Resisting Temptation Ch. 1

Looking down at her phone, Winter groaned a little bit, not really being in the mood to deal with anyone, family or not. But Uncle Charlie never really called except for birthdays and Christmas. Letting out a sigh, she shook off her emotions and picked up the phone.

"Hey Uncle Chuck." She said, hoping that her voice didn't carry any annoyance that she felt.

Under normal circumstances he would have laughed a bit at that, but over the last few months, between what was going on with Bella and the loss of his sister, he just couldn't muster it up. "Hey kiddo, how are you doing with everything?" Worried about his niece.

Closing her eyes, it took a second for her to keep emotions in check, "I've been better, today isn't a good day. How about you, Bella any better?" she asked him. While she understood that her heart was broken, acting like a zombie because your boyfriend broke up with you, made her wonder how they were even related.

His voice shook, "I'm so worried about her, she barely eats, wakes up screaming. I don't know what to do anymore." His eyes finding her sitting out on the porch just staring at nothing.

Looking down at her nails, Winter could hear the desperation in voice, "She may need professional help Uncle Charlie. Being sad is one thing, but it's been months and she acts like someone died." Having to hold her tongue on the last thing she said. "I lost my mom, 3 months ago, but I knew she would have wanted to me to move on. You lost your sister, all Bella lost was a stupid boy." She bit out, angry that her cousin was acting like it was the end of the world.

Charlie knew that was true, hell, it was almost a task to bring Bella with him to go to the funeral, but she eventually stopped fighting him, if he was being honest with himself, a part of him was so disappointed in her because of her behavior. "I know, I miss her every day." Rubbing his face, "So, you think I should have her committed? Wouldn't that ruin her life?" Worried that if she ever pulled herself out of this, her future would be over.

Rolling her eyes at the preconception people had about getting help, it always surprised her, but perhaps it was the fact that her mother worked as a counselor, she grew up seeing her mother help people, hell she even helped her when she started deal with her changes. Shaking her head that wasn't something she needed to think about now.

"I'm not saying that, but I am saying if she doesn't get something going either by a professional or herself, she's not going to get better. And if you need to commit her, while it would suck on the front end, if she took the time to work on herself while there, she could live a full and happy life." Letting out a sigh, "Uncle Charlie, I love you, and Bells, and I can only quote mom here, but "Sometimes you have to do things to those you love because you love them."

Tears started to run down his face, in this moment he really missed his sister, she was so in tune with people, if she wasn't killed by the drunk driver, he knew that she would be here, doing everything she could to help Bella. "I know. I do. I'm just worried about Renee. She'll fight me on this."

Winter snapped at hearing that woman's name, "Don't you dare worry about that sorry excuse of a mother. She left because she hated Forks, taking Bella with her, I spent a lot of time with you and Bella growing up, that woman was selfish, by the time Bella was 11 years old, she was in charge of that house, honestly Renee was more like her roommate than her mother, so if you need to do something to help her, you do it." While she could understand a couple not working out, that's normal, but to take the kid so that you didn't have to be the parent, was stupid she should have left Bella with Charlie.

He could hear it in his niece's voice that she was not a fan of Renee, hell no one really was. Looking around the house, he could see that he kept it just the way she left it, perhaps this is where Bella is getting the idea of holding on, he's held on for the last 16 years. "I hear you." Looking at the clock, it was time for him to try to get Bella to eat. "Thank you for listening kiddo, you might not be your mom, but she did a great job raising you. I love you Win."

Smiling at his name for her, "I love you too. Keep me in the loop." With that she disconnected the call.

Tossing her phone on the couch, her brain running a million different scenarios of what could be her fucking problem, it's just a boy, she's just a girl. Standing up, Winter looked around the house that was now like her prison, she hated being here without her mom, making her way to the window, she looked at the snow that was falling, letting out a sigh, it was why her mom moved them to Crater Lake, OR because of the snow, it was one of the few places that got close to 57 feet a snow a year.

