Hello, Beauties!

Welcome back to the crazy world of the Swan Family! I can't believe this little one-shot has grown so much, and I'm so excited to delve into this new story with you all.

A little bit of housekeeping:

1. This story will post weekly on Mondays. It will run the approximate length of the summer (give or take a few weeks).

2. Unlike the last story, the chapters are shorter but more frequent.

3. This story is unbeta'd, so all mistakes are on me.

Huge thank you to Jill for prereading, and to The Lemonade Stand for featuring this story on their blog this past weekend!

Chapter One

For the first time in a very long time, Bella Swan was nervous.

She'd gotten over being self-conscious years ago, and she'd discovered many coping techniques to deal with the stress of professional anxiety when it came to her work. She'd thought that at the tender age of twenty-four, she'd completely mastered fear.

But, she was learning, it turned out that the more you loved someone outside of yourself, the more vulnerable you were to things like caring about their welfare.

It was, she thought as she plucked at her surprisingly restricting blouse, a fair trade. After all, caring about others had brought her into the arms of some of the best people she knew.

And you didn't just turn your back and run when those people's lives were being hauled upside down.

"Are you sure about this?"

Bella almost didn't recognize her own voice. She sounded nervous.

Beside her, Esme reached out, taking her hand between her own.

"Yes, Darling. We are quite sure about all this."

For her part, Esme Cullen sounded calm, serene even. Bella couldn't quite wrap her head around it.

To put it bluntly, Esme and Carlisle Cullen had been royally fucked over. The business empire they'd built from the ground up had come crashing down around them in a matter of days. The lynchpin, one Jay Jenks, had embezzled millions from their company. Not only had he been stealing from them, but it turned out that he'd been performing all sorts of fraud. Whatever the weasel hadn't run off with was being wiped away between lawsuits and back taxes. The Cullens were facing something beyond bankruptcy; they would be completely destitute.

Bella had been trying to convince them to at the very least, go after Jenks, but Esme and Carlisle were convinced Karma would take care of things. She'd even resorted to going with them to the meeting with their lawyers in a last-ditch effort to save them.

"Esme, please," Bella begged. "This isn't just about you two. What about all your employees?" Bella would use any tactic she could to make Esme see reason.

But Esme pat the back of Bella's hand and offered her a smile.

"All will be well, darling. You'll see."

Bella was beyond frustrated, though part of her recognized and appreciated the stubborn streak that ran in her own family was showing up in the Cullens as well.

No wonder they'd all gotten on so well.

"Edward," Bella hissed, turning to her fiancé on her other side. "Do something."

He sighed, looking worn and weary. He'd been taking it the hardest, it seemed, having spent the better part of the last two weeks scrambling to help his parents. He'd been bending over backward for them, despite their insistence that they would be okay.

"I'm trying, Love," Edward whispered, pulling his arm around her shoulders. "But you know how they are."

Bella didn't accept it. She couldn't. She wanted the Cullens to be successful and secure, as they deserved to be.

And she wanted Jenks to suffer a slow, miserable death for putting her favorite people through this hell.

"All will be well, Moppet," Carlisle said, flashing Bella a smile. She stared at him, frustrated with their combined level of denial. Everything would not be fine.

She felt her leg start twitching, and beside her, Edward reached down, his right hand landing on her knee. She looked up at him, hating how helpless she felt. He gave her a thin smile in return.

In front of them, the office door opened, and a short man with tidy brown hair stepped out.

"Carlisle, Esme, good to see you," he said softly.

The pair stood, and Bella and Edward scrambled to their feet, following.

"Alistair," Esme sighed. "Thank you for seeing us."

Alistair nodded. "Come on in. We have a lot to go over."

Esme and Carlisle stepped into the office, and Bella moved to follow them when Edward stopped her.

"Love," he said gently. Just because Bella had been able to bully her way into coming with the Cullens to their lawyer's office, didn't mean she could sit in on the actual meeting.

Esme turned to her future-daughter-in-law and gently cupped her face between her palms.

"I promise you, darling. We'll be fine." She rubbed her thumb gently over Bella's cheek. "We'll be back soon."

With that, Esme turned and moved through the office door. When it was shut, Bella let out a string of curse words that were so vulgar and expressive, Edward blushed.

"How can you just sit there?" Bella groaned, turning to Edward who had returned to his chair.

He sighed. "What else can I do?" he asked. "I've been tearing my hair out for the last two weeks, but they won't take help."

"Then we'll make them take help," Bella said, her face verging on menacing.

She continued pacing, and Edward watched her, silent. Despite her many protests, Bella was in many ways, exactly like her mother.

He loved that about her.

"There has to be a way… something," Bella moaned, her hands coming up to rub her temples. "What aren't we thinking already?"

Edward didn't answer her, and she didn't expect him to. He sat silent while she paced, trying to focus on his own breathing. The truth was, his parents were thoroughly screwed, as Bella would put it. Everything they owned, everything they were, was tied up in their company. Without that, who were they?

It made his stomach hurt to think about it. Blindly, he reached out, capturing Bella in his arms and bringing her onto his lap.

She sank against him, curling against his chest. He could feel her hard breaths, feel her panic for his parents.

He'd never loved her more.

Neither promised everything would be all right. Instead, they held onto each other, silently promising instead to always be there for each other.

