Author's Note:

Trigger warning! This story is going to be a friends to lovers story. There will be character death, loss, along with the aftermath.

It is a ExB, with eventual HEA story. But it will take time.

If you decide to read it, please realize that there will be a few things that happen as per most stories that have ups and downs.

Disclaimer! Stephanie Meyer owns the rights to Twilight and all characters alike. I'm just here to give them a little ride.

Any new characters, along with the plot of this story, are my own and were born from my own imagination. Thank you. Enjoy!

Synopsis:

Emmett and Rosalie Cullen died in a car accident, leaving behind their daughter, Macy Cullen.

Edward Cullen and Bella Swan, Em's brother and Rose's sister, are left with the task of looking after their niece for a few months while everything gets settled in court.

Bella had always worked hard to both prove to herself and everyone else that she was independent. Never accepting the easy way out of anything, her hard work got her to where she was.

She and her cat, Snowflake, would go to live with Edward and Macy, with the plan of staying just until the snow fell. She would be helping with the financial aspect of the family business, while Edward tended to the horses and farm.

Edward had always been the odd man out in his family. Despite having a family full of respectable and successful business owners, doctors, and lawyers, he chose to go off and open a tattoo shop in Boston, New York. But family was the most important thing to him, so when he got a call in the middle of the night, he didn't think twice before heading back home to Texas.

What happens when their time comes to an end? Will she be able to leave? Will he let her?

You never knew what fate had in store for you until it happened.

I'd thought my life was perfect…until fate turned it upside down and showed me what perfection truly was.

Would it be too much for me to walk away now? Or should I stay and allow myself to lose that part of my old life?

Now, as the snow clouds gathered, I simply didn't know.

I was at a crossroad, and it was all due to one thing. The loss of my best friend, my big sister, Rosie. Now that I thought back to that night…and how everything had unraveled, I realized that maybe it was more than just fate at play. Not my sister dying, but everything else.

The whole trip I'd just taken had been long, and I'd wanted nothing more than to go home and sleep. It had been close to three o'clock in the morning when I'd gotten back from a business conference in Dallas, and I'd driven all the way down to Trenton the morning prior. I had been so tired, not to mention annoyed with myself for not waiting until the next morning to drive home. But what else was I to have done when my work colleagues had gotten drunk, and I'd had to share a room with them? I sure as hell hadn't been about to lay there and listen to Jake and Becky get busy.

I had just gotten home and was walking into my room to begin undressing when I received the phone call that I now knew had been about to change my life forever…

~*~

Accident…hospital…Rosie…Emmett…critical…come now…hurry…

That had been all that I could make out from my mom, but I got enough that I knew it was bad.

The next few hours were a whirlwind.

After receiving the call, my mind went into survival mode. I numbly went to change before rushing back out to my car to drive back to my hometown, thirty minutes away. The entire way there, I fought off the tears that threatened to fall from my eyes.

Thirty minutes later, I parked in front of the town's hospital and hurried inside. I signed the visitors list, waiting to receive my band, before rushing to the floor where my mother had told me they'd be.

The elevator ride was enough to help me gain control of myself, yet I knew this wasn't going to be easy.

Nothing was ever going to be again.

The elevator slowly rose and inched closer to the third floor, and it felt as if I had just run a marathon. My legs were shaking so badly that I had to lean on the wall for a second to gather my wits about me, closing my eyes as I inhaled deeply to calm myself.

The moment the doors opened, I pushed myself away from the wall and made my way down the wide, white and sterile hallway.

I turned the corner and blinked for a moment before continuing down another hall. They seemed to never end.

I knew I had reached the correct place when I saw my parents from the end of the next hallway, standing in the doorway of the waiting room. As I got closer, I could see my mother was a wreck, and my father was barely hanging on as he held her.

"Mom, Dad?" I called as I reached them.

When they heard my voice, they both turned to look at me, distraught.

"Bella," my dad sighed in relief, as my mother came to pull me into a fierce hug.

"W-what happened?" I asked, as I tried to slow my breathing. I could feel it as my mother began to shake and sob into my neck, hugging me tighter. "What happened?" I repeated.

As my dad looked at me, I noticed his red rimmed eyes and haggard expression. The sight had the knot that was already in my throat growing rapidly.

"We…we got a call earlier. We were told that your sister and her husband had gotten into a car accident. We…we got here as fast as we could…but Rose…she went into cardiac arrest…and they couldn't do anything to save her," my dad choked out.

