Chapter 34:

Sorry it has taken so long to update, and this is more of a filler chapter, but hopefully my next one will be better with an interaction between Bella and Rosalie alone.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

The Battle of Puppets had finally come to a draw after twenty minutes of running around the house, outside the house, and even on top of the house. It had not been any of our three choices to call it a draw; we were just about to finish it when the others decided to end it for two reasons.

One: Carmen was stressing out more and more with each passing second that we were going to break something again (even though we didn't) and forced Eleazer to agree with her it had been enough.

Two: Every vampire in the house had a heart attack when we went onto the roof of the house and ran up to pull us back down. Tanya practically tackled Emmett to get me off of him and blurred back into the house where I was surrounded by vampires from both covens immediately.

Really, they were just overreacting to everything.

Anyway, after being forced to call our battle to an end, we decided to do another thing that gave every vampire a bright smile…the Penis Game. I am being sarcastic when I say bright smiles, of course.

As soon as we started saying the word "penis" they had rolled their eyes, but when it got to us screaming at the top of our lungs Rosalie smacked Emmett on the head and Tanya covered my mouth with her hand. Irina practically tackled Kate to get her to stop saying it.

Really, it was probably for the best that they stopped the game, because by the end of it I was extremely exhausted from both the battle and everything else that had happened. It was only a few minutes after we had stopped playing the Penis Game that I fell asleep on Carmen's shoulder.

I slept for almost two hours, getting my energy back, before I finally woke up around four. I had shifted to wake up in Carmen's lap instead and it took even longer for me to crawl out of said vampire's lap to go to the bathroom from laziness.

I currently sat sandwiched between Irina and Tanya on the couch. Tanya sat behind me with her arms wrapped around me as I sat between her legs with her head resting on my shoulder. Irina was between my legs, her back against my front comfortably, as I lazily held her waist and rested my head on her shoulder; turned towards the television as we watched a movie with the rest of the vampires before I headed back home.

It would be close to six by the time I got home after the movie, and I knew that Charlie was still adjusting the idea of me dating another vampire, well, not vampire as he knew, but Tanya. Anyway, he was loosening the reins the longer I was with Tanya, but still held certain standards such as time.

It was an unspoken rule for me to be home before seven.

As we watched the film, the two families seemed to have called it a draw for the day. There had yet to be another fight—even a subtle one—between the two covens and the last of my time there for the day was peaceful.

Of course, while the vampires were at a truce for the moment, it didn't stop the glances in my direction from either side. I was, after all, on the Denali Side of the room stuffed into a Denali Sandwich, and while I had spent time with Emmett peacefully it didn't mean they were all in.

However, if I had to guess Rosalie or Alice were one of the first I'd let back in. Rosalie because she had at least been honest with how she felt—or at least to the best of my knowledge back then—before they left. It helped a little when she left Forks with the family, but Alice…that was a harder one to explain. It was mostly because—like Emmett—she just had some kind of thing about her that made it impossible not to like her. I was still ticked at her for leaving without a goodbye, but she did have Jasper to tend to, and I understood that.

The rest of the Cullens—okay minus Jasper—were fair game. Esme now had a lot of dishes and groveling to do before she brought herself further up on my list again—same with Carlisle. Edward, well, that did not need to be explained.

Anyway, the point was that while the competition was over for the day it didn't mean they weren't already planning things out, or not agitated by the current position of people in the room.

Tanya's head shifted on my shoulder slightly forcing me out of my thoughts. I just barley tilted my head to catch her eyes as she settled herself again. She gave me a soft smile and tilted the back of her head towards my neck; letting her skull touch my skin affectionately while her eyes closed and her arms tightened.

I gave her a small one in return and then turned my attention back to the TV, changing my own grip on Irina's waist slightly, and shifted my head. The blonde vampire pressed a little further back into me giving more room for my head to rest on her shoulder that I appreciated until…

Credits began rolling.

Ugh, call me lazy, but I didn't want to get up yet. I wanted to enjoy the last few peaceful moments between the families just a little longer before I left, and it went to the battle again with the farewells. I just had a feeling it would lead to an absolute smack down.

Tanya began moving behind me. "We should get you home, Bells," she said from behind me, "otherwise Charlie may regret his decision to actually begin trusting us."

"And that would just be horrible," Edward grumbled. The fact he had even spoken today was surprising. The only other phrase he had said was the first few sentences he said when Tanya and I first got here. He had mostly sat back and scowled at everything occurring, but now he had decided to make an appearance in the next round of Denali vs. Cullen.

Kate sneered at him while Tanya pulled me to my feet and chose to ignore him. Quick to take her place, Alice appeared with my bag and shoes; preventing the Denalis from getting them for me. I gave the pixie a polite smile as she handed them to me excitedly. "Here you go, Bella."

I slipped the bag over my shoulder. "Thank you, Alice." I began putting on my shoes, letting the rest of the room stand while she nodded her head energetically.

No sooner had I straightened from putting on my shoes was she kissing my cheek. Wisely, it was quick and she did not hug me, but it was enough to make a few Denalis bristle.

*Cough* Kate! *Cough* Irina! *Cough* *Cough*

"Bye, Bella. See you tomorrow," she smiled and then pranced off to join Jasper at the other side of the room. The blonde man smiled at me and nodded, but didn't come near me. I nodded in return not offended.

