Starts as Bella is in the Meadow during Chapter 10 of "New Moon"

"Bella?" I heard her ask from the opposite end of the hallway. She looked as though she were in complete shock.

I started to panic. If Rosalie were here, that would mean that Edward would be here. I wanted to make my escape, but right as I was preparing to turn and make a run for it, a huge hulking figure came around the corner toward Rosalie. When Emmett reached her, he took in her shocked expression and followed her gaze to me. There wasn't time for him to react before his phone rang. He picked it up, and though I was far away, I could hear the excited voice of Alice flowing through from the other end.

"Emmett, I just saw Bella at school with you," she said excitedly into the phone.

"Um, yeah," he whispered into the phone, as though he were in shock, his gaze never leaving my face.

"I'll be right there; I'm over in the Biology lab." And with that, I heard the click of the phone, and knew that there was no escape for me. With a nod of my head I acknowledged them and knew they understood the need for us to not make a scene. They tried to busy themselves by gathering their things.

It wasn't sixty seconds before I heard the two sets of excited footsteps coming up behind me. I slowly turned to meet my former friends as they came to a stop just mere feet from me.

"Bella?" Alice looked as though she would cry if she had the ability, and Jasper looked nervous.

"We should go somewhere else," I stated, knowing Emmett and Rosalie would be listening in. "I don't know the area too well yet. Where can we go that we won't be disturbed?"

"There's an old deserted warehouse not far from here. No one goes there, and we'll be able to talk. We go there a lot, just follow our scents," Jasper said quietly, and seeming to pick up on my unease, he added, "Don't worry, he's not here with us."

I let out the breath I didn't realize I was holding, and quickly nodded and walked away from them toward the parking lot.

I got on my baby, found the trail of their scents and sped away toward the warehouse, knowing they would not be far behind me. My thoughts were a jumbled mess. I kept telling myself that I knew this day would come, but I didn't fathom that it would happen so soon. A part of me was pleased to see my old friends, although I don't think you could really call Rosalie a friend, but another part of me knew that this family traveled together. If these four were here, that could only mean that he would be here too, no matter what Jasper said. I pulled into the lot of the warehouse and jumped off my bike, as a bright yellow sports car pulled up beside me.

Alice was the first one out and in less than a second she had thrown her little body on top of mine in a mass of hugs and kisses.

"Bella!" she cried. "Bella, I'm so sorry! I never wanted to leave, but he was so adamant about it and we weren't allowed to come back and check on you." She was speaking so fast that even I had trouble keeping up with her, but I got the idea. I couldn't help but smile and laugh with my old friend. I had missed Alice almost as much as I'd missed Edwa…

I finally pried her off of me enough to say hello to the others. Emmett wrapped me in a huge bear hug, whispering how he'd missed. Even Rosalie, who had never particularly warmed to me, and Jasper, who could never get close to me because of my human blood, gave me welcoming hugs.

"Bella, what happened to you?" Jasper finally asked once the reunion had calmed down and we had all moved inside the warehouse so as not to attract attention to ourselves. "What happened after we… left you?" he added with a pained expression. I noticed that they all visibly winced when he said those last two words.

So I told them my story. How I changed when Edward left, became a shell of a person, though this part was extremely difficult to tell. My fun times with Jacob, and how I was beginning to emerge from my shell. Laurent in the meadow, and my years with Tanya's coven, and traveling the world with my father-figure. Lastly, I told them how I had come to this school to finish my high school degree, though I had studied online courses during my years away from civilization.

They all sat and took in everything I said, word for word. When I had finished, I leaned against the wall, waiting for everything to sink in for them.

After a few minutes, it was Rosalie who spoke up first.

"I'm so sorry, Bella." And I could see in her eyes, she meant every word of it. "After your birthday, Edward was really shaken up. I think we all were, but he was the worst. He had the thought in his head that if we all left, you'd be free to live your life as a human. I have to say I agreed with him. I never wanted to see you have to live like us. I wanted you to have all the things I never had: children, a family. I helped him convince the family to leave, thinking you would be better off without us all around. I had no idea that it would turn out like this." I could see the silent, dry sobs she was trying to fight. Emmett pulled her into his arms and looked to me.

"We didn't want to hurt you, Bella," he whispered, while he comforted his wife. "Edward had one hell of a fight on his hands when he told us he wanted to leave Forks, and leave you with it. I thought he'd lost his mind. It was obvious he was ignoring the fact that he loved you to try to save you."

"You must have been wrong then," I stated coldly. "He made it clear when he left that he didn't love me or want me anymore."

"Bella," Alice cut in, "don't you see? He told you that so you wouldn't follow us. He was miserable after we left. He stopped playing the piano, he would barely hunt, all he would do was sit in his room and stare into space. He only stayed with us a few months before heading out on his own." My head shot up at that bit of news.

"He's not here with you?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"I think we all reminded him too much of the time he spent with you," Jasper took over for Alice when she looked sadly away from me. "He checks in with us every few months, but he has been wandering by himself these past ten years. Last we heard from him, he was in South America, living with one of the Amazon tribes as a medicine man. It's been especially difficult for Esme, knowing he's in so much pain. He still loves you, Bella. He just thought you deserved to be able to live like a normal human. If he knew you had been changed, he'd be devastated to know he couldn't have saved you from this life, but he would no doubt set out to find you."

"Which is exactly why he can't know," I added in quickly. "Please, all of you, you can't tell him what has happened. I can't face him. I feel as though there's a hole in my chest where my heart once was. He ripped that out when he left me there, alone, crying in the woods. He broke my heart, and I can't just allow him back into my life." They all looked to about to protest, but I stopped them. "Please, you can't tell him." I looked at each of them desperately. "He can never know."

Alice stepped up to me, nodding her head.

"Alright, Bella, we won't tell him, and we'll do the best we can to hide our thoughts if he comes to visit. Your secret is safe with us, but please allow us to tell Esme and Carlisle. This could bring Esme back into her joyful nature. She has been mourning the loss of Edward these past ten years, and we all long to see her smile again. Please, come back to the house with us so you can see them again."

"I would love to see Esme and Carlisle again," I said, warmly, "just let me get Laurent. I know that he would appreciate seeing them again. He always says that it was Carlisle who planted the seeds to make him a 'good vampire.' If you would like to accompany me back to our home, we can all go together to see Carlisle and Esme."

They all agreed, and we headed out to get Laurent. I knew he would be beyond surprised, and I only hoped that he would not also insist that I tell Edward of my vampire existence.