*hi yes okay I should be writing literally anything right now (including, but not limited to my final papers) and yet here I am can't think of a damn thing thanks bye told myself I wouldn't write twilight fanfiction again but here we are okay enjoy maybe*

This story will follow canon throughout halfway through New Moon, in which the differences start where Bella decided maybe not to take that jump off the cliff. Because of this, she was able to continue her life; with Jacob. This takes place in 2022, following a long and happy sixteen years of bliss with Jake.

I knew when it happened; I don't know how I knew, I just did. I woke up that morning with an undeniable ache in my chest. I chalked it up to heartburn at first, but it wouldn't go away. It was just there. I padded through my house in the early morning. Jake wasn't there, he had been on a business trip in Seattle on his off duty of patrols, but I made a full breakfast anyway. I meandered through the house. It was early and it was a Saturday, and quite frankly, I didn't want to do much of anything, so I didn't. That was the glory of adult-hood. I curled up on the couch with some music and a book, and tried to ignore what I knew was coming.

Emily came buy, we had lunch, drank some wine, laughed. We talked about her kids, all of which I loved fondly. She asked if Jake and I were ever going to have kids, I told her no. She asked why. I shrugged.

The elders had never liked our marriage much. They discouraged it, but ultimately Jake made me happy and I made him happy. We fell in love, and I was married by the time I was nineteen, all thoughts of Edward in my past. Our marriage had been perfect. We were deeply in love, we were stable, and I never doubted anything about Jake. But every morning, I woke up terrified that it was going to happen that day. We decided not to have kids because of that. We had a fight, we both cried. He promised he loved me and I told him that I never doubted that. But he knew that this was the best choice. Don't have kids. That was probably the smartest decision I've ever made, and the only decision that the Elders agreed with. I missed Jake already.

I sighed, and just as I was headed to the kitchen to make dinner, Jake stumbled in, his head dropped low, his stature small.

"Bells" he croaked. He looked at me, and I knew. I couldn't deny the ache in my heart any longer.

"Hey, Jake." I smiled sadly.

"Bells I'm so sorry." He collapsed to the floor. "I'm sorry. I didn't think it would happen. I'll deny the imprint. I will, we can stay together. I love you."

I sat down next to him, with my knees to my chest. "It's okay." I whispered. "You don't have to deny the imprint. I know you love me, and I love you. But I'm not her. I knew this would happen." His broken sobs hurt more than I thought they would. We sat together on our floor and cried all night.

I didn't leave immediately. I couldn't, obviously. The divorce would take some time, and I had to find a place, gather my money, ship my items. Obviously I didn't leave immediately. I wish I had, though. Living with Jake had always been easy. Hell, being with him was easy. He put me back together all those years ago when Edward left, and he stayed by my side. And then Charlie died. He was there then, too. Everyone around us and in the pack started to have kids, and he was there through the pain and heartache that caused us both. Jake was everything. He was strong and handsome, a great husband, a wonderful uncle, a reliable businessman. He was funny, he was bright, he was smart, he loved me and I loved him. Being with him was easy. But now that I wasn't in his heart anymore, at least as more than a friend, if I was even that now, it was so hard to be around him. I couldn't wait to leave. He couldn't wait for me to leave, but he kept denying that. He kept trying to get me to stay in La Push, or Forks. He insisted I had a family here, a home. But he was all I had had, and that was okay with me. I wanted to leave, I wanted to do something with my new life, and I wanted him to be able to be with her. Her name was Catherine. She was beautiful, and she had three kids. That's where they had met, at the kids clothing section in a Target. He was buying something for Sam and Emilys' girl, Vivi.

"Dinner." He said softly into my office door. He had bags under his eyes. So did I.

"Coming." I smiled lightly at him, closing the laptop that had apartments listed on it.

We sat at the dinner table in silence, the only sound being our cutlery on our plates.

He slammed his fist down. "You don't have to leave." He said angrily.

I began to speak, but he interrupted me. "No, Bells. You don't have to leave. I know you want to get a divorce and that's fine, but you don't have to leave La Push. This house. The pack."

"Jake." I sighed. "I can't stay here."

"Why not." He cried softly.

