So...where were we? Ah, yes, Edward had just rather unceremoniously dumped Bella in front of his family in an amazingly cruel way. And after all she'd done for him :O

Big thanks to everyone who's sticking with my little story and to everyone who's reviewing it! It makes me feel good knowing that someone else is enjoying my work besides me :)

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The usual business: Twilight, its characters and situations, do not belong to me. They are the property of the very lucky Stephenie Meyer.

Please enjoy, and if you do, remember to click on the review button and leave me a note!

XXXXXXXXXX

Chapter 21: Animal Boy

She flipped on the light, squinting and cringing back from it as she did. She felt like she'd been hit by a semi. Not that she'd ever actually been hit by a giant eighteen wheeled truck. But, if she imagined ever being run over by a tractor trailer truck, she was certain that this would be what it felt like.

She squeezed her eyes shut against the harsh glare from the bathroom mirror, trying in vain to acclimate herself to the brightness. She was losing the battle.

"Fuck it," she mumbled and forced her eyes to open wide, grimacing as the light assaulted her sore eyes.

As her reflection came into focus, she saw the hot mess she was staring back at her. Hair disheveled, half out of the ponytail it had spent the entire day slicked back into. Eyes, red and swollen from crying, begging for the offending light to be extinguished. A nose redder than Rudolph's sat square in the middle of her face, causing her to make a mental note to pick up a box of those special soft tissues that didn't irritate like the regular ones obviously did. And from all that nose running and nose blowing that had gone on all night, her upper lip was cracked and chapped. Lovely.

Quietly, she padded down the stairs in her bare feet, careful not to turn on the light or make enough noise to waken the snoring Charlie. Her too long Hello Kitty pajama pants slid under her feet as she walked causing her to skid and almost fall when she hit the hard wood floor at the bottom of the staircase too quickly.

She shuffled carefully into the kitchen and opened the cabinets, looking for the elusive box of tea. The Swan's were strictly coffee people, but there was always a box of tea around in case people of the other persuasion happened by. Finding what she was looking for, she pulled two teabags from the box and moistened them, squeezing out the excess water so she didn't drip tea as she made her way into the living room. The clock on the microwave flashed 5:23 AM in bold green numbers at her. It was still dark outside, and would be for some time.

She laid down on her back on the living room sofa, and carefully placed one tea bag on each of her sore, puffy eyes. She laid her hand over the bags, wincing slightly at the subtle sting as she applied light pressure. She was certain she could feel the positive effects of the tea bags immediately. Of course, it could have been nothing but wishful thinking, but she knew this old trick worked, and had worked for her many times.

So, she lay in the quiet dark of the living room, thinking. She had frittered away the entire night, thinking. And crying. And blowing her running red nose. As nights went, this one would forever live in the annals of 'Worst Night Ever', right along with that one time she got drunk and spent the night on the bathroom floor with dry heaves while Renee stood over her, sarcastically asking if she was ready to get drunk again. If it were at all possible, she managed to feel better the morning after that horrific night than she did now.

Logically, she knew Edward didn't hate her. At least, not as much as it appeared he did. He was angry. He was hurting. He needed to vent. She understood this. He needed a dog to kick, and Bella just happened in at the wrong time and became the sacrificial Schnauzer.

She couldn't lie to herself. It hurt. The things he said to her? Yeah. Hurtful. Hateful, even. She wasn't good for him? Maybe he was right in a way. Except, maybe he had it a little bit backward. Maybe he wasn't good for her. Maybe he really wasn't a good person, and therefore not a good fit for her. Maybe she was too good for him. Considering the number of times in their short relationship he'd hurt her in some harsh way. Cut her to the bone. Confused her. Always leaving her to be the understanding one, the one who held up the emotional end of the relationship while he was off, flaking out some where. Always leaving her to be the strong one. The rational one. The one who believed in them, fought for them.

That was something he never seemed to do. He never seemed to believe in them enough to fight for them. She was always the one pushing and pulling him. The one who had to sit back and tell him that it was all ok. That she understood and it didn't matter because she loved him.

