Chapter 12
*****
It wasn't until much later, when I was tucked up under the covers in the peace of my room that the pessimism kicked in. Or maybe it was just because Jasper wasn't here to control my emotions.
I didn't want to die, but I didn't want to be a Vampire either.
I was the cause of this...
The silver phone on my bedside table started ringing. I quickly snatched it up, so as to not wake Charlie.
Alice. The flashing display said.
"So Bella, what are your plans for College?"
"Why" I narrowed my eyes unconsciously.
"Well we're moving "
I sighed, how did I know that was coming.
"The Fork's house is too near people who know about us to use at the moment. We have bought a new house..." She trailed off.
"Where is it Alice?"
"Between Vancover and Juneau. It's perfect. Smack bang in the middle of no-where"
She sounded pleased with herself.
"When are you going?" When were the Cullen's leaving. They had done it to me before, they were doing it again.
"Everything is set Bella. I saw that I needed the house a little while back, back when I could still see... Needless to say it is ready and decorated" I knew that every house in the Various names of the Cullens, would have been decorated multiple times over by Alice.
"Bella, we aren't leaving without you again. You have to come with us"
"But Alice, what about Jake?"
"He is coming too. We'll need to think of some reason why, but he has agreed to come, to coordinate with Carlisle and Tanya"
Wow. Jake had agreed to move away from La Push.
"What about the rest of the pack?"
"The younger ones will stay. The older ones will be coming, but the distance is not too far for them to go-between"
"Are you serious?"
"Come on Bella, I'll be fun! Wait until you see the house! It outdoes the one in Forks a million times over. It's big enough for all of us!"
"It'll be like living in the Dorms Bella!"
Alice had gone completely mad.
"Sure sure. But what do I tell Charlie?"
"That your going to the University of Juneau. Just like you had planned all along. You can do the start of your degree by distance education. You will be sharing a room with me! And mention maybe that Edward is going to Dartmouth Medicine"
She was right to add the last bit. Charlie needed to know that Edward was out of my life for good.
Well, sort of. In the way that Charlie thought, yes he was.
"And what about the Pack?"
"Charlie is going to find out soon"
"Alice, you can't tell him"
"I'm not going to. Sue is"
"Sue?" I spat. What was I missing.
"Well Edward happened to hear Leah slip something about Sue and Charlie"
I gasped. Sue and Charlie?
"What?"
"I know right, the pack really are a soap opera right!"
Typical Alice, always one for a scandal.
"Look in the first draw of your father's dresser. He chose well"
"Night Bella" she said evilly.
It took all that I had not to charge into Charlie's room and demand to know all about it.
But why had he kept this as a secret? He was my dad, surely he could trust me?
It was a little bit hypocritical of me to get angry with Charlie from keeping secrets from me.
He deserved an apology from me, for all the crazy thing's Ive put him through. Running off to Italy, the Dark period, Edward coming back, the motorcycles.
But that was for his own good.
But he was proposing to Sue? They aren't even had a real relationship! A secret one doesen't count. Neither does one with a 109 year old vampire when your human but hey.
I was going to get Leah and Seth as my step brother and sister. Yes to Seth, no thank-you to Leah.
Besides my anger, it was nice that after all this time alone, divorced and married to his job, he had found someone.
Heck, it even made me feel better that when I left for 'College' he would be looked after. Who knows how he survived before I moved in.
I sat down to the breakfast table and Charlie was looking very nervous.
Today must be the Day.
I looked down and Charlie had toasted pop-tarts for me.
This kind of effort generally let me know that Charlie, a man of few words, had an uncharacteristic amount of words on his mind.
For once, I decided to help him out.
"I know Charlie, you don't have to tell me"
"know what?" he said gruffly.
"About Sue and that ring that you have in your drawer upstairs"
He suddenly turned very, very pale.
"Who told you?"
"Never mind who did tell me, why didn't you?" He looked thoroughly uncomfortable.
"Sue wanted to tell Leah first. She thought that she would still be upset, you know about Harry. It's been hard all round, but Leah seems to have taken it the worst"
"Leah already knows dad."
"How do you know that?"
"Just do. And I think that she's just upset that no one has told her."
"Kinda understandable though right?" Charlie was afraid of Leah.
"Yeah, I'll agree with you on that one, but I want you to know that I'm happy for you Dad. Just maybe ignore Leah"
"I'll try Bells"
"So I kinda have something to talk to you about"
"Should I be worried?"
"No. I've decided that I'll be leaving for College"
"Really? What about Jake?" I rolled my eyes. Charlie would be Charlie.
