Ah, the one good thing about not feeling well and staying in bed all day. A new chapter! I hope everyone likes it!

As always, I truly want to thank everyone so much for all of the reviews, favorites, and follows. I love knowing that people are interested in my writing!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything...well, except for the plot I guess.

Chapter 1

Driving passed the "Welcome to Forks" sign, I couldn't help but wonder what exactly I was in for?

Two years.

Two long years.

Two long years of having no contact with anyone from my past.

Two long years that to be quite honest I hadn't even had contact with reality in, period.

Two long years that surely everyone in Forks and La Push had heard nothing about what condition I was in.

If any of them had heard about my condition then I'm sure I would've woken up in Forks and not in Alaska with the Cullen's. There is simply no way Charlie wouldn't want me to be in Forks if I was hurt. I was his only daughter after all.

I drove down the familiar main road of Forks taking in the scenery. Not surprisingly, everything was the same as it was the last time I saw it. I smiled at the thought of being back in Forks after so long. Despite the constant rain and not too much to do around town, Forks was home. I hadn't been awake for more than a week yet and I still missed Forks even without having realized it. It was great to be home again. I just hoped that everybody would understand why I hadn't called them to check in at all. Oh, who was I kidding? How could they not understand when I told them I had been in a coma this whole time. No one with a conscience could make something as serious as that up.

After driving for a few more minutes, I looked to my right and slowed down my rental car. It was the police station. And my dad's patrol car was parked outside. I unconsciously slowed down more and pulled into the parking lot, parking next to his car. I knew that maybe waiting until he was of duty and at home would be the wiser thing to do, but I just had to see him. It had been two years since I'd last seen or heard from him and my heart broke at the thought.

The feeling and the thought made me wonder why all of those years ago I had wanted so badly to willingly leave all my friends and family behind just to become a vampire like Edward. Had I really been that stupid and naïve? If this was how I would feel had that accident not happened and I had become a vampire...then as screwed up as it may sound, I'm glad everything happened the way it did. The sorrow, grief, and pain I was feeling right now would've been much worse to deal with for the rest of eternity. Apparently being in a coma had not only still made me grow up but it had also given me some perspective without me realizing it until just now.

I took a deep breath as I shut off the car and got out, making sure to lock the door behind me. Small town and at the police station or not, I still couldn't be too sure that someone wouldn't break in if I left it unlocked. The last thing I needed was to have to pay for a broken into and ruined rental car on top of paying for renting the car in the first place. Knowing my luck, that's exactly what would have happened. Klutzy and unlucky Bella. Those two parts of me would never go away; That was a given.

Slowly, I made my way into the station. When I walked inside, I immediately became the center of attention. It made my insides scream in protest. I had never been, and never would be, the type of person who liked having everyone's attention on me. It just wasn't me. The looks on the faces of the people who were there were looks of those who had just seen a ghost or a dead animal on the side of the road. I was uncomfortable but just because the looks on their faces made me feel uneasy didn't mean that I didn't understand the looks that I was getting. I had been gone for two years and now I was suddenly back again without a single word of an explanation. I'd be looking at me that way, too.

After a few moments of just standing there looking and feeling like a deer caught in headlights, I swallowed the nervous lump in my throat and opened my mouth to ask, "Does anyone know where my dad is?"

The few people in the station all pointed towards his office as they did not find it necessary to say anything.

I nodded at them and smiled briefly. "Thank you."

Then I practically had to push myself towards the door at the back of the station. I knocked on it softly and waited for a response. When I didn't get a response after a few seconds I cautiously put my hand on the knob and turned it, pushing the door open and sticking my head inside.

"Dad." I breathed out upon seeing him sitting behind his desk working intently on whatever was in front of him.

At the sound of my voice the pen in his hand fell out of his hand and his head shot up. His eyes widened and for what felt like a long minute, he just scared at me with an awestruck expression on his face. It was as if he couldn't begin to believe that he was actually seeing me.

"Bella? Am I...? Are you...?" He couldn't seem to find a single train of thought that he could stick to.

Charlie shook his head and blinked his eyes a few times, It was as if he thought I'd disappear and be revealed as just a pigment of his imagination.

"You are really...you are really here?" he asked once he was able to string along more than one or two words to form a sentence.

I nodded and walked in, fully closing the door behind me as I felt the stinging of tears filling my eyes. They were happy tears, so that was good.

"Yes, dad. It's me. I'm here."

