A/N: Thanks to my beta Dawn who made my words pretty, xo.

I don't own Twilight.

Chapter 1

There are certain phone calls that no one wants to get; there are the phone calls from pranksters, the bill collectors, the drunken friends or the drunken exes, but none of those compare to the one that makes your whole world stop.

I got that dreadful call from my brother, the one that continued to replay over and over in my head because I wished it had never happened.

"Hey, Eminem" I answered, taken by surprise that his name appeared on my phone screen.

Emmett never called me unless he needed to talk about something important; I figured he was having marital problems since he was busy in law school or something happened to his dog, who was pretty much his child.

I sat up in bed, suddenly getting a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach, like things were not right. I immediately started to gnaw on my bottom lip as various disaster scenarios played through my mind.

"Hey, Bella, what are you doing?" he asked trying to be nonchalant, but failing because he didn't use my nickname.

"Just watching some TV, nothing exciting. What are you up to?"

"Are you by yourself?"

"Yes, why?" I asked, confused.

"Well, I have to tell you something and I don't want you to be alone when I do. Is there someone you can call who can come over?"

I looked at the clock and noticed it was nearly six o'clock. I had spent the day with one of my good friends and knew she'd most likely be busy with her boyfriend.

"Um, no, but just tell me what's going on, Em," I said, now biting my nails.

"I really don't want you to be alone when I tell you this, Bella"

"Just tell me what the hell is going on, Emmett," I demanded, getting up and walking out to my TV room. He was really starting to worry me.

"Dad passed away today," he said, choking on his words.

"Wait, what?" I asked, not hearing what he said as I sat down on the sofa slowly.

"Dad...he's gone, Bella."

"Shut-up, Emmett. That's not funny," I said, trying to keep my voice even.

"I'm not joking, Bella. Mom found him outside the house this evening. They think it was a heart attack."

"You're lying. You're lying, Emmett," I repeated as I shook my head.

The words weren't making sense in my head; I couldn't grasp them. My dad couldn't be dead, I had just talked to him earlier in the week and everything was fine. He would have told me if he wasn't.

I felt the water begin to pool in my bottom eyelids as the words Emmett said repeated in my head- Dad passed away. Dad is gone. Dad died.

"I wish it wasn't true, Bella, but I'm not kidding. Here, talk to Rose," he choked, as I heard him hand the phone to his wife and one of my best friends.

"Bella," she said, the sadness evident in her voice.

"Rose, please tell me this isn't true. Please, tell me that Emmett is lying to me," I pleaded with her as the tears fell freely down my cheeks. "Please."

"I wish I could, but your mom found him out in the driveway. He had just gotten home from work or something. We're on our way to the house now. You need to book a flight right now. Okay?"

"Okay," I said, trying to focus on the conversation at hand instead of all the things that were running through my mind concerning my mom, work, getting approval to fly home, my dad's wishes, etc.

"I'm sorry, Bella. Call me back."

"Okay. Bye, Rose." I ended the call and tried to think of who I needed to call, but my mind was spinning and nothing was clear.

I put the phone down on the table and realized I was shaking; my hands wouldn't stop trembling.

Focus, Bella. You have things you need to do. You have phone calls you need to make, you have a flight you need to book. Who do I call first? Who will come be here with me?

I thought of the three people that I was the closest to, who lived nearby: Jessica, Riley, and Mike. Thankfully, I didn't have to make that decision because as if she had some intuition that something was wrong, my phone was vibrating and it was Jessica.

"Jess," I said, nearly choking on her name.

"I know, Bella, and I'm so sorry," she said. "I'm on my way now."

"Oh my gosh, Jessica. I can't believe this is happening," I cried.

"I'm almost there, Bella. Just give me five more minutes."

"Wait, what do you know, Jess?" I asked, remembering her words. Does she know what happened to my dad? How? Who told her? No, she couldn't.

"Your mom called Mrs. Summers and Lauren told me I needed to come to your place."

"He's gone, Jess. My dad is gone," I cried into the phone.

"I'm turning into your apartment complex now. I'll be right there."

I ended the call and tried to compose myself a little bit before making my next call. I wiped the tears away and called my best friend, Alice, who I grew up with and lived in Seattle.

"Alice, I have to tell you some bad news," I stated after saying 'hello'.

"What is it?" she asked, worried.

"It's my dad, he's gone," I said, somehow keeping my voice even.

"What do you mean he's gone?"

"He's dead," I said keeping the lump in my throat at bay. I placed my hand over my mouth to keep in the sobbing noise that wanted to escape.

"I'm so sorry, Bella. What can I do?"

"I don't know," I answered, honestly.

What could she do? The one thing I wanted done was not possible. I just wanted my daddy back.

"What happened?"

"I'm not quite sure. Emmett says my mom found him dead in the driveway."

