𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠¹| 𝙏𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 ✓

I.XV

The next day, the girls didn't speak to each other. Charlie sat at the table watching them move around each other as he sipped his coffee. He had finally finished the crying, emotional part of the mourning process, and was now out for blood.

"You know, this reminds me of the time when you guys were seven and you broke Bella's toy on accident. Didn't speak to each other for a week because of it." Lucine looked at her dad with a smile after taking a sip of her tea. "We're good, dad. Just had a little sister argument." Bella nodded as she tossed the truck keys to Lucine, again.

"Edward will be picking me up for school starting today." Lucine just nodded as she watched her sister leave to go ride with the borderline suicidal vampire. I mean, the guy's going to try to end himself because he thinks she's dead in a few months. Can you really blame me for the name-calling?

"Are you sure you girls are okay?" Charlie was worried that his daughters weren't getting along again. He watched them grow up and grow apart, he was happy to see them getting along as sisters do. Seeing his daughters happy was all he wanted as a father; he just hoped that if anything was wrong they'd tell him so he could protect them to the best of his ability.

***

Lucine left for the day to hang out with Sam and Paul. She always hung out with them, running through the forest, climbing up trees too tall for them to reach the top, and just enjoying each other's company.

During the summer, when she spent her time in Forks, she rarely spent time at home with her dad. She was always out and about with Sam and Paul and occasionally Rosalie. Her family has been in town for over a year now, her father was a well-respected doctor.

Charlie was sitting in the living room, watching a game when Lucine came running into the house, opening and closing the door quickly. He got up quickly to check up on his daughter.

She had dirt all over her, her hair was a mess and tears made clear paths down her face through the dirt. She was breathing heavily as she stared at her dad with fear. He walked up to her slowly, only for her to run into his arms. It made her feel safe, even if he couldn't fully protect her from what she saw.

"What happened?" His voice was as calm as he could make it as he ran his hand through her hair. He was scared and mad at whatever or whoever did this to her. They were on the floor at this point, her knees gave in, and couldn't keep her up anymore. They sat on the floor, Charlie practically wrapped himself around her in a protective manner. She held onto him trying to calm herself down, trying to catch her breath.

A few minutes passed, and they stayed like that until Lucine looked up at her dad. They stood up as she held one of his hands. "I'm okay. Just um- thought I saw a bear or something in the woods." Charlie sighed. "What were you doing in the woods at this hour?" The sun had set, which made the woods even more dangerous. He tried to make his voice sound nice and soothing. Not stern and concerned like how he felt. "Sam, Paul, and I were walking through it. They ended up going home early and I wanted to stay a little longer. The trees and wind were soothing." Charlie let out another sigh and he engulfed his daughter in a protective hug.

A stray tear fell down his face at the thought of anything happening to her while she was in Forks. Just anything happened to his daughters whether they were with him or with his ex-wife. He stroked her hair soothingly for a little longer before letting her go upstairs to shower and calm herself down.

An hour or so had passed already. Charlie finished making her some tea, he knocked on her door to let her know it was him. "Come in." Her voice was shaky and scared. It broke his heart.

Her curtains were drawn and only her bedside lamp was on, leaving the rest of the room in the dark. he gave her a smile as he handed her the tea.

"I made you some tea. I thought after the day that you just had, you'd want some to help you relax." She gave him a smile as she basked in the warmth of the mug against the cold of Washington. "Thanks. I really appreciate it." He nodded as he turned around. Before he left she spoke again.

"W-would it be okay if I um- if I went back to mom a bit early?" She was nervous. She loved her dad but she was terrified of what resided in Forks. His heart tugged a bit. Even if he didn't see her as often when she was here, he loved having her there. He took any opportunity to hang out with his daughter, even if it was just lounging around the couch watching a movie.

He smiled at her, a sad smile. "Yeah, I'll give your mom a quick call to let her know." Lucine noticed his sad demeanor as he left her room. She sat the mug on her bedside table before laying her head in her hands. Tears started rolling down her face. She wanted to stay with her dad. She didn't want to end her summer with him like this but she was terrified. Even in the sanctuary of her own home, she was scared that one of them would show up.

His amber-yellow eyes flashed through her mind. blood covered his mouth as he barred his fangs at her. He was huge. He was Rosalie's boyfriend.

She remembers Rosalie standing from afar watching it all, not doing anything to stop it as he stocked closer to her. Tears ran down her face as she watched Rosalie stand there. Light came in through the trees, making her skin shine beautifully but she was too scared to admire it.

She ran. She ran till she reached the house. No footsteps could be heard behind her but she was too blinded by fear to hear anything. She didn't realize how far she was into the forest until the sun started setting and she was just reaching the border.

She gasped lightly as she snapped herself out of the memory. She hugged herself tightly under the covers as she looked down at the mug of warm tea.

***

The car ride to school was quiet; it's usually quiet but this was a suffocating quiet. What they had couldn't even be considered a proper argument. Heck, it couldn't even be considered an argument in general.

Lucine sighed as she pulled into the school parking lot, watching as everyone gawked at Edward and Bella.