A.N

Woah, thanks so much for the kind reviews and follows/faves, I've now posted all that I have, so now I'm writing as fast as I can. I'll *try* to put something up every day/other day when I can.

I have all intentions of completing this one, aiming for around 30/31 chapters. We will see how we go.

I don't have a beta, (if there is anyone who would like to volunteer, flick me a note.) so if something doesn't make sense, lemme know!

Bella bit her lip as she watched Edward storm out of the house.

"Fuck." She said to the empty house.

Her intention was to work on the house as much as she could. Every spare minute she had, she wanted to be at the house making it a home for her children.

She wanted Monday to be the start of their new lives. The kids were starting at the kindy in town ran by her good friend Cam, and she was starting her new job.

But now all she wanted to do was crawl into a warm bed, watch some netflix and eat ice cream. All that yelling at Edward had worn her out.

A flush of shame went through her at the thought of how she had behaved. She knew that she was being unfair. He'd done a lovely thing putting up those gates for her and she hadn't even said thank you.

Knowing he was only a couple hundred metres away made things so much harder. She couldn't avoid him like she had been. Every time she saw him coming, she'd ran the opposite direction.

She watched him jog up and down their beach every day, refusing to admit to herself how amazing he looked in just a pair of running shorts. She'd thrown herself into the walk-in freezer when he walked into the grocery store on Tuesday. She spent 15 minutes in there shivering and shaking, hiding behind a carton of beer as he walked up and down the isles, obviously in search of her.

By the time he'd given up and left, she was convinced she was going to die of hypothermia.

She knew that she was going to have to get over it, but she'd been holding her anger at him for such a long time it was a part of her.

She'd told herself she had moved on with Jacob, but the fact of the matter was, Jacob was always playing catch up to Edward.

Wasn't that a terrible thing to do to someone, she thought. No wonder he had left her for someone else. Someone who could give their whole heart to him, instead of only half.

Sinking to the floor, Bella leant against a wall and kicked her legs out in front of her.

"Just let it go Bella." She whispered to herself.

"Talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity you know." Bella turned her head at hearing her mother's voice.

"Hey, Mom."

"Your dad said you could probably do with some girl time." Renee made her way through the ripped up carpets and wallpaper to Bella's side. She was wearing a pair of jean shorts and a floaty white shirt that she had owned since Bella was a child. Sliding down next to Bella, Renee wrapped her arm around her shoulder and kissed the top of her head.

"So."

Bella sighed deeply. The scent of dust, paint and her mom's perfume calming her slightly.

"It's all so…messed up." Bella swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. "It's my fault you know. All of it."

"How is that possible sweetheart?" Renee gently rocked them from side to side, the gesture so familiar to Bella, it brought tears to her eyes.

"I've held on to things. I never let go of Edward, Mom. Not once. I told myself I had, I lied to Jacob about it too. Do you know how many arguments we used to have over him?"

Renee squeezed her shoulder. "Probably a lot, I'm guessing."

"I couldn't even tell you." Bella chewed on her bottom lip. "But as much as I couldn't let go of him, I couldn't let go of how much he hurt me either. It just…" Bella sat up, pulling away from Renee. "It's too messy. I tried to be someone else for so long you know. I thought that if I made myself into the person Jacob wanted, I would forget.

But all that did was push Jacob further away from me, because I was angry with him for not being who I wanted."

"And that was?"

Bella didn't answer.

They already knew.

"So, what are you going to do?"

That was the million dollar question, wasn't it?

"What I can do. Move on, give my kids a good life, make a home out of this shack and try not to firebomb my next door neighbor." She raised her eyebrow at her mom, who had the grace to look a little sheepish.

"It's going to get better Bella. I promise."

Bella loved Renee's positivity, just not when it was directed at her.

"Yeah, well, we'll see."

Renee climbed to her feet and brushed off the dust from her clothes.

"I'm going to head home and start on some dinner before Charlie and the kids start gnawing on the door frames or something. Coming?"

Bella had a look around the house seeing all the work she had to do before the place was somewhat liveable.

"In a bit. I need to go and eat some humble pie next door."

