Hey, guys! I thought I should probably clear up the last chapter a little bit more. The reason why I wanted to include that little flashback is to try and show the growth that Hazel has shown and will continue to show from when she was 16. When she was in high school she was a lot more like Bella, but not as mousey and annoying. She used to wear glasses and now she doesn't, I wanted to include that chapter and possibly another future chapter similar to that to show more of who she is as a person. My idea for this character has a lot of growth from before to now. Now, she's confident, feisty, hot-headed and she sticks up for herself. I apologize if any of you didn't enjoy the chapter, but for now I believe it was an important insight to who she used to be, especially considering we all know who Bella is and how Bella interacts with everyone. Anyway, on with the next chapter!
Chapter Six
I wasn't always so head strong. I used to be the biggest push-over and I would do anything for anyone at the drop of pen, even if they've screwed me over before. Now that I'm older, and I've grown up, I realize now that sometimes I deserve to put myself first. I've had a tough life up to this point. I'm adopted, I don't know who my birth father is, I never had the chance to meet my birth mother, all I knew about her was that she died while hiking. When I moved to Georgia, my grandparents never even mentioned my mother. They wouldn't even answer any my questions that I had about her. I only know what she looks like from her obituary. I got pregnant at 16, after having sex only ONE time, my baby's father sucks ass, when I told him he told me to get an abortion. I don't regret my baby, I don't regret anything as a matter of fact. Do I wish she had a different father? You bet your ass I do. Do I wish I had known my birth parents? More than anything, but I wouldn't trade any of the hands I have been dealt in my life, no matter how tough some of those hands were. Being a single mom, its hard to put yourself first a lot of the time. And right now, in this moment, as I'm looking into the eyes of this stranger, is one of those times.
Looking into this man's eyes I feel myself locked into place. My outburst caused his eyes to widen, but caused him to grin at the same time. I felt my eyes narrow and I suddenly felt angry, angry that this had to happen to me, angry that my 'soul-mate' is the one animal that I fear the most, angry that there was nothing I could do about it, and even more so angry at myself. I clenched my fists and sucked in a deep breath. I stormed passed him into the house and took my spot back on the couch. Bella gave me a questioning look and all I could do was shake my head. I was too angry to speak. I felt unedge and I felt scared, not for myself, but for having my daughter around these people. Of course, I trusted Bella and Charlie because I know they wouldn't transform into a giant wolf. All I wanted in this moment was to go back to the house with Penny and pack our bags and leave. Bella was fine now, she didn't need me. She has Jake and all of his friends, it was time for me and P to go back home to Georgia. I sighed and started to relax a little bit more when Penny jumped up into my lap and gave me a giant, wet kiss on my cheek. I loved my little girl, and having to threw the things I did to have her, is all so very worth it.
After a few more minutes of waiting, dinner was done and we all quickly got our plates and sat back down in front of the TV listening to the game. After we were all done eating and the game was over, Charlie, Bella, and I all said our good byes before making our way out to the vehicles. Penny went with Charlie, seeing as he had her carseat and Bella and I took her truck up here. I hadn't seen Paul since I went out to the porch, I assumed he had left but as were were pulling away I saw him and that Sam guy in a heated conversation. I raised my eyebrows and turned my attention back to the road in front of me.
~~~TOS~~~
When we got back to the house I went upstairs with Penny to give her a bath and put her to bed. While I was giving her a bath she was telling me all about her day with Charlie and how much fun she had while at his friends house. She was giggling and smiling playing with the small amount of bubbles I put in the tub for her. I washed her hair and rinsed it out before draining the tub and drying her off. She gave me her cute bunny nose and said no when I asked her if she was sleepy after she yawned. I did the bunny nose right back at her before putting her in her pajamas and brushing the tangles out of her wet hair. I considered braiding it, but I know how much she hates how poofy it gets in the morning. After I was done brushing and drying her hair, she settled into her bed and she was almost asleep when I heard her whisper that she never wanted to leave, and my heart broke.
I stood up from my crouched position next to her bed and quickly went into the bathroom to shower and change into my pajamas. It wasn't long after that when I heard Bella's truck start and drive down the road, no doubt going back to Jacob's house for some answers. I went downstairs and found Charlie sitting in his chair with a beer while watching another game. I leaned against the frame of the entryway and sighed. He looked over at me and muted the TV before asking me what's wrong.
"Penny and I are gonna take off in the morning, I'm going to book a flight tonight." After what I said sunk in, he gave me such a heart broken look that it pained my own heart.
"You know you don't have to go, Haze. You and P are more than welcome to stay as long as you like. I missed having around the house, and you've helped Bella out so much by the few days you've been here." I sighed again and closed my eyes before opening them again. I know how he loves having me home, he regrets giving in to Renee so easily about sending me to Georgia. He only got 16 years with me instead of 18, and I know how hard it was for him to live here on his own for three years before Bella moved back in.
