A/N

Hello there, my lovely and faithful readers!! I'm soooo completely, utterly sorry that it's been like forever since I've updated! I've just been extremely busy lately. And to be honest, I really haven't had many ideas for this chapter popping up inside my head much. But I feel like I NEED to update right now, so forgive me if this chapter is a little confusing or not up to standards. I still love you all! Enjoy chapter 7! (oh yeah, and the title was all me this time!... with a little help from my friends, Paramore)

CHAPTER 7: How the hell did we get here?

I sat slumped in my chair at the dinner table, playing with my spaghetti absentmindedly. I wasn't really paying attention to the conversation going on around me and I was vaguely aware of Emmett telling of something that happened at school today. Apparently, it was pretty funny because I could hear muffled sounds of my family's laughter over my mental replaying of all that happened today with Edward.

He had seemed so genuinely hurt that I wouldn't believe him about not destroying my project in eighth grade. But if he hadn't done it, who had? I mean, we did have sort of a little tiff about the fact that we were both creating the same product. As far as I knew, nobody else knew that we had made the same thing besides my family, and probably his.

Who else would've wanted to sabotage my chance at winning the science fair but the only person in school who had a GPA higher than mine?

"Bells!"

I snapped my head up and glanced at all three of my family members who were looking at me with raised eyebrows.

"Bella?" I turned my head to my right where my mother Renee sat, and realized that it was her voice that had pulled me out of my mental questioning.

"Yeah?"

"Sweetie, you've hardly touched your dinner, which Esperanza made especially for you tonight."

I glanced down at my cold dinner.

"I'm just not that hungry is all," I mumbled. My mother's eyebrows came together in confusion.

"You're always hungry when we have spaghetti and meatballs…" she said. I heard Emmett snicker softly but ignored it.

"Well not tonight, Mom." We all four sat in silence for a few moments before Renee turned back to face me.

"Bella, is something wrong?" she asked me cautiously. I looked back to her with my eyebrows raised.

"No. Why?"

"Well, you're not eating and you've got this distant and frustrated look on your face like you're trying to figure something out…"

I sighed and turned back to my dinner, picking up my fork. I twirled around a large portion of spaghetti and shoved the fork-full into my mouth, getting the delicious tomato sauce all over my face. There was the reason why I was always so hungry when we had this meal.

"See? I'm eating," I told Renee through my mouth full of food. Emmett started booming out laughter, which echoed off the walls of our kitchen. Renee sighed again.

"Bella…"

"Mom, I'm fine," I assured her, wiping the sauce from my face. I set my now dirtied napkin on the table and started to rise from my seat.

"But, Bell—"

"May I be excused? Great."

I didn't bother waiting for her answer, so I just pulled away from the table and made my way back upstairs. Ugh, why couldn't she just leave me alone when I told her I was okay? Whether I really was or not, wasn't she just able to take the hint that I didn't want to talk about whatever it was that was bugging me? Of course not. She was my mother and mothers pry. It's what they do.

I sauntered over to my nightstand and pulled my iPod off the counter. I stuck the earphones in and blasted my new favorite song by my second favorite band Paramore, 'Decode'. I lay back on my bed and listened to the lyrics. It was something I did whenever I was stressed out. Something about just listening to a song's instruments and words seemed to soothe me.

How did we get here?
I used to know you so well
How did we get here?
Well, I think I know

It was kind of ironic now, how the song's lyrics seemed to apply themselves perfectly to my situation with Edward. I couldn't quite figure him out. We used to know each other so well, and then after that one incident it's like we both became two completely different people. How the hell did we get here? I no longer knew anything about his life, other than the things Alice finds she can't go on in life unless she tells me.

Alice. Sometimes I feel so badly about what Edward's and my situation must do to her. Seeing her best friend and her brother dislike each other so strongly… It must be heartbreaking. I don't know what I would do if Emmett and Jasper hated each other the way Edward and I do. It would tear me apart inside, that's for sure. Make a nice big hole in my chest that would never be able to be repaired…

I wondered if that's how Alice must feel. If she's got this huge part of her missing, eating away at her life.

I shuddered at the thought. She's got this mega dilemma and all I ever do is make it worse by telling her to her face how much I loathe her jackass of a brother? How could I ever do to my friend what I have been for so long? I mentally made a note to self: Never complain about Edward, talk about his annoyances, or anything along those lines in front of Alice. I would not keep hurting my friend.

