…I squared my shoulders and walked forward to meet my fate, with my destiny solidly at my side…
Charlie was mad. In fact, he was beyond mad. His face had turned from purple to blue during the time that it took Edward and me to get to the front door. I caught my breath.
"Remember to breathe, dad…"
That didn't please him, but his complexion did begin to de-blue. He gave Edward one nasty look and then grabbed my shirt by the collar and dragged me inside, putting his hand out to keep Edward outside. I cringed when he slammed the door in Edward's face, which was wearing an extremely supportive look, but I thought I detected a glimpse of some little amusement in his eyes. I took one moment to wonder, does Edward think this is funny? before I turned to face my father. He was leaning against the wall with his head in his arm and trying to regain control of his breathing. I shrank back a few inches into the living room to give him some space.
Just when I thought that he maybe was not going to say anything, Charlie turned to me.
"Isabella." He said my full name sharply, and I felt a twinge of guilt when I heard a trace of concern in his voice.
"A motorcycle? Of all the cries for help, why A MOTORCYCLE?" I knew that Edward had to be listening to us, and wondered what his reaction would be to the term "cry for help" that my father had just used. Of course, what he knew and what Charlie could not know was that I had only risked my life so that I could hear Edward again.
That wasn't so wrong, was it?
I sighed and thought of how I could possibly respond to that question. Charlie was never a good lecturer, and a part of me knew that this discussion was going to rely on my input- much more painful than just listening to a lecture, like most kids would have to under the circumstances. But Charlie continued.
"Bella, you have no idea how glad I am that you're back to-- you're--" was he about to say normal? "--happy again. But honestly, Bella, I cannot take care of you if you're going to be riding around Forks on a DEATHMOBILE!" I nodded and decided not to provoke him by saying a word. My foot itched. I wondered how angry he would be if I just reached down to scratch it…
"…if I can't find some way of assuring your safety," Charlie was saying, "your mom is going to be very disappointed." He twisted his face into something unreadable and said, "I'll have to send you back, you know. I can't have you riding around on a motorcycle. I can't watch you twenty four-seven. I stay busy at that police station. Your mom would be much better suited to-- Bella? Bells?"
"Oops." I hadn't realized that I had been staring at him wide-eyed, mouth agape since he first mentioned sending me back.
I opened and closed my mouth a few times, and then finally managed to croak out, "don't send me back." The Cullens will never move to such a sunny place! Charlie looked anxious for a second but then seemed to judge me as alright, and continued speaking, softly now.
"I won't. Bells, I like having you here. I do. But please. Please do not go around jumping off cliffs and riding motorcycles." He looked into my eyes and I felt my head incline slightly in a nod. It's not like I wanted to risk my life any more, anyway. It was too precious now, too perfect. Now I had Edward back.
Charlie seemed to think that that was enough. He was obviously worn out and I judged it safe to walk cautiously to my room.
Of course, Edward was waiting for me. I breathed a sigh of relief when I finally was able to itch my foot. Edward saw the obvious pleasure I took in being able to itch again and seemed to think that this was riotously funny. I began to straighten up to glare at him, at the same time moving forward to punch his arm, not that it would hurt him of course, but tripped over the shoe I had just removed.
I felt Edwards arms around me in a second, my face feet from the floor. I pulled on Edwards arms to right myself and turned around to face him. I was so in love with him it almost killed me.
Literally. When Edward heard my heart stop his face twitched into a frown, and when it persisted he cursed and laid me out on my bed, trying to pump at my heart. I was barely conscious of what was going on, I was surrounded by beautiful thoughts of Edward. Suddenly I came back to myself and heard Edward saying my name over and over again. Were those tears on his face?
He must have heard my heart return to normal, because he looked up at me and flung his arms around me. I was just about to begin speaking when I was suddenly overcome again. I just had time to register an exasperated look on Edward's face before completely losing consciousness.
