Today's Quote: What's my favourite childhood memory? Not having to pay the bills.

I half waded through the thick mud - when this was over, Bella so owed me a new pair of sneakers.

The rain poured down thickly, the large droplets hitting my head harshly before rolling down, pretty much rendering my sight useless. I had given up calling out Isabella's name - with the way the wind roared unless I was right next to her there was no way she'd hear me.

I stumbled over tree roots, landing in a pile of mud. "Gross," I muttered. I pushed myself up off the ground, almost falling again when my feet slid on the slippery mud.

A small whimper caught my attention, coming from behind a bush.

"Bella?" I asked, edging close to it. Just in case, I slipped off my gloves and shoved them into my jacket pocket.

There was another whimper, and I walked around the bushes and crouched down next to the crying girl. Bella looked a mess. She was covered in dirt and leaves and twigs, and her light makeup had run with her tears and the rain. She rocked slowly, curled up in fetal position either to beat the cold or to feel safe.

"Oh, Bella," I said. She looked at me slowly, her eyes wide with fright.

"He left me," she sobbed. "Ed- he left me all alone."

"I know," I said. I awkwardly patted her shoulder. "But it'll be okay."

"No it won't!" she said. "He's gone forever and ever and ever and ever and-"

"-and ever. I heard," I said dryly. "C'mon, we need to get you home."

"No," she moaned. "I don't wanna go. Just leave me here to die - what's the point of living ?"

Okay, yeah, Edward was her first love. Carlisle was mine. Maybe. I wasn't sure if I loved him or not, but yeah, my heart ached because he was gone. That didn't mean I wanted to hide in the woods to die.

"And mum calls me the insane one," I said under my breath. "The point, Isabella," I said, raising my voice, "is that Dad cares, and I care, and you will kill yourself if you stay out here in the cold."

"That's the idea! I can't live without Ed - him!"

"Oh my gods," I groaned. I rolled my eyes- was she serious? Bella shivered violently, and let out a hacking cough. "All right, here we go."

I snuck my arms under her armpits and dragged her up to her feet. She writhed and wriggled but I held her firmly, keeping her close to my side.

"Isabella," I said, feeling more like the older sister than the younger, "behave."

Spoiler alert - she didn't.

"Let me go!" she screamed. "Let me go, let me go, let me go!"

"Okay," I huffed. "Let's do this the hard way."

I slid my hands under her shirt and pressed them against her waist, letting them burn hot enough to make her shriek. "Want me to make them hotter?" I asked.

"No no no!" she whined.

I cooled my hands. "Are you going to listen to me now?"

"Yes," she said. She gave a small sniffle, before burying her head into my jacket and blowing her nose on it. "It's just that he's gone," she moaned.

"Are you serious?" I snapped. "I'm gonna let that go because you're sad and probably sick, but really, Isabella?"

"Sorry," she mumbled, pressing her face against my arm. "I'm tired."

"I bet." I took out my phone and clicked on Dad's contact, calling him. Unsurprisingly, he picked up not half a second later.

"Morgana? Oh God, tell me you found her!" he asked, an edge of desperation to her voice.

"Yeah, she's here. Isabella, say `hi'."

She started sobbing again, putting all her weight on me so that I nearly collapsed.

"Is she okay? Is she hurt?"

"I don't think so. She's pretty upset, and cold, but she seems fine. We'll be back at the house soon."

I hung up on Dad. "Okay, Isabella, let's walk."

"No. I just wanna stay here and -"

I never did hear what she wanted to do, due to the fact that she began crying all over again.

"Oh Gods," I groaned. "Not again."

I started dragging her, my arms wrapped around her waist to keep her from escaping off into the forest to go try and kill herself again.

Due to the fact I was basically carrying Bella, it took some time before we got back to the house where we were instantly surrounded by many anxious faces.

"She's fine. Thanks for searching," I said repeatedly, pushing through them. "Hey Dad."

Dad took Bella from me, carrying her over to the couch where Dr. Gerandy, one of Forks human doctors, now the only doctors, was waiting. So much for Carlisle coming back the second anything went wrong.