Renee beamed. "Good luck."

Edward was sitting on the steps to his house, an open bottle of beer by his feet and his head in his hands, pulling at the ends.

It was a gesture so familiar to Bella, she almost smiled. One time, she knew him better than anyone else in the world. She knew when he was frustrated or stressed out, he'd yank his hair. She used to run her hands through his hair, gently teasing. "All your hair is going to fall out one day." She'd threaten. He'd smile and ask her if she'd still love him if he was bald.

Now that the sun had gone down, it was a little cold out. Bella wished she had remembered her jacket before she built up the courage to come and talk to Edward.

"Hey."

Edward pulled his hands out of his hair and looked up at her.

"What do you want sweetheart? I don't have it in me to go for another round of 'blame Edward for everything shitty in your life' right now if it's alright with you."

Bella stood at the bottom of the stairs kicking at a small rock.

"I don't blame you for everything." Then bit her lip at the lie.

Edward scoffed.

"Okay."

She felt her cheeks heat at how ridiculous she was being.

"Thank you."

Edward looked up at her with a frown. "For?"

"For not throwing me in the laundry room like I deserved…" she trailed off, feeling a little thrill when the corner of his lips turned up.

He sighed heavily and held out the bottle of beer.

"You want one?"

She should say no. She needed to get home to her babies and try and work out how she was going to have the house somewhat liveable before Max started high school.

"Okay."

She sat as Edward stood up and entered the house to get her drink.

Handing her the beer, he dropped a jacket around her shoulders and gave her a look she had been on the end of more times than she could count, before sitting next to her on the stairs.

"Thanks."

"Your house looks like something out of a horror movie."

Bella glared at him. "It's going to be amazing when it's all finished."

"Yup. If the place doesn't fall down before." "Edward?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for putting the gates up."

"Anytime." He sighed heavily and lifted his beer to his lips. "Where are the kids?"

"Dad took them back to theirs. Think Mum and Dad are happy they've got all their babies back in the same place."

"Didn't think you'd come back, Bella." he said quietly.

"I didn't either. Too many ghosts here. You know what I mean?"

Edward slid his hand over to hers and touched her pinky finger with his. "I do."

They sat outside of his quiet house for a few minutes. Bella wanted to say something more, but couldn't find the words.

"I'm going to go before Violet burns mom and dad's house down or something."

"Call me if you need anything."

Bella nodded, knowing that even if she did need anything, she wouldn't call. She watched as he got to his feet. He was almost at the door when he turned around. "Night." He looked as if he was going to say something else, but when he didn't, she lifted her hand up and gave a small wave. "See you."

Monday morning came around far too quickly for Bella's liking. She'd spent a busy Sunday ripping out the broken cabinets from the kitchen and scrubbing the bathroom until she was satisfied they weren't going to develop some disgusting disease from the dirt coating the tiles. Both Alice and Emmett had arrived first thing on Sunday morning armed with cleaning supplies and tools. Alice helped with scrubbing down the bathroom as Emmett took to the kitchen with a sledgehammer. Violet sat on the other side of the baby gate watching her uncle with a look of awe and jealousy at the violence of the demolition. Both Alice and Bella giggled at Emmett telling Violet to stop screaming at him to "HIT IT HARDER YOU BIG LADY"

The house was still completely unlivable for the time being. The kitchen was in no state to make the most basic of meals and after Bella and Alice had stood in the doorway of the laundry and heard a strange growling and then gurgling sound that had the two of them backing up silently with fear on their faces, Bella made the decision that she and the children would stay at her parents until the kitchen was at least useable for making toast, and the laundry had a door attached. With a lock. And possibly a pest inspection. Or maybe even an exorcism.

Violet had chosen to wear a pair of leggings and Max's Superman t-shirt for her first day of kindy. It was so big on her little frame that it looked like a dress. When Max had told her that she wasn't allowed to wear his t-shirt, Violet had pulled his hair until he stopped whining. "Sweetheart, don't pull hair. It's not nice." Bella chastised her violent daughter as she cut up sandwiches for school lunches.

Violet sighed loudly and then shouted an apology.

