Unwanted Visitor
Title: Unwanted Visitor
Author: quicksilvermad
Fandom(s): The Twilight Series
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1251
Inspiration: New Moon: Chapter 17 - Visitor
Warnings: Triggering conversation about suicide.
Summary: Alice, after crashing at Casa De Swan and staring at Bella all night, tells Charlie about Bella's cliff dive.
Charlie distracted himself with the routine of cooking bacon in his seasoned cast iron pan and cracked two eggs in the leftover grease when the sizzling fat started popping at the "just so" timing Harry Clearwater mentioned back when they were kids.
He ground his teeth together at the thought and stared at the yolks-poking them with the spatula out of habit and hatred for runny eggs.
There was an unwanted visitor sitting at his small breakfast nook. Her yellow eyes followed him as he went about the kitchen grabbing a plate and some Old Bay seasoning for his breakfast. Even though he was raised to prepare for guests, Charlie Swan was not about to fix breakfast for Alice Cullen.
Her brother ruined his daughter's life.
And to be fair...
"You coming back here was not a good idea, Alice," he said.
Her eyes narrowed and Charlie heard the springs in the sofa creak. Bella was awake.
"Why would you say something like that, Charlie?" Alice demanded.
"My daughter is just now getting back to some sort of normality since you and your folks up and left," he slid the bacon and eggs out of the pan and onto a plate but didn't join Alice at the table. Instead, he grabbed a fork and began eating next to the stove where he could better read the tiny girl who invaded his home last night.
"So why are you here, Alice?"
"I wanted to know how Bella was doing."
Charlie carefully read her face and chewed his food. He let her keep talking-as far as he was concerned, this was an interrogation. Most people ran their mouths a lot when he did the "silent cop with blank eyes" routine and Alice Cullen wasn't any different.
Despite how much he could tell she thought she was. She and the rest of the Cullens were terrible liars.
"...And I was worried about her. You know how she gets," Alice rambled. "Has it been hard on her since we left?" she asked.
"Kid, I don't think that's really any of your business," Charlie said. He dropped his empty plate in the sink and crossed his arms. Despite being out of uniform, the authoritative stance he took reminded Alice that this wasn't just anyone.
This was a cop.
"And I know you're lying about coming back here to Forks to see how Isabella's doing. So let's have a straight answer this time. Why are you here?"
"I heard about what happened yesterday-when she jumped off the cliff in La Push."
Charlie tensed. He hadn't heard anything about Isabella jumping off any cliff. He knew where Alice was talking about having done some cliff diving in his youth, but there was an awful storm yesterday. He couldn't ignore the fact that Isabella was pretending to sleep any longer and swiftly walked over to the sofa.
Alice frowned at his reaction. "Charlie?"
"I need you out of this house now, Miss Cullen. I'll deal with you later," he stared her down and made sure she left completely before he looked away.
Charlie dropped down on the sofa in the space between Bella's feet and the arm rest. "You jumped off a cliff yesterday?" he asked.
She curled up tighter beneath the quilt and tried to shut him out.
"No, no, no," Charlie whispered and pulled her into a seated position. His hands tugged the quilt tighter around her in a practiced move that Bella couldn't remember ever seeing before. "Don't go away on me again, Bells..."
"Again?" she slurred. Her mouth was so dry...
Charlie fussed with her hair for a second and reached for the cordless phone without answering her. He hit a speed dial button and waited for someone to answer.
"Dr. Gerandy, it's Chief Swan."
Bella frowned.
"I need to admit Isabella for observation-"
"Charlie!" she struggled out of his grip and looked at the side of his face in shock.
"She apparently tried to commit suicide yesterday and I'm afraid of a repeat of the last four months," he paused to listen to Dr. Gerandy's instructions and questions. Bella stared at his socked feet in angered silence.
"Well, she's been getting a little better since you last saw her, Doc. But I can't offer her the help she really needs."
"I don't need help," Bella snapped.
Charlie closed his eyes and swallowed hard against the swell of emotion clogging his throat. "Bells, I know you don't think you need help, but I'm too scared of losing you again to let you do this to yourself," he said.
In a silent moment that went on long enough for Bella to notice that her ears were ringing and her muscles felt like they'd been put through a taffy puller, she finally considered her father.
