I Do not own Twilight or any of its' characters

Charlie's point of view

Chapter 6

Into the wild

I wonder if he's ever been in a police cruiser before, I thought as I climbed into the driver side of the car. I tried to erase the thought from my head, clean slate today I assured myself, I've gotta give the kid a break. Edward climbed into the passenger seat beside me and shut the door quietly. Before I could say anything he was already putting on his seat belt. I started up the car and let the engine run for a minute, even though we well into spring it was still pretty cold in the morning. It was always cold in Forks; the only time we got a break was in the summer.

"Coffee?" he asked holding up a Styrofoam cup

"Oh, um thanks." I took the warm cup from his pale hand and started opening the plastic top so it could cool off. I put the car into reverse and pulled out of the driveway and started driving. He was quietly staring out the window ahead and carefully sipping his coffee but he didn't look like he was really enjoying it, maybe he just needed the caffeine. After all, it was pretty early on a Saturday morning for high school kid.

"So, Edward," he turned to face me, "do you ever fish?"

He cleared his throat and said quietly, "well, no I've actually never gone fishing, but I've gone hunting a few times with my older brother Emmett and my family and I hike all of the time. "

"Hunting huh? Bella mentioned that you don't really go for that sort of thing."

"No, I don't really care for it, it's more just so I can spend time with my brother, he likes the company."

"Fair enough. Have you been to Elk wood lake before?"

"A few times, yes."

"Well that's where we're headed today, the fish and game commission keep the lake pretty well stocked, so we'll be able to catch something." He gave a polite smile and nodded his head at me in agreement. I took a sip of my coffee, and turned on the radio, I had on some kind of classic rock station and I left it at that, he didn't seem to mind. We drove the rest of the way in silence.

We arrived at our destination around eight o'clock, I parked the car at the entrance to the parklands and announced that we would have a little bit of a hike ahead of us and Edward seemed unphased by this. I opened the trunk of the car and started pulling out all of the paraphernalia we would need. I had found an older fishing rod that I had replaced with my current pole in the basement and threw that in the car just in case he needed one, which, he did. I kind of figured Edward wasn't on planning doing a lot of fishing today but that he was coming because I invited him, which was perfectly fine with me. "Um Edward, I didn't know if you had a pole or not, so I brought my old one along if you'd like to use it." I said offhandedly as I rooted through the trunk.

"Thank you very much Chief Swan." He said warmly offering up a half smile.

I stopped what I was doing and turned to look at him, he stood there watching in anticipation, "Edward, it's Saturday morning and I'm not at work, please don't call me 'chief Swan'."

"I'm sorry, what should I call you?" I thought I detected a little edge in his voice, but then I realized from his expression that he wasn't trying to be smart alecky at all, he really wanted to know what would be acceptable.

"You can call me Charlie. I know Bella always does." My feeble attempt at a joke. He smiled widely when I said Bella's name, looked at the ground and then back up at me and said politely, "very well, Charlie."

"Good. Okay, now grab some of this stuff would you?" He said nothing, just hurried over to help get the gear together. I shut the trunk and hit the automatic lock button on my keys and we headed into the woods together. As we entered under the canopy of trees along the trail, I felt like my weekend had finally begun. All week I was trapped in an office, trapped in my car, I even felt trapped in my house sometimes but when the work week was all over I could come out into the open air and feel a freedom I couldn't feel while I was working. The heavy burden of responsibility disappeared for awhile and I could do whatever I wanted. I could be amongst the trees and the water; things that had existed for centuries unchanged and untouched by politics, media, technology or violence. Really, when you were in the woods it could be any era, any century, any decade and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. That brought a certain comfort to someone who hadn't changed much throughout their life. I wondered if Edward could appreciate something like that, I wondered if any seventeen year old was deep enough to appreciate something like that. I looked over at him as we were walking up the trail and his eyes met mine briefly and something in me told me that yes, he could. It took much less time to get to our destination with Edward than it usually did with Billy. Usually, I'd load up Billy's chair with the gear and I'd push him along the trail until we got to the bridge and it would take me almost twenty minutes, we got to the bridge in about ten minutes. The Elk Wood Bridge was a long wooden structure smack dab in the middle of the lake that had been rebuilt at least half a dozen times. The atmosphere of Forks was so damp all the time that the wood would rot out after a couple of years and the fish and game committee would have to tear it down and rebuild it all over again. Our dues to the board were a little pricey because of it but what do you expect when you live on a peninsula that is nearly considered a rainforest?

