[Disclaimer] Everything Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer

[A/N] Welcome back, my lovelies! I want to thank you for leaving so many reviews on the last chapter. It's your love for my story here that keeps me motivated. Thanks for being with me for this journey.

**25**

Renee sighed and rubbed her icy fingers against each other. She was tired and the fact that Isabella refused to talk to her made her feel very uncomfortable. "I've forgotten how cold it is here." she said in a faked cheerful voice. "I should have brought gloves and a scarf. Did you remember to pack some warm clothes, Isabella?"

Bella frowned. She put her earplugs in and turned the music as loud as possible. Just like on the entire flight down Port Angeles she did her best to ignore her mother. If she would start something even close to a conversation with Renee, she would snap and tell her to shut the fuck up. Shipping her off to her father in order to get her and Alice away from each other was so mean. It was cruel and heartless.

Nothing would ever come between them. The two of them had promised the other one that no one would be able to destroy their love.

"Isabella, put these things out and listen to me." Renee snarled, shaking Bella's arm. "You can't just ignore me when you're angry. Damn it, you're exactly like Charlie."

"Well, then it's good you're sending me to live in fucking Forks with him to have me out of the way. Why are you punishing me for falling in love?"

"It's not like that." Renee replied. "Your stepfather and I just thought it would be best if you and Alice get some time away from each other to rethink everything. Maybe you're just confusing the love for siblings with some romantic feelings."

"I know the difference. I love her. She loves me. I don't get why you and Carlisle are so mad at us. We're not real siblings, you know? It's not forbidden for us to be together."

"We know that. Still, we don't think you should rush into anything. Carlisle thinks that Alice is…well, he's so terribly worried about her all the time. I don't really get why. Did you know that her mother wanted to send her into therapy before she came to live with us? There is something wrong with that girl. She has some mental problems."

"Alice was bullied in her old school. I know about that. I know about it because she trusts me. I'm not going to hurt her." Bella stated, emphasizing every word. "She and I, we are good for each other."

"Oh dear child, you know nothing about love. It's complicated. Have you ever thought about what is going to happen when things between Alice and you end badly? You'll still be stepsisters when you break up. This is going to effect the entire family."

"I will never break up with Alice. Oh thank god, we're finally there. Looks like Dad is home. The cruiser is here."

Renee parked the rental car and stepped outside. The cold air made her instantly shiver. Yet when she looked over to her ex-husband's police car a smile hushed over her face. She had some very livid memories of that car. Well, actually more about the things that had happened on the backseat…

"Bells! Good to see you kiddo. I never get to see you often enough." Charlie called out when he walked down the stairs.

Bella hugged her father and kissed his cheeks. "Hey Cha- Dad. I was going to come here for two weeks in summer anyway. Well, whatever you call summer here in Forks."

He lifted Bella's suitcase out and finally turned his attention to his former wife. She looked pretty. Too thin and a bit too tanned perhaps but still utterly, perfectly gorgeous. "You're looking stressed, Renee. This yoga crap isn't actually helping you to relax. I've always told you that's something for weirdos who live in tree houses."

They went inside and Bella instantly rushed up the stairs to slam the door of her room behind her. She pulled out her cell and dialed Alice's number. After the first two rings she picked up and whispered with a tear-choked voice.

"Hey, Bella."

"Shit, baby, are you crying? Please don't. Everything is going to be okay. Carlisle and Renee will calm down."

"I'm not crying." Alice sniffed into the receiver. "My nose is just blocked. Maybe I'm getting a cold."

Bella leaned back on her bed and sighed. "I miss you so much. Is Carlisle okay to you? He was pretty angry when we told him we're a couple."

"Dad is pissed. He would probably like to send me back to my mom but he can't because she's still in Europe."

"I'm sorry he's giving you a hard time. Renee says it's because he's worried how things between us could end."

"You mean if you break up with me? Dad gave me a long speech on that before he left for his shift in the hospital."

"I love you. You and I are meant to be together. You can never forget that, okay?"

"I love you too. Only two weeks until I turn eighteen and can move out. We can make it through two weeks, can we?"

"Of course, we can. Please, don't let our parents manage to get us apart. You're the only one I'm ever going to love."

"Oh, Bella."

"Shhh, don't cry. It breaks my heart if you cry."

Bella wiped some tears from her own cheeks when she disconnected the call. She missed Alice so terribly and it was just the first day apart. How could their parents be so cruel to them?

Downstairs Renee was taking big gulps from a can of beer Charlie had opened for her. It had been years since she had any of that. The taste was way better than she remembered it.

"Did you catch them together?" Charlie asked, crunching the empty can he had just finished between his hands. "I mean like in bed?"

