A/N Just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who continues to follow this story and to all my new readers! The number of hits, faves, and alerts still continue to amaze me. Thank you everyone! Here's the next chapter! Enjoy and let me know what you think! :)

Chapter 34 – Vandalism

When Bella had crushed her lips to Edward after telling him she'd leave her window open for him, she didn't hesitate at all. Her tongue immediately found entrance to his mouth and she moaned when it made contact with his. She let her hands find their way to his hips as she pulled him closer to her, then she reached around and grabbed his ass. When she felt his cock harden between them it only encouraged her more.

Slowly she had moved one of her hands from his ass to his arm, tugging on it until he unwrapped it from her waist. "I need to feel you touch me babe," she told him as she guided his hand to the hem of her shirt. Without further prodding, he slipped his hand underneath and was cupping the side of her breast as they kissed, letting his thumb rub over her sensitive nipple.

That's when Charlie's conspicuous throat clearing broke through to her. If truth were told, she was mortified that he had caught them like that, but part of her simply didn't care. She would be eighteen in a matter of hours and be considered a legal adult. She loved Charlie very much for accepting her into his home after her mother died, but she knew that she would do whatever it took to be able to stay with Edward, even if that meant moving out. She didn't want to, but it was an option she had if she needed it.

When Bella finally untangled herself from Edward, she looked over at Charlie sheepishly. It was obvious that he had been standing there for sometime because of the look on his face; it was a combination of irritation and embarrassment. She assumed the irritation was because she and Edward were oblivious to everything around them including his throat clearing, and embarrassment because they were literally all over each other.

When she realized Charlie's embarrassment, she felt her own neck and face get hot and she quickly pushed away from Edward. "Sorry Dad. Are you ready to go?" she asked quickly.

Charlie chuckled nervously before stating, "yeah, for about five minutes now. Goodnight Edward." He walked to the driver's side of the cruiser and got in, closing the door behind him.

Bella leaned back in and placed a chaste kiss on his lips. "I love you, Edward. Thank you for everything tonight. Please tell your mother that dinner was wonderful. I'll see you later?" She asked the last part questioningly and watched as Edward smiled at her like the Cheshire cat.

"Of course, Love. I'll be there to help you ring in your birthday and start a new year; a new beginning together." He kissed her once more before she watched him walk back into the house. Slowly, she climbed into the cruiser, her thoughts staying with Edward as Charlie drove away.

…..

When they pulled up to the house, Charlie noticed that practically every light in the house was on. He was just about to ask Bella why she had left everything on, when he noticed the front door was slightly askew. Instantly, he switched into police chief mode.

He turned to Bella and told her to call the station. "Let them know we've had a break-in. I want you to stay in the car and keep the doors locked, okay?"

It broke his heart to see Bella so terrified, but she did as he asked, immediately pulling her cell phone from her pocket and dialing with shaky hands. Once he heard someone on the other end of the phone, he climbed out of the car and locked the doors. Automatically he reached for his service pistol and then remembered that he had put it in the trunk of his car, so he quickly went to the back, keys in hand, and opened the trunk.

Once he put his gun belt back on and pulled the pistol into his hand, he started to walk slowly up the steps to the house. There was no sign of forced entry, but that didn't really surprise Charlie. They lived in a quiet, small town and he never saw the need to lock his doors. Bella had picked up the habit from him after living there for about a month, so the house was never really locked.

When he pushed the front door open the rest of the way, he saw that the house was completely trashed. There was broken glass everywhere along with pieces of broken furniture, clothes, and miscellaneous items strew all over the house. He stood in the doorway and listened for a minute. When he heard nothing, he continued cautiously into the house.

The kitchen was the first room he came to, so he cautiously peered around the corner. When he determined it to be empty, he moved on in the hallway toward the living room. He didn't even look all the destruction; there would be plenty of time for that later. Just then, his only priority was to ensure the house was secure and that no one remained there.

Before he entered the living room, he checked the coat closet to make sure no one was hiding there and once he was satisfied that it was empty, he kept moving into the living room.

