Chapter 2: Coming Home

Edward Cullen

Edward walked into the hotel room and was greeted instantly by Alice and Jasper. They stood by the entrance behind the large sofa and looked at him with eyes signifying that they wanted to know how Bella was. Edward simply shook his head at his family members and walked to the adjourning room with heavy feet.

Instead of his wishes to be left alone being satisfied, he heard Alice and Jasper following after him. Edward flopped on his back on the top of the bed and covered his face with his hands. Was it really that bad? Edward could hear Jasper thinking as he tried to calm down Edward's high anxiety level.

"She doesn't remember me," Edward mumbled through his hands. "She didn't remember Carlisle. She didn't remember anything about why she was in the hospital. She knows nothing about vampires."

Jasper took in a short breath – a gasp. Alice stood poised at the door, eyes distant as she searched the future. She opened up her mind to show Edward what she was seeing and thought to him, Edward, I can still see Bella as a vampire. She'll come around eventually. Just give her time.

"Give her time?" Edward bellowed as he shot up from the bed in one quick motion and fumed. "Alice, Bella is the one thing that keeps me alive. She makes my world a better place to be in. Before her, nothing had any meaning for me. But now that I have her, I can't just let her go and give her time."

"Edward, you have to," Alice shot back, her words defensive yet sensitive at the same time. Jasper stood in the corner, reeling from the overwhelming sense of emotions flowing in the small room. "She can't remember anything. Do you honestly want to hover over her and freak her out? That would only make things worse and she certainly won't go back to you when she thinks you're a stalker. Edward, I can see you watching her every move, trying to protect her. Bella does not need protecting. She needs to remember things on her own. Give her time to sort things out on her own."

His eyes fell to the floor as he exhaled loudly. He knew his sister was right. Edward couldn't watch Bella every second of the day, preparing himself for impending doom. He had to give her space yet let her know he was here for her all at the same time. It was a difficult task, but Edward knew that it was all worth it for Bella. He would do anything for Bella.

Jasper could sense the change in Edward's emotions and he knew Alice had won. Edward looked up to see Jasper standing next to Alice with his arm around her shoulders. Sure he could have his true love with him, knowing who he is. No time to be jealous now, Edward, Edward thought to himself as he shook his head of the stupid emotion. He mustered a weak smile and Jasper and Alice beamed back at him. "Our flight is in an hour. We should leave soon," Jasper said to Edward as he guided Alice back to the main room of the hotel suite. Edward raked his fingers through his hair before moaning to himself and following after his family members.

"I'll be a wreck until she gets back to Forks, you know that, right?" Edward called out to them.

"Of course we do," both Alice and Jasper responded at the same time.

Bella Swan

"So you're saying that I lost my memory?" Bella asked incredulously after the doctor's words sank in. She thought that losing your memory was only in movies and books in order to make the plot better. But could this really be happening in real life? Bella was at a loss for words.

Dr. Cullen smiled knowingly at Bella, clearing anticipating this question. "With the help of your parents, friends back at Forks, and an open mind to things that may seem new to you, you'll be just fine. I promise you that you are safe."

Why did those last words sound like they held a deeper meaning to them? Bella was stumped. She knew that all the doctor's words were true, but she was a bit skittish. Walking back into a town that she vaguely remembered moving to with a blank mind? Would that even work? She had to have received some remnants of a life in Forks. But if she didn't know what that life was, how would she live it? It was as if she were starting all over again in a town she didn't even want to live in to begin with.

"So when can I leave?" Bella pounced upon the question. As often as she was in the hospital – whether it be in Phoenix or Forks – she hated to be there. All she wanted to do was go home and lay in her own comfortable bed and forget about everything that happened to her. Only, she already got the forgetting part down, so she just wanted her comfortable bed.

"We'll keep you overnight for continuous observations and if none of your conditions have worsened by morning, you'll be free to leave," Carlisle smiled at her warmly again. "I can even accompany you on the plane ride to make sure that nothing happens to you."

"Why would you need to do that? Don't you have patients to tend to here?" Bella asked him curiously. As nice as this man was, it was strange that he would follow her back home just to monitor her health. That wasn't what a normal doctor would do.

Dr. Carlisle chuckled shortly before saying, "I live in Forks myself, Bella. I was leaving tomorrow as it is, and I figured you might enjoy a familiar face on the plane. If you wish otherwise, than I can always leave sooner."

"You live in Forks? What a coincidence…" Bella trailed off as if something were sparking in her memory. Only nothing was and it was as empty as ever. She sighed in exasperation. This is going to be annoying.

