A/N: Twilight is Meyer's. No copyright infringement intended.

Thanks for reading, and for reviewing.

EPOV

I had a hard time falling asleep. And it wasn't just because of the dream I'd been having. Part of it was that damn ninja. Alice.

I would never admit it to anyone, but her threat still freaked me out a little. Killing me in my sleep… And then there was the fact that she and her mother had executed a stealth maneuver on my car in the middle of the driveway in broad daylight – while I'd been home. The girl was creepy. I expected to see her standing in my room when I opened my eyes. Maybe with Jacob Black standing beside her.

When I managed to shrug off that masculinity-crushing paranoia, there still was the dream that I didn't want to fall into. And the fact that I didn't have Bella. Her warmth. Her scent. Her energy. Her quiet breathing and mumbled words that lulled me to sleep.

Her.

I sighed and rolled over onto my back. It still was early, but I'd figured I would need a while to settle. It had taken me a long time to drift off last night. But instead of getting drowsy, I was just becoming more alert. And frustrated.

My mind skipped through the various distractions in the house. My iPod? No. Music made me think of Bella. Same with the piano. Books? Bella again. Every time I looked at my bookshelf, I saw her standing there contemplating the titles lined up in front of her. Television? No… I never watched TV, and I never would be able to focus. Food?

Who was I, Emmett?

I ran my hands over my face and sat up. Emmett had stopped by earlier, while I'd still been out driving around. He'd eaten a sandwich, left crumbs all over the counter, then texted me to tell me he'd eaten a sandwich and left crumbs all over the counter. I'd texted back to tell him I'd see him in the morning. I hadn't felt like hearing all the gossip about me then. But maybe I'd head over to his house now.

I grabbed my cell phone and my keys and headed down the stairs. I shot him a fast text as I stepped out onto the porch. You home?

He texted back before I even got to my car. Out with Rose. Why?

Damn. I sent a message back telling him Never mind, then I stared absently at my car with my keys in my hand.

Now what?

After a minute, I opened the door and climbed in. I'd just drive around Port Angeles again until I either ran out of gas or started to fall asleep. I hoped for the latter.

Instead, I ended up parked outside the hospital, staring at the third floor. At the room. At its closed windows.

I really hated closed windows.

My mind skipped to Bella. To her face as she dropped her curtains to block me out. To my dream of her, lying in the hospital bed. In the room I couldn't convince myself even to approach. But the room I remembered. Every inch, every sound, every smell… I could see it. Feel it.

I just couldn't get to it.

Even with Bella's sketch of my mother in my mind, I couldn't seem to man up enough to walk into that room. To just get it over with.

I was such a failure.

Something flared inside. I was a failure. I couldn't take care of my mother. I couldn't keep Bella. Hell, I couldn't even sleep now. And I couldn't convince myself to walk into a damn room. Two years later.

Suddenly I threw open my door. I didn't realize that I was sweating until I walked into the cooler air inside the hospital and felt my shirt sticking to my back. But I didn't slow down. I walked directly to the elevator and reached up to push the button.

And froze.

For a minute, I stood completely still. Just staring at the arrow that pointed up. My finger hovering over it. But unable to push it.

With a rough curse, I turned and headed for the stairs. Maybe if I went up a different way. A way I'd never gone. So the smell and feel of the elevator couldn't deter me.

I yanked open the door to the stairwell. Different smell. Different sound. Just… different. I could handle this.

I made my way up one flight. No problems. I made my way up the second, focusing on the reverberation of my footsteps and my breathing. It wasn't until I reached the door to the third floor that my breathing picked up and turned shallow. And I stopped. Again.

I glared at the door in front of me. I clenched my jaw and willed myself to open the door. There was no memory attached to this. I had never seen this door before. I should be able to open it. To walk through it.

But I couldn't.

It took several minutes of sweating and rapid breathing and cursing myself out in my head before I finally admitted defeat and turned away from the door. My curses turned almost violent when my breathing instantly started to level out the second I gave up.

Failure.

When I opened the door to the lobby, the relief was immediate. The parking lot was visible through the windows. I was almost free. My body practically hummed with the proximity of fresh air and escape.

But before I could make it, Carlisle appeared around a corner. He was reading over a report as he walked, but, of course, he noticed me before I could avoid him. And of course, he stopped short and blinked at me in surprise.