"Are you sure she doesn't have a hearing issue?" Emmett asked as he strode into the kitchen.

"Yes. Positive. She just likes to yell. It's her thing." Started cutting up some apple and adding it to the kid's lunch boxes.

"I'm a little bit scared of her," Emmett admitted under his breath as he poured himself a coffee and bit into a muffin that their mother had made the night before.

"They're for the kids to take to school. Stop eating all the food. And you should be frightened of her. She's terrifying."

Emmett shoved the rest of the muffin in his mouth. "I'm a growing boy." He said as he chewed.

"Mommy says you shouldn't talk with your mouth full." Max opened up his school bag and put his hat and lunch box in. "I need my raincoat." He looked up at his mother seriously. "It might rain."

Bella felt a burst of love go through her at her seriously practical little boy. "It's not going to rain today honey. Come on kids, we need to get a move on. Mommy needs to be at work soon."

Max zipped his bag up tight and headed to the front door. Violet had removed everything from her bag and was trying to shove the dog in, much to Hamish's annoyance.

"Violet, stop that now. Come on."

"WAIT." She patted Hamish on the head. "GOOD DOGGIE." She tried to zip the bag up as Hamish looked forlornly at the adults.

Emmett snorted as Bella took a deep breath and counted to ten. When that didn't work she counted to twenty.

"Hamish is not allowed to go to daycare sweetheart. He wants to stay here and take care of the house."

Violet sighed sadly and unzipped the dog. "YOU COME TOMORROW." She bellowed at pointed her finger at Hamish. He scampered off down the hallway at his release. Probably in fear.

"Come on. I don't want to be late for my first day." Bella looked at her watch and realised she had fifteen minutes to get the kids to daycare and then to work.

"Yeah, because your new boss will totally fire you." Emmett snorted.

"Will he?" a stab of fear went through her. Bella didn't want to risk her first paying job in years because of her poor time management.

Emmett rolled his eyes. "Are you okay? Of course he won't." Emmett took a loud slurp of his coffee and put his cup in the dishwasher. "Say Hi to the good doctor for me. He owes me a beer."

"You know him?"

"Who?"

"The doctor?"

Emmett gave her an odd look at nodded slowly. "Yeees?"

"What's he like?" Bella asked wanting to know what her new boss was like.

"As a doctor?" Emmett asked with a look of confusion on his face.

"Well, yeah? And personality wise I guess."

"Well, as a doc, he's awesome. You should know that."

"MOMMY, VIOLET IS KICKING ME!" Max shrieked out.

With a sigh and her eyes rolling into the back of her head, Bella grabbed her things and rushed down the hallway.

"I'll talk to you later."

Emmett lifted two fingers in a wave and scratched his head.

She was officially late. Three minutes late, but late all the same. Anxiety crept up her back and she took a deep breath. "You're okay, this is the start of the rest of your life." She told herself in the mirror as she smoothed down her hair and checked her teeth for any lipstick .She had chosen her outfit that morning carefully. Wanting to make a good impression on her new boss and the patients of the clinic, she had picked out a pair of slim fitting crop trousers, a black and white polka dot silk blouse and her trusty black Manolo Blahnik shoes Jacob had purchased for her one birthday. Well, she had bought them, wrapped them and he paid the credit card bill. That year he'd forgotten her birthday completely. She knew that most people in her small hometown wouldn't ever spend that amount on shoes in a lifetime, but she loved them all the same. Even if no one else could appreciate them, she would. Every time she wore them, she remembered how she felt on that day walking up and down the city, brushing tears from her cheeks.

The clinic was across the street from the small park in the centre of town. The building used to be a house, but had been converted into the medical clinic before she was born. Bella supposed that the town doctor once lived there. From her recollection, the three bedrooms were converted into the nurses office, which was shared by the local nurse, a dietitian and a counsellor who came in once a week for appointments. There was a procedure room and of course the Doctors office. The rest of the house had been renovated to facilitate a reception, storage room, and staff room off the kitchen.

