Breaking Dawn AU

I am Team Jacob with a few soft spots for some of the other wolf boys. Not an Edward lover, but not an Edward hater. I have been reading FF for so long, I'm not sure I can accurately recall canon, so this is my story regardless of the original. I have long wanted to write and just haven't had a story that I thought was original and inspired. So here's my first shot.

This is just for fun, as the original didn't turn out the way I wanted, so I've spent my nose reading FF to see Jacob treated the way he should have been. As the FF author, I take liberty in making factual information fit my story regardless of truth in actual geography. No copyright infringement intended. Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer, the lucky lady who hurt my Jacob.

Rated M for language and anything else that might sneak up

This story is about what happens after Bella and Edward return from their ill-fated honeymoon. Things go a little differently. Bella and Charlie have left for Riverside, California, leaving behind Forks and the supernatural. But will the past stay in the past? Can Bella move on from all that has happened?

Chapter 1 Changes

As they pulled into the parking space, Bella sighed looking around her. She could not believe this day had arrived. It was bittersweet, but long overdue. She glanced to the side towards Charlie and wondered how he was feeling about this change in their lives. But they were here now and she didn't want to go back. Forks was her past.

"Ready, kiddo?" Charlie asked as he gathered his bag from the back seat of his new quad cab. With a stiff smile, Bella grabbed her things from her feet and opened the door. Charlie wrapped his arm loosely around her shoulders as they walked together toward their new house in Southern California. It wasn't much but it was close to school and it was theirs.

The movers weren't set to arrive with all of their stuff until tomorrow so all they had with them were small suitcases. Bella wandered around looking at each room, seeing where they'd place the furniture and what they might need to get. She passed through the kitchen, thankful it was spacious and had all of the things she needed. She ran her hands over the counters as she smirked at the upgraded fridge. Charlie had gotten lucky that the bank really wanted to sell. The burst of the housing bubble was still trickling down in Riverside, California and there were still many short sales on the market. Charlie drove a tough bargain and got a great deal on the house, nothing like being a cash buyer.

She softly padded up the stairs and listened to Charlie as he unpacked his few things in his master bathroom. Three bedrooms, two and a half baths. They were really spreading out in California. Bella passed the bedroom that they had deemed the office and stepped into her new bedroom. The room was bubble gum pink, left over from what was clearly a little girl the last inhabitant.

"That's gotta change fast," Bella muttered as she walked into the bathroom that connected her bedroom to the office. Glancing around, she gazed out the window at the view of the neighborhood. The backyard was fenced in and there weren't many trees. The sun was shining in brightly and she breathed in deep-thankful for the beautiful, warm afternoon sun.

Quickly, Bella unloaded her small travel bag into the bathroom drawers and headed down for her box of cleaning supplies. The place needed some freshening after the last owners had vacated.

"What do you think, Bells?" Charlie asked her as she grabbed the handle on her way out the front door.

"Be right back, Dad," she responded. Coming back in, she said, "Well, it does have one heck of a view of the mountains. Gotta love that."

"Do you want to run over to the grocery store and get supplies?" Charlie asked, looking around wondering what he was going to do before the couch and TV arrived, having spent the last few nights in a motel with all of the modern conveniences.

"Sure thing, let me just wipe down the toilets and sinks first," Bella smiled as she walked up the stairs knowing just what Charlie was thinking about.

They headed to Walmart where they could get all of the things they needed for the night and coming week. Freshman orientation was in two weeks and Charlie wanted Bella to have everything his girl needed to start college. They walked in the doors and both stopped briefly stunned at the overwhelming store before them. They certainly weren't in a small town anymore. They each grabbed a cart ready to get started, and maybe as a barrier between themselves and the seemingly endless number of people shopping.

What seemed like hours and thousands of dollars later, they loaded up Charlie's truck with their goods and headed back to the house.

While Bella worked on putting things away and getting dinner prepped for later, Charlie worked on setting up his new lawn chair and iPad. Turned out he could watch TV after all. Charlie's cell rang and he glanced at the screen before answering.

"Hello? Yes, this is Charlie. Oh yeah? Great. What time? Okay, well I'll see you Friday at 10. Thanks a lot," Charlie responded and hung up, sticking the phone in the cup holder while he reached for the absent beer with his other hand. Bella waited patiently for more information and when nothing came, she wandered into the living room where Charlie was sitting.

"Well?" she asked impatiently.

"Well, what? Oh. I have job interview with a security firm on Friday," he answered sheepishly, forgetting she was there waiting for him.

"Good. It'll be nice for you to work while I'm studying or going to class," Bella answered, her head shaking as she headed back into the kitchen. She knew he wasn't used to having her there, but he was going to have to get used to it now. It was just the two of them here in CA. She wanted to be part of his life and knew there were still many secrets between them. Those secrets weren't because she didn't want to tell him, but because they were for his safety. So everything she could share, she did share.

Later as they ate at the counter together, they discussed her schedule for the following week with registration, tours and other college related things. They were both relieved Bella got accepted to UC-Riverside and Bella was looking forward to the creative writing program she'd read so much about. She wasn't great at expressing herself verbally, but she was pretty good at writing stories that seemed to come from nowhere. Charlie was proud of her, and told her whenever he felt she needed the little reminder. He was sporting his new UC gear: T-shirt, hat and keychain. He'd ordered them as soon as she had discussed them moving to CA.

That night as Bella laid on the air mattress staring up at the new ceiling, she thought of her past and how much had changed in the last 4 years. She was still working on her self-esteem, but bit by bit she improved and now she was here going off to college, two years after her high school graduating classmates, but still going.

She closed her eyes and fell into a dreamless sleep.