Here we go again!

I didn't want them to have too much of a meeting because otherwise their talk with Carlisle and then again with the Quileute's becomes too repetitive. I just think an explanation was owed behind all of the protection.

Grew up in a small town, and when the rain would fall down,

I'd just stare out my window.

Dreaming of what could be, and if id end up happy,

I would pray.

Trying hard to reach out, but when I tried to speak out,

Felt like no one could hear me.

Wanting to belong here, but something felt so wrong here,

So I'd pray, I could breakaway.

Chapter Seven: Born In Phoenix

Bella POV

It was around 1:00pm Sunday and my dad and I were just hanging out watching some football game, finishing our lunch. For once, I wasn't really paying attention to the game. My mind was in so many places all at once and it was hard to concentrate. Jessica Stanley had been killed last night...what was school going to be like tomorrow? Everyone had known her since kindergarten pretty much...I couldn't even pretend to understand. My dad was just beginning the healing process and would be back to work earlier than planned because of the recent attacks. He was originally off for 3 weeks...but the station had called here this morning and he was going back to start helping in the station Wednesday with paperwork. He would start going back out in his cruiser the following Saturday. I was more stressed out by this fact. I didn't want him tracking this thing that was more than capable of killing...but what choice did I have? Emmett was right. It's his job.

Emmett had left before I woke up. I, miraculously, had woken up in my own bed, though I didn't remember going back to my room. I had found a letter beside my head on my pillow. The handwriting was so perfect I had to take a moment to admire it.

Bella –

You fell asleep and I thought you would feel more comfortable in your own bed. Feel better and I'll see you soon little one, thanks for the company last night!

Emmett

P.S. There is cold medicine on your nightstand. ;)

Sure enough, on my nightstand were two Advil Cold and Sinus and a glass of water.

I smiled remembering how thoughtful he was. I couldn't believe how attached to the Cullen's I had become. I missed them…their presence was…soothing. I knew it sounded strange, most people feared them. But I was oddly comforted by them. With them all around… I truly felt like I belonged, which was rare.

When it came to fitting in I was the ugly duckling of the group. Back in Phoenix I couldn't fit in with anyone. I was the odd girl…the one that preferred to read my classics than go to house parties. The pale white girl that stood out like a sore thumb. The one that never had a boyfriend because I put school first. And here with everyone that had known each other since kindergarten, I didn't feel like I fit in either. Until the Cullen's so warmly and graciously accepted me. I still felt like I stood out with them…the way they moved…spoke…looked…it was flawless. And here I was…so very flawed. But they made me feel welcome. It made it even more easy to want to be around them. I couldn't be happier that I had moved to Forks. It was always the best part of my year to come and visit my dad. This was my home…if someone were to ask, this is where I grew up. I smiled at the thought.

I grabbed mine and Charlie's plates and took them to the sink and washed them up quickly. I then got to work cleaning. Anything that would help me to keep my mind busy and off of how horrible school would be tomorrow. I also had a bit of homework to finish, which could wait until after dinner. I began with the laundry. I washed all of my dad's blankets and gathered all of our clothing. Once I got that on I went to my room to make my bed and then went to my dad's room, only to see that Emmett had made his bed already. I smiled, making a note to thank him. I headed to the bathroom to give it a good scrub down, which I did every Sunday back in Phoenix. After that was all finished, I went back downstairs.

"Hey dad, would you like anything?" I asked him, my voice slightly scratchy. He smiled at me and shook his head, patting the spot beside him.

"You just come sit down. You sound sick Bells, you feeling alright?" I sat beside him and put my head on his shoulder. I shook my head, yawning.

"Not really, I think the cold and wet is getting to me, especially with all this stress." He slung his arm around my shoulders, giving me a soft hug.

"Alright, take a nap. You need to rest. I'm going to go get-"

"No! No, you aren't. You are supposed to stay off your ankle. Don't do anything, I'll do it." I said standing. I wanted my dad to be in tip top shape if he was going back to work so soon. I didn't want him to strain anything.

"Alright Bells, I won't. But you are going to rest. Let me just move for you." He went to adjust so I could lay on the couch but I stopped him.

"It's alright dad, I'll just curl up in your recliner and watch some TV with you." He nodded and I got comfortable. Before I knew it, my eyelids grew heavy and I was out.

Alice POV

I knocked on the door to be polite, even though I knew they were home. I had decided to come and see how Charlie was doing. Plus, when Emmett told me that he though Bella was coming down with a cold, I knew she shouldn't be up and about all day. Jasper joined me and we waited for someone to answer the door. We heard slight shifting, grunting, and huffing.

