Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or New Moon or any characters of Stephenie Meyer.

One of the reviewer's wrote about 'no way Charlie would be up walking around after a stroke.' Well, my Grandpa did. He had his stroke on his 50th anniversary, Alaskan cruise. Yeah, fun. Anyways, he sat in a wheelchair for a few days afterwards and then used a cane the rest of the time. So… I'm just going from that. Also, from this chapter on, there will be a lot of drama. A LOT.

Chapter 8 (Bella's POV)

About an hour later, we pulled up to the party. It was in full swing with the music blaring. Perfect, just great. I looked over to Edward and remembered something, "Hey, Edward?"

"Yeah?" He took his eyes off the crowd and turned to look at me.

"Just to tell ya, the songs-there not all country." I said, but when he looked confused, I added, "They mix genres. There's some pop and the top twenty or so, but it is for the most part, country."

"I was wondering why they were playing this song." He looked back at the DJ; the band looked like they were getting ready to play. The DJ were playing one of Linkin Park's songs.

"Ready?" I asked him, wondering what this night was going to bring. I hadn't seen any people from school for about month now. And I haven't talked to any of the guys except a few times. So, I was wondering what they would say to me. Though I didn't talk to many people at school, I still wondered.

"Yeah, let's go." We got out of the truck and I went over to Edward's side where he was waiting for me. "I've never been to one of these. Only social gatherings and such."

"Well, let's go enjoy, shall we?" I asked him.

He gave me a breath-taking smile, "We shall, ma'dam."

As we walked through the crowd, I saw a few familiar faces. Then I saw Emily, I took Edward's hand and went over to her, thankful Sam wasn't with her. He was nice, but he was quiet. A creepy quiet. Like anything I say will be used against me. He hung out with a few of younger guys. And they all looked alike. Again, creepy. But Emily helped Charlie and me when we went through Renee's death. She called a couple times after Charlie had his stroke, we talked for a hour or two, but usually Sam came home with the guys and she had to get off and make them lunch or supper. It was like they ruled her life. So, I talked with her whenever I could, surprised that no one else ever came up and talked to her. Only the old guys did, including Charlie (AN: HINT HINT, guys.)

"HI!!" I hugged her as I greeted her.

"Hi!" She looked beautiful as ever. Her scars just added to her beauty. That's the one thing I actually liked about Sam. He still stayed with her, even though she had scars on her face. He loved her, unconditionally. Maybe that's why he's always near her. He doesn't want her to get hurt by a bear again. "I'm surprised to see you here! Charlie said you wouldn't come!"

So Charlie was here. Probably talking to all his old buddies. "Huh."

She noticed my tone and quickly looked at Edward, "Hi, I'm Emily." They shook hands and Edward offered his name. "Do you mind if I speak to Bella privately?"

"Umm" He looked at me for confirmation, I nodded. "Sure. We can dance later."

WHAT!!! Before I could say anything, we were heading to her house, to her kitchen and sat down at the table. "What's the matter, sweetie? Sam said that Jake told him Charlie was staying at Billy's all week long."

"Charlie's gone off on one of his rants again." I said simply, not keeping up the happy expression.

"Oh, honey." She came around and hugged me. "What happened?"

"I decided to ride my horse one night. He was gone the next morning. I haven't seen him since, neither has he talked to me. I called this morning, but he wouldn't talk to me. Jake did." I said grimly.

"Yes, I noticed that Jake and the guys came here without you. Does it happen to deal with the boy you came with?" She asked, remembering Edward.

"No, it started long before that. Edward's helping me on the farm for the past week and this week. Jake, Quil, and Embry decided they wanted to spend more time with their friends, meaning each other, having fun and chasing girls. So, I just ignored them. I needed them when everybody quit and Charlie had a stroke, but they didn't want to help, so I just got on with work and put off anything else." I finished talking and looked out the window. I saw Sam and the others looking at us, but then they looked away.

"You should have told me! Sam would gladly help. So would Jared and Paul. They'll happily work for you if you ask." She said hopefully.

"No, it's fine. I can do it." Then I realized that Edward was leaving in a week and all the work would be piled onto me again. "But if I need anything, I'll call. Which I probably will after this week. Edward's going to school at Fork's, so it'll just be me again."

"Bella…" I could feel a lecture coming on. "You should be in school too. You are only seventeen. You're going to wear yourself out! Bella." She took my hands in hers. "Promise me you'll try and go to school. Promise me you'll call if you need anything at all. Even if it's just to talk. I just realized that you don't have anybody to talk to!...Except?...Edward?"

"Yeah." I blushed. "I do talk to him a lot more, now that Charlie isn't there and he is." I remembered our afternoon at the pond and blushed evener more.