Before I could even process what was happening, he was out of his chair and rounding his desk. He was in front of me in an instant, pulling me into a tight bear hug.

I was shocked into complete stillness at first because neither Charlie nor I were usually very touchy feely people. But I guess that given the circumstances I understood what the hug was about. With that thought, I relaxed into the hug and wrapped my arms around him, hugging him back.

"I missed you, Bella," he whispered once he pulled away from me.

"I missed you, too, dad," I replied sincerely.

"Why didn't you call? Why didn't you let me know you were okay?" Charlie asked suddenly switching into full blown concerned father mode.

I avoided looking at him. I wasn't sure if I could tell him the truth...well, a lie...I myself didn't know what the truth was at the moment. If my intuition was right then the truth wasn't what the Cullen's had told me. Plus, I didn't want to hurt Charlie any worse than he already had been. He'd never forgive himself for not being there for me somehow if I told him that I had been in a coma for the past two years.

"Bella..." Charlie said when I didn't say anything back.

"It is hard to explain," I admitted with a sigh. "Please let me figure everything out before I tell you. I want to tell you the truth, not a lie."

"What are you talking about?" he asked, not understanding.

I looked up at him this time so that he could see the pleading look on my face.

"Okay, you do not have to tell me yet," Charlie told me, nodding his head as he gave in to my pleading look.

I smiled and relaxed, content. "Thank you."

Charlie smiled back. "You're welcome," he replied. "I'm just glad my daughter is back...and alive."

My eyes widened at that last part. Alive? What was he talking about? Alive?

"What do you mean alive?" I asked him curiously, worry evident in my voice.

"Everyone here thought that you were dead, Bella," Charlie informed me; his voice was quieter than it usually was, which was successful in making my heart drop into my stomach.

Everyone thought I was dead for the past two years?

"No one had seen or heard from you in two years. And there was nothing to suggest you were still alive...so everyone just assumed..." Charlie went on when I didn't speak.

"Oh my god! That must have been a horrible feeling; that must've been such a horrible thing to go through!" I exclaimed, trying to control my breathing.

Charlie nodded in agreement. "It was. You're my only daughter and losing you for real would be the worst thing to ever happen to me."

I could feel the tears from earlier once again welling up in my eyes, but I did not let them fall. I had to be strong. Breaking down into tears was not in my plans today.

"I'm so sorry, dad," I apologized immediately the second that I could speak again. "I didn't...I was...well, I'm alive, right? That is all that really matters now."

"Yes, I suppose it is. I'm extremely relieved to know that you're alive and healthy."

An awkward silence fell between us after that.

Feeling a bit uneasy, I decided to go ahead and break the silence. "Please don't tell anyone I'm back here dad. I would like to do so when I feel that the time is right. I'll probably go to La Push tomorrow and let everyone know I'm back."

"Of course; I will not say anything. Just make sure you reveal yourself soon. Billy and I are going fishing this weekend and I can't not tell him you're back."

"Duly noted." I laughed. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

~MP~

After the revelation that everyone had thought I was dead, I suddenly felt the need to go to La Push and let my very human and very alive self be known. I couldn't stomach having everyone think I'm dead for even a day longer, especially when I was far from it. Leaving the station, I found myself heading straight towards La Push. The time to make my presence known was now. Not later. Not tomorrow. Now.

Before I knew it, I was in La Push and walking up the front steps of Sam and Emily's cottage. It had been over two years since I had last been here. I wasn't so sure if I would be welcome here after having chosen Edward, but this was something I had to do. I had to face my past and my past mistakes head on. I knew deep down that leaving the pack hanging after everything they did for me (after they all put their lives on the line for me) leaving them hanging was such an awful thing for me to do.

Back then I was so enthralled and addicted to Edward, he was my drug that I couldn't let go of. But now I saw him in a different light. From the moment that I woke up from my coma, nothing was the same. I didn't feel for Edward what I did back then. It was like the coma had changed me without me even knowing that I was changing. Maybe that coma had been God's way of letting me reset myself...a way of giving me a second chance at doing the right thing and making the right choices.

I was broken away from my thoughts when I unconsciously stopped at the top of the stairs on the porch of Sam and Emily's house. This was it, there was no turning back. I didn't know why I was so afraid of how I would be perceived by the pack. They' would understand my reasoning for not being around or getting in touch once they all knew the truth. Not only that but I was going to talk to Emily first. Every member of the pack respected her and if one of them came on too strong upon seeing me back, she would no doubt have my back. Even though Emily and I had only been around each other a couple of times and spoken a small amount of words to each other, we still had an understanding.

