Author's Note: This is a one shot, but if you've read any of my other stuff you know I fall in love with my stories and don't always want to let them go, even months later, so if you enjoy it you might want to follow just in case.

I will be publishing one, or maybe two chapters on The Gift this weekend (January 2021, so never fear if that's one you're waiting for.) It's not forgotten.

This idea came to me when I was about 80% asleep and I've been wanting to try writing in third person, so here we go. Enjoy!

It was a quiet, rainy night in Forks, Washington, as most nights were. The small house was warm despite the cold winter outside and the TV was droning on playing a movie that no one was paying attention to.

Charlie Swan was relaxing in his recliner with a beer in his hand that he was only pretending to drink, mostly for something to do other than worry about his daughter, Bella. Bella was sitting on the couch beside his chair, curled up in a ball, clutching a pillow to her chest and silently crying as she had nearly every night for months.

Her father wished he knew exactly what happened to her that night she got lost in the woods but pressing her for answers made her panic even worse and become near catatonic, and he didn't want to cause her any more harm. The only thing he knew for sure was that he was gone, as was his entire family, and it had absolutely broken her heart and crushed her spirit.

At first, Charlie was angry. How dare anyone harm his daughter? But also, how could she get so attached to some boy that she would just give up her entire life, her friends, her hopes for the future, all because he had left town and broken up with her?

The anger subsided after a day or two. Honestly, Charlie was terrified. He loved his baby girl, although she was eighteen years old now, and wanted her to be happy. He tried to not think about the situation too much, because he couldn't understand, no matter how hard he tried.

He had taken her to the doctor, of course, and even to a counselor, but they assured him that it was normal teenage behavior after a breakup and that it would pass in time. They prescribed her some pills for panic attacks and sent her on her way. He didn't pursue this route again.

Charlie resigned himself to seeing that she went to school, at least tried to eat, and that she knew he was around if he ever needed her. He started to send her to live in Florida with her mother, but the night he suggested it she had a full-on panic attack and cried so hard that it terrified even him, the chief of police. Charlie didn't bring up the subject again.

So, he sat in his recliner, pretending his beer and whatever movie was playing on TV were the most interesting things in the world, when in reality, his every thought was on his love and worry for Bella and his inability to magically make things better for her, no matter how much he wanted to.

Charlie was snapped out of his thoughts by a car door closing softly outside. If he were paying the slightest bit of attention to anything else, he likely would have missed it. There were footsteps coming up the walk. It sounded like a man in dress shoes, odd at this time of night. He wasn't expecting any company, but got up to answer the door just as the man outside started quietly knocking.

His face went pale first and then turned red with anger, while his eyes were wide with fear, not for himself, but for his daughter crying softly on the couch. He stepped outside, not wanting to bother Bella, and definitely not wanting to let this visitor in the house with her.

"What do you want?" Charlie demanded, roughly.

"I need to see Bella." Charlie noticed that this wasn't a question. He didn't say 'I want to see Bella.' or 'May I please see Bella?' but insisted that it was a need to see Bella.

"You've hurt her enough."

"I know." the boy said, looking down at his feet. "Please, let me make it right."

"You can't. You obviously don't want what she wants."

"I do. More than anything. I didn't mean to hurt her. Definitely not like this."

"If you're going to break her heart again-"

"No. I would never. I've done that enough. Please, let me apologize to her. Let me try to fix this." He looked back up into Charlie's eyes with a haunted expression, one that sent a chill down his spine. Charlie started to insist that the boy go away, but his thoughts drifted back to his daughter, curled up in a ball on the couch and crying her eyes out as she had for many months.

He also saw how disheveled the boy looked despite how put together his entire family normally was. His clothes were wrinkled, hair stuck out in all directions and his already unusually pale skin was now like a corpse. His eyes were black with dark purple rings under them.

Charlie thought he had never seen someone with such dark eyes before, but then he remembered how Bella's would get after hours of crying. He decided that the boy standing on his front step had likely been crying too.

What harm could it do? She's already gone. Charlie thought. But maybe, just maybe…he wouldn't dare dwell on that thought, but hesitantly opened the door and held it for the boy to follow.

"Bella." Charlie said clearly, but softly, being careful not to startle her. "You have a visitor."

Nothing had really interested her for a long time. She didn't have the energy to be polite, not even to people she had once considered friends. She only held herself together by a thread. Moving positions from the tight grasp on her legs would only make her susceptible to more harm, would expose her heart to the cruelty of the world. She didn't move or try to look at her visitor. It didn't matter.

The boy was in front of her within a second, moving almost too fast for Charlie to see, kneeling on the floor at her feet. He looked up at her, his nervousness clear on his face.

She still didn't react.

Charlie took his seat back in his recliner, unable to look away from what was happening in front of him.

