Disclaimer- Totally do not own the characters of Twilight. I am merely borrowing them as a bordom buster!

Oh yes. And to save any confusion, Alice's party wasn't her birthday party or anything. It was just a party she felt like throwing while her parents were away.

Don't you know by now?

You can't turn back.

Because this road is all you'll ever have.

-Fences, Paramore. (Just so you know, it was really, really hard to find a song for this chapter.)

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I hesitated outside the door to Emmett's flat that evening. It hadn't taken long to persuade Renee to let me go to San Francisco; she had wanted me to take the job all along, she had wanted me to go and practically live with the cousin I hadn't seen in about ten years. She hadn't been so happy about me dropping out of Forks High, but I had made my decision and was too stubborn to change my mind. I was also scared of the rejection I was sure to get from Edward and, now, Alice.

I raised my fist as if to knock, but my fist never made contact with the door; it hung there in mid-air as I contemplated turning back. No, I thought firmly and rapped on the door three times.

"Coming!" someone yelled from inside. I heard a loud bang and a clatter, followed by a deep curse before the door was wrenched open.

"Uh… surprise?" I said unsurely.

"Bella!" Emmett cried, "You came! Could have given us a bit of notice, though… we're right in the middle of spring cleaning…"

"We?" a female called from within, "I am doing the spring cleaning Emmett." Suddenly, a stunning woman appeared at his side, rubber gloves covering her hands. She had beautiful long blonde hair that fell to her waist like a golden waterfall and blue eyes that seemed to smile all by themselves.

"You must be Bella." A smile lit up her face as well and she reached out and shook my hand.

"And you must be Rosalie. It's lovely to finally meet you. I'm so sorry that I couldn't make the wedding…"

"Don't worry about it." Rosalie rolled her eyes, "We can see you now."

"Uh… yeah… about that …" I started, but Rosalie cut me off.

"Let's discuss this inside. Come on in." She opened the door wider and let me in.

"Well, yeah, I was wondering if I could sleep on your couch for a few nights. I was going to move into the flat down the road but it's sold now…"

"Of course you can!" Rosalie exclaimed, "You can sleep in the spare room."

"Are you sure?" I bit my lip.

"Bella, we're not going to kick you out, are we?" Rosalie rolled her eyes and I could tell that I'd get on well with her.

"Aren't we?" Emmett joked and dodged Rose's playful slap.

"It's this way," Rose told me and led the way down the corridor. There were several cardboard boxes stacked on top of one another and one had apparently toppled to the floor and its contents (saucepans and other kitchen utensils) and I briefly wondered if that was the bang I had heard from the outside.

"Here. You'll be the first person to stay in this room," Rosalie informed me proudly.

"Thanks so much. How can I ever repay you?" I dropped my bags on the floor and turned to smile at Rose.

"Don't even think about it," she threatened, "You are Emmett's cousin and this is what family do. I take it you still want that job in the restaurant?"

"Yes, but…"

"Well then, consider that our repayment. We need someone to take this job so badly."

"Well, at least let me bake you guys a cake for your troubles," I offered.

"Uh… sure. If you really want to…" Rose shrugged, "But really, Bella, it's no trouble having you stay here."

I stuck to my word and baked them a cake that evening. I loved baking; it sort of calmed me and I turned out to be pretty good at it too. Rose and Emmett adored the cake and it took a while to convince them that I hadn't smuggled it in from a cake shop somewhere. But, considering that there wasn't a bakers around here for miles, I won that argument.

Staying with Rose and Emmett wasn't as bad as I had originally expected. In fact, it was almost as good as being in Forks. Rose was one of the best friends I could ever have wished for, only bettered by Alice, who I spoke to every day on the phone.

We missed each other, of course, but were grateful that we could still speak to each other. And, even better, Alice had kept her promise of not telling her brother that he had slept with me; not that he didn't ask.

"Honestly, Bella," she had said to me once, "I don't know why I can't just tell him. He keeps asking me, insisting, correctly might I add, that I know something. I tell him that I don't know anything, but I think he can see through me, Bells."

"Just don't tell him, Alice," I ordered, "It was a stupid drunken mistake and we'd both be embarrassed."

"Well… I'm sure you have your reasons…" she had murmured, obviously not thinking that the reason I had just given her was good enough. We hadn't spoken about it since then, instead telling each other of what we got up to.

I had been living with Emmett and Rose for almost two months when three very big things seemed to happen at once.

Firstly, Rose and Emmett's restaurant got a five-star review from the toughest food critic around and they were flooded with new staff and customers. They became rich over-night and I, as chief member of staff, did pretty well too.

Secondly, the shop next door to Rose and Emmett's restaurant closed down and became an empty space, so, after much persuasion from Emmett and Rose, I bought it. They had been trying to get me to open my own bakers in a small section of their restaurant for ages, but I insisted that I was perfectly happy working for them and I didn't want any of their space. When this shop came up, it seemed too good to be true. So I bought it and did it up and after a couple of weeks, opened it under my own name.

'Bella's' was a huge success and I did really well. For a while I was the happiest I had ever been in my life: I got to do my dream job; I had two really great friends living next door; I had my own apartment; I spoke to Alice everyday… I had everything I wanted… well, almost everything. I always tried to push Edward to the back of my mind, but he was always there, like a piece of homework you know you have to do, but keep putting it off.

And then the third thing happened: I skipped a period. I didn't notice for ages and it took five days worth of nausea and waking up to puke down the toilet before the thought even passed through my head.

I drove a long way to get to a pharmacy's where no one would recognize me and bought three pregnancy tests. It wasn't long after that that I was curled up in a ball on the bathroom floor crying my eyes out surrounded by the three tests all reading the same result: positive.

