End of Chapter 13

I sat and waited for Charlie, as I usually did, but this time I wasn't alone. Text messages from both Alice and Edward kept me company. Even one from Emmett:

Don't want to be the insensitive jerk, but could you please try to keep Charlie from yakking in the Jeep? -Em

I could picture Rosalie smacking him in the head from here if she caught wind of that text. I would have been upset before over something like this, but I was lighter now. My weight was no longer on my shoulders alone. I had friends who were holding me up. Things were finally looking up for the Swan family.

Chapter 14: No Woman, No Cry (EPOV)

Friday when Emmett came out of Spanish, I heard him growling before I could find the source of his ire. It didn't take me long. There, sitting in the drivers seat of the Jeep, was Bella. She was lounged back with her feet propped up on the dashboard, her hair spilled out of the open driver's window, her eyes were closed, and the white wire of her earbuds snaked up and disappeared into her hair.

"That's it," I heard Emmett muttered, and he pulled out his cell phone, and started walking in the opposite direction of the jeep. What was he up to? I didn't care to be around him when he was acting like a girl on the rag, so I kept walking towards the cars. I set my own bag down on the hood of my car, and came around to the driver's window of the Jeep, and put my face right next to hers.

"Hey, friend," I whispered, not wanting to remove her from her revery.

"Edward," she said slowly and quietly as her face turned up into a smile, yet she kept her eyes closed.

"Whatcha listening to?" I asked still in a soft voice.

Without another word, she plucked the earbud out of her left ear. She reached up with the earbud in her hand, still maintaining her closed eyed respite. I thought she was handing it to me, and I started to reach for it, but then the back of her fingers slid up my jaw and back to my left ear, and she gently placed it into my ear. Bob Marley.

"This explains the mellow mood," I said with a quiet chuckle.

"Mmmm," she agreed.

We were both startled out of our little world we were lost in by the sound of Alice squealing. We both jumped and faced her. She was running towards Bella and clapping her hands. Jasper was laughing, and Emmett had a vindictive smirk on his face. Then it dawned on me what was going on. He wouldn't.

"Bella!" Alice yelled running up to the Jeep and hugging her through the window.

"Happy Friday to you too, Alice?" Bella said puzzled and looking to me for an explanation.

"I'm so sorry, Bella," I mouthed looking from Emmett back to Alice.

She gave me a puzzled look, but my sister recaptured her attention.

"We are going to have so much fun!" Alice squealed once again.

"Yeah," Bella said tentatively. I could see her mind reeling about what this could be pertaining to. "Charlie and I are both looking forward to Sunday."

"Not Sunday, silly!" Alice said in a huff. "Tomorrow!"

"I'm confused," Bella said. "What is tomorrow? I thought you and Rosalie had plans to go shop....NO!"

Bella's now wide eyes shifted to Emmett and caught his gloating smile. Her eyes narrowed.

"So, we want to get rolling at around ten," Alice voice floated through the staring contest still unaware of Bella totally being in the dark about this set-up.

"Wait, Alice," she said. "I haven't even asked Charlie, and he may need me."

"Emmett called him, and cleared it all," Alice said. "Charlie said you can stay over, if you want, and Emmett will go pick him up to come over for the game on Sunday."

Emmett and Jasper were both laughing now watching the exchange go down. I was momentarily grinning at the end of Bella being around for the weekend until I caught a glimpse of her face. It was pained. The face that was constantly worried about Charlie that had disappeared this past week had returned. I wasn't having that. I swore to myself that I would never see that face again.

"Bella, sweetheart," I said walking over and smoothing out the crease between her eyebrows with my thumb, while cupping her cheek with the rest of my hand. "You don't have to do this."

"He knew Charlie would agree to this," she said choked. "He knew the bet. I don't think I can be away from him for a whole night, Edward. The last time I came home to him on the..."

She was crying now. I quickly opened the door, and pulled her into my arms. She nuzzled her face into my shoulder and wept. I heard the other's laughter instantly stop.

"Happy now, jackass," I heard Rosalie hiss at Emmett.

"I didn't know she hated shopping that much," Emmett said.

"You are such an idiot," Rosalie said. "She's worried about leaving Charlie alone."

"Oh," I heard him say softly.

"Shit, I am sorry, Bella," Emmett said coming over. He just thought he was playing a joke on Bella. He would never want to cause her pain. I could already tell that he felt like she was another little sister, and brother bear was coming with his tail between his legs. The man was weak for a crying woman. "We can work this out. Charlie just wants you to have a little fun. He thought you might like to hang with the girls for a bit. He worries about you too, you know."

"I know he does, Emmett," she said looking up. "I just...if something were to happen..."

"Let's do this then," Emmett said scooping Bella up into his arms. She rested her head on his shoulder, and he leaned back on the Jeep. "You drive over to our place in the morning, and go shopping with the girls. After shopping, you can stop at home to get your shit and check on Charlie and feed him dinner. You drive yourself back here, so your truck is here to drive you and Charlie home on Sunday, OR if you want it to go home at any point in the night you are feeling unsure. If all goes well, I will go pick him up in the morning. It's an early game. Does that work for you?"

