I don't own twilight. What I own is my character's behavior, personality, background, and the plot of the story.

Author's note at the end of the chapter.

"Like I told you before Edward. Dad is bringing fish with him and Marco and his girlfriend will bring dessert. Bringing the meat is more than enough," Bella tells Edward over the phone.

She hears a sigh and then Edward tells her, "I know that it's too late for me to make anything, but are you sure I don't need to stop at the supermarket for anything?"

Bella rolls her eyes and tells him, "Yes I am sure. Now drive straight over, so that you can man the grill. Unless you want Charlie to do it himself, you need to arrive before him."

The new and improved Edward is many good things, but a chill guy who doesn't worry or go over something a hundred times isn't one of them. It has been a month since Cece hung out with Edward alone for the first time. She hasn't slept at his place or called him dad, and in return, Bella has successfully managed to not sneak into Angela's room, find the USP, and sneakily listen to all of their interactions.

It's an accomplishment if you ask her. Angela doesn't seem to think so, but Angela has never had to remove a dead-looking body off the road after her boyfriend ran him over while drunk driving, so she doesn't get to judge.

Now, after a month of good behavior, on her end, Bella finds herself hosting a Fourth of July for him, Marco, his girlfriend, and her dad. It will be the first time Charlie gets to meet Edward since they broke up.

One might be thinking; how is her dad okay with meeting Edward?

The answer is simple; she never told him the extent of Edward's abuse, and thank God for that, or she would have spent the rest of her life keeping her dad away from Edward.

Bella smiles to herself as she listens to Amanda tell her all about her yoga studio. "You should totally come and attend some classes," Amanda tells her. "On the house of course," She adds at the end.

She opens her mouth to reply but her dad cuts her off. "Bella, can you bring me more of the sauce you made for the fish? I finished it."

Bella rolls her eyes while muttering to herself, "Leave it to Dad to want to have grilled fish for the fourth of July. And it's not like he doesn't eat meat and chicken. He loves them," then Bella passes and turns to Amanda and tells her, "Dad is one of those guys who like to be different to feel special about himself."

"I heard that," her dad replies from somewhere behind her.

"You were supposed to," she yells back and then tells Amanda, "Give me a couple of minutes to get it and I will be back."

Bella goes to the kitchen and gets the Tupperware out of the fridge then turns around to find her dad standing in the doorway of the kitchen. "You know you could have saved me the trip to the kitchen if you were planning on coming anyways."

"I wanted to take to you away from everyone. Is that a crime?" her dad tells her defensively.

"What's there to talk about?" Bella asks feeling uncomfortable under her dad's gaze.

"How are you feeling?"

Bella freezes not sure how to answer him. No one has asked her that in a long time. She hasn't asked herself that in a long time. Even her therapist hasn't asked her that in a month as they have been working over some of her older feelings.

Bella shrugs, and Wordlessly, her dad walks over to her and hugs her tightly. "You can always tell me how you feel."

Her shoulders shake silently as she fists the back of his shirt. He rubs her shoulders softly as she tries to stop the tears from falling. She sniffs loudly then steps away and busies herself with placing the sauce on a plate. The cap is back on her feelings. Her feelings aren't up for discussion.

"Bella," Her father states looking at her.

"What?" she ask refusing to look up and sniffing as she placed the Tupperware back in the fridge.

"You can't continue running," her father tells her gently.

Bella shakes her head and replies, "I am not running."

Her dad raises an eyebrow. "Don't give me this look," Bella demands.

"Don't give me this bullshit," Her dad replies swearing which is unusual for him.

"I am not giving you bullshit," Bella states twisting her arms across her chest defensively.

"When was the last time you went on a date?" her dad asks seemingly changing the topic.

Bella stays silent. The truth is the last date she went on was with Marco before they came from Italy. Telling him that will prove whatever point he is trying to make, and lying isn't something she does to her dad and she isn't about to start doing that.

Her dad huffs and then tells her, "God, you think I am blind? I don't see around me? It's obvious to anyone looking that Edward adores you and all you have done since I have arrived is avoid him."

Before he can continue Bella cuts in, "Don't you dare tell me to take him back. You saw what I had to go through alone due to his recklessness. I will never forgive him, so don't tell me all about how he loves me."

Her dad nods his head in understanding and tells her, "Then let go and move on. Your daughter deserves to grow up in a stable household with two parents."

Bella barks a laugh and tells him, "What? Marco, and Edward aren't enough? She needs a third dad?"

He rolls his eyes at her and tells her, "Get off your high horse. You're not the first mother to have multiple relationships nor the last one. Stop being a goddamn Martyr. You're not doing yourself or your daughter any favors by punishing yourself."

"I am not punishing myself," she mutters defensively.

Charlie rolls his eyes and leaves her while muttering, "Keep telling yourself that. Maybe you will start believing it."

Hello lovely people,

I am that person who has grilled fish, but that's because I am a pescatarian. I am also dairy free, but that's not the point.

Does that set me apart from everyone around me? Yes.

Is that my chief aim? Most definitely not.

I want to thank everyone for your nice reviews. You all seem to be okay with my last author's note and for that, I am very happy.

Thank you for your continued support. I don't know what I would do without it.

Please leave a comment in the review section. It could be your favorite part, thoughts, feeling, or even criticism. Any and every comment you leave is read and taken into consideration. Your comments motivate me to update faster and help me grow as a writer.

Until my next update,

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