A/N: hi everyone, here's the last installment. thanks for reading - review if you liked it please :)

Part III: Balance

I remembered the day it had all started with that phone call, the one I had no choice but to anticipate. Four weeks had passed. Four weeks, three days, twenty-something hours, since the nightmare began. Four weeks in which I had become a complete wreck. There was nothing in my waking hours but my worry for my daughter.

Hearing her voice had done very little to reassure me. It was easier to handle when I only had Carlisle's updates to rely on. Now when she was talking to me – at least once a day – it had only made my ache for her stronger. I wanted her home. Each passing day increased the loneliness. The silence echoed from each wall, ridiculing me. How the hell did I manage that before she came? It seemed almost impossible to grasp now.

We spoke a little each time. I didn't want to keep her awake for long, hearing how weak she still was. And I didn't want starting conversations I thought had to be made face-to-face. Like conversations about Edward Cullen. He was still there, blatantly ignoring the fact he was missing his fourth week of school. His father and sister were still there as well, which was somewhat comforting to me. The word at the hospital was that it was some sort of a family emergency that had kept Dr. Cullen away. I was grateful for his discretion.

When time had passed and more of Billy's invitations to come to the reservation went unanswered, I had to explain the situation to him. Well, part of the situation. All I said was that Bella was involved in an accident while visiting her mother in Phoenix. I said nothing about the Cullens' involvement, and there was no reason for him to suspect it.

They were due to land in Seattle in a few hours, and I had been a wreck from the moment I opened my eyes that morning. I couldn't do anything right. It was clearly the time for another day off work, but even that was proven as quite useless. I rolled the scenarios in my head, wondered what I was going to tell her. Would I be able to look her in the eye after everything? A part of me still felt like slapping her for the way she had spoken to me; the other part wanted to crash her to me with a huge hug and never let go. There had to be a way to balance the two so I wouldn't frighten her off so soon after I had gotten her back.

And then there was the Cullen situation. How serious were things between her and that boy? I wasn't sure I liked the idea of him being her boyfriend, not when she first brought it up, and surely not now. But surely denying things from her would make things worse, wouldn't it? I had to be careful now, knowing that every little thing might take her away from me. And then again, how could I deny it from her, if this was what she wanted? Wasn't she old enough to decide what was best for her?

But surely I had a say in the matter. I was her father, after all. This Edward guy seemed to be listening to his own dad; surely my daughter would have to listen to me? And I had to draw the line now, before it was too late. It wasn't that I didn't trust Bella's judgment, but she had proven to be more like her mother than I thought her capable of. And I meant what I said to her in that first conversation after she recovered. She would never do that to me again. Once was more than enough.

I tried to concentrate on the game on TV, but I was really straining to listen to the sound of the road. Carlisle called me briefly when their flight landed, but that felt like hours ago. They should have been here by now. Twilight was falling now, the wind grew stronger. A storm was due tonight. I hoped they'd make it home ahead of it.

I would give him a chance, I decided then. If this was what Bella wanted, I was able to rise above my prejudice, above my resentment. I was able to accept him – and I would – for her sake. He did show incredible devotion to her in the past few weeks. He must care for her a little bit. And I'd just have to accept the idea that my child was growing up. She would be 18 in a few months. If Edward Cullen was a mistake, she'd simply have to learn from it.

And then there was a sound of a car pulling into the driveway. I was by the door in an instant.

It was a black car – Mercedes, no less – coming to a stop. The windows were tinted black; I couldn't see anyone no matter how hard I squinted. A tall figure was out of the back seat before the driver even killed the engine. My eyes narrowed reflexively when I recognized Edward Cullen. He hadn't noticed me yet; he circled the car purposefully, reaching for the other passenger door before the others were even out of the car. I could feel my decisiveness crumpling into small pieces. The rage I thought I was over with came back full-force, breaking through the mask of composure I worked so hard to maintain. I held my breath, because I knew she was there next to him in the back seat, she was the reason he was in such a hurry to leave the car for. And sure enough, by the time Carlisle left the driver's seat and joined Edward in the back, I could see her, being led slowly out of the car. The bruises on her face were invisible in the growing darkness. She held the car's roof for support. There was a brief inaudible exchange after which Carlisle swept her in his arms, cradling her against his chest. Edward looked displeased.

It was then when Bella's eyes darted towards the front door, and our gazes met. Thousand emotions crossed her face; she snuggled closer to Carlisle's chest, for support it seemed. Behind them, Edward's face wrinkled with an emotion I didn't recognize.

I wanted so badly to run to her, to be more useful to her than standing and staring the way I did, but it was as if my legs were glued to the spot. And then they came into full view, and a gasp escaped me. Now I understood why he was helping her out of the car. Her leg was set in a huge cast. A shudder went through me. It was worse than I had ever allowed myself to imagine. How on earth did she manage that?