"Bella." the boy said quietly and in a shaky voice. "Please look at me."

She didn't move, so he continued. "I'm not asking for your forgiveness. I don't deserve it, but I need you to know the truth."

Charlie noticed that it wasn't 'You need to know the truth' but 'I need you to know the truth' almost as if the boy's life depended on her hearing whatever he had to say. She was hesitant, but slowly unwrapped her arms from around her legs and lifted her head just enough to see him. Her long, tangled hair hid most of her face from view.

She gasped as she saw the boy in front of her, and her eyes filled with fresh tears. All of a sudden, there was color in her face, and she sat up straight for the first time since that day she was rescued from the woods. She looked almost hopeful, but also scared to death. The boy looked much the same.

They gazed at each other in silence for long enough that it should have been uncomfortable, but it wasn't. It was oddly comforting, both to them, and to Charlie in a way he couldn't explain.

The boy, carefully, as if she were fine china that he was terrified of touching, reached out and rested his hand on one of Bella's. The gaze they shared intensified, almost as if they were sharing thoughts, but they were both oddly silent.

Another moment or two passed with neither of them moving nor making a sound.

"Edward!" she shouted, removing her hand from his grip, and throwing her arms around his neck, holding him tightly against her. It was the most emotion she had displayed since that terrifying day in the forest.

Charlie had a passing thought that she was probably choking the boy, as tightly as she held him, but he didn't protest. Charlie was too relieved at her reaction to care even if she choked him on purpose.

Edward held her carefully, gently, but just as closely. It sounded as if he were quietly sobbing. He buried his face in Bella's hair, breathing deeply and kissing her head as if she were the most treasured thing in his world, as if he'd crossed oceans to be with her. If he noticed that she was wetting his shoulder and his cheek with her tears, he didn't mind.

"Get comfortable." he whispered, carefully pushing her weight back onto the couch, where she was still seated. He quickly sat down beside her, taking her hands in his. He glanced at her for only a second before changing his mind and pulling her into his lap.

Normally, Charlie would have protested, mumbling something about decency and not being inappropriate, but he noticed that the more Edward touched Bella, the more she relaxed and even faintly smiled. Edward was holding her to him in a way that said he never wanted to let her go. Charlie wasn't going to interfere with them. Not tonight.

"Please don't leave." Bella cried into his chest.

"I won't." he promised instantly.

She reached up to touch his face, holding it in both of her hands and looking into his eyes. She was breathing heavily, obviously terrified of something, but what? They clearly loved each other more than anyone could ever comprehend. Even Charlie could see that despite how much he normally disliked the boy.

Edward wiped Bella's tears away with his thumbs and started to talk. "Bella, I'm so sorry."

"Please, I know you aren't going to stay. I remember what you said. Just let me be happy for a few minutes and then I swear I'll let you go." she was trembling, tears still falling from her eyes, but she couldn't look away from him, not even as her voice broke on the last word.

It seemed that he couldn't look away from her either. Charlie doubted that even a sudden earthquake would tear their eyes away from each other.

"I'm not going anywhere. Not now. Not ever. I lied to you. All those awful things I said, they were the very blackest kind of blasphemy. If I do have a soul, I ripped it to shreds by breaking your heart. It isn't possible for me to not love you."

"Please don't get my hopes up." she whispered.

"I love you, Bella Swan." he said with absolute conviction. "I always have, and I always will. It's impossible for me not to love you. Did you hear me? Completely impossible. Do you think you can ever forgive me?"

"I already have." she replied.

Charlie winced, knowing that it was extremely unhealthy for her to be so wrapped up in someone like this, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something almost otherworldly was going on here, something beyond simple human emotions that he couldn't possibly comprehend if he tried. Whatever the two of them shared didn't make sense, yet suddenly made all the sense in the world.

Bella looked at Edward, most of her fear replaced by a sudden determination. "I love you too." she answered. His expression changed to one of profound relief, and he slowly leaned in for a kiss, which she enthusiastically returned.

Charlie left the room to give them some privacy, making himself busy in the kitchen. He got another beer, despite barely sipping on the first, and sat down at his kitchen table.

He was relieved to see Bella talking a little more and even smiling. He was terrified that the boy would somehow harm her again, yet as soon as the thought popped up, knew that it was impossible.

Despite what had happened, what was happening now was putting things right. Their hold on each other was something permanent and unbreakable, stronger than anything Charlie had ever witnessed.

He had many questions, but there were no doubts now. If someone looked at him like that, loved him like that, he thought, he would have reacted exactly as Bella had to their absence. He was sure of it. No wonder she had been so broken. How could anyone ever compare to whatever was going on in his living room?

He took his time finishing this beer and then walked back through the house.

