(I do not claim to own any intellectual property that belongs to Stephanie Meyer, not do I claim ownership of the image used for the cover)
Bella
What do I do now...
All that was left to do was to sit on the forest floor. He had left me. The only man that I had ever loved. I had given him everything. Somewhere in the recesses of my mind I must have known. I must have suspected. How could someone like him ever love me. It was stupid to kid myself into believing his lie. To him I was nothing more than a play thing. Someone to occupy his mind for the time being. And now that time had ended. I heard his voice over and over in my head, the sound of it already seeming to loose it's potency, but it made the words hurt no less...
"Bella, I don't want you to come..."
What do I do now...
It had begun to get dark, and the damp log that I had been sitting on had soaked through my jeans and had extended it's icy grip into my seat. Charlie would be worried. There was no doubt that he had gotten back from the station now, and yet, I could not bring myself to move. I was still just inside the edge of the forest. Chasing after him would have only been a fruitless endeavor; no I was quite content to wallow in my misery for the time being. I could hear Charlie calling my name now, but I didn't bother answering. All I wanted to do was get get lost in these woods.
"Bella!"
Please don't see me...
'BELLA!"
Please don't see me...
Please...
I could hear the sound of footsteps coming towards me.
"Bella, what are you doing out here? Jeez you're soaked! What happened?"
I just sat there.
"Bella, are you okay? You're scaring me."
"Edward," I finally managed to croak, "He..."
"He what? Did he hurt you? If he laid a finger on you I'm gonna..."
"No."
"No he didn't hurt you, or no it wasn't him?"
More silence.
"Come on Kid," Charlie said after a few moments, "let's get you inside."
He reached out a hand to me, but quickly realized it was a pointless gesture, and scooped me into his arms. He struggled slightly to keep his footing, as the rain had picked up, making everything more slippery. He plopped me onto the sofa, not seeming to care about the dampness of my clothing. I curled onto my side and into fetal position. Charlie returned after a few minutes with a mug of tea, placed it onto the coffee table, and sat down on the armchair beside me.
"Bells..."
"Just leave me alone."
"..."
"Please...I just want to be left alone."
I spent the night on the sofa, staying awake till the early hours of the morning, before finally falling into a restless slumber. Charlie hadn't talked to me. I had probably angered him, but at this point he was just another man in my life that I had disappointed. He had already left for work, not before calling in to the school and telling them that I would not be attending today. He did not bother saying good morning, as both of us would have known it was a lie. Instead the only word spoken was a worry filled 'goodbye' before his departure.
I stared at the mug of tea. It had been left overnight, but I didn't care. I reached for it, downing it all at one go, the overly potent earl grey helping to soothe the burn in my throat.
The majority of my day was spent puttering around the empty house, wondering what exactly I had done wrong. I played the days over and over in my mind. All of the dates, all of the hours that I had spent in their house, the dinner's that Esme had cooked me while Carlisle had stood by her side, talking about the news that day, the shopping trips that Alice had dragged me on. There was so much that we had all done together.
An hour before Charlie came home I found myself in the Kitchen. I began to chop vegetables, and thaw out some fish. I wasn't really paying attention to the task at hand, I had only wanted to keep my hands busy. I heard the front door open and close, and the sound of boots being kicked off, a jacket being aimlessly thrown onto the coat rack.
"You're boiling fish?" Charlie said, seemingly more to himself that to me. I looked down at the pot, sure enough seeing the fish bobbing in the water. The vegetables that I had cut were still on the cutting board, with what appeared to be the marinade meant for the fish generously coating them. I turned to look at Charlie.
"He left me."