"Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding."

Albert Einstein

~0~

Standing in my living room, I found Red's kryptonite.

"Dad," she said, wide-eyed as she bit into her lip. She cleared her throat, eyes shifting between the floor and Charlie. "Um...so. Sam told you?"

"Yes Sam did," Charlie replied, a less-than-amused smile twitching up beneath his mustache. "Do you know what he told me, Bella?"

She made a face, teeth clenched as she scrunched up her nose nervously. "I could probably hazard a guess," she mumbled.

"Vampires, Bella?" he asks, letting loose a long, tired breath. "You know what? Scratch that. Edward Cullen was a tool, and it had nothing to do with him being a vampire. He was an asshole, Bella. You figure that out yet, or are you still throwing your teenage shit-fit over getting dumped?"

"Dad!"

"Shut it," he said, raising his brows and pointing at her. "You know I love you, and I am damn happy to have you back with me. It's why I let you get away with way more shit than I should have. Edward Cullen is an ass-hat, Bells, yeah. Kid never sat right with me, and it wasn't because he was a vampire. It was because he acted like he thought he was better. Like you are now."

Her expression fell, mouth popping open in protest. "I'm not-"

Shaking his head sadly, Charlie looked at his daughter. "No? You walk around like no one can possibly understand the depths of your pain. Like no one has ever been abandoned. Like no one has ever been left behind, or tossed aside or watched their whole entire life just walk out the door." Momma and I shifted, uncomfortably aware that he wasn't just talking about himself here. His story was just as well known to momma and I as ours was to him. Charlie'd been there when Josh had pulled all of his runners, on the side watching that trainwreck with the rest of the Rez.

"Dad I-"

"You lost your boyfriend, Bells, your first real boyfriend. Now I ain't saying you didn't love him, because I know that it's possible to fall impossibly in love at your age; believe me I know. But can you imagine losing your child, or your father? Or your wife? Or your mother? You think Jake and Billy can't understand? Or Embry, who never even had a dad to leave him, who was literally born abandoned? Or Paul? His mother left him when he was just a kid, Bella; he wasn't even old enough to understand why. I'm not saying it didn't hurt, or that you're wrong to hurt, but you're not alone in your pain. You're not the only one who's been left behind like that and you need to stop acting like no one can possibly understand what you're going through."

"Dad..." Red began, but her words fell short as she stared at her shoes. "I'm...I'm sorry. I..."

Charlie cut her off, rubbing the back of his shoulders. "You're embarrassed," he finished for her. "And you should be. 'Cause all these people, they still have your back, kid. They ain't gonna begrudge you your pain, but they sure as shit don't wanna watch you wallow. So what do you say, kid?"

She sucked in a breath, eyes fluttering up and landing on me. She blinked and blushed and I kept my smile inward. Looking back at Charlie she nodded. "I'm done wallowing," she said firmly. "I really am. I'm trying." And she was, I knew that. She'd been uninhibitedly helpful with the pack. Even when she was mad at me, she was easing her way back into the rest of the world. Her anger towards me had no relevance to anything else anymore. She no longer lashed out at me on reflex, but rather because I pushed her.

"Try harder," Charlie said, cutting across the living room to pull her into a short, tight hug. He then pulled away, his own cheeks a dull red as his impassioned moment passed. "No matter what, you can always try harder. Hell kid, I've never known you to give anything less than your all, your teenage crisis included. Now's your chance to show me you're the adult you keep screaming about. You're on your own, outta your daddy's house. Sam tells me you're gonna be staying with Helena here. Now we might be a'lotta things, but Swans aren't mooches. I want you to get a job."

"I can't leave the Rez," Red argued weakly, shifting on her feet. She looked so small, even in comparison to my tiny momma, and I felt guilty. This was too much like ganging-up on her, even if we all did have her best intentions in mind. But I'd learned my lesson about good intentions.

So when I spoke, it was awkward. I cleared my throat as I interrupted, hesitant as a man looking for land mines. I didn't always know what would set Red off, and she was clearly trying. I'd made my promise, I wouldn't antagonize her. Still, I wanted to support her, from a distance and as quietly as possible. "There's the diner," I offered with a shrug, seemingly nonchalant as I watched for any sign of oncoming tantrum. "It's pretty centrally located on the Rez, and our patrol zone. Or um...the resort." I could feel Red practically dying to tell me where to shove my suggestion. But she didn't, and that could only be considered progress.

"We can always use extra help this time of year for housekeeping," Momma injected easily, as I had hoped for. Red could work at the diner if she wanted to, but it would save a hell of a lotta time if I could watch over both my momma and her all at once. Momma had been working for the resort for years. She started as a maid when she was pregnant with me and we lived there for my first three years. These days she pretty much ran it all on her own, like the little dictator she was born to be. Momma was made to tell people what to do; if any part of me was made to be Alpha, I hadn't gotten it from Josh. "Tourist season, and all. Tips are crap but it's okay work."

"You can't just give me a job Sam-" Red began as calmly as she could, but not calm enough to keep from glaring at me. Charlie cut her off quickly, shaking his head.

He snorted. "He sure as shit can," he said, looking down at his daughter. "Ain't no one going to hire you in Forks for a while, Bells. It's a small town, it's gonna take a minute for you to come back from the Newton incident."

A dark blush stole over Red's face as she glared daggers at Charlie. I was curious of course, but I wouldn't ask. "Dad-"

Neither momma nor I had to ask, as it seemed Charlie was in the sharing mood. "She puked in pair of display boots because she was hungover."

"...still drunk," Red mumbled, so quiet only I heard. I smirked, and she scowled; it could almost be considered camaraderie, if not for the unmistakable awkward tension. "Look, I don't want Sam doing me favors."

"Any more favors," Charlie corrected her without pause. "He's doing a lot for you Bells. You should be thankful."

"Right," Red replied, clenching her teeth. "I don't want Sam doing any more favors for me, as he's already done so much," she bit out.

"Well it's a good thing Sam doesn't work at the resort," momma cut in, clapping her hands together. "I'm in charge of hiring. I'm required to do a background check, and it's our policy to do a credit check; both I think will come back clean. However, I gotta give it to you, peaches, I like that you don't want to be handed a job. Wouldn't matter anyway, because all new employees start out on a two-week probationary period. Then you're up for review, a very tiny raise, and the satisfaction of cleaning up after ungrateful strangers on a full-time basis. Tips are crap, hours are good, and the other girls are all sweethearts. What do you say? You can start Monday. I can even lend you my old uniform until we can order yours so you don't have to wear the newbie loaners."

"She'll take it," Charlie replied. "And she'll be happy to pay you rent, Helena."

Red nodded at that, at once in accord with her father. "Seriously, I don't feel right not paying you something." I twitched at that, surprised at my own sudden caveman urge to tell her I'd pay for whatever she needed. It wouldn't be well received by either my momma nor Red, and truth be told, it kind of embarrassed me. I knew that I wanted to take care of her but the new niggling desires to both feed and shelter her were fucking weird. It probably made up half my decision to stick her ass in my old room when she would have been more than welcomed to take Rachel and Rebecca's at Billy's. That and my need to have her as close as possible without being on top of her. In any sense of the word.

"We'll talk it out later, darling. Alone," she added with a meaningful look to both Charlie and myself. I let it go with a smirk, but Charlie looked as if he wanted in on the discussion. "Money talk ain't between no one but you and I, so unless your daddy plans on moving in, he can just move along." She flashed Charlie a smile, as she shooed us out the front door. "Why don't you take Charlie back on over to Billy's house? I'm sure everyone's had a long day."