Jailward is back! It's only been a few days since the last update, and I hope you are as excited as I am to read what's next. Charlie was screaming in my head to tell his story.
Thank you for all the lovely reviews. I cherish every one and I'm making an effort to answer them all. Thanks again.
Special thanks to Jensy, my beta goddess. She works miracles and had this chapter back in 8hrs. Thank you bb!
Grab a kleenex and come aboard the angst express!
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BPOV
My epic make-out session with Edward certainly added a spring to my step. Alice and Rose came by to reclaim Rose's car and they knew something wonderful had happened the moment they saw me.
"Spill it, Bella!" leapt out of Alice's mouth as I opened my front door.
"Who says I have anything exciting to share?"
"Cut the crap. I haven't seen you smile like that since you moved to this god-forsaken town. You saw Edward today and something good must have happened."
"She's right, you know," Rose agreed nonchalantly. "You look like you're about to burst."
So I did what every other seventeen year-old girl does after kissing her boyfriend for the first time. I told my best friends all about it.
The girls oohed and aaahed as I described Edward's kisses. I did keep some things to myself, like the feel of Edward's erection pulsing against my stomach. They didn't need to know everything, after all.
Charlie came home as we giggled together in the living room. After mentioning several times over the summer how he wished I had more friends, he seemed genuinely pleased to see Alice and Rose.
Ever the charmer, Rose hopped off the couch and hugged a very startled Charlie.
"Hi Chief Swan. We came to check on Bella and to bring over her missed assignments."
Rose batted her eyelashes lovingly at my father and he was completely disarmed by her feigned innocence. Rose was a professional. I could learn a thing or two from her about how to work over parents to get what you want.
"Um, hi girls. Bells, are you feeling better?"
"Yeah dad. I feel much better. The cramps seemed to have passed, and the bloating is gone too."
I couldn't help myself. Charlie's face was priceless. He looked like he might throw up.
"Well, I'm glad you're back to normal. I figured you wouldn't want to cook tonight, so we can head out to the diner after your friends leave."
"Sure Dad, that sounds great."
Charlie, still appearing uncomfortable, darted quickly out of the room.
Rose and Alice laughed with me before they headed home. I spent the evening eating with my dad, though in my daydreaming mind I was with Edward Masen the whole night.
The rest of the week flew by and I kept busy at school. Edward and I exchanged several emails, and he always managed to put a smile on my face.
On Friday night I spent the night at Rose's house, where we made brownies for Edward and Jasper. Rose may have acted as if she disliked her brother, but she really was a softie, always bringing him a treat when she visited him.
Rose drove us to visitation on Saturday, and Edward and I spent the entire hour touching as much as possible, careful to avoid the prying eyes of the officers. It was difficult to be so close to him and not be able to actually do anything. It's amazing how I was able to go almost eighteen years with no kisses whatsoever, and now after only three days, I thought I might die without the touch of his lips on mine.
I would involuntarily lick my lips as we made eye contact and I could see in his eyes how difficult it was for him not to attack me right then and there. I did sneak in two chaste kisses before he was escorted away. They weren't near enough, but they would get me through until the next time I could visit him.
It wasn't long before Jasper was released from Meyer. Rose and Alice were so excited to have him back, and though I was happy for Jasper, I could not deny the twinge of sadness I felt, knowing that Edward would be losing a good friend on the inside.
It didn't take Jasper long to get back in the swing of things at Forks High. He was an instant celebrity and several girls followed him around like the paparazzi. He seemed to dig the attention, but did not appear to be romantically interested in any of his admirers.
Alice continued to hide her feelings for Jasper, simultaneously pretending to ignore him altogether while also shooting death stares at his groupies. It was comical, and I was almost to the point of telling Jasper myself about Alice's true feelings.
When Jasper began eating lunch with us, I enjoyed his presence immediately. He was sweet and funny; I could certainly see why Alice was in love with him as well as why Edward had trusted him so quickly.
I couldn't help but feel like Jasper was my impromptu body guard because it seemed he was always around when I dropped my books or tripped in the hall. The morning I accidentally locked my keys in the truck, Jasper swooped in to pop the lock and retrieve my keys before I even had a chance to ask for help. A part of me sensed who Jasper was doing this for, and that made me love Edward a little more.
