more, more, more about me!OPEN

[Bella Swan]

Bella wandered around the tiny shopping center in Forks, already missing the rest of the world. She had arrived the day before, and had been greeted by, amazingly enough, sunshine. Charlie had been ecstatic to have her home. Bella hadn't mentioned yet that she wasn't planning on staying forever... She couldn't be so separated from her life, her world. Forks always felt like its own separate world to her for some reason. Maybe it was because of how the constant tree and cloud cover made things look so alien. Even with all of the places she'd been now, Bella didn't think any place was a s strange to her as Forks.

Bella honestly didn't know if she wanted to be back in Forks, but she knew that she needed to be back in Forks. She wasn't sure why, but she did. And this time, even if she did get drawn back into the Edward and Jacob thing, she could handle it better this time. She was older, wiser, and she wouldn't be an addict again. And she refused to hurt people through her indecisiveness.

Bella smiled lightly as she wandered past the grocery store. She would handle things better this time. Bella hadn't wanted to hurt anyone before, but she knew that she'd done the right thing. Her relationship with Edward wasn't healthy, and her relationship with Jacob was worse. She was glad that she'd left, and been human, and a person, and had experiences that were simply hers, and no one else's.

Bella Swan was a much different person now, and she didn't know if the town of Forks was ready for her.

[Edward Cullen]

The day was an over cast like almost every other day within the town of Forks; which meant it was a good day for any of the Cullens to be outside and roam around the familiar town. Edward had on just a pair of dark faded jeans, a plain black t-shirt on; he shoved his hands into his jean pockets. He didn't really see any familiar faces, but for some reason, it seemed that a few kind of saw him and acted as if they knew him. Then again, he usually got those looks from everyone else because of the way he looks; Edward just gave a small smile towards them all and continued walking around.

Every store he went past was, of course, familiar to him. They still looked the same; all family owned and ran by the same people. A small sigh came from his lips as he walked down through the sidewalk; ever since he came back here a few days ago, he'd done nothing but stop thinking about her and it was driving him insane. Maybe Emmett was right, maybe he did need to talk to her or even just see her, maybe that was all he needed, but he wasn't sure how well that was really going to go.

Once more, he thought about leaving away from Forks, but the thought of how that would affect his family, especially Esme, it tore him apart; he hated bringing pain to Esme, she was the one of the main reasons he did come back here with them all. Edward loved that woman as she was his mother and he adored her and hated seeing her hurt. Growling lightly at himself he stared down at the ground before him and as he continued to walk a scent hit him like brick wall, causing him to look up and stare straight ahead.

Edward couldn't help but to stop in his track and be frozen in his place; he had no idea she was back in Forks, and of course, the two of them would happen to be in the same place at the same time.

[Bella Swan]

Bella suddenly glanced up, unsure why. She looked around, trying to find what had startled her so much. Finally, her eyes settled on the culprit. Oh. Oh. Well. Bella had no idea what to do. What exactly do you say to the vampire that you planned on spending eternity with, but then left because of a werewolf? Um.. Well.. Bella sure didn't know.

She kind of wondered if he'd ever recognize how she looked. She did look really different. Aside from the fact that she was wearing clothes that actually showed of the fact that she had a figure, her hair was lighter from all of the sunshine, and it was much shorter than it had been when she saw him. And her clothes really were different from the Bella he knew. Tight, light blue skinny jeans, and a fitted t-shirt, with a tan leather jacket over it. She liked how she dressed now. And, the stud in her nose would probably shock him.. Plus, her face wasn't nearly as downcast, shy, awkward as it had been. Bella didn't mind looking at the world, and having it look back. Not anymore.

She had to admit that he looked just the same.. but at the same time, there was something in his face that was different. Sadder, near broken. The same quality that hers had held when he left her. Bella almost felt like crying, but quickly got a hold of herself. No one would have that kind of control over her anymore. Bella sighed, and realized that she should say something to him. She squared her shoulders, held her head high, and took a few small steps toward him. She tripped, of course, but didn't blush the way she used to. When she got close enough that she could have shook hands with him if she wanted, she gave him a smile. "You know, I honestly never thought I'd see you again.."

[Edward Cullen]

He stood where he was, as if he was a statue built right there in the middle of the sidewalk; he couldn't move even if he tried his hardest. Edward watched as she noticed that he was there, seeing that she made her way towards him, he felt his jaw clench; her blood was as strong as the first time he ever smelled it and it was killing him. He could feel the venom in the back of his throat burning for the taste of it, but Edward did his best to control that monster, just like he did at the beginning. When she finally reached him, he just stood there, wanting desperately to walk away, to tell himself that he just imagined her standing there, but when he heard her speak he knew there was no turning back.