"Look what the cat dragged in!" Leah laughed, punching my arm affectionately. Odd, I didn't even know she was here. I supposed it made sense though - most of the Quileute boys were here, and I very much doubted Leah would allow herself to be left behind. "What happened? You go swimming in the mud or something?"

"Haha," I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes. It had been a while since I had seen my badass friend, and I had missed her. Before Leah could react, I hugged her tightly, the mud sticking to Leah's green shirt. "My bad," I said, grinning.

"Rude," Leah said. "Got food?"

I dragged her inside and pushed my uneaten bowl of spaghetti at her. She pushed it right back, grimacing. "I really hope you didn't cook that."

"Me?" I scoffed. "No way. That burnt mess was all Dad."

"Disgusting." She ate it anyway though, scoffing it down like it might be her last meal.

"Don't they feed you?" I asked, laughing as I watched her wipe at sauce on her chin. I slipped my jacket off, laying it over a chair. I'd have to wash it now, which sucked ass.

Leah shrugged. "I'm just constantly starving, it seems. Oh shit!"

"What-"

"Shh!" Leah jumped out of her seat and hid behind the kitchen counter. "Just go with it!"

"Okay," I said slowly. "I can see your hair, by the way."

I assumed she crouched down lower, seeing as she quickly disappeared from sight.

"Hi," an extremely fit and shirtless man said. He held out a hand to me. "Sam Uley."

"Morgana Swan," I said, shaking his hand.

"I figured," he said. He tapped his brown eyes. "Not many girls have one pink eye, one purple."

"At least I'm now known for my contacts instead of hair dye," I joked. "What can I do for you?"

"I just wanted to say I'm glad you - oh, babe, come meet Morgana."

A woman that could've been a supermodel had she not had three ugly scars running down her face appeared. She kissed Sam on the cheek, and smiled prettily at me. "Hi," she said. "I'm Emily Young, Sam's fiance. We were so relieved to hear you found Bella."

"Exactly," Sam said.

"Thank you for helping search," I said.

"Of course. You have a beautiful home," Emily said. She looked as though she was set to walk into the kitchen to look at some photos, but I stepped into the space between the counter and the wall before she could.

"Thank you," I said tightly. I wasn't sure why Leah didn't want them to know she was there, but I sure as hell wasn't going to give her away.

Sam and Emily shared a look, before Emily whispered something in Sam's ear. "Right," he said. "We should probably get going," he said to me.

"Sure," I said easily. I walked them out, sighing when the door shut behind them. "Wanna tell me what that was about?" I asked Leah, who was shifting nervously from foot to foot.

"I used to date Sam," she began, sitting back down. I put the pot of spaghetti and sauce down on the table, and she took another serving of the horrendous meal. "Then he met Emily, my cousin, and the next week they were engaged."

"Seriously?" I asked, shocked. "What a dick!"

Damn, and I thought I had it bad. At least Carlisle left me for my safety, no matter how useless and annoying it was.

"RIght? And he didn't tell me anything, just that he wanted to be with Emily." She scowled at the bowl. If looks could hurt, that bowl would shatter into pieces.

I sighed. "I don't even know what to say to that. That's horrible, Leah."

She shrugged. "Yeah, well, it's over now. I'm over it."

She very clearly wasn't, but I didn't say anything. I quickly changed the topic. "Did you hear about those wolves roaming around? Apparently they're these massive animals," I said dramatically. "Bigger than elephants, even."

Leah snorted. Mission Subject Change - Complete. "Who's been telling you that?"

"The hikers keep seeing them and then reporting them to the police, Dad's been complaining about them all week."

"Oh God, some people are completely whack."

"Tell me about it."

I flicked through the TV channels, trying to find something somewhat interesting.

"You should go to sleep," Dad said to me. "It's late."

"Technically it's early," I said, checking my watch. "It's like 3 am. Besides, it's the weekend."

Dad rolled his eyes, a habit I swore he had learnt from me. "Just don't complain when you're tired all day and I say I told you so."

"Of course not."

I watched as Dad got up to put Bella's heat packs in the microwave. "I can't believe Cullen just left her in the woods like that," Dad said, shaking his head.

"Neither can I."

I had to admit, it was highly out of character for him.

"And the Cullens, just up and leaving without notice? It's weird."

"I suppose so," I said, struggling to keep my voice even.

