Disclaimer - All Characters and Copyrights belong to Stephanie Meyers.

Author's Note: Thank you as always to those that have left reviews or feedback. I am so happy to see so many people are all enjoying this story.


Chapter 9 - The pizzas have been delivered...

Things were moving well with Bella and me. Over the last month, we have really bonded on a level we both never thought we could achieve. Shortly after the kitchen was completed we decided to throw a Thank You dinner to those who had worked so hard on the kitchen. I invited Billy and Sue over as well. Bella had spent all day shopping for the party, and I had even helped cook one of the side dishes. Apparently this bonding time was having some real side benefits for us all, as I was actually learning how to cook properly under Bella's guidance. Around 6 that evening, Sue and Billy were one of the first ones that showed up. Billy provided his normal update on Jake, but stressed that he was sure we would see him soon once he had gathered himself together. Sam and Emily showed up next, and were then followed by Jared and Kim, and finally Seth walked in. Rachel had showed up earlier with Billy. I asked them were Paul was, and they didn't really provide a concise answer. They mainly stated that he was out of town, and that Leah who was also a no show, was also otherwise occupied. Needless to say that both Emily and Sue could not turn up at any event without some kind of dish or desert. We did not have even a fourth of the Pack, but we still ended up with little to no leftovers. The girls all chatted and complimented the remodel, and I caught Sue admiring the dinette set. I smiled and tried to imagine her someday in here, the two of us cooking a meal together, yep, I was becoming a real softy these days. I caught her gaze, and she smiled brightly at me and blushed, as if I caught her thinking about the same things as myself. Seth was asking Bella about the Cullens, god was there no one that this kid could not get along with. Bella told him they were doing fine, and she was supposed to meet up with Edward to discuss the wedding. Crap, Bella hadn't mentioned that to me. I would have to keep a close eye on the outcome of that situation. After a couple of enjoyable hours of everyone's company, people started to make their way home. I walked Sue to her car, while Seth was given Bella the latest Pack update on Jake. When we got to her car, I gave Sue a quick a hug, and peck on the cheek. As I went to pull away from our embrace, Sue grabbed me by my neck, and pulled me into her, and then gave me a real deep kiss (Damn that woman was strong). She laughed as I pulled away blushing. I cleared my throat and laughed, "I thought we were going to take it slow." She giggled and replied with a stern look, "There is taking it slow, and then there is moving slower than a tortoise's pace Mr. Swan. I'm just trying to kick the rabbit back into the race." "Good night Charlieee...," she sang as she climbed in her car. "Um, night Sue, um..goodnight Seth," I stated as I walked by him. I noticed as he walked to the car that he appeared a little shell shocked. Oh no, he must have seen that little display. Just great I thought. "Um...night Charlie," he said, but then when he saw his mom chuckling in the car, a grin appeared on his face, "yeah, yeah...night Charlie!" They pulled off together, and me and Bella walked in the house together arm in arm around each other's side. As I peered over my shoulder, I noticed in the shadows the Silver Bullet as I have now gotten to calling Edward's Volvo. I really hate his stalker mentality. Thank god he didn't do this type of stuff when they first met, I would of had to put a bullet in him (not that it would of done any good. But it would of made me smile thinking of it).

Well after the dinner party, I was right to have been concerned. Edward and Bella started talking again, and apparently the wedding was still on pace. It seems not having the loving couple talking wasn't enough to stop Alice. She kept plowing along with the wedding plans. After spending a couple of days with them, I began to notice that Bella was starting to get that glazed look again. As much as I really didn't want to resort to this next part of the plan, I always knew it would be a possibility. I had given it three nights to see if some or any types of cracks would emerge with them being together again. However nothing major occurred, and I knew something needed to be done. That night as I tossed and turned in bed, I became restless. I opened up my window, and hung a Dream Catcher to dangle in the window. Hopefully the Dream Catcher would let me rest my mind and give me some kind of solace for my troubles. The next morning after I woke up from a relaxing sleep, I took the Dream Catcher down and knew it had done it's job. As I was heading off to work, I noticed all the missing persons sign with Jake's picture and information on it. There was one sign that I saw that had a purple ribbon tied around the pole that it was hanging from. It was on the nearest sign posted outside the station. A few days later, I knew that Bella was supposed to be going over to the Cullens for some wedding business. So I took an extra shift at the station, and went to work as I normally did. I kept hoping that things weren't on a backslide with my getting Bella to second guess her relationship with Cullen, and I could rebuild the momentum I had previously build in prying them apart. It would help once Jake is back, his side project should be wrapping soon. I just hoped everything went ok without a hitch.

