::Chapter 1::

-Goodbye-

-Disclaimer: I Own Nothing, except my O/C's. All credit and ownership belongs to Stephanie Meyer and Their respective companies. I do not receive any profit or monetary gain for this story. It is purely for entertainment purposes only. -

Warning: Chapter briefly touches on abuse, and adult language is used. You have been warned. (No, this is not a story about abuse, so this chapter has the worst of it)

I finally did it. I finally got away. Good bye abuse, good bye pain, good bye to him.

It was well past midnight when I pulled into Forks, Washington. I don't know what possessed me to take a teaching job half way across the country, but I did. 'Yeah, I know what made me do it…him". Looking into the rear view mirror, I watched my 4 year old daughter, Cora, sound asleep in her car seat, Dora the explorer playing on her DVD player. She was taking her dad's and my divorce really hard, understandably. She cried and wailed when I said we were going far away, to my new job. I couldn't take the abuse anymore. I was sick and tired of covering for his ass, blaming the bruises on my clumsy self, when I knew deep down that no one believed me. We were fine until after he put a ring on it. But he changed as soon as we were married; always yelling about bills and that I wasn't keeping up my part of the marriage. I wasn't keeping the house clean, the laundry done. I (stupidly) thought that having a baby would solve my problems. That once our little one was born that he would have a change of heart and be a great dad. Like I said, I was stupid. Once Cora was conceived, Joe did treat me a little better, until he found out 'his pride and joy little boy' was a 'little bitch, like her mother'. He didn't have one thing to do with the baby. She could not cry at night because if he were to wake up, I would be on the receiving end of his fist. I lasted four years in that hell of a marriage before I packed my daughter and I up, served him with divorce papers and moved out. I got a restraining order on him while we were going through the divorce and won custody of my little girl. I didn't care about the house, and didn't want his money, I just wanted out.

So, when my aunts' old college roommate, Mrs. Sue Clearwater, had told my Aunt that they were accepting applications for a preschool teacher in nearby Forks, I jumped on it. Surprisingly enough, I was hired after a short phone call and faxed them my resume. I packed up my daughter and my life into my 02 Chevy Silverado, and hauled us to Forks.

Pulling into a gas station, I filled the truck. Pulling my sleeping daughter out of the backseat of the truck, I carried her into the station to pay. I asked directions for the nearest motel and thanked the cashier for their help. Forks wasn't very large, so I had no trouble finding it. I rented one room for the rest of the night, figuring I can get a fresh start and find the house I would be renting in the daylight. I pulled the truck around back, grabbed my daughter and a change of clothes for tomorrow and carried everything into the room. Tucking Cora in, I quickly changed, brushed my teeth and climbed into bed, pulling Cora's sleeping body next to me; I fell asleep immediately.

Morning came quickly and I stretched, watching Cora sleep. Getting up, I went to relieve myself and shower quick before Cora woke up. After showering, I dressed and went to wake sleeping beauty up. She was so much like me, it was shocking. She's not a morning person, like me.

"Cora baby, wake up" I said, gently rubbing circles over the little girls back. She opened her eyes and quickly shut them, not wanting to get up. "Come on, sweetheart"

Picking her little body up off the bed, I said "let's get you showered and dressed so we can get some breakfast". One way to Cora's heart was through her stomach. That girl loved her pancakes and bacon in the morning.

"Where are we, mommy?" she asked sleepily, wiping her eyes. "We are in Forks, in a hotel room" I said, putting her clothes into a pile and going to start the bath water for her. Quickly bathing and dressing her, I ran a brush through her honey blonde hair. She looked up to me, cringing as the brush hit a knot in her hair and asked "Is daddy here too?"

I had to compose myself, knowing she was watching how I would react "No, baby" I said, twisting her hair into a pony "Daddy isn't here"

Her eyes fell slightly, but she perked up quickly and asked "can I have pancakes and bacon?"

I laughed, she was such a good girl "Yep, we just have to get moving so we can go eat"

Once we were ready, I threw our dirty clothes into a bag and turned our key in. After getting directions to a diner from the clerk behind the desk at the hotel, Cora and I made our way to eat. After breakfast, we paid and went back out to the truck. Pulling the address of the house I was to rent out of my purse, I put the address in my GPS and we were at the house in no time.

Pulling up, I noticed a small truck parked in the driveway. As I parked, I saw Sue Clearwater coming out of the front door, waving. Waving back, I put it in park and turned the truck off. Unbuckling my seatbelt, I climbed out and went to get Cora from the back seat.

"You must be Mia Woods" She said kindly, with a large smile on her face. "And that must be Ms. Cora! Welcome to Forks"

As we neared the front door, I smiled and answered "Hello, Mrs. Clearwater! Thank you so much for all your help! I don't know how I would have been able to make this move with out your help."

She waved her hand, shushing me further. "Come on inside! I can't wait to show you around! And call me Sue."

Smiling and adjusting Cora on my hip, I looked up to the 2 story, country farmhouse style house.

Good Bye, Cruel Past. Hello new beginnings.

A/N: Un-Beta'd..any mistakes are mine! Yes, I know I am starting a new story, but this story idea has been running around in my head! I already have a few chapters written. I will not give up on my other fic, Saving Grace, so no worries! And really…there is not enough Embry fics out there, so why not add another one? Thank you for reading!