"Because I can't." I said firmly. "I'm leaving Jake, and you can't stop me. I love you and everyone here, and that's why I'm leaving. I can't just stay here and watch you be with her and watch them pity me. I can't just watch as I slowly get taken from my home, my family. Don't tell me that it won't happen Jake!" I said, my voice raising as he began to protest. "Jacob, I know that everyone loves me and it's not just because I'm your wife. But with Catherine coming here, it's going to change things. She's going to become part of the pack. She's going to take my place. And that's fine, I'm fine with that. I just can't watch it happen."

His eyes were sad, but he nodded. He knew it was true. "I'm sorry I let you down, Bells."

The day I left was hard. It had been five months, and everyone was sad, of course. I was sad. I had spent sixteen years here, married to Jake, sixteen years with these people. Even when I had pursued my degrees, I always came home. I was never gone for long, though Jake and I had moved to the city to attend school. This was my home for sixteen years, but what had made it home was no longer there. Charlie was dead, Jacob was no longer my husband, my love still, yes, but I not his. Everyone insisted I was still part of the pack, but I knew I wasn't. Catherine had been around more and more, and after the divorce she had brought her kids to meet everyone, and within four months they were moving to La Push. Jake and I sold our home, of course; not enough rooms, and he felt wrong having her there after living with me for so long.

I went to one last bonfire the night previous. I smiled and laughed and drank the night way, with everyone I loved for the last time. Billy Black watched me sadly. In his old age, it was hard for him to get around, but he knew it was my last bonfire so he was there. I bade him farewell that night, patting his hand softly as we both cried. I told him I was okay. I had been waiting for this to happen. He just nodded.

Jake and Emily had taken me to the airport in Seattle. "Can't believe you're going to Chicago, Bella. That will be amazing. And your job! Amazing!" I laughed lightly, running a hand over my face.

"Yeah, it's pretty awesome. I love research."

"You love teaching at La Push High." Jacob interrupted.

"I do." I agreed. "And my favorite part of teaching was instilling the joys of research into kids brains. Besides. It's not like a real research job. I'm just getting paid to read books and stuff."

"Books about English. And Spanish. And French."

"Yeah yeah, Emily. We all know that my specialty is linguistics." I laughed. "Welp. My plane is leaving soon. I should..." I gestured at security.

"Yeah." Emily sighed, tears brimming in her eyes. She hugged me tight. "Don't be a stranger. You're my best friend and the kids love you and will miss you. We will all miss you. Don't be afraid to come home." I nodded.

I turned to Jake and smiled. "I love you Jake. These have been the happiest years of my life, and I'm so glad I've had them with you. But please don't worry about me. I'm okay. And honestly, I'm excited you get to be happy."

"I was happy with you Bella. There was never a moment of sadness or emptiness with you. I loved you with everything I had." I nodded. I knew it was true.

"Okay. I've got to go." I said, glancing at my watch. "See you both." Emily sobbed into her hands and Jacob wiped a tear from his eyes as I passed through security. I heaved a great big sigh. No going back.

Several months had passed. I had stopped receiving texts and phone calls from the pack, including Emily, just as I had expected. I always responded if they reached out first, and I reached out first myself, but to no avail. It had happened then, my replacement. That was okay; I knew that was going to happen the moment I entered a relationship with Jacob, knowing he could one day imprint on someone.

Currently, I was sipping coffee in a shop near my apartment. I loved this place, it was quiet and the coffee was to die for. I typed away on my laptop, a smile playing at my lips. I loved it here. I was happy, I truly was. I missed the pack, but only just so. It was more the memories I had of them, especially knowing I had been so easily replaced. But I was fine. I was well, actually. Happy.

"Bella!" A man called, sitting down in the booth across from me. "How are you this morning?" he asked, thanking Trish, the barista, as she placed a cappuccino down in front of him. I indicated I would like another latte with a simple, "Thanks Trish,"

"Hey, Bill." I said, smiling the man. He was handsome, a little rugged, but oh so nice. "I'm alright, I'm almost done with this damn thing," I indicated to the mess on my laptop. "It's been hell, honestly. But it will be worth it in the end. How are you? How is Abigail?"

"I'm well! As if you don't know, I know you and Abbs went to grab a pint last night." We laughed. Abigail was a friend of mine, one of many I had made here. The two of them were my neighbors, and Bill liked to join me in the café on his off days of work. "But she's fine. She's all sorts of worn. What've ya done to my wife, eh?" He asked. I just laughed.

"Thanks, Trish." I smiled at the barista as she handed me my regular.

"No problem. I'll add it to your tab, yeah?" I smiled at her. She was nice.

