Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

A Fresh Start

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 15:

BPOV

I was a little nervous going to Forks. I didn’t know what I would find. Apparently Sue lived on a reservation called La Push. I spent a lot of time there according to Charlie.

But on the bright side, I got to take a plane ride this time. Charlie, Bo and I had just got past security. We had thirty minutes to wait until we could board. I wonder if on this trip…

“Mr. and Mrs. Walker. How lovely to see you two again.”

You have got to be fucking kidding me.

I took a deep breath and turned around. I saw Bo was already
holding in laughter. Asshole.

“Mr. Davenport.” I said, glaring.

“Please call me Mark.” He smiled.

“I would offer you my hand but since you prefer your little bows I will resist.”

“My apologies, Mrs. Walker. Last time we met I had just had lunch
and wasn’t sure my hands were perfectly clean for you. You can
never be too careful about shaking hands without knowing what they have recently… touched.”

“Yes, I completely understand. What can I do for you today?” Grrrr.

“Nothing at all. I happened to notice the two newlyweds and could
not believe my luck that the two of you are flying out of our airport again so soon.”

“Do you know this man B… Mary?” Charlie asked. Thank God he
remembered. The last thing I need is this guy hearing me called by
another name.

“Yes. This is Mr. Mark Davenport, head of airport security.”

“Nice to meet you Mark. Charlie Swan.”

“Mr. Swan. I see the resemblance. Mrs. Walker must be your
daughter.”

“Yes, she is.”

“I’m glad you will be with her and Mr. Walker on this flight.” He
winked at me. Asshole.

“Why is that?” Charlie asked.

“Nothing you need to worry about Dad.” I stared daggers at the
asshole.

“Oh no. Mr. and Mrs. Walker are very special passengers. Members
of an exclusive club you might say.”

“Mr. Davenport I appreciate you saying hi but we really don’t want to keep you. I’m sure you have a lot of duties being responsible for the security of a huge airport. You probably have more important things to do.”

“Of course Mrs. Walker. Remember if you have any problems on the flight, wardrobe malfunctions or anything else, don’t be shy about asking the stewardess for assistance. Mr. Walker.” Asshole nodded at Bo.

“Pleasure to see you again, Mark.”

“Mr. Swan, a pleasure to meet you.”

Asshole finally walked off smirking.

“What the hell was that all about?” Charlie asked.

“I don’t know Dad. Strange guy. We met him when we flew in from
our honeymoon. I guess he heard we weren’t happy with the service in our area and wanted to make sure everything was okay.”

“Shouldn’t someone other than airport security do that?”

“Look Dad! A plane is landing!” Thankfully.

“Yes it is Bella. This is an airport.” Dad responded shaking his head. I cringed at the name. Damn it, why don’t he and Renee get it right? I mean why doesn’t he and Renee get it right? Just because you call someone a name for 17 years doesn’t mean you can’t change a habit. I guess I could cut them some slack. Besides I was going to have to get used to it. I planned to keep Bo and I to ourselves as much as possible but people in Forks were bound to see me. The missing Bella Swan, back from the dead. According to what Sue told Charlie the news that I was alive and my memory was gone had made it around La Push and was filtering into Forks, fueled by the sudden resignation and departure of beloved Chief of Police, Charlie Swan.

The flight was uneventful. I laid my head on Bo’s shoulder while he read a fishing magazine. Eventually I fell asleep and woke an hour before we approached Sea Tac. I sat in the back seat of the rental while Bo filled in Charlie on the fishing and hunting opportunities in Texas. Exciting…

We drove into Forks and I looked around, hoping to see something I recognized but knowing it was pointless.

Nothing. Just a really depressing looking small town. It was raining. Apparently it rained all the time. Renee wasn’t kidding when she described it. It was exactly like she described it. Charlie liked this place?

We pulled into his front yard and he looked at me. I gazed around. I noticed the for sale sign. That was it. Nothing.

“Sorry.” I whispered.

“Don’t apologize, little girl. It’s not your fault. It’s mine.”

“It’s not your fault Dad.” It was becoming more natural to call him
Dad. If only I could get Charlie to start calling me Mary.

“Let’s go inside. I can show you around. Everything is like you left it. Then we can grab a bite to eat and start packing.” Charlie
suggested.

Going inside I could see it was a nice house. You could definitely tell a man lived here alone for most of his life.

“So this is it. Not much but we were happy… I think.”