"Yes," she sighed. "Thanks, Emmett."

"It's what brother bear does, sweetie," Emmett said hugging her and tossing her back in the Jeep causing her to squeal with laughter. He walked over to Rosalie, he put his arm around her, and she leaned up and kissed him, and then they turned to get into her BMW.

"Are you OK with this, really?" I turned now and asked Bella.

"Yeah, I think I am," she said. "So, I'll see you in the morning, I guess."

"No, actually, you won't," I said reluctantly.

"Why?" She looked a little upset.

Yeah, I'll miss you too.

"I have symphony practice tomorrow," I explained. "We are starting in on our stuff for the holiday concert series."

"I can hammer out 'The First Noel', if that is of any help," she said with a grin. I sighed with the sight of her smile returning.

"I might hold you to a performance of that tomorrow night," I said, and she instantly blushed. I loved that blush.

"Only if you play for me also," she said satisfied with herself.

"You have a deal," I said.

"I will see you tomorrow night, then," she said. I closed her door.

"See you tomorrow," I said. "Call, text, smoke signal, if you need anything, Bella."

"Will do," she laughed and pulled out and away, waving.

I turned around to see Jasper and Alice watching me with big grins on their faces.

"What?" I asked.

"You know what, dude," Jasper said. I rolled my eyes.

"Bella and I are just friends, man," I said walking around and getting into my car. He and Alice climbed in, and I thought I heard him mutter 'For now' under his breath.

When we got home, Jasper and Alice went to the kitchen to grab something to eat before settling down at the dining room table to work on their Trigonometry homework. I was grabbing a granola bar and vitamin water for myself, when Esme walked into the kitchen. She walked up to me and kissed me on the cheek before heading over to start taking things out to make dinner.

"How was school today?" She asked.

"Fine," I said. "Emmett made Bella cry."

"He WHAT?!" She spun and her voice raised pointing the wooden spoon in her hand at me. I flung my hands in the air in defense.

"He called Charlie and suggested Bella go shopping and sleep over here with Alice and Rose tomorrow. Charlie agreed to it," I said.

"She doesn't want to leave Charlie for the night after what happened last time," she said as a statement and not a question. I nodded. "Poor thing. She has had this all on her shoulders for so long now."

"I know," I said looking down at my water and fumbling absentmindedly with the bottle. "I made some concessions with Alice on the day, so Bella has time to check-in and see that Charlie is doing OK."

"That was very nice of you, son," she said with a knowing smile.

"Not you too," I shook my head and gathered up my stuff. "Bella is my friend, and I care for her as my friend."

"Of course you do, dear," she acknowledged, all teasing gone from her face. "She needs a friend, and I am so proud of you for being a good friend to her."

"Thanks, mom," I said kissing her cheek before I headed up to my room.

I got to my room and plopped my bag down by my desk. I just didn't feel like doing homework right now. My mind was burning with thoughts of Bella, and Charlie. I reached over to the small stack of papers on my desk that Carlisle had given me. After finding out about Charlie's condition, I had asked my dad on some literature on his type of cancer, and the clinical trial he was in. I flopped back on my couch, and began reading.

"According to the American Cancer Society, for all stages of pancreatic cancer combined, the one-year relative survival rate is 20%, and the five-year rate is 4%. These low survival rates are attributable to the fact that fewer than 10% of patients' tumors are confined to the pancreas at the time of diagnosis; in most cases, the malignancy has already progressed to the point where surgical removal is impossible."*

Carlisle had explained to me that Charlie's case was VERY rare, because it was caught so early. The cancer, from what they could tell, had not spread past the pancreas. That they hoped to be able to remove it all with the surgery in December, and the chemo was precautionary to make sure they got any cancerous cells not located within the main tumor. I hoped that he was right. The thought of Charlie dying made my chest ache, because it would destroy Bella. I know she is rational, but I was sure a part of her that would always think she could have done something more.

It was another reason, I was sure, that she was hesitant to spend one night away from Charlie. She was afraid of losing one moment with him. Bella and I, since she had told me about Charlie, had discussed her feelings about the diagnosis. The stats, that Bella had researched in depth, did not lend themselves to optimism. This diagnosis was typically a death sentence, and she was trying to reconcile herself with that every day since last summer when she found out about Charlie. Yet, at the same time, she was trying to keep her faith in Carlisle, and his hope for this new treatment schedule. Every day, I sat back in awe of her strength as she dealt with this real world complication.

I couldn't help but reflect on myself when I was with Bella. I remembered how I behaved when my parents told me we were moving to Forks. I remembered how hard of a time I had given them. I thought of all the silent treatments and the pouty reclusiveness I had resigned myself to. What a childish idiot I was. At the same time I was being a whining baby, Bella was uprooting herself to dedicate her life to caring for her father. She is so much better than I am. I always thought I was so mature. I was so self-righteous. I was a fool. Suddenly, I was feeling very unworthy of being Bella Swan's friend.