"Bill, the only thing I've done to your wife is make mad, crazy love to her, every night, for the past two weeks." I said, taking a sip of my coffee. Bill just laughed loudly before taking a gulp of his own drink, then pulling out his own laptop.

"It's been good to have you, Bella. Abbs and I never been homebodies, per se, but we also aren't the type to reach out to strangers. I'm sure glad you brought over cookies when you moved in."

"Me too, Bill." I smiled, before returning to my laptop to continue my research. "Do you and Abbs want to go out and grab a drink tonight?" I asked.

He nodded his assent.

I woke up with a pounding headache. Of course I did. I haven't been hungover in years, of course I would be hungover on a day that I should not be. Oh well. I made myself a couple of strong cups of coffee and downed them with ibuprofen and toast. I slipped on some dark sunglasses and made my way to my very important work meeting. I cursed myself as I walked into the morning air and nearly lost the toast and coffee. "Fuck." I muttered, lowering my head and trying to hail a black cab. It was rainy and the streets were swamped with early morning commuters also trying to get to work.

The cab ride to my office was less than bearable, bumpy and stuffy and hot. At least it wasn't sunny. I walked the short distance to my office building, only to receive a call saying my meeting was canceled. I locked my phone and sighed heavily. Of course. I resigned myself to the café next to my office, reworking the power point for the meeting that was now scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.

My phone buzzed almost as soon as I sat down, I was shocked to see Sam's name on the display. I answered.

"Hey, Bella." He said, "How are you?"

I hesitated. Nearly eight months of no contact of the people I considered family, and here he is asking like nothing had changed, like he thought I was blind. "Sam." I answered, "I'm well, thanks. Yourself? Emily, The kids?"

"We're all well. I'm actually calling on official business."

"Ah, continue."

"I'm calling on behalf of the council. We've actually had an opening at the high school."

"Sam, I already taught at La Push high."

"I know. This isn't a teaching job. It's the position of Principal. Principal Robards is retiring. We wanted you to have the position. We know you'd been working for it the past couple of years, and when you didn't get it last time, they kept your application on file. You were the school boards' first choice, as well as the councils'."

I was shocked silent. "We know you have an amazing job in Chicago, but we also know how much you wanted the position while you were here. Think on it."

"Sam, I don't know. You know better than anyone why I left-."

"Bella, I know. But we miss you, and we want you to come back. Let me know. We'll contact you again in a month if we haven't heard back."

"Thanks, Sam."

"And Bella!" He said, before I ended the call.

"Yeah?"

"We miss you. All of us."

"Goodbye, Sam." I sighed.

My name was called, and I stood up to grab my drink, my shirt catching on a stray splinter, I heard a tear. "Jesus." I mumbled under my breath. The moment did not get better, as I spilt my piping hot cup of coffee all down my front. "Fuck, me." I said allowed, causing someone beside me to chuckle. I shot them a glare, and gathered my belongings to leave. Of course, one could only hope in a quick relief from the bad day, as I walked out of the building and was splashed with water by an incoming car.

"Fuck you!" I yelled loudly after the driver. This day could not get any worse.

"There is no need to be so crass." A smooth and tinkling voice said from behind me. I turned slowly, afraid of what I'd find.

I raised my head to the sky and let out a heavy breath. "Jesus Christ."

"I didn't know you were religious." Carlisle Cullen said in response. I stamped my foot, like the grown ass adult I clearly was not.

"What are you doing here?" I snapped. This was not why I came to Chicago. I came to start over, not relive the past.

"The same thing you are, I suppose. Living life, working."

I narrowed my eyes at the vampire before me. "I suppose I have no control over your life. I'll let you be. Hopefully I don't run into you again."

He quirked an eyebrow. "You work in this building, no? Well, I work at the hospital down the block. It only makes sense that we will run into each other every once in a while. My coworkers and I frequent the café near by as well."

"And your excuses?"

"I'm allergic to coffee, and I always bring a homemade lunch. I bring my paper work and converse with my fellows."

"Of course." I said. "Well, I suppose I'll do my best to ignore you. I'll be on my way."

"Bella, wait!" He called.

"Yeah?" I asked curtly.

"How are you? What have you been doing these past years?"

"Carlisle, if I wanted to talk to you about this, I would."

"Yes well, appease and old man, yeah?"

