A/N Big thanks, as always, to my awesome beta Robzbeanie and my wonderful prereader CShepherd91.
Immediately, without thinking, I called Bella. I knew that it was unlikely that I'd reach her, but I needed to. At first I couldn't believe that Quil would run, but the more I thought about it, the more naïve that seemed. After several rings, Bella's voice came on the line, but it was only her voicemail.
"Bella – it's me. I know you're busy but I'm worried. Please call me back when you can. Let me do something – anything – make phone calls? I don't know. Just call me," I choked out.
I contemplated my next actions. I wanted nothing more than to run back there, but I knew it wouldn't solve anything, and that sucked. Sucked so bad, that for the first time in my adult life I wanted to lock myself in the bathroom and cry. That burning in my gut – the yearning deep inside me – that had been calling me back was screaming at me louder now more than ever, and I had no idea how to make it stop.
Later that night, in an attempt to distract myself, I did a few loads of laundry – much to Esme's amazement – and played some card games with Carlisle that I had learned while at the Ranch. It didn't work wonders, but it kept my mind occupied for at least a few hours. Long after Esme and Carlisle went to bed, I dusted my shelves, organized my books – basically anything mundane I could think of to avoid sleep that I knew wouldn't come.
The next morning – way too bright and early – I headed back to work with Carlisle, still without another word from Bella.
Much like the previous day, I plowed through my list early and started in on Angela's. We were drafted by the laundry ladies at lunch time to fold the extra sheets and towels in the spare room in the basement. It was cool, damp and seriously quiet, which I thought might have been awkward with Angela, but she surprised me by striking up conversation first.
"So where exactly did you go?" she asked as she pulled the first of many pillowcases off the top of the large stack. I was wondering when my disappearance would come up.
"Jail," I replied, nonchalantly.
"Pfft – no you didn't. You'd get eaten alive in jail. Where'd you really go? Or is it some kind of secret?"
"No, it's no secret. I went to a ranch in Canada. They send all kind of delinquents there. To smarten them up, I guess."
"Really? Canada, eh?" she laughed. "And did it work?"
"I'm here right now helping you, aren't I?" I snarked. "But yeah, I think it did work. Seeing some of the other guys there – guys with really serious problems – helped me see how stupid I was being."
"Maybe that's what my oldest brother needs," she replied softly. "He's a good kid, but man. Ever since my mom's been sick, he's been acting out. He's failing almost all his classes, and I know he's been drinking. He's only fifteen!"
A light bulb suddenly went off in my head. I owed Angela for all the grief I'd given her in the past, and here was a chance to make it up to her.
"What if I said I could help?" I offered.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I had to set goals and stuff while I was at the Ranch, and one of them was that I wanted to work with kids who were having trouble when I got home."
"Then what are you doing here?"
"I wanted to volunteer at the school, but after the rep I had going with the principal, he wanted me to show that I was a "healthy, active member of the community" before he'd let me in the volunteer program."
"That sucks, but I guess I can see where he's coming from."
"I can too. But maybe – if you're cool with it – I could spend some time with your brother? Wouldn't be anything big. Maybe just bowling or something?" I suggested nervously. I watched as Angela's eyebrows furrowed, her hands dropping the towel she held as she focused.
"You know what? I think that'd actually be good for him. He doesn't really have any older guys in his life. I'll talk to him and my mom, k?"
"Sounds good. Looking forward it!"
After we worked through the giant pile of laundry, Angela and I exchanged numbers in hopes of getting her brother on board to hang out. I learned quite a bit about Angela that afternoon – that she had a long-term boyfriend, loved anything to do with vampires, and was saving up to go to nursing school. In some ways, she reminded me of Bella – she had faced a lot of adversity, but was working hard to get what she wanted and where she wanted to be. I hoped that one day soon, we could work it out so they'd be able to meet.
Back at my cubby, I grabbed my wallet and phone, and noticed that I had a missed text alert from Bella.
"Sorry I haven't called. Quil was found at Jake's. Emmett's on his way to haul him back here. I'll try and call tonight, but no guarantees. Love you. Xo," was all it said.
I was relieved that Quil had been found, but it wasn't enough. I hurried home in hopes of hearing from her later that night, but again was met with nothing.
The rest of the week went by about the same. Quick text updates back and forth, but nothing substantial. Not being able to speak to Bella was starting to eat me alive. I was aware that the stress she and the others had been under was monumental, but I still had so many questions about what was really going on up there. I was trying my best to be patient – I knew I had to realize that this was Bella's life, but I was admittedly selfish. I needed her. I knew she would want me to carry on down here – doing what I needed to do – so I kept doing just that.
Saturday afternoon rolled around, and it was time to work on righting some wrongs. I made arrangements with Angela to take her brother out to the driving range, after her mom gave the a-ok. It was the end of the season, so the rates were good, and whacking around a few balls for the afternoon was always a favourite way of mine to release tension. It wasn't hard to get Ben, Angela's brother, to agree to come along, much to my surprise.
When Ben first showed up he was incredibly quiet. Angela introduced us, and I tried to start off friendly, but Ben just stared at me with his hands in his pockets. He looked pissed off – not at me, necessarily, but at life in general. I'd been there – I'd been pissed off at life, too.