Like ivy crawling up the trunk of a tree, she twisted and adapted, winding herself around him.

And she was tired of it. She had bent herself to the point of breaking.

It didn't matter that he told her he loved her. Those were just words. His actions spoke volumes to her. And she was finally getting the message loud and clear.

Bella and Edward were over.

There would be no more tears. No more sleepless nights. No more begging or pleading. She was going to have none of that. From now on, it was going to be about Bella, not Edward.

She sighed, wishing she felt relief at her decision. She knew it was for the best. She knew that, as long as she allowed Edward to treat her like he did, as long as she kept up the "we can work it out together, baby," bullshit, he'd continue to treat her in the same way. If Edward Cullen changed his mind and decided he wanted her back, well, he was going to have to be the one doing the begging this time.

She felt at peace with her decision and relaxed, dozing off just as daylight broke the bitter darkness of night.

"Bells, you ok?" Charlie's concerned voice woke her from her unintended nap.

"Huh…" she groaned as she opened her eyes to darkness before realizing the now dry teabags were still over her eyes. She yanked them off her face and sat up. The room was bright as morning filtered in through the picture window. "Uh…yeah, Charlie, I'm fine."

"Trouble sleeping?" She noticed he was in his uniform already.

"You could say that," she sighed as she stood up. "Want some breakfast?"

"I was just going to put up a pot of coffee. Or are you having tea?" His dark moustache twitched up into a smile.

She looked at the dried up teabags in her hand. "It's an old beauty trick," she tried to smile. "Had my cry, so now it's time to pretty myself up and face the world."

Charlie sat down on the sofa next to her. "You doing ok?"

She nodded and smiled. "Yeah, I think I'll live."

"You were pretty upset last night," he put an arm around her shoulder protectively pulling her against his chest. "I'll admit it. I wanted to go to that big house, find that pretty boy, and rip his nuts right off him. We could spray paint them silver and gold, and hang them on the top of the tree."

"Charlie," she giggled. "Thank you, but I'm a big girl. If there are nuts to be ripped off and hung on the tree, I'll do the ripping and hanging, thank you very much."

Charlie looked at her, noting to himself that her eyes looked far less swollen than they had been when she finally went up to bed last night. Something in them had changed too.

He smiled. "You feeling ok?"

"Charlie," she sighed, suddenly feeling very old. "I had an epiphany on this very sofa."

"Did you now?"

"Yep, I sure did."

"About Edward?"

"Yep, and about Edward and me."

"So?"

"He doesn't deserve me."

Charlie looked at her, eyebrows raised. "You don't say?"

"Indeed, I say."

"And how did you reach this epiphany?"

"I was just lying here, thinking. Every time there was some, I don't know…adversity? Any time adversity of any kind came up, Edward just ran from it, you know? Just threw in the towel and high tailed it on up to his ivory tower over at Casa Cullen."

Charlie snorted. "Casa Cullen? They didn't name that monstrosity of a house that, did they?"

"Nah," she smirked. "That's just what I call it."

"That'd be funny though, huh?"

"It would be," she agreed before continuing. "I'm not giving right to what Rosalie did to him, you know. Not on any level. Or to your buddy Dimples there. But, the fact remains that I'm not his dog and he can't kick me every time something doesn't go his way."

"If he ever kicked you, I'd rip off more than just his nuts," he nodded. "And I'd mess up that pretty little face of his."

"Thank you, Charlie," she rested her head on her father's shoulder. "Thing is, I'm always there for him, you know? I'm supportive of him and of us. I didn't deserve that yesterday. And there's no way in hell I'm going to stand for it."

There was a long silence as father and daughter sat together on the sofa, each lost in their own thoughts. Charlie broke the silence first. "I'm proud of you, Bells. I know how hard this choice has to be for you. I know how you feel about him."

She drew in a deep breath. "I won't lie, Charlie. Those feelings? They're still there and it hurts. It hurts like crazy," she shook her head. "But, I just have to deal with it. He's hurting, I know that. And I'm hurting too. So, I guess we're even in that regard, huh?"