He looked sad. Much like the night she said those awful things to him before running off to Arizona. She'd brought up memories of how the woman he loved didn't love him anymore. After stepping outside of her protective bubble where the world existed on some plane that didn't allow for someone's true love to leave them, Bella could see some of the damage she'd caused.
Her father's normally jet black hair was streaking with grey at his temples and there were two wrinkles between his eyebrows that hadn't been there before. The smile lines near his eyes were nothing compared to the bruise-like rings beneath them.
She didn't want her dad to feel this sad.
Not again.
With some resignation, Bella nodded her head and patiently listened to him go through the arrangements of securing her a room in the psych ward. When he finally returned the phone to the charging cradle, Bella leaned against his shoulder and exhaled sharply.
"How'd you do it?" she asked him.
His hand came up and tucked her hair behind her ear. She could hear him fight back tears and carefully laced her palm against his. Bella couldn't remember the last time she really hugged her father and didn't know why she hadn't... He was still her daddy. He was still the man who taught her how to ride a bike and tucked her in with those Quileute legends for bedtime stories.
"I kept living," he answered her. "I still love your mom and it felt like dying when she left, but I couldn't let you down, sweetheart. So I kept going to work. I kept going out to the Rez to visit Harry and Billy. And I know you think that what you had with that Cullen boy was 'true love,' but, hon, true love doesn't leave you behind. Moving on may be tough and it may feel like the end of the world, but it isn't. Eventually things get easier and you look around one day and see that the people around you are the ones who really love you, not the people who deserted you."
She started crying against his shirt collar.
"I know your mom doesn't love me and it still hurts to know that," he admitted. "But life has to go on."
Bella felt the bristle of his mustache against her forehead as a prelude to a father's kiss.
The walk out to the cruiser was a bit of a blur and returning to the hospital felt surreal. She vaguely remembered Dr. Gerandy's kind face, but the rest of it was unclear. Charlie helped the nurse with Bella's hospital gown and tucked the blanket around her as a distraction for the nurse to start an IV. The mild sedative Dr. Gerandy prescribed worked quickly and just before Bella eased into that calm cocoon of fuzzy drug-deepened sleep, she saw those worry lines in her father's forehead ease just a bit.
Author: quicksilvermad
Fandom(s): The Twilight Series
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1251
Inspiration: New Moon: Chapter 17 - Visitor
Warnings: Triggering conversation about suicide.
Summary: Alice, after crashing at Casa De Swan and staring at Bella all night, tells Charlie about Bella's cliff dive.
Charlie distracted himself with the routine of cooking bacon in his seasoned cast iron pan and cracked two eggs in the leftover grease when the sizzling fat started popping at the "just so" timing Harry Clearwater mentioned back when they were kids.
He ground his teeth together at the thought and stared at the yolks-poking them with the spatula out of habit and hatred for runny eggs.
There was an unwanted visitor sitting at his small breakfast nook. Her yellow eyes followed him as he went about the kitchen grabbing a plate and some Old Bay seasoning for his breakfast. Even though he was raised to prepare for guests, Charlie Swan was not about to fix breakfast for Alice Cullen.
Her brother ruined his daughter's life.
And to be fair...
"You coming back here was not a good idea, Alice," he said.
Her eyes narrowed and Charlie heard the springs in the sofa creak. Bella was awake.
"Why would you say something like that, Charlie?" Alice demanded.
"My daughter is just now getting back to some sort of normality since you and your folks up and left," he slid the bacon and eggs out of the pan and onto a plate but didn't join Alice at the table. Instead, he grabbed a fork and began eating next to the stove where he could better read the tiny girl who invaded his home last night.
"So why are you here, Alice?"
"I wanted to know how Bella was doing."
Charlie carefully read her face and chewed his food. He let her keep talking-as far as he was concerned, this was an interrogation. Most people ran their mouths a lot when he did the "silent cop with blank eyes" routine and Alice Cullen wasn't any different.
Despite how much he could tell she thought she was. She and the rest of the Cullens were terrible liars.
"...And I was worried about her. You know how she gets," Alice rambled. "Has it been hard on her since we left?" she asked.
"Kid, I don't think that's really any of your business," Charlie said. He dropped his empty plate in the sink and crossed his arms. Despite being out of uniform, the authoritative stance he took reminded Alice that this wasn't just anyone.
