A/N: Once again, I have to say thank you for all the kind words of love you gave me for the last chapter. You guys are incredible. We're *thisclose* to 1000 reviews, which is so awesome! (By the way, in case you missed it, I did update this past Sunday as a treat, so be sure you read chapter eight! Now, I think you're all itching for this chapter, so I'll let you get to it. :) See me at the bottom!

Chapter Nine

Bella got more and more discouraged as time went by. She'd been so hopeful before Christmas, when she'd found out Dr. Cullen's name and the hospital he'd worked for, but since that day, nothing had worked out the way she'd wanted it. She was no closer now, three months later, than she had been in December. In January, she'd even asked Jessica's cousin, Tommy, who was an officer in the police department, for help. She'd thought about asking Charlie, but she didn't want to worry him, so when she'd remembered about Tommy, who was always really friendly when she went into the station, she'd gone straight to him on a day that she knew her dad was out of the office.

Bella poked her head into the small bullpen of the Forks PD. "Hey, guys." She smiled when the three officers looked up from the paperwork and whatever they'd been doing. "Tommy, got a sec? I need a favor."

"Sure, Bella." He nodded and motioned toward the observation room. "What's up?" he asked once they were in with the door mostly closed.

Bella worried her bottom lip between her teeth as she sat in one of the two chairs at the back of the small room. "I... Can you help me find someone?"

Tommy's brow furrowed as he hooked his thumbs into his gun belt. "You couldn't ask your dad?"

Shaking her head, Bella frowned. "It has to do with...New York, and I don't want him to worry.

Tommy looked pensive, but finally nodded. "Who?"

"The doctor who treated me at the hospital...after... Dr. Carlisle Cullen."

He looked like he wanted to ask why, but Bella was grateful when he finally asked instead, "You tried calling the hospital?"

Bella explained about her phone calls to both hospitals. "I thought maybe with, ya know, with your resources, you might be able to find him easier than I could."

Tommy nodded slowly. "I can try, but no guarantee since I don't even know what area of the country he moved to. If he hasn't committed any crime, I might not be able to find him, but I'll do my best."

"Thanks." Bella smiled and started to get up, but the look on Tommy's face stopped her. He truly looked worried. "Don't worry, really. I've been talking to some people, and they suggested that since I never got to thank him properly before I left the hospital, being able to do that might be a good thing."

His shoulders fell, as if the worry had been weighing heavily on him. "Ah. Good, good." He smiled. "I'll get on that right away and call you if I find something."

Bella left the station with a smile on her face, feeling hopeful.

Unfortunately, Tommy had been right in predicting that he might not be able to find Dr. Cullen. He'd called her a few days later and said he'd found no trace of the man, which he'd promised didn't mean anything. He'd said there were more intense searches he could try, people he could ask, but Bella had said no, that was okay. It had been worth a shot.

For over two months, she'd tried to put it out of her thoughts, concentrating on school and her friends, but she was feeling more and more discouraged. Angela and Jessica dragged her out as often as Bella would let them. And she and Ali had been talking almost every day and had grown close. But still, there was an ache in Bella's chest, an emptiness, that she couldn't explain and that wouldn't go away, whenever she thought of not being able to find Dr. Cullen...who was her best lead to finding Edward.

She was flipping through her sketch book, looking at the drawings she'd made in the months after the attacks, when her laptop beeped, signaling a new message. Setting the notebook aside, Bella pulled her laptop up to her on the desk and smiled when she saw the new message from Ali.

You're gonna have fun on spring break!

Bella laughed. Ali had more than proven that she was psychic. The first time she'd told Bella that she shouldn't get the normal pizza her dad liked, Bella had scoffed and ordered it anyway. Unfortunately, Charlie had come down with food poisoning and been sick for three days. Bella had been a believer since.

What? Why?

Ali put up a sticker of Snoopy doing cartwheels. Cause your mom's coming into town and you guys are gonna stay in Seattle for the week and do the whole tourist thing. You're gonna love the Space Needle.

If you say so, Bella typed, shaking her head.

Just then, her cell phone rang, and Bella grinned when her mom's picture came up on screen.

"Hi, Mom," she answered as she typed a message to Ali that she'd talk to her later.

~oOo~

"Are you still going out with Eric tonight?" Angela asked as she walked out of school beside Bella, who nodded.

"Yeah, he's picking me up at seven for the movie."

"He's been asking you out all year... What made you finally say yes?"

Bella shrugged. "My dad was worried about me. Jess is going out with Mike tonight, and you and Ben have plans, so..."

