Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

A Fresh Start

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 11:

Charlie POV

“Why don’t we go inside and I will answer all your questions.” Guess the vampire was right. Oh that’s right. He knows stuff.

“Okay.” Bella looked at us. Everyone. Everyone helped so I thought
it would be right that everyone came to see her. But this may have
been a bad idea. Having 6 wolves, Billy and Sue could be a little
intimidating. Maybe that’s the wrong word. Bella walked in front of us. I whispered to not eat more than a normal person. She didn’t hear me but the pack would.

We walked in a back porch sliding door to a pretty spacious living
room. The kitchen was to the right and had a full view of the living
room. There was a dining area on the other side of the kitchen. A
hallway lead to what must be the bedrooms.

“Ya’ll have a seat. There are some foldout chairs in that closet if you need them. I got to put on some clothes and help Bo with breakfast before he burns the kitchen down. Make yourselves at home.”

Bella walked down the hall. I hear her say something and then Bo
walked out, wearing blue jeans, boots and a plain white t shirt.

“So… you’re early.” He said, smiling.

“What time did you two get up?” I asked.

“I usually get up around 5 or 530 and start work. Mary is right after
me. She makes breakfast and coffee and brings it out. We eat in our office and then get after it until Lunch. After that is our time unless I got a lot of orders to fill.”

“Okay. You two are leaving at noon?”

“Yep. Hey I know your name Charlie but I don’t know if I remember the rest. Care to introduce us?”

“Of course. I turned and saw that Leah, Seth and Embry were sitting on the floor. Sam, Jake and Paul were on a very large couch. Sue was next to me on a love seat. Bo had a seat on what I guess was his recliner. Bella walked in and climbed on his lap and wrapped her arms around him. Strange to see that.

I introduced everyone. Everyone smiled. Even Jake. He was quiet
this morning but seemed to be better than last night.

“So I guess you got some questions. Your sister in law explained to
me how you and Bo met. I guess a little of what has been going on. I have to say first Bo that you will never know how grateful I am that you did what you did for her.”

“Yeah, I really would have been fucked without Bo.” Bella
commented casually. Quite a few mouths including mine dropped. I don’t think I had ever heard Bella utter a curse word.

“Uh, yes, that is what I understand. So I guess we should get started since you have to leave in a few hours.”

“Yes and I still have a few things to pack.” She whispered.

“Okay. I guess I will start at the beginning since you don’t remember anything.”

Bella nodded, not saying a word.

“Your mother’s name is Renee. I plan on calling her right after you
leave. She and I divorced when you were two and the two of you
moved to Phoenix Arizona, pretty much where you grew up. We lived in Forks Washington. It’s a small town. It rains a lot. You didn’t like it. I would bring you to stay with me for a few weeks every summer but as you got older you insisted we meet in California. You really didn’t like it in Forks. Just like your mom I guess.

When you were 17 you moved to Forks, because your mother
married a minor league baseball player and she wanted to travel with him. She stayed at home with you but you felt that you were holding her back. Most of your life you took care of her. She wasn’t the most responsible person but you two had a very close relationship. You were the one who kept her grounded. As much as you hated Forks you wanted her to be happy, so you came to live with me. She moved to Florida. You attended Forks high your junior year. You met a boy. His name was Edward…”

“Edward what?” she asked.

“Edward…”I looked at Sam and he nodded. “Cullen” I said his name
like a curse. I suppose it was.

“Okay.”

“You two became pretty close. He was your first boyfriend, I guess
you could say.”

“Okay.” Bella nodded.

“He left you two weeks into your Senior Year. His family moved. It
caught you off guard.”

She said nothing so I continued. This was going to be difficult. I
hated this but it had to be done.

“You were pretty upset. You eventually got over it with the help of
your friends here.” I motioned to the Pack. “You and Jake were best
friends.” I nodded at Jake who was looking at the floor.

“So that is why they came with you? We were all close?” The guys
and Leah nodded.

Bella started softly crying. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I don’t remember any of you.”