I didn't have a clue what to do. I couldn't tell anybody; not even Rose and definitely not Alice. Alice must have known that something was up the moment I stopped answering the phone to her. At first, I didn't answer because I wasn't in the mood to be falsely happy, but then I realised that I would have to cut all ties I had with Alice.

Edward couldn't know. From my conversations with Alice, I had learnt that he had huge ambitions. He wanted to go to medical school and become a doctor, like his Dad. I couldn't ruin it for him by turning up on his doorstep and saying 'Hi. You may not remember me, but we had drunken sex one night and now I'm pregnant with your baby and neither of us have much of a future. Oh, yeah and I forced your sister not to tell you that it was me for reasons that I myself can not actually understand, but I'm sure that I have my reasons.' And over the phone would be even worse.

I suddenly knew what I had to do. I picked up my phone and dialled the number of the doctor's surgery.

A few hours later, I sat nervously in the waiting room, awaiting the result of the blood test Dr Morgan had done.

"Isabella Swan?" the receptionist called my name and I made my way back down the corridor. I knocked timidly on the door that had Dr Morgan's name on it before going in.

"Ah, Isabella," he greeted me.

I bit my lip, too anxious to say anything.

"It's positive, Bella," he informed me.

I nodded. Deep down I had always known that that would be the result but I had hoped. And now, as the doctor handed me various leaflets all with titles like 'What to expect when you're expecting', I was barely listening. I was wallowing as my bright future suddenly disappeared right before my eyes.

"Of course, you have three options…" Dr Morgan was saying. Now my head snapped up. Why hadn't I thought of this before?

"You're about two months gone, just under, so abortion is still an option for you…"

"I want an abortion," I said immediately.

"Are you sure?" the doctor looked at me and I nodded my head.

"Yes," I whispered. As much as I disagreed with it, I couldn't let this baby wreck my future and my friendship with Alice. I knew that if I kept the baby then I couldn't tell Edward, I just couldn't ruin his life. I had come to realise that, though I hardly knew him, I cared for him very much and I couldn't stop him from achieving his dreams. So I knew that I couldn't speak to Alice because she would force me to tell Edward, and I desperately didn't want to lose contact with her, so that left me with only one option.

But there was a small part of my mind telling me not to do it, that abortion was wrong and that killing an innocent baby could not possibly help me. But then there was the other side of my brain telling me that it would be unfair, not only for myself, but for the baby, to bring it up in such an unstable environment when it could never know its father.

"Would you like to think about it or shall I book you an appointment now?"

"Now, please." If I had time to think then I would change my mind, I knew it.

Dr Morgan called the hospital for me and arranged me an abortion for four days later. I thanked him before leaving, tears streaming down my face. Hell, I didn't want to do this, but I felt that I had no choice.

I was at home, baking in the kitchen, when there was a knock on the door. I sighed and rinsed my hands before going to answer. The first thing I saw when I yanked the door open was a pair of glittering emerald green eyes that I practically fell into. And then I noticed that they were narrowed. And that made me look at the bigger picture.

"Edward?" I whispered, confused.

"You're going to kill our baby?" he growled.

"What? How do you know about that?" I asked.

"You're a murderer!" Edward cried, before hitting out at me, his hand connecting with my cheek, "You should have been more responsible!"

"Edward… what are you…?" I spluttered, tripping over my own feet and suddenly I was falling. The ground came slowly up to meet me…

I hit the floor with a bang that pulled me, panting, from my dream. I was sprawled on the floor and it took me a second to realise what had happened. It had been a dream… just a dream. Edward hadn't really come to the door. Edward didn't really know about the baby… oh fuck: the baby.

I stood, swaying slightly on my feet before toppling back on to the bed. I was supposed to be having the abortion today and I felt my stomach lurch at the thought. Was I a murderer like Edward had accused me in my dream? No. I was getting rid of an unwanted foetus. It wasn't a baby yet. Hell, it wasn't even a foetus. It was a ball of cells and that was it. Nothing else. It didn't even matter.

As much as I told myself this, the tears still poured down my face. I didn't want to go through with this, but I had no choice. I wasn't ready to be a mother, I wasn't ready to throw away my dreams. So, despite the fact that I didn't want to go through with this - that I couldn't go through with this - I knew that it was for the best. This wasn't just what was best for me, it was what was best for the bab… ball of cells, it was what was best for my career, and it was what was best for Edward. At least, that's what I would tell myself.

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Okay. I'm sorry about this chapter. It's really short and I don't really like it. It was also a pain in the ass to write, but I had to write it to get on with writing the next few chapters. But I hope you liked it more than I did. What did you think?

And I did manage the within-weekly update, which is my target now, in case I haven't already mentioned that. So I promise that I will update next Saturday or before. I'm on a writing streak at the moment though so, if I get a lot of reviews, I might even update tomorrow!

And I know it's totally stupid the way Bella's refusing to let Alice tell Edward that it was her at the party, but she's terrified that Edward will hate her because she has deep-rooted feelings for him, even though they've only met the once, and she's scared of rejection. She also doesn't want to ruin his life by intruding with a baby in case that wasn't made clear, just in case anyone starts questioning her motives.

Thank you so, so much to everyone that reviewed and alerted this story. It got flamed the day I put it up which made me so upset and then I got so many good reviews that I just thought "Hey. These people like it so that person doesn't know what they are talking about. They obviously should go buy a dictionary and look up the word whore." So thank you thank you thank you. And I also got 17 reviews for one chapter! Seriously guys, that's amazing! I love you.

Big thanks to Deedee157 for her lovely PM. Thanks so much.

So yes. To summarise this AN, thanks to everyone who reviewed/ favourited/ alerted this fic, sorry about the chapter, and something about updates XD

PLEASE REVIEW!!! If I get a lot, I'll update tomorrow.

Thanks.

Steph