A/N: I'm back! And glad to be there. I'm also Hannah, not Stephenie Meyer.
I waited idly inside the house, staring at the clock. I had a whole two hours ahead of me before Charlie came home. I felt conflicted about the time. Half of me wanted to confront Charlie, and demand answers. I would have thrown a tantrum if I had to. I would have screamed and cried. I would have lied and said I hated him, all for the truth. The other half of me was grateful that if I did have to degrade myself to that level to get some answers about his relationship with my mother, and why I never knew him that I had two hours left of dignity.
The shred of dignity that I had just gained.
I wished I had something to do. Anything, really, I would have settled for mastering pig latin if it would pass the grueling time. I didn't, though. I just sat at the table and waited. Patiently, and quietly, it wasn't like those two hours would have held anything for me anyway. The only thing that I could preoccupy myself with was anticipation.
Eventually the time did pass. One hour left, forty-five minutes, ten minutes. Charlie walked in the door right on queue. He was humming some show tune.
"Bella?" He asked bewildered by both my presence and my expression. "Did Emmett bring you back so early? I told him that you could stay with Alice until you were ready to come home." He finished. I still couldn't speak. I lacked the knowledge of how to start such a conversation.
"Are you alright? Did something happen last night that I should know about?" A tear welled up in my left eye. I could tell it wasn't going to be easy. Charlie sat down across from me at the small table. "You don't have to tell me as a police officer, Bella. If something happened to you, you can tell me as your…father." His mouth stuttered over the word the same way my mind seemed to.
"That's what I need to talk to you about, actually." I finally found a voice to speak with, but it wasn't mine. I borrowed it from the numb Bella I was living inside until about two days ago. Surely she wouldn't mind. In fact, she wouldn't feel a thing.
Charlie looked at me intently. He understood what I was saying, anticipated it, even. "What do you want to know?" He asked in a small voice. He knew this was coming, I knew it was coming. I had a feeling that Chief Swan wouldn't like being interrogated so much.
"I want to know everything, Charlie." My voice was still flat. I was shocked that I hadn't let any more tears fall.
"Where do you need me to start," He sighed. I softened just a little bit at how he asked what I needed, as opposed to just what I would want.
"I want to know about my mom, and Emmett's mom. Were you with them both at the same time? Why are we so close in age?" I thought that was an okay place to start, since it was actually the least of my worries. After all, I wanted to know why Charlie had abandoned me, not my mother.
Charlie took a deep breath in. "I met your mother when I was twenty. We had plans to get married." He took another deep breath and blinked back something painful. I never knew they were engaged. "I was very in love with her. I honestly don't know if I ever stopped. One day she just got up and she said she couldn't take it anymore. She wanted big town life. She packed her things, kissed me on the cheek and left." He said coldly. Charlie had a numb Charlie just like my numb Bella. Their voices were similar.
"A month later I met Emmett's mother, Stacey. I liked her, my feelings for her were no where near what I felt for your mother. It was wrong of me Bella, but I dragged her along. I thought if I could just get used to someone else, then maybe it wouldn't hurt so bad." He shrugged. "I ended up getting her pregnant a month later. I stayed with her through the whole thing. We were together until Emmett was three. I had to break if off because I knew I was keeping her from reaching her full potential of happiness. We both agreed that Emmett should stay with me." He was happy to be finished with his conclusion, but the worst was yet to come.
I felt the tears that I was so happy to keep down leak out as I asked the harder questions. "But why? Why did you choose Emmett over me?" I asked, starting to sob. "Was it too much to have two children? How could you even make that choice? Was it just because he was closer?" I babbled on and on about excused I tried to think up for him. His face grew more and more shocked by the second.
"I never once chose Emmett over you!" He shouted, but not out of anger as much as defense.
"How could you do it, then? How could you never try and talk to me? My mom said that you told her you didn't want me, that's why she left. I never even knew your name!" I threw my hands in the air.
"You're mom told you that I didn't want you?" He asked me. There was anger now, but not towards me. The only thing he showed for me was sorrow, and even pity.
I nodded a weak nod. Charlie walked over and scooted his chair right next to me. He lightly put his hand on my shoulder.
"Bella. I want you to listen to me." He said sternly, but his voice cracked, and like me, his tears began to fall. "I never…" He had to intake a quick breath and blink back the tears before continuing. "I never knew about you, Bella. When your aunt called me and told me what happened, I nearly had a heart attack. I didn't eat, sleep, or work for two days." My own tears began to thicken as Charlie gave me a paper towel to wipe them on.
