So I came up with this story from a weekend listening to Lindsay Stirling, Damien Escobar, and Adele. I know that some of these songs just recently came out, but I couldn't get this story to leave me alone until I wrote it. Hopefully you'll like it. It's very AU and OOC with the characters. This story starts off 10 years after the Cullen's leave Bella.

No copyright infringement intended! SM owns all characters! All musical references listed belong to their respective owners.

Enjoy!

Bella POV

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

I rolled over and smacked my annoying alarm before completely waking up. I grabbed my robe and slippers and went down the hall of my apartment to go make my roommate and I some coffee. I was in a bit of a hazy state from sleep and I needed caffeine in order to get this day started. After my first few sips I realized what day it was. Graduation! The day has finally arrived! I'm getting my Master's in Education from the University of Georgia today.

I took a few minutes to think about my life and how I wound up here where I am today. It's taken me years to get this far. Although, I have my family and friends to thank for that, they've all been extremely supportive. My best friend and roommate, Lindsay is getting hers too. We both found out that we wanted to become teachers right around the time we got our Bachelor's degrees. Hers in music, mine in Literature of course.

Lindsay is the best friend a girl could ask for. She's smart, funny, and doesn't bring up painful memories for me. She actually helped me improve my confidence tenfold once I got to the wonderful state of Georgia. We met at a local bar that we both worked at, she was the live entertainment, I was just a server. Now, when I say 'live entertainment', I don't mean we worked at a strip club together. No, far from it, she was the musical talent that the bar hired to keep the patrons happy. She sang and played both piano and violin. She was a violin prodigy from what I heard from her parents, but she would always get embarrassed at the attention and always denied it. We got along at work famously and found we had a lot in common. My original roommate dropped out of college after her first year, so Lindsay got the opportunity to share my dorm. She's been my roommate and the sister I never had, ever since.

I was used to hearing her practice something every day and I longed to be that good at anything, and when she and I finally spoke about it, I asked her to teach me to sing and play violin. I didn't want to learn piano because Edward used to play it all the time. She was happy to oblige and even bought me my very own Vif Advanced Student Full Size Violin for Christmas our sophomore year. Not too nice, but nice enough for me to learn on.

Speaking of Edward, it's been a decade since him and his family left me. It's difficult for me to believe the amount of time that has passed. It's even more difficult to believe how far I've come since then. I used my childhood friend Jacob to help put me back together after the Cullen's left, but after a while, even he left me when his imprint Anna showed up one night when Jake and I were at the movies in Port Angeles. I barely ever saw him after they started talking to one another and he married her 6 months later.

Needless to say I had a huge fear of anyone else important to me leaving me, so instead of dealing with the losses like a grown woman, I hid everything internally. I had gotten so depressed that my dad, Charlie had to send me to therapy once a week for a year before I realized that my abandonment issues were not going to fix themselves. I didn't tell my therapist everything, I would have been locked in a loony bin had I done that, but I did explain how I felt abandoned by the boy I thought I'd spend my life with, how his family had seemed perfect to me and how I wanted desperately to be included in it, and how difficult it was to let Jake in, and then have him disappear again just as quickly. I had to be willing to work through my issues, conquer and control them, and then I had to learn to forgive the Cullen's and Jake for what they had done to me. That took another year to get through, but I finally was able to let my past go. Jake was easier to forgive. He didn't really have much of a choice in the matter of imprinting, but he still watched over me and kept me safe even when we weren't speaking. I couldn't thank him enough for that.

I stayed in Forks another year and still visited with my therapist about once a month before deciding to go to college. I wanted somewhere warm, sunny, and away from everyone, so when I got into UGA I was ecstatic! I left Forks soon after to make my own way and I was more excited about it than I had been over anything else since my move to Forks 4 years before. It was time for a new start, a fresh view on life. I couldn't keep living in the past and I knew it. I wanted to be independent and resourceful. I wanted to be carefree again and do my own thing without caring about anyone else and if I was 'allowed' to do it.

I went to my fair share of house parties and quite a few sorority parties, although I was never interested in joining one myself. I got drunk on several occasions, I won't deny it. Hell, it was fun to let loose like that! I was even starting to take better care of myself and started taking Yoga and Kick Boxing classes after school, although the most fun I had was just sitting in my dorm with Lindsay singing along to the radio or practicing violin. I even had several boyfriends during my 7 years in Athens, but never let them get too serious because I wasn't interested in a serious relationship. I just wanted to revel in my freedom and not have to answer to anyone. So far, that plan seemed to be working.

I was brought out of my reverie when Lindsay sat down beside me on the couch with her own cup of caffeine induced heaven. "So, today's the day, huh?" She asked.

"Yeah. Can you believe it? I mean, we're graduating with our Master's degrees, Linds." I reply.

"Are you prepared to see the fam?" she asked.

"I suppose. It's not like I see them all that often, but one day isn't going to hurt me. I miss them, but they can be a bit overbearing." I reply. My mother was as scatter-brained as ever, but Phil was still keeping an eye on her and seemed to be doing a better job than anyone else would have. I swear that man had the patience of a Saint. My dad was still the Forks Police Chief, but he was getting ready to retire soon and I couldn't blame him. He wanted me to come teach at Forks High, but I knew that was a lost cause. I couldn't bring myself to even consider doing that. Now that I was out of that school, I was never going back.

They both still fussed over every facet of my life, and as annoying as it was, I let them while they were here. It made them happy and it made them leave faster. I couldn't complain too much about that at all.

"So are you done packing for our trip yet?" I ask Lindsay.

"Almost," she said, "I just have to put all of my bathroom supplies in the bag before we leave in the morning."

We were both excited to go on a road trip to Savannah. I had heard wonderful things about the city while I was here, but we were never able to go. So we decided to make it a graduation present to ourselves. I was more than excited to go on the ghost tours and see the Historic District. I knew that partying on River Street was another 'must' that we were crossing off our list while we were there. I was excited about the possibilities and couldn't wait to let my hair down.

"When are your parents getting here, Linds?" I asked.

"Oh, they got in last night. They're staying at a hotel close by, but I don't remember which one." She replied.

"Well," I looked at the clock in the kitchen and it showed 7:30 am, "my mom should be here within the hour and Charlie came in last night. He should be showing up here around 9 or so."

"Alright, then let's get up, get dressed, and get ready for company." Lindsay stated.

"Yep, let's get to it." I reply.