"I don't know yet. I'm still going to Juneau"
He looked at me for a second, disappointed, but with a mixture of surprise.
"What about Edward, he still going to Juneau?"
"No. He's going to go to Dartmouth and study medicine"
He let out a breath that I hadn't realised that he was holding.
"So you're going alone?"
"No, not exactly. Alice is going to come with me instead"
That made Charlie smile. He loved Alice.
"Well I'll be sad to see you go. Seems like I only just got you back" his face crumpled a little bit.
"Charlie, I'll be back. It'll only be a couple of years and I'll be back. Maybe even in La Push" He smiled at my revelation. I shuddered to think what would happen if I didn't come back. But at least then he would know what I wanted, and a little bit of the choice that I had made.
A life with him in it.
And with that he jumped up.
"I'm meeting Sue for breakfast in twenty"
"What was all of this for then?" I notioned to the breakfast.
"All for show. I'm too nervous to eat a thing! I never really proposed to your mother, she proposed to me." He was so pale. But resolute. He loved her.
"Good luck Charlie" I hugged him. I was so relieved that we having this conversation. As much as we both despised emotional displays, he knew that I loved him and supported his choice.
"I'm gonna need it Bells" I laughed.
"No you don't" He blushed.
And with that he released me.
A couple of seconds later, he walked out the door.
Off to propose. I sighed.
Whatever happened here, I was very glad that I had moved to Forks.
In Phoenix, I didn't really live.
I never appreciated the priviledge that it was.
The opening of the front door pulled me out of my thoughts.
Jake smiled, as he walked through into the kitchen.
"Charlie's going to propose" I said, nervously.
"I know" Jake smiled. "Billy told me"
I rushed forward and hugged him tightly. The warmth of his body suddenly made me very aware of every fibre of my own.
We rested there, in peace for a couple of seconds, content at our place in the world.
I knew that I had made the right decision.
Then, Jake pulled me into the lounge and sat down on the arm chair, pulling my onto him in a heap. He laughed at my clumsiness and I pressed my lips to his to stop him from laughing at me. It didn't work though he pushed me back.
"Hey" he said smirking.
"Well if we're 'sucking-face' as Jess put it when she told the world, you can't laugh at me"
He started laughing again.
I trailed light kisses down his neck and down his chest.
He stopped laughing very quickly.
"What's wrong, cat got your tongue?"
I grinned at him and arched my eyebrow.
"When will the mutt jokes stop?"
"Never" I whispered in his ear.
I sat back to face him and I leant forward.
"Shall we do something for Charlie and Billy to really gossip about?"
Jake just looked at me, gobsmacked.
"Fine if you don't want to.." I trailed off, untangling myself.
He quickly grabbed my hands and put them back to where they were around his neck.
"I never said I didn't want to.. You never cease to surprise me Bells"
The movers came at four, after Jake and I had spent the day together.
They took my books, some clothes, all my photos.
Knowing Alice, I already had a new wardrobe and a palatial bedroom, so there wasn't much needed.
Just the things that held sentimental Value.
I was sitting in the middle of my room, looking through pictures of me as a child, that belonged to Charlie.
Jake was looking through another album, sitting on my bed.
I was desperate to know how the proposal had gone.
We thought it would have gone well, but the waiting was killing me.
The screech of tyres alerted me that someone had arrived.
I quickly ran to the window to see a Canary yellow Porsche parked in the driveway.
within seconds, I heard a light, musical knock on the door.
"Hey Alice" I said, slightly more awkward than normal.
"Bella" she looked at me suspiciously.
"Time to put the Dog out" she surmised, sniffing the air. Was I really that bad of an actress? The answer was yes. Yes, Yes, Yes.
"Hello Pixie" Jake said, walking down the stairs.
Realisation dawned on Alice's face. Something was up.
"Both of you to the kitchen now." She pointed, like the mother hen.
"Yes mother" Jake said, mimicking Emmett.
"So, there's no need to guess what you two have been up to" It was a statement, not in the slightest regard a question.
"Now, we've been talking"
"I think that it is most clear that you have been doing more than talking"
"We talked aswell" Jake said.
"Traitor" I spat, but he only smiled.
"Now now" Alice chimed.
"Well, if you'll listen Alice..." I held out my left hand. I shut my eyes tightly. Hearing her reaction would be bad enough, let alone having to watch it.
"EEK! OHMIGODBELLAYES!!" it was the highest pitched screech. It came out all one word.
"I knew it would suit you, I saw it you know"
"You saw it?"
"Yeah I'm getting flashes, better than nothing" she said in distaste.
