New story. (: I'm pretty proud of it, and it's really different than anything I've ever written [third person, non-past tense] but I'm really happy with how it turned out.
So please let me know what you think and if it's worth posting more.

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, obviously.


Chapter One - It Starts With An End.

In the town of Forks, Washington sunshine is a rare occurrence. One that people look forward too, a joyful event. So when the town woke up that June morning, they were shocked to find sunshine pouring in through their windows. On all days, it was disheartening that it would be today that the sun would decide to finally make an appearance.

Because no one in Forks felt joy today.

Especially not at the white two-story white house on the outskirt of town, where three people were leaving the house in the direction of their car.

First is Charlie Swan. He is dressed in a suit, one that he obviously that he hadn't worn in many years. The jacket didn't reach around his middle anymore, so he had left the buttons undone. His tie was too long and too skinny for the current style. But no one would notice today anyway.

Behind him was his wife, Renee Swan. Her face a mask of careful indifference, her pale face whiter than usual, her cheeks sunken in. Her dress was black and hung from her figure unflattering, her hair pulled back into a tight bun, casting a harsh glow to her features.

Finally was Bella Swan. She trails behind her parents, her arms crossed over her chest. She's wearing the only black dress she owns, a sundress that shows off more than she really feels comfortable with. Her friend had bought the dress for her last summer, though she had never worn until today. She had a white sweater on her small shoulders that she had tossed on to avoid too much disapproval from her mother. Her hair was loose and curly around her shoulders-she'd been too tired to do anything with it.

The three of them file into the dark blue sedan in their normal places. Charlie in the drivers seat, Renee in the passengers, and Bella in the backseat, left side behind her father.

Bella looks at the empty seat beside her in the backseat, as she buckles her seat belt. She stares at the seat, waiting for...something. The explosion of emotion, maybe. The realization that she was gone, possibly. But instead, there is nothing. Just the hollow emptiness in her stomach that had been present since she had heard the news.

The ride was silent, everyone alone in their own thoughts.

As soon as they arrived at the funeral, Bella fled from the car, trying to ignore the people, all dressed in black or some variation of, filing into the church to say their good byes.

She flees into the bathroom, managing miraclously to stay undected, and locked the door behind her, staring at her reflection in the mirror. The light the bathroom is yellow, which in turn made her pale skin a sickish yellow. Her brown eyes stare back at her, emotionless, just like she feels.

She shakes her head and turns the cold water on, splashing it onto her face. She shuts off the water and presses her hands against the edge of the counter, leaning against them, breathing in and out as the water dripped off her face.

You can do this. She thinks.

With a little confidence, she dries her face off and heads back into the church.

The service is long, and includes her mother's tearful eulogy, along with her father's gruff loss for words. Bella doesn't get up to say a few words around her sister. Her parents had asked her, but she just...she can't. So she sits in the second pew, staring at the long black casket, Tanya's flashy picture sitting on the top of it. She is waiting. Waiting for those emotions that everyone around her was feeling as they dab at their tears with tissues and shot sympathetic glances at her.

"The poor child," she can hear them murmuring to each other.

She was supposed to cry, right? It wasn't that tears wouldn't come, just that she simply felt no need for the tears. She just felt numb when it came to her sister's death. She didn't feel sad, she didn't feel angry. She felt nothing.

Bella had never lost anyone before, so maybe this was just the way she grieved, the way death affected her. She didn't know. She hoped that that was what was happening, and that she wasn't as heartless as she was afraid she was.

The service ends, and everyone files out of the pews to say their goodbyes to Tanya-laying flowers on the casket, touching it as they murmured a goodbye-before coming over to hug Renee and pat Charlie's back as they offer their condolences. People come up to Bella too. Some hugging, some patting, all saying the same thing with the same look in their eye. No one said anything about her dry eyes, instead choosing to comment that it must still be a shock to her. She sees a lot of people she knows, but she realizes that most of them aren't her friends-they are Tanya. There's Rosalie Hale, Tanya's best friend who's eyes are smudged with black from her mascara running. She hugs Bella like they are friends or somethings, and it just makes Bella feel worse about everything. Bella's boyfriend, Mike Newton, comes over and hugs her, and tells her it'll be okay, and she just nods, unsure of what else to say. Mike was a friend of Tanya's too. And Bella has a feeling as she watches him talking to everyone and glancing at Tanya's picture, that he was only dating her to get close to her sister.

