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Chapter Text

After the incident at Bella's birthday party, the situation between her and Edward became strangely tense. Bella believed, however, that sooner or later the tension would subside, and her vampire boyfriend would quickly forget about what she called a "little accident."

However, it turned out quite differently. A few days after the incident, when Bella returned from school, Edward asked her to talk. He was so unnaturally tense that it was painful to watch. His tone dripped with coldness, and Edward himself maintained his distance. His already icy skin couldn't compare to the coldness he exuded at that moment.

"We're leaving Forks, Bella," he announced as they reached the edge of the forest. Right by Bella's house. Close enough for her to easily find her way home, but far enough away that Charlie or one of his Native American guests wouldn't accidentally overhear their conversation.

"Why so suddenly? School just started. Can't you at least wait until the end of the semester?" "Bella, it's high time. Carlisle looks ten years younger than he should, people are already talking about 'good genes or a good surgeon,' we don't need all the hype and attention, because then it would be much harder for us to disappear and start all over again. And sooner or later we'll have to do it. Vampires live forever, after all." The boy spoke quickly, calmly, though his voice dripped with coldness. He spoke as if they were discussing the weather or something equally mundane. Not a huge life change, especially for a human girl like Isabella.

Then it dawned on Bella what she had just witnessed. Edward's cold demeanor, the indifference he'd shown her these past few days, it all suddenly made sense.

"When you said we're leaving Forks, you meant..." Bella swallowed, unable to finish the sentence. It was as if her very body was rebelling against admitting it aloud.

"Me and my family," Edward finished for her, emphasizing each word as if to make sure she understood.

"Is this about what happened at my birthday party? Come on, it's nothing. Jasper didn't mean to hurt me, it was an accident!"

"You're right. It wasn't something unforeseen," Edward admitted, looking Isabella straight in the eye. "But thanks to it, I understood something very important. You don't belong in my world, Bella, and you don't belong in mine either."

"What are you talking about? Edward! I belong to you, body and soul! You know perfectly well that I would do anything for you." I'm just asking for a little time while I figure out what to say to Charlie and Renee. We'll manage somehow.

"You misunderstood me, Bella. I don't want you to belong to me," the boy said, each word sending another dagger to poor Isabella's heart. The girl staggered back, clutching the tree limb to keep from falling.

"You... you don't want me?" The words were incredibly difficult to say. Her throat constricted mercilessly, causing her voice to crack at the most inopportune moments.

"Exactly. I don't want you anymore, Bella," he said ruthlessly, confirming his already brutal words. Bella's heart clenched painfully in her chest, as if signaling that it wasn't going to continue beating. And the girl, tripping over her own feet, approached the boy to take his hand.

"You promised me you'd be with me forever. Back in Phoenix, right after James's attack." "She said reproachfully, no longer trying to hide the tears welling up in her eyes. This broken promise hurt like nothing else. It made her heart skip a beat, and her mind couldn't accept any of the words she'd spoken that day.

"I told you something else too, I even repeated those words on your birthday." The boy removed his hand from hers and, looking into her eyes with blatant indifference, continued the thread he'd begun. "You should never have trusted a vampire."

"How can you say that? After all this?"

"You see, Bella, every fairy tale has an end," he said, looking into her eyes. "But before I leave, I want you to promise me something."

"Do you really think any promise I made to you will matter after you broke yours?"

"I don't expect much from you, Bella. I just want to ask you to stay out of trouble. Not for my sake, but for Charlie's. He needs you very much." "Good. Not for you, but for Daddy." Isabella nodded, hoping her words would somehow touch the vampire, make him come to his senses and change his mind. However, that didn't happen. The boy merely took a few steps back, preparing to leave.

"In return, I'll promise you something else. Once I'm gone, it'll be like we never met." With those words, the boy jogged forward, quickly building up his running speed to that vampire, supernatural speed.

"Edward! Wait!" Bella shouted, and before she could fully consider what she was doing, she ran after him. Of course, she had no chance of catching up with the vampire; it was impossible. But the tortured mind of a lovestruck teenager didn't care about the laws of physics at that time.

