Edward's POV

The next three days seemed to crawl by. Every night, Bella and I made a trip to Charlie's house, accompanied by various members of the family. Her control around Lizzie and Charlie was still the same as it had been at the beginning, and she seemed to be getting used to Sue's scent as well, although her blood still made the burn in Bella's throat worsen. The days were split between time alone, just us catching up, and time with my family.

Bella and Esme were sitting on the couch, talking quietly while they watched my brothers and me install the new window to replace the one I'd broken. Emmett and Jasper had gone early this morning to get the new pieces of glass and everything we'd needed to fix it. Even with our vampire abilities, it still took more than one person to do everything needed to install new glass—especially in a window as large as the one in the living room.

As I worked, I recalled one particular conversation that made me realize how precious the time alone was for both of us, because it solidified the relationship we were beginning to rebuild. Neither of us had stopped loving the other, which helped a lot, but some setbacks still needed to be overcome. Even though Bella had said multiple times since I'd arrived in Forks that she'd forgiven me, she still had some trust issues. The day after Eleazar sent Kate and Tanya to Romania, something I said had set her off, and she'd exploded in anger.

~*~FC~*~

"Come on, love," I said.

We were hunting, and when I told Bella she could leap from tree to tree to avoid scaring the animals on the ground, she'd balked at me, like I just wanted her to fall or look like a clumsy human again.

"Don't you trust me?" I asked, teasing her as we ran through the forest.

Bella skidded to a stop immediately, leaving me a good twenty yards ahead of her before I realized. When I turned back, her hands were fisted at her sides, she was panting for breath, and I'd never seen such anger on her face and in her stance.

"Do. I. Trust. You?" she growled, her tone strangled. She seemed to be barely holding onto her control. "You left me, Edward." When I opened my mouth to interrupt, she held up a hand. "I get it. I really do. But what I don't get is that you lied to me. You took my trust and shattered it. You said awful, terrible things and broke my heart."

"Bella, I—"

"Don't," she hissed, interrupting my explanation. "I know. You did it because you knew I wouldn't let you go any other way. That does not change the fact that you lied to me. Forgive me if my instincts to trust you are shaky."

For a moment, I was so shocked that I couldn't say a word. If I were human, I'd have paled even more than I was already, and I was certain that my eyes were as wide as those of the deer we hunted. I felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest as I feared the worst. Confusion rolled through me. Hadn't she... Hadn't...

"But you said..." I stopped, watching her almost crumple before my eyes.

Bella gave a hiccuping sob, her shoulders falling and her hands relaxing. "I'm s-sorry," she said on a gasping breath.

Fool, I scolded myself. Idiot. She'd been through so much, and my careless remark had brought back unnecessary pain. She had every right to question, every right to feel afraid. Briefly, emotionally, I felt like the teenager I'd been when I was changed—unsure, lacking sophistication and wisdom.

To make matters worse, I was standing there like a dunce, worried about my own state.

I crossed the short distance to her in a few steps and wrapped her in my arms, holding her to me. "No, love," I said, dropping to the floor of the forest with her in my lap. "I'm the one who's sorry. This will take time. I know that. We'll work through it, I promise."

She buried her face in my neck and mumbled, "You won't go anywhere? No matter what?"

Tilting her head up with one finger so she was looking me in the eyes, I shook my head. "Never again, Isabella. Never again will I give you cause to doubt me or my word. You are my life. I don't think I could leave again, even if I wanted to—which I most certainly do not." I cupped her face in my hands, brushing my thumbs across her cheeks. "Do you understand? I'll earn back every bit of your trust, even if it takes me the rest of my existence."

She leaned forward and pressed her lips to mine, sighing into my open mouth as we kissed.

~*~FC~*~

That had been two days ago. The breakdown had been cathartic for her, she'd told me the next day as we lay together on my couch as the sun rose. She was bottling up so many things that her emotions sometimes eluded her control. I'd assured her that we all thought she was doing ridiculously well, so she had nothing to apologize for. Newborn emotions were hard to control even in the best of times, and with everything going on, these were far from the best of circumstances.

Shortly after that, I'd heard Alice's voice in my head, telling me Tanya and Kate had arrived in Bucharest. Between getting things squared away with Irina at home, hunting, and making some phone calls to gather information, they'd taken a day to leave Alaska. Unfortunately, their phone calls hadn't yielded much, so they weren't sure how long it would take to find Stefan and Vladimir. The only vision Alice was having of the brothers or Kate and Tanya was fuzzy, so all she could tell us was that they would meet up sometime in the next week.

