Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

Chapter Eight: Accident

Elizabeth Cullen

The next month – which went smoothly, thank god – was spent in a flurry of wedding preparations. Aunt Alice was forever calling about wedding plans, or coming over with satchels of colors or whatnot. Mom managed to convince me – and Aunt Alice – that I, being, of course, the bride, should have a part of planning the wedding, not just herself and Aunt Alice. We made Ethan a part of the plans, as well, and he seemed to like being part of it.

Ethan's mother called practically every day, just to either chat about whatever or – to my horror – asking when Ethan and I were planning on having kids.

Mom only laughed when I told her this, and Nathan was on the floor, rolling around laughing his head off and clutching his side.

Don't get me wrong – I really do want kids. Not too many, maybe one or two, but asking me about kids before I'm even married is a little too much.

Monday, Thursday, and Friday nights were Ethan and mine's date nights. We would either go out and have dinner, or stay in, and play a game with Nathan or watch a movie.

Things were going well. I was excited about soon becoming a 'Mrs.', things continued to be well between Ethan and I, and Mom and I tried to keep Aunt Alice under wraps with the wedding plans.

And then, two things happened – well, three things, actually – that changed the direction of the planning, etc., etc. …

~~0~~

"Okay, the book should be here by Monday or Tuesday of next week. We'll call you if there are any problems with the shipping, but it should be here by then," I said. I listened to the person on the other end of the line for a few seconds, and then said, "Okay, you're welcome. Bye-bye."

I hung up just as Mom came through from the back. She smiled and said, "You have become quite the pro at that, sweetie pie. You do it even better than me."

A blush crept up into my cheeks, and I shrugged my shoulders. "I do not. I learned from the best."

Mom smiled and touched her hand to my cheek. "I know. What do you say we order in for a change for lunch?"

"Sure," I said. "Where do you want food from? I could go and get it and bring it back here."

"Let's order a couple of those cheeseburgers from Dan and Helen's. We haven't had their burgers in forever," Mom said.

Without meaning to, I paused. "Dan and Helen's?" I asked. "Are you sure?"

Mom nodded. "I'm sure. What's with the pausing? You love their burgers. And their fries."

I hesitated, wondering how to word it. "I know. It's just … I could run into Ian there, and, well, that wouldn't be very good." I looked down at the counter as I said this, busying myself with straightening the advertisement brochures that were sitting next to the cash register.

When I looked up a few seconds later, there was a confused look on her face, and a look of dawning appeared and she said, "Oh, this is about the fact that Ian Dalton has come back to live here."

I nodded silently.

"Why would that be bad?" she asked.

I sighed. "I don't really know. Maybe I'm scared that my engagement to Ethan is gonna hurt my friendship with Ian. What do you want on the burger?" I asked, grabbing a scrap of paper and pencil and looking toward Mom again.

Fifteen minutes later, I drove Old Major up to Dan and Helen's. I pulled the keys from the ignition and got out, taking a deep breath before entering the small diner.

Dan and Helen's hadn't changed one bit since I had last been there, which had been the summer before I went to college. The outside looked the same – it was still painted red, though the color had faded a bit. Flower troughs filled with ferns and daisies lined the windows and the words 'Dan and Helen's' were printed on a sign that hung above the door.

The inside looked the same, as well. The four seater tables were still covered with red and white checkered table cloths, with one salt shaker and one pepper shaker with a menu standing in between them. The oldies music machine – the one where you put quarters in and choose a song – stood in the same corner. Only two table were filled, with one person at each, drinking mugs of coffee and reading the newspaper.

There was a long counter at one end of the diner, where a cash register sat at one end. The black menu boards hung on the wall behind it, with a door leading to the kitchen in between them.

Aromas filled my nose the second I walked in the door, and I breathed in a long breath, feeling my mouth water at the smell. Now I really wanted one of their burgers.

I walked up to the cash register just as Ian's mother came through the kitchen door. She smiled when she saw me.

"Elizabeth! What a pleasant surprise," she said. "It's lovely to see you again."

"It's nice to see you, as well," I replied, smiling back at her. "This place hasn't changed one bit since I was last in here," I added, feeling a compliment was needed. Then I added on, "I heard about your husband. I'm very sorry. How's he feeling today?"

Helen smiled. "He's doing well today, thanks for asking, Elizabeth. He has his good days and his bad days – just taking it one day at a time. So, what can I do for you this afternoon?"

"I was wondering if I could have two cheeseburgers with mayonnaise, lettuce, and bacon, and a large order of your fries, please?" I asked.

