Author's Note: If you haven't, I recommend reading the Twilight Wiki entry on Victoria. It's heartbreaking and fascinating. That's where parts of her backstory come from. I'm sure it's probably in the Illustrated Guide too, which I would read if I ever slow down writing so much.

Victoria was settled in a nice hotel room, courtesy of the Cullens. She had been a nomad for almost her entire vampire life, at least since the Volturi had killed her sister a long, long time ago. She was suspicious of them, especially knowing that they could find and kill her at any moment, but they held Charlie, and thus, she couldn't run. She wanted to though. She wanted almost nothing more than to run and hide, just as she always had.

Instead, she ran a hot bath, her first actual bath in decades. She very rarely stayed indoors, especially once she met James and spent most of their time tracking. She promised Carlisle that if they got her a hotel somewhat near their house, she wouldn't kill any human in a few miles' radius and would stay put, not approaching the Cullens until someone called and invited her.

Carlisle was the first man perhaps ever to really respect her and treat her well. Although she had considered Laurent a friend, she knew he would turn on her if the circumstances required it. With Carlisle, there was a certain quality she couldn't quite name that made her trust him completely. Perhaps it was his gift, but she didn't think so. He was just kind.

Normally, Victoria laughed at kindness. She called it a weakness. Not with Carlisle though. He was a strong, confident head of a large coven…family. He was worthy of her respect. She settled into her bath, letting the hot water relax her in a way nothing else had done, perhaps ever.

She thought about love. Had she ever truly felt love? She had loved her sister, Anne. And she was absolutely confident that Anne loved her too. But Anne was long dead, and Victoria had almost always been alone. She realized that although she happily followed James and gave herself over to him, she didn't love him. Not even close.

While Victoria had observed Charlie as a human, he had spent nearly every free moment of his day searching for his missing daughter. The Cullen boy's mate. She struggled to understand how much Charlie loved his daughter Bella. Victoria had never felt the love of her own father. In fact, every man she had ever gotten close to had been cruel to her, treated her as their slave. She was even more perplexed when she tried to consider Edward's love of Bella as his mate.

But then, she remembered how Carlisle described his mate, Esme. She was confident that he would never harm Esme and that he did love her. So, it wasn't an impossible feeling. Love even among vampires.

Charlie would never love her though; of this she was certain. After all, if he had dedicated his life's work to stopping criminals and murderers, how could he ever love one?

Bella was holding one of Charlie's hands, sitting beside him on the bed and talking to him about some of her favorite memories of the times she spent with him over the years, particularly a vacation they took to California. As long as she talked, he listened, rather than screaming. Between Bella and Jasper's influence, he was almost entirely calm, though burning just as they all had.

Edward was riddled with guilt and did his best to give them space, but he couldn't stay away from Bella long, guilty, or not. He was right there holding Bella's other hand when Charlie's heart beat for the final time and fell silent.

Charlie awoke with a startled gasp and jumped up to a sitting position. Bella let go of his hand. He stared at the wall in front of him for a moment and then lifted his hand in front of his face, turning it about. Wow! Wonder how long I've been asleep! It's like everything is in high definition. I can see so much better!

"Dad?" Bella asked softly. Charlie turned quickly to look at her and jumped when he saw her. Edward could see that Charlie's mind was overloading and that the new sensations, coupled with Bella's appearance were too much for him. He hadn't even noticed how much she had changed just yet.

Edward put a hand on Bella's shoulder, silently discouraging her from reaching for Charlie. Charlie noticed Edward now though.

"Bella? Edward? Oh, thank God you're alright! I had the craziest dream!" he shook his head, trying to clear his vision.

"Wait…." Charlie rubbed his eyes and stared at them. "What's with the freaky red eyes? Are you two some kind of demons or something? You're not my daughter!" he leapt up and started to run, but thankfully Alice had seen this possibility in her visions. Emmett, Carlisle, and Jasper restrained him at the door, with difficulty, and sat him back on the bed.

Jasper used his emotional influence to calm Charlie down and Bella sat beside him, despite Edward's better judgement. "Dad, it's me. It's Bella. I know I look a lot different, but everything is alright. I'm real. Ask me anything to prove that you're awake."

Charlie hesitated, but he did want some answers, so he started questioning her. "Where have you been?"

"With Edward."

"Why do you look different?"

"It's a long story, I promise we'll get to that part in a minute."

"You sound different."

"Yes."

"What kind of cake did I get you for your tenth birthday?"

