I pulled up at the supermarket and killed the engine. I yanked my hood up to keep my head relatively dry and made a mad dash inside. I searched aisle after aisle until I found the medicine, pulling a packet of pain killers off the shelf, I made my way to the counter.

There was a small line, I stood behind an old lady and her annoying little grandson who, for some reason, couldn't keep his mouth shut. He kept letting out short squeals every two seconds, each burst of sound sent stabs of pain straight through my temples.

She was served quickly and sent on her way. I threw the pain killers down on the counter, and grabbed some cough lollies off the shelf too. I paused only long enough to smile at the girl, pay her and grab my items. Then I was rushing, through the rain, to my car.

Once inside I searched for my bottle of water, downed a couple of pain killers and then popped a cough lolly into my mouth. I turned on the engine, and increased the volume on the radio a little, catching the end on an interview with Hollywood's latest covergirl, Isabella Swan.

'So what made you give it all up? Why now, at the height of your fame?' The reporter asked.

She laughed, 'Hollywood's not America, it's a place where you can make a million dollars, but you might just lose yourself along the way. I don't know, I mean I love my fans dearly for everything they've done for me. But it's just everything else that comes along with this lifestyle, and I guess I realised that maybe this isn't the life I wanted.' she trailed off.

'Could we ever expect a comeback?'

'Hmm...Who knows what the future holds? But for now, I'm going to say no.'

'OK. Well thanks for talking to us, all the best!'

I laughed, switching the stations. Of course Bella wouldn't like Hollywood, it just wasn't who she was....at least,it never used to be. Shaking my head, I sped off towards home.

I was surprised to see Emmett's jeep was already in the driveway when I pulled in; I could have sworn he said he had a date tonight.

He was sitting on the couch, pizza box on the table, remote in one hand, slice of pizza in the other. He was cheering on what ever team he wanted to win, in which ever sport it was.

'Hey, what happened to your date tonight?' I asked as I walked around him to get some food.

He looked up at me, confused, 'Date was last night...'

I shook my head, 'You didn't go out last night.'

'Yeah I did, ran into Jasper too...Didn't I Jazz?'

'Yep, he and Rose were at the movies too, when Alice and I went.' Jasper explained, emergine from the kitchen with three cans of coke.

He tossed one to Emmett, then handed one to me.

'Thanks.' I mumbled, then settled on the couch.

My head was still throbbing, but I was hoping some food would fix that. I cracked open the can and gulped a bit, it burnt my throat and churned my stomach, so I placed it onto the table and picked up my water instead.

I could feel Emmett and Jasper looked at me, probably worried. I'd been so forgetful lately, and they knew about the headaches.

'So how'd the dates so?' I asked, trying to get their attention onto something else.

Jasper smiled, 'Mine: good. Emmett got into trouble.'

Emmett pulled a face, 'I'm not a child, I can't get into trouble.'

'You can when you're whipped.' Jasper teased.

'Shut up!' Emmett retorted, trying to ignore our laughter, then something clicked in his brain and he turn to me smiling. I fell silent, 'Alice has another blind date for you.' he sang.

'Nope, no way! I'm done with blind dates, if I'm meant to find a girl I will, without Alice's help.'

'She's a nice girl Edward.' Emmett encouraged, thankfully Jasper could tell I wasn't in the mood, so atleast he kept quiet.

I swallowed the last bit of pizza, 'Don't care. I'm going to bed.'

I didn't bother changing, I pulled back the covers and hopped in, squeezing my eyes shut and trying to wish away the pain. I tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep, the throbbing too painful to push to the back of my mind.

I opened my eyes slowly, straining them to see the clock. It was 7:30, almost an hour since I went to lay down. Sighing, I dragged myself out of bed and searched the medicine cabinet for sleeping pills.

I couldn't find any, so I dragged my tired body into the shower. But the hot water did little to soothe me. I pulled on some trackies when I got out and grabbed my laptop off the kitchen table on the way back to my room.

There were no new emails in my inbox, I was just about to turn off the laptop but I was curious. I typed the name into the search engine, the first one was a fansite, so I clicked on it.

There she was, Isabella Swan, I hadn't really seen her since she left.

I noticed how much was wrong with her biography, so I clicked back. The mouse hesitated over the link to the photo's, finally I just clicked them.

The first photo I saw almost broke my heart. It was a recent one, she was on the red carpet, a breathtaking smile plastered on her face, but I could see past that, see the depression in her eyes, saw the subtle way she held herself that hinted to her sadness. I wonder if anyone else noticed. Sighing, I turned off the laptop. I tried not to feel sorry for her, after all that was the life she chose...the life she chose over me.

Finally I succumbed to sleep, with Bella still on my mind.


Emmett was still asleep when I woke the next morning and Jasper was passed out on the couch.

The headache was still there, but it wasn't as bad. I found some oats in the pantry and put them on the stove, there were blueberries in the fridge so I threw them in the pot too.

Emmett came out of his room then and walked sleepily over to the kettle.

'Coffee?' he mumbled.

I shook my head, 'No, I'm good.'

I settled at the table and pulled a magazine off the pile, flicking through it as I ate. Once again Bella was the centerfold poster.

Emmett sighed behind me, he was looking over my shoulder.

'Heard she's quitting, com...going home.' Emmett said.

'Me too.' I muttered.

'Wonder if she'd recognise us.' Emmett murmured, the hurt in his voice was uncharacteristic for him.

'Wouldn't want her to, would you?' I asked.

'I...I don't know. She was like my little sister, I miss her but-'

'But she ditched us when she became rich and famous.' I cut him off, flipping the magazine closed and throwing it back onto the pile.

Jasper's phone went off in the other room. He entered the kitchen a few minutes later, phone pressed to his ear.

'Hey guys, want to go to Rose and Alice's tonight?' he asked.

Emmett nodded.

'Only if there's no blind dates.' I bargained.

'He said only if there's no blind dates.' Jasper laughed at Alice's reply, 'OK, see you tonight...Bye...Love you too.'

'So what's tonight?' Emmett asked when Kasper had hung up.

A movie night or something at her house.' Jasper shrugged.

I rubbed a hand against my aching temples, when I opened my eyes both Jasper and Emmett were eying me warily.

'Are you still getting headaches?' Emmett demanded.

I nodded, no point in denying it.

'You need to get it checked out Edward.' Emmett warned.

'No, it's nothing.' I argued.

'You don't know that.' Jasper stated.

'Come on, I'll take you to the 24 hour clinic?' Emmett suggested.

'It'll take all day and we've got Alice's thing tonight. She'll be upset if we miss it.' I said, grabbing at excuses.

'She'll be furious if she found out I didn't drag you down to the doctors if anything happens.' Jasper pointed out, Emmett shuddered.

'I'll go home this weekend, get dad to have a look at my brain.' I suggested, tapping my temple and ignoring the dull ache.

'On one condition.' Emmett bargained.

'What?' I asked.

'We leave tonight, and I drive.' Emmett said.

'I'm coming too.' Jasper added.

'That's more than one condition.' I sighed, but I knew it was the best, and safest, option. 'What about Alice?'

'I'll call her and explain everything.' Jasper planned.

'Go get packing.' Emmett demanded, pushing me towards my room.