8

Just after noon, Carlisle, Esme, and Bella parked outside of a large garage just outside of town. There were dozens of junk cars parked behind the garage, and parts scattered all over the ground, but there in front was her car. As they climbed out of the rental, two Native American men walked out of the garage. Both men were over six feet tall, with long black hair and dark eyes. They stopped and folded their arms in front of them, and she couldn't keep from smiling.

"It's about damn time you got your skinny little ass out here to see us," Jacob Black said with a smirk.

Bella laughed and rolled her eyes. "My ass is not skinny." She hurried over and threw herself in Jake's arms, wrapping herself around him as he picked her up off the ground. "Missed you, Jake."

"Miss you, too, B." Jake put her back down, bringing his hands up to her face, his eyes searching hers. "You're really fucked up, aren't you?"

"All my life," she quipped, shifting her eyes to the man impatiently waiting for his chance to hug her. "Hey, Seth."

"B." Seth opened his arms to her, and she could feel the tears flood her eyes once more as she walked over, nestling her in his embrace. "You look beautiful, B. Sad, but beautiful."

She nodded, knowing he was right about the sad part, at least. "Leah still running the funeral home?"

Seth frowned. "So it's true? The old man's dying?"

"Any day now," she quipped, pulling herself out of his arms. "About time, right?"

Seth didn't say anything, just reached up, placing his hand on the side of her face. The minute his fingers touched her skin, tears flooded her eyes, though she managed to keep them from falling.

"Stupid, right? To cry over him?"

"Yeah," he said, sadly. He leaned forward, kissing the top of her head. "It's okay to be sad, B. Nobody is going to judge you if you cry for the old bastard."

"I'll judge me," she whispered, blowing out a thick breath before she pulled herself out of his arms and walked over to her car, sliding her hand along the side. "Did Uley do anything else to her? You know, other fuck with her tires."

"Uley?" Jacob asked, laughed. "He's the dick who deflated all your tires?"

She rolled her eyes and nodded. "

"Man, that motherfucker is just asking to get his ass kicked again," Jake snickered before he walked over and handed her the keys. "I replaced your spark plugs, cleaned your carburetor, and gave you an oil change, new air filter. You know, the usual."

"Why didn't you tell me he sold it to you?" she asked, turning and facing Jake, who sighed. She tensed and said, "Oh, I see."

"You didn't just leave him, B," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "You left us, too."

Bella nodded, shifting her eyes to Carlisle, who was introducing Esme to Seth. Bella, Carlisle, and Jake had been best friends through most of their childhood, Seth joined them when he and Jake started dating when they were sixteen. Being gay and living in Texas hadn't been easy, but Carlisle and Bella had always had their backs, just like Seth, Jake, and Carlisle always did the best they could to protect Bella from the hands of her father's wrath.

"B," Jake whispered.

"I know I'm a bad friend, Jake," she whimpered, looking over at him with tears in her eyes. "Trust me, I know."

And without another word, she hurried around and climbed into her car, taking off before any of them could stop her. When she phone started ringing, she silenced it, knowing she would have to explain herself when she faced him again, but for now, she just needed to get away, forget that her father was dying, and forget that she was an ungrateful daughter.

—You—

As usual, Bella ended up out at the cemetery, seated on the hood of her car with her knees pulled up to her chest, letting her tears fall as she stared at her mother's headstone. She shouldn't have come back to Texas. Her gut had told her to stay away, to let him die alone. He hadn't deserved her loyalty. Carlisle told her that, Esme told her that, even her therapist had told her that dozens of times over the last ten years. Yet, she still came back, still felt responsible for her father.

Bella was surprised when she saw Edward's truck turn into the cemetery and pull up in front of the grave he'd been visiting the last two days. He climbed out from behind the wheel, but instead of turning toward the headstone he'd kissed, he looked directly at her. He smiled, and as he started toward her, she slid off the hood of her car, trying to wipe the moisture off her cheeks. She didn't want him to see her cry.

"Hey," he murmured, shoving his hands into the pockets of his scrub bottoms.

"Hey," she echoed, leaning against the front of her car.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "You seemed . . . I don't know . . . upset when you left."

