I want to say a huge thanks to CoppertopJ who has agreed to beta the rest of this story for me, so she will be correcting any grammatical mistakes and making sure it all reads well. I just cannot bring myself to 'correct' my British English spellings for Americanised spellings so I'm afraid you will all just have to deal with that lol


The next few weeks passed without incident. There weren't any more sightings of Victoria in Forks and we had zero luck locating Edward. I kept in regular contact with Leah, keeping up to date with their patrols and keeping her up to date with our search for Edward.

While I was glad for the peace in Forks, the fact that we were no closer to finding Edward was really starting to get to me. I spent a lot of time crying on Esme's shoulder and the hole in my chest, which had been partially healed by finding the Cullens, was beginning to get bigger once again. What was the point in knowing that Edward still loved me, if I could never find him? It just made my pain worse knowing that he was out there hurting too.

They all tried to take my mind off Edward. So, it was in between shopping with Alice, helping Esme in the garden and even spending time in the garage with Rosalie while she tinkered with the cars, that I helped Jasper. We scoured the websites looking for any sign of Edward, searched through his room looking for any clues as to where he might be and bugged Alice on an hourly basis for any updates in her visions.

I was once again searching through Edward's room for about the hundredth time when I heard Alice gasp before shouting for everyone to come to the living room. I ran down the stairs, making sure to watch where I was going, and raced into the living room.

"Is it him?" I asked Alice, standing right in front of her, my hands on her shoulders.

"Yes," she said, "It's not much, but it's definitely something to go on."

Everyone had gathered in the room, all looking excited to hear what Alice had seen.

"He decided to go hunting. There was a close call with someone outside the apartment he was in," she grimaced, "So he decided he needed to hunt. I've seen him leave the apartment. I know what the building looks like. I would be able to recognise it if I saw it. I also saw an old newspaper on the floor. The Chicago Tribune."

"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you," I cried, hugging Alice tightly.

"We haven't found him yet," Alice said, as she hugged me back.

"I know," I said, "But we know where he is. It's a lead. It's more than we've had in the weeks we've been looking."

Everyone in the room was smiling. Carlisle and Esme were hugging, Esme looking like she would be crying if she could. Jasper had his hand on Alice's shoulder, his smile wider than anyone else's as he took in the happiness in the room. Rosalie was smiling as she watched Emmett pull me into one of his patented bear hugs.

"See? We're gonna find him, baby sis," he said, swinging me around in a circle, before setting me back down on my feet, "Tell us everything you saw, pixie. We need all the details so we can piece it all together."

"So, he almost goes for a man who walks past his apartment window," she began, "He stops himself in plenty of time, but I think he shocks himself. He decides to go hunting. As he left the apartment, I saw the newspaper. It looked old, like it had been there for a while. He goes to a forest nearby to hunt, and takes down a lot of animals. It seems he needed a lot as he hasn't hunted in weeks. Then he makes his way back to the same apartment. He's getting in through a window, so we were right; it's abandoned, not rented."

"When will it happen?" Rosalie asked.

"I think it already has," Alice said, "At least, some of it has. Almost killing that man was a split-second decision. I think he's probably hunting as we speak."

"When are we leaving for Chicago then?" I asked, looking around the room.

"We need to be smart about this," Jasper said, "If we can somehow narrow down where he might be hunting, then it'll narrow down the area we need to look for this apartment he's in. We need to do some research before we fly, otherwise, it'll be like looking for a needle in a haystack."

All I wanted to do was jump on a plane to Chicago. I needed to be near him. But Jasper was right. We needed to be smart and do the research first, narrowing down our search area. I felt happier than I had since he'd left. We finally had something concrete to go on.

The next day was spent researching. Jasper had searched out every forest in the greater Chicago area and he and Alice were scouring through them to see if she recognised any of them. Alice had also drawn the apartment building, so we would know what we were looking for when we got to Chicago.

Finally, Alice and Jasper managed to find the forest area that Edward had gone hunting in on the outskirts of Chicago and we were able to narrow down the search area. Alice was straight on the phone booking first-class tickets on the next available flight to Chicago, which happened to be first thing the next morning.

~TTOGILB~

"Stop fidgeting, Bella," Alice chided, placing her hand on top of mine to stop me from drumming my fingers on the armrest. I looked over her apologetically, as she looked meaningfully at Jasper and I felt a rush of calm flow over me.

