Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, but I do own the idea for this story, so please don't use it without my permission. Also, I don't know if going to school online is cheaper than going to a community college. I based my opinion on my time spent going to school through the mail almost ten years ago. I did have to pay for the material that I needed all at once. It was expensive and I now wish that I had finished, so maybe one day I will go back, when I have more time.

It had been almost two months since Bella had seen or heard from the Cullen's. She knew that they had backed off for her protection but she hadn't expected them to drop off the face of the earth. She dialed Alice's phone number, hoping that it hadn't been changed. It hadn't had a chance to ring one full time before Alice picked up.

"Bella? What a surprise!"

"How can it be a surprise if you knew I was going to call?" Bella asked with a scoff.

"I was able to see you calling me, which means that Paul isn't there," she explained.

"So you know my reason for calling."

She had really wanted to talk to Edward, but he'd had his number changed.

"Edward is pretty much unreachable right now," Alice explained sheepishly.

"That's okay, I'll just try Carlisle then," she said with a sigh.

"He's right here if you want to talk to him."

"Bella?" Carlisle asked half a second later.

"I have a few questions. I've been doing some research about colleges online and I'm still not sure if I want to go to school online or a community college."

"Well, they're both good choices. Online schools would let you work at your own pace while community colleges tend to have small classes and more one on one time with an actual teacher if you need it."

"Is one cheaper than the other?"

"Community colleges tend to be more affordable. Most online schools require that you buy all of your learning material at once."

"Okay, thank you."

"You're welcome Bella. For what it's worth I think that you would be the person to get Edward to come back to us."

He gave her Edward's phone number and she talked to Esme for a few minutes before hanging up. She was reluctant to call Edward now. Not even his family had heard from him. How did they expect her to get through to him? She dialed his number then hung up after the first ring. She waited thirty seconds and then let it ring five times before hanging up again. It was a code that they had to let the other know that they were trying to get in touch with them. She stared at her phone willing it to ring for almost a minute before it rang.

"Bella?" Edward asked sounding unsure of himself.

"Yeah, it's me."

"How are you?" he asked pleasantly.

"I'm doing alright. Imagine my surprise when I found out that you weren't."

"I need some time by myself," he explained, pained.

"That doesn't sound like the Edward that I know, what's going on?"

"They all wanted to help, but none of them could do what I asked them to do," he said flatly.

"What was that?"

"I asked them to leave me alone and let me grieve in my own way. Esme, Alice, and Rosalie were insistent. They couldn't let it go."

"They were only trying to help," she rationalized.

"I didn't want help; I needed to be alone. Being around them was so depressing and all it did was remind me of what I didn't have."

"Is that your way of trying to make me feel sorry for you?" she asked with a shaky laugh.

"That's the last thing I would want Bella. I didn't say that to offend you, I just thought that you would want me to be honest with you."

"Well thank you for that. Since I've got you on the phone I should tell you that they're all worried about you. You should call them or at least e-mail them every once in a while," she said empathetically.

They talked for a few more minutes before he said that he had to go. She felt that she had gotten though to him. She hoped that he would attempt to mend his relationship with his family.

XXXX

This would be the first time that Paul had gone to see Charlie without Bella. He had planned out what he wanted to say and how he would plead his case. If this didn't work he couldn't say that he hadn't at least tried.

He liked to think that he was a reasonable person to an extent. He was a lot more accepting than he used to be. Hell, the fact that he hadn't tried to kill Jacob should be a testimony to his good character. He must not be so bad if Bella was willing to be with him.

He pulled up to Charlie's townhouse and parked beside his police cruiser. He saw Sue's car a few spots down so he would have at least one person on his side. He knocked then waited to be let in. Charlie answered the door in a t-shirt and a pair of sweat pants. It was the most dressed down that Paul had ever seen him. He looked over Paul's shoulder before meeting his eyes once more.

"Who is it Charlie?" Sue called.

"It's Paul," he answered back, giving Paul a skeptical look.

Paul smiled wearily as he rubbed the back of his neck. Charlie continued to stare him down until Sue pushed him out of the way to let Paul in. She gave him a welcoming smile as he shut the door behind him.

"Where's Bella tonight?" she asked after leading the way to the living room.

"She's at home. I figured I'd stop by on my way home from work," Paul said, a little more relaxed.

"To what do we owe the pleasure of seeing you?" she asked with a smile.

Paul had always liked Sue. Like Harry, she was a good person who was open to let anyone in who needed her. He saw so much of her in Seth while Leah was more like their dad.

"I wanted to talk to Charlie about a couple of things."

"Alright; how about I call Bella and the four of us can have dinner together?"

"Yes ma'am, that's fine," Paul said with a nod.

"I'll just go start dinner and let the two of you talk."