"You didn't. I was with mom for my birthday."

"What's my nickname for my gun?"

"Ole Bessie."

"Who is my favorite actor?"

"John Wayne."

"My favorite food?"

"Steak."

Bella answered his questions with no hesitation. Charlie was calming down by the second, even without Jasper's help. "Bella!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms around her. "You scared the hell out of me kid! I've been worried to death about you."

"I know dad, I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry." Edward insisted. "It was my fault, Charlie, not hers. Not hers a bit."

Charlie stared at Edward a long minute, pondering over his weird red eyes. He wanted to ask a hundred questions, but suddenly, the burning sensation in his throat was all he could think about.

"Hunting time." Jasper said.

Bella took Charlie's hand. "Dad, come with me. You have to trust me. We'll help with the pain and then we'll explain everything."

"Where are you taking me?"

"Into the woods."

"Why?"

"To hunt. You're thirsty."

"Thirsty? Hunt?" Charlie's head was spinning. He was confident that he was going to wake up from this nightmare at any moment.

"Come on. I won't leave you alone. I promise. Edward and Jasper are going to come with us too."

Charlie stood up and followed his daughter, deciding to let the nightmare play out so maybe he could wake up. She led him out of the house and into the woods. Then, she let go of his hand and started to run, indicating for him to follow her. Jasper used his influence to keep Charlie as calm as he could, though it wasn't completely working as scared as Charlie was.

Bella led Charlie to a herd of deer. He immediately attacked one and drank it dry without another second's thought. "What the hell!" he shouted, tossing the carcass down.

"Watch." Bella said, drinking the deer she had caught before they all ran away. Charlie watched her with huge eyes, his jaw dropped and his face pale, even for a vampire.

"What the hell are you?!"

"Your daughter." she insisted. "Besides, you just drank one too."

Charlie sank down on a fallen log, sitting and hiding his head between his knees. Bella sat beside him. "I know it's overwhelming, dad. I didn't want this to happen to you. I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you so many times, but it wasn't safe. I'm still the same Bella. I just have a different diet now. And I look a little nicer."

"You're a vampire." he stated.

"I am, and so are you."

"And Edward and Jasper and…. even Carlisle?!"

"Yes."

"I'm not dreaming."

"No."

"Why?" he asked.

"I can't speak for them. We didn't change you. Someone else did and we took you away and brought you home with us."

"The redhead."

"Yes. But Edward changed me because he loves me. He wants to be with me."

"And keeping you human wasn't good enough, huh?" That hurt Edward personally. He didn't regret changing Bella, but he did regret hurting her and causing harm to fall on Charlie.

"It wasn't that. He tried to leave me, to protect me, but I wouldn't let him. I insisted that we're meant to be together no matter what the consequences, and so he changed me. It wasn't safe for me to be around humans yet, that's why I've been missing."

"You killed people?"

"No, never. I only drink animals."

"Edward killed people."

"Not for a long time, except for changing me. But yes."

"Carlisle?" Charlie had always had a great respect for Carlisle.

"Never. He's only ever drank from animals. And that's my choice too. And it's Edward's choice now, and the entire Cullen family. You can also choose to not harm anyone if you want."

"How the hell did you get wrapped up in this, kid?"

"It's all my fault." Edward said. "I tried to stay away from her. I tried so hard. I tried to leave her. I begged her to move on. But I love her, more than anything. And when she told me how much she loved me and what my leaving would do to her, I just couldn't do it. Never again. I never intended to change her, but I can't live without her. And so, I did. I am truly sorry."

"How could you? If you loved her, how could you take her away from her family, her friends?"

Edward looked at his feet, sadly. "I wanted him to." Bella insisted. "I must have asked him a hundred times before he finally gave in."

"And what happened to me be damned, huh? How long have you been lying to me?" Charlie asked, newborn anger starting to surface. "Have you been hiding this from me ever since you came to live with me? Is he why you wanted to come to Forks?"

"No. I met Edward at school in Forks. He tried to stay away from me then. He even ran away for weeks. He warned me to stay away from him, not to get close to him-"

"Yeah, well you didn't listen."

"No. I didn't. I love him."

Charlie sighed, still refusing to make eye contact with anyone. "Why didn't you just tell me the truth all along?"

"Dad, I love you, but if I would have said hey meet my boyfriend Edward, he's handsome, charming, and by the way, he's a vampire, how would you have reacted?"

