I gaped at the sight before me and blinked twice, assuring myself that it was not some strange mirage from the past. His emerald greens eyes held mine, and the incapability to speak overwhelmed me. His voice was the same touch of velvet that caused a shiver up my spine. "Bella." I felt my knees growing weak as his mouth twisted into a familiar warm crooked smile. "It's nice to see you again."

His name was foreign to my lips, my voice barely audible. "Hello, Edward."

"The important people in our lives leave imprints. They may die or go in the physical realm,

but they are always there in your heart because they helped form your heart."

They said it was the rain, not an unusual contingency in such a dreary place as Forks, Washington. Others say it was just a freak accident, possibly a stray animal frightening the slightly drunken driver to stray off of the road. Whatever the cause, it couldn't be taken back. It was too late for apologies. She was gone.

Five Years Prior

"Ouch, Alice! I think you just burnt my head!"

"Will you hold still?"

"You've been at this for hours!"

She pursed her lips in concentration. "Just one more second," she dragged out each word while twisting the hot wand around a final strand of hair. "Edward's going to love this! He's not gonna be able to take his eyes off you!"

A small smile escaped my lips, and I rolled my eyes at the thought. I was fortunate to have been welcomed into the Cullen's family. It was the one good thing that had come out of Charlie and Renee's divorce and the only reason I hadn't completely despised my mother for leaving me behind. If it wasn't for her, I would have never met Alice.

I would have never met Edward.

Even before we had been born, Renée and Esme believed that our relationship was going to be full of promise. The two expecting best friends had predicted it all, laying out each and every detail of our future lives together. Surely enough, their hopes came through and on September 18th, Esme had given birth to a beautiful bronze haired baby boy and merely two hours later, Renée had gone into labor as well. Oh, Bella, honey, you just rushed right into the world. Premature, too! It was as if you didn't want to go another day without each other, Esme would tell us as she tucked us into bed. She refused to waste time telling us of Cinderella and all the other "pretense love stories." We were a fairy-tale of our own, a soon to be happily ever after as she would say.

We had been ever-present in each others lives. We had shared every special moment from taking our first steps together to our first kiss. We were destined to be soul mates, and tonight was the official one year anniversary of our first date. It was a day we had been expecting for quite some time.

"Knock, knock." Esme's beautiful heart-shaped face peeked in through the bathroom door. Her face grew bright with surprise, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "You are stunning, my dear." She brushed her delicate fingers along my powdered jaw line and kissed Alice's pale cheek.

I noticed a weariness in her movements, a stillness in her presence, and I felt instantly worried. "What is it, Esme?" A frown line creased my forehead.

She shifted her gaze to the floor before pulling an ivory envelope from her apron and laying it into the palm of my open hand. "From your mother. It just came in the mail this morning." She swallowed hard. "I hope you don't mind, but I was curious."

I nodded, understandingly. It seemed like hours had passed before I finally tore the letter open, automatically recognizing Renee's undeniable, fine script:

Married, Bella! Can you believe it? I never thought
it would happen. At least, not again. He is
absolutely wonderful! You would just adore him.
More later. -R

I fiddled with the small card between my fingers, rereading each sentence slowly and carefully as if there was some secret message hidden between the lines. I flipped it over only to discover that there was no return address. Just the name of a French hotel, though I doubted she had stayed there long. She probably wasn't even in the same country, let alone on the same continent. Renée had never been one to comfortably commit to anything. Boyfriends, clubs, housing contracts-you name it. Once a better opportunity had presented itself, she wouldn't hesitate to oblige despite whatever circumstances were present.

"She sounds happy. I'm glad everything's going great for her," I spat sarcastically, sticking the vanilla colored stationary back into its envelope before crumpling it into a ball. "Absolutely wonderful." I thrust the wad of paper across the room and smirked in satisfaction as it landed into trash can. Perfect shot.

"Don't be too hard on your mom. I'm sure there's not a day that goes by where she isn't thinking of you." Esme forced a smile, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. "She's just been busy."

"Clearly." I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned back into my chair. I couldn't stand to hear the two closest people in my life defend Renée after all she had done.

"She's just trying to move on with her life." Alice chimed in, completely unaware of the entire situation. She was always trying to act twice her age, to place herself and her opinions over everyone else. Some would call her spoiled, bratty little princess. It was a flaw of hers, a product of being raised in such a revered family. She rambled on with her obviously pre-meditated monologue. "People change. It is simply the hand of human nature taking its destined course. Cherish the moments that once were."

My fists clenched at my side as I attempted to refocus attention elsewhere, my patience slowly running out. I didn't appreciate her flippancy about the matter. "Leave the sappy pep talks to Rose. I don't want to talk about it."

Since the day Emmett had first introduced his gorgeous girlfriend, Alice had idolized Rose and had secretly sworn to become just like her. Throughout the years, she had faithfully stayed true to her word and lived in Rose's shadow, mimicking everything from her expensive style to the slight southern accent in her golden voice. At one point, she had even tried to grow out her pixie locks to resemble Rose's bouncy shoulder length curls. It was such childlike behavior, something I would least expect from such a sophisticated family as hers, but when it came down to it, that was exactly what she was: a child. Alice was only fourteen years old, the youngest of the Cullens, and three years my junior, making her the most naïve out of our family.

She persisted. "Who even cares? At least you don't have to put up with their crap. You have us now. You're better off. We can-"

I had had enough, and in all fairness, I had warned her that she was treading in deep waters. It wasn't her place to cast her opinions about my relationship-or lack thereof-with my mother. "You don't get it, do you?" I acknowledged the stupidity of my question. "Of course you don't! You've been spoiled your entire life. If you don't know what you're talking about then bud out. It's none of your business anyways."