"Fine. I'm a research specialist, I have two PhD's, one in English and the other in linguistic studies specifically. I'm recently divorced, my dad is dead, my mom is dead, and I have nothing but work. So, if you'll kindly let me go, I'll be on my way."

"Bella, it was good to see you."

"I wish I could say the same, Carlisle. Stay well." I responded, slinging my laptop bag over my shoulder, and hailing another cab.

"And then! And then he has the audacity to ask how I am!" I said, sloshing my drink onto my hand. I licked up the juice as Abigail, Bill, and our two other friends Denise and Arthur shook their heads.

"That family sounds like no good news, Bells." Denise said, the others nodding in agreement.

"They aren't! Everywhere they go they cause problems!" I said angrily.

"Can I get another round, ol' bar keep?" Bill called to the bartender. His name was Henry, and he worked almost every night we were here. He was cute. I eyed him up, slipping him a sly smile and a small wave.

"Hey, Henry." I said softly, angling my shoulders at him.

"Bells." He smiled, his white teeth glinting in in the dimly lit bar. "Have you had enough?"

I downed the shot he gave me. "Absolutely not, my dear sir." He laughed and placed another shot in front of me and my friends.

"You should ask him out!" Abigail said loudly.

I laughed and turned on my bar stool to face her. "I haven't dated since I was 18 years old. There's no way I can start now. I'm too old."

"Too old for what?" Henry said from behind me.

"For me to ask you out." I responded heavily.

He hummed, in appreciation I assumed. I turned to face him again. I folded my arms and rested them on the counter in front of me. "Well am I? Too old?"

"Absolutely not." He scoffed and we shared a smile. "I would like to wait until you're sober, though. I'll send you a text?" His voice was so smooth. So comforting. His accent was sending shivers down my spine. I wrote down my number on a napkin and slid it to him before he left to attend to some newcomers on the counter.

I turned to wolf whistles, and rolled my eyes. "He just wants to get some."

"And so do you, you drunk bastard." Denise laughed at me. I blushed. She wasn't exactly wrong, I had only been intimate with one man, and that was eight months ago. Bella needed to get some.

I shrugged at her, and took another drink from my glass.

"Bella, dance with me?" Denise asked, grabbing my hand and yanking me to the dance floor.

"We've really got to stop going out on weeknights." I said through the mascara lid that was in my lips. "I am an adult with a job to get to. I hate hangovers."

I heard Abigail laugh from the other side of the phone. "Did Henry text you?"

"Nah, not yet at least. But I'm not holding out."

"Well why not?" She asked.

"I'm just not really focused on being in a relationship of any kind at the moment. I like my job."

"How could you like your job? You just sit at a desk all damn day."

"A desk in my office." I smiled. "I've always liked research. And it's really cool to be paid to learn and write papers on what I've learned. I don't know. I enjoy it."

"Whatever. I won't judge you, but I'll judge you."

"Thanks." I responded back sarcastically.

"Well, you should at least try to gain the attention of the opposite sex."

"And what if it's not the opposite sex that I want?"

"Then gain the attraction of the same sex, Bella! I just don't want you to turn into a spinster."

"I'm only thirty five, Abigail. And I've been in relationships."

"Yeah, one that lasted a year in high school, and one that was a dead marriage for sixteen years."

"My marriage was not dead. We were very much in love and we had sex all the time."

"Then why did he leave you for a woman?"

"I left him, and now he's with someone. I left for various reason. I was trapped in a small town and I couldn't ask him to follow me."

She sighed heavily. "Whatever. Are you coming over for game night?"

"Will there be alcohol?"

"Obviously."

I groaned. "I guess."

We hung up and I finished getting ready for work. I stopped at my regular café, got my regular drink, and sat in my regular booth, and smiled contentedly into my mug.

"You're in my spot." A deep voice said from above me. I opened my eyes slowly, and looked at him. He was tall and intimidatingly tall, his hair cropped short, and he looked like he was related to Sam.

"Well, seeing as I am seated here now, it's hardly your spot, isn't it?" His eyes narrowed and he sat his drink down before slowly sliding into the booth across from me and quirking an eyebrow.

"You mind?"

"I suppose not. Though, I suppose I don't have a choice."

"No, not really." He said, locking his eyes onto mine, and staring.

"Do you have a problem?" I asked quickly, breaking eye contact and taking another drink.

He cleared his throat. "I suppose not." He said. "Besides, I always sit here, every single day."

"As do I. So, which one of us is lying?"

