A/N- Ok so good news and bad news. I got a job! I'll try to keep up with at least 1 post a week, but I can't guarantee it now that I'm not a full time stay-at-home cat mom. I have loved each and every review and I smile at every favorite and follow! Please let me know what you think, as it really is the best encouragement to get writing out.

Thanks as ever to Dollybigmomma, my lovely beta and story coach! Check out her work if you can!

Edward

Edward sat at the kitchen table, not too patiently, already finished with the breakfast his mother, Esme, had made. He was dressed, but his hair was all out of sorts. Not because he had only just rolled out of bed, but because he had been running his hand through his hair every few minutes, impatiently waiting for his siblings to be ready to leave.

"Why do they run late every single day? Especially when the time never changes or sneaks up on them. School starts at 8:30 a.m. every day. Haven't they had enough practice making it to school?" he grumbled, and Esme smiled warmly at him, used to his curmudgeonly ways.

Edward hated being late, but his siblings didn't share that particular pet peeve. Yes, on their schedule, they would arrive before the bell rang, but they would get one of the last parking spots, and then make it to their first classes as the bell was ringing. He didn't like to cut it so close, it made him feel out of control.

"Edward dear, you know your siblings aren't like that. Especially after a week away, they have a hard time adjusting back to school sleep schedules."

"Maybe if they weren't up all night while we were away, they wouldn't need to adjust back. Not to mention they act like this most of the time anyway." Edward grumbled, his fingers anxiously tapping on the kitchen table.

This time, his mother rolled her eyes and shook her head, taking his face into her hands. "How is it that my teenager is already middle aged, huh? How did I raise you so differently from your siblings that you aged so quickly?"

It was mostly a joke, but he wondered if she had asked herself that question genuinely more than once. It was true that he was very different from his siblings, and maybe it was unusual for someone his age, but he considered it a blessing. He was rational, in control of himself, and successful in school and in his piano playing. Maybe his social skills left something to be desired, but who needed friends when one had as many siblings as he did? Especially ones who were as close as his were. Esme might not have birthed them all, and of course, they all were violently different, as though they were each other's foils, but they enjoyed each other. Most of the time, anyway.

Edward didn't answer, as she expected, and he checked his watch again. "That's it, I guess I'll go on my own if they insist on being late."

Esme wished him well for his day and sent him off with a hug.

He left the kitchen, letting himself get lost in his thoughts. They would have a fair bit of makeup work, since they had been gone for all of last week and yesterday, but it wouldn't take too much effort to catch up. At least, for him anyway. He was sure Emmett would let it wait until the last possible minute, as per usual.

He went to the garage, unlocked his car, and jumped into it. The satisfying growl of the engine brought a small smile to his face, as he drove out of the garage and down the path through the forest. He was secretly happy his siblings had been running late, though he was annoyed he had waited for then. He loved this drive, the full coverage of the trees working to almost transition him from their hidden and private home to the public road once more.

The path to their home wasn't paved, and he wanted to cherish the views anyway, so he kept a more meandering speed. Reaching the road, however, he sped up. Edward tended to follow most rules, but the speed limit was not one of them. He loved the feeling of accelerating, his body pressing into his seat, watching the world pass by him faster and faster. He used to be a runner, loving the nearly insulated feeling of going so fast his thoughts seemed unable to keep up. Once he started driving, the appeal was lost. Speed was practically a high, and he couldn't get that with simple running anymore.

All too soon, he found himself approaching the more populated area of town, and he had to slow down.

Getting closer to the school, he saw someone on the sidewalk, maybe a petite girl or a small freshman. They were in a hoodie, so he couldn't really tell. Had they worn the hood down, he likely could have named them, that was how small their school was. They only stood out to him because it was raining, as per usual, and most people would have gotten a ride or at least taken the bus if they were close enough to walk.

He put it out of his mind. Why did he care if some freshman got rained on? They should have carried an umbrella or worn a raincoat or something.