Walking up to the door, which was already open, I stuck my head in and to no surprise found Emily in the kitchen cooking. I silently commended her for having to always feed the whole pack and always making enough to do exactly that. At least she enjoyed all of the cooking.

I watched her move around the kitchen contently for a few seconds before both knocking on the door and saying, "Knock, knock!"

Emily turned around quickly and her eyes widened in shock as she caught sight of me standing there in the doorway. "Bella? Is that really you?"

I smiled and nodded. "In the flesh."

She gasped in surprise. "You're alive and human."

Her surprise was completely understandable.

"Yes, yes I am both of those things."

Emily walked over to me and pulled me into a gentle yet tight hug. I returned it without hesitation.

"It's so good to see you again," she admitted once she pulled back from me and turned to head back to the kitchen area. "Come in and make yourself at home, Bella."

"Likewise." I followed suit and made my way over to where she was. "So where is everyone?"

"They're all out running around to work up extra appetites." She chuckled. "Not that they need to."

"Do you know when they're coming back?"

Emily shook her head. "I'm not sure. Although they have been gone a while so if I had to guess I would say that they'll be back sooner rather than later."

"Okay, that sounds fine. I don't have any other plans today."

"Are you hungry? Would you like me to make you a plate of food?" Emily asked, changing the subject as she stirred whatever she was making using the stove.

My mouth watered at the idea of a home cooked meal. I hadn't had a home cooked meal since before the newborn battle. I was way over due for another home cooked meal.

As I turned and walked over to the table, sitting down, I answered, "Sure. I'd appreciate that."

She quietly made me a plate and put it down in front of me. "Yum." I couldn't stop the word from falling out of my mouth.

Emily smiled. "If I did not know any better, I'd say it seems like you haven't eaten in years," she joked followed by a small laugh.

"You have no idea," I told her honestly before digging into the plate of chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes, and a soft, warm biscuit like a vulture on fresh road kill; Okay, so not the best simile I could've used.

I was so caught up in the food that I almost didn't catch the amazed look on her face.

"What?" I asked, looking up at her curiously after swallowing the bite of chicken that was in my mouth.

"Nothing." She shook her head. "You just have a very big appetite. I'm not use to you eating like one of the guys," She laughed as she went about making herself a cup of coffee. "You weren't like that last time you were around."

"Oh, sorry," I apologized, feeling slightly self-conscious now.

Emily smiled briefly at me. "No need to be sorry, Bella. I'm use to it," she reminded me. "The pack remember?"

I chuckled and nodded. "Oh, yes, the pack. How could I forget them and their unusual appetites?"

"So what caused the appetite all of a sudden?" she asked and then added on as an afterthought, "If you do not mind my asking."

Emily walked over and placed a coffee cup in front of me on the table before she sat down with her own cup across from me.

"It's just that this is the first real meal I've had in two years," I admitted, deciding that someone should know why I was gone without a word for as long as I was. I was fully aware that my answer would lead to me telling her all about the past two years, or lack there of.

"I'm sorry. What?" Emily asked in both confusion and surprise; the same reaction I had been expecting.

I took a deep breath, reaching for the coffee in front of me and bringing it up to my lips to take a sip. Then as I placed it down in front of me, I started my explanation.

"I was in a coma for the past two years," I told her simply, jumping straight to the point.

Emily's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "A coma?" she asked almost as if she wasn't sure if she should believe what I had just told her or not.

I shook my head yes. "Yeah, according to the Cullen's, not long after leaving here I got into a bad car accident and I was in a coma for two years because of it," I explained to her, playing with the rim of the cup in front of me with my fingers.

"How long have you been awake?" Emily asked.

"About a week or so."

"Do you remember the accident at all?"

I shook my head no. "I don't remember anything that happened after the newborn battle. I only remember everything before it and then everything that's happened since I woke up."

"So you have amnesia?" Emily asked, trying to process everything I was telling her.

"Yeah, Car...Dr. Cullen told me that I have a rather serious case of Lacunar amnesia."

Emily raised a curious eyebrow. "What does that mean exactly?"

"It means that I have a large gap in my memory," I answered with a sigh. "I don't remember the accident or anything leading up to the accident."

"Oh, wow," was all Emily could say in response.