"I know you love your mother, Bella. But what she told you was a lie. If I even had an inkling that you existed I would have been right where you were. I would have fought for your mother to come back. I would have fought for you." My head started spinning. I managed to listen to his last words. "I hate myself for not knowing you. That now you're seventeen and I missed everything. And as much as I wish the circumstances were different, I'm so glad that you're here now." Charlie smiled a weak smile at me.
I would have smiled back, but I couldn't. My head was pounding, and my muscles were weak.
"I need to leave for a little bit and get some fresh air. I'll be back before dinner." I managed to get out before I bolted up the stairs.
"Bella?" He called after me, but I didn't listen. I went straight to my room and grabbed the first outfit I could manage. I quickly ran a brush through my hair and did the best I could to wash the tears off of my face. I didn't even look myself over, there wasn't much I could do to make myself look any better.
I went back downstairs avoiding Charlie's face. I knew that he would think I was running because of him, and I didn't have time to explain to him before I collapsed back into my shell.
I ran out the door, and past the house. I didn't know where I was going. I ran about another hundred feet before tripping on a rock. I fell and cut my knee open, ruining my favorite pair of jeans. I normally would have cleaned it, and tried to stop the bleeding, but I just wanted to run.
I ran and ran until I saw a little convenient store. There was a payphone outside, and I suddenly knew what I wanted to do. I knew the only thing that could possibly hold me together before I fell apart in an unfixable manner.
I ran to the phone and caught my breath before I inserted some coins and started dialing.
He picked up after two rings.
"Hello?" He asked, confused by the strange number.
"Edward." I choked out before the tears started again. "Are you busy?" I asked between sobs.
"I'm not busy, Bella. What's wrong?" He asked me in a panic.
"Can you come get me?" I asked in my shaky voice, avoiding his question. I knew it was pathetic, but I didn't know what else I could do.
"Of course I will. Where are you?" His velvet voice was already calming to me. The thought that I would have it right in front of me in a matter of a few minutes made my heartbeat just a little more normal.
"I'm at the little gas station about a mile from my house in your direction." I didn't know the exact name of the place, and I wasn't going to look.
"Bella! What are you doing there? That place is dangerous for you!" He asked, his velvet voice was concerned, and angry. I had forgotten that this was a truck stop where dirty old men would pick up hookers. It was hard for me to imagine danger in the daylight. It wasn't even raining.
"I'm sorry. I just need you to take me somewhere, anywhere. I just don't want to be at Charlie's house right now." I began sobbing again.
"It's okay, Bella. I'll be right there. I know where we can go. Everything is going to be okay." He soothed me with his promising words.
"Thank you." I told him taking a deep breath.
"Just stay put, and if anyone starts looking at you weird, go inside." He instructed me.
"Okay." I whispered.
"Alright I'll be right there. Bye." And the phone went dead.
I slouched down under the payphone and drew my knees up to my chest.
After a few minutes, a tall lanky man probably in his early thirties walked up to me. "Where are you headed?" He asked suggestively. My heart began beating fast again. I should have known better than to go to that place. It wasn't as much of a store as it was a brothel.
"I'm waiting for my friend to come pick me up." I told him coldly, hoping he would leave.
"How much do you think your friend would mind if I borrowed you for a while?" He asked taking another step toward me. I was already up against a wall, so it wasn't like I could go anywhere.
Suddenly someone had my arm and I was being yanked up back on to my feet. "Her friend would mind a lot, if you would excuse us." Edward's velvet voice was suddenly venomous. If I didn't know him, I would have been terrified by the expression on his face. He looked lethal.
He moved his hand from my arm and put it around my waist. I didn't want to admit to myself how good it felt.
The strange man snorted and made his way into the store. Edward walked me to the Volvo, and opened the passenger door for me.
Once he was inside, he didn't look so mean anymore. "Did that guy do anything to you?" He asked through gritted teeth.
"No." I answered honestly. Edward just nodded and began driving. "Where are we going to go?" I asked curiously since we weren't headed toward his house.
His face went soft, and his crooked grin returned. "It's just a little place I like to go when I need to think, you'll like it." He told me as he took my hand and continued driving.
A/N: I'm glad to be back. My Internet is working today! That doesn't mean it will work tomorrow, though. But anyway, here's the chapter! Review?