Jessica and Mike had started seeing each other at the end of January and had become inseparable. He'd had a thing for her for years, she'd said, but she'd finally given in and gone out with him, and much to Bella's and Angela's amusement, she was still in that "new relationship" phase, where she spent every waking moment with him. She hadn't been to a girls' night in months because of it, but Bella understood. Angela did, as well, since she was head over heels for her boyfriend, Ben, who she'd been going out with since freshman year.

Angela nodded. "We're just studying and watching a movie at home so I can watch my brothers while my parents go out. You were welcome to come over."

Grimacing, Bella chuckled. "And be a third wheel again? No thanks."

Her friend bumped her shoulder and then reached out and held her arm lightly. "Seriously, Bella. You're welcome to join us whenever, okay? But give Eric a chance. He's a nice guy. You might be surprised."

Bella smiled. "I will, Ang. Thanks. See you Monday?"

Angela gave her a hug and then hurried away to Ben, who was waiting by his car.

As Bella climbed in her truck, she thought about what Angela had said. Eric really was a nice guy. He was cute, in a dorky kind of way, and smart, with a dry sense of humor. But he was shy and hard to get to know, which was why most girls just tended to pass him by, especially since he was friends with the much more outgoing, All-American Mike.

After a quick dinner of leftovers, Bella washed the dishes and handed them to Charlie to dry.

"Go on," he instructed, gesturing to the stairs. "I'll finish these up. You've got a date to get ready for."

Bella smiled and thanked him before leaving the kitchen. She wasn't planning on getting too dressed up, but she did want to change out of the clothes she'd worn to school. She also wanted to send Ali a message before Eric got there to pick her up.

After changing into a new pair of jeans and a pretty green blouse, Bella brushed her hair out, added a clip to hold it up and out of her face, and then sat down at the desk and opened up her Facebook account.

Ali immediately popped up with a message. Hey, aren't you supposed to be out on a date?

Bella snorted. The girl knew everything. I'm just waiting for him to pick me up. Tell me, oh psychic one... How long until he arrives?

Ali's answer came immediately. Ten minutes, fifteen seconds...no, make that eleven minutes. He forgot his wallet and had to run back in for it.

Laughing, Bella shook her head. See? Plenty of time. I should've just canceled.

Why?

Because my heart's not in it, Ali. I can't explain it. I don't know why my chest feels empty, why my stomach churns at the thought of going out with Eric, or Quil (who asked me again last weekend, by the way)...or anyone but...

But Edward, Ali finished for her.

Yeah, exactly. It...it feels like cheating. I know. That doesn't make sense. I met the guy once, almost three years ago. Who knows if I'll ever find him again and, if I do, whether he'll want me like I want him. I'm sure he's got some gorgeous vampire girlfriend, probably tall and blonde and stunningly beautiful, and he hasn't given the poor human little girl a thought since that day. But that doesn't stop my heart from wanting him. And, ya know, since Tommy couldn't find a hint about Dr. Cullen, my hope is dwindling that I'll ever find either one of them.

Ali was quiet for a long time, and Bella thought she'd disappeared, but she finally responded.

I can't really tell you anything. I'm sorry. But I can tell you to not give up hope. Miracles happen every day. Fate... Fate might surprise you. It could still find a way to bring you and Edward together.

Bella shook her head. Fate. She wasn't sure she believed in fate. Thanks for trying to help, Ali, but I think... I think it's time for me to make my own fate. Eric might not be Edward, but he's a nice guy. Maybe for my heart's sake, I should let go of the pipe dream. As the doorbell rang, she quickly typed a goodbye. I gotta go, Ali. If fate needs me, I'll be at the movies.

She shut the laptop without waiting for a reply.

~oooOOOooo~

Edward kicked out at Emmett from his position beside his brother on the couch. "Knock it off."

Emmett smirked. "What? I can't help it."

"Dude, not cool. I don't need to see Rose like that." Edward grimaced. "You're just trying to distract me so you can finally win one."

"Emmett..." Esme said sternly, smiling at Edward when he glanced her way.

"Aww, Mom," Emmett whined. He glared at Edward. "You got me in trouble." He shoved Edward, who saw his intention in time to avoid tumbling off the couch.

"Take it outside, boys. If you smash up my furniture one more time..."

"Sorry, Esme." Edward elbowed Emmett and turned back to their game.

It was August, and school was about to start up for his siblings. Rose and Emmett had spent the last month traveling, visiting some friends in Ireland. They'd just returned the week before. Alice and Jasper had stayed in Portland all summer, but they'd been gone for a few days, on a hunting trip up into Canada, and were due back the next day.