Before either of us could say anything else, the small cottage house was filled with very noisy and very hungry wolves. But once they all saw me it was so quiet that a pin could've been heard dropping. I slowly turned around in my chair to come face to face with the wolves that I had left behind years ago. The wolves that I truly regretted leaving behind. Well, they were all there, except one. I almost immediately noticed that the one of them that I wanted to see the most and was also at the same time the most scared to see again, he was the only one missing from the group of wolves standing in front of me. My mood was down in the dumps as quickly as the realization had hit me.

I wasn't the least bit surprised when Paul took one look at me and then turned to storm out. He never had been my biggest fan. I had always known that he hated me for having anything to do with the Cullen's. He didn't exactly keep his feelings about me inside. Hence, the fact my nickname from him was "the leech-lover." I shuddered at that thought. It use to not bother me before, but now for some reason I didn't feel comfortable with that nickname; I didn't even want to think about it. It just felt wrong now and didn't settle well with me. Sam took one look at me as well and then looked at Emily, silently communicating with her, before following turning and following Paul outside. Jared was hot on Paul's and Sam's heels.

And then that only left Embry and Quil. I wasn't too worried about how they'd react. If anything they'd take my return the easiest of all of them. As long as I was still human, which I am...thankfully. Close calls with death can make you see things a whole lot differently. I wasn't so sure if I even wanted to think about ever turning into a vampire anymore now. Not when I know how people would react and how I'd feel based on their reactions to such a thing happening to me.

"Bella! You're alive!" I heard Embry exclaim, bringing me back to reality.

"If I had a dime for every time I heard that today. I think I could own my own bank," I joked as I stood up and was immediately engulfed in a tight hug and twirled around like I was a little kid again.

I squealed as I had not expected it.

"Put me down, Embry!" I screamed between laughs.

Embry did but only for Quil to take over.

I laughed some more until he let go of me and put me back down on my own two feet.

"We were all so sure you had turned," Quil said, momentarily turning the playful atmosphere into a serious one.

"Well obviously I haven't," I stated the obvious with a roll of my eyes. "As you can tell, I'm still human."

"Why didn't you change?" Embry asked, following suit with the seriousness. "It's what you wanted so badly back then," he added as an afterthought.

I shrugged my shoulders and went to sit back down, grabbing my coffee cup and taking a sip. "It's complicated," I said not really thrilled by the idea of telling everything I had told Emily over again just yet.

"Is it really? Or do you just not want to tell us?" Quil asked, cocking an eyebrow and sending a knowing look in my direction.

There was no point in trying to deny the obvious truth.

I sighed and admitted, "Both."

"You know that you can tell us. We'd understand," Embry told me.

I looked over at Emily with a look of, "help." She shook her head and gave me a look back that more or less said, "This is yours to tell."

I sighed and shook my head as I turned my attention back to Embry and Quil. How could they even begin to understand what I told them when I didn't really understand any of it myself.

"No, you wouldn't," I informed them. "Because to be quite honest...not even I understand it."

There was an eerie silence that filled the room then.

"Alright, fine. Since you can not tell us that, then could you at least answer this...what made you come back after all these years? Why now?"

And there it was. The hard hitting question. The question I honestly was not sure of. I mean I knew the basics of it; my gut told me to come back here so I did. But I didn't know the true depth of my what was causing my gut feeling.

I opened my mouth to answer with an answer that I wasn't even aware of at the moment, but I ended up sighing a sigh of relief when Quil cut in. That is until I heard his question, which was not much different from Embry's.

"Better yet, why did you leave to begin with?"

"I'll be sure to let you know when I know myself," I said sadly, turning to face the table and putting my head in my hands.

I just hated not knowing, not remembering anything. I just wanted my memory back already, even more so in that moment than any other moment in the last week.

"What?" Embry and Quil asked in unison.

Before I could reply to their question of confusion, I heard a familiar voice say my name.

"Bella?"

Every part of me froze at the sound of his voice. My breathing included. The realization that it was now time to face him face to face was a slightly scary one now. I may not know what happened the past two years, but I knew enough to know that surely me choosing Edward over him and leaving would probably mean he'd have some anger towards me; betrayal even. I was as ready for it as I would ever be.

Taking a deep breath, I stood back up and turned around ready enough to face the music. To rip the band aid off of the wound.

"Jake." I breathed out when I saw him for the first time in years.

There you have it! Review, please! Let me know what you think! The next chapter will be up by next Friday most likely since it's been planned out for the most part already.

Next chapter; Jacob and Bella's confrontation...or lack thereof.