FAGE 9: The Last Ride

Title: Fixing Past Regrets
Written for: Rebadams7
Written By: TheDarkestFallingStar
Rating: M
Summary: Returning home for the first time in five years for her father's wedding was one thing, but she didn't expect this. A/H
Prompt used: Pouring Rain, Crashing a Wedding (sort of LOL) and Starting Over/Fresh Start

Author Note: Uh, there will be swearing maybe…

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Third Point of View

Forks, Washington the rainiest place in the continental US where trees were plenty and everyone knew everyone. Basically it was a typical small town, friendly and nosey.

It was the first time in four years that she even stepped foot in this town since she left for college with a broken heart. It had been a tough time; she and Edward had been high school sweethearts since the middle of Middle School and everyone thought that they'd be the first ones to get married.

Except it wasn't meant to be, Edward got a full ride to Harvard Medical school while she did not and he didn't wish to pursue a long distance relationship. Edward, of course, had his reasons and some of them were on point but it didn't mean that it didn't hurt any less.

It took her a long time to get over that and, if she was honest, even now she still loved him beyond words.

Thus the only reason she was here now, in a town that held so many painful memories, was because her dad was getting married in a couple of days and it was something she couldn't really miss. No, she wouldn't miss this.

Her dad and Sue had been dancing around one another for years and it took a few nudges by Seth, Leah and herself to finally get them together.

"Bells! It's good to see you kid. You coming in or just going to stand around in the rain?" Charlie called from the front door.

Shaking her head clear of her thoughts, Bella shot her dad a smile and pulled the bag from the cab of her truck. Poor Bessie died a week before her senior graduation and since she got a full ride scholarship with Arizona State, she decided to splurge and buy a second hand truck that was basically new.

"Sorry dad I was lost in my head again," she replied and gave her father a wide smile, hoping to hell that it didn't look as forced as it felt.

Charlie chuckled as he herded Bella inside, "That's alright Kiddo, come in you're just in time for dinner."

The fresh smell of cooked fish, garlic bread, vegetables and everything in between was the first thing Bella noticed as she stepped inside. Oh it had been too long since she was able to have something other than spaghetti or microwave meals. The next thing she noticed was… everything.

The walls were a nice soft aqua and sandy browns that gave the house the feeling of warmth. Next was the new furniture, the soft two seater in the lounge with a flat screen TV, books and movies lined the walls behind it with photos of Seth, Leah and herself over the years. A new table and coat rack sat in the hall and beyond it the wall that separated the kitchen, the hall and the lounge was gone leaving an open floor space. Gone were the reminders of Renee.

"The house looks amazing Dad." She breathed out in awe.

"It wasn't just his idea, mom helped too. Hey Bells." A deep voice greeted from the stairs, causing Bella's head to shoot up in surprise to see her step-brother to be.

"Seth? Look at you, holy crap!" She gasped before rushing forward and pulling him into a tight hug. "You grew up!"

With a chuckle Seth pulled himself free and smiled. "Yeah and I'm finally taller than you and Leah!"

"Everyone is taller than Bella," was all Bella heard before finding herself into a tight embrace.

"Leah!" She laughed, smacking her in the side the best she could.

"Alright break it up! Let Bella get settled and then wash up for dinner, come on!" Sue called out, a fond smile on her face as she wrapped her arms around her fiancé's waist.

Leah let go of Bella with a smile and a chuckle as she straightened and shot a glare while fixing her clothes and shirt.

"Your room's still all set up, unpack and have a shower if you want." Sue explained as she stepped to Bella's side and pulled her into a hug. "We're glad you came."

"As am I." Bella whispered before pulling back and smiling. "I'll just put my bag in my room and wash my hands, the food smells amazing."

Laughter followed Bella up the stairs, even five years later, it still felt like home. The sound of Leah and Seth bickering while her father's laughter followed them, the only thing that changed upstairs was the extra room for Seth that Charlie had built in when he moved the master bedroom downstairs for him and Sue.

Oh… stepping into her room was like stepping into the past. Her walls were still a soft lilac framed by fairy lights and photographs; everything she couldn't bring with her was in the same place she left them. The white and lavender bed spread was new though, as was the window seat that now sat where the window used to be.

A fond smile pulled at her lips as she deposited her bag on the bed and ran her hand softly over the bookshelf besides the door taking in every little souvenir and knickknack she collected in her life before pausing as the corkboard above her desk came into view.

Images of her high school friends littered it to the point that some of them were hidden or overlapping the edge: Alice and Jasper, Rose and Emmett, Angela and Ben, the La Push boys, Leah and Seth group photos that had all of them from Prom to beach days, camping trips to school excursions.

Then there were the photos of her and Edward, some of them crumpled and worn, tear stained and ripped from where she pulled them down. They still resided there on her desk and on the board untouched for years.

His green eyes and wide warm smile peered back at her in all of them.

She had forgotten how beautiful he was. Her eyes prickled as the ache in her heart made it known.

No… not… not now… She scolded herself before sighing and turning her back upon them and made her way downstairs after a quick stop to wash her hands and splash water on her face in hopes it hid her red eyes.

Seth and Leah cast each other a look as Bella stepped into the kitchen, her eyes rimmed red in a familiar sign that she had or was about to cry. They of course knew about the photos and they discussed at length when they arrived in town at the beginning of the week from school on what they should do. In the end they decided to see how things went when Bella is told that Edward had moved back to town and go from there.

"It's been so long since I've had a home cooked meal," Bella confessed as she took a seat at the table. "I've had little time between work and school to cook."

"That bad?" Sue asked as she placed the bowl of salad down, her free hand squeezing Charlie's shoulder as she saw him open his mouth.

Bella shook her head. "No not really, it keeps me occupied but I love work and now that finals are over I should have some free time."

After that everyone chatted happily filling in what they had missed over the last few months since they last spoke, reminiscing of times when they were younger and all the pranks they had done to each other and their friends.

Dinner flew by and by the time dessert was served they ventured into the topic of the others. Bella was keen to know what happened to her friends, she had unfortunately lost contact with a few of them. Ben and Angela she knew got married a year after high school but she had no clue that they had returned home, Angela taught kindergarten while Ben ran his own Business. Mike and Jessica got married and divorced when Jess caught Mike in bed with Lauren; Jacob was running his own mechanic store like he always wanted with Embry and Quil while Sam, Jared and Paul had their own construction business that was very popular.

Then the Cullen's were brought up.

"Speaking of the Cullens, I saw Alice and Jasper in town yesterday. Alice said that everyone was home on break." Leah explained, shovelling the bite of cake into her mouth as her eyes snapped between her mother, Charlie and Bella.

Bella's whole frame tensed at the news, her fingers tightening on the fork to the point they went white. "Oh?"

"Uh, yeah… I forgot to mention that to you kid," Charlie winced, earning a sharp glare from Sue.

"I thought you were going to tell her?" She hissed softly, her brow raised.

"I know! I forgot!"

Eying the two Bella placed her fork down and raised her brows. "Tell me what?"

With a sigh, Charlie turned back to his daughter. "Alice, Emmett, Rose and Jasper are just visiting but… Edward's been back for over a year now; he's finishing his residency at the hospital and has a job offer to stay on when he was done."

"Oh," She blurted out unsure on how she should feel about this. "Excuse me."

Sue sighed and shook her head at her husband-to-be as Bella hurried from the room, leaving her half eaten cake and knocking the chair over in her haste.

Author Note: *cracks fingers* I hope you like this Rebadams7 and that it meets your expectations!