A/N: Now that I'm home a lot more often this week, I can come up with more for this fic! :)Enjoy the new chapter. And write a review! I haven't been getting as many reviews for this story. Tell me your thoughts and feelings on this story and characters. Also if you're on Facebook, follow my page DaniPitter's Fanfiction Group.

After my shift ended later that night, I waited outside the store for my Uber to come pick me up. I sighed, staring at the car cartoon moving along the map on my phone. Tucking a curl behind my ear, I sat down on the bench beside the store and sighed.

I couldn't wait to go home, if only to an empty house. My mom was away on another one of her week-long vacations, which I was pretty sure was her way of getting out of the house to avoid me. We had a good relationship, but when she got into her 'vacation' moods, she tended to stay away. Sometimes, I'd go with her, just to get away from the stuffy, slow small town of Forks. Other times, I'd felt like staying home. But this time, after my flashbacks of me and him, I needed someone to keep me grounded.

I tried to hold back a shudder as his face, his eyes came into my mind.

"Bella," one of my bosses Carmen called out as she stepped out, locking the door. "You going to be okay getting home, sweetie? I can give you a ride if you want."

I smiled a bit and shook my head. "No, it's ok. My Uber is around the corner," I said.

Carmen nodded, her long black bangs falling over her face. "Okay then. I'll wait with you though. Just in case." She laid her bag down on the floor and sat next to me on the bench.

"Aww, you don't have to –"

"I want to. I'm the boss, it's important that all of my associates stay safe. Especially after the last time I left you alone…" she frowned, a crease between her groomed eyebrows formed on her makeup-formed face.

I sighed deeply and laid my forehead on her shoulder. "I know. I know. I…he hasn't shown his face in almost a year." I mumbled in her shoulder. Her hand brushed back my hair in a repeating, soothing pattern. I felt her kiss my head, and I sat back up. "It's like he disappeared off the face of the earth and left me to pick up the pieces."

"Knowing him, he'll probably show up when you least expect it," Carmen remarked. "Then, what will you do?"

I sighed deeply, "I have no idea. I'll threaten a restraining order or something."

Carmen laughed, "Yes, a restraining order and a blocking of his number."

"Oh, I've been blocked his number, believe that!" I chuckled, then sighed. "But yeah, I really hope I don't ever have to see his face ever again. Even if I don't get a new boyfriend again."

"Ohh I don't know, that guy you were talking to earlier and yesterday seems promising. I gave him an application today." She smirked in my direction.

I rolled my eyes, trying to hide my smile and blush. "Well. That's good for him. I guess. But don't get any ideas. I'm not looking for a boyfriend, or special friend or anything. I'm just doing my own thing."

"Ok….if you say so." Carmen smirked and tucked a hair behind my ear. My Uber finally rolled up front near me.

"Well, this is me. Thanks for waiting with me." I said, sliding into the backseat of the blue Ford Taurus.

"No problem, sweetheart. Say hi to your mom for me," Carmen called as she walked to her own car on the other side of the parking lot.

On the ride back home, it gave me a chance to breathe and reflect on my day. As much as I hated my job and its daily duties, at least I had some work friends there I could count on, like Carmen and Kate. Even though Kate has only been there a year and a half and me 2 years, it still felt like I've been friends with her forever. My mind drifted off to the past year, some good memories with my work friends, and other bad memories with him. I shook my head to rid of those horrible memories, but they kept rising in the back of my mind.

It wasn't all bad, at least not at first. Jake was sweet, kind, friendly, loyal, I thought I could trust him, until I couldn't. But when he became violent, manipulative, controlling, I couldn't take it anymore, so I dumped him. But then he didn't know how to take no for an answer, so when I'd threatened a restraining order, he'd quit working at the Superstore and moved out of state. I haven't seen him since.

My mind transformed from days of him and me on our first dates, walking along the beach, the movies, concerts to see our favorite bands and singers, him meeting my mom. Us working together side by side as cashiers and floor associates. Tears sprung to my eyes as memories went from good to bad to worse. My breath caught in my throat as memories of us yelling and screaming at each other, him pushing me against a wall of his room, him always telling me what to do or how to act.

"Hey, miss, are you okay?" the Uber driver asked, and I blinked back tears as I noticed we had pulled up to my house.

"Um….yeah I'm ok. Thank you," I sniffled, grabbed my bags, and stepped out of the Uber. On my way inside my apartment, I rated my driver on the app and unlocked the door. I breathed in deeply and shut the door behind me.

I was grateful for an empty house, but I wanted to make sure my mom was really away. "Mom?" I called out. My voice echoed a bit against the apartment walls. "Thank God," I sighed as I walked past the kitchen, down the hall and into my bedroom. I flopped onto my bed after placing my bag near the edge of it, burying my head into the pillow.