Once he parked, he sat there for a moment. He liked taking his time in the morning, and whenever he was with his siblings, it was always such a rush. He enjoyed being able to finish his song on the radio or go see a teacher before classes. Hell, even dropping off some books at his locker was a luxury he didn't get when he had to drive with his siblings.

Edward took his sweet time walking into the school and making his way to class. When he sat down in his English class, he started mindlessly flipping through the assigned reading, reminding himself of the text, as though he didn't have it nearly memorized at that point.

Another early student joined him after a while, but he only looked up when they sat in the seat usually left empty that was in front of him and a row over.

In that spot was a girl, someone so familiar and yet so much of a stranger to him, he didn't even know how to react. After not seeing or hearing from her for nearly seven years, his childhood best friend was finally haunting him. What must've been her ghost also pulled out her own copy of the book, much more worn and loved than his.

Her position gave him a view of her face mirrored in the classroom door window. She looked…empty. There were dark circles under her eyes, much darker than the usual highschooler. She was pale, more ghostly pale than even she should be. She was in baggy clothes, but he could tell by the glance he got of her wrist that she was painfully thin under those layers He realized then that she must've been the person he had seen walking earlier, as he realized how wet her hoodie was. There was no way she would've gotten that wet had she just gone from a vehicle in the parking lot into the school.

Edward found himself watching her, mesmerized. He was afraid that if he looked away, she would disappear like she had all those years ago.

He almost thought he was imagining her. Perhaps he was. She kept her face downturned for most of the class period, and while most students who avoided eye contact with the teacher got called on, she instead was left alone.

She said nothing the whole class period. He didn't often speak in class, not unless no one else was, and the teacher had that overworked and underpaid look of a teacher truly thinking of changing vocation. But not today. He barely noticed class happening around him today.

When the bell rang, he tried to make it to her, but she left the classroom just as quickly as she had come, disappearing into the herd of students in the hallway.

A ghost. He had just seen a ghost. There was no way he hadn't. He slowly moved to his next class, trying to stop thinking about her. He'd been hurt by her before; if she was really here, that wasn't good news for him, was it?

It wasn't until his Biology class that he saw her again. She was sitting in the spot that had usually been empty. The spot that made her his lab partner.

He walked over to his seat tentatively, like a single draft would blow her away. She had her head in her notebook and refused to look up, even when she heard him sit down.

It felt crazy to be next to her again. How many times in their youth had they sat side by side? But it was all different now. There was a tenseness, and he didn't know which one of them was giving it off. He didn't feel mad, but he certainly had a reason to be.

He tried to pay attention in class, but it was a wash. He just took notes as well as he could, and he promised himself he would study them later.

The bell rang all too soon, and ghost Bella got up quickly, dashing out of the room like her life depended on it, like they were magnets, and she was repelled by him. But there must've been something wrong with his magnet because he felt drawn to her, all his attention following as she left.

He realized he hadn't moved at all, and by the time he got into the hall, there was already a swell of students. He fought his way through them, and from behind him came, "Hey, Eddie boy." In the sing-song tone Emmett seemed particularly inclined towards. The hulking boy came up, trying to give his younger and smaller brother a noogie.

"Get off me, Em, not now," he snapped at his brother, Edward's eyes still searching for her, as they walked towards the cafeteria.

"Whoa, what's wrong with you, Eddie?" Emmett looked somewhat genuinely worried for his younger brother, a seriousness in his face that Edward hadn't often seen.

"I think I just saw-"

"Did you hear the news?" Alice came bouncing towards them, interrupting Edward.

"What news?" Emmett asked before he could.

"Bella's back," Alice chirped, like it was no big deal. Like she hadn't just confirmed Edward's wishes and fears. He still hadn't really believed she was back, since it seemed like no one else had seen her.

"Whoa, really? Looks like Eddie is getting his girlfriend back," Emmett teased.

"She wasn't my girlfriend," he said automatically. He endured more teasing until Alice mercifully changed the subject in the line for food. When they got back to the table, Rose and Jaz were already there.

