You stop the room when we walk in
Spotlight's on everybody's staring
Tell all of these boys they're wasting their time
Stop standing in line, 'cause you're all mine

"You & I" - John Legend

(~)(~)(~)(~)

Bella's heart stopped.

This was her first kiss. Her first REAL kiss. And PAUL was giving it to her..!

PAUL BELONGED TO IZZY!

Bella felt a pulling sensation in her head and then she was watching as Izzy smacked Paul across the face.

"WHAT THE HELL, PAUL?"

Paul felt his insides grind to a halt. He had just kissed Bella. Not his Izzy, but Bella. But weren't they essentially the same person?

"I... Uhm.. Izzy?"

Izzy glared as she watched Paul run his hand over the back of his head, smart not to rub the cheek she has slapped lest she slap the other.

"You're damn right IZZY! You said you wanted to be FRIENDS with Bella."

Paul sighed, "I know."

"Then why did you kiss her? And don't you dare say you thought it was me because I know you know better than that. NO LIES."

"You feel the same..."

Izzy froze. Her voice filled with venom, "Excuse me?"

"Paul stood off the couch and began pacing, "You feel the same! You look the same. You even SMELL the same now. Before, she used to smell like strawberries and grandma perfume. But you're changing her in small ways and she's doing the same to you. Do you realize how hard it is for me to try to separate you both? You, my Izzy, my hellcat who can give it just as good as she gets it. The girl who drinks like a fish and cusses like a sailor... Then there's Bella. She makes breakfast and says she can't hold her liquor for anything. She blushes anytime she says 'crap' let alone thinking the word 'fuck'- But you two look entirely the same. You two sound, smell, walk- THE SAME. I'm sorry, Iz!"

Izzy tamped down the warm fuzzies she got when he said she was his, trying to focus on what he was saying.

She stood, looking at the floor, "I uhm.. I'll call you later. I have some stuff to do."

(~)(~)

Izzy sat in her room.. In their room?

After Paul's speech, she was a little confused and hurt. What was going to happen to her? What was going to happen to Bella? She knew from Bella's schooling that in most cases, after reconciling the two personalities they would merge into one.. But what did that mean?

Would Bella disappear? Would Izzy disappear? Would they merge together and forget they were ever broken? At this stage, Izzy couldn't imagine Bella not being there.. It was like having a twin that only you had access to.

She stared at the wall for a long time, thinking. Bella was oddly silent, though she could feel her worry.

"Bells..?" Izzy whispered, bringing her knees up to hug them. She had never felt more vulnerable.. And had never wished more for comfort.

"I'm sorry, Izzy." Bella told her, though she had not initiated the kiss.. She had participated.. And she had actually liked it.

"I can't be mad, Bells.. But.. Where do we go from here?"

"What do you mean?"

Izzy sighed, "Am I going to disappear? Are you going to disappear? Are we going to forget each other?" Izzy felt tears building in her eyes and tried to force them away.. She failed as one spilled down her cheek, "I don't want you to go!"

Bella wished she could hug the other girl, her other half. "I honestly don't know how it works, Iz. But we'll get through it. If.. If one of us has to go.. I want it to be me."

Izzy clenched her fist, "NO!"

"Izzy! You have so much more to give than me. You have a LIFE. Before you, you know how I lived.. It was the life of your nightmares!"

"But you're getting better."

"Because of you..."

Silence reigned in the bedroom of their apartment.. Between Izzy, Bella and Paul.. Who sat waiting for his girl.

(~_~_~_~_~)

Edward growled as Tanya tended to his wounds. How dare that bitch sick her classless mutts on him?! He'd said nothing that wasn't true. She was acting like a whore.

Visions of her tied to his bed with that glare from the hospital assaulted his mind.. He wanted to teach her a lesson she'd never forget. And it WAS his job to tame her and make her his...

He had Tanya on her knees before him quickly, but it wasn't her he saw.. And perhaps he was a little more forceful with the female. But when he turned to bend her over and plunged into her heat, he didn't care.. And he knew she didn't either.

After being patched up and satisfying his lust, he went to visit Alice. As soon as she saw him at the door, she gasped.

"Edward! What happened to you?!"

He pushed past her, going to the wet bar she kept in her living room and pouring himself a scotch.

"I went to see Bella as planned. I saw a furniture truck there, seems she went shopping without you."

"That bitch! I picked all the furniture in that apartment!"

"Well, it's gone now. It was loaded onto a pick-up.. Belonging to one of her low-class trash friends. She had a bunch of guys there.. I told her to stop acting like a whore and they jumped me."

"You have to call the police! Press charges!"

Edward growled, "I can't.. In the heat of the moment, I stabbed one with my keys."

Alice gasped.. Again. "YOU STABBED SOMEONE?!"

"Oh, it was non-lethal. Get over it. The point is, she has fucking guards or something now. I thought I caught a glimpse of another female there, but Bella ran off so quickly I can't be entirely sure. Perhaps now she could be your plaything for awhile after we marry."

Alice rolled her eyes, "As if. Not my type. And what makes you so sure you'll marry? You can see you're losing your hold on her."

Edward's eyes turned to hard steel, "She will be mine. All I have to do is catch her alone... And break her."

(~_~_~_~_~)

Charlie Swan was packing his things.. He had never thought his life would be like this. How had he been so blind to Renee's evil? He had confronted her, and once she knew he knew everything, she turned into a whole new person. She was having an affair, and had been for awhile. The guy's name was Phil and apparently he was a sports man. They'd fought, parted company, come together to fight more.. It went on for three days before he'd had enough. He contracted a lawyer out of county to file for divorce, hoping to keep it out of the papers for awhile.

His mother was over the moon. She'd never liked Renee.. It seems he needed to talk to her, too.

Renee began shrieking at him again about ruining her as he carried one of his last boxes out of the house, not his home, and put it in his moving van. He ignored her.

The divorce papers stated she would get the house, but he would retain all parental rights to Bella (though she was of age) as well as his pension, 401K, etc. Renee was only left with her car, the house and her meager account that her earnings as mayor went into... Charlie was the real bread-winner and Renee knew it. She would no longer get her lavish lifestyle. She couldn't get him for alimony, as she has been the one to have the indiscretion. In fact, Charlie could get alimony! He didn't want it.. He simply wanted her gone.

He took one last look at the house.. Renee used to be so down to Earth. So amazing.. But somewhere along the way he'd been led astray by her. He had missed out on truly raising his daughter.

He put his last box in the van, got in his truck and drove away. He was moving into the home beside his mother. It belonged to his great-grandmother, God rest her soul. It was a family home.. The original home that Bella had been raised in. He wondered if their handprints were still in the garage from where they had 'painted' together...

He checked when he pulled in after directing the moving crew to go ahead and unload...

They were there.. Just faded. The irony.