Dancing With Fire Part 2
Charlie's POV
We turned onto the dirt road that led up to the Cullen's home. My daughter sat cross armed in the passenger seat of my cruiser. Clearly uncomfortable.
The call I had received from her at the station a few hours ago was unexpected.
"Dad," She said slowly. "I kind of got in a car accident."
"What!" I straightened up, every cell in my body becoming alert. "Are you okay? What happened?" It had hardly been a few weeks since the incident with the van.
"Don't worry, I'm fine. Just a little fender bender." My muscle relaxed at her reassurance. "It was in the parking lot after school. I kind of bumped into another car." Her voice was low, she was embarrassed.
"We will probably need to file an insurance claim. Whose car was it?" My police officer mind kicked into gear, minor traffic altercations were very common.
"It was Edward Cullen's car." The Cullen's car. Great, she had to hit the most expensive car in the lot. I rubbed my eyes. "He looked at the damage and then drove away. We didn't exchange information at all! I'm not sure what to do."
That's irresponsible, I thought. "I'll call Dr. Cullen at the hospital to sort it out. Stay at home, I'll talk to you about this later."
Dr. Cullen was unaware of the incident when I had called him at the hospital and had little time to discuss it. He had agreed to let us come over after his shift to figure it out. That is where we were headed now.
My cruiser's headlights illuminated the house as it appeared suddenly out of the sea of trees. Yellow lights filtered through the many windows, casting a halo of gold around the home. I followed the dirt path as it widened, stopping in front of the main porch. We got out and knocked on the door.
Within seconds, the door swung open and a young, bronze haired boy stood in the doorway, glaring at my daughter. "What are you doing here?" He barked and she flinched. "Have you come to break more of my things?" I cleared my throat, I understood why he might be angry, but I wasn't going to let him talk to my daughter like that.
"Chief Swan," Dr. Cullen appeared, clasping his son on the shoulder. We exchanged greetings and he led us to the garage to see the damage.
"Honestly, if I had known it was this minor when I had talked to you on the phone, I wouldn't have thought it necessary for you to come up here." The back bumper was smashed in and loosely hanging from the frame. Dr. Cullen continued, "We are confident that there is no internal damage, we just need to replace the bumper."
"And, between you and I, Chief Swan, I'd prefer not to make an insurance claim for something so small. With five teenagers, our insurance rates are high enough." I could only imagine. I wondered how often his kids had incidents like this without police involvement. They had enough money to buy a new car anytime one got scratched.
"I understand. How would you like to handle this?" I inquired, but at that moment the light Fork's mist started to come down. A raindrop hit my cheek, I flinched, and the Doctor lead us back into his house.
The young boy from before, Edmund I think it was, was sitting on the bottom steps of the staircase, sulking and staring down at his hands. A little moody, I thought to myself.
Bella took this moment to relieve her guilt. Avoiding the young man's eyes, she jumped into an apology. "Dr. Cullen I'm so sorry about your car, it was completely my fault. If you're not going to file a claim, then please let me pay for it." Her eyes pleaded with him like a sad puppy.
An older, sweet looking women with dark hair strolled into the front room where we stood. However, before I could be introduced the boy rebuked, "Don't be ridiculous, we don't need your money." He approached our group.
My daughter did not turn at his words, but her face changed from guilt to pure irritation.
"Plus, it's not even Carlisle's car, it's mine," the boy continued. "I have to pay for the damages and decide what to do with it." I glanced at Dr. Cullen to see if this was true. He gave me a timid smile and explained the sense of responsibility he tried to instill in his kids.
"Fine." Bella finally turned unhappily to the boy. "Let me pay for the damages."
He scowled at her. "I don't want your money."
"Then what do you want?" She spat.
A grin spread over his face, reaching his eyes and looking mischievous. He coughed and straighten himself before speaking.
"Well there is something you could do for me." The boy smiled innocently at my daughter, as her eyebrows rose. The change in his attitude was suspicious, he had the rooms attention.
"What?" She barked.
"You could ask me to the school dance." His smirk deepened, showing his teeth and maintaining his stare. All eyes widened at his sudden forwardness. I guess there was more to this than just a fender bender.
She was at that age. I suppose I should be keeping a closer eye on her now. I looked back at my daughter.
Bella's jaw dropped in disbelief and she narrowed her eyes in disgust. She straightened herself, sighing and fluttering her closed eyelids. When her eyelids parted, she gave the boy a hard, determined stare. Yet, she could not maintain it as she asked the question.
Her eyes rolled up to the ceiling and her cheeks redden as she spoke with a quick, monotone voice. "Edward Cullen, will you go to the dance with me?"
His face brightened like a kid in a candy shop before responding nonchalantly. "I'm not sure. I think I'll be out of town that day."
My brow furrowed at his rudeness, and his mother objected. "Edward!"
Bella, however, threw her words at him from across the room. "Oh fuck you!"
Ignoring my protest at her language, she turned on her heel and jabbed her finger at me. "You're the adult, you take care of this. I'll be in the car." She stormed towards the entrance like a teenager from a Hollywood movie.
Yanking open the door she paused. "You know I am sorry I hit your car. I wish I had hit you instead!"
The boy was hunched over laughing before the door even clicked shut. His parents glowered over him. His mother's arms were folded, and Dr. Cullen spoke in a firm voice. "That was not a nice thing to do."
"No, but it was hilarious!" He continued laughing. My eyes narrowed, I didn't think it was funny. I knew boys would be boys, but it was at my daughter's expense after-all.
"You know son—" I advised him flatly, "—when you like a girl, you're supposed to be nice to her."
The boy lost all humor, standing up straight and knitting his brow. "She hit my car!" He exclaimed, gesturing towards the door she had disappeared through.
"Hmmm." I held his glare. "Yes, about that." I turned back to Dr. Cullen, I couldn't take the boy seriously. The car was the whole reason we were here.
Despite my attempt to talk to the adults, their son continued to talk. "Don't worry about it, I'll pay for the damages. Consider the joke at Bella's expense, her payment."
Dr. Cullen nodded. "It's fine with me if it is okay with you Chief Swan."
"I suppose so." I agreed. How could I complain about not having to pay anything?
We said a quick goodbye and I joined my irate daughter in the car where she sat cross armed.
Please don't take this story too seriously, it's just for fun.
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