As she watched us finish repeairing the window, Bella was tense and anxious, waiting for word. The only time she left the house was to hunt, which Carlisle and I were still insisting she do once a day or more, just to be safe, and that was usually just before our visits Charlie's house.

As soon as the last piece of putty was in place, a vision in Alice's head caught my attention, and I froze, watching as it played.

"Charlie," Alice groaned.

Bella jumped up and rushed over to Alice. "What about Charlie?" she asked quickly, having seen Alice freeze with the vision.

"He's coming here," I said, letting Emmett take over for me at smoothing out the putty around the edges of the new window.

"What?" Bella cried. "When?"

Everyone else looked worriedly at Alice for an answer.

"He just got a phone call from someone who saw Jasper and Emmett at the store buying supplies. He's coming out here to see if we're back. He suspects Bella's here with us," she explained, grimacing.

"H-How do you want to do this?" Bella asked. "Should I go hide away from the house where I can't smell him?" Her voice was small...nervous.

"Nah, Bells," Emmett said, turning around from the now-complete window. "We can all hang out upstairs. This'll be another good test drive." He grinned, looking proud of himself.

"I can't be in the same house with him!" Bella said, shaking her head adamantly.

"Sure you can," he told her. "You can smell him just as easily through the glass of the window as you can from upstairs in Edward's room. Besides, if you expect to be able to rock Lizzie again," he continued, his voice softer, more serious now, "you're going to have to learn if you can be in the same house—and eventually the same room—as Charlie without wanting to..."

"What?" Bella said, sounding sarcastic. "Eat him?"

"Well, yeah," Emmett said with a shrug. "Not exactly how I was gonna phrase it, but that works."

"It'll be fine, love," I said, walking to her and taking her hand. "We'll be right beside you. We won't let anything happen to Charlie, all right?"

She finally nodded. "What will you tell him?" Before anyone could speak, she held up a hand and shook her head. "Never mind. Don't tell me."

Looking over at me, she asked quietly, "Can we go upstairs now?"

I nodded, holding my hand out for her. "Come, love," I said, pulling her gently with me toward the stairs. "The others will come up when Charlie arrives."

~*~*~FC~*~*~

Bella's POV

Edward and I lay together on the couch in his room, not speaking. We listened to the sounds of his family downstairs. Carmen and Eleazar had opted to get out of the house while Charlie was there, figuring he was going to have enough questions as it was.

"What story are they gonna give Charlie?" I asked, my mind buzzing with worry and curiosity.

"Carlisle believes in telling the truth as much as he can," Edward answered. "He's planning to tell Charlie they're considering moving back, that Esme wasn't happy in California, and they came to check on the house and a job at the hospital."

I nodded against his chest. "And the window?"

"It was broken when they got here," he said, confirming my thoughts. "All the mess has been cleaned up, so there's no way to tell how it was broken. He shouldn't be suspicious."

Nodding again, I fell silent once more. Edward's hands were soothing as he stroked my head, running his fingers through my hair. It was as close to sleeping as I'd been since my change.

"It's time, love," Edward said nearly an hour later. "Alice said he'll be here in two minutes."

I sat up, worrying my bottom lip in my teeth as Edward wrapped me up in his arms.

"It'll be fine, Bella," he said softly. "I promise."

"He's right, Bella," Alice chirped as she, Jasper, Rose, and Emmett came into the room. "I've seen it." She tapped her temple and smiled.

Emmett and Jasper took up sentry on either side of the door, and Rose and Alice got comfortable on the floor.

"You need a bed in here," Rose said, looking around at the close to empty room.

If I could've blushed, I would have.

Rose laughed quietly. "For that, too, Bella, but I meant just so we had somewhere to sit."

"It'll be here on Monday," Alice said, grinning cheekily.

I laughed, despite my nervousness over Charlie.

"All right, Bella," Edward said, interrupting my amusement at his sister's presumptuousness. "He's here."

I listened and realized I could hear Charlie's cruiser turning into the Cullens' long drive. My mind went blank and my breathing automatically stopped, as if I knew I should avoid smelling him.

"Breathe, love," Edward murmured into my ear. "Just like at Charlie's house, remember?"

