Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.
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Ten Years Ago...
Bella looked around her sweet sixteen with only mild interest as she palmed the now warm soda can. The pavilion was ducked out and decorated in the color scheme of peach and yellow, her two least favorite colors but as always, the party and Bella's life was left in the hands of her cold, unfeeling mother Renee. Bella sat in the corner as she attempted to stay out of her mothers hawk-like line of vision and to also avoid communication with her so-called friends and family.
"Isabella!" Bella cringed as Renee found her and yanked her yellow dress covered body up roughly by her arm. "No guy will want a girl who isn't even smart enough to mingle at her own damn party." Renee sneered.
"Yes mother." Bella recited the all too familiar phrase and was about to walk towards the crowd when Renee yanked her back.
"Don't be rude either." Renee snapped and thrust Bella towards a group of guys. "Go spend time with you're fiancee."
Her fiancee, Jacob Black, was her age and was the same level of enthused about their upcoming nuptials as she was. An arranged marriage in this day and age? Well, in Forks and with mothers like Renee Swan and Sarah Black it was definitely possible. Sarah Black was the mother Bella wished she had, she worried about what would happen to Jacob after he moved out of their small home and thought the idea of Bella being her daughter-in-law was the greatest thing in the world. Renee thought Bella was too stupid to even dream of getting into a college and assumed the only way she would get her plain, homely daughter out of her home was to marry her off. Jacob himself hadn't spoken about against or for the engagement, in fact more often than not he was silent and cold. That wasn't like he used to be around her. They used to be best friends, would play together and walk in the woods until dawn, at least until they both hit fourteen and Renee had basically told them they were to be married at eighteen. Two years left, Bella felt the world closing in on her as she stalked to stand by Jacob. He was cute enough, bordering hot but he would definitely develop into handsome when he got older. Bella's father Charlie was a bit against the idea of marriage, but he liked Jacob and thought it would be best for his only child. Obviously taking a hint from his gesturing mother, Jacob tensely pulled Bella onto the crowded dance floor surrounded by their classmates. He, as usual didn't say anything as they moved stiffly to the music.
"Jacob." Bella squeaked out and the sound of her voice obviously spooked Jacob enough to stop dancing and look down at her. "Are we really getting married?"
"Most likely." He deadpanned.
"Do you want to?" She asked, spooking him again.
"It's not exactly up to me, or you for that matter." He pointed out and Bella felt her body shaking. "Are you alright?"
Normally the words would have made Bella think the person asking was concern for her but Jacob rarely showed emotion towards her, more like mild interest but she shook her head fiercely.
"I need to go home." She stammered out before moving away from the tall, tan teenager and all but running to the exit. Unfortunately the pavilion where her party was taking place was at the Forks Lodge, a good drive and great walk from town. Jacob walked out after her with the car keys to his 1986 Rabbit in his hand. Without warning he walked her to the small but fast car and Bella got in the passenger side. He drove in silence as usual, not so much as sparring her a side glance as he drove through the small town and pulled up in front of Bella's home.
"Maybe," He started unexpectedly before Bella could exit the car. "I-we could do something together, so that when we do get married it won't be so weird." He offered.
Weird? He thought it would be weird to get married to one another. It wouldn't be weird it would be fucking terrifying.
"Okay." Bella recited quietly before exiting the car and marching through her front door.
She shed her dress the second she shut her bedroom door and kicked off the uncomfortable shoes her mother also picked out for her. Happy to be in her long sleep shirt and shorts, Bella sat on her bed with a book in her hands. Reading and writing were her escape from reality. Though her mother thought she was stupid, Bella was actually top of her class and could get into college in a heartbeat. Bella thought Renee didn't want Bella to go to college because she never did. Charlie wanted Bella to be more than a wife to somebody but was hopelessly in love with his frigid wife and hung on to every word she said. It was dark outside when Bella heard her parents come home for the evening. At least Charlie would be home for the evening, Renee would most likely be leaving for the bar soon after an argument with Charlie. Sure enough, when Bella exited the shower dressed for bed Renee was gone and Bella walked down to the living room to see Charlie watching game high lights with a beer.
"Bells." He got her attention. "Come here a moment." He patted the couch next to him, with a raised brow Bella sat next to her father.
"What?" She asked hesitantly.
"Jacob is a good boy," Where the hell was this headed? "He's skilled, smart and will take good care of you."
"I know." Bella squeaked out, Charlie gave her a sympathetic smile and patted her hand in a comforting way.