My birthday was approaching and I had yet to tell Edward about it. I honestly never thought to mention it to him until a few days before, and by then it seemed tacky to say "Hey Edward, guess what? My birthday is tomorrow." It just seemed self-serving and I didn't want him to feel obligated to get me a gift. It's not like they had gift shops in juvenile detention. And honestly, the only gift I really wanted couldn't be bought in a store.
I was reminded that I had no idea when Edward's birthday was and I made a mental note to ask him the next time I saw him.
I was forced to skip visiting Edward the Saturday before my birthday. I was really bummed about it, but my dad had made plans for us with Billy and Jacob Black. I had hardly seen Jacob since school started and I knew I had been neglecting our friendship. We grilled out at their house—Jacob and I caught up on each other's lives while our dads watched football.
I told Jacob all about Rose and Alice, but conveniently left out my visits to Edward. He wouldn't understand and I feared he would tell my dad. Jacob didn't seem to suspect anything and it was nice spending some time with him.
It was the Wednesday before my birthday and I was surprised to find Charlie home from work. I could only remember one other time that he gotten home before me, and I was filled with concern that something was wrong when I saw his cruiser in the driveway.
"Dad? Is everything okay?" I shouted as I walked through the front door.
He didn't answer, so I threw down my backpack and walked into the kitchen. He was sitting at the table and on his face was a look I had never really seen from him before: anger.
"Dad, what's wrong?"
He didn't say one word, instead sliding an envelope across the table towards me.
I was filled with nausea as I saw the words Meyer Juvenile Detention Center typed in bold across the top of the envelope.
Finally he spoke. "Bella, I need you to explain this to me. Apparently they seem to have you down as a registered visitor to Edward Masen. I thought it must be some mistake, but then I called and they informed me that you have been to Meyer to visit inmate Masen thirteen times since he was incarcerated."
I panicked. This was bad.
"Dad, let me explain."
"Explain what, Bella? That you have been lying to me for weeks about your whereabouts? That you have been driving several hours to visit a violent inmate? That you purposely defied my wishes and initiated contact with someone I specifically forbade you from seeing?"
I didn't think Charlie had ever spoken so many words to me in a single day, much less in a single conversation. I was terrified—I had never seen him so upset. Though my voice was trembling, my words conveyed my passion.
"Dad, Edward's my friend. He's in prison because of me. He saved my life! Why can't you see that? He could have walked away and let those guys kill me, but he didn't. He put himself in danger to save me."
I was speaking frantically, feeling the walls of despair crashing down on me. I was screwed. My days of visiting Edward were over. I had to do something, anything, to make Charlie see beyond his jaded vision of Edward.
"He's violent and unpredictable, Bella. And I asked you to stay away from him."
I had always considered my father's issues with Edward to be ridiculous and frankly I had had enough.
"He's not violent! I don't understand where you are getting this from. You can't tell me you wouldn't have reacted in the exact same manner as Edward if you had stumbled upon those men assaulting me. You would have killed those guys, and you know it!"
I had started crying at some point and I could feel the tears running down my face. I wasn't losing Edward without a fight. Charlie was silent for a few moments, like he was pondering my words. I had never spoken to him this way and I'm sure he never expected me to begin shouting at him.
"I bet your knight in shining armor has never told you about his family, or his past, am I right?"
"I know his parents are dead and that he was shuffled through foster care since he was ten. Why?"
Charlie got up from the table and grabbed my arm, pulling me towards the front door.
"Dad. Where are we going?"
"It's time you learned a little more about Edward Masen."
We drove silently to the station. I was extremely annoyed with my father, and I couldn't imagine there would be anything he could show me that would change my feelings towards Edward. I knew in my heart that he loved me and that he would never do anything to hurt me. My father was overreacting, plain and simple.
The station was quiet, with only one officer on duty. Charlie led me to his office and told me to sit down. He disappeared for a few moments and came back with a thick green folder labeled "Masen, Edward". He opened it and pulled out a smaller manila folder stuffed with papers. He sat those down on the desk and ordered me to read.
The papers were photocopied pages of a criminal record of Edward Masen Sr. I assumed this was Edward's father. There was a fuzzy picture of a man in his late twenties and I couldn't help but notice the resemblance Edward had with his father. The disheveled head of hair seemed to be hereditary. His father was handsome, but his eyes portrayed a coldness I had never seen in Edward's.
The senior Masen had accumulated multiple charges of assault as a teenager. Several years passed without any incident, but then he was arrested three times between 1997 and 1998. All the charges were for domestic assault and one was for assault of a minor. There were descriptions of the bruises and wounds found on the bodies of the victims and I was nauseous from the knowledge that Edward's own father was responsible for causing him such pain. Had anyone ever shown him love? I made a mental note to tell him I loved him more often.
