There was no bother from Charlie during Bella's sound sleeping, so I had nothing to worry about. The sun was casting its dim lighting into the sky before the clouds devoured it. Bella stretched her arms outward as she rolled in the direction opposite of me. "Good morning." I said with a smile. Bella turned to look at me with narrow sleepy eyes as she smiled back. "You know the drill by now." Bella joked lightly as she got up and headed towards the bathroom again. Without alarming Bella, I left the house and returned to my car that was hidden out of sight from Charlie's home. I entered my car and slowly paved my way towards Charlie's house. I pulled up the front and parked. Oddly enough Charlie happened to be awake pacing inside the house. I knew he intended to answer the door when I knocked, so I wasn't going to hold anything up. I got out of my car and made my way to the front door. I knocked on the door a few times and Charlie was on his way to greeting me. For better or worse. Charlie opened the door and looked at me with no expression. "Hi sir. I'm sorry about what happened before." I said sincerely. Charlie's expression didn't change from his plain face.
"Forgotten. Bella's in the bathroom right now." Charlie pointed behind him.
"You can wait for her in the living room before I explain how things are going to happen today." Charlie gestured me to come in. I just walked in quietly and placed myself on the couch. Charlie didn't waste any time to follow my example and put himself on the couch as well. I kept my focus dead on the clock while Charlie turned on the television. The volume of the television didn't break the awkward silence between Charlie and me because he had it on low. He kept his focus on the television but I knew he was really paying closer attention to my actions at that time. A door opened and closed upstairs. Charlie looked in the direction and I only shifted my eyes to the right. "Down here, Bells. Edward's waiting." Charlie said calmly. Bella climbed down the stairs and looked at Charlie and me sitting on the couches. She walked towards us and stopped next to me. "Would you like to take a seat before I explain things, Bells?" Charlie asked. "I'm fine with standing." Bella said as she tapped my shoulders lightly. Charlie looked at me with an annoyed face. "This mostly surrounds what Bella can actually do for these next 7 days." Charlie said directly to me. I tried to keep my face interested as if I didn't already know. "Bella is not allowed to leave the house for 7 days, which means you aren't able to take her out anywhere." Charlie said still locked on me.
"That's fine with me, sir." I said seriously.
I glanced at Bella and she looked annoyed at the decision, but she wasn't getting completely shut off at least. "That's not all. Your time here is to be monitored by me." Charlie added. Bella didn't seem to want to stay in the area anymore at this point, so she changed the subject as best she could. "I'm going to make breakfast." Bella said while walking out. I nodded in agreement with Charlie and he turned his head to look at the television again. "Can you give me a hand, Edward?" Bella asked loudly. I got up from my chair and looked at Charlie for some kind of signal. He waved his hand towards the kitchen and revealed his attention doesn't extend to the kitchen very much. I walked towards the kitchen and made it in to see Bella waiting while leaning on the table's edge. "What did you need help with?" I asked curious. "I just needed you to be here. It makes things easier on me." Bella admitted with a smile. "That's good. I'm certain I'm not of much use in the kitchen after my last example." I smiled back and then sat in the kitchen chair. Bella laughed lightly and began to prepare eggs and bacon yet again. Bella finished making the food and Charlie had his share soon after. She placed herself on the table again to eat her share.
"That looks really disgusting." I said with a disgusted face.
"Oh and your meal is appealing to me?" Bella said jokingly. She finished her food and put her plate away. I got up from the chair and we both exited out of the kitchen. Bella stopped and was thinking of something by the looks of her face. "Hey dad?" Bella said curious. Charlie turned off the television and shifted his attention to both Bella and I. "Yeah, Bells?" Charlie waited also curious. "Is there any way we can go outside? I feel a bit… closed up in here." Bella said pleading. "Sure you can." Charlie said blankly. "Thanks dad." Bella said as she guided me to the front door. "I'm coming along too." Charlie added as he got up from his chair. Bella lowly grunted and exited outside with me. Charlie followed shortly after. It was closely watched like this for the next 6 days, as Bella seemed to be counting the days by alarming me each time I came over. We've finally passed Bella's last days of restrictions and she was more than eager to leave the house when I came over. Bella nudged me out of the door as soon as she answered. "Bye dad!" Bella said with excitement.
"Bye bells. I hope you've learned something." Charlie said with confidence.
