A/N All Twilight character's belong to Stephenie Meyer

Full Circle Alternate Ending One

Picks up after Chapter 37

Bella

Knock, knock, knock.

The first thing that popped into my head as I walked toward the front door was a line from Poe's The Raven: "suddenly there came a tapping, as of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door."

`'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door - Only this, and nothing more." Odd choice of poetry but it worked.

I went to the front door and peered through the glass. A man was standing there, he shifted uncomfortably, from one foot to the other, as if his business with me made him uncomfortable. The breeze blew his perfectly coiffed blonde hair, disheveling it. He fumbled with his suit jacket, dark grey in color and overall depressing in cut and color. His dark green and grey striped tie was equally somber. I could see the faint outline of his eyelashes behind the grey tint of the over sized aviators he wore. This man was drenched in grey like a rain cloud personified.

I slowly opened the door and said, "Hello."

The man cleared his throat and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry to disturb you ma'am, I'm looking for Isabella Black."

"Bella," I said automatically. "I'm Bella, what can I do for you?"

The man cleared his throat uncomfortably. "My name is Jones O'Connor, I'm a friend of Embry's; well actually I'm his agent-"

"Is everything okay? Did something happen to Embry?" My heart went from beating a steady thump, thump…thump, thump…thump, thump, to thump-thump-thump in a matter of seconds.

Jones removed his sunglasses and looked at me. Just below the dark orbs of color, I saw it, that familiar look that says, "I've lost someone who was important to me."

"Oh god," I moaned. Uncontrollably tears welled up in my eyes, spilled over my lashes and down my cheeks. "Oh god not again." I felt my knees give out; my body pitched forward crashing into the door and Jones.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I'm so very sorry."

I shook my head in disbelief. No, it wasn't supposed to end this way. I – we – he – no! My mind sputtered, rejecting the idea that not only had Jake been taken from me, but Embry as well. It had to be some kind of mistake, there was no way that Embry was dead too.

"What happened?" I demanded.

Jones looked at me, confused. "You didn't hear about it on the news?" he asked.

Now I was confused. I glanced down at my watch. It was a little after eleven in the morning. Then it hit me, Embry's flight home from Massachusetts. He was supposed to be flying home this morning. How could it be on the news already, he wasn't supposed to leave until eleven thirty.

"There must be some mistake," I told Jones. "Embry told me his flight didn't leave until eleven thirty."

Jones shook his head no. "He took the nine-forty-five flight instead. He called me and asked if there was anything I could do to get him on an earlier flight home. He said that he missed you and Avery and that he'd been gone too long. He said he couldn't wait to come home so you guys could finish up here and start over up in Boston. He said he thought it would make you happy. Everything he did, he did for you. Even before you came back into his life, he never stopped loving you. You changed him, made him whole again. I'm so very sorry to have to be standing here telling you this."

I sobbed, it was nothing more than an involuntary reflex. I couldn't feel anything, nothing at all. My arms and heart and head, they were all numb. I lifted my heavy arm and touched the side of my face, felt my skin slick with the tracks of my heartbroken tears. Satisfied I was still in one piece my arm fell heavily to my side. "That's my life," I said numbly. "I'm cursed, everyone I care about winds up leaving me."

Jones said nothing. He didn't ask what I meant, who else died. I guess my previous suffering didn't really matter to him. He reached into his wallet and pulled out a creamy ivory business card. He handed it to me, tucking it into the crooks of my fingers.

"If you feel like you can't plan the services, give me a call and my office will take care of it." He paused for a moment, sunglass in hand. He looked away, his eyes darting to the bike laying haphazardly in the yard, then he fixed his gaze on me.

"I feel guilty," he said softly. "I got someone else bumped from the nine-forty-five flight so he could get back here sooner. I clinched his deal with death." Jones looked down at his loafers for a moment, letting that piece of information sink in. "Sorry," he said, shame tinting his voice. "You didn't need to hear that."

"It's not your fault," I said automatically. It wasn't. He didn't know the plane was going to crash, no one could have known; it's just one of those things that happen.

"Thank you. Well," he cleared his throat and shoved his hands into his pants pockets, keys jingling melodically, "now that I've delivered that piece of earth shattering news, I'll be going. Please call my office if you need anything, anything at all."

I nodded briefly as Jones turned and walked back to his sleek silver Porsche. The engine purred to life and the German crafted car rolled down the driveway and up the street. I watched it go wondering to myself, what now.

What came next was so much different from what came after Jake's death. I kept my head on straight, left the booze alone, kept up the appearance that I was dealing.

It was all a cleverly crafted façade composed of fake smiles and hollow laughter. We, my parents and siblings as well as Embry's coaches and teammates as well as their families, buried him next to his mom in a cemetery just outside of Boston.

I did not cry, I did not weep. I did not. After the funeral, Avery and I flew back to Florida. It was hard trying to pick a house to live in. Jake haunted the Jacksonville house, Embry haunted the Saint Augustine house. In the end we went back to Jacksonville. Those wounds had scabbed over and healed a long time ago whereas Embry's wounds were still new, freshly festering wounds the bled the brightest red.

Three days after the funeral I got a call from a man named Edward Masen. He had a clipped northern accent as if he'd jumped aboard the first plane out of Chicago. He was, as he slowly explained, Embry's lawyer.

"Okay," I said bluntly, "Why the hell are you calling me?" Pain had turned me bitter. Pain was a mason who helped me build impenetrable walls around my heart. No one, not no way, not no how, was every getting into it again.