"I know, dad. But I can't keep away from Anthony for very long periods at a time, it's in our custody agreement that if I'm out of the state with her for longer than seven days that I could lose her and he could have full custody. And I can't let him do that, I can't let myself to allow that to happen." My eyes started to water at the idea of losing my daughter. Charlie got up from his chair and engulfed me in a hug and I let the tears fall and a painful ache in my chest began. I blamed it on me crying, but I know it had something to do about Paul, the man I didn't want anything to do with.
"I know, how hard this is for you. I really do, and I understand. I just wish I would have fought harder to have you stay here four years ago." He gently rocked me back and forth and rubbed my back. Charlie was never the most affectionate father, frankly the whole thing made him seem to uncomfortable, but for some reason when it came to me he didn't mind it so much. I sniffled and wiped my eyes before pulling away from his arms. "Just do whatever you need to do, kid. This house will always be you home, too." With that, he kissed me on the head and returned back to his chair while I went upstairs to book a flight. The ache in my chest still hadn't gone away and I was doing my best to ignore it.
A while later, Bella came home. I looked at the clock on my phone and frowned when it read 2am. Why was she out so late? I heard her quietly make her way upstairs and when she came into the room I pretended to me asleep. I love my sister, more than myself sometimes, but I was actually kind of angry at her. I was angry that she left without telling me, angry that her best friend was a wolf, but I was also just an angry person in general sometimes. I heard her change and then I felt the weight shift on her side of the bed. Tomorrow was Monday and she was going to hate herself for staying out so late, granted I hated myself for still being awake.
The ache in my chest was still there and I frowned. This wasn't fair to me, I can't stay here, as much as I wanted to put myself first I just am not able to. I had to think of Penny and what was best for her. I was her mother, I wasn't going to get her put in the middle of a custody battle with her shit of a father, she didn't deserve that. It wasn't for another two hours did the ache in my chest finally go away and I sighed with relief before falling asleep.
~~~TOS~~~
The next morning I was woken up by Bella's alarm and I sighed dramatically as I got up. It was 6am and I had only gotten two hours of sleep, I could sleep on the plane though. I quickly threw my hair up into a messy bun and went to wake up Penny. Bella asked me why I was up so early and when I told her Penny and I were going back to Georgia, she froze.
"You're what?" She looked at me with fear in her eyes and her arms dropped from putting her hair up.
"I can only have Penny out of the state of Georgia for so long before Anthony freaks out. Besides, you're doing so much better now, you don't need me anymore and you have Jake back now." I turned around and gave her a small smile. I heard her sigh before she continued on her way to the bathroom. After I got Penny up and dressed I started packing my bag and she was helping me out while she moved around the room and collected her things and getting ready to put in her bag.
After we both had all our stuff ready, we put on our jackets and our boots before heading downstairs. While it's cold here in Washington, as a soon as we got off the plane in Gerogia we'd be engulfed by the humid heat so we both dressed in cute little sundresses. She was wearing a yellow dress with daisys on it and it was short sleeved. Mine was white and it was lacey and came to a few inches above my knee and was spaghetti strapped. I made her put on her jacket as I slipped on my jean jacket. It was now almost 7am, the drive to PA was about an hour, and then it'd take us about another hour to get threw security for our flight at 10:30am. I walked into the kitchen to say good bye to Charlie and Bella, only to see Bella had already left. I felt my heart drop, she was mad at me, I knew she was. I couldn't help but feel a little mad at her for not even letting me say good bye before I left, but maybe she also just doesn't understand that I can't always put her first. Charlie looked up at me from his spot at the table and set down the paper he was reading before walking over to me and gave me a hug. He told me he loved me and wished me a safe trip and wished Penny the same when he gave her a hug and a kiss. When he handed Penny to me he gave me a small smile, but his eyes were sad. He probably tried to get Bella to stay to say good bye and she just wouldn't do it. I gave him another hug and kiss before walking out to the jeep and putting Penny into her carseat.
I hopped up into the driver seat and gently banged my head on the steering wheel and groaned. I was even more angry now and I wasn't even sure for what reason, the ache in my chest was back but I wasn't really angry at that. I pulled out of my childhood driveway and made my way to PA to get on a plane and go back to the one place I didn't want to be.
~~~TOS~~~
Super short chapter, I know. But I'm leaving to go on vacation for a few weeks in the morning and I'm not sure how much time I'll have to write so I wanted to get this out there before I left. And I also wanted to know if you wanted this to be in Bella's POV or Paul's while Hazel is in Georgia, so let me know in the reviews!