OH MY FREAKING CULLEN!!!!! GUYS!!!! I actually love you all to bits!!!! Nearly 100 reviews!!! I seriously love each and every one of you who reviewed. You can all totally have an Edward muffin or something. I am actually the happiest person!! XD I had aimed for 100 reviews over the whole story, not seven chapters, guys!!! Not that I'm complaining- please do keep it up. Seeing as I'm planning at least seven more chapters, shall we aim for 200 reviews by the end?? Oh my freaking Cullen that would be amazing. Also thanks to all of the people who PM-ed me. It's really nice to open up my emails and have a nice message from someone. A special shout-out to:

EdwardCullenLove25- haha I can't believe you actually went through and read it all again, but I love you for it anyways.

SleepThroughTheStatic- You can have a wet Edward/ Rob ;) for your lovely reviews and PMs. They make me laugh so much XD. I am watching that scene while I write right now, and my thoughts are just going "mmm... man, I love the rain... sorry, what? Yes, writing story. Go back and write story now, you weirdo :P" XD

EdwardAteJames'Cookie- Thanks for all the PMS. They do not annoy me at all. They are very funny actually and make me smile.

Actually just everyone who reviewed. I love you all. Totally. XD I know there are some fanfics out there that get like 1000 reviews and everyone's probably rolling their eyes and going like "100 is not really that many" but that's been my unrealistic (at the time XD) aim ever since I posted my first multi-chaptered fanfic and I've pretty much got it. I am so, so happy and I'll really try to add more chapters now. I really know where I'm going now, so hopefully more frequent updates.

***IMPORTANT***

Now that I've just waffled and probably bored you, if you read it, I have something important to say. An anonymous reviewer (sorry, I've forgotten the name and I don't have internet connection on my laptop so I can't check!) wrote something along the lines of "They took all her stuff back and now nothing's changed in Bella's room?" and I'm so sorry if that confused you guys. See, I have this all sorted in my head and I know what I'm talking about, but sometimes I screw up a little like that.

Basically, before Bella was in a coma, she wanted to go back to Phoenix but then Edward started talking to her and she changed her mind. But when Carlisle gave her parents permission to take her back to Arizona, they took all of her stuff to her Mum's house and put it all back in her old room. Phil didn't want to cart it all back to Forks so he let her come back to Phoenix. So all her stuff is pretty much like it was before she went to Forks. I hope that's less confusing now. If I put anything else that doesn't make sense, please tell me and I'll explain. Or try to.

Anyways, on with chapter 8:

Edward POV

She was gone; gone forever. And I had to accept that, but every minute, every second, that she was away from me just made it harder.

After she had left, I went into the forest feeling empty. I didn't know what to do. My existence seemed pretty pointless without her, but thankfully, I knew she was somewhere, and that made me feel as though I had a purpose. It wasn't the same purpose I had always felt I had, not the purpose to live, but my new purpose was just to love her. As long as she was there for me to love, I had a purpose, but if she didn't exist, my purpose was non-existent.

I don't know how long I put off going home, how long I put off facing my family, but it was dark before I started to head back at human pace. I wondered if she had found my note yet and the necklace. I wondered what she had thought about it. I wondered if she even cared. Had I hurt her so badly that she'd just ignore it, chuck it away? I knew that I had hurt her pretty bad as I had watched the car drive away. Her tears hadn't stopped flowing and I wanted, more than anything, to go and wipe them away, but I couldn't. I couldn't hurt her. For a while, I had stuck to the trees and ran after the car, but eventually I had torn myself away from it. I knew that, if I followed her, I wouldn't come back. I'd end up staying with her in Phoenix and that couldn't happen any more than her staying with me in Forks.

As I went home, I thought things over. I needed a distraction so that I couldn't wallow too much. High school wasn't a good enough distraction, not when I'd repeated it already at least fifty times. Especially not when Forks High would only remind me of her. Even just thinking her name sent a tremor of pain through my body. Maybe now was time to move on from Forks. Move on from Bella.

