a/n

serenity1006, I believe in Charlie's mind, he failed her. Now he is unwittingly overcompensating for his lack of parental guidance. Unfortunately his over emotional state is dictating his actions. I'm glad Bella's character is coming out clear, she was meant to be a dreamer watch kept the outside world corrupting her. You might be right about what makes her so calming to Jake. I love your theory about Jake's type, I'm going to run with that while doing his outtakes.

Mognolia512, Welcome, I am glad you enjoy the story so much. I love those stories that hook you. You have no idea how good that comment makes me feel. I'm glad the characters come across so well. I hope you continue to enjoy this story. Lol My son used to come in and take the books away from me saying "Mom you're yelling at your books again."

Tpswasshri27, at first your comment confused me. I never said Jake had a one night stand. Then I thought back on what I wrote. When I had him say, "Lee and I were friends, and then one day, we were more than friends." it didn't mean that they were more than friends for just one day. Who else do you think he had a one night stand with? If its Lauren I don't want to give away any spoilers, all will be revealed in the ANSSL outtakes I will be putting up on the archive of our own website. If for some reason you cant read on that sight, just ask and I will send you that outtake.

echo58, I'm glad the development of the characters is coming across well. Everyone has flaws, when the perfect person is written into a story I find I can't relate and lose interest quickly.

Thank you for reviewing.

Chapter 40

At the end of the day it was decided that Jake would spend the week at his father's, giving Charlie and Bella some time alone to reconnect and heal. Charlie made the arrangements at work to take the week off.

The ride home was quiet but tense. After Charlie's outburst Bella closed in on herself. She became distant and incommunicable, she wouldn't even gesture to let her opinion be known.

When it was time to go home she obediently got in the car but she showed no other signs of awareness.

When they were almost home Charlie felt an overwhelming need to break the silence. He was afraid that once they were home Bella would lock herself in her room and they would lose any opportunity to clear the air.

"I'm sorry." He blurted out. "I might have... overreacted."

A snort of derision was his only answer.

"I just don't think you should be jumping into another relationship so soon."

"I'm not, we're just friends." Bella's voice was so low Charlie had to strain to hear it.

"It looked like more than that to me." Charlie grumbled.

"It's not."

"I hope you're telling me the truth, because the last thing I need is to have to worry about the two of you living under my roof together."

She said nothing, just stared out the window Like she didn't hear a word he said.

As soon as the car stopped moving Bella threw open the door, got out, rushed into the house and straight up to her room. She shut and locked the door behind her.

It took a moment for Charlie to follow, he grumbled curses to and at himself. He knew his short temper as of late was not helping things, but he didn't seem to be able to help it. He stopped in front of Bella's door fist raised to knock. The sound of sniffling made him change his mind, they both needed time.

Bella lay on her bed curled around her pillow, in a ball. She futilely tried to hold in her sobs. Her emotions were so erratic she wasn't even sure what she was crying about. It could have been the death of the life she wanted, or the realization she never truly had a chance at that life, the humiliation of how stupid she was, or the fact that her father no longer trusted her with anything. She probably deserved his scorn.

She wanted to sleep and not wake up, or wake up and discover this was all a nightmare.

She pushed her fingertips into her arms, willing away the desire to dig her nails in and tear at her skin. The mortification of her naivety was too much to bear.

Unable to stay still any longer she peeked out her door. When she saw no sign of her father, she crept her way to the bathroom.

She sat in the shower until it turned cold. She wanted to wash away the uncomfortable feelings that crept up her spine. No matter how hard she scrubbed, the feelings just wouldn't go away.

Giving up she went back into her room. Wrapped in a towel, she paced her floor, pulling and pinching at her arms. She was finding it hard to breathe.

She couldn't let this happen again. Fighting against the ensuing panic, she recalled Jacob's voice, his words. "Name and touch five beige things." Instead of opening her eyes and looking for five things, she thought about the things she found in the truck. "Seat, roof, belt, steering wheel, your shirt." His shirt.

She opened her eyes hoping it was still there. She took a breath, hanging over her chair was the shirt Jake gave her to wear the morning before. She grabbed it, slipping it over her head she once again took in the scent. The smell of the forest and ocean, now mixed with strawberries and vanilla.

It wasn't enough, she needed something more. Feeling desperate she snuck down the stairs and into his room. Closing his door she climbed into his bed, this was the last place she felt truly safe. It wasn't enough.

She wrapped the blanket around her and gripped onto his pillow as tight as she could. It still wasn't enough. She took a shaky breath in and when she let a breath out it came with a scream. She couldn't stop it, or the one after it or the one after that. She screamed herself horse.

Exhaustion finally overtook her and she fell into a restless sleep.

a/n Thank you for reading.

I could use some feed back to the outtakes. I have posted the first chapter of Edwards pov. Warning he is sadistic. There is explicit material, including date rape and drug use. It is posted on the archive of our own website under the same pen name I have here. JSam1021.