"I guess you are. The only difference is that you'll get along fine without him. But what's he going to do without you?"

"That's his problem. As things stand, I can't worry about him anymore, because he doesn't worry about me."

Charlie tightened his arm around her shoulder, pulling her tightly to him. "I'm proud of you, Bells."

"So, do you really have to go to work today?"

"Actually," he smiled. "today is my day off. I was just going to go in since I had nothing else to do and I figured you'd want to be alone today."

"How about we head into Port Angeles and start our Christmas crap today?"

"Christmas crap," his dark eyes glinted. "Now, you can't get your crap any more festive than that, can you?"

"Nope. And we should go get our crap while the crap getting's good. You know what they say."

He glanced down at her. "The early bird gets the good crap?"

"Exactly!" She stood up. "You go put up a pot of coffee and I'll jump in the shower, ok?"

"You got it, Bells," Charlie stood up from the sofa slowly, watching as his daughter, so glum and miserable just twelve hours earlier, skipped up the steps with her new attitude. He couldn't help but worry when the crash and burn would come.

XXXXXXXXXX

He'd not relinquished his grip on the blanket. He couldn't. Not yet. It hurt too much. The blanket, held tightly, kept it all together. Kept him together. Held it all in. Kept the pain away.

He sat in his reading chair, knees drawn up to his chest, plaid blanket pulled tightly around himself, rocking back and forth. With the exception of striking out at everyone and anyone who crossed his path, he'd stayed in this chair, in this position since he pushed Bella away.

It was the hardest thing he had ever done in his life.

Bella was what he needed. She was the air he breathed. She was life. She was love. His life. His love.

And in one swift motion, he'd cut off his own air supply. Now he was suffocating.

He had been harsh, mean. He'd cut her to the very core, he knew. But, it was the only way. If he had shown even the slightest hesitation, the smallest crack in his cold, uncaring facade, she would have picked up on it. She would have known. She would have seen right through him. She knew him better than he knew himself. She would have never believed him. He had no choice but to attack her in the way he did in order for her to do what was best for her. In order for her to leave him.

And it felt like his very soul had been violently ripped right out of him when she walked out of that room, out of his life.

He closed his eyes and leaned his head back, feeling the tears trickling down from his eyes.

He hated it. Hated hurting her. Hated losing her, but…what the hell did he even have left to offer her? She didn't deserve him and his baggage. She deserved someone far better. She deserved so much more than what he had. He had, well, he had less than nothing. All he could do was weigh her down, and sink her down to his level. And that was the last thing he ever wanted to do to her. He loved her far too much to drag her down with him.

Once upon a time, he'd had hopes and dreams…college, maybe medical school, marriage, children, a home…hopes and dreams that were dashed on the rocks in a single moment.

Now, all he had was a dark emptiness. A gaping maw threatening to engulf him, along with whomever was close enough to him to get themselves caught up in the vortex of his life. Who would want anyone who could only offer that?

He heard a light rapping on his door.

He lifted his heavy head up. "Go away," he grunted angrily.

"Edward, it's me," came the small voice.

"Even you, Alice. Just…just go away," he laid his head back down on the chair back, laying his hand over his eyes.

"But I have some lunch for you," she whined, and he knew she would do anything to get into this room to be with him. She wouldn't take no for an answer, and she'd nag and nag until she wore him down. "You haven't had anything to eat at all today, Edward. You need to eat something."

It was true he hadn't eaten a thing since the day before, but it was also true that he had no appetite, and he didn't care if he never ate again.

"I'm not hungry, Alice. Just go away!"

"Edward…please," she was begging. "Please, Edward, for God's sakes, let me in."

And he knew she wasn't talking about the room.

Slowly, he rose from the chair, stiff from sitting in the same position for so long. He pulled his blanket tightly around his body, and shuffled over to the door, unlocking it and pulling it open slightly, peeking out at her.

"I told you, I'm not hungry."

"Edward," she sighed. "Please."

He closed his eyes and swallowed hard before opening the door more, inviting her in. He could never deny Alice anything she wanted.

"Only for a minute."

