BPOV

I was determined to talk to Charlie the afternoon I returned from Edward's, but that conversation never happened.

He was out seeing the sites with Em and Jake.

He was so adamant about spending time with me on Thanksgiving, but now seems to be steering clear of the apartment.

If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was avoiding me.

I woke up this morning and they were gone again and now I was working brunch service with Mike at the helm.

We have a small lag in customers, so I've been wrapping the silverware while Jazz wipes down the bar.

"So, Carlisle's still out," he comments.

"She's still in a medically induced coma," I respond, not looking up from my task.

Edward was trying to stay removed from her health updates but he needed to know things for Hadley. He promised her once Rose is awake he'll take her to visit.

As much as I feel privileged to have them relying on me, I've been feeling very overwhelmed. The mood has been very heavy which seems to be taking a toll on me, I think.

Yesterday, I hid away in my room and wrote on my laptop for most of the day. Edward had texted and we had a back and forth all day but my heart wasn't in it.

I wasn't sure if my mood flip was due to me being home and being able to process my thoughts or what, but my emotions were heavy.

Jazz looks up at me. "Need to talk about it?" he asks.

I bite my lip thinking about it.

"How long have you worked here?" I ask.

"About seven years," he answers.

"So you've seen a lot?"

"I've seen enough," he says with a sigh.

"The other times Rose has slipped—"

"We're different. I guess you could say she is a high-functioning addict. Before it wasn't really noticeable or at least to those closest to her it wasn't. This time I think it threw them," he explains.

"What's Edward normally like when it happens?"

He looks at me warily like he's contemplating if he should answer me or not.

"Jazz," I whine.

He smiles sadly.

"He usually helps organize her rehab stay with Carlisle, but only because of Hadley since they split custody since she was a toddler. This is the first time a restraining order was involved, but I'm sure you were aware of that," he smiles ruefully.

"Edward usually helps?"

"In the past, he did. Rose burned a lot of bridges in the past few months, Edward was one of those bridges. She's going to need to earn back Edward's trust," he says carefully.

I frown.

I know what I know, but Jazz seemed to have a leg up on me in this foreign territory I find myself in right now.

His face softens.

Pity.

"This time is different," I say absently, more to myself.

Jazz only nods.

Mike interrupts us when he comes out to tell me I need to take my break.

When I get back to my locker my phone is dead.

"Just my fucking luck," I mumble.

I grab my charger and try to charge my phone for the duration of my thirty-minute break.

I'm watching the clock when Kate and Tanya walk in to get ready for their shifts. Kate, I haven't worked with closely, though I know she is Garrett's girlfriend and I know her to be a little friendly with Rose.

She gives me a sad smile and Tanya moves to sit beside me on the couch.

"How is he, B?" she asks.

Kate looks a little horrified. "Tanya, Rose could have died," she scolds as if only Rosalie should be the only concern.

I ignore her.

"He's doing as well as can be expected in a situation like this," I say as diplomatically as possible.

Tanya nods empathetically.

Kate's watching me, so I add. "Hadley's doing good too."

She directs her stare to the floor.

"Oh, that poor little doll," Tanya coos.

She gives my arm a squeeze before she stands.

"Let me know if any of you need anything," she says sincerely.

It feels weird to be lumped into this situation. It seems that even though I barely know Rose, she has taken the position of starring in my life at the moment.

"Thanks," I say, trying to feign a smile.

I glance at the clock to see I wasted my break talking about Rose. I grab my phone and charger, seeing Edward had sent a few texts asking what I'm up to later.

I'm not really sure, so I will wait to answer until after my shift is over.

Jazz goes on break next so I man the bar with Tanya food running for me. I'm in the middle of making an espresso martini for high-top two when Charlie walks in with Jake and Emmett.

"Christ," I mumble.

Emmett has the decency to give me a sheepish smile.

Traitor.

"Padre," I greet as I place a cocktail napkin in front of each of them.

"This place is a long way from Forks Diner," Charlie says with a low whistle while looking around.

"I'll be sure to tell Waylon that when I am home for Christmas," I say dryly.

"You're still coming home?" he asks surprised.

"I've already bought a ticket, so why would I waste my money and not come home?" I ask like he's lost his mind.

"I didn't think you wanted to after what you said about Sue," he says with a shrug.

I glare at him since he is now trying to use my words against me.

Jake looks scared and Emmett shakes his head like he's exhausted.

Due to my lack of response, my father eyes me.

Jazz comes back from his break and asks me if I need anything.

"Jazz, you already know Jake and Em but this guy is my dad, Charlie," I introduce.

"This guy," Charlie mumbles under his breath.

I grab PBR for Charlie and the IPA I know the boys drink while Jazz chats with them.

"PBR," Charlie says haughtily. "Maybe I wanted to try what the guys are drinking."

I glare again.

This man has only ever drank Rainier or PBR. He was pressing my buttons.

I take the PBR from him and shove the IPA at him.

When I turn I catch Jazz's wide-eyed stare.

"Can you wait on them?" I ask in a clipped tone.

I know I'm about to snap.

I can't control Charlie. I can't control this Rose situation. I can't control anything, but I can remove myself from this possible cluster-fuck of a situation.

Charlie looks pissed while I steer clear of their end of the bar.

Mike comes over to the bar side to chat up patrons, he recognizes Em and he must discover the older man is my father because he perks up while talking animatedly with them.

I busy myself with making drinks, cleaning the high-tops, serving the high-tops, and wrapping the clean silverware. When my dad and the boys are done eating we are getting ready to close.

I grab Em's arm.

"Yes, master?" he asks.

"Take him straight back to our place," I order.

