A/N Ok, I am absolutely floored by the number of hits and alerts I've gotten so far on this story so I must be doing something right. Being my first fic, I wasn't sure what to expect! I am a bit disappointed though that I've only received 6 reviews so far. Please help me by reviewing. Any feedback or opinions you can give would be greatly appreciated and help keep me motivated!

Chapter 5 The Fight

Just as Bella expected, Charlie sucked air when she opened the door. The point of the haircut was never to see how many people she could shock; it was to help her on her path to being and staying miserable. The change was so drastic however that Bella knew she should expect this type of reaction more often than not.

"Charlie, you're mouth is gaping open like a fish. You're gonna swallow a fly if you're not careful." Bella was determined to act as if nothing was amiss. After all, this was her hair in question. It wasn't Charlie's and he had no right to say anything about it. Apparently, this wasn't the logic Charlie was going to use though.

"Um… Bella? What in god's name did you do to your hair? More importantly though, why?" Charlie was absolutely baffled. Bella had always had the most beautiful, long brown hair that had natural ringlets and fell halfway to her waist. Why she would cut it was beyond him. If she would have gone to a salon and at least had it styled, it would have been a little different – not much, but a little. This however was horrible. It looked as if she had taken a pair of kitchen shears, grabbed it all up in one handful and chopped it off. There was absolutely no rhyme or reason to it and it confused the hell out of Charlie. Note to self: call Esme for advice on this behavior.

"Charlie, there's no reason to freak out. It's just a haircut and it'll grow back anyway. It'll probably be to my shoulders by the time school starts in two weeks any." Ok, so I know that's a stretch, but what he doesn't know won't hurt him. "It's not like I shaved it completely off."

"Bella I understand that, but why didn't you tell me you wanted a haircut? I could have taken you to the barbershop on the corner. It looks like you let a blind person with a kitchen knife attack you in your sleep. Come down for breakfast and when we're done, I'll go down and get it fixed." Charlie was a bit mortified of letting Bella out of the house with the way it looked, but he had to in order to get it fixed.

"No. Charlie, it's just my hair. It will grow back. You asked me why I cut it? Well, let me be frank. I cut it because it reminded me too much of mom. Every night, she would brush my hair and tell me that it would bring me good dreams. She would literally be in my room for thirty minutes every single night and we would talk and laugh and sometimes cry, but that's how we bonded. Now she's not here anymore. I don't want a reminder of the good times I had with her. I don't want to have good dreams. Every time I take a breath I'm reminded that I'm the reason she's not here anymore. And stop… I know what you're going to say, but I DO NOT AGREE! It was my actions and decisions that led us to being in that car at that intersection at the time we were in the accident. I'm the reason mom is dead and that's not something I'm going to forget and you need to accept that. I don't want to move on with my life and I don't want to be happy again, ever!" Bella was trying really hard not to cry but she couldn't hold back the traitorous tears that spilled over and ran down her cheeks.

"I need to get dressed," she said as she slammed the door in Charlie's face. She stumbled backward until she felt her legs hit the bed and she sank down and buried her face in her pillows. After crying for a few minutes, she changed into jeans and a long sleeve shirt, put on her tennis shoes and went down stairs. "Thank you for breakfast, but I'm not hungry. I'm going for a walk and I don't know when I'll be back." With that, Bella grabbed her jacket off one of the hooks in the hall and walked out on the porch, slamming the door behind her so hard that the windows rattled.

…..

Charlie was beside himself and out of his element. He loved Bella more than life itself, but he hadn't been a dad in sixteen years. Are all teenagers like this? All I did was tell her I'd take her to get her hair fixed. What's so wrong with that?

He kept up the litany of questions in his mind as he dialed Esme's personal cell phone number, crossing his fingers that she was available right then. He breathed a sigh of relief when she answered on the second ring.

"Well good morning Charlie! What can I do for you on this beautiful Saturday?" Esme sounded as chipper as always even though it was only 7:30 in the morning.

"I need your help. It's Bella. I made breakfast this morning and went up to tell her it was ready. When she opened the door I didn't even recognize her. Esme, she took a pair of scissors or something and chopped her hair completely off. I offered to take her to the shop to have it fixed but then she blew up at me, slammed the door in my face, and then left the house a few minutes later. I'm completely out of my element here. Is she ever going to be herself again? I'm starting to think it was a bad idea to bring her to Forks Esme. Maybe I should have let Renee's mother take her in like she offered. Maybe I should have…"

"Charlie. Charlie stop. Take a breath and listen to me please. Bella has gone through a very traumatic incident and it was only a week ago. She lost the only parent she's ever known and was forced into moving to un unfamiliar town, in an unfamiliar state with what is essentially a strange man, I know you're her father Charlie, but you have to realize something; these things take time. Healing takes time Charlie. Bella opened up to me last. She's in pain and she has to learn to deal with that pain in her own way. The only thing that you can do for her – the only thing anyone can do for her – is to let her find her own way to cope. I know it's hard, and it's probably going to get harder before it gets better, but Charlie, it will get better; I promise you that." Charlie heard Esme take a deep cleansing breath before she continued, "Where is Bella now?"

"I don't know. She was grabbed her jacket, said she was going for a walk and then she left. Oh god, should I have followed her? I should have followed her, shouldn't I?"

Charlie was about to have a panic attack; that much was clear to Esme. "Charlie, I need you to listen to me. You're a strong man, but I think you might need some help. This is going to be a stressful situation all around and you are probably going to feel stressed and anxious quite frequently. I'm going to call in a prescription for Ativan for you to take when you're feeling overly anxious. It's an anti-anxiety medication that I've found to be very helpful for a lot of people. There is a risk of dependency, so try to keep it in your room and away from Bella. I know she's not into drugs or anything, but I don't know what she's capable of right now and it's better safe than sorry. It's a common med that Chinook usually has on hand, so you should be able to pick it up later this morning. Do you have any questions for me?"

