A/N- This chapter, and the entire story, contains the effects of emotional abuse/manipulation. Please consider this when deciding to read.

This is the final retroactive Beta chapter from the fabulous Dollybigmomma, please give her some love. As ever, she lets me know about mistakes, but sometimes I simply don't listen. What can I say? I'm a rebel. She, however, is nearly without flaws. Don't let my rebellion sully your opinion of her grammar and formatting skills.

Thank you for reading, please consider reviewing?

Bella

It was nighttime. The nightlight in Bella's room was dim, and there were crickets outside chirping. She wasn't normally awake so late, but her mommy and daddy were shouting, and she couldn't sleep. Edward had just lent her a book, and she hummed the song he wrote for her while she read it. Or, she tried to read it.

Every once in a while, her parents would get really loud. Bella thought Edward would call it a crescendo. She could hear what they were saying, and it distracted her from her book. Right when she thought she wouldn't be able to read, they would get quiet again, like someone told them to shush.

She wasn't sure what they were yelling about, but it happened a lot. Her mommy would get sad a lot. Then her Daddy would try to make her happy, and then her mommy would get angry. Bella wanted to try to make her mommy happy too, but it usually just made her sad again.

"I'm not happy here, Charlie, our daughter isn't happy here." Her mommy shouted, her voice almost scaring Bella. Her daddy responded, but he was quieter, so she couldn't really hear him.

"Well, she can make friends somewhere else!" she shouted, and Bella started to hear angry steps coming up the stairs. Her bedroom door burst open, and she clapped her little hands over her ears.

Her mommy turned on the lights and went to Bella's closet. The frenzied woman pulled out Bella's blue rollie bag they packed for her when they took trips or when she went to a sleepover.

"Mommy? What's happening?" Just as Bella asked, her daddy entered her room. Her mommy opened the bag and put it on the other side of Bella's bed. She went to the small, paint-chipped dresser and started taking out clothes. It wasn't careful, like when she was picking out an outfit for Bella, it was like when she was moving clothes into the washing machine.

"Renee, please, don't do this." Her daddy came up behind her mommy, and he tried to grab her arm, but she pushed him off her.

"I have to, Charlie, I can't stand another day in this town!"

"Daddy?" Bella looked up at him, worried. Whenever her mommy got this upset, they would usually talk about something else as a family until everything else was better again. Her daddy came and sat down with her on the bed, giving her a big hug.

"Bella, sweetie, it's all okay, everything is going to be okay. You and your mommy are going to go away for a while, but don't worry, I'll see you soon, alright, honey?" Her daddy was saying it was okay, but he didn't look like he believed it. Bella knew that sometimes, adults lied.

"Okay, Daddy. It'll be alright." Bella also knew that sometimes, kids needed to lie too.

Her mommy went to her and her daddy's room, and the thumping that started made Bella think her mommy was packing in there, too. Her daddy grabbed her backpack and talked to her in his nice voice. Together, they packed some of her favorite toys, coloring books, crayons, and some books, including the bunny one Edward had just lent to her.

When her mommy got back to the room, she had a bag over her shoulder and grabbed mine. "C'mon, baby," she held her hand out to the young girl.

"Renee, please, don't do this," Her daddy begged softly, and her mommy rolled her eyes.

"Charlie, I have to." She kept her hand out, and Bella went to follow her, but Daddy stopped her.

"But do you have to take Bella?" He was sad, Bella didn't ever remember seeing her daddy cry before, but he looked like he was about to start.

"She's my daughter, too," Her mommy said, and she sounded like she wanted to cry. Her daddy finally let Bella go, and she walked with her mommy down the stairs. Her daddy helped her get her shoes and coat on, and he carried the little girl to the car, getting her into her booster seat.

Mommy packed their bags into the car and then got in on the driver's side. "Let me know when you get somewhere safe, so I know you and Bella are okay." Daddy gave Bella a kiss on the forehead and closed the door softly. He walked back and stood on the front steps watching, while her mommy drove them away from their home.

"Mommy, where are we going?" Bella asked quietly from her booster seat. She could only see a part of her mommy's face in the glow from the passing streetlights. She seemed mad, but not. Mommy didn't answer. Bella got quiet again.

