"Epliogue"

One-shot. Bella POV. AU: Renesmee never happened, Bella was changed though. A century after Bella's change, the Cullen kids return to Forks High School.


A/N: No copyright infringement intended. Stephenie Meyer is the owner of all characters and settings in this story, along with certain quoted lines within the text.


I had been pondering this day for two years. In fact, I could trace my anxiety back to the exact day the plan had been mentioned. Alice had been the one to suggest it, and, I had to admit: I had been intrigued. I was drawn to the idea of revisiting the place where it all happened. The building that held so many beginnings of this new life I had.

At first, I was almost excited. I wanted to see with new eyes what my human sight had missed. Embarrassingly, I wanted to be part of the mysterious group of beautiful strangers sitting alone in the cafeteria. But, most of all, I wanted to feel all the things I had felt back then, in the beginning.

It's not that my feelings for Edward or my family had changed any. The love I had for all of them was still unconditional and everlasting. But I knew that, when I was human, I had felt the most powerful, violent emotions in that place. Everything in my life worth mentioning had happened there. I wanted to reignite the passion that had once taken over the sweet, innocent girl I had been in my former life.

I rode with Edward in his car, and I didn't even really notice when we pulled into the parking lot. All I could do was stare at the sign: Forks High School, it read.

Even though it had been a century, and the materials had undoubtedly been replaced many times, it looked almost exactly as I had remembered it. I didn't have many memories of my years at this school before I was changed, but the feeling in my chest sparked some kind of recognition in me. I realized that I must have been just a nervous as I was now. I could only hope that I wasn't the only one interested in seeing the place - it had been a point of non-conversation between Edward and myself. We had only talked about it once, right when Alice had mentioned it, and neither of us had been very verbose. We both knew that it was an important gesture, and yet neither of us had the words to talk about it.

Edward grabbed my hand and brought me out of my reverie. I turned and smiled at him, and he gloriously returned the smile. Even after all these years, he still loved me. He still wanted me around. Sometime I questioned how ridiculous I must have been in my human life to think that he ever gave up on me during that short time. He had proved to me, time and again, that he was only living for me.

The heads in the parking lot were already beginning to point in our direction because of our cars. The one I had ridden in was fairly average, and, of course, painted silver. Alice had driven the rest of the family in her slightly more ostentatious orange convertible.

I could see the awe in the children's faces as they watched us step out from our cars, coupled up, and walk through the lot towards the front office. They stared, and their gazes followed us all the way to the double doors. I tried to tune them out as well as I could, but my super-sensitive hearing picked up more murmurs than I could control.

"Whoa. Just… Whoa."

"Yeah. I heard their all adopted by the new hospital surgeon. And rich."

"Well, obviously. Look at their rides!"

"And their clothes. Man. They clearly don't shop in Port Angeles."

"Umm, does anyone else feel extremely insignificant right now?"

I could sympathize with the last girl who spoke. Of all the memories I had from this place, the first sight of the Cullens was the most vivid. I remembered what they looked like, what I had thought about them, and even the stories the students around me told. I remembered feeling extremely insignificant.

I let down my shield for a brief second, to mentally whisper the words to Edward, "I remember feeling that way." He turned his head to look at me, and cracked a huge grin right there. Part of his good cheer was the fact that I had let him into my mind for a small moment. The other part had to do with the fact that he was probably remembering exactly what happened on my first day at Forks High.

"Shut up," I said playfully. He nudged me with his elbow while still holding my hand, and I couldn't help but chuckle. "Oh, man. Here we go, I guess."

"Don't worry, love. It'll be a blast."

"Oh, right. I'm sure it will be the highlight of my existence."

"Well, it was mine." That made me turn and catch Edward's gaze for longer than was probably socially acceptable. We realized, after a few seconds, that we had stopped walking. Edward was first to break the connection, only to stare over my shoulder at something. I turned my head to follow his gaze, and saw a teenage boy staring at me. When I turned and looked at him, he blushed; when he noticed that Edward was staring him down, he turned and trotted away.

"Well, if nothing else, this will be a good boost to my self-esteem," I joked.

"I knew you could find something to enjoy."

We caught up to the rest of our family in the office where we were given our schedules and maps of the school. I assumed I had been given this same map on my first day here, long, long ago. Edward and I were in almost all of our classes together, as were Alice and Jasper, and Rosalie and Emmett. The one class I didn't have with Edward, I shared with Alice and Emmett, so at least I would always have someone to talk to.

It seemed that the state of Washington had dropped its four-year PE requirement somewhere along the way, so none of us had to deal with that class. We all headed off to our first classes, ignoring the glances and whispers that followed us through the halls.

* * *

Edward and I made it through the first four classes before lunch without wanting too badly to die of boredom. We passed the time by passing notes and speaking in quick segments, too fast for the humans around us to hear. Once, a boy sitting two rows in front of us turned to throw me a quick, flirtatious smile that Edward intercepted with a glare. I noticed Edward grip the table a little too hard, and I let down my shield to tell him to stop it, and to make sure the right inflection was placed upon my words.

When we finally made it to lunch, he and I walked hand in hand to the cafeteria. This was the room I was most longing to see; it had been where everything began. Edward stopped right in front of the swinging doors, and pulled me into his arms. I must have taken a deep breath, or sighed too loudly, because his next words were right on target.

"Don't be nervous, Bella. You're going to be fine. This time, you'll be at the table with us, and the mystique will be gone." I wasn't sure how to respond, so I just nodded my head into his chest, and he pushed the doors open while keeping one arm around my waste.

It wasn't exactly how I had remembered it, but it was close. We made it over to the lunch line, placed assorted food items on one tray, and paid for the food. We strolled over to the table Rosalie and Emmett occupied, and sat down across from them. Emmett patted my shoulder in a brotherly manner, and Rosalie laughed a bit under her breath.

"Well, nothing's changed, at least," she said.

I began listening to the conversations around us, and was not surprised to learn that they were all about us, as well. One girl's question stuck out above the rest:

"Who are they?" She asked. I turned to look in her general direction. The girl next to her looked towards my family's table, even though she clearly already knew who the first girl was talking about. She giggled when she noticed I was looking at the two of them.

"That's Edward and Emmett Cullen, and Rosalie and Jasper Hale. The two girls with dark hair are Bella and Alice Brandon. They all just moved here with Dr. Cullen and his wife." She was saying this under her breath, but I could still hear every word. "Dr. Cullen is the new, really talented, really attractive doctor at the hospital."

The first girl asked, "Which ones are the Cullens? They don't look related…"

"Oh, they're not," the second girl replied. "Dr. Cullen is really young, in his twenties or early thirties. They're all adopted."

"How do you know all this?"

"Oh, my mom went by the hospital with a few other people, just to let the doctor know that they're welcome here." So, the second girl was the school gossip. That seemed familiar.

"Well, that was really nice of your mom. I hope everyone else is nice to them, too. They don't look like they're used to being included in much." The first girl was kind. She reminded me of a friend I had had when I was human.

The first girl broke through my pleasant thoughts. "I just hope at least one of the guys is single. Helloooo, prom date."

Well. At least nothing had changed.