They were sitting in the Cullen's living room, when their evening was interrupted by the sounds of a siren. Bella got up right away concerned as she heard the noise come down the driveway. "Why would Charlie be coming down the drive making all this noise," she thought. The rest of the Cullens all turned to Alice with the same confused look trying to see if she had had had a vision to explain this intrusion. Alice gave a remorseful shake of her head that indicated she had no idea what was happening. Edward was the first to react, as he gasped, but soon tried to smooth it over. Bella turned and looked him in the eyes, and asked what was wrong. "I'm sorry love," he tried to comfort her, but Charlie has been involved in an incident." "What!, what the hell does that even mean Edward?", she shouted. Before he had a chance to answer, the front door pounded, and the bell rang. Bella ran to the door since everyone else was frozen in place trying to figure out what happened. When Bella reached the door, she saw Charlie's deputy Steve, on the other side. He apologized for the interruption of the evening , but Charlie had been involved in a shooting, and was in the hospital having surgery done on him at this very moment. He explained that they had tried to reach Bella by her cellphone, but they kept getting her voicemail. When they couldn't find her at Charlie's or the Newton's store, he took a chance and raced here. He offered to drive her in his squad, or have her follow him in her truck. Bella's head was swimming, she couldn't put together what was happening. She almost felt like fainting, she was so light headed. She asked for a moment while she got her things. However, as she was picking up her purse she looked at her phone, and oddly enough, not only was it switched to silent mode, but had also been shut off entirely. No wonder they couldn't reach her. But that was impossible, because she remembered texting Charlie as she pulled in to the Cullens, and she had been waiting for his response. She looked up and caught the guilty eyes of her fiancée. Did he do this? Then she noticed that he glanced over to Alice. What the hell had these two been up to? What gave them the right to invade her space, and touch her possessions? But of course, hadn't she always allowed them to do this to her. She thought back to a comment Charlie had made several weeks ago...(standing in the kitchen with Charlie the night of the kitchen remodel reveal, after kicking Edward out for his rude behavior)..."I'm sorry honey, I didn't think that would happen. I just thought maybe you guys needed to talk, but it should've been on your own terms. I shouldn't have made that decision for you. Only a real control freak would think it was ok to ambush you that way"... However in this family they had more than one of those, and were always pulling such antics and stunts. All of them were always pushing around the little weak minded human for what's in her best interests, according to them, of course. She already had parents who looked after her, and now she was getting 7 more. She wasn't so sure anymore she could deal with this. She doubted it would change even if she transformed cause then she would be the "New Born" or the youngling vampire, always at the whim of their lifetime of experience. She closed her eyes, and turned around to walk back towards Deputy Steve. As she was walking she was grasped from behind with a cold grip, and made to stop. "Love, please. Let me drive you to the hospital, it would be safer for you." Bella turned quickly, and stared him down and stated, "What I need you to do right now, is let go of my arm. While the Deputy over there drives me to the hospital alone. Then since you are so good with shutting things on and off, you could drive my truck over to the hospital tomorrow morning. Do we understand each other?" "Yes, of course as you wish. Are you sure you wouldn't rather I...,". Edward stopped talking when he saw the glare from Bella. After witnessing that interaction none of the other Cullen's made any attempt to stop Bella either.

Bella was quiet as she walked to the Deputy's squad car. As they took off out of the Cullen's drive, she finally broke down and started to cry. Why did this happen now? What if she lost Charlie now? This last month or so had been such an awakening for her. Not only had Charlie proven to be a caring and loving father, but he became the missing parent figure she always yearned for in her life. She once thought that Carlisle was that man, but somehow with Charlie it felt different, it was wonderful. She felt that with Charlie, they could relate better with each other, because they weren't either of them perfect. And she realized now that was ok as well. Her picture of perfection was no longer the family in the glass house, and she was happy she was starting to realize that now. Her mind drifted again to the chance of loosing her Dad. She knew if she continued with the wedding that she would of lost him eventually anyway, but that was when she was ok with that knowledge, because she knew he would still be alive in the world, even if she wasn't. Now reflecting on it, how unfair was it of her, to not even consider that the thought's she was having right now about Charlie's health, would be the same one's, that not only her family, but her friends as well would go though, when they learned of her untimely death. How blinded was she to so foolishly follows this fool's folly called love? Her Dad had talked to her in great lengths about the intense love she and Edward had, and how quickly it could sour. But somewhere along the ways, she always thought they could rise above those petty trappings and overcome such obstacles. However, the more and more the date got closer, the more she realized that despite his claims of wanting to change, Edward was just not capable of it. No matter if she remained human or became a vampire, he would always value his own opinions over her input. If he felt he was in the right, and quite frankly, when in his mind was he ever not, he would not think twice about stepping over the line again and again. She sighed, if only the threat from the Volturi wasn't hanging over her head. It might give her some options, but with the Volturi still lingering around, then she could not risk the lives of those she loved for her own well being. God, she wished Jake was here to talk things through. Even when he was mad with her, he always told her the truth, even if she didn't want to hear it. The main difference between the two men she loved...yes she could finally admit it now, she truly did love Jake, his absence had only cemented himself in her heart. The difference between Jake and Edward, is that Jake would let her make her own decisions and take action if she wanted. Succeed or fail, at least Jake would let her try. Maybe Charlie was right about that as well, intense love's were meant to burn out vs a slow steady love that only grew brighter as you stoked the embers. Having calmed herself enough to finally speak, she asked the Deputy how Charlie was shot. Steve recounted how they were making a drug arrest tonight. The Chief was talking to the suspects after the takedown. During the conversation with one of the main targets a shot was heard. The next thing he knows the Chief is slumping over, and blood is flowing down his side. They think that one of the other drug members was hiding in the woods and when they saw the Chief speaking with the suspects, that got trigger happy. Perhaps they were afraid someone was going to talk, so they took the shot, but the Chief somehow got in the way. Bella remained quiet, but shook her head in understanding. She closed her eyes, and sighed, "Where are you Jake?"

