Chapter 29 we're 'dating'
Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute which, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods.
Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing
AN: in this AU Bella didn't know the Cullens were vampires so she can't have run away with Edward when James bit her. I know SM wrote an extra chapter about them gambling in Vegas on the way back from that trip and Bella losing an obscene amount of money at blackjack. So I have used that and they ran away to Vegas. It'll work!
I made Paul 19; that's 2 years older than he is in the books; it was easier if he has finished high school -
They went to the diner for lunch. Bella ordered the garden burger; Renee had a salad and Paul ordered what sounded like the rest of the menu with extra sides of everything. Renee watched him eat with fascination; especially when he ate Bella's leftovers as well. He sat on the end of the booth where he could stretch his legs out. Bella suspected it was easy to escape from there too; if it all got too much for him.
Renee chatted about Phil's latest career moves and where he hoped to be in the next five years. She asked Bella what her five year plan was and she was completely unable to answer; when had her mother ever been organised? She would have to blame Phil for this one.
"I deferred college, so I may be able to go the year after. I haven't thought about it yet. At least I have it as an option."
"Are your parents around Paul? I would like to meet them," Renee asked.
Paul didn't look panicked at that suggestion so Bella suspected the worst.
"No parents," he stated between mouthfuls of fries. "Gone," he added.
Renee looked horrified. "But how old are you?" she asked.
"Nineteen."
"And you live by yourself?"
"Yeah."
Bella interjected, "He can cook and the house looks okay." He gave her a look. Maybe she wasn't helping.
"What happened to them? Where are they?" Renee asked. Actually Bella wanted to know the answer to that one too. [AN: me too]
He turned the sad puppy eyes on her, "I'd really rather not talk about it Renee, if that's okay."
"Oh…oh okay," Renee stuttered.
Bella yawned. It wasn't a diversion; she was genuinely worn out by her day.
"You need a nap," commented Renee. Renee insisted on buying lunch.
"Can you get home from here?" Bella asked Paul.
"Sure, I can hitch if I need to." Bella suspected he would probably just run. He was relatively well dressed today with boots on too, but she doubted it would stop him, he would probably just get half undressed …and she shouldn't think about Paul half undressed…
Outside the diner she kissed him goodbye. He gave her a look. "Dating? Remember?" she whispered.
"Can I call you later?" she asked more loudly.
"Yeah I might be patrolling though," he replied. His hand rested at her back.
"Patrolling?" asked Renee.
Bella wasn't sure how to explain that so she left it to Paul to answer that one.
"I do extra security work for the reservation. We get paid a stipend for it. Jake does it too."
"What a great idea," gushed Renee, "it gets the youth involved in the security instead of causing problems for the community."
"Yeah," muttered Paul, "Something like that." Bella kissed him again, he had that look like Jake got when he was talking about the pack eroding his life choices.
He watched them drive away.
When they got home Bella threw herself on the lounge with a groan. She toed her shoes off and put a pillow behind her head.
Renee threw herself in the armchair.
"I stick with my earlier statement; that boy is something else."
"What do you mean mum?"
"He adores you."
"What? Oh I don't think…"
"No he does. He watches you all the time. It's like he is worried that something is going to leap out of the shadows and take a piece out of you."
Yet again her mother freaked her out with her insight
"And lucky he does all that physical exercise, with the amount he eats. My goodness, I had forgotten how much food young men could put away."
"Yeah Jake eats about the same amount," commented Bella. Well he did… she was just not being entirely honest. "Paul cares about the baby I know that, but I am not so sure about how he thinks about me."
"No…I think it is more than that. You should stay here. I think you should at least try… you know for the baby. And if not being born here, loses him part of his heritage that would be a bad thing. As much as I would love to have you home with Phil and me… I think you should try to make a go of it here. College can wait. It is difficult …but not impossible as a mature age student."
She gave Bella a look to see how she was taking this, "You have a job, the child needs its father and you know I think Charlie would miss you more than he knows. He is petrified you will leave him. It's worse now he has had you for a little while."
"Well I ran away that time and he was furious…and really… sad for a while. I tried to apologise. It was all Edward and his weird life," Bella mumbled.
"Yes I am rather glad that fell over… that relationship was very unhealthy for you." She was silent; thinking for a little while. "Your bad boy might be trouble but…I know that you love him and…" Renee looked up and realized Bella was sound asleep. She smiled got to her feet, and covered her with the throw from the back of the lounge.
She kissed her forehead and tucked her in safely.
She gave her a warm look and whispered, "You love him Bella; you told me so in your sleep."
So it worked out pretty well for Bella; Renee as a Paul supporter wanted her to stay in Forks. She told Charlie that she liked his down to earth approach and she thought he was good for Bella. At least he was way better then Edward, Renee and even Charlie agreed on that.
Bella hugged Renee hard before Charlie took her back to the airport and she promised to stay in touch more often. Her mother drove her crazy but she still loved her.
Charlie was not so sure about her and Paul, but he was very happy to have Bella stay close to him for as long as possible. He was a bit put out that inviting Renee over hadn't quite turned out the way he expected. He was clearly not happy about Bella trying to date Paul but he had to let her try. Billy must definitely have had an influence there. He drew the line at allowing them to have sex 'under his roof' as he put it. Bella argued for some overnight stays at Paul's then and he grudgingly allowed that.
They were going to arrange a second hand car for her as Paul had suggested. Jake had found a Subaru 4wd outback station wagon; perfect for a kid and in pretty good condition. It just needed some minor mechanical repairs that he was happy to do for free for Bella. Charlie paid for the parts and Phil and Renee bought the car. Jake had managed to get it for a really good price as the owner thought the repairs would be really costly. So everyone was happy.
The baby was nineteen weeks now and Bella had some new symptoms; leg cramps and numbness in her fingers and toes. It was irritating but she felt so much happier that nothing really got her down now.
FF_2154210_ - 18/10/2010 01:12:00 PM