"Jake was going to take him—"

"No," I interrupt firmly. "I'm over his passive-aggressive attitude. He claims he came here to visit me but has hidden from me since he met my boyfriend. I'm not doing this, we are hashing this out in," I look at my watch. "an hour. You will take him straight back to the apartment. Fuck Jacob and his plans."

That last part I throw in for good measure.

Em sighs.

"Okay," he agrees. "Just to let you know, I have been in his ear the past few days. He knows Ed is good people, I think the Chief is scared."

This time I sigh.

"Make sure he's at the apartment," is all I say before I go back to the bar to help Jazz close.

"You didn't tell me your pops was visiting," Mike says conversationally.

I want to roll my eyes but don't.

"I didn't know myself until Thanksgiving," I say with a shrug. "It was a big old surprise not only to me, but to him as well since he spent it at Edward's house."

It's cruel but the dude needs to take a hint.

"Oh, so he's met Edward?" he asks deflated.

"Loves him," I lie.

I hear Jazz's quiet laugh behind me.

"My drawers all counted out," I tell Mike, shoving my cash bag at him.

"Hey B," Jazz calls out while I'm making my escape.

I turn.

"Mind if I take the train back with you?" he asks, handing Mike his cash bag.

I shake my head and catch Mike's frown.

We both head back to the lounge to get changed, I'm ready before him so I sit on the couch seeing that I still have some juice left on my phone from my partial charge on break.

I respond to Edward.

My dad showed up at the restaurant. I am going to have a long much-needed conversation with him. – B

I don't envy him. :P – E

Har har.

This dude has been with me long enough that he thinks he's funny now.

"Ready?" Jazz asks.

I nod, grabbing my bag.

"So you and your dad—"

"Don't see eye to eye on a lot right now," I finish for him.

"He wasn't a fan of Edward?" he asks surprised.

"He's not a fan of New York overall," I explain.

"Huh."

"What?"

"He asked a lot about you and how you were doing at the restaurant. If you talked about writing at all," he tells me.

I halt.

"What else did he ask?"

"If I was friends with Edward," he says with a slight smile. "Don't hold me to this, but I got the impression he might have run a background check on him."

Knowing Charlie, he most definitely did a background check, he probably called his deputy, Paul as he was sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner.

"He's never been this overbearing," I tell Jazz. "Esme was so kind to him and he remained skeptical."

"He's your dad," he reasons. "Has he ever left Washington?"

I shake my head.

I've wracked my brain for days trying to remember what my dad's arguments with Renee were about before she left.

He'd brought her up a lot recently.

I did know that she left Washington, but part of me now wonders if Charlie drove her away with his high expectations.

He's lucky I was loyal to him because it would be so easy for me to find her on Facebook or some other form of social media and reach out to her to hear her side of everything.

"He just showed up and the rudeness he showed Edward and his family—" I shake my head again. "Then Rose had to be hospitalized."

"I'm sure everything he saw just made him worry more," Jazz points out as we tap our metro cards and talk through the turnstiles.

"I'm thinking that going home for Christmas is something I need. I can work on my dad to get him used to the idea of Edward and Hadley—"

"Rose isn't a component of having to get away?" he asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Stop, I'm hoping she's awake by then for Hadley's sake," I say honestly.

The kid was chomping at the bit to visit her.

Our train pulls up and we get on.

It's crowded due to the holidays, we spend the entire ride sardined in the car and having to stand.

"Do you possibly want to get drinks with me and Al tonight?" Jazz asks once we're off the train.

"Let me see how things go with my dad," I say before we part ways.

The walk to my apartment is short but when I open the door I'm surprised to see my dad sitting in the living room alone. Em's door is closed so I assume he's hiding away in his room while we hash this out.

"So, I'm under house arrest?" Charlie asks when I walk into the room.

I roll my eyes.

"Hardly," I say dryly. "You've been MIA for someone who claims they came to the largest city in the country to see me."

"You seem busy," he shrugs.

"I've been here for two whole days wanting to talk to you," I say evenly.

"I thought you were busy helping your boyfriend raise his kid since her mother overdosed," he throws out nonchalantly.

We weren't doing this.

"Who are you?" I ask rhetorically. "The man that raised me was a compassionate man. He didn't date ever and made me his top priority."

"I think a decent man should make his daughter his priority—"

"You don't know Edward, Dad. He loves her more than anything, he protects her. She comes first always," I argue.

"He left her with you—"

"Because he trusts me with her," I yell.

His mustache twitches and I can see he's trying his best to keep his calm. The Chief is known for his level head.

"Dad, I moved here to figure out my life. I wasn't expecting Edward or Hadley, but I love them both. You can't act like I'm a kid making a dumb mistake. Hadley is my top priority as well and I wouldn't ever intentionally hurt her."

Charlie eyes me after my declaration as if he's trying to see I'm bluffing.

"You love him," he repeats.

"I love them," I correct.

"Bells," he says with a sigh and I know I'm breaking his resolve.

"We've only been dating for a short time and I have no clue if we'll last, but he is important to me. I want you to give him a chance, not judge him like you did on Thursday," I say, taking a seat beside him.

He runs a hand over his face.

"Okay," he says.

"Okay, what?" I ask.

"I'll give him a chance," he grumbles.

"That's all I ask," I say, patting his shoulder.

"So you're still coming home?" he asks hopefully.

"That was the plan," I tell him.

He pats my shoulder in return.

I feel slightly better that Charlie was seemingly in my corner now.

A/N: The next chapter is going to be Rose-centric. Some one in the comments said they think this is a Rose story but tbh she is a side story. She just affects Edward since she's his baby mama. We should be wrapping up on her and focusing more on the main characters after the next chapter.