Bella left shortly after Paul having Sam drive her home again. The car ride was painfully silent; Bella still upset about Paul threatening Ryker was now concerned that the pack wouldn't want her around anymore because she'd insulted one of their own. But really if he didn't want her to get mad maybe he should take greater care over other beings lives and not threatened her and her wolf.

Sam left Bella at her doorstep with a short goodbye and a see you later. And she was alone again; well maybe not entirely alone she thought looking at the puppy that was resting in her arms. She'd always have Ryker.

She set the puppy on the couch knowing that when Charlie got home Ry wouldn't be allowed on the furniture. She blamed the German Shepherds at the station for that one; they simply just shed too much and Charlie sure wasn't going to have dog hair everywhere. And people thought she was the neat freak.

There was a voicemail on the machine but she was just too drained to check it. It was most likely her mother berating her for not calling enough and how she had to visit and stop being depressed. She wasn't depressed; you had to feel to be depressed. She was standing in the kitchen considering making something to eat but she really wasn't that hungry, Ryker was still sleeping on what was traditionally her spot and she didn't want to wake him up or scare him by turning on the TV so that was out. She didn't even really like television except for her cast of guilty pleasure shows that Charlie let her record for when he wasn't watching one of their 100 sports channels.

The house didn't seem any less empty with Ryker there considering all he seemed to do was sleep but his soft little puppy snores made it easier, she wasn't all alone anymore. She had Ryker and Charlie would be home soon and the pack if they didn't hate her for fighting with Paul. Since Charlie was going to be home that evening Bella thought she should try and make herself semi presentable by showering and maybe rinsing out Ryker. She had read somewhere that people soap was bad for dogs, and she didn't want him losing his scent entirely because that was so important to animals. In her short time with the pack she picked up on the casual way they seemed to smell everything, she imagined it was very similar for real wolves. She couldn't even imagine waking up and not smelling like herself, it would be unnatural.

In the shower Bella was sure to lather herself with her strawberry body wash, the thought that she could not smell like herself was unsettling and she knew that her scent was directly related to this body wash and her blood. In the shower she could hear the phone ring again, probably just Charlie letting her know he was close to home. He wasn't overly verbal in his affections and wasn't around a whole lot but he sure did go out of his way to make her feel loved and safe. Even if it was just letting her know he was close, like he could sense she was drowning in emptiness.

After her shower she threw on her comfy pajama shorts and an oversized hoodie that had FPD on the front in yellow and Forks Police Department scrawled along the back. It had been a gift from her father when she was dating Edward; he thought it would help because she was always cold. He attributed it to poor circulation; little did he know she was essentially dating a Popsicle only less tasty. It really was a thoughtful gift and she would have worn it all the time if Alice had deemed it appropriate, the only reason it hadn't ended up in the trash like the rest of her clothes was that it had been a gift from Charlie and he would have noticed it gone.

Deciding she should really eat something she went back to the kitchen, the first step in being normal was acting normal and it was normal to eat. Bella put a pot on for mac and cheese with little hot dogs cut up into because she was feeling like serious comfort food and she knew Charlie would appreciate it for work tomorrow.

As the water was boiling for the pasta she looked in on her dozing pup, she made a little noise walking toward him and he opened one eye before shifting away so he wasn't looking at her. Someone apparently did not like being disrupted. Rolling her eyes at his antics she went back to the kitchen and opened a can of orange juice wishing for a bit of vodka in it but she knew Charlie would have an aneurism if she drank underage. Looking at the two voicemails she decided she might as well check them and bask in the guilt trip from her mother.

The first message came on and it was Billy letting her know they were on the way back, she could hear Charlie and Harry bickering in the background about when they were going to make their first stop and how three grown men could never road trip in her tiny truck again. Bella was laughing, the message had been sent at around noon and it was now nearing eight so she could expect him home at any minute.

She decided to save the message so that she could mock him about it later; it automatically rolled on to the next. "Bella this is Deputy Andrew from the station, your father has been in an accident."

Bella dropped; she no longer could hear the sound of Andrew or Ryker barking at her feet or the water boiling over or the door opening. There was nothing in this world except pain, she felt her heart shatter and there was nothing holding back her feelings. Her father was in trouble and she hadn't even answered the phone, couldn't even listen to the rest of the message because she knew it was bad.

She could feel it.

She could also feel the warmth of two arms wrap around her and hold her as she sat on the floor. She wasn't sure who it was and to be honest she did not care. Her entire life got turned around, again and she just needed a hug before she could face the world.

