Hi everyone.

Sorry it's been forever and I haven't written a lot but I just wanted to say how sorry I am and how much time I don't seem to have any of these days.

I hope you like this, it's just a small chapter I thought I'd throw in so the story flows a bit more.

Sorry again!

Waiting

As soon as I was through the threshold of Charlie's house, I was attacked. A pair of arms wrapped around me, squeezing me tightly. The action was so sudden that I screamed.

"Oh, Bella, I didn't mean to scare you; but did you really have to scream? I think you've deafened me," The all too familiar voice complained.

I gasped in surprise, "Mum?"

"Of course, Bella, who else would it be?" She said, giggling a little.

"Oh my gosh!" I exclaimed, throwing my arms around her.

"Aw, Bella," Renee whispered, "I've missed you."

"I missed you too, mum." I didn't realise how much I'd missed her until now, I didn't know I relied on her so much.

With a sigh, she released me, stepping back. "You look the same as you did before you left."

"I haven't been gone that long," I smirked, rolling my eyes at her.

"It felt like ages," Renee said reflectively and I mentally agreed with her. "Now," she said, guiding me into the living room, she sat me on the sofa and perched next to me. "Let's talk. How are you?"

"I'm really good-" Before I could ask her in return, she continued.

"Are you sure? You're not worried, or upset or anything?" Her tone sounded a little hectic.

"Mum, are you okay?"

Renee laughed, "Yes, I'm just worried about you is all."

"You don't have to worry about me."

"But I do," she said, persistent. Renee paused for a moment, "Bella, are you sure this is what you want?"

I immediately knew what she was talking about, she sounded just like Charlie. "Yes," I lied.

"Bella," her voice was stern, disapproving.

"I don't know," I told her honestly. "In some ways, yes…"

Renee was silent again, for longer now.

I tried to distract her, and myself. "Where's Charlie?"

"He's at work. My plane arrived early and I got a taxi here. I didn't think I should bother him while he was working." Then her tone changed, became inquisitive. "Why are you home early?"

I opened my mouth, then when no words came out I closed it. I'd forgotten about that, I'd also forgotten how Renee never missed anything. I waited to compose myself and when I felt I could speak, I opened my mouth to try again, "I wasn't feeling so good, so a friend dropped me home."

Unfortunately, for me, instead of questioning the first thing I said, like I thought she would, she questioned the thing that I hoped she wouldn't. "A friend?"

I bit my gums along the inside of my mouth and made an effort to sound nonchalant, "Yes."

"You're making friends then," it wasn't a question. "That's good. That was another thing I was anxious about."

My face saddened. One: I wish she wouldn't worry about me, and Two: Some -one- of my so called 'Friends' treated me no better then a leper… sometimes; the most aggravating thing was that he only treated me like that sometimes.

Then why didn't I just walk away?

Because he wouldn't let me, I tried to convince myself.

Then why didn't he walk away, the way he used to? What had changed?

Renee grew concerned with my quietness. "Okay, let's talk about something else."

I quickly grasped a topic of conversation, "How's Phil?"

"He's alright, but he hasn't been playing recently-he twisted his ankle."

"Ouch."

"He'll get better, he's just chuffed that he can't even walk."

I laughed boomingly, "Chuffed?" I laughed harder. "When did you start using slang?"

She snickered with me, "Since I started using a cell phone."

"What?" The picture was too bizarre to paint in my head. "But all those times of phones and TV's breaking, you said technology hates you."

"And it still does," she fished in her pocket and pulled out something, the phone? "It keeps dying on me, and I don't know what I've done but the language on it has changed to Portuguese or something."

I was in a fit of giggles- it was typical Renee. "Do you remember when Phil had left to play a game and you put on the stereo-"

"And it wouldn't stop playing the same song, over and over. Yeah," she laughed. "I still remember every word."

"It's not like I could help you stop the stereo from going schizophrenic." I nearly cried with laughter. "I'm just glad Phil came straight home after the game."

We laughed together, it reminded me of us back in Phoenix, when life wasn't so confusing or scary.

We talked like this for hours, recalling old memories and funny catastrophes, until Charlie got home.

We both heard him pull up onto the drive, Renee and I waited for him, still on the sofa.

Charlie barrelled into the house. There was shuffling and clanking as if he was carrying many things at once. Renee jumped up to help him.

"Hello. Thanks," he said, "I got your message. Travel safely?"

"Yes, no hassle, thank you," she said unloading his luggage. "I'm a bit tired though."

"I can show you your room if you like," Charlie said, a little awkwardly.

"Actually I have to head into town for a few hours, there are a couple things I've left back in phoenix," Renee admitted sheepishly.

"Will you be back in time to meet Bella's doctor?" He asked questioningly.

"I should be, if I leave now."

A small pause, Charlie sounded different, more unguarded then usual when he said "She's really missed you, you know."

There was no audible reply. "Bye Charlie," Renee said grabbing her bag and heading for the door.

"Bye" Charlie waved.

"Bye, Bella," Renee called before the front door slammed.

"Bella?" Charlie sounded bewildered, taken aback and a bit embarrassed. I heard him enter the room, "Bella?" He acknowledged. "What are you doing here?"

I repeated what I'd told Renee and he didn't seem too pleased.

"You're alright now though, yeah?"

"Yes, I'm fine." I took advantage to change the subject, "What time is the doctor getting there?"

"Sometime this afternoon, there's no exact time."

I took a deep shaky breath, "Okay. What do you want for dinner?"

"Dinner?" Charlie asked puzzled. "Isn't it a bit early for that?"

I deflated, "I guess." All I wanted was something to do, to distract me.

"Are you sure you're alright, Bella?"

"Yes. I'm going to do my homework," I said, escaping Charlie's questions.

Once I was in my bedroom, I curled up on my bed and cleared my head. Now that I was upstairs, homework felt alien and all I wanted to do was sleep... to dream. In my unconsciousness, life was always so much easier, effortless. At least it used to be. Recently I've been having nightmares, recurring ones. All the same story, with a few details changed, but similar still; the vividness is what scares me the most.

Then, maybe, sleep isn't the answer either.

What else was there?

When nothing came to mind, I fidgeted on the bed to get more comfortable and listened to Charlie's position and passage through the house. I didn't do my homework, I didn't sleep, I didn't even dare to think; I just lay on my bed, seeing nothing, hearing everything, and waited.

Thank you for your patience and thank you to all of the readers and reviews.

Review me, please?