"I could say the same thing." he forced a small smile to his lips, his voice held no emotion and he kept his face blank besides the small smile that he held to his lips. Edward wasn't ready for this, he wasn't ready to see her, to speak to her. God how he prayed right now for the sun to start escaping from the clouds to give him the chance to escape and disappear, but he knew that wasn't going to happen.

He looked her over, he noticed that she looked, well, different. She didn't look at all like the Bella he had imprinted in his mind and the ones that he would see in his family's mind as well. Edward saw that she had a different style in clothing, her hair looked shorter and there was a piercing within her nose. He let out a small sigh, hoping she didn't notice it and felt a pain within his chest and of course, the venom burned even more in the back of his throat "You...You look good." he pushed the words from his mouth. As much as he wanted to disappear right now, another part of him wanted to stay.

[Bella Swan]

Bella sighed at how obviously forced his smile and words were. She had hoped that he wouldn't have too many hard feelings toward her. It was a pointless hope, and she knew that. She really didn't know what she had been expecting from him. Some sign that he didn't mind that she'd run out of their wedding? Like that was going to happen. If the roles had been reversed, she wouldn't have forgiven her either.

Bella nodded, and blushed lightly. "You.. um, you do too. I mean, you look the same. Obviously..." Her blush darkened slightly, and she tried to tell her face to stop reacting to everything, but it wasn't working. Bella tried to think of a good topic of conversation, that didn't bring up anything painful for either of them. After a few seconds, she realized that that wasn't possible. Everything that they could talk about was uncomfortable, or was closely related to discomfort. So she would just have to settle for awkward small talk. "How've you been? Did your family go back to Alaska?"

[Edward Cullen]

He noticed the blush to her face, at least that was something a bit familiar from the Bella he knew. But he pushed the thought aside, and gave a faint laugh towards her words. Edward wondered what happened after this; did he make the decision to try and work a friendship or to just leave it be and let the broken pieces mend themself and for Edward to just move on, or at least try to and forget that any of this ever happened. He was going to need to talk to Esme or Carlisle soon; or even Alice. He felt better when he spoke to either one of them and he liked what they usually had to say as well.

Edward snapped back to reality when he heard the words come from Bella, he pushed another smile to his lips "I've been good." which was a lie and he had a feeling that she would know it too "We did go back to Alaska, but Esme and Carlisle were feeling home sick." he told her and it was the truth. Especially Esme, she missed the town of Forks and wanted to come back "How have you been?" he asked her, truly curious.

[Bella Swan]

Bella had no idea what she was doing. She didn't want to get in a position where she would have to hurt him again, and she didn't want to have to go through the healing process for herself again, but.. part of her wanted to try and mend things at least to the point of there not being anymore grudges with Edward. She wasn't stupid enough to think that they could ever have a relationship like they'd had before, and she wasn't naive enough to think that she'd want it that way. She liked just being Bella. She liked the fact that her life didn't revolve around anyone anymore. And she wasn't conceited enough to think that he'd take her back, even if she wanted him.

"I-I'm glad. There was no point in making him tell her the truth. She could see straight through the lie, but it wasn't worth commenting on. "I'll have to see Esme soon... I've missed her. I've missed all of you." It was true. She had.. Sadly, and she would never admit it, she wasn't sure where Edward was on the list of who she'd missed most. Bella considered for half a second how she'd been. "I've been... really good. Done some truly stupid things, gotten into a few kind of huge accidents, but overall, I've been good. But, I think it's good to be home." Bella smiled widely. She really had been doing good. She was glad that she could just tell the truth, and not try to hide some pain, the way she always had in the past.

[Edward Cullen]

Edward listen to her words; she said she missed us all, but how much did she really miss him? He really wasn't about to ask her, but he was curious "I'm sure Esme would be happy to see you." he told her truthfully; he knew what Esme thought and she was one of the people in his family that didn't blame him nor her for what happened, it was what he adored about his mother; she was so caring and loving that he felt he didn't deserve such a person like her as a mother. When he heard how she'd been, he could tell that she wasn't lying about it either. Edward had mentally cringed at hearing that'd she been in accidents, but stayed calm on the outside.

