"Battle"
BPOV
I went downstairs to meet my dad. Charlie was still standing near the door, and eyed me with curiosity… maybe he had heard me talking upstairs.
"Hi, dad. How was your day?" I greeted him, trying to sound calm. After all, Charlie would be very angry in a matter of seconds, after what I wanted to say.
"Just fine, thanks" he said, but looked at me intently. "Is something wrong, Bells? You look… worried" he finished. Crap! I forgot I'm a very bad liar. I took a deep breath; this was going to be difficult.
"Well, dad, it's nothing really... it's just that, um, Edward…" I said, but regretted it immediately. Charlie's face changed to what only be interpreted as anger, a reaction I should have expected –considering my dad had not been very fond of my boyfriend after the Volterra incident- but it still made me swallow… yeah, this was going to be difficult.
"So? What's with him?" he asked in an angry tone.
"Well, he's sick and… since his family is away, I think he shouldn't be alone, so… I was wondering if he could stay…" I asked, praying he wouldn't guess I was lying. Charlie's eyes gave me an answer: no way.
"I don't think that's a good idea. Maybe it's just flu or something. If he's really sick, he should be in the hospital; I'm sure his father's friends could…"
"No!" I almost screamed at him, my temper raising. Why does he have to be so rude to Edward? "I don't see why he can't stay here… I WANT him to stay here, to take care of him"
"Look, Bells, I've been quite tolerant with Edward, but this is too much. It's enough already that I tolerate his visits after all he'd done to you, but I'll not allow him to stay in my house. Period" he said, angry.
But I was very angry too at this point. "Would it be different if it was Jacob who needed to stay?" I asked coldly. I knew it would be different, and wanted him to say it.
He was clearly unsure; I had struck the exact point of the problem. "That's different… Jacob's almost family, but Edward…"
"Edward IS family too, I love him… but if you refuse, maybe I should go to his house and stay with him until he recovers!" I screamed at him.
"NO way, Miss!" he wanted to say more, but suddenly stood still, watching the stairs behind me.
"Good afternoon, Charlie" a velvet voice said behind me. I turned and saw Edward standing at the last step of the stairs, covered with a long towel –an attempt to cover the blood on his clothes, I guessed-. He looked at my dad with a smile.
EPOV
It was as bad as I thought. The moment I've heard them arguing, I decided it was time to interfere; I didn't want Bella fighting with her father for me.
Charlie eyed me suspiciously, trying to find any sign of my 'sickness' Luckily, my pale skin and tired look helped a lot.
"Sorry to bother you, but I came to see Bella and the rain caught me outside" 'which explains why I'm wearing a towel over me' I thought to myself. "It's nothing serious, really, but Bella insisted I should stay. If you disagree, though, I could go home. Don't worry" I said, then faked a cough. Knowing Charlie's thoughts –and his normally good heart- I knew he wouldn't let me go like that.
Even now, his thoughts had changed radically. 'Geesh, the boy really looks sick. Maybe I should… but where could he stay? The couch? I guess Bella wouldn't like that… but I can't let him go out right now, it's raining… maybe…'
Meanwhile, Bella eyed me with disapproval. I didn't know if it was because she knew what I was doing, or because I was up when she had clearly ordered me to stay in bed. I winked at her, trying to assure her I was alright… which was not entirely true, considering how my injuries hurt. I coughed again to distract her and to make Charlie decide.
"Well… I guess I can't let you go right now, but we have a problem here. Where would you sleep? On the couch?" he said, still in an angry tone. 'Let's see how he handles that… hope he realizes he could go with some relatives, or MALE friends perhaps?' I smiled softly; apparently Charlie had not given up yet… but Bella was as stubborn as he was.
"Dad! He can't sleep there, he's sick! He can sleep in my bed" Bella said with confidence, showing she had no intentions to change her mind.
"And where would you sleep?" he asked. Obviously not the couch.
"Well… I guess I have to sleep in my bedroom too…" she started, unsure. I whish she hadn't said that, she lost all the ground we had gained over Charlie.
