Chapter 1: Telling Charlie

The vivid pink hues of dawn snaked across the horizon and painted the sky the color of my cheeks. My mind drifted back to the conversation I'd had with Edward just a few days ago, about the most memorable nights of our lives. Tonight definitely topped the list.

Despite being unable to read my thoughts, Edward knew exactly what I wanted. He untwined his icy fingers from mine and stroked my face, rolling over with one of those quick, disconcerting movements of his, so that his strong, marble body rested lightly on top of mine. Without speaking, he turned the magnificent power of his golden ochre eyes on me. My heart fluttered erratically and I blushed scarlet. At the sight of my flush, his perfect lips spread into a crooked grin as he pressed them against mine and kissed me deeply. And to my delight, not as cautiously as usual. My mind went blissfully blank as I inhaled the tantalizing scent of his skin and fiddled with the diamond ring on my third finger. When it came to Edward, there was simply no getting used to him. Truthfully, I never wanted to get used to him.

I broke away from Edward to catch my breath, and he muttered softly in my ear,

"Bella, love, its time. Charlie has to know sooner or later. I'll be with you the whole time, just like I was tonight."

I groaned. The surreal moment was spoiled as the image of Charlie's face contorted with anger and shock slid into place in my mind as I delivered to him the news of my impending marriage.

"Just a little while longer, Edward. Give me some time to collect myself." I whined. My resolve was firm, I had to cling to this moment as long as possible.

"Bella, you had all night. And you were the one who wanted closure, remember." Edward said, a warning note etched in his tone. When this didn't seem to be working, Edward changed his tactics.

"I love you Bella. I want to be with you for the rest of eternity. If that's what you wish too, don't you think Charlie and Renee have a right to know about it?" His golden eyes smoldered at me and melted my resolve. His lips against my throat obliterated it.

"Ok" I gave in.

The moment the words were spoken, I saw the ground disappear beneath me and the sky replace it as Edward scooped me up in his arms. I squeezed my eyes shut as he shot like a bullet through the forest and lighted onto Charlie's porch. With Edward's arms protectively around my waist, I reached for the spare key and swiftly opened the door.

"Bella, is that you….." I heard Charlie's weak voice from the top of the stairs. I'd forgotten how early it was.

"Why are you back from Jessica's house so early?" he exclaimed bleakly, his eyes half closed.

" Chief Swan, Bella has something to tell you." Edward's honey-coated voice filled the empty house with music. I shot him a menacing look for getting to the point so quickly. He responded with a mocking smile.

Charlie's eyes flew open at the sound of Edward's voice and his eyes narrowed in anger as he rushed down the stairs.

"Edward! What are you doing here?"

"Da..aad, Can Edward and I come in. I have to tell you something. It's important." My voice cracked pathetically."

" Of course honey, what's wrong?" His eyes shot suspiciously at Edward.

"Nothing's wrong. I just don't know how to tell you this."

Charlie's eyes widened in apprehension as he glanced from me to Edward and back again. I took a deep breath, and a voice in my head told me to just get it over with. Edward squeezed my hand in encouragement, his face solemn. When I finally spoke, my voice was dry and raspy and my words came out in a rush.

"Edward and I are engaged." I held out my left hand and flaunted the dazzling ring as proof. I closed my eyes, reveling in the calm before the storm.

"WHAT! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! THERE IS NO WAY I AM ALLOWING THIS! EDWARD GET OUT! BELLA, YOU ARE GROUNDED FOR THE REST OF ETERNITY AND I MEAN IT!" Charlie gasped for breath, his face redder than a tomato and his eyes blazing. I started crying.

Edward hugged me tighter and spoke with his authoritative voice,

"Chief Swan, please, hear her out. I know you haven't forgiven me for what I did to Bella last year. I agree, it was a horrible mistake and I have to live with it every day. But I know now that I cannot live without Bella, and I will love her and protect her for the rest of my life." His golden eyes burned with emotion and passion, and the force of them seemed to have struck Charlie speechless for the moment, though he was still fuming.

"Dad! I—

" NO BELLA I--"

" NO DAD LISTEN TO ME!" My heart was pounding against my chest as the adrenaline rushed through my veins. I took a second to calm down.

"I am going to marry Edward regardless of what you say. I love him more than life. You saw what I was like without him dad, how can you let that happen to me again? Well, anyways, all I was hoping for was your blessing. It would make me happy if you were there for me on my wedding day, but if you're not, then that's your choice. I'll deal with the disappointment okay." I stopped before the strength in my voice wavered and I broke into tears again. Charlie's fuse seemed to have burned out, but he still looked at me, this time with sadness in his eyes.

"Bella, I thought you were smarter than this. You saw what happened to your mom and I. You know I just want what's best for you. He left you once, he didn't care enough to check on you, he could do it again. Please, Bella." His eyes were piercing through my heart and his pleading tone brought tears to my eyes again. But when I noticed Edward's agonized face, contorted with pain and regret for his mistakes, and Charlie, with his eyes only for me, anger suddenly boiled beneath my skin.

"DAD! YOU DON'T KNOW THE HALF OF IT! EDWARD LEFT BECAUSE HE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE BETTER FOR ME! HE WAS DYING INSIDE THE WHOLE TIME I WAS AWAY. THAT DAY YOU GROUNDED ME FOR DISAPPEARING AND RETURNING WITH EDWARD, IT WAS BECAUSE EDWARD WAS GOING TO COMMITT SUICIDE AND I HAD TO SAVE HIM! THAT'S HOW MUCH HE LOVES ME CHARLIE, THAT'S WHY WE CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT EACH OTHER. WHY CANT YOU UNDERSTAND!"

