(Edward POV)

A couple of weeks pass before Bella and I actually make time to go to Charlie's. The truth is, I wasn't anticipating this visit and I sure as hell was fine with it being postponed for so long. I don't have to talk to the guy or know him that well to know he hates me. Tyler Crowley got to him first, planted seeds into his head about who I am and what my intentions are. Tyler Crowley is completely wrong. Do you think Charlie will agree with him or me?

Yeah, I thought so.

I'm screwed.

Maybe, just maybe, if I got at least one opportunity to show Charlie I actually love his daughter, then maybe he'd see me clearly. Maybe the seeds planted in his head from Crowley would die off or grow as weeds. That's highly doubted though; I mean Charlie sides with Crowley over his own daughter. That's pretty low.

It'll be miraculous to see Charlie liking me, but that doesn't mean I don't intend on trying. Starting with a visit to his house with Bella under my arm and a picture burning a hole in my pocket. Lovely start.

But as I stand on his old, white peeling paint, creaky front porch, I wonder; I will have to get on his good side eventually, right? I'm more so of an old-fashioned man and I was raised in an old-fashioned manner. My mother - rest in peace and bless her heart - raised me mostly herself seeing that my dad and I didn't get along when he was around. If he was around that is... Anyways, my mother raised me to open doors, use my manners, be a gentleman, and all that other fun stuff.

My dilemma is I want to marry Bella.

Sooner rather than later too.

I will have to ask her father for permission or I won't ask her. It won't seem right. I'll want her father's blessing, which I won't get if he happens to hate my guts. I know he pretty much hates me because first off Crowley (the man I have hatred towards and I know he feels the same towards me), but also because Charlie and my father just so happened to be enemies.

Just my luck.

I don't regret loving Bella and never will, but sometimes I'll admit to regretting being a gentleman or having my dad be my, well, dad. Mean I know, but it's true.

"Are you nervous?" Bella asks as she knocks on the door. That alone can tell you how well her relationship is with her father, the fact she has to knock on the door. I notice a lot though, so it might just be me.

I swallow and nod since I don't exactly trust my voice. I don't want to look weak even though I kind of am in this moment. Bella looks at me as though she wants to add in something more but the door creaking open stops her from doing so. It's just like a scary movie, the way the door sounds as it slowly opens. The eerie creak sends a shiver down my spine and I hold Bella a little closer into my side for both our sake. It's dark for a moment before Charlie stands in the doorway looking rather intimidating. His house, his property. I get it, but why doesn't he just pull out the shotgun? I think I'd fear that less than his glare.

I stand taller knowing I have a few inches on the guy and make sure Bella is still firmly in my grasp. She cowers against me in the slightest motion and I breathe out my nose. This is her father goddammit, she shouldn't be scared. And with that thought, all my nerves fly out the window and speed away. My emotion is replaced with anger. Towards everything, towards the fact that Charlie scares his own daughter, the fact he hates me but doesn't even know me, and the fact that he's just another obstacle in mine and Bella's should-be-going-smoothly relationship. You'd think going into a relationship the challenge is staying together because of bickering, arguing, or the fact that I live with my eight year old sister, but no. It's the outside complications that are trying to tear us apart.

"Hi," Bella breaks the thick silence with her soft and little voice. I've managed to get my breathing steady and not coming out so heavily, but Charlie still is in his rigid pose; one hand holding the door open and the other resting against the door frame. "Edward and I wanted to stop by and say hi. We also found something interesting we'd like to talk to you about. Are... Are you busy?"

I move my eyes to Bella beside me. She's fairly confident except for that darn stutter in her tone. When Charlie steps aside to let us in, I swallow my anger and try to compose myself. Walking inside the house we head straight to the retro living room that has old fashioned wallpaper and an old, torn couch that I'm sure is older than me. Bella and I sit on it side by side and intertwine our fingers on her lap. My other hand carelessly rests on my left knee and I keep my posture straight. Charlie ambles over to the black leather recliner, which is probably the newest piece of furniture in the house, and plops down on it, leaning back and crossing his arms.

Well I certainly don't feel all that welcomed.

To my surprise, Bella sits up as straight as I and shows our intertwined hands off. Another spark of courage flashes across her face, which I see while sitting beside her. It matches the expression she wore at the grocery store when we say Crowley there a month back.

This can't be good.

"Actually, first off dad, I'd like to formally introduce you to Edward Cullen. My everything." She smiles proudly and waves our interlocked hands. I feel my heart beating against my chest underneath my white t-shirt and flesh. Hmm, am I supposed to say something? Do I let my arm out to shake Charlie's? Do I call him sir?

Shit.

Shit.

No wonder a girl has never taken me home to meet her parents, it's hard for someone to see past my wild sex hair as my high school prom date called it. Worst night of my life that was. Let's just say she had braces and liked to chew a lot of gum. She also tried to wedge her first kiss out on me.

