A/N: I really appreciate all the feedback I've received for this story. Thanks to YankeeGirlNJ, without her suggestion this probably wouldn't have turned into a Bella/Paul imprint story. And now that I've established where I want to go with this story it should start moving along much faster and have a lot more Paul & Bella interaction.
The next morning when Paul arrived to work Charlie called him into his office.
"Morning Chief." Paul said as he took a seat in front of Charlie's desk
"I'm just gonna cut to the chase. I talked to Bella and according to her I know everything there is to know."
Paul wasn't sure how he was supposed to respond so he just nodded his head.
"Now it's pretty obvious to me that you and Bella and have some issues between the two of you and I really don't want to be stuck in the middle between you two. So here's what you're going to do, come to dinner tomorrow night and after we've eaten I'm going to leave you and Bella alone so that you can work out your issues."
"Ummm, ok…" Paul replied shocked, this definitely wasn't what he'd expected to happen when he was called into Charlie's office
"Alright, let's get to work." Charlie said
Paul followed him out of the station and into the cruiser. He was dreading the drive through Forks because he was sure it was going to be unbearably awkward. And he didn't understand the point of driving around town anyway….this was Forks after all…..nothing ever happened in Forks.
While Paul was riding around in the cruiser with Charlie, Bella was at school being pestered by Jessica.
"So Bella, I heard some guys from La Push are working with your Dad." Jessica said as they entered the cafeteria
"Of course you have." Bella muttered under her breath
"What?"
"Nothing Jessica. What do you want?" She sighed
"Well have you met them?"
"One of them. Why?"
"Is he hot? Because I've heard he is and I've seen a few of the guys from down there and they're all pretty hot."
While Jessica talked all Bella could think about was how annoying her voice was and how she really wished she had some duck tape to put over her mouth.
"Bella?" Jessica called
"Uh…oh…umm, yea he's hot I guess." She responded
"I heard he was at your house on Tuesday and had dinner with you guys."
"And where did you hear that? I swear this town is ridiculous; don't people have anything better to do than gossip?"
"So, is he single?" Jessica asked completely ignoring Bella's question
"I don't know and even if I did I wouldn't tell you. Besides if you think the La Push guys are hot then you should see the women; they're all unbelievably gorgeous. So why on earth would he be interested in you when he's got a reservation full of beautiful women?" Bella replied trying to hide her smile at the look on Jessica's face; she looked a bit like she'd swallowed a lemon
Jessica huffed before storming over to sit with Lauren.
Bella just laughed as she paid for her food and headed over to sit with Angela and Ben.
"Hey Bella." Angela said
"Hi."
"So what'd you say to Jessica?" Angela asked
"Huh?"
"Well her and Lauren are glaring at you."
"Oh. She was asking about Paul and I basically told her that she had no chance with him because of all those women down on the Rez." Bella explained
Angela just stared at her not quite understanding what Bella was saying. Ben, however, had understood and was having a laugh about it.
"What's so funny?" Angela asked
"Bella basically told Jessica that she was ugly." Ben explained
"Oh." Angela giggled
By the time school was over, Jessica and Lauren had already spread several rumors about Bella but she paid them no mind. And most of the people that knew Bella didn't believe them anyway so whatever Jessica and Lauren had been trying to accomplish, clearly hadn't worked.
When Bella got home she decided to give Jacob a call to find out how much trouble he had gotten into.
"Hello?"
"Billy?"
"Bella?"
"Huh yea, is Jacob there?"
"He's taking care of some pack business right now, but I'll tell him you called."
"Oh, ok. Thanks."
"No problem.
"Bye."
"Bye."
She figured it would probably be a while before Jacob called and since she didn't have any homework she decided she would take a nap.
When Charlie got home Bella was still asleep so he decided he would try to make dinner. He hoped that if he was successful, Bella would be so surprised and thrilled that he hadn't destroyed the kitchen that she wouldn't be angry that Paul would be coming to dinner the next night.
But as always, Charlie and cooking was a disaster waiting to happen.
He had decided he would make spaghetti because it was one of Bella's favorites and he figured it was so simple that even he couldn't mess it up.
He put the hamburger meat in the pan to brown but decided to grab a beer and see what was on T.V. while it cooked. There was a baseball game on and he got so distracted by it that he completely forgot about the meat. He only remembered that he was supposed to be cooking when he smelled smoke.
"CRAP!" He yelled jumping from his chair and running into the kitchen
The meat hadn't gotten too burnt so he deemed it salvageable; he drained it before dumping it back into the pan and adding the sauce. He put the water on for the noodles and when it came to a boil he tossed the pasta in. He figured everything was under control now so he could he could step back into the living room to watch a bit more of the game. But he had forgotten to put the lid on the meat sauce so when he went back into the kitchen not only was the pasta overcooked but there was spaghetti sauce splattered all over the stove. And unfortunately for him Bella had woken up and was on her way downstairs. He tried to clean up the mess as fast as possible so she wouldn't see it but he wasn't fast enough.
"Dad?"
"Uh….hi Bells." He blushed
"What happened?" She asked taking in the mess on the stove
"Well I thought I would cook dinner."
Bella just stared at him. Charlie never tried to cook…ever.
"What are you up to?" She asked narrowing her eyes and crossing her arms across her chest
"You look so much like your mother when you do that."
"Dad."
"Can't I just cook dinner for my baby girl?" He asked
"You can. But we both know you're not that good at it so you generally don't." She replied
"Well, I just thought I'd give you a break since you're always cooking."
Bella eyed her father skeptically. He'd said something similar the night he ordered pizza and told her Paul was coming to dinner the next night.
"Oh NO! Absolutely not!" She cried
"What?" Charlie asked trying to sound innocent
"You've invited him to dinner again haven't you?" She questioned
"Well,"
"DAD! Twice in the same week? Really? Did you have to?" She whined
"Well I thought that maybe you two could talk and work out your issues." He said sheepishly
"But couldn't you have talked to me before hand."
"Well it was kind of a split-second decision." He responded
"Dad," Bella sighed
"I know you don't like it Bella. But I've got to live with you and work with him and I'd really like it if you two could get along." Charlie explained
"Alright Dad, I'll try for your sake." She sighed
"Thanks Bells. Now let's eat."
Bella eyed the food wearily.
"Is it even edible?" She asked
"I think so."
Bella laughed,
"Alright old man, let's get this mess cleaned up first."
After the messed was cleaned they sat down to eat dinner and Bella had to admit the spaghetti wasn't as bad as she was expecting it to be, but nonetheless they'd agreed that Charlie would leave the cooking to Bella from now on.
Review's are very much welcomed and appreciated.