Summary: Bella has no doubts about becoming a vampire. However, saying goodbye was never her strong suit. Bella's final day of humanity; Bella's POV.
A/N: Always tell me if any character is OCC. OCC is the bane of my fanfic writing; I despise it and it always sneaks up on me. And these will all be rather short chapters. It's only one "goodbye" a chapter, so they aren't long.
The shrill buzz of an alarm woke me up. I turned and yawned, expecting cold arms around me or stone lips touching my forehead gently. There wasn't. I rolled over, eyes wide, when I remembered: Edward went hunting last night. I'd see him at school. Oh.
Ignoring the feeling of gloom that rose in me, I rolled out of bed, glaring at my clock. 6:30, it read in blaring red numbers. Six thirty? I normally didn't wake up until seven—
It hit me when I heard shuffling from the kitchen, the sound drifting up the stairs. Charlie. I wrenched my head to my desk where a small day-to-day calendar was sitting. June Twenty-First; underneath I had written in a messy scrawl: Graduation!!
I was suddenly alert and I sat up, pulling my feet out from the tangle of covers and getting out of bed. Too fast. I wobbled and my foot hit the rug wrong, and I was sent flying. I skidded on the rug until I lost my balance and fell backwards, my head hitting my box spring and landing on my bottom. Obviously today wasn't going well already.
I hurried down the stairs, ignoring the throb in the back of my head. I'd have a bruise. I almost fell again in my haste to get to the kitchen; I took it more slowly after that. But I had to talk to Charlie before he left.
I saw Charlie's back, dressed in the blue that uniformed all officers, cooking eggs. One of the few things he could make without over salting or otherwise making it inedible, and that was probably only because I mixed up the eggs and milk the night before.
"Hey Dad," I said, sort of softly.
He turned around, surprise on his face. "Hey Bells," he said, eyebrows knitting together. "Aren't you up early?"
"Yeah," I said. "Couldn't get back to sleep." I watched him slid the eggs off of the pan and onto the plate. It was quiet for a moment while he ate, but the silence wasn't awkward. It never was.
Charlie finished soon, and he gazed out the window for a moment as he put his dish in the sink. "Looks nice out," he commented.
I panicked. "Nice?" I said, trying to hide my horror. "Sunny, you mean?"
"No," he said, letting the curtain fall back. "But it doesn't look like rain." He sat back down again, pulling on his boots.
"Oh, Dad?" I said innocently. "I've got a test tomorrow, so Alice and I are going to—" My throat closed up when he looked at me, expectant. "To study tonight," I finished lamely.
"Well, that works out well," he said, back to lacing up his boots. "I'm going to be late tonight, so I won't be home until nine."
Nine? I wouldn't see him today? This was... I swallowed as I tried to wrap my mind around it. This was my last time seeing him. "Kay then," I said.
He looked up, surprised. "You okay, Bells?" Apparently my voice betrayed some of my grief.
"Fine," I tried to say without arising suspicion. "I'm just worried about school today; Jess is mad at me," I said, making up a quick lie. I failed to say that I haven't spoken to Jess in over three months.
"Oh," he said, losing interest. "Well, you two work it out, then." He pushed the chair over the linoleum and headed out the door. "Bye Bella," he said. "See you tonight then. Remember, I won't be home until nine."
"Bye Dad," I said, feeling my eyes well up. I blinked back the tears and then stood up, the chair squeaking, and ran over to the door as he opened it. I hugged him fiercely from behind. "Love you."
I could feel his surprise. "Love you too," he said gruffly, embarresed. "Bye Bells."
And I watched him walk outside and get into the cruiser. I watched the road, long after his car had gone, the tears streaming down my face. Then I turned inside to get dressed and go to school.