She ran through the forest undergrowth, scraping her legs, over shoes ill-suited to the terrain, and over the numerous bushes she encountered. She fell several times, leaving her body covered in layers of dirt and wounds.

Despite this, she got up and kept running. She screamed his name, begging him not to leave like a mantra. But he was gone. He had long since gone too far to hear the despairing screams of his former lover.

When Isabella finally gave out, she realized she had no idea where she was or how she could get home. She collapsed to the ground, tucking her legs under her chin, and began to cry. From pain, from helplessness, from everything that had happened today.

Finally, however, she was too tired for that, so she simply lay there, staring up at the increasingly darkening sky. The forest floor tangled in her hair, but even that didn't seem to bother her.

Several hours passed, and Bella hadn't moved an inch. She had no idea that a search had begun at the same time, that Charlie was losing her mind. She had no idea of ​​the chaos her disappearance had unleashed.

She had no idea that Charlie, the local police, and members of the Quileute tribe had been searching the forest for her for hours.

Jacob, who had no idea how much his life would change from that day on, was also involved in the search.

Chapter Text

Isabella lay on the ground for a long time, absorbing the cold surrounding her. In that moment, she felt as if she had ceased to exist, as if all life had vanished from her with Edward's departure. Then footsteps and calls reached her ears. Some quieter, decidedly distant, others loud and clear. Always her name, as if they were searching for her. But none of them were the single hair she longed for. Edward hadn't returned to her. It wasn't his voice, it wasn't his footsteps. It simply wasn't him.

Bella, lying on the ground, dirty, covered in blood, and shivering, was found by Sam Uley, a Quileute. Like many others, the man had been searching the forest for the missing girl when he spotted her red blouse among the trees. That's how he found her. Thank goodness she was dressed in such a striking color; otherwise, he might have passed her by and not even noticed she was there.

"Are you hurt?" Did someone hurt you, Bella?" he asked, and the girl barely heard what he was saying. Her mind was as if drunk, overwhelmed by everything that had happened. Even though the girl hadn't been drinking or using any substances.

Seeing that Isabella didn't intend to, or couldn't, answer him, the man knelt beside her, visually assessing her injuries. However, he didn't see anything that could explain the girl's daze. Nevertheless, he decided to try to engage her in conversation, to find out what had happened.

"My name is Sam Uley. A lot of people are looking for you. Charlie is terribly worried," the man said, trying to help her stand. However, when she slid through his hands like overcooked pasta, he realized it was getting nowhere and lifted the girl from the ground without much difficulty.

The man's body radiated warmth. Under normal circumstances, Bella would probably have worried that he wasn't running a fever. Except that day, nothing had been normal. It was as if something had died within Isabella, irrevocably extinguished, like a match cut off from its oxygen supply. Because that was exactly how she felt. As if a large part of her soul had also departed with Edward's departure.

After all, he was supposed to be with her until the very end, even when she was old and ugly enough to be considered his grandmother. What had changed? Had he suddenly stopped loving her? The entire nightmare of the day was replaying in her mind, over and over again.

Isabella was so weakened by hours of crying and the cold she had braved in the forest that she simply fell asleep, carried by Sam. Like a small child who falls asleep as soon as they reach a relatively safe place. Needless to say, the girl was quite lucky that Sam genuinely didn't mean to hurt her. If anyone else had been in his place, it could have ended very differently. A way that could be called a tragedy without hesitation.

At the same time, a gathering was underway outside Commander Swan's house, during which those involved in the search were reporting to Charlie on their progress. Most of it was bad news, saying that neither of them had found anything that might indicate Bella's presence anywhere near the house.

Charlie was growing increasingly nervous, almost going crazy. Even though he was a police officer and had successfully solved missing persons cases countless times, when this hit him personally, he felt... helpless. Like he could do nothing at all. Had someone kidnapped her? Why? When would the kidnappers contact him? Would they demand a ransom? Or had she had an accident and was lying unconscious somewhere, waiting for help that might never come? Or had she escaped again. Just like last year, chasing that irresponsible boy, Edward!

"I'll call the Cullens again," said Charlie, who was surprised by his family's absence during the search. Until now, they had seemed very close to his daughter. At times, even closer than he himself, but now? They had completely ignored the girl's disappearance? Something about it all didn't make sense.

