.

"Come on." Charlie nodded his head and she made her way towards him, still as confused as ever. "Need a hand with those?"

"No, I got it." Paul shook his head and Charlie simply nodded, though he kept an eye on the boy as they made their way up the stairs. He knew Cori was an over-packer, he also knew they were heavy. He had struggled putting them into the trunk of his car at the airport when he picked the girls up. But Paul seemed completely unfazed.

"All right." Charlie stopped at a door that looked like it had been painted recently, it was a nice white color, the paint no longer chipping away. It was a door Cori had been very familiar with. It was the one door the girls weren't supposed to open, mostly because the attic was a mess and Charlie was worried they'd get hurt with all the junk that had been stashed up there.

Cori broke that rule. A lot.

She would spend hours up in the attic, sitting in the window seat, her knees pulled up to her chest as she read whatever book she had taken from Bella's room or that she borrowed from Rachel Black.

"The attic?" Cori looked up at him, her eyebrows still creased but he just smiled as he twisted the knob and pushed the door open. She was still skeptical as she stepped through the doorway, the small set of stairs creaking slightly under her weight and when she reached the top she stopped. Charlie flipped the light on and her eyes grew wide.

The dust gone, the boxes gone, the other odds and ends gone. The walls were painted white, one had pictures tacked to the wall – all of Cori's family and friends. Another had some of her favorite movie posters in frames – Grease, Dirty Dancing, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles. Against another wall a bed sat, the sheets light purple and the comforter pastel blue. The pillows that sat on the bed matched the bed spread. The nightstand was white, it matched the dresser on the other side of the room and the desk that sat in the corner by the window and the bookshelves, which were mostly bare, but soon to be filled. The window seat had a new cushion and was stacked with mis-matched throw pillows. And the floor was covered in a tan colored carpet, and in the center of the room lay a purple shag rug.

"You did all this for me?" She turned, blue eyes still wide as she turned to look up at her dad. She had expected that she and Bella would be sharing a room and though she knew it wouldn't have been easy, she was willing to make it work. But she hadn't expected this.

"You're growing up. You and Bella can't share a room forever." He told her and Paul smiled at the two as he slipped past them and put her bags at the foot of her bed. "You need-" He was cut off when she slammed into him, her face tucking in his chest to hide her teary eyes and he chuckled as he patted her back. "Do you like it?" He asked in an awkward mumble.

"I love it." She nodded against his chest. "Thank you." She squeezed him harder and he did the same, leaning down to press a soft kiss to the top of her head.

"Um, thank Paul." He added and the girl pulled back, her brows pinched over teary eyes. "He, uh, helped. Got a few of his friends to help too. Didn't think I'd get it done in time. They were a big help."

She pulled away from her father and turned to the boy, who looked unusually sheepish as he scratched the back of his neck. "Really?"

He shrugged, letting his hand fall to his side. "He needed help. We had the muscle."

"Thank you." She told him, moving towards him and wrapping her arms around him once again.

"You're welcome, Munchkin." He squeezed her then she pulled back, realization falling over her features as she looked up at him.

"This is why you were covered in paint last week. Not because you were painting your room, you were painting my room."

"I couldn't tell you what I was actually doing, that would've ruined the surprise." He ruffled her hair and she shook him off before wrapping her arms around him again.

⚘‎ nova speaks┆i can not express to you just how much i love cori! she's simply my favorite and i can't explain to you why either lol

as you may have noticed, i don't have a set schedule, i'm pretty much just gonna publish chapters when i can

and emmett's gonna show up soon!!

okay bye ❤️