Ben
Disclaimer; all characters and copyright belong to SM.
A/N-thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter.
Chapter Thirty-Three-Charlie and Billy
Bella tucked the covers gently around Ben and kissed the top of his sweet head. He yawned, his sleepy eyes meeting hers briefly, before he rolled onto his side, clutching Wilbur tightly to his chest. "Sweet dreams, Ben." She whispered as she pushed herself onto her feet. Turning around she found Luka watching her from the twin bed on the other side of the room. He was wide awake, his grey eyes forlorn, his expression despondent. He had protested when Bella had persuaded him to leave Esme behind while she brought him and Ben to the Black's house. She wanted them well away from the fall out which was sure to come. "Hey, you should get some sleep." She said softly.
"What's going to happen to Esme?" Luka asked anxiously. "They won't send her away, will they?"
Bella sighed. She really didn't want to have this conversation with him now. She was still trying process everything herself. Focusing on getting the boys away from the centre of the coming storm had been the only reason she wasn't freaking out right now. "Its complicated, Luka." She explained. "You should get some sleep."
"I can't." Luka continued dejectedly. "I need to know what's going to happen."
Bella came over to him and settled down on the bed beside him. She wondered briefly whether this was Rachel or Rebecca's old bed. Not that it mattered. The twins had been gone so long that she sometimes forget that Jacob even had sisters. The paltry phone calls they made once or twice a year did not make up for their neglect. She had never been able to fathom how the twins could have left their younger brother to take care of their ailing father without a backward glance. She would never abandon Ben like they did Jacob. Just the thought made her angry.
"I know this is scary, Luka." Bella said gently as she put her arm around his shoulders and drew him closer to her side. "But I wasn't exaggerating when I said the situation is complicated. You have to trust that we can sort it out, but it will take time."
Luka's lower lip wobbled. He suddenly looked much younger than his years. "I was happy." He mumbled. "I felt safe with her."
His words broke Bella's heart. "You're safe here." She promised him. "I know you feel like your world has been turned upside down again, but you're not alone. You have family now."
Luka sucked in a shallow breath and nodded. He wasn't convinced, but sensed it was pointless arguing. He needed space to think. Esme had been his refuge and he didn't want to give that up. But he knew he might have to. Whatever happened, Ben's welfare was his priority. He pulled away from Bella and slid under the cool sheets, turning away from her and closing his eyes.
Defeated, Bella stood up and looked down at him sadly. "Goodnight, Luka." She whispered.
Luka didn't reply.
Jacob was waiting for her outside the bedroom. As soon as she saw him, she melted into his arms, her tears already finding their way down her cheeks. "I won't forgive Esme for what she's done!" Her voice was muffled against his broad chest, but the anger in her tone was clear all the same. "The boys are traumatised, especially Luka. What was she thinking telling my dad like that? I don't understand."
Jacob stroked the back of her hair soothingly. He was as angry as Bella, but was doing his best to contain it. Flying off the handle wasn't going to help anyone. He wanted to stay and comfort her some more, but his new responsibilities meant that he was going to have to leave her. Reluctantly, he unwrapped his arms from around her and cupped her face in his hands. Bella gazed up at him through brown eyes liquid with tears. She knew what he was going to say before he had a chance to say it.
"I know you have to go." Her sadness drained through her as the tears continued to skate over her skin. It travelled through every cell to reach the ground. "What will you do?"
"I really don't know yet." Jacob answered. He tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and caressed her cheek. "I feel completely blindsided." He frowned heavily. "The treaty has been broken and one of our own was complicit in breaking it."
Bella knew he was talking about Paul. Lahote had accompanied Esme and Alice onto the res willingly, knowing that in doing so he was breaking the treaty. His odd friendship with Alice seemed to have completely compromised his loyalty to his pack. Jacob wasn't the only one who was pissed that Paul hadn't even given it a thought to forewarn them of what he was intending to do. The old Paul would never have done that, hell he had always been the most vocal in his hatred of the Cullens, and because of her friendship with them, Bella as well. It was a complete turnaround for the former hothead and it was clearly confusing his brothers.
"He should never have put you in this position." Bella felt weary. This was all too much to handle. Jacob had only just taken on the Alpha position from Sam. This was going to be his first test of leadership, and it was a big one. It just wasn't fair, not when he had so much to deal with already. "What are we going to do?"
