a/n: Something new. I know, friends, what you're thinking. WORK ON GRACE NOTE ALREADY! And I am. It's just gonna take a while.

In the meantime, I have always been a huge fan of NM AUs. They are my abs fave, yet I've never attempted one. So here's something I started a long time ago and just recently got re-excited about. A little different style than my usual. Hope you like.

The song to kick this one off is You Are a Runner and I Am My Father's Son by Wolf Parade

Chapter 1

Bella Swan always hated spring break. She tried not to dwell on the fact as she yanked her wheeled suitcase up the front porch steps of her father's house. Perhaps she packed too many books, but she planned to enjoy the visit, and books were an essential part of that plan.

She knocked on the front door and waited, listening to the familiar sounds of her father, Charlie, hoisting himself off the couch and walking to answer. The door pulled open with a whine from the rusty hinge and the scrape of swollen wood against the doorframe. She held her breath.

"Bella!" Charlie said, pushing the screen door open. "I thought you were coming in tomorrow!" He reached to take the suitcase off her hands. His curly brown hair was more salt than pepper these days, probably more than he'd like, but Charlie wasn't really a Just for Men kind of guy.

"I got an earlier flight," she replied. She stomped her feet on the doormat and followed him inside.

He wheeled her suitcase over to stand upright by the coat hook. "I thought you wanted me to pick you up."

She shrugged. "I thought it would be good to have a rental since the truck's busted."

"Well, I'm glad you're here." He smiled, the edges of his eyes crinkling. "It's been too long."

To Bella, this was a matter of perspective.

She smiled in return anyway, nodding along to appease him. It had been a year, eleven months, and five days. And as she stepped further into the house, just far enough to peer into the living room, she wondered if maybe it had been too soon.

Because Charlie hadn't moved a thing – not the couch, not the table. There was no new TV, no new pictures, it was all exactly the same.

A voice whispered to her, easing out of the wood siding. It will be as if I never existed.

What a beautiful lie. But everything about him had been beautiful.

Her breath turned into a sigh and she forced a smile. Her stomach growled. "Have you eaten?" she asked.

"Had a sandwich about an hour ago. Are you hungry? We could go into town and get something—"

"No. It's okay." She wasn't interested in running into anyone she knew just yet. She didn't feel like making small talk in a small town. She'd save that strength for tomorrow, after an attempt at a good night's sleep. "I'll just make myself something. Supposing you have food."

Charlie hmphed. "Of course I have food."

"Well, we'll see about that," Bella muttered, turning for the kitchen and the sure-to-be-bare refrigerator. In his defense, she did find food: two eggs, some butter, a block of cheddar, a fuzzy tomato, and three cans left from a six-pack of Ranier.

Grilled cheese it is.

She pulled out the cheese and the butter and went to hunt up a frying pan. Cabinet beside the oven – just where it had been nearly two years before. Bella sighed again.

"How's your first year going?" Charlie asked, leaning against the doorframe.

"No complaints," she replied, enjoying the small distraction of working with her hands. Glad she had something to do. She rinsed off in the sink and grabbed the half loaf of bread from the corner.

"Have you settled on a major?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I'm still undecided. I've signed up for poetry this semester and a drawing class. Plus my three general ed courses. I just haven't a clue what I want to do yet."

There were a lot more choices ahead of her that she once didn't even consider. Of all the side effects she had experienced from losing him, she wondered if this was really the worst. The unknown. How long would she go on, floundering through life, never quite sure she belonged?

Because she had been so certain. Had a whole life planned. How could she ever trust that feeling again?

She didn't blame him, really. It was smart. Thoughtful, even, when she considered it all. They didn't really make much sense as a couple. A little time and perspective allowed her to see that now. As much as the songs on the radio tell you otherwise, sometimes love just isn't enough. Leaving her was a logical choice.

Unfortunately, pain doesn't much listen to logic.

"Well, I've got the game paused. When you've got your food…" Charlie said. Bella nodded as she started the burner. He stood up straight for a moment. "Just holler if you need anything."

"Will do."

Bella listened to the sizzle of the bread and butter, echoing the light pattering of rain that picked up outside. She thought it would be easier than this – leading up to the trip she found that a lot of the memories had faded a bit. There was a little haze around the portion of her mind that held all the time she had spent in Forks – like an isolation room to keep the diseased from the healthy. But being there was just too strong a reminder to keep it at bay. It was all waking up, coming back into crisp focus. Even as she closed her eyes, the smell of the house haunted her, trying desperately to tell her of a love long lost. It didn't have to try very hard.