"Edward?" Carlisle greeted me a little way away from the house.

"Yeah?" I answered gruffly, not looking at his face.

"Has she…?" he trailed off.

"Gone? Yeah," I sighed.

"I'm sorry son," Carlisle said.

"Don't be. It was for the best," I muttered although it hardly felt like the best now that Bella had taken half of me away to Arizona with her.

"Yeah." Carlisle nodded, but what did he know?

"Carlisle?" I hesitated.

"What is it?"

"I was wondering…" I paused, "If we could move somewhere new. And if I could work with you… in a hospital."

"We'll talk it over with the family. I'd be glad to go with you even if no one else wants to come, Edward," he said thoughtfully, "I think they'll all want to support you anyway, especially Esme, Alice and Emmett. Then you've got Jasper and Rose as well. We can go to Alaska; there's a good house in Juneau."

"Thanks," I murmured, embarrassed to be admitting my weakness.

"Edward, we don't mind doing what you want to do, as long as it's good for you." Carlisle patted me on the back as we got closer to the house, reminding me of my parents from when I was human.

"I know." But I didn't just want to do this, I needed to do this.

Bella POV

I grabbed my school bag from the bottom of the stairs and headed out of the door just behind Phil. I felt butterflies fill my stomach. After this morning, I really didn't want to spend any time alone with my step-father.

"Get in," he commanded, gesturing to the passenger door. I bit my lip and looked longingly at my truck before doing as I was told and clambering into the seat.

We drove in silence for a bit, but then he spoke.

"Isabella," he said quietly, "I want you to promise me that you will not tell a soul."

He didn't say what he didn't want me to tell anyone, but I understood. I nodded, my teeth hacking away at my lower lip.

"If you do, you won't know what's hit you. I'll make sure that you get a lot worse than a little cut on your head. Is that clear?" he growled menacingly as we pulled into the familiar parking lot of my old school.

I didn't reply.

He pulled the keys out of the ignition and glared at me, "I said, is that clear?" He grabbed my wrist and held it tightly. I whimpered quietly as he looked around the lot, making sure that it was clear, and then he dug the sharp key into the inside of my wrist, "Answer me!" he ordered as my wrist began to bleed.

"Yes!" I cried, trying, and failing, to pull my wrist away from his tight hold, "Yes it's clear! I won't say anything!"

"Good." Phil smirked and put the key back in the ignition, letting me go. I clambered out of the car as quickly as I could. A small sob bubbled up out of my throat as I inspected my bleeding wrist as I walked. The main artery didn't seem to have been punctured, thankfully. It wasn't a deep cut and the bleeding would probably cease soon; there was no need to tell anyone or get it seen to.

"And Bella?" Phil called through the window that he had wound down. I turned slowly to look at him, my eyes full of hot moisture that I refused to let out.

"I'll pick you up later to see how your first day went," he called kindly. I wasn't fooled, I knew that it was just a hint that he'd be back later to torture me some more. It also made the few kids now coming into the parking lot stare at me and smirk. Everyone knew who I was; Isabella Swan, the clumsy, weird, albino girl was back. I sighed and tried to cover my embarrassment as I went into the office where I knew the receptionist, Mrs Cooper, would look down her nose at me and sneer, just like the other kids.

"Oh. Isabella," she said as soon as she saw me; I was right, "You're back."

"Yes." I tried to be polite, but it was proving difficult, especially as I tried to hide my bleeding wrist in my other hand while she handed me various sheets and things that I didn't need. It was just like starting out at Forks High, just a lot worse because everyone here already knew me and there wasn't the novelty of me being a new student to help me fit in.

"You're back in your old class with Mrs Rogers," Mrs Cooper said, the sneer on her face becoming more pronounced.

"Okay, thanks." I took the timetable and other sheets from her, wanting to get out of the office quickly and went outside to sit in the sunshine that I now despised simply because it reminded me that I definitely wasn't in Forks anymore.