Looking down at her hands, she could see the steam starting to rise, for the most part, she had herself under control, but in moments of high stress, or heightened emotions she could lose it. Closing her eyes, she took a moment to center herself, but as that seemed to fail, she made her way outside, and flopping down in the snow back that was off her porch. Leaning back, she could feel her body getting cooler, which settled her nerves, she was 10 the last time she needed to do this.

Laying there, her eyes drifted towards the sky, watching the big pieces of snow gently fall to the ground, it was peaceful, but she knew that she couldn't hide on the mountain forever, not that she had to hide per say, but after losing her mom, she didn't want to risk being around others, but like she just told her uncle, you got to move forward no matter how difficult it was to do.

Standing up, she made a decision she was going to pack up the cabin, and head toward Forks, it was wet enough that she didn't have to be on high alert with herself, and perhaps she could put a foot in Bella's ass to get her moving. She lost her mom; she wasn't going to lose her only cousin to this depression if she could do something about it.

Bella looked out the window, her dad looking at her with those sad eyes, was enough to send her into another fit, but instead she just put on the best fake smile she could, did her best to eat the soup that he put in front of her, but it tasted like ash in her mouth, everything was so bland.

Letting out a deep sigh, she knew somewhere in the rational part of her brain, that this wasn't normal, none of this was normal, but no matter how hard she tried to fight this pull of despair it kept pulling her under. She was angry at him, and herself, she wasn't someone that let a boy break her, yet here she was broken.

Her mind racing to the night of her birthday, the one that she didn't want, but because Alice wanted it, it happened. Let us have this Bella, we don't get to celebrate our birthdays anymore. Cringing at the sound of his voice.

To anyone else, she knew she looked like she was mourning the loss of her boyfriend, but deep down she knew that this was something more than that, she was half certain that he did something to her to make her feel this way, or Jasper did, he could manipulate emotions, who's to say that he can't do it from wherever they are, it's not like any of them really took the time to explain their powers, or anything about what it was like to be a vampire.

Growling out her frustration, if she survived this she would do everything in her power not only to avoid him and that family, she would be tempted to set them on fire, if this is what they did to their supposed family member, then she would hate to see what they did to an enemy.

Standing up hurt, it was like her body was getting weaker and weaker by the day, which didn't make sense, she did what she could to keep moving, she was starving, she tried to eat, but when it was inside her stomach it felt like it was on fire or worse that it turned. As she moved towards the shower, her thoughts were filled with revenge, anger, and a lot of fear, because she was certain that if she couldn't figure out what the hell was going on with her, she was going to die, and the world around her would think it was because she couldn't live without Edward fucking Cullen.

It took Winter about two weeks to lock up the house, close out any remaining bills, and donate any foods that she could to the shelters that were in the area. It was a lot of work, but something told her it was the right thing to do, as she passed the 'Welcome to Forks' sign, something in her seemed to have relaxed, which was a nice change from her constant state of worry.

Looking around the cute little town, it looked exactly like it did when she was a kid, that was one of the million reasons that she loved small towns, people knew you, sometimes a little too much, but it was nice to know your neighbor, but a better part of living somewhere like this, you could just be, for the most part you didn't have to impress anyone, people were just working to provide for their families.

Letting out a sigh, the only thing that she really wanted to know was if Uncle Charlie had a good internet connection, it was all she needed to do her job.

Pulling up to the white house, he could see that his Police cruiser was there, but right next to it was this big orange truck, so that was the Orange Monster she talked about. Putting her Jeep in park, she carefully stepped out, and made her way up to the door, a little nervous for just showing up, but she hoped that it would be a pleasant surprise for them. If not, well that would just be awkward.

Gently knocking on the door, Winter stood there, her back straight, and waited for either Uncle Charlie or Bella to open the door.

