CHAPTER 2

Huge was my surprise when it was another Cullen entirely who stood there and said with a little smile, "Hello, Bella."

"Carlisle?" I asked in surprise. "What-I mean are you back? Is he back?"

I had such hope that seeing Carlisle meant that they were all back, including Edward. But my hopes were quickly dashed.

"No, I'm alone, unfortunately. Can I come in?"

"Oh, right, yeah, of course. You are always welcome in this house."

I stepped aside and let him in and closed the door behind him. I led him to our living room area, he chose the couch and I sat down in the armchair.

"So what brings you here, without the rest of your family?"

"Bella, I wanted to tell you that I received your calls and your e-mails and I'm sorry that I haven't replied. I just didn't want to do this over the phone or in an e-mail. That's why I came in person." He started off rather vaguely.

"Do this? Do what?" I asked in confusion.

"Bella, for the past three weeks I have talked to Edward every day, trying to convince him to come back to you, to us. You see, you are not the only one he left. He decided to visit some friends of ours. And I have really tried to talk to him, all of us have tried. Alice even told him that before he made the decision to leave, she didn't see a threat to your life. But now-"

"Oh, wow, I didn't know that… I mean that he left you all too." I told Carlisle. I was dumbfounded by it, I thought he wouldn't ever leave his family. "Wait, what do you mean, by "But now…"? What does Alice see now in my future?"

He shifted in his seat, he seemed uncomfortable talking about it, "Now he sees different outcomes, but none of them are you being in any kind of danger. So don't worry about that. She's very vague talking about your future though."

"Okay… so he's not coming back to me or if he is, Alice is not seeing it?"

"According to Alice, no, she doesn't see you with Edward since he made the decision to leave."

Seeing my disappointed face, he quickly added, "But if he should decide to return, the vision will probably change too. At this point I don't know what could change his mind, it's definitely not us who can reach him. He's very stubborn."

"Yeah, I tell me about it." I rolled my eyes, but I didn't mean to behave like a typical teenager who rolled her eyes when older people said something obvious. "So is that the only reason you came or Is there any other reason for your sudden visit?" I asked, still confused about his reasoning for visiting me.

He shifted again and looked down, he again seemed uncomfortable talking about it. "Alice, she said she saw something in your future, she hinted that maybe I should come talk to you."

"She hinted that you should come and tell me in person that Edward isn't coming back?" I asked, still completely confused about his reasoning for returning today.

"Not exactly, she suggested that I should come and help you move on with your life."

"What?" I was beyond shocked.

"Bella, I came to offer my friendship."

I stood up and started pacing, he intently looked at me and waited for what I was going to say to that.

"You know when a man comes to a woman and says he wants to help her move on from another man, it usually means one thing."

Carlisle seemed confused for a moment and then he realized what I was hinting at and he stood up as he started defending himself, "Bella, no! That's not what I meant. How could you even think that-?"

"Get out, Carlisle!" I told him then. Abruptly.

"Bella…" He seemed shocked.

"Get out and don't come back before you bring him back to me. You want to be my friend, that you will get bring him back." I almost yelled at him. Tears were streaming down my face at that point. I couldn't believe the Cullens. Sending Carlisle, hoping that I would consider taking him, if I can't have Edward. It made me sick.

He looked at me and he seemed hurt, but then the next thing I knew, he was gone.

I finished making dinner for Charlie and myself and when he returned, we had a quiet dinner. I decided not to tell him about Carlisle's visit. There was no point to it. After dinner I asked his permission to visit Jacob. He gladly agreed. I had decided to go visit Jacob, because I wanted to tell him about Carlisle's visit. If anyone understood me with that, it was Jacob.

I found him in his garage, working on a bike.

"Hey, Jacob."

"Bella." He grinned. He was clearly happy to see me and he pulled me into a big bear hug.

"Wow, somebody's in a really good mood." I commented.

Then he pulled away and releasing me, he grinned, "Now that you are here, how could I be in a bad mood."

I chuckled, "Good to know. Maybe I should visit you more often."

"You definitely should." He continued to grin.

"So you have a new bike or what is this that you are fixing now."

He walked over to it and said, "Oh, yeah, this is another one for my bike collection. Got it from a friend."

"That' already what, the fourth one?" I asked.

"Third one, actually. But yes, you are right, what should I do with three bikes, maybe I should sell one."

"To me maybe?" I winked at him

He chuckled, "Definitely not, you are too accident-prone to let you get on a bike."

"Not that you need a reason for coming over, but you have been so down lately because of the Cullens leaving. So I got to ask, what bring you here so late?" He asked after a little pause.

"Nothing important." I clamped up.

"Bella? What Is it?"

"It's just that Carlisle came to visit me."

"The doctor? What did he want?" He wrinkled his nose.

"Apparently to tell me that Edward isn't coming back and offer himself on a plate."

"Ugh, really? Gross." He seemed appalled by that.

"Well, he said he came to offer me his friendship, but what else could there be behind that. His wife just died, he probably thought we could comfort each other."

"Eww, gross. I'm so glad they are gone now. You did tell him to go to hell, right?"

"I threw him out, told him to leave and not come back." I smiled like I was proud of myself. The truth was that I wasn't hundred percent sure I had done the right thing. Because it was Carlisle, he had never had ulterior motives before, but I was beginning to think that It was all Alice. She saw something that required someone of the Cullens to intervene and she thought Carlisle to be the right person. But I personally saw my future as only with Edward and I didn't care for any other outcomes. Edward just had to return, I desperately clung to that notion.

"Good girl. And good for you. I hope they crawl far away from Forks."

"Yeah. So can I help with you something?"

"Well you can sit and give me the required tools. Then we can catch up. If you think you can differentiate between a wrench and screwdriver." He laughed.

I wasn't amused of being mocked at, "Only if you can visit me sometimes and differentiate between a lipstick and a mascara."

"I do have sisters you know and besides, since when do you wear make up?"

I took a wrench for his tool box and threatened to throw it at him, but he only laughed. Then I sat down and we could talk about life after high school.

When I got home, Charlie had fallen asleep in front of the tv and I closed the tv and the lights and let him sleep. He would go to bed later at night when he woke up.

I went to my room, opened the laptop and checked my e-mails. I was surprised to see that Carlisle had sent me an e-mail.

"Dear Bella,

I'm apologize for making you upset and believe that I had any ulterior motives for coming over today. In truth I had no ulterior motives for returning. I wanted to offer you friendship in a difficult time. I promise if there was anyway, I could make Edward return to you, I would do it in a heartbeat. This is not me looking for an angle and I promise I'm not interested in you in a way you suggested. I really did wanted to be friends with you. Alice told me it was something I should consider but I didn't come only because Alice hinted that it was a good idea. I came because of Esme, I know what it's like to lose your mate. That was my point actually, that I know what you are going through and I just wanted to offer friendship. I thought that we could help each other move on. As friends. But I understand now that you are nowhere near ready to let Edward go. It's understandable of course.

But If you meant it, that you never wanted to see me, than I won't ever contact you again and this is Goodbye.

I hope everything works out for you, Bella. I really do.

Carlisle."

I didn't know what to think of that letter. It seemed honest. But I wasn't ready to start the healing process, to accept that Edward was gone, so I closed my laptop and went to brush my teeth, deciding that it was time to go to sleep.