Recap (last sentence from each POV):
Bella POV: And he was gone.
Edward POV: And then, in one of those quick vampire moves that no human could possibly catch, I made my way back home to plan for the coming days.
Chapter 4: The First Task
Edward POV:
The night passed in a blur. Alice had foreseen everything that would happen between Bella and me that afternoon and she graciously offered to help me put together something to say to Charlie. But as the morning light began to shine over the little town of Forks, my nervousness grew to the point of insanity.
I can't do this, I thought, he hates me. What am I supposed to say?
If at all possible, morning passed by even quicker, and before I knew it, it was time to accomplish the dreaded Task 1. It was the first time that Alice had ever seen my innate calm so shaken, and before I could object, she offered to drive me to Charlie's. Bella was out for the day running errands or something like that; all I knew is that she wouldn't be in the house while Charlie and I were.
No Bella to protect me from whatever rage bubbled and broiled inside her father's mind.
We arrived in front of the house in record time.
Maybe Bella was right; maybe we do drive a little too fast, I wondered as I opened the door, desperately trying to keep myself composed.
Alice gave me a reassuring smile.
"Can you see how this is all going to turn out?" I asked her.
Alice closed her eyes for a moment, trying to see the outcome of the afternoon.
She sighed. "If all goes according to plan, you should be able to walk out of there alive. But you know just as well as I do that the future isn't set in stone. Good luck." And with that, my dear sister drove away at top speed, leaving me alone on the sidewalk.
It's all for Bella, it's all for Bella, it's all for Bella… I repeated over and over to myself as I rang the doorbell and heard the booming of Charlie's footsteps (his were much louder than Bella's) heaving himself off the couch and to the door.
He must be busy with his game; maybe I should come back another time…
No. I can't back out now. This is what Bella wants me to do for her. And besides, he's just a weak human man…
Charlie opened the door.
…in charge of the one I love, and he hates my guts.
For a good moment, Charlie had the same reaction as Bella did yesterday.
He looked utterly stunned to see me standing there, his eyes raking me over a couple of times, probably deciding whether or not it was really me.
I knew he had snapped out of his trance when his eyes narrowed and filled with black abhorrence.
"Cullen," he spat, making my name sound like that of a dirty creature.
"Bella's not here, is she?" I asked innocently.
"No, and even if she was, I wouldn't let you see her." He said icily, turning to close the door.
"That's good," I continued, making him pause. "I wanted to talk to you."
He was obviously not expecting me to want to talk to him, but nevertheless, he grudgingly let me in, and led me to the living room. He offered me the very same seat I had sat in just yesterday with Bella, and muted his game.
"This had better be good." He mumbled, taking his seat across from me, glaring at me the whole time.
I cleared my throat. Just a weak human…just a weak human…
"Charlie," – I glanced at his disapproving sneer – "Sir," I corrected quickly, "I don't really know where to begin."
"Why are you here?" he asked impatiently, acid practically leaking out of his mouth.
"Because I've made a terrible mistake," I confessed simply, "and I want the chance to explain myself and beg forgiveness."
"Too late." He muttered, starting to get up.
"Will you please let me explain?" I almost begged.
He sat back down again. "Fine, but make it fast." He said reluctantly.
"Well, as you know, last September, my family left Forks, and I left Bella."
Charlie's frown grew more pronounced.
"I loved her, I loved her so much, and when I left, I still loved her, possibly more than before." I continued.
"Then why did you leave in the first place?" he demanded.
"Because I never thought that I was the right kind of guy for her. You, yourself, never approved of me, and my family is very…different. But, you see, I loved her so much, that I was willing to let her go, with hopes that she would find someone better than me…"
"And then what about you?" he cut me off again. I knew Charlie wasn't being impolite on purpose, or maybe he was. But in any case, I tried to be patient with him, because it was just the hostility towards what I did talking. This was just as hard for him as it was for me, and I understood that.
"Well, I never would've stopped loving her, but my original plan was to stay away for a very long time so that she could get over me and move on with her life…"
"And what happened to that plan?"