My pity party was interrupted when Esme called up the stair letting me know that dinner was ready. I sighed gathering up the papers on my lap and placing them back on my desk. I felt like a large weight was suddenly tied to my neck thinking about how wretched I have been. I made my way into the dining room and took my seat. It was just my family tonight, and I was glad for that. Everyone was already seated, and serving themselves food. I didn't even realize that I was not doing the same until I felt my father's hand on my arm.

"Son, are you OK?" He said through concerned eyes.

"Yeah," I said half shrugging. "Just thinking."

"About?" He asked softly.

"Bella and Charlie," I admitted in a half-truth. My father hummed in understanding, and patted my arm.

"I take it you have been doing some reading," he said as he passed me the plate of chicken in front of him.

"Yes," I acknowledged. "But, I had already heard most of what you gave me from Bella."

"I'm sure you have," he said with a laugh. "She is very thorough."

"Yes, she is," I laughed with him.

The others were quietly eating, pretending they weren't listening in to our conversation, but Alice's quivering lip gave her away.

"Alice," I said soothingly reaching across the table to hold her hand.

"Is it really that bad?" She asked looking at our dad with watery eyes.

"It usually is," he said being truthful. "But Charlie is a rare case. It was a serendipitous moment that he happened to be required to have that physical. Much longer, and there would have been nothing I could do for him."

She started sobbing now, and Emmett who was next to her, wrapped his arm around her as he continued to eat his dinner. His silence spoke volumes to what he was feeling.

"I am very optimistic, myself," Carlisle added trying to lighten the mood. "His chemo is done, and garnered the results I was hoping for. Now, he'll have he surgery in December, and hopefully that will be the end of it. In the meantime, I understand we are having a guest tomorrow."

"Yes!" Alice said more animatedly, wiping her eyes with her napkin. "I am so excited!"

"I still can't believe you sabotaged her like that, Emmett," I said sternly across the table.

"She would have never agreed to do it otherwise, man," he said.

"You were just getting revenge for the Jeep," I said.

"OK, I was, at first, but you should have heard how happy Charlie sounded on the phone when I pitched my idea to him," he said. "I know Bella's worried, but Charlie has stress of his own over this mess. You can see the guilt in his eyes when he looks at Bella, if you could peel your eyes off of her for two seconds."

He smirked, and I kicked him under the table.

"Boys!" Esme snapped.

"It will be fine, son," my dad said patting my shoulder. "Charlie's episode last week was a fluke thing because of the supplement I was giving him. Now that the chemo is over, his body will start recovering. Bella also needs to learn how to balance her role as caretaker with that of being a girl."

"She knows that," I admitted. "She just worries about Charlie being alone."

"Sue starts cleaning for them tomorrow," Esme said coyly. "Maybe he won't be alone forever."

"Esme Cullen!" My father chided. "Quit with your matchmaking schemes!"

"Did I say anything?" She asked in mock horror.

We all laughed. I felt a little lighter after talking to my family about what I was feeling, and started digging into my dinner. The rest of the evening passed talking about plans for tomorrow. I looked forward to making Bella fulfill her promise to play her one song on the piano in exchange for playing for her. She had never heard me play, and despite her teasing, I was looking forward to her reaction. OK, so I was looking forward to showing off.

As I was helping Emmett clear the dishes from dinner, and load them into the dishwasher, my phone buzzed in my pocket.

Any chance you were able to get them to change their minds about tomorrow? -B

You must be crazy! Game on, sweetheart...sorry. -E

Didn't hurt to ask. Charlie is all smiles about it all. It's nice to see him smiling. -B

Then I guess you are stuck with us Cullens tomorrow. -E

I am sorry for how I acted earlier. I really am looking forward to it. Especially your playing. -B

Likewise. -E

Your are really going to hold me to that? -B

Of course! - E

Crap. -B

Don't torture yourself with the thought. I'm sure your one song is great. -E

Don't be mean to the musical invalid. -B

Sorry. :-( -E

I was kidding. I will see you tomorrow afternoon sometime! -B

Can't wait! -E

Good-night, Edward. - B

Good-night, Bella. -E

"How's Bella?" Emmett asked.

"How do you know it was Bella?" I asked in defiance.

"Because of the stupid grin that is now plastered on your face," he said shoving some plates into my hands.

"Shut up," I tried to force a frown on my face.

"I thought so," he said. "You finish. I did most of it while you were making out with your phone."

"Jerk," I muttered.

"You know it," he said leaving me to finish the dishes.

---------------------------

A/N: I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry for being so late with my update! I was enjoying the company of my favorite Canadian who invaded the USA for the week, playoff hockey, and even a friend that I haven't seen in 3 years who was down from that state up North. Forgive me, while real life was being so good to me.

*Info from the Hirshberg Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research

Also, this was sort of a transition chapter, and I was struggling a bit with it. The late update will not affect this week's update schedule. I am also finishing up a one-shot for the "Forbidden Love" contest. It will be posted this week, because the deadline is Wednesday. If you want to catch what else I have been doing while neglecting you here, set me for an author alert!

3 you all for all the love you send me in your reviews! I am so happy to know I make you laugh and cry, and you love me for both extremes. Missing my friends who are now headed home. Shoot me a review and wipe away my sad.