I laughed as I walked her to my car and we climbed in. "So where to?' I asked curious. "I don't care! Let's just go somewhere!" Bella said very excited. "I guess for now we'll go for a drive until you can make up your mind." I smiled. We pulled onto the road and I kept my speed at 40 due to the lasting effects of Bella's punishment rubbing off on me. "Let's go see a movie?" Bella said with curious eyes. "Sure. Do you have one in mind?" I asked. "Not really. Let's decide when we get there." Bella still sounded overly excited. We eventually made it to the theatre and Bella jumped out of the car when we pulled to a stop. She ran around the car and put her arm around mine. We both walked up to the ticket booth and looked at what we could possibly watch at the time. "Can I help you?" The lady said bitterly. "All in good time." I said while flashing a quick smile in her direction. "Please take all the time you need." The lady said with more enthusiasm. Bella looked at me with an odd face and then looked back at our options. "We should see that." Bella said pointing directly at it. "A zombie film? I said surprised. "Yeah. I can't believe it's still here!" Bella said with a smile. "Two tickets please." I asked the lady selling them. "Certainly." The lady said smiling at me. We both walked into the theatre area and Bella looked at my face. "Could you try to do a little less of that?" She said while poking my chest lightly. "Try to do a little less of what?" I asked confused. "Charming people so much." She said with a slight annoyed tone.
"I wasn't charming anyone." I said truthfully.
Bella sighed and pointed at the concession stand. "I need some popcorn." Bella said while pointing towards the lady waiting on any kind of business. I allowed Bella to drag me in that direction as she proceeded to ask for popcorn. "A really big one." Bella said slightly laughing and looking at my face. I had no problem paying for anything as I pointed at the cups stacked on top of each other. "You'll choke without that, Bella." I said seriously. "Oh, oops! I'll take a large soda too." Bella laughed. The lady serving us didn't seem very amused. She just gathered everything and Bella grabbed it all. I paid and then we walked towards our screening. "Familiar with zombies?" Bella looked at me with curious eyes. "I've come across some folklore on the creatures." I admitted. Bella smiled as we made it to the doors that hid the movie inside. We took our seats near the middle of the theatre. This wasn't a full house and most seats were vacant. Bella didn't seem to mind as she placed her large soda in the cup holder and put the popcorn on her lap. I leaned my head over to Bella as she was glued to the movie previews. "You don't plan to digest all of this, do you?" I asked confused.
"Of course not. This is just a fail safe in case I crave more." Bella whispered while turning to me just inches from my face.
I kissed her lightly, sat back into position and placed my arm around her. "Let's see what we're dealing with here." I said with a smile. Bella paused for a moment before reaching into her popcorn in small portions. "The movies starting." Bella whispered happily. Bella oddly hugged me close during the romantic scene and then it was quickly over when the zombies came afoot. I couldn't help but laugh during the gore scenes as it just looked really unrealistic. The amount of blood made me feel uneasy at times, but then the movie ended and everyone got up to stretch. Bella included. I just got up and waited for Bella to collect herself. She gestured our exit and I lead the way. I turned to look at Bella and she didn't have anything in her hands.
"Aren't you going to take your stuff?" I asked confused.
Bella looked at my confused expression and smiled. "They give people jobs to take care of this." She said smiling. "It's still kind of rude. You could lighten the persons workload." I said with a serious face. "…Fine." Bella said as she went back to get her stuff. I caught the thoughts of the guy walking down towards me and he intended to not budge while coming in my direction. I ignored him as he came down with his arms around a girl of his own. Bella picked up the soda and popcorn and turned to look at me. The guy ran right into my shoulder and pushed himself to the side with his own carelessness. I didn't bother looking at him, but Bella worried about the situation as she quickly walked towards me. "Hey man? What the hell?" The annoyed guy said. I still didn't look as Bella finally reached me. "Hey, I'm talking to you pal." The guy said as he put his arm on my shoulder. I turned to look at him with an angry face and he quickly let go. "…Let's get out of here, babe." The man said as he let his girlfriend guide him out. Bella crossed her arms and frowned at me. "This was in no way my fault. He wanted to pass through me." I said honestly. Bella uncrossed her arms and smiled. "I guess you had your reasons then. Let's go." She said continuing to smile. We walked out of the area and Bella tossed everything in the trash. We exited out of the building and walked towards my car.
"Was this fun for you?" I asked curious.
"It sure was." She admitted while wrapping her arm around me. We made it to my car and we both entered. "We should get you home. It's getting dark." I said with a smile. "I really don't want to go home just yet, but we'll pick up the pace tomorrow." Bella smiled back. I started up the car and we were driving back to Charlie's at the normal speed limit. "Hey Edward?" Bella asked while looking directly at me. "Yes?" I answered. "Can I ask you something?" Bella said with pleading eyes. "You already did, Bella. I've answered your question." I joked. "Seriously." Bella sounded annoyed. "This drive will be a while at this speed, so sure." I answered. Bella looked outside of her window for a moment. I was guessing she was trying to find the right way to say it. "…Victoria?" Bella said carefully while not looking at my face. "What about her?" I said with a low growl. "Are you really going to?" Bella said with a serious tone. "Yes Bella. There's nothing that can change her fate when we catch her." I said in a serious tone as well. "But Jacob and his pack want her too…" She said still not looking at me. "I'm sure we can work something out with those dogs. Maybe half and half?" I lightly joked. "That's not funny, Edward. This is serious." Bella said as she looked at me with a serious face. "Bella, we're going to keep hunting her regardless of what those dogs think. But if they get to her first… Carlisle ordered me to stand down. Because he knows how much I want her dead." I admitted.