He thought for a minute and asked the questions that were at the forefront of his mind. "Did I do the right thing? Was bringing her to live with me the right thing to do Esme? I'm scared. I'm scared that she can't be happy here. When Renee left all those years ago, she left because she couldn't stand the thought of being stuck in a town like Forks. I'm afraid Bella is going to realize the same thing and then she'll leave too. I just got her back and already I can't bare the thought of losing her again. It broke me when Renee left. When she took Bella with her she took part of my soul. Now that she's back, I feel whole again. I'm complete Esme and I don't want anything to change that. Please help me Esme. You and Carlisle have always been there for me, but I think I'm going to need you now more than ever." Charlie let the tears roll freely down his cheeks as he begged for help. He felt lost and he knew they would help him. They had in the past and he had no doubt they would be there for him again.

"Charlie you don't even have to ask. Carlisle and I love you like family. We will always be there for you, no matter what happens. Stay strong, fill the prescription, and call me this afternoon. I was planning to have a barbeque at the house this afternoon for Carlisle and the kids to celebrate a great summer. School starts again in a few weeks, but I always get swamped with work, so I figured now would be as good a time as any. Why don't you and Bella come? It would probably be good for her and it would definitely be good for you!"

"Oh honey, I couldn't impose on you guys like that," Charlie said.

Esme laughed into the phone before saying, "Charlie, you have never before nor ever could impose on us. I insist that you join us. If it makes you feel better, bring a dessert."

"What would I do without you guys?" Charlie asked, smiling to himself. "Thank you Esme; for the barbeque invite, for your friendship, for everything. I will never be able to express to you the gratitude I feel."

"Well Charlie, you don't need to worry about ever finding out what you would do with out us because we're always going to be here for you. Remember that. Now, I'm going to call the pharmacy and then go pick up a few last minute things from the market. Give Bella some time to cool down. I would say go pick up your prescription in an hour. If she's not back by the time you get home, go out and see if you can find her. She probably thinks that she wants to be alone, but I can promise you she'll not only be touched that you came to look for her, but she'll be genuinely happy to see you."

After they said their goodbyes, Charlie ate his breakfast despite the fact that it was stone cold. When he was finished, he put the left overs in the refrigerator and then washed the dishes before putting them in the rack to dry.

Heeding Esme's advice, he went upstairs to take a shower and get ready for the day.

…..

Bella found herself wandering farther and farther into the woods behind Charlie's house. The tears were flowing uncontrollably now and her body was racked with the shakes as she gasped for air that just didn't seem to soothe her lungs. She hadn't meant to blow up at Charlie but she was just so mad. She knew that he loved her and only wanted what was best for her, but he didn't understand what she was going through. He never killed his mother. Hell, he had been the Chief of Police in Forks for going on 20 years now and had never killed anyone as far as Bella knew.

She felt like she had walked a half-mile or so and decided to sit on a fallen spruce tree just off the path she had followed. She laid her jacket over the trunk of the tree and then carefully sat down on top of it. She needed space to think, but most of all she needed to be alone so she could truly let go. She needed to cry without having to try to muffle the sound for Charlie's sake. She knew that he was worried about her but she also knew that things weren't going to change. She was always going to feel the guilt of her mother's death whether he understood that or not, but she didn't see the need to rub it in his face any more than she had to. After all, she was the only one to blame, so she should be the only one who suffered.

…..

Bella wasn't sure how long she had been out in the woods but the sound of someone approaching startled her back to reality. Her eyes scanned the woods looking for what could have possibly made the sound. She was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief when she saw Charlie tentatively approaching her.

"I'm sorry Sweetheart. I didn't mean to startle you. You've been gone for an hour and a half and I was worried that something happened to you, so I came to see if I could find you. Are you okay?" Charlie waked up to her and eyed the trunk beside Bella with a questioning look. Bella nodded her head beside her, signaling that he could sit.

"I'm sorry Charlie. I didn't mean to snap at you earlier I was just so upset." Bella felt the tears that had finally run dry about half hour ago start to run again. She had never cried so much in her life than she had in the last week, but no one could really blame her.

"Honey, it's me who should be apologizing. Looking back at the situation this morning, I realize that I overreacted and I'm sorry. I don't care what you do with your hair; you'll always be my beautiful little girl. I should have asked you if wanted to go to the barbershop instead of just assuming and telling you I'd take you. I understand why you did what you did and I'm sorry if I made a big deal out of everything. It's your hair and you can do what you want with it." Charlie reached out to put his arm around Bella's shoulder, pulling her in closer to him as Bella leaned her head on his shoulder and looked up at him smiling shyly.

"Are you hungry?" Charlie asked Bella after a few minutes of just sitting together quietly. He wasn't sure if she would want to go over to the Cullen's place for the barbeque, but Esme had insisted.

"I'm starved actually," Bella said a bit sheepishly. When she didn't eat breakfast, her stomach would complain at her until she finally fed it; loudly.

"Well, I don't know if you'd be up to it or not, and feel free to say no if you don't want to, but Esme invited us over to their place for a barbeque in a little while. They're having a party of sorts to commemorate the end of another summer."

Bella thought about it for so long that Charlie was sure she was going to say no. She surprised him though by saying, "Sure I guess. What could it hurt?"

A/N Ok, I know it's a lot later than I usually post, but I didn't want to leave you all waiting the entire weekend. It's been super long and busy for me, but I worked hard to get another chapter finished so I could post it tonight. I hope you enjoy! Please review!