"What's going on between you two?" She asked playfully. That's what I liked about Emily-she was like my mom but also my best friend.

"I think I'm—" I was interrupted by Sam and the other two guys coming in.

"Hello, my beautiful." Sam wrapped his arms around Emily, pulling her close. He kissed her face, her scars, leaving nothing untouched. I left quietly, giving a small wave good-bye. I walked to the place where Emily and I left Edward, but couldn't find him. But I did find Charlie, laughing among his friends. I looked closer, he held a beer in his hands. He shouldn't be drinking, especially with his condition!

I walked up to him, "Hi, Dad!" I acted all cheerful.

He seemed surprised to see me, "Hey, Bella."

"Should you be drinking that?" I asked, adding a 'tsk' at the end.

His expression was one of confusion. Did he not remember his condition? "Yeah. Why not?"

He took another drink of the beer. His friends stayed quiet, not wanting to interrupt the 'father-daughter' moment. What a wonderful moment, huh.?.

"Charlie." I was no longer calling him Dad, and he noticed. He had sadness in his eyes, but his mouth turned into a harsh frown.

"HEY!! Charlie!" A new voice joined the conversation. I looked over to see Mr. Newton. I didn't see Mike anywhere and quickly relaxed.

"Hello, Michael." Charlie's tone was not happy.

"It's good to see ya!" He clapped Charlie on the back. "Been wondering how you been doing. Especially how you've been holding up."

"Just fine and dandy." I wondered for a second if Charlie had been drinking a little too much.

"Well, that's good." He looked thoughtful for a second. Then I knew that this was no greeting or to see if Charlie was okay. He was up to something. I was right too, he had no trouble getting on to what he wanted to know, "I was wonderin….if you were you going to do 'Field's of Fun' this year? It is the five year anniversary of it never happening. I've heard talk you were going to put it on this year and was wondering if it was true."

My anger fumed, I could barely control myself. No way were we planning the event. I had enough work as it is. And I couldn't believe the nerve of the guy! To say he 'heard' it. He was probably the one to say it around town, IF it was actually going around.

"NO. It is NOT." I said, quite forcefully. Charlie looked at me, somewhat thankful I was there, but also not, because he had his own mouth to talk through.

"Why not? It would be great for everybody! We all miss it! It was the one thing we all enjoyed around here and now it's gone!" He was saying all this quite loudly too, catching the eyes and ears of people around.

"I'm quite sorry, but we have enough work as it is, and cannot pull it off." I gave an angry smile.

"Oh, Charlie, surely you can make your own decisions!?!" He grabbed Charlie by the shoulders and turned him towards him. "You have to do it! What do you say?"

"Umm.—" Charlie was either thinking how to get out of it, or giving up.

"Yes?" Mike's dad looked hopeful, and excited. Only for the crowd though. I bet ten bucks he was trying to push us to our limit. Charlie shrugged his shoulders and was about to say something when Michael. "YES!!! HE SAID YES EVERYBODY!!! THE FIELD OF FUN IS ON!!!!!"

I looked at Charlie and he only shrugged. I wanted to slap both of them, I whispered harshly to Charlie, "I have enough work to do. You better tell them that it is NOT going to happen."

But…to my surprise, Mr. Newton spoke to me, "You tell them yourself."

Charlie didn't say anything. He had way too much to drink, but I was tired of taking care of him and the farm. So I just turned and walked away. I saw Emily and Sam at the doorway, Emily had a sad expression on her face and raised her eyebrows, wanting to know if I needed anything. I turned away, walking towards my truck, I was about halfway there, when someone seized my arm.

"Bella, what's wrong?" I looked up to see Jake's worried face.

My anger came back from him leaving me and doubled with Charlie and Michael-it wasn't a good thing. I shrugged out of his grip, "Nothing."

I turned to walk away from him, but Quil and Embry were waiting for me. "Bella, tell me. Something's wrong. You can't hide it from us."

"Humpf. Leave me alone. You have this past month, surely you can tonight. It can't be that hard." It was a slap in their faces, but I didn't care. Right now, I just wanted to go home. Not to my room. Not to the house, but to the stables. Where mom was. At least her heart was there. Everybody knew she loved her horses more than anything. They say that's all she married Charlie for. But I knew she loved him at least once upon a time.

"Bell's…" Jake's hurt voice rang in my ears, but I just wanted to get away from everybody. I was close to crying, but I didn't want to in front of everybody.

"She said leave her alone." I looked behind Jake and saw Sam and Emily, accompanied by Paul and Jared. Jake's face turned angry and he quickly swung at Sam. Quil and Embry stepped in front of me, backing up Jake. But somebody took me from behind, putting one hand over my mouth to cover my scream and one hand around my waist. I breathed in through my nose and smelled the familiar smell and I instantly relaxed.

Edward.