I collapsed, out of breath, into Edward's lap. He looked at me, his eyes stricken and dumbfounded, his body rigid. It suddenly sunk in that I might have said too much. Charlie wasn't supposed to know what happened the night I went to Italy with Alice. This was going to bring on an onslaught of new questions which would have to be answered. Great, Bella. You blew it.

"Edward attempted suicide? Why?" Charlie spoke in a low whisper, his voice skeptical and his eyes alight with curiosity.

Edward looked away, his jaw clenched and his body still as stone. He was nervous, I could tell. I sighed, and spoke,

" He thought I was dead."

Charlie searched my face for any signs of dishonesty, and when he couldn't find any, he continued with his interrogations.

"Why on earth would he think that?"

" Do I have to explain this Dad?" my voice was strained and tired

"Yes, you have to" he replied sternly.

I sat in silence, trying to think up a story that wouldn't implicate anyone or reveal the Cullen's secret in any way. This was going to be incredibly difficult. Charlie waited impatiently. Edward refused to look at me, he was probably too sick with worry. Oh, why did I have to screw up everything?

Finally, I decided on a story. It was almost the truth, just excluding the whole 'the Cullens are vampires, and Alice can see the future, and Edward tried to kill himself by stepping into sunlight and provoking a clan of highly-dangerous vampires' part. I sucked in a breath and began. My nervousness made me slightly incoherent, and I ended up speaking harshly and bluntly without intending to.

"Well, the real reason why Edward left me was because he realized that he was really falling in love with me and we were getting really serious. He was afraid for me because of it. He thought it wasn't healthy for us to be so serious when we were so young and he was afraid he might be preventing me from enjoying other things in life. His intentions were noble, but he just made the fatal flaw of believing that he loved me more than I loved him, and that by leaving me, I would get over him and my life would be normal again. But dad, he sacrificed his happiness for me. The whole time he was away he was suffering. He made himself believe that I was happy, and that was what kept him away.

The night when Alice came to see me, she knew she was breaking the rules because Edward had forbidden any of them to come see me, since it would just make the break harder. She called her sister Rosalie that night to tell her where she was and made Rosalie promise not to tell Edward. On the phone, Alice also told Rosalie about how I had jumped off the cliff, but that I was okay.

Now, Rosalie, she doesn't like me. I guess she thought I was taking up too much of Edward's thoughts, and she blamed me for the suffering he was going through at the time. So when Edward asked her where Alice was, she broke her promise to Alice and told Edward. She also told Edward about how I jumped off a cliff, but she conveniently forgot to mention the fact that I was okay.

So Edward, in a state of panic, calls our house pretending to be Carlisle, in order to find out if I was okay. It just so happens that he calls while you were at Harry's funeral, and Jacob was over. Jacob answered the phone, and when Edward asked as to where you were, Jacob replied that you were at the funeral. Edward thought he meant my funeral. Edward loved me so much that he couldn't imagine living in a world where I didn't exist, so he left to go commit suicide. He was going to jump off a cliff, and die the way that I died. Only Rosalie knew about this, and she was in hysterics. She felt so guilty. She called Alice and told her what Edward was about to do, and so I had to go there myself and stop him before it was too late. Because he had to see me, you see, to believe that I was alive. So dad, that was what happened. Are you happy now?"

Charlie sat stock still in his chair. He was speechless, his mouth open and gaping unashamedly. He lifted his shaking hand to his forehead and rested his elbow on his knee.

Through the silence, Edward looked at me, his ochre eyes a mixture of emotions. But he wrapped his arms around me and kissed the top of my head. I took this to mean that he was proud of me for being brave enough to do this, grateful to me for keeping his secret, and sorry he couldn't have helped more. Perceptive, he would have deemed my analysis.

Still waiting for Charlie's reaction, I could feel the relief wash over me. It felt good to finally clear Edward's name. At least now I could feel that there was at least a fragment of honesty between me and Charlie, since complete honesty was of course, impossible.

Finally, Charlie looked up, the skin on his forehead wrinkled and his face weary, and resigned. A good sign.

He turned his face to Edward, and though it looked like it pained him to say it, he said,

"Edward… I owe you an apology. I misjudged you. You love Bella more than I could ever have imagined, and I can see that your love has endured enough to prove that it is strong. I guess I had a hard time believing that such love was possible, after what happened to me and Renee. Forgive me." Charlie's voice was so raw with emotion that it brought a lump to my throat.

Edward smiled politely and replied in his smooth velvet voice,

"There is nothing to forgive."

"Bella, I love you so much, and I hate to let you go so soon, but I can see that I have no choice. I want you to be happy. You have my blessings." Charlie smiled weakly and held out his arms.

"THANKYOU DAD!!" I flew into his arms and hugged him tight. I wished I could express to him exactly how completely he was going to lose me. But of course, I couldn't.

Once the whole ordeal was over, Edward and I left, walking down the driveway silently hand in hand. The mood was very solemn. Suddenly, Edward's turned so that he was in front of me, a mischievous smile flitting across his face. Without a moment's hesitation, he lifted me into his arms and kissed me deeply, his cold lips moving against mine as I kissed back. His fingers raked through my hair, and I could feel my mood lifting. My heart pattered, my blood boiled, and I shivered in ecstasy. I knew people were watching, maybe even Charlie from the confines of his window, but I didn't care. Edward was my life. I wanted to scream it at the top of my lungs, to tell the world that I was in love.

When Edward put me down next to him, we were both peering at each other, smiling, rather giddily on my part. Just then, Edward tore his eyes away from mine, staring straight ahead, a smirk lifting his cheeks.

"So, ready to tell Renee?"