Bella had been coming to the clinic since birth. Dr Cullen had been her doctor until she turned 18 and fled their small town. She'd spent weekends and after school hours sorting through paperwork for the unorganised man, but loved every minute of it. Walking up the stairs to the door, she felt awfully sad that Edward's dad wouldn't be there to greet her.

Bella pushed the door open and stepped into the reception room. Looking around the room she smiled at the obvious makeover the clinic had undergone. Instead of the dark wood panelling, everything was white and clean. Polished floor boards gleamed instead of the ratty old carpet that had once covered the floor, new upholstered armchairs and a sofa in the seating area positioned around the new electric fireplace that had replaced the old heater that used to smell like hot dust in the winter. They'd even added a flat screen tv mounted on the wall. Bella huffed in surprise. Turning, she took in the rest of what she could see. The reception desk had been re-built with beautiful beech wood counter tops and what looked like a new computer gleaming on the desk. "Wow."

"Looks good doesn't it." The deep voice of Edward rumbled from the hallway that would take you into the back of the clinic, towards the offices.

Bella jolted. "Oh my gosh, Edward, you scared the shit out of me." She put her hand over her heart and felt it race.

"Sorry." He smirked.

He looked so good standing there, with a pair of khaki slacks and a dark blue shirt rolled up to his elbows, his hair stylishly messy. Bella used to tease him about how he could look so effortlessly handsome, while it took her a good hour of getting ready to look somewhat presentable. He used to roll his eyes and tell her she was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. She used to believe him.

Bella pulled her shoulders back and lifted her chin. "What are you doing here?"

"I own the place, Bella."

"Yeah, but why are you here now?" Her brows furrowed in confusion.

He sighed and looked at his watch. "I work here. It's my clinic. I'm the town doctor."

Bella swallowed and bit her lip, her mind racing. There was no way she could work here. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Would you have taken the job if I'd said you'd be working with me every day?" he asked patiently.

"Absolutely not." She raised her voice, her cheeks burning with anger. "You tricked me. On purpose. Just another one of your lies Edward." She hissed.

Edward rolled his eyes. "Alright, Bella. I offered you the job so I could torture you."

"Well why else would you?" she yelled.

"Because you needed something and I could give that to you. Why is that so hard for you to accept?"

Panic. She was panicking. She couldn't work here with him. It was going to be hard enough living next door to him. How was that fair? The universe was playing some terrible prank on her. Or she'd done something dreadful in a past life or something. It was probably all that bad karma from being a teenage rebel she thought. She should never have tee-peed the Mayors house when she was fifteen.

"You're being ridiculous. I could have advertised and hired someone else, but I did this for you. Why can't you just take my help Bella?"

"I don't want anything from you Edward." Bella threw her handbag at him. As her black leather tote flew through the air she realised what she had done. Her eyes widened as it hurtled towards him. Quick as lightening Edward grabbed it and held the bag to his stomach.

"Real mature Bella. I would have thought you'd have outgrown throwing tantrums."

"Fuck you Edward" she bellowed. This was mortifying. She didn't want anything from him. She didn't want his pity or sympathy or charity. She could do this by herself. "I can't work here. I won't work here." She stalked towards him and reached for her bag.

He held it behind his back and stood up to his full height, towering over her. She expected him to yell back at her, or threaten her with something horrible to get his way. Instead, he leant forward so his face was centimetres from hers and spoke quietly but firmly. "You will work here. You will be civil towards me in front of my patients and you will do as you are god damned told for once in your life woman. Take the fucking help. Do it for your kids. Stop running from your shit Bell. Grow the fuck up."

With that, he straightened his back and stiffly turned and strode out of the room, her purse still in his hands.

"Give me my bag back." She yelled after him, not really sure what her next plan was. Her first instinct was to run. Run far away from town. She should just pack up and leave. Go somewhere else. Away from Edward. Away from the shitty memories.

If it was just herself, she would do it. But the thought of pulling the children away from their grandparents again made her heart clench. Her ugly decrepit house that would one day be beautiful gave her another reason to stay. She wanted roots for her children and herself desperately. Pepper's Bay was where she needed to be. Working this job with that man was what she needed to do.

Besides. Her keys were in her handbag.