Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own Twilight

I kept running. I guess I wasn't losing much. Both of my parents had been killed and I had no where to go anymore. Legally, I should be in my aunt's custody. In reality, I'm not. I'm the government's child. My aunt probably thinks I'm dead while everyone who's ever known me thinks she's dead. That seems to be the only sensible answer to why she hasn't looked for me yet.

My lungs ached and burned, I must have run at least a mile or two by now. In cold weather, it's not a good thing to do. I sighed and sat myself down on a bench beside an empty fountain. Slick, black ice coated the cement, I'm surprised that I hadn't slipped. Snow was piled on the sides of the road, where else was it to go?

I heard the sound of faint, padded footsteps behind me, but I was too tired to even bother turning around. I rested my head in my hands and put my elbows on my knees.

"If you put your hands on your head and stand up, you'll catch your breath faster and you won't cramp up," he said. I couldn't help but laugh at the voice I would have known anywhere, Edward's voice.

"I run track and you think I don't know that?" I replied sarcastically. He laughed. "No," I said. "I just need to think." He cam and sat himself next to me.

"About what?"

"What's going to happen to me? Where am I going to go?" I asked rhetorically.

"I don't know. You have an aunt, right?" I nodded. I thought that no one knew. "Then, you'll probably move in with her. My family would take you in if they could, but we just can't afford it right now."

"I understand." I sighed. "I've never even met my aunt."

"Wow, that should be umm… interesting?" He mused.

"Talk about it." I was nervous. Of course I was. It's not every day you go to live with someone you're related to, but never met.

"Where does she live?" Edward asked.

"How am I supposed to know? I've never met the woman!" Yeah, I was angry. But at least Edward cared enough to ask. "Sorry, I'm just… frustrated doesn't even cover it." Edward nodded in understanding.

"Well, no matter what happens Bella, I love you." I smiled.

"I love you too," I replied. He smiled and wrapped his arms around me.

"God has a way with making things work out for love," he said. He sounded so sure. If there was a God up there I wanted to shout at him. Edward was faithful; I was not. How could I believe in him when my life had been so horrible? My mother had loved God more than anyone and look what happened to her.

"G-God," I whispered. "If you're up there, please help me, make things work. Amen." I felt Edward smile against my skin.

"Finally, I've gotten you to believe."

"I'm still not sure. He listens to so many people's prayers and even when he doesn't help them, everybody loves him anyway. I just don't get it."

"It won't matter. No matter what happens, he always listens. He's always there. Just like I am for you."

* * * * *

I put the last of my belongings into a box and then loaded it into Edward's dad's truck. Basically I had my clothes and my sketchbook and journal. I sat in the back quietly with Edward while his dad drove. A million questions ran through my mind. Will she like me? What's she like?

"Don't worry. She'll love you," Edward said, as if reading my mind. He smiled. "You're easy to read." As we pulled up to the house, only 4 blocks away from Edward's, I felt myself crouching up and pulling back from the house and into Edward's arms. The house wasn't bad, actually rather nice in comparison to the other nearby houses.

"It's all right," Edward whispered to me. He slowly backed out of the car, taking me with him and encouraged me toward the inviting house. Edward's dad was behind us with my three boxes. I knocked slowly and quietly. The door opened slowly, just a crack, and then my aunt flung it open wide.

"I can't believe it's you!" She cried, prying me from Edward's arm and wrapping me in a loving embrace. "Your mother told me you had died." I was stunned. "She always told me about you and she said your eyes were the prettiest thing she'd ever seen." She pulled me back to look. "And she was right. The darkest brown. You can't tell were the pupil ends and iris starts." She swept my bangs from my eye and then gasped. "Your father…" she trailed off while she let her finger trace over the scar on my other, milky blue, eye.

"Yes," I replied nodding.

"Well, all of you come in. Let me get you something to eat." Edward and I sat down on the loveseat while his dad sat on the single chair. "Do you like Coke?" she called from the kitchen.

"Yes, thank you," I called back. She handed me a small glass with Coke and then sat down.

"Thank you for bringing her," my aunt said to Edward's dad. "I'm Anna-Maria Swan, Bella's dad's sister." Edward's dad stood up and shook Aunt Swan's hand.

"We have to go now," Edward's dad said, pulling Edward up from the couch. As they left, I couldn't help but think, maybe living here wouldn't be so bad.

Ok, i know that bella doesn't have an aunt named Anna-Maria but it went with my story.