This is going to be kind of like a new beginning for me with fanfiction. This will be a Bella and Jasper story. I've been on a kick with them lately. Its short and a little all over the place, but things will come together better in the next chapter. Backstories are not my strong point, and typing it out on my phone didn't help much. If you like it, favorite or review - they're both appreciated, considering I've dropped off the earth for awhile. I don't own anything from the Twilight Saga. I do own my own fictional charaters and plot. Thanks for reading! - Samantha

Things were different now. Five years have come and gone and I survived. Im still surviving. Maybe I was happier than i should be with my new life. Cut ties with frayed ends hung in the wake of my path, in Forks, Washington.

I was beginning to think Edward had been right about clean cuts, though most of mine weren't that clean.

It took me two years to make it out. A year to finish school and another working to save money.

Charlie was angry with me, still is most likely even after three years. I couldn't bear to be there anymore after everything that happened. I didnt voice my feelings to him until I was about to walk out the door with a packed duffel over my shoulder. He was shocked mostly, but the anger that followed... To think about it, even now, still makes me feel like I have bats flying around in my stomach. I've only spoken to him a handful of times since then and none of those were more then the basic "Hey, how are you?" "Where are you settled at now?" type of conversations that were short and to the point.

Truth is, i don't think he really wants to know. I feel like he paints a different portrait of his daughter's life in his mind. A portait of me away at college, happy and steadily building up student debt while planning a bright future. Maybe thats what he told his friends and neighbors. A happy family facade.

I don't offer up details of my life and he doesnt ask. It doesn't bother me. After everything I went through, I feel like I can handle more, handle myself better.

I was no longer the same Isabella Swan that Edward Cullen stomped all over all those years ago. I had grown, both emotionally and physically. Being on my own had been nothing short of beneficial, if scary at times.

I worked as a waitress in california for a while, crashing with one of the other girls that worked there.

Then I moved back to Phoenix for a year and took a job at a State Farm insurance office as a secretary. I would've stayed longer than a year, but i had become restless. Boredom and complacency were always on the outskirts of my mind.

The thrill of being around vampires had ruined me.

I had a few close friends in Phoenix that I lost touch with after I moved to Forks and reconnecting with them was wonderful. It made me feel good that while my life had been in shambles, theirs had been moving along smoothly with school, work and relationships. After my apartment lease was up, I moved on.

I now reside in a small town in Texas and work at a bar as a waitress and bartender. Its not the best, but I enjoy the tips and the entertainment.

I had yet to run into anymore vampires, maybe because I stuck with sunny places.

I had long since gotten over Edward. The holes in my chest healed. The heartbrake i experienced was severe and I now think it was from them all leaving, not just him. Looking back on it, Edward and I's relationship was slightly disfunctional. Not only in our genetic makeup, but how he handled situations that affected me directly. I never once got to make my own decision or voice my own thoughts on something without being overriden. It kind of angered me to think about it now, but its in the past.

I missed the cullens, those I once considered my second family.

"Bells!" The bar manager, Lou, hollered from across the wooden bar, pulling me from my inner ramblings.

"Yeah?"

"Clean up your stations and head on home. Your lookin' a little out of it tonight, honey. Get some rest before you come back tomorrow evening."

I sighed in relief. I was wore out. I'd come in early today, at three, to cover for Sarah. One of her kids wasn't feeling well and I was more than able to take her shift. I didn't have children and a husband to take care of like she did.

Lou was a nice guy, the type who was more like a father figure while still being a friend. He was in his early fifties, salt and pepper hair with light eyes that crinckled when he smiled. He was my boss and my neighbor.

I bought a small cabin on thirteen acres just a few miles from town. It was an impulse buy, but I loved it. As soon as I drove in this town I knew it was meant to be my home. Maybe it reminded me of Forks, only a version with 80% more sunlight.

I cleaned up my tables, grabbed my purse out from behind the bar and headed out the door.

When my head hit the pillow, my mind was nostalgic. The way the headlights hit the trees at night brings back memories I'd sometimes rather forget. I felt a tear glide down my temple, wetting the cotton pillowcase. As happy as I am here, I still feel like something is missing, something I'm ready to give up searching for.