Well kiddos, real life did what it does best, and interrupted my own little world where I can read and write all I'd like to. That being said, I was able to spend some time ALONE at the library today and I wrote this. It is not edited except for the things I changed while I typed it up, so there are bound to be multiple errors. It does not exactly end where I wanted it to, but the next chapter will pick up right there. Still no Jasper in this chapter, and probably not for at least 2 more. I think Bella kind of needs to get all of her ducks in a row before I scatter them to the wind.

Saving grace saving grace saving grace saving grace

Angela held her sobbing friend for a solid hour before Bella started calming down. Angela had known that Bella and Edward were inseparable at school, but apparently they were a lot closer than she thought. They had been dating less than a year, although when you are in High School that seems like forever to the heart of a teenager.

Looking at her broken friend in her arms again, Angela decides that her initial assessment was not totally correct. Bella must have loved Edward very deeply to be this hurt, but if he is the one who broke up with her and left her in the woods there could be no way his feelings were the same as hers. What kind of boy takes a girl out of her home for a walk in the woods to break up with her? Did he break up with her? Or did he just tell her that the family was moving and he did not want to pursue a long distance relationship? She had so many questions, and the only person who could answer them had not spoken a word since her arrival.

Saving grace saving grace saving grace saving grace

Bella clung to Angela as if her life depended on it, and in a small way, maybe it did. At this moment she needed someone- no matter how hard that was to admit- she did. She yearned for her scatter brained mother in that moment. The lady could not run a household to save her life, but she was really good with emotions and would have held Bella as she cried, rubbed her back, and told her "everything in gonna be okay", whether or not it was actually true, because sometimes that is just what you need to hear. Although Bella was very much like her dad, not being overly emotional or affectionate, she was still a teenage girl, and at this time Angela's warm embrace and soothing words were helping Bella to feel something real, something tangible, that someone else did care for her.

She straightened up and used her sleeves to wipe her eyes. Looking around she noticed they were both sitting on her bed, although she did not remember them moving there. Breathing a deep sigh she turned to Angela, although not looking up to meet her eyes, and said the only thing she could.

"He's gone."

"I know," came Angela's soft reply. Bella looked into Angela's eyes and could see the curiosity burning in them, but Angela was not a nosy person and would never ask more than someone was willing to share.

"The family?" He told her the family was moving on, but she had been so out of it that she did not know when or what the "official" cover story was. Wasn't that rather absurd of Him, to leave his loose end behind and not even tell her what the story was supposed to be? Everyone knew she was always with the Cullens, they would expect her to know such things, even if she did not want to talk about it.

"They left the same day that..." Angela's voice trailed off. "I guess he told you, but his dad, Dr. Cullen, got an offer for some big hospital in California."

"Hmm..." Bella replied, knowing full well that they would never move there due to the sunny weather. Apparently they did not want anyone to know their real whereabouts. What, did they think the puny distraction would track them down?

"Tomorrow is Monday," Angela started, while looking down and picking at her jogging pants. "Do you feel up to going to school?"

Bella had to think about that. Truthfully she had forgotten what day it was and the prospect of going to school alone terrified her. She had given up all of her friends for her "family", and now that they were gone how ungrateful would it look of her to come crawling back to them? Would they even accept her?

"I would be glad to drive you, if you'd like."

Bella looked up at Angela and smiled, for the first time since that day. "You would do that for me?"

"Of course I would!" Angela beamed back, happy to see the smile on Bella's face. "We have several of our classes and lunch together, so I will be with you most of the day anyway. I know people will talk and gossip, but I will stand with you."

"I, I mean, I.. I don't know what to say, Angela. I feel as if the last few months I have been a horrible friend to you, well, all of you, and here you are, being so nice to me..."

"Nonsense, Bella, I am just treating you the way I would want someone to treat me. My dad is a preacher. You know, that whole 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you'?" The last line was said in an almost exact replica of Angela's father's voice, and had both of the girls slightly giggling.

