Ch. 4

I walked inside the small room. The walls were white with some plain metal chairs sitting around against them. On one side there was a door leading further into the building, and there was a small cheap desk close to it. The younger man sitting bored behind it looked up when I entered.

"C-can I help you?" he asked startled.

"Uh, yeah, I was hoping so," I said approaching the desk. He seemed to stiffen when I got nearer. "I got lost on the highway and was told to come here for directions."

"Alright," he spoke. "It sounds kind of odd, but could I get your name?" I didn't understand the reason behind the question, but maybe it was some kind of routine or something.

"Sophia,"I said. He didn't ask for my last name. When I said my name he visibly relaxed.

"Okay then Sophia, where were you trying to get to?"

"Home. Oh right, um Gig Harbor."

"Hmm, I don't really know that area well. Let me get the chief, he knows the whole peninsula; lived here his whole life." I just nodded. I really needed to get home, so whomever could give me directions was fine. He disappeared through the one door. I sat in one of the uncomfortable metal chairs.

A few minutes later, there was some shuffling coming from behind the door. I stood up. Moments later, the younger guy emerged fallowed by an older man with greying hair and wrinkles around his eyes and mouth. I instantly recognized him. Charlie Swan. Of course, I remembered Mom once mentioned he was chief of police in Forks. He stumbled upon seeing me. What is with the people here. It's like they were seeing a ghost. ...oh right, never mind. They may have thought they were. I'd have to help Charlie. I felt bad for him.

"Hi, I'm Sophia Dwyer. I was hoping you could give me some directions," I explained, hoping to break the fear or whatever he was feeling. He smiled a smile full of both relief and sadness. I frowned. Poor, poor Charlie.

"Dwyer?" That caught his attention.

"Uh yeah," I said nervously. Should I tell him I know who he is? "Sophia. Sophie for short."

"You're not... are you?" he stammered. I gave him a small smile.

"Yeah, I'm Renee's daughter," I said guiltily. "I really didn't mean to disturb you here. It's just we got in a fight, so I went for a drive, but ended up getting lost. We just moved to Gig Harbor, and I was hoping you could tell me how to get back."

"Well I'll be damned," he said quietly, I'm not sure I was supposed to hear it. "Never did I expect that. Though I guess it would explain what you're doing in Washington." I smiled.

"So could you give me some directions home?" I asked hopefully.

"Of course," he went to the printer on the small desk and grabbed a paper and pen. "She looks so much like her," I heard him mumble on his way back, but I didn't say anything, again thinking I shouldn't have heard. "So where did you say you wanted to get to?"

"Gig Harbor"

"Wow, that's an awful long way to drive. That must have been some fight."

"It was. Biggest we've ever had actually," I admitted. "Actually, she's probably really worried about me now. Do you guys have a phone I could call her with?"

"Sure, there's a phone on Patrick's desk," he motioned to the small desk in the room.

"Mom" I said when she picked up.

"Oh Sophia, we've been so worried about you. You just ran out of here and didn't take your phone. And you've been gone for hours. Where are you calling from? I don't recognize this" she continued.

"Mom," I interrupted her, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten all mad at you about that. I know you're having a hard time. Anyway, I got lost. Actually, you'll probably want to sit down."

"You're not in trouble are you?" she was stressing out majorly.

"No Mom, I'm not in trouble. I got lost. Are you sitting down?"

"Sophia, just tell me where you are?"

"I'm in Forks," I said, then continued before she could blow up at me. "Look, I didn't come here on purpose. I just realized it was late and I didn't know where I was so I pulled off the highway and into a gas station and the woman said it was Forks and then I ..."

"Forks?"

"Yeah" There was some shuffling on the other end.

"Sophie?" It was Dad now.

"Dad, I didn't come here on purpose, I swear I didn't. I just got lost and this is where I ended up,"

"It's okay, I believe you," he said calmly. At least one of them was calm. "Now where in Forks are you?"

"I'm at the police station."

There was a loud groan on the other side, so I assumed I was on speaker.

"That's good baby, stay there. We'll come and get you," he said.

"But what about the car?"

"Don't worry about the car, we can pick it up some other time."

"Okay thanks Dad. ...Sorry Mom," I said, then hung up.

I turned back to see Charlie was still in the room. "My parents are coming to get me."