"Get through it. Like we always do." Jacob smiled faintly as he gave her cheek another tender caress. "Will you be alright staying with the boys? I don't know when I'll be back…. if Charlie?"
Bella swallowed thickly as she thought about her father. She could only imagine how he was feeling. He must be feeling completely betrayed by everyone he loved and trusted the most. He was hiding his anger and resentment behind a stoical mask. The way he had spoken to Billy when he had asked for sanctuary had been devoid of all feeling, like he was talking to a complete stranger. She hadn't had a chance to talk to him, getting Ben and Luka some place safe was her top priority. It had been one of the hardest things she'd had to do, walking away and leaving him behind with Billy as she took Ben and Luka back to the Black's house.
"I don't think he's ever going to forgive me, Jake." Bella whispered. Her eyes shifted to the side again and became glazed with a glassy layer of tears. As she blinked, they dripped from her eyelids and slid down her cheeks. She bit her lip tightly in attempt to hide any sound that wanted to escape from her mouth.
Jacob hated seeing her so sad. He wrapped his arms around her again and cuddled her against him. Bella's hands moved around his middle, warm and soft. In seconds her body was moulded to his. "Charlie loves you, Bells. He's hurting right now, but he'll forgive you. Just give him some time."
Despite the heaviness in her stomach, it fluttered at the feeling of her body pressed against his. She sunk into the warmth of his side, appreciative of the simple gesture. His touch made the room warmer somehow, her future within its walls seeming a little less bleak. "I love you, Jake. So much."
"I love you, too." Jacob responded with another tender smile. "Things have a way of working themselves out. You'll see."
"It's a simple answer, Billy. Yes or no." Charlie's voice was as cold as the air blowing around them.
Billy shivered involuntarily. He had never seen Charlie like this before. They'd had plenty of disagreements over the years-the last one had been about the Cullens as well-but even when they were angry at each other, they had always managed to overcome their differences. Their long-standing friendship had always stood them in good stead. When everything else in their lives had gone to shit, they always had each other to count on. He remembered when Renee first absconded with Bella. Charlie had been a mess. He had locked himself away, only emerging from his self-induced isolation to buy more alcohol. He had rebuffed all attempts to help him, until Billy and Harry had decided to stop playing Mr Nice Guy and had knocked down the front door, dragging him out kicking and screaming into the real world. The fuss he had kicked up! Charlie had turned the air blue as he raged at his friends to leave him alone, but Billy and Harry ignored his protests and forced him to face up to his new reality.
Of course, Charlie had returned the favour countless times. When Sarah was killed in that horrific car accident, Billy had spiralled into a deep depression. He couldn't get out of bed to care for himself, let alone his children. Charlie would arrive promptly every morning in time to drag Billy out of bed, force him to get washed and shaved, so that when the twins and Jacob woke up for breakfast, they would find that they still had one functioning parent. Charlie was the one who took them to school. He was there to pick them up. With Harry and Sue's help he made sure that Billy's life ran like clockwork until he was well enough to start to doing things for himself again.
"Are you ever going to answer me?" Charlie demanded impatiently when Billy took too long to respond.
"You don't need to ask for sanctuary. You and the boys are welcome here. Always. You know that." Billy's gaze slid to Esme and Alice, who stood nervously on either side of Paul Lahote, and frowned. "But not them." He added gravely. "I'm sorry, but that's the way it has to be. They need to leave." He swallowed thickly when he saw Charlie's eyes harden. "Chief, we've been friends for most of our lives…."
"Friends!" Charlie scoffed. "We were never friends, Billy Black. You are not who I thought you were. I don't know you at all."
Billy's knuckles turned white from clenching his fists too hard in his lap. He sucked in a sharp breath, deeply wounded by Charlie's words. "Don't try and rewrite history because of your hurt feelings, Charlie." He retorted bitterly. "I have always been there for you."
Charlie's face remained stern. "Friends don't lie to each other." He spoke each word through gritted teeth. "You fed me lie, after lie, after lie. You knew what danger my daughter was in, but you chose to say nothing. And don't you dare tell me that your loyalties lay elsewhere, Billy Black! What about your loyalty to me!"
