Isabella Cullen

Dear Lily,

I'm sorry I left so suddenly, without talking to you first, especially after what happened yesterday. My parents called me last night and told me that I was accepted to a private school back at home, a really good school that could pretty much guarantee getting into any college I wanted if I got good enough grades. I applied ages ago, but I never expected to get accepted. But there's no way I could pass up an opportunity like that, and therefore I'm going to have to go back home.

I wanted to call you, but there wasn't enough time. My parents already had a ticket for me to come home, and it took off at six in the morning. I had to pack up everything I owned here, plus handing off all of my opportunities in Forks to my sister and Edmond. I didn't get the chance to stop before two in the morning, and by then it was too late to call. So instead, I decided to write you a letter. I know, its cold and uncaring, but I didn't want to wake you and your family up. Leaving my sister with the job of explaining to you seemed a bit worse.

By the time you're reading this, I'll be back at home, which might be a good thing since I'm sure you'll be mad. Believe me, I never would have done what I did yesterday if I knew I'd be gone in the morning. I'm so sorry that I did. I really want to follow through, but I can't stay in Forks just because of you. We've barely known each other two days, and this school has been my dream for years and years. If I could take you with me, I would.

I hope that you don't mind my leaving. It would have been nice to get to know you, but we really didn't know each other very well, did we? We only had two days that we really knew each other. Again, I'm sorry about yesterday. I really thought I was going to be around a bit longer to continue it. I hope there will be no hard feelings. The next time I visit Forks, I'll make a point of seeing you.

Ryan Hale

I looked over the note again and again, contemplating whether or not to give it to Rosalie for her to pass it on to Lily—my sister, I reminded myself. Ryan was already gone, which eliminated some, but not all of my problems with the family I never knew about. Ryan would be living in Europe now, spending some time getting to know Alice and Jasper, which was a much kinder fate than living with Rosalie and Emmett. I didn't know Ryan very well, but his actions that afternoon taught me only good about him.

It had been only a few hours since Ryan had decided to leave Forks. Arrangements were quickly being made for him to go to Europe with Alice and Jasper, and we were in the midst of arranging fake passports and travel papers to get him there. Jasper and Alice were currently attending college there, and they were working on Jasper getting accepted late for a large bribe. It was good, considering I was kicking him out of his home. At least he was going somewhere he could enjoy himself, and hopefully forget about my sister.

Ryan was preparing to leave, carrying nothing with him since Alice and Jasper were going to buy him everything he needed there. He was saying his goodbyes to Rosalie and Emmett, who promised to visit him soon. Again, I felt bad that I was dragging him away from the only members of my family he knew well. Someday soon, when we were all together again, I would become his friend…

"Take this," Ryan told me, handing me the unsealed envelope with a name printed on it: Lily Dwyer. He was smiling, somehow. I knew that being kicked out of my home wouldn't have agreed with me like this, but he didn't seem to be taking it as badly as I feared he would. Looking nervously up at Edward, he quickly explained his intentions.

"You know what happened with Lily and I last night, and I feel bad leaving her like this. It seemed a bit cruel to leave her without an explanation, but I knew you wouldn't want me to see her again. So I wrote this letter. It gives her all the details of our fake story, and tells her that I'm sorry. If you think it would be better for her not to hear anything from me, that's fine. Get rid of the letter. But if you want her to have some pointer of how sorry I am, give this to Rose, and have her give it to Lily tomorrow at school."

Ryan gave me one more convincing smile, and prepared to leave. Before doing so, however, he paused, looking at me seriously. "I hope that you decide to get to know your sister, Bella. I know it will be hard, and you probably won't get the chance, but you'll be missing out on a lot. She's a great girl, and you deserve to know the family that you have left in the human world."

There were two ways to look at this situation. The first was simple. It would be kind for Lily to have a letter, something to explain to her why Ryan was leaving. She was owed a real explanation, not a mysterious, last minute transfer to a new school that no one had ever heard of in the dead of night. Lily was owed a personal reason for Ryan's quick departure. Ryan had filled me in on the full details of his last encounter with my half-sister, and leaving her hanging seemed more cruel than kind. It might hurt less if she didn't have to wonder if he really liked her, or was just using her.

But there was also another scenario, a darker one. The note could give Lily false hope, making her think that Ryan cared about her. Ryan did care about Lily, but she didn't necessarily know that about him yet. Making Lily think that Ryan was an uncaring jerk might hurt less than losing someone she had a potential future with. Unlike what the past had proven true for me, a clean break might be better for Lily. I had been in love with Edward when an attempt at a clean break had nearly destroyed me. Lily, on the other hand, had only known her immortal companion for a matter of days. Lily didn't care about Ryan the way I cared for Edward, and therefore could never know the true extent of why he had to leave.

When my decision was finally made, I handed the note to Rosalie. She looked at me questioningly.

"I know what its like to be abandoned, and its not a nice feeling," I explained. "Lily has already experienced too much of my past, with an extra bit of pain. She deserves better than this, and even though I can't let her stay with Ryan, I can't let him be ripped from her life either. Abandonment hurts, and I can't let this part of my history be repeated."