"Me and Billy usually get set up around here." Edward obediently started setting stuff down alongside the bridge. He always seemed so confident when he was around my daughter, I wondered why he was so quiet today. Maybe I was intimidating him; I didn't think I had said anything rude to him, yet. I was setting up my line with some bait and then I would help him I thought. I got my line ready and turned to offer help but it turned out he didn't need it, he had already set his line up and was ready to cast it out. Smart kid. "I thought you didn't fish." I said a little surprised.

He looked like he was concentrating on something as he squatted over his pole, he looked sideways at me and with a crooked grin said, "I'm a fast learner."

"Guess so," I said a little amused. "Ready?"

"Sure." He said pleasantly as he stood up. We walked to the edge of the bank and cast our lines out. I noticed right away that he had quite an arm on him because he was able to throw his line a pretty impressive difference.

We stood in silence for a few minutes waiting for a bite, there was a subtle breeze in the air and it was starting to warm up a bit finally. Everything around us smelled fresh and new, like spring should. Even though the sky was overcast, it felt like it was going to be a nice enough day. I wondered how long this day was going to turn out to be, it seemed like it had been going on for days due to all the silence and awkwardness between us. If Billy had been here we would be joking around and being sarcastic and drinking beer. My new partner wasn't so much like that. I couldn't even offer him a beer, he wasn't legal and I was a cop. I wished Billy hadn't cancelled, he'd have to make that up to me…

"So what is it you want to know about me?" Edward suddenly asked startling me out of my inner dialogue. I didn't expect him to be so direct, maybe some of his confidence that he had around Bella would show up today after all.

I thought carefully about my response before spouting off all the fatherly questions I always had; what are your intentions with my daughter? Where do you get off leaving her and then coming back after 6 months? How do you really feel about her? Do you know how special she is and how lucky you are? However, I didn't respond with any of those questions, I simply answered with "what would you like to tell me about yourself?"

He chuckled softly and gave me a meaningful look, like we were playing a game of chess. "I'd like to tell you whatever I need to in order to gain your trust in me." He held his stare with me, but not in a challenging way, in an honest way.

"So, um, your family, have you always hiked with them?" the intensity of his stare relaxed and he began to speak.

"Ever since they adopted me we've always hiked together, same with my brothers and sisters."

"Are you the youngest?"

"I've been with Carlisle and Esme the longest, but yes I am the youngest, my sister Alice and I are."

"Alice and Bella sure do get along well. She seems like a nice girl."

Edward rolled his eyes and said, "Sometimes I think Bella and Alice get along too well, she tells Bella everything. It's dangerous.""

"I hear that. It used to be like that with Renee's sister and her all the time," I offered.

Something tugged at my line, I was preparing to reel it in, but then it got away, frustration crossed over my face. "So, where are you from originally?"

"I was born in Chicago, Carlisle had been treating my parents for an illness, when they didn't make it, and he heard about me and adopted me."

"How old were you?"

"Much younger than I am now. I can't remember a whole lot before Carlisle adopted me." He explained cautiously.

"Do your parents have any children of their own?" I asked innocently.

"No. Esme had a child once but it died shortly after she gave birth and nearly killed her, so she didn't try again, instead they adopted."

"Renee's pregnancy with Bella wasn't an easy one either. Bella's mom was nearly bedridden for the two months leading up to her birth. She got gestational diabetes and all that nonsense too, ended up having to do a c-section a few weeks early. Bella nearly died." I paused as I thought about that difficult time, "After that, we decided not to have any more." Edward watched intently as I spoke, he seemed interested in what I was saying. Either that or he was a good actor.

"So Bella was doomed from the very moment she was born," He said jokingly.

