As I drove home, I forced every thought out of my head and concentrated on my life before I had moved to Forks. It was a very rare thing for me to do, to think about the past and how it got me to the present, and it was strangely difficult to trace my life that far back. It seemed as though I had been outside of the world, looking down, before I had met Edward. It was almost as if it was that very day that I actually started living. I knew I only thought this because that was all I could focus on at that moment. Edward Cullen. How was it even possible that my life now was tied to his with a double knot? It definitely wasn't logical, although we both already fully understood that.

I turned the corner and pulled into the driveway. Charlie wasn't usually home this early, so I was surprised to see the cruiser already parked there. When I opened the front door, I saw him sitting in his chair with a somewhat angry expression on his face.

"What's going on, Dad?"

"Listen, Bella. We need to talk. And I think you know what it's about."

"Actually, I have no idea," But I could almost count on Edward being involved somehow. "What is it about?"

His expression didn't fade, it may have worsened.

"I told myself I was going to tell you this straight out. I'm not allowing you to be with Edward any longer. And it doesn't matter what you say to-"

"What?" I wasn't prepared for that to come out of his mouth, so it struck me pretty hard. "First of all, why? What did I do?"

"It's not you. It's him. Bella, I can see who he really is." You don't know even a fraction of who he is, I thought. "I'm telling you to save yourself another total heartbreak and get out of it now."

I was still shocked at the fact that he managed to say all this without backing down and giving up. He knew very well that he knew nothing about my relationship with Edward and that he liked it that way. The less details he knew, the happier he was. That was just Charlie.

"Dad, I don't need advice, especially about Edward. You're always so quick to judge him when you don't know anything about him."

"Bella, what I said wasn't advice. It's a demand. If you're going to continue to live under my roof, you will go by my rules. End it with him, or leave."

"For your information, Dad, not every relationship ends with someone being heartbroken. Proof of that is the fact that he came back. It didn't end there and it's not ending now. It isn't ending ever. I'm marrying him. And don't tell me I can't because I'm an adult and soon I'll be out of here anyway."

There was silence for about a minute as he processed exactly what I had said.

"What did you say you were doing?" Then the anger rushed back to his face, along with a hint of hopelessness. He was watching all the walls he had tried to build around me get broken through. He knew he was being defeated and that there was nothing he could do.

"I'm marrying him," I almost stuttered. I wasn't supposed to let it out that way. Edward was supposed to be with me when I did. So much for that. So I lefted my hand from under the table and placed it on the surface, in clear view. And just then, as if matters couldn't get worse, the doorbell rang.

Charlie hadn't gotten any less tolerant about Edward coming over every evening. He still made sure he walked out the front door at nine o'clock sharp. Edward was good at avoiding situations he knew he shouldn't take part in, so I was a bit surprised that he would choose now to chime in. Didn't he know what was going on? Why did he do this now? I decided that if I delayed any longer, he would overreact like he always does, causing more trouble than necessary. So I got up and opened the door to see his beautiful face that still astonished me everytime.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say it out loud. It sort of slipped out. I'm terrible at hiding things..."

"I know. It's okay. I came to back you up. I'll handle this."

"Handle this? What's your plan?"

"I don't exactly need to prepare one. I do have the ability of knowing what to say before he does."

"Please. Be careful what you say. He's a fragile guy and I'm not sure how he'll react to hearing you out."

"But I am." He tapped his head and smiled my favorite smile. Only this time it contained a hint of sly viciousness, which scared me. He walked right past me through the door and into the kitchen. Charlie stood up and took three big, hefty steps toward Edward.

"Good evening, Charlie."

"Hello, Edward. Bella and I were just having a little father-daughter discussion. May I ask why you stopped by?"

Wow. Even at his worst, he was being extremely polite. He seemed to be handling himself very well. In fact, even I was feeling very relaxed about the whole situation. That could only mean one thing. I always knew one day, Jasper's ability would come in handy, but this was perfect. I couldn't see him, so I fgured he was outside. Alice must of sent him over after seeing what was going on. I'll have to thank him later.

"I came by to see Bella, if that't alright. She told me she wasn't grounded anymore."

"Well, as a matter of fact, that's exactly what we were just discussing. I've been keeping a close eye on you two and I'm not liking where this is going. It's best if Bella keeps more of a distance from you, Edward. The last thing she needs after graduation is a bigger mess to deal with."

By now, I had taken a few steps out of the kitchen towards the living room. If Edward said he could handle it, I trusted him to do that without my interference.

"Excuse me, Charlie, but do you really think you know exactly what is best for her? And don't you think it's only fair if Bella gets to speak for herself on her own behalf?"

"Listen, boy, Bella is my daughter and don't you ever try to question whether I know what's best for her. If I'm not mistaken, and I'm not, I remember it was you who thought you knew what was best for her. And do you remember how that turned out? Were you here to see nothing but a heartbroken girl with nothing to believe in but pain? No. And,as if that wasn't enough, you came back. Right as she was healing and getting herself into a better life, you stomped right back in.

Okay, now was my time to interfere. He was not saying this to Edward. He was not telling my feelings for me, and getting them all wrong at that. I stomped into the kitchen and was prepared to put my two cents into this. As I walked through the doorway, Edward pushed me back, his palm cold and hard, it almost hurt.

"No, Bella, let me take care of this," he ordered. "I came back, Charlie, because I did see exactly what was happening to her and I knew all she wanted was me. So that's what I gave her. And I don't know how you see this, but I believe Bella is perfectly fine now."

He was practially yelling at Charlie now. I tried to get myself back into the kitchen, but I knew Edward wouldn't let me through. I wondered where Jasper was and why he was allowing this to get so intense. A knock on the door startled Charlie and I, but Edward didn't seem to notice. I opened the door for Alice, who decided to join in the party.

"Hi, Alice," I said glumly. "Why are you here?"

"I came to stop Edward," she whispered. "He's going to do something stupid. He's not paying attention to my thoughts anymore so I had to come here and be more aggresive."

"What is he going to do?" I asked, anxiously.

She stood completely still for over a minute and I knew what was happening. What broke the silence startled everyone in the room.

"Shut up, Alice!" Edward yelled. And right then, every expression in the room changed. Alice was panic-stricken, I was entirely shocked. I didn't know what to do and neither did Alice. Charlie just seemed to be confused.

"Alice? I didn't hear you say anything...I didn't even know you were here."

"Hello, Charlie. I just stopped by to give Bella some nail polish that just didn't go well on me." Edward still hadn't moved.

"I should go. I'm sorry, Charlie, I had no right. I think I left one of my CD's in your room, Bella. Is it alright if I come by later to pick them up, Charlie?"

"Yes, that's fine," he said in a flat, still confused tone.

Then Edward walked past Alice and I and out the front door, brushing my hand as he left.

"Oh, I think I forgot the nail polish. Shame. You would've loved it. I guess I better go talk to him and see what's wrong."

She too walked out the door, leaving Charlie and I still in the kitchen with nothing else to say. Well, at least I had nothing else to say. Charlie opened his mouth just as I was going to walk up the stairs.

"What was that about? What did Alice say? I swear I heard nothing come out of her mouth. I've never seen him act so hostile to her before. I guess they all seem so loving that I never would have thought he'd talk to her like that."

"Dad! You didn't have to be so mean to him! That's why he acted that way." I figured, if I answered the part of his question about Edward's attitude, he'd dismiss the one about his slip-up. What made that happen? I was so confused. There was so much I needed to talk to him about. I needed to know what Alice was thinking. I decided to save that for the morning and get my homework done. After that, I'd try to force every blazing thought out of head and let sleep replace every one of them.