Charlie stared at him, his face expressionless. Paul didn't get nervous easily but his palms were starting to sweat under Charlie's steady gaze.

"I wanted to talk to you about how much I love your daughter and I want you to know that I would never hurt her."

"That's something that we should have talked about before you married her," Charlie said evenly.

"I'm aware of that, but I wasn't raised the same way Bella was."

"Why don't you tell me about your family then," Charlie breached.

Paul took a deep breath before launching into the story of his childhood. Charlie's features turned from tense, to worried, to sorrow in the ten minutes it took for Paul to say what he had to say.

"So, as you can see, I have a hard time letting people in," Paul concluded.

"Bella is the only person other than your parents who knows about this?"

"Yes sir," he said with nod.

Charlie placed his hands on his knees with a heavy sigh. His forehead was creased with worry lines and his mouth was turned down as he thought.

"There's something else that I need to tell you. It will help you to understand mine and Bella's relationship."

"It can't be any worse than what you just told me."

"It isn't, it's just hard to believe."

"I'm listening."

Paul dove into the story of the tribe and answered every question that Charlie had, which was a lot. Once he got to the story of the Cullen's Charlie got quiet, his skin ashen, his face fearful. Paul continued and when he got to the part where he met Bella he told Charlie the truth.

"No one can never say that Bella isn't stubborn," Charlie said with a slow shake of his head.

"You're not mad?"

"Why would I be mad? You can't turn her into a wolf can you?"

"No, I can't," Paul said with a light laugh.

"Look, I know that no relationship is perfect. It took a lot of nerve for you to come over here and explain all of this to me. If Bella sees something good in you than you must not be so bad."

"Paul?" Sue called.

"Yes ma'am?"

"I just talked to Bella, she's been trying to get in touch with you for the past twenty minutes."

Paul patted his pants then jacket pockets only to realize that he had left his phone in the truck.

"You'd better go," Charlie said standing.

Charlie walked Paul to the door before extending his hand. Paul shook it briskly before walking out the door. He got a sense of foreboding as he started the truck. Something had happened, but what?

XXXX

Paul hated hospitals. He had hated them ever since Sam's mom had dragged him kicking and screaming when he had broken his arm by 'falling out of a tree' when he was fourteen. The doctor had seen through the story even if Sam and his mom hadn't. No one knew that it had really happened because his mom had slammed the refrigerator door shut on it, not even Bella.

Bella sat in the crowded O.R. with Jay. They sat side by side but they were focused on what a doctor who stood a few feet away was saying. Paul sat next to Bella and she took his hand but didn't acknowledge him in any other way.

"I don't see how she could have lived this long without medical attention. She's lucky that her lungs and liver haven't exploded and corroded her vital organs," the doctor explained.

"What exactly happened?" Paul questioned.

"She was complaining that she couldn't feel anything on her left side. I thought that she was having a heart attack so I called you and when I couldn't get in touch with you I went over to your house and Bella offered to help," Jay said with a sigh.

"What's wrong with her?"

"She took a few too many of her pain pills which caused her to go numb on one side. I've got her stabilized, but she is demanding to see her husband."

"He's on his way," Bella confirmed.

Tom had been working in Seattle helping a friend open a stall at the fisherman's wharf. He wasn't due back for another week which meant that money would be tighter than it already was. Ever since he'd had to retire and he'd been injured they'd been behind on their bills. Jay and Sadie were helping as much as they could but they didn't want Paul to feel like he had to contribute.

It was time to face the cold hard truth. The more time Tom spent taking care of Marisol the deeper they fell into debt. It was time to either put her in a hospice or hire someone to come in and take care of her. Neither option was what anyone wanted but something had to be done.

Tom came towards them them looking panicked. He sat on the other side of Paul with his hands on his knees. He was breathing irradicably, his hair was standing on end from having his hands shoved through it repeatedly. The doctor looked at him sympathetically before walking away.

"What's happening?"

"She took too many pain killers. I had to physically pull her out the door and get her in the car," Jay explained.

"Where were you when she took the pills?" Paul asked.

"She asked me to go and get dinner. Where were you?"

"I was at Bella's dad's," he said quietly.

Bella's eyes darted to his in worry and he gave her a look that let her know that they would talk about it later.

"She needs better care than she's getting," Jay said with a sigh.

"What do you want me to do? I have to work, the bills aren't going to pay themselves," Tom said defensively.

"It's time that you put her in a hospice Tom."

"She'll never let that happen," Paul said with a shake of his head.

"Than she needs someone there twenty four seven. You'll have to hire a nurse."

"I don't have that kind of money."

"We'll work something out," Bella said as she leaned over Paul to put a hand on Tom's arm.

The four of them sat there, oblivious to what was going on around them. There were decisions that needed to be made that none of them wanted to make. They weren't ready for what would happen if they didn't get help.