[Twilight rewritten - please see my profile for information on changes between the original book and my story]

I've never been great with change.

When I was four and the blanket I used to carry around with me day in and day out started to shred to pieces, I cried and cried after my mother swapped it with a replacement. Sure, it looked the same, but it would never be the same.

When I was six and we moved from the mountains of California to sunny, swelteringly-hot Phoenix, I hid in my mother's shadow and wished I was back home with my friends. Change is lonely, and new people don't know your favourite song to dance to in ballet class, or the way you like your sandwich cut at lunch.

When I was thirteen I decided I was sick of change. I stopped visiting my father in the summers. I stopped acknowledging my mother's boyfriend of the month. I wore the same zip-up sweatshirt to school every day, refused to cut my out-of-control hair, and listened to the same album on repeat for months at a time. Safety laid in consistency; in the gentle arms of predictability.

But when I was eighteen, I took it all back. I tried to embrace change, because change happens, whether you expect it to or not. I tried to make my own decisions, to not let the change conquer me. If there was something I was sure of, it was that no one could see the future - no one could know what the best choice was - and that I was in charge of my own life.

So, I made a choice.

You tell me if I made the right one.

"So… Who's pregnant?"

It was a mild morning in the middle of Arizona's winter as I sat across the kitchen from my mother and her husband. I didn't call him dad because they just got married a few months ago, and it wouldn't do justice to my biological father, Charlie. This guy, Phil - he was new.

They laughed to ease the tension, and I watched them both with a careful eye. I'd been called down for a nice breakfast, which was unheard of in my household, and after everything had been cleaned up they sat there in front of me with peculiar expressions. I couldn't tell if they were happy or nervous, and I was hesitant to say anything else. Maybe she actually was pregnant. Big whoops on my part there.

"Bella, we have some news for you. And since you're an adult now, we wanted you to be a part of the decision," said my mother. I raised an eyebrow at her, intrigued. I'd turned eighteen in September, only two weeks before my mother's second marriage. She was so absentminded that she had it planned for my birthday to begin with, and I'd had to give her a gentle reminder that that was the day her only daughter had been born. Nonetheless, I loved her.

Nodding, I waited for them to go on. After a moment, my mother said, "You know that your grandmother is getting old."

Oh god. "She's dying?" I asked. My grandmother on my father's side had been dead before I was born, and I had seldom seen my other one since we moved to Phoenix.

"No! No, no, she's not dying, she's just... She needs some help." She reached over and took my hand, and I appreciated the affection.

Phil continued with his deep, Texan accent, "We want to move to Jacksonville to be with your grandmother. But, we know it's tough to move to a new school right before the end of your senior year, and Renee told me you applied to some colleges in Washington, so... You have a choice to make."

"You can either come to Jacksonville with us, or move to Washington and live with Charlie," my mother said. She rubbed her thumb over mine, and I started stuttering and tumbling over my words. It was an embarrassing habit that made it hard to sound confident under stress, and I hated it.

"B-but, did... Did you even talk to Charlie? I - I don't know how I'm supposed to leave my friends, I... Mom, this is, this is too sudden, how can you expect me to-"

"Bella, everything is already in place. I need to be with my mother. We've been talking to Charlie and he says he still has the extra room and even though he's busy, Jacob could give you a ride anywhere. Remember Jacob from when you were little?" She gave me an apologetic smile and I looked back and forth between the two of them.

This was awful. I could think of a million reasons why this was a horrible, atrocious idea and it would go straight to hell. I had nothing against my father, but I'd put my foot down years ago about having a sliver of stability in my life. We used to move houses every couple of years, in and out of school districts, back and forth from one ballet studio to another. And now it was the middle of my senior year, and they were asking what from me? Was it April Fool's Day? No, shit, it was the middle of December. I could have sworn they were playing a prank on me, but as my mother clenched my hand her smile faded from her face and she looked away.

"I'm sorry. I know you love your friends, and Douglas is the absolute sweetest, but you'll make new ones and I'm sure everyone will stay in touch with you. There's no way around it, Bells. We need to know where you want to go so we can buy the plane tickets." Phil put his arm over my mother's shoulder and I pulled my hand out from underneath hers. I looked into his eyes, searching for something. Some reason for me to not storm out and live with one of my friends for the next six months, until I could be on my own.

And then, I found it.

Embrace the change.

"Okay," I resigned, my voice small to keep it from shaking. "I'll go. I'm living with Charlie."

A/N: Thanks for reading, everyone! This story starts a bit slow, but the information in the first few chapters is necessary for the overall plot. Some chapters are focused on Bella, and those chapters will be in first-person like the book. The others are focused on Edward and his family, and those are in third-person so as to keep things clear between the sheer amount of characters he interacts with. If you're just here for Edward, he starts in chapter three :) If you have any questions, please consult my profile. I've made a lot of changes from the book that I think really help the story and character development.

Please enjoy! There's more to come!