"I wouldn't have believed you."

"Maybe not at first. But once you became more observant of him, you would have known. I couldn't risk his secret like that. And letting a human know about the existence of vampires is risking their life."

"You knew."

"Yeah, but Edward didn't tell me. Jacob did, actually. I figured it out from an old Quileute legend I made him tell me. And then I confronted Edward."

"Why didn't you kill her then?" he asked Edward, finally looking up at someone.

"Because I love her. And I was amazed that anyone as kind and pure as Bella could possibly be even the slightest bit interested in a monster like me. But I was adamant about not taking away her life."

"What changed?"

"Some vampires are….gifted. We have extra talents. For example, Jasper can sense and manipulate emotions, Alice can sometimes see the future. Bella has a mental shield that can block out mind readers and I…well…I'm a mind reader. I can hear thoughts, except for Bella's."

Bella continued for him. "He was turning to run away and leave me, and I couldn't just let him go. It would have killed me. So, I figured out how to lift my mental shield and let him read my mind."

"And when I saw for myself how much she loved me, needed me, the desire, the desperation, the mating bond in her own thoughts and emotions just as it was in mine…I was overwhelmed. I couldn't possibly bear the thought of hurting her anymore even for her own good. Not like that. So, I bit her. I took her with me."

"Why didn't you call someone and just let them know she was alright? I might have thought you eloped. At least I would have known she isn't dead." Charlie said.

"I, uh, wasn't intending to speak to anyone ever again once I proved myself to be the monster I always believed I was by breaking Bella's heart. There was no need for my phone. I didn't take it."

"What did you mean by mating bond?" Inside, Charlie was cycling rapidly through emotions, disbelief, despair, anger, hurt, betrayal, relief, but on the outside, Charlie was calm. He was calling on every bit of his police de-escalation, interviewing and negotiation training trying to gather all of the facts before he decided on one path or emotion, though a part of him wanted to beat Edward to a pulp. A part of him also still believed that this was a nightmare he might wake from if only he could find the missing piece of the puzzle.

"Vampires feel emotions much more strongly than humans do." Edward started. "Vampires also only fall in love, true love, once. They are mated for life to that person. There is no mistaking it once someone has felt it. Bella is my mate, but I didn't realize that I was also hers. Not while she was still human. It's so unheard of. I'm not aware of any other vampire that was actually mated to a human, although Carlisle and Esme may have developed those feelings if he hadn't run away after he first met her while she was still human."

"He changed her too?"

"Only when he found her already dying. He wouldn't change someone for any other reason."

Charlie was at least a little assured that not every member of the Cullen family was truly a bloodthirsty monster. "Is there anything else I should know?"

"Well," Bella started. "You're a newborn vampire. You are going to have weird emotions for a while and thirst for blood. It's best if you stay with us away from humans, but eventually you will be able to be near them again if you want. You're super strong and fast now, virtually indestructible.

You don't have to eat or drink anything but blood. You can't sleep. Your skin will sparkle in the sunlight. And unless someone tears you apart and burns the pieces, you're immortal. You won't age." She decided against mentioning Victoria for now. Bella didn't want anything to do with her anyhow, and certainly didn't want her near Charlie.

"Not aging, huh? That's, cool…I guess. How old are you exactly?" he asked Edward.

"Seventeen."

Charlie made a face and continued to stare at him. "A hundred and four." he amended.

"Fuck!" Charlie shouted. "That's just sick! Do you always prey on teenagers?"

"Remember what I said, dad. He doesn't age. He hasn't aged. Edward is seventeen. He has been seventeen for decades."

"And vampires only fall in love one time." Edward added. "There has only ever been Bella."

"Don't tell me you haven't gotten bored and messed around in all those years."

"I haven't. I have never so much as kissed anyone or even asked a girl out except for her. I mean, I'm sure I probably attended dances and things as a human, but there has never been anyone but Bella. There never will be anyone but her. I would give my life defending her and her honor, if necessary."

"Why Bella?"

"Why are there stars in the sky?" Edward chuckled. "Why does the sun rise? It is impossible for me not to love her. I tried running, more than once. I tried fighting it. More than one member of my family tried to convince me to just kill her and get it over with before they met her properly. I even tried to leave Forks and my family for good for her own safety. My love for her is a force of nature. It can't be fought against or reasoned with. I accept that now."

"And you feel the same way about him?"

"Yes." Bella answered.

"And is that why you tried to run away before?"