I had been lost in my thoughts before I realized my mistake. The words had come out harsher than intended, and I instantly regretted them as her big violet eyes slowly flooded with tears.

I was at a loss for words. I was never good at apologies. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-No, Alice-" I reached for her hand, but she fiercely snatched it away from my grasp.

"I was only trying to help!" She stormed out of the room, dropping the curling iron to the floor at my feet.

I started on after her downstairs, leaving Esme gaping at the irrational incident. It was a common thing for sisters to brawl-even though in retrospect, we weren't flesh and blood but nevertheless we been a part of each others lives since the day she was born-but I felt out of place to excuse myself for such behavior. Alice was an overly sensitive spirit, and I should have known better.

I had almost caught up to her as she stumbled through the driveway, but a firm hand caught a hold of my wrist, stopping me in my tracks. "Just let her go," he said. My temper flared for an instant but instantly cooled as Edward's emerald eyes locked with mine. "She's always been one for dramatic exits."

By this time, I had completely lost sight of her as she turned around the block. There was no use in chasing after her now, but I knew he was right. I would apologize to her tonight at dinner after she had cooled off.

He pulled me aside onto the front porch, and we sat on the steps in front of the Cullen mansion. "I see you two had fun," he smiled, his eyes raking me from my head to my toes. "You're look beautiful."

The blood rushed to my cheeks, causing me to look away. He seemed so calm despite Alice's outburst, and I felt the guilt rising to the surface. Out of all the Cullen's, Edward was the most protective of her, considering their five-year age difference. He had been the perfect elder brother, monitoring every aspect of her young life. He couldn't bear to see her hurt. He swept a mahogany curl behind my ear, running his fingers down my neck.

I dropped my attention down to our intertwined hands and sucked in a deep breath. "What's wrong?" He asked, flashing an assuring smile in my direction. His voice was so innocent—so painfully innocent. Like there wasn't a care in the world, like I hadn't hurt Alice at all.

Unwilling to look him, I shook my head. I noticed the sun starting to set into the west, and my worry started to increase. It would be dark out soon and I could see the rain clouds beginning to form. I whispered a silent prayer beneath my breath.

He brought his face close to mine and cupped his hand underneath my chin, forcing me to look at him. "Don't even worry about. She shouldn't have been speaking out of line." He dropped his hand dismissing the subject and began to dig deep into his pocket, pulling out a small black box. He held the small case before me. "Open it."

I pushed his hand aside clearly more interested in following after Alice than going through with today's planned events. He chuckled at my stubbornness and did so himself, carefully pulling out a silver sterling necklace. He let it fall between his fingers, dangling it before my eyes in the dim sunlight. It glimmered brightly before me. "It's beautiful," I murmured still enraptured in the sight of it. He smiled crookedly in delight, undoing the latch before swiftly placing it around my neck. I held my wavy locks in a makeshift ponytail as he adjusted the length. "I love it."

My heart skipped a beat-the simple ways he used to make my heart tingle with longing, the nonchalant way he reminded me how much I loved him-it was too much. As I leaned in to kiss him, I felt everything slip away...all my cares...all my worries...something about Alice...

Everything after that remains a complete blur of events. By dinner, Alice still hadn't returned, and the rain had begun to pour furiously outside, a clear indicator that a severe thunderstorm was approaching.

I tried my hardest not to let my emotions get the best of me as I watched Esme frantically pace around the room, clenching her phone in a tight fist. Carlisle, Emmett, and Edward had gone out into the storm in search of Alice. They had been driving for two hours already, and there was still no trace of her. Not even police had been able to locate her. My constant reassurances became my practical mantra after repeating the same words over and over: Everything's going to be okay. Alice will be just fine. She would carefully flash her pearly whites in my direction and remind me that it was the duty of a mother to worry and that she knew her little girl would be coming back in one piece. I knew she was lying; it was evident in disposition.

I hadn't been able to sleep that night, and neither could Esme. We sat perched on the couch in the living room, waiting for our phones to light up. Waiting to hear that Alice was safe and sound, that she had just run off to Rose's house, that she hadn't meant to scare us.

The door bell was the only thing to break the silence between Esme and I, but the tension only grew with each step as we both approached the door. My heart was pounding in my ears as I opened the door until to reveal a soaking wet, Charlie.

I hastily pulled him in, hugging him close to my chest. The tears began to run down my face in pools. I didn't even care that we were soiling the perfectly, clean white rug beneath us. It wasn't until moments later that I realized that Charlie, too, was crying, purple circles lining his bloodshot red eyes. "Dad, what is it?"

He kept shaking his head, ignoring all my questions. "Is she okay? Did you find her? Where is she?" I persisted.

I grabbed his face between my hands, but instantly pulled back, inhaling the cold look on his face. His expression was hard and weary, and I could feel all my senses beginning to dull. It seemed like ages before he finally answered me, his hoarse voice ringing in my ears.

"She's dead, Bella."

A/N- Don't hate me, but I had to. Thanks for all those who reviewed/followed/favorited. It means the world to get such positive feedback. One question I got was concerning Rosalie's role in the overall story. While I intend on having Rose to play a somewhat major part (especially now that Alice is no longer an option), the main point of the prologue was to include the overall theme of the story hence the cliche I incorporated: "Life isn't about waiting for the storms to pass, but learning to dance in the rain."

But to be perfectly honest, I'm not entirely sure where this story is headed, so I would love to hear your guys' ideas. It would be a tremendous help! Feedback is much appreciated!

x my-wolfee

Reviewers get to comfort Edward in his time of need.