"Hey, Bells," Charlie said, stepping into the house from constant light drizzle outside

"Hey, Bells," Charlie said, stepping into the house from constant light drizzle outside. The rain never seemed to let up here, it just left everything at a constant "slightly damp" state.

"Hey, dad," I greeted him, as I pulled dinner out of the oven.

"Mmm, that smells good, Bells," he hung his coat and belt on his designated peg and came to the kitchen. Edward was watching me cook and keeping my company until Charlie got home. Thankfully, Charlie had opted to be very friendly with Edward, seeing as they were going to be family in a matter of weeks. "Hey, Edward," Charlie greeted him; Charlie was no longer stiff when speaking directly to Edward as he once was, and for this I was very glad.

"Hi, Charlie," Edward said, always too polite, "how was work?" he asked conversationally. Edward finally tore his gaze away from me, and looked at Charlie's face for a response.

"Slow day, nothing major today," he answered. This was the same answer same as the past few days. There hadn't been any trouble in town lately, what without a sadistic vampire intending to avenge the demise of her love by killing the love of his killer, chasing after me. There were no more worries, my future was set, and I didn't have anyone or anything to worry about. No one chasing after me because I was a human that new too much—not yet at least—and no one looking to avenge the death of her love.

I put dinner on the table, Edward excused himself as usual, and Charlie and I sat down for dinner.

"So, Bella, what did you do today?" he asked, after he served himself some lasagna.

"Alice dragged me to one last shop to finalize some last decisions about bridesmaids and whatnot, and after that I just spent some time over there, at their house." I answered as completely as I could.

"Oh, good, so is everything done then? Everything's finalized for the big day?" I could hear the pain behind his words and the look that came into his eyes every time someone brought up the wedding. He was sincerely happy for me, I knew that for sure, but he was losing me much sooner than he thought. He always put on a happy face so I wouldn't see, but I could hear it behind every word. If he knew the extent to which he was losing me—other than the fact that he would have me put in a padded cell—he wouldn't be able to take it.

"Yeah, we're all done," I answered him, trying to keep my guilt from my voice, "Alice did most of it anyways," I added.

"Well, that's nice of her, and of you for making her your Maid of Honor," he commended. "and Rosalie and Esme you're bridesmaids. Are you sure you don't want Angela or Jessica to be a part of it too?" he asked for what felt like the billionth time.

"No, Dad, I think its perfect how it is," I answered calmly, it wasn't completely his fault that my quota of allotted patience for the subject had been filled a pretty long time ago.

"Okay, Bells, if that's what you really want, I mean it is your day after all," he conceded. I could tell that he shied away from the word 'wedding' as much as possible. I didn't blame him though, if I found out that my 18-year-old daughter was getting married to a boy I thought was hardly good enough for her, I would pretty much want to keep the thought out of my mind until it was absolutely necessary.

We finished eating in a comfortable silence. When he was finished, he got up, washed his plate, set it to dry, and walked off to watch the game. The second he left the room, Edward silently slipped back in and sat down where Charlie had been not even a minute ago. His swiftness still left me breathless, but at this moment, it didn't really do anything to affect me.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, as I got up to wash my plate. He wrapped his arms around me from behind and whispered in my ear, "Is this really affecting you that much, I'm terribly sorry to have jeopardized your relationship with your father."

"Don't worry about it, its not like it was your fault at all anyways," I said back in that quiet voice where you're obviously just not in the mood.

"I truly am sorry, from the bottom of my heart," he sounded sincerely sorry, but I didn't need him to apologize, I didn't need him to do anything except merely exist. That would be enough to get me through it all.

"Look, I don't really know who my father hates right now, but I know it wasn't well-deserved," I said trying to make him feel less guilty about the whole situation.

"Why thank you for thinking so, I'm sure you're the only one though," he wasn't one to be self-deprecating, so I knew something was really bothering him.

I was still facing the sink, and he was still behind me, whispering in my ear. I turned around to bury my face in his chest, and just forget about all my problems. His scent was enough to just make me forget about my problems and reassure me that everything was going to turn out right.

"Bella, there's nothing to be afraid about, its not like there are any threats upon us right now, the only problems are little problems, and they can be easily resolved. There is no reason to worry about anything," he was good at the reassuring thing. I felt just fine afterwards, and he could tell that I had listened to him. "see, everything will work itself out." I don't know how long we just stood there but after a while Edward pulled away from me and just leaned against the counter next to me, holding my hand.

"Charlie?" I whispered, guessing that he pulled away just not to give my father too much too quickly.

He simply nodded.

"He can take a little more than this," I whispered mostly to myself. I slid closer to him and he put his arm lightly across my shoulders. Charlie walked in right after that.

"What are you two kids up to?" he asked, but not in a suspicious way, thankfully.

"I was just washing the dishes and all and talking to Edward, same old same old." I explained casually.

"You guys have any plans for tomorrow?" Charlie asked just as casually, "its supposed to be a beautiful weekend."

"Yeah—" I started just as Edward started, "No—"

"Well, I see some things still have to be worked out amongst you two, so I'll just get out of your way." Charlie put the empty glass he carried in from the other room, down in the sink and went back to settle down on the couch. Once I heard the TV on, I knew it was safe.

"I was actually thinking I should go see Jacob tomorrow. You know just for a few hours or something," I suggested, hoping he would let me go.

"Really? And had you thought to mention it to me?" he asked, not in a condescending tone, he would never, but he still sounded a bit mad.

"what are you getting so worked up about, its just a visit to Jacob. There is nothing new about this concept."

"Yes, but wouldn't you think to tell you're fiancée?" he knew I hated actually using the word fiancée, but it was the proper name. He started to sound a little mad.

"yeah, I was just about to talk to you about it, after I finished these dishes, so that I could actually talk to you, not just mention it and just throw it out in the air" I wasn't lying here, and if I had been, he would've seen right through me as he always does when I lie in the terrible manner that I manage to.

"Okay, so go ahead and tell me the proper way," he said, sounding calmer about it and back to his normal state.

"Well, Edward," I said, playing along, "I was thinking of going down to La Push tomorrow to see Jacob and the rest of the pack."

"Okay, Bella, that sounds good. Will you please stop driving you're truck? I'm begging you, please drive the wonderful—and safe—Audi A4 I bought for you, its so much more reliable than you're truck." I really could hear the longing in his voice that only came from the longing to keep me safe. Unwillingly, I conceded.