“I’m sure I was Dad.” I whispered. Damn it he was tearing up. I didn’t need that.

“Your room is upstairs first door on the left. If you want to check it
out.”

Bo and I walked up the stairs and found it. It was purple. A lot of
purple. There was an old computer at the desk. My sheets were still messed up from when I had last slept here. The window had a
rocking chair next to it. It looked like a teenage girl had gotten up and walked out of here without cleaning. I opened my closet and felt Bo’s hand on my shoulder. I leaned back into his.

“So this is where I waited for you, huh?” I whispered

“This is where you were hiding from me.” He kissed behind my ear in that little spot he knows I love.

“You really liked denim.” He commented.

“Yeah. You know I’m a blue jean kind of girl.”

“What is with those clothes in the back?”

“Where?”

Bo moved around me and rooted into my closet. Hidden behind
some sweaters were dresses. Looked like a blue prom dress. Also
some dresses and skirts that were on very fancy hangers.

“That’s weird.” Bo commented.

“What?”

“These are really nice clothes. The names on those hangers are
designer clothes. But it looks like you never wore them. Like you hid them.”

“Guess I wasn’t really into stuff like that.”

“Then why do you have them?”

“I don’t know. The blue one looks like something I would wear to a
prom.”

“Maybe you could take it home and model it for me.” He smiled.

“No.” I answered immediately.

“Why not? Something coming back?”

“No. It’s just creepy. It’s like… it’s weird. Why would I have these
clothes hidden?”

“I don’t know.”

“What were you hiding Bella?” I asked myself quietly.

“So it’s a nice room.” Bo commented, looking around.

“I guess. I kind of feel like an intruder. Or…”

“Or what?”

“Kinda like a ghost looking over someone else’s room? Like I don’t
belong here anymore.”

“You don’t belong her anymore. You belong with me. You just got
delayed here for a while.” He said.

“I love you Bo.”

“I know you do Mary. And you know I love you and worship the
ground you walk on. Why don’t we start going through things, see
what you want to take with you.”

I started walking around and saw a Senior memory book. Ironic.
Opening it up it appears there weren’t many pictures. What struck
me was the photos that weren’t there.

“Look Bo. There is glue on the pages like pictures were here and
then taken out.”

“Weird. Those other pictures must have been your friends.”

“You think one of them is Edward Cullen?” I just got a shiver down
my spine. I don’t know what the story was with him, but whatever it was, it was obvious that our relationship was not healthy. The idea of him frightened me. I would hate to see him again. Not like Bo couldn’t beat the hell out of him but still. Out of all the stories Renee told me and the bullshit Charlie threw at me, one thing was clear.

Bad things happened to me when Edward Cullen was involved.

“I doubt it. Not one of these kids looks like Charlie described him.”

“Charlie described him?”

“Yeah. I asked him what he looked like so I could have a clue if he
ever showed up. He gave me a vague description. Tall, pale skin,
sort of bronze thick, hair. Thin. Gold eyes.”

“He mentioned his eye color?”

“Yeah. Apparently they stood out.”

“Like the couple with Peter Whitlock the other night? They had gold eyes. Those can’t be very common Bo.”

“Yeah. Did you notice that Peter’s wife had red eyes as well? Talk
about not common. Her eyes weren’t red the first time we saw them. I bet they wear contacts. Red eyes aren’t natural.” It made me feel better that I wasn’t the only one who noticed.

“Charlie knew them. I would bet all four of them.”

“Yep.”

“You think they were related to Edward? You think Edward knows
where I am?” I was starting to panic a little.

“Calm down darlin. I’m sure Charlie would have told us at least that. If he thought Edward Cullen could find you, he would let us know. He would at least let me know. You know I don’t keep secrets from you.”

“Yeah. You are probably right. But still Bo. Gold eyes?”

“C’mon. Let’s keep going.” Bo began folding out boxes.
My eyes drifted to the computer. I turned it on and sat down brushing aside a book. The book fell off and hit the ground. I bent over and picked it up. Looked like a book on the legends of the Quileute tribe.

That may be interesting.

“Bo, pack this book please.”

“Okay.” I handed it to him and turned to the computer. There was an icon that read email. I wonder if Charlie kept his internet connection up. Looked like a dial up. What the hell? Has the man been living in the stone age?