She slipped into the room, holding a tray of food in front of her, and moved quickly over to his dresser, placing the tray on top of it.

"I brought you some soup. And crackers."

"I don't want anything, Alice," he sat down on the edge of his bed, eyes cast downward.

"I made it just for you this morning," her voice was hurt. "Chicken soup. It's good for the soul, Edward."

"That's just a dumb book, Alice," he ran his hand through his disheveled bronze hair.

"Not when it's made with love it's not," she knelt down in front of him. "Edward, let me in. Let me help you."

His sad, empty green eyes met her hopeful dark orbs. "No one can help me, Alice," he breathed. "I'm beyond help."

"That's not true! Edward, you don't even know if it's true!"

He closed his eyes, shaking his head.

"And so what if it is. You think you're the first guy to knock some girl up?"

His head shot up. "Alice!" His brow furrowed.

"Oh, please, Edward," she waved a hand at him dismissively. "What do you think? It's different for you?"

"Yes, it is different. It…it wasn't just sex."

"Are you kidding me," she snorted. "You were what? Fifteen? Yeah, it wasn't just about sex."

"It wasn't," he protested. "I had very strong feelings for her."

"Stronger than what you feel for Bella?"

He glared at his sister, green eyes blazing to life. "You leave her out of this. She has nothing to do with any of it."

"Oh, I'd say she has a whole hell of a lot to do with it."

"You don't know anything, Alice," he clenched his jaw tightly, muscles in his neck straining.

"That's where you're wrong, dear brother. I know a lot," she smirked at him. "I know, for example, that—"

"Don't say it," he cut her off angrily. "Don't say her name!"

"Bella," she crossed her arms defiantly. "Bella loves you. Bella loves you more than Victoria ever loved you. And you love her more than you loved Victoria."

"Shut up, Alice," he spoke through gritted teeth.

"No, Edward. You don't get to wallow in self pity. Not this time. This is about much more than you now."

"You think I don't know that?"

"With the way you're acting," she put her hands on her hips. "No."

"Well, for your information, I do know, Alice," he yelled at her. "I know who's involved and what's at stake," he looked down at the floor, closing his eyes and breathing heavily before continuing in a soft voice. "Why do you think I made her leave?"

"I think," she moved closer to him. "I think that you're terribly frightened, Edward," she knelt down in front of him, taking his trembling hands in hers. "And it's ok to be scared. I also know that you're angry at Mom and Dad, and rightfully so. But, Edward," she shook her head. "You need Bella. She's your strength."

"No," he shook his head. "Not this time. This is something I need to do alone. I can't drag her down with me any further than I already have." He looked up at her, green eyes imploring. "I owe it to her to set her free."

"Don't you think that should be her decision," tears fell silently down Alice's pale cheeks and Edward wiped them away with gentle fingers.

"Bella," he sighed. "Bella…she will always, always choose…us," he smiled despite himself, unaware of the tears falling from his own emerald eyes. "And…I can't let her do that. Not this time."

"She would support you, regardless, you know," Alice whispered.

"I know," he touched his forehead to Alice's. "But, I can't do that to her."

"But you love her."

"I do," his voice was a sigh. "But I'm no good for her. I don't deserve her."

"She doesn't deserve to be cut loose by you."

"She doesn't deserve to suffer because of me."

"Edward," Alice reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him off the bed and down onto the floor with her. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, allowing himself to find the slightest bit of comfort in his sister's arms. "I love you. Please promise me you'll think about what I've said?"

"I love you too, you insane pixie," he kissed the top of her head. "And I promise I'll think about it. Can you promise me something?"

"Of course."

"Promise me you'll watch her. Make sure she's ok? Be her friend, Alice?"

"Edward, she is my friend."

XXXXXXXXXX

As it turned out, Charlie Swan had absolutely no Christmas decorations in the house at all, save for the cards and drawings that Bella had sent him for the holiday over the years, each of which he lovingly set out on the coffee table year after year. So, armed with this information, she set out to deck the halls of the Swan residence with glad tidings of comfort and joy for the season. Ho ho ho and all that crap.