Since Edward's dad was in the military, the cases were transferred to the US Army at some point, leaving no information in the civilian police files as to what happened after the arrests. The last few pages of the file were of a homicide investigation from 1998. I noticed immediately the names Elizabeth and Edward Masen as the victims.
I had figured his parents had died in an accident of some sort and was shocked to read that Edward's mother had been killed by her own husband, who had then committed suicide. My tears flowed freely as I read that Elizabeth had been seven months pregnant, and then I began bawling when I learned that Edward apparently had witnessed the entire event.
I felt like I was going to be sick and I closed the file, unable to read another word. Why did my dad insist I read this? What did this prove? Edward had been a victim his entire life. If nothing else, I would think this would make my dad feel bad for the cards Edward had been dealt.
"I can't read anymore, Dad. This is horrifying. What is this supposed to prove, anyhow?"
He laid down a second file on the desk. "Read it," he ordered, flatly.
If my father considered this to be punishment for defying him, it was working. I had no desire to see what horrors lay within that second manila folder. Feeling my dad's hard gaze on me, I opened the file.
It was the criminal record of an Anthony Masen, who appeared to be Edward's paternal grandfather. His rap sheet was pages long. He had been in and out of jail his entire life. He had several charges of assault, armed robbery, and attempted murder. He had been sentenced to life in prison at age thirty-five, after killing four men in a drunken brawl at a bar in Chicago. He had died in a prison fight several years later.
Shutting the folder, I slid it across the desk, towards my father.
"Okay, Dad. What is the point of showing me Edward's tragic family history?"
"Did you notice a trend, Bella?" Not waiting for an answer, he continued.
"The men in Edward's family seem to have a problem with controlling their temper and resorting to violence. After what happened in Port Angeles, it appears that trait was passed on to your friend. He's a danger and I won't have you getting involved with him. He's a ticking time bomb and one day his victim is going to be someone close to him."
Unbelievable. My father was delusional. So this was the reason he didn't want me to see Edward? There was no way in hell he was going to use this unfair guilt-by-association technique as a reason to keep me away from him.
"Dad. This is ridiculous. How can you blame Edward for the sins of his father and grandfather? These events have nothing to do with the man Edward has become. I can't believe you could judge him this way. If I recall, your father was an alcoholic. Does that give people the right to go ahead and write you off as a drunk? Should I start pouring out your beer to prevent your obvious binge drinking?"
My voice became a bit snide as I continued, "You are bound to become as dependent on alcohol as your father, Dad. I guess that means I must be sneaking airplane bottles of rum into school every day, because my grandfather was a drunk."
"Bella, that isn't the same thing."
"Yes it is, Charlie. I'm sick of you judging Edward and I'm sick of hiding how I feel about him. Guess what, Charlie? I love him. There, I said it. I love him. He loves me too. It's going to take a lot more than a bunch of old criminal files to make me change my mind about him."
I ignored the scandalized expression on my dad's face, forging on, "Edward Masen has the most genuine soul I have ever seen. He has been tormented his entire life and yet all he wants is to be loved and to do something good with his life. He was well on his way to getting out of Forks and going off to college where he could get a fresh start, but he sacrificed it all. He sacrificed it all for ME. He put his entire future on the line to keep those men from hurting me. Did he over react somewhat by killing them? Yeah, probably. Does he feel guilty for ending the lives of three people? Yes he does."
I drew a deep breath, and continued my rant. "He's not a monster, Dad. And you know damn well you would have killed those men too if you had been there. The only difference is, you are a man with a badge and you would have walked away scot-free. Edward was just some poor foster kid with no one on his side, so he got the book thrown at him.
"You should be thanking Edward Masen for what he did. You should thank him for bringing a ray of sunshine into the life of your daughter. You can't forbid me from seeing him, Dad. I'll be eighteen tomorrow and I don't need your permission to see him. I love him and I'm not turning my back on him. There is nothing you can do to stop me from seeing him."
I was embroiled in such an emotional rage that I hadn't really paid attention to my dad through the entire outburst. I closed my eyes for a moment and I was startled by the sounds of my father crying.
I glanced at my dad and he looked terrible. He was sobbing into his hands, letting out a pitiful moan. I had never seen my father cry. He rarely displayed any emotion at all and though I was angry with him, I was now fighting off the urge to comfort him. Finally his sobbing ceased and he looked up at me with red eyes.