"You certainly may," Helen said, writing down my order on an order pad and ripping it off the pad. "This should take about fifteen minutes. Take a seat and I'll have it brought out when it's done, alright?"

I nodded. "Thank you," I said, and watched as Helen disappeared into the kitchen.

As I waited, I sat down at one of their tables next to their counter, staring at the old, black and white pictures that hung around the diner, all the while playing absent-mindedly with my engagement ring. The swinging kitchen door opened fifteen minutes later, and I stood up from my table. I slowed my movements when I saw exactly who had walked through the door.

Ian smiled when he saw me, setting the paper bag with my order in it down on the counter. "Hey, Liz."

Ian Dalton

Liz smiled back. "Hey."

"So, I haven't seen you around lately," I said.

She blushed. "Yeah, well, I've been busy. With wedding plans," she said, not breaking her gaze from me.

"How's that going?" I asked.

"The plans are coming along well. We've decided on a place for the ceremony, and all that stuff. Mom and I have been pretty busy trying to keep my Aunt Alice in check."

I laughed. "I remember your Aunt Alice. She always did seem a little bit excited about something when it came to planning something."

Liz smiled again. "Yeah. I kind of remember, when my parents got married, that Aunt Alice would always call Mom about wedding plans. It kind of drove her insane a little. Hey, are you supposed to be at the school, teaching?"

"It's Saturday, Liz. Kids don't go to school on Saturdays," I said, grinning.

Elizabeth flushed a deep red. "Oh. Right. Kind of a blond moment there. Anyway, so what do I owe you?" she asked.

"Ten dollars and twenty cents. But it's on the house this time. You're a past employee."

"But I have to pay something," she said. "It's not right. Take it." She pushed the money at me.

I sighed and took the money. "Alright, but the next order you place here is on the house. Deal?"

She looked at me for a moment, a queer expression on her face. And then she sighed, smiling. "Alright. It's a deal."

Just as Elizabeth was about to leave, my mom came out.

"Oh, Elizabeth?" she asked.

Liz turned around and said, "Yes?"

"I heard around town that you're getting married. Congratulations," Mom said.

Liz blushed and said, "Uh, thanks. We're pretty excited." She laughed a nonchalant laugh, but it sounded off, I could tell. "Well, I got to get this back. It was nice seeing you."

I watched as Elizabeth waved good-bye and walked out of the diner, her beautiful brown hair that she had left down today bounce slightly as she walked.

I found myself day-dreaming, remembering the day we had met on the bridge, back when we were in high school. God, she had been beautiful then, too, but, now that she was older, she was even more so now. Her hair fell in the perfect way, her beautiful chocolate brown eyes – just like her mothers, but rimmed with green – were shining.

"You lost a good woman, my son," Mom said, placing her hand on my shoulder.

I just continued to stare at the diner door. I sighed. "Yeah. I know."

"Excuse me, could I get some more coffee?"

Elizabeth Cullen

I lounged on the couch, multitasking with watching some soap opera and reading the arts section of the newspaper. It was later that day, and I was trying to take my mind off of Ian – whose face kept on popping up into my mind's eye.

I was unsuccessful.

The air was unusually warm, making itself known at the very rare temperature of 77 degrees.

It was June, only a week after graduation, and I was sitting in the park on a bench, sketching some birds that were pecking at the ground with their beaks. Ian had called and asked me to meet me here. He hadn't said why he wanted to meet me, but I could tell from the sound of his voice that it was important.

"Hey, beautiful."

I smiled as he sat down on the bench next to me. "Hey," I said. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

Ian got a slightly nervous look on his face. "Well … I don't really know how to put this."

"Just say it," I said.

He laughed a nervous laugh. "I wish I could. Okay, you know how when you asked me a couple months back about what I wanted to do for college?" I nodded. "Well, that wasn't exactly true."

My eyebrow raised. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I wasn't exactly … telling the truth when I told you that I didn't know what I was going to do for college."

"Okay …." I trailed off, silently nudging him on.

"I want to get out of Forks," he said. "I'm going to Sacramento."

My other eyebrow raised. "Sacramento? But what about your parents?"

"Liz, I don't want to be my parents. They want me to work in their diner for the rest of my life. I don't want to do that. I want to go out in the world, become a musician and teach little kids the fine arts of music."

"Okay. When are you going? I can figure out something to tell my parents, and I'll go with you," I said.

When he didn't respond, I began to get a feeling of dread, and I prayed that what I thought was going to come next wasn't going to come next. "Ian?"

"Liz … I don't want you to come with me to Sacramento."

I was right. My heart dropped. It took me a moment to get my voice back. "What?"

"I don't want you to come with me to Sacramento," he repeated.