She walked around the Christmas department of Goff's Department Store for quite some time, carefully considering the vast array of ornaments, lights and garlands. She had to admit, while it had been apparent from the first time she set foot in Goff's (with Edward, but she wouldn't think of that) that it catered more to the blue haired set and to the ladies who go to the salon once a week and then to lunch (at Goff's Café, located on the second floor mezzanine level), they had one hell of an awesome Christmas department. Now, all she had to do was decide on a theme. Something…quaint and traditional to go with the quaintness and traditionalness of Forks, perhaps? Was there even such a word as traditionalness? Or maybe go with the white lace snowflakes and Victorian styled mauve-y, lace-y ornaments for a softer look? Wait…how about something a bit more contemporary? She picked up a long muted fuchsia and lime green glass ornament decorated with stripes made of glittering white crystals. Fuchsia and lime green feathers dangled from top of it, dancing around as she twisted it back and forth between her fingers. A wide grin broke out across her face. She could definitely work with this color scheme.

Charlie stood off to the side, leaning against shelves filled with reindeer made from small logs of wood, arms laden with boxes of lights and packages of feathers and garlands. Bella held the basket containing the delicate blown glass ornaments as she walked toward him.

"Done yet?"

"Umm…I don't know. Do you think we have enough ornaments," she eyed the basket she held suspiciously.

"Well, we'll just get a tree small enough for them," his impatience with shopping was showing.

"No, there were some boxed ornaments. Just plain glass balls in these same colors," she squinted her eye as she thought. "I think I'll pick up a couple of boxes of them. I'll get like, two boxes of the shiny ones and two of the muted ones. You know, for filler. Unless…" her voice broke off as she furrowed her brow and turned to look back toward the ornaments.

"Unless….unless…what?" Charlie's voice was filled with panic. How long did it take to grab a box of Christmas balls and go?

"Unless, I go the traditional way and do the red and green thing. There was some awesome plaid ribbon with gold threads through it that I could wind around the tree…hmmm."

"You…you mean…you want to start from scratch? Put all this crap back and look for more crap but in different colors?" Charlie stared at her in disbelief as she nodded.

"Yeah. I mean, I could put some really nice evergreen garlands around the doorway instead of these fuchsia and lime green feather garlands. It'd be more…more…well, traditional," she nodded. "But also a little more masculine."

"Seriously, Bells, I don't care if you want to fill the whole damn house up with pink feathers and twinkle lights. I just want to get a tree and get home before morning," Charlie was starting to sound desperate.

"But, Charlie," she looked at him, feeling a little dejected. "Your theme is important. I mean, not only does it have to decorate the tree, but that theme has to run through the rest of the house. It has to reflect who we are."

"You…you're kidding, right," he looked at her in disbelief.

"Absolutely not. I'm totally serious. Mom used to change themes all the time, to reflect who we were, you know? Because people are dynamic. We change all the time, Charlie."

Charlie couldn't help but crack a smile at his former wife's expense. That was just so…Renee. He nodded, and his chuckled a little bit. "Now, that does sound like your mom."

"And, I happen to think it's important to make a statement, Charlie," she looked down, fingering the ornaments in her basket gently. "To let everyone who comes into the house know exactly who we are. What we're about. That we're happy, festive people, no matter what."

Charlie took a deep breath, reminding himself why they were at Goff's in the first place, and forced him self to smile. "Whatever makes you happy, Bells."

She smiled brightly and jumped up in the air. "Thanks, Charlie. I think I'll keep this color theme, but I'm going to go back and get the plain ornaments. And I think I'll grab a few more of these feather garlands too. I want to hang them around the doorways and maybe wind them around the banister." She headed off toward the decorations, still chattering as she did, noting to herself that she needed more lights as well.

Charlie waited until she'd disappeared back into the crowd around the ornaments before rolling his eyes. Of course he was happy to see her so enthralled with decorating for Christmas, considering all that had happened with Edward the last couple of days. But…all these decorations and what she was planning on doing to his house? His house, once his sacred man cave, was surely going to resemble a Yuletide Bordello once she was finished.