"Edward?" he began. "What are you doing here?"

I lifted my eyes to meet his. And he immediately understood. "Ah." He nodded, mostly to himself. There was an awkward pause. Then he asked, "You go back to school tomorrow, correct?"

I tried not to roll my eyes. "Yeah."

He nodded again. "Good. Well." He paused, then decided to say it. "Perhaps you should head home. Get some rest."

That time I couldn't help rolling my eyes. "Right. See you later."

"Good night, Edward."

I felt him watching me as I walked out. In my car, I knew that he couldn't see me anymore. So I glared up at the third floor for a while. Hating those windows.

But not as much as I hated another window.

With a sigh, I started my car and headed home. When I got there, I threw myself down on my bed again and tried to fall asleep. To think of anything but my mom and Bella. To avoid the dream I'd been trying to rid myself of.

The dream I'd only managed to make worse.

It took twenty minutes after I finally fell asleep for me to wake up sweating and shaking. I flew upright and scanned my dark room. Listening for the flat line. Looking for Bella.

Finding no one.

My gaze skipped over to my nightstand. To the beaming face there. For a second, my mother's smile seemed to twist into a grimace of pain and disgust. I closed my eyes tightly and waited for my heart to calm down in my chest. Then I looked over at the picture again.

My mom smiled at me just as brightly as she always had.

I studied her for a while as I fought back the dream. As I tried not to see her in the hospital. To see her fading into Bella. And to see Bella fading away from me.

My eyes gradually drifted toward the tux hanging inside my open closet. The determination was still there. I would talk to Bella again. I wouldn't let her fade away. I just had to make it through tomorrow. No matter how exhausted I was.

I sat on the edge of my bed a while longer, studying the tux. At last I dragged off the bed and made my way downstairs and to the piano. For a few minutes, I just sat on the bench, staring blankly at the keys. Finally I spread my hands over them and started to play. Slowly. Quietly. The only song I could.

Bella's.


BPOV

The only thing I seemed to be able to sketch was Edward. It was kind of frustrating.

I'd been drawing for a while. I couldn't sleep. I'd figured that out hours ago. Days ago, actually. I hadn't been able to sleep much since Edward hadn't been with me. I missed him the most at night. But at least tonight, I had my sketchbook back. And I had my house back.

I smiled slightly as I turned to a blank page. The quiet was nice. Even nicer was the fact that my bedroom door was open, and I wasn't worried about it.

My dad had come home earlier to get the promised overnight bags for Victoria and her spawn. I'd grinned like an idiot the entire time we'd worked together to collect their necessities. When he'd left, I'd practically been giggling. The high hadn't worn off yet, even though I was getting a little annoyed with my preoccupation in my sketches.

I forced myself to focus as I started a new sketch. This time, my mind drifted to Charlie. I outlined his features as I'd seen him earlier that evening. Furious. Determined. Forceful.

Evicting the harpy.

My smile widened. But I wasn't happy with angry Charlie, so I turned to another page. This time, I drew him as he'd been when we'd sat across from each other at the table. Gentle. Concerned. And hopeful.

Much better.

I was just putting the finishing touches on Charlie's intent expression when I heard a car pull up outside. I closed my book and headed downstairs.

Charlie paused just inside the front door to squint at me when I turned on the light. "Bella," he greeted me. He shrugged out of his rain-soaked jacket and hung it up before turning back to me. "I thought you'd be asleep."

I shrugged. "I was just drawing," I told him casually. He didn't need to know that I couldn't sleep.

"Sorry I'm so late," he apologized. He removed his holster and hung it up with his jacket, then he tugged off his boots and set them on the floor a little to the side so the rainwater wouldn't drip into them. "You should be in bed."

"It's fine," I promised. I wandered into the kitchen. "You hungry?"

"Starving."

"I made fajitas while my friends were here." I pulled the packet of leftovers out of the refrigerator and held it up to show him as he reached into the cupboard for a glass. "That okay?"

"Perfect." He inhaled deeply as I moved past him. "I've missed your fajitas."

I grinned to myself as I started the microwave. When I turned back to face him, I noticed him frowning at my hands as he held his cup of water in his own. I glanced down and realized what he'd seen. The scrapes on the heels of my hands from my tree climbing/near-death falling were visible from his angle. I'd managed to conceal the scrapes from him earlier by keeping my wrists covered by my hoodie sleeves. Now, in my pajama tee, I couldn't hide them.