Charlie heard the door, Billy wasn't supposed to be here until later this afternoon, standing up he opened the door, stunned to see his niece on the other side. Blinking down at her, he couldn't help but smile. She looked exactly the same as she did two years ago when she came to visit. "Win, what….." unable to finish his thought.

Taking him in, she could see that he was tired, "I'm here to help. If you don't mind." Hoping that it would be enough for him.

Stepping aside, he watched as she walked in, he couldn't believe what he was seeing, as she cleared the doorway, he pulled her into a deep hug, chuckling at she was barely up to his chin. "Thank you."

Keeping her arms around his waist, Winter gave him a tight squeeze, "Family comes first." Which was she meant with every fiber of her being, family always comes first. Taking a step back, "How is she?"

Leading her over to the living area, wiping his face from a few tears that escaped, "Not good. It's like she's there, but not really. I am ready to send her to a specialist, I'm worried that she's going to do something to herself."

Hearing the desperation in his voice, was enough to make her cry. Wiping her face, "I'll do whatever I can." Standing up, "In her room?" she asked him.

Nodding, "You're my favorite niece." He said, trying to lighten the mood.

As she touched the bottom of the stairs, "I'm your only niece. But even if I wasn't, I still would be the best." With that she turned her eyes towards the top of the stairs, making her way up to see her cousin, mentally trying to prepare herself for what she was about to see.

Charlie watched his niece climb the stairs, for the first time in months he had hope. Grabbing the phone off the wall, he called in a couple orders of pizza, figured that if anyone could get Bella to eat, it would be Win. Smiling at the thought, for someone that was 5'3, she was a ball of fire.

Looking at the door that led to Bella's room, a part of her was going to knock, but then she realized that at this point with how Bella was acting, she didn't get privacy. Pushing the door open, she found her cousin sitting in a chair, staring out the window. Jesus Christ. Stepping in, she was hit by a wave of the sweetest smell, it was almost enough to make her gag.

Not waiting for Bella to even notice her, she made her way over to the window, flipping it open, much to the surprise and confusion of her cousin. "GET UP. NOW." She barked, grateful that the breeze was clearing whatever that smell was.

Bella looked up to see the bright blue eyes of her cousin staring back at her, "What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice harsh from lack of use.

"Getting your scrawny ass up right now, get your ass dressed, or I swear to God, I am going to snatch you by your fucking hair and drag you out of this room." Her eyes never leaving her brown ones.

Bella could see that she wasn't kidding, and if there was one thing that she knew about Winter, if she set her mind to it, she'd do it. Slowly standing, "Can I at least shower?" she asked, hoping that the answer would be yes.

Looking down at her, she just nodded, smirking as Bella grabbed some clothes, "You got 15 minutes, if you're not out by then, you'll be wearing a towel outside for all I care." Smiling as Bella paled at the statement.

Turning her attention towards the room, she could still smell that sweet candy smell over everything, that needed to go, it wasn't a natural smell, looking at her arms, she could see the hairs standing on end, not really knowing what was making her so edgy about it.

Stripping the bed, and all the clothes that were around, but as she opened the drawers it was coming from inside there too. Shaking her head, she dumped everything out, creating a pile. Running down the hall she started the first load of wash. Running down the stairs she found Charlie paying the pizza guy, but right now wasn't about food, it was about removing that smell. "Do you have any white vinegar?" she asked as he put down the pizza on the table.

"Under the sink. Why?" curious to what she was doing.

"There's this sweet smell in her room, made me dizzy, it's over everything, so I'm going to clean it. Mom always said that sometimes if you deep clean your personal space it can help. I don't know how, exactly, but I mean she knew what she was talking about." Heading over to the sink she found the vinegar and filled a bucket with hot water adding it.

Charlie watched her move with purpose, "That started when she first got here, I thought it was her body spray." Wondering if he missed something.

Looking over her shoulder, "It maybe, but if it is, it's going. No one needs to smell like cotton candy." Smiling at his face.