Carlisle stopped in front of me then, and I could see that Bella was hardly awake. Her eyes stared at mine, unfocused. She looked exhausted after their long trip. Her face was contorted in pain. I heard myself gasp again. "She's fine, Charlie," Carlisle assured me, as if he could read the dread in my expression. "It's just time for her medication; she refused to take it on the road."

I nodded, distracted. Slowly, I brought my hand to touch her cheek. She looked so cold, so fragile. She clearly wasn't dressed for the dropping temperatures, I thought with sudden dismay. Her eyes held my gaze, and I nodded reassuringly. I wasn't mad, and I hadn't changed my mind. She was still welcome. A small smile crept on her lips. Beyond all the pain in her expression, she looked relieved.

"I'd better get her to bed," said Carlisle. "Where…"

"It's upstairs, the first door across from the stairs," I said, nodding towards her window above us. I should have turned the heat on, I berated myself. Or at least add a few extra blankets up there.

"Don't worry, Chief Swan," said a girl with a boyish haircut I didn't recognize. This one had to be Alice Cullen, I realized. I looked at her in dazed confusion. "My dad will take a good care of her." And with that, she gracefully followed her father inside, to attend Bella.

Which left me alone with Edward Cullen.

To be honest, I was surprised he didn't lead the way upstairs. Surely he didn't look as if he wanted to be away from her for too long. It was different than any scenario I had in my head. In those imaginary scenarios I'd punch him, banish him from my house, yell at him that it was all his fault and he was not to see Bella ever again. In reality, I kept quiet, and stole glances at him whenever I thought he wasn't looking. The silence was thick, awkward. There was so much I wanted to say to him, to blame him for, but I wasn't sure how to begin.

"Sir," he started then, somewhat hesitantly, but his eyes were confident. "There is no way to express how sorry I am that things have gotten to this. I wanted you to know that I hold myself fully responsible for what happened, and that I'm taking it on myself to make sure Bella is back on her feet in no time." He snorted bitterly then, and smiled apologetically at me. "No pun intended."

I stared at him speechless. To say he had caught me off-guard would be an understatement. I wasn't expecting him to be so sincere about this whole thing. For a moment, my own feelings were in a blur. I was supposed to resent him, not listen to him. He was the reason she had run off in the first place; if it wasn't for him…

A vision of her with the huge cast on flashed through me, painful like a punch to my stomach. The panic from the past few weeks was rushing back in a different form now. I was relieved that she was safe and finally home, but my relief was incomplete. There was this unresolved issue to get over with. "Give me one reason why I should allow you to step into this house again after everything that's happened in the past few weeks," I told him.

"If it was up to me, I'd say there is no such reason, sir," he replied in this annoying honesty again. "But this seems to be what Bella wants. I'm here for as long as she needs me to. If you let me."

I narrowed my eyes at his confession. Soft light suddenly washed the front porch. I looked up at Bella's window; there were shadows dancing across the floor at my feet. Carlisle and Alice were getting Bella in bed, I assumed. I was about to walk in when I suddenly remembered he was still standing there, his hands in the pockets of his jacket. Waiting for an approval, it seemed.

"You can come in. For tonight. But I need to have a good think about it," I warned him, giving him my most intimidating Chief Swan look.

"I appreciate it, sir," he nodded solemnly, and followed me in. It annoyed me that as hard as I was trying to find flaws in him, I could find none.

Bella looked better when I finally stepped into the room. There was color back in her cheeks now, and there was a thick blanket tucked around her, but her eyes were closed. Her tiny room looked unbelievably packed with everyone there. Edward was leaning against the doorframe as if he didn't dare moving closer to her as long as I was in the room.

"I gave her some morphine to ease the pain," Carlisle informed me in a hushed voice. "It will knock her down for a while, hopefully until tomorrow morning. I'll come back to check on her then."

"Thank you so much for doing this, Carlisle."

"It is my pleasure. She's due for a long recovery, but I dare say she will be alright in no time."

"I sure hope so." I hesitated, but then turned to face Edward. From his spot by the door, his eyes were all for her as he was watching her anxiously. "You can come and see her tomorrow, if you want."

Edward nodded, his expression grave. "Thank you, sir, I will."

"We'd better go now," said Carlisle, rightly interpreting my words as goodbye. "Alice? Edward?"

But Edward didn't turn right away. He glanced at me briefly before he left his spot and advanced towards her bed. He knelt by her side and took her hand. She stirred in her sleep, but didn't open her eyes. She looked well out of it. I watched as he brought her hand to his lips, touching it briefly, and then slowly releasing it. I found myself transfixed by his motions, in spite of myself. A part of me still wanted to kick him out of the room, but I was unable to. Somehow I knew this was not what Bella wanted me to do.