We were on the plane and had been for what seemed like forever, which was in actuality only about an hour. We still had almost two hours to go and I felt like I was gonna burst out of my own skin, well at least I had until Jasper had worked his magic on me.

"Thanks, Jasper," I said, "I've been trying to stay calm, but I just really need to find him."

"I know," Alice sighed, "Me too. I've been so worried about him. I'm never letting him live without you again. I don't care what he says. I'll do something about it myself if I have to." I gasped looking at her in shock.

"Do you mean what I think you mean?" I exclaimed, turning in my seat to look her in the eyes.

"If that's what you still want," she said, smiling when I nodded, "This is only gonna happen again, or worse, in 50, 60, 70 years time."

I looked at the other vampires sitting around us. They could all obviously hear our conversation, and all, except one, seemed like they might be alright with that happening. Rosalie, however, was gripping the armrest so hard, it looked like it might break. Emmett prised her fingers from it before she could do any damage and was whispering in her ear, calming her down, though I'm sure Jasper also had a hand in that.

"Rose, what do you think is gonna happen to Edward if Bella dies?" Alice hissed. Though I barely heard it, sitting right beside her, I knew Rosalie would hear it perfectly a few rows in front of us. "You wanted the family all back together and that includes Bella," she continued.

Rosalie turned in her seat, glaring at us before nodding slightly and turning away again.

"Thank you, Alice," I gushed, putting my arms around her, though it was a little awkward with us both sitting.

"There's still a lot to talk about as a family, and that includes Edward if we can find him," Alice explained, "And I don't know if I have the control to do it myself but I can't just stand by and watch this happen all over again."

I sat back in my seat and closed my eyes, trying to picture what it would be like to be a vampire. I wanted it so badly, but only because I wanted Edward forever. Immortality without him was useless. I tried to put it all out of my head until we could find him.

Finally, we landed at O'Hare and I took a few minutes to call Leah and let her know that we had landed safely, while everyone else waited for our bags. It wasn't long before we were pulling up outside a fancy-looking hotel. I felt bad allowing the Cullens to pay for my flights, first class no less, and now this fancy hotel, but they had insisted and I didn't have much money left. We had four rooms, one for each of the couples and one for me. They were all next to one another so that I was never left alone, on the off chance that Victoria might have found out where I was.

We all gathered in Carlisle and Esme's room to talk about how we were going to go about our searches. We were to split up into couples and I would go with Alice and Jasper. Everyone had a detailed drawing of the apartment building that Alice had drawn so they knew what they were looking for. Alice was also still looking into the future, hoping to either see Edward again or see which, if any, group would find him first.

Thankfully, it was an overcast day and Alice was sure that the next few days would be as well, so our search wouldn't be hampered by the weather for a while at least. We walked up and down streets for hours, scrutinising every building and comparing it to the picture Alice had drawn. After a while, every street and every building began to look the same to me.

"Let's stop somewhere for some lunch," Alice said, taking my hand and leading me towards a small cafe. I began to protest, not wanting to lose any time in our search.

"Edward will kill me, if I don't make sure you are well looked after," Alice said, with a tone that meant she wasn't taking no for an answer, "You need some food and a break. We won't take long but you look like you need a rest."

I conceded, knowing that she was right. I was hungry and tired. Some food and a sugary drink would help give me the energy to keep searching, though I really hated to waste any time. After a quick burger, fries, and a coke, we were back to our search which, unfortunately, continued to be just as fruitless as before lunch.

I was tired and my feet were killing me by the time Alice said we should call it a night and we headed back to the hotel room. I flung myself onto the bed, kicking off my shoes as Alice rang for some room service for me. The rest of the Cullens filed into my room, all looking dejected at having no luck either.

"It's only been one day," Esme said softly, as she pulled me in for a hug, "It might take a while, but we will find him. Even if we have to scour the whole of Chicago to do so."

And that's what we did. Well, maybe not quite the whole of Chicago, but that's what it felt like. We spent the next few days searching every area close to the forest that Alice had recognised from her vision. My feet were aching and I was tired from not sleeping great, despite the luxurious bed in the hotel.

It was four days into our search when Alice, Jasper and I were walking along a street that looked exactly the same as the previous one. I was just beginning to doubt Alice's vision, not that I would ever have told her that, when she began jumping up and down in the middle of the street.

