Stephenie Meyer owns the Cullens, I own the original characters. This is just for entertainment reasons, no infringement or slander intended. Please review!

Chapter Thirteen:

"Why are you here again?" I asked for what felt like the millionth time as I stared blankly at Aaron.

Of course, he was smiling and enjoying the cup of coffee that Mrs. Jacobs had claimed was on the house. After he told her that he was a long lost friend of mine that had come by to check up on me. At least he hadn't completely blown my lie right out of the already choppy water. I still remembered the skeptical look Mrs. Jacobs had given me when I agreed to sit down and talk to him. At least for five minutes. That was all the time I was willing to offer him. "I think you already know the answer to that, Houston. How long did you think it was going to take before I found you?"

It was just in the way he said it. Aaron Carmichael was the furthest thing from a social worker that I'd ever seen in my life. His sandy blonde hair was always cut close, his angular features clean-shaven and he was probably the most gym-obsessed person I'd ever met. But nothing about him screamed civil servant. His family was rich and I vaguely remembered him telling me that he had come from Florida. The Keys to be exact. We had never really spent much time getting to know one other when he was first assigned to my case three years ago. I probably wasn't the best foster child to have, but I never entirely went out of my way to be mean to the guy. I just didn't trust a whole lot of people and the person in charge of where I would end up living was very high on that list of untrustworthies. But this guy was in my life. Whether I liked it or not. Sighing quietly, I just flipped brown hair, which was now to my shoulderblades, behind my covered shoulder and stared at him blankly. "I was honestly hoping you'd never find me. Who ended up giving away my whereabouts?"

"No good social worker reveals their sources." He grinned at me sideways with a sly little wink that made my stomach churn and the hair on the back of my head stand on end. I definitely didn't like this guy and the faster I turned eighteen, the happier I was going to be. He straightened up slightly in his chair and idly messed with the cardboard coffee cup in his hands. "I spoke to your doctor, Houston..."

Oh great. That was already going to start rearing its ugly head. Fabulous. "So?" I challenged quietly and unconsciously haunched over the table a little more. Last thing in the world I wanted was this guy blabbing about my health records. "This isn't the first time I've had this diagnosis." And really, it wasn't. It was nothing new to go through all of this again, but this round was vastly different. For one, I'd stopped treatment completely and I had no idea what my latest bloodworks or what my tests would show now. But for some odd reason, I didn't really care anymore. I already had my death sentence handed down, why prolong the inevitable?

"Houston," He started again, saying my name a little more firmly than he had before. "You should come back to Forks. Dr. Copeland can get you back on your schedule, Margie can get you back in school so you can graduate on time..."

"Wait!" I shot out and threw my hands up to stop him. "What're you talking about? Margie doesn't want me with her anymore, I thought she told you that."

Adam, of course, looked completely unphased as my hands lightly slapped against the foamica tabletop between us. "Actually, she's still willing to keep you until your eighteenth birthday. She wants to and won't accept anymore foster children right now. She told me that she made a promise and intends to stick by it."

I couldn't help it. No matter how hard I was trying right then, I just could not stop the snort of a laugh that filled my throat and hit the air with a bitter twinge. Margie. Wanted me?! She wanted me back in her house and the only thing I could worry about was Derrick. I'd left so that she wouldn't have to choose between us. Was it even possible that she'd made the decision anyway? That a foster parent had finally chosen me over a flavor of the month?! The thought was mindblowing but flattering at the same time. I honestly had no idea of how to react. "You're kidding." I finally breathed after a few beats of silence. Sound emitting from my lips was only for Aaron's benefit, who now looked even more moody than before. Shaking my head quickly, I pushed away from the table with a new sense of determination and stood up. "I'm sorry but my mind's made up. I can't go back."

I knew that Aaron wouldn't like my response. After all, I was still working under the assumption that I even had a choice in the matter! I didn't, really, and Aaron Carmichael had the law on his side. He could forcibly take me back to Forks if he wanted. Back to Margie and...back to Edward. The name alone sent an electric shock through me as I ignored Aaron's voice and vaulted upstairs. I could see Mrs. Jacobs looking at me worriedly out of the corner of my eye but I didn't pay any attention to her either. I couldn't. My mind had unwillingly strayed to the one thing I'd sworn I wouldn't think about when I left the spacious safety of the apartment Edward had put in the Cullens' name. I didn't really notice when I reached my tiny room, my movements pausing to mechanically throw the lock to prevent Aaron from following me and collapsed on the air mattress that was tucked into the corner furthest from the door. By all intents and purposes the room was the smallest space I'd ever lived in. A battered dresser lined the wall across from my air mattress, which was piled with blankets and a single pillow that I'd taken from Edward's apartment. I couldn't even think of that place as my own. It was his.