"We'll show ourselves out, Charlie," Carlisle said then, shaking me out of my reverie. I nodded, noticing that somehow Edward was by his father's side. Alice was ahead of them, leading the way. I thanked them again, and they left her room with murmured goodbyes. Shortly afterwards I could hear the quiet murmur of their car, and they were on their way.

I turned to look at Bella. She slept on, uninterrupted. I released a breath I didn't even know I was holding. She was home, safe in her bed. I left her room briefly then just to lock up and turn off the lights downstairs. While back in her room, I settled myself in the rocking chair in the corner, and prepared myself for what was sure to be a long night.

I wasn't sure what was it that woke me up, but suddenly my eyes snapped open. I was sore and stiff from the long sitting. I robbed my eyes, mentally scolding myself. I didn't mean to fall asleep. What if Bella needed me at some point of the night? Wasn't that the whole purpose of staying there with her? I stole a glance at her. The blanket that was wrapped so protectively around her was hardly covering her now, half tossed across the bed. The chair creaked when I got up to tuck her in again.

Her eyelids flattered ever so slightly. "Edward?" she murmured hoarsely, slowly opening her eyes.

"No, Bells, it's me," I said quietly just when her eyes settled on me. She looked disoriented with sleep and medications, but her gaze soon became more alert. I would not resent the fact she was seeking for him, I told myself stubbornly.

"What time is it?"

"I don't know." I watched her closely. She looked weary, but not in pain. For the umpteenth time, I was grateful for Dr. Cullen. He had done so much for her; so much more than I could have done. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay, I think." Her eyes moved from me to the rocking chair, and back to me again. She gave me a disproving look. "You didn't have to sleep here, dad. You'll hurt your back."

"I thought you might need something during the night," I shrugged off her concern. I was trying to appear nonchalant, but she saw beyond my act.

"Thank you," she said, reaching for my hand. Her hand was cold in spite of the stuffiness in the room. I wrapped my hand around hers, giving it a little squeeze. "For more than just spending the night here, I mean," she added, looking shy all of a sudden. She sighed, then winced, as if the motion was painful to her. When she next looked at me, her expression was heart-wrenching. "I really messed up, didn't I?"

"It's nothing time can't cure," I assured her, smiling bitterly when I realized Dr. Cullen had used the same words in order to reassure me, not too long ago. I offered her a warmer smile then, and she returned it after a moment of hesitation. She said nothing further, but she didn't have to. I could see the regret in her eyes. Whatever made her say those horrible things, I could see now she didn't mean them. Not the way her mother had done, years back.

And reassurance, I assumed, brought courage. "So what's the story? With Edward I mean. You guys are back together now?" I asked. I sort of hoped we got rid of that situation, for good, but the way she was asking for him before she even opened her eyes implied otherwise. So I thought I'd just ask and get it out of my system.

It looked like she was blushing, but it was hard to tell in the faint moonlight. "Yeah, I guess you can say that, dad."

"I don't like it," I muttered, thinking once more of the reason she had gotten herself into this trouble in the first place.

"Dad," she said, reaching for my hand again. "You can ground me from now until I'm 30. I won't hold it against you – I know I deserve it. But please don't blame Edward. I know you think it all happened because of him, but the truth is that he saved my life."

"His father saved your life, Bella."

"You weren't there, dad."

Something about her reminding me of this fact hurt beyond belief. That's right, I wasn't there. But I should have been. I could still remember the helplessness, the panic, the tumble of emotions that first phone call had inflicted. I remembered how I feared the worst, how I thought she was dead. I remembered the relief in hearing her voice, of learning she was getting better…

I remembered the decision I had made right before she got back home. Balance was a tricky thing. She clearly didn't want him away, and counting on his promise, he was clearly not going anywhere. And she was an adult, so I had to respect her wishes, no matter how wrong I thought they were. Let her make her own mistakes.

I looked at her. Her eyes looked huge, pleading, so much like her mother's that it was painful to resist them. But I had to. "If I'm letting him back here, it's gonna be with a few conditions," I warned her, struggling to sound authoritative. She frowned slightly, but didn't try to protest. "And no, I won't ground you until you're 30," I added, trying to break the tense atmosphere in the room. She didn't look amused, but she didn't seem mad either. She obviously saw it coming. But I didn't want it to come between us now. We needed a fresh start. Slowly, I released my hand from underneath hers and reached to caress her hair back. "Why don't we focus on you're getting better for now?"

She nodded, and didn't try to fight it when her eyelids drooped. Soon she was fast asleep, her breathing soft and even. I watched her for a moment longer before I returned to my spot at the corner of the room. We were due to some hard times now, with her healing, and the Edward situation, and who knew how many more accidents on her side. I wasn't thrilled to face any of them. But at least she was back here, with me. At least I didn't lose her as I feared I had. I stole another glance at my only child, and then, reassured of her safety, and more peaceful than I had been in days, I let my eyes close and drifted into dreamless, welcome slumber.