"You still have two years to go Bells, make them last." He advised and Bella walked back up the stairs as she felt another panic attack on the horizon. By the time she closed her bedroom door she couldn't breath and had tears streaming down her face. Her whole life down the drain and she was powerless to help herself. She should, and could and with a fierce and rough wipe of her face Bella decided she would. Moving quietly, Bella changed from her pajamas into a pair of jeans and a tee shirt. She stuffed her suitcase with clothes and such before she checked the cosmetic bag she kept in her drawer for how much money she had collected from babysitting and other innocent jobs. She was on her bed, writing a note to each her father, Billy and Sarah Black, and Jacob for another hour before she left the note to her father on the bathroom sink. Bella tossed the suitcase and her pack on the ground beneath her window before she donned her jacket and eased from her window and down the tree to the ground. She looked up at the house and called home all her life and when a grimace of guilt, walked down the dark street.
Knocking on Jared's apartment door urgently Bella was praying her friend was home or awake. Jared Night was a mutual friend of Bella and Jacob who (along with Sam Uley and Paul Stone) acted like protective big brothers to them both.
Sleepy eyed and upset at being awoken Jared opened the door. "What?" He snapped then took in Bella's panicky state. "What's wrong?"
"Can you take me to the bus station?" She pleaded.
"Bus station? In Port Angeles?" He questioned, Bella nodded. "Come inside and tell me what's wrong."
"I can't I need to leave before I change my mind." She told him, Jared looked helpless.
"Why are you leaving anyway?" He asked.
"Because I can't stay here and get married to someone who doesn't even like me." She explained. "I can't breath here Jared."
"Just come inside and calm down for a moment, think about what you're doing." Jared offered, Bella inhaled and glared at her friend.
"Jared," She started in a firm voice she never used. "If you don't take me to the station, I will hitch a ride at the truck stop."
The look in her eyes obviously told Jared that Bella wasn't bluffing and with a sore look on his face he dressed himself before grabbing the keys to his car and driving her out of Forks, the only home she'd ever known.
One Week Later...
Bella took in the Alien environment of New York City's meat packing district with frightened eyes as she carried her suitcase into the large, pot scented floor where she would be staying. In Forks, Jared had driven Bella to the Port Angeles bus station while trying to coax her into telling him where she was going. She smiled kindly at her friend before handing him the notes to give to Jacob and Jacob's parents, Jared gave her a tight hug and handed her some cash out of his wallet before he told her to call him or somebody to let them know she was alive. Armed with access to anywhere in the country and not a lot of cash, Bella had chosen someone she figured she could blend in with the crowd. On her first afternoon in New York she had been offered a million places to stay, pimps and drug dealers who were obviously picking up on her 'new girl' smell. Years of living with her policeman father taught Bella better and while she was eating in an open market she noticed cheap rooms for rent posting on the bulletin board. They man who met her outside the address given was an old rocket named Tommy Frank and he showed her into what looked like a indoor hobo junction. The rooms, some actual room and some looked more like make shift forts, all surrounded the common area and kitchen. Two bathrooms for the whole floor and with the money Bella had she was confined to an small room that had a sheet instead of a door. As she unpacked her suitcase Bella looked up when she heard someone say 'Knock Knock.'
"Hi." Greeted the pixie haired girl who had a multitude of colorful stands in her hair and pale skin. "What's your name?"
"Bella." Bella replied.
"I'm Alice, where are you from?" She asked kindly sitting on Bella's small bed.
"Seattle." A good enough lie because telling a complete stranger you were from a small town was a giant no-no in the survival guide.
"Cool, well, I'm going to let you get settled and i'll be in the living room if you want to continue our short conversation." Alice announced and fluttered out of Bella's room.
Sure, the place smelled like weed and Bella was getting a contact buzz from just standing there but there was no pressure, no Renee, and no Jacob. After she finished unpacking and took advantage of the bathroom, fresh faced Bella walked into the crowded living room. Some of her 'roommates' were stringing guitars, some were singing, most were smoking.
"Bella!" Alice said happily as she unwrapped herself from the gentleman arms who sat behind her. "Guys this is Bella." She introduced.
"Hi." Bella squeaked out and someone handed her a joint. "No thank you."
"You straight?" The guy asked with blood shot eyes.
"No, I just need to keep my head clear for a while." Bella explained.
"Good for you," Alice praised. "That is Jesse, Skyler, Jael, Teddy, Scooter, Ryder, Emmett, and this is Jasper, my boyfriend." Normally, the distinction would seem a bit bitchy but Alice said is more like she was beyond proud of her mate.
