Disclaimer: All familiar characters belong to SM. No infringement intended. Anything original is mine, though. Rated M for future chapters.

This is an AU/AH story. My first fanfic in the Twilight world.

PROLOGUE

The lone figure walked quietly up the trail, pulling a hoodie over her head to offer some meager protection against the drizzle falling from the overcast sky. It was mostly quiet- peaceful- the only sound coming from the raindrops against the leaves above and an occasional animal moving through the trees.

She's walked this path since she could remember, would know every stump, every dip in her path by memory. With friends, she would run up here in the summer, excited at the thought of cliff diving. With her family, she would come up here for picnics or camping, when nothing was as beautiful as the gray water that merged on the horizon with a bright pink sunset. When nothing could make her feel any safer than snuggling on her father's lap with a handful of her mother's "homemade" cookies, watching the sun set and planning an early morning of fishing with her Daddy.

Life was so simple back then. Nothing could hurt her with her parents beside her. She could dream of the future; she would marry someone just like her Daddy and become a ballerina- by then her balance and coordination would have to have improved- and then have lots of babies and live next door to her parents. Her dreams had been simple. No thoughts of leaving her family, no desire to ever expand her horizons beyond the tiny town of Forks. Whatever was outside the borders of her hometown held no interest to her. She would be content and happy to just live her life out here and die at a ripe old age, surrounded by the family she loved.

She still held those simple, naïve notions up until they were viciously ripped from her. When at sixteen, young and innocent and full of childish notions, her father's best friend, Billy, came to her school to take her out of class. To tell her that her parents had been killed in a car crash on their way back from Port Angeles. In the span of a week, she buried her beloved parents and moved from the only home she'd ever known to live with Billy Black and his son Jacob on the Quileute reservation. They were familiar to her, their house was a second home, but any comfort and familiarity in her life became alien and strange when her life had been turned upside down.

Billy had been named her guardian. Both sets of grandparents had died before she was born and she had no other blood relatives in the world. And even though she'd known the Blacks since birth, they weren't her family, not even close. Billy was strict with his son and was the same with her. His eyes held no adoration that she was used to seeing in her own father's eyes. She had quickly learned that her father's best friend was not the happy go lucky guy she'd remembered from growing up. He was bitter and angry, a heavy drinker who dwelled on the hurts of the past. The loss of his wife in a car accident, the loss of the use of his legs in that same accident, had left him harsh and mean.

There were many nights that she huddled under the covers of her little twin bed, crammed in the second bedroom with Jacob's, desperately trying to block out the sound of her friend being screamed at by a drunk Billy, the sounds of beer cans and random items lying around being thrown at him while his wheelchair ridden father blamed him for every wrong done to him in this life. Even though Jacob was well over 6 feet tall and solid muscle, and could easily take his father down, the younger man could never raise a hand to the old man, would never say a harsh word. He would never disrespect a man who showed him no respect or love in well over a decade.

Those nights, when Billy would finally pass out for the night, Jacob would come into the room and she would meet his sad, tired stare with her own. She would lift her covers and he would crawl in the tiny bed with her. They would cling to each other, whisper their plans to get away after graduation, offer any kind of hope in a hopeless situation. He told her of his dreams of owning his own body shop far away from the long reaching hands of Billy Black and the reservation. He wanted to go somewhere he could be himself, somewhere where he didn't have to hide the fact that he was in love with his best friend Sam, and where Sam didn't have to hide the feelings he shared with Jacob. She was the only one who knew Jacob's deep, dark secret. His father would surely kill him before letting anybody know that his only son was gay. She would tell him that she didn't care where she went, she would go with him and Sam, help run the office while the guys worked in the shop. She didn't have any real dreams of her own, just getting the hell out of La Push and Washington was enough. She might try her hand at writing; she was always good with words. She could do that wherever Jacob and Sam decided to settle.

But deep down, they both knew that Jacob would never leave his father on his own. The guilt of leaving him to fend for himself would eat him alive. No matter how many times she told him that Billy wouldn't be alone, the tribal elders and their wives would take care of him, Jacob would never escape. And the thought of leaving him behind when it was time for her to run broke her heart.