"That's good to hear." he told her, he was happy to hear that she'd been doing good. Edward glanced around and noticed a few people staring at the two of them. It made him think of when he first decided that he didn't care if anyone seen the two of them together; all of the stares they got from everyone. Edward pushed the thoughts away, he needed to get these thoughts gone and away; it seemed she got on with her life, why couldn't he do the same. He looked back at her and suddenly thought of Alice; he knew how hurt she was by all of this and thought how happy she'd be to see the human girl. He actually gave her a real smile as he thought of his pixie like sister "Alice will be happy to know you are here."

[Bella Swan]

Bella smiled when he said that Esme would be glad to see her. She had grown to think of the vampire as a second mother in the two years she'd known her, and it was nice to know that someone in the Cullen family didn't hate her for leaving... She kind of didn't think Carlisle would either, he would just probably be disappointed in her. Disappointed that she'd ruined his son's chance at happiness. Bella shook her head. She didn't believe that. She believed that Edward would find someone to make him happy someday.. It just probably wouldn't be her.

Bella looked around when she saw Edward doing the same. People were looking. Of course they were. She was Chief Swan's daughter, who was turning out more and more like her mother every day, and he was Edward Cullen. They were something to stare at. Bella felt her cheeks heat up again at the unwanted attention. Bella grinned at the thought of Alice. "Will she? I meant to call her, but.. her number got lost when I moved into my dorm. I think college dorms eat belongings. Bet Alice saw me coming back... " Bella didn't add that maybe she didn't, because maybe Bella's future was out of Alice's reach. Bella hadn't gotten a chance to go and find Jacob Black yet, but she planned to. She missed him.. quite a bit. And Alice... Alice had been one of Bella's best friends. She couldn't wait to see her again. Alice would be so proud of her, she'd gone to Paris, and actually appreciated some of the fashion... Of course, Alice would only be proud of her if Alice didn't hate her. "Alice isn't... mad at me, is she?"

[Edward Cullen]

Edward listen to her talk about how she went to college; that made him mentally cringe as well. Standing here talking to her was really starting to make him feel as if all of this was his fault now; he was the one that wanted her to marry him, plus it was his fault for her getting closer with Jacob; he left her because he had thought it would of been the best for her. Edward made sure to keep the smile on his lips, he didn't want her to see the pain he was feeling "I don't think she is really mad." he told her with a small shrug "Alice is pretty understanding."

He had been happy to have Alice around during those last six years; or else he was sure he'd done lost it and possibly attacked his own sister Rose before the first years was even up. Edward started to think about where that pixie girl was, he was sure that she'd be happy to see Bella back here at Forks. Maybe the girl would see what Edward was doing and come rushing off this way.

[Bella Swan]

A look of confusion crossed Bella's face. Edward had looked almost pained at her mention of college. He had hidden it quickly, of course, but... She thought that he had wanted her to go out and be human. She knew that he had at some point, but maybe by the end of their relationship, he didn't want that anymore.. Oh well, she thought. Won't feel guilty about doing what was best for all involved. She heaved a sigh of relief at hearing his words. "I.. good. I really didn't mean to hurt... anyone. But it was a good thing. I just could have handled things much better. You're.. you're okay, aren't you?" Bella thingyed her head to the side, watching, trying to find something is his face that said that what she had done was right for him too.

Unfortunately, Bella couldn't. His face was just... lifeless. Just his face. It was as stunning, dazzling, perfect and all of those other fairytale adjectives as ever, but it was somehow different. Bella sighed again. She really could have handled things better. She should never have.. well, done most things that she did. But you couldn't change the past. She wouldn't try. Bella remembered what her best friend Jamie had told her in college. 'You can't change the past, Iz, you can just apologize, accept that you could have done things better and didn't, and move on with life'. She was right. Bella missed Jamie. They hadn't talked in a couple of weeks, which was quite unusual for them. Jamie had been an absolute lifesaver in college. Bella had needed someone to talk to, and Jamie had been that person. Jamie knew the basics about Bella's past in Forks, minus the magic and monsters of course. And Bella knew all about Jamie's problems, too. They'd helped each other quite a bit over the years...

[Edward Cullen]

Edward pushed that smile to his lips and tried to put more emotion behind it this time. He really didn't want her to see how bad he was and he really didn't want her to know at all "Don't worry about. Most are more understanding than others." he told her and at hearing her ask how he was, he really gave that smile to her to try and show her that he was okay "I'm fine." he lied, but he hoped that she would take it and leave it at that and not ask anymore.