"Well, I was miserable, for lack of a stronger term. There's an old saying that goes "you never know what you have until it's gone." I didn't quite realize what a big part of my life Bella was, and when she was gone, it was like part of my life was missing; part of my essential makeup that keeps me alive."
"What are you saying then, Edward?" Charlie's pronunciation of my name came out as a snarl, but his expression grew more and more curious with every word that I spoke, though the original resentment was still clearly present.
I cleared my throat again. "What I'm saying is that I made an awful mistake, one I will regret as long as I live, and I sit before you today as a heart-broken man who begs the forgiveness of his one and only love's father before her own."
If Charlie had looked bewildered before, it was nothing compared to now. I saw him cringe slightly when I called Bella my 'one and only love', but it was obvious that, despite his better judgments, he couldn't help but feel sympathetic toward what I had suffered in the last six months. He was only human after all, an aspect I kept reminding myself of.
Charlie got up and began pacing the room. Whenever he would look over at me, the crease in his brow deepened, obviously assessing very hard what I had told him. For several minutes he seemed deep in thought, probably deciding to either throw me out of his house or forgive me. I thought it best to stay out of his thoughts; it was much more respectful.
Compassion most likely won him over, because when he finally spoke, he didn't yell or scream, he just spoke.
"You know Edward," he said, still pacing the room, not really looking at me, "My wife left me, twenty years ago."
Why was he telling me this? I eyed him curiously. "Yes, sir."
"And there isn't a day that goes by that I don't wish she would show up on my doorstep, like you have today, and beg for my forgiveness and want to come back home."
Where was he going with this story? I resisted the urge to peek into his mind and continued listening instead.
"If she were to come back, I would eagerly accept any apology and welcome her back with open arms," he persisted, "but, I wouldn't trust her as fully."
He looked at me for the first time since he began to speak. The look in his eyes wasn't hateful or scornful; it was…it was…like he was trying to teach me something.
"You see Edward; all of our actions have consequences. Some of them are good; some of them aren't so good. Your decision to leave Forks and try to get Bella to fall out of love with you came with a severe repercussion: your trustworthiness. Now, I wouldn't blame Bella for taking you back—you were very good to her, and like I said, I would take back my old wife any day—but she'll never trust you as much as she used to, and you're going to have to deal with that."
I didn't know what to say, so I just nodded.
"Naturally though," he said, dismissing his parental voice and replacing it with the previous contempt. "I won't let you off the hook quite so easily with this. I certainly won't trust you ever again, and I'll always loathe you for what you did to my daughter. And don't expect me to let you in my house for more than a few hours at a time."
His attempt to sound mean and threatening after being so sympathetic was interesting. I suppressed a smile.
"I wouldn't have it any other way." I agreed seriously.
"Good." He said, picking up the remote control to settle back into his game.
I stood up to leave, but Charlie called me back.
"Is the rest of your family back now too?' he asked.
"Yes; Esme found Los Angeles very little to her liking." I answered politely.
"And Alice too…" he started.
I nodded. "Yes, Alice is back too."
I couldn't help but steal a glance into his mind for just a minute.
Good. It'll be good for Bella to spend some time with cheery little Alice. I've missed her…now if only I can get this scumbag out of my living room.
I concealed yet another laugh as I watched his face brighten up at the mention of Alice, and then cloud over once more as his thoughts returned to me. But it didn't matter, because, to some degree, he forgave me. Not only that, but he actually empathized me. I'd say this afternoon was much more than successful.
I smiled as I turned to leave for the second time.
"Goodbye, Charlie." I muttered sincerely.
"Goodbye." He called absently, already absorbed in his game.
Don't come back… he said mentally.
Alice was already waiting for me with the car when I stepped outside.
She leaned over on the seat to give me a bone-crushing hug.
"I knew you could do it!" she squealed. "Step 1 complete!"
"Yeah," I agreed, feeling more confident every minute.
The hardest part was over. On to Step 2, declaring my love for Bella in two public places.
Everything was set; all I had to was wait for tomorrow.
Chapter 5 will be entitled: The Second Task
A/N: Keep those reviews coming guys! They are what convince me that people are actually reading this stuff and want the new chapters.
8