I dialed up the modem and helped Bo go through some things.
Mostly books. I apparently did like Jane Austen. A copy of Wuthering Heights which I apparently read before. A hard bound book of Shakespeare’s plays. The bookmark was on the beginning of Romeo and Juliet.

I finally heard the modem connect and went back to the computer. I opened the email icon. Password protected.

Now if I could only remember the password.

Amnesia jokes. If you can’t laugh at yourself, who will?

“Whatcha doin Mary?” Bo was going through the bottom of my
closet.

“I was going to check my email to see if I have any new messages
over the past year but it is apparently password protected.”

“Yeah. Now you just have to remember the password. Oh that’s right. You can’t.” he laughed.

“Amnesia jokes are real classy Bo.” I told him. If you can’t laugh at
yourself you husband will do it for you. Asshole. Still he made me
laugh.

I looked around. What would be my password? I tried my name. My first name. Both first and last name. Maybe a character from a book?

Romeo? Nope. Juliet? Nope.

I took a deep breath. Charlie and Renee both said I had an unnatural obsession. Let’s give it a shot, Mary.

Edward.

Access granted.

Fucking great.

“I got in.” I said quietly.

“You remembered?” Bo asked quickly.

“Nope. I guessed.”

“Edward Cullen, right?”

“Just his first name.”

“Yeah, I was gonna suggest that but didn’t want to piss you off.” He
said quietly without looking at me.

“Charlie and Renee both said I had an unnatural relationship with
him. That’s scary, Bo.”

“It’s in your past, Mary. Don’t worry about who you were.”

“It just doesn’t make sense that I would become so obsessed that I
would go catatonic over a boy leaving, Bo. Holy shit.”

“What?” Bo asked.

“Look at these returned undeliverable emails. I was trying to email
Alice Cullen.”

I started reading the emails and they got worse and worse.

I was having delusions? Visions of Edward? Jake was making me
feel better but I couldn’t fill the hole in my chest. It hurt to say his
name?

“Oh my God, Bo. I lost my fucking mind.”

“Uh…”

God, I wish I hadn’t shown him these.

“Mary… that’s not you anymore.”

“But why? Why was I so obsessed with him? That may not be me
anymore but that wasn’t me before I got here. Not according to
Renee.”

“I don’t know Mary. We may never know. What are you doing?”

“There are at least 50 of these damn emails. I am forwarding them to my home account so I can look at them when I get back. I may find answers. Because right now it looks like I had a psychotic
breakdown. I want to know why.”

“Be… Mary! Bo! Let’s go get something to eat at the Diner!” Charlie yelled from downstairs.

“Be right down! Give me five minutes!” I looked at Bo.

“Go distract him.”

Bo began walking out and then fell to the ground. It scared the hell out of me. I had never seen Bo fall.

“Baby are you okay?” I rushed to him lying on the ground.

“Yeah. I think I tripped over that loose floorboard.”

“Everything okay?” Charlie yelled.

“Yeah. Bo tripped over a box. We will be down in a minute. Let us
finish packing.”

Bo stood up and laughed.

“Damn. Haven’t fallen like that in a while. At least sober.”

“I bet I must have fallen a million times over it, if you did. I wonder why Charlie never fixed it.”

We both looked at the floorboard.

“Hell, it’s barely nailed in.” Bo lifted it up and there was a space
underneath it.

“This isn’t safe.” He murmured. We both looked into the space and
saw it.

I should say them. Pictures. I am betting the pictures missing from
my memory book. At least twenty of them. Letters. Plane tickets?

“Oh my God. Look at this Bo.”

I showed him the photo. Myself, a boy who had his arms around me and two other couples. We were all smiling.

“I guess that is what Mr. Edward Cullen looks like.”

“Yeah. Bo look at the couple next to me.”

“Damn…”

“Yep. Rose and Emmett McCarty. I knew Charlie was lying. What do you want to bet their last names were really Cullen? This is proof Charlie knew them. This is proof they found me Bo.”

Bo said nothing. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me
close.

“I won’t let them hurt you Mary. You are mine. They can go to hell. I will send them there if I have to.”

“Bella?” I heard Charlie from downstairs.

“I have to hide this stuff and send those emails. We have to know
what happened Bo. My past is right behind me and catching up fast.”

“Okay. What do you want me to tell him?”

“Tell him I’m in the bathroom with female issues. That will shut him up.”

Bo kissed me gently and went downstairs. I suddenly did not like
being in here alone. I packed the pictures and letters in the box with my books and ran to the computer and started forwarding the emails.