…

"If I ever get my hands on that beetle-eyed, frog-mouth turnip…" Bella muttered, throwing her coat down immediately after entering the front door of the Cullen house.

Behind her, Edward silently agreed, even after Esme and Carlisle gently admonished Bella for speaking ill of anyone.

"We must forgive those who have wronged us," Esme said. "And trust the universe to answer in kind."

Bella was so wound up, she couldn't say anything. Instead, she stormed into the parlor, reaching for a glass at the bar. She poured herself straight vodka but left it on the counter as she turned to the Cullens.

"Please," she begged, tears in her eyes. "Please save yourselves. I can't see you guys destroyed for no reason."

Carlisle stepped up, an arm wrapping around her shoulders in a fatherly embrace.

"You're worried this is all for naught," he said gently. "But the universe has a plan."

Bella couldn't speak. She grit her teeth and tried to swallow down her tears.

"The house will be sold, which will help," Esme said gently. "Alistair thinks we'll be able to walk away from this evenly. We won't owe anything, anymore."

"But you won't have anything either," Bella groaned.

"Darling, we'll have you two," Esme pointed out, rubbing a hand over her son's shoulder. "And we'll have each other. That's far more than most."

Bella was nearly shaking. Edward could see how close she was to melting down, and moved across the room, gently pulling her out of his father's embrace.

"We're going to take a nap," he announced. His parents nodded as he led Bella from the parlor, upstairs.

When they finally got to their room, Bella couldn't hold it back any longer. She cried, long, deep sobs that shook Edward to his core. He wrapped his arms around her, brought her to their bed, and held her as she wept for his parents.

"I d-don't g-get it," Bella wailed into his chest. Edward felt his own tears reach the surface, and he let them go, needing the cathartic release.

"I don't either," he admitted, pressing his lips to her hair. "I don't know how to save them."

They cried in anger, fear, frustration, and mourning.

By the time they managed to subside the tears, both were exhausted. Neither had any more clarity of mind, but both felt a little less pent up, if not better.

"What are we going to do?" Edward sighed, his fingers combing through her hair comfortingly.

"We can't leave them, not like this," Bella agreed. They were planning on making a move to the United States next month. They were going to start new jobs and embrace a new future together. But now both felt responsible for the Cullen parents, not wanting to leave them penniless on the street.

"They won't let us stay, not for them," Edward pointed out, and against his chest, Bella nodded.

"We need…" Her voice trailed off as she thought about it. She sat up so quickly, she nearly knocked Edward's chin as she moved. Her eyes were wide and round when she looked at him.

"What is it?" he asked, half sitting up.

"We have to take them with us. We can support them while they figure things out."

"Love, we are renting a studio apartment," he reminded her. "And don't get me wrong, I love my parents but there are some things that need walls."

Bella shook her head. "We'll find another place. They'll be able to start rebuilding over there while we support them for a change."

Edward nodded. "We'll see if they go for it."

Bella leaned back into his arms, holding him tight. "They'll have to."

…

Edward Cullen was exhausted.

It had been a long few weeks for him and his loved ones. After much arguing and cajoling, his parents had finally agreed to move with them to the States while they got back on their feet. They were forced out of the family home, and most of their possessions were sold to make up for the millions they owed. All the items the Cullens owned were now boiled down to the contents of four suitcases.

Bella had been working around the clock to find an apartment they could afford. Their original destination had been Los Angeles, but prices were just too steep to house four adults on only two incomes. Most of Edward and Bella's work was done at home, anyway, so Bella had gotten creative and started venturing out, looking at housing in other cities.

Then, the job Edward had lined up in Los Angeles fell through. With potentially only one income to settle them, their choices had grown even thinner.

It had come down to only one choice, and it hadn't been a choice Bella had made lightly.

"Tell me this is a good idea," she whispered to Edward as they stood on the curb of the Seattle airport.

"It's the best solution," Edward said softly. "We'll all be able to get back on our feet while living somewhere affordably."

Bella let out a long, heavy sigh.

An old Chevy Tahoe pulled up and parked in front of them. Bella watched her older sister Kate climb out of the front seat, and Bella extracted herself from Edward's embrace to greet her.

"Bella," Kate murmured, pulling her sister into a hug as soon as she was close enough.

"Thank you for picking us up," Bella whispered, hugging her sister firmly.

Garrett, Kate's husband, was busy pulling open the trunk and helping the Cullens load their bags.

"Are you sure about this?" Kate asked, pulling back from Bella to look at her little sister.

Bella let out a breath.

"Not even a little bit."

Kate frowned but nodded. They got the car packed up, and Edward and Bella climbed into the back seat, leaving the middle row for Esme and Carlisle. The car was packed, and Bella felt the walls closing in around her.

She was moving back to Forks. Not just Forks, but back to her parent's house. The house she'd moved out of at eighteen and swore never to move back to.

It wasn't a good option, but it ended up being the only option.

One summer. That's what she and Edward had agreed upon when they had resorted to this plan. They would live with the Swans for one summer, and one summer only. They would make sure Esme and Carlisle were back on their feet, and Edward and Bella would both find a way to make enough money to move back to a large city, far from the crazy, small-town life of the Swans.

Everything would be fine.

After all… they were only spending the summer with the Swans.