My legs curled to my chest instinctively once I'd kicked my feet free of my shoes and moaned quietly as pain ricocheted through me at all sides. From the pain in my head as a headache formed, to the pain in my chest that was a direct result of Edward's short time in my life, down to the ache flooding my hips and upper thighs. I was powerless to fight it all off. It was just too much and I suddenly felt much too weak. I had been right in telling Margie that I was sick of fighting. My body was getting weaker by the day and I knew it as clearly as I knew everything else about my suddenly disparaging life. The pain would attack me more mercilessly as time went on, taking as much of my energy with it as it could possibly get. This condition...this disease was consuming me from the inside and for the first time since I was fourteen, I was completely and utterly terrified of it. I was terrified of my own body.

Aaron didn't show back up at the diner for close to a week. Every day, I decended the stairs with dread, expecting him to greet me with a patronizing smile and more talk about needing to pack so I could go back to Forks. But each day, I was disappointed. That wasn't exactly the right word to use, my reaction to Aaron's absence was nothing like the reactions I would have when I entered the lunchroom on a sunny day to find Edward and Alice not in attendance. Those were the days that had hurt, they were increasingly more horrific than the thought of coming downstairs to find Aaron waiting for me.

I continued on with my schedule as normally as possible, working whenever Mrs. Jacobs needed me to. It was starting to fade into the summer and that was when tourist season picked up in the Olympic Peninsula. I'd remembered that much from my short time in Forks. I'd lost track of the number of times when Margie or Derrick, even James would prattle on about expecting all these great things when the weather turned warmer. However, there was nothing for me to expect. Not really. Even though graduation had been looming since the moment I stepped foot in Forks, I wasn't excited. I had no desire to act like a normal high school senior. It was just another town, another school filled with people that I didn't really want to spend time with. All but two. Two that had impacted my life more deeply than I could've realized.

The dreams were even tougher to get away from now. Edward was in every single memory my mind conjured up when my eyes would finally close. His perfect smile, his angelic features smoothed and calm. Sometimes his melodic voice rang in laughter, but there were times when the dreams turned dark. Long after I woke, I would still be able to hear the anger and resistance in his voice when I did the one thing I'd never found the courage to do while we were still in each other's lives. In my dreams, I already had his reaction to the part of my life I kept so meticulously hidden.

Last night, the dream had been increasingly hard to bare. I had dreamed that I was back in Forks. I was wasting away and couldn't hide it from anyone. I was back at school and the kids were staring more than they had when I first arrived to town. My clothes hung off my frame and finally, Edward wanted to know exactly what was going on. This dream differed every single time I had it, but last night had taken on a more violent undertone when Edward effortlessly ripped open the flannel shirt I always wore in that dream. And there, for his daunting, vampiric eyes; were all my secrets exposed. The smaller swell of my breasts as they faded into the white cotton of my bra, the outline of my ribs protruding painfully against my washed-out complection. I was gaunt and thin and...hideously unattractive. I came crashing back to reality, gasping for air just seconds after Edward's lovely face contorted in disgust and shoved me aside. In my dreams, he had finally realized just how ugly I truly was.

Try as I might, I couldn't push the dream into the back of my mind as I slowly and carefully decended the stairs that led from my room, out into the diner. Mrs. Jacobs was nowhere to be seen once my sneakered feet finally hit the cracked linoleum and a careful inspection revealed that she hadn't even opened up that morning. Something that had never, in the twenty-year history of this place, ever happened. Even when her husband had died, the woman threw herself into her work. She had even stood behind the counter and made funeral arrangements for the love of her life as she took orders and fielded disgruntled customers. I didn't stop moving until I stood in the large window that took up one side of the dining area. Leaning my forehead against the still-cool glass, I just sighed and momentarily let the pain in my belly swell and take over. It was easier this way, to sometimes wait for the agony to pass. Sometimes it did, and other times I had to fight through it like I had so many countless times before. But when I noticed a familiar figure standing out on the sidewalk in front of the diner, I pushed movement into my body.