Next subject...

"Oh." Charlie raises his eyebrows in disbelief. I believe it's disbelief in Bella's courage. Maybe he's never seen her step up to him like that. I'm pretty proud of her if I say so myself, but then again, when am I not?

"Hello sir." I nod once. Hey, I think this might be my chance to make a lasting impression. Now, let's just hope it's a good one. Uh... I look around the room. "Nice, did you catch that yourself?" I ask eyeing a fish on a plaque pinned up on the wall. Not necessarily modern artwork, but hey, it's kind of cute? As long as it doesn't sing.

"Why that? Of course I did." Charlie lets out a booming laugh which reminds me of my old friend Emmett's laugh; booming and rattling. Literally, when he laughs you just want to yell 'The gorilla's are coming!'. "I caught that eight summers ago up in Hudson Bay on a fishin' trip with a buddy of mine." His laughter dies down as he continues his story. "Couple pike, nothin' nice, til I casted in a line and I just had this feelin' it would be a good cast. Hell, came out with that eight pound beauty afterwards. Nice one eh?"

"I'd say. I'm sure you've seen a fish or two in your life. I always hear about you catchin' them then your friend Harry cooking them up in his famous fish fry." I start to talk more casually to Charlie and the words come flowing out as if we've been buddies for a while. "And I mean I hear it a lot. Whenever I go down to Sam's Meat and Poultry to pick up something fresh for dinner, someone in there has a story."

"Well, I can't boast about it... but yeah, yeah it's true." He replies and I let out a chuckle.

"Hey, I'd boast about it! I've fished here and there, but I've never brought back much. Maybe enough for a meal by the end of the summer. My grandfather would always take me out." I know to not mention my dad, but it's not like I have any fishing memories with him. "He loved to fish and was pretty popular in town too."

"Hmm, what's his name? I don't know any local Cullen fishermen."

"Because he's not a Cullen." I reply with a smirk. "My mom's father, so he was a Platt. Tam Platt." I proudly say my father's name.

"Platt! Oh you're kiddin'! He's your grandfather? Why I outta pay my respects kid. Your grandfather was more than a local man, the whole province must've known him!" Charlie smiles and it makes his mustache twitch. I swear that black mustache of his is thicker than the hair on his head. The hair on his head has some gray peeking through it though giving away his age. "When I was startin' my fishin' life he was the one to show me some good places. I always saw him out when I was on my boat catching some drifts."

"Ah, well that sounds like him." I admit. "I only went with him a few times when I stayed with him in the summer. He only lived on the other side of town, but his land was foreign to me and I was adventurous."

"No doubt, you've got Platt blood. Always loved that family, you know your grandpa's grandpa, took care of my grandpa when his dad left him on the side of the road in town?" I shake my head no and Charlie continues. "Well he did, that's how us Swan's got into town."

Bella flashes a smile at me and I smile right back. So far this is going far better than I expected. It's exactly what I hoped for if not more. I really didn't expect this when Bella knocked on that door. I thought I was a goner. Looks like I'm back in the game.

"Sorry to barge into this lovely conversation," Bella pauses when Charlie looks back to her. This time the glare is gone and there's a twinkle in his eyes. He's jolly. Huh. "I'm glad you two get along." Bella finishes with a shy smile. "I didn't know how this would go." She stares down at the floor but keeps her hand in mine. I rub reassuring circles with my thumb onto the back of her hand. It's almost as though I'm saying it's okay through my motions.

"Well, I wasn't sure what to expect." Charlie leans forward from his comfy position on the recliner and lets his hands dangle between his legs. "Your father and I didn't exactly get along." He looks over to me and I nod. "And Tyler, well Tyler hasn't much of a relationship with you."

"'Cause Tyler's an ass." Bella mutters and looks straight into her dad's eyes. "Dad, I don't like him."

"I know." Charlie admits after a few moments.

"I don't want to be with him." Bella says sternly.

"I know." Charlie repeats in reply.

"But you still want me with him." Bella concludes and looks over to me. "No matter the cost."

"Bells, you know-"

"No, I don't get it. I didn't come here to talk about this, but Charlie, dad, you know Edward's a good guy. You know Tyler's an ass, or you should because I ran off before I got too sucked in. I can make my own decisions, but I can't continue to let you in my life if you're not gonna let me be happy." She pauses to suck in a breath. "I don't care that Carlisle Cullen and you didn't get along. I sure as hell don't care what Tyler told you about Edward. You've now seen first hand that Edward isn't whatever Tyler stated him to be. And lastly, I don't care how much you need Tyler's support," Bella uses air quotes around the last word and I think she rolls her eyes. I continue to rub circles onto the back of her hand. "I don't care how happy you think that loser will make me, because I gave it a whirl the first time around and came out with scars. I'm never going back there. If you need finical help, call me. If you need more business, I'll help you find another way."

