Authors Note: Shout out to ZoeMcCulloch for her wonderful comments! You wanted the Cullens so...here they are! And I even left you a little present at the end! Thank you so much for reading! And to anyone else reading, why don't you leave me a comment or just take a second to say hi? *wink

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Edward POV

It has been almost eighteen years since I have last seen my angel's face. Over eighteen years, and yet it feels as though I left her only yesterday.

Why? Why did I go? I think too hard, that's why. I just wanted to give her what was best for her, and to let her be free! And what did I tell her? I told her I didn't want her anymore. Oh, such a horrible lie. I hated to lie, but I had to. If I didn't, she would've come with us.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her beautiful face, shining and smiling at me, even though I am a monster. Sometimes, when she used to tell me that I wasn't, I would believe her. But now when I close my eyes, I see her hurt, pained expression, after hearing those wretched words. I feel even more of a monster than ever now.

What can I do? What can I do to cease this endless pain? Go back to her, my mind tells me. Go back to her? How I'd love to do that. But I haven't even seen my own family in over six months! I've hurt them almost as much as I've hurt my sweet Bella.

Bella. My Bella. Her name is constantly in my head, her beautiful voice chiming in my ears. It's funny how I still put a claim on her, though I left her long ago. How I long to see her, more that anyone could ever imagine. I sigh and rest my head in my hands.

I take in my surroundings. I'm in the woods, sitting on the grassy floor. I spend most of my time doing this, sitting and doing nothing but remembering. I can remember it all so clearly, the day I left her.

My phone vibrates annoyingly again in my pocket. I ignore it again, but eventually I sigh and then take it out to check it. My family always calls to check on me, though I never answer the phone. Ever. I decide it's probably time to change that, and treat them better. They don't deserve to be treated this way when all they've ever done is try to help. And I miss them.

I have a voicemail from Carlisle.

"Son, the whole family is staying in Forks for the summer. We-we would all love for you to come. Spend some time with people who love you, I think it will be good for you. I'm going to be surprised if you listen to this and shocked if you actually come. Hopefully you'll listen to this...because...well it's me. I don't know if you will come but I'm going to invite you anyway. Come home son, I'll be waiting."

Could I handle that? Could I handle going back to the town that started all this misery? It would be hard, but yes, I could. It's not like I'd see my Bella anyway. I've been too selfish, and I will go, for my family.

I pick up the phone and start to dial Carlisle's number, but then I stop. I'd rather surprise them, to some extent anyway. It'd probably be impossible with Alice's gift. The moment I decided, she probably saw it and was telling the family right now. I imagined her perkiness and smiled. It felt odd and unusual, an expression I'd made foreign over the past years.

I stood up and made plans to hunt. I haven't hunted for so long. I shouldn't let myself get so thirsty. I'd make today a hunting trip, and first thing tomorrow, I would go back to Forks. I took a deep breath and smelled a large bear. I was on my way back to sanity.

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Carlisle's POV

"No way!" Alice squealed after emerging from a vision.

"What is it, honey?" Esme asked softly.

"He's going to come! He's coming! He'll be here tomorrow!" Alice cheered.

"Who?" Jasper asked, curious.

"Edward!" I smiled at Alice's enthusiasm to get her big brother back. A warm feeling settled over me at the thought of my son coming home, but I still can't forget that girl at the airport...

"No!" Emmett said, disbelieving. "He really is coming?"

"Yes, of course! Why would I lie?" She gasped.

"What made him decide to finally pay attention to us again?" Rosalie asked. She's been upset that Edward was ignoring the family.

"He feels really guilty about ignoring us," Alice explained. "And he's finally going to try to have a life again. Something about finding his sanity."

"Well that's wonderful," Esme said, happily. She missed Edward the most, after myself of course. He'd been a wonderful son to her.

"Carlisle, did you hear that?" Alice asked.

I was sitting on one of the couches with my eyes closed and I was in such deep thought I couldn't respond.

"Carlisle, honey? Did you hear Alice?" Esme said patting my shoulder.

"Dad, are you sleeping?" Emmett joked. I had to open my eyes after that.

"Ha ha, very funny," I said, coming back to the real world. Emmet broke my resolve.

"Did you hear me?" Alice asked me again.

"Yes, I did, and I am very glad. It's finally time he's found himself again. You said he'd be here tomorrow?"

"Yes."

"Excellent."

"So, what were thinking about so hard?" Emmett asked. I tensed a bit but then sighed.

"It's this girl," I explained. "I can't get her out of my head."

"WHAT?" the whole room but Esme exclaimed. Esme looked hurt and confused.

"No no no! It's not like that! Trust me! Let me explain," I tried to calm them. Esme looked relieved, but everyone else was a little hesitant.

"When your mother and I were at the airport in Seattle, I saw this girl. Well actually, she ran into me, and I helped her up. She looked around seventeen, maybe. She had a tall frame, she was beautiful, long bronze hair, perfect features, and beautiful eyes. They were such an unusual color. They were like the color of peridot. They were almost like a greenish gold," I said, returning to my deep thoughts. I was reliving the day at the airport.

"I'm not understanding," Emmett said. "So, you saw a pretty girl. So what? There's a lot of those in the world."

