A/N: this is AU and probably not for people that don't like Cullen bashing.
When she pulled the truck into the driveway a breath of relief escaped her lips when she saw Edward standing by the house. Or at least she was relieved until he stood there staring down at his feet. As she walked closer he started towards the forest and she followed him.
Finally halfway in he stopped and looked at her, "I'm leaving Forks." Edward stated bluntly and Bella nodded.
"Ok, I'll have to think of something to tell Charlie, where are..." Bella began only to be interrupted.
"I'm going alone; my family is still staying here, but I'm going...and you're staying here." Edward clarified and Bella felt like her heart had stopped.
"What...what...no I'm not letting you go alone...I'm coming with you." Bella argued and Edward backed up.
"No, I don't want you to come with me. I'm going away to live my life Bella and you can't be a part of that. It's too dangerous to be with a human and I realize that now. I would lose my life if something happened to you. I cannot risk that so I'm going alone and I'm not coming back." Edward concluded and turned storming away before Bella could even think to move.
Charlie was a ball of nerves and he had absolutely no idea where Bella could be. He'd already organized a search party and everyone was looking for her. A part of him felt like he should send Bella back to live with her Mom. Ever since she'd come here it had been bad news for her. Last year she'd almost died falling down a flight of stairs and out a window and now this was happening. Though he supposed he couldn't completely blame himself because there was one other factor that had changed Bella's life...Edward. Sure the Cullens were nice enough, but there was something about Edward that made him uneasy. As his internal battle continued he delegated areas that didn't have anyone searching them and started to send more parties out. "Ok so I need you five to..." Charlie began only to be interrupted.
"Charlie, Sam's got her. Sam's got Bella." Billy relayed pointing over his shoulder to Sam Uley who had Bella in his arms.
"She's ok, wet and exhausted, but she's ok." Sam assured and Charlie nodded his thanks rushing Bella into the house.
Unfortunately after being out in the rain all night Bella had contracted pneumonia and been forced to stay at home. After three weeks the syptoms had almost cleared and Charlie agreeed to allow her to return to school. Carlisle had provided the excuse up to that point and Bella guessed it was because he felt guily. Charlie had made it a point to inform Carlisle that she was out there because of Edward and how he had left things. Now it was October and she was going back to school. It had been a rough three weeks and every night she had woken up screaming from nightmares of losing Edward. Finally her Dad had given her an ultimatum: either spend time with other friends when she went back to school or he would send her back to Florida to get a fresh start. Taking a deep breath she approached Angela and tapped her on the shoulder.
"Hey Angela, can I talk to you for a minute?" Bella questioned motioning her head to the side.
"Oh and you too Ben, if you have a minute." Bella added and both of them nodded and followed after her. When they got off to the side where they could have some privacy Bella took another breath before beginning,
"Look, I wanted to start by apologizing to you guys. I know when I started dating...Edward that I kind of blew all my old friends off. You were always both really good to me and I shouldn't have treated either of you like that. I know that I haven't been to school in three weeks and a lot of people are probably wondering why. The official story is that I had pneumonia because I fell out in the woods in the pouring down rain and laid there until Sam Uley found me, which I did, but there's more to it than that." Bella began only to be cut off.
"What were you doing in the woods? The woods is not a place for cluts like us Bella." Angela teased and Bella smiled before becoming serious again.
"Actually I was out there because of...Edward. Edward broke up with me and left. I was going after him when I fell. My Dad gave me an ultimatum to get better or go back to Florida for a fresh start. It made me really start thinking and I realized...I just ditched you guys without any explanation. I have absolutely no reason for the way I acted and I'm sorry." Bella apologized and felt arms slip around her neck.
For a moment she just stood there allowing Angela to hug her before she wrapped her arms around the other girl as well. After a moment Ben coughed and the girls broke off their hug.
"It's ok Bella, don't worry about it. The important thing is you chose to stay and make it up to us. I mean you could have thought about it, decided your Dad was wrong, and went to Florida or pretended that you were doing stuff with your friends to pacify him. You didn't though and that speaks volumes." Angela insisted and Bella smiled as Ben nodded in agreement. Well at least she wouldn't have to go through this by herself.
Until lunch she had successfully made it all day without bumping into any of the Cullens and a part of her wondered if they'd changed their minds and left with Edward. Luckily the others just sort of accepted her back and didn't make a huge deal out of it, but she was still a little apprehensive. As she sat down between Angela and Mike she glanced up for the first time at the table where the Cullens always sat and almost stopped breathing. Minus Edward the entire Cullen Coven was there and staring back just as intently. She lowered her eyes and focused on what Angela and Ben were talking about. While she had been out their english teacher had assigned a paper and wanted them to write about something interesting. It could be a memory from their childhood, a cause they were passionate about, a legend, or anything really.
"I think that I'm going to write about what got me interested in writing." Angela stated scribbling something down in her notebook.
"That's a good one." Bella offered and Angela smiled and started scribbling again.
"What are you thinking of writing about, Bella?" Jessica questioned looking over at her and turning her head to the side. Bella froze though because as her name came out of Jessica's mouth it also came out of someone else. In fact everyone at the table looked up and Angela even narrowed her eyes. Standing in front of them was Alice.
"I...I was wondering if I could talk to you?" Alice questioned and Bella couldn't even think of anything to say for a minute. Technically Alice hadn't done anything wrong, but it was hard nonetheless to act as if everything was ok between them.
"Uh...sure. I'll be right back you guys." Bella nodded to the group and followed Alice outside.
Alice led her over against the side of the building so that they wouldn't be interrupted and then turned around.
"I...I wasn't sure if you would want to talk. Charlie told Carlisle what happened. Carlisle was furious...I'd never seen him so angry. I understand if you don't want to really be around any of us right now, but I needed to apologize. You wouldn't have been hurt if I hadn't arranged a birthday party for you. Jasper is really sorry for what he did and he wanted me to tell you that he never would intentionally hurt you." Alice rushed out and then took a breath looking apprehensively at Bella.
Bella just stared at her as she absorbed everything that Alice had said. Alice thought that she blamed her for her getting hurt at the party? And worse Jasper blamed himself when it was in his nature to be attracted to the smell of blood? Even if she didn't feel up to spending time with Cullens right now she didn't blame any of them for what happened at the party. In truth if anyone had made it worse it was Edward. He had thrown her backwards with such a force that he'd caused more blood to be spilled. It was just lucky for her that the others had enough restraint to leave and that Carlisle was strong enough to help fix the damage. When she looked back up she noticed how stressed Alice looked.
"Alice, I...I don't blame you or Jasper for what happened. It was just a freak accident and it wasn't the first time I'd been hurt. I mean last year with James was a lot worse. Tell Jasper not to worry and that I'm not mad at him or afraid for that matter, but I need some time. Spending time with you guys right now would just be too hard with Edward gone." Bella relayed and Alice breathed a sigh of relief, momentarily hugging Bella, before stepping back.
"I understand. Whenever you feel up to it we'll still be here. Maybe one day you and I can have a girls day out and go shopping." Alice suggested and at Bella's nod Alice turned and walked back into the cafeteria. A moment later Bella followed and sat back down between Mike and Angela.