"You of course." He said, making me laugh.

"To be fair, I am here earlier than usual. I'm avoiding someone I ran into yesterday, and I also have an early meeting at work today."

"Ah, there it is. Where do you work?"

"I work in research, analyzing the way we communicate and the way language develop and change."

"Oh, that's awesome." He said. "How long have you been doing that?"

"Not long. About a year total, eight months in person. The first four were from home before I could move here."

"And before that?"

"I was a teacher at a small school in Washington."

"Oh, I have family from Washington. I actually grew up there, but I left after some weird shit started happening. Pardon my French."

I laughed. "Well, I study linguistics, so I know about every word in the English language and have studied many of them extensively."

"Well, okay then." He smiled back at me.

"So, what brought you to Chicago, if you're also from Washington?"

"Work, mostly. But like I said, weird stuff started happening around fifteen years ago or something. So I left when I was twenty three, and never went back. Finished school here, and got a pretty sick job."

I chucked at his use of the word sick. "What are you, 40, and using the term sick? Isn't that like, so 2008?"

"Whatever!" he laughed.

"So, I told you what I do, what do you do?" I inquire, watching the lines on his face as the move with his mouth and as he speaks. He was fascinating.

"I own a small architectural company, I have a PhD in architecture, so it works."

"I'll say." I looked at my watch, and scrambled to gather my things. "Well, this has been nice, but I'm going to be late for this meeting. Nice to meet you."

"Wait!" He said suddenly and grabbed my wrist. His hand was hot. It was a familiar heat, an unnatural heat, though not as hot as I was accustomed to. "I don't even know your name."

My eyes widened, and my mind was reeling I must be imagining it. I shivered, noticing the room was chilly. That must be it.

"Your hands are so warm." He snapped his hand back suddenly, and wiped it on his jeans.

"Sorry, I run a high temperature."

"My name is Bella." I said, turning around and making my way to the exit.

"My name is Jared!" He called from his spot near the booth we were both just occupying.

"He sounds hot." Abigail said from the kitchen.

"He was." And not just his appearance.

"Did you get his number?" Bill asked

"No! I just met the guy at the coffee shop. I'll probably never see him again!"

"Whatever, Bella." Arthur said, patting my knee softly.

"I'm not interested in dating anyone!"

"And if I was single?"

"Then I'd date you, Abigail." I rolled my eyes.

"Yes!" She pumped her fist in the air, causing everyone to roll their eyes or chuckle.

"We could still make that happen." Bill said.

"I'm not having a threesome with you two." I sigh, grabbing a chip from the bag.

"It's a shame." Arthur says, setting up monopoly, "I was going to ask you the same thing."

I groaned and Denise says "Lets just make it an orgy!"

I took a shot.

"I think I'm going to apply at a daycare center."

"And quit your job?" Abigail said, hanging me a cup of coffee and a piece of toast.

"No. I love my job, I just miss kids. I only work Monday through Wednesday unless I have a meeting, so I could do Thursday and Friday at a center."

"That's a good idea." She said around her toast, "my sister works at one in one of those huge building right down town, I think they're hiring. I'll get you the number?"

"Yes, please!"

She gave me the number, I called and submitted my resume, and then I helped Abigail clean up from the night previous. I received a call from the activity center requesting an interview not two hours later, and was headed to an interview already.

"Good luck!" She called as I left her apartment to change and head out.

"I must say, Miss Black, we were very pleased to receive your resume. You have a renowned set of degrees, and yet you're applying here? You're very over qualified."

"I plan on keeping my research job, I love it, but my time spent as a teacher was so fulfilling, and I miss working with kids."

"Well, we could really use the help, even just for two days. You're more than qualified, so would you like to take the job?"

I smiled brightly, "Absolutely." We shook hands, and soon I was set to start next Thursday.

"I'm so excited, Trish!" I gushed as she made my coffee, "They're more than happy to work with my Thursday schedule, when I have a meeting or something, and I love working with kids."

"That's great, Bella." She handed me my drink. "I'm happy for you. But I've got to go make these other drinks."

"Go, go. I know. Thanks, Trish." I dropped a ten into her tip jar and turned to my regular booth, only to stop short and roll my eyes heavily. I reached over the counter and grabbed a to go cup and lid before pouring my drink into it and trying to escape.

"Bella!" She said happily. I was caught.

"Fuck." I whispered, causing the woman to stop short.