Kate, trying to prevent any other Cullen from touching me, started to wrap me in a hug when another set of arms grabbed me first. It took only Kate's curled lip, darkened eyes, and the woman's scent to know it was Rosalie pulling a surprise attack.

The blonde Cullen held me tightly giving a satisfied hum in my ear when she smelt her scent applied to me and felt the glares on her back. "I'm glad to have seen you, Bella," she said. "Hopefully you'll be back tomorrow, yes?"

She pulled her head back, but didn't remove her arms much to keep us within each other's space. The action was not aiding the Denalis control over their temper, or the Cullens and their ego.

I shrugged. "I'm not sure about that. As far as Charlie knows you are arriving tomorrow. He may not want me around the Denali house until you leave."

Immediately, the blonde's brows furrowed into a V of annoyance. Her eyes darkened for nearly a second before she blinked and plastered a cunning smile on her lips. "Well," she said smoothly, "we'll just have to see how things go."

Then, in a daring move, she swept forward and kissed my temple. Emmett's jaw dropped while Kate and Irina growled. The two stepped forward to grab the blonde and haul her off of me when she quickly pulled back, smiled, and returned to her gaping mate.

Why did I get the feeling things were about to get complicated?

"So…" Charlie said over the dinner table. A chunk of mashed potatoes hung on his fork as it hovered over his plate, waiting to be put into his mouth.

I swallowed my own bite to give him my attention raising my brow. "So…" I replied. I grabbed the water in front of me and took a drink. He had something on this mind that he wanted to talk about, or ask. I could tell with the awkward two letter word.

He always started those conversations like that.

He shrugged; lifting his fork. "I don't know," he said. "I just wondered if you had anything to talk about." He stuffed the fork into his mouth and chewed slowly.

As in the crazy things that had happened to me today that I can't tell you about, or admit to a false assumption Tanya and I had sex? I shook my head. "Nope."

He nodded. "I see…"

I nodded.

Silence.

I looked up.

He looked down.

I looked down.

He looked up.

Up.

Down.

Up.

Down.

Oh, what do you know?

Another up and down.

I rolled my eyes. "Dad," I said, "I know you want to talk about something and you have it on your tongue. Just say it already."

Charlie looked up. "I don't know what you're…" he trailed off at my glare. With a sigh, he set his fork on the plate and sat back in his chair. He folded his arms over his chest. "Are you okay?"

I frowned. "Okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah," he said. "Are you alright? I know that the Cullens will be arriving tomorrow, and…I wondered if you wanted to talk about anything before they did."

I pursed my lips and sat back in my own chair. Slowly, I shook my head. "No," I said. "I don't really want to talk about anything."

His brow curved. "You sure?"

I scoffed. "Dad," I said. "It's a part of the past. I'm over it—mostly—and right now I could care less about what they did. They left me in Forks. That's the end of the story."

He frowned. "But you were involved with them, Bella. Edward was your first relationship. And, as much as I hate to admit it, seeing them again and having them tossed into your life right now will make things happen that you never thought."

Oh if he only knew…

I sighed, running my hand down my face. "Dad…"

"Bells," he said, stretching his hand forward to take my free one, "I'm just concerned for you. I know how much they meant to you. I saw the worst of what you went through, and I saw how hard it was for you to come back from it all. Whether either of us like it or not, they left a large wound behind, and I just…I don't know if that has fully healed."

I snapped my head up. "I know that, Dad," I scowled. "I was the one that had to recover from that particular heartbreak." I shook my head, looking down. "I've thought it all over, Dad, trust me, I have. I've thought about it a lot, and I have decided that I will be the bigger person and not start something unless needed."

"And what if it is needed?"

"I have the Denalis," I said. "They are not incredibly fond of their cousins at the moment, and I know that they will side with me in a fight. You don't need to worry about it—about me. I'll be alright."

He sighed. "Are you sure about that?"

I nodded. "Positive."

Charlie stared at me, I mean really stared at me like he was looking for my deepest secrets in my expression. His hand holding mine on the table tightened slightly, giving it a gentle squeeze as he examined me for any signs of lying.

Then, satisfied, he leaned back and nodded as he removed his hand from mine. "I trust you, Bella. You have proven yourself many times up here with the Denalis and many times down in Forks. I won't press you to do anything you don't want, and, if you want, I will stay uninvolved in this matter for as long as I can."

I blinked, surprised. I would have thought Charlie would be all over seeing the Cullens again. You know, be able to scowl, shake and squeeze their hands to intimidate them while he subtly laid his hints on if they did one wrong move they had less than ten minutes to get the hell out of town.

Seeing my expression, he elaborated, "I myself have done some thinking about this, and I'm smart enough to know that I can't trust myself around them. Based on how I reacted with the Denalis, I can't imagine how I would act around the Cullens themselves until I had better control over myself and the situation. Putting me in the mix would just complicate and raise the stakes of things when it isn't necessary. So, I'm willing to control my urge to meet them head on right away for a while."

My lips pulled into a small smile. Charlie, as he always continued to prove, was a good man. He was one of the few good men that was actually on Earth left, in my belief, and he was an even better father with that quality.

Reaching forward, I grabbed his hand. "Thank you, Dad."

He nodded and kissed the back of my hand. "Of course, Bells. I'm not that dimwitted after all." I smiled as he released my hand, letting me take it back. "Now…will you pass me the butter?"