CATALINA, paul lahote

MUM

[ alternatively : this is home ]

"I'M - I'M THINKING OF SENDING BELLA HOME" Her father spoke one day over dinner. It was just the two of them, the sound of their forks clattering over the silence that seemed to fill the house since the Cullen's had left. The girl in question was probably sat upstairs, legs curled up underneath her as she stared out of the window that had occupied her for months now.

"This is home." Cata replied, a smile on her face that downturned at the edges. Things had gotten better for Cata, which seemed cruel given the circumstances. Sure, there were nights where she was woken to Bella's screams, and days where she would linger in her doorway - her question falling flat as her sister would turn the other way under her duvet. But things had gotten better.

"I mean with Renée."

"She can't live with Renée. Not like this." Cata frowned. She loved her mother - sure, but she didn't like her all that much. She was selfish, and cared more for her life than her daughters. "She'll just get worse."

"Not if- not if you went with her."

"I'm not living with mum." Cata shook her head frantically. "I'm not leaving Forks again-."

"I know." He held up his hand, a bitter smile on his face. "I just- I just don't know what to do, golden girl. She doesn't do anything. She goes to school and she comes back and sits up in her room and screams herself awake, and I-." He halted his words, looking desperately to his other daughter. The one who seemed to be there through everything. "I thought she'd get better, with you here. You always make her better. But I can't sit and watch this anymore."

When her mother left Forks, with her sister in tow, Catalina knew her father had struggled. He would sit and stare out the window, his coffee going cold in his grip. He would tuck her up in bed and she would hear the staggering sobs that trickled from his room that was next to hers.

"Maybe, maybe she should see someone. A psychiatrist?" He asked. He still had the number of the man he used to see in Seattle around here somewhere.

"She'll hate that." Cata laughed dryly. Besides, what would she say? Hi, I can't find a reason to smile because my vampire boyfriend left because his brother wanted to drink my blood and he thinks this is the safest option for me. She'll get laughed out of town. Her dad looked down to the table, a frown settling over his face. "I'll speak to her."

She stood, a tense smile crossing her lips as she climbed the stairs. Her sisters door was cracked open, and she could see the mound under the duvet. It was 10pm and she was sure her sister had been sat like this for hours already. "B?" She called, frowning when all she received was a 'hm?' in response. Cata crossed the room, tugging at the curtains until they closed and moving along to switch on her lamp. Her eyes had sunken in the months, her sister blinking blearily in the new light that flooded the room.