"Yeah I suppose she was, I could build a mansion in Aspen with all the money we spent on hospital bills for her. The insurance companies hate our family." I said chuckling and shaking my head. Edward laughed a little too. We spent an hour or so by the lakeside, each of us only catching a handful of fish, but it was relaxing nevertheless. Well, as relaxing as it could be I suppose.

I took out my fillet knife and started to prepare the fish for the cooler I had brought. Edward watched silently as I worked, I hoped he wasn't getting queasy I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, he seemed okay. I finished cutting up my fish and asked him if he wanted me to take care of his too, he told me that wasn't necessary. I handed over the knife and the cutting board to him and cracked open a beer while I waited, I figured it might take him a little while so I sat down in one of the camping chairs I had brought. It wasn't my intention to watch him work, I didn't want to make him nervous, but I thought I'd stick nearby just in case he needed help or cut himself or something. He took the knife in his right hand and began to cut up the fish. His cuts were precise and clean and quick, like a surgeon. I didn't think it was possible for someone his age to be that careful and meticulous. The expression on his face was a picture of intense calm, like he was concentrating very hard on something, but it wasn't making him nervous. He was a very serious teenager, but then again, so was Bella, maybe that was why they got along so well. He finished his work more quickly than I had expected and barely left a drop of blood or waste on the board, it was quite impressive actually, even Billy couldn't do that. He carefully placed his fish in the cooler and strode over to my spot in the grass. He swiftly rinsed his hands off in the lake and wiped the wet off on his pants and sat down on the ground beside my chair.

"I'd offer you a beer if I could."

He smiled and held his long hand up "thank you anyways. I appreciate the gesture but I don't drink."

"Damn straight you don't." I said crossly. He just smirked at me and pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them. I stared across the clearing at a large oak tree with low branches. "Bella used to fall out of that tree all of the time." I said matter of factly and took a swig of my beer.

Edward picked his head up and laughed softly, "I'll bet she did."

"She used to come here for a few weeks every summer. Not so much in the last few years though. I'm glad she's here now. The house doesn't feel so empty." He looked up at me through his black eyelashes sadly. "I know you're glad she's here too." I said quietly to him.

"Charlie, you don't know how long I've waited for her. I don't know if I could exist if she weren't here." He said almost in a whisper as he looked at the low oak tree.

"Why did you leave her Edward?" I just let the question fly out of my mouth before I could think it through. I immediately regretted it. He whipped his head around and looked at me like I had just set him on fire. He actually looked like he was in physical pain from my words. "I'm sorry," I continued, my voice getting harsh "but you didn't see her. She didn't cry or scream or get upset, it was like she was dead. She just went through the motions of the day, nothing phased her, it's like, her soul was gone. I would have felt better if she cried and carried on all day rather than act like that." Edward looked like he was going to get sick, I didn't care at that moment, my fatherly instinct was in overdrive to protect her from him.

"I know." He whispered, "I know because the same thing happened to me."

"Then why did you do it in the first place? If you two are so connected and can't be away from each other why did you leave her?"

"I was trying to protect her."

"From what?" I asked, incredulous now.

"From me." He said miserably. I didn't know how to respond, had he done something to her? Was there some kind of piece that I was missing here? "I was trying to protect her from me, my life is…complicated, and I didn't want to drag her into it with me."

"Look Edward," I said trying to soften my tone, "whatever part of your life you are trying to protect Bella from…and I don't want to know anything about it…how do I word this right?"

"Just say it Charlie, you're not going to upset me." His voice was stronger now.

"Whatever hardship you feel as if you bring with you, it is nothing compared to the hardship you create when you leave." That sounded right, it was true after all. I didn't think Edward was a bad kid, a little strange maybe, but, clearly Bella was much happier when he was around. She seemed to be a more complete person with him in her life and that cancelled out any ill feelings I had towards him didn't it? I wondered if his family saw the same change in him when she was around. Maybe they were meant to be together. He did fly out to Phoenix that one time when she ran away from home to convince her to come back. Renee said that when Bella had her accident that time Edward didn't leave her the entire time she was in the hospital. He stayed in her room with her for an entire week, sleeping on a cot away from his family. Such devotion at such a young age, but Bella would have done the same for him.