Jasper and I stopped, turning to look at her when I saw the look on her face, I knew that something good was going to happen.

"What is it, Alice?" I asked, "Do we find him?"

"No... but Rose and Emmett will!" she squealed, "They decided to go down a street and I saw them find the building." She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and dialled quickly.

"Rose," she said into the phone, "You're on the right street. Find the building, but don't go in, wait for all of us to get there."

When she hung up, she quickly dialled Carlisle's number and told him what was happening and to meet us there as soon as possible. I watched all of this in a daze, unable to fully grasp that for the first time in almost a year, I was going to see Edward. I had imagined our reunion many times, never really sure how it would actually go.

Alice and Jasper led me towards where Rosalie and Emmett were waiting for us and it wasn't long before Carlisle and Esme joined us.

"So, how are we going to do this?" Carlisle asked, looking at Alice for an answer, "Do we all go in together, or just one or two of us? We don't want to overwhelm him."

I cleared my throat, before saying, "Actually, I would like to go in on my own first, if that's okay."

Everyone turned to look at me, surprise registering on their faces. Alice's eyes glazed over, followed by a small smirk, as I'm sure she saw a vision of what would happen if I saw him on my own.

"I would like to get his genuine reaction to seeing me again, without him seeing that I'm here in your minds," I continued, "I know what he's like. He's stayed away for this long in the hopes of keeping me safe. If he has time to think about it, what's to stop him from coming up with excuses to leave again? I need to see his reaction to seeing me without warning, to help me know that he really does want me."

I looked around at the six faces staring at me. I could see that they understood, but a few looked worried about what might happen. Carlisle spoke up first.

"I understand, Bella," he said, "But what if he reacts badly? Alice said he hasn't been hunting much lately and with your scent being so potent to him, he could act without thinking."

"He's fine," Alice chimed in, "It hasn't been long since he hunted and he really filled himself up because he scared himself with that close call. It all works out fine if Bella goes in on her own. In fact, I think it might even work out better. Bella is right. He'll do anything to keep her safe from himself, but if she surprises him, he doesn't have time to overthink it." A small smirk crept over her face again, and I wondered what exactly she had seen in her vision.

"Okay, but I insist that we stay close by, at least for a while, just in case," Carlisle said.

"That's fine," I said, happy that they were all on board with my plan, though the nerves were beginning to creep up on me.

Alice pointed me in the direction of the building and explained exactly how to get in. Thankfully the apartment was on the ground floor, so I would be able to sneak in the same way he had been entering the apartment.

As I walked down the street towards the building, my palms were getting sweaty and my mouth was dry. What if he just ran when he saw me? But I had to trust in Alice's visions. She wouldn't let that happen. Besides the rest of the family were going to be close by, so they would stop him.

Walking round to the back of the building, I saw the open window Alice had told me about. I quietly climbed through it and into the apartment. I was in a small kitchen area that clearly hadn't been used in some time. I tried to walk as quietly as possible, though I knew that with his vampire hearing, it was probably pointless.

I walked through the hallway of the small apartment, noticing the living area and bathroom, leaving only one closed door which had to be the bedroom, where Edward had been holed up for weeks. I took a deep breath and slowly reached out and turned the doorknob.


Sorry guys! I know it's mean to leave it here but this is just the best way to end the chapter. The next chapter is a good one and I promise it will be worth the wait!

Also, I've just realised that FF wasn't including the breaks in the middle of chapters. Doh! I've added in the one in this chapter and I will continue to add them in for future chapters.

These recommendations are two side by side fics. One in Bella's point of view and the other in Edward's. You can read either of them separately or you can do what I am doing at the minute and read them together, chapter by chapter. It's a bit more work jumping between the two, but I'm really enjoying having both sides at the same time. I've also done this with Twilight and Midnight Sun.

Teacher's Pet by MPG

Bella moved on after Edward left her and is now a teacher. When she starts at a new school, destiny intervenes to reunite them. Now she is faced with new challenges/decisions. B&E/Canon Pairs/Lemons/Violence. -COMPLETE- NB 4 EPOV see Student Liaision

Student Liaison by MPG

Edward gave up on life after leaving Bella but Alice forced him back to school. Can a new school and a new teacher bring hope for a new life with an old love? NB for BPOV see Teachers Pet Lemons/Violence/Language/B&E/Canon Pairings