“Hey baby… it’s okay…” Bo whispered to her and pulled her closer.
She curled up in his lap. It was strange seeing my daughter in such
an intimate position with anyone. She was never the kind to show
her emotions. Just like me. I guess the last year had changed us in
more ways than just her losing her memory.

“Hey, Bella.” She just shot me a not so nice look. “I mean Mary…
look that it going to take some getting used to. You have to cut me
some slack here kid.”

She nodded. “You’re right. Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. I know this is strange for all of us.” I told her softly. I didn’t want to upset her.

“Go on. My friends helped me get over this guy. What happened
next?”

“The guy came back. Your ex. He was… obsessive. He wanted you
to run off with him. You turned him down. The way he left you… he said some pretty mean things to you. You told him you didn’t want anything to do with him. I found out later that he threatened you if you didn’t run off with him. You were frightened so you packed your bags and ran off in the night.”

“No.”

Damn it.

“What do you mean?” I asked, already knowing.

“Bo told me you are the Chief of Police in this Forks. Why would I run from my Dad who was chief of police because some teenage boy threatened me? That makes no sense.”

Okay.

“I talked to Edward afterward. He admitted to telling you that he
would hurt me and your mother if you didn’t run off with him. His
family had a lot of money. I suppose you were worried he may
actually hurt her. You left a note, telling him you never wanted to see him again and you were never coming back.”

“Why didn’t you just arrest him?” I took another deep breath. I hated this.

“I didn’t know at the time this was going on. I didn’t realize how
scared you were of him. You never told me. I think that you thought you were protecting me and your mother by leaving.”
Bella said nothing for a moment.

“What happened next?” Maybe she bought it. The story was full of
holes and I would have to come up with something to fill those holes but for now, maybe she bought it.

“You uh…”

“No wait.”

Shit.

“If he left me and said horrible things to me, why would he want me back so badly, months later?”

“He decided he didn’t want anyone else to have you. He had mental issues.” That wasn’t a lie.

“Okay. What happened next?”

“We didn’t know where you went. What direction. You took your
purse, what little money you had, some clothes and your old truck. I investigated Cullen and his family for months. I was convinced they had something to do with your disappearance. Then…”

“Then what?”

“Your truck was found on the side of the road in Indiana. It was
burned. Your ID, your clothes, your purse. Everything was still in the truck. Your license plates had been taken so the truck took a while to identify. We thought you were dead. It was obvious you had been taken by someone. I searched the national databases, hoping your picture or name or fingerprints would turn up. Months went by and I had nothing. Then the FBI called me. They had caught a man. A serial rapist in the act. He drove all over the country. He would see a girl alone at a gas station. Sabotage her vehicle, usually by cutting the fuel line. He saw you and cut your fuel line. They found your license plates in his car. You ran out of gas on the side of the road. He took you at gunpoint and kept you for three days in the trunk of his car or in the backseat tied up. After three days he tried to rape you on the side of a back road. You fought him off. Hurt him. Scarred his face. He hit you with a lead pipe over your head. Dragged you into the woods. He planned to rape you but cars started driving by. He got nervous and drove off, leaving you in the woods. That is where Bo found you. I talked to the guy. The FBI let me. He told me he was high but could remember leaving you near pine trees somewhere in East Texas or Louisiana. I came with Jake and we searched all of East Texas, putting up posters, checking with police. Nothing. I began coming up the last weekend of the month to search. When I wasn’t here your friends here came in pairs to search. Then Paul and Embry found you.”

Bella looked at Paul and Embry.

“Where?”

“Holy shit.” Bo whispered.

“What?”

“Remember when we were leaving Dairy Queen in Whitehouse and I pointed out the big guys in the parking lot?”

“Oh yeah. You saw me then?”

“We saw you but you had already pulled away. We lost you before
we could get on the road.” Paul replied. Why was he lying?

I caught his eye and then remembered. He couldn’t exactly tell her
that he recognized her scent and confirmed it off a ketchup packet.

“So then what?” Bella asked.

“We all came down. We were here the last two days to search all the local communities. We actually were planning on coming to Hide a Way when Leah saw your picture in the paper yesterday morning. You know the rest.”

