What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger

This story has been on my mind for a while, so I decided I might write it all down. I hope you all enjoy it, and if you don't, well stop reading it. Sorry, I can't please everyone. Reviews are encouraged and cherished. So here it is, Chapter 1!

Disclamer: I don't own the Twilight saga or its characters, all of that belongs to the one and only, Stephanie Meyer. I just thought it all needed a different outcome.

Chapter 1 – Unloved

I tried to breathe normally. I needed to concentrate, to find a way out of this nightmare.

"Goodbye, Bella," he said in the same quiet, peaceful voice.

"Wait!" I choked out the word, reaching for him, willing my deadened legs to carry me forward.

I thought he was reaching for me, too. But his cold hands locked around my wrists and pinned them to my sides. He leaned down, and pressed his lips very lightly to my forehead for the briefest instant. My eyes closed.

"Take care of yourself," he breathed, cool against my skin.

There was a light, unnatural breeze. My eyes flashed open. The leaves on a small vine maple shuddered with the gentle wind of his passage.

He was gone.

I looked around me, blankly taking in my solitude. I could see my house just through the trees but I knew that if I went back, I would regret it. So I turned, and followed the non-existent path he left into the forest. I knew it was useless, but what else could I do? To give up now would mean to give up my life because it would simply lose all meaning. So I walked. For what I estimated to be hours, I trudged along. I fell more times than I could count but I felt no pain. It wasn't until I came to an unusual clearing with an ancient tree in the centre that I decided to stop. I was exhausted and plonked down on the ground at the base of the tree.

Ironically, the tree represented my heart. Dying, ugly and falling apart. With no one to care for it, the tree had become unruly and unhealthy.

"Unloved," I whispered into the air, looking up at the sky.

Dusk was falling. I knew Charlie would be home by now, no doubt worried. But the truth was I couldn't have gone home even if I wanted to. I was lost, and that fact frightened me a little but I also felt glad. If I was lost, that meant nobody could find me. Right now, I would be content just to curl up and fall asleep forever at the foot of my Heart Tree.

That thought made me laugh aloud, startling a bird from the tree. The laugh echoed through the clearing, sounding out of place in the quiet, almost depressing place I had somehow stumbled upon.

I sat up straighter, and slowly assessed the situation. I looked down at myself and saw I had mud all over my jeans. My jacket was torn at the sleeve and my hands were covered in cuts and forest floor debris. I raised my hands to my hair, and felt what I imagined looked like a birds nest. I plucked leaves and sticks from my curls and ran my fingers through them then deftly pulled it all up into a pony tail. I then moved on to the mess inside my head.

He had left. That much I knew. The sudden pain that ripped through my chest made me gasp and tears started streaming down my face. He was gone, and apparently never coming back. Even though I loved him, he didn't want me. He didn't want me. I felt rage boil deep inside me and I stood up, swiping tears from my face.

"You don't want me!" I screamed at the sky and my hands automatically wrapped around my torso, trying to contain the hurt. "I don't need you. I don't need you!" I repeated to myself, wishing it to be true. I was now shaking from the cold, my fear, and my fury.

I was startled when a squirrel ran into the clearing, ignoring me, and sprinted up to the branches of the old tree. It reminded me of a distant memory, when I was about seven years old.

I was visiting Charlie for two weeks in the school holidays. Charlie had been called into work so I had stayed with Grandma Swan for the day. We were sitting outside in her garden, watching the squirrels chase each other up and down the trees bordering her yard. There was a mother and her baby, up on a high limb of the maple tree right in front of us. As I watched, the baby fell and hit the ground with a nasty crunch. I had screamed, and tried to run over but Grandma had held me back.

"Watch now, Isabella." She had told me. And so I had looked on as the mother came scurrying down the tree, sniffed the dead child, and then ran away.

"What? Why wasn't she sad?" I was so confused. The mother should have been squirrel-crying or something, mourning the loss of her child.