Out the window, Bella saw everything she knew passing by her. The diner where the family ate sometimes and saw daddy's friends. The library where Bella always searched for new and better stories. The school where she had only started to learn and play with new friends. After a while, there were only some trees, more and more, until she saw the mailbox that marked where Edward and his family lived.

Edward.

Then, it was trees again. Trees…trees…trees.

Bella and her mommy sat in silence, the sound of the car on the road making Bella sleepy like it always did on road trips. She fought to stay awake. It was too wrong. Bella's daddy wasn't there. They never took a trip without her daddy, or without planning ahead. By the look on her mommy and daddy's faces, Bella didn't think either of them had planned this trip.

Slowly, she fell asleep, lulled into slumber by the gentle sounds of the road, and the fresh, emerging rain.

...

The sound of the rain that had always annoyed Renee was the most soothing thing in the world to Bella. The world was getting washed clean, wiping away the previous day's dirt and sidewalk chalk. Rain brought a fresh new beginning, feeding the plants that covered the green, green forests, from the tallest of trees to the smallest patches of moss. That rain that had said goodbye to her on her way out of Forks was the same that greeted Bella on her way in over a decade later.

There was silence in Charlie's car, besides the rain, on their way back into town. It wasn't really unusual with Charlie; he was never the talkative kind.

After living in Arizona for so long, the sheer amount of green was nearly overwhelming for Bella. Green trees with green moss covering the trunks. The ground was covered in green ferns and other greenery. It was as though the green was saying hello, welcoming her home.

Her eyes were glued to the world outside the car. Bella did miss Forks, of course, but the last time she had been here, she hadn't been aware of the danger she interacted with every day. Sure, deep in the forest would still be beautiful, tranquil, and hold more green than she had seen her entire time in Arizona. But she wouldn't be able to go into the forest anymore, not the way she had before. With boys who were now men, who now had the anger to take out on someone like Bella. Even by herself, she couldn't be truly safe, as she could never be sure she was alone.

The carefree feeling she'd had in Forks all those years ago came more from the innocence and naivety of childhood. Forks wasn't the fairytale land of Happily Ever After's she had imagined it to be. It was the same as Arizona, which was the same as anywhere else. She would have to remember that, and not let herself get too swept up in the beauty of it all.

Bella and Charlie didn't talk much, which was fine with her. She didn't know what she would say if he asked why she had gone from not visiting on holidays, and not even calling him, to moving in with him. Luckily, those questions didn't seem to be coming any time soon.

Charlie mentioned how she would probably need to get more of a winter wardrobe while she was there. Bella agreed. He also mentioned how it would be hard for her to adjust to the cold and rain. She agreed again. She was in jeans, a pair of ratty Converse, the thickest long-sleeved shirt she had, and the heaviest hoodie she owned. It was almost enough. Though it was unseasonably cold, it was nothing compared to what the later fall months would bring, let alone the winter.

When they got to the house, Charlie helped Bella get her two measly bags to her room, and then he left her to unpack alone. It had been years since she'd been at Charlie's house, and her room looked like it, though without dust. He said they could redecorate sometime, that she probably wouldn't like it still. He was wrong. True, it didn't feel like the room of an almost adult, but it reminded Bella of the good times. The holidays she'd spent in this room were some of the best days she could remember. The holidays, back when she had been allowed to come, were the few times she'd gotten to see her dad, and the times she had been able to get away from Phil.

Her room reminded her of that joy she had once felt. Joy, unadulterated by worry, by fear, by the primal need to survive and protect. Bella knew it would be impossible to keep her new life from staining the few unsullied memories she had left, so she figured she should at least enjoy it while she could.

She grabbed her backpack and pulled out her laptop, setting it on the desk that had before only seen arts and crafts. Bella booted up the laptop, trying not to fidget as she waited.

Phil had told her she needed to let him know the moment she was home. What if he thought she should have gotten there sooner? Bella paced, trying not to bore holes into the floor, or into her laptop with her eyes. Finally, it made it to the home screen, and Bella collapsed into the chair, calling Renee on a video call.

