Bella woke late the following morning, and, to her immediate delight, Leah was still there. Remembering the circumstances of the night before, Bella blushed as she carefully climbed out of bed. Leah's breathing remained deep and even as Bella quietly gathered clean clothing and went to take a shower.

The hot water hurt at first as it hit her upper back. After adjusting the spray options, she let the water envelope her, relaxing her muscles. When she was ready for the day, Leah was awake, groggily texting someone as she sat cross-legged on the bed.

"Hey," Bella said, leaning into the room. "Bathroom's free if you need it."

"Good!" Leah grinned as she gracefully unfolded herself from the bed and grabbed her shorts from the floor.

Bella asked, "You want some breakfast? I was thinking about some pancakes."

"Sounds great," Leah said as she yanked her shorts on. She hurried past Bella to the bathroom without ever buttoning them. Bella chuckled as she headed downstairs.

Thirty minutes later, each had a stack of pancakes at the table, with a third set aside for Charlie. Hungry for once, Bella ate what she could, though it was not nearly as much as she would have liked. She was already rubbing her stomach by the time Charlie came downstairs. He grinned as he spotted Leah and ruffled her short hair as he walked past.

"Hiya, kid!"

He nearly stopped short as he realized a fully dressed Bella, fresh makeup and all, had a half-eaten stack of pancakes in front of her. He met her gaze, silently questioning if she was 'okay' from under raised eyebrows. She smiled and gave him a nod. Charlie sighed, looking relieved as he sat at the table.

"These for me?"

"Yep."

Charlie reached for the syrup and said, "You actually ate this morning."

Bella's cheeks reddened as Leah tried to stifle a laugh. She teased, "Dad, don't be a dick."

He laughed and reached over to pat her shoulder. She flinched as he made contact, and Charlie's hand froze. After a brief pause, he asked, "Bells? You okay?"

"I fell," she huffed and rolled her eyes. "It's fine."

"It's really not fine," Leah whispered, revealing the first sign of the same worry she'd shown the night before. "You gotta be more careful, Bells."

"I know, I know," she said as Charlie lowered his hand and began cutting up his pancakes.

Glaring into his plate, he asked, "None of those boys put their hands on you yesterday, did they?"

The question stunned her. "Of course not. "

Sure, they were all giants and jackasses, but her - not hers anymore - boys would never physically harm her on purpose.

Baffled, she said, "I can't believe you just asked me that."

Charlie said, "I mostly asked because of Paul Lahote. He's known for his temper. You said he was there yesterday. He had nothing to do with what happened yesterday, right?"

Bella glanced at Leah, who playfully grinned and asked, "You talking about La-whore, Charlie?" He grunted in response as Leah nudged Bella with her foot. "That's what everyone calls him. Paul La-whore, our very own resident man-slut."

Charlie sputtered, nearly spitting out pancake crumbs as he laughed. He covered his mouth with one hand and said, "That's what I said. I was just nicer about it."

Leah chuckled as Bella shook her head and stood to scrape her plate into the trash.

"By the way," Leah said, "I saw him hitting on you outside at that party." Leah winked one heavily lashed eye at Charlie and added, "Metaphorically, of course."

Bella groaned. She hadn't known Leah had seen them, and she'd never brought it up.

Does Leah think Charlie doesn't know about it? As Leah grinned at her mischievously, Bella knew it was true - she was teasing her without mentioning the kiss in front of Charlie. Bella was grateful for the loyalty.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Bella grumbled. "My Dad knows all about it already, Lee. And no, Dad. Paul was the only one I wasn't mad at yesterday. And…" Bella plopped back into her seat. "I forgot to tell you that he apologized to me for the bullying when we were little."

Skeptical, Charlie grumbled, "Before or after he kissed ya at that party?"

Leah cackled as Bella blushed again, ignoring the question. She twisted her whole body toward Leah, making Charlie snort as she turned her back to him.

Bella asked, "Do you work today?"

"Of-fucking-course I do," Leah grumbled. "Why? Do you have something in mind? I'll call off. I'm sick of those bastards."

"Tell us how you really feel," Charlie teased. He smiled around a mouthful of pancakes as Leah shot him a rueful grin.

Bella said, "Actually, you don't have to call off. It shouldn't take that long. I want to go out to Billy's."

"Atta-girl," Charlie muttered as Leah frowned and hissed, "What the fuck for?"

Bella silently looked between them, waiting for someone to argue. It took her a moment to realize she'd automatically expected something Quil and Embry would do. Bella took a deep breath and tried not to pout as she pushed the thought away.

"I want to give Jake's shit back to him and gather all of my stuff," she said. Turning back toward Charlie, she said, "I know you think I should make peace with Billy. You don't have to say it… I promise I'll be nice. I'm just… he lied to me, Dad. And he was so damn cold about it."

"He's Jacob's Dad, baby," Charlie said softly, using a gentle, fatherly tone she hadn't heard from him in years. He rested both elbows on the table and clasped his hands. "Now, I'm not condoning it, okay? They should have given you the truth, whatever that is… But if Billy lied to you, it was to protect his son somehow. Now, I get that. Because I'd tell a thousand lies to protect you in a split-second, Bells. That's just shit parents do. That's the shit you do for people you love. Nothing is ever black and white. Everything that most people do, every decision they make, usually involves providing for or protecting somebody they love. Especially their kids. Can you understand that?"

A month ago, Bella also would have told a thousand lies to protect Jacob. She couldn't help but think of the Cullens, who'd disrupted their lives without question, moving like the wind to save her from James. The memory left a knot in her throat, and she swallowed hard.

"Yeah, of course I can."

"Okay," Charlie said as he sat back. "Try to keep that in mind when you see him. If you can't forgive him for him, then do it for yourself, kid. All this anger ain't worth holding onto."

Bella and Leah stared at each other, absorbing his advice for different reasons as Charlie resumed eating.

Was he right? Was Charlie talking about just Billy? Bella thought about Quil's concern for her the night before. She missed her directionally challenged, idiotic, love-sick, giant puppy of a cousin terribly. Hell, Bella missed them all.

But then she thought of Jacob, and her temper sparked. He'd abandoned her, replaced her, and neither Quil nor Embry had the decency to warn her.

What if I'm not ready to let go of my anger yet? Glancing at Leah again, Bella wondered if she was thinking about Sam and the anger she still carried. Breaking the quiet tension at the table, Leah stuck her tongue out at Bella and made devil horns with her hand.

Through laughter, Bella asked, "Do you want to come with me?"

Leah smirked, looking down at the tabletop as she thought about it. "Since I have to go to La Push and back anyway … let's just take my car. We can stop at Jakes, get your shit, I'll get ready for work real quick, and then I'll drop you and your shit off on the way back through town. How does that sound?"

"Perfect!" Bella said, nodding as she stood and took Leah's empty plate.

Charlie scooped one last bite into his mouth before handing his plate to Bella. She cleaned up the rest of the breakfast mess as Leah jabbered and laughed at Charlie's lame jokes.

Bella could only smile. This was something she could get used to