"Oh, Bella. I don't know what to say to you. How's your mom?"

"I don't know, I haven't had a chance to call her. I just found out. I have to book a flight home."

"Okay, you do that. I'll call your mom. Let me know when your flight lands, I'll pick you up from the airport. I'll also call my dad, see if he can give me any information."

"Thanks, Alice."

"Again, I'm so sorry, Bella."

I ended the call with Alice just as Jessica walked in the door. I stood up and wrapped my arms around her. She held me as I cried on her shoulder, letting my tears fall more freely. We pulled apart when my phone started ringing again.

Emmett had finally arrived at our parents' house. I could hear the chatter of the emergency personnel in the background; one of them was telling my mom to take deep breaths.
The men and women who were trying to take care of my mom were friends of the family, my dad's co-workers; I heard much more than the cries of my family in the background.

While I was on the phone, pretty much just listening to what was going on in the background and my brother's heavy breathing, I was able to book a flight home. Once that task was complete, Emmett handed the phone over to my mom.

"Mom?" I said, once I heard her breath in the phone.

She started crying the moment she heard my voice; my heart broke into a million pieces. I had only seen my mom cry once and that was at my grandma's funeral nearly four years before and even then, it was only for a few seconds before she pulled it together for Emmett and I. This time, though, she didn't hold anything back. My mom had just lost the love of her life, her soul mate, the man who had been her best friend for thirty-two years and I wasn't there to comfort her.

"I found him, Bella, and there was nothing I could do. There was nothing I could do to save him," she sobbed.

My chest constricted in pain and I pressed my hand over my heart, hoping to stop the pull on my heart.

"He's gone. I can't believe he's gone."

"I know, Mom. I can't believe it, either. Do they know what happened?" I asked, trying to get her to calm down.

"They believe he had a heart attack, the kind that they say kills you before you hit the ground. The moment I saw him lying there, I knew he was gone. His lips were so blue, Bella, so blue."

"Why is everyone still there, Mom?"

"We're waiting for the guys from the funeral home to come get his body."

"You mean, he's just lying there in the driveway?" I could taste the bile in the back of my throat as I pictured the scene my mom described. Hearing that made me grateful that I wasn't at home and on the other side of the country instead; I didn't want to remember my dad that way…lying on our gravel driveway.

"Well, they have a sheet over him," she explained, finally calming down a bit.

"I don't know what to think, Mom."

"I don't either. When are you supposed to be home?"

"I'll be home around noon your time."

"Okay, baby. Do you have people there? And by people, I hope Riley is not there."

"Yes, people are here, but not Riley. He doesn't even know."

"Good, that asshole doesn't deserve to know after what he did to you."

My mother, always the mama bear even when her world is falling apart.

"Don't worry about me, Mom. I need you to lean on Emmett. Now is not the time to be strong for us. You need to grieve."

"But he's comforting, Rose," she replied.

"I know, but there's enough of him for both of you."

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow, Bella. I love you."

"I love you, too, Mom."

I ended the call and sat back on the sofa. I looked at my blank TV as Jessica just held me. I didn't know what to think, I was still in disbelief and shock. I felt as if I was having a horrible nightmare and I was waiting for someone to wake me.

As we sat there, silent, I kept hearing Jessica's phone vibrating.

"Who keeps calling or texting you?" I finally asked.

"It's Riley. I was talking to him and Victoria when I got the call from Lauren. I just told them I had to leave, that there was something wrong. Lauren told him about your dad. He wants to know how you're doing."

Riley and I dated for about three years and broke up about two months before. The break-up wasn't easy, especially since I worked for his parents, but we'd been trying to work through it because before we started dating, he was one of my best friends.

"Nice to see he can be a man and ask me himself," I said, getting annoyed. "He's such a fucking asshole. I can't believe him. Now is not the time..."

"Now is not the time for you to be worrying about that. We need to start packing your bags," Jessica interrupted, trying to get me to focus on more important matters.

"Okay," I said, welcoming the distraction.

I got up and followed Jessica into my bedroom; I pulled out my carry on suitcase, placed it on my bed and just stared at it.

"I don't even know where to start. I don't know how long I'm going to be gone. I mean, we don't even know what he wants and then there is Thanksgiving, so I doubt we can put anything together in two days."

"Do you have enough room in that bag to pack for two weeks?"

"If I don't take any shoes I think I can. I can always just borrow a pair from my mom."

"Okay, we'll do that."

It took us about thirty minutes to pick out clothes and fit them into the bag. Thankfully, Jessica was an expert packer and got everything to fit with just enough room to place my straightener and hair brush smoothly.

Just as we finished, there was a knock on the door. I looked at Jessica wondering who it could be; I hadn't called anyone else and I knew she hadn't had a chance, either. She shrugged her shoulders and left me sitting on the bed to answer it.