Bella felt her shoulders tense.

"Sorry, of course you're not okay," he murmured. "That was stupid to ask. Your father's dying, of course you're not okay."

She just stared at him.

"I'm sorry. I know I'm being an ass."

She laughed. "Kind of."

Edward smiled. "Have dinner with me tonight."

"I don't want to talk about him," she refuted.

"We don't have to," he said, his smile growing bigger. "Just have dinner with me."

Bella bit the inside of her lip before shaking her head. "I can't."

He frowned.

"Kind of have a family thing."

He raised an eyebrow. "Thought you were an only child?"

"I am," she said, tilting her head to the side. "But how did you know that?"

"Tyler told me when he contacted me about your father. Part of his patient history."

"Of course he did," she scoffed, crossing her arms in front of her. "I'm sure he also told you how he's called me almost every day for a year, telling me I needed to come see him, come take care of him, didn't he?"

Edward nodded.

"You must think I'm an ungrateful little bitch, abandoning my father the way I did."

"I don't know you well enough to pass judgement on you, Bella," he said. "Hence why you should have dinner with me."

She shook her head. "I can't. I gave them my word, and I can't let them down. Again."

Edward sighed, but nodded. "Suppose I can understand that." He shifted his eyes to her mother's headstone. "Your mother."

"Yes."

He looked back at her. "Why don't you want to take care of your father?"

She closed her eyes, shaking her head. "You wouldn't either if you knew who he really was."

"So tell me."

She shook her head. "I better go."

"Meet me for breakfast," he said, reaching for her, but she pulled away.

"Why? So you can judge me for abandoning him?" she asked, putting her hands up in front of her. "He may have you fooled, Edward, but I know exactly what kind of man my father is. He deserves to die alone, in misery."

"People change, Bella."

"Not people like him," she said, shaking her head and walking around to the driver's side of her car. "He deserves to die alone, Edward."

Bella climbed into her car and cranked the engine, her eyes locking on Edward before she shifted and drove away, leaving him standing at her mother's grave. People changed, huh? Too bad he didn't change before he killed her daughter. Too bad he didn't change before he robbed her of her chance to have a child. Some people might change, but Charlie Swan wasn't one of those people.

—You—

Carlisle and Esme were seated on the front porch with Charlotte when Bella pulled up in front of the house. While Charlotte smiled, Carlisle and Esme were tense and ridged. She didn't blame them. All they had ever done was support her, love her. Hell, they were putting off starting their family because of her.

"Hello, sweet girl," Charlotte greeted her, stretching her hand toward Bella.

"Hey, Lottie," Bella whispered, squeezing herself into the chair with her. She leaned her head on her shoulder, her eyes shifting to the house across the street two doors down. "He smiles when he sees me. Calls me . . . and he smiles, and wants to hold my hand. He never held my hand before, but now he stretches his hand out to me, like he loves me, and it takes everything I have not to take it, to beg him to love me when he never did before. I hate him, Lottie, for everything he's ever done to me, yet I want him to love me. How messed up is that?"

"Maybe you should ask him that," she said, leaning over and kissing the top of her head. "You're running out of time, Bella. Nothing that man says can . . . can excuse the way he treated you, or the damage he's done, but you deserve the chance to tell him how you feel. Tell him how much he's hurt you, how much he has damaged you."

"I'm scared," she cried, and she felt Carlisle reach out and place his hand on her knee. She couldn't look at him as she covered his fingers with her own. "I'm scared . . . I'm scared I'll never get away again if . . . if I go in there."

"That's why we're here, sweet girl." Charlotte brought her hand up, patting the side of her face. "We held you together all those years ago, and we'll hold you together through this, too. Never forget that we're your family, too, sweet girl, and we love you."

Charlotte stood up and walked into the house, leaving Carlisle, Bella, and Esme alone. She kept her hand wrapped around Carlisle's, tears seeping down her face as they watched a large truck park in front of the house across the street, two doors down. As the movers began unloading the hospital bed, monitors, locked medicine cabinet, and more, all she could think about was how in less than twenty-four hours, her father would be back home.

Thank you for all the AMAZING reviews! Really struggled with the words for this chapter. Bella is keeping way too much inside.