Getting Over Heartbreak

(Without Becoming a Zombie)

In the end, it was easier to kill Victoria than the wolves expected. They knew Jasper had helped command an army and fought in a war zone for a century, but knowing the facts and seeing him in action were two totally different things.

Before they got to that point, however, Jacob, Alice, and Jasper knew they needed to fill Bella in on what was going on. Before he left her, Edward had a bad habit of trying to shield Bella from information he considered irrelevant or potentially harmful to her. Jasper had felt her frustration and hurt every time Edward had waved off her concerns or questions. Bella may be young compared to the immortals in her life but she wasn't a child to be placated and patted on the head, and Jasper, Alice, and the wolves had more respect for her than that. This was her life on the line, she had every right to know what was happening and to have a voice in how they proceeded.

Jasper and Alice approached her first. The two had kept in touch with Bella after the family had left Forks at Edward's insistence. They spoke on the phone and emailed, but it was the first time they had been back to town to see her.

When Bella answered the knock at her door, her face lit up in a beaming smile at the sight of two of her closest friends. Last she and Alice had talked, they were still unsure about when they would see each other next, so Bella was thrilled by their surprise visit. After giving them both the fiercest hug she was capable of as a human, she led them to the living room so they could catch up.

While both vampires had been aware that Edward had broken up with her after her birthday party, Bella hadn't been comfortable sharing the details over the phone or through an email, so this was the first Jasper or Alice heard about how Edward had ended things with the girl.

And boy were they pissed.

At the time, Alice was focused on doing as much damage control as possible for the future and Edward didn't make a solid decision about what he would say to Bella until the last minute, meaning Alice didn't catch a vision of their walk in the woods.

As Bella told her friends what Edward had said to her, she couldn't keep herself from smiling fondly as she watched them try to suppress their growls of outrage and anger. She leaned over to gently touch the back of Jasper's hand, which was clutching the arm of the sofa hard enough that she worried he'd break it. She didn't need to try to explain that to her dad.

Jasper let out a breath and gave her a sheepish smile as he relaxed his hand. "Sorry."

She waved it off. She could understand their anger. Their 'brother' hadn't just broken up with her, he'd done it rather cruelly, using Bella's insecurities against her.

As she had watched Edward's back as he walked away from her and disappeared from view, her heart broke a little to know that she had meant so little to the boy she loved. Through the trees, she could see her backyard from where Edward left her, so knowing she was safe, instead of heading straight home she'd found a fallen log to sit on and let her sadness and tears have their way. She cried for a while, hurt not just over her first heartbreak but also to think the other Cullens had left her without a word. She cared deeply for all of them, so the fact that they could walk away from her so easily was a bitter pill to swallow.

As the sun began to go down, Bella knew it was time to pull herself together and go home. Her dad was due home from work soon and she thought maybe the comfortable familiarity of cooking dinner for the two of them might make her feel a tiny bit better. And getting a hug from her dad couldn't hurt, either. Honestly, the man gave stellar hugs.

Before making a start on dinner she headed upstairs for a quick shower. Opening the door to her bedroom, she'd been surprised to find a tiny, pacing pixie.

"Bella!" Alice practically shouted and grabbed the human in a hug. Once she let go she started talking quickly. "I don't have much time, only a few minutes, but I couldn't leave without saying goodbye."

"So you really are leaving?" Bella asked in a whisper.

Alice nodded sadly. "We are, but I promise it's only temporary. I can't see yet for how long, there are still too many variables, but I promise you that we'll see you again. And Edward may think he can dictate the family's actions, but he's sadly mistaken if he thought we were going to follow his 'orders' blindly. Clean break, my ass," she added under her breath as she handed Bella an envelope.

Bella felt such a wave of relief in that moment that she swayed on the spot. She did matter to the Cullens, regardless of what Edward tried to make her believe.

"There are letters in there from everyone, along with contact information. But please keep in mind that Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, and Rosalie aren't nearly as consistent in their ability to keep Edward from reading their thoughts as Jasper and I are. I can't honestly say how Edward would react if he knew we were in touch with you, so just for now, just until I have a clearer idea of what's to come, hold off on calling or emailing the others," Alice explained hurriedly.

Bella gave her a resigned nod, pleased to know that she would at least be in regular contact with the two Cullens she was closest to. Speaking of…

"Will I have a chance to say goodbye to Jasper, too? Or has he left? Edward said the two of you were already gone."

Alice managed to both scowl and roll her eyes. "That lying ass! No, Jasper hasn't left but he was out hunting when I realized I only had a few minutes to race over here." She glanced at the clock on Bella's nightstand and realized she only had another two minutes before she had to leave. If she wasn't at home by the time Edward returned for his things, he was going to get suspicious and head straight for the Swan's house. Alice needed to make sure that didn't happen. "I left a note in Jasper's study telling him to haul ass over here if he got back in time, but I'm not sure if he'll—"

Alice was interrupted by a gentle tap on Bella's window. Bella startled slightly, but smiled when she saw it was Jasper.

