Disclaimer: All recognizable characters are not mine.
Author's Note: It's always fun to look at what might have happened if things had gone differently. Here, Bella never jumped off the cliff and Edward stayed away. Eventually, this might grow into an actual fic and not just a drabble.
He didn't come back. She expected him to, despite his words, but the months passed and the seat next to hers remained empty. The thoughts of the students around her were mysteries; the way they should have been in a world without magic. Graduation came and his name went uncalled. He was gone.
Time passes, even as she struggled against it, and brought with it healing. She had been broken, but the pieces could be put back together. Slowly, she moved on. Steadily, she grew up.
She adapted to the pain, the emptiness. She grew stronger. If the hole in her chest remained, she learned how to move around it without falling in. Someone stepped in to help hold the pieces together. There was a wedding and eventually a baby. She did not think of him so much anymore, but she never forgot.
Decades passed, seven of them, and and then – The hospital gained a new doctor. Five new students enrolled at the high school. Even before she saw them, she knew. She was not surprised. She had waited a long time.
It was the heart attack that reunited them. She opened her eyes to the new doctor's weary smile in intensive care and suddenly the room was full of people. Her family filed in, restless and relieved, followed by the one she almost had. She was smiling at her granddaughter when cold fingers wrapped around her hand. A familiar crooked smile almost made her feel young again.
Neither spoke. Too much time had passed and there was just too much to apologize for. They were both too old now. The thought made her smile.
But time had never been on their side and the clock ran itself out. He was gone before her shell was cold, off to find the sun.