She wasn't shocked for too long. "Hello, Bella." She said, her voice silky and motherly.

"Esme." I said shortly.

"It's so funny running into you here!"

"Yeah, I'm sure it is." I said, looking at Carlisle as he walked up beside her. "Funny, indeed."

"It is actually a coincidence, Bella. I have a business luncheon here in about ten minutes, and Esme was out and about in town so we stopped in early to eat." He said, using slight air quotes around the word eat.

"Whatever. I was just leaving."

"It was nice seeing you again, Bella." Carlisle said.

"Bella, I've missed you." Esme said, though she kept her distance, there was a smile on her face.

"I've gotta run!" I said, "Bye, Trish!" she waved at me and I ran out of the building quickly. I stopped outside the building, knowing they would know I hadn't left yet, and sighed heavily.

"No drinks tonight, ma'am?" Henry said, polishing the counter beneath my elbows.

"Nope. I'm the DD tonight." I smiled.

"I see I see. Well, now that you're sober, I can ask you something."

"What's that?" I smiled.

"Are you interested on going on a date with me?"

"I don't know, where would you take me?" I asked.

"I don't know yet. Just wondering if you're interested."

"Potentially." I replied, stirring the water in my glass with my finger, and licking it slightly.

"Well, maybe I'll have to figure something out and give you a ring?"

I raised my eyebrows at him teasingly. "Well, you'll certainly have to by me dinner before then.

He stuttered, his eyes wide and his face flushing. "Henry! I'm kidding! You have my number. You can give me a ring anytime."

I was running late to a Wednesday meeting, again, and of course the coffee shop was slammed. I tapped my foot impatiently and checked my watch.

"It's not the workers fault." A voice said from behind me.

"I know that." I said, turning to face Jared. "I'm not annoyed at them per se, just the situation. I have an early meeting and I'm late. Again."

"Well, I'm glad you're late. I haven't seen you in a while. I was afraid I'd never see you again or something."

"Why would you want to see me again, anyway?"

He raised an eyebrow and pouted his lips a bit. "Well, I liked talking to you. It was refreshing. I haven't had a conversation like that in some time."

I laughed a little "All we talked about was why we were in Chicago. You don't know anything about me." He rested his hand on the counter beside me.

"Well, that is the point, isn't it? Talking to someone, to learn about them."

"I suppose that's the point of talking to someone." I nodded in agreement.

"And I would like to talk to you." He smiled.

"You mean, you want to get to know me."

"Well, I suppose yes. That is what I want, Miss Bella." I raised my eyebrows at him.

"Bella! Here is your coffee." Trish said. "Sorry it took so long."

I smiled at her. "It's okay, Trish. I know you're busy. Thank you." I dropped money into her tip jar again, before facing Jared. "I'm late."

"Bye, Bella." He smiled at me and I waved back.

"So, I know you worked in a high school, but the oldest age we keep here is twelve. After evaluating our needs and your skill set, we believe that you will best be suited with the eight year old's, if that is okay with you?" My supervisor Rachel explained to me, as we walked through the center.

"That's fine with me." I smiled. "When I was getting my teaching certification I was working in a daycare. Though we were small and had mostly babies." I said.

"Perfect. Well, this is your room. It's called the purple room, all of our rooms are colored. The head teacher here is named Ashley, and she is excited to work with you today. Remember, we are a small daycare center as far as they go in Chicago, especially right down town, so our class sizes are pretty small. If you need anything, please don't be afraid to ask. My office is down the hall!"

"Thanks, Rachel."

I walked into the room and was immediately the center of attention to the children who were occupying the room. I waved slightly, and found the other adult in the room.

"Hi, My name is Ashley!" She chirped. "Right now it's just you and me, but we will have another teacher here in a couple hours."

"Hi Ashley. My name is Bella." I smiled. She called the attention of the class, and after fighting with the kids for their attention, she had them all sat in a circle.

"Okay, kids! This is Miss Bella! She is a new teacher who will be working here on Thursdays and Fridays. She is a teacher, just like me, and if I hear anything about any one of you disrespecting her or being mean to her, then we will have a discussion with your parents, okay?" The class chorused an "okay." Before she had them all introduce themselves to me. I remember a total of three names.

"We will go to the playground in thirty minutes, so until then, please just paly quietly, yeah?" She asked, and clapped her hands as a que for them to begin playing.