"Uh… c…come in?" I heard from inside, though only because of my vampire hearing. I looked to Jas, confused. I opened the door and let myself in.

"Charlie? Bella?"

"In here." I heard Charlie say somewhat softly. I went into the living room to see Charlie twisted on the couch facing me, half standing with a cheeky smile on his face, it just seemed out of place. This made me laugh. I looked over to Bella's sleeping form on the reclining chair. I understood then why no one answered the door.

"Hey how are you guys doing? I heard you had a pretty eventful night?" He nodded and sat himself back on the couch properly. I went and sat beside him. Jasper sat on an ottoman on the other side of the coffee table.

"Oh slightly," Charlie began. "Some strange man came knocking on our door and Bella answered it… he just watched her and walked away. Then your brothers came here and told us about Bella's friend Jessica being attacked by an animal… just left us with a very uneasy feeling I suppose." He finished. I could tell his ego was a little bruised for not being able to protect his home. I smiled to him thankfully.

"Well I have never been more thrilled to hear that you allowed Emmett to stay here with you two. You made a very smart decision Charlie. Never be too confident, you never know what fate has in store for you, right? You really pulled through for her." I told him with a gesture to Bella. He tried to contain his beaming smile at me and I was glad that I could restore some of his masculinity. I turned to Jasper.

"Well Jasper, this is Charlie Swan, Charlie, this is my boyfriend Jasper." I introduced them. They shook hands.

"Good to meet you Chief Swan." Jasper told him with a firm handshake and a sincere smile. I was so happy that my Jas was making such great progress with his bloodlust. I knew he could control himself.

"Good to meet you too son, and you can call me Charlie." I smiled at the two. We fell into light conversation until I heard a buzzer go off. I looked around confused, as did Jasper.

"Oh, that's the laundry. Bella was doing some housekeeping, it needs to be switched over to the dryer…" Charlie began, going to stand up. Before I could stop him, Jasper was already standing and in front of Charlie.

"No it's alright Charlie, you rest. I have a feeling Bella wouldn't be happy knowing you were up and about." He said with a chuckle and went to find the laundry room. I loved that man, he was so sweet and thoughtful. I smiled to Charlie.

"He treats you good then?" He asked and I beamed at him nodding.

"Good." He told me with a wink. I laughed, he was so paternal. I sobered and looked to Bella.

"How is she doing then? Emmett said she wasn't feeling well." He nodded and sighed.

"Yeah, she is feeling a bit sick. She says she thinks its just the stress lowering her immune system, and she is probably right. Not to mention the weather here is much different than it is in Phoenix." I nodded and looked to her again. He breathing was slow and regular. She was in a restful sleep.

"So, Phoenix…" I said looking back to him. He sighed and nodded. I felt bad bringing it back up but I couldn't help the curiosity flowing through me. I'm sure I had been driving Jasper crazy.

"Right. I was saying that… Bella and I didn't know we were father and daughter. We knew we were related but…" He looked down and sighed. I put my hand on his for comfort and he smiled to me.

"Well her mom, Renee and I used to date. We were young, and in love. I had proposed to her. We thought we had it all…the world at our fingertips you might say. We began to have slight disagreements. She wanted to move to the city and be apart of something more than Forks, and I wanted to stay here. I grew up in this house… I was offered a position on the Forks Police Force…it would be easy to move up here. Not to mention I loved the hometown feel of this place. Renee though, she grew up in Jacksonville, Florida, went to school in Seattle, and the move here was only supposed to be temporary. A stop off after she had graduated to find herself. Well, instead she found me. I guess… our lifestyles just didn't match as much as we thought they did. Well, she ended up pregnant… but she claimed it wasn't mine. She had been seeing my brother, Phil. The engagement was called off and they moved away to Phoenix. She had everything she had wanted I guess.

I went down there when Bella was born, thinking I had a niece. It was awkward, but I wasn't going to take that out on Bella. A child should have it's whole family in their life. I went to visit Bella every year for her birthday, and when she was old enough she decided she wanted to spend a few weeks of the summers here with me. She always loved Forks.

This past Christmas I went to see Bella, she has been the only family I have really had in eighteen years. Both my parents died when I was twenty, leaving just me and Phil, until he ran off with my fiancé. I guess I just wanted to keep her around. Anyways, I went to see her and while I was there, Bella got hit by a car. She lost a lot of blood… broke her arm. In the hospital she began to seizure…she is epileptic. It was then that the hospital needed family history… well, Phil was adopted. So Renee had to come out with the fact that Bella was my daughter. Turns out she said Bella was Phil's as a way out of the engagement…a way out of Forks." I looked to Charlie in shock. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"After that, Renee didn't want to tell Bella about it, but I insisted. Bella decided that she wanted to come live with me a few weeks after she found out. I'll never forget her reaction when she found out…she called me crying. I asked her what was wrong and all that she told me was… 'I may have been born in Phoenix, but my home is Forks'. Nothing will ever make me feel more than I did at that moment." I nodded, looking to Bella's still sleeping form with unshed tears in my eyes. Poor Bella…

"Wow, Charlie I am so sorry. That had to be awful…thank you so much for telling me this. It couldn't have been easy." He nodded.