No. No. No, she can't be gone. Not her.

Not my sister. There had to be some sort of mistake. She couldn't be— No. It wasn't possible.

"Are you—?" I began, as my voice started to tremble, unable to hold back my pain.

"Yes, Bells, they did everything they possibly could to save her. She…she passed a few minutes before you arrived," my dad said.

"Where's —?" I began, only to realize the Cullens had yet to arrive or find out.

"They're on their way. Don't worry, we called them," my dad whispered, cutting me off.

I nodded, as we heard multiple footsteps rushing in our direction. We all turned to see Esme and Carlisle, Emmett's parents, along with Edward and Alice, his younger brother and sister, coming toward us.

As soon as they saw us, Esme began sobbing hysterically into Carlisle's chest. Alice moved to comfort them, with tears streaming down her face.

I looked over at Edward, and he gestured in my direction, silently asking me to come talk to him.

I moved towards him, nodding numbly. "What happened?" he asked me tiredly.

"I…I don't know. I'd only just arrived back home from a business trip when I received the call," I replied honestly.

"What happened to Macy?" he asked, concerned.

I gasped. I hadn't even thought of that. Oh god!

Without hesitating, I moved back towards my dad.

"Hey, Dad?" I asked, pulling him aside.

"Yeah, Bells?" he asked mindlessly, as he ran a hand through my mother's hair.

"W-what happened to Macy?" I asked him.

He looked at me, pained. "She's been put in a foster home for the night," he murmured.

I felt the blood drain from my face.

"What? No! Absolutely not. I'm going to handle this," I whispered before moving away and pulling my phone out to try to get a hold of one of my older brothers, Peter or Jasper.

I watched all our parents trying to comfort each other before turning away, swallowing thickly. But I knew there was no comfort. Nothing could take away the pain of this loss. Not when they hugged and cried together, and not when the doctor asked them to go identify their children's bodies, or when both our mothers fell apart upon hearing those words.

Edward watched me speaking into my phone to call, as he slowly inclined his head towards the doctor, and I hurried to end my call. I had heard the doctor and seen our moms' reaction. We both realized we would have to go identify our siblings.

Alice opted to stay with our parents, while Edward and I spoke with the doctor and accepted the responsibility.

"Did you find out where Macy is?" Edward asked, as we followed the doctor toward the elevator.

"She's been placed in a foster home for tonight. I managed to get ahold of Peter, and my other brother Jasper was with him, and they're going to push to get me temporary custody of her," I whispered, trying not to cry.

He nodded. "I feared she was here," he murmured, as we exited the elevator and walked down another hallway.

I shook my head. "Fortunately, she was at home with a minor—" I started to explain before he interrupted me.

"A minor?" he asked, confused.

I nodded in response.

"Yes, a fifteen-year-old girl. Bree, I believe is the name of the girl, and she was babysitting Macy for the night. Anyway, Rose and Em went out and…and…I guess the accident happened," I informed him, as I tried to keep my voice from breaking again.

"I'm actually pretty surprised she was placed like that. Shouldn't family be contacted in cases like these? Our parents? Or even us?" he asked.

"They did try, actually. Unfortunately, my parents' house is in no condition for a toddler at this moment, since they're renovating their kitchen. Your parents and sister don't live within this state. You didn't pick up. And I didn't either. So, they were out of options," I told him, as we reached a colder hallway with a set of large, wide, double doors.

"Through there," the doctor said, as he turned to look at us. "Now, this may be a shocking sight, so you're welcome to take all the time you need or want before going in," he told us.

Over the past few years, Edward and I had not been particularly close. We were on friendly terms, at best, maybe. I mean we got along well enough, but we never really interacted much. Despite what had happened last spring…

Now, it seemed, he was the only person I could count on.

Even though I hated to admit it, I needed him. Especially now.

Suddenly, as we neared the door, all my confidence went out the window, and I began to shake like a leaf.

A warm hand suddenly engulfed mine and squeezed slightly. "It's okay, I'm right here with you, Iz," he whispered, as he nodded to the doctor…

~*~

I'd heard it said that nothing ever prepared you for the loss of a loved one. Well, nothing had prepared me for the sight that lay before me in that room that night. To be honest, I didn't think it was something I'd ever forget. That image would haunt me for the rest of my life.