"Charlie," I put in when Bella's done speaking. "I understand that you know Tyler personally and trust him. I know he can support Bella well and he and you can do great business together. But I also know how Bella feels and how I feel. I can't promise you that I'll be able to give her a gold toilet seat if that's what she desires, but I can tell you that I'll always love her and I'll never let her down. She's given me so much purpose and I can't - I won't - let her go. I'm sorry for what you think is best for her... This is one thing I'm staying stubborn on. As long as she's happy with me and willing to stay, I'm keeping her."

Charlie's eyebrows knit together. "I'm not hurtin', Bells."

"Dad, you're forcing me into a relationship with a man I despise when I'm one hundred percent dedicated with a man I love." Bella replies bluntly.

"I didn't know." Charlie shrugs one shoulder as if it were just a twitch instead. "I didn't know you were well, this." He gestures to Bella and I. "Tyler said it was the beginning of a relationship and that Cullen was good news. I'm not that ugly Bella, I'll admit, that I really want the business part of Tyler, but if I'd've known that you were this serious..."

"I am." Bella states.

"Okay." Charlie nods. "Okay. I'll try to let it grow on me."

"That's all I ask." Bella responds.

I pat my pocket and pull out the picture that's inside of it. "Thank you." I look at Charlie and let a small smile cross my face as though to tell him how much I appreciate his somewhat acceptance. "Anyways, Bella and I came here a) to speak to you, but also because the other day we were rummaging through my old family photo album and came across a picture of someone we didn't know. Bella says she saw a picture of the same woman in a photo album here so perhaps you know who she is?"

"The photo?" Charlie asks gruffly and I lean forward to hand it across to him. He stretches forward to retrieve it and looks at it for a long moment. Something flickers into his eyes. "Where'd you get this?" He all but demands.

Bella lets out an exasperated sigh. You know, a we've-already-been-through-this sigh. Now I would've let one out too, but I'm still not even on Charlie's good side, so I'm trying to stay smart. "Dad," She says. "We've already been through this."

Ah, don't I know her so well?

"Edward and I were peeking through his old family photo-"

"Ah, yeah. I remember." Charlie nods as he continues to stare at the photo.

"I'm guessing you know who it is." Bella continues.

"Yeah." Another nod from Charlie.

Nothing more than a nod.

Nice explanation.

But still, I must stay on his good side. If I'm even on that side yet that is...

"Ellie Taylor. That's her name, or was, or is. I don't know." He huffs and sits back into the recliner again. He still holds the picture and both his hands. I look past Charlie and to the wall that hangs a picture of him and Crowley. He has an arm wrapped around Tyler and a stiff grin on his face, though I expect it's one of his genuine grins. Charlie seems like that kind of guy; one to not show much emotion and have few facial expressions.

He really hides under that thick mustache.

"Taylor," Bella muses. "I don't recall being related to any Taylor's."

Whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa. I didn't think of it like that. I thought the photo was just of some girl - some random woman - but Bella sees it as a possible family member. And if Bella happens to be related to this Ellie Taylor and in some way I was too, then Bella and I would be related.

No, just no.

None of that.

Uh-uh.

Shit.

"Yeah, not related." Charlie assures her and he assures me too. I let out a breath. Now that was a close one. Whew. Close-freaking-call.

"Okay, then why the heck is she appearing in everyone's photo album? She's not some model or the president's wife or anything... I mean I have no idea who she is, is she important? Dad, you're killing me here." Bella leans forward towards Charlie.

"I forgot we had a photo of her. I gotta get rid of that next time I come across it. Burn it or something." He mutters to himself before looking over at me. "And Carlisle, he... he kept a picture of her? He was that serious... Well I'll be damned."

"He never mentioned an Ellie Taylor." I manage to say. "And I don't recognize her. That photos old too."

"Yeah, she's outta town. I don't know where she is or if she's even alive but hell, when she was in town everyone knew her. Ellie with the super flat belly." Charlie stops to snort at the nickname. "Boy she was a looker. Blonde hair, green eyes and a great figure."

"Dad. Please." Bella touches her temple with her right hand. "Just... explain, skip the perverted stuff going on in your mind."

"Nah, don't worry. She's probably wrinkled and carrying her fortieth child by now." He stops to snort again. "Anyways, Ellie. Ellie Taylor. Went to high school with her and Carlisle and a bunch of other people. Everyone had a thing for her."

"Okay, and..." Bella prompts.

"She's the reason Carlisle and I became enemies. The reason we hated each other's guts."

A/N: Tsk, tsk. Ellie Taylor why you little...

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