Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight. I just like to play with them ;)
"I don't want you."
The words echoed in her head. It had only been 3 hours since he had said that he no longer wanted her. 3 long, miserable hours. After he had left her in the woods she crumpled to the wet, soggy ground, not noticing the mud beneath her as she lie her cheek to the cold, wet ground. Was she going to pass out? … No, luck just wasn't with her today. It would be too easy to faint, go unconsciously into the dark, forgetting the pain for at least a little while. The night began to surround her, and she felt something snap inside of her. How could he do this? He told her he loved her, he saved her life more than once! He promised never to leave her. He broke her heart. He vowed to be by her side until she grew old and died, but he decided to break that promise. How could he expect her to go on without him? Confusion crowded her mind, along with pain, anger and hurt.
As the evening began to close in around her she heard Charlie's cruiser pull up to the house. Was she really that close? It seemed forever ago that she walked into the woods with Edward, and she could have sworn that they had gone deeper on the trail.
"Bella? …. Bella?"
She heard Charlie call her name as he always did as he walked into the house. Usually she was there to answer him. He must have noticed her absence and the lack of a note or message immediately, because she heard him more clearly now, probably from the front porch.
"Bella!"
She groaned as she rolled to her knees, using a fallen tree trunk next to her to help herself up.
"Bella!!"
"I'm right here, dad! I'm coming!" Geeze, you would have thought she were a 5 year old that had wondered off from the house, instead of the 18 year old adult that she was.
She could see the relief on Charlie's face as she came down the trail and crossed to the house.
"Hey, Bells, you had me worried for a bit…" He stopped when he saw her tear streaked face. "What happened? Are you okay? Are you hurt?" His eyes scanned her head to toe, looking for any sign of blood, bruises, any kind of injury at all. He searched her eyes when he saw no sign of outwardly physical harm, and that's where he saw it. All the hurt that she was feeling, he could read it in her eyes.
" Isabella, what happened? What did he do to you?" Charlie reached out to grab her in a hug, a very unusual fatherly act for him, but it was exactly what she needed. She told him what had happened, and it was right then that he decided what had to be done.
"Bella, I think you should move to Florida with your mom and Phil. You need somewhere fresh to start over, no bad memories."
She put up a weak fight, not wanting to leave him all alone again, but she really did want to leave. It wasn't Florida that she wanted to go to, though. She wanted to go where no one knew her, where no one would give her a second glance. Somewhere where she could just hide and not have to pretend to get over her love, somewhere she wouldn't have to pretend that her heart wasn't broken into a million pieces. She didn't want a fresh start, she wanted an end.
She was slowly packing her bags in her room, trying to tune out Charlie's conversation on the phone with Renee. Grabbling her books and knick knacks off of the book case she saw her scrapbook. Slowly opening the cover she knew she didn't have to go any further. The photos of her and Edward were gone. She looked in her c.d. player and found the disc he had made her gone, too. Bella slumped to the floor, her back against the bed. Not only did he decide to break her heart into a million little pieces, he had also taken it upon himself to pick out a few of those pieces and take them with him, so her heart would forever be changed, never able to put itself back together again.
Charlie dropped her off in front of the airport, apologizing for the hundredth time for not being able to stay and wait for her flight with her. It had something to do with the recent animal attacks that have been happening. With tear filled eyes, they hugged, and he promised to come visit as soon as he could.
Bella made her way past the ticket counters and through security to gate C14, where her flight to Fort Lauderdale would be leaving in… crap. Delayed. Her flight, which was supposed to be leaving in an hour and 10 minutes is now leaving in 3 hours. Great. She decided to go get something to eat while she waits and slowly walked down towards the food court, glancing at the other gates, seeing where everyone else is traveling to this afternoon. She stops when she sees a flight to Pisa, Italy. She knew that Pisa was near Volterra, and she remembered everything that Edward had told her about that place, and those that lived there. Suddenly it all comes together in her head. She knew what she was going to do. She remembered Edwards saying that he would not, could not live without her. So why should he expect her to do the same?
Bella walked past the food court towards the ticket counter. She was very glad that she had at least a little saved for college in her bank account when she traded her ticket to Fort Lauderdale in for a one way ticket to Pisa, Italy and saw the price difference. The balance that was left to get the ticket almost depleted her whole savings. She wouldn't really be needing that money for college now, though.
With her new ticket in hand she went back to the food court to grab some food and wait for her plane to arrive. She had 2 ½ hours to figure what to put in her letter to Charlie and Renee. She isn't sure if she should tell them the truth, or leave it vague.
She is just finishing it up when the first boarding call for her flight is called. She folds the letter and puts it in her carry on bag. She figures if she mails it once she gets to Italy, by the time they get it, it will be too late for them to do anything to stop her. She hands the ticket agent her boarding pass, and slowly makes her way down the ramp towards the plane.