"Thank you, I'd like that. I think I am going to need a buffer of sorts. I don't really want to talk about it now, but one day I will. Until then I know people will gossip. They always do anyway, but since this involved the Cul-, um, them, it will be worse. Not to mention they all probably know I was lost in the woods..." her breaths started coming faster and shallower.

The woods...

The darkness...

"You are not good for me, Bella..."

"Bella! Bella, look at me!"

She looked up at her friend, took a long ragged breath, and let it out slowly. "Angela, are you sure you want to drive me? If I break down I won't be very good company."

Angela wrapped her arms around her friend. She was crying again, although not the gut wrenching weeping that she did earlier. "I'll talk with our dads and make sure it is all okay. Besides, if anything does happen and you do need to leave I think your dad would feel better if you were not driving, and not alone."

"I feel alone. How can you stand me, Angela? When was the last time we talked? Do any of my other friends even like me anymore? I was so careless, cutting out everyone in my life for one family, just to have them leave me like I was a stray cat they didn't want to bother with when they moved!"

"I am your friend, Bella. Although it is true that you made some unwise choices, we are just teenagers and this is when we do that. Just learn and grow, and try not to repeat the same mistakes again. As for your other friends, some were a little hurt that it seemed you forgot them, but they still care for you. And those that don't were never your real friend in the first place." Angela scrunched up her eyebrows at the end, as if she was thinking about something she did not really like.

"Lauren?" Bella guessed, surprising herself by giggling. She could never understand what caused that girl's animosity towards her. Angela just giggled and nodded her head in affirmation.

Saving grace saving grace saving grace saving grace

"You sure you want to do this, Bells?" Charlie asked while glancing up from his coffee. She seemed better after speaking with Angela last night, but the overprotective father in him did not want to let her leave the house. He knew better than most that in small towns like this the gossip would be all over the place and she would have to face it. When Renee left him it was the same way. To top that off, she was still in school and sometimes kids were just down right mean.

Swallowing her pop tart she looked up with a vague, "yeah, Char-, um, dad". She sighed heavily, looked him in the eye, and surprised him by saying, "Truth?"

He quirked and eyebrow at her, "Truth."

Getting her thoughts together, Bella looked for the right words to let her dad know what she was thinking. After Angela left she decided she had it with the lies and the secrets, unless it pertained to vampires or powers she would always tell the truth from now on. She couldn't do anything about that particular secret, but others just made her soul seem heavy. She craved a relationship with her dad, and she wasn't going to get it by hiding all of her feelings no matter how uncomfortable they made her feel.

"Honestly, I don't really want to go. But I think I NEED to."

"Why do you think that? If you want to wait a day or so for it to calm down and gather yourself together, that is okay with me."

"No, Dad, I really think I need to." She smiled at him, appreciating the affection that drove his response. "It might start to die down, but as soon as people see me it will start right back up. If I don't face it soon the gossip might get more out of control than it already is. And I need to face this. I can not run from my problems."

Pride radiated from the chief. "I am proud of you, Bells. That sounded more mature than half of the deputies I know."

They looked at each other, neither knowing what else to say. A knock on the door brought them out of the bonding moment, luckily before it turned too awkward. She would try to open up, but it would not be easy for either of them. "That's Angela. See you later." She picked up her coat and bag and scurried out the door. Angela was being a dear for picking her up and she did not want to cause her to be late.

"Good luck, Bells" Charlie whispered to the closing door.

Saving grace saving grace saving grace saving grace

Yay! A chapter! Thank you for everyone who reviewed and added me to favorites or alerts. I hope to update sooner than last time, but can't make any promises that I don't want to have to break for unavoidable delays. Send reviews if you have them! If you see anything that needs to be fixed I'll try to do it as soon as it is brought to my attention.

So, the next chapter is the first day back at school. Can you imagine what it will be like? And she won't be as zombiefied (word?nah..) in this one, so unfortunately she will be noticing all of those whispers and looks. Any ideas for the reactions some of her friends should have when she is around them again?