"Miss Bella?" I heard a small voice and turned to face the girl there. I didn't remember her name, of course, but she was a cute girl who had her black hair pulled back into two pigtails.

"Hello." I said, squatting down to her height. "What was your name again?"

"Amelia Anne, but you can call me Lia." She said. "Uhm, I was wondering if you would play this sorry with me? It's a board game."

"Of course I will. Sorry is one of my favorite games." I smiled, and she led me to a table near us and pulled out the game.

"Can I play?"

The girl rolled her eyes at the boy, and I remember from the introduction that they were twins, and his name was Liam.

"Of course you can!" I said, patting the seat next to mine and smiling at him.

"Oh I want to paly!" A girl suddenly said, catching the attention of her peers, some of whom crowded around the game wanting to paly.

"Calm down!" I laughed. "We have room for one more person, and then when this game is over we can have new people play, yeah?" There was a chorus of agreement, before the first girl who noticed sat down and picked out the remaining yellow pieces.

"Lunch time is usually pretty chaotic." Ashley was explaining, "They all want to talk and scream and play, but we don't really have time for that. Obviously, they can talk to one another, but they can't get out of control, for obvious reasons. We do breakfast and lunch everyday, and since it's a holiday weekend, we have the older kids. During the school year we usually just have a few young ones until school is out, and them it's crazy, after school." She laughed.

"They all seem really nice."

"Oh, they are! They can be a bit much, though. But I love them all." She said. "I love kids, But I just recently found out that I can't carry any of my own."

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry." I said. "I was married for sixteen years, and we never had kids for various reason. I have never really wanted kids, particularly, but I was always open to the idea. It just didn't work out that way."

"Kids are funny, I love working with them." She said with a smiled on her face.

The day past quickly, which was nice, and soon it was just me and three other teachers, Ashley included, wrangling the reaming few children before their parents or guardians picked them up.

"Miss Bella?" Lia asked, frowning.

"Yes?"

"Do you know where my sister is?"

"I didn't know you had a sister." I said, "But I'll ask Miss Ashley if she's seen her."

Ashley turned around and looked at me. "Oh yes, Lia, Ellie is just grabbing her backpack I think. I Saw her with her teacher just a moment ago."

"Thanks." Lia smiled, turning back to the game she was playing with Liam.

"They're so sweet and polite." Ashley says in a low voice. "The three of them are some of the sweetest kids I've worked with, and they have had a pretty hard time lately."

"Oh, why?"

"Well, their mom died three years ago, when Ellie was just one, so they've been struggling with that. Liam and Lia have been here since they were in preschool, and I've worked here since then too, and the change in those kids was substantial. Their father is a great man, but I don't think he gets to spend much time with them. He owns and runs his own company, so they spend every minute he's in work and every minute they're not in school here. Ellie is in preschool, so she's here for school everyday."

"Oh that is so sad." I said, watching the two children laugh at one another.

"Liam!" a small girl with black hair pulled into an elegant bun said as she ran to Liam and Lia.

"That's Ellie. Her name is Eloise, but she doesn't like to be called that most of the time."

Ashley and I sat together and watched the kids all paly together. "The childcare center closes at seven, but we wait until about twenty after seven to start calling and asking when parents are that late. This section of the building doesn't get closed until eight, however. Their dad is always a little late to pick them up, and sometimes he sends a family friend to pick them up, though most of the time, their nanny picks them up."

At the same moment, the door opened, and the kids looked up. "Dad!" The three of them called together. Ellie ran to him, but the other two stayed back to gather their backpacks.

"Hey, kids." He said. My mouth dropped at his voice.

"Hey, Jared." Ashley said, causing him to look at her. His eyes widened as he looked at me next to her, before he picked up Ellie and hugged his older two kids.

"Hey Ashley. Fancy meeting you here, Bella."

"You know Miss Bella?" Lia asked, looking between the two of us.

"We met at a coffee shop a few days ago. I thought you worked for a research company. It's not good to lie, you know?" he smiled.

I gaped at him before stuttering a reply. "I wasn't lying!" I said haughtily. "I took this job because I missed kids." I stamped my foot angrily.

"Well, I hate to interrupt." Ashley said, "But I need to get going." She said, indicating that Jared should sign the kids out.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm going." He laughed. "Amelia Anne, will you sign your sibling out?"

"Yes, Dad!" she said, bounding over to the books and flipping through and finding their names.