"Bella," he began, his eyes on the scratches.

"Yeah, Dad?" I replied, preparing to explain the newest result of my clumsiness.

"What's this about Dartmouth?"

I blinked at him. My heart skipped. I'd already opened my mouth to reply to the question I'd anticipated. I closed it quickly. For a moment, the only sound was the whirring of the microwave. Charlie stared steadily at me as I frantically tried to come up with something to say. The timer beeped before I could find words.

Gratefully, I turned back to the microwave and busied myself with the fajitas. But it didn't take long enough, and I was facing Charlie and his expectant look entirely too soon with absolutely no idea how to respond.

"Um…." I set the plate on the counter in front of him and took a step back. "What's what about Dartmouth?"

Charlie ignored his food completely as he gave me a stern look. "Victoria said you were accepted."

Damn her. I knew that she wouldn't just disappear like a good harpy. I fiddled with my wolf charm and kept my gaze locked on the counter as I admitted, "Technically…."

"Bella!" Charlie exclaimed.

I looked guiltily up at him. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Dad. It's just…" I hesitated, then suddenly I was rambling out of control. "I didn't want you and Mom to feel like you had to pay for something like that. For any part of it. Her with the wedding and the move and you with… them… And I can't help. And then Victoria… The spawn aren't going to a school like that, so there was no way she'd let me go. She'd stop me somehow, and I knew it. She told me so today, before I… you know, before I punched Lauren. And I got accepted to Alaska. That's a decent school, and she didn't care if I went there. She'd leave me alone. That's why I didn't tell you. I knew you'd be excited, but I just didn't see it working. Besides, I didn't even apply, Esme did, so really—"

"Bella," Charlie interrupted quietly.

I blinked at him. "Huh?"

He gazed intently at me. "I don't care about any of that. I care about you. You should have told me."

"I really am sorry, Dad."

"I know." He offered me a small smile and held out one arm. I glanced at him in surprise before stepping into his side. His arm wrapped around me, and he gave me a gentle squeeze. "I am very proud of you, Bella," he murmured.

I blinked back sudden tears. "Thanks, Dad."

He eased back and ran a hand over my hair, then he cleared his throat and turned to his fajita. I stepped away from him and resumed my fidgeting with my bracelet. After a moment of humming over his food, Charlie commented, "I'm sorry you felt like you needed to hide that."

"Dad—"

"You never should have felt that way," he said firmly. "Victoria was ranting about… something… so I understand what you mean. About her stopping you somehow… But you never should have had that to deal with. I'm very sorry for that."

"It's okay."

"No. It's not. That acceptance letter should have…" He trailed off and stared blankly at his plate. Suddenly he looked up at me. "Where is the letter?"

"Oh. Um… Esme has it."

He studied me for a second, then he nodded without questioning my answer. "I'd like to see it."

"Yeah," I agreed. "I'll get it."

"Good." He paused to take another bite. "I assume you will tell your mom tomorrow?"

"I, um… Yeah? I guess."

Charlie frowned over at me. "Alaska is great, Bella. But Dartmouth… We're going to work on it."

"But Dad—"

"Bella. We'll talk about it later, okay?"

I nodded slowly. "Okay."

Charlie smiled a little and glanced at the clock behind me. "You should go on to bed. It's a school night."

I knew what he wasn't saying. I looked like hell. Like I hadn't slept in days… because I hadn't. Not really. But I didn't tell him that going to bed wouldn't do any good – not without Edward. Instead, I just shrugged. "Yeah, I guess I should. Good night, Dad."

"Night, Bells."

I headed upstairs. It was an amazing feeling, knowing that I didn't have to wonder what Victoria was going to demand of me, or where the spawn were lurking, or how I was going to be treated in the morning. I could relax as much as possible while I worried about what would happen tomorrow afternoon when I drove to Port Angeles.

When I reached the door to my room, I heard Charlie pick up the phone downstairs. I paused to listen. A minute later he began, "Hey, Billy…. Yeah. It's been too long."

I closed my door to give him privacy. Then I smiled an enormous smile climbed onto my bed to draw. This time, Charlie was in a boat with Billy Black, fishing. And smiling.