Bella
Our embrace is interrupted by a knock at the door. "Bella," Charlie says. "You up? You want breakfast?"
I wipe at my face, composing myself. "Just a minute." Pointing at the window, I mouth "Go" to Edward and without hesitation he leaves. Moving to close the window, so as not to raise Charlie's suspicion, I can just about make out Edward's form in the trees.
Going over to the door and pulling it open, I look up into Charlie's alert face. "I'll come down."
"You look like hell, Bells," he says. "You get any sleep?"
"Suppose." Avoiding the questions, I ask, "what do you fancy?" As well as not having slept, I can also feel that the bruise on my face must be glistening a bright purple. "Just give me a min and I'll come join you."
Not waiting for a reply, I walk through to the bathroom and close the door behind me. Charlie's worried look comes back to me as I look in the mirror and see how horrific my face looks. Both eyes are black and puffy with a red mark on my nose. The scratches from yesterday have died down so there's only a sight mark now.
Knowing that without the make-up genius, also known as Alice, I don't have a hope of hiding it, I just turn my back and hurry through the morning rituals.
When I make it downstairs, Charlie has a fresh pot of coffee ready to go and I immediately divert towards it causing Charlie to chuckle. "I remember your first taste of that as a kid. The look on your face was priceless."
"No fair, you were little once too!" I huff sitting at the table. "Let me finish this, then I'll get some food on for you. Have you had any news yet?"
"Nothing, I doubt I'll hear anything till I get down the station. Such an odd situation. Doesn't seem likely about Rachel, but the evidence is there."
We lapse into silence as I sip on the warm liquid and Charlie disappears behind his paper.
Quicker than I'd have liked, I finish the drink and add a pan to the stove. As it's heating up, I stick bread in the toaster. I crack several eggs into a jug and, whisking them, I dump those in the pan too.
"Thanks, Bells," he says as I slide the filled plate towards him.
I go to grab my own plate but pause. I really don't want to eat around Charlie this morning. My face is sore and the idea of chewing food is giving me the shivers, but I also don't want to go upstairs where Edward is likely to see me.
Deciding that Charlie would be the lesser of two evils, I plonk down and start picking at the mushy eggs.
They feel like rocks as they land in my stomach and only my will power stops them from coming back up again.
I've barely managed three forkfuls when Charlie finishes and puts down his paper. "Not hungry?" he asks, concerned.
"Sore, I'll make some soup later on." It's not a lie. Since the Cullen's returned, Esme had been bringing over the spare groceries from her food shops to fit into society, so the fridge is packed with vegetables that Charlie will never eat in a different form.
From the strange look he's sending me, I can tell that he's not convinced, but, in his eagerness to find out more about his best friend, he doesn't push the topic. I've got a strange suspicion building that if, not when, we find Billy, I'm going to be getting a rather uncomfortable conversation with Charlie.
Not waiting around, I scrap the remnants of my breakfast into the trash and hurry back to my bedroom.
Today, I decide, I'm going to get everything back on track, starting by going to school. So, I rummage around for a set of clean clothes and hurriedly throw them on.
Just as I'm trying to work out how to use the various lotions and potions bottles to hide the bruise on my face, there's a knock on the door.
Suspecting that there might be a small interfering friend downstairs, I pop my head out of the door to listen to Charlie greeting someone.
"Alice," he says, "Bella's upstairs, I'm just headed out."
"Thanks, Charlie," her tinkling voice says. I don't hear her footfalls on the stairs, but she's soon in front of me holding a large bag. "You called?"
Scowling at her, I open the door wider to let her through.
"Edward is changing and he'll be by to pick you up soon, but I thought you'd like some help for now." She looks over at the pile of small bottles I'd emptied out over the bed. "Looks like just in time too. Sit."
Smiling, I follow her request. "Thank you, I dread to think how I'd have looked if you hadn't shown up," then, under my breath, I mutter, "a rotting orange most likely," which causes Alice to chuckle.
"Sorry I didn't see it, but, you know what happens around the wolves. It's pointless to even try."
"It's not your fault, you're helping now anyway." I wince slightly as she presses down with some strangely shaped sponge. At her now hesitant expression, I say, "It's sore, don't worry though, I'll be fine."
"I don't remember it being sore," she goes on to say as she goes back with the sponge, this time with lighter pressure. "But I did find out some things about my human life. Jasper and I spent some time tracking my family down."
"I remember you saying." She smiles, happy that despite everything I'd been listening to her story from that day.
"Sometimes in this world we're better off not knowing. I don't know if that's the case this time. I'm glad I know, I've arranged support for my family, and I'm more than delighted with the family I have now, but the fact that they just dumped me to die. It's hard to begrudge the dead but even harder to forgive them."
I don't claim to understand, because I don't. How can I? I suddenly realise quite how lucky I am that Charlie stuck with me, even through my apparent madness of the last few months. Even in the darkest times when he was threatening me with hospitals and going back to Renee, there was never an inkling to suggest that he'd fake my death.
"It's amazing the difference a few decades can make," I respond, not knowing what else to say.
"Oh yes, you should see some of the monstrosities they called fashion too!" I appreciate her change of subject. "You'll have to remind me to dig out the photo albums, you'll get a good giggle from some of those!"
Smirking, I think about the family through some of the more eccentric fashion eras. "Who was the worst?"
"Do you really need to ask that?" She gives my face a final tap and then puts her equipment back in her small bag. "Emmett's opinion of what makes him look good, well, it needs some work if he hopes to ever buy his own clothes. Shall we go?"
I nod and go to pick up my backpack.
When we get downstairs, Edward is waiting on the couch, freshly dressed in clean clothes. Only hesitating briefly, I go over and wrap my arms around his middle, letting his scent wash over me.