"What are you saying?" I asked. "What are you leading up to? Ian, this had better be a joke."

It wasn't – I could tell by the serious look in Ian's eyes.

"Ian?" I repeated. "What are you telling me?" He still didn't answer. "Are you breaking up with me?"

Ian gulped. "Yes."

I sat there, not able to breathe, not able to speak. "But … why? Ian, we had a plan. What happened to the carving on the tree?"

"The plans changed, Elizabeth," Ian said.

He reached out with his hand to touch my face, but I turned my head away. He sighed. "Elizabeth, we both have different dreams, different ways we want to go in life. We wouldn't be able to do a long distance relationship with you at Seattle U and me in Sacramento."

"We could always try," I said, but I knew that he was right. Long distance relationships never worked out.

He shook his head. "We can't. It wouldn't work."

Pain was stretching across my chest. I felt like I couldn't breathe. I stood up and walked back and forth.

That helped. A little.

"What about if I find a college in Sacramento to go to. We could still be together then," I said.

Ian got up and caught me with his hands, making me stop walking. "We can't be together anymore."

One of the traits I had inherited from my Mom was anger hard-wired to my tear ducts – I cried whenever I got angry. But these tears hadn't been triggered by anger. Well, okay part of it was. But the other part was from pain and rejection.

Wouldn't you feel the same way if your boyfriend broke up with you unannounced, when you had thought everything had been going great?

I choked back the tears that were threatening to come. "When are you leaving?" I whispered.

"I catch a flight out tonight," he said. "It's been planned for some time."

I took a deep breath, but that caused the tears to run over. Ian reached up with his thumbs and wiped them away. Then he placed his lips on mine – one last, final kiss.

"Good-bye, Elizabeth Marie Swan."

And then he was gone.

I broke out of the painful memory just as my stomach growled hungrily. I laughed and decided that it was time for some supper. Switching off the television, throwing the paper aside, and standing up from the couch, I went over to the refrigerator and found nothing but left-over's that we'd been having for the past four nights.

I sighed and walked down the hallway to Nathan's room. I knocked, and was granted permission to enter. My younger brother was on his bed, reading a comic book.

He looked up. "Hey. What's up?" he asked, and then looked back at his comic book.

"Mom and Dad left an hour ago, there's nothing in the refrigerator except left-over's, so what do you say about going down the road to the pizzeria?" I asked.

Instantly, Nathan slapped his book shut and sat up. "Yes. Anything to get away from this."

I held up my hand. "Only on one condition." Nathan's faced instantly drooped. "Mom made me promise to make sure you finish your homework. So, if we go get pizza, will you finish your homework when we get back? Instead of reading the comic book?"

Five minutes later, we were walking down the side steps and on the sidewalk. The pizzeria was thankfully only about five buildings down the street from the bookshop, so we were able to walk. The sky had turned a nasty gray, and the wind was whipping. We pulled our coats tighter around ourselves. I could sense a huge storm was coming.

The pizzeria was warm and it smelled of fresh tomatoes and basil.

"Hey, look, it's Ian!" Nathan murmured, nudging me and pointing at a corner table in the back.

For some bizarre and unwelcome reason, my heart fluttered. I quickly got a hold of myself as Ian spotted us, smiled, and waved us over to his table.

"Hey, guys!" he said.

And the next moment, before I knew what I was doing and before I realized I didn't really care, we were sitting at Ian's table, sharing his pizza (he had asked us to, and before I could cover Nathan's mouth, my younger brother had accepted Ian's invitation).

For the next half hour, we ate pizza and laughed and talked, just having – scarily – a good time, just like we used to when Ian and I used to take Nathan out to pizza sometimes.

And then …

… my cell rang.

I dug it out from my pocket and saw that it was Grandpa Carlisle who was calling. I flipped open the phone and put it to my ear. "Hey, Grandpa, what's up?"

"Liz, where are you and your brother?" His voice sounded worried.

"At the pizzeria, having supper. What's wrong?" I began to get a little worried.

"Liz, honey, you and Nathan need to come down to the hospital."

"Why?"

There was a moment's pause, and then Grandpa Carlisle said, "There's been an accident, and your Mom and Dad are in the hospital."

Author's Note: SO sorry for the cliffhanger, but I've been waiting to get that out of my system for a long time. Do you guys hate me? I've had a tube stuck in my nose for the past twenty-four hours, so I apologize if there's any errors in punctuation or grammar. Please read and review on your way out - they are HIGHLY appreciated and they make me feel better. I promise the next chapter will be up very soon.

Until Next Time: Lemonade Ninja