Disclaimer – Original characters belong to Stephenie Meyer, plot lines and characterisations all belong to Aurora18, copyright March 2016.

So the reviews have been awesome! Thank you! I love how you guys are responding to my version of the characters so far. I'll get to replying to some of your questions and reviews tonight, so do PM me if there's something specific but I wanted to get another chapter up this morning as a thank you for the support and love.

Chapter 3

While I managed to, sort of, keep my cool while I was with Edward at school yesterday that ran out as soon as he dropped me home. I was reluctant to leave and I'm sure it wasn't my imagination that made me think that he seemed to be feeling the same. He promised to pick me up for school the next day and assured me that it wasn't his quasi Victorian manners that urged him to do so but that he was happy to, at least until I got myself some sort of vehicle.

In the most predictable, angst-ridden and swooning way possible – I couldn't think about anything else for the rest of the evening. I woke up this morning determined to not act any differently than I had yesterday, I wore simple makeup but spent no more time getting ready than usual. Just because he was giving me a ride, it didn't mean that he really thought of me as anything more than a new friend.

Obviously the occasional giggle slipped out and while Charlie certainly noticed the extra bounce in my step, he didn't really say anything about it. He was surprised that I'd managed to make a friend already, but then also didn't seem to suspect for a moment that it would be a male friend. I was definitely glad that he was due to leave before Edward was coming to pick me up, I didn't envisage that particular interaction being the smoothest.

While Edward had said that he would pick me up so that we'd be at school in plenty of time, I started worrying when twenty minutes had passed and he still wasn't here. After another ten minutes I was just plain pissed and grabbed my parka to face the drizzle outside, praying that I wouldn't arrive at school with muddied knees after rushing to make it on time.

At lunch I was still pissed.

I was incredibly lucky that I had independent study for first period so no-one really noticed when I checked in a few minutes late and headed straight to the library.

It turns out that on the whole the kids at Forks High weren't all that different from the ones in Phoenix, there the bitchy types and the popular cliques but in general most were pretty chilled out. Everyone lapped at drama like it was their source of nourishment but I think that's the same wherever you go.

Edward wasn't so predictable.

Over the next few days he was still a no show, it was like he just disappeared but no one cared. No one but me apparently. So many times I thought about approaching his siblings to ask him where he was but they just followed me with their stony glares for the most part. A couple of times Alice, the bubbly one, had looked like she was about to say something but then one of the others usually came over to lead her away to something more important and I would be left with the group of kids I had gotten to know over the past few days.

It was Friday afternoon that I finally made up my mind. I would go to their house, Forks was a small town and people seemed far more open to that kind of thing than in Phoenix.

I told Charlie that I was going over to the Cullens' for a study session; he seemed as enthusiastic as a small town police chief can ever come across that I was being sociable. Really it wasn't that big of a lie, I was going over to check on Edward since his absence was unexplained and seemed very strange and also to give him notes from our Biology classes since none of his other siblings share that class with us.

Such a good lab partner.

I followed Charlie's directions after he dropped me off at the station after school and after an hour of walking in the surprisingly pleasant drizzle, through woods and seemingly endless rows of trees I arrived at the bottom of a driveway. I was glad that Charlie knew where everyone in town, and even out of town, lived as I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to find this place by myself.

So their house was big, and modern and full of glass and completely silent. I winced at the loud sound my footsteps were making as I neared the property, I could hear wind whistling through the trees surrounding their home but no cars, no noise of four, maybe five, rowdy teenagers inside on a Friday night. Something was not right about the situation I was finding myself in, it wasn't that I wasn't scared, because I kind of was, but it was more fear of the unknown than fear for my safety.

This was better than waiting all weekend and worrying about what had happened to him, I couldn't wait until Monday to get my answers, I wanted them now.

It didn't really occur to me that what I was doing might be considered a little weird until I was greeted by a stunning woman at the front door not long after I knocked.

"Hello." Her voice was like, honey, so smooth and while I knew now, from the gossip queens at school, that the Cullen kids were adopted, it still didn't alleviate my shock at seeing a stunning woman in her early thirties answer the door.

"Hi, um. You must be Mrs Cullen. I'm Bella, I go to school with Edward."

"Hello, Bella. It's lovely to meet you, please call me Esme. Would you like to come in?"

"Oh, thank you Mrs- Esme, but I just wanted to stop by quickly for something."

"How can I help?"

"Well, I was just wondering about Edward actually. I mean, I don't know if you know but he hasn't been in school the past few days. I'm sure his siblings have picked up his assignments in his other classes but I just moved here and he's my bio lab partner. He's missed a lot already so I just wanted to bring him my notes."

"Edward had to take some time off, but this was very thoughtful of you Bella, thank you."

I rifle through my bag for the photocopies I'd made when laughter from inside the house stops me in my tracks.

"It's no problem, really. I kind of feel bad actually."

"I'm sure you need not dear, but why?"

"Well I only met your son for a day, so please don't think badly of me for saying this, but I think Edward struggles with Biology so maybe having the weekend to go over things would be good, I wouldn't want him to fall behind."

The booming laughter sounded again and I wasn't so alarmed by it this time. Obviously I didn't revel in lying to poor Mrs Cullen the first time that I met her, but I considered it payback for him failing to let me know he wouldn't be able to pick me up for school. It struck me that if he's really ill that I would feel pretty awful, damn.

She has a small smile on her kind face but it's not malicious, I'm sure she just finds me amusing.

"I'll be sure to pass these along to Edward and send him your best."

"Thank you Esme, I'm sorry to disturb your evening. I'll head home now."

As she bids me goodbye and I pause for a second and turn around expecting to see the retreating figure of Mrs Cullen, only she's not the one standing in the doorway.

"Hello Bella."

This is probably about as angsty as it'll get, but there will be answers soon as I'm really going to try and update regularly to get this one going.

All thoughts, comments, questions and suggestions are always appreciated.

Happy Friday!

-Aurora