SUMMARY: This story is an AU version of New Moon. The pivotal moments that led up to the disastrous birthday party and the aftermath that followed still took place. However, in this story Bella never jumped. She wasn't in Forks long enough for that to take place. After Jacob informed her that they could no longer be friends, Bella once again heartbroken fled Forks and went to Jacksonville to live with her mother. Unfortunately Bella is forced to return, thus bringing about the beginning of this story which picks up with Bella's homecoming.

- Rated M for language, lemons in later chapters, and violence -

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Twilight and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

Preface

When I got the call about the passing of Billy Black it was hard to believe. No one had seen it coming and everyone in La Push was devastated. Charlie was certainly no exception. He took it particularly hard; considering Billy was his only friend after Harry's untimely death. I knew I had to cut my time with Renee short and return to Forks to help Charlie out as best I could.

I was even more concerned about Jacob; Charlie had filled me in on his erratic behavior as of late. Ditching school, disappearing for days at a time, no one even knew if he'd show up for the funeral. Sam tried his best to keep Jacob in line but it was a battle he would never win. I tried to call Jacob a few times, but could never get a hold of him. I knew he was angry at me for going to Jacksonville, but I had hoped that with time he'd get over his misguided infatuation with me. After the Cullen's left, it was clear that he expected me to fall into his arms and confess my undying love for him, but that was the last thing on my mind, especially with him. He knew we could never be anything more than friends. He just kept pushing the idea of an 'us' on me, and it only succeeded in pushing me farther away. I wasn't ready, nor would I ever be ready for something like that with him.

I had a lot of healing to do. I needed to get away from the constant reminder of everything I had lost. I needed time and space to think, to somehow dull the pain; the gaping hole in my chest that I was left with in Edwards wake. I was never one to believe in true love to begin with, even though that's what I thought Edward and I had at the time. An all consuming love that would stand the test of time and never die. I thought we were soul mates. How wrong I had been. I was too caught up in him to see the clear picture. I had learned the hard way that sometimes love just isn't enough; at least not the kind of love I was accustomed to. Not all relationships are healthy; I had to remind myself that people fall in and out of love all of the time. My own parents can attest to that. They were so madly in love that they were married right after high school, and had me a year later. Just as quickly as they had fallen in love, the romance crumbled ending in divorce and leaving me with a screwed up view on anything involving relationships.

My life was far from perfect, in fact you could say that I booked a one way ticket to crazy town. Jacob was my best friend and I assumed he'd understand what I was going through and support me but he became someone else; angry and bitter only adding to the list of things I had to worry about. As much as I wanted to be angry at Jacob, I knew he needed a friend.

Who knew love and friendship could be so difficult?

I was still grasping on to a tiny shred of hope that Jacob and I could mend our friendship. As for any ideas of love, well, I had given up on finding my Romeo for good and tried to focus on getting back to a somewhat normal life, or as close to normal as someone like me can get when thrust into the secret world of the supernatural and forced to keep that knowledge to myself. I knew that I couldn't avoid Forks forever but, I was scared of what would happen when I went back.

I said my goodbyes to Renee and Phil and headed to the airport. Little did I know that love had other ideas in store for me, but not the fairytale romance that every little girl dreams of. With the constant downpour of bad luck in my lap, that would have been too easy. However, not only did love find me; it completely changed my whole opinion on the matter. I should have known what was to come though. Fate has never been kind to me. The heartbreak is still a constant reminder of that fact.

Stupid silly little Bella and her tender heart. Gets me in trouble every time.

While I was resigned to the fact that fate continues to make a mockery of my life, I knew that I had to keep moving forward; just like I always do. Forks irrevocably changed my life once before; in the most unimaginable way and this time was no exception. Had I been blessed with the gift of foresight I could have foreseen that my life was in store for many more surprises along the way.

Author's Note: This chapter is a little short, so please forgive me. This is my first attempt at writing a fan fiction, so cut me some slack please. As the story gets going though the chapters are more than likely to get longer. Anyway with that being said, keep in mind that Bella has no knowledge that werewolves even exist at this point in time. That will come later.