Okay guys! I know I left you with a cliffy last time and so I couldn't keep you guys hanging for long. I have an idea of where this is going to go and you should know Bella's secret either next chapter or the chapter after that. However, I don't know how many chapters are going to be left. There's still a huge issue after B&E get together, and I don't know how many chapters it will take to resolve that (it's not a problem between B&E. Once they get together, they'll be together for good). And so, without further adieu, CHAPTER EIGHT!

Disclaimer in chapters one and two.

"Dad?!"

He turned to look at me, looking exhausted, and a smile took over his face.

"Bella," he spoke softly, I could tell he was physically and emotionally worn out.

I was way too shocked to say anything. I didn't know what to do, I didn't know what to think, I didn't even know what to feel.

I opened my mouth to say something, but closed it quickly after realizing my mind was completely blank at the moment.

"Charles," my mom spoke firmly while crossing her arms and putting all her weight on one foot, "I think it's best you leave."

I could tell her somewhat calm –for the current situation we were in- tone was forced.

How did he find us? Why did he come back? Why was he acting completely different? There were so many questions floating through my mind at the moment, I couldn't even comprehend half of them.

He turned his face more towards my mother and his smile faded a bit.

"Listen Renee, I know I made a mistake in leaving, but can you please just listen to what I have to say? I think you owe me that much."

I winced. I knew that my mom wouldn't appreciate that last comment.

"I cannot believe you! What makes you think I owe you anything? You walked out on us when we needed you the most. You just packed your bags and left. Do you know how much hell we went through after you took off? If anything, you owe me," my mom yelled at my dad.

I felt uncomfortable but at least I was able to sort out my emotions. I was happy my dad was back –even if it was only for a short time. But, because he left us and caused so much misery, I felt guilty about feeling happy he was here. This man deserted his family at the first sign of trouble. I shouldn't be happy to see him.



"Then Renee, let me talk to you. Let me have just a few minutes to tell you why I came," his tone was a lot calmer than my mother's.

I knew my mom still loved my dad. When he left, she was completely heartbroken. She refused to even think about dating another man; however he had hurt her so deeply, she wasn't going to forgive him easily.

She stood there a few minutes, her breathing was obviously returning to more normal speed, as she contemplated what she should do in this completely unexpected, awkward situation.

"Please," my dad whispered.

"Fine. I'll give you fifteen minutes. But I'm not promising anything," she added while jabbing a finger in his direction.

"That's all I'm asking," he claimed as he sat himself down in his old recliner.

I realized I was still standing in the entry of the living room and staring openmouthed at the scene playing out before my eyes.

Tiredly, my mother patted the seat next to her on the couch, "Bella, sweetie, I think you need to hear this too. I think this is now your business as well."

I hesitantly made my way over and sat as close to my mom as possible. I felt the need to be close to somebody I felt comfortable with.

However, when my mom wrapped her arms around me- almost as if she were shielding me from my dad- I couldn't help but briefly wish it was someone else's arms going around me.

I quickly shook this thought, however, when my dad started talking.

"I'm guessing you got the note I left for you guys when I left," he stated while staring at the floor.

I felt my mother stiffen beside me at mention of the note.

"Yes," her reply was short.

"Then I guess you already know why I did it," he was still sullen.

"Yes," my mother repeated curtly.

"I'm so sorry, but you have to understand why. I was an executive businessman with a reputation. If anyone found out about what really happened, it would ruin my reputation. We lived in a small town and news would've spread. I just didn't want to be seen as being…that way."



My jaw had dropped somewhere in the middle of his speech. I could not believe him. This was not the same man who had raised me. He had changed.

"I cannot believe you! So what if you were an executive businessman? The situation was bad for all of us. I cannot believe you would ditch your family, who was there for you way before you were a businessman, because you were afraid of your reputation at work. Did you even stop to think about us? How hard this was for all of us- especially Bella? No. You just take off without leaving anything to help. We had nothing, Charlie. NOTHING! We moved, of course, to avoid rumors and such, but we had to stay in a shack until I earned enough money to buy us a decent house here," my mother shouted at my father.

"Renee, I didn't come here to fight. I explained myself and you explained yourself, so can we now have a somewhat rational conversation about why I came here?" His voice was calm. I was surprised. He must really be desperate to stay with us if he's making an extra effort to restrain his temper.

"What exactly do you want to talk about, Charlie?" my mother asked in an exasperated tone.

"I want to move back in with you. I want us to be a family again," he got straight to the point.