"But what if I—"

"You won't," he assured me. "We won't let you."

Nodding, I slowly took my first breath in as I heard the car door slam.

There was some shuffling of fabric, like Charlie was brushing out his clothes after having been in the vehicle, and then footsteps. Each one of the steps leading up to the front door sounded heavy, like the weight of the world was on his shoulders.

I gripped Edward's hand in mine as Charlie gave an exhausted, harsh sigh and then knocked on the front door.

I heard footsteps moving toward the door and then Carlisle's voice as he greeted my father.

"Chief Swan!" he said, sounding surprised. "Please, come in."

I heard more shuffling and footsteps and looked up at Edward. "What's he thinking?" I asked quietly.

Edward smiled slightly. "It's hard to get a read on him. He's not nearly as clear as most humans. Right now, he's looking around, trying to figure out where everyone else is, wondering if anyone else is here."

I nodded and then turned my attention back to what I could hear from downstairs.

"Oh!" Esme said, genuine pleasure lighting up her words. "Hello, Chief Swan. It's good to see you. Can I get you something to drink? I'm afraid all we have is water at the moment."

"No, ma'am," he responded. "And please, call me Charlie."

"Charlie, then," Esme said sweetly.

There was a moment of silence, where they only sounds were Charlie's heart beating and his breathing, both even, although slightly fast.

"What can we do for you, Charlie?" Carlisle asked. "Is there a problem? Some trouble about?"

"No," my dad said. "This is more of a social call."

There was no noise, so I assumed that Carlisle and Esme nodded.

Charlie's voice was gruff as he asked, "Where's all your family? Someone mentioned seeing two of your boys at the hardware store this morning?" It wasn't really a question, but from the way he'd said it, I could tell he was fishing for information.

"Yes, unfortunately, the window had been broken and needed replacing," Carlisle said. "Emmett and Jasper are out hiking at the moment. Edward stayed behind in California with Alice and Rosalie, at school."

"Oh, uh, Edward..." Charlie cleared his throat. "Edward isn't here, then?"

I squeezed Edward's hand, feeling him press a kiss to my temple.

"No," Esme said innocently. "He had a couple of tests he couldn't miss. Emmett and Jasper had a break from classes and wanted to come up with us to check on the house."

"So this is just a visit, then?"

Carlisle answered this time. "We're considering moving back to Forks," he said.

I could hear Charlie's heart sputter once at that admission. "Everyone?" he asked Carlisle.

"Well, the children would continue with their schooling, transferring to the university in Seattle, but yes, my wife and I haven't been happy with California."

"It's too crowded and big," Esme exclaimed, and even I could hear the ring of truth to her words. "I much prefer small-town living."

Charlie was quiet for another moment before asking, "Have you been in town long?"

When Carlisle answered that they'd gotten into town late the night before, Charlie's heart skipped a beat, and then he let out a breath.

"Is everything okay, Charlie?" Esme asked, concern lacing her voice. "You look upset."

It took everything I had not to rush downstairs and throw myself into his arms. I didn't want him worried and upset. I'd already put him through so much. Only Edward's hand in mine kept me grounded and in my spot on the couch.

"Since you just got back to town, I don't know if you've heard the news, but Bella has been missing," Charlie said, the worry in his voice evident.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Esme said, her tone genuinely compassionate.

"Any leads?" Carlisle asked sympathetically.

"Afraid not," Charlie answered, and I could hear him swallow convulsively. "Considering the history she had with your boy, I'd hoped..."

My chin began to quiver, and my heart ached in my chest. My dad and I had been through so much, and we had a great rapport with one another, and now...

He didn't deserve this. We didn't deserve this.

"That's understandable," Carlisle answered. "I'm sorry we can't help you."

"Is there anything else we can do?" Esme asked, and I could just imagine her placing a hand on his arm in support.

His voice was gruff as he replied, "Just call if you see her, Mrs. Cullen. Thank you." There was another shuffling noise. "I'd better go."

We listened as they all walked to the front door.

Once it was opened, Charlie said in a hushed tone, "If you see Bella, please tell her to come home."

He didn't give Carlisle or Esme a chance to respond, and we heard his footsteps rapidly moving away from the house and then the car door slam as the engine roared to life.

The car with my father inside drove away as I broke down in tearless sobs on Edward's shoulder.