"Right, of course," he responded, but he seemed a bit tense, nervous. I could understand why. He would be seeing his ex wife and only love for the first time after 17 years.

We sat in an awkward silence for a few moments, neither of us knowing what to say.

"Look, Chief Swan,"

"Charlie," he corrected.

"Right, Charlie. Look, I'm really sorry about all of this." He nodded. "I mean really. You're staying late with me, and I'm bringing up the past for you, which I know is hard. I mean, Mom has pretty much been a mess since we got here. I can only imagine how hard it must be for you. I mean, Mom's got me and Dad, but you..." I trailed off. "I'm sorry," I finished curtly.

"Relax Sophia,"

"Sophie," I corrected him. He smiled.

"Sophie. Relax. It's fine. My job actually, but really, it's fine," he said it struggling for words, but I knew he meant it. He just wasn't the most lucid person in the world.

"Actually, it may sound odd, but I'm actually glad you ended up here," he said hesitantly. "I hope that doesn't sound weird. It's just you look a lot like my Bells," he paused, "it's a nice reminder." I smiled.

"Mom can't take any reminders," I said. "She runs away from anything that brings up well, you know," I explained. "That's sort of what we had a fight about." I don't know why, but I found myself telling this poor man all about my struggle to find out about my sister. Maybe it was because he just listened without getting angry, but I felt comfortable.

"It's just, I feel like I need to know about her. I mean, she is my sister whether or not she is alive or not." He winced a little when I said alive. I smiled apologetically.

"Well, I don't know as much as Renee does, but Bella did lived here for a couple years," Charlie said with a wry smile. I almost jumped out of my seat. "And we've got some time to kill before your parents get here." Here was my chance to finally get to hear about her, all about her, and without worrying about Mom's ability to handle it.

"Oh would you please," I begged.

"It would be nice to talk about Bells again. Jake comes by every so often, but we try not to discuss her much," he explained. I felt like there was a reason he didn't talk about Isabella to this Jake guy, but I was so pleased to finally get information, so I didn't press the issue.

Charlie took my grin as a confirmation. "Why don't we go to my office. There are some more comfortable chairs in there," he offered, gesturing to the hard, cold metal chairs we were currently occupying. I nodded and got up, following him through the one door.

Charlie settled himself into an old, brown, oversized, leather chair behind his desk. I sat down across from him in another old brown leather chair; much more comfortable.

"So, why don't you tell me what you know, and we can go from there," he offered.

"Well, I don't know much. Mom finally started opening up to me this afternoon, but then I got ahead of myself and well, you know Renee," I chuckled. "Anyway, I know her name is Isabella. She looked a lot like me, only with brown eyes and a little more pale. Uh, she was clumsy, read a lot, like I do, and kept to herself. Also, she was engaged to Edward.

"The reason we got into the fight was because I found all of the stuff she has kept and went through a couple boxes. That's where I found pictures of her, Edward, and you. When I brought them up she got mad. Anyway, that's all I know."

He sighed. "Why don't I just tell you what happened when she lived here. At least, what I know happened. Like you said, she kept to herself, and I'm not exactly boisterous," he smiled. He looked younger when he smiled.

"Well, Isabella, Bella, moved in with me in January when she was 17. She was a junior in high school. Before that, she lived with Renee in Phoenix," I nodded letting him know I knew that. "She came here a little after Renee married your dad. Not because they got married, but Renee wanted to be with him and that included traveling a lot, which wasn't fair to Bella. It was Bella who decided to move in here. Always was thinking of others before herself. Anyway, I bought her an old truck to get her around town.

"At first, things were fine. She settled in, took over the cooking," he laughed, "and we got along fine. It was quiet though. She made some friends with other kids at school, and Jake. Jacob Black. He still lives in the Indian reservation up in La Push, good boy, well man. Anyway, things changed when she started dating Edward Cullen. His father was the doctor at the hospital. Him and his wife adopted all of the Cullen kids. There were five of them, all teenagers, but they never gave us any trouble. Well, not until Edward started dating my daughter," he stopped. He didn't seem to fond of Edward Cullen.

"You don't seem to like him." He shrugged.