"Let me finish," I said patiently. "What got me was how much...how strangely she looked like Edward. They had the same cheekbones, the same nose, the same eyebrows...it was almost scary. The really scary thing was that she looked just like Bella too. They had the same heart-shaped face, the same wide, innocent eyes, and the same full lips. And her scent was just like Bella's. In fact, it was the same scent. Only less prominent. And it was mixed with another...it was mixed with the scent of vampire. Ever since I've seen her I can't stop thinking about her. I know...no I think, or thought it was impossible, but..."

"But it's almost as if Bella and Edward have a daughter," Alice finished for me. Everyone turned to look at her.

"Yes, exactly," I said. "But how did you..."

"Ok, so if Edward and Bella had a kid then why didn't we know about it before this? I'm not saying they did, but if this girl really is their daughter, then don't you think we'd know about it?" Alice mused her previous revelation.

"Well," I said, thinking out loud. "The only way I can see that is if Bella found out about the pregnancy after we left. And we didn't exactly leave any contact information, so she was left on her own."

"Poor Bella," Esme said shaking her head. "Left all alone. She was so young, too!"

"It's a good thing I sent those checks," I muttered receiving some strange looks from my family.

"How do you even know Bella kept her?" Jasper wondered.

"How do you even know they actually had a baby?" Rosalie demanded.

"Rose is right, we don't even know if this girl really is their kid," Emmett said, fending for her. "She could just be some random girl that looks like Bella and Edward."

Alice scoffed. Then I knew we were in trouble.

"Yeah because we see girls like that everyday," she said sarcastically.

"You said yourself that you weren't going to say Bella and Edward had a kid," Rosalie reminded her.

"Yeah, but I knew something was up and when Carlisle described her, it fits them perfectly. It's not like Edward told me every single detail about their relationship either. We all know him, it's not like he would voluntarily broadcast his sex life." Alice shot back

"Well then it was coincidence that this girl looks like them," Rosalie said. The argument was heating.

"So you're saying Carlisle just happens run into a girl who looks like Bella and Edward, and is the appropriate age?" Alice spat.

"Yes, I am." Rosalie smirked proudly.

"And what about the scent part? How she smells just like Bella and has a slight vampire scent? That's normal?" Alice challenged.

"She could've been in contact with another vampire."

"And what vampire besides our family and Tanya's would come into contact with a girl that smells as good as Bella and let her go free!" Alice screamed.

"Okay girls, enough," I finally stepped in, stopping my arguing daughters. "Rosalie, you have a point, but I'm afraid all the evidence is pointing into Alice's direction." Alice looked a bit smug, but Esme wiped that look off immediately with a stern glance in her direction. There was a long pause. Everyone was clearly deep in thought.

"We have to find her," Jasper said quietly. "She's the only one that can tell us the truth." Everyone agreed.

"How do find her though?" Rosalie wondered. "She could be anywhere."

"No, she's definitely here somewhere," I said. "She left at the Port Angeles airport, so she can't be far. Maybe she's visiting Charlie."

"Well then," Esme said clasping her hands together. "What do we tell Edward?"

"I forgot about that," Alice muttered.

"Easy. Don't tell him," Emmett suggested.

"He's a mind reader, dumbass!" Alice said, exasperated. "I really don't think that'll work considering he can hear our thoughts."

"Be nice..." Esme warned.

"Sorry." Alice apologized quickly, not wanting to get on her mothers bad side.

"Well," Rosalie said. "We just won't talk about it, and we'll try hard not to think about it. But he's been so sulky lately that if we slip once or twice, I don't think he'll notice."

"Rose is right," I said. "We'll tell him about it later, when he's ready."

"Then it's decided," Esme confirmed. "Now let's get ready for Edward's arrival."

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Bella POV

I walked into my room, shut and locked the door, and slid down the back of it. I knew what time it was, so I knew all too well what would happen in a matter of minutes.

I took deep breaths, anticipating the first scream. This one always came from the smart one in the group. The one that could sense what was going on. This one gave the scream of realization.

The vampires would act quickly then, and that's when the screams of terror would begin. They would all end quickly. This was the routine that happened on Mondays and Thursdays around seven. It was a routine I had no desire to be apart of, and was sincerely lucky not to be forced into. So every Monday and Thursday, I locked myself in my room, leaned against the door, and tried hard to imagine I was back home.

The first scream came, the one of realization. I squeezed my eyes shut and clasped my hands firmly against my ears. It was no use, I could hear the screams that followed crystal clear with my enhanced hearing.

As the screams came and cut off one by one, I rocked myself back and forth, with my face hidden in my knees. I thought of my Elizabeth Carlyle to keep me distracted. I thought of her beautiful baby face shining up at me as I cradled her in my arms. It was hard to think that she was seventeen now! I remembered the beautiful summer day that I'd ran her up to the meadow. The warm breeze blew my hair, and warmed her rosy cheeks. She smiled and laughed as I twirled her around. And then I'd let her crawl around in the grass until she got sleepy. She fell asleep in my arms and I ran all the way back home to Florida, though with my speed, it hardly took any time at all.

I remembered all of this, and once the memory was over, I'd realized the screaming had stopped. I'd lived through another Thursday. But then again, not much could kill me.