Bella had just gotten out of her car when she spotted Edward, still wearing the clothes from the party; he was standing to the side of her fathers house (Bella had never really considered any place her parents had put her in 'home'), "Hey…" Bella said to Edward as she walked towards him, he looked out of sorts, like something was weighing heavily on his mind.

Edward was silent for a second before (elegantly) jerking his head towards the woods surrounding the Swan residence, and said "Just take a walk with me." Bella was uncertain about the situation and didn't take a step for a few seconds before her love for Edward won out and, as always, she followed him.

They walked in silence for a few minutes before Edward came to a stop in front of a huge tree, he turned around and sighed before saying "We have to leave Forks." Bella was confused and asked him why, to which he replied, "Carlisle's supposed to be ten years older than he looks, and people are starting to notice."

Bella visibly started and could feel the dread closing in, the same dread that had kept her company when Renee had forgotten to pick her up from school, or had forgotten that she did indeed have a daughter and had instead gone out for drinks with her work colleagues, only to come home drunk with only Bella to support her, "When you say 'we'…"

"I mean my family and myself." Bella tried to speak, "Edward, what happened with Jasper…it was nothing…" "You're right, it was nothing. Nothing but what I always expected, and nothing compared to what could have happened. You just don't belong in my world." "I belong with you…" Bella whispered.

"No. You don't."

"I'm coming!" Bella said firmly.

"I don't want you to come."

"You don't…want me?"

"No."

"That changes things, a lot."

"But if it's not too much to ask, can you just promise me something?"

Bella was angry, but more than that, she was devastated.

"Don't do anything reckless. For Charlie's sake. And I'll promise something to you in return. This is the last time you'll see me, I won't come back, and you can go on with your life without any interference from me. It will be like I never existed, I promise."

Bella snapped, "If this is about my soul, take it. I don't want it without you."

"This isn't about your soul, you're just not good for me."

"Not…good…enough…for…you…" Bella somehow managed to force the vile words out of her mouth, how many times in a drunken rage had Renee screamed that Bella wasn't good enough for anyone to love?

"I'm just sorry I let this go on for so long."

Bella tried one last time, "Please…don't…"

"Goodbye." Was all Edward said as he lightly kissed Bella on the forehead, as one might a child, Bella closed her eyes tightly and clenched her fists into her jacket, when she felt him move away she opened her eyes, he was gone, all that remained was a tingling sensation on her forehead from where his icy cold lips had pressed one final kiss.

"Edward…" Said Bella brokenly, there was only one thing her mind could focus on, finding Edward again, so she tried to follow him; muttering his name she walked until the sun was about to set, she didn't truly know anything, only understanding that the person she was looking for wasn't in front of her, she didn't truly understand anything until a slim yet strong hand slipped onto her shoulder and turned her around.

The owner of the hand was a girl who looked to be around Bella's age, she had curly dark brunette hair, not unlike how Bella's was naturally, pale yet not sickly skin and the saddest blue eyes Bella had ever seen, and although Bella didn't really understand it herself, she felt that this girl was family, she was safe and trustworthy.

"You're Bella Swan, right?" the girl asked in a melodic voice, "Come on," She said, "My brothers and I live in a cave nearby, you look like you could use a warm drink." "No!" Bella protested, "No, you don't understand, I, I have to find him, I have to find Edward."

"I understand, but you're in no state to be looking for anyone, come, have a drink and tell me your story, I won't judge. I too know what it's like to feel love for someone…not entirely human." Bella's head snapped up and looked at the strange girl, slowly Bella nodded and allowed the girl to guide her in a different direction.

They walked for a short time before a cave came into sight, it was surrounded with 'Keep Out!' signs and barbed wire fences and gates, the girl steadily led Bella into the cave, the inside of the cave was covered in bolts of bright fabric, there were five areas sectioned off by thin curtains, around the main area were barrels of fire.

In the middle of the room, four lounges surrounded a barrel that had a metal contraption sitting above it, hanging from the contraption was a metal kettle; sitting Bella down on one of the lounges the girl went and grabbed a water jug sitting nearby and filled the kettle before wrapping a dish towel over part of the contraption and swinging the kettle to sit above the fire.

She then began moving around, getting two mugs out and placed a tea bag in each, the kettle started to whistle and, taking it from the contraption using the same towel, she poured water into the two mugs before placing the kettle on a metal plate and removing the bags, she then walked over to Bella and pushed one mug into Bella's shaking hands.

"I've seen you around Forks before, I'm Micah by the way..." The girl, Micah, told Bella, "What happened to you to make you so sad?" Bella was in shock for a couple seconds, here was a girl, who didn't even know Bella, who was concerned over her, genuinely concerned; Bella had only felt this cared for when Angela Weber and her were talking.