A few months before graduation, Billy started talking about his plans for her to marry Jacob after getting out of school. They would both live in the house with him, Jacob would work full time and she would stay at home and 'care for the men and children'. And since he was such a giving soul, he would allow them to add an addition onto the house so there would be room for their children.

She'd made the mistake of laughing out loud at such a ridiculous notion. Before she could blink, the remote had hit her in the face with such force that she fell back into the kitchen table, forcing back tears at the shooting pain in her cheekbone and the black fury in Billy's eyes. Jacob stood in shock for a full minute before rushing to her side, helping her to a chair to sit down. For the first time, Jacob Black had turned on his father in rage. He was used to Billy's violence towards him, but never towards her. He stood up to his full height, leaning over his father and shaking in barely controlled anger. Billy just looked up at him, an evil little grin curling up the corner of his mouth.

"What are you gonna do, boy? Kill your old crippled Daddy? You think the elders would protect you then?"

And like she knew he would do, Jacob stumbled back, fists clenched. He could never do that to his father. Instead, he grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the house without a word.

In the garage, he had dug out the first aid kit and tended to her bruised face, apologizing profusely through his tears. When he was finished, he buried his face in her lap, sobbing while she ran her fingers through his hair, trying to comfort her dear friend while tears fell from her own eyes.

"This is the last straw, Jake," she whispered, keeping her voice low on the off chance that Billy had wheeled himself outside. "We can't live like this forever. Can you even imagine bringing a child into this life?"

Jacob's huge hands gripped her waist tightly before he wrapped his arms around her. "Where are we gonna go? We have no money, anything we earn he takes."

She bent over him, forming a sort of cocoon around him, trying her best to encase them in their own safe little bubble. "I have a little money in the bank. Mom and Daddy's life insurance was mostly eaten up by the funerals, but there's a tiny bit left. We could get bus tickets, go anywhere. Sam can go with us or meet us wherever we end up." She let out a shuddering sob. "Anything would be better than this."

His sobs increased then, his hold on her tightened and his broken voice tore into her heart even more. "I don't know what to do… I don't know what to do…"

Up ahead, the trees thinned out slightly and the path widened. She could see the vast ocean in the distance, the water matching the dreary, overcast sky. A morose watercolor of every shade of gray; a snapshot of her future if she stayed. No bright sunny days, no spectacular pink sunsets, no happy to give her a reason to get out of bed in the mornings. Nothing in her life to give it meaning, nothing to bring her joy. Sure, she could be married to her best friend, could always have him to lean on, but at what cost. They didn't love each other like that. He would see his love move away to live a life without him. She would have a future without romance, without love, without color. She would grow to resent Jacob, or vice versa. And she would be damned if she brought any children into that kind of environment. She would rather die.

She stopped suddenly, the path ending at the toes of her dirty white Converse, dropping hundreds of feet to the jagged rocks and roiling gray water below. She could just feel the spray of the ocean from up there, mixing with the drizzle from above, a figure lost in the gray mist. She reached up, pulling her hoodie back, feeling the wind catch her long dark hair. Eyes closed, head looking up toward the heavens, she held her arms out wide and took a deep breath.

"Give me a sign, Daddy," she shouted. "Something. Anything!"

She waited, never opening her eyes. This was a weekly ritual with her, hiking up to this point, begging her father for an answer. The visits had become more commonplace lately. Graduation was the next day. And according to Billy, her and Jacob's wedding was planned for the following week with the elders.

"Please Daddy," she begged, rain mixing with ocean spray mixing with her tears. "What do I do?"

A particularly strong gust of wind hit her then, pushing her back a few steps. She opened her eyes, arms still outstretched, and her breath caught in her throat. For through the vast gray nothingness, she saw a break in the clouds. A tiny streak of pink, barely noticeable, but it was there.

The weight disappeared from her body, the heaviness that settled inside of her ever since Billy wheeled into her school with the news that would bring her world crashing down, seemed to float away. That streak of pink in the sky, a sign she was sure was from her father, was something she had not dared to dream of lately.

Finally. Bella Swan felt hope.