Rating: M – torture, lemons, language, violence… It's not going to be for young'uns.

Pairing: Bella/Peter – fluff, lemons, and general naughtiness ahead! Thou art warned!

Full summary: Set a few months after Edward leaves Bella in 'New Moon'. Bella tries to move on, but when Jacob flies off the handle, it's the final straw. Bella finally leaves Forks for good, but then Victoria takes her chance. She takes Bella, and after days of torture, Victoria leaves her on a remote mountainside to die slowly, horrifically and alone, but someone finds her there – someone Bella has yet to meet. Gravity does do strange things and pulls odd people together, after all. Rated M for a reason!

Bella

"Why?" Jake screamed at me, "Why can't you do it?"

I felt tears freely run down my face as I tried to reach out to him, touch his arm, anything. Jake twisted his body away from mine fiercely – his arm jerking away awkwardly and his joints popping in protest, all so I wouldn't touch him. That hurt more than anything.

I looked up at his furious expression through my wet lashes, "I just…"

His black eyes sparked angrily, "Because of the Cullen?"

The pain in my chest flared, and I sucked in a sharp breath and hugged myself as Jake towered over me. His hands clenched into fists and I saw his body begin to shake – all this because I couldn't love him the way he wanted me to.

He was my friend, my brother – why couldn't he accept that?

I couldn't take much more of his possessive and protective nature – I had had enough of that with…Him. I straightened my back and held my head up with strength I wasn't sure I truly possessed.

"I can't love you like you want me to. It doesn't matter who I loved before – it doesn't affect us," I said firmly. "You're my best friend, and I do love you, but you'll never be more than a brother to me."

Obviously it was the wrong thing to say, because he roared in my face and the next thing I knew a huge, heavy, greasy wrench was hurtling towards me. I ducked just in time to see it fly over my head and ricochet off the wall, splintering the wood that some of Jake's garage was made of.

I straightened up, completely stunned – that was thrown with some force, and it was thrown directly at my face.

Jake's eyes widened as his furious breathing evened out a little, and he stared at me in horror. I felt my eyes prickle uncomfortably, fresher tears setting in – I couldn't tell if they were angry tears, upset tears, or hurt tears. All I knew was that I wanted to get the hell out of there and away from my so-called best friend.

The rain and wind was picking up outside as I ran to my truck, and I heard an agonised yell of my name, but I didn't turn back. I leapt into the cab of my truck, started up the engine and peeled out of Jake's drive as fast as I could.

As I turned the corner, I took one look in my rear-view mirror – Jake was standing in the rain and mud, staring at the back of my truck as if I just shattered his heart into a million pieces.

I looked away.

I guess that I did just break his heart, but he knew – God damn it, he knew – that I had nothing to give to him. I could laugh, smile, walk, talk, eat, work, sleep, write, read, listen, hear, see, smell, touch…but I was broken on the inside. I may have all of my faculties and every vital organ in my body in tact, but He stole all meaning of using them – I couldn't give my heart to Jake, because it would just be that: a transaction.

No meaning, no feeling – just giving.

Where was the point in that?

I wiped away my hot tears on the back of my soaked sleeve as I drove up towards my house – Charlie wasn't home yet, and I was sure that he would be out for a little while longer: long enough to get myself under control.

I parked, shut off the engine and ran into the house.

My soaked sneakers squeaked and slapped on the wooden floor and I heard the tapping of drips of water falling off my body, but I was in auto-pilot mode – it was something I had perfected over the last few months.

I ran up the stairs to my room and shed my drenched clothes instantly – it was almost like shaking off the entire incident, or peeling back an old layer to reveal a new one. In those few seconds from the door to the stairs I had decided something – I wasn't going to stay in Forks for very much longer.

Jake had been the last straw.

It was time to pack up and move out – quickly.

I grabbed my sweats that I wore to bed and my bathroom stuff, and took a long, hot shower. While the water cascaded over my skin, I planned how I would do it.

I couldn't leave tonight, since Charlie would look for me instantly, but I could leave after he left for the station early in the morning and he wouldn't be any the wiser. I would write him a letter and he would know that he couldn't do anything about my choice – I was eighteen: a legal adult.

I turned off the shower, dried off, and pulled on my sweats. I brushed out my hair and refused to think about anything that I would leave behind – this was it: the Moment.

This was the point in time where everything in my life was so fucked up, that it just had to change and it would. This was my moment to shine – to go out into the world and make myself a new path.

With that final thought, I strode into my bedroom and slammed my window down to lock it shut – this was the first night where I accepted that He wasn't coming back, and I needed to start my life again.

I crawled into bed and fell into a dark and dreamless sleep.

I heard Charlie's cruiser pull out of our drive, and it was like my alarm clock – time to leave Forks.

I opened up my closet and reached for my empty rucksack that sat at the bottom – I ignored the designer bag Alice had gotten me, and all the other things she had bought for me which were stuffed inside haphazardly.

I filled the rucksack with as many clothes as I could, and my iPod and a couple of books, and then went to my bed and took my stash of money from underneath my mattress – five-hundred dollars would help me get somewhere.

I dressed in a green sweater and a comfortable pair of jeans, and brushed out my hair and tied it up, then put the brush and my bathroom stuff in my bag. I grabbed a couple of loose photos from my bed-side table, put them in the bag and then zipped it up.

That was it – I was ready.

I made my way downstairs, ignoring the photos on the walls that screamed out at me and told me I had a father who loved and needed me. But I could easily block it out, with my emotional shield – I had learnt how to deal with pain.