Not wasting anytime, she started wiping everything, starting at the window, and working her way towards the bed. But as she wiped down the frame, she could hear Bella walking in, turning her eyes, she could see her stare at her like she was crazy. "Your room smells like cotton candy, it's gross." Seeing her hold the towel around her, "You still have 10 minutes, get your ass dressed."

Nodding, Bella grabbed some clothes, but looking down they were Alice's choices not hers. Quickly ripping them off the hangers, she found a box, quickly tossing everything that Alice or Edward bought her, telling her that this or that was better. Soon it was filled, looking around there were only a few things left that were hers from Phoenix. Not caring that they were a little worn, she slipped them on, and stepped out with the box that was now filled with designer clothes.

She could see that Winter was looking at her, "This was the stuff Alice, his sister would buy me." Snorting at her face, "You're pretty much scrubbing my room, so I'm assuming that this was the next thing you were going to do."

Nodding. "Yeah. I was." Looking down, there was at least 10k in clothes, "This is what they wore around Forks?" Shaking her head at the ridiculousness of it all.

Bella could only nod, she still felt like she was this deep dark hole. But seeing Winter here, pretty much taking over her room, gave her hope, perhaps her cousin could help, they told each other everything, well that was before she got involved with Edward.

Grabbing the box, she quickly made her way downstairs, Bella right behind her, "Uncle Chuck, can you open the door?" she yelled out to the room.

Standing up, he opened the front door, seeing the giant box of clothes that were taken out. "What's all this?" He asked them.

Winter moved passed his voice, not being able to see over the box, "Unneeded garbage." As she stepped outside, she yelled at Bella, "Eat a slice of pizza."

Bella didn't want to argue, even as kids, Winter was pushy. Sitting down, she carefully ate, while it still tasted gross to her, for the first time in a while she could almost taste the sauce.

Charlie sat at the table with his daughter, seeing her eat, while she wasn't thrilled at the idea, he knew that Win wasn't going to hold her hand, she was going to kick her around if that's what it took to get her moving. It wasn't something he was sure could do for her.

Bella could see that Charlie was watching her, "You call her?" wondering if he asked her to come. Because she wanted to say thank you, but something in her was preventing her from showing anything other than anguish.

"No, he didn't, I came because this acting sorry for yourself is bullshit." Winter said, making a move to sit down next to her uncle. Grabbing a slice, she quickly inhaled it, her eyes could see that Bella was watching her, but she was past the point of giving a shit.

Wiping her hands, "Up," she barked, not leaving any room for Bella to argue.

Charlie watched as Bella stood, walked to the door, slipped on her coat and went outside, his eyes landing on his niece, "What do you need from me?" Wanting to help in anyway he could.

Giving him a small smile, "I have a load of her crap in the washer, move it to the dryer, and start a new load. Pile everything on her bed. She'll put it away when we get back." With that she gave him a quick hug and found Bella standing next to her truck.

"Nope, we're taking my Jeep." Sliding into the driver seat.

Bella huffed out but knew that there was no arguing with her. Sitting in the seat, she couldn't help but chew on her lip as they drove, seemed like they were heading towards the boardwalk. Remember that was Winter's go to place when she was here.

Watching as the landscape passed her by, Bella wanted to scream, she felt like her skin was crawling, but not in the she had to be locked in her room, but more like she needed to get further away. She sat there quietly as they drove, and the further she got from that house, the more at peace she was, it was unnerving.

Sparing a quick glance at her cousin, she could see that her eyes were focused, "Thank you." She muttered out.

Not taking her eyes off the road, she just smirked, "You're welcome."

Pulling into the lot, Winter looked over at Bella, who actually looked sorta like the old Bella. It wasn't much, but it was something.

When they got to the end of the pier, Winter looked around, grateful that there was no one here, but for most people it was too cold for them. She had to be mindful of Bella, and not stay out too long or she'd get sick.

