Chapter 10. Five Years is a long time
Five years had passed since that night. Bella had been sent to a mental health facility and treated by the top psychiatrists and therapists around. It took her six months before she began to come back to herself. She went to live with Renee in Jacksonville after that, and after a year of living with Renee, her parents agreed that she was ready to be on her own again. She moved to Orlando, about two hours away from Renee. She joked with her mother that it was still close enough if she needed her, yet far enough away. She had truly worked on herself, and was now mentally stronger than she had ever been in her life.
She still thought about her old life in Forks, about Edward and Jacob, and although she missed them both, it was Jacob that she found haunted her dreams. She almost could not bear to not have him in her life. Almost. She busied herself with her job working in a museum giving tours, and taking college courses to earn her psychology degree. Bella had decided that she wanted to help others who had been through traumatic events, the way she had been helped. She had even dated, although no one seriously, just a few dinners out here, a few movies there. She never let anyone get too close to her, always keeping up a wall, refusing to allow herself to be vulnerable. She never allowed herself to be close to anyone physically, and never allowed anyone more than a kiss good night. She had tried to ask about Edward and Jacob, however by the time she was able to inquire, her parents simply told her they had both moved on, and would not be part of her life. She eventually accepted this explanation, and mostly tried to never think about it. Unfortunately, she was not able to control her dreams, and Jacob still five years later was a common guest in her nocturnal visions.
She had heard from Alice a few times over the years, and was thankful to still have her friend, even if it was only on a phone a few times a year. Even when she did not hear from Alice, she knew Alice was watching her, money would show up anonymously when she really needed it, her school had been miraculously paid for by a mysterious scholarship that she hadn't realized she had applied for, and clothing would be delivered every so often from stores she had not ordered from. When she was house hunting, she received a flyer for a home for sale, that wasn't yet listed in MLS, and when she went to see it, she fell in love with it, and was shocked when the asking price was way below market value. Alice. She never asked about Edward, and Alice never mentioned him. Still, Bella knew that if anything had gone wrong, Alice would have let her know, so she had a sense of peace about Edward, and at times laughed to herself as to how much of a boy he would seem to her now 24 year old self.