"After their first date, she went to watch the Cullens play ball, Bells came inside crying. She was a mess. She stormed out of the house minutes later with a bag and told me she was leaving," he paused again, clearing his throat. I hated making him relive it all, but I was so intrigued that I couldn't find a way to make myself stop him. "She went back to Phoenix. It was only for a couple days, but I was pretty messed up about it. She had finally moved in with me, and then left all because of this boy. But Edward went after her, and took the doctor and his sister with him. She went to meet them at the hotel they were staying at, and then, well, Bella's klutziness made an appearance.

"She fell down two flights of stairs and through a window," I gasped. That must have been the accident the letters alluded to. "Yeah, she was lucky to live through it. Good thing Dr. Cullen was there. She was in the hospital in Phoenix for a week. She came out with a broken leg as the worst of it. I couldn't help but feel responsible. If I had been able to make her stay, she never would have gotten hurt..." he trailed off, dabbing his eyes.

"You know you couldn't have stopped her. Mom said that I'm like her, and she couldn't stop me today. You can't hold yourself responsible teenage stubbornness," I said "Or clumsiness," I added.

"Thanks," he responded. "She healed up okay though. Alice, Edward's sister helped out a lot. I was so thankful to that girl. She was one of Bella's best friends. She was always over here, or vise versa.

"I thought Edward was okay for a while. He treated her like a queen all of the time. Even made her go to the Prom one year. That was great," he laughed. "Edward came over here and made dinner for her. I got to taste test. Great cook that boy," he smiled and chuckled. "Of course some how some other boy thought he was taking my Bells to the Prom. I don't quite know how that happened." I could tell, he liked these memories. Who wouldn't?

"The summer was peaceful. She was always at the Cullen's place, or Alice and Edward would come over here. Then it all changed. Just after Bella's 18th birthday. One minute, everything was fine, then next the Cullens were gone, and my baby was boken.

"She loved him. That much I knew. But I never expected it; her reaction. She shut down. Like someone died, not moved to California. And, and how dare they just up and leave like that! She got lost in the woods following that boy too. Had to get all the men in town to help search for her. I never thought I'd be so worried in my life, but well..." he dabbed at his eyes again, lost in all they had been through. "It wasn't right. My baby was so lost. She just went from day to day like a zombi. She never showed any emotion, just went through routines.

"That's when she started hanging out with Jake. He lived with his dad at the time. His dad, Billy Black was a good friend of mine. He helped her a lot. She was living again, not the way she was before, but it was progress. Of course, if I had known how he was helping her, I wouldn't have liked it so much." My mind went to drugs, but I immediately dismissed that idea. "Motorcycles. Can you believe it? Promise me you'll never ride one of those death traps!"

"I promise," I muttered; not that I had any intention of getting on one anyway.

"I would always hear about her trips to the emergency room when they would hang out. I didn't know that's what they were doing. She always told me that she fell or something like that. I must have looked like a negligent parent.

"Then things changed again. My long time friend Harry died. When I got home from the hospital Alice was in the living room with Bella. She was so happy to have her friend back. The next morning Alice and I had a talk while Bella slept. I told her what my daughter was like during their absence. Needless to say, I was worried. Alice was just supposed to visit. What would happen after she went home to California? But I didn't get much of a chance to dwell on that.

"I came home from Harry's house that night, I was helping with his wife and kids, and they were gone. Jacob was sitting on the couch muttering something I didn't understand. All he said was that she went with Alice to help Edward and that he thought she was in danger. If I thought I was a wreck before, it was nothing compared to that. She was just gone. For three days, I had no idea where she was, what she was doing, or if she was alright. I didn't sleep at all. Renee was in a panic too. That was the second time she ran off.

"Thankfully, she came home uninjured. However, she also brought someone unwanted with her. Edward came back. He even had the gall to take her up to her room when they came in. I was beyond furious. After what he put her through, how could he even dare to step through our front door."

That was when her letters went bad. I understood now. She was heartbroken. She must have really loved him to have that sort of reaction. I knew they got back together too. They were engaged. I never knew one person's life could be so full of drama. The ups and downs were ridiculous. How could one person take all that and not explode? It made me wonder what had happened in the end. I had no way of even guessing, due to the crazy life she had; not that I wanted to guess about my sister's death.

"She accepted him back immediately too. It was like everything was back to normal again. Only she was in big trouble and he was the reason for my daughter's tears. But at least she was happy again. Jake wasn't too happy though. The kid always had it bad for Bella. If you ask me, she had a thing for him too, while the Cullens were away anyway. It got interesting around Bella's graduation. Jake decided he wasn't going to give her up without a fight. The kid had spunk," he laughed again.

