The Painful Truth
Disclaimer; all characters and copyright belong to Stephanie Meyer.
A/N-thank you for the kind reviews. Sorry for uploading the wrong chapter yesterday. It's all sorted now, LOL ;)
Part Sixteen
As soon as Bella walked in the villa Charlie began to yell at her. "Where the hell have you been?" He demanded. "You can't just run off like that, you stupid girl. You've got a price on your head. I've been worried sick."
"Don't talk to me like that." Bella retorted as she moved to one side and revealed Renee, who was standing behind her.
Charlie was taken aback at seeing his ex-wife in the flesh, standing before him in skimpy pyjama's and bare feet. "What on earth is she doing here?" He said in disbelief as he averted his eyes.
"She kidnapped me." Renee stated petulantly as she put a hand to her head. "Our daughter abducted me from my home when I clearly wasn't feeling well."
"Oh, not one of your damn migraines again." Charlie groaned. He was used to this tactic of Renee's. Anytime she was feeling sorry for herself or didn't want to face up to something she'd retreat to her room with a migraine.
"This is typical of you, Charlie Swan. Is it no wonder I left you. There is no empathy in you at all. You are a cold, cold man." Renee complained as she tore her oversized sunglasses off her nose. She seemed to have recovered from her severe headache as she ranted at him. "I don't know what you've done to my baby girl, but you've obviously driven her over the edge to act this way."
"For goodness sake shut up you ignorant woman." Charlie glared at Renee fiercely. Both of them seemed to have forgotten all about their daughter, who was standing on the side lines, watching them take chunks out of each other. "The best day of my life was when you walked out of it. I threw a party when you left. If it wasn't for the damn courts favouring the mother all the time I would have raised Bella myself, away from your poisonous influence."
"How dare you?" Renee was trembling with anger. She jabbed her finger in Charlie's chest as she issued her rebuttal. "You are hardly parent of the year. No judge with a brain in their head would have given you custody. You were married to that job, and by the looks of it, nothing has changed. Why do you think I only allowed Bella to visit twice a year, huh? It's because I didn't want her to see what a huge disappointment she had as a father."
"You bitter harpy." Charlie raged. His face had turned puce as his blood pressure soared. Renee had always managed to get under his skin, and she was doing a good job of it again now. "You kept her away from me for your own selfish reasons. Bella was the one taking care of you, not the other way around. She is your daughter, Renee, not your carer."
"Bella and I are like sisters. I have a young outlook on life. I am not a dried up old buffoon like you." Renee shot back at him. "I have done my best to guide her and make sure she knows how to find a decent man. I want her to make the best of herself to ensure he never strays. But you seem to have undone all my hard work in the time she has been living back under your roof."
Bella didn't want to hear anymore. While her parents continued to tear strips off of each other, she slipped silently outside with tears streaming down her face.
When Jacob and Billy arrived back at the villa they found Bella sitting on the edge of the pool, clearly upset. Inside they could hear Charlie and Renee still arguing heatedly. Jacob exchanged a bewildered look with his dad. Neither of them had any idea what Renee was doing there. Jacob sat beside Bella and put his arms around her. "It's alright, Bells." He stroked her hair as she began to sob against his chest. It took him a while to calm her down before she was composed enough to speak.
"I…I…went to get mom. I…I…had this stupid idea that….that I could get them together so I could make them listen to me." Bella's eyes brimmed with tears as she kept stammering. Billy's expression was grave while Jacob continued to look at her tenderly as he stroked her hair. "As soon as…as they saw each other it all kicked off. It…it was like I wasn't even there."
"I'm sorry, honey." Jacob gathered her in his arms again and cuddled her close while he tried to console her. His dark eyes met Billy's. "It's gonna be okay."
Billy nodded at his son before he began to steer his chair toward the entrance to the villa. "You stay with Bella." He told him. "I'm going to give that pair in there a piece of my mind. Wait until I call you inside."
"What will you say?" Jacob asked worriedly. He didn't like the idea of Billy trying to intervene. He shouldn't have to. He was clearly tired and Jacob was concerned that all this unnecessary stress would impact on his diabetes. He was so mad at Charlie for doing to this to Bella, and for forcing his father to act as a mediator. However he couldn't leave Bella like this. She was distraught. He watched his father enter the villa through the rear patio doors until he was out of sight.
"Well she obviously does take notice of my advice." Renee stated triumphantly with her hands on her hips. "She's cut her hair and is finally showing some skin. It's your conservative attitude that makes her afraid to experiment. You stifle her, Charlie. Now that I'm living here and not travelling so much, Bella can come and stay with me, permanently."
"There is no way that my daughter is ever going to live with you again. You're deluded woman." Charlie roared.
Billy rolled his chair into the hallway. Charlie and Renee were still in the same place Bella had left them. Seeing his old friend like this, locked in a war of words with his ex-wife brought back sad memories for Billy. How often had he and Sarah witnessed the same scene over and over before Jacob and Bella were born? They had rubbed each other up the wrong way from the very beginning. They had married because of the unexpected pregnancy. Charlie was old fashioned like that. As soon as Renee told him she was pregnant, he had gotten down on one knee and proposed. But they had never been a good fit, and only months into the pregnancy they were constantly sniping at each other.
Neither of them even realised Billy was there. It broke his heart thinking about Bella having to feel this. That she wasn't important enough for her parents to take notice of. It was all too apparent now why Bella had such low self-esteem and why she was such easy prey for the Cullen's. Billy took a deep breath, put his fingers to his lips and whistled loudly to get Charlie and Renee's attention. They both jumped at the high pitched sound and swivelled around to look at him. Billy was glad of the silence. The loud yelling had been hurting his ears.