"The Cullens aren't in Forks anymore, Charlie," Billy said, rolling closer to his friend in his wheelchair, as if to reassure the man with his presence. "They left early this morning, Cullen got a job at a better hospital, somewhere in another state..."

"A cross for the road," Harry Clearwater muttered under his breath, busily marking the places on the map that each of the searchers had already checked. This was supposed to help them determine the area for further search. "We'll find her. Everyone in town is ready to help," the man added, placing a hand on Charlie's shoulder in a reassuring gesture. It clearly worked, as the man's shoulders relaxed slightly.

"Thanks, Harry," he said, genuinely appreciating how much his friends from the reservation and the townspeople had done to help him find his beloved daughter. For many years, he had been the one to help them, and now, they had a chance to repay him for the kindness they had shown him over the years.

"Charlie..." Jacob interrupted them, his voice muffled, swallowing hard against the lump that had formed in his throat at the sight of the nearly unconscious Isabella, carried to the site by Sam Uley, of whom he had a rather low opinion.

Charlie turned toward the voice, and when he saw his only daughter in such a state, he rushed toward it as if the devil himself were on his heels. And when he was close enough, Sam handed the girl to him.

"She's fine. She's scratched and dirty, but it looks like she didn't get to... the worst," Sam said, giving Charlie a reassuring look. "But I still think she should be seen by a doctor."

"Thank you, Sam."

Charlie hugged his daughter tightly and carried her home, where she could wait in warmth and comfort for the doctor, whoever that doctor was now, to arrive. He laid her on the living room couch and, with nervous hands, covered her with a fluffy blanket. The same one she'd slept under as a little girl when she came down with the flu while visiting Forks. He stroked her hair tenderly, just like he had done then, then kissed her forehead. He didn't want to leave her alone, but he had to talk to all these people, notify the doctor... he simply had a lot of work ahead of him, finishing the search and bringing everyone back to the meeting point, to make sure none of them got lost.

As if from the sky, Jacob, along with Billy, entered the building. The boy's father knew all too well how much they still had to do. After all, they still didn't know what Isabella was doing so deep in the woods, alone, scratched, and dirty.
While the two men talked in hushed tones, Jacob sat on the ground by the couch where Bella lay, watching her sleep. She looked... terrible and beautiful all at the same time.
Terrible, because her hair was tousled, her clothes dirty, and her hands and feet bruised. Beautiful, because it was still her. The girl with unnaturally pale skin, brown hair, and eyes of a mesmerizing, warm shade. The knowledge that someone could have driven her to this state drove him mad.

That was when he first felt that overwhelming heat and rage. But he quickly pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind, focusing on the girl. In that moment, her safety was paramount.

Chapter Text

October

November

December

When the Cullens disappeared, and Edward with them, her world felt strangely empty. As if the last ray of sunshine had vanished irrevocably, welcoming a long, uninterrupted darkness. Bella withdrew completely, spending entire days alone. At school, she avoided her friends like the plague, and at home, she acted like a ghost. She acted as if someone had died, not as if her boyfriend had broken up with her. And this didn't escape Charlie's notice.

This worried him deeply, and ultimately, it led him to make one of the most difficult decisions of his life. The decision to send Isabella back to Jacksonville, to her mother. To cut her off from Forks, from the memory of the Cullens. He sincerely believed that a change of scenery would help his beloved child.

But Isabella had no intention of conforming to her parents' decision. Forks was her home, her place in the world, and she had no intention of leaving it, even if life there was painful.

"No, Bella! It won't last!" You're doing nothing, you're acting like you're on some kind of fucking autopilot! That's not acceptable, dear child!" The man slammed his hand on the table, and Isabella flinched, seeing her father so agitated for the first time in her life. "If you want to stay here, you'll go to therapy and start leaving the house normally. And that's a condition, Bella."

"But why..."

"That's not up for discussion, Isabella. If you want to stay in Forks, you have to get your act together," Charlie said firmly, unused to treating his daughter so harshly, but he realized there was no other way to get through to her.

"Dad..."