Bella was quiet for a moment. Bo was as well.

“So let me get this straight. I got dumped by my first boyfriend who said some horrible things to me. He comes back months later and says he wants me to run off or he will hurt you and my mother. Instead of going to you, the Chief of Police and my father, I ran off. I then got kidnapped by a serial rapist who hit me on the head and left me in Texas. I got all that?”

“Yes.”

“Have I always had this bad of luck?”

The Pack laughed a little and then stopped when they saw she
wasn’t joking.

“Not really. Not before you met Edward Cullen.” I told her honestly.

“Okay.” Bella was silent. She then stood up. “Breakfast is ready.
There are some paper plates and plastic utensils on the cabinet. I’m not washing dishes this morning and Steph will leave them in the sink till I get back. So let’s all eat and then you can explain one other thing.”

“What would that be Be… Mary?”

She raised her arm.

“How the hell I got this scar on my wrist that is cold all the time and looks like teeth marks.”

Damn it.

Bo POV

Everyone grabbed plates except Mary and I. We weren’t hungry and I wasn’t sure there would be enough. We would stop and grab a couple bacon, egg and cheese biscuits from McDonalds on the way out.

I was curious about that scar myself. It wasn’t normal. It was cold all the time. It did look like teeth marks but they looked human. If
someone like this Cullen boy bit her like that, I was gonna have to
spend some time finding the little son of a bitch. I may have to
anyways if he ever got a whiff that Mary might be alive. I wonder if
that Whitlock guy we got her ID from would help me?

Charlie and some of the other guys were walking around eating and looking at the pictures on our walls. I walked up to see which one they were staring at.

The lady, Sue, was staring at Mary’s photo. Mary walked up beside
me.

“These deer are beautiful Bella… I mean…”

“It’s okay, Sue. I am proud of that picture. I worked really hard to get it.”

“Yeah. I was supposed to kill that monster buck but Mary talked me out of it and took pictures instead.”

Last time she ever goes hunting with me. Although she did make up for it in the stand. Mary. Deer stand. Cute camo jacket. Camo pants and boots on the floor next to her. Naked legs wrapped around my waist. Her ass may have been freezing but she was hot where it counted.

“Yes Sue. It was very cold that morning. Very cold. We were about
two hundred yards away from the deer. It was so cold. Did I mention it was cold? Because it was. Certainly not the place you would want to find yourself without pants on for instance, right Bo? We had a space heater in the stand but it did us absolutely no good.” Mary said, glaring at me. “I had to pretty much give it all I had for that photo. Cold and everything.” She was still glaring.

“Yeah. If the National Geographic photographer would have let me
kill that buck, then we could have been home a lot sooner and she
wouldn’t have had to be so… cold.” I said, glaring back.

“Well it is very nice you didn’t kill the deer Bo. The family is beautiful.”

“Yes ma’am. It turned out to be worth it. You know, just to see Mary happy.” I smiled at the memory and pulled her closer to me.

“Yep. That’s my husband. Always so selfless. Doing something so
nice and not wanting anything in return.”

Mary’s fake smile has always been better than mine. With her you
have no doubt it is fake. Almost a form of non passive aggressive
sarcasm. I should use that later. Show her she ain’t the only one who can use big words.

“So if everyone is finished, could someone tell me what the hell this bite is?” Mary asked.

No one said anything. Charlie and Jake were looking at each other.

“Would you believe it’s an animal bite?” Embry spoke up. I didn’t
think the boy could talk. Charlie and Jake were looking at him with
faces that said why don’t you shut the fuck up. No wonder the kid
never talked.

“No. I know teeth marks. Not this hard of course to where it scars but I have seen teeth marks. Bo bit me on the as… you know what? It really doesn’t matter. How did I get human teeth marks on me? I
know ya’ll ain’t tellin me the whole truth here. I may have lost 17
years of memory but I’m not stupid.”

“Did you just say ya’ll ain’t?” Paul asked her holding in a grin.

