Ben

Disclaimer; all characters and copyright belong to SM.

A/N-set in early BD before the infamous wedding.

This is a plot bunny that just wouldn't leave me alone. Sorry!

Chapter One-The Kid

Charlie was already running late when there was a knock at the door. He wasn't in the best of moods. He'd just had another run in with his daughter and her sycophantic boyfriend. God, he hated Edward Cullen with a passion. The obsequious little dipshit was all charm and polite smiles on the surface, but Charlie was sure that if you peeled away his refined layers it would reveal an unctuous, toadying little creep underneath. The boy's eyes were so old, they didn't match his young face. The way he would become so still at times, almost like a marble statue. It wasn't natural. If there was a way for him to prise his precious daughter away from the little tick, he would gladly do it, but all his attempts so far had done nothing but make her cling tighter to Cullen and his equally brown-nosing family.

It had to be the money; Charlie decided as he shrugged on his jacket in his haste to answer the door. Whoever was knocking was particularly insistent. The loud rapping was getting on his last nerve.

"I'm coming." Charlie yelled irritably.

The knocking stopped just as he reached the door. With a scowl on his face, Charlie pulled the door open to find a small boy standing all alone on his doorstep like a little foundling. The poor mite was shivering with cold. He only had on a thin jacket. A lanyard dangled around neck; a small white envelope was clipped to it. Abandoned on the ground beside the boy was a black holdall.

"What the hell?" Charlie mumbled under his breath. He peered down at the small boy, wondering who would be wicked enough to dump their child on the police chief's doorstep. Poor kid! He was going to have to ring the social services…. but first things first.

"Hey, kid." Charlie said gruffly. "What's your name?"

The scared little boy looked up at him with big eyes wide with anxiety. They were a deep rich brown, the colour of melted chocolate, framed with thick black lashes. They were familiar, too familiar…a lump formed in his throat as he was cast back into the distant past. Suddenly it wasn't the unknown boy standing on his front porch, it was his daughter. Four-year-old Bella, stood nervously gazing up at him with identical wide brown eyes, filled with the same anxiety as the boys. It was her first official visit to Forks to stay with him during the summer vacation.

Charlie blinked and the image of his young daughter disappeared. It was just him and the scared little boy again. He swallowed around the lump in his throat and hunkered down in front of the boy so they were more on each other's level.

"My name's Charlie. Do you know your name?"

The small boy nodded mutely. His dark brown fringe fell into his eyes and he flicked it away nervously with his small hand.

"Can you tell me what it is?" Charlie tried again.

"Ben." The boy whispered.

"Ben." Charlie echoed him, smiling. "It's nice to meet you, Ben."

Ben just shuffled nervously in response. His little fingers fiddled with the lanyard hanging around his neck.

"Can I see?" Charlie asked.

Ben hesitated before nodding. He tensed when Charlie reached out and gently lifted the lanyard from around his neck. He looked at the little envelope clipped to it and saw his name scrawled across it. So, whoever had left this poor child on his doorstep knew him somehow! Charlie tried to keep his anger toward the parents of Ben contained. He didn't want to alarm the poor kid.

"You better come in." He said when he saw Ben shiver again.

Ben hesitated, his big brown eyes reflecting his misery. He was so frightened. Charlie gentled his tone and motioned for him to come in again. "You must be hungry." He pointed out.

That did it! Ben shuffled quickly inside, before waiting just inside the hallway, his back pressed against the wall.

"It's okay. You don't need to be scared. It's this way." Charlie took the lead, wishing that Bella was with him. It would probably make the kid feel more at ease with a female in the house. "This is the kitchen." He continued as he kept up a stream of chatter to keep Ben calm. "You sit right there." He pointed to one of the chairs. Ben did as he was told and climbed onto it, his eyes still round with nerves. "Good lad." Charlie fumbled around in the cupboards and pulled out a packet of chips. Junk food? Probably not a good idea, but it was the best he could do at short notice. "Do you want some juice? I've got some orange…."

Charlie popped open the packet of potato chips and passed them to Ben. Ben gripped the packet tightly in his fist and began to shove the chips in as if he hadn't eaten for a week. Charlie then poured some orange juice into a glass and that soon went the way of the chips. Ben gulped the juice down, nearly choking in his haste.

"Slow down there, kid." Charlie warned him.

Ben froze, his small hands shaking around the glass. Charlie regretted sounding so sharp. The poor boy probably thought he was being told off. "It's okay, Ben. It's just better if you take your time."