I hid around the corner behind building six so that I wouldn't attract stares as people drove into school. I didn't do anything but fiddle with my necklace for a while until a boy came around the corner.

"Oh," he said, seeming startled to find me there.

"Uh… hi," I said awkwardly, looking down and fiddling with my hands instead. Thankfully, my wrist had stopped bleeding now.

"Hey," he replied, hesitating, "Do you mind if I sit here?" he gestured to the empty bench beside me, "It's just I normally come here before class starts."

"Sure. Go ahead." I shuffled along the bench, "It is pretty quiet here."

"Yeah," he agreed, "So, you new here or something?"

"Kinda," I answered, "I did live here, then I moved away and now I've moved back again."

"I moved here last month so I don't recognize you from last time, I guess."

"No, I was away last month." Actually, last month I was just a week away from being hit by a car and going into a coma that would change my life forever, but I didn't feel like mentioning that.

"Where did you live?" the boy wondered. He had russet-coloured skin that seemed to shimmer like silk in the sun.

"Forks, Washington," I replied quietly.

"Oh!" the boy looked at me, "Really? My Dad lives in La Push. It's the Rez on the coast near Forks. Ugh, poor you. I can understand why you moved back. That's gotta be the rainiest place in continental U.S."

I stared at the boy in amazement, "Your Dad lives there?"

"Yeah. So did I until I moved here with my Mum and sisters."

"Ah. Divorced parents?" I wondered.

"Yeah," he sighed.

"Same," I sighed as well.

There was a long pause and then he suddenly held out his hand for me to shake, "I didn't introduce myself. My name's Jacob Black."

"Bella Swan." I grinned and shook his outstretched hand.

"Who's your form tutor?"

"Mrs Rogers," I sighed; she had never liked me either.

"Really?" Jacob raised an eyebrow at me, "I feel for you. Big time."

"Yeah. You should. Who do you have?"

"Mr Norton," he replied, "He's okay, I suppose. Better than Mrs Rogers."

I mumbled in agreement, but the noise was drowned out by the bell. Jacob and I both stood.

"Here goes," I groaned.

"See you." Jacob grinned at me and walked off waving over his shoulder. I groaned quietly to myself again and walked off in the other direction to fetch my books from my new locker where they had been put.

"Isabella Swan," Mrs Rogers greeted me as I walked into the classroom, "Late on the first day back. Not a good start at all, if I do say so myself." She sneered at me and then pointed to an empty seat, "Sit down."

"Sorry, Mrs Rogers," I mumbled, feeling the blood colour my cheeks as I hurried to my chair. I made the mistake of looking up from the floor for a split second and someone stuck out their foot, tripping me up. I stumbled and dropped all of my books on the floor while people around me tittered nastily.

"Isabella, is something wrong?" Mrs Rogers asked, "Now that you've arrived late could you settle down with as little fuss as possible. If you can't sit down and be quiet, I'll have to put you in detention."

I nodded meekly and picked up my books before sliding into my aligned seat. As Mrs Rogers began to read the notices, the girl next to me pulled on a strand of my hair.

"Hi Bella," she hissed, saying my name as if it were something unpleasant. As soon as I heard her voice, I knew that it meant trouble. I didn't have to look up to know that I was sat next to the meanest girl in the whole school. I didn't have to look up to see her baby blue eyes set into her pretty heart-shaped face. I didn't have to look up to see her shake her trademark long blonde hair over her shoulder and smile sweetly. I didn't have to look up to know that I was sat next to Leila Jones.

"Bella, are you not going to say hi?" she whispered.

I bit my lip and thought of my friends in Forks, and how I shouldn't care what ditzy cheerleaders like Leila think of me. It was my friends who mattered; Mike and Jessica and Angela and… Edward.