“Fine. You all are not telling me the whole truth. You spend a year
living here and see how you talk.” Bella said, with an annoyed look.

She doesn’t like being reminded that she is becoming more of a
redneck every day.

“Fine. Edward Cullen did more than threaten Charlie and Renee. He hit you sometimes. Sometimes he beat the hell out of you. And he bit you once. He tore into your wrist when you tried to hold him back. Okay?” Jake answered.

Yep. I was definitely finding Mr. Edward Cullen.

“Oh…” Mary whispered.

I caught a look Charlie gave Jake. He either didn’t want Mary to
know about the abuse or what Jake just said, he wasn’t aware of.
Course there is the possibility this Jake guy just spoke absolute
bullshit. Judging by the way he was looking at my wife when he
thought I wasn’t looking, I bet he was jealous of this Cullen guy too. I don’t know what the truth is. I might never know. Might be better not to know. I’m gonna have to think on this some.

“Okay. So are you going to call my mother?” Mary asked her father.

“Yes. As soon as we are done here.”

“She gonna want to come see me?”

“Yes. I will have to hide your honeymoon location from her or she
would intrude on it.” Charlie told her smiling.

“Okay. Are you… heading back?”

“Yes. We are all going home today. I would like to be able to keep in touch. Call, talk. That sort of thing.”

“Of course.”

“You think maybe, you would like to come see my… where we lived
together?”

“I don’t know.”

“My wife would love to see you Be… Mary.” Sam said gently. Almost like he was begging.

“Why?”

“You were her best friend.”

“Oh. Yeah, I guess…” Mary looked at me and I nodded.

“I mean, I will probably need to see my Mother. And then we have to get some orders filled and delivered when we get back. But after
that, yeah… when we catch up we will come see Forks.”

“Okay. Sounds good.” Sam said smiling.

“I appreciate what all of you have done. I want to get to know you
all… again. I’m sorry. I’m thinking about this from your point of view. It sounds like I went through a tough time and you were all there for me and now you find me and I… I mean it’s like you are all complete strangers to me. I’m sorry. I know it must be disappointing. I uh… I don’t know what to say here.” Mary finally stopped. The Sam guy stood up and approached Mary.

“I don’t give a damn if you remember me or not. It is enough that you are alive. I always saw you as my little sister. I love you. We all do. It is a miracle knowing you are alive and happy. Now give me a hug and we will let you get on with your honeymoon.” Sam opened his arms. Mary had tears in her eyes again. She hugged him and was engulfed in his arms. Big guy, that Sam. Hell they were all big. Weird.

I mean what are the odds of there being that many people in the
tribe who look like big body builders? I’m actually looking forward to going to this Forks place. I’m curious if they are all that big.

“Thank you Sam.” Mary sniffled out.

Charlie stood and shook my hand.

“I’ll never be able to repay you for what you have done.”

“I got her. That’s everything.” I told him. He understood.
They all hugged Mary and walked out. I followed them out and was unsurprised to see Troy and Todd sitting on the hoods of their trucks smiling as we all filtered out.

“Mornin.” Todd said, tipping his beat up straw hat. He needs to burn that thing already. I could smell it from here.

“Everything is fine guys.”

“Course it is Bo. We just came to pick Chris up. He should be waking up any minute.” Todd wasn’t much of a liar.

“Mary!” Chris yelled from the side of the house.

“Yeah Chris?”

Chris walked out with a trash can in front of him.

“I can’t find my clothes.” He said, stating the obvious.

“Did you check the roof?” Mary asked, rolling her eyes.

“No. Fucking Adrian.”

“Ladders in the shed, Chris. Get after it.”

“Alright Mary. Mornin Bo.”

“Mornin Chris.” I nodded. He ran to the back, ass showing, so I
turned around to my departing guests. They were staring at Chris.

“Does that happen a lot?” Charlie asked.

“Well, the boy has a habit of getting naked and passing out every
time he gets shit faced. Been doing it since our sophomore year in
High School. And Adrian’s been writing I love Dick on his forehead
that long as well. He never learns. The makeup just started last year. Adrian started going to cosmetology school and well… I guess he is an easy practice dummy.”