Esme, watching the two long time friends glaring at each other with such hostility, decided it was time to intervene. She couldn't bear the thought of a lifetime's friendship being thrown away because of what she had done. She charged forward before anyone had a chance to stop her.
"Esme!" Alice cried in alarm. She went to chase after her, but Paul stopped her.
"Chill, Pixie." He said to her.
Alice stared up at him in disbelief. She couldn't understand why he was being so blasé about everything. "Why aren't you more worried?" She demanded in a low voice. "And don't tell me to chill, Paul. I am already cold enough!"
An amused grin lit up Paul's face at her unintended wisecrack. "Nice one, Pixie." He laughed. "Don't worry so much. Things needed shaking up around here." He was cut off when a low growl sounded from behind him. He spun around to find Jacob glowering at him. His grin faded to be replaced with a scowl. "And so, it begins." He muttered under his breath.
"Do you find this funny, Lahote? Come with me! Now!" Jacob ordered him.
Paul was compelled to obey. Alice watched in dismay as Paul's brows drew down into a resentful frown. She expected him to put up a heated protest. She knew how much he chaffed against authority. But to her surprise he didn't utter a word as he followed after Jacob until they were both swallowed up by the darkness.
"Please, don't fight." Esme pleaded as she looked between the two men.
Deep growls echoed from the darkness. The phased wolves, who were watching proceedings from a safe distance, began to circle closer, unnerved by their tribal chief being confronted so boldly by a vampire. Sam, in his place as Jacob's beta, urged them to show restraint. Jacob had put orders in place for them to hold back for the time being until he decided otherwise. He knew they weren't in danger from Esme or Alice, but that still didn't mean he was comfortable with them being on the res.
Charlie edged closer to Esme protectively-even though she didn't really need protecting- when he noticed the large shadows circling in the darkness. Even though he knew about the wolves, he hadn't actually seen them up close yet. They were just phantom ghosts in the night. He hid his uneasiness behind an emotionless mask as he faced Billy again.
"Is that your final answer?" He asked him.
"It is." Billy matched Charlie's cold tone. "You, Bella, and the boys can stay. The vampires cannot."
"Alice and I will go." Esme said quickly. "I am sorry we put you in this position." She apologised directly to Billy.
"Then why did you?" Billy blazed at her. His hands gripped the armrests of his wheelchair. "You knew that you were breaking the treaty as soon as you stepped foot on tribal lands. You are lucky that my son had the grace to show you leniency and not tear you apart- "He stopped talking, his gaze sliding to an enraged Charlie. "Don't look at me like that, Chief. You don't have the full story, only her watered-down version of it. The treaty was put in place for a reason-to stop her kind hunting on our lands. If they promised to stay off the Quileute lands, then we wouldn't expose them for what they really were… "
"Oh, I see." Charlie argued hotly. "As long as your lands were safe…fuck the rest of us!"
"It's not like that!" Billy roared. "Stop twisting my words you stubborn old fool."
"You're right. I am a fool." Charlie agreed bitterly. "I've been a fool my whole life. Everyone I ever trusted has stabbed me in the back-Renee, you, Harry. I'm done with this place and you." He turned to a shocked Esme. "You and Alice wait for me at the car. I'll go and get the boys."
"No, Charlie, you have to stay here." Esme pleaded with him. "It's the safest place for the boys. You know it is. Alice and I will go."
"Go where, Esme?" Charlie asked. "You think you can protect yourself against Carlisle. Look what he's done to you already."
"What's this?" Billy demanded.
"None of your business. You've made it clear you don't want to get involved." Charlie seethed.
"Go to hell, Charlie Swan!" Billy fired back at him. "I've been involved since the day your daughter decided she was going to kill herself so she could marry a damn vampire. My boy, and everyone here, risked their own lives to keep her heart beating, only for her to throw it back in our faces when she still insisted on marrying fucking Cullen. And this woman you insist on defending was happy to go along with it all. Not once did I hear of her trying to make Bella see sense, instead she was fucking planning the wedding of the century with your ex-wife!"
Charlie's face drained of all colour, his breathing coming in short bursts as he turned away from Billy's glowering face to Esme's stricken one. She opened her mouth to try and defend herself, but nothing came out. Charlie's jaw pulsed as he abruptly turned on his heel and stormed off.
