Summary: They were best friends who used to do everything together, years later they've lost contact and don't even like to think of each other. When they run into each other again, will they be able to mend what they once had or is it too late?

AN: Hi, I'm back with a little something, something. This had been bugging me for a while and has been written for a while now but I couldn't bring myself to post it. It didn't feel right, until recently, so I decided to just grow a pair and post it.

Leave Yourself Behind

BPOV

I thought back to all those times we both had a shot to say what was on our mind, how nothing was said. We chose the path we went down and it tore us apart. It started off one day at a time, we began speaking less and less, then when we all left for college, days turned into weeks, then months, and finally, we just stopped altogether. There was no more contact between us, no more messages, no more inside jokes or endless quotes. All the silly giggling went away. Now the only time I hear about her is when our friends mention something about her in passing.

I really try not to think about it too much because it really hurts to remember how we both screwed up. There have been times where I've thought about contacting her, but there's always that little bit of me that remembers how it hurt. No, I'd rather just hear about how she is from our friends.

"Hey," Alice's voice brings me back to the little café where we're having lunch. "You left for a while back, where'd you go? Her eyes held nothing but a soft concern for me. She knows, she was there through it all, she managed to keep the lines of communication open with both of us. After everything happened, she really became my best friend.

"Yeah," I muttered, shaking my head. "Sorry, I was just remembering…" I couldn't finish, my throat felt tight. "Just thinking about some stuff, no big deal." My smile didn't quite reach my eyes.

"Okay." She dropped the subject, knowing exactly who and what I was thinking about. "So I was saying that I was thinking about throwing a party to celebrate our new jobs. Mostly for you because you're the one who struck gold."

"Well, if you want to throw a party then go for it but don't do it on my account. You got a pretty awesome job yourself." She finally landed a job in a middle school as a counselor, she'd been all over the place when she'd found out, attacking both myself and her new boyfriend, Jasper.

"Okay, fine," she conceded. "So are you game?"

"Yeah, sounds like fun."

…

A month. It took Alice a whole month to plan the party. She'd spouted some crap about wanting to get to know some people at work first before throwing a grand party. Apparently, it would be better to have co-workers there. In all honestly, I thought she had something up her sleeve. She was always telling me that I needed a man and constantly tried to set me up with every guy she knew, even some friends of her current squeeze. I really loved the girl but she couldn't make a love match for others if her life depended on it.

The week of the party finally came. Alice was acting even stranger than usual. She wouldn't really answer my questions about who she had invited. "Just a couple co-workers and some old friends from high school that are moving into the area." That was always her answer.

I didn't really think too much of it, I would find out soon enough and if it got really bad, I could always get shit-faced and erase the whole night from my memory. If I was being honest with myself, I was actually excited for the party. I'd worked my ass off these past ten months, finishing up everything I needed for college and my internship at Aster Publishing. It paid off though; I'd graduated in the top percentage and gotten the editing job I'd been dying for. I probably wouldn't have gotten it if the editor I'd been working under hadn't decided to open her own practice. I couldn't believe when I'd gotten a call from Siobhan and jumped on board without a second thought.

"Great, you're here!" Alice threw the door open before I could even knock and pulled me inside. "People are due to arrive soon, go sit down with Jasper while I fix us up something to drink."

Sure enough, the apartment started filling up with people and soon, it was so hard to carry on a conversation without having to shout over other voices and music.

"So then I tell Alice that she needs to calm down and just…" One of Alice's co-workers, Maggie, I think was her name, was talking about the ridiculous situations her students put her through. We were all laughing when Jasper walked over to us with the last person I'd ever thought I'd see.

Shit. My smile faded and I felt all the blood in my body trickle out through my fingers and toes. I couldn't believe she was here. Alice hadn't mentioned anything about her coming to visit. Then something even worse occurred to me; what if she was moving into the area?

I couldn't handle this. I could already feel that painful constriction in my chest, the one that only occurred when I thought back to that day that had finally finished our friendship for good.

She gave a tentative smile and greeted everyone in the little group. Finally, her eyes settled back on me. They were wide and full of emotions that I couldn't or didn't want to understand.

"Hi, Bella," she said quietly, I struggled to hear her words over all the noise around us.

I looked from her to Alice then back again, trying to understand what was happening. Alice was silently begging me to say something back, to do something other than stare blankly at my ex-best friend. I was frozen in my spit and my lips felt like lead. It seemed like years passed before I finally managed to choke out that single word.

"Rosalie."

We just stood there, looking at each other without really saying anything, I couldn't really believe I was actually looking at her, it seemed a lifetime ago that I'd last seen her. I wasn't sure exactly why she was here, but having her stand in front of me caused my chest to tighten with emotion.

"So, Rosalie," Alice's co-worker spoke up again, thankfully breaking me out of the state of shock I was in. They all started making small talk, Alice kept looking at me as if I was going to run screaming from the room, which still was a possibility after what I'd just felt.

"I need another drink," I muttered to no one in particular and walked off toward the kitchen.

I leaned against the counter, trying to even my breathing. This night was going to require a lot of alcohol to get through, not to mention forget.

I eventually wandered back to the party, stopping to talk with Angela, an old friend who'd come back to the area and Kate, another employee for Siobhan's new publishing house. I avoided Alice and Rosalie like the plague and lost track of how many drinks I'd had. Before I knew it, the night was over and we were saying goodbye to everyone.

The people leaving seemed to be walking funny and the room appeared to be tilting for some reason. I felt Alice grab my arm and found her face to be fuzzy. I was starting to feel dizzy, no doubt because of how much alcohol I'd consumed. My eyes began to close but shot open when I felt myself tipping back. I tried to grab onto something but ended up with a handful of shirt. I was being picked up by someone, Jasper I think. I couldn't be too sure, my eyes were too cloudy to really make out more than blond hair. The last thing I saw was the top of the stairs before everything went black.