He was so caught up in the game a couple of hours later that their minds didn't register at first.

Edward, family meeting. Carlisle's on his way home.

Edward looked at Emmett and Rose, who'd come down to watch them play and cheer Emmett on. "Alice and Jasper are almost home," he said, not needing to raise his voice for Esme to hear from the library, where she'd been reading. "She requested a family meeting."

"What about?" Rose asked, setting her magazine in her lap.

Shrugging, Edward finished off Emmett's character and ended the game, deftly hopping off the couch and away from his brother, who lashed out playfully. "Don't know. She didn't say, and she's hiding her thoughts from me."

Alice and Jasper came in minutes later. She was all smiles as she accepted a hug from Esme, but she still continued to keep her thoughts hidden by categorizing the clothes and shoes in her closet by color and season in her mind. Jasper looked happy to be home, but anxious as he gazed at his wife, which his thoughts confirmed to Edward, who raised his eyebrow at his brother.

No idea, man. She wouldn't tell me. She got a vision earlier today and said we had to come home today, rather than when we'd planned.

No matter how much Emmett tried to get her to spill, Alice refused to tell them about her vision until Carlisle got home. "He'll be here in four minutes, seventeen seconds. You can wait," she teased, grinning when Edward snickered and shook his head.

Carlisle walked in the door just when Alice had said, and he took one look at everyone and made his way to Esme, sitting on the arm of the couch and putting his hand on her shoulder. His thoughts were a mix of joy at having his entire family together again and worry about what Alice had to tell them.

"Well?" Emmett prompted.

"We have to move," Alice said, finally allowing Edward to see the vision she must have had when she and Jasper were hunting.

A red-haired girl—new at school, according to the whispers—with blue eyes, smiled shyly as she walked into Alice's science class. Alice stiffened in her seat, and Jasper, who was beside her, tried to catch her as she leaped at the girl. He was unsuccessful, and when Alice bit the girl, the scent of the girl's blood was too much for him. Between the two of them, they drained the entire class before Emmett and Rose stopped them.

Edward groaned, fisting his hair as he looked at Alice.

She nodded. "I think she's my singer," she said quietly.

"Would someone please tell us what the hell is going on?" Emmett growled, looking back and forth between them.

Alice explained to the others about her vision.

"What about just avoiding her?" Esme asked. My poor, sweet Alice. That would wreck her...and Jasper. He's worked so hard and come so far...

Alice thought to Edward, Sorry, but it's not a vision I want to keep replaying, and then shuttered her mind as she had before. "I thought about that. No matter what I do, I still run into her and I still drain her." She frowned. "I thought about just not going to school, but I'd have to stay away from town for them to accept the excuse that I'd moved away."

Rose smiled at Alice and shrugged. "Well, it's not the first time, and it probably won't be the last," she said succinctly, and her thoughts were kind as they went back to the last time they'd had to move because of an accident: Emmett and a woman in Wisconsin back in the seventies.

Carlisle frowned and looked around at the family. I hate to uproot the family once again...

"Jasper and I can leave," Alice said when she looked at Carlisle. "That way you can stay at the hospital and Emmett and Rose can stay at school until it's time to move in a couple of years." She smiled at Jasper, who wrapped his arm around her, his thoughts agreeing that he'd follow her wherever she wanted. "We can go visit Carmen and Eleazar or go over to—"

"No," Carlisle interrupted. I won't do that to Esme. I won't be the cause of the family being torn apart. "No, we'll all move. We'll call the school and tell them we're moving and you won't be there this year. I'll tell the hospital a friend requested I come fill in for a doctor who just left their hospital and he needs me right away. We can leave in a couple of days."

Alice froze for a moment and then smiled, nodding. "I don't see a problem with that."

"Where should we go?" Rose asked. "Maine?"

"What about Forks?" Alice suggested. "We've never been there as a complete family. It's far enough from Portland and small enough to avoid running into anyone from here, and I'm enjoying the west coast."

"Works for me," Emmett said, smiling at Rose when she nodded.

Esme smiled, nodding. "Forks is a lovely little town. It will be nice to be back."

Carlisle looked at Jasper, who shrugged, and then at Edward. What about you, son? Will you go with us back to Forks?

Edward looked around at his siblings and then Esme, whose hopeful expression matched her warm thoughts, before finally turning his gaze back to Carlisle. "I'm in," he said, smiling.