As I pull away, he hands me a small bottle.
Responding to my quizzical expression, he explains, "It's from Carlisle, meal in a bottle apparently." His lips turn up at the end in disgust.
I'm momentarily stunned, sure I know these exist, but they're nothing I've ever imagined needing. I take the bottle and roll it over in my hands. "Thanks, I suppose?"
"Try it, if they're terrible I'll find something else. But, if you want to get through school on such little sleep and next to no breakfast, you'll have to at least give it a go."
He's right, just because I'd been physically present at school for the last few months, that doesn't mean I've been functional, and if I've any hope of catching up I need to be at the top of my game.
Together, we head out to the cars. Edward's Volvo is waiting on the drive, Alice having driven it over, and Jasper is sat in the Porsche still parked on the road. He tips an imaginary hat towards me with a smile and then sets off quickly.
"She could have come with us, saved Jasper the journey."
Edward's face becomes flustered, "I believe Jasper had something he wanted to discuss with her. He's been rather protective of her since getting back."
I look down, realising that Jasper must have been terrified for Alice, the regret for having taken her with me starts to grow. "I hadn't thought about that," I say quietly moving towards the passenger door. "Is he mad at me?"
He comes over and stops my movement with his hand, "No, he's not, I promise. It's just hard for him. One day he'll tell you his story and you'll understand more." Placing a gentle kiss on my forehead, he opens the door fully and helps me climb inside.
The journey to school is silent, and, as we pull into the parking lot, I can feel the anxiety growing.
"What's wrong?" Edward asks as he turns the engine off.
"I'm not sure. I've been to school hundreds, probably thousands of times. It just feels, different somehow."
"You've had a difficult few days, be patient with yourself. Just get through today and later we can go back over anything that you didn't quite get. Alright?"
I nod, but still don't leave the car.
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
Knowing what my response needs to be, I resolve myself to saying it out loud. "I think I want to speak to Carlisle."
"Would you like to go now?" he asks, not missing a beat. I wonder if Alice had warned him about this conversation.
I shake my head, not wanting to miss anymore school but also not being able to bring myself into the building. "I want to be normal."
Tears start sliding down my cheek and I frantically scrub them away as Edward wraps his arms around me.
"I just want to be normal again."
He holds me as I sob out even more tears.
I don't notice as Alice and Jasper pull up next to us, but I do feel when Jasper's influence falls over me.
Looking up, I can see his worried expression through the window. I try to send him a smile, but I'm sure it must just look like a grimace.
"Alice will get your work for the morning, why don't we see Carlisle now and we can always come back between lessons if you're feeling up to it."
Jasper climbs out of his car, locking it behind him, and gets into the back of Edward's car.
Not getting a reply, Edward just pulls back out of the parking lot and heads towards his house.
"I should warn you," Edward says, "Rosalie and Emmett are back."
Shocked, I say, "Stop, you need to go back to my house first."
He sends me a strange look, but doesn't question me and within minutes we're pulling back up outside my house.
"Wait here, I'll just be a moment."
Running inside, being careful not to trip on anything, I head to my side draw where I'd placed Emmett's ring.
As I'm heading back down the stairs, I hear the phone ring.
Deciding that I'd have time to answer, afterall, what difference would a few minutes make, I pick it up off of it's cradle and hold it to my ear. "The Swan residence, Bella speaking." Often the call is related to Charlie's work, so on his request I answer it formally.
"Bella, it's old Quil. I'm looking to get hold of the Cullen's."
Shocked, I reply, "Hold on a moment, they're just outside, I can put them on the phone." When I look up, both Edward and Jasper are already standing there waiting. "Oh, umm, here they are." I pass the phone to Edward.
"Edward Cullen speaking."
There's silence in the room as Edward and Jasper listen to the phone. I know something is wrong when they both stiffen and Jasper abruptly heads out of the back door and into the woods.
"Thank you for informing us, we shall ensure that Bella is safe and join the search. If you need to contact us, you can call us at home." He then goes on to tell him the family's home number. "We shall ensure that someone is always there to answer for the coming days. Goodbye." I can see that he doesn't want to speak nicely to them, but his upbringing demands nothing but the utmost respect.
"What's happened?" I ask, my anxiety growing as Jasper's influence gets further away.
"Get in the car, we need to get out of here," he says, grabbing my upper arm and steering me out of the house.
When we're on the road, I ask again.
"I'll explain to you all together, for now, I need to get you somewhere safe."
The journey is quick, Edward driving much faster than the speed limit and I'm glad that Charlie doesn't see us. When we reach the driveway, Edward brings the car to a skidding stop and calls out for the family to congregate.
Within seconds, everyone except Alice and Jasper are huddled around the dining table and we go to join them.
"The Quileutes phoned. There's a vampire in the area."
Everyone's voices start speaking over the top of each other, each wanting to know more.
"She was described as a redhead. The wolves are returning from their search to protect the reservation, but until they return, they do not have the numbers to go out searching."
"We'll go looking though won't we?" Emmett asks. "I can't wait for a bonfire with that little bitch."
They start discussing different options about where she might have gone and the best way to find them, when a memory of red hair in the water comes back to me. "She was there," I say quietly, but everyone hears it as they turn to stare at me.
"Who was where?" Carlisle asks.
"That day, in the water. I saw red hair before Jacob caught me. And they said that a red-haired vampire has been hanging around the area recently. She's here for me." As I say those words, my anxiety reaches its peak and my breath catches.
"Bella, relax," Edward says, kneeling in front of me. "We'll keep you safe."
I throw myself into his arms and hang on for dear life. "Thank you."
Thank you all for letting me know your thoughts! It's amazing to hear how much you're all enjoying it.