Black Nebula

A Second First

Edward left my room early, before the sun rose, because we both knew that Charlie liked to wake up early. I hopped out of my bed, my mind lingered on the night that I just spent with Edward. It was like any other night from the beginning of our romance, including the frustrating no sex rule. Even though I was a vampire now, Edward insisted that we were married first. Nonetheless, we spent the entire night talking, kissing, and wrapped in each other's arms. We realized that after almost losing everything, we didn't want to let each other go. I twirled a strand of hair as I hurried from my room, clothes in my hand, to the bathroom. Since the temperature didn't matter to me, I took a long cold shower, just to ensure that I didn't use any of Charlie's hot water.

As I dressed, I heard Charlie start rustling about, as he stubbed his toe on the bed post. I went into the kitchen to make him some breakfast but there was hardly any food. I seriously doubt Charlie even thought about cooking while I was gone, let alone any grocery shopping. Afterall, he was spending time with Billy and Jacob at La Push all this time. I made a mental note that while I was staying in this house again, I would need to resume the food shopping and cooking for Charlie. I noticed some fresh strawberries and some vanilla yogurt in the fridge, and decided to cut them up and drizzle the vanilla yogurt on top. I poured what was left of the orange juice in a glass and set it aside for Charlie. Just at that moment, Charlie walked downstairs and into the kitchen.

"So you wanna do this now?" he asked.

"I guess so." I started to apologize again, but I thought it might be best to just take whatever punishment he had in store for me.

"You scared me half to death. Running off like you did, only to find out you went to another state? I went from knowing that you were a zombie, to not knowing where you were at all. Do you have any idea what you put me through? There are reports and sightings of a couple of large wolves in the woods surrounding Forks, and up until you snuck in here and left a note, I thought you may have been a victim. Have you lost your mind?"

Considering how Charlie's reacted in the past, he was actually calmer than I expected him to be. I looked down and pretended to fidget with my arms before I answered back. I felt compelled to tell him the truth, but I knew there were rules against it. "Dad, I really don't know how to explain the spiral I was going down. It was like when the Cullens' left, and not just Edward either, but Alice and all the rest, my heart stopped. I mean I know I looked horrible those first few months." Charlie winced as he remembered the state I was in, physically and emotionally. "But Jacob helped my heart beat again and I started to feel normal and myself. But then we got into that argument and he joined that gang with Sam, and my heart stopped again. It was too much, Forks was too much. I could hear everyone talking about me and everything that had happened. Forks was just too small and my apparent break-ups were too big. I freaked and left."

I started to say more and apologize yet again, but Charlie just grabbed me into a hug. "Aww, baby, I didn't realize things had gotten so bad for you. I'll try harder I promise. I should have known it was a bad idea to leave you all alone. I'll do better, baby." Charlie was never a man for emotions, but I could literally hear him sobbing through his chest. There was no lie to what I said, so I shouldn't feel guilty. But I knew that Charlie loved me a lot, and it meant a lot to him that I lived here, I hated what I put him through since all of this was set in motion.

Charlie sat down at the table for breakfast, and made a face at the strawberries. "What's this?" Charlie picked up the spoon and started eating greedily. Despite being fed on the reservation, Charlie was awfully hungry. He finished the orange juice in one gulp, barely even tasting it.

"This is what you get when you don't go grocery shopping. It's all that was in the fridge. I'll go today after school. Besides, it's healthy for you."