A/N: The Cullens never returned to Forks and Bella moved on. I'll leave the specifics up to you.

Thomas Swan stood over his mother's grave in the tiny cemetery that housed the former citizens of Forks, Washington. He had returned to the dreary town for the first time in years. Today, his mother would have turned forty. He stared at the gold letters engraved in white stone and fought back a wave of despair.

Isabella Marie Swan

1987-2024

Loving and Loved

The words were simple, just like she had been. No undue fuss, no bells and whistles.

When he came home from a weekend trip with friends, the ambulance outside their small house had been no surprise; neither had the police cars. Somehow he had known his mother was dead. He had ignored the police officer's words and watched as her lifeless body was wheeled out in a black bag. Morbid curiosity compelled him to open the zipper and look at her. She looked the same as she always had; pale, slightly too thin with dark shadows beneath her eyes. Only the dark red V-shaped mark under her jaw betrayed that she wasn't just asleep. On July first 2024 Bella Swan hung herself, leaving her eighteen year old son an orphan.

The sound of footsteps made Tom turn around and look behind him. Seven People were approaching him; or rather they were approaching his mother's grave. They seemed to see right through him. One of the women (she had caramel colored hair and reminded Tom of his mother for some reason.) sighed softly.

"Oh Bella."

Tom raised an eyebrow "Did you know her?" At the sound of his voice, seven pairs of odd yellow eyes turned his way.

A blond man answered. "Yes, she was a… dear friend."

"Oh?" Tom had never known his mother to have friends.

"Who was she to you?" The first woman asked.

"She was my mother." Obviously this was news to them for they looked at Tom like he as an alien. "You must not have been very close if you didn't know she had a son." Tom turned back towards the headstone and ignored them.

"What happened to her?" A small dark haired girl asked. There was no way she had known his mother, she looked barely any older than him.

Impatient and suspicious, Tom glared at them and snapped. "Who the hell are you people and what are you doing here?"

"We knew her years ago and we only just heard about…" The little one awkwardly pointed at the grave.

Tom took a closer look at them. "Bullshit." He said calmly. "You don't look nearly old enough and if by some miracle you are telling the truth, how come she never told me about you?" Silence was his answer.

He shook his head and turned away again. The lilies he bought were slightly rumpled but he didn't think she'd mind. "Happy Birthday, Mom." He placed them beneath the engraving and turned to leave. Two steps later a cold hand gripped his upper arm tightly. Tom looked straight into the wide eyes. A memory, distant and unclear pulled at his consciousness. Many years ago his mother had told him a story; about a beautiful boy with gold eyes and cold skin.

"Edward. You're Edward." The boy (for he was not old enough to be called a man) nodded.

"How do you know that?" One of the others asked.

Tom kept his eyes on Edward and shrugged. "She told me bedtime stories when I was a kid. I thought she was just making stuff up. But looking at you guys…" The little one was Alice, he knew and the pretty motherly woman was Esme. Tom shook his head to clear the fog in his brain and the chilly September air caused him to shiver. "I don't know what you want." He sighed, tired for some reason. "My mother's been dead for years and I… I don't know what you want me to tell you."

"How did she die?"

"She killed herself."

Horrified gasps turned into questions. "Why?"

With a bitter sounding chuckle Tom answered. "My mother was unhappy for as long as I can remember. She never laughed and only smiled for my benefit. I don't know why either, but she was… It was like she was already dead inside. I thought for a while that it might have been because of my father but I asked her and she said that he didn't have anything to do with it."

"Did you know him?"

"Nope. She never mentioned him and I never really felt the need to know. She was a good mother, just not a happy woman. I like to think she's better off now wherever she might be. At any rate, she can't have been much more miserable."

He left then and no one tried to stop him. Whoever those people were, it wasn't his business. Tom quickened his pace, he had a girlfriend to get back to.