Sitting down, she indicated for Bella to follow suit. Once she was situated, she looked over at her cousin, knowing that she was going to spill her guts, one way or another, but she would prefer Bella actually tell her. "Don't leave a fucking thing out."

Gasping at how forward she was being, she knew that if anyone was going to get her to spill her guts, it would be her cousin. But it wasn't her secret, but if anyone would understand it would be Winter, she was different too.

Letting out a sigh, she just vomited out everything, from first meeting Edward to her birthday party, leaving nothing out, including what they were. Tears streaked down her face, for the first time she was finally able to speak about anything, everything, not have to hold anything back.

Winter held steady, vampires? What the fuck? He watched her sleep. Creepy. She wanted to respond, or something, but she could see that Bella wasn't done with her train of thought.

Wiping her face for the hundredth time, Bella looked over at her cousin, "I think he or someone in his family did something to me, rationally I know I shouldn't feel this bad, but it's like I can't help it." Her voice was breaking, "I'm scared Winnie, terrified that if I can't fix what is broken, I'm going to die, and everyone will think it was because I was too weak to get over him."

Looking over at her cousin, she had no idea what to do for her, but she knew who might. He was the one that warned her mother about her gift, perhaps his old seeing eyes would be able to see something about Bella, and why she wasn't healing right. "Can I see the bite mark?" she asked, mostly curious about the thing.

Rolling her sleeve up, Bella extended her arm, "It's colder than the rest of my skin." She stated.

Carefully taking her arm, she lightly touched it, hissing that she could feel the coolness. Her eyes finding Bella's watching her, "OK, let's go home, clean the room, I'm guessing that smell is him. You seemed better when I started, so perhaps that's the first step, get everything back to neutral. Second, we need to see Old Quil, I'll call him when we get back."

Making a move to stand, Winter extended her hand to Bella, smiling when she took it, "He helped mom with me, perhaps he can help you with this."

All Bella could do was nod, perhaps there was hope for her yet.

By the time they arrived back to the house, Charlie, Billy and Jacob were sitting on the couch watching some baseball game.

Jacob watched as they walked in, this was the first time since Sam found her in the woods that she actually looked normal. "Hey Bells," his eyes landing on her cousin, "Winnie." He said with a smile.

Bella smiled, gave him a quick hug, "I have to finish my room, it's in need of a deep cleaning, I'll come back down before you leave." Looking over at her cousin, she double timed up the stairs, ready to start whatever healing she could get done.

Looking up at the kid that she grew up with, "Dude, the hell did they feed you on the Res?" she asked him.

Looking down, Jacob always liked her, she was funny, smart, and no nonsense, "We grow them big there." Smiling at her face.

Winter looked at him shook her head, and looked at his dad, "Uncle Billy, how are you?" she asked him.

"Good sweetheart, I'm sorry to hear about your mom." Taking a second, "You're going to fix Bella?" he asked her, hoping that it wasn't too late.

Nodding, "I'm going to try." Giving them all a small smile, she excused herself and made her way up to Bella's room, smiling when she found the girl in the middle of vacuuming her walls.

Pulling out her phone, she made a quick call, "Old Quil, it's Winter Swan, I need a favor."

"Oh, and what would that be young one?" he asked her.

"I need to bring Bella to you, something is wrong, and I think you might be able to fix it. Can we please come by tomorrow?" Hoping that he wouldn't ask too many questions over the phone.

Old Quil knew from his interactions with the young lady that if she was asking and not giving him details it was something out of the norm. "Of course, see you both by 10 am."

Breathing out a sigh of relief, "Thank you. See you tomorrow sir." Disconnecting the call, she put her phone in her pocket and proceeded to help Bella get her room in order.

It took a few hours, but soon every article of clothing that was kept was washed, her room was scrubbed from top to bottom, and the bed was freshly made.

The last though Winter had before she fell asleep, was that hopefully tomorrow, the Elder would have some answers.