As the song came to a close, I heard a slight tap at my door. I hit the pause button on my iPod. Okay, so the tap I heard was more like a pounding. I guess my music was on a bit too loudly.

"BELLA!" I heard Charlie call through the door. Charlie? What did he want? If anyone, I would've thought Renee to be the one that would come up to check up on me.

"Yes?" I called back, not moving from my comfortable position on my bed.

"Can I come in?" he asked, a little softer now that he knew I had heard him.

"Sure, Dad, I guess."

My door opened slowly and Charlie peeked his head in before bringing his whole body into my room. He shut my door quietly and pulled my desk chair over to the side of my bed that I was sitting on.

"Bells, I think… well… Bella you… Gar," he stuttered over his words, burying his face in his hands.

"What is it, Dad?" I asked, sitting up and leaning against my headboard.

"Bella… I want you to know… I want you to know that…"

"Dad, spit it out," I said playfully.

He picked his head up and smiled softly at me.

"Bella, I want you to know that I love you very much." I scrunched my brows together and looked at him, confused. What was he getting at?

"I love you too…"

Laughing, he responded: "That's not really what I wanted to say. I love you very much, Bells, but sometimes… sometimes I worry about you."

"Worry about me? Why?"

"Well… I mean, it's not like your relationship with Edward, or lack thereof, is really a secret, hon."

So that's what he was getting at.

"Dad, I—"

"Let me finish. I worry about you because, sweetie you and Edward used to be such good friends. I don't understand why you two hate each other so much."

"Dad, you know why I dislike him. You know what happened." I chose my words very carefully. It's not necessarily that I hated Edward, it's just that... I don't know. Just that I couldn't stand to be around him after what he did to me.

"Yes, Bella, I know what happened. I know that someone, somehow, ruined your laser that you worked very hard on for the eighth grade science fair. And I also know that Edward Cullen was not that someone."

I stared at him with my mouth open and my eyes wide in shock. Is he really defending Edward?

"Are you really defending him right now?" I asked him, my breathing becoming heavy with anger. How dare he? I thought. How dare he defend the person that ruined my life?!

"Bells, just calm down, alright? Hear me out," he said, holding his hands up in defense.

"Why?" I spat.

"Because I'm your father and I told you to," he stated sternly, dropping his hands and locking his authoritative gaze on mine. We sat like that for a few moments and then his eyes began to soften.

"Listen to me, Bella. Edward was your best friend, other than Alice, of course. He cared about you almost as much as your mother and I do, maybe more. You two were just so close and he never hurt you before. Why and how could you think that he would do something like that, something that he knew would hurt his best friend in the entire world? Huh?"

"I hardly think he cared about me that much, Dad."

"Oh, but he did, Bella. Just… just think about what I said. Okay?" I looked at him for a few seconds before sighing and telling him that I would.

"Promise?" he asked skeptically. I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, I promise." He stood up from the chair, placed it back at my desk, and kissed my forehead before heading out my door.

"Oh, and Bell?" he asked as he was leaving.

"Yes, Dad?" I sighed, getting slightly annoyed.

"Even a blind man can see what's right in front of his nose," he said, tapping his own sniffer with his index finger before finally shutting my door and leaving me alone.

'Even a blind man can see what's right in front of his nose'? Wow, Dad, that's quite some wisdom you've got there, I thought sourly. Of course I knew what he meant by that statement: that Edward really didn't do it and that I was being stupid to not have already realized that. But I didn't care what my dad said. I knew what had been done and that Edward Cullen had done it. He was the one that ruined my dream.

So why was Charlie so committed to defending him?

A/N

Yeah, I know it was really short, but hey. I warned you. Well, length of the chapter aside, did we like it? Yes, no, maybe so? I know that nobody has used that phrase since like, kindergarten, but my friend said that to me the other day when he asked me if our poster was good enough. I laughed at him. Funny stuff, yeah?

So anyway, you know you want to click that little button down there and tell me what you thought. Don't you? DON'T YOU?!

Again, no poem. I know you're disappointed. Oh well. My brain's on the fritz right now.

Keep checking back for updates like I know you do EVERY DAY (she said sarcastically) and remember to REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!!

-SoNotObsessed (Jessica)

p.s.-- who else loved how i put in 'Decode'?? Huh, huh, huh??