The door was thrown open before I had a second to think of my actions. There, on the concrete, shadowed against the drizzling rain, was Carlisle Cullen. The last person I had expected to find me here. "Dr. Cullen." I rushed out, my past bringing in formalities that had been pushed down my throat by one of many foster parents.

He flashed me a gentle, yet dazzling smile as I stopped in front of him and opened his arms invitingly. "Hello Houston, I hope you don't mind me stopping by."

"Not at all." The words rushed through me in a quiet whisper as I stepped forward and let myself be momentarily calmed by the stone presence of Carlisle's arms. He pulled away just seconds later and held me at arm's length. The smile was still on his face, but I could tell that the corners of his lips were a little tighter than they had been before. His gold eyes assessed me quickly, the way only a long-accredited doctor could, sweeping from the crown of my limp, dark hair; down to the soles of my worn Converse.

"Are they feeding you all right here?"

I almost laughed at his assumption that I was with another foster family, but forced it away as I shook my head and completely disentangled myself from his hug. "No, no I'm in charge of myself now. I guess eating kind of has come secondary to working."

Carlisle Cullen looked very much like a father as he shook his head slowly at me. "Houston, you need to eat. Your strength is more important than money." I cringed inwardly when I came to the prompt realization that he had probably checked up on me after I left. Of course, he had full access to my medical records and who could resist a Cullen? There wasn't a soul on Earth that could, I was convinced of it. They were the best predators in history and I knew they could get whatever they wanted. That included my secret medical history that had driven me out of Forks in the first place. But as I continued to look at him and listen to his words, a small calm filled my burning stomach. He still didn't know. He would've come right out and said it if he had. Or much worse, he would've told Edward and it would've been that Cullen that I spotted through the diner window. But it wasn't. Carlisle was the one standing in front of me, looking like a god among the male pedestrians. "How are you holding up here?"

"Good." I nodded and forced a small smile on my face. I didn't believe my simple answer anymore than he seemed to and I braced myself for the lecture that I was sure to follow.

But Carlisle just continued to look at me the way a fatherly figure looked at someone connected to his family. I wasn't even sure if that pertained to me but the tiny, hopeful voice in my head was suddenly screaming that it held truth. Why else would he be so far away from home? "Why did you leave? Edward was very persistant in obtaining that apartment for you and I find you here, instead of Port Angeles. Can I ask why that is?"

"I couldn't let him take care of me." I rushed out in a quiet whisper then my eyes unwillingly darted to the diner behind me. Mrs. Jacobs was finally moving around inside, slowly. Her arthritis was probably flaring up and I stepped back again and gestured behind me. "I...need to help her set up. You're welcome to come in if you want, Dr. Cullen."

"Only if you call me Carlisle. I told you, no need for that formality between us."

The small smile on my face became a little more genuine and I nodded as I led him inside. Mrs. Jacobs looked surprised, which quickly turned to awe when she saw Carlisle and all his immortal perfection. "Who's your friend, Houston?" She asked, nearly tripping over herself as she rushed forward to meet us.

Laughing nervously, I waved between them slowly as I made the formal introductions. "Mrs. Jacobs, this is a...family friend, Dr. Carlisle Cullen. Carlisle, this is my boss Mrs. Jacobs."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." There was the unwavering sincerity peppering Carlisle's voice as he inclined his head slightly toward the tiny, elderly woman beside me. "I suppose we have you to thank for keeping an eye on Houston, here." He paused long enough to wink at me before his full attention was back on Mrs. Jacobs. "Unfortunately, I've come to take her back home. My family and I miss her terribly and I hope you don't think of me as rude for asking you to let us take her off your hands."

"Oh!" I'd never seen Mrs. Jacobs blush until right then. Her round cheeks exploded in color as she nodded then started to fuss at me. "Houston, you never told me that your parents had such compassionate friends. You should've considered staying with them instead of running all this way out here." She scolded me with a warm smile then turned it onto Carlisle. "I don't mind at all. As much as I'm going to miss her, she does need to be back with family. Where she belongs."

I could only gape at the two figures standing around me as they discussed my leaving. As if I had no choice in the matter. Of course, I didn't and I knew very well who had told Carlisle right where to find me. Aaron Carmichael had disappeared to call in reinforcements.