The UnForeseen Fall of Lahote (A Paul/Bella Fanfic)

7. Repentance

Bella's POV

The sick, wet plopping into the toilet bowl seemed to egg on the incessant stream of puke that I was producing. My head and lungs burned, my body felt like it had been hit by a truck, and my szőlő grew wild trying to escape the pain that clung to my skin.

Vampire bites always took a heavy toll on me. It was a struggle to stay quiet, so that Charlie would remain ignorant that I'd tried to tango with the walking dead as of late.

As I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, I wondered at how much easier my life would be if Charlie could just know what I am. It would be so convenient to just be able to say, "Hey, Charlie, about my last few months of being a total zombie, it wasn't entirely as shallow and as immature as everyone thinks..." or even "Charlie, I've gotta head out and practice some fighting in the woods, not doing drugs." Yeah, any interaction even remotely resembling that would just be plain peachy. We could be close again like when I was little, no secrets. But unfortunately, full disclosure with anyone would mean I would have to leave Forks for good and would have to go back. Which I would never allow to happen. Ever.

The wolves of LaPush finding me was probably as lucky as I would ever have it. They understood what it meant to keep a secret and suspected enough to where I could be myself. No more acting and a little companionship. Time with Jacob, my sun. That's what I hoped to get out of maybe getting to know them all better. Despite the outcome of a fresh bite and this horrendous setback with Charlie, it felt worth it.

Back to the Charlie situation ... to say he was angry was an understatement. I'd faced death on countless occasions, and I swear I find Charlie angry, no disappointed, a million times more distressing. I wanted to be the normal, happy child he wanted so much, but it seemed as though a higher power had other plans predestined for me. It sucked.

A lot of smooth talking from Billy and a testimony from Sam Uley had mitigated the damage as much as possible. The official story was that I had been fed up with thinking Jake was in a gang and that I finally decided to confront them all directly with the help of Quil, who was also conveniently shut out by the pack. Quil had picked me up after I had snuck out and we'd stormed Sam's place together (The addition of Quil excused the presence of my car in the driveway. ). And in order to storm said place, there'd been a barbwire fence involved.

Never before had my elaborate "klutsy human" ruse been more useful. It had been a mannerism cultivated when I was young carefully by Renee, who'd known that those of my kind would have considerably more scars than humans. Much like how great whites were covered in battle scars, it was our way. The klutz game had always resulted in sugary rewards from Renee, and I'm sure I would've had at least ten cavities by now if it had been possible to get a cavity.

Thanks to this habit, my severely scratched arms had been bandaged by Sue after Sam had caught me and Quil trespassing. We had been promptly taken to Billy, who'd informed all parents of the incident. Despite the trouble I was in, it was good to see Charlie trust Billy again. Any suspicions he had about "tribal secrets" were on hold as I explored the possibilities of criminal trespassing. Sam Uley telling Charlie that he wouldn't press charges and only asking that I join in on their LaPush community service projects from now on had cleansed any ill thoughts that my father could've possibly had.

After all, I would be getting out of the house and being punished in a constructive way. I was happy with that particular arrangement, but it didn't mean I'd gotten away totally scot-free. It turns out Charlie was far more capable than I had ever anticipated even in my wildest dreams. The madman had taken my books.

I had turned to books when Jake had joined Sam's crew to pass the time. Many years had been the accruement period of those volumes and it was difficult to sleep without reading a chapter now. It was an outlet that I had never thought I would have to do without.