"They're not supposed to do that, Jared." Ashley scolded.

"Whatever. It's just them right now. Anyway, Bella, how are you? You looked pretty frantic yesterday morning."

"I'm fine thanks." I said, gathering my things and clocking out at the nod from Ashley. "I had a meeting yesterday morning, and I was late. Again."

"So you said. Are you always late? Was she late today?" He turned to Ashley, who shook her head with a chuckle.

"I am only late when they mess with my schedule, by wanting me to be to my job about three hours earlier than usual for an unnecessary meeting." I rolled my eyes.

"Miss Bella, I had a lot of fun with you today. Can I show my dad what we did in class today?" Lia asked

"Of course you can! I'll go grab it. "Liam, would you like me to grab yours as well?" He nodded, and I walked back into my rom quickly and grabbed their art projects that were now dry.

"Turn around, Dad!" Lia said, grabbing his arms and insisting he turn.

"Close your eyes!" Liam demanded, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Yes sir, Yes ma'am." Jared chuckled, but did as he was asked anyway.

"Here you go, kids. Give them to him quickly so we can go and leave Miss Ashley to close the center, yeah?" I stood next to Eloise who smiled shyly at me.

They nodded, and took their works of art.

"Here you go, dad!" They said, each handing him their works we had created today.

"Oh wow. These are beautiful kids. I love them. And you made them yourself?"

"Miss Bella and Miss Ashley helped us a little bit." Lia said, suddenly shy.

"I love them. I'll put them on the shelf as soon as we get home, okay? You ready, Ellie?" She nodded and he picked her up before ushering the other two along.

"Here, I'll walk with you to the garage." I said, grabbing my purse from the chair next to me. "I drove this morning. Lord knows how I wasn't late with this traffic." I said quietly to him, causing him to chuckle lowly.

"Well, we live pretty far out of the city, so we're gonna go stop somewhere and have dinner before we go home, if you'd like to join us?"

"Oh no, I couldn't." I said, "I've got to go home and do some more work. But thank you so much for asking." I blushed lightly.

"Maye next time." The elevator dinged, alerting us that we were in the garage. Eli was nodding off in her father's arms, and the other two were quietly talking to one another.

I shuffled my feet out of the elevator, tripping over my own feet and instinctively bracing myself for the fall. I was shocked when the two art projects were suddenly beside my face as Jared reached underneath my arm with his free one to catch me before I fell, causing the twins to laugh and him to chuckle at my blush. I righted myself and muttered a quick thank you to him before waving goodbye to him and the kids, who chattered happily about seeing me the next day.

I sat quietly in my car, my head rested against the back of my seat and my hands covering my red face. I laughed at myself. It had been years since I had tripped like that, and it had been years since I've blushed like this. Years since a simple touch had ignited something so thoroughly within me.

"Yikes." I laughed out loud at my foolishness.

My phone rang from my bag and I reached into it and sighed at the name on the screen.

"Hello." I said.

"Hey, Bells." Jake said. "How are you?"

I sighed. I did not want to talk to Jake. "I'm fine. I've been fine." Truthfully, I wanted to snap at him. He hasn't called me once since I've been gone, and I knew why, I just didn't want to pretend like everything was okay.

"Good, good. I'm glad to hear that. Look, I'm sorry that I haven't talked to you since you've let. I've been really busy, with work and… Things."

"I've been busy too, Jake." I sighed. "It's nice to talk to you again. I miss you." I gave in. He was my best friend, and had been for years, and I missed him fiercely.

We talked on my drive home, and he laughed at my newly developed colorful language from living and driving in Downtown Chicago, and I laughed at his attempts to cook dinner for himself. We talked for hours, as if I was sitting right beside him, as if nothing had changed.

"Bells, it's so good to talk to you. But I have to ask you something. I know it's only been a few months since the divorce was finalized." My heart dropped. "I was wondering if you'd be okay if I asked Catherine to marry me."

"Jake." I trailed off. My heart broke all over again. Of course I wanted him to be happy. I want him to be with the one he is supposed to be with, and I knew that it wasn't me, but I still loved him. "Of course I would be." I whispered. My hand shook, my heart raced, and my eyes leaked tears. "Of course, Jake. You deserve to be happy."

"Thank you, Bella." He whispered back, and I could hear his sniffles as well. He may not be in love with me anymore, but you don't just lose sixteen years of marriage over the course of nine months, I supposed. "Thank you."