Edward smiled up at him gently, still holding a now quiet Bella in his arms. He was quietly humming a beautiful song that he couldn't identify, and Bella was drifting off to sleep for the first time in two or three days. Relief wasn't a strong enough word for seeing her finally relaxing, regardless of who was holding her.

Charlie sat back down at first, unsure of what to do with himself. Edward didn't seem to mind as he continued to hold Bella against him, burying his face in her hair, or gently caressing her face as she rested.

If she stirred, Edward calmed her down instantly with a touch or a soft whisper. An hour passed without her waking or screaming in her sleep, as she so often did. It was as if the boy knew when she needed to hear his voice or feel his touch to keep the nightmares away.

After a while longer, he figured that the boy must be uncomfortable, holding her like he was for so long, barely moving. "Should we carry her to bed?" he asked, immediately wondering why he had bothered asking. It was his own daughter, after all. He should be the one calling the shots.

"I can't bring myself to disturb her."

"Me neither." he answered honestly. A few more minutes passed. "Would you like a drink or something?" Charlie was feeling awkward, unsure of how to help.

"I'm alright, thank you." The way that Edward looked at Bella's face and smiled was as if she was everything he ever needed. The most precious drop of water in the ocean. The final piece to finish a grand puzzle.

Charlie desperately wanted to be useful, so he gathered a small quilt from the linen closet upstairs and then draped it carefully over her legs and feet.

He wasn't going to dare ask Edward to leave. Bella was finally at peace. "Why did you go?" he asked, needing at least some answers for his curious mind.

"I was trying to protect her. From me. I know you can tell how strongly I feel about her. I didn't want to smother her or make her give up her plans for me, but I can't live without her anymore."

"I don't think she wants to live without you either. Please, just don't break her heart again." Charlie repeated his request from earlier.

"Breaking hers means breaking mine as well. I will not make us both miserable again. I didn't want to lie to her, but thought it was the only way. I apologize for hurting you as well. I won't ever hurt her again. You have my word."

Charlie nodded. "Stay with her tonight."

"I would love nothing more." Edward answered sincerely.

"Do you want me to call your parents?"

"They know exactly where I am."

Charlie nodded and went to bed, knowing that he would finally get a good night's rest, as would his beloved daughter. He knew without any doubt that all would be right in the morning.

Edward spent months trying to not think about Bella, but she never left his thoughts, not even for a second. Daydreams, memories, and fantasies could never do her proper justice. As he held her safely in his arms, his eyes filled with venomous tears that he could never shed, another curse of his immortal existence. He wanted to cry with happiness and relief, but also with sorrow of exactly what he had done to her.

He lovingly brushed her hair out of her pale, thin face, noticing the dark circles under her eyes not unlike his own. Her hair, usually soft and thick, was slightly brittle and clearly uncared for. Her heart was just slightly faster than it had been, seemingly unable to let go of months of panic in just one night.

Despite the pain of what he had done to her, Edward was the calmest he had been since he decided to leave. Her warmth, not just physically, but emotionally, forgiving him without a second thought, radiated through his entire body.

Her scent intoxicated him, and he couldn't get enough of it. His throat burned, but any risk to her that he posed was long eradicated by the pain of being without her.

He had spent months alone, miserable, knowing that he was the worst kind of monster imaginable, one who harmed the innocent. Although his sins weren't physical, he had been sent an angel, and he had absolutely broken her heart. She had told him many times exactly what she wanted, but he didn't listen.

He intended to only come check on her, just to see her one more time from afar. He was filled with such pain, that sitting in place was no longer going to do. He had no choice but to at least come and love her, even if she didn't know he was around.

One glimpse at Charlie's sad thoughts from a distance had changed his mind, shattering his entire façade of calm. Edward had to get to her. He had to fix this while he still could. She was not going to suffer any longer on his account. The world wasn't right when angels cried, especially not his Bella.

And so, despite his intense fear and the months of running, despite all of the reasons that told him to stay far, far away, he knocked on the door and took his chance. He was sure that she might send him away, even knowing confidently that she wouldn't.

One look in her deep, brown eyes nearly restarted his frozen, dead heart. He came back to life a little more with each touch, and then she said those magic words, "I already have" and "I love you too." It was as if his entire body were shocked back into action. He kissed her, overwhelmed with the feeling of his long-lost soul rejoining his body as he felt her love, truly letting himself get lost in her for the first time ever. He didn't fear hurting her now, he knew that he could never do so again.

Charlie started to snore, and Edward carried Bella up to her bed, cradling her frail body against his strong chest. He laid her down under the covers, getting in beside her, not daring to break the contact between them. He vowed that he would spend the rest of his life making this up to her, worshipping her, and staying with her against all odds. She was happy, and he was home.