He had cleared the living room and was about to head up the stairs when he heard multiple sirens out front. He paused briefly as Deputy Sam Uley entered the house and called out to him. "By the stairs," was all he said as he waited for Sam to join him.

"What's going on Chief?" the deputy asked. "This place looks like a tornado went through it."

Charlie took a deep breath and sighed heavily. "I don't know Sam, I just walked in. I've got to clear the second floor but Bella's out in the cruiser. Can you go make sure she's okay, please?"

Sam started shaking his head before Charlie was even done speaking. "Not necessary Chief. Seth Clearwater arrived at the same time I did. I already told him to stay out there with her and make sure she's okay."

"Alright then, lets get this house cleared so we can start putting it back together," he told his deputy as he started ascending the stairs. When they reached the top, they headed first into his room. It wasn't necessary to look under the bed because it had been flipped up and off it's frame. Charlie quickly cleared the closet while Sam moved down the hall to Bella's room.

Charlie cleared the bathroom and upstairs hall closet and then joined Sam at the top of the stairs. "Looks like whoever it was that wrecked your house is long gone, Chief." Charlie had to roll his eyes at the obvious statement but let out a silent sigh of relief. The last thing he needed was to actually run into the delinquents when Bella was less than twenty yards away.

"Call Jake and have him get his ass here now to dust for prints. I'll go get Bella and we'll make a list of anything that's missing. Because it's my house I'll have to put you in charge of the report and any investigation, but I know you can handle that, right Sam?" Deputy Uley was one of his best men and if anyone could handle getting things done, it was him.

As Charlie walked the upstairs one last time before heading down, he finally took in the destruction that had been done. Clothes were everywhere, furniture overturned, and pictures smashed.

Downstairs was in even worse condition. The forty-two inch flat screen had been shattered with a baseball bat, the glass end tables and lamps lay in bits and pieces everywhere and there wasn't a dish left unbroken in the kitchen. The refrigerator was left wide open and he could see the case of beer he just bought yesterday was missing. It also looked like whoever did this took all the soda cans from the fridge and shook them up before opening them, successfully spraying every inch of the kitchen in sticky liquid.

His last thought before retrieving Bella was 'Thank God she wasn't here when this happened.'

…..

Charlie and Bella had left about twenty minutes before Edwards phone started ringing. When he looked at the caller id, he saw that it was Bella and he smiled to himself.

Not giving her a chance to say anything, he answered with, "Miss me already, huh?" He was smiling widely because he started to miss Bella the second he had turned away from her and walked in the house and the phone call showed him that he felt the same way. At least that's what he thought at first.

When all he heard on the other end of the line were panicked sobs and incoherent mumblings, he started to panic. "Bella, love, it's okay. Take a deep breath and tell me what's wrong." While he waiting for her to pull herself together, he automatically slipped on his shoes and started for the door.

Carlisle called to him just as he was about to leave the house, asking him where he was going at nine o'clock on a school night. Edward slowed as he turned around, but didn't stop. He shouted that something was wrong with Bella and he needed to go. Carlisle must have seen the look of pure panic on his face because he didn't argue.

Edward was already in his car driving down the dirt road to the highway by the time Bella stopped gasping. She didn't sound like she was breathing as heavily and he thought he could hear someone with her but he didn't recognize the voice, so he just kept talking to her, whispering things like 'It's gonna be okay' and 'I'm almost there, baby.'

Less than ten minutes later, he turned onto Bella's street and his heart dropped to his feet when he saw two police cars out front with their lights on. He quickly pulled up to the curb and jumped out, searching wildly for Bella. After only a brief moment, he spotted her sitting in the passenger seat of her dad's cruiser with a deputy standing over her.

He quickly ended the call and slipped his phone back into his pocket as he run up to Bella. She looked like she was in shock, but as soon as she saw him coming towards her she jumped out and ran straight into his arms. The sobs that had seemingly subsided while he was driving automatically started up again so he rubbed soothing circles on her back as he held her close to him.

