{Author's Note: The prologue starts off in the present. It will flash back in the next chapter and begin the story. I won't leave you confused forever, I promise. :P A billion thanks to my awesome betas: jenni and ashley, and my wonderful muse: Tj. 3. I do not own anything. The characters are property of their respective owners. No Copyright infringement intended.}

I was never the kind of girl who gave much thought to relationships. I never spent my nights day-dreaming about my prince charming, or the details of how my perfect wedding would play out. I was always a more practical kid; romance... love... none of that stuff ever really crossed my mind. The irony of it all would probably be somewhat comical if it didn't hurt so damned much. And it probably wouldn't hurt so damned much if it made any bit of sense to me.

I'll never understand how things turned out this way. No explanation was given. No reassuring words, just a half-assed apology. A clean break. I keep trying to avoid the word 'exposable' but my mind won't allow it. Laughing a bit, I shift my focus to the crumpled up picture lying on the floor near my bedside table. It's a hollow laugh, almost completely void of emotion. My room is pitch black except for the hall light streaming in through the crack underneath my bedroom door, and the moonlight shining in from the window that I should probably shut. November in Washington is anything but warm, but I can't feel the cold wind as it blows through the fluttering curtains.

Moving away from the computer chair, I walk with heavy steps over to my bed and flop down. I close my eyes, losing myself in the comfort of the oversized blanket and sheets that cover the mattress. I wonder if this is how Charlie felt when my Mom walked out on him years ago, leaving their marriage and the life they'd created together behind. The thought bothers me, comparing my seventeen year old heartache to having your family ripped out from underneath you. I suppose it's the same, though, in a way. She barely explained her reasoning before she packed our things and took us away, leaving him broken and confused.

Confused... I keep coming back to that word. A logical and sometimes overly analytical person by nature, the situation baffled me almost as much as it caused me pain. I'm not sure I knew what it truly meant to think with your heart until I'd moved to this state.

I was never really a closed off person, I never kept people at a distance; I just wasn't an open book to anyone and everyone. I knew what it was to feel unconditional love for my family, my close friends. I'd experienced fallouts with loved ones, arguments with my parents, hell; I'd even attempted to date before I moved to Forks. But I'd always been the type to use my brain before making a decision. Analyze every possibility, every outcome. My heart rarely came into play in those situations.

And then I move here, and it's like after the first few weeks of living here, my brain decided it needed a break. I fell, hard. In every sense, right onto my face, it seems. Logic flew right out the window when he flew back into my life; making himself what I thought would be a permanent fixture.

Charlie blames himself; I think that's the hardest part in all of this. The reality is that none of this is his fault, there's nothing he could've done to avoid the situation much less to know what the end result would have been. My Sun...

I let out a heavy sigh and noticed regrettably that a tear had slipped disobediently passed my eyelid and was making its way down my face. As cliché as it sounds, I really didn't think I had any tears left in me. The morning after I made my way out of the forest and through the back door of our house, I'd cried until my eyes were bloodshot and sore. I'll never forget the look on my Father's face when he saw the state of my attire, sticks and dirt littering my hair. He hugged me until I had to remind him that I needed to breathe. He questioned me for several hours, finally giving up and settling for the fact that I was okay (physically, at least), and home safely. I wasn't giving him many answers as I spent most of the one-sided conversation choking back sobs and spitting out monosyllabic responses here and there.

I suppose this is the kind of heart-wrenching pain they write epic love stories about. I think I'd prefer to feel numb and...

"Bella?" the knock at my door drew me away from the repetitive thoughts flooding through my head.

"Yeah?" My voice cracked a bit when I responded and I cleared my throat while he continued.

"I ordered pizza; I didn't think you ...felt up to cooking. It's here if you're hungry. Sausage and extra cheese, your favorite." I smiled; he was a pretty attentive parent for someone who really hadn't had to act as one for the last twelve years. Almost surprising considering how quickly I was thrust back into his life in such a permanent way.

"Thanks, Dad. I'm really not, though. I think I'm just going to head to bed." I feigned a yawn loud enough so that he'd hear, and with a sigh I heard his footsteps head away from my door.

"Goodnight, Bella. I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight." When he was gone, my thoughts returned and with a flash, memories of my first day back in Forks began to flow through me.

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