Disclaimer: I own nothing except for some Powerball tickets which I really hope are winners!

Chapter 4:


"Bells. Wake up." Charlie's voice cut like a knife through my dream, my eyes slowly opened to a blurry silhouette of Charlie standing over my bed. "Alice is here, she's been waiting for a while but I have to leave to go to work."

Inwardly I groaned I knew it was time to reconnect with my Forks friends. However, the jet lag had other plans for me. Like about 18 hours of uninterrupted sleep. "Tell her I'll be right down."

Charlie nodded and made a hasty retreat from my bedroom, he didn't hover when I was a teenager and he especially didn't hover now that I was in my twenties.

Making a pit stop in the bathroom I ran a brush through my hair and splashed some water on my sleepy face; the bags under my eyes were prominent. As my foot hit the last step I heard a high pitch squeal and I knew it was Alice, "Bella! Bella!" She chanted running over to me before grabbing me in a tight bear hug.

"Alice." Squeezing her back I realized how much I missed my little pixie friend. "How is everyone?"

"Jasper is good, so are Emmet and Rosalie. I've only seen Leah, Emily, and Seth a couple of times. You know how they don't get along with Emmett and Rosalie for some reason." Alice rolled her eyes, and so did I. I never understood why Alice was the only one of my friends who would hang out with my other group of friends. "Emily called me today though. She heard you were coming back into town. They are having a big bon-fire party down there at the beach, she wants us to come. Jasper is working out-of-town and I would love to go Bella."

Looking into her pleading eyes, how could I say no? Even though I desperately just wanted to sleep for three days I needed to try to get my life back on track. I nodded, "Yeah Alice. That sounds like a great idea."

The little pixie literally jumped for joy. "We are going to have so much fun!" Clapping her hands she raced upstairs to my bedroom, "Let's find you something to wear!"

It was back to playing dress up. I smiled. I wouldn't have it any other way.

A few hours later we were climbing into my ancient truck. I was thankful Charlie had it maintained while I was in New York, so she still ran like a champ. At least as much of a champ as this old girl could do anyways.

I needed to break the silence. "Is Leah really pissed at me?" The question had bounced around my brain since I got on the plane back to Seattle; I hoped that Alice might have the inside scoop.

Alice's eyes met mine and I knew she was choosing her words carefully, "I'm not going to lie to you Bella. I talked to her right after you left and yeah she was, but she gets it now. She totally understands why you left, especially since her father died two years ago."

My foot almost slammed the brake pedal down to the floor. "What?" I could feel the color drain from my face. Why had everyone left out that little detail? "Nobody told me. Now I feel like a complete ass." I felt the tears welling up in my eyes ready to spill. "I can't believe Seth didn't even tell me when I talked to him."

"It's ok Bella. Leah and Seth didn't want me to tell you, they didn't want you to feel like you had to come back. You were so wrapped up with Edward."

I put my hand up to signal to Alice to shut the fuck up. That name. Please don't fucking mention that name.

The rest of the ride to La Push was spent in silence.

I wasn't mad at Alice, I was mad at myself. I had become one of those girls who completely ditched their friends because they met this guy. I had planned to move back to Forks after college and look for a job in Port Angeles or even Seattle. That changed when Edward walked into my life, offering me a fancy job and an even better condo with an awesome view.

That was all behind me now. Time to move on. Time to come back to where I was supposed to be.

Once we got to La Push I saw the congregation of people around the bonfire that had already been lit. I saw Leah, Seth, and Emily with Emily's husband Sam. There was a bunch of other people whom I did not recognize, and it looked like there were still lots left to arrive by the spread of food that was setup on a picnic table.

Hesitantly I climbed out of my truck, "Come on Bella. Nobody is going to bite you." Alice giggled. I knew she was right, so I followed her up the hill and to the party area. My insides were absolutely shaking and I felt like I was about to revisit with my dinner. This was the part I had been both dreading and looking forward to, how was that possible?

Alice ran up to Emily and Leah and said her hellos, I hung back a bit standing next to the fire trying to find my inner strength. The only thing I found was thoughts of how I no longer belonged here. I left everyone. I stayed in New York for Edward and look where that got me.

"Bella?" I heard a soft voice calling my name; I turned from the fire and saw Emily standing in front of me. "Emily. How are you?" I didn't know what else to say to her, but before I knew it she had me scooped up in a hug. "Oh Bella, we've missed you and we are so glad you are back."

I hugged Emily tight, "It's good to be back." After Emily was done with me I was given to Leah who surprised me, then to Seth.

The sweet feeling of comfort was beginning to seep into my soul.

We all had lots of catching up to do, I was extremely thankful that everyone knew to stay away from the subject of Edward. I told them about my job at Cullen Publishing and the book that I was trying to write, currently unsuccessfully. A story about vampires and werewolves, the girls laughed with me at my idea and Seth thought it was the coolest thing ever.

I got caught up on everyone's lives too. Emily told me that she and Sam were finally expecting she had just found out a couple of weeks ago she was pregnant. Leah and Seth told me about their father's death, they both had mourned him and now were doing very well.

I didn't know how much time passed as we caught each other up on our lives, Alice listening intently.

I swirled my empty beer can around to everyone so they knew I was leaving the conversation to get a refill. Seth nodded and smiled as I turned to head over to the cooler, which was when I was blinded by a pair of headlights pulling into a parking space next to my truck.

I grabbed my beer and made my way back to the group who had now turned to face the new arrival. "What's going on?" I was confused and still seeing spots.

"Jacob Black is back." Leah said, not moving her eyes from the form getting out of the truck.

"Who is that?" I took a long sip of my fresh ice-cold beer.

"Billy's son. He's been gone for a while." Seth chimed into the conversation; he too was focused on the shadow that was now slowly approaching the bon fire.

Ok. This is weird. I was gone too, but it wasn't that big of a deal that I was back.

The form of this Jacob Black had now reached the fire; I had to look because the curiosity was eating at me.

Our eyes met.

My jaw dropped to the ground.

The beer can in my hand slipped from my fingers, the cold liquid spilling onto the ground.

Oh my god.


A/N – I know, I am a mean evil person with the cliffy. Sorry! Next Chapter some Jake POV and maybe some more Bella POV.

I am very excited about the response this story is getting, thank you everyone!

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Reviews are better than Bella meeting Jake again!