"Anyways, Alice there are some ground rules"
"Yes! Oh my God Bella, you won't regret this!"
"But I might" Jacob muttered.
"No, I'll make it perfect but you'll still get Bella" He smiled at me when she said that.
"No-one knows, because almost everyone we know will object"
"Pfft who cares what they think! Your getting Married!!!!"
Jake looked at me. "Is she on any medications I should know about?" I laughed. I had always wondered.
"And Alice. We want it to be a surprise. We want it to be a going away party for me, and then we spring the wedding on them Even Charlie"
"Bella, Charlie is your father, you have to tell him"
"Then you tell him" I spat, rather child like.
"No, but you won't need to explain so much when he gets home. He's going to know about all the Pack and the fight Bella. He'll understand why it has to be so soon"
I nodded. I was sure. If all failed from this point forward, I would have done one thing, I would have wanted in my future.
Even if all the time I had left was a couple of weeks.
"Engagement presents"
Alice handed Jake documents that claimed he was 22, a passport, birth certificate and a marriage liscence.
"It's only valid for two weeks" She smiled.
"You'll have to be quick then, won't you" Jake said smugly.
I looked down at my beautiful pear shaped diamond ring that sat on my ring finger now and up at My fiancé.
Yes, I was doing the right thing.
Jake said that he would wait around for Charlie to come home, as did Alice. They each represented one thing that Charlie now knew.
I grinned at the thought of Sue telling Charlie.
I bet that it was much worse than the first time I found out.
But then again, I did already know about the Vampires. The Werewolves didn't come as so much of a shock.
We sat around, watching movies, that no-one really paid attention to.
Then Alice jumped up.
"He's coming!"
"Hide me!" I said, jumping behind Jake.
"Oh no you do not!" Alice said, marching me out from behind Jake, to stand front and centre.
He seemed to take forever to park the cruiser and trudge up the path.
The door opened to Charlie, lookng exhausted.
"How long have you known?" he said, void of emotion.
"All along" I said, not knowing the exact question, but I knew that that was the answer to all of them.
He huffed, Ignoring Alice and Jake.
"And here I was thinking you were perfectly behaved!"
"She is perfectly behaved Charlie" Alice stepped in. "I know that it is a lot to take in."
"And Billy was right about the Cullens!"
"It's bound to happen sometime" Jake said, stepping forward to put his arm around me.
"And the fight? Is it really necessary?"
"I wish it wasn't Charlie" Alice grimaced.
"When will it be?"
"Soon Charlie, very soon"
"Their getting married!" Alice said, before either of us could stop her. She was jumping up and down. Charlie looked at us in disbelief.
"I want to marry her Charlie, I know it's far too soon, but I wouldn't void you and Billy the chance to see that" And take the credit for it. I thought to myself.
"Your coming back, right?" Charlie said, completely forgetting to be mad about the wedding.
"I hope so Charlie, but it will be the fight of a lifetime. I'm not taking chances" Jake looked grim.
"I guess I can respect that, so when is it?"
"The next week or so? However long it takes Alice to organise."
He was a little stunned.
"I'mm sorry that you had to be involved in this Dad." I was close to tears.
He rushed forward and hugged me,
"Bella, it's nice to finally understand. So many decisions that you have made. But I'm certainly not going to condone them"
"We're sorry that we didn't protect her from our world Charlie"
Alice hugged him and he looked very uncomfortable, but he couldn't stay mad at Alice for long, human or not.
"I don't want to know what you are, that you aren't human is enough Alice"
So he hadn't been told the whole truth then. He probably thought she phased into an animal too. Better than knowing the truth, I thought.
"I don't want to see either of you two do that though. Seth showed me and.." He shuddered.
"Everything is going to be fine Charlie"
"You promise?" he said, narrowing his eyes.
"Sure I do" she said proudly, oddly confident.
"How can you be so sure?" he said, apparently my pessimism hadn't come out of thin air.
"Just am" She smilled angelicly. Apparently they hadn't informed him on the area off special abilities.
Charlie huffed again. He was starting to get grumpy.
But it was worth it.
It had distracted him from the fact that I was getting married.
He hadn't even mentioned it.
But I spose he got all of that out of his system the first time around.
****
A/N sorry! Sorry I have been MIA for so long! But now I'm back, the action will start to happen!
I know, it's not necessarily the conventional way to get engaged, but if the supernatural world was out to get you, who knows right?
Let me know what you think.
I'm open to suggestions in this story, I know where I want it to go it's just the matter of getting it there.....
Anyways R&R please!