This was a cop.
"And I know you're lying about coming back here to Forks to see how Isabella's doing. So let's have a straight answer this time. Why are you here?"
"I heard about what happened yesterday-when she jumped off the cliff in La Push."
Charlie tensed. He hadn't heard anything about Isabella jumping off any cliff. He knew where Alice was talking about having done some cliff diving in his youth, but there was an awful storm yesterday. He couldn't ignore the fact that Isabella was pretending to sleep any longer and swiftly walked over to the sofa.
Alice frowned at his reaction. "Charlie?"
"I need you out of this house now, Miss Cullen. I'll deal with you later," he stared her down and made sure she left completely before he looked away.
Charlie dropped down on the sofa in the space between Bella's feet and the arm rest. "You jumped off a cliff yesterday?" he asked.
She curled up tighter beneath the quilt and tried to shut him out.
"No, no, no," Charlie whispered and pulled her into a seated position. His hands tugged the quilt tighter around her in a practiced move that Bella couldn't remember ever seeing before. "Don't go away on me again, Bells..."
"Again?" she slurred. Her mouth was so dry...
Charlie fussed with her hair for a second and reached for the cordless phone without answering her. He hit a speed dial button and waited for someone to answer.
"Dr. Gerandy, it's Chief Swan."
Bella frowned.
"I need to admit Isabella for observation-"
"Charlie!" she struggled out of his grip and looked at the side of his face in shock.
"She apparently tried to commit suicide yesterday and I'm afraid of a repeat of the last four months," he paused to listen to Dr. Gerandy's instructions and questions. Bella stared at his socked feet in angered silence.
"Well, she's been getting a little better since you last saw her, Doc. But I can't offer her the help she really needs."
"I don't need help," Bella snapped.
Charlie closed his eyes and swallowed hard against the swell of emotion clogging his throat. "Bells, I know you don't think you need help, but I'm too scared of losing you again to let you do this to yourself," he said.
In a silent moment that went on long enough for Bella to notice that her ears were ringing and her muscles felt like they'd been put through a taffy puller, she finally considered her father.
He looked sad. Much like the night she said those awful things to him before running off to Arizona. She'd brought up memories of how the woman he loved didn't love him anymore. After stepping outside of her protective bubble where the world existed on some plane that didn't allow for someone's true love to leave them, Bella could see some of the damage she'd caused.
Her father's normally jet black hair was streaking with grey at his temples and there were two wrinkles between his eyebrows that hadn't been there before. The smile lines near his eyes were nothing compared to the bruise-like rings beneath them.
She didn't want her dad to feel this sad.
Not again.
With some resignation, Bella nodded her head and patiently listened to him go through the arrangements of securing her a room in the psych ward. When he finally returned the phone to the charging cradle, Bella leaned against his shoulder and exhaled sharply.
"How'd you do it?" she asked him.
His hand came up and tucked her hair behind her ear. She could hear him fight back tears and carefully laced her palm against his. Bella couldn't remember the last time she really hugged her father and didn't know why she hadn't... He was still her daddy. He was still the man who taught her how to ride a bike and tucked her in with those Quileute legends for bedtime stories.
"I kept living," he answered her. "I still love your mom and it felt like dying when she left, but I couldn't let you down, sweetheart. So I kept going to work. I kept going out to the Rez to visit Harry and Billy. And I know you think that what you had with that Cullen boy was 'true love,' but, hon, true love doesn't leave you behind. Moving on may be tough and it may feel like the end of the world, but it isn't. Eventually things get easier and you look around one day and see that the people around you are the ones who really love you, not the people who deserted you."
She started crying against his shirt collar.
"I know your mom doesn't love me and it still hurts to know that," he admitted. "But life has to go on."
Bella felt the bristle of his mustache against her forehead as a prelude to a father's kiss.
The walk out to the cruiser was a bit of a blur and returning to the hospital felt surreal. She vaguely remembered Dr. Gerandy's kind face, but the rest of it was unclear. Charlie helped the nurse with Bella's hospital gown and tucked the blanket around her as a distraction for the nurse to start an IV. The mild sedative Dr. Gerandy prescribed worked quickly and just before Bella eased into that calm cocoon of fuzzy drug-deepened sleep, she saw those worry lines in her father's forehead ease just a bit.