"Why, yes it is," Carlisle replied, leaving space at the end as if he wanted to add more only couldn't. He looked at Bella one last time before saying, "You must be groggy. Rest up, it will help improve your injuries. I have rounds to attend to, excuse me."

As soon as the words slipped from the doctor's mouth, Bella suddenly realized how tired she truly was. As she drifted into unconscious, one face burned into the back of her eyelids, haunting her dreams as if they were trying to tell her something. Edward.

…Five days later…

"All right, so I'll try to get here on time after school, but I can't promise anything, kid," Charlie called through the open window to his cruiser as Bella stood on the outside.

Since Bella had broken her leg, she couldn't drive her truck to school so her father had to bring her. As much as she hated the idea of being seen in the cruiser by her friends – or what she remembered of her friends – she was thankful for Charlie. Since Bella came home and Charlie quickly forgave her for her childish tantrum and harsh words before she left, Charlie had turned into a real father. He tried cooking for the two of them, only it ended poorly. He did the laundry, though the end result was the entire white wash turning pink. And he nursed her as much as he could. There was nothing that Charlie would do in order to make Bella leave again. And she needed as much help as she could get.

"Sure, don't worry about it, Dad," Bella smiled weakly at him before she pushed the straps of her backpack up farther on her shoulders and turned around. She headed toward her first class on her crutches, avoiding the stares from the people around her. It is just like the first day, she thought, frustrated with her stupid head injury.

As she approached the door to the building, which led to her first class, Bella struggled to open the door. With the crutches in her way and her ribs still aching, she couldn't get the door to cooperate. Just then a pale arm reached in front of her and opened the door in one easy swing. She followed the arm up to the body and then realized who it was; it was the boy from the hospital room, the boy she had been dreaming about. "Thanks, uh, Edward," she stumbled to say.

"Bella." His reply was supposed to sound casual, only her name ended with an intimate ring to it. An intimate ring full of unseen love and heartache. What have I done to this man?

She forced a dainty smile upon her lips and crutched away from him quickly, nearly falling to the floor by the too-fast motion. She expected Edward's arms to reach out and catch her from her near fall, only a different pair of arms caught her. "Geez Bella, you'd think that you would at least try not get hurt again." She knew this voice; it was none other than Mike Newton.

"Mike, hi," she beamed with delight. She could finally remember a person. It was like finding water in the middle of a desert when you were dying from thirst. Mike was her social life savor at the moment.

"Hi, Bella. I'm really glad you're back," Mike replied sincerely. "How are you feeling?"

Bella ambled to her seat and Mike helped her to sit down, taking her crutches from her and placing them on the floor next to her desk. "I've been better. I just got back four days ago and my dad's been helping me get better."

"I still can't believe you fell out a window. I mean, I knew you were a klutz – you know, because we have gym together – but I didn't realize it was that bad!" Mike added with a laugh at the end.

Bella laughed nervously along with him. Just because I was born without a sense of equilibrium, doesn't mean it gives people the right to laugh at me, she thought pathetically of herself. "That sounds like me."

The rest of the period went as well as could be expected. She had a lot of work to make up for her week's absence and apparently a lot of catching up to do with her friends. At lunch she sat with her normal group of friends – Mike, Jessica, Angela, Lauren, Eric, Tyler, and Ben – but she felt out of place. For some reason, Bella felt like she should be sitting somewhere else, with someone else. Again her memory failed to provide her with the answers to her never-ending stream of question.

She fell into routine with her friends easily, the same thing happening over and over again. Apparently there was another trip to La Push being scheduled that Bella had already agreed to go to, but now she couldn't. With her leg the way it was and her ribs still protesting in pain, she gracefully backed out of going and everyone accepted that without argument.

She felt her eyes wandering to the table with Edward once again and she found herself asking who the other beautiful people he sat with were. Why did she feel drawn to go over to that table and sit with them? They all looked so intimidating to her; it made no sense the way she longed to be with them. As if on cue, she began stroking the gauze that she refused to remove from her wrist (she was too afraid to see what was underneath the bandage). Mike noticed this action and voiced his curiosity. "What'd you do to your wrist, Bella? Get stitches from the window or something?"

Bella looked down at her wrist and tried to think back again. Nothing came to mind. "I don't actually know. But I bet it is stitches. The uh…glass from the window went everywhere." Her friends at the table laughed, and Bella turned her attention from them to roll her eyes. Always the source for comedy, Bella.

As the bell rang to signify that it was time for Bella to go to Biology, she suddenly felt anxious to get there. Sure Biology was her best class, but she didn't understand why she wanted to get there so fast. The crutches were too slow for her and she almost decided to ditch them and run to class had Mike not handed them to her and guided her to class with his hand on the small of her back. She couldn't help but want a different hand on her back, guiding her.