"Hey it's going to be okay. You're okay. You will survive this." The deep voice was the first thing to break through, she could feel the vibrations of his words more than she could hear them. Ryker was dancing beside them crying not understanding what happened but knowing that something was wrong with Bella. He tried to jump on her and pry the arms from around her but the man holding her was too stubborn to be swayed by a pup. Not when one of his pack was hurting, not when he could feel the earth shattering pain within her.

Once her sobs had died down he spoke again, "Bella look at me." His deep steady voice was too much to resist. She had known it had been him but refused to believe it, their entire relationship had been 100% anger. But when she looked at his face she could deny it no more. Paul had been the one to help her. To comfort her. To hold her. "Bella we need to listen to the rest of the message." She shook her head. She couldn't hear that her father had died or was hurt or anything. It was childish but as long as she didn't hear the news her father was fine in her mind. She was fine.

Paul was still holding her but one arm reached up and grabbed the phone and brought it beside them. Ryker sniffed at it and barked like he knew that it was the cause of Bella's sadness. "Bella you have too okay, we need to know where he is and what is going on. You need to see your father." His voice wasn't that awful detached voice that he was known for, it was soft yet firm.

He started up that machine and it began the same way, "Bella this is Deputy Andrew from the station, your father has been in an accident. He was driving back from La Push when another driver hit him head on. He was rushed to the Forks Hospital. That's all I know kid but you should get down there. Give me a call if you need a ride."

Bella began sobbing in Paul's chest again her heart torn apart. She still didn't know what was wrong with her dad. She sat there a minute before Paul started dialing on her phone. She barely heard the conversation but it was something about how Jared needed to pick up Ryker and bring the little beast to Emily and not to ask questions and that he'd update them on the situation later.

Bella had no idea what he was doing when he picked her up but was too weak to fight it. Anyways it seemed like he was actually trying to help which was weird. What was he doing here anyways shouldn't he be killing things like he promised. Bella tried to get mad but she couldn't all she could feel was pain and sorrow, which was a step up from nothing. He carried her out of the house and to the woods setting her down before going behind the trees, when he came back he wasn't himself. He was a giant grey wolf. If Bella could have laughed in that moment she supposed she would have for he looked just like a giant Ryker. Bella wrapped her arms around him and clung to his soft grey fur as he stood. After she situated herself he ran to the hospital, he set her down and changed back to the man she knew.

When Bella and Paul entered the hospital all Bella could see was a flurry of police officers and nurses all grabbing for her attention. The only reason they didn't get to her was because Paul made quite an intimidating bodyguard and shoved past everyone so that she could get to the nurses' station. Over all the noise of the ER they couldn't even hear what room Charlie was in and a nurse eventually took pity on them and led them to a different waiting area.

"Well Bella I'll leave you and your boyfriend to wait for the doctor. He will be able to explain Charlie's situation to the two of you and then we can decide how to proceed." Decide how to proceed? Bella couldn't tell if that indicated bad news or good news, and frankly she was still too distraught to bother correcting the nurse in that the man who had his arms around her was not in fact her boyfriend. They sat in the empty waiting area that was reserved for family members; Paul sat across from her switching from watching her and texting on his phone, fortunately the sobbing had stopped but tears streamed silently from her eyes.

"Shit" she muttered, Paul's eyes snapped to hers with a raised eyebrow. Apparently he was back to not talking to her.

"It's nothing, my contact fell out. It's just hard to put back it without a mirror." She held the little clear lens on her finger wishing that they had grabbed her purse which had her emergency glasses in it.

"Sam is on his way here with Billy Black, he grabbed your purse when he and Jared picked up your wolf. Is what you need in there?" Thank god, she really didn't want to put it back in without solution.

"Yes thank you" she hoped that that thank you could be a blanket thank you for everything he did for her today.

Just as they both settled back in to their silence the nurse walked in.

Hey kittens!

WOW it's been awhile, sorry about that real life caught up to me! In that writing break I decided to move to the Rocky Mountains so at least something came out of it. It means more work for me though but hey ces't la vie; although I do give you permission to kick my ass if I do neglect the story again. Lately I have read some AMAZING fanfics that haven't been updated in years and to be honest it kills me every time so I can't do that to you guys.

Hope fully things will progress within the biweekly schedule I strive for sometimes more if I'm particularly motivated I'm not begging for reviews but they do help remind me that people are reading this.

Sooo that's it I wont see you and you wont see me but we will read each other's words

-Ty