When Bella's mother answered, her face brightened, and she called out to Phil, letting him know Bella was there. She couldn't make out how he responded, but after a moment, Renee turned back to her daughter. "He says that's all, to remember your rules, and to call before you go to bed tomorrow." She was confused, but Renee started asking her questions about how it was in Forks, if Charlie was happy to see her, and other idle chatter she couldn't quite make herself care about. Bella excused herself from it quickly, claiming she needed to unpack and settle. Bella knew Renee could see it for the excuse it was, but she let Bella go anyway, telling her she loved her.

Bella played music quietly from her laptop while she unpacked. She opened her closet, finding it empty but for a few items leftover from her summers in Forks. Items she was sure would no longer fit, and she started putting away the few heavier clothes she had brought. Between Bella and Renee, they had managed to scrounge up nearly every long-sleeved shirt they owned, and most of the layering pieces as well. Bella didn't know how she would get the clothes to stay warm this winter, but as she pulled open the top drawer, her mind stopped. In her dresser were a few of Charlie's old sweatshirts. They were folded so the designs were front and center. There was the gray one with the basic lettering of the police training academy he had attended, the dark green one with an old 90's looking design of deer in the woods, and all the other ones that she had seen again and again in her childhood. Bella lifted one and buried her face in it, the worn and soft material caressing her cheek. The smell, exactly like summers in Forks, drifted into her nose; pine, sunshine, and laughter.

Okay, so Charlie has some kindness, but it doesn't mean there isn't cruelty in there, too. She wanted to be proud and never wear them, never take the obvious placating gesture, as though it could make her world the same sweet and magical place as it was when she was a child. It wouldn't do any good. The only difference in wearing them versus not wearing them was her warmth. In fact, maybe it would endear her to him. He could get upset at her snubbing his kindness.

Yes, wearing one of the sweatshirts would be the wise choice. Later, though.

She continued unpacking until she got to her last article of clothing, the hoodie with her treasures. She needed to find a place to hide them here. Somewhere that wouldn't be obvious, even to Charlie the cop. For now, she put them in the very back of her closet. If he was on a rampage, it would be enough out of the way, he might not make it to the spot before he turned on her.

She waited in her room for as long as she could stand it. If she hid too much longer, he could come looking for her, and it would make it all worse. Steadying herself, she slowly stalked down the stairs, trying to make herself ready. With Phil, she knew what to expect. Charlie was the devil she didn't know, and for that, he was all the more dangerous.

When she got downstairs, she found Charlie much like how she usually found Phil. On the couch. Watching baseball. Drinking beer. At least some things stayed the same.

Bella sat on the recliner, across the room from the couch, facing Charlie. He turned to her, putting his game on mute. Uh oh.

"Uh, Dad…since I'm here now, I just wanted to ask what, uh, what my responsibilities are here. Or…what the rules are."

Charlie nodded slowly, looking deep in thought. Had he not considered it before? Or was he trying to figure out how to tell me?

"Well, I guess you haven't really lived here for a while. How about we see how it goes and, uh, adjust as needed?"

Well…shit. No way to avoid trouble if you didn't know what the rules were. There was barely any tension in the room, it just felt more…awkward. It was a lot like how she remembered conversations with him back when she was a child. Back then, he would always mumble and avoid eye contact. He had been better with an, "I'm going to Jake's," from her before calling back, "Be home before dark."

"Uh, okay, I can do that." she didn't know if she could, actually, but she knew she would have to.

"Okay." He watched her as she stood up, moving away from him. He turned the volume of the game back up, and she walked hesitantly to her room.

There's no way that actually just happened. He's gotta be playing mind games with me, right? What kind of sick fuck was he?

She went back into her room, closing the door slowly. For the rest of the night, she paced and worried about Charlie. Or more, his rules.

Realistically, they couldn't be too different from Phil's. Only go to school and back unless absolutely necessary, take care of the house, keep her grades up, that sort of thing.

And no boys, of course. Even if Charlie wasn't cruel, the boys certainly were.

She would just have to do as Phil advised and stay good. Though, she was sure she would be more on alert than ever, ready to catch the slightest misstep.