Edward Cullen

Edward noticed that Bella was staring at him during lunch and in a strange way he was glad for that. At least she was still curious enough about him and his family that she felt the need to stare at them. But Edward couldn't help but sulk throughout the whole lunch period. He should be sitting at the table off to the side of the cafeteria, away from his family and away from Bella's friends, sitting alone with Bella. He couldn't help but miss staring at her and making pointless conversation with her and voicing his disgust in the food she was eating. He missed the woman he was in love with.

"Dude, Edward, snap out of it," Emmett's booming voice erupted throughout the cafeteria and half the students turned their attention on them.

Edward sank lower in his chair and rested his chin on his folded arms that were on the table. "Leave me alone, Emmett," Edward sulked. His family went back to their meaningless conversation and Edward turned his gaze back to Bella, peering up through his eyelashes so no one could tell who he was looking at.

Then he saw what she was doing again; it was the same action he saw before he had left the hospital. Why hadn't she taken the gauze off her wrist yet? Bella was still stroking the bandaged wrist. Edward could only hope that she felt connected to him somehow even though the bite was from a different vampire. But his lips were the last to touch the wound, the lips that sucked the venom back out of her system and saved her.

When the bell rang he walked at an unusually slow pace, even for a human. He used to love this time of day, the time he would be able to sit next to Bella for an entire class period: Biology. But now, given Bella's state of mind, he wasn't even sure he should go. But he knew that he couldn't physically pass up the opportunity to sit next to his Bella even if she couldn't remember him. Perhaps this was the opportunity Carlisle was talking about. You can't lose hope now, Edward, he thought pointedly at himself as he quickened his pace.

When he arrived at Biology and took his seat, Bella wasn't there yet. She's on crutches. It'll take her longer than normal to get here, he reminded himself. From outside in the hall, he could hear heavy thunking again the tiled floor and Mike Newton's vial thoughts. Mike was plotting to ask Bella to prom and make her his girlfriend. Edward had to grip the edge of the table in order to stay seated and not kill Mike for thinking about taking Bella away from him. But was Bella even his to call anymore? He wasn't even sure about that answer.

Bella hobbled into the room and Mike led her to her seat next to Edward. She smiled weakly at Edward and took her seat, loudly falling into it. Mike placed her crutches on the floor and said to Bella, "You know, Bella, I was thinking."

Oh crap, Edward thought to himself. He wanted to stop what was about to happen only he didn't know how to. He would just have to sit witness and endure the heartache. "Prom's coming up in four weeks. Would you like to go with me?" Mike continued to torment Edward. Mike saw Edward's furious face behind Bella and he smiled smugly at him.

"Like as a date?" Bella finally recovered from her shock and asked.

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking," Mike said as he leaned forward on his elbows on the table.

"Oh," Bella managed to say. She blinked furiously as she tried to find the right words to say. "That sounds nice and all, but I don't think it's such a good idea."

Edward's shoulders relaxed and he let out the breath that he didn't even realize he was holding in. "Why not?" Mike's face visibly fell from the disappointment. Now Edward smiled smugly over Bella's shoulder at Mike.

"Well, I'm still in pain from my…fall," Bella began. Edward noticed she struggled to say the word 'fall' as if she didn't believe that was what really happened to her. "And because of my head injury, I lost a lot of my memory. I kinda feel like I'm starting all over here and I don't want to rush into anything at the moment. I think we should just be friends, Mike. At least for now."

Mike straightened up from the table and shook out his arms, shrugging his shoulders as if he didn't care what Bella had just told him. Edward searched Mike's mind and heard what he was really thinking. She lost her memory? That is the lamest excuse I've ever heard. I didn't think Bella was the type to actually lie to me. I thought we were friends. Maybe she really does like Cullen. Ugh… Really? Newton thinks that Bella still likes him? Edward was euphoric from that information, all though he did wish it was love. "All right. That's fair," Mike finally said to Bella. Bella smiled at him warmly – a smile Edward wished she had shown him – and then turned her attention to the teacher as he walked into the classroom. Mike left to take his place at his desk.

The teacher fumbled around his desk for what he was looking for, which gave the class a few more minutes for socializing. Bella exhaled loudly in frustration and then winced from the pain that still hurt her chest. "Are you all right?" Edward tried not to sound too anxious about her health.

Bella looked at Edward and finally smiled at him genuinely. "Yeah, thanks. My ribs still hurt a lot. Oh, but don't tell my dad that, or even your dad, please!" she begged of him.

"Why not?" Edward asked curiously.

She sighed, causing another wince and then said, "Because I don't want any more attention from my dad or Dr. Cullen. I just want my life to go back to normal. Whatever normal that was."

