DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS FROM TWILIGHT. THEY ALL BELONG TO STEPHENIE MEYER.

BPOV

I woke up the next day completely unprepared for what was going to happen.

Waking up, I wondered where I was and then I remembered that yesterday had in fact happened. I had had to leave Edward in Seattle. I remembered him standing there, looking so lost and alone. I remembered promising him that I would be there when he came out and I sure as hell would be. I knew that he would be strong enough to survive in there now, especially after all that he had opened up. Yes, he was still holding some things back, but that was understandable. I knew that Derek would be able to get him to open up eventually. And the more he did, the closer he would be to coming home. He wouldn't give up.

And neither would I.

Edward had to be strong in there and I had to be strong out here. I still had the Cullens'. And I had the Cullen Crest, which was at this point glittering on my right wrist. I smiled and thought of what Edward had said when he gave it to me. He had told me that everyone thought that I was a Cullen by nature if not by name. It made me feel accepted to know that they loved me and welcomed me enough to give me something that until now had been exclusive to their family.

I looked at the time and saw that it was 8:00AM. I had to start getting ready for school, so I climbed off of the bed that was now unfamiliar and cold and jumped in the shower. I let the hot water wash away all the worries that I had over the coming day. There was nothing that I couldn't withstand. I could face up to anything. Turning off the shower I stepped out and wrapped my towel around myself. I walked out into my bedroom and found that a set of clothes had already been left on my bed. There was a note left on the top.

Charlie let me in.
Don't argue, just wear them.
I'll wait for you downstairs, you're riding with me today.
Like Edward, I don't trust the truck.

Alice xx

I smiled to myself. She was trying to make it easier for me to make the transition back into normal life after being at the clinic for so long. I would have to give her a huge hug in thanks. I quickly got dressed and thanked whatever higher power it was that had made her decide against a make-over as Edward threatened she might do. I actually quite liked the outfit that she'd put together for me. Midnight blue skinny jeans with a light silver v-neck sweater with three quarter length arms and silver flats. She had obviously taken into account my clumsy streak. For today at least.

I grabbed my bag and made my way downstairs to get myself some breakfast and I found her sitting at the table reading a magazine. She looked up when I walked into the room and a huge grin spread across her face. She jumped up and gave me a huge hug which I returned gratefully.

"Thank you Alice." I whispered in her ear just before she broke away from me.

"What for?" She looked confused, which I think was a first for her. I swear sometimes that this girl knew everything.

"You know, trying to make this easier." I smiled at her and she grinned again. "You're really helping, but I miss him though."

"Oh, honey." Her face fell slightly, forming a concerned frown as she put her hand on my arm. "Of course you're going to miss him. It's only natural. I mean, you spent almost every minute for the last couple of months by his side. It's only natural to miss him honey." She smiled at me again and I couldn't help but smile back. "By the way, that crest looks good on you."

I looked down and smiled. "Thanks. You know, for getting it for me. It means a lot."

"Why are you thanking me?" She asked smiling. "It was all Edward's idea." She grinned at the same time I did. "Come on, eat up or we're going to be late." I looked down and noticed that there was a bowl of cereal in front of me. I hungrily wolfed it down and we were out the door in no time.

I climbed into Alice's Porsche, feeling a bit apprehensive about the car. I knew that it could go fast, and I had heard from Edward that the whole family felt the need for speed. Having a police chief for a father didn't really help to quell that feeling. I would hate for her to be pulled over by my father.

"Alice slow down!" I cried as I watched the needle go higher and higher as her speed increased.

"Don't worry about it Bells!" She said back. "Just relax. We'll be in school in no time."

She was right. We got to school in what felt like record time. She pulled in next to a silver Volvo that I recognised to be Edward's. I wondered if they felt slightly bad having to use Edward's car to get to and from school each day. I think that I probably would. But then again, if they didn't use it, then it would just be sat in the garage waiting for him to come home. I frowned slightly at that thought. When would he be home? Any time was too short for me.

We walked up to the rest of the family. They all grinned and laughed at something that Emmett had been doing as we approached. I looked at Jasper quizzically and he gave me a look that told me I didn't want to know. I trusted Jasper on that one. Sometimes, some of the things that Emmett did or came out with shouldn't be seen anywhere other than in an X-Rated film. I fought against my curiousity and let it go.

I said goodbye to the Cullens' as we had different homerooms and went to my locker.

"Hey Bells!" I heard a cocky voice call my name. I thought that I could handle anything, but I had been wrong. Why did he have to find me now? I looked around the door of my open locker to find Mike Newton standing there. "Long time, no see."