Charlie nodded and wrapped Mary in another hug. They finally broke up and I saw a few tears on Mary’s face and Charlie’s. I watched them drive off in their two big vans and saw Troy and Todd getting in their trucks.

“Guys. Leave them alone.”

“But Bo…” Troy started.

“No.”

I turned and saw my angel.

“You ready to head to the mountains?”

“Lead the way.” Mary replied wiping her eyes.

Charlie POV

“He bit her while he was beating her Jake?” I didn’t like the guy
either. Hated him. But we could keep the lies to a minimum.

“He sucked out the venom so technically Cullen’s teeth were the last ones on her wrist.” Jake mumbled.

I looked at Sue. She knew what I was thinking. She nodded. I knew
she would understand. It would hurt to leave her but…

“I’m coming with you. If you will have me.” She whispered.

Damn.

I never expected that.

“Going where Mom?” Leah asked.

I went ahead and answered. “Guys there is no way I just found my
daughter and plan to go back to Forks to live after thinking she was dead. I’m going to drop you all off at the airport and then go talk to some people. I made a few friends around here while searching for Bella. I’m going to find a job this week. I’m moving here.”

“And I am moving with him, Leah.”

“Mom?” Seth said, shocked.

“You two know we love each other. Seth you can come with me or
stay with Leah. The house is paid and Billy said the tribe will take
care of the bills, Leah.

“Mom, you can’t leave. You are an elder!” Leah said. I was still
processing this.

“Charlie and I love each other. We have been doing a poor job of
hiding it. The house is yours Leah. I will go back and put Charlie’s
house up for sale. Then I am coming back to be with him.”

“Are you sure, Mom?” Leah whispered.

“Yes Leah. You don’t need me. But Charlie does. We can’t expect
him to be away from his daughter after all this time. She isn’t going to come back to Forks to live. So we will come to her. Seth, I already talked to Jake about this. The decision is yours. If you are old enough to fight vampires you are old enough to decide if you want to live here with me or stay in La Push with your sister. I love you no matter what. I want you with us but I won’t force you.”

“Sue, are you sure?” I asked. This was a little too much to hope for.

“It will be a fresh start for us Charlie. Yes. I am sure.”

“Okay. Let me work on getting a job this week and a place to live and I will be back next Saturday to pack up our things. We are going to have to drive here.”

“I know.” She reached across and took my hand.

“When did you talk to Billy?”

“When we found out where Bella was. I’ve been planning this for a
while. I knew you would want to stay near her. I wouldn’t expect
anything else.”

“You could have talked to Seth and I, Mom.” Leah said. She didn’t
sound angry.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to bring it up until we found her. I thought it might be bad luck I guess you could say.”

“It’s fine Mom. We understand, don’t we, Leah?” Seth said.

“Seth. Do you want to move with us? With the Cullens gone…” I
asked.

“I don’t know, Mom. Can I have a little time to think about it?”

“Of course, Seth.”

“I want to move too, Mom. I want to move with you. If I wouldn’t be crowding you and Charlie. I can get a job and eventually get my own place.” Leah said.

I looked at Jake. He was staring out the window.

“Jake?”

He took a deep breath. “I’m giving you an elder and two wolves
Charlie. You better make sure that daughter of yours comes to visit us.”

I nodded. Sue was smiling.

“Guess that means I’m coming too. I don’t want to be away from you and Leah, Mom.” Seth smiled.

Holy shit. I suddenly had 3 people who were going to be living with me. I honestly figured I would be coming alone.

Paul started laughing. “I don’t know what the big deal is. I can’t wait to get out of this State. Even the vampires sound like hicks here. I couldn’t understand half of what that leech was saying last night.”

We laughed. A lot different mood than when we came here.

Embry raised his hand. I guess we really didn’t let him get many
words in.

“You don’t have to raise your hand to speak, Embry.” I told him.

“Cool. I was just wondering. Did Bella say her husband bit her ass
once?”