"Right before the, ahem, accident, Mr. Call updated his will to include you and your son."

I sighed and agreed to meet with Mr. Cullen the following week. Embry left his house in Boston to me and Avery as well as a college fun in Avery's name. Everything else – his cars, the condo, anything that could help someone who needed it went to charity, the American Diabetes Association for his mom, the American Cancer Society for Jake, and the rest went to different NFL charities.

With the keys to the Boston house in hand I sat at the kitchen table staring at them, wondering what to do now. Avery, who'd be sullen since the accident, came and sat next to me. "Mommy," he said sadly. "When is Embry coming over?"

"Monster," I said softly, "You know he's not coming back, remember, we talked about this."

"I know," he said sullenly. "I just miss him." Tears leaked down his face. I felt my heart breaking for him. First Jake, now Embry; I didn't know how much more he could take. Hell, I didn't know how much more I could take.

"You know what?"

"What?" Avery asked.

"I think we need to go see your grandparents. I think some time with them would do us good. What do you think?"

Avery shrugged and laid his head on the table. "I don't care," he said.

I rubbed his back at loss what to say or do to make it okay for him. "I'll be right back," I said rising from the table.

Crossing the kitchen, I grabbed the phone and began making calls. I called a mover to come and take all our stuff to storage, then I called the airline and arranged for two one-way tickets to Washington State. At the moment, I had no plans to ever come back here again. Florida was a cursed place; or perhaps I was the one who was cursed. Everyone I ever loved, everyone I ever cared about came here and died. Phil and Renee, Jake and now Embry. I had to get the hell out of here before anyone else died.

We left Jacksonville early in the morning the next day, before the sun had a chance to rise. The plane cut through the pre-dawn hours with a fierce determination. As we landed in Seattle, I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

I felt whole again. I was home. Sue was waiting for us at the terminal. She smiled sadly and held her arms open, reaching for me. I rushed toward her, Avery trailing behind me. Sue wrapped one arm around me and one around Avery.

"Welcome back home," she said sadly. "Come on, let's go get your things."

We collected our dog and our one suitcase. The ride into Forks was quiet, I sat in the front seat staring out the window wondering what I would do next. I had a house in Boston that I didn't know if I wanted, a house in Jacksonville that was for sale and a beach house that I didn't want to see just yet.

I continued to stare out the window as the green flashed by, tears leaking down my face. In the back seat, Avery sniffled in his sleep. I could feel the darkness threatening to take back over. It hovered just at the edge of my vision, rolling and billowing, searching around the edge of my psyche looking for the weakest part, that one crack that it could penetrate.

It was going to be hard this time. I was on my own. Yes, I had Sue and Charlie, but it wasn't the same. I reached into my purse searching for a tissue when my fingers closed over my cell phone. I pulled it out, not remembering if I shut it off during the flight. I pressed the power button. The screen came to life. Low Battery it flashed then shut off.

Somehow, my car charger made it into my purse. I pulled it out, shoved it into the cigarette lighter on the dash of Sue's smart like Chevy and plugged the phone in, powering it up once more.

Three smiling faces greeted me and I blinked back tears. I quickly searched for a background that wasn't Embry or Jake and something that wasn't happy. I found a plain black background and changed it. The cell phone chimed to life, "

You're not alone, together we stand, I'll be by your side, you know I'll take your hand. When it gets cold and it feels like the end, there's no place to go, you know I won't give in, no I won't give in. Keep holding on."

Sue looked around for the source of the song. "What is that?" she asked.

"It's my phone," I mumbled. "I have a voicemail."

"Oh," she said softly. "Who's it from?"

I shrugged. "I don't know for sure, but I think Embry." I stared at the phone in my hands. My heart was racing. It had to be from him. It was the only logical explanation. I sighed. It was probably best to get this over and done with. I dialed the voicemail and pressed the phone to my ear.

"Hey baby it's me. I just wanted to call you real quick and tell you that I love you and that I can't wait to get home to see you. I called Jones, he got me on an earlier flight, so don't worry about picking me up, I'll just catch a cab or whatever." He paused, a tinny voice rang out in the background. "Okay, well they're boarding now so I better run." He paused again, and with his voice full of conviction said, "I love you so much. I hope you know that. I love you and Avery so much. I can't wait to see you guys. Okay, for real this time I'm going. Love you." A click followed by empty silence hung on the line for a few seconds, then the feminine robot voice instructed me to press this key to delete the message, that key to replay it or this other key to hear more options. I dropped the phone into my lap, bite back a sob, and furiously blinked back the swell of tears threatening to spill over. A small cry escaped my pressed lips, it was a sound more strangled and tormented than any human should be able to utter.

Sue slowed the car as she approached the exit ramp. With one hand on the steering wheel and one on my hand, she headed out of Port Angeles toward Forks. I watched as the metropolitan area gave way to more green then finally the small town that was my home for two years.

She smiled sadly, as she pulled into the driveway and glanced at me. "Full circle," she murmured and I knew exactly what she meant.

I got this idea while walking one morning...Mayday Parade was on mp3 player...their song The Silence was what inspired it...so I ran home (yes ran..lol) and started writing it...but after re-reading it was a little too Danielle Steel's Message From Nam (every guy the chick in that book loves winds up dying, it was depressing). So...therefor it became an alternate ending...Reviews are welcome and appreciated... : )

"Keep Holding On " by Avril Lavigne (cell phone, alert ring tone)