"If you want to stay in Forks, you'll abide by my terms, Bella," Charlie cut the subject short, taking his plate of dinner from the table and heading to the living room. A rather telling gesture to Isabella that the conversation was over.

Bella sighed heavily and sank into the chair she'd pushed away from the table moments earlier. She gripped her hair in her hands, tugging gently. She felt lost, misunderstood, feeling... not quite right.

She was utterly devastated. However, unwilling to leave Forks, she had to adapt to Charlie's terms. Otherwise, she would end up on a plane to Jacksonville before she could even fully rebel.

So, reluctantly, she went to the phone and dialed Jessica's number.

"Hello?" came the voice of her school friend, and Bella swallowed for a moment, wondering what she should say.

"Hi Jess. It's Bella," she said into the phone, grimacing as she realized how awkward it sounded.

"Bella? You're calling me? It hasn't happened since the Cullens left. To what do I owe this honor?" As usual, the girl immediately launched into a flurry of words, speaking rapidly and hurriedly. In her mind's eye, Isabella could picture Jessica standing there, waving her free hand while the other held the phone to her ear.

Jessica never played by half measures, so it was no surprise that she was the only one of the many people around Isabella who spoke openly about the Cullens. Shockingly, Bella found it less difficult to bear than before. It was as if the wound from the vampires' departure had healed, turning into a pale scar like many others on the human soul. "Yeah, I've neglected you all a bit, haven't I? I think it's time to get my act together and fix that. How about a movie or some shopping in Port Angeles?"

"You and shopping? Should I be preparing for the apocalypse already?"

"Right. Not all at once. So what about the movie?"

"I won't say no to a good movie... but you'll have to explain to me what the hell's been going on with you these past few months."

"No problem."

"Do you want us to bring anyone else? You know, Mike, Angela, and Ben really missed us too," Jessica interjected, her tone suggesting it wasn't entirely her idea. She was probably talking to the others about Bella and planning to drag her out for questioning about "what's going on with you?" Isabella thought, though, that maybe, just maybe, being around a few people would help her. It would lift her spirits and fill the void left by the friends she'd lost. Especially Alice.

"Yeah, that's a good idea. I'll email them tonight. You know what... I think I could also invite my friends from La Push."

"Good idea. Pizza Planet is having a sale, so the more we go, the merrier," Jessica suggested, her mind already swirling with hundreds of plans for how they could spend the afternoon.

"And when?"

"Saturday. Nobody would want to rush into town right after school."

"You're right, actually. See you Saturday then." Bella sighed, hanging her phone back up on the wall. She'd at least partially prevented her from leaving Forks, and besides, going out with friends didn't sound so bad.

Before Bella called Billy Black's house, she stared at the phone for a good few minutes, wondering what she could possibly say. On the one hand, inviting someone to the movies shouldn't have been too much of a challenge, but on the other hand, it felt strange to call after months without contact. Finally, however, she steeled herself and dialed the number. The receiver was picked up almost immediately, and Jacob's voice rang through the phone.

"Charlie? Is something wrong? Should I call Billy?" Jacob asked, his voice slightly agitated, yet also sleepy. It was as if he'd been jolted awake by the sound of the phone.

"It's not Charlie," Bella said, unsure of what else to say. After a moment of awkward silence, she added. "Do you have any plans for the weekend?"

"Excuse me?" the boy asked, not quite believing what he'd just heard. In the months since the Cullens left, he'd listened to Charlie describe his daughter's dire condition almost every day. That's why it was quite a surprise to hear her voice on the phone. But before he could doubt his own sanity, the girl spoke again.

"Maybe I should have started with that. It's Bella," she said, feeling a strange tightening in her chest at the thought that the mere fact of calling her old friends had evoked such strong emotions. She really must have tuned out for a long... a really long time. Until that moment, she hadn't realized how long. "Do you have plans for the weekend? We're planning a trip to the movies, you know, me and my high school friends. I thought maybe you'd like to come with us?"

"I..." the boy trailed off, unsure of what to say or how to react. After all, the phone call had completely caught him off guard. He didn't want his surprise to be too obvious, though. "...I haven't finished my rabbit yet."