And to try and keep the conversation away from how he was feeling, he decided that he'd talk about her instead. It seemed that she'd been doing better than him, so he might as well keep the conversation going in that direction "So, you went to college?" he asked with a bit of curiosity in his voice "What did you go for?" Edward asked her, he kept the smile to his face.

When he realized that they were still standing in the middle of the sidewalk he figured it was best if they walked around and talked instead of standing here; at least that way he could keep his eyes stared straight ahead "Umm, maybe we could walk and talk instead of just standing here." he suggested. Edward held an arm out in front of her to allow her to start walking first.

[Bella Swan]

Bella nodded. She didn't believe Edward's assurance that he was fine, but she would let it go. She knew how to tell when he was in pain. She'd caused enough of it in the past, and she did know him fairly well. It made her sad to know that she had been the source of so much pain, for him, and for Jake... She had been a really horrible person then. She was glad that she'd left before she could get any worse. She shuddered to think of how it would have been if she'd gone through with the vampire thing... It would have been disastrous.

"Yeah, Arizona. I ended up majoring in English. It was good. It was fun. A good experience, definitely." Bella nodded. The whole thing had been great. People hadn't noticed her much, but she had friends, and she had loved being back in Arizona. The sun was good for her. Once again, she hadn't tanned, which all of her friends had found hilarious. There had even been a couple of 'vampire' comments. That part had made her fairly uncomfortable. But otherwise, she'd had a lot of fun. She'd actually gone to a few parties, mostly at Jamie's urging, and even went on a bunch of odd dates. The dating thing had been interesting, because she'd never really been on a date that was just for fun.

Bella started slightly, Edward's voice having pulled her out of her thoughts. "Yeah, yeah. We probably look really awkward." Bella started walking, falling into step next to Edward, tripping over the occasional bit of air. "So, have you guys done anything interesting? Gone to college again?" Bella honestly didn't know how to talk to Edward anymore. It was like anything interesting would be awkward, and what had they talked about before? How stupid she was for staying with him, how stupid he was for getting involved with her, death, how much they loved each other, how perfect they were? Not much she could talk about now..

[Edward Cullen]

Edward stayed quiet as he listened to Bella talk about her experience with college; this had been what he wanted for her in the first place. He wanted her to go off to college, to epxerience all of it and for her to live and to grow older. But deep down, he felt pain, but he pushed a smile to his face and nodded every so often to show her that he was listening to her "That sounds great. It seems like you had a good time." he told her, trying to add some cheer to his voice, but he had a feeling he was doing horrible at it.

Once they were walking, Edward shoved his hands into his pockets once more, figuring it'd be best and he kept space between the two of them as they walked. Her blood was still as strong as ever and as always, it was driving him mad; Edward just stared ahead of them, really trying not to breath to much. He heard her question and he thought about it, Alaska was where they went and the vampire boy really hadn't paid much attention to what any one else in his family had done. As he thought about it, for the past six years, he had no idea what any of his family did. All he knew, was he went hunting to much and when he wasn't doing that, he was usually locked away in his room and hidden away somewhere.

Edward gave a small shrug to her "Not really. We moved back to Alaska, I think the others went to college there.." he wasn't really sure and gave a faint laugh with another shrug.

[Bella Swan]

Bella nodded carefully. It was so odd that the person she'd once felt closest to in the world was now so hard to talk to. "Yes. It was a good for me." Bella felt some sadness at the obvious forced tone in Edward's voice, but the selfish, bratty part of her brain wanted him to just be happy for her and get over it. It had been years. But more of her wished that she could make everything better for him and everyone else.

"Oh, that's.. good." Bella didn't think it would be wise to ask why he hadn't gone, because she knew. Bella was glad to see Edward, because there was a part of her that had halfway suspected that he would kill himself over it. He'd been willing to try when he thought she was dead, and she thought that running out their wedding might be a little worse than dead. Or maybe she was just horribly conceited to believe that anyone's world was that focused on her.

Bella knew that as a teenager, she had been incredibly self centered. She remembered her small breakdown in her truck after the fight with Victoria's army, when Jacob had gotten injured. She believed that that was when her major personality change started. She had finally realized that just because she was indecisive, that didn't give her an excuse to cause everyone else so much pain. That was when she should have made a definite decision. She should have just left then. A clean break on both ends. Bella shook her head, and smiled lightly at Edward. She couldn't change the past. No use lingering on it.