"Isabella, when accidents happen you must to learn to move on. Mark my words, one day you'll lose somebody and you'll think you can't go on, that your life is over. But what doesn't kill you makes you stronger." Grandma remarked, and then went back to her seat to finish her knitting.

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I looked up at my Heart Tree and saw the squirrel looking down at me. And I decided I wouldn't let Edward's departure cripple me. I would grow and learn from it, and eventually move on. Of course it would probably take me quite a while to get over him, but I would do it. I would manage. And so I walked forward, patted my tree and promised somehow I would come back. I turned and started walking in the direction I thought I had come.

I heard a whispering rustle from a bush at the edge of the clearing and I spun around, squinting to see what had made the noise. I searched my pockets and found my keys, with a miniature LED torch dangling off them. I clicked the button and pointed the light at the tree line. That was when I saw it.

In the bushes stood a wolf. But it was unlike any wolf I had ever seen. It stood as tall as a horse, covered in russet fur splattered with black fleck. Its eyes were a deep brown, almost black and so intelligent. It stood stock still, meeting my gaze. Our eyes locked and a weird sensation shivered through my body. It took a step into the clearing and I was paralysed, not daring to move for fear of provoking it.

I was utterly shocked when it stopped right in front of me and sniffed my face. I shuddering breath I didn't realise I had been holding left my body and I shut my eyes. When I opened them the wolf stood on the other side of the tree, and I could have sworn it was waiting for me. I knew I had lost my mind when it whined and jerked it's head, as if beckoning me. Throwing caution to the wind, I followed it.

The wolf would bound forward then stop and turn towards me, waiting for me to catch up. Then it would continue forward with me clumsily stumbling after it. There was no room for rational thoughts in my head as I trailed after this strange animal. All I could do was hope that I wasn't crazy, and that this wolf was trying to help me.

We continued like this for about an hour and a half, and I honestly thought I was about to pass out. My eyelids were drooping and I fell over every two minutes. I was trying to climb over a fallen tree when I slipped and landed in the mud. Laying there on my stomach was quite relaxing, so I just stayed there with my eyes shut, no strength to move. There was a snuffling close to my head, and I felt the wolf's tongue lick the side of my face. This is it, I thought, it's going to eat me alive while I lay here on the forest floor. But the wolf whined, then I heard its paws thump across the forest floor as it trotted away from me. I actually felt quite hurt that even it didn't want me.

I must have lost consciousness for some time, because the next thing I knew, strong arms were lifting me from the mud. I opened my eyes and looked up, seeing a bronze-skinned, black-haired man carrying me.

"Hey Bells, you okay?" said the man and I felt shock jolt through my body. My head was fuzzy and my vision slightly blurry but aside from that I felt fine. Physically at least.

"Jake?" I asked in disbelief, my voice weak. I saw a flash of white that had to be his smile.

"Who else?" he laughed.

"But your so… Jake your buff!" I pointed out. A laugh rumbled through his chest and I smiled too, but then his face turned serious.

"Bella, what were you doing in the forest?" he questioned, looking worryingly at me.

"I was lost," was all I said. He gave me a look, the look that meant he knew that wasn't the whole story.

"We'll talk about this later. At the moment, I think you'd better go in and deal with Charlie." Jacob warned me. I looked around and saw we were out the side of my house. He gently placed my feet on the ground, supporting my weight while I found my balance. "Are you sure you're okay? Do we need to go to the hospital?"

"I'm fine!" I assured him, smiling to prove it. He looked at me disbelievingly then shrugged.

"I'll be back tomorrow morning to check on you." He told me as he turned to walk away.

"No need!" I answered and he just laughed and shook his head as he got on his motor bike. I then realised that all the lights were out, which was odd because I had assumed that he would be up waiting for me to get home. I reached up and got the key from the ledge above the door, unlocked the door and went inside.

A/N – So that's the end of the first chapter, hope you all enjoyed it! Please review and tell me what you think!

Beta Hunt – I currently don't have a beta, and I've actually never had one before. If anyone's willing and able, please let me know.

Love Kaitlyn

xoxo