"Hell! No! But Carlisle still almost fainted when I made the girls tell him everything. The thought that they're together worries him so much. I don't even get it."

"Are you sure that Bella is gay?"

"Yes, I think so. She told me she's a lesbian."

"And she likes this girl, the doctor's girl, I mean?"

"They're seventeen. They don't know what love is."

He smirked and opened another can of beer. "I was seventeen when I met you and I always knew what I want."

"Charlie, not this old story again. You and I were so wrong. We barely managed to make it through the first year of our marriage."

She sipped on her beer and thought about the awful fights between her and Charlie during that time. How she had yelled at him while he just stood there and did nothing. Crap, Isabella was really coming after her father.

"I was a crappy husband back then. But I was young and didn't know better. Today I would—well, it doesn't matter anymore. How long are you planning on letting the kiddo stay here?"

"For the rest of the school year if that's okay with you," Renee told him before she emptied her beer. A very pleasant warmth filled her stomach.

"With me that's fine. I like having Bella here. But she doesn't want to be here. Just like you, she hates it here in Forks, even without the whole drama with her stepsister."

"I don't hate it here. I just don't like the cold."

"You never asked me to keep you warm." he mumbled, carrying the empty cans to the trash. "Doesn't matter anymore, I know. When are you flying back to Florida?"

"On Sunday, it was the cheapest flight I could get. I should probably start looking for a hotel room now. Does Amy Lee still own this bed and breakfast place across the Thriftway?"

"That's a brothel now. Why don't you just stay here? I'll sleep on the couch and you can have our—I mean my bedroom."

Renee giggled and leaned over to plant a kiss on Charlie's cheek. "Thank you. I wouldn't know what to do without your help."

"Yeah, it's ok. I don't mind." he told her quickly while he felt his cheeks warming with heat. "I'm glad I get to spend some time with Bella."

And glad to get spending some time with you, he added silently in his head. It was ridiculous how he had never managed to truly get over his ex-wife. No one finds the love of his life at seventeen. That's just so…ridiculously sentimental somehow.

"There's some stuff for salad in the fridge. We can eat that with the steaks I bought. You remember I cook a mean steak, do you?"

"Meat! Finally, I'm dying to get some meat. Can I have mine raw? Back home I'm always getting to eat this tofu based food. I can't make it taste good no matter how much spices I put on them."

"Cooking has never been your strong point. Why are you eating Tofu? Does your doctor think it's healthy?"

"It's because of Eddie. The boy has decided he doesn't want to eat anything from animals."

"He's what, five or something? A child that age needs some protein to grow. Doesn't your smart-ass of a husband know about this?"

"What are we supposed to do? He cries if I want to make him drink milk!"

"And let me guess, you can't handle that. The kid is a bit weird. I've told you it's risky to adopt a child. You never know who the parents are. They could be complete lunatics."

Renee opened the fridge and pulled out the ingredients for the salad. "At least we know where Isabella is from. She reminds me of you every single day, the same pighead as yours."

He laughed at that comment. "I can talk to her if you want me to. Maybe it'll help."

A few moments later, Charlie knocked on the door to Bella's room. He noticed that she had been crying and that made him feel awkward.

"How's it going, kiddo?"

"Great, just great, thanks for asking. Mom is trying to ruin my life. She doesn't get that I love Alice."

Charlie sat down on the edge of Bella's bed. "Your mother is just worried. She always worries too much."

Bella hugged her pillow and sighed. "It's not fair."

"What is not fair? You lied to your mother about your relationship with this Alice chick."

"We were afraid that our parents wouldn't want us to be together and voila-now we see where this has brought us. God, Dad, I miss her so much. I love her."

"Do you have a picture? I only remember that skinny kid with those too huge eyes."

She pulled her purse out and showed him the picture Jessica had taken of the two of them in the school cafeteria. Her arm was wrapped around the smaller girl's shoulders. Bella sighed and caressed the paper gently with her fingertips.

"She's pretty, a bit girly perhaps." he stated. "Are you sure that you're that way? I mean into other girls."

"The word is gay, Dad and the answer is yes, I am sure, also about Alice. This is not just some stupid teenage crush. We love each other and want to be together forever."

Charlie nodded his head. He placed his hand on Bella's and gave it a light tug. "If you really love her you need to fight for her. Love is always worth fighting for. I wish—well, it doesn't anymore. No one can turn back time, that's impossible. You should start unpacking. We can eat in half an hour and then I need to head to the station to go through some paper work."

With that he walked out, leaving Bella alone with her thoughts. Her fingers closed around the pendant around her neck. We can make this, Alice. I know, we can.