When she was with the Cullen's she felt like an intruder, despite her best efforts there were only three Cullen's that Bella was really comfortable around, Edward, Alice and Emmet, and even then, only Emmet seemed to accept her for who she was.

"Edward, he, um, he broke up with me, I don't understand what I did wrong…I did everything he asked of me, I…" Bella was too choked up to continue and instead took a sip of her tea, 'Chamomile…' she recognized.

"I understand," Micah said placing a comforting hand on Bella's knee, "truly I do. Bella, did you know that there are two types of Vampires?" When Bella shook her head, Micah took a sip of tea and continued to talk.

"There are the cold ones, like the Cullen's, and then there are Original Vampires, the type that burn in the sun, melt in holy water and dies via a stake through the heart. They can also fly. I fell in love with an Original, his name was David, I loved him for two weeks. I thought he was all I'd ever need or want, I didn't care what he was, I didn't care what he'd tricked me into becoming. I thought he was my everything."

"The way to become an Original is a different process than the process of becoming a cold one. You have to drink a full Originals blood, turning you into a half Vampire, and then you have to make a kill. I was turned into a halfie during 1987. My mum was the mate of David's head Vampire, Max, a couple of days after I became a halfie I learnt the truth, I was bait to lure my mum into the pack."

"David never loved me, I was a shiny new toy for him to play with, to make fall in love with him. He had this way of making you feel as if he and you were the only ones in whole universe, that he was your universe and you were his. When my younger brother, Sam, and his friends, Alan and Edgar Frog, were turned into halfies so they wouldn't be a threat…I realized that I had to protect my brothers. My mum was already long gone, but I could still protect my brothers."

"I went to a witch, she was dying and wanted to get one back at Max for killing her husband, she gave us a potion that allowed us to become merfolk and cast a spell to allow us and anyone we turn to live in the sun. she gave us three extra bottles of the potion. We stole Max's blood and mixed our own into it. Then we fled into the ocean. For around a decade we lived in the ocean, sleeping in underground caves. That was where we learnt that our first kill doesn't have to be human, I killed and fed off of a shark that tried to harm my brothers. My brothers took the plunge next."

"In 1997 we came out of hiding and moved to Forks. We were confused, but we felt drawn here, then we saw you and Angela Weber. Something you have to understand about Originals is that we can sense pack, even if they're human. You two were both pack, but you were so young. So we decided to let you grow up and then make a decision on your own terms. We don't want to force anyone into this life the way we were, we want you to have a choice. Bella, won't you tell me your story?"

She looked so honest and heartbroken that Bella became choked up with emotion once more, never, not once, in all her life, had anyone actually asked about her version of events, and then be able to listen, Angela had tried to ask but Edward and Alice always ran interference, so Bella did the only thing that made sense, she let it all out.

She told Micah about Renee's neglect and abuse, about the countless men who had touched her when her mother was slouched over at the table drunk and exhausted, she told Micah about moving to Forks and meeting the Cullen's, how she had figured out what they were, she talked about James and sobbed as she spoke about her party that she hadn't wanted in the first place, and finally in a whisper she recalled Edward breaking up with her.

Through it all Micah didn't talk, only listened and held Bella's hand as she squeezed her hand so tight she was afraid she might hurt Micah, finally Micah seemed to hesitate before speaking, "May I give my honest opinion?" When Bella nodded cautiously Micah continued, "Before the Cullen's you were strong, you were fiercely independent and were able to deal with anything that came your way with your head held high. They changed you."

At first Bella wanted to rage at Micah and scream that she was wrong, but the more she thought about it, the more it began to seem that Micah was telling the truth, Alice controlled what she wore, changing her style so much she didn't look like how she used to, and Edward controlled every other part of her life, even telling her what to eat, when she was in phoenix, no matter what had happened, she had been able to live her life the way she wanted to, Bella didn't think she even knew who she was anymore.

"Bella, I think you're old enough to make your own decisions, do you want to join us to become pack, you don't have to, I wont force you into anything you don't want to do." Micah seemed nervous, incredibly so.

For Bella there was only one possible answer, "I don't want to have to carry the weight of the world on my shoulders anymore, so if it's alright, I'd really like to join you and your brothers…" Even though Micah had stated that she wanted Bella to join, Bella was still nervous.

Then Micah smiled a radiant smile and embraced Bella warmly, "Welcome to the family, sister. We'll go talk to Angela tonight and maybe the both of you can turn after she decides?" "Yes!" Bella was happy, finally, finally she wouldn't be alone anymore, finally she would belong.