I still hadn't spoken a word, and this time my mom looked speechless too.

"What made you come back now?" I could tell my mother was desperately hoping this would work out, but really hesitant about it at the same time.

"I missed you guys," I could tell he was hiding something. There was another reason he was back. I inherited my lying skills from my dad. I knew when he was lying.

My mother, however, looked ready to accept his answer.

So I cut in.

"What's the real reason?" I asked with narrowed eyes.

My mom looked down at me stunned. I think she had forgotten that I was even there.

"What?" my dad inquired at the same time my mom leaned down and whispered in my ear, "What are you doing?!"

I kept my eyes on my father. I was not going to let my poor mother –who would believe anything my dad said in order to have him back- fall into his trap.

"I know when you're lying, Charlie. You suck at it. I inherited that from you, I guess. Now, what's the real reason you're back?"



He stared at me with a sad look on his face and his mouth open. He kept opening his mouth, as if to say something, and then quickly shutting it again.

He reminded me of a fish.

I don't think my mom knew exactly what to do. She wanted what he was saying to be true but at the same time I knew she could tell that it wasn't. However, I think she was tricking herself into seeing what she wanted to see.

After a few long moments of silence, my dad admitted defeat. He sharply exhaled and slouched his shoulders. Looking down at the ground, he ran his hand through his hair and then quickly looked back up.

"I lost everything," he admits quietly.

My mom gasped and her hand flew up to her mouth.

"After I left and got a new job, I went out drinking with some buddies one night. He introduced me to his friend who was running an illegal poker ring on the second floor of the bar we went to. I guess I had a lucky night because I won almost double what I bet.

"It became sort of a habit and I kept going back to see if I could get more money. Pretty soon, it became much more than a pastime. It became an addiction. And I slowly lost everything I had won and everything I had before too. My house and other car were repossessed last month. I'm just glad I had the Mustang paid off or I would've been in deep shit.

"It took me forever to find you guys. I started looking back in Phoenix but you guys weren't there. I had given up hope and was heading back up to western Washington, where I had been living, when I overheard a guy in a bar talking about his new coworker, Renee. After making sure it was really you, I explained to him that I was your husband and he gave me directions to your house," I could have sworn I saw tears glistening in his eyes.

So that was the real reason he came back. He needed money; or at least a roof over his head.

I knew it was too good to be true.

I felt my phone vibrating and looked down to see Edward's name pop up on the screen. As much as I wanted to talk to him right now, I knew it would have to wait.

I quickly clicked the 'end' button on the phone and turned it off, putting it on the table.

I turned back to my mom to see what her reaction to this information would be.

It took a while for all the information we had just been given to process.

But when it did, she was furious.



"Get out of my house, right now!"

He looked momentarily stunned at the outburst.

"Hello?! Did you hear me? I said get out!" she asked him in a mocking tone.

"What?" he looked like a little boy who had just lost his puppy.

"We were your family, Charlie. You're FAMILY for crying out loud. Families are supposed to stick together through the rough times and not let anything push them apart! They're there for each other all the time. Not just when it's convenient. I worked hard for this money and I'm not going to use it to support your gambling addiction!" she walked over to her purse and grabbed her wallet out. She then stuffed several bills into his hand. "Take this. Use it to get a hotel room. Hell, gamble it away for all I care, but you are not staying in my house!"

"I want to see the baby," I was surprised at how random his statement was.

"Excuse me?" my mother asked incredulously.

"I want to see the baby. It's part of my flesh and blood. I deserve to see it," he replied calmly.

"You expect me to let you see Chase after everything you've put this family through?"

"So it was a boy?" he asked with a hint of excitement in his voice.

"Get out," my mom spat.

"But—"

"Get the hell out of my house, Charlie, or so help me God!" she cried while rubbing her temples.

He didn't move. I don't think he could if he tried.

Hell, I couldn't if I tried.

"I'll call the police if you're not off my property in five seconds,"

That got his attention.

As soon as he was out the door, my mom collapsed on the floor, sobs racking her body.

Panicking, I rushed over and kneeled down next to her. I threw my arms around her shoulders and held her until her tears were all dried up.

I felt the urge to break down myself but I had to be strong for my mom. It was my turn to comfort her.

As her sobs died down, I loosened my hold on her.



"Are you okay, Mom?" I asked softly, hesitantly.

She nodded. "I'll be fine. I just can't believe him. He's not the same anymore. I don't know what happened," she whispered.