"Bella. I've handled this situation so badly. I'm your father. I'm the one who is supposed to protect you and keep you safe."
He sighed, looking regretful. "You've lived thousands of miles away from me your entire life, and I've always felt second best to your mother. I could tell you never wanted to come visit, and that you couldn't wait to get out of Forks after the two weeks were up. It made me feel like a terrible father to see how unhappy you were to visit me. That's why I was okay spending a couple of weeks in California with you every year. You seemed happier that way and I thought maybe you would grow to love me a little more if you enjoyed yourself."
"Dad, I—"
"Let me finish. When your mother called and said you wanted to come and live with me last year, it was one of the happiest days of my life. I finally had my little girl back. I couldn't wait to get to know the woman you've become. And having you here has been wonderful. I know I'm not very social and that I have to spend a lot of time at the station, but never doubt how much I love you."
He paused, and the muscles lining his jaw rippled. "Last spring, when you were attacked . . . I felt like a complete failure. I was supposed to be the one to keep you safe, not some kid. I guess I just resented him for doing what I considered to be my job. Then I saw his history and that his father and grandfather were murderers, and I just freaked. I would die if anything happened to you, Bella. I was just trying to keep you safe. But I can see now, I've gone about it all wrong."
The love I felt for Charlie right then and there was overwhelming.
I made my way over to my father and we embraced. My dad wasn't the touchy feely type and I couldn't remember ever feeling him wrap his arms around me so tightly. We held each other for a few minutes, both of us crying.
I pulled back, staring into his brown eyes; brown, like my own. "Dad, you should meet Edward. Get to know him. He's really a good guy. He doesn't belong in Meyer. He belongs with a family that loves him and supports him. I can see from the file you showed me that he's never had that. Get to know him. It would mean a lot to me, and I think you would be surprised at what you may find."
"We'll see, Bella. You aren't totally off the hook, by the way."
Shit. I totally thought I had him disarmed.
"I'm still angry with you for forging my signature on an official document, as well as lying to me about visiting Edward."
"But Dad! You never would have signed that slip."
"You're right, I wouldn't have. But I'm still the parent here, Bella, and I'm not thrilled by your dishonest behavior. You're grounded for a month."
My jaw dropped but he ignored my shocked reaction, continuing to lay down the law: "No visits to see Edward and no visits to see your friends, since I am quite sure Rosalie Hale and Alice Cullen were in on your little trips to Meyer. And Jasper Hale is hardly a good influence for you either."
He just kept going. "In a month we can discuss the Edward Masen situation and figure out how we are going to handle it. I'm not pleased by your admission that you have romantic feelings for that boy, but I'm willing to come to some sort of an agreement with you about him, if you can prove to me over the next month that you can behave like a trustworthy adult. "
His words were bittersweet. He might allow me to continue my romance with Edward, which was awesome! However, I was grounded for a month, which meant no Edward for an inordinately long amount of time. The thought of being separated from him for thirty whole days was heartbreaking. I had become so dependent on his smiles, his touches, and kisses. A month would seem like forever to me.
However, I would obey Charlie's wishes. He was rightfully angry with me for lying, and I knew that if I disobeyed him this time, I could kiss my relationship with Edward goodbye. This Edward-hiatus would be difficult, but at least I had email and maybe even the phone to get me through it. Charlie never said I couldn't call Edward.
I had a difficult time sleeping that night, thinking of Edward and how he had witnessed the violent deaths of his parents. I wondered if there were other horrors he was hiding from me. I hoped he would eventually open up to me about his past, but I wouldn't push him, especially since I couldn't say that I would be eager to share such horrors if the tables were turned.
The next morning I awoke and noticed that Charlie was already gone for the day. I found that odd, since he wasn't scheduled to work until noon, but didn't question it as I went to school.
My birthday was only one day away and the only gift I really wanted was sitting alone in a cell at Meyer Juvenile Detention Center.
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Whew. What an emotional chapter. I hope this answered some questions and as you can see, Charlie did mean well. He needed a kick to the pants and Bella wasn't afraid to do it. I wonder why Charlie left home before Bella got up? hmmm.
Reviews are love.
Also, thank you to those who nominated Visitation for the Twilight Indie Awards. I am beyone flattered. I was nominated for Best AU/Human WIP and Most Original Storyline. Voting starts July 8th, so go and vote for your faves!
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