He felt his cell phone buzz and carefully manipulated the load of decorations in his arms until he was able to grab the phone from its holster at his waist. He flipped it open, reading a text message carefully before slowly tapping back a reply, cautiously guarding his movements so as not to drop anything he was holding.

Bella was excited about decorating for Christmas, Charlie realized. Perhaps saying she was excited was actually an understatement. She was downright beside herself with glee. She chattered on and on about what she was going to hang and where all through their lunch at Goff's Café on the second floor mezzanine level of the store. In between bites of her Waldorf Salad, she illustrated with big sweeping motions of her arms how she was going to drape the feather garlands just so over the doorways, and how she would wind it up and down the banister leading up the stairs and how the white icicle lights would look once she had them draped over the mantle. She made specific points about where the trio of different sized glittery lime green Styrofoam trees and sparkly fuchsia potted poinsettias would be placed. He couldn't remember the last time she was so happy about something. Well, he could, but he didn't want to think about Edward. Not today. Charlie took another bite of his burger and listened willingly.

Bella was still yammering on as they drove home, tree tied securely in the bed of Bella's old red truck, shopping bags filled with delicate blown glass ornaments filling up all the spaces inside the truck cab that Charlie and Bella weren't filling up.

"I love this tree, Charlie," she gushed. "Thanks so much for letting me get it."

"Well," he ran a finger absently across his moustache. "It's been such a long time since I've had a tree. I figured, why not a huge, expensive one? It'll make up for all the years I didn't have one!"

"It's absolutely perfect!" She was still gushing. He could tell that, had she written that sentence out, there would have been six exclamation points at the end of it.

"It's a pretty good tree."

"Good? Why, Charlie Swan, that tree is absolutely outstanding! In fact, in the history of Christmas trees? I don't think there has ever been a tree as fabulous as this one."

"It's a tree among trees to be sure, Bells," Charlie turned off the highway and headed through the center of town. "We'll drop all this crap off at the house, then go to the diner for dinner, ok?"

"Sounds good to me," she was moving her head from side to side in time with the Johnny Mathis Christmas song playing on the ancient radio.

Charlie turned onto their street, and she felt her heart skip a beat as a shiny silver Volvo sped past them. She felt her stomach flip as all the blood drained from her face. It couldn't be him…could it?

She hastily began to quickly gather up the bags as her father pulled into the driveway.

"Hey, take it easy, Bells. That crap cost me a bundle," he smiled but she didn't see.

"Sorry, Charlie. I just kinda…I…I have to pee, Charlie."

"Well, I'm going to drag the tree up to the porch. You bring the crap into the house and go do your thing. Then we'll head out to dinner. We can put this sucker up tomorrow, fair?"

She nodded. "Fair," and was out of the truck and unlocking the front door faster than she'd ever remembered. She deposited the delicate ornaments onto the living room sofa, and bounded up the stairs, running into her bedroom and flicking on the light expectantly.

The rocking chair was empty.

Her heart sank as she fumbled over to her bed, sitting down numbly. It was his car. She was certain that had been his car. She shook her head. She had been expecting to see him sitting in her old rocking chair, smiling at her. Telling her how he was so wrong and he loved her and she was exactly what he needed. In her excitement, it hadn't even occurred to her that the car had been driving away. Even if it had been him, there would be no way that he would have been in her room like she had expected, since he would be driving away.

She forced herself to get up off her bed and go into the bathroom. Edward was everywhere in the house. He was in her bedroom, in her bathroom, in her living room and kitchen too. He was everywhere, because, regardless of the horrible things he'd said to her, he was still in her heart.

She looked at herself in the mirror in the dim light. "May someone kill my heart by driving a stake of holly through it," she grumbled before heading over to the toilet.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Did you enjoy your drive, dear?" Esme looked up from her embroidery as he slammed the door and walked into the living room. "Did it help you to relax a little bit?"

"I had to get cigarettes."

