A/N: So, this idea has been swimming around in my head ever since I read New Moon, I knew, sure Edward came back and all that, but what if he hadn't? What if she had been forced to go through life without him, and we all knew Jake was gunna imprint (later in the book lol), so what happens after that happens? This is what I think the inevitable ending of the Twilight series should have looked like.

So, yeah, this is gunna be an "Edward leaves, Bella gets changed anyway… Somehow" type story. I may be a little bland in telling it, but tell me the truth please, but no flames. I'm going to try and make this as unique as possible, but you can only make a cliche subject like this so unique before it become generic. Oh well, I'll try, and now, we'll get on with the story.

OH! Bella may seem a little OOC, but it's because she's supposed to be more mature.

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own the Twilight series. This is just a figment of my imagination. I also don't hold any rights to the piece of lyrics at the beginning of the chapter.

Let Me Count The Ways

-Where can I turn? Cause I need something more
Surrounded by uncertainty I'm so unsure
Tell me why I feel so alone cause I need to Know to whom do I owe-

Prologue: Time Changes Things

It was obvious after two years of existing without Edward that her life entirely and utterly sucked. Bella couldn't remember the last time she had smiled, Jacob had almost saved her, almost, but then he imprinted. Bella was happy for him, truly, she was, but after that she couldn't bring herself to see him again. He had broken her almost mended heart just as easily as Edward had, she had been so broken and torn that she had left Forks, she was running away against her better judgement. Bella got accepted into a University in Seattle and fled Forks, happy to have the excuse of furthering her schooling and she never looked back. She visited Charlie during the holidays, but that was it, she couldn't force herself to be in Forks, it didn't hold her any longer in it's watery, icy grasp.

Her schooling had gone well, it had seemed like she had finally moved on with her life from the view of any person outside looking in. It seemed she had finally gotten over the great injustice the Cullen family had dealt her, and she had gotten over the "break-up" between herself and Jacob Black. She had friends again, and she looked alive, more than she had since the fateful day those ethereal beauties left her life in millions of tiny shards. She went out and partied with her friends like a young woman should, she no longer dwelled on the thoughts of what Jacob Black and his new girlfriend were doing, there were no more thoughts of wanting her rented space heater beside her. She was whole once again, that was what the visions Alice Cullen saw from time to time told her, in reality it was a completely different story. Bella put up a mask of happiness and cheer for the friends she had surround herself with, they had been her protectors from the awful memories that awaited her while she was alone. No one knew of the guy-wrenching sobs that shook her delicate body every night before she went to bed, they didn't know about the nights she woke up screaming one of their names, knowing that they had walked out of her life completely, once by choice, and the other by fate. No one knew, no one, that is, except for Aeron, he was the only one that knew, the only one that could give her a piece of the life she had wanted with the Cullens. He hadn't been able to give her the love she deserved, but he could do one small favor, make sure that she stayed beautiful for her unavoidable encounter with the family who ruined her, his special Isabella. He loved her, but not the way Edward had, not even the way Jacob had, no, his love was entirely different, a father to a long lost daughter. And that was when feelings conflicted with duties and eating habits.

The eve of her ninetieth birthday passed by much the same as many of her birthdays past, ever since her eighteenth. Bella Swan stood in front of the full-length mirror and examined her features with a quiet compassion, unlike on her eighteenth birthday, Bella didn't observe any changes in her reflection, she had stayed in the perfected body of her eighteen year old self for seventy-two years. Her heart, had it been beating, would have been going a mile a minute at the sight before her. She saw a beautiful woman with a heart-shaped face, luscious lips, a die for figure and haunting eyes, eyes that happened to be the oddest out of her perfection. They were a beautiful golden, glowing with wisdom beyond her supposed years and they held such a loneliness that it would make anyone's heart shatter if they were able to look into those eyes long enough to see it. Bella didn't see her perfection as she looked deeply into the mirror, all she was able to pick out were her flaws, her lips were disproportioned to her face, her hairline was awkward with her widow's peak, her hair was flat with little shine, and her eyes were just horrible. They still revealed too much about her feelings and thoughts. The frown that graced her features just further twisted Bella's view of herself, she spun quickly on her heel and huffed to herself as she left the bedroom she had been standing in, the skirt that she had been forced into wearing fluttering slightly behind her as she exited the room. At the end of the hall a young man waited for her, he was perfection in all that he was, his hair was a mass of messy, curly, honey golden locks that fell into his eyes more often than not, his wide smile revealed perfectly straight and white teeth, the dimples that graced his face made him all the more endearing, his eyes were the richest gold that any eye had ever been set on, he practiced hard for that color, and his fresh feeding had made the color all the more deep. The simple jeans and shirt and jacket that he wore hinted at his shape, gently defining the curve of muscles, hinting at the toned abs and the jeans revealed some calf muscle. In all instances, the man was beautiful, and Bella couldn't help the beautiful smile that spread across her pale face.

"Aeron, you look amazing." She said as she walked to the man and gave him a quick and happy hug. Aeron chuckled and returned Bella's hug before holding her at arm's length and admiring her.

"And you don't, dearest? Bella, love, you are still so very modest. Come, we must be going now, it's a beautiful night, and I can't allow my baby to spend it in this dull house like you would prefer." Bella smiled sheepishly and took his offered hand and left the grand house with him.

Aeron had found Bella a little over seventy years beforehand. He had been invited to do a special lecture at the university that Bella had attended, and for some reason the woman knew right away what he was, perhaps it had been from being around the Cullens so much during her high school years, she had chased him after the lecture. They had begun to talk about many things, Aeron had recognized Bella's despair and her shattered hopes of one day becoming a part of the Cullen family. It had almost angered Aeron. He knew the Cullens, he knew Edward, and he couldn't believe that the boy had hurt this girl so completely without a second thought, he mended her. He made her what the Cullens no longer could yet she still longed for. He made her a vampire. It was been quick, very close to her beating heart, he stayed with her throughout her three day transformation, amazed that she had never once made a noise of pain. She was strong-willed, that Aeron recognized, she would be gifted, he knew it, could taste it in the little blood that had evaded his mouth. He had stayed with her during her confusing newborn year, she had been able to adjust to society even quicker than some older vampires, never lusting for human blood once. He understood her subconscious hope that she would still, one day, be accepted into the Cullen brood. Aeron stayed with Bella as she learned what her gift was and how she could use it. He stayed with her even when she was sure she didn't need his guidance anymore. He stayed with her for the companionship, because he just couldn't leave her then. Isabella Swan had become his daughter then, and a new "vegetarian" family was born.

They stepped out into the misty night, two ethereal creatures glowing in the pale light of the moon. The soft drizzle that coated everything made them all the more beautiful, the two lone figures that no one would approach in the small town of Forks, Washington. A teacher at the local high school, and his adopted, student daughter.

A parade of rich cars trailed into the town's limits, heading down the main street of Forks. Bystanders stopped to watch the rich cars with the three moving vans following them as they drove by. Aeron and Bella were no exception, they stopped and followed the parade of vehicles with their eyes, all of the vehicles were new models, the leading car was a black Mercedes SLK 55 AMG, the cars that followed were all as expensive looking, even the dirty Jeep at the end looked expensive under all the grime. The two vampires watched the parade and stealthily followed it to where they were going. The followed them through the town and watched as the cars and vans turned down a path in the woods. Bella froze and backed away slowly, they were back.

Her peaceful life in Forks had just gotten a whole lot more hectic.