Ben looked at him with the large brown eyes that reminded him so much of Bella, before lifting the glass to his lips and slurping the rest of the orange, slower this time. Charlie gave him a nod of encouragement while concentrating on the envelope he had detached from the lanyard Ben had worn around his neck.

Charlie sliced open the envelope. Inside was a short note, written in the same harried scrawl. He scanned the words quickly and his stomach lurched in disbelief.

"Charlie,

He's yours. I can't look after him anymore. I tried. But it's too much. He's a good kid. He'll be no trouble.

Faith."

Charlie gulped in a huge breath as he re-read the letter again and again. Faith? The Faith he had a one-night stand with over four years ago at that police conference in Seattle? That Faith? It had been a one-time thing. They had gone their separate ways in the morning and he hadn't heard from her since. He couldn't remember her last name or anything about her.

"Oh shit!" He mumbled as fine perspiration broke out on his brow. He glanced at Ben, who was stared back at him anxiously. "Wait there, Ben. I've just got to make a call." He said, before stumbling from the room.

After the tense argument she'd had with Charlie that morning, Bella wasn't in the mood to be magnanimous when he called to say he needed her to come home immediately. At first, she assumed he was calling to apologise, but instead he launched into pleas for her to just come straight home. He wouldn't even give an explanation as to why. If he hadn't sounded so upset, she might have made him sweat a little. The only saving grace was it gave her a convenient excuse to escape Alice's clutches. The little psychic was suffering with wedding fever, she had become obsessed with finding Bella the perfect dress. Anyone would think she was the bride to be, not vice versa.

The journey home wasn't pleasant. Bella hated driving the battle tank that Edward had bought for her. The Mercedes Guardian looked plush and luxuriant on the outside, but the bullet proof glass and steel interior disguised its true purpose. God, she missed her truck. It had been convenient-too convenient-that her truck would wheeze its last wheeze just weeks after she and Edward had agreed to their lopsided compromise, one detail of which was that he was allowed to replace her truck when it passed on. Edward swore it was only to be expected; the old Chevy had lived a long, full life and then expired of natural causes, according to him. And, of course, she had no way to verify his story or to try and raise the truck from the dead on her own. Her favourite mechanic…

Bella stopped the thought cold as she parked behind Charlie's cruiser on the drive. Trying not to think of her erstwhile best friend, she climbed out of the Mercedes, relieved to escape its murky confines. She was so done with the stares and whispers that followed whenever she drove the damn thing. Shaking her head to rid herself of her gloomy thoughts, she went to confront Charlie.

Bella stared at the note, then stared at the kid munching his way through a bag of popcorn. He had already eaten his way through two bags of chips and drunk half a carton of orange juice by the time she'd arrived. The boy was so full of sugar she was surprised he wasn't bouncing off the walls.

"How did this happen?" She whispered.

Charlie gave her a searching look. "Ren and I have been divorced for years, Bells. I never claimed to be a monk."

Bella glared at him. "That's not what I meant."

"I need to go." Charlie said, getting up.

"Go?" Bella asked in alarm. "Go where?"

"Just keep an eye on him for me." Charlie was already pulling on his jacket.

"Him? Dad, you can't just take off." Bella whisper yelled at him.

"His name is Ben." Charlie glanced uneasily in Ben's direction before striding out of the kitchen.

Bella hurried after him. "You can't just take off and leave me with him. He doesn't know me. I don't know him. He's scared. I- "

"It won't be for long, kiddo. I promise." Charlie hastened out the door before she could respond.

"….and Sue stopped by today." Billy's voice was loud, hard to ignore. As always. "Amazing woman. She's tougher than grizzlies, that one. I don't know how she deals with that daughter of hers, though. Now, Sue, she would have made one hell of a wolf. Leah's more of a wolverine." He chuckled at his own jibe.

Jacob didn't respond. He stared moodily into the distance. Most days that bugged Billy, but today he seemed to let it go as he continued to witter on about Leah.

"Seth's a lot easier. Of course, you were easier than your sisters, too, until…well you have more to deal with than they did."

Jacob sighed, long and deep, and stared out the window.

Billy was quiet for a second too long. "We got a letter today."

Jacob could tell that this was the subject his father had been avoiding. "A letter?"

"A…wedding invitation."

Every muscle in his body locked into place. A feather of heat seemed to brush down his back. He held onto the table to keep his hands steady.

Billy went on like he hadn't noticed. "There's a note inside that's addressed to you. I didn't read it." He pulled a thick ivory envelope from where it was wedged between his leg and the side of the wheelchair. He laid it on the table between them. "You probably don't need to read it. Doesn't really matter what it says."

Jacob glared at his father, annoyed at his lame attempt at reverse psychology. He yanked the envelope off the table. It was some heavy, stiff paper. Expensive. Too fancy for Forks. The card inside was the same, too done up and formal. He knew that Bella had nothing to do with it. There was no sign of her personal taste in the layers of see-through, petal printed pages. Jacob bet she didn't like it at all. He didn't bother to read the words, not even to see the date. He didn't care.

There was a piece of thick ivory paper folded in half with his name handwritten in black ink on the back. He didn't recognise the handwriting, but it was as fancy as the rest of it. Jacob scowled, wondering briefly if the leech was into gloating.

He flipped it open.

Jacob,

I'm breaking the rules by sending you this. She was afraid of hurting you, and she didn't want to make you feel obligated in any way. But I know that, if things had gone the other way, I would have wanted the choice.

I promise I will take care of her, Jacob.

Thank you-for her-for everything.

Edward.

"Jake, you're gonna break the table." Billy said. He was staring at his left hand.

Jacob's fingers were clamped down on the wood hard enough that it really was in danger. He managed to loosen them one by one, concentrating on this action alone, and then clenched his hands together so he couldn't break anything.

"Jake, where are you going?" Billy demanded.

Jacob was already up from the table, shrugging out of his t-shirt as he stood. He punched the front door out of his way as he ran outside, only to be confronted with Bella standing in front of a flashy Mercedes sedan. To his surprise she was holding the hand of a small boy he didn't immediately recognise.

For one second-for one brief span of time-he felt elation rush through him. She was here. She had come to tell him that she had changed her mind. She wasn't going to marry the leech after all. She had chosen him…. a smile was already forming on his lips, right before he caught the flash of the gaudy diamond ring that the bloodsucker had given her, when she raised her hand to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear.

Jacob stalled, his smile turning into an angry scowl of disappointment. "Have you come here to say goodbye again?" He snapped.

"What?" Bella looked at him in confusion.

"Oh my god!" Jacob laughed harshly. "You don't know, do you?"

"Know what?"

Jacob saw the same bewilderment cross her pretty face. She really didn't know that the bloodsucker had sent the invitation. He didn't know whether that made him feel better or worse. He sucked in a deep breath and looked at her properly, finally taking notice of the little boy who was clinging to her hand for dear life.

"Where did the kid come from?" He asked.

Bella gave him a tentative smile as she drew the little boy forward. "This is Ben." She said, introducing him. "Ben, this is my best friend in the whole world. This is Jacob."

Best friend! Those words cut like a knife. They had gone beyond friends!

Ben looked anxiously up at Bella, before glancing at Jacob. He sucked in his lower lip and held up his small hand to wave. "Hi." He whispered.

"Hi." Jacob replied lamely. He raised his eyebrows and looked at Bella enquiringly. "Are you babysitting or something?"

Bella shook her head, her brow creased with worry. "Kinda…. I need your help. Dad's been gone hours. He won't answer his phone. I don't know what to do." The words burst out of her like a flood. "I was going to call Edward, then I thought he'd be useless with this. He's not used to kids…and you've always been great with them."

"Bells, slow down." Jacob cut through her babble. "What's going on? Where did the ki…Ben come from." He threw a weak smile in the boy's direction.

"I don't know." Bella confessed quietly. "Dad wasn't making much sense before he took off. But I…I think…" She paused, swallowing thickly. Her brown eyes flashed with concern as she glanced down at Ben. Ben looked back up at her again, with the same chocolate brown eyes as hers. "Ben's my brother." She said aloud for the first time as she returned her attention to Jacob. "Jake, I have a brother!"

"Jeez!" Jacob brushed his fingers through his messy hair as he stared at Bella in shock. He watched as an almost maternal expression crossed her face. She ducked down and picked Ben up, holding him against her hip protectively. A lump lodged in his throat at how similar the two of them looked. Ben had the same pale skin as Bella's, the same shade of brown hair, and the eyes…. those incredible eyes.

"You better come in, Bells." He said huskily. "It's cold out here."

A relieved smile crossed Bella's face. "Thank you." She murmured gratefully.

Jacob nodded, the lump in his throat prevented him from responding. Just a few minutes ago he was about to turn wolf and disappear into the wilds forever. But just like that, Bella came crashing back into his life, stopping him. It had to mean something. It just had to.

Taking a moment to compose himself, Jacob followed them inside.

A/N-thanks for reading!