My body tensed the moment I heard his deep, rough voice; part of me wasn't happy that he was there, the other part of me, the part that still loved him, was thrilled to have him there.

"I don't know if you should be here right now, Riley. She's not in a good state," Jessica informed him.

"No shit, Jess. She just lost her dad. How would you be?" I heard him ask as the door closed behind him. "Now, where is she?"

"I'm in here," I answered, standing up.

He walked through the doorway and just gave me the most sympathetic face; one that caused my resolve to fall and the tears to start flowing again.

"Riley," I croaked.

"I'm so sorry, B," he said reaching me in three strides and encompassing me in his arms.

I hugged around his torso and cried into his shoulder. Riley held me, his strong hold keeping me from falling off the edge of the cliff and just giving into the grief completely. He whispered 'I'm sorry' over and over again in my ear, never once telling me 'it was going to be okay' because it wasn't.

Riley understood the kind of relationship I had with my dad—I was a 'daddy's girl' and had no problem admitting it. Riley had met my dad several times over the previous couple of years and saw our interaction; he also listened to all my family stories from my childhood.

"I'm going to leave you two alone. Call me when you get home, Bella," Jessica said, the annoyance evident in her voice.

Jessica and Riley used to be good friends— that was until he broke up with me. She preferred not to be around him unless she had to, which unfortunately for her, was more often than she'd like since her roommate was now hooking up with him.

"I will. Thanks, Jess," I said, lifting my head slightly.

"Let's sit, baby," he said once my tears began to slow down and ushered me out to the couch. "Do you want to tell me what happened?"

I took a seat and he sat next to me; he placed his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into his side.

"I don't know much. I just know that they think he had a heart attack and my mom found him in the driveway."

"How's your mom doing?"

"Her emotions are up and down. During our conversation, she went from sobbing to protective mother to sounding normal."

"That's understandable. She's in a state of shock. I'm sure your emotions are the same."

"I can't imagine how it feels to find your husband dead," I shook my head, looking down at our entwined hands. "I just can't believe this, Riley. I can't believe this."

"Is there anything I can get you, anything I can do?" he asked.

"The one thing I want…no one can do, Riley. But as consolation, will you just hold me?"

"Of course. I can definitely do that for you." He pulled us down into a lying position on the sofa and tightened his hold around my body.

Lying in his arms, I realized how much I had missed that. He was an asshole, I wouldn't deny that and had openly called him that several times in the past couple months, but at that moment, I needed him there with me. I needed him to hold me and keep me together.

We were alone for about a half an hour before a parade of friends came through my apartment; each one asking how I was doing and if they could do anything. While I appreciated their concerns and efforts, I was tired of hearing those two questions.

My dad just died, how the hell do you think I'm doing? I'm fucking fabulous. I don't need my dad in my life. I don't need the one man who has always been there for me. I don't need him to walk me down the aisle when I get married. I don't need him there to be a grandpa to the kids I hope to have one day. No, I'm jumping for joy at the news I received tonight.

Even though I was getting annoyed, I still tried to be pleasant to everyone, but eventually I had to kick them out. I needed to get some sleep before my flight, which was the excuse I used, but only I knew sleep would not be my friend.

They all left except for Riley, who refused to leave me to my thoughts. I was actually glad that he stayed. He held me as we lay in bed, a place we hadn't been together in months. I curled into his side and just cried as I thought about all the things that I'd never get to do with my dad again, things that wouldn't happen because he was no longer here. Riley remained silent, letting me drench his t-shirt with my salted tears; he ran his fingers through my hair trying to sooth me, which normally worked, but not that night.

Time moved slowly, but eventually four-thirty arrived and I had to get ready to go to the airport. Riley drove me so I wouldn't have to worry about paying for parking and we exchanged a sad goodbye. He cupped my face and placed a soft kiss on my lips. That tingling feeling I always got when we kissed came rushing back.

"Remember, I love you. Call me when you make the funeral arrangements, I plan to fly out for it," he said.

"That's not necessary," I smiled, weakly.

"Yes, it is. I love you, Bella and I'm going to be there for you. That day is going to be so much worse than today."

I looked into his eyes and knew he meant what he had said, but meaning it and actually acting upon those words were two different things. Unfortunately for Riley, I had learned that he was a lot of talk and not a lot of action, unless you're talking about the action he had been partaking in with Victoria.

"I love you, too, and I will." I replied.

I hugged him one last time before walking away, losing myself in my thoughts again.

A/N: Still interested in reading? I'm working on chapter 2 which will pick up with Bella landing in Seattle. Thanks again to my beta Dawn. This will be an Edward and Bella story, it will just take a couple more chapters before he makes his entrance. Let me know what you think. Thanks for reading.