When Bella got to the hospital, she found Billy and Sue already there. Both with worried looks on their faces. Deputy Steve joined other members of Charlie's station to discuss various matters. Bella had expected more members of the LaPush crowd, but was pleased to at least see Seth, Sam & Emily, as well as Kim and Rachel. She wondered were the other wolves were at, but quickly dismissed the thought to huddle near Sue and Billy. Sue held her tightly and tried to assure her that everything would be all right. Bella felt sorry for Sue, she had already lost Harry, and clearly her and Charlie were getting closer. Why did tragedy always follow the both of them? It had been a couple of hours after she been sitting in the hospital, and several hours since the shooting, but finally the surgeons came to talk to Bella. Charlie had lost a lot of blood, but thankfully the bullet missed any major artery. It was a lucky break, cause if you had to get shot, then Charlie hit the lottery of wound locations. Everyone expelled their breaths they had been holding at the good news, and proceeded to hug each other in congratulatory relief. The doctors warned that he was not out of the woods yet, and once he was well enough to go home, it would still be months until he was operating at 100% efficiency. Bella said a silent prayer, and thank the doctors profusely. She hugged Sue, and kissed Billy on the cheek, "He's still with us Bella. He's still with us, and we'll all be here until he's fully recovered," both Billy and Sue assured her.