"Yeah, and it would be great if it was even longer." I retorted back, but that didn't seem to phase him at all.

"So, where's your boyfriend?" He sneered at the word boyfriend. "You know there were rumours that the two of you had eloped. Is that true?"

I slammed my locker shut and faced him. "You know, you need to stop listening to rumours Mike. And so what if we had? What would you have done about it huh?" I waved my arms in the air as I threw accusations at him.

"Nothing I guess." Mike snorted. "But you know, you can do so much better than him. So I was wondering...if you'd want to go out at some point? Tonight, maybe?"

I laughed. "You are unbelievable Mike. First, you attack my boyfriend, causing him to be rushed to hospital, then you spread rumours about him around the school and now you expect me to go out with you!" I laughed again at his absurdity. "When are you going to get it through your thick skull? I don't want to know! I'm with Edward. I love Edward! So just leave me alone!" I stormed away from him, only to hear him following me.

I stormed into my homeroom, silently thanking Alice for being so early, so no one had to witness my mood. Mike followed me, along with Tyler and Eric, both of who beamed at me and walked over to me. Mike sneered at me and gave me a look as if to say that he wasn't gving up. Hadn't I just had this dilemma with Edward and Tanya? Why are people so intent on splitting us up? Well, whatever it was, I wasn't going to leave Edward. Not for anything or anyone, especially Mike Newton.

"Hey, Bella!" Tyler said appearing in front of me with Eric.

"Where've you been Bells?" Eric asked also beaming at me.

"Um, I've been out of town." I replied. It wasn't a complete lie. Actually it was the truth. I had been out of town. I just wasn't about to divulge the reason why.

"How come?" They both asked in unison.

"Um, personal reasons." I replied, pretending to busy myself with something in my bag.

"So, um, how's Edward? We heard what happened, you know, the day he was taken into hospital." Tyler asked unsure of what to say.

"What did you hear?" I asked, glaring at Mike who was pretending to ignore me.

"That he collasped in the hall and Mike went to get help." Eric replied.

I threw my head back in laughter and the two of them looked at me perplexed. "That is not what happened. You wanna know what really happened?" They nodded looking at each other. "What really happened is he," I pointed at Mike, "attacked Edward while he was on his way to class. So much so that he had to be taken to hospital and stay there for two weeks."

They looked shocked and stared at Mike who wasn't looking at us.

"We heard that he had a heart attack though." Eric asked quietly. "Did he?"

I nodded and their jaws dropped. "Edward has a weak heart." I said, going with the story that we had cooked up about the reason behind his heart attack, knowing that it would be spread around school. "Has had from birth. Mike attacking him caused it to go into overdrive, which caused him to have a heart attack. If I hadn't been around the corner at the time waiting for him at his locker, Edward would be dead right now."

"That's awful Bells," Eric gasped. Tyler was still glaring at Mike. It felt nice to have these two on my side. "We never thought that Mike would go that far. I mean, yeah, he was jealous of Edward. I mean, Mike wants you, Edward got you. He was bound to be jealous, but I'd never thought that Mike would attack Edward." He shook his head.

Just then the bell rang signalling the end of homeroom and I started to get up.

"I hope he's okay Bells." Tyler said before I walked out of the room.

"Yeah, me too." Eric said smiling.

"Thanks guys. I'll tell him you said that." I smiled at them and they grinned back, leaving the room and not waiting for Mike to follow them.

The classes I had up until lunch didn't interest me at all. I had gotten further in the classes that they held in the clinic than they were here, so everything was easy for me to comprehend and understand. I couldn't wait for lunch, when I would be able to sit with the Cullen's without the fear of being judged because I had been away for so long. The school knew that I had been with Edward for the last month or so, so they were linient. They didn't know all of the circumstances, but it didn't matter. They were proud that I had been able to help someone the way I had. I had also been allowed to keep my phone on during classes in case Edward needed to contact me for support should he need it. Something else that I was grateful for.

As I made my way to lunch, I was met with several stares and a lot of glances. Thankfully I had been able to avoid Jessica who would no doubt drill me for all the information she could get. Which wouldn't be that much as I wasn't going to tell her more than I had told Tyler and Eric. I met Alice and Rosalie in the corridor that led up to the cafeteria. I saw them smile as they saw me and I could feel a huge grin spreading across my face as I met up with them. We went to get our lunches, paid for them and went to meet the boys at the usual table. There was an empty seat there though, one that filled me with sadness. Edward's seat.