"Hungry?" Emmett asked before handing her a plate of spring rolls. "Small, filling, and easy to make."
"Thanks." Bella took two spring rolls and sat next to Ryder.
Her first few weeks in New York was hectic, Alice and Jasper showed her around nearly everywhere and told her she needed two things to survive hear, an all over subway pass and a fake id. While shopping for club worthy clothes in the second hand store Bella had gotten a job at the store. She had found a way to discreetly finish high school while working and hopefully her parents couldn't track her down from the records. Currently, Bella was sitting on a couch in the living room with Ryder between her legs as Bella braided the girls hair. She was happy that Alice told her earlier that she didn't look the same as she had when she arrived. Since her arrival, Bella had cut her hair so it skimmed her shoulders in soft ringlets and gotten a nose stud. Currently though, Bella was sporting a massive bruise on the side of her face from being attacked on her way home from work. She had been a block from the factory when she was roughly pushed into the side of a building and hands roughly ransacked her pockets before Bella didn't carry a purse. When her attacker realized she didn't have anything of value, he began grabbing at the buckle of her belt roughly. Bella screamed so loud that luckily Emmett had heard from the steps of the building and scared the guy off. In Forks, Bella would have broken down right on the street and cried until someone had to stop her. In the big apple, Bella had let Emmett right her onto her feet and and walk her shaky form into the floor they called home. He wanted to call the police and take Bella to the hospital but Bella told him not to. Through that encounter Bella had gotten to meet Alice's dad Carlisle who was a prominent doctor in Manhattan. Bella also met Alice's brother Edward, to whom she took an immediate liking.
Now...
Bella awoken to the usual morning ritual, the sounds of cars honking and sirens and the smell of her automatic coffee maker turning on. She kicked back the covers and planted her feet firmly on the carpeted bedroom of her Soho apartment. Bella did her morning yoga and treadmill time she showered and brushed her teeth before she looked at the date on her calendar and groaned. Four days until her birthday, her twenty sixth birthday. Ten years, ten long and productive years away from Forks. She called and kept in contact as she had promised, granted she only started after she turned eighteen and legally her parents or the authorities couldn't charge her with truancy or running away. As far as she knew in the ten years since she left, her parents had divorced and Jared had gotten married. Since Jared was the only real friend she had there who spoke her to (without telling her to 'get her ass back home') she really didn't know anything else. Bella had gotten cards and phone calls from her father and she sent him gifts, a gun cleaning kit, a television and such. Bella also sent money and supplies to the schools in Forks and La Push. Now, where did she get this money you ask. Well, after a brief stint in a community college, a short story written by Bella was picked up by a local magazine and she was paid two hundred dollars for it. Inspired by the feedback, Bella had published four books in one year. She also was the co-editor and chief of a magazine and website she had started with Alice called The Broke Person's Guide or BPG. It was ridiculously successful and Bella loved the fact she could that and keep up her writing career. At the reminder it was her birthday soon and ten years had passed since her sweet sixteen Bella had thought of what happened to Jacob. Jared and Charlie wouldn't tell her much other than he joined the marine when he was seventeen and still living at La Push.
As the thought of Jacob popped into her mind Bella felt a shiver go through her. Since she had left Forks, instead of dreaming about the few friends she had left behind or dreaming of her parents angry reactions to her cowardly departure, Bella was constantly plagued by dreams of her former 'fiancee'. Even when she and Edward had been together the dreams hadn't let up, if anything they got worse and it was extremely awkward to dream about one guy while sleeping next to another. Jacob himself hadn't showed any interest in her. Charlie never told her that Jacob had asked about her. No friend request on Myspace back then or Facebook now, he didn't even follow the blog on Twitter like most people from Forks did when they found out Bella created it. The dreams were most likely from a sub conscience part of Bella that wondered what may have happened had she stayed and married Jacob. Edward had been Bella's first real relationship, you know, the one where you find out what you do and do not like in the opposite (or same) sex. Bella discovered she likes nearly everything about Edward but there were no real fireworks or tingling feelings. For Pete's sack she wrote romance novels about the things she wished she had experienced in her relationships. About guys who were tall ,tan, and handsome but she settled with pale, average height, and if anything Edward was more pretty than handsome.