"No problem, I can come pick you up if you want," Bella said quickly, hoping she didn't sound desperate. Truth be told, she'd hoped that meeting her friends with the teenagers from La Push would lighten the mood and allow Bella to avoid awkward and unnecessary questions. "You know, my Chevrolet is still holding up."

After Bella's words, Jacob chuckled on the other end of the phone. After all, he'd personally gotten the girl's car back into working order. If it had broken down so quickly, well, that would have made him a rather poor mechanic.

"I was planning on working on Rabitt with Embry and Quil..." he said, but the sky would freeze before he passed up the opportunity to meet Isabella Swan. So, before she could draw any wrong conclusions, he added. "However, I'm sure they'll be convinced to go to the movies."

"Great!" Bella rejoiced, feeling a huge wave of relief flooding her body. The presence of the boys from La Push would surely distract Jessica enough to make the movie trip actually a movie trip, and not an interrogation titled, "Why did you disappear from social life for a few months, Bella?"

"I don't think you'll even have to bother going to the reservation," Jake said after a moment, clearly a bit more excited than he should have been. However, Bella wasn't about to pretend she didn't know why. Ever since she arrived, Jake had really wanted to be her friend. And now that she thought about it, if it weren't for Edward's controlling nature, they might be good friends now.

They were friends, basically; there was just a certain distance between them. A distance caused by the tribe knowing perfectly well WHO the Cullens were. They knew WHAT they were.
And that meant their hearts, and above all, the lands of their reservation, remained closed to the Cullens. And thus, they remained closed to Bella, because Edward wouldn't let her go alone somewhere he couldn't protect her.

And yet he was gone.

Bella thought bitterly, quickly pushing away the unwanted thoughts. He was gone. He left her. He buried everything they had built. And so the moment came when she, too, had to let go. Finally get herself together. Live, instead of wasting her short, human life longing for her immortal lover.

With that thought in her head and heart, she focused on the conversation again.

"Hello? Bella, are you there?"

"Yes, I am. Sorry, Jake." I thought for a moment.

"Okay. Embry called Jared, and Jared called Paul. We have transportation, provided your friends don't mind the presence of five additional Indians." "Jake said, visibly embarrassed. Bella could hear another male voice in the background, but it was far too faint for her to tell who it belonged to. It seemed she'd chosen a less-than-ideal moment to call. "Shut up, Quil."

Hearing this, Bella couldn't help but laugh. And since it was a sound so rarely heard in the Swan household these days, it lured Charlie from the living room. The man stood in the doorway, between the rooms, silently observing his daughter. For the first time in weeks, she smiled genuinely.

"Okay, I'll tell Jessica we'll have a bigger group. We'll book a table at Pizza Planet to make sure we have something to eat after the show," Bella said, making no reference to Jacob's friends she'd heard on the phone. In her mind's eye, she pictured his tanned, yet slightly flushed cheeks.

"Okay... Embry, for God's sake!"

"You know what, Jake, have fun with your friends. See you Saturday," the girl said, hearing another round of laughter over the phone. Contrary to appearances, it was a pleasant sound. A balm for her aching heart, already accustomed to silence and solitude.

"I... Okay, see you! QUIL, I'LL KILL YOU!"

That was the last thing Isabella heard on the phone before the call ended. For a moment, she stared at a point in front of her, holding the phone in her hand. A gentle smile played on her lips, the origin of which she couldn't, in any rational way, explain. Simply put, something about the carefreeness of Jacob and his friends soothed the wound that gaped in her chest. Just as talking to Jessica had allowed her to forget for a moment.

They couldn't compare to Edward. They couldn't fill the void she'd felt after the Cullens left Forks. Because neither of them were them. However, when she talked to them, she didn't think about her longing that often. During those two, seemingly laconic phone calls, she realized her dad was right. She needed her friends to get back on track. To learn to live with the emptiness in a place that had once been filled with love.

Is that what you meant, Edward?

She thought, her smile fading. In a much worse mood than a mere second before, she reached for her gloves to prepare dinner for herself and Charlie. Turning off the radio, she washed her hands and began preparing spaghetti with meat so her father wouldn't go to work hungry. After all, he had a night shift waiting for him today.

She didn't realize at the time that she had made a decision that would change her entire life.