This had to be solved. I had a feeling something was coming for me. For us. And I needed to know. I needed to know what turned me into a complete lunatic. What made me go catatonic over a boy? Why I left for three days with Alice Cullen. Why I ran off in the middle of the night when I returned with Edward. I had to know.

I remembered Charlie’s words. I was better off not knowing. But it
was too late for that. I could ignore and burn a lot of this. Delete
emails. But I couldn’t avoid the fact that Rosalie and Emmett were
related to Edward and they were sitting at a table with me and my
husband, acting like they didn’t know me. I forwarded the email as
quickly as this dinosaur modem would allow and damn near killed
myself running down the stairs. Charlie was waiting on me with a
smile. Bo looked worried. He kept glancing up the stairs like
something was chasing after me. Maybe something was.

Esme POV

I hated this. I had left Carlisle in London so he could work. Edward
stayed with him because he couldn’t bear to come back here. So it
was left to me. I had to get rid of that damn house where our family came so close to being complete and then destroyed a young girl’s life. A girl I loved like a daughter.

Edward won’t go away. He knows I want him to. I blame him for
everything. I blame myself for following him. I blame Carlisle for
backing him. But most of the blame falls on him. He reads my mind every day, how badly I want him to leave. But he won’t. He just stays at that fucking piano, playing all day. God I hate him. I expected to be called to Italy when Jane went back and reported that Bella was dead. We never were though. I guess Aro didn’t give a damn. He probably wanted Bella for himself. As if I ever would have let that happen.

“Mrs. Cullen, I am surprised you came here to personally put your
house up for sell. You know you could have just called.”

“Yes Mrs. Granger. But I felt it was important to do this myself. Plus I needed to get away. London can be so dreary at times.”

“Of course. Big changes coming to this town. Charlie Swan has put
his home up for sell as well.”

“He has?” That was surprise.

“Yes. Put it on the market last week and resigned by phone as Chief of Police. He is coming in later to sign some papers.”

“He resigned?” The poor man must be devoting all his time to finding him knowing about it.

“Yes, but it is a wonderful thing. I can’t blame him a bit. If I had found my daughter after so long thinking she was dead, I would never move away from her either.”

If I had a heartbeat it would have stopped right then.

“I’m sorry? Did you say he found his daughter?”

“Oh that’s right. You aren’t up on the latest gossip are you? Course
I’m sure a woman like you from a big city wouldn’t be interested…”

“Please go on.” Talk before I snap your neck.

“Well…”she turned her head both ways as if we weren’t the only
ones in this office. “It turns out she was kidnapped. I don’t know all the details but the man who kidnapped her did this often. He took her all the way to Texas and left her on the side of the road. Rumor has it that he raped her the entire trip.”

Oh God.

“Then he hit her over the head and left her for dead. A young man in Texas found her. She apparently had no memories. She lived with him for a year. Of course Charlie never stopped looking. When he found the man who took her, Charlie narrowed his search and discovered her the day she got married to the young man who took her in. I heard she still has no memories and will never get them back.”

She whispered the last part, again, as if someone was in this office
who could hear.

Bella was raped? That must be what happened to her in Indiana. But she has no memory. She’s married?

“Did you say Chief Swan would be in later to sign papers?”

“Yes. Would you like to say hello? I know his daughter and your son dated.” She was still whispering. There is no one else here you
stupid bitch!

Calm down Esme.

“Actually as I’m sure you know, Chief Swan was quite convinced that Edward had something to do with Bella’s disappearance. I would appreciate it if you could keep my presence in town, just between us.” I winked at her.

“Of course Mrs. Cullen. I have to keep my clients happy.” She
winked back. Ignorant bitch.

I walked out of the office and drove off. I had to get my car to the
house in the garage. Then I would run back. I would follow Charlie
Swan. Wherever he moved I would follow. Bella may have no
memories but I had to see that she was alright. Maybe she was here with Charlie? I wanted to call Carlisle. Then it hit me. I couldn’t go back.

If I told Carlisle, Edward would read it in my thoughts. If I went back, Edward would read it in my thoughts. Edward had ruined her life already twice. I wouldn’t give him a third chance. If I had to stay away from Carlisle for a hundred years I would. He and Edward were not going to find Bella. But I would.