"Darling, you didn't go into the store looking like that, did you?" She looked her son up and down. He was still wearing the same pajamas she had laid out for him the day before. His hair was in even greater disarray than it usually was. Dark purple circles had taken up residence under his brilliant emerald eyes, giving his face a groggy, sickly look. And he still wore his good black dress shoes.

"Alice ran in for them," his tone was somber. "I just drove."

Esme sighed. "Did it make you feel any better to go out and get a change of scenery? Get some fresh air?"

"No," he flopped down on the sofa, avoiding her gaze.

"He drove past Bella's house. That's why he doesn't feel any better," Alice shuffled into the room. "You forgot these, asshat." She tossed the pack of cigarettes at him. He made no move to catch them, instead just letting them hit him in the chest and drop into his lap.

Esme's eyes widened. "Well, did you go in to talk to her?"

"No! Why would I do that," he shot Alice a dirty look.

"They weren't home when we pulled up in front of the house. But, then, Bella's truck turned down the street. That's when Romeo here took off," Alice nodded toward him before she flopped down on one of the overstuffed chairs, legs dangling over the arm.

"Why didn't you go and talk to her, Edward," Esme couldn't hide her disappointment.

"In case you weren't paying attention yesterday, I broke up with her, Mom," he almost growled before standing up. "I'm going out to have a smoke."

"I wish you wouldn't smoke, dear."

"And I wish you and Dad didn't give me a reason to smoke, Mom," he pulled a cigarette from the pack and slipped it between his pouting lips. "So, I guess that means we're about even, right," he mumbled as the dangling cigarette bounced up and down.

"Edward, please—" she was cut off by the sound of the front door slamming again.

"Esme?" Carlisle was home.

"In the living room, darling."

"I have some information—Edward," Carlisle stopped dead in his tracks.

"Carlisle," Edward nodded, pulling the unlit cigarette from between his lips. "What sort of information are you talking about? Or…aren't I allowed to be privy to this information either? Particularly if it pertains to me. That's how it works, right?"

"No, Edward. Of course you should hear this. It concerns you, after all," he tried to hide the hurt of Edward's use of his name yet again.

"Oh, well, lucky me," his voice dripped with sarcasm as he dropped back down onto the sofa with a huff.

"Edward, stop being suck a dickweed! Dad's trying to help you, you ass," Alice scolded him.

"Alice, please," Esme cautioned her. "Go ahead, Carlisle. What did you find out?"

"Well," he ran his hand through his blonde hair. "Victoria and her family no longer live in Seattle."

Edward flopped against the soft cushions of the sofa, closing his eyes. He would never know the truth now.

"They…moved?" Esme sounded surprised.

"People move all the time, dear. Haven't we moved?"

"Well, yes, darling, but Garrett had such a good job in Seattle," she mused. "And their house was so lovely. I just can't imagine Kate wanting to leave."

"People move," Carlisle shrugged. "They can change jobs. That happens all the time, Esme. Or, they can get transferred. They can decide to change careers. There could have been any number of reasons that they left Seattle."

"I'm just surprised, that's all," Esme fiddled with the embroidery in her lap nervously. Edward was so volatile. There was no telling how this news would affect him. "Like I said, Kate put so much into that house."

"Excuse me!" Edward yelled over his parents, as if reading his mother's mind. "Do we know where they moved to?"

Everyone looked at him in stunned silence.

"You know," he went on. "This is my life here! I know you people don't really give a flying fuck about it, but I happen to be just a little concerned about it!"

Esme felt the color rise in her cheeks as she looked down once more at the embroidery sitting in her lap. He was right, of course. This was his life. They shouldn't be so cavalier about it.

Alice remained in her chair, legs dangling over the arm as she rolled her eyes at her brother. Edward certainly did have a flair for the dramatic, and it was taking center stage this weekend.

"Seriously, Edward. Stop being such a pissy little drama queen."

"Fuck off, Alice."

"Hey, fuck you too, you bitch."

"Knock it off!" Carlisle rarely raised his voice, but the stress of the last three days had taken its toll on him and he was finally fed up enough to yell. Truth be told, it felt good to finally get a little bit of his own frustrations out.