"So how's your first day back been so far, Bells?" Jasper asked, picking up his sandwich and devouring at least half of it in one bite. And I thought Emmett was a pig I thought smiling at him as he chewed.

"It's been alright, I guess. Apart from a run in I had with Mike ealier." I told them and Emmett's face contorted.

"Newton's been hassling you already?" He growled at me. Yes, he actually growled and I nodded. "I'm gonna kill him."

"Don't worry about it Emmett. I can handle Mike. He just asked me out again, and I told him a flat out no while laughing in his face. Simple." I smiled widely at him as he grinned back.

"Good one Bells." Rosalie said smiling. "Definitely a Cullen at heart." She said softly and we all smiled. I looked down at the crest and looked at the others. They all had theirs proudly on show and now all we had to do was wait for the sixth and final crest to join our circle together.

Soon Bella. I thought. Soon.

"Oh my god Bella!" I heard someone squeal. "I heard that you were back and I've been looking for you all day. Why didn't you come and find me?" It was Jessica and completely ignoring the Cullens' she sat down in what should be Edward's seat. I wanted to tell her to get up, to stop sitting on his seat but I refrained, knowing that that would make me look like somewhat of a psycho.

"Hi, Jess," I said quietly looking at the Cullens who were all grinning at me. I shot them all an evil glare, which only made them smile wider.

"So, where've you been?" She asked excitedly.

Here we go I thought, taking a sip of my soda. "Out of town." I stated simply, glancing at Emmett who nodded slightly.

"Doing what? I mean, what for?" She wasn't going to let up.

"Personal reasons." I pretended to be entranced in opening my sandwich so I didn't have to look at her.

"Really? So.....how's Edward?" She asked in a not so subtle voice.

"Fine." I replied, shortly and she looked down at what I was doing, noticing the wristband on my right wrist.

"Hey, what's that?" She asked grabbing my wrist and examining the crest. "Is that new? Where'd you get it?"

"It's specially made." Jasper interrupted, sensing my discomfort. "You can only have one if you're a member of the Cullen family."

"But Bella's not a member of the Cullen family. She's a Swan." Jessica pointed out, thinking that she was right.

"On the contrary," Rosalie spoke up. "Over the last month and a half or so, Bella has shown that she has the spirit of a Cullen. It doesn't matter what you last name is. Or at least in Bella's case it doesn't. Her last name might be Swan, but she's a Cullen through and through." Rosalie winked at me and I grinned back. She was like the sister that I never had.

Jessica looked stumped and I laughed along with Emmett, Jasper and Alice while Rosalie looked smug at her answer.

"Whatever." Jessica snorted turning back to me. "So, how about you and Edward?"

"I would appreciate it if you kept your nose out of my personal life, Jess. My relationship with Edward has nothing to do with you. But I am going to answer two of the questions you are oh so itching to ask. And the answers are yes, Edward and I are still together and no we are not going to break up anytime soon." I smiled innocently at her, while she sat there stunned. "I'm not answering any more of your questions Jess, so if I were you I'd stop asking." She sat there for a few moments, her mouth open before she huffed and stalked off.

As soon as she left, Emmett's bellowing laughter could be heard throughout the cafeteria, announcing Jessica's humiliation.

"Definitely a Cullen." Jasper gasped between laughs and I grinned. I looked at Alice and Rosalie who were smirking and giggling. They all nodded and I felt like I finally had a place in the school. I had sat with people last year that I thought, and now knew, didn't get me. I wasn't entirely comfortable there, but because I hadn't wanted to sit on my own I stayed there. But now, I had found my place in the cafeteria. With the Cullens.

I knew that I could do this. I could survive the next few months or so, without Edward, because I had them. I had his family to help me through. And I would be able to last through the week until each weekend when I went to see him. It would make the time that I spent with him at the weekends all the more precious than before. I could do this because even though he was so far away at the moment, there was a part of him in my heart and on my wrist. I had the whole family on my wrist at the moment. Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, Alice, Jasper, Rosalie and Edward. They were all sat there in that little emblem that signified the family that I was now apart of. I could do this because I was as strong as Edward.

I may not be by name but I am by nature.

I'm a Cullen.

Bella's first day back at school.
Did you like how she dealt with Mike and Jessica. I wanted her to realise that she could be stronger when it came to those two and I hope it came across. I also wanted to get across the fact that even though she may be physically so far from Edward, that he will always be there with her in her heart and within the crest.
Please review and tell me what you think.
Next up is Edward's first day at the clinic without Bella.
Ciao!! xx