When she finally has a free moment-and Mike and Rosalie find someone else to talk to-she wanders up to the casket cautiously, staring at the framed picture. She knows that picture well. Last summer on vacation Renee had dressed both her girl's in purple dresses and had a photographer take their pictures. The same picture was hanging up in their house, along with a similar shot of herself, and a picture of the two of them together, their arms around each other.

"...I can't believe he came. If he hadn't..."

"...it's all his fault."

The words come a few feet away, from Mrs. Rowlin and Ms. Amy-the Swan's neighbors-who are staring disapprovingly towards Bella. She watches them, confused at why they were staring at her with such a look, before she turns to the right and sees the reason.

Standing beside her, in a black suit with a green tie, is none other than Edward Cullen. He seems unaware of the whispers around him, as he stared at the picture of Tanya. The wounds are still fresh on him, his broken arm in a sling, the gruesome scar on his forehead.

"..the gull of that kid. I can't believe it..."

The gull? No, it wasn't gull. It was bravery. For the first time Bella looks at Edward Cullen and realizes that he really had been in love with her older sister. Coming today, despite the disapproval and blame surrounding him, to say goodbye to her was proof of that. And while everyone was blaming him, Bella only feels admiration.

Her parents, however, don't feel the same. Renee walks forward then, coming over to stand in front of the boy. "What are you doing here?" she all but shrieks at him. "You...you are the reason that she's not-"

Edward just bowed his head, looking away as she shrieked at him.

Before Renee could go any further though, Charlie steps forward and touches her arm, shaking his head at her. "No, Renee," he murmurs gently, but when he looks up at the boy, his eyes are dark, his expression bordering anger.

"No!" Renee says, pulling away from Charlie's grasp. "No. You can't be here. Get out. Just get out!" Now she is shrieking. Every single person in the church is staring at her, eyes wide and mouths open.

"Mom!" Bella gasps, unbelieving that her mother would act in such away to someone who had loved Tanya so much. Or to anyone. She walks in front of Renee, her eyes hard and her mouth set stubbornly. "Mom, you can't do that. You can't-"

"It's fine," Edward cuts in. "I'll go." He casts one last look in at the casket, his eyes dark with grief. "I"m sorry for your loss," he murmurs politely in the direction of the Swan's before leaving the church.

"I can't believe you guys," Bella says, a lump in her throat. She didn't know Edward well at all, other than he was Tanya's boyfriend, and she had loved him. And he loved her. And that was all that matters to her. For the first time tears begin to roll down her cheeks. Maybe they are just from anger, but they are tears just the same. She turns to watch Edward walk out of the church, as Renee turns to Charlie from comfort, ignoring her daughter's disappointment, and everyone else in the church shifts uncomfortably, unsure of what to do next.

It only takes a second to make up her mind, and then she's running out the door after him. She stops at the sidewalk, looking for him. He's pretty far down the street, heading in the direction of home.

"Edward!" Wait!" She calls after him, jogging the best she can in the heels that Renee forced into that morning.

He stops, turning around, surprise in his green eyes when he realizes who it is. "Bella?"

"I'm sorry," she says, stopping in front of him, breathing hard. "I'm sorry. They had no reason to be so rude to you."

He smiles at her soberly. "Yes, they did, Bella. If I hadn't taken her that day, she'd still be here. I know I shouldn't have even come today, but I had to say goodbye to her." His bright eyes shine with tears.

"I don't believe that," she argues. While she had been running her brown bangs had fallen into her face, and they hang in front of her eyes. "She would have gone without you. She was determined to go that concert. And even if you guys hadn't gone...maybe it was just her time, Edward. It might have happened anyway. I think that when it's your time, it's your time, and it doesn't matter who you're with when it happens." Her chest is rising and falling quickly, still out of breath from running to catch up with him.