"I just wish I had have gotten to be there when she grew up. I missed out on so much…" I nodded sadly to him. This poor man just got his daughter back…and my visions led me to believe Bella wouldn't be with him long enough. She would be one of us one day. The thought of taking her out of Charlie's life killed me. Jasper took this time to come into the room and send us a wave of calm. Charlie sighed.

"Well, at least she is here now. And she chose to come live with me. That means the world to me." He told me smiling. I nodded to him. I watched as Jasper came over to Bella, holding a blanket that smelled strongly of her.

"I hope you don't mind, I grabbed this from her room." He told Charlie quietly. He covered Bella up and she snuggled into it. He put a hand on her forehead and she sighed.

"She is running a bit of a fever. You know, Esme is an amazing cook. I'm sure she wouldn't mind cooking some homemade soup for you and Bella." He added. I had to agree, Esme would be more than happy.

"Aw I couldn't impose like that…"

"Nonsense Charlie! Esme loves Bella. It's no trouble at all." I told him with a smile. He nodded and smiled to me as well. I looked over and saw Bella stirring in the chair.

"Mmmmmmm…" I giggled and watched her stretch her arms and legs out. I looked to Jas and he was watching her with interest. I then felt jealously hit me full force. I looked over and saw Charlie fidgeting. I looked to Jas and cleared my throat. He looked at me and gave me a sad smile, giving everyone a good dose of calm.

"Hey…what are you guys doing here?" Bella asked us groggily. I watched her sit up and yawn. She sounded awful.

"Just here checking on you two. Emmett said you're feeling sick, you okay?" She nodded.

"Yeah…just a little cold. My throat kinda hurts…" I nodded and went over and put my hand on her forehead. I heard Jas hiss quietly at me for touching her. I looked down and saw her leaning into my cold hand. She sighed.

"The feels so nice…" I smiled and kept my hand on her forehead.

"Here hun, scoot over." She did and I climbed into the chair with her, keeping the blanket between us. I put my arm around her and she rested her head on my shoulder. I put the arm that was around her up so I could put my hand on her forehead again. Once I had done this, I felt a little silly. What was I doing? Did I seriously think this would comfort her? To my surprise though, she relaxed into my side and closed her eyes. She actually liked the cold. I smiled brightly and looked to Jas. I was so happy she accepted me like this. When I was around Bella…I couldn't explain it. I felt so maternal. This wouldn't make sense to her. I was supposed to be a year younger than her, even though I was definitely much older. Hell, Jasper and I had been married for 34 years.

"Hey sweetheart, I'll go back home and talk to Esme about that soup and I'll stop by again later?" I nodded to him with a smile, listening to Bella's breath even out. He smiled to me and shook Charlie's hand.

"It was great to meet you Charlie, I'll see you soon." Charlie said his goodbyes.

"So kid, what do you want to do?" He asked me and I looked down to Bella, not wanting to move. I could feel that I was taking down her temperature, that was a good thing. I tucked the blankets around her a little more and shrugged at Charlie.

"Anything is fine." He nodded, grabbing for the TV remote. He turned it to a baseball game.

"You like baseball?" I smiled, nodding. I actually did. We sat there in a comfortable silence, watching the game. I stayed perfectly still, not wanting to wake Bella. This made me feel good…I felt needed…it was like, Bella was apart of me. I knew there was no way I could give Bella up. Ever.

Emmett POV

I sat on the couch in mine and Rosie's room being yelled at. I didn't know how I was going to get out of this one.

"NO Emmett. Where were you? You don't just stay out all night! Where were you? And DON'T you DARE lie." Her gold eyes pierced right into mine and I couldn't maintain eye contact. I knew I couldn't like to Rose. I never would…I had nothing to hide…I just felt bad because I knew she wouldn't approve.

"I was at the Swan house last night." I told her, looking up into her eyes. She looked confused.

"Swan house…Swan? Who- Swan? BELLA SWAN? What the fuck were you doing there?" I was really in for it this time. I tried to look at sorry as possible. This was why I needed to be the one to tell her, if she heard it anywhere else she probably wouldn't even speak to me.