~oOo~

The family had had enough practice that moving from Portland took them no time at all. They'd begun packing as soon as the decision had been made. Esme had called the school the next day to let them know that her "children" wouldn't be enrolling for the school year, and Carlisle had quit his job at the hospital the day after that. Edward had only taken half an hour to pack everything from his little cabin, opting to leave the small upright piano since Carlisle and Esme had kept his baby grand when they'd moved from New York.

"Wanna bet on who gets to Forks first?" Emmett asked, cracking his knuckles.

Edward smirked. He and Emmett had gone hunting the day before, but everyone else had opted to wait until today. Emmett was feeling awfully confident. It would be good to take him down a peg or two. "Yeah, sure. Terms?"

"I'd say winner gets to choose the loser's outfit for the first day of school, but the pixie would kill us...and you aren't going, so..."

Edward slid his hands into his pockets and leaned back against the car, popping his foot up behind him on the tire. "About that..."

Emmett's face lit up. "Dude, are you gonna go back with us?"

Shrugging, Edward looked off into the trees. "I was thinking about it." He'd spent enough time by himself that he'd begun to think he was going crazy. He'd been having conversations with Bella in his head at night, when he retreated to his cabin to let the others have their privacy.

"Awesome, Ed. Really." Emmett clapped him on the shoulder and smiled. "I know Ali's missed you. Hell, we've all missed having you there with us. It's a lot more entertaining when you can tell us what all the little humans are thinking."

Edward chuckled, and then his thoughts turned more serious. "I think I'll ask Esme to fix up the little cottage in the woods off the back of the house so I can stay there. I still..." He shook his head. It was hard talking about his feelings with his family, because he knew it made them feel bad, and he didn't want that. It wasn't their fault he was alone and they weren't. "I just need my space."

Emmett nodded. "I understand, man. We all do. You do what you need to do, and we'll all back you a hundred percent."

"Thanks," Edward said, and then he jerked his head to the side when he heard their thoughts in his head. "The others are coming back."

As soon as the others got close enough, Alice raced over to Edward and threw herself at him.

I'm so glad you're going to school with us! I've missed having you there. I was going to say something, but Emmett beat me to it.

Edward laughed. "Yeah, it'll be...fun." As fun as school for the thirty-second time could be, he supposed.

"When I win," Jasper drawled, plucking his wife from where she was wrapped like a limpet around Edward, "you two have to actually eat lunch in the cafeteria—regular food from the lunch line, like normal students—every day for a week."

Emmett groaned. "That's just wrong, but since I don't plan to lose, I'm in."

"Me, too," Edward said, bumping fists with his brothers.

"Try not to get caught," Esme told them, rolling her eyes, although she couldn't hide the smirk, and her thoughts were full of love and amusement.

"They have to catch us first," Edward said, sliding into the driver's seat of his Volvo.

Just over two hours later, Edward pulled to a stop in front of the garage in Forks. Looking into the rearview mirror, he watched Jasper come into view in Alice's yellow Porsche. They were waiting on the porch while Alice opened up the house as Emmett came skidding around the curve of the driveway in his Jeep, a plume of dust rising behind him. His thoughts were sullen, and Edward couldn't help but chuckle.

"Come on, Em," he said as his brother got out and slammed the door on the Jeep. "Don't be such a sore loser."

"I had to stop for gas in that little hole in the wall town," he growled, shaking his head.

Jasper laughed. "Yeah, 'cause you didn't think to fill it up yesterday when you went into town. We did."

Emmett scoffed. "Whatever. You lost, too."

Their brother shrugged. "Yeah, but at least I got here only seconds behind Ed."

Emmett jumped at Jasper, and the two were still throwing each other around when the others pulled in.

A/N: So...the Cullens are in Forks. Yay! It can't be long until Edward & Bella meet (or Alice & Bella, for that matter), can it?

I know you're going to ask... Bella couldn't find Carlisle because, like the others, he changes his name sometimes when they move, and the family is good about going on and deleting and changing his information from databases and computer systems.

By the way, if you can't find the poll on my profile, make sure you're viewing the normal site, not the mobile version. I don't think you can see it on the mobile. :) Also, be sure you've voted in the Fanatic Fanfics Awards! I'm up for Best Beta, In Pursuit by Sarge's Girls is up for Favorite Crime Fic, & Drotuno & Beffers87 are up for a slew of great categories, so we'd all appreciate your votes!

Okay, leave me some love and let me know if you're excited that they're FINALLY in the same town...or curse me out that I left it THERE, with them SO CLOSE! (No, really, don't curse me out. I'd cry. LOL) I'll see you Wednesday! Mwah! – Jen