Alice used her vamp speed to get the window open and pull Jasper inside before Bella could even blink.

"Quickly, Jasper, we've got about a minute and a half left," Alice told him before turning back to Bella and pulling her into a quick hug. "I love you, Bella, and we'll talk soon, I promise."

"I love you too, Ali. Thank you for coming to say goodbye," Bella whispered.

Alice ruffled Bella's hair with one of her bright smiles. "You're my best friend, I would never disappear on you without a word. Now say goodbye to Jas quickly, we've gotta run."

Bella started to turn to Jasper but she hadn't even taken a full step before she was spun around and pulled into his arms. He hugged her tightly and dropped a kiss on the top of her head.

"I'm not going to say goodbye, because this isn't goodbye. I will see you again soon and we'll talk on the phone as often as you want," he told her.

Jasper's voice, with that hint of a southern accent, rumbled through her, calming her almost as easily as when he used his gift. She had never felt anything but safe with the man.

"I'll miss you," she told him softly, hanging onto him tightly for another moment before letting him go and taking a step back. "I'll miss you both. Take care of yourselves."

"Love you, Bella," the two replied at the same time, making her laugh. Alice and Jasper were so in sync sometimes it was scary.

"Love you, too."

And between one breath and the next, Bella's vampires were gone.

Bella shook herself out of her memories and couldn't hold back her smile at seeing Jasper and Alice sitting in her living room. She had really missed them.

When Alice asked how Bella coped immediately after the Cullens left, Bella explained that she had let herself wallow in her heartbreak for a few weeks but had a handful of people around her who were happy to let her lean on them when she needed to.

Angela Weber was always such a calm soul that the two girls were content to just sit together reading or doing their homework. She never pressed Bella for information the way some of the other kids at school did, letting her talk when she was ready.

Jasper could understand that. A few times when he'd been hanging out with Bella at her house, Angela popped over and she was one of the few humans Jasper enjoyed spending time with. For an empath, her emotions were great to be around. She wasn't the typical teenager with wildly fluctuating moods. She was a truly peaceful girl, a bit quiet and shy, but she was kind-hearted and had a wry sense of humor when she was around people she was comfortable with.

Bella's dad had been another steady rock she could lean on. He opened up a bit about what it felt like when Renee, Bella's mother, had left him when Bella was still young, taking their daughter with her. Charlie Swan's heartbreak had been so much more vast than what Bella was going through, having only been with Edward for about six months. It helped Bella gain a little perspective on what she was feeling.

And of course there was Jacob Black, the perpetually optimistic boy who - completely shocking Bella - turned into a giant wolf. That had sure been a wild surprise. Bella couldn't share that with her two vampires, though. She wasn't sure if they knew there was a new wolf pack and she wouldn't spill their secrets.

Keeping in regular touch with Alice and Jasper had also helped, along with the letters from the family. All seemed certain that they'd see Bella in the near future, so she didn't feel entirely abandoned the way she would have if the Cullens had simply disappeared in the night without a word the way Edward wanted them to.

So yes, Edward Cullen had been Bella's first boyfriend, thus her first broken heart, but the people around her helped her heal.

After Bella had caught the two up on what she'd kept from them during their frequent phone calls, she saw Alice and Jasper quickly glance at each other. Bella might not have the quick mind of a vampire, but she was an observant girl and could see there was something bothering her two best friends.

She leaned over and took Alice's hand in hers. "Ali? I won't pry, but you know you can always talk to me, right?"

Jasper and Alice shared another look, and when Jasper gave her a brief nod, Alice turned back to Bella.

"I do. And you're right, there is something we need to talk to you about. We've missed you and were planning to come visit you soon, but we're here now because I've seen some things that we need to deal with. Things that involve you."

Bella took a deep breath and nodded for her to continue, seeing that whatever brought Jasper and Alice back was bad enough to worry the two vampires.

"You remember the nomads from the baseball game?" Alice asked.

That… was not what Bella was expecting. Honestly, she tried to not think about that night. Seeing her loved ones fight hadn't been the greatest of things to watch. She knew they were virtually indestructible, but she was still overcome with fear that one of them would be hurt.

Regardless, she nodded again. "Of course," she answered, confused about where this conversation might go.

At that point, Jasper reached for her other hand and held it gently. "The woman who got away - Victoria - she's coming for you."

A/N: I just want to thank everyone who has read and reviewed, favorited or followed. This site confuses the hell out of me and I have no idea how to respond to reviews, so I'll just say a blanket thank you to all of you. I grin every time I see a new one. It's honestly wild to me that anyone is reading this, so thank you!

And thank you to traceybuie for answering my AU question from last chapter. I'm going to try to add it to the summary.

Take care, M. x