"Who're you going to hang out with now?" Dad asked. The microwave beeped and he took the packs out, laying them around Bella's body, under her blankets. Dad wanted to keep her on the couch so that he could make sure she wasn't getting sicker. Dr. Gerandy had warned us to watch out for any signs of hypothermia.

"What do you mean?"

"You sit with Rosalie and Emmett at school, right?" At my nod he continued. "Who will you sit with now?"

I shrugged. "I'll probably just sit by myself."

"Morgana…"

"It'll be fine," I said, my voice confident. And I would be, only I did wonder how I'd be able to get through everything.

Mum was still pushing for me to go back to an asylum, claiming that I had pushed Bella down the stairs and set fire to the ballet studio. Emmett had helped me work through that, letting me rant or take out my anger on trees.

And I'd miss Rosalie, who was practically my sister at this point. Who was I going to complain to when Bella was being a nuisance, or when I had literally no idea what to wear, or do with my hair?

And I'd be lost without Esme, the woman who I constantly compared to an angel on earth. Vampire she may be, but she has made a positive impact in my life.

And Carlisle, well, my heart might need a little time to heal itself. I may not have invested myself in our relationship as much as Bella did with her and Edward's, but that didn't mean I didn't hurt.

"Hey, Billy, it's Charlie—sorry I'm calling so early… no, she's fine. She's sleeping… Thanks, but that's not why I called. I just got a call from Mrs. Stanley, and she says that from her second-story window she can see fires out on the sea cliffs, but I didn't really… Oh!"

Suddenly there was an edge in his voice—irritation… or anger. Whether it was my need to know why Dad was angry, or my interest n the fires, or just me being bored I wasn't sure, but I instantly started listening closer.

"And why are they doing that? Uh huh. Really?" He said it sarcastically. "Well, don't apologize to me. Yeah, yeah. Just make sure the flames don't spread… I know, I know, I'm surprised they got them lit at all in this weather." Dad hesitated, and then added grudgingly. "Thanks for sending Sam and the other boys up. You were right—they do know the forest better than we do. Yeah, I'll talk to you later," he agreed, still sour. Dad hung up, muttering something angrily under his breath.

"What's wrong?" I asked. "Is something burning?"

"It's nothing," he assured me. "Just some bonfires out on the cliffs."

"Bonfires?" I asked, curious.

"Some of the kids from the reservation being rowdy," he explained.

"That's weird, Leah didn't mention anything about bonfires."

"She wouldn't have. They're celebrating the Cullen's leaving, and they only just found out. It's ridiculous," Charlie spluttered.

"Rude," I said.

"Dr Cullen was the best damned doctor we've ever had, and for them to celebrate him leaving is just-"

"Wrong?" I offered.

"Exactly."

Dad took the remote from me and changed the channel again, this one showing Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

"Wanna watch?"

"Better than sport," I said lightly, although my stomach twisted at the reminder. I'd be fine without the Cullens, right? I had lived without them before, I could do it again.

Please Review!

A/N - Thanks to everyone that reads, reviews, favourites or follows this fic - It means a lot

Laura201112 - Thanks, and I'll try.

CatGal1701 - Well, as Morgana mentions, things are going to be difficult without the Cullens. But don't worry - she'll push like as always.

Guest (Libby) - No worries, and I'm from Australia, hence the weird spelling, odd words and strange time for updating. And no, to any flat-earthers reading this, I am not being paid to say Australia is a real place.

eeeeaud - I know - she's been pushing him off forever, and now that she stops he has to go! And yeah, Carlilse picking Edward is annoying, but it's important for the rest of the fic.

Brookie Twiling - I know exactly what you mean. And honestly, all I want is for a long action packed tv show about a fierce girl to happen, with zero love interests. It can't be that hard to write, right? As for meeting the pack, well, there's a little bit of hinting (or just straight up pointing) to the wolves in this chapter. And thanks for reviewing on most chapters - it helps both boost my ego and keep me going.

Ghostwriter71 - Yeah. I mean, obviously Morgana is gonna hurt, but she's definitely not gonna go off and shut down over it. And your support is so great because it's constant. And yeah, maybe it shouldn't matter to me as much as it does, but here we are.

binhacunha3 - Thanks