Scattered Horizons

What if Bella didn't move back to Forks Washington when Renee and Phil decided to hit the road in pursuit of his career?

After qualifying for early graduation, she's offered a scholarship that grants her means to housing through dormitory living, and she takes the chance. She doesn't leave sunny Phoenix for the dreary Olympic Peninsula like she otherwise would have if she'd had no other option, and she feels better off for it; that is, until a short year later. Before leaving to visit Charlie in California for summer break, as per usual, Renee and Bella receive sudden news that Charlie has been in a grievous car accident under vague circumstances. When it becomes clear that her Mother doesn't know much about the state of his well-being (or is otherwise keeping her from the truth) Bella is overwhelmed with the suddenness of Charlie's mortality- abruptly aware of a creeping dread that any moment could be his last- and she impulsively leaves for Forks despite her Mother's wishes not to go alone. Quickly, her life is turned completely upside down, and Bella loses sight of herself as grief takes over; refusing to leave Forks, even at the behest of Charlie's dying wish, and her Mother's desperate pleas, Bella finds herself alone and quickly losing her mind in the very town she vowed never to return to. And, even with Charlie's final words ominously eating away at her mind, she never could have anticipated all the discoveries that lay under the vast gloom of Clallam County, hungry for her to know the truth...