He stares at her, her words sinking in. Everyone at the church had looked at him with accusing eyes, knowing that he was the last person who had seen Tanya alive. They all looked at him like they thought he could have-he should have-saved her. And here was Bella, her sister no less, the only person showing him any type of kindness, outside of his own family. He didn't know what to make of it. He didn't know what to feel. But her words... he wasn't sure he felt the same. But maybe. Maybe they did make sense.

"Maybe, I don't know," he tells honestly.

She nods, biting her bottom lip. "I understand," she says softly. "I just...I wanted you to know. I don't blame you. And I'm sorry for my parents."

He reaches out and brushed her bangs out of her eyes, smiling softly at his girlfriend's little sister. "Thank you, Bella." He's about to walk away, to go home, but he stops, and turns back to her. "She loved you, you know. A lot."

She turns back to him at the sound of his voice, her brown eyes shiny with tears. Her bottom lip is trembling, and she bites it again to keep from crying. "She loved you too." Having someone, someone that truly knew Tanya, tell her that her sister really did love her, it meant so much to her.

They stare at each other, thinking the same things.

"We'll be okay," Edward says finally. "We'll both be okay."

A few tears escape from her eyes, trailing down her cheeks. "Okay," she says, in a quiet voice. She tries to smile at him, but she can't do it without more tears falling.

"You should go back inside, Bella. They'll be worried about you," He tells her gently.

She nods, but before she does she moves closer to him, and tosses her thin arms around him. He's caught off guard for a second, and then moves to put his arms around her as well. They both drink in the comfort the other one provides. She's not sure why she did it. People had been offering her comfort since Tanya had died three days ago but she had pushed them all away. Why she wants it now, she doesn't understand.

Bella pulls away first, her face wet with tears. She says nothing as she turns away from him, walking back towards the church.

He stood and watched her as she walked away before heading home himself.

After the funeral, Charlie and Renee go to the burial, but Bella walks home to the two story house by herself. Renee had tried to insist that Bella go, but Charlie, seeing the look on his daughter's face, had told her to go home, that it was okay.

Bella takes the long way home, letting the sunshine soak into her pale skin. She feels a pang for guilt for not going, but the mental images of the burial are bad enough, she doesn't think she could handle the real ones as well.

She gets to the house and goes inside, over to the fridge to get a drink of water. She leans against the fridge and unscrews the bottle, replaying her conversation with Edward.

She really loved you, you know. A lot.

Tears start running down her cheeks again, and she reaches up to wipe them away. She glances down at her fingers afterwards, and sees that they are black with the mascara she had used that morning.

She wipes her fingers on her dress, and sets the bottle of water down on the dinning room table. She walks up the stairs, staring at the two doors that sit in front of her. One is hers, one is Tanya's. Tanya had the bigger room. They had argued about it for years, especially when they are younger.

For reasons that even Bella doesn't understand, she opens the door to to Tanya's room instead of her owns, and stands in the doorway, staring at the room.

It was so Tanya, painted bright orange, with a yellow and green bedspread. Everything was bright and electric, just like Tanya had been. It was cluttered, and full of stuff. The bookshelves were stacked with books and CD's and pictures. Her dresser was full of nail polish bottles and hair things and perfume.

The room smells like Tanya, the raspberry perfume that she had sprayed on every morning.

Bella ventures a few steps into the room, glancing at the desk. There's her school notebooks, and her diary that Bella hadn't know she was still writing in.

It finally hits Bella then.

Tanya is really gone. She isn't going to come back.

"She's dead," Bella whispers aloud, and her stomach clenches and rolls, and the world is spinning around her. She goes into the bathroom attached to Tanya's room, and throws up the little bit in her stomach, before laying on the floor, the cold tile pressing against her exposed skin.

She lays there for a while, in shock, her mind finally starting to process everything that has happened. After a while she manages to get up to her feet, and she walks numbly into her sister's room again. She lays down on the bed, inhaling the raspberry scent.

When they had been younger, and Bella had been afraid, or worried about something, she had always gone into Tanya's room. Without a word Tanya would pull the comforter up and Bella would crawl into bed beside her. Tanya's not here to open the comforter to her, but she crawls under them anyway, and cries until she falls asleep. I wish I was numb again is her last thought before sleep claims her.