"Where are you going, Chief?" Billy yelled hoarsely after him as he tried to roll his chair across the hard ground in a vain attempt to catch up with him. "Answer me, dammit!"
"I'm going to talk to my daughter!" Charlie yelled back over his shoulder as he disappeared into the darkness.
Billy quickly gave up on trying to follow the enraged police chief. He spun his chair around to face Esme. His face was devoid of compassion as he glared at her. "Now get off my lands." He said coldly. "And if you really care about my friend and his kids like you pretend you do, then you'll leave the area for good and won't come back!"
Carlisle rounded on Edward furiously when he arrived home to find his favourite son sitting at the grand piano playing the infuriating lullaby he had composed for Bella. Edward was taken aback when his mentor launched into an angry tirade about Esme and Bella's father, Charlie. He probed Carlisle's mind, learning what had transpired quicker than Carlisle was able to verbalise it.
"He had the audacity to threaten me!" Carlisle raged as he paced back and forth in front of Edward.
Edward eyed Carlisle warily. It had been a long time since he had seen his mentor so out of control. Carlisle usually had iron hard control over his emotions. The kind and compassionate face he showed to the world was not the face he wore in private. Edward had never been the focus of Carlisle's displeasure, but he had witnessed it on occasion. It was usually Esme who bore the brunt of his dark moods during the rare times he felt things were sliding out of his control. The whole mood in the house would change. He didn't chastise Esme with physical blows. Instead, with nonchalant ease he would crush every ounce of self-worth she had, failing to disguise how delighted he was when dealing his favourite blows. It was no secret that he hadn't chosen Esme to love or cherish, but to whip and destroy - for power and malice were Carlisle's drugs of choice. They lit him up inside with a sickly glow that shone in his languid eyes. He had the same glow now.
"What are you going to do?" Edward asked.
"I'm not going to do anything." Carlisle answered coolly. "You are."
Edward had asked the question automatically. He had already read Carlisle's mind to know his intentions. Even he was feeling a little sick at what his mentor wanted him to do. "You want to set that boy up for his stepfather's murder to get him away from Esme."
Carlisle's mouth twisted into a cruel smile. "We're not setting anything up. That boy was the last person to be seen with the stepfather. The authorities are looking for him and his brother anyway. As Chief Swan said himself-all it takes is a word in the right ear." His eyes hardened. "Make an anonymous call to the detective in charge of the case and tell him you know the where the boys are."
Edward's eyes widened slightly as he watched Carlisle's cruel smile morph into a more amenable one as he recovered his usual poise. His professional mask was back in place. "I'm going to work." Carlisle said as he smoothed his hair back from his handsome face. "Let me know when its done." He told Edward as he got ready to leave. "With the boys out of the picture there will be nothing keeping Esme and Bella here anymore."
Edward watched as Carlisle picked up his medical bag and left the house. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and toyed with it in his hands. He cast his mind back to when Carlisle had first told him of his intent to change Esme. Carlisle had been watching Esme for weeks from a distance after encountering her again. Carlisle and Esme had first met in 1911, when Esme broke her leg falling off a tree and he had been instantly intrigued with her. He thought then she would make him the perfect wife. He had been angered when he had been forced to move on when his colleagues became suspicious about him. He had been delighted when their paths had crossed again in 1921. But to his irritation he found she was heavily pregnant, soon to give birth. He learned that Esme was running from an abusive relationship. She was already vulnerable, perfect for him. It wouldn't take too much to push her over the edge. To get Esme, he needed to get rid of the child. That had easily been dealt with. Back then no one questioned anything. He slipped Esme's doctor a substantial amount of money. When Esme gave birth to a healthy baby boy, it was simple enough to swap him with an infant that had died of lung fever not long before. The other parents didn't even know about the switch. They raised Esme's son as their own. Distraught beyond belief at the perceived loss of her child, a grieving Esme had done exactly what Carlisle had predicted and tried to kill herself. She was ripe for changing.
Edward sighed as he turned his phone over and over in his hands as he wrestled with his conscience. Could he be so selfish to condemn an innocent boy in order to get Bella back? He sat as still as a statue for over an hour, before he finally reached a decision. Swiping back the lock screen, Edward made a call.
A/N-thanks for reading! Part 2 of this extremely long chapter coming soon! Jeez, I have a migraine.