"Please don't get hurt, Edward." Bella said as she sighed and placed her attention towards the window again.
As we were driving, I picked up the thoughts of an annoying dog. "Bella… Jacob's trailing us in those trees." I said while pointing in the direction. "He is? Why?" She said looking surprised. "Apparently it's urgent enough for him to run along side us. He wishes to speak to you directly, but I'm not allowing that." I warned Bella. Bella looked directly at me with a blank face. I was guessed she was coming up with something to say to get me to stop. "If he thinks it's important Edward, then I have to hear him out." She said urgently. "No Bella. He's not very stable right now." I warned clearly this time. "I don't care. You have to let him talk to me." Bella said with a desperate expression. I decreased speed and the dog did the same. "Bella, you have to keep your distance from him. No excuses." I said as I stopped the car on the side of the road. I got out of the car and quickly opened Bella's door. "He's waiting in there." I said while pointing into the forest. Bella walked towards the forest and I stopped her. "He's not within walking distance." I said blankly. "…Oh." Bella said as she climbed on my back. I ran towards his direction and there the temporarily human form dog stood as we stopped near him. Bella jumped off my back and I pushed her behind me slowly. "Let him cool down. He's not happy about me being here with you." I warned Bella.
"Don't do that." Jacob said angrily towards me.
"Jacob wishes to inform you about his position in your life." I said ignoring Jacob's order. Bella looked directly at Jacob as he stood there with his hands clenched into a ball. "So you can read minds." Jacob said still angry. "What's going on, Jacob? What about your position in my life?" Bella said concerned. "Bella… you're going to have to make a choice." Jacob said still angry with me. "A choice?" She said confused. "It's either me or him." Jacob's anger fueled higher at the thought of me. "You can't do that!" Bella yelled. Jacob was surprised and his anger faded away quickly. He seemed to be suffering sorrow now at Bella's response. "I'm sorry Bella, but this is the way things are going to have to be. Make a choice." Jacob said with a suffering tone. Bella turned to look at me and then Jacob. "I…" Bella stopped herself as she seen Jacob's tortured expression. Without my knowledge, Bella ran towards Jacob to comfort him. She was no more than 4 feet away from Jacob before I stopped her. Jacob stared me down and I jumped back with Bella and took position because I knew he intended to fight. "Bella, he's not stable! Get away!" I yelled at her. Bella backed up and tripped on a rock causing her to land on the ground. Jacob completely transformed and launched himself towards me. "No!" Bella yelled in our direction. A growl was heard coming from the forest as it tackled Jacob out of sight and into the forest. Bella looked horrified at what she just seen and I turned to help her up.
"Now you see why I wanted to avoid this." I said still angry from Jacob's behavior.
Bella didn't speak, so I just got her out of the forest and back to the car. We got into the car and began to drive off. "Jacob… Is he ok!" She said gasping. "He's fine. He was pulled away by one from his pack." I said in a serious tone. "He…" Bella didn't finish her sentence. "This is why you need to avoid him. His kind isn't very controlled when they are angry. He's way too dangerous for you now." I warned her. Bella didn't say anything. It seemed like that event set her into a completely silent mood. She crossed her arms and stared at her knees while I just drove looking directly on the road. We made it to Charlie's without a single word exchanged and Bella got out of the car. I got out as well and lead her towards the front door. "There's no way to hide your emotional state from your dad at this point. I'm going to have to tell a lie." I noted. Bella looked up at me and just nodded. She opened the door and Charlie was just coming out of the kitchen. "Hey bells. How was your…" Charlie stopped himself when he saw Bella's scared expression. Charlie quickly walked over to Bella and pulled her out of my arms. "What happened?" Charlie asked in an angry tone and shooting a glance my way. Bella didn't respond so Charlie had no choice but to ask me. "You'd better tell me straight. What happened?" Charlie demanded. I quickly thought up a situation and waved my arm in the air lightly. "We were coming out of the theatre and Bella was nearly hit by a car driving too fast. I pulled her out of the way, but the car struck someone else. Bella looked shaken up and it just got worse when she saw what happened to the person that was hit." I said with as much confidence as I could. Charlie seemed to believe me as he turned his attention to Bella for signs of agreement. Bella didn't want to say anything or even nod her head, so Charlie sat her down on the chair. He turned his attention to me again. "Thanks." Charlie said blankly. I nodded and walked out of the house.