"I didn't hear you get back." Charlie muttered as he ran a hand over his face, embarrassed.
"Clearly." Billy stated coldly.
Renee reverted to her old habit of trying to charm him. After giving Charlie a blistering glare she plastered on a fake smile and held out her hand to Billy. "You're looking fine, Billy. Good to see you. Where's that handsome son of yours?"
Billy ignored her proffered hand and looked at Renee in disgust. "Jake is outside consoling your daughter. But then neither of you would be aware of that, would you? Not when you think standing here insulting each other is more important than her emotional welfare."
"What the hell, Billy?" Charlie blustered. "What are you implying? I'm trying to get through this woman's thick head that she's not needed here. She just makes things worse. But she won't damn well listen." He turned to glare at Renee again.
Billy shook his head in disbelief. Normally he would have defended his friend to the hilt, but not this time. Charlie was as guilty as Renee. "You are as bad as each other. Your daughter is outside right now sobbing her heart out because her own parents won't give her the time of day." He turned his steely gaze onto Renee. "Bella brought you here so she could speak to you and Charlie together but that was obviously a waste of time."
Renee frowned. "Bella can speak to me anytime. My relationship with my daughter is none of your business." She said haughtily.
"That's about what I expected of you, Renee." Billy retorted. He glanced at Charlie. His old friend had fallen quiet and was looking thoughtful and ashamed. "If you want to repair your relationship with Bella I suggest you pull your head out of your ass and really listen. Otherwise I really wouldn't blame her if she turned her back on both of you." With these parting words Billy swivelled his chair around and went back outside to re-join Jacob and Bella.
Charlie came out of the villa a few minutes later. He appeared more composed now and much calmer. He found his daughter sitting at the edge of the pool, with her head resting on Jacob's shoulder. He could see that her eyes were sore from crying and this only compounded his guilt. He noticed Jacob tense up and stare at him stonily as he approached. "I wouldn't blame you if you punched me on the jaw right now, kid."
The tension in Jacob's body lessened as he carefully disentangled himself from Bella and cupped her face in his warm hands. "You feel up to speaking to him." He asked her quietly.
Bella glanced at her father for a moment. Charlie had his head down. He looked like a little boy who had been severely chastised by an elder. She wondered what Billy had said to him. There was no sign of her mother. Even though she had expected Renee to bail, it still hurt. But her dad was here, she had to take comfort from that. "I'll be okay." She eventually reassured Jacob.
Jacob gave her a small smile before pressing a light kiss into her hair. "I'll just be inside helping dad with his meds if you need me." He said before getting up. As he walked past Charlie he gave the older man a warning look before heading back into the villa.
Charlie swallowed thickly and rocked back on his heels. He was never very good with words but knew he needed to find the right ones now or risk losing Bella for good. He raised his head so that his eyes finally met hers and he fell apart. "I'm sorry." He said simply and he held out his arms.
Bella came back into the villa a little while later. Charlie had his hand on her shoulder as he steered her inside. She had been expecting to see Jacob and Billy but was stunned to find Renee huddled up the couch, waiting. So her mother hadn't left after all. "Your mom has something to say." Charlie told her. "I'll give you some space while I make a drink."
Renee uncurled herself from the couch and sat up straighter. She was wearing one of Charlie's t-shirts, obviously in an attempt to cover up her skimpy pyjamas. "This heat is doing havoc with my hair." She complained before hesitating when she saw Bella's expression harden. "Look baby girl, even though I don't agree with how you got me here, I forgive you, okay."
"You forgive me." Bella said slowly.
"That's what I said." Renee held out her hands to Bella. "Now come here and let me look at you."
Bella stayed right where she was. Renee appeared confused. She dropped her hands into her lap and gazed up at daughter in bewilderment. "What's wrong?"
"Me, that's what's wrong." Bella gazed at Renee sadly. She had thought that her mother was going to apologise like Charlie had, but no. Nothing had changed.
"Look, baby girl, I only ever had your best interests at heart." Renee began to babble nervously. "I didn't want you to repeat my mistakes. I wanted you to take care of your looks, find the right man so he could take care of you. There's nothing wrong with that, is there? I mean you're making an effort now. I like the new haircut. Your complexion doesn't look so sallow now you've caught the sun. And finally you're showing some skin. I bet Jacob likes the new you, doesn't he? You finally listened to my advice."
"Jake liked the old me." Bella whispered. She couldn't even be bothered to raise her voice. It was now apparent if she wanted to continue to have some semblance of self-worth that she was going to have to cut Renee out of her life. She had been a fool coming to Florida, expecting her mother to comfort her.
"I'm sure he did, baby. That's not what I meant. But the new improved you has to have made an impression." Renee got up from the couch and reached up to touch Bella's face, but Bella flinched away from her. Renee halted, her hands still raised as she suddenly appeared uncertain. "Come on, baby girl. I've told you I forgive you. Don't be a clown and hold onto your resentment. If you keep frowning like that you'll wrinkle the skin."
A tremor ran through Bella as she looked at Renee in disbelief. She really did believe all the crap she had been spouting. "The problem is mother that I don't forgive you." She replied coldly. "Make sure you close the door on your way out."
Bella didn't bother to look at her mother again as she left the room and went to join Jacob and the others in the kitchen. She was done.
A/N-thank you for reading!