He moved further into the room, still running his hand through his hair. He'd done as he had promised and worked hard to find out if Rosalie's claim was true or not. Unfortunately, the long holiday weekend had greatly limited his ability to reach his Seattle contacts. With no other choice, other than waiting for Monday, he was forced to do something he hadn't wanted to do. He'd gone to Charlie Swan and begged him for his help.

"To answer your question, yes, Edward, I do, in fact, know where they've moved to," Carlisle took deep breaths as he tried to remain calm and not give in to the overwhelming urge to shake his son senseless. Yes, he and Esme had made a mistake in their judgment, but then, so had Edward. This situation wouldn't have existed had Edward used better judgment. He wanted to yell at his boy, to scream at him, but he couldn't. Everyone made mistakes. Even Edward. Even Carlisle.

Edward looked at his father with cold, icy green eyes. "Are you going to stand there like an idiot, or are you going to tell me where?"

XXXXXXXXXX

"I tell ya, Bells, you never cease to amaze me," Charlie unlocked the front door, opening it wide and reaching inside to turn on the foyer light before letting her enter the house first.

"Why's that," she slipped her hood from her head and took her damp coat off, hanging it on the rack behind the door. As usual, it was raining in Forks-heavily this time. The walk from the driveway to the front porch had been enough for the moisture to start to soak into her coat.

"I don't think I've ever seen anyone eat the entire portion of mac and cheese at the diner before you," his eyes glinted.

"But it was so good," she rubbed her full stomach. "So creamy and cheesy!"

"I know it's good." Charlie laughed, hanging his jacket up next to hers. "But, that portion is huge!"

"Oh, like you've never eaten the whole dish of it yourself," her hands were on her hips.

"Actually, I haven't. Not in one sitting like you did. Whenever I get that, I always have enough left over for another meal."

"Oh, sure you do."

"I do!"

She narrowed her eyes at him and crossed her arms over her chest. She knew he was smirking at her under his big, dark moustache. She just couldn't prove it. "I don't believe it. Charlie Swan having something left over? Food leftover? Inconceivable!"

"Oh, believe it, Vizzini," he smiled and the ends of his moustache twitched up.

"Well, I'm just going to ask Irina next time we go to the diner," she huffed.

"And she's going to tell you exactly what I just told you," he slipped into the living room, turning on his big flat screen tv and settling down into his chair.

"We'll see, Charlie Swan. We'll see who the big, giant heifer is. You or me."

"Seriously, Bells, I can't be a heifer."

"Oh? Really? And why not? Because you're chief of police?"

"Because a heifer is a female cow and I am decidedly not female," he looked over his shoulder, grinning at her like a Cheshire cat.

She sneered at him and stomped her booted foot. "Oooo…just you wait, Charlie Swan. I'll find out the truth and then you'll be sorry."

"Idle threats do not scare me, Missy!"

"Oh yeah…well…well…I'm going to bed, so there!"

He couldn't control his laughter by this point, and just laughed over his shoulder as he bid her a good night.

She giggled to herself, shaking her head as she stumbled up the stairs to her bedroom. What was it about Charlie? The man had an uncanny knack for being able to totally shift her moods. She was beyond thankful that she moved to Forks, despite the recent turn of events with Edward Cullen. The last few months, living here with Charlie, had been the best she could remember in the last few years.

She was still smiling and giggling when she reached her room. She opened the door and flipped on the light, gasping as she saw the flash of green.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ooo...a flash of green! Would that be lime green or...emerald green? :-P

There's a movie reference in there...I know some of you will pick up on it...because it's pretty obvious! Needed a little levity after all the angst in the previoius couple of chapters.

As I've said before, the updates will be coming a little more slowly for a while, as real life is really beating me down and being a pain in the butt! I will try to move as quickly as I can, but exhaustion, both physical and mental, can greatly impede my sense of creativity :(

Big hugs to everyone who's stuck with this little story. I do hope you are enjoying it! Please tell your fanfic friends about it if you like it. I'd greatly appreciate it :D

And, as always, if you like, let me know! I'd love to hit 100 reviews with this chapter!

Big hugs & big thanks to all!