"Edward," I awkwardly put my hand on his shoulder and he stiffened up, looking anxious "I don't think you're a bad kid, but, Bella is my only daughter and when she hurts, so do I. I haven't been the greatest dad in the world to her, but she matters more to me than anything else in this world. I don't give you a hard time because you're around, I give you a hard time because I'm afraid that if you ever left her again, she'd never be the same." I didn't want to say that I thought she would die, but deep down I thought she would if she ever lost him. Parents fear what they can't control when it comes to their children and I couldn't control him.

He cleared his throat and said to me with a weak smile, "You don't have to worry about controlling me Charlie, Bella already does that. As long as she wants me with her, there is no other place I will be. If I can promise you anything, I can promise you that." How did he know that was what I was thinking? I stared at him, a little shocked but a little relieved because again, I believed him. "I'm a man of my word Charlie." He said with a little bit of arrogance shining through.

"Well then, I have no qualms with you. We at least have one thing in common. I'll probably still give you a hard time though, she is my daughter after all."

"Fair enough." He said with a smirk.

I stood up and stretched, it was getting late, I had shared my thoughts long enough, I wanted to get home and zone out. There was a game coming on at three and I welcomed the idea of saying nothing to anyone for the next four hours. Edward rose up from the ground and brushed off his pants, he wanted to leave too. We started gathering up the gear when I heard rustling coming from the tree line. Suddenly Edward froze and snapped his head up in the direction of the rustling. "Hang on a minute." He said quietly.

"It's probably just a deer or something." I reassured him.

"No, I think it may be something bigger."

"Bears came out of hibernation weeks ago and most head up river…wolves and coyotes are more nocturnal and are rare around this area…" The rustling was getting closer now, it did sound bigger than just a deer, an elk maybe? Then it emerged from the tree line, a black bear that looked like it weighed seven hundred pounds plus, and it was lumbering straight toward us. It must have smelled the fish we had been gutting. I stepped back carefully toward a backpack I had brought, if I could just get my gun out before this bear lost its' patience, we'd be fine. I slowly reached toward the bag and reached into the front pocket, I had a handgun in there that was loaded, all I had to do was release the safety, and we'd be okay. The bear was advancing toward us more quickly now and swiping at the air a little, he growled softly, his eyes focused on Edward. "Edward," I said calmly, "step back slowly son,"

Edward was in a crouch and staring at the bear defensively, the bear was getting cagey; he was going to charge him soon. Great, so now that we've cleared the air and I've basically threatened to kill him if he ever left Bella again, I'm going to get him and myself killed by a bear all because we didn't properly dispose of our trash. Now that's great parenting.

I almost had my gun ready; I was trying not to make any sudden movements due to the state of irritation the bear was in at this point. "Edward!" I hissed through my teeth, "Get back!"

"Stay behind me Charlie." His voice was steady and defiant, he was still in a low crouch, he looked like some kind of predator about to attack. What was he doing?! He was going to get killed. He slowly started to stand upright, never taking his eyes off the giant beast. The bear stood about eight feet away from him now and its' growls were becoming more pronounced.

I had my gun ready, "dammit Edward, get back already." Maybe he wasn't as mature as I thought.

"Don't move Charlie." He growled back, he moved closer to the bear, he was going to get us both killed. The bear stood up on its' hind legs.

I cocked the gun as a warning and let my arm outstretch in front of me, "Edward, if you don't move I'm gonna shoot you and the bear."

He turned his head quickly and looked at me, his eyes were murderous and infuriated but he was still maintaining his composure, "Charlie, put the gun down, do not shoot, trust me." His voice was low and steady, "trust me." I don't know why I felt it was safe to lower my gun. Edward looking away from the bear for that split second did it, the bear let out a horrifying bellow that seemed to shake the ground. Its' head went back and its' yellow teeth and black eyes were all that could be seen on its' massive, horrifying face. Edward turned back to the bear and stood upright and walked slowly to the bear, his arms fell back as he stuck his chest out and stared down the bear, I thought I heard a growl come from him, but how could that be possible? And then the strangest thing happened, he took a few more steps toward the bear and continued to stare at him, and just like that, the bear let out another fearsome bellow and then looked as if it were becoming anxious, like Edward posed a greater threat to it than it posed to Edward. The bear came back down on all fours and slunk back into the woods, growling in protest the whole time. Edward stood at the tree line just staring into the woods for a moment, it looked like he was trying to calm himself down.

