Leah:
It took another 20 minutes of wandering around before I found the conference rooms. I couldn't remember for the life of me which one he had said but I could have sworn I heard Charlie's voice behind one of the doors confirming that I was in the right place.
About 10 minutes after that the door opened and three men came spilling out, laughing loudly. First Charlie, then Barley, then an impossibly good looking blonde man. I tried to remember the name Barley had said when we first got here. Dr Cullen! I put two and two together, the blonde angel must be Edward's dad. Wow that's one hell of a gene pool.
"Thanks for coming down, Charlie." The angel said, patting him once softly on the back. Barley said his goodbyes and walked down the hall while the other two started in my direction. I stood up and held Charlie's root beer out to him.
"Thanks Le." He said before opening the brown bottle and taking a long swig.
"Hello Leah, I'm Dr. Cullen but you can call me Carlisle. It's very nice to meet you." The angel said, putting a hand out towards me. I shook his hand but I was only halfway paying attention, too caught up in scrutinizing his face for any resemblance to the boy I had just been talking to. Other than their complexion and strange eye color I could find none. He looked much too young to be anyone's father, let alone a teenager's.
"Nice to meet you as well." I said with a polite smile.
"Well kid we better get you home." Charlie said. He nodded to Carlisle in farewell and we turned to walk back the way we came, Carlisle going the opposite direction.
On the way home I couldn't help my curiosity about the Cullen family and I decided to get some answers from Charlie.
"Hey Charlie. How well do you know Dr. Cullen?" I asked nonchalantly. He gave me a stern look.
"That man is too old for you, not to mention married." He said gruffly, frowning. I laughed loudly at his ridiculousness and his frown deepened.
"Oh my God, Charlie. No. I've just met his son Edward a couple times now and couldn't help but notice that Dr. Cullen looks way too young to be his Father." I explained, keeping my words as vague as possible. It seemed to work, his tension eased.
"Well that's because all of his kids are adopted." Said Charlie.
"Wait, all of? How many kids does he have?" I asked incredulously. Come to think of it, Edward had mentioned a sister.
"I think five. All about the same age. Good kids, never cause any trouble. So don't go letting your Dad and Billy's sour attitudes towards them bother you; they are fine people. Forks is downright lucky to have Dr. Cullen at our hospital, he's saved a lot of lives in his time here."
"Sour attitude? What do they have against the Cullens?" And why hadn't I ever heard anything about it?
Charlie looked at me like he thought I was joking and then quickly realized I wasn't. He cleared his throat, "Uh come to think about it maybe you should just ask your Dad. I don't mean to overstep but I do want you to remember it's important to think for yourself, draw your own conclusions about people instead of just believing the gossip. That's a big part of being a cop in a small town. Everybody's got opinions but it's our job to try to stay above all that."
I spent the rest of the drive staring out the window at the comforting forest that had always wrapped around my homeland like a safety blanket. All of this need for contemplation lately made me yearn for a hike, but I knew better than to wander into the woods alone and my hiking buddy had evaporated into thin air.
"Charlie?" I asked, breaking the silence as we pulled into my small driveway.
He put the car in park and turned to look at me. I took that as my cue to continue.
"Do you think I could keep tagging along with you on Fridays? Only if I'm not in your way. I can be like an intern, you don't even have to pay me." I joked, but my question was serious. I liked the purpose and sense of direction knowing what I want to do with my life has given me. I never really liked the idea of going off to college anyway. Even though I tried not to, I wished I could tell Sam.
"Well only an idiot would turn down free labor and as you and I both know I am no idiot. Welcome aboard intern. I'll talk to Sally, maybe we can make it official. That would look real good on your application to the academy." Charlie said with a wide grin stretched from ear to ear.
I returned the smile and gave him a playful salute before stepping out of the cruiser and running towards my front door. Rain was falling heavily now and even in that short distance I was soaked to the bone. I kicked off my muddy boots and slipped into the warm well lit house.
My family was in the middle of our typical evening bustle, my arrival hadn't interrupted anything. Seth was sitting at the dining room table complaining about an English essay that was actually due yesterday. My mom was sitting across from him marking corrections on his rough draft. Dad was in the kitchen making Friday Fish Fry. I smacked Seth on the side of the head as I passed by the table and he chucked a pencil at me as I ran up the stairs to change.
I decided to shower first seeing as my hair was already wet. The hot water was actually better than sex. I hadn't realized how tense and knotted my muscles had been until the molten liquid was unraveling them. I sang loudly to prevent myself from thinking of anything other than catchy song lyrics.
I didn't really want to go back downstairs but the smell of dinner had my stomach raging in protest. I slid downstairs and they were all sitting around the table, a pile of fish and french fries in the center and an empty plate sitting at my spot. I sat down and started loading it up.
"Well Leah, so nice of you to join us." Said my mom who was seated across from me. I rolled my eyes but otherwise didn't bother trying to respond around my mouthful of fish.
"How was your day with Charlie? Still want to be a big bad police officer?" My Dad asked, grinning.
I swallowed and grinned back, "You know it."
"Leah when you become a cop can I shoot your gun?" Seth asked, sounding like a very typical 14 year old boy.
"Sure" I said with a shrug at the same time my mom yelled, "No!" And my Dad said, "Definitely not." shaking his head back and forth, chuckling.
When we were all done my mom uttered the words no person ever wants to hear.
"Leah, it's your night for dishes."
I groaned but didn't put up a fight. I made quick work of the task and was happily tucked under my comforter 30 minutes later. It was still too early for sleep so I grabbed the last book I had read, the most recent Harry Potter novel. My best friend Becca and I had driven all the way to Tacoma for it on the very first day it hit the shelves. I settled against my pillows and allowed my mind to be transported to a realm where magic existed and loyalty mattered. About 6 chapters later my phone buzzed on my nightstand, breaking my concentration.