How I Would've Rewritten Twilight

New Moon: Rewritten

So I'd leave the second book in the Twilight Saga mostly the same as the real book, but with several noteworthy changes. The first is that, rather than the Cullens leaving because Carlisle's trying to pass as older than he looks, it's because the family has come to the decision that it may be safer for Edward if they relocate so the Volturi won't find them, and Edward breaks up with Bella because it would also be safer for her. Bella, of course, is heartbroken, but not completely destroyed like she is in the books. This being her first breakup, she confines herself to her house and mourns for a few days before her father suggests that she should probably start living her life again, so she goes out into the world to look for stuff to do so her dad will quit bugging her. She spots Jacob hard at work fixing motorcycles and, him being a friend of hers, decides to bite the bullet and help out. As Bella goes through motorcycle-fixing class with Jacob, she develops a real bond with him and heals from Edward's breakup, and he begins to fall in love with her. He knows she's single and wants to ask her out, but is scared she may reject him because it's too soon.

Basically the same plot line of the real book, but written better.

However, as her heart heals, her body begins to display signs of something being seriously wrong with her. At first it's just twinges of pain, which show up right around the time Jacob gets sick with "mono," so she figures she's just caught that. When Jacob leaves the hospital, now a werewolf, she's more focused on reforging her relationship with a now-distant Jacob than her health. However as she discovers his secret and they begin to reform their friendship, it becomes clear that something is wrong, and Jacob notices when she winces in pain. Eventually Charlie notices as well and Bella is taken to the hospital for tests, and that's when the truth - and my main plot change - is revealed.

Bella has cancer.

It sounds crazy, I know! But here's the ending of the real book: Bella jumps off a cliff in order to hear Edward's phantom voice in her head (this girl has some issues). Somehow Edward hears this, thinks she's committed suicide, decides that life without Bella isn't worth living (so what was he doing with himself before?) and orchestrates a plan to kill himself. To save him, his sister Alice rushes to Washington to get Bella and bring her to Italy so she can prove she's alive and Edward won't kill himself. Then Bella gets brought before the Volturi and it's decreed that she must be turned into a vampire within the next year because... uh... because she has delicious blood or something.

Now here's my ending:

Edward finds out that Bella's got cancer, and he and his family rush back to Washington from wherever they are so Edward can be with his love to help support her. They have a heartwarming reunion and stuff, and the book ends there, with it being left uncertain whether Bella will survive her sickness or not, and also there's the unresolved subplot of "oh yeah, the Volturi may be after the Cullens, and now that they're back in Washington it'll be easier for them to be found."

This shows that Edward is willing to risk his life (or existence) for Bella, without saying that Bella is his only reason to go on living (or existing).