Driving to the house brought back many memories. Good and bad.
Cooking for Bella. Watching the joy on Alice’s face at having a friend for the first time. A real friend. Hugging her. Cooking for her. Watching Edward be so…

Edward was happy wasn’t he? But that wasn’t enough for him. He
had to destroy that because he hated himself too much to be happy. Would he stay away from Bella if he knew? If he knew that she was living the normal human life he wanted for her.

No. No he wouldn’t. He drew her in. All vampires can do it. She
never had a chance against seven of us. Poor kid. She loved us.
That much was true. We loved her. That much was certain. Usually
humans are cautious of us until we decide to draw them in. A soft
voice. A smile. We tried not to overwhelm her. Most humans who are around vampires and feel that draw are dead within seconds. She was the only human that I had heard of who had prolonged exposure to a group of vampires in her everyday life.

Judging by what I heard about her after we left, I guess we know the effects on the human when that is taken away. We destroyed her.

Then she ran towards more vampires to save Edward and he turned her away again.

But he wouldn’t have left her. He would have stayed with her.
Eventually the desire to have him would have won out. He would
have found a way to justify it to himself. He would have turned her.

Bella at least had an excuse for her unnatural obsession with
Edward. Edward had no excuse for his unnatural obsession with
Bella.
He complained so much when we returned, when he found out about her close relationship with Jacob Black. He said it was because he wanted no supernatural beings in her life. As if it was his decision. As if it wasn’t way too late for that. He was jealous. We all knew it.

Should we have found Bella, he would have taken her and never
returned her. Not with Jacob in Forks.

He absolutely could not find out. Carlisle…

If anyone was ever called by the Volturi it would be Carlisle and
Edward. Perhaps Alice but Jasper could protect her. It broke my
heart but Carlisle could not know either, whether I told him to send Edward off or not.

I had a difficult call to make. It would hurt him. I never wanted him to have to choose. But it had to be done. I would choose for him. I found his name and hit send.

“Esme! How is everything? Is something wrong? Are the Volturi
there?”

“Hello Carlisle. We need to talk. Are you alone?”

“Yes. Edward is hunting. I finally convinced him to eat.”

What a baby. It wasn’t like eating was going to keep Bella from
coming back. He wanted pity. Fuck pity. I hope he starved to death.

“Carlisle, I am not coming back.”

He said nothing for a few seconds.

“How long are you staying in Forks?”

“I’m not staying in Forks, Carlisle. I am going off on my own. I will
draw the cash and cashier’s checks I need from here. Then I am
leaving. Do not follow me.”

“Where are you going?”

“I don’t know yet.”

Near wherever Bella was. That much was certain. I let Carlisle
convince me to choose Edward over Bella once. I wouldn’t make the same mistake again. I would watch her. If she wasn’t happy I would change her. She could me my companion, just as Edward was Carlisle’s. But only if she wasn’t happy.

“Esme if this is about Edward… you said you didn’t mind him
staying. I will make him leave.”

“It’s not about Edward. Not completely. Being here brings back too
many memories of what we did to Bella. I can’t… I followed you,
Carlisle. She died. I don’t know if I can be around you any longer.”

“Esme please. I’m sorry. I will do anything.”

“Then give me space. Don’t try to find me. Respect my wishes. And
keep your damn son away from me as well.”

“Can we at least take some time to think about this? Can you give
me that much?”

“I have thought about this too long Carlisle. The day you let Edward take control of our family was the day you lost me. Neither of us knew it yet. But it is still true.”

“I see. Can I see you to perhaps give you your possessions?”

“No. You have nothing I want. Burn them for all I care. If you truly
love me Carlisle, you will respect my wishes. If you try to find me or send Edward, I will know you do not love and respect me. Do you understand?”

“Yes… yes Esme.”

“Goodbye Carlisle.”

I ended the call before he could say anything else. It hurt. It hurt
even worse knowing I hurt him. This had to be done though. I
abandoned her before. I won’t make the same mistake again.

Peter POV

“You have got to be fucking kidding me.”

“What is it Peter?” Rose asked. Nosy bitch. I decided the best way to keep an eye on her and her gorilla was to move to Dallas and move them in with Char and I. Having them around reminded me of why I never wanted to be in a coven in the first place after I left Maria.

“I have a feeling more company is coming. Something I just know.”

“Is it Edward? The Volturi?” Emmett asked. So ready for a fight.
Ignorant child. Still though, I like his spirit.

“No. Worse. I think it is Esme Cullen.”