"Well there was a vampire attack last night on one of Bella's friends…they killed her…" Rosalie looked momentarily shocked. It was an odd occurrence to hear about other vampires in Forks, let alone an attack. I decided it was safe to continue.

"And well…we are pretty sure that on our hunt last night we came across those vampires scents…and it led us to Bella's house. They came right up to her front door Rose, Edward and I had to scare them away." She still looked shocked. Maybe there was hope for this after all.

"And what with Charlie being injured, none of us felt Bella and Charlie should be left alone, especially with the nomads coming to their house…so I stayed the night there." She looked at me curiously, trying to tell if I was being completely truthful. I wanted to huff about her not trusting me, but I knew that wasn't a good idea right now. I just wanted my Rosie back. All of a sudden she sniffed the air, and came forward to sniff my shirt. I looked at her quizzically.

"Why. Do. You. Smell. Like. Her." Uh oh. I had forgotten that Bella's scent would rub off on me after hanging out last night.

"Well…I was in her house Rose, I smell like Charlie too…" She grabbed my hand and smelled it. She took a big step back and gave me a menacing glare. I smelled my own hand and it was very potent…Bella. I had my hand on her forehead to keep her cool.

"Hey now…Rose. Don't think like that. She is sick so I had my hand on her forehead to bring her temperature down." She began to shake.

"You were out taking care of some HUMAN GIRL while I'm sitting here wondering where the FUCK my HUSBAND IS? Do you NOT WANT to fix this marriage?" I looked at her in shock. She was gripping the footboard of our sleigh bed and the wood was crumbling under her delicate hand. 'GOD even when I'm being yelled at I can't mentally stop being smitten with her.' I sighed and shook my head.

"Baby of course I want to fix this…Rosie…you are my everything. I'm sorry you are hurting…no one could ever mean more to me than you." I told her taking a step toward her. She took a step back, dropping the pieces of wood. I didn't care, I'd buy her a brand new bed. I'd do anything for her.

"Then don't see her anymore." She gritted through her teeth. I looked at her somewhat confused.

"Baby I thought we already spoke about this…Alice wants-" She huffed and walked around me to the other side of the room.

"You know what? No. you no longer have a choice. You are forbidden to see her anymore." I looked at her somewhat offended.

"You are forbidding me? Rose, I'm your husband, not your kid. You can't forbid me to do something…" She came right up to me and looked me dead in the eye.

"I found you didn't I? I'm the only reason you're here. I have enough say over what you do." She said deadly quiet. I couldn't help my anger.

"Is that what you think? That because you found me you can control me? I owe you my second life yeah, and I'll always be grateful and love you but what the fuck Rose? You can't control me! I'm a fucking individual FULLY capable of making MY OWN CHOICES!"

"NO YOU CAN'T!" She yelled back. I looked at her like she had grown a second head.

"Excuse me?" I asked her, dangerously calm. She looked at me and glared, though her anger was fading. She knew she had crossed a line.

"You think I'm incapable? What, big oaf Emmett McCarty is too much of an idiot to think for himself?" I was backing her into the wall and she looked at me, still glaring. It only fuelled me.

"IS THAT WHAT YOU FUCKING THINK?" I bellowed, banging my hands off the wall on either side of her head. She pushed my chest and I flew back onto the bed.

"Don't you DARE yell at me like that! I will NOT put up with it!" I sat up on the bed.

"Yet I'm supposed to put up with this bullshit? You know what? Fuck you Rosalie. I'd do anything for you but when it comes to this all I have to say is fuck. you. I'm your husband. This should be a give and take relationship. And I'm the only one that ever fucking gives. Talk to me when you snap out of your selfish behaviour." I then got up and walked away. I felt so low…my own wife thought I was an idiot. I went downstairs and passed my family, who all looked very upset, I knew they would have heard everything. I ignored their caring looks and went outside to take a walk. I wasn't sure how long I had walked for, but I soon found myself in front of the Swan house. I smelled Alice and a faint hint of Jasper. I decided this was as good a place as any to end up, Alice would cheer me up. I went up and knocked on the door, hearing a faint 'come in'. I went in and followed the sounds to the living room, where I found Charlie on the couch, and Alice and Bella curled up in the recliner, Bella fast asleep. Alice gave me a beaming smile and I looked down to Bella who was a picture of ease, deep in a peaceful sleep. I was so happy for Alice. Bella made her so happy. I greeted them all and sat next to Charlie, watching TV and chatting with them quietly. I could feel all my anger and anxiety melt away as time went by. It was like this was a safe haven from our world. I kind of liked it.

There you have it guys, sorry for the delay, I just got a new computer and I had to wait to update until I could get internet on it. R&R!

Song: Breakaway – Kelly Clarkson