I found myself smiling at Charlie's story. I wanted to know more. I wanted him to go into detail on everything. Of course that would take forever, but I wanted to soak up everything about Bella that I could. It was my way of getting to know her. But that was the time of graduation. There wasn't much of the story left.

"I'm not sure how, but Jake got really hurt one night. Billy was frantic. But he got through it okay. He was tough, resilient. A few days later, Bella and Edward announced their engagement. They wanted to be married in August. I assumed she was pregnant at first. It was a rushed wedding, who wouldn't have thought that. She assured me that wasn't possible though, and she's a terrible liar, so I believed her. I figured it was inevitable anyway. They already planned to go to school in Alaska, so I knew they'd be together. As much as I never cared for the boy, I knew he loved her. You could tell by the way he looked at her. Like he wanted to take care of her and protect her from the world. I couldn't doubt that.

"The planning was going along. It really wasn't my thing, so I'm not sure what was going on. Everyone was stressed though. Renee didn't want to believe that it was possible for Bella to get married at 18," he smiled a little. I couldn't help but chuckle. It was so Renee.

"It was weird though," he thought aloud. "It was as if, in everything she was doing and saying, she was always trying to say goodbye." A single tear escaped one of his eyes. My heart ached again for him. He was nearing the end of his tail. "She looked so beautiful." I could tell that though he was talking to me, he was seeing something entirely different. "She looked like an angel. Her wedding dress was perfect for her. It was something out of a different era. They had the wedding at the Dr.'s house. They had a very large place right outside of town. It was outside in the yard. I walked Bells down the front steps out the front yard where they had a lovely set up. There were white chairs for all of the guests and a small white gazebo where she and Edward stood. Alice decorated, of course. There were white roses all around, and freesia. It was beautiful. And then I gave her away," he didn't bother trying to wipe away the tears that fell freely down his cheeks. I hadn't realized that I'd been crying too. It was just so touching, listening to him speak so lovingly of his daughter.

"And then, not long after they came back from their honeymoon, did I make my final goodbyes," he said reverently. His tone changed from reminiscent, to heart wrenching. "They were on their way to school, in Alaska when it happened. It was a car accident. Only it was horrible," he sobbed. "They were hit head on by a semi who's driver had fallen asleep at the wheel. The car slipped down a hill and flipped a couple of times. The officials say they both died on impact. The photos from the scene were horrendous. And everything was burned. They never recovered the bodies. That's what's so hard. There was never a final goodbye. They were just gone. So soon before their time, and they had just started their lives together," he broke off and broke down. My face was wet as well. They never got to have a proper funeral. Sure there was a funeral and a casket, he told me, but it was empty. It was more to have a place to remember her, for closure that would never come. No wonder Renee is still so eaten up over it all.

"I'm sorry Charlie. I'm sorry for your loss. I'm sorry you hardly had time with your daughter. I'm sorry for bringing up all of the past, and I'm sorry for making you tell me," I cried. I had finally found out her past, but why didn't I feel complete? I still felt like something was off. I couldn't tell what, but I was unsettled. Plus, I felt to terrible about putting poor Charlie through all of that again.

"No," he tried. "No, it's good for me to talk about it. And it's good for you to know. You should be able to know about your sister if you can't know her." I patted his hand in my pitiful attempt at comfort.

I caught a glimpse of the clock. It had been three and a half hours! Wow! That's a long time talking. Or well, Charlie talking. My parents would be here soon. I wiped my eyes and tried to correct myself. "Thank you Charlie," I said sincerely. "I really appreciate that you told me all of this. Thank you."

"You know, I should be thanking you, Sophie. You allowed me to talk about her again. She was such a kind loving person. She could've been even greater if her life hadn't been ended prematurely."

I nodded, agreeing with him whole heartedly.

Yay, this one is the longest so far. The action should start to pick up in the next chapter. I just really wanted to give what I think Charlie's pov of the books would be. Anyway, I know it was a long time between updates, but I had writers block. Please review! I know none of you like it when people say they won't update till they get a certain amount of reviews, but I think I'm going to have to do that if you people don't start reviewing. Thanks!