Angela said her goodbyes, shot me a look as if to say "good luck," and hopped back in her car. I didn't waste any more time, and set us each up with a club and a bucket of balls. There was only one other person lined up taking shots, which was nice – gave us some privacy.
"So, Ben? How old are you again?" I asked, trying to get conversation going as I lined up my shot.
"Fifteen," he replied as he swung at his ball recklessly, as if it were a hockey puck.
"You know, if you hold your club like this," I coached, exaggerating my hand placement to show him the correct technique, "you'll be a lot more accurate."
"I don't care," he said as he wound up for another two-handed shot. We worked through our buckets fairly quickly, the awkwardness thick in the air around us.
"I'm done," Ben announced, once he'd batted at his final ball, then tossed his club aside.
"Well, ok then. Pick that up, and we can get out of here." So far, our visit hadn't been even slightly successful, so I opted for what had often worked for my parents when they wanted to talk to me – food. "Wanna go get a Coke and some fries?"
"How 'bout a beer?"
"How 'bout not," I groaned.
"Fine. I'm hungry," he replied, rolling his eyes at me. Ben followed quietly behind as I ordered us each a pop and some fries from the canteen window, then found us a table in the back corner of the clubhouse.
"So are you "The Edward"?" Ben asked.
"I could be?" I said slowly.
"I've heard all about you. My friends are gonna be jealous, dude. I would've told Ang to kiss it today, but when she said it was you – that changed everything. Is it true that you stole the bucket of chicken off the KFC sign? Oh, and hey – maybe you could get me a fake ID!" he opened up. This wasn't good.
"First – don't say stuff like that to your sister," I cautioned, not liking where this conversation was heading.
"And second, the guy you heard about and the guy that's here right now are two very different people, ok? I was an idiot and I'm still paying for it."
"But you're like a legend."
"Popular, maybe. But I was stupid, too. Enough about me, though. What's got you so mad at Ang, anyway?" I asked, giving myself a pat on the back for redirecting the conversation, just as our fries showed up.
"Everything. She acts like she's my mom and she's not."
"You know she cares about you though, right?"
"I guess so."
"See, I screwed up a lot of stuff, but I was pretty lucky. My family cared about me and stopped me before it was too late. I think that's all Angela's trying to do for you."
"Is that what this is all about?" he spat, the screech of his chair shooting backwards echoed through the empty room. "She made you come here and preach to me?"
"No, not at all, but I do know that she's worried. You might not realise it now, but what you're doing with school and your friends? It'll catch up to you. It did to me."
"Whatever," he huffed, slamming back half of his pop.
"And you know what?" I asked quickly, thinking on my feet. I knew I had to lighten things up, or Ben would shut down on me completely.
"What?" he rolled his eyes yet again at me, as he stabbed his fry in some ketchup.
"The really hot girls? Like, the smokin' hot ones?" I said, with a smile. "They go after guys who're successful. Accomplish stuff. Not the bad guy – that's just a trick."
"Shut up," he chuckled, blowing me off, but was obviously less tense.
"I'm not kidding!" I exclaimed, watching as Ben tried to hide his grin.
After that, I let the heavy stuff go. We talked about sports, camping, Canada – all easy, relaxed topics. I was tempted to reach across the table, grab Ben by the shoulders and shake him until he listened to me about the stuff I told him earlier, but I knew in reality it wouldn't help. He was getting more comfortable with me, and if I wanted to be a positive influence on him, I needed that.
"So, do you think you'd want to do this again sometime?" I asked once we were finished with a second refill of Coke, hoping that I didn't strike out.
"I guess so," he replied indifferently, but I could tell that he was just trying to play it cool.
"Good. I'll be in touch with Angela, alright? You take it easy, Ben," I said as I picked up our bill and headed for home.
I could smell Esme's cooking down the driveway as I arrived at home, and from what I was gathering, she wasn't trying any of her crazy new concoctions. I was excited to be home – to share my day with her and Carlisle, and hopefully track down Bella.
"Where ya been, Edward?" Esme called from the kitchen just as I shut the heavy front door.
"At the driving range – do you know Angela?" I called back from around the corner. "The girl I work with from the hospital?"
"Yes! Isn't she lovely? Wait–" she paused, "were you on a date? Oh, Edward! She's such a nice girl–"
"No, no!" I cut her off, feeling my cheeks get hot. "She's got a boyfriend, and I wasn't with her – I was with her brother Ben."
"Really? That's great. I've heard he's been having a rough time. This is almost ready – why don't you go get Carlisle, and tell us about it over dinner, k? He was just on the phone upstairs!" she hollered over the crashing of pots and pans.
"Sure thing!" I called back and headed for Carlisle's office.
Down the hall from Carlisle's office, I could make out his voice, so he was indeed still on the phone. Not wanting to interrupt, I paused in the doorway.
"Ok, Emmett. I will. Yes. No, thank you for calling. I'll make sure," he said softly as he hung up the receiver. He looked off – something wasn't right.
"Hey – what's up?" I asked, alerting him to my presence.
"That was Emmett," Carlisle said softly as he tossed off his glasses and scrubbed his face with his hands. "I've got some bad news, Edward. Charlie's had a heart attack."
Thank you for reading and for your reviews – I have been fail at replying, but I'm vowing to work on it this time (and figure out this new system, already!). I hate to leave it here...all I can say is that I won't leave ya hangin' long! xoxo