I do not own Twilight or any of its' characters

BPOV

Chapter 2

Heart to Heart

We tried to carry on with the rest of our night like nothing about Edward becoming human had been said, but there was a strange sort of tension in the air. Alice and Edward were a little more reserved than usual and I was actually feeling eager to get home so I could be with my thoughts. He helped me study for my trigonometry final and we watched some TV, but that was about it. He didn't mention anything about what Alice had said about anything, my newly predicted social work major included. He just seemed like he was deep in thought, but not in a disturbed way.

When I got home it was only nine o'clock and I noticed Charlie was still up watching TV, so I approached him on the couch.

"Hey kid. How are ya? Want to watch some TV with your old man?" he asked smiling warmly.

"Sure dad." I smiled. He seemed surprised that I said yes. He quickly moved a pile of newspapers off the couch and onto the coffee table and patted the seat beside him. I sat down.

"So Bells," he turned down the volume, "tell me what's going on these days. How are your finals going?" Charlie was trying so hard, usually he was a man of few words and he was especially uncomfortable talking to me.

"Good dad, finals are good. I had biology one today and then on Wednesday I have a trigonometry final. Edward and Alice have been helping me study."

"That's good Bella; those Cullen kids are pretty smart huh?" Talking about Edward especially made my dad uncomfortable, I'd pulled a lot of stunts on my dad since I had met Edward, and at this point, Charlie didn't really care for him.

"They're great dad."

"Right, anyways, tell me more about your college plans with," he swallowed hard and cringed a little "Edward."

"Well I told you, we were going to Alaska."

"Alaska seems so far away Bella, are you okay with that? I mean, why Alaska anyways? Why not somewhere in Seattle or California or something? Massachusetts has a lot of great schools in Boston…"

"Honestly dad, I really don't want to be in a big city and the classes in some of those universities are so crowded…" I went on, hoping to convince him. "And besides, Edward has family out there and that way, if we need anything, we won't be too far from them."

"Bella, we have family around too."

"Dad, I haven't seen any of our family in years, they might as well be strangers to me. Edward sees his cousins on a fairly regular basis, so they actually are like family to him."

Charlie sighed, defeated. "I guess your mother and I have really done you a disservice Bells. We aren't really a normal family and I'm sorry about that."

"Dad, come on, don't start this. All families are different…" I wanted to go hide in my room at this point, but I figured we were having an actual father daughter discussion which was very rare, so I figured I should just stay put.

"Well, I'm just grateful that you're planning on going to college and not just running off and marrying tha…." He paused and composed himself, "Edward." I smiled at his effort. "So anyways, what are you thinking about for majors?" Charlie asked patting me lightly on my knee with his big, sturdy, hand.

"I'm really not sure yet." I said doubtfully. "I might go in as undeclared at first and see where my classes take me."

Charlie frowned. "You must have something in the back of your mind Bells?"

"I really don't. I don't know what to do with myself. I like to read, I like to listen to music. I can't play music and I probably would fall flat on my face in front of a classroom, so I can't teach. I like science but I don't want the responsibility of being any type of medical professional. I'm not creative and I can't dress myself so interior design and fashion design are out as well. Maybe I'll just become a starving writer or something."

"Bella, you're not giving yourself enough credit." Charlie said sternly

"Well there goes my shot at becoming a life coach…" I said flatly.

"Bella, you don't sound like you're very interested in going to college at all."

"It's not that I don't want to go dad," I started defensively, "I just don't know what it is that I could do that I would enjoy and that would benefit society in some way."

"So you want to help people?" Charlie asked hopefully

"Well, yes, I guess so. Isn't that what most people want to do with their lives?"

"No Bella, they don't," my dad said in a very obvious tone. "Actually kid, most people want to do what's best for themselves and not for other people. Most people want to work at something to make money, get power, or keep someone else down. There are fewer and fewer people nowadays who genuinely want to help someone else. As difficult as that may be to admit."

"Well, I know I definitely don't want to be one of those people. I want to do something that makes someone else's life better, because I feel that people around me are always trying to do that for me." I had never spoken like this to Charlie before. I was surprised I could actually do it. And he was actually listening and participating. How could I leave him here alone while I went to Alaska just so I could have a stupid alibi to become a vampire and be with my boyfriend? But I had to, I needed to, and I wanted to more than anything. So if I was going to do that to Charlie then I had to really make something of myself while I was away at school. I would make him proud.

Charlie was already looking like he was pretty proud of me right now. He stared at me and it looked like his eyes were about to get teary. He smiled warmly at me and said quietly, "well, I guess I was wrong. You're mother and I didn't do you a disservice at all, you really know what's important in life Bella and I'm so glad. Any decision you decide to make will be the right one."

Now it was my turn to get teary, "thanks a lot char..dad." my voice cracked a little.

He smiled back at me and was quiet, I broke the silence. "Dad, you're a cop, what do you think about social work?" I asked nonchalantly.

His face darkened and turned into a frown, "oh Bella." He shook his head slowly, "Bells, that's such a difficult job. The system is so flawed these days. So many kids fall through the cracks, you'll see so many awful things. There's not enough help to go around."

"Well, if there's not enough help to go around they could use new recruits then right?" I asked lightly.

"Yes I suppose they could. But it's such a burnout job. You think it's difficult being a police officer? I deal with mostly adults…you'd be dealing with kids; kids that can't defend themselves and who are completely innocent. Do you think you could handle that?"

"I'm sure I could." I said confidently.

"Well, I will say this, the best feeling in the world is when a case falls into place and you change someone's life forever. Social work is probably the most rewarding job you will ever have, when it goes right." He said in a serious tone.

I had a lot to think about when I went to bed that night. I took a quick shower, got on my pajamas and climbed into bed prepared to think about everything that had been said that afternoon, but to my dismay all I could do was fall fast asleep.