"Hey, did you hear Bella's back?" Rose said as Emmett sat next to her, but she didn't sound excited like Alice had.

"Oh, he heard, did she insult you already?" Alice responded, but she gave Rose a teasing grin.

Rosalie scoffed, picking at her food. "I haven't even seen her yet, but when I do-"

"Well, why are you so pissed?" Jaz asked.

"I remember what she did, even if the rest of you don't anymore," she nearly growled.

Edward, of course, remembered. After Bella had left, they had called each other every now and then, and eventually, they had started emailing. The calls and emails had become more frequent when she had stopped coming to Forks over the summers. That was until one day, when she had written back to him after what had seemed like a perfectly normal email.

She had sent him one final email. It was scathing. She had told him he was annoying her, that she knew he had a crush on her. She had taken all the information they had talked about, all his secrets and insecurities, and rubbed them in his face. It was more than he could take at that age. It was already humiliating being acknowledged at that awkward stage in life, and then someone he had trusted so implicitly had turned on him. She had ended it, saying he needed to leave her alone.

So, he did. He changed, he stopped talking about her, and he started closing himself off. After only a few days, Rosalie could tell something was wrong, so she broke into his email and read the cruel message from Bella.

Rose hadn't told anyone exactly what Bella had written, and for that he was forever grateful. She had just gathered the others and told them that Bella was dead to them, that she had sent him an evil email, and she was never to be forgiven.

Over the years, everyone else had forgotten, probably because they never saw all the things she had sent him, but Rosalie never forgave, and she never forgot. They never talked about it, but every once in a while, when he had started moping, Rose would tell him that he was better than Bella, and that she wasn't worth his time. Rosalie was the only reason he came back out of his shell after that.

Rose was the sibling he had the least in common with, and they usually could barely tolerate each other, but she had his back after that, and he would always remember that. Unfortunately, he was sure Rosalie was about to get very, very annoying.

"They remember, Rose, but it was a long time ago, and-" he started, but she interrupted him.

"No. I will not have you making excuses for her. If she was able to be that cruel to you…well, that's something about a person that doesn't change." She was gripping her silverware so hard that Emmett had to gently pull the fork out of her hand, laying his hand over hers.

They were all silent for a moment, but he noticed Alice watching something He turned to look where her gaze was locked, and he saw- Her.

Bella wasn't a ghost, but very nearly. It was the first time he had seen her interacting with anyone. She was sitting at a table with Angela, Mike, Jessica, and a few others. She barely seemed to be taking up the space her body was in. She said nothing besides short things, probably just encouraging the talkative girls in front of her. She had no tray in front of her, though the table had food scattered He. kept watching, but he didn't see her eat anything.

His mental evaluation was interrupted by a sharp, "Eh hem!" from Rose, who gave him the stink eye when he turned to face her again.

Rosalie held his stare until Alice interrupted, starting to drone on about some subject in a class of hers, but he couldn't focus on her chatter for the rest of lunch. He kept stealing glances at Bella, then getting shit from Rose about it. Rinse and repeat.

When lunch was over, Rosalie pulled him aside, making sure their other siblings were out of earshot. "Edward, I know you're not going to listen to me, but I have to say this. Bella is not good for you. If she was able to say things like that, then she's downright evil. I know you all think people can change and grow, but that's not something you can grow out of. I don't trust her, and you shouldn't either. If you give her the opportunity, she will hurt you, and I don't want to have to pick up the pieces again."

He waited a moment, then sighed, "Are you done?" She huffed at him, which he took as a yes. "I'm not a kid anymore, Rose. Besides, I'm not trying to become best friends again or anything, I just don't want to be angry at her the way you are."

"Fine, I can be angry enough for the both of us, at least until you realize that she's that same monster who hurt you." Rose stormed off, heading to her next class. He wasn't sure if he had lied to his sister or not. He wasn't sure what he wanted from Bella, but if she was really, truly back, he knew he wouldn't be able to keep himself away from her.