What If…
Edward had to leave?
Bella moved to Florida, met some hot surfer dude, and had a daughter (who took after the father; tan, hand-eye coordinated, and really cool)?
Bella missed the rain, moved to the Olympic Peninsula, and left hot surfer dude behind?
everything changed?
Chapter 1: Moving
"Mom, you like this kind of weather?" seventeen-year-old Alice asked her mother as the plane landed in Seattle.
"Oh, come on, Ally," replied forty-eight-year-old Bella. "I promise, you get used to it."
"Why couldn't I just stay with Dad?" Alice whined. She pulled out her pony-tail and let her blonde hair drape down around her face. Her crystal blue eyes were full of sadness.
"Look, sweetie, Mansfield is going to be a great place to live." Bella was practically begging as Alice continued to complain about moving to a small, rainy town. "I don't want to live in a big city anymore. A small town and plenty of rain."
"You grew up in Phoenix, Mom."
"Yeah, but I lived in Forks for the rest of my life."
"And, yeah, you loved it. That doesn't mean I will. I take after Dad. And why would you love someplace like this?" Bella was silent. She didn't like having to recall the memories from her short-lived life in Forks. Edward, and Alice, and the rest of the Cullens. A family that Bella had almost been part of. How she had grown accustomed to the patter of the rain, the sloshing through puddles, but moving back to that same town would rip her heart out.
"Wow," gasped Bella as she pulled into the driveway of her new house. It was just like Charlie's. Well, different, but somehow it reminded her of his house. Alice groaned. This was not someplace that she would grow to love, like her mother. She grabbed her bags and trudged into the depressing house. Bella smiled. This was exactly what she wanted.
Bella went from room to room, sighing and smiling in each one. They seemed new, definitely new, but each one gave her a sense of familiarity. It was definitely a house she could grow to love. She hung up pictures and moved around furniture, getting more and more excited as she worked. The kitchen was perfect; plenty of counter space, a modern stove, a microwave, and absolutely everything else she would need.
The upstairs was even better than the first floor. Alice was on her bed with headphones on and a pillow over her face. She didn't even hear as Bella climbed up the stairs and pushed open all the squeaky doors.
Her bedroom was last. She opened the door, which was thankfully silent, and let another sigh escape. It was perfect, everything she could have wished for. A window was open on the wall opposite her, and she rushed to shut it. She'd never been fond of windows since the end.
There were still a few days before school began at the Mansfield High School. Bella used it to try to make Alice enjoy the town.
"Come on, Ally," Bella suggested. "Let's go downtown."
"Is there a downtown?" Alice snapped back.
"I don't know, but we're going to go look around," Bella said, in a tone that made Alice, reluctantly, get up.
"This town is stupid," Alice stated. "There's a junky school, which doesn't even look like a school, and there are a couple of shops. What about the mall? Condominiums? Buildings? What's wrong with these people?" Bella sighed. There was nothing she could say, nothing she could do, to make her daughter think otherwise.
They pulled into the parking lot of the local grocery store. "Don't complain," pleaded Bella. "Just help me with the grocery shopping."
"Whatever," mumbled Alice angrily. She slammed her door and stomped off in the direction of the town grocery store. Bella shook her head sadly and followed.
It took less than an hour to look around town. At one point, Bella drove out of town limits and started following an overgrown trail until Alice started shrieking wildly.
Bella was reassuring Alice that school would be fantastic, and she would have plenty of friends. Alice was even listening to Bella recap her first days of school in Forks. They were beginning to have an actual conversation that didn't involve screaming, whining, or moaning, when suddenly a speeding car whizzed passed her. Bella was sure she had seen a shiny, silver Volvo, but when she looked again it was gone.
"Ally! Sweetie, how was your first day?" Bella asked nervously. Of course she wanted to hear, but she didn't want to listen if it would involve more whining and moaning.
Alice thought for a moment, then admitted, "It was actually… pretty good. Like, I'm obviously popular- nobody's nearly as pretty as I am. Well, nobody cool anyway. But, well, there are these five beautiful freaks. But I'm talking major freaks. They are total social rejects. Nobody talks to them. Their names are the Cullens. And their first names are even worse- so old-fashioned! Rosalie, Emmet, Jasper- and Edward!" Alice giggled.
Suddenly Bella couldn't breathe. The room was spinning. She closed her eyes and tried to sit down in one of the kitchen chairs. Alice was still talking, but Bella couldn't hear her. It seemed as if they were a million miles away. This can't be happening! thought Bella.
"Mom? MOM!" Bella blinked her eyes and tried to listen to her daughter. "Are you okay?" asked Alice. Bella realized that she was holding her stomach and gasping for air. She nodded and smiled, letting her arms drop, and suddenly feeling the pain. Alice looked at her mother worriedly one last time, then grabbed her backpack and went up to her room.
Alice came downstairs in tight jeans and a tee-shirt. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a pony-tail to better show-off her face. She was wearing a lot of make-up and looked like a huge tramp. Bella sighed, and put a bowl of cereal on the table for her daughter. Alice thanked her, but only ate two or three bites, then rushed out the door. After she was gone, Bella cleaned up the kitchen, then the living room, her room, Alice's room, and the bathroom, but since they had just moved in, nothing really needed to be cleaned. Bella tried to occupy herself, and not think about Edward, but there was only so much she could do. By noon, she had nothing to do, so she surrendered to herself and curled up in a ball and tried to breathe.
The rest of the week was terrible, almost painful. Everyday, Alice would come home and gossip about school, mostly the Cullens, and Bella would listen in pain.
Bella knew it had returned, and remember it all so clearly. The period of time during their relationship when Edward had left, and took a piece of her with him. She'd suffered from it for five years after Edward had left. The hole in her chest was back.
For Alice, Bella had to look strong, but when she was alone, she would curl up in a ball and try hard to breathe.
"Okay, the Cullens are kinda creepy," said Alice one day when she got home from school. "They are totally always looking at me, especially Edward. And it's not like he seems to like me, or hate me. It just looks like he's confused or frustrated. And Alice Cullen, oh my gawd, don't get me started on her. She looks at me like she's expecting something or something. Like she's really excited that something's going to hate me. Rosalie seems pleased by me, kind of weird, and Emmet- it just seems like he's got his own personality. Jasper- well, I don't really know what he thinks. But he's weird. They're all weird! They are totally annoying!" Each word Alice spoke stabbed Bella like a knife. She stood in the next room, trying not to listen. It was obvious they knew, but how could they not? Alice (Cullen) would've seen her coming anyway. Bella could only think of one thing to do, and she didn't want to do it. She knew, even if she spoke to Edward, there wasn't anything she could say to get him to take her back. There was a difference now; she was forty-eight, and he was forever seventeen.