He felt her tears seep through his shirt, but he didn't care. He just continued to hold her tightly as he looked around. When his eyes locked with the deputy standing beside the cruiser he asked, "What the hell happened here?"

The deputy shifted a little uneasily, as if he wasn't sure he should be speaking to him, but then finally relented. "Well, I haven't been inside but from what the other deputy says, someone ransacked the house. Looks like kids from the wake of destruction they left behind. They were long gone before anyone ever came home."

"Was anyone hurt?" he asked. He still hadn't seen Charlie and wanted to make sure he was okay. When the deputy shook his head, he felt himself breathe a sigh of relief and held Bella even tighter to him. "Has she been inside yet," he asked, his eyes moving down to Bella. Again the deputy shook his head.

A few minutes later, Charlie came out of the house followed by another man wearing a uniform. They were walking down the steps when Edward pulled Bella along with him to approach them. "Charlie, what happened?"

When Charlie noticed that Edward had Bella encased in his arms and that she looked perfectly safe he seemed grateful. "Thanks for coming Edward, I'm glad you're here. Some jackass vandalized the house. It's absolutely trashed in there. I've got a crime tech on his way over to dust for prints but unfortunately it'll probably take all night. Do you think you can take Bella back to your place so she can get some rest? I don't want her to see the house until I've had a chance to clean some of it up."

Edward didn't even hesitate in answering, "Of course. She's always welcome at our place. Are you doing to be okay here though? You're gonna need some sleep too and someone to help with cleanup." He really wanted to get Bella home but he also worried about Charlie.

"I'll be fine, son. Just worry about Bella right now," he said as he started to walk away.

Edward started walking back to his car with Bella in tow. When they reached it, he opened the passenger door and helped Bella into the seat. After buckling her in, he climbed in himself and headed home. He planned to have Carlisle check her out to make sure she was okay because she still hadn't said anything to him and it was worrying the hell out of him.

…..

Bella's head was spinning and she couldn't understand why. She kept hearing voices echo around her talking about vandalism and the house being ransacked, but she didn't know who was talking or what they were talking about; she just couldn't remember. The one thing she could remember was calling Edward and running into his arms when he arrived. Everything else was a complete blur.

She let Edward lead her around and tried to listen as he asked questions, but she couldn't concentrate on anything. It was like the words would go in one ear and out the other, no matter how hard she tried to focus on them. She vaguely remembered hearing her dad ask him to take her to his house because he didn't want her seeing the house like this, but she didn't remember the drive to get there.

"Bella, sweetheart, do you know where you are?" She couldn't tell who was talking, but someone lifted her eyelids and shined a flashlight into each eye as they were talking. When she didn't answer, the person spoke to someone beside him. "She's definitely in shock, but she'll be okay."

The next thing she knew, she felt a hand around hers, squeezing tightly and lips press to her forehead. When she heard the voice in her ear, she knew automatically that Edward was here and talking to her. "Bella, love, can you hear me?" He sounded really concerned and that's what snapped her out of her stupor.

"Edward?"

"Yes baby, I'm right here. Are you okay?" She could almost feel the tension in his body release the moment she said his name.

"I'm fine. What happened? Where am I?" she asked as she looked around the unfamiliar room.

"You're in Carlisle's office at my house. It looks like someone vandalized your house while you guys were over here. Your dad asked me to bring you back here so you wouldn't have to see the destruction that was done. He wants you to stay here tonight. I brought you straight to Carlisle because you were in shock. I was so worried about you." She felt his arms go around her as he pulled her into his lap and rocked her back and forth. Automatically, she began to relax into him and felt a huge yawn overtake her.

"You're tired baby. Let's go up to my room so you can lay down, okay?" She simply nodded to him and felt as he stood up with her in his arms. She was going to protest, but realized she was too tired to do much of anything, especially fighting, so she wrapped her arms around him and placed her head in the crook of his neck.

She must have dozed off before they got to his room because she only briefly remembered him setting her on his bad and helping her take off her jeans and bra leaving her in her t-shirt and panties. She was aware enough to feel him climb in bed with her and pull the covers up around them just before everything went black.