He had always been so quiet; he could have been standing just behind her right then and she wouldn't have known.

She held her breath for a moment, abandoning the spatula to the countertop beside her. She turned her head the slightest bit and opened her eyes.

Just the old kitchen table and two empty chairs.

I am an idiot.

For coming here.

Too soon.

Ever.

With a huff, she pulled down a paper plate and scooped up the sandwich. She crossed to the table just as Charlie called out to her.

"Bella! Come look at this!" he shouted.

She took the plate with her.

Charlie stood in the living room, in front of the couch, with the remote in his hand. He pointed to the TV screen where a newscaster was frozen mid-sentence. The little bar at the bottom of the screen told her he had paused the broadcast.

"Yeah, I've seen those before, Dad," she said. "A lot of people have cable boxes that do that."

"What?" he asked. "No. Not the damn box." He pushed a button and the scene rewound at high speed – it ran backwards through a cut away of a darkened sidewalk and two figures. One picked himself up, blurring into the arms of the other. But she couldn't make out the faces. When it reached the beginning of the report, the newscaster was back on, and Charlie hit play.

"Watch," he said.

"…interrupt this broadcast to bring you a special report. This is a Channel 9 exclusive. Police are currently seeking information regarding a murder that happened late last night on Mercer Island, and we now bring you exclusive footage of that attack. We do caution that this video is violent, so be aware, and if you have any small children present, you might want to send them out of the room for a moment."

The screen cut to the scene that had flashed through previously, only this time in its correct speed, going the right way. The recording was in black and white, and it was a little grainy, but it was clear enough to make out the two men walking toward each other slowly. They stood in a short deserted alleyway across an empty street. One dim lamp hung above them, swaying a bit in the wind. The first man was very tall with dark hair that fell just past a pale, angular chin. The second was faced away from the camera, she couldn't make out his features. He was blond, with shorter hair that seemed to have a little curl to it.

A chill ran down Bella's neck.

The two men made a half circle before the taller one finally broke the tense showdown. He sprung forward, faster than the eye, or the camera for that matter, could really follow. The two of them became a blur of motion that made her wonder if Charlie had hit the fast-forward by accident. But there was no bar at the bottom of the screen, so she didn't ask.

Not to mention she had seen something similar once or twice before.

The fight didn't last very long – not many things going at that speed could. Something fell out of the movement, and it rolled away to settle beside the wall. The motion stopped; the tall man dropped, limp and lifeless.

The shorter man bent down to pick up the remains of the body. He even walked over to scoop up what had escaped the fight – an unmistakable round shape. The man pulled it up by the hair, and for a brief second, his profile was clear.

Bella wanted to scream.

And then the short man disappeared into the dark, along with the body. The newscaster came back on the screen. Her voice was quieter now, almost hushed.

"Wow," she said. "Uh…anyone with any information regarding this grisly crime is urged to call the Washington State Police hotline at…" Her voice became nothing more than white noise.

"Can you believe that?" Charlie said.

Yes. Yes, I can.

"How on earth did they move so fast? I wonder if the tape was doctored. It wouldn't surprise me if it all ended up some kind of silly trick cooked up by some college kids. They seem to be able to do so much with computers these days." Charlie was good at believing that the world was safe. That bad things were limited to overgrown wolves, motorcycles, and the occasional drug addict. By tomorrow, he would be convinced of the idea that it was just a prank, and he would forget all about the inhumanity he had just seen.

But Bella knew better. She knew because in the brief time she allowed herself to fall completely in love, it happened to be with someone who was just as fast, just as strong, just as pale. She knew firsthand exactly what his kind were capable of. She had once nearly lost her life because of it.

And it didn't hurt that she recognized the killer.

Charlie shook his head and flipped through the commercials to get back to the game. She turned, numb and shaking a little bit. Not enough that Charlie would notice. The grilled cheese went cold, but she was no longer hungry. She walked the plate over to the trashcan and tossed it, sandwich and all.

No. Bella never did like spring break. Not even a little bit.

Fanfic is calling me back. I have to admit I've been quite addicted as of late. Anyone got any recs for me? ('Specially of the NM AU variety…?) I've almost read everything, I fear.

Anyhow. Thoughts? Questions? Paper airplanes?