Dressing in a pair of black slacks and charcoal colored top Bella put her coffee in a to-go cup and grabbed her purse. She took the subway to the office, always opting for the cheaper way of transportation and managed not to get groped as she made her way through the morning rush and into the building. Alice was there the second she stepped off the elevator.
"So I was thinking Japanese for your birthday." Was her greeting and Bella rolled her eyes as she walked through the cubicles and to her office.
"And this is where I say 'I don't want any party or anything for my birthday' and you say 'Fine' and then when I try to sneak out of the office in four day, you force me into a town car and do what you want anyway." Bella summarized, Alice smiled. Bella honestly hated her birthday and often preoccupied herself with the back-to-school issue of the magazine. Last year they had taken her to the Hamptons and they were bombarded with teens trying to have one last run about before heading back to school. The year before that it was Vegas which ended in Bella and Alice having to bail Ryder out of jail for drunkenly stealing a policeman's radio and reporting that 'An Abnormally Large Penis had been spotted' and requested 'All female cops under thirty to report to his area immediately.'
"Well, you're birthday is important." Alice pointed out. "And we can invite Edward!"
Bella groaned. She and Edward dated for two years during and after college. Unfortunately thought, when Edward proposed to Bella that they move in together Bella gently broke up the relationship. They still spoke as friends (Edward being a music section consultant for the magazine) but Alice wanted them together. Emmett would most likely be their too with his wife Rosalie who was a model while Emmet himself was a chef, an odd couple combo but it was too obvious they were in love. Alice was engaged to Jasper who was now a stock trader who moonlighted as a jazz pianist at some of the local cafe's listed in the BPG. It was a great magazine frequently purchased by high school and college age people.
"Edward is out of the state luckily." Bella said and entered her brightly colored office before shutting the door. She stayed in her office during the morning hours looking over articles and what not and had been about to head out for lunch when her receptionist buzzed in saying Bella had an urgent call.
"This is Bella Swan." She greeted picking up the phone in her office.
"Ms. Swan my name is Andrew Bigume. I'm a doctor at Forks General Hospital." The male voice told her.
"What is it?" Bella asked, her heart in her throat.
"Well, sometimes last night your father and a few members of the police force raided an apparent methamphetamine lab a few miles outside of town and the lab exploded.
The doctor explained which only worsened Bella's panic.
"Is my father all right?" She asked even though she was already typing and clicking away on a travel website.
"As far as we can tell he will be, but the blast itself put him into a small coma and when that happens it's hospital policy to contact the next-of-kin." Okay, his mono toned voice was really beginning to piss her off.
"Thank you for calling me and if my father wakes up will you tell him I'm on my way." She said and hung up the phone at her ticket information printed out.
"Alice!" Bella called through the crowded office until the dark haired woman popped up. "I'm heading out of town for a few days, I have my cell but please only call me with an emergency."
"Sure, what's up?" Alice asked as watched Bella scamper through the office floor.
"My dad's in the hospital." Bella explained. "I'm going to make sure he's okay."
"Do you need someone to go with you?" Alice asked instantly worried, Bella shook her head.
"No just handle things here for me okay." Bella told her and Alice nodded in agreement.
"Well call when you get there to let someone know you arrived."
"Got it." Bella said and exited the work place.
After a brief return to her apartment to hold her mail and pack a bag, Bella hailed a taxi to the airport. She had luckily not picked a early flight because she knew security could and did take an hour. For the following two hours Bella sat in the terminal trying to think of anything but the possibility her father could be seriously injured or worse, could die. Sure the vacant voiced doctor said Charlie was fine but unless you were diagnosed with a grave ailment doctors would tell you that you would live until you were a hundred years old. After a grueling six hour flight sandwiched between an apparent alcoholic woman and her chest gazing grandson Bella's flight landed in Seattle, Washington. She hopped a bus to take her to Port Angeles during which she luckily didn't have to sit next to anyone and when the bus stopped she realized how close she was to the very place she thought she never had to return to. After acquiring a rental car Bella sat the drivers seat with her head resting against the steering wheel trying not to have a panic attack. It really shouldn't have been that big of a deal to go home. It wasn't like the world shifted when she left. One of Bella's first romance books was about an misunderstood heiress who ran away from her home and money when her wretched mother ordered her to marry an heir she had never met simply because his family and her's would join their wealth and companies together. That definitely wasn't Bella's situation so why was she so afraid? This wasn't about her she told herself and began driving towards the smallest town in the state of Washington.
(Authors Note: Hey! This is a new story but that doesn't mean I'm taking a break from my other, please give my your Reviews!)