One Year Later. Year: 2010
From: Ranee
Merry Christmas baby! Wish you were here. Phil sends you his regards! Take care of yourself and don't overwork yourself at school. Love you!
To: Ranee
Hey mom, Merry Christmas! Text me when you get the gifts I sent! It'll be there soon. Miss you and Phil too much. Don't worry, I'm doing okay. Being a trainee over the holidays is not so bad, to be honest, I'm learning a lot. Have a good time today! Love you and Merry Christmas.
To: Charlie
Hey dad, I just wanted to let you know that I love you. Thank you for supporting me always. I hope you got the present I sent you. Text me after you open it, I know you'll like it. I love you dad, Merry X-mas!
Two Years Later. Year: 2011
From: Charlie
Happy birthday, kiddo! I'm almost ready to board the flight over. Can't wait to see you soon. You'll love your surprise.
Angie: It's exam season! Good luck with finals, guys! Let's graduate and jump into the shitty phase of life that is called adulting!
Jessie: Ugh, good luck you all! I'm barely surviving.
Erik: Erik is dead. Contact him at his gravesite at midnight every night. Thank you.
Mikey Boy: *Mike has quit life*
Three Years Later. Year: 2012
Mikey Boy: Oye guys! BIG NEWS! Tyler and Lauren are getting married!
Bella: What?! No way! Stop lying, Mike!
Mikey Boy: I swear on Jessica's sexy head. I'm not lying! Come on, Arizona, don't be so mean! Would I lie to you? Never.
Jessy: Guys, I just met Lauren. The rock is big!
Angie: Wait, she's pregnant?!
Mikey Boy: Angela! How dare you guess the right thing! Who knew Tyler was so loaded.
Angie: Shut up, Mike. Don't make me march over to your university dorm and kick your ass.
Erik: Fiesty Angela is a sexy Angela.
Bella: You guys make me sick.
Erik: What? I'm just appreciating my baby!
Jessy: I agree with Bella, Erik. You're gross.
Erik: Shut up, Jess. You're even more gross with Mike! Don't get me started on last week.
Jessy: Erik!
Four Years Later.Year: 2013. One day after graduation day.
From: Ranee
I can't believe you've decided to stay one more year there, Bella!
To: Ranee
I'm sorry, mom. It was just too good of an opportunity to pass. Dad was strangely very upset about it at first.
From: Ranee
Yes, Charlie called. You know I'm okay with anything as long as you're happy, baby. How did you persuade Charlie though?
To: Ranee
A two hour sit down with a lot of talking on my part. He was okay with it as soon as I told him that it's going to be good for me.
From: Ranee
Say no more. At least he came around. It's just one year. Just be good to him until he catches the flight back tomorrow. I'm so sorry I couldn't come to our graduation, baby. It's just that I'm too heavily pregnant to travel. I'll make it up to you.
To: Ranee
It's fine mom. Take care of my brother and yourself.
Two Months Later
Angie: Bella! How's it like being a nurse? Ugh, teenagers are such pieces of shit. Were we this bad? We weren't this bad, right?
Bella: It's taxing, guys. But I love it! It helps that it's shift work so I get some time off. Still, I love it.
Mikey Boy: I'm suddenly very thankful for having it easier than you all. Being the boss of the store now feels good.
Jessy: Mike, I'll cut you. School sucks, I can't wait till I get the stupid degree.
Erik: There have been mysterious killings in Port Angeles. It's been a rough few days guys.
Bella Oh damn, any leads so far Erik?
Erik: None. It's strange. Everybody has not even an ounce of blood in it.
Mikey Boy: *vampire gif*
Erik: *facepalm* Shut up, Mike. Vampires don't exist!
Five Years Later. Year:2014
Bella: I can't wait to hug you all tomorrow. Thank you for being here these past years!
Mikey Boy: We miss you too Arizona 3
Angie: OMG, Bella I can't believe you'll be here tomorrow.
Two Hours Later.
From: Charlie
Can't wait to finally have you back kiddo. You'll love your new room. I've missed you. -Dad.
Tapping on the new text's notification, I smile as I read dad's message. Of course, he's excited. It's been five years after all. Five years, but it feels like a lifetime already.
"Isabella Swan?"
At the sound of my name, I glance up and smile at the man standing by a black SUV.
"Thank you so much," I thank him as he shuts the trunk's door close while I slide into the back passenger's seat of the vehicle and close the door behind me.
"Would you like the AC, ma'am?" The uber driver asks me, turning around a little to glance at me. My eyes snaps up and I regard the man before me for the first time. Brown hair and a soft looking face, he looks to be in his early thirties. I smile, "I'm okay with either. Thank you for asking."