It was still a couple of hours later before she was allowed to see her father. Most of the recovery room occupants had gone home in the early morning hours. Bella sat in the chair next to her father, holding his hand. She listened as the monitors blipped and beeped. She watched as the breathing apparatus moved up and down, pushing the air he needed desperately into his lungs. She cried, and held her sides trying to keep it together. She longed for the warm embrace of her best friend, which only made it seem colder in the room. She spoke to Charlie of her love for him. How she was never letting him go. That things were going to change when he got home. She didn't know how, but she promised they would. She looked out the window, and dreaded the rising of the sun in the distance. She knew that her fiancée would literally be there at the crack of dawn hovering over her. She was not in the mood to stroke his ego this morning after the evening she had. She wanted to avoid his false apologies for his and his families behavior. While she was sitting there waiting for Edward to pop in, she heard a buzzing sound. She couldn't figure out what it was, but as she could not locate the source of the buzz, she tried to put it out of her mind. Suddenly she was hit with the smell of Edward, normally a smell that in the past would of given her comfort, but now...what was she feeling now exactly? "Oh Charlie," she heard Alice gasp. "Bella, is there anything we can do for you? Carlisle assured us that he was in the operating room during the surgery, and everything went as smoothly as possible. If needed, please know he would have jumped in." Alice stated calmly. "My love, I wish I could of been here with you to provide comfort, but we of course wanted to respect your wishes. Why don't you let me take you home to our house? You can relax, and Esme can make you something to eat. If you are up for it, then we can continue with the wedding planning to help take your mind off things. Carlisle assures us that Charlie won't even be up for a couple of days. I'm sure there are other people who can watch after him. Carlisle thinks that the nurses here are highly capable. Doesn't that sound like a fine idea?," Edward had communicated to her. Bella sat there with a blank expression on her face, but inside each statement he had made, was like a slap in the face, adding more fuel to fire she felt building inside of her. Did he just suggest that she should leave her father alone, now of all times? Did he just mention continuing the planning of the damn Wedding? What was wrong with him? How could he be so obtuse? "Oh yes Bella! Edward is right. There is soo much to..." Alice had started to say. Bella had reached her breaking point, and was about to yell at the two, when she noticed Alice go stiff. Edward ran to Alice's side to catch her before she fell. "It can't be, just can't be," Alice muttered, "Their futures all just disappeared." She now turned to Edward who was now reading her thoughts, but she communicated them anyway aloud, "Edward what could this mean? What do you think happened?" Edward was quiet trying to put together the images Alice had seen, when his eyes darted to the hallway, and some commotion out there. Bella was about to ask what was going on. What had Alice seen? However, Edward quickly turned on the TV. There on the broadcast, was the reports of a terror attack somewhere in Italy. "This just in...bombs were dropped in the small village of Volterra, Italy. The attack seemed to be focused on the old castle near the center of town. The attack happened during the middle of the day, just as the clock tower had struck it's noontime bells. The bombs used were similar to the smart bomb and bunker breaking bombs used during the Gulf war, and the War on Terror. Thankfully at the same time that the attack occurred a fire on the other side town had drawn most of the crowd's and civilian's attention. It was reported that there were sightings of some weird animal attacks, however, at this time no actual footage exists. Investigators continue to comb through the wreckage, but the bombs were effective and the damage while contained to a precise area, were efficient. In fact officials believe that not even if anyone had made it to the old sewers under the facility, could they hope to find any survivors, as fires that should have dissipated by now are still blazing, almost as they have an alternative fuel source feeding the flames. In fact, concern for a possible biohazard leaks have kept anyone from moving into check the remaining rubble, as purple fumes continue to stream to the surface. Well, thank you Allen for that report. Again for those of you just joining us...". Edward was quiet a moment, and then spoke quickly, "Alice we should get home as soon as possible to talk to the rest of the family. Come Bella, lets go." Edward went to grab Bella by the arm, but she pulled it away before he had a chance to grasp it. "No Edward," she hissed as she move away from him, "I'm staying here. Despite all of what's going on, I want...no I need to be here for Charlie." "If you insist love, please keep your phone on, and we will contact you once we have a plan in place or know more," he smiled sadly. She rolled her eyes, "Of course Edward, I wouldn't want to miss as urgent call from you by being as foolish to have my phone shut off. That certainly would be irresponsible of me to do something as thoughtless that," she glared at him. He cringed and his smile slid off his face, "Of course love as you wish, here are the keys to your truck. Come Alice let us get home." Alice reluctantly left by his side. As they exited the building, he asked the questions that had been bugging him since he heard this latest news. "Alice how are these lapses in your visions occurring? First Charlie, and now the Volturi? I'm worried about mine and Bella's relationship. Do you still see us getting married? Does she still become one of us?" As she returned his gloomed look, she whispered allowed, what he clearly could read in her mind, "I don't know Edward, I just don't know. I don't know how these gaps our occurring, and no, the vision of what was once so strong flickers in and out, unfortunately more times out. It's not guaranteed anymore." As they stood their contemplating what this all meant, Edward's mind was suddenly assaulted in a language he knew, but never bothered to learn as being important, and then he smelt it. Wet dog, and soon he saw coming into the hospital entrance William Black, Susan Clearwater, and young Seth Clearwater. Puzzled as to why the adults were both thinking in the Quileute language. Odd he thought indeed, and they gave their mutual greeting, not once thinking outside of that damn language. At least he didn't mind young Seth, he was a fresh air among the filth of these people. His mind was so pure, and yet he could glimpse blank spots in his mind as they spoke to each other. Soon the Quileutes excused themselves to head up to Charlie's room, and Edward and Alice retreated home to discuss what this all meant.

Bella sat there taking in all that had already occurred in the last two days. Her father was shot, but alive laying next to her. She was at her wits end with not only her fiancée but the people she thought of being the family she had always wanted. And now, the attack on and the possible demise of the Volturi. Could her luck finally be changing for the better? Could she finally have options again? Did this change anything for her? She was beginning to think, it just might. Do I still want what I wanted so strongly just a month ago? Her thoughts were interrupted by the familiar squeaking sounds of Billy Black's chair. She smiled as Billy, Sue and Seth came in with a bag of food and a change of clothes for her. She thanked them gratefully for coming, and for bringing the supplies. She was sipping the coffee they had brought her, when she heard that buzzing sound again. Before she could say a thing, Seth had walked over to Charlie's closet and pulled his cell from his pant's pocket. She would have to remember to bring him a change for when he was feeling better as his uniform was ruined from the shooting and surgery. She flipped open the phone, and noticed there were several text messages waiting. Of course she found hers that she had sent yesterday before she reached the Cullens. However, it was the last two that caused her to scrunch her nose up. They were from an unknown number. The first message read, "The pizzas have been delivered successfully." "How odd she thought," and then proceeded to read the second one. "All anchovies were successfully removed, no need to worry about them causing you an allergic reaction anymore." Bella re-read the messages several times, and then deleted them. She did not need her dad getting upset about a bunch of drunken kids texting the Chief of Police. She huffed, "The pizzas have been delivered..."