Charlie's mind changed. I couldn't help but laugh at the mental image that was terrifying him: me and Bella, alone in the room; me trying to take advantage of his pure, innocent child… I faked a coughing fit in an attempt to hide my laugh. 'Is she CRAZY? Does she really think I'm going to let them sleep in the SAME room? NO. WAY.'
"Not a chance, Miss!" he screamed at her, unable to hide the panic.
"But someone has to check on him! What if he has a fever? What if he needs something?" Bella said. I had to fake a cough again… the idea of a vampire with a fever was so much fun to resist. "Well… maybe if you could take care of him…" Bella continued.
I laughed again –at this rate, Charlie would think I have pneumonia-. Charlie's thoughts were confuse, he was trying to decide which option was worse. 'ME? Take care of HIM? I doubt it… I'm not too good at that, and she knows it. But the idea of those two in one bedroom… what should I do? Damn, she really caught me there.' Before he could say something, Bella continued in a softer tone.
"Look, dad. I know you have all this over protective attitude towards me, and I appreciate it, but remember what we talked about trust? When you said you'll try to be open minded? You can trust me, I just want to be near him in case he needs me, we're not going to do anything… I'll sleep in the sleeping bag. Please?" she said. Well, if she had lost some ground with her previous comment, she certainly had gained more than that with this one. And she thinks she can't win an argument… Charlie's thoughts were still troubled, but I could see a victory there. He obviously wanted to trust her 'why shouldn't he? She's honest and mature enough' I thought.
Charlie sighed, defeated. "Alright, kid. You win. But I'll be checking on you two… I trust you, Bells, but I don't trust him" he said, eyeing me warily. Then he moved towards the couch and sat with a loud sigh of discomfort. The discussion was over.
BPOV
I couldn't believe I had actually won my little argument. I had thought Charlie would go berserk and all but kick Edward out. I sighed and looked at him, smiling.
"Thanks for the help" I said once we were in my room again.
"Well, my ability is very useful for that" he said, laughing. "But he's really going to check on us, so you better sleep on the bag" I grimaced at that; I wanted to sleep in his arms.
"I guess so. Well, at least he let you stay" I said. He suddenly became serious.
"It was not really necessary. I don't like you to fight with your dad for me. Sorry" he said. Let's see: he was injured –a totally new experience for him, I could say-, chased by some strange werewolf, and he was worrying about me?
"Stop it, Edward. I want you to stay here, and my dad has to get used to the idea of us together" I said, blushing. He laughed again.
"So, now tell me what happened" I asked. He looked at me, obviously he didn't want to tell me, but I had to know… what if it was one of my friends? The thought made me shudder.
"Alright…" he said, and started to speak.
In the woods, a lone black wolf laid below a tree. The hunter was furious; how could the vampire had escaped? He growled in pain and fury, outraged by his failure and the fact the vampire had actually managed to hurt him. He'll make the leech pay for it, as soon as he was totally healed… he had to. He still remembered the scene before him, many years ago:
A man laying on the floor, limp, dead… a figure standing over him, a figure with coppery hair and fiery red eyes… the vampire and the prey, the monster and his friend. Yes, he'll make sure to take revenge for that.
Suddenly, he thought he saw a figure moving not too far from him. He ignored it, considering it was just an animal, and went to sleep.
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HA! I guess you didn't expect that! :P yep, the hunter wants revenge… but I'm not telling you all yet (I'm cruel :P) The discussion with Charlie was unexpectedly fun to write –mostly thanks to Edward reading his mind-. Maybe I pictured him too… bad? I dunno, just think he's a good man, but he doesn't like Edward and, face it, any parent would oppose at the idea of a daughter sharing a room with her smexy boyfriend :P Hope you liked the chapter –too looooong!- and let me know if you have interesting ideas about the possible troubles about all the issue (I need more inspiration :P)
By the way, some of you had stated that vampires do not bleed… yes, it's true, but Stephenie once said they would bleed if they had recently feed (which is Edward's case)… just to share the thought nn.