"I understand," Edward said sadly. He took normal as a world without vampires, meaning a world without him. Even though she didn't know what she was saying, he still felt a pang of sorrow wash over him. Edward turned his attention back to the notebook in front of him and began scribbling randomly on it.

"I hate not being able to remember anything," Bella said under her breath, most likely only meant to be for her ears.

"Why's that?" Edward asked her as he continued to keep his eyes on the notebook in front of him.

Bella looked up at him confusedly until she realized he had heard what she said. "Oh, um, I don't know. It's just annoying not to remember a part of your life. And this part just seems really important all though I don't know why. I want to know why I decided to stay in Forks even though I hate Forks. How can anyone like to live in a place where it rains 24/7?"

"Perhaps people like small town life? And I hear that fishing in the rain is good, but I could be wrong," Edward said while continuing to look down. He was upset that she said she hated Forks. But at least she didn't say that she hated him.

"Eh, I guess," Bella said as she tried to bend down and get her backpack that Mike left on the floor for her. "Ow," she moaned to herself. "Oh!" she gasped in surprise as he began tumbling forward off of her chair and couldn't stop the inevitable face plant.

Before her face hit the tiled floor, Edward's arms snaked around her stomach, careful to avoid her broken ribs, and gently pulled her back up in her seat, grabbing her backpack at the same time and placing it on the table. "Careful now. We wouldn't want to go to the hospital again, now would we?" Edward said as he pulled his arms back. It was so hard for him to remove his arms from her touch – which was what he had been wanting for such a long time, to touch Bella again.

"Thanks," she mumbled to herself as he began digging through her bag for her Biology binder. "I'm surprised you didn't laugh at me," she mumbled to herself.

"Why would I laugh at you?" he looked at her with wide eyes. Laughing at Bella at a time like this – a time where she remembered nothing about all the time they spent together – seemed impossible to Edward. He wasn't capable of seeing humor without Bella's love in his life.

Bella looked down at her notebook and just then the teacher began talking. He held up a small VHS box and informed the class that it was movie day. "This movie will take three classes I think. So enjoy the little break from actual work and we won't have homework either." He paused while the class – everyone except Bella and Edward – erupted in cheers. Mr. Banner put the movie in the VCR and pushed play. He then turned back around and said, "Oh, Bella, if you would come here, I can give you the work that you missed."

As Bella was about to attempt to get up, Edward pushed up from his chair and touched her shoulder slightly. "I'll get the work for you so you don't have to move, Bella."

Bella blushed involuntarily and Edward was sure that if his heart were beating, it would have skipped a beat. He was so glad to see that Bella was blushing at him again. Edward walked to the front of the class and he could hear Mike Newton grumbling unintelligibly to himself in his mind. Edward wore a smug smile as he reached the teacher's desk and said, "I came to get Bella's work since she shouldn't be moving all that much in her condition."

"Condition?" Mr. Banner questioned in a tone that meant he really was completely oblivious to what happened to Bella.

"Yes. Bella has been absent since she broke her leg, ribs, cracked her skull open and…got stitches in her wrist as well," Edward explained quietly so no one else could hear.

"What happened to her?" Mr. Banner's eyes grew wide with fright and he eyed Bella secretively.

Edward looked back at Bella who looked up at the same time and smiled at him. He then turned his attention back to his teacher and said, "She…uh…fell down two flights of stairs…and out a window," Edward struggled to explain the lie.

"Oh my goodness," Mr. Banner was frozen for a short moment. He then handed Edward the stack of papers Bella had to make up and said, "Tell her to take her time with this stuff. Tell her to get well soon."

Edward nodded his head and turned back to the table he and Bella shared. He sat in his seat and dropped the stack on the table with a loud thwap. "Wow, that's a lot. Thanks."

"I could help you if you need it," Edward suggested, more for himself because he wanted to spend more time with her.

"Thanks, but I took AP Biology back in Phoenix so I think I should have this down in no time," Bella waved this suggestion off, not seeing the meaning behind it. The movie began playing and Bella turned her attention to the screen. Edward tried to watch the movie as well, only he was far from fascinated with the topic of human genetics, a subject he had learned many times over in the past. Instead, he inconspicuously watched Bella the entire time, hoping she wouldn't notice his stare. At one point, Bella did look over to see Edward. Edward pretended as if he had been watching the film the whole time. Bella appraised his appearance and sighed a sigh of longing, almost as if she wanted Edward as much as he wanted her. But before Edward could return her gaze, she had turned her head back to the TV screen and didn't look back again.

A/N: So there's the next chapter. I really appreciate all your reviews. They make me happy. I'll update as soon as I can. Thanks. Review please.