Suddenly, Leila leaned over and pushed all of the books I had just picked off of the floor back off my desk. The whole lot of them landed on the floor with a loud thud and everyone turned to look where the noise had come from. I flushed scarlet and bent to pick them up quickly.

I heard Mrs Rogers sigh and a lot of the class giggle.

"Yes, Leila?" Mrs Rogers asked kindly as I began to sit back up and saw that Leila had her hand in the air, the expression on her face sickeningly sweet; I knew that whatever she had to say wouldn't be good.

"I think Bella simply wants attention, Miss." Leila's baby-like voice rang with false sincerity, "She likes the attention she gets from moving around, I think, and she probably wants to introduce herself to the class properly."

"But the class already know her, Leila," Mrs Rogers pointed out, as though I wasn't there.

"I only said what she told me to, Miss," Leila lied. I gaped at her, shocked. Why had I never noticed how cruel this girl really was before?

"Very well, Isabella," Mrs Rogers said, "Come and stand up front and introduce yourself."

"Uh… I…" I stammered from my seat.

"Up front!" Mrs Rogers barked. I stood, my knees shaking, and walked slowly to the front of the classroom, careful not to trip.

"Uh… I'm Bella," I said quietly, "I… uh… moved back here from Washington… uh… that's all…" I stuttered, my cheeks an impossible shade of red, and then rushed back to my seat.

"Yes, thank you for that brilliant insight to your life, Bella," Mrs Rogers said irritably.

Then the bell rang, signalling that we had to go to first lesson. I walked slowly out of the form room, trying to avoid people's stares that I felt burning into my back.

"Hey, Bella!" someone called. I turned round slowly to see Leila smiling at me, "You dropped this!" she said, coming over and handing me a notebook that I had dropped earlier.

"Uh… thanks," I said, confused as to why she was suddenly being nice to me.

"It's no problem," she smiled, "I can tell we're just going to be the best of friends," she gushed and then waved, "Bye Bella!"

I watched her go in confusion and then I opened up the notebook. The words 'I am a LOSER' had been scrawled on each page. Oh yeah, we were going to be the best of friends. I sighed and walked off to English, ready to begin the first day back in hell.

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This chapter is very long, word wise at least, and this is a reward to you all for all of your lovely reviews. I seriously love you all, but I'm not going to go on about that again (see the top A/N).

I'm sorry that this chapter maybe wasn't the best one, but Jake had to be introduced and so did Leila.

Don't worry Jacob haters (including myself XD), this is totally not a JacobXBella story. I wasn't going to bring him in at all, but then I changed my mind. He won't be in it much though, but I thought that Bella needs one person in Phoenix that can be her friend, and who better than Jacob? Totally no romance there though. Well, not for Bella.

PLEASE NOTE: JACOB IS NOT A WEREWOLF/ SHAPESHIFTER/ WHATEVER. He is HUMAN in my story. Also, I know that Jacob's Mum is actually dead, but in my story she and Billy are divorced, ok?

Do you know what a lot of reviews make me do??? Write a lot really, really quick! Hence the fairly quick update (probably fastest yet!) and I have actually finished the next chapter as well, so you guys can have your quote back!!!! Here it is. Quote from Chapter 9 (oh and it's in EPOV):

"Edward, we both know why Bella's crying. She loves you and you love her. Just go and see her, please," Alice begged.

"I can't," I whispered.

"Why not?" Alice moaned, "What is it Edward? Your pride? Do you not really care for her at all? I find both of those excuses hard to believe."

"I can't… hurt her…" I put my head in my hands, guilt overwhelming me.

You already have, she thought softly. Then she was gone.

Okay. Now all that is left for me to say is THANKS AGAIN for all the reviews!!! Especially to the anonymous reviewers because I can't reply to you guys.

Now... everyone can have an Edward muffin if they review! Just press the sexy little button. One word is fine. Or you can have a wet Edward/ Rob ;) (don't ask).

THANK YOUU!!!! XD XD XD XD XD XD XD

Steph