I went to the kitchen and filled the rest of my rucksack with food and bottled water, and paused at the kitchen table to leave my letter for Charlie. I took one last glance at the lilac paper…

Dad,

I know this is going to hurt – believe me, I know – but it's going to happen no matter what. I can't stay, and I would be lying if I said that leaving here isn't making me happy. I can't bear to leave you, Dad, but I can't stay in Forks – this isn't my home any more, and I've long outstayed my welcome. I will call you soon, to let you know I'm okay.

Tell Jake that I forgive him.

I love you,

Bella.

I held back my tears and left the letter in Charlie's place on the table. My fingertips lovingly brushed the back of his frayed and worn chair, and with a final silent goodbye, I turned on my heel and left the house for good.

I didn't even look back as I walked up to my truck – it was quick, clean and painless, and I ignored the flash of agony in my chest that reminded me that He had said the same thing when he left me.

The truck started up with a loud rumble, and I drove out of Forks as fast and as unnoticeably as I could – it was a miracle with my truck.

It was still early, so most people were off the roads and still at home, and it gave me the chance to break out quickly. I didn't know where I was going, but I did know that the grey, early-morning light that shimmered down from the heavens was going to see me to a newer and better place.

Fuck it – I was officially lost.

After fifteen hours of driving, I had made it to Idaho and I still hadn't looked back. But after an hour or so driving along deserted roads and through rough, forest terrain, I admitted that it might have been beneficial to take a better map. My one was wrinkled and ripped, and I think it actually came with the truck itself from Billy.

I was parked by the roadside, my iPod on full-blast, and I was scanning the map for any roads that led me out into the open – I never liked driving in the dark or through the forest.

Suddenly my fingertips found a delicate little winding road that led upwards, through a forest, then a residential area and then out near a main road – it was like I could practically taste the hallelujah chorus.

"Thank you, Jesus," I muttered, turning off my iPod and throwing it and the map into the open glove compartment.

The weather hadn't brightened at all after leaving Forks – it was raining quite heavily, but fortunately the sound and the chill kept me from feeling sleepy.

I made my way up the road, through the gloomy shade and past the sinister-looking, gnarled trees – I didn't like the feeling of dread which was slowly crawling up my spine. I had felt it thousands of times before, whenever I thought about…

"Oh, no," I hissed, slamming on the brakes.

My breath was coming short and fast – I could feel the tendrils of a panic attack slowly winding their way around my body, and my heart was slamming against my chest wildly, like it knew it only had a limited number of beats left.

I had forgotten about Victoria.

How the fuck could I have forgotten about the psycho-bitch trying to kill me?

But I had – that was the point – and now, I was unprotected.

I tried to wrap my mind around figuring out a way to stay safe – Victoria had been watching me for so long, that I severely doubted she had not found out about my departure. But she had been concentrating on getting through the wolves, so maybe – just maybe – she hadn't found out about it yet. I would be long gone and it would be a little difficult to trace me – I knew that much, but that was if she were still in the dark.

I flung my head back, hitting it against the back window of the cab – my life was just too damn complicated.

I started up the truck again, and tried to shrug off the feeling of dread that still clung to me – I had reconciled that, hadn't I? I realised that I forgotten about Victoria, so why else would I feel that way?

A flash of red across the road, startling me and knocking me off course told me why – she was here.

My head throbbed – back and front – and I tried to get a grasp on my surroundings. I could tell I was definitely in my truck, and that my forehead was resting on the steering wheel…and that I could smell the rusty aroma of blood.

A warm trickle ran down my face, from forehead to chin, and I held my breath so I didn't pass out from the smell.

I opened my eyes slowly, to find a shattered windscreen and the engine of my truck wrapped around a thick tree trunk.

What the…?

"Hello, again," a cool voice said, and I remembered that voice – it could be sharp, biting, witty, sarcastic, terrifying…

"Victoria," I choked, looking to my left.

The red-head sat on the passenger's side of the cab, picking at her nails in a surprisingly human way – but I could see the blood and dirt beneath them, and I knew that someone had died very recently. She wore a long, brown, leather coat over a white blouse and dark jeans, but she was barefoot and I could see blood between her toes as well. I cringed as I looked at her face and saw a long blood smear across her mouth, but I stayed quiet – I knew I was going to die soon, and a feeling of peace almost swept across me. I was surprised – I was almost relishing the idea of death.

I was one sick m–

"I was surprised to see you leave Forks, and then Washington all together," Victoria said in a calm way, but the flash of something in her red eyes told me she was feeling anything but. "I thought it was a poor attempt to get away with your mutt, but I see you're all alone – very naughty, Bella."

I lifted my head from the steering wheel as she spat my name and fought the dizziness that threatened to envelop me. I still didn't speak, and I think she wanted that, because she flashed me a cruel, cold smile.

"You know you will pay for what happened to James," Victoria stated, and I nodded a fraction.

"A mate for a mate," I croaked – I knew I was no longer His mate, but I also knew that the feral look in Victoria's eye meant she wasn't going to listen to anything I said.

Victoria smiled again, baring her teeth and leaning towards me, "Flesh for flesh."

My heart dropped into my stomach and was eaten alive by the acid there – flesh for flesh meant something sickening: not just the slight torture and agonizing death I had been expecting. No, Victoria's smile told me that I was in for something far worse than anything I could ever imagine.

"You're going to wish you were never born," she stated, confirming my fears, and it was the most truthful-sounding promise I had ever heard.

Author's Note: