Bella watched the house from the safety of the treeline. Jacob had gone home as the sun started to rise. He still had school in the morning and had to get ready. Charlie rose with the sun. Bella could hear him fumbling around the house and caught faint scents of his breakfast. When he left the house, Bella was shocked to see how much he had aged in a mere two weeks. His hair was grayer and he had large, heavy bags under his eyes. Bella felt her heart drop with guilt in her chest as she realized looked near death because of her... because he was looking for her. Her resolve solidified at that moment, and she decided to tell him everything.

When he was finally out of sight and Bella could no longer here the rumble of the cruisers old engine, she snuck around the back of the house to the patio door. Charlie never left the door unlocked but she knew if she lifted it up off the rider and jiggled it enough, it would slide back easily. It was a tip her mother had given her when she'd first moved to Forks, hoping that Bella would use it to spend some time as a normal teenager. She never took advantage of it until now.

She stepped cautiously into the kitchen, breathing deeply the scent of her father. He smelled just how he did when she was human, only now Bella was smelling it with refined senses. Shave cream, gun powder, and moss. It was a strange combination of scents, but one that Bella could distinctly place as Charlie's.

In the kitchen, she noticed that dishes had begun to pile up in the sink and the garbage was overflowing with take out containers. She sniffed again cautiously and noticed that the house was starting to smell like garbage as well. There was a sinking feeling in her stomach that Charlie wasn't taking care of himself at all. She popped the door of the fridge open and glanced through its contents but didn't see more than a couple beers, a jug of milk, and some condiments. Bella reached in and pulled the jug of milk from the shelf and unscrewed the lid before she held it under her nose. The smell of rotting dairy filled her senses and she gagged before taking the jug straight to the trash can that Charlie kept outside the patio door on the back steps.

The man definitely wasn't taking care of himself. A trip through the rest of the house revealed more trash in the living room, a bathroom that hadn't been cleaned in over two weeks, and laundry that had been piling up since the day Bella left. The only room in the house that looked as she left it was her bedroom. She slid the door open slowly, almost afraid of what memories would be behind it. It felt like years since she had been in this room. Her human scent was present but faint. The most overwhelming scent was that of her father. She could see the outline of him on her bed where he had likely sat, thinking and wondering about Bella. Her heart broke thinking about it. How had she ever thought suicide would be the right answer? It's not like changing immediately cured her, but the sudden impending threat of death had made her realize just how much she didn't actually want to die. She didn't want to cease to exist forever, but at the time, she knew that she needed to not exist for a time. It had driven her to the Volturi because she couldn't handle the pain of loss that the Cullens leaving had done to her.

She saw the knife on her desk before she remembered what she'd done. The flashback left her a little dizzy but the image had been vivid and clear. That night before she'd made up her mind to go to the Volturi, Bella can remember how she held the knife against the tender skin of her throat. She had wanted to so bad. She'd pressed the blade along the skin hoping that it would catch, but her body had a mind of its own and she struggled to press the knife hard enough to even cause a nick.

She picked the blade up from her desk and ran it over her fingers. She could feel the dullness of it over her stone fingers and let out a hiss of breath as the emotions consumed her for a moment. Then she snapped the blade and tossed it into the trash before leaving the room and shutting the door.

Bella decided that she could be dead, undead, and still take care of her father. She spent the morning cleaning every inch of the house which she did at a human speed. It was therapeutic. It gave her time to think about what to tell her father and she felt she had a decent enough explanation for when he got home by the time she'd finished with the cleaning and moved on to the laundry.

While she waited for the washer and dry to buzz, Bella prepared a grocery list for her father. While jotting down several frozen dinners she knew her father liked, she picked up the phone and called Jacob, asking if he would be willing to stop by in a bit to help her with something. He agreed quickly, saying he would do anything to get out of health class that afternoon. He knew how a dick worked and he didn't need another lecture about fluids, as he put it.

Bella waited nearly half an hour before she finally heard the sound of large paws hitting the forest floor and she knew that Jacob had finally come. She slid the back door open and watched as Jacob, shirtless and without shoes, walked across her back yard and into the tiny kitchen.

"So what's up, Bella?" he asked. He nose creased as he narrowed his eyes slightly at her. "Have you been cleaning?"

Bella sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck and smiled at him. "Charlie hasn't exactly been taking care of the place, so I thought I'd help out."

Jacob just nodded his head. "What did you need?"

Bella handed him the grocery list that she'd made and pulled the silver credit card Athenodora had given her out of her back pocket. "Charlie hasn't really been eating lately, and I can't be seen in town."

"Sure Bells," Jacob said with a soft smile. She returned the smile, and sighed a small thank you. "When do you need it by?"

"The sooner the better," Bella said. "I want to make Charlie dinner but I don't have anything to make it with."

"Alright, I'll be back in an hour," Jacob said. Bella tossed him the keys to her truck which she'd left parked in front of the car when she left for Volterra. She'd known it wouldn't make it to Seattle for the flight so she'd taken a taxi and left the old Chevie in her dad's driveway.

"You can take this," she said. "The station is down the street from the Thriftway so you'll wanna take the back roads around so Charlie doesn't see the truck. Do you have shoes?"

"Forks has seen weirder things than a shirtless Rez kid walking around a grocery store without shoes, Bella," he said with a chuckle before he left out the front door. Bella heard the truck stutter to life followed by the crunch of gravel under its wheels, she hoped that Old Reliable would make it there and back before she remembered that it had only been two weeks since she last drove it, even if it felt like a life time ago.

Bella was folding laundry and watching an obscure daytime soap when Jacob returned caring ten bags in each arm. She moved to help him before she realized that he was just as strong as she was and he could handle it fine. Jacob immediately went about putting the groceries away while Bella started up dinner, hoping that Charlie would be home at his usual time that day. They chatted idly about how Jacob's friends were and how La Push was getting along.

"Oh hey," Jacob said and pulled the silver card out of his cargo short's pocket. "I'm guessing you'll want this back before I go on a joyride in your truck and buy up half of Seattle."

"You'd have to make it to Seattle first," Bella chuckled. "I don't think buying up half of one of the biggest cities in the country is what Athenodora meant when she said I could use it for anything."

"Athenodora... She's one of your other mates right?"

Bella nodded. "I sort of escaped from the castle the day I left and went to a beach nearby. I just needed some space and like, some time to breathe ya know? Well, she followed me. She must have seen how much I missed home, or maybe, that I just wasn't ready to be what they wanted yet, so she gave me that card and told me I could go home. I think she wanted me to know that I wasn't trapped there. That whole 'if you love something, set it free' thing."

"Seems like she's trying," Jacob said. He was leaning on the counter in the kitchen watching Bella cook. She could hear his stomach growling and she smirked to herself. She was making a simple casserole. Something Charlie could reheat for a couple days so he would actually eat real food and not just diner takeout for every meal. She wondered if he even ate breakfast anymore or if he was slowly mutilating his empty stomach with black coffee.

Bella slid the casserole into the oven after tossing Charlie's favorite part, the crunchy onions, on top. She and Jacob went to the living room to talk after. "So have you heard anything from the counsel?"

"When I left the school, they were still deliberating," Jacob said. "Embry is there as his wolf so that he can keep us all updated."

"What is taking so long?" Bella sighed and she collapsed onto the couch. Jacob almost forgot that she was a vampire whenever she did something ungraceful like that. She still seemed so normal when he could get past the stench and lack of heart beat.

"It seems their hang up is on the Cullens," Jacob said. "They bit you and that goes against the treaty."

"But Alice bit me to save my life," Bella growled. "And I didn't even turn into a vampire."

"Yeah," Jacob said. "But they didn't know that would happen. They also don't really have proof you're not a vampire, except, ya know, the weird eyes, and the fact that you haven't drained the entire rez yet."

"Good control," Bella chuckled. She sighed again. "It's just not fair. I told Alice to change me. It was my choice. The pack doesn't get to decide that for me. The Cullen's didn't get to decide that either. I made that decision and I didn't want to die."

"I'm glad you didn't," Jacob said. His eyes leveled with Bella's and she could see that he was being sincere which felt strange coming from the shifter who was technically supposed to hunt her kind. "I didn't think I'd be okay with it. But when the alternative is death..."

"Thank you," Bella said as she flew across the room to squeeze Jacob in a tight hug. She'd forgotten how much she missed him, how much she had truly, truly missed him. He was her best friend and her brother. He held her back just as tightly but when he finally let out a wheeze of air, Bella remembered her newborn strength and pulled back, grinning at him. Jacob pushed her back onto the couch and laughed.

The sound of a truck pulling into the driveway attracted the attention of both the shifter and the vampire in the room. Bella made eye contact with Jacob and shifted her eyes toward the patio door. He was gone in seconds. Bella moved to the kitchen and quickly pulled the casserole out of the oven and a beer out of the fridge and placed them on the table along with a plate and silverware before returning to the living room. She zipped between the kitchen and living room four times before finally deciding she would just wait it out in the living room. He would notice eventually. A whole meal sitting on the table was going to be obvious enough.

She held her breath as she waited. She immediately felt silly that it wouldn't help anyways but she couldn't stop the human habit when she was in an anxious situation. Charlie was slow up the steps and he grunted softly as he lifted himself up them. Bella frowned. He must be very tired to have that much trouble. When he opened the door, Bella hid herself in the shadows until she was sure he had his gun belt off and the weapon unloaded and then watched as he sniffed the air, smelling the food in the kitchen.

He followed the scent through the living room into the open kitchen where he saw the casserole sitting on the table and his eyes grew wide. He approached the table cautiously and inspected the food without touching it, circling the table. As he reached the opposite side, Bella moved away from the wall and walked into the light that barely touched the living room.

"Dad," she called quietly. He looked up and the reaction was almost instantaneous. His eyes filled with tears and he rushed around the table to pull Bella into a hug, crushing her against his chest. She could feel him shaking as he held her and she wished that she could cry too as she wrapped her arms around his waist and gripped him as tight as she dared.

"Bella," he whispered. "It's really you. It's really you."

"Yeah dad," Bella said. She rubbed her hands up and down his back trying to calm some of the emotions in him. "It's really me."

He pushed her away from him suddenly and held her at arms length, looking her up and down before locking onto her eyes. "Are you okay? What happened? Where have you been?"

"I owe you a lot of explanations dad," Bella said glancing at the floor. "Why don't you eat, and I'll tell you everything."

Charlie nodded and scratched his chin as he sat down. "Your eyes got something to do with this explanation?"

"Yeah," Bella said. "I want to start off though by telling you how sorry I am. I never should have left. I should have stayed with you. I should have seen how much you cared about me and that you were just trying your best for me. I'm sorry I couldn't see it."

"It wasn't your fault Bells," Charlie said after he swallowed his first bite of food. His eyes gleamed at the taste and he nodded his approval as he scooped up another bite with his fork then popped the top off his beer.

"It was and it wasn't," Bella said. "I left..." She paused. She wasn't sure how she should say it so she just spit it out. "I was going to kill myself."

Charlie slowed his eating as Bella kept talking. She told him about the Cullens and vampires and how she'd gone to Italy to get herself killed. She told him about the Cursed and how the Queens thought she might be a danger. She only hinted at her true relationship with the Queens but did tell him of how they had let her leave to come home. And even though she knew it wasn't allowed, she told him about the shifters in La Push, though she left out the names, and explained the treaty they had with the Cullens.

"So you're telling me," Charlie said. "that you're a cursed vampire, and that half the kids on the Rez are actually giant wolves..."

"That is the gist of it," Bella said, hoping that Charlie didn't freak out. "There is some other stuff but it's not really important right now."

"You dated a vampire?" Charlie said shaking his had and leaning back in his chair.

"Well it was either a vampire, or a hormonal teenage boy," Bella said. "At least vampires have a better taste in music."

Charlie didn't laugh. He had a scowl on his face and was staring at his dinner plate like it had insulted his mother. "I don't even know what to say Bella."

"It's okay," Bella said. She reached out and touched his arm, hoping he wouldn't flinch. He didn't. "Take your time. I know there is a lot to think over."

It had been almost two hours now since Bella had started telling Charlie about the last year of her life. She didn't want to leave anything out in case she never got the opportunity to tell him the rest. Charlie dismissed himself from the table soon after she finished telling the story and went out to the living room to watch whatever sport was currently in season. Bella joined him. She tried to pay attention to what was going on on the tv but was distracted watching Charlie as he processed. She caught him looking at her twice as if he was trying to catch her growing a third head, but he looked away each time. It was around ten when Charlie decided he was too tired to stay up any longer. He said a good night to Bella and gave her another hug before leaving the living room. He paused at the bottom of the stairs and looked back at her briefly. She knew he was wondering if she'd be there in the morning.

"I'm not going anywhere," she said softly. He nodded his head just enough for Bella to notice and then headed up stairs. His heart rate evened out about a half hour later. When Bella was sure he wouldn't get back up, she decided she needed to call Alice and see how everything was going back in Volterra. She moved to the phone in the kitchen and picked it up to dial but stopped when she realized she didin't actually know any number to call there. She didn't even know if Alice still had her cell phone or if that had been confiscated when they put her in a cell.

The phone rang a second later, jolting Bella out of her thoughts and causing her to fumble with the cord before bringing it up to her ear.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Bella!"

"Oh, Alice," she sighed. "You must have seen..."

"Yeah," Alice answered. "You really need to get a cell phone."

"Yeah, yeah," Bella said. "I was just calling to see how things are going there."

"Well the Denalies are here," Alice said. "And extremely unhappy about it. The Queens also have not let the rest of our family out of the cells. Edward is raving like a lunatic now that he knows you're gone, and the Queens are walking around like someone kicked their puppy. Sulpicia especially seems to be in a foul mood."

"That doesn't surprise me," Bella said softly. "I don't know when I'll be back. I didn't realize how much I missed home until I was here. I feel like I can breathe again."

"I'm happy for you Bella," Alice said. "I really am."

"I'm sorry I got you tied up in this," Bella responded.

"Don't be. We're family," she said, trying to lighten the mood. "You're stuck with me."

Bella laughed softly and listened as Alice told her how Rosalie had nearly killed Edward when he wouldn't shut up over her leaving. Apparently, Rosalie had pulled off three limbs before the guard arrived to stop her and even then it took two of them to completely calm her down.

"You should have seen his face Bella," Alice laughed. "He totally deserved it though. He's been nothing but a prick this whole time and he's the real reason we're in this mess. He's just lucky they repaired the dungeons and that Emmett and Jasper couldn't get to him too."

Bella heard a growl from the other end of the phone and assumed Alice must be talking to her around Edward's holding cell.

"Oh, shut up Edward." Alice giggled.

"So," Bella said. "I have a confession."

"Oh? Is it juicy?"

"I guess it depends what you call juicy?" Bella asked. "I told Charlie."

Alice paused for several seconds before she responded. "Athenodora and Didyme will understand, Sulpicia is going to be angry but she isn't going to do anything about it. He is your father. And apparently dating one of the shifters' family members? So she'll be okay."

"Yeah, Sue," Bella said. "Leah and Seth's mother. I don't know if you ever met them, but they were a good family... Thanks for checking..."

"Of course Bella," Alice responded. Bella could hear the sincerity in her voice and she was suddenly swept with a longing to be with her sire. They really were like family and Bella had missed Alice more than any of the others when they had disappeared.

"Okay," Bella said. "Well, I better go."

"Bye Bella."

"Bye Alice."

Bella smiled feeling slightly better about the revelation that her mates weren't going to be too angry with her over her father. The conversation had made her nostalgic though and she felt too cooped up in this tiny house.

She went through the kitchen to the back door and slid through out into the evening air. She took several deep breaths before sprinting in the direction she knew the Cullen house to be. Traveling through the woods was different than going by road but she had a better sense of direction now as a vampire than she did as a human and used that as an advantage to find the house she hadn't been to in over six months.

It looked exactly as pristine and shiny as it did the day they left. The grass and flower beds were over grown but otherwise everything was just as they'd left it. Bella walked around the side of the house to the driveway where she'd so many times seen that shiny Volvo parked next to a Porsche or a Corvette or a Jeep. She knew if she opened the garage they would all be gone.

As she approached the front door of the former Cullen residence, Bella began to feel the hairs on the backs of her neck and arms rising, and she scented the air. An old scent, not more than two or three days old, was wafting from the entrance of the mansion. It smelled tangy. It was definitely a vampire's but it wasn't anyone she knew off the top of her head. And there were only two other vampires she could possibly imagine would be in the area. Neither of them were good.

Bella turned from the front door toward the direction of the reservation and ran until she got to the treaty line. Unsure whether the treaty applied to her or not, she stuck to the edge and started yelling for the shifters. After several minutes of calling, a silver, grey wolf slid into the clearing and howled. Soon there were five wolves there. When it seemed they'd all gathered, they returned to the underbrush and shifted to their human forms. It was Leah, Sam, Jared, Jake, and Paul who stood before her. All of them just barely dressed.

"Bella," Jacob said. "What happened?"

"There's a new scent at the Cullens'. It's not theirs."

Sam scowled at her but signaled for the other members of his pack to shift again and the group headed out towards the Cullen household to investigate.