20
Ten hours later on the dot, Bella found herself standing in the living room while Edward stood at the front door, face to face with Garrett Mitchell. The tall, blond haired man with dark grey eyes looked rougher around the edges than he had six years earlier when Bella last saw him.
Jasper and Alice were sitting on the sofa, while Renee, Charlie, and Carlisle were upstairs with her daughter, trying to keep her distracted. They had questioned who was coming, who he was bringing, what they were going to do to help save Bella from Marcus Volturi. She couldn't and wouldn't answer any of those questions, which didn't make them very happy with her.
Garrett shifted his eyes past Edward, landing immediately on Bella. His expression softened, but it was brief. "Gonna let us in?"
"Depends," Edward said, folding his arms in front of him. "You going to be a dick?"
"Not if she won't," he quipped.
Bella scoffed, but didn't say anything.
Edward looked back at her, before stepping out of the way and allowing Garrett into her parent's house, followed by four other people. Feeling her shoulders tense as they looked at her, she tried to keep from lashing out. She hadn't seen any of them since the night she died.
"Hey, B," the bigger, brawnier of the four said. Emmett McCarty had a head full of curly brown hair, dark brown eyes, and a set of dimples that sunk into his cheeks when he smiled. "Long time."
"Yep," she said, shortly. "You look good."
"I know," he said, shrugging his shoulders and sliding his arm around the woman next to him.
Tall, curvy with long silky blond hair and bright blue eyes, Rosalie Hale looked like she belonged on the runway, instead of working with someone like Garrett. "B."
"Ro."
"Heard you were dead," she added.
Bella didn't reply. What was she supposed to say? Everyone thought she was dead except for the one person she needed to believe her to be dead.
"Jake, get started on the perimeter," Garrett groused, gesturing to the tall, russet skinned man next to the door. Jacob Black shifted his black eyes to Bella before nodding and heading back outside of the house, letting the door close behind him.
Bella hadn't expected any of them to show up to help her, however it was the woman standing behind Emmett and Rosalie that surprised her the most. Honey blond hair, dark grey eyes, and a scar that stretched down the left side of her face, down her neck and slipping into black T-shirt she wore, Kate Denali had her arms wrapped around herself, her eyes locked on Bella. Feeling her heart race, she swallowed against the bile filling her mouth. It was like looking at a ghost.
"Kate," Bella said, quietly.
"I'm going to get the command center set up," Kate said, tearing her eyes away from Bella and looking at Garrett. "You owe me for this."
"I owe everyone," he murmured.
"Dining room is through there," Edward said, gesturing toward the hallway.
Kate nodded before looking at Bella again and walking away.
"Em, Ro, help her," Garrett said, clearing his throat.
While Emmett and Rosalie clearly didn't like the idea of leaving Bella, Garrett, and Edward alone, they did as they were told and started to follow Kate down to the dining room. However, before they could take more than a few steps, the sound of a door upstairs opening and footsteps heading downstairs drew Garrett's attention to where Charlie came rushing down, her dark hair flying behind her and a huge smile on her face.
"Mommy, Mommy, my tooth is loose!" Charlie exclaimed before leaping off the stairs and running to Bella, throwing herself into Bella's waiting arms. She opened her mouth, and wiggled her bottom, front tooth with her tongue.
"See? Grandpa says the tooth fairy will bring me money when it falls out!"
"Yeah, sweetheart," Bella whispered, her eyes still locked on Garrett's. "I see."
"B?" he gasped. "But we thought . . ."
"I know what you thought," she groused.
Garrett pressed his lips together.
Bella shifted Charlie onto her hip and walked back over to the stairs, but paused and shifted her eyes from Kate to Garrett. "Don't make me regret letting him bring you in, Garrett."
"I wasn't the one who killed T, Bella," he snarled.
"Maybe not," she admitted. "But you were the one who put her in his hands that night."
Shifting her eyes to Edward, she gave him a look before carrying Charlie upstairs and into her bedroom, shutting the world out and holding onto the only thing she has to live for: her daughter.