Foreward:

This pairing was requested by a couple of my readers while I was working on revamping Black Hole Sun, which is a retelling of Twilight between Bella and Edythe. In the time it took for me to begin writing fanfiction and gaining confidence, it progressed from changing as little from Twilight as possible, to changing the entire scope of the series, over the course of the past few years. If anyone dares to peruse all the comments of Black Hole Sun, you can probably notice when those changes began to be incorporated, when I made small changes, and when I tried to incorporate more of my own experience living in California as a young girl into something Bella might have experienced to some degree in her young childhood. Black Hole Sun, while mostly a supernatural love story, was also a journey of acceptance of herself and gaining boldness. I suppose somewhere along the journey I've become more bold as well. Carnival of Rust would not be the story it is thus far if I hadn't grown, and while I'm sure a lot of us writers here on FF have a lot of growth ahead of us, I'm grateful that we can share this adventure together. So, this story is dedicated to you. Whether you write your fanfictions down or live them in your head, keep on dreaming, dear readers.

This is essentially a recreation of the original tale of Twilight, only the main pairing is between Beau and Edward. While I intend to take liberties with both Twilight and the Life After Death counterpart version, most of the story will reflect the films and take place in the year 2008. Inspiration for Beau was taken from Actor: Charlie Heaton. However, if you don't find Charlie Heaton an attractive 'Beau' in your mind, you are welcome to imagine whomever you desire, though that responsibility rests with you: the reader.

Contrary to what one might think, I am happy reading and appreciating straight pairings. However, part of the reason that I wanted to work on Black Hole Sun was because I couldn't find any pairings of Bella and Edythe that weren't overly fetishized or lacking in depth of feeling. It wasn't about resolving Edward's unpleasant issues from the book or movies, making an Edward that was less toxic, through changing his gender. Though that certainly may have helped simply from how women were raised a bit differently than men in the time Edward was raised. At least according to my research, which could be lacking.

For me, if Edward has toxic traits it's okay - in the beginning. We all had them when we were younger, at least in some form, and to eradicate something away from existence is less important than showing that the characters consistently have events that push them to work on mending these toxic traits. Over time I hope the characters we love and appreciate develop into people who have conquered their former selves. People are many shades of gray, onions or cakes with layers, and I hope you enjoy unveiling them with me.

PS: Without further ado, please enjoy Carnival of Rust, and leave your thoughts and impressions in the Comments or PMs. I want to advance enough in my skill to start writing my own books someday, and every opinion helps

Prologue: The Decision

It was the eve of my seventeenth birthday. My mom, Renee, was in Hawaii on her Honeymoon with my new stepfather, Phil Dwyer, and her plane would be arriving tomorrow afternoon. She was supposed to be here this afternoon, but, there was a delay because of the weather and the airline rescheduled their return flight for tomorrow. I didn't really mind, though. My mom hadn't taken a vacation in a long time and I was happy that she got to have a little bit longer in paradise.

Besides, it gave me time to think.

The home that my mother and I had built in Phoenix was filled to the brim with homemade knickknacks made of clay, various paintings I'd smeared with finger-paint from my younger days, and postcards framed from all the places we'd vacationed over the last two summers.

Feeling as though I was saying goodbye to every piece of my childhood to consider doing this, I reached out to touch the most important pieces of my past. The lines scribbled on the molding by the main hallway which marked how tall I'd grown since we moved in when I was seven. Photographs of our cat, Magellan, before he passed away from old age last year. Even the shelf full of old VHS tapes and DVDs that Mom and I had collected over the years and watched together was held beneath my fingers.

I would miss the warmth of Phoenix, the glow of the sun sparkling on the streets. The riot of color dizzying across the horizon like watercolors splayed out in every direction. The red mountains and wildlife.

Mostly, I would miss my loving, erratic, harebrained mother. Who was finally, truly, happy with Phil – and some part of me knew that if I stayed here I'd never fly. I'd be the one taking care of her for the rest of my life, while she tries messily to take care of me, and it would come between her and Phil. As it had for her last, heart-wrenching, relationship.

Maybe I needed to prove to myself that I could live without her, too. That I was strong enough to be on my own for an extended length of time. Regardless of all the reasons in my head, it was the knowledge that once Phil's spring training kicked in, my mom would be forced to stay home with me instead of being with her new husband. I didn't want to be a reason for them to break up or even to risk feeling that way. I wanted her to have a chance to be happy, to thrive with the man she loved almost as much as me. In completely different ways.

Walking to my room, which was organized as much as my need for creative chaos could allow, I slipped off my shoes and slid past the heavy blanket acting as a curtain to lay down on my bed. In the beginning, we had picked out a bunk bed in the hope of having room for a friend in case of sleepover parties with video games. Now the top bunk housed dozens upon dozens of books in messy piles. Never enough to make the top bunk mattress sag threateningly; but, enough to make me feel secure that I wouldn't shake the frame too much.

Inside my special place, my sanctuary, orange and yellow twinkle lights lit up the underside of the bunk bed like tiny stars. Just faint enough to be able to read beneath without damaging my eyes. Faint enough to see the digits on the cordless phone I'd been holding for the past forty or so minutes.

Somehow, I imagined it might be harder to do this once mom got back from Hawaii. As though the music she blared in the living room, or her laughter at Phil's comedy antics, would distract me and I'd lose my nerve. Staring at the little lights hanging in messy rows above me, I closed my eyes, remembered my purpose, and sat up against the wall to brace myself.

With a deep breath, I clicked the on-button and dialed my father, Charlie's, phone number. Memorized by heart after all the years we had been separated from each other. Somehow, turning on the phone had been the hardest part of my plan. But, once I resolved myself to do something, I just went ahead and did it, and the rest usually fell into place.

The phone rang, again and again, four times until a soft clicking sound against my ear informed me that my call had been answered.

"Chief Swan," His voice was warm but guarded. I could only presume that he thought this was a work call and he was waiting for an emergency to be mentioned.

"Hey, Dad," I greeted with more enthusiasm than I felt.

"Oh, Beau! It's good to hear from you," My father said with a soft laugh. "I wasn't expecting your call til' tomorrow."

The reminder that our relationship wasn't exactly solid made me grimace. Outside of holidays and birthdays, we talked on average every other Wednesday evening. Sometimes with a month or more passing with next to nothing said to each other. Either because he was busy working on a case to help out neighboring county police departments or because I had nothing of note to talk about.

"Yeah, I thought I'd call early," I tried to tease, but, it probably sounded unconvincing.

"Sure, Beau," there was a mild pause on the other end. "Do you have any fun birthday plans?"

"Not really. Mom's coming home from Hawaii."

"Is Renee still not back, yet?" The concern in his voice irritated my stomach and I felt acid bubbling within me.

"Their plane got grounded, Dad," I said a little more sharply than I meant to. It felt like he was judging my mom for being stupid, again, and I just didn't have the patience for hearing it right now. "It's fine; I'm fine. You don't need to worry about it."

Whether it was my tone or the phrasing I used, he backed off quickly. "Alright, if you're fine."

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, but, that wasn't exactly true and my voice probably showed it. "Well, I will be. If you'll help me."

Silence on the other end. The longest three seconds of my life, thus far.

"Sure, Beau, what do you need help with?"

With a heavy heart, swollen tongue, and anxiety flaring through my skin, I took one deep breath to gird myself and said the words: "I need to get out of here. I want to go back up there for the Spring Semester."