"I know, Mom. Trust me. I know."

"Thank you so much, sweetie. If you hadn't seen through his charade, who knows what would've ended up happening,"

"It's no problem, Mom. Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

She stood up, me following shortly after.

"You know what? I think we're better off without him anyway. Look how much trouble he's caused. We don't need that on top of our already hectic lives. We deserve better," she said this rather confidently and I was both stunned and pleased.

She was going to move on. She got the closure she needed and she was ready to forget my dad and his asshole ways and move on.

After my mom and I had finished our discussion, and she had decided to head up to bed, I grabbed my cell phone and headed up to bed myself.

I got to my room and turned on my cell phone to see I had three new voicemails.

The first was from Edward.

"Hey Bella. It's Edward. I just wanted to see if everything was okay. You kind of rushed out of the car pretty fast and I didn't get a chance to ask you what was wrong. I noticed the strange car in your driveway. Call me when you get this, please."

The second was from Edward.

"Hey Bella, it's me again. It's been a while since I called and you still haven't called back so I was just calling to make sure you got my first message. Call me when you get this. This is kind of worrying me. You turned your phone off."

And the third one, was from--you guessed it—Edward.

"I know you're probably getting annoyed at me for calling so much, but I'm just kind of worried. You seemed really frantic when you got out of the car and I don't know what to think. I'm probably overreacting. So, just call me and let me know everything's okay. Talk to you later."

I immediately felt guilty for making Edward worry. Of course he had no idea what was going on. I'm sure I acted like a lunatic earlier today.



I quickly scrolled through my contacts and called Edward's number.

"Bella?" he answered, his voice frantic and hopeful.

I smiled at his kindness. "Yes. Sorry I didn't call you earlier. I had sort of a, uh, family emergency."

"Is everything all right? Is Chase hurt? Is your mom okay?" I was touched at how caring he was.

"No. Nobody's hurt. Physically at least," I chuckled dryly

"Well, what happened? If you don't mind me asking, that is."

"You know that car parked out in front of my house?" I asked him.

"Yeah."

"That was my dad."

"Oh my God. What did he want? Is he moving back in with you?" he didn't seem to like that idea.

"No. He claimed that he came back because he missed us but it turns out he really had a gambling problem and lost everything he owned. He needed a place to stay," I'm sure he can sense the distaste in my voice.

His voice lowered noticeably, "Oh, Bella. I'm so sorry."

And I can tell he genuinely is.

"No. It's fine. My mom was a little heartbroken at first. She still loved him. But she now realizes she needs to move on. I'm proud of her," I say with a small smile, thinking back to the conversation I had with my mom earlier.

"And what about you?" his tone is still compassionate.

"I'm fine," I say.

And I'm not sure if I'm lying or not.

As I start to replay what happened with my dad, I realize that the reason my dad left is my fault. My mom's obvious heartbreak is my fault. The distress everyone is going through at the moment- my dad and Edward included- is my fault.

"Edward," I say, my voice breaking slightly.

He notices. "What's wrong?"



"I just need to have a good cry. Can I just talk to you tomorrow at school?" I ask. Though I'm rather reluctant to let him go, I know I can't hold back my tears for much longer. I wish he was here to comfort me, but I know I could never ask him to do such a thing.

Almost as if reading my mind, Edward replies, "Would you like me to come over? You don't have to talk to me about anything, but I know it helps me to have someone there just in case."

Almost immediately, I answer, "Yes! I would appreciate that so, so much."

"I'll be over in two minutes."

"Wait! I don't know if my mom's asleep or not yet and I think the front door would wake her."

"Don't worry, I know another way," he says as he hangs up.

Within a few minutes, Edward is climbing through my window, and I'm already sobbing on my bed.

He wraps his arms around me and holds me close to his chest while whispering encouraging words into my ear until my tears run out.

"Shh, Bella. Shhh. Everything is going to be all right. I promise."

And despite all the self loathing thoughts floating around in my head, his touch and voice comfort me and I am able to fall asleep.

But not before he puts his lips to my forehead and whispers, "Goodnight Bella. Sweet dreams. I'll see you when you wake."

Yay! This chapter was so much fun to write. I hope I did okay. Kind of angsty, but it gets better. Isn't Edward amazing? I just love him. So does Bella . Okay, so I'm pretty sure this is my longest chapter and I'm pretty proud of it. However, I want to know your opinions so….

REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!

Oh, and P.S. ONE WEEK UNTIL BREAKING DAWN!