Bella's reaction to Edward breaking up with her has always frustrated me, and so I've decided to rewrite her story, starting from her last moments with him. I would really appreciate any feedback on this; thanks for reading!

"Take care of yourself," he breathed, cool against my skin.

My world spun as nausea at his words, at his actions, at his decision that could not have been more wrong hit me like a freight train. I barely registered the whisper of a breeze that signified his leaving.

His leaving.

Leaving.

Left.

No. No. I had to make him see reason. I had to make him understand.

"Edward! Wait!" I called out, but some far off part of my brain whispered what I already knew to be true. It's too late.

I stumbled backwards, the pain in my chest suddenly unbearable. The back of my jacket came in contact with a tree and I slumped down against it. There was no point in chasing him. There was no point in going home either. I would just stay here.

I turned my face up towards the sky as the light rain morphed into fat droplets, most of them breaking against the branches of the trees above me. I could feel those that didn't as they splashed against my skin. I could feel the rough bark of the tree tangling my hair. I could feel the mud soaking through my jeans onto my legs.

And then quite suddenly, I couldn't feel much of anything at all.

OXO

Darkness had set in before I found myself walking towards the back door. I could see Charlie looking uncharacteristically panicked, the phone against his ear as he paced back and forth in front of the window over the sink. Jacob Black stood behind him, so I could assume Billy was inside as well, though I couldn't see him from this angle. Another man, clearly Quileute, ducked through the doorway behind Jacob, who shot him an uncomfortable look.

I had messed up. I should've been home hours ago. I should've come right back here after…after. I couldn't think about it; my heart throbbed painfully at even the vague reference. I closed my eyes and swallowed against the massive lump in my throat. And then I opened the back door.

The incredibly tall stranger's eyes snapped towards me and the gazes of the others followed. My mind ground out a dial tone as I took in the sight of him; he looked angry, but there was nothing but pain in his eyes. He was shirtless, too. His hair was the only damp part of him, the only indication that he had just come in from the rain as well.

They all looked at me, and I just looked back. I was supposed to have an explanation of some sort, or something. Wasn't I?

"Bella! Bella, honey, we've been looking everywhere for you!" Charlie's voice filtered slowly into my dull mental silence, and some far off part of me realized his voice was dripped with surprising concern. It was for me, I supposed. That was okay. It was all okay.

I was not okay.

A sob bubbled up in my chest, and I clamped my lips together as the inevitable question came out of my father's mouth.

"We were about to call the police! Where have you been?"

Standing there, soaked to the bone and shaking like a leaf, I knew I would need to say it. I was going to have to tell them what happened.

"Edward broke up with me." I choked out the words in the same breath as a sob, and it all seemed to get stuck in my throat. I clamped a hand over my mouth.

And then reality caught up with me. I knew what they were thinking; he was a high school boyfriend. He had broken up with me, and I had gone missing for hours because of it. I had caused worry to run rampant in my father, and probably the Blacks too. They had even called this stranger, whoever he was. And for that, I hated myself.

"I'm so sorry, we just—," I paused, trying to find the words that could explain why it felt like my chest was caving in on itself, why that 'high school boyfriend' had taken a part of me with him. But I knew I couldn't. I couldn't explain it, so my only option was to dismiss it.

"He wanted to go for a walk in the woods and we were talking, and—and I told him I could find my way back on my own but I guess I couldn't. I'm sorry." Tears were beginning to mingle with the rain drops on my face and suddenly I was aware of the way my skin was cold to the touch.

"Oh, Bella-," Charlie's voice cut off, and I knew he didn't have the words or the heart to scold me or to comfort me. So I let him off the hook.

"Is it okay if I go take a shower? I'm frozen." He nodded as he let out a tired sigh, and I carefully avoided the eyes of Jacob that were probably filled with pity and the eyes of Billy that were probably nothing but smug. It wasn't until I reached the narrow stairway that I recalled the stranger who was still standing in the kitchen.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused." I didn't wait for a response. I just let my feet find each stair and carry me away from their questions and towards my own grief.

OXO

I stared at my body in the harsh fluorescent light above the sink as the shower heated up. I settled my gaze on my own eyes, and I looked and looked for some small flicker of light there. But there was nothing. I looked until the steam from the running water behind me began to fog up the mirror, and finally I turned away and got in.

I stood under the spray for a moment before I settled myself on the floor of the shower. I was so, so tired. With my head leaned against the wall, I watched as the burning water turned my pale skin to a flushed pink.

And I grieved.

Sobs crashed over my lips as I curled up into a ball, shaking with the pain and the tears and the loss. He was gone. It was all gone. But I was still here.

For minutes or hours I stayed there, but I knew that I was going to need to get up eventually. When I had cried myself out and I was certain there was nothing left, I got up.

And I turned off the water.

I stepped out of the shower.

I wrapped a towel around myself, and another around my hair.

I got dressed in the sweats and t-shirt I had hung on the back of the door.

Shaking my hair free, I dragged a brush through it.

And then I headed to my room.

"Bella." I started at the sound of a voice calling my name, and for a moment I stared blankly at its source. Jacob. Right. Jacob was standing at the end of the hall.

His dark eyebrows were knit together and he looked at me like I was going to fall to pieces right in front of him, which was probably because I was.

"Jacob, please, I just really want to be alone right now." I could hear my own voice like it belonged to someone else, like the crack in it wasn't because it felt like there was a crack in my chest.

"Maybe I'm wrong here, but I don't think you do. You're just going to go in there and cry some more all alone, and that's no good. Just come downstairs. Our dads are watching the game. I made hot chocolate."

I found myself nodding mechanically, because he was right. I thought I wanted to grieve, but in reality what I wanted was to go back and change what was already done. And that wasn't possible. So I followed the boy I'd known my entire life down the stairs.

He wasn't lying. He really had made hot chocolate. He gave me space and sat across the table from me with his mug in hand, and he babbled away. I nodded and gave weak little smiles and let his voice carry me away from the one that had been playing on repeat in my head since it had said those words. I couldn't bear thinking of him, and so I did my best to listen to Jacob talk about whatever it was he was talking about and ignored Charlie's constant glances over the back of the couch in my direction. And when my eyes began to droop, he scooped up my mostly full mug without a word and I went up to bed.

Lying there in the dark, I felt hollow. The crying felt like it had worn a hole in my chest, the emotions carving out an abyss beneath my ribs. Or I guessed it wasn't the crying; I guessed it was the fact that my heart was, without a doubt, broken beyond repair. It didn't matter.

I didn't have any tears left, nor did I have the capacity to think of tomorrow, of what the consequences of today would be. So I thought of the look on Jacob's face instead, and how it was a look of pity.

And I thought of how I never wanted anyone to look at me that way ever again.

Reviews are greatly appreciated!