"We better go. It'll be back soon." He said suddenly. I put the safety back on my gun and shoved it into one of my cargo pockets, not proper gun etiquette, but I didn't bring my holster with me. We gathered up all of the gear and started walking back to the car, Edward was very quiet the whole way, I felt like I had seen something I wasn't supposed to have seen and it disturbed him. What was the whole performance all about? I hoped he didn't behave this way around Bella, I pushed the thought out of my mind. We reached the car in half the time it had taken us to get to the bridge originally. We loaded everything up and started heading back home. I felt like I needed to say something to him, but I wasn't sure if it should be thanks or what the hell were you thinking up there you arrogant jackass? I didn't think either would be appropriate. We made some small talk along the way home, but I was mentally exhausted and I'm sure he was too so we mostly just listened to the game on the radio. We got back to the house and Edward helped me bring everything in and put it away, Bella wasn't home yet and he looked tired.

"Thank you for everything today," he said politely

"Would you do it again?"

"Only if I was invited." He replied with a crooked grin

"We'll see." I said "do you want me to tell Bella you'll be back tonight or that you'll see her tomorrow?"

"I'll see her tomorrow, I've had enough peril for one day."

"Alright then, I'll tell her. And by the way, whatever you did out there today, thanks."

He nodded at me, and simply said, "Goodnight Charlie."

I nodded back at him as he walked toward the door, "night Edward."

I heard him get in his car and speed away; he didn't seem to have a whole lot of concern for traffic laws. I'd have to say something to him about that. I collapsed down on the couch and turned on the remainder of the game, I still had five innings to watch. Bellla came home around six and headed straight toward the kitchen.

"Sorry I'm late dad, I'll get supper going."

"No worries Bells. What'd you do today?"

"I did some errands around the house and then I hung out over at Angela's." she called from the kitchen.

"Oh, that sounds like fun." I said cheerfully. I turned back to the game and Bella finished cooking dinner. We had pasta and meatballs, well, I had meatballs, she mostly had pasta and salad.

"So, how was your fishing trip with Edward?" She asked nonchalantly.

"Fishing was…interesting." I said shoving a meatball into my mouth. Bella froze with her fork poised midair.

"What do you mean interesting?"

"Nothing, nothing, Edwards's a good kid. Good fisherman too, caught five fish, never seen someone gut and clean a fish like him."

"Oh, really? Sounds like you had a good time. What'd you talk about?"

"He talked about his family a little, about his adoption; we talked about the two of you briefly." She immediately stiffened up and looked anxious. "Relax Bella, he didn't get into details, I just, have a better understanding of how he feels about you and he understands where I stand with him, no harm was done."

"Um, okay dad." She said unsteadily

I wondered if I should tell her about the bear incident. "A funny thing happened though, while we were out there."

"Oh yeah?" she said calmly, "What was that?"

"Well, there was a bear…" her face turned white and she looked panicked.

"Easy Bells everyone's fine, we didn't clean up right away after cutting up our fish and a black bear was nearby and came out of the woods at us."

"Didn't you have your gun?"

"Yeah I did, but I didn't have to use it."

"Why not?' she sounded nervous, like she knew what was coming.

"It ran off, before I had to use it. It seemed like it was, intimidated by us. Actually, it seemed like it was afraid of Edward. Ironic huh? I'm always telling you kids to stay out of the woods and be careful and your old man's the one getting attacked by bears."

"That's pretty weird dad. I'm just glad you're both alright." She said going back to her dinner.

The night got pretty quiet after that, we cleaned up all the dishes together and then watched some TV for a little while. At around ten, Bella got up from the couch yawning and announced she was going to go to bed. I heard the shower turn on upstairs and after about half an hour, she said goodnight at the top of the stairs. I followed suit soon after, exhausted and weary from the long day.