Midday Clouds - The Charlie Swan Story

Chapter 11 (Twilight 11/11)

What followed, I'm ashamed to admit, was something of a blur.

Too drunk to safely go after Bella, too devastated to call any of the deputies for help, I spent the night on the floor of the entryway, stunned, listening to the storm rage outside that front door.

I must've fallen asleep at some point, because I was awakened to the glare of an angry, unimpeded sun shining in through the front windows. My entire body ached, but that pain paled in comparison to the pit in my stomach and the void in my chest.

I stood, lumbered my way up the stairs, drew the blinds, and fell into a fitful sleep.

Thankfully, I didn't dream.

Hours, even days could have gone by, holed up within the four walls of the room that used to be ours but now was just mine. Occasionally venturing out into the kitchen to grab whatever could be eaten without cooking, a few beers, and back into my solitary cell I went. When nature called, I answered, and when I couldn't sleep, I lay awake, staring up at the popcorn ceiling that Renee had always wanted to change.

I should have called Renee. I should have called Bella. But retreading the pitiful phone calls I'd had with Renee after she'd left would've been too much to bear. I nearly didn't answer the phone when it rang, but fearing that Bella may have run into some trouble on the road put the smallest bit of life into my heavy, aching limbs.

It wasn't Bella or Renee on the line, though, that much I knew right away.

"Yeah?" Was all I could manage to say in the depressive state I was in.

"Hi!" The feminine voice was quick, and razor sharp. "Is this Charlie?"

"Yeah."

"This is Alice Cullen, Carlisle's daughter. I want to start off by saying that Bella is relatively okay, and there's no need to worry."

"Relatively?" I asked, my instinctive worry as a father momentarily overpowering my newly-returned apathy for life.

"Well, we're in Phoenix right now, actually. Edward, Carlisle, and I went after Bella when she left, you see, and when she came to meet us at the hotel she tripped and fell down some stairs."

"Okay."

"She actually fell right through a window! She's got a few cuts and bruises, and just a few broken bones, and a concussion, but she's okay! We're all here with her at the hospital. Renee is here too, and Bella's getting better and better every day."

"Right." Bella was hurt, but her mom was there. She didn't need me anymore, just like she didn't need me all those other years of her life. It was the same as it had been with Bella growing up; she'd take a tumble, and Renee would call me after the fact, letting me know what happened and that everything was fine and that there was no need for me to fly myself all the way out there because she had it under control. I doubted that Bella would even want me there, given the way she'd fled. "Well, please tell Renee to call me when she can," was all I said to this Alice Cullen before hanging up the phone.

I knew that Bells was clumsy, but falling down a flight of stairs and through a glass window by accident seemed like a little much -- especially given that she'd been fleeing from a boyfriend who had just caught up to her.

I'd responded to enough domestic violence calls to know when to be suspicious, and though I'd trust Carlisle's word for the most part, I knew I'd need to keep a closer eye on that Edward when he returned. At least Bells would be away from him, now that she was back in Phoenix. Something about him just didn't sit right.

I grabbed some beer and some bread while I was in the kitchen, and wearily trudged my way back up the stairs, back into the abyss.

---

Some days later I received another phone call, this time from Renee. Apparently Bella was awake, with Edward at her side, and she'd decided that she wanted to live in Forks, after all.

I couldn't help but figure that the close proximity to this boy, this potentially dangerous Edward Cullen, played a pretty large factor in Bells' sudden change of heart when it came to Forks. Though I was still hurt by what she'd said to me about Forks and the life I had here, I couldn't help but feel a little happy at the thought of Bells being back in this house.

Swallowing my pride and attempting to bury the resentment I felt about my daughter only wanting to live with me so that she could be near her new boyfriend, I began to tidy up both myself and the house for Bella's eventual return home.

----

Things were, well, a little different once Bella came back. I was over keeping to boundaries, or treating my daughter more like a fellow adult than a child. I put a strict curfew in place, as well as visiting hours for her friends -- though really just for that Edward, who couldn't seem to leave Bella alone.

I spoke to Carlisle once the whole party arrived back in Forks, and he assured me that it really was all just an accident. I was glad that he'd had the forethought to chaperone his son on the trip south, but the knowledge that Edward hadn't thrown my daughter down a flight of hotel stairs did nothing to stifle my resentment towards him. If things hadn't gone south between Bells and Edward, I figured, she never would have left; never would have been in that hotel to begin with.

Still, I knew deep down that being around that boy was a large part of Bella wanting to be in Forks, so I begrudgingly allowed them to see each other.... on occasion.

I also allowed Edward to take Bella to prom, knowing that she'd never agree to go under any other circumstance. While I hated the thought of her spending any more time with that boy, she was still my daughter and I wanted her to have a good, well-rounded high school experience; which meant going to prom.

Sitting down and cracking a Rainier, I began to think of how I could possibly ensure that Bells didn't fall down the rabbit hole of devoting her whole life to this high school romance. If I could only get her hanging out with some other friends, instead of spending all her time with that Edward...

Well, maybe Billy's boy Jake wouldn't mind spending a bit more time around Bells.

I was sure it would do her some good. 

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