"We will reach your destination in approximately 3 hours and thirty minutes," the man alerts me before turning on the ignition. Then we're on the road.
I look out the window, my travel playlist blaring Taylor Swift through my earbuds while I take in every building and every street we pass. Soon the concrete jungle gradually lessens and tall, green luscious trees begin to greet me alongside the highway Just like I've remembered it over the years.
Five years. Arriving in Canada, I had felt despondent. It wasn't the feeling that I had expected to have to arrive in a new country where I was going to study fo the next few years in order to become a nurse. I thought I'd be excited as hell for the future, maybe even a little nervous ~ but I felt despondent. I missed Forks. I missed my dad. I missed my friends. And I missed him.
By the time Charlie had dropped me at the airport that day, I had felt numb from crying all throughout the drive. I met Ranee at the airport and we caught a flight to Canada together. Secretly, I was glad that she had been there with me for the first month.
She helped me settle into the cheap studio apartment I had found by God's some miraculous blessing, she was the one who helped me familiarise myself with the routes I was going to have to take in my daily life, she was the one who kept my mind off of everyone home~ off of him.
The first year was the hardest. It was soon obvious to me that I missed him the most. Maybe it was because I could talk to everyone whenever I wanted to ~ everyone except him. I felt guilty. Why? I don't know. Maybe it was because I didn't stop when he called out my name that day I was leaving. Maybe it was because seeing the fact that Sam had to hit him just to get him to come to see me, it hurt.
I think that's what held me away. Every day of that year whenever I thought about him I told myself that this was what he wanted from me. That my absence was the biggest gift I could give to him. For once, I didn't want to be selfish. Because I loved him, I wanted to be selfless for him
The next year, it got better. And the next. And the next. And the next. It got better with time. I don't know if they are right when they say "Time heals everything" or not but It sure does help make living with the pain easier.
It took me a while to understand that there will always be something in life that I will not be able to control. Like Edward coming into my life. Like me falling in love with him. Like Edward leaving me. Like me hurting so much afterward. Sometimes there is always something that I won't be able to control, especially when someone else is connected to that factor. Like Jacob not loving me anymore. It is a fact.
So I just dealt with it the best way I could. I studied.
When Ranee left on the last day of her month, I cried. But the next time she visited and had to leave, I waved her goodbye. It had gotten better over time, my pain. It dulled down— until it was his birthday or something reminded me of him. In those times I let myself cry. I let myself miss him like crazy. I let myself dial his number and stare at it for minutes before putting my cell away.
By the end of the second year, when I realised I hadn't made any extraordinarily close friend in school and looked for my gang from Forks whenever I needed fiends — I stopped trying to socialise. I realised that I did my work better solo. It kept me away from distractions. It allowed me peace and quiet.
Sure, I did have two friends, Ester and Eden, who invited me to hang out with them a lot. But they were twins and I was the third wheel. I like going to the movies alone anyway. Then there was also the boy next door, Vincent. Surprisingly, Vincent's heritage reminded me of Jacob. Vincent was half Italian and half Native American doctor doing his fellowship — and absolutely gorgeous. I ignored him like the plague.
Over the past five years, no one from the Rez has ever tried to contact me. Not even Embry. At first, I was a little sad. But even the expectations eased with the years. Today, I'm okay that they didn't contact me. It's better if I stay away from them all. It'll be easier for Jake.
"Visiting family, ma'am?" The Uber driver's voice cut the silence in the vehicle, and I glanced at the man with a small smile.
"No. Moving back," I answered softly.
"Been away for a while? Must've paid a lot for so much luggage ma'am."
I nod, "It did cost a bit for the extra weight, yeah. But they're gifts for my dad and friends so I don't mind. I've been away for five years."
"Your dad must be happy you're back,"
My smile turns into a grin at the thought of my dad's reaction, "Yeah, he's very excited."
I leave aside the fact that I've arrived a day earlier than I'm expected. Dad told me that the gang are organizing a small welcome party for tomorrow. They were supposed to pick me up from the airport. My internship at the hospital ended and I managed to get referred to Forks Hospital by my supervisor and head nurse who I had genuinely loved working under for the past year. That and I got my paperwork done earlier than I had expected — so I thought I'd surprise everyone.
"Welcome to Forks ma'am!" The uber driver exclaims happily, and I look up just as we pass the large billboard that welcomed me years ago when I first came to Forks.
I can't help but smile at the fond memories they bring of my stupid young self.
"Welcome home, Swan." I whisper happily to myself.