"Not exactly." Bella started. "It was never Edward that I was running from. It was another vampire. An evil one. He was jealous that Edward was keeping me human instead of drinking my blood. He wanted to kill me and drink my blood himself. He thought I would be a fun challenge because of how Edward protected me. Edward and his brothers killed him."

"Is anyone threatening you now?"

"No."

"Is anyone threatening me?"

"No."

"The redhead?"

"It's a long story." Bella answered with a sigh. She really didn't want to discuss this, especially not so soon.

"Well, apparently I'm immortal now. Try me." Charlie wanted to know everything. He needed to know everything so that he could decide how he felt about all of this. So that maybe he could believe that he wasn't dreaming or falling prey to the worst nightmare ever. Although to be fair, Bella was here, and she was alive and safe, loved even, so it wasn't the end of the world.

"Edward?" Bella asked, not wanting to deal with this particular topic. Edward sat down on the fallen log beside her and wrapped his arm around her, facing her father.

"It is kind of a long story. Bella and I both have very strong feelings about it, so I'm just going to give you the facts."

Charlie nodded. Edward continued. "The vampire that tried to kill Bella was named James. He was the head of a small coven of human-drinking vampires consisting of himself, another male named Laurent, and the redhead Victoria. They came across my family while we were playing baseball the day Bella took off for Phoenix. I read in his thoughts that he wanted to kill Bella and so we had her pretend to run away, but he tricked her and got her alone. He nearly killed her…we barely made it in time…."

Edward panicked, starting to shut down, but Bella grabbed his free hand and squeezed it then rubbed it against her face. Jasper helped too, still hiding quietly in the shadows. "Once he was dead, we thought the worst was over. Laurent had run off with our family in Denali, wanting to try the animal blood lifestyle. I could see that Victoria and James weren't mates, so I didn't think anymore of her. Well, I was out of my mind for a few days while Bella was changing, but I believe Laurent stumbled across us. I remember killing him-"

"I was wondering where you went." Bella said.

Edward nodded. "His thoughts told me that he wanted to kill Bella as a favor to Victoria. I couldn't have that. I killed him as quickly as possible and returned to Bella. When Bella woke up, she was worried about you and wanted to come see that you were alright. She couldn't be around humans yet, so our cousin Tanya helped me get her safely to our house in Forks while I came to check on you. That's when I discovered that you were missing and smelled Victoria. The rest of the family joined us and helped us find you and bring you here."

"What did Victoria want with me?" he asked.

"At first, we thought she was still looking for Bella, trying to kill her. We thought she had killed you. But then we realized she had bitten you."

"Why did she want to kill Bella?"

"For causing James to die. At the time, she believed that she and James were mates."

"But you said they weren't."

"They weren't. But she didn't know that."

"You just said that you knew they weren't mates." Charlie insisted to Edward.

Jasper stepped out of the shadows. "I can sense emotions, as you know. Now, I don't like Victoria, not a bit, especially for what she tried to do to my family. What she did do to my family. You and Bella are family. But, I talked to her for a few hours on the way here-"

"Here?!"

"She's in a hotel nearby with strict instructions not to come onto our property unless invited." Jasper said. "Anyhow, she has been badly mistreated her entire life. James was mostly kind to her, but he also manipulated her and convinced her that they were mates so she would help do his bidding and be his servant. She, having never felt actual love or had someone to care about her before, believed him."

"And how does this involve me?"

Everyone looked at Charlie nervously. Bella and Edward exchanged a frightened glance. Jasper nodded at Bella, indicating she should be the one to break the news, so she did. "She believes that you are her mate."

"Impossible." Charlie said. "She tortured me! She haunted my nightmares! She drug me into this life that I didn't ask for without so much as saying hi!"

"I know." Bella said. "You can say no to her. You should say no to her."

"This is all too much." he said, standing up, looking around and taking off at a run. Jasper followed him. Bella started to as well, but Edward stopped her.

"He's alright. He's not going to go far. He just wants to be alone. Jasper will keep an eye on him from a distance and see that he makes it home."

"Edward, what do we do?"

"We love and support him no matter what." he said, pulling Bella into his arms and kissing her head. "It will all be alright. I promise. I love you so much more than I can ever tell you. It still shatters my heart just to even mention what I almost did to you."

